Patent Application
20080198423
The present application claims priority to and incorporates by reference the entire contents of Japanese priority document, 2007-038237 filed in Japan on Feb. 19, 2007.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for acquiring an electronic document through a network and printing an image using the acquired electronic document.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a technology for barcoding identification information formed by numerals, characters, and the like and printing the identification information on paper together with a document has been developed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-181945). In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-181945, the identification information to be barcoded is, for example, a name and an ID of a patient. In such a technology, it is possible to obtain the identification information by reading the barcode printed on the paper and decoding the barcode. However, when printing of the barcode is poor, it may be impossible to read the barcode or a result of the decoding may be different from the original identification information. In recent years, a technology for collating, for each page, information obtained by reading a printed barcode using a camera and decoding the barcode with information before being barcoded and, when a result of the collation indicates that both the pieces of information do not coincide with each other, outputting an unreadability code has been developed (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-79571). According to such a technology, it is possible to prevent a print failure by excluding a print, a collation result of which indicates barcoded information and information before being barcoded do not coincide with each other, and printing a print, a collation result of which indicates barcoded information and information before being barcoded coincide with each other.
However, in the technologies described above, when information related to the information barcoded for each page is associated with the barcoded information and separately stored in storing means, it is likely that a correspondence relation between these pieces of information is not taken into account. Therefore, for example, when the barcode for each page is made unusable because of a print failure of the barcode, it is likely that inconsistency occurs in the correspondence relation between the barcoded information and the information associated with the barcoded information.
It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve the problems in the conventional technology.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus including an information control unit that issues identification information with respect to predetermined information stored in a storing unit and manages the predetermined information in association with the identification information; a code-image creating unit that encodes the identification information, with which the predetermined information stored in the storing unit can be identified, to create a code image; a first printing unit that creates a print image using a print object electronic document and prints the code image created by the code-image creating unit on a paper medium together with the print image; a code-image reading unit that reads the code image by scanning the paper medium printed by the first printing unit; a code acquiring unit that acquires read identification information using the code image read by the code-image reading unit; a collating unit that collates the read identification information acquired by the code acquiring unit and the identification information that the code-image creating unit encodes to create the code image; and a second printing unit that prints, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation by the collating unit, a predetermined image on the paper medium. The information control unit updates, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation by the collating unit, the predetermined information stored in the storing unit. The first printing unit prints, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation by the collating unit, the code image, which the code-image creating unit creates by encoding the identification information, on a new paper medium together with the print image.
Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method that includes information controlling including issuing identification information with respect to predetermined information stored in a storing unit and manages the predetermined information in association with the identification information; code-image creating including encoding the identification information, with which the predetermined information stored in the storing unit can be identified, to create a code image; first printing including creating a print image using a print object electronic document, and printing the code image created at the code-image creating on a paper medium together with the print image; code-image reading including reading the code image by scanning the paper medium printed at the first printing; code acquiring including acquiring read identification information using the code image read at the code-image reading; collating the read identification information acquired at the code acquiring and the identification information that is encoded at the code-image creating to create the code image; and second printing including printing, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation at the collating, a predetermined image on the paper medium. The information controlling includes updating, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation at the collating, the predetermined information stored in the storing unit. The first printing includes printing, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation at the collating, the code image that is created at the code-image creating by encoding the identification information on a new paper medium together with the print image.
Moreover, according to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having computer-readable program codes embodied in the medium that when executed cause a computer to execute information controlling including issuing identification information with respect to predetermined information stored in a storing unit and manages the predetermined information in association with the identification information; code-image creating including encoding the identification information, with which the predetermined information stored in the storing unit can be identified, to create a code image; first printing including creating a print image using a print object electronic document, and printing the code image created at the code-image creating on a paper medium together with the print image; code-image reading including reading the code image by scanning the paper medium printed at the first printing; code acquiring including acquiring read identification information using the code image read at the code-image reading; collating the read identification information acquired at the code acquiring and the identification information that is encoded at the code-image creating to create the code image; and second printing including printing, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation at the collating, a predetermined image on the paper medium. The information controlling includes updating, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation at the collating, the predetermined information stored in the storing unit. The first printing includes printing, when the identification information and the read identification information do not coincide with each other as a result of the collation at the collating, the code image that is created at the code-image creating by encoding the identification information, on a new paper medium together with the print image.
The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical and industrial significance of this invention will be better understood by reading the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the image processing system according to the present embodiment, when the multifunction peripheral MFP prints an electronic document on paper as an image, the multifunction peripheral MFP issues a paper ID (identification information) that can uniquely identify the paper to the paper, prints a code image obtained by encoding the paper ID on the paper, and stores paper information including a print condition for the paper and information specifying an electronic document as a print source of the paper in association with the paper ID. The paper information is associated with the paper ID. On the other hand, when the multifunction peripheral MFP copies such paper, the multifunction peripheral MFP scans the code image printed on the paper, decodes the code image to acquire the paper ID, and acquires the paper information associated with the paper ID. The multifunction peripheral MFP acquires the electronic document as the print source using the paper information and prints an image on the paper using the acquired electronic document. In printing the image on paper, the multifunction peripheral MFP issues a paper ID that can uniquely identify the paper to the paper, prints a code image obtained by encoding the paper ID on the paper, and stores paper information including the paper ID of a copy source in association with the issued paper ID.
The personal computer PC has the structure of a general computer including a central processing unit (CPU) that controls the entire personal computer PC, a read only memory (ROM) that stores various control programs, various data, and the like, a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk (HD) that stores various application programs and various data, a communication unit that controls data communication with an external apparatus, and a bus that connects the CPU, the ROM, the RAM, the HDD, and the communication unit (all of these components are not shown in the figure). A display unit such as a monitor and an operation unit such as a keyboard (both the units are not shown in the figure) are connected to the personal computer PC through wire or wireless connecting means. A printer driver is stored in the ROM of the personal computer PC. When the printer driver is started by the CPU, the personal computer PC transmits a print command to the multifunction peripheral MFP in the same in-house system SYM through the communication unit.
The controller 10 has an image combining function, an encoding function, a data collating function, and a decoding function. The controller 10 combines, using the image combining function, a code image created by encoding a paper ID using the encoding function and an image representing an electronic document. The controller 10 causes the paper conveying mechanism to convey the paper housed in the housing tray 70 to the printing unit 61 and causes the printing unit 61 to print the code image on the paper. The controller 10 causes the paper conveying mechanism to convey the paper, on which the code image is printed by the printing unit 61, to the code-image reading unit 76, causes the code-image reading unit 76 to read the code image printed on the paper using the decoding function, and acquires the paper ID. The controller 10 collates the paper ID (identification information) before being encoded with the decoded paper ID (read identification information). When these pieces of information do not coincide with each other or when the paper ID cannot be acquired by the decoding function, the controller 10 causes the NG recording unit 74 to apply NG recording, which indicates that the code is deficient, to the paper conveyed to the NG recording unit 74 by the paper conveying mechanism. The controller 10 causes the paper-conveying-path switching unit 75 to switch the discharge destination of the paper to the garbage tray 72 and discharge the paper. These functions of the controller 10 are explained in detail below.
The print application 100 acquires a print object electronic document using the SRMS 200, the PIDS 201, the EIDS 202, and the encoder 203 and prints the electronic document using the printing unit. The print application 100 prints an image using the printing unit according to a print command from the scan application 101. The scan application 101 acquires an electronic document as a print source with respect to scanned print object paper using the SRMS 200, the PIDS 201, the EIDS 202, and the decoder 204 and passes the electronic document to the print application 100 together with a print command.
The SRMS 200 manages information concerning the respective services of the SRMS 200, the PIDS 201, and the EIDS 202 using the service DB 300. The PIDS 201 manages information concerning a printed paper using the paper-information DB 301. The EIDS 202 manages information concerning a print object electronic document using the electronic-information DB 302 and the repository 205. The repository 205 manages an electronic document stored in the electronic-document DB 303. The repository 205 is a known document management system having a function of managing an electronic document. Therefore, explanation of details of the repository 205 is omitted. However, the repository 205 has functions of acquiring an electronic document, registering the electronic document in the electronic-document DB 303, and updating or deleting the electronic document stored in the electronic-document DB 303. The EIDS 202 performs processing for a body of an electronic document (registration, update, deletion, and acquisition of the electronic document) using these functions of the repository 205. The registration of the electronic document in the electronic-document DB 303 means the start of storage of the electronic document in the electronic-document DB 303. Registration of other information in the other DBs has a similar meaning.
The respective services of the SRMS 200, the PIDS 201, and the EIDS 202 perform various kinds of processing according to a processing command from the application layer M1 and a processing command from an external apparatus through SOAP communication. The SRMS 200 receives processing commands from the SRMSs 200 of the other multifunction peripherals MFP through UDP communication and performs various kinds of processing according to the processing commands.
The structure of detailed functions of the respective services and the respective modules and the structure of the respective databases are explained below. For convenience of explanation, in the respective multifunction peripherals MFP1 to MFP8, “1” to “8” of the reference signs MFP1 to MFP8 are attached to, together with underlines, the ends the reference numerals of the print application 100, the scan application 101, the SRMS 200, the PIDS 201, the EIDS 202, the encoder 203, the decoder 204, the repository 205, the service DB 300, the paper-information DB 301, the electronic-information DB 302, and the electronic-documents DB 303. Specifically, the multifunction peripheral MFP1 has a print application 100_1, a scan application 101_1, an SRMS 200_1, a PIDS 201_1, an EIDS 202_1, an encoder 203_1, a decoder 204_1, a repository 205_1, a service DB 300_1, a paper-information DB 301_1, an electronic-information DB 302_1, and an electronic-document DB 303_1. The same holds true for the multifunction peripherals MFP2 to MFP8 and respective units explained below. In the following explanation, when it is unnecessary to distinguish these components, the underlines and the reference numerals “1” to “8” are omitted.
The SRMS 200 is a function of managing service information.
The interfaces of the interface section SR1 are connected to the processing sections SR20 to SR28 of the processing function section SR2 in the order explained above, respectively. When a request for processing is received from the external apparatus or the application layer M1, the interfaces pass parameters used for the processing to the processing sections corresponding to the requested processing, receive results of the processing performed by using the parameters from the corresponding processing sections, and return the processing results to the request source of the processing. When the parameters are passed from the corresponding interfaces, the respective processing sections access the service DB 300, execute the processing using the parameters, and return processing results to the corresponding interfaces.
The service DB 300 has a service-information table 300A that stores service information representing the SRMS 200, service information representing the PIDS 201, and service information representing the EIDS 202 as records, respectively, and a trust-relationship-information table 300B that stores trust relationship information explained later.
“UUID of a service” is an ID for globally and uniquely identifying the respective services of the SRMS 200, the PIDS 201, and the EIDS 202. “UUID of a service” is, for example, a GUID, which is an object class ID used in Windows (registered trademark), and a MAC address allocated to a network card. A technology for issuing a UUID to a service is already known. As such a technology, there are a large number of technologies. In the present embodiment, any one of the technologies may be used. As timing of the issuance, the UUID is issued when programs for realizing the functions of the SRMS 200, the PIDS 201, and the EIDS 202 are installed in the multifunction peripheral MFP. The UUID is not changed until the programs are uninstalled from the multifunction peripheral MFP. “Local ID” is an ID for uniquely identifying service information in an identical SRMS 200. “Local ID” makes it possible to globally and uniquely identify the service information according to a combination with the UUID of a service. “Master UUID” (management identification information) is a UUID issued to the SRMS 200 that manages the service information. “Master UUID” (management identification information) is used when a synchronization function explained later is realized. “Registration date and time” and “update data and time” respectively indicate a date and time when the service information is registered in the service-information table 300A and a date and time when the service information is updated.
The interfaces of the interface section PI11 are connected to the processing sections in the order explained above, respectively. When a request for processing is received from the external apparatus or the application layer M1, the interfaces pass parameters used for the processing to the processing sections corresponding to the requested processing, receive results of the processing performed by using the parameters from the corresponding processing sections, and return the processing results to the request source of the processing. When the parameters are passed from the corresponding interfaces, the respective processing sections access the paper-information DB 301, execute the processing using the parameters, and return processing results to the corresponding interfaces. The processing performed by the respective processing sections PI20 to PI23 is explained in detail later.
The paper-information DB 301 has a paper-information table 301A that stores paper information concerning one piece of printed paper as one record.
The interfaces of the interface section EI1 are connected to the processing sections in the order explained above, respectively. When a request for processing is received from the external apparatus or the application layer M1, the interfaces pass parameters used for the processing to the processing sections corresponding to the requested processing, receive results of the processing performed by using the parameters from the corresponding processing sections, and return the processing results to the request source of the processing. When the parameters are passed from the corresponding interfaces, the respective processing sections perform processing for a body of the electronic document using the repository 205, access the electronic-information DB 302, execute the processing using the parameters, and return processing results to the corresponding interfaces. In this way, the EIDS 202 manages the electronic information and manages the body of the electronic document in cooperation with the repository 205.
The electronic-information DB 302 has an electronic information table 302A that stores electronic information as one record.
The encoder 203 according to the present embodiment can be constituted by using various arbitrary known technologies. The encoder 203 converts a designated character string or byte array into a one-dimensional barcode or a two-dimensional code image. As the one-dimensional barcode, there are codes such as Code39, EAN-8, EAN-13, NW-7, and Code128. As the two-dimensional code image, there are codes such as QR, DataMatrix, and PDF417. In the present embodiment, any one of the codes may be used. The codes have known parameters for creating code images, respectively. In the present embodiment, the encoder 203 correctly sets parameters corresponding to an encode object code and creates a code image.
The decoder 204 according to the present embodiment can be constituted by using various arbitrary known technologies. The decoder 204 restores an original character string or byte array from a code image created by the encoder 203. The decoder 204 has a detect function of specifying a position where a code image exists in one arbitrary image. When an image appearing in the specified position is inputted to the decoder 204 as a code image, the decoder 204 restores an original character string or byte array from the code image. A known technology can be used for the detect function as well.
The print application 100 has two functions corresponding to a difference in a print command source. Specifically, the print application 100 has a driver print function and a scan print function. The driver print function is a function of receiving a print command from the printer driver of the personal computer PC and printing an image according to the print command. Moreover, the driver print function reads, when a code image is printed on paper together with the electronic document, the code image printed on the paper and collates a paper ID obtained by decoding the code image and an original paper ID of the code image. When these paper IDs do not coincide with each other or when the code image itself cannot be read, the driver print function performs NG recording on the paper and discharges the paper to the garbage tray 72. The scan print function is a function of receiving a print command from the scan application 101 that scans copy object paper in the multifunction peripheral MFP and printing an image according to the print command.
When copy object paper is set on the multifunction peripheral MFP and a print command is inputted by the user on the operation panel 20 of the multifunction peripheral MFP, the scanning unit scans the paper to scan a code image printed on the paper. The scan application 101 acquires the code image and acquires a paper ID decoded from the code image by the decoder 204. The scan application 101 acquires, based on the paper ID, paper information stored in the paper-information DB 301 using the function of the PIDS 201. The scan application 101 acquires, based on the paper information, electronic information stored in the electronic-information DB 302 using the function of the EIDS 202. The scan application 101 acquires an electronic document stored in the electronic-document DB 303 using the electronic information. The scan application 101 passes a print command including the electronic document, the paper ID, and a print condition to the print application 100.
First, the client requests the interface section SR1 of the SRMS 200 to establish a session (Step S1). The establishment of a session can be performed by using a module provided by NET Framework or AXIS explained above. The interface section SR1 can manage a session using the module. However, in this procedure, the interface section SR1 passes information to any one of the processing sections of the processing function section SR2 and the processing section independently manage the session. In such a technology, when the request for establishment of a session is received from the client, the interface section SR1 requests the processing function section SR2 to establish a session (Step S2). The processing function section SR2 receives the request for establishment of a session from the interface section SR1. The processing function section SR2 issues a session ID for managing the session and generates session information including information such as a term of validity of the session (Step S3). The processing function section SR2 transmits the session ID to the interface section SR1 (Step S4). The interface section SR1 receives the session ID. The interface section SR1 generates session information for managing the session ID and transmits the session ID to the client (Step S5). The client receives the session ID (Step S6). As a result, a session is established between the client and a server. While the session is established, the SRMS 200 can perform the respective kinds of processing explained above.
The client requests the interface section SR1 to execute the respective kinds of processing (Step S7). The interface section SR1 accesses an interface corresponding to the request from the client and requests the processing section (hereinafter, “object processing section”) corresponding to the interface among the processing sections SR20 to SR28 of the processing function section SR2 to execute the processing (Step S8). When parameters are required for the execution of the processing, the client transmits, in requesting the execution of the processing, the parameters to the interface section SR1 serializing with a SOAP message. The interface section SR1 deserializes the SOAP message transmitted from the client to obtain the parameters and, in requesting the object processing section to execute the processing, passes the parameters to the object processing section. The client may pass, in requesting the execution of the processing, the session ID obtained at the time of the establishment of the session to the Web server. The interface section SR1 collates the session ID received from the client and session information held by the interface section SR1 and judges, for example, whether a session corresponding to the session ID exists and a term of validity of the session has not been expired. When there is no problem, the interface section SR1 passes the parameters passed by the client to the object processing section and waits for completion of the processing.
On the other hand, the object processing section executes the processing according to the processing execution request from the interface section SR1 (Step S9) and returns a processing result to the interface section SR1 through an interface corresponding to the object processing section (Step S10). The interface section SR1 receives the processing result from the object processing section. The interface section SR1 transmits the processing result to the client (Step S11). The client receives the processing result (Step S12). In finishing the session, the client requests the interface section SR1 to cancel the session (Step S13). The interface section SR1 deletes the session information managed by the interface section SR1 and requests the object processing section to cancel the session (Step S14). The object processing section deletes the session information in the same manner (Step S15) and transmits a deletion result indicating success of the deletion to the interface section SR1 (Step S16). The interface section SR1 transmits the deletion result to the client (Step S17). The client receives the deletion result (Step S18) and finishes the session between the client and the server. In finishing the session, according to the method used in establishing the session, the session may be managed by the module provided by NET Framework or AXIS or the object processing section may independently manage the session.
Details of operations of the respective interfaces performed at Steps S8 and S11 and operations of the respective processing sections performed at Steps S9 and S10 according the processing execution request at Step S7 are explained below.
The service registration is a function of registering service information in the service-information table 300A stored in the service DB 300.
The service change is a function of changing service information registered in the service-information table 300A to new service information.
The service deletion is a function of deleting service information registered in the service-information table 300A.
The service acquisition is a function of acquiring service information registered in the service-information table 300A. The service acquisition function is subdivided into three interfaces. These interfaces are referred to as service acquisitions 1 to 3, respectively. The service acquisition 1 is a function of acquiring service information designating a UUID of a service of the service information. The service acquisition 2 is a function of acquiring a list of service information directly managed by the SRMS 200 without designating a UUID of a service of the service information. It is possible to discriminate whether the SRMS 200 directly manages service information according to whether a master UUID of the service information coincides with a value of the UUID of the SRMS 200. The service acquisition 3 is a function of acquiring a list of only service information of the SRMS 200 in the service-information table 300A.
When the service acquisition request is a request for the service acquisition 2 (“NO” at Step S81 and “YES” at Step S87), unlike the case of the service acquisition 1, the service-acquisition processing section SR23 does not receive parameters such as the UUID of the service of the acquisition object service information. The service-acquisition processing section SR23 retrieves a record, a master UUID of service information of which coincides with a value of the UUID of the SRMS 20, referring to the service-information table 300A (Step S88). When a relevant record is not present (“NO” at Step S89), the service-acquisition processing section SR23 returns error information indicating that “relevant service information is not present” to the client (Step S86). When relevant records are present (“YES” at Step S89), the service-acquisition processing section SR23 forms a list of the relevant records and returns the list to the client as a service information list through the interface section SR1 (Step S90).
When the service acquisition request is a request for the service acquisition 3 (“NO” at Step S81 and “NO” at Step S87), unlike the case of the service acquisition 1, the service-acquisition processing section SR23 does not receive parameters such as the UUID of the service of the acquisition object service information. The service-acquisition processing section SR23 retrieves, referring to the service-information table 300A, a record indicating that a name space of service information is “SRMS” (e.g., jp.co.ricoh.srms) (Step S91). When a relevant record is not present (“NO” at Step S92), the service-acquisition processing section SR23 returns error information indicating that “relevant service information is not present” to the client as a request source (Step S86). When relevant records are present (“YES” at Step S92), the service-acquisition processing section SR23 forms a list of the relevant records and returns the list to the client as a service information list through the interface section SR1 (Step S93).
The trust relationship establishment is a function of registering services managed by the SRMSs 200 of the other multifunction peripherals MFP, which form a trust relationship with the SRMS 200 of the multifunction peripheral MFP, in the service-information table 300A of the multifunction peripheral MFP. Specifically, forming a trust relationship means that the SRMS 200 exchanges service information with the other SRMSs 200 and forms a relationship capable of synchronizing service information with the other SRMSs 200.
The trust relationship cancellation is a function of canceling a trust relationship already formed with the other multifunction peripherals MFP. Canceling a trust relationship means deleting trust relationship information of the SRMSs 200 of the other multifunction peripherals MFP registered in the trust-relationship-information table 300B.
The synchronization is a function of exchanging service information with the SRMSs 200 of the other multifunction peripherals MFP with which the multifunction peripheral MFP forms a trust relationship, i.e., the SRMSs 200 of the other multifunction peripherals MFP, the values of the UUIDs of which are registered in the trust-relationship-information table 300B, and synchronizing the service information.
The service inquiry is a function of receiving inquiries about service information from the other SRMSs 200 and returning the service information to the other SRMSs 200.
The service-inquiry processing section SR28 receives a service inquiry request from the client with the UDP (Step S160). The service-inquiry processing section SR28 starts the processing. Parameters used for the processing are not included in the service inquiry request. An IP address of the client as a request source is included in the service inquiry request. Subsequently, the service-inquiry processing section SR28 acquires service information of the SRMS 200 referring to the service-information table 300A (Step S161). The service-inquiry processing section SR28 acquires the IP address included in the service inquiry request (Step S162) and returns the service information to the IP address with the UDP (Step S163). Consequently, the SRMSs 200 of the other multifunction peripherals MFP as request sources can acquire the service information of the SRMS 200.
The service retrieval is a function of inquiring the other SRMSs 200 about service information and acquiring service information of the other SRMSs 200.
The service-retrieval processing section SR27 receives a service retrieval request from the client using the UDP (Step S180) and starts the processing. The service-retrieval processing section SR27 does not receive parameters used for the processing. Subsequently, the service-retrieval processing section SR27 transmits, using the UDP, the service inquiry request to all IP addresses in the same in-house system SYM as the multifunction peripheral MFP having the SRMS 200, i.e., to the multifunction peripherals MFP and the personal computers PC in the same in-house system SYM (Step S181). The service-retrieval processing section SR27 transmits a UDP packet to IP addresses of all the multifunction peripherals MFP in the image processing system and receives responses only from the SRMSs 200 present in the same in-house system SYM as the multifunction peripheral MFP having the SRMS 200. On the other hand, the SRMSs 200 of the other multifunction peripherals MFP that receive the service inquiry request perform the service-inquiry processing explained above and return service information managed by the other SRMSs 200 to the SRMS 200. In an example in
The paper registration is a function of registering paper information in the paper-information table 301A of the paper-information DB 301.
The paper change is a function of changing paper information registered in the paper-information table 301A to new paper information.
The paper deletion is a function of deleting paper information registered in the paper-information table 301A.
The paper acquisition is a function of acquiring paper information registered in the paper-information table 301A.
The electronic information registration is a function of registering electronic information in the electronic information table 302A of the electronic-information DB 302 and registering an electronic document in the electronic-document DB 303 using the function of the repository 205.
The electronic information change is a function of changing electronic information registered in the electronic information table 302A.
The electronic information deletion is a function of deleting electronic information registered in the electronic information table 302A.
The electronic information acquisition is a function of acquiring electronic information registered in the electronic information table 302A.
The print application 100 includes the driver print function and the scan print function as explained above.
When a user inputs designation of printing of a three-page document and setting of a print condition, the personal computer PC1 receives the designation input. The printer driver of the personal computer PC1 transmits a print command including information concerning the print object document and the print condition to the print application 100_1 of the multifunction peripheral MFP1 through the intranet NT1. A procedure of processing up to this point is a known technology. Various known printer drivers that realize the procedure of such processing can be used.
The print application 100_1 receives a print command from the printer driver of the personal computer PC1 (Step S400), performs rendering using the information concerning the print object document and the print condition included in the print command, and creates an image (a rendering image) representing a print object document (Step S401). The print object document has three pages. Therefore, the print application 100_1 creates rendering images printed on three pieces of paper, respectively. Subsequently, the print application 100_1 converts the created rendering images into an electronic document of a predetermined representation format (Step S402). For example, the electronic document is data of a TIFF format (a TIFF file). This conversion is performed for registering the electronic document in the electronic-document DB 303. The print application 100_1 generates electronic information of an initial state in which the respective kinds of information are not set and sets a file name of the electronic document in “file name” in the generated electronic information. As this file name, when a file name of the electronic document is transmitted from the printer driver, the file name may be set. Alternatively, a file name issued to the electronic document by the print application 100_1 according to a predetermined method may be set. The print application 100_1 passes the generated electronic information and the electronic document to the EIDS 202_1 as parameters (Step S403). The exchange of data between the print application 100_1 and the EIDS 202_1 is performed in the identical multifunction peripheral MFP1. Therefore, the Web service is not used.
The EIDS 202_1 registers the electronic information passed from the print application 100_1 in an electronic information table 302A_1 of the electronic-information DB 302_1 using the electronic information registration function (Step S404). The EIDS 202_1 registers the electronic document in the electronic-document DB 303_1 using the document registration function of the repository 205 and returns a combination of a UUID of the EIDS 202_1 and a local ID concerning the registered electronic information to the print application 100_1 as an electronic ID (Step S405). The print application 100_1 receives the electronic ID (Step S406). The print application 100_1 generates paper information of an initial state in which the respective kinds of information are not set and sets a file name in “name” in the generated paper information (Step S407). As this file name, when a file name is transmitted from the printer driver, the file name may be set. Alternatively, a file name issued to the electronic document by the print application 100_1 according to the predetermined method may be set. The print application 100_1 sets the print condition transmitted from the printer driver in “print condition” of the paper information and sets the electronic ID (the combination of the UUID of the EIDS 202_2 and the local ID) acquired from the EIDS 202_1 in “link to an original document” of the paper information. There are the print object images for three pages, i.e., three print object images. Therefore, the print application 100_1 generates three kinds of paper information. The print application 100_1 requests the PIDS 201_1 to register paper information and passes the generated paper information to the PIDS 201_1 as a parameter (Step S408). The exchange of data between the print application 100_1 and the PIDS 201_1 is performed in the identical multifunction peripherals MFP1. Therefore, the Web service is not used.
The PIDS 201_1 issues local IDs for the respective kinds of paper information passed from the print application 100_1 and registers the paper information in a paper-information table 301A_1 of the paper-information DB 301_1 using the paper registration function (Step S409). The PIDS 201_1 returns combinations of UUIDs of the PIDS 201_1 and local IDs concerning the respective kinds of registered paper information to the print application 100_1 as paper IDs (Step S410). The three kinds of paper information are registered in the PIDS 201_1. Therefore, three paper IDs are returned to the print application 100_1. For example, these three paper IDs are referred to as a paper ID 1-1, a paper ID 1-2, and paper ID 1-3, respectively. Subsequently, the print application 100_1 receives the three paper IDs (Step S411). The print application 100_1 passes the three paper IDs to the encoder 203_1 and requests the encoder 203_1 to encode the respective paper IDs (Step S412).
The print application 100_1 causes the paper conveying mechanism of the multifunction peripheral MFP1 to sequentially convey the printed three pieces of paper to the code-image reading unit 76 and executes verify scanning (step S4000). Specifically, the print application 100_1 causes the code-image reading unit 76 to scan the paper and read the code images printed on the paper. Positions where the code images are printed on the paper (code printing positions) are positions decided in advance. The code-image reading unit 76 reads the code images printed in the positions. When the code printing positions are indefinite, the code-image reading unit 76 may scan the entire paper and retrieve the code images using a publicly-known technology to thereby read the code images printed on the paper. The print application 100_1 passes the code images acquired in this way to the decoder 204_1 and requests the decoder 204_1 to decode the code images. The decoder 204_1 decodes, using the decoding function, the code images passed from the print application 100_1 and acquires the paper IDs. The decoder 204_1 passes the paper IDs to the print application 100_1 as a decoding result (step S4001). When the code images cannot be decoded and the paper IDs cannot be acquired, the decoder 204_1 passes a decoding result indicating an error to the print application 100_1.
The print application 100_1 receives the decoding result from the decoder 204_1 (step S4002). The print application 100_1 analyzes the decoding result and discriminates whether the decoding is successful and the paper IDs could be acquired (step S4003). When a result of the discrimination is affirmative (“YES” at step S4003), the print application 100_1 collates the paper IDs acquired as the decoding result and the paper IDs acquired at step S411 (step S4004). When the paper IDs coincide with each other (“YES” at step S4004), the print application 100_1 causes the paper discharging mechanism to convey the paper to the paper discharge tray 71. When a result of the discrimination at step S4003 is negative and when the paper IDs received at step S411 and the paper IDs acquired at step S4002 do not coincide with each other (“NO” at step S4004), the print application 100_1 causes the paper conveying mechanism to convey the paper (hereinafter, “NG paper”) to the NG recording unit 74 and causes the NG recording unit 74 to apply NG recording, which indicates that there is deficiency in the codes, to the NG paper (step S4005). A position of the NG recording may be any position as long as it is seen that there is deficiency in the code images printed on the NG paper. However, the position is desirably a position overlapping the code images. The print application 100_1 causes the paper-conveying-path switching unit 75 to switch the discharge destination of the paper to the garbage tray 72 and causes the paper conveying mechanism to convey the NG paper to the garbage tray 72 (step S4006). As a result, it is possible to separately discharge NG paper having deficiency in the printed code images and paper not having deficiency in the printed code images.
In the following explanation, only one piece of paper of the second page among the pieces of paper of the first to third pages is NG paper. The print application 100_1 passes, concerning the NG paper, the paper ID acquired at step S411 to the PIDS 201_1 and requests the PIDS 201_1 to acquire paper information (step S4007). The PIDS 201_1 acquires, using the paper acquiring function, paper information corresponding to the paper ID referring to the paper-information table 301A_1 stored in the paper-information DB 301_1 and returns the paper information to the print application 101_1 (step S4009). Subsequently, the print application 100_1 passes the paper ID to the PIDS 201_1 and requests the PIDS 201_1 to delete paper information (step S4010). The PIDS 201_1 deletes, using the paper information deleting function, paper information corresponding to the paper ID referring to the paper-information table 301A_1 stored in the paper-information DB 301_1 and passes success information to the print application 100_1 (step S4011). The print application 100_1 receives the success information (step S4012). The print application 101_1 passes the paper information acquired at step S4009 to the PIDS 201_1 as parameters and requests the PIDS 201_1 to register the paper information (step S4013). The PIDS 201_1 issues, using the paper information registering function, new local IDs to the paper information passed from the print application 100_1, respectively, sets values in “registration date and time” and “update date and time” of the paper information, and registers the paper information in the paper-information table 301A_1 of the paper-information DB 301_1. The PIDS 201_1 returns a combination of the UUID of the PIDS 201_1 and the paper ID to the print application 100_1 as a new paper ID (step S4014). The print application 100_1 receives the new paper ID (step S4015). The print application 100_1 passes the paper ID to the PIDS 201_1 and requests the PIDS 201_1 to acquire new paper information corresponding to the paper ID (step S4016). The PIDS 201_1 returns, using the paper acquiring function, paper information corresponding to the paper ID to the scan application 101_1 (step S4017).
The print application 100_1 acquires the new paper information (step S4018) and acquires an ID set in “link to an original document” of the paper information. As described above, a paper ID may be set or an electronic ID may be set in “link to an original document”. Therefore, it is impossible to judge at this point which of the paper ID and the electronic ID is set. However, both the paper ID and the electronic ID are the same in that the IDs are combinations of a UUID and a local ID. Therefore, first, the print application 100_1 extracts a UUID of a service from the ID set in “link to an original document” (step S4019). It is assumed that the UUID of the EIDS 202_1 is extracted. The print application 100_1 passes the UUID to the SRMS 200_1 as a parameter and requests the SRMS 200_1 to acquire service information of the UUID (step S4020). The SRMS 200_1 acquires, using the function of the service acquisition 1, service information of the EIDS 202_1 corresponding to the SRMS 200_1 and returns the service information to the print application 100_1 (step S4021). The print application 100_1 receives the service information from the SRMS 200_1 and judges, referring to “name space” of the service information, which service the service information indicates (step S4022). The print application 100_1 judges that a service indicated by the service information is the EIDS 202. The print application 100_1 accesses the EIDS 202_1 referring to “URI” of the service information. The print application 100_1 passes the ID (the electronic ID) acquired at step S4018 to the EIDS 202_1 and requests the EIDS 202_1 to execute acquisition of electronic information corresponding to the electronic ID (step S4023). The EIDS 202_1 acquires electronic information corresponding to the electronic ID referring to the electronic information table 302A_1 stored in the electronic-information DB 302_1. The EIDS 202_1 acquires an electronic document (a TIFF file) stored in the electronic-document DB 303_1 using the document acquiring function of the repository 205_1 and returns the TIFF file to the print application 100_1 together with the electronic information (step S4024).
The print application 100_1 acquires the electronic information and the TIFF file (step S4025). Subsequently, the print application 100_1 passes the new paper ID acquired at step S4015 to the encoder 203_1 and requests the encoder 203_1 to encode the paper ID (step S4026). The encoder 203_1 encodes the paper ID to create a code image (step S4027) and passes the created code image to the print application 100_1 (step S4028). The print application 100_1 receives the code image (step S4029). The print application creates a rendering image using the TIFF file acquired at step S4025 and “print condition” set in the paper information acquired at step S4018 and performs the processing at step S416. At step S416, the print application 100_1 causes the paper conveying mechanism to convey new paper housed in the housing tray 70 to the printing unit 61 and causes the printing unit 61 to perform printing.
Consequently, it is possible to provide paper on which a code image, which is surely readable and accurately decodable, is printed and guarantee a quality of a code image to be printed. As a result, it is possible to prevent misprinting that is caused when, because of a print failure of a code image, for example, a wrong paper ID is acquired from the code image and an electronic document, which is not a print object, is acquired from the paper ID. When a code image created by encoding a paper ID has a print failure or a decoding failure, it is possible to always maintain consistency of a correspondence relation between paper IDs and paper information by deleting the paper ID and deleting paper information stored in the paper information table 301 in association with the paper ID.
In the above description, one piece of paper among a plurality of pages is NG paper. When a plurality of pieces of paper among a plurality of pages are NG paper, the processing at steps S4007 to S4019 only has to be performed for each of the pieces of paper.
As an operation according to the scan print function, for example, the scanning unit scans the paper, which is printed by the multifunction peripheral MFP1 according to the processing explained referring to
The user sets copy object paper (the paper printed by the multifunction peripheral MFP1 according to the processing explained referring to
The print application 100_5 receives the print command (Step S420). The print application 100_5 performs rendering based on the TIFF file and the print condition included in the print command and creates images (rendering images) representing a print object document (Step S421). The TIFF file is information representing the three-page document. Therefore, the print application 100_5 performs rendering page by page and creates three rendering images. The print application 100_5 generates paper information of an initial state in which the respective kinds of information are not set, sets a file name in “name” in the generated paper information, sets the print condition passed from the scan application 101_5 in “print condition” of the paper information, and sets the paper ID (any one of the paper ID 1-1, the paper ID 1-2, and the paper ID 1-3) passed from the scan application 101_5 in “link to an original document” of the paper information (Step S422). The print application 100_5 requests the PIDS 201_5 to register paper information and passes the generated paper information to the PIDS 201_5 as a parameter (Step S423). A procedure of operations at Steps S424 to S431 is substantially the same as that at Steps S409 to S416 explained above. Therefore, explanation of the procedure is omitted. However, at Steps S427 to S430, it is the encoder 203_5 that the print application 100_5 requests to encode the paper IDs.
As in the case of the driver print explained above, as a result of the processing, three print results are obtained by converting the three paper IDs issued by the PIDS 201_5 into codes and printing the paper IDs. For example, the paper IDs attached to the print results are referred to as a paper ID 5-1, a paper ID 5-2, and a paper ID 5-3, respectively, in order of the pages. In “link to an original document” of the respective kinds of paper information corresponding to these paper IDs, as explained above, any one of the paper ID 1-1, the paper ID 1-2, and the paper ID 1-3 is set. Therefore, any one of the paper ID 1-1, the paper ID 1-2, and the paper ID 1-3 can be linked to each of the paper ID 5-1, the paper ID 5-2, and the paper ID 5-3. In “link to an original document” of the respective kinds of paper information corresponding to the paper ID 1-1, the paper ID 1-2, and the paper ID 1-3, as explained at step s407, the electronic IDs are set. Therefore, it is possible to acquire a print object electronic document using the electronic IDs. Specifically, if a paper ID of a copy source is linked to a paper ID of a copy destination every time paper is copied, in copying the paper, by tracing a link of the paper information corresponding to the paper IDs, it is possible to reach paper information to which an electronic document as a print source is linked. As a result, it is possible to reach the electronic document. By interposing the paper IDs and the paper information corresponding to the paper IDs in this way, it is also possible to find when and where printing related to the electronic document is performed.
The procedure of the operations of the scan application 101 is divided into the following two cases:
As the case (a), it is assumed that paper printed in the office J1 is carried to the office J2 and reprinted by a multifunction peripheral MFP in the office J2. As the case (b), paper printed in the office J1 is carried to the office J2 and the paper reprinted by the multifunction peripheral MFP in the office J2 is further carried to the office J3 and reprinted again by a multifunction peripheral MP in the office J3. A trust relationship among the multifunction peripherals MFP is the relation shown in
The scan application 101_5 receives the paper ID 1-2 (Step S444). The scan application 101_5 extracts a UUID of the PIDS 201 from the paper ID 1-2 (Step S445). The scan application 101_5 cannot judge whether the PIDS 201 is the PIDS 201_1 only from the UUID. Therefore, the scan application 101_5 passes the UUID to an SRMS 200_5 of the multifunction peripheral MFP5 as a parameter and requests the SRMS 200_5 to acquire service information of the UUID. In other words, the scan application 101_5 requests the SRMS 200_5 to execute the service acquisition 1 (Step S446). The exchange of data between the scan application 101_5 and the SRMS 200_5 is performed in the identical multifunction peripheral MFP5. Therefore, the Web service is not used. The SRMS 200_5 retrieves the designated service information of the UUID using the function of the service acquisition 1 (Step S447). The SRMS 200_5 does not manage service information of the PIDS 201_1. Therefore, the SRMS 200_5 returns error information indicating that “designated service information is not present” to the scan application 101_5 (Step S447). The scan application 101_5 receives the error information (Step S448). The scan application 101_5 requests the SRMS 200_5 to pass a list of service information. In other words, the scan application 101_5 requests the SRMS 200_5 to execute the service acquisition 3 (Step S449). The SRMS 200_5 forms, referring to the trust-relationship-information table 300B stored in the service DB 300_5, a list of service information of the SRMSs 200 having a trust relationship with the SRMS 200_5 and passes the list to the scan application 101_5 using the function of the service acquisition 3 (Step S450). The SRMS 200_5 passes service information of the SRMS 200_5 itself and service information of an SRMS 200_4 to the scan application 101_5. The scan application 101_5 receives the list of the service information (Step S451). The scan application 101_5 passes the UUID extracted at Step S445 to the SRMS 200_4 in the list and requests the SRMS 200_4 to acquire service information of the UUID (execute the service acquisition 1) (Step S452). The multifunction peripheral MFP5 including the scan application 101_5 is the client as the request source of the processing explained referring to
The SRMS 200_4 retrieves the designated service information of the UUID using the function of the service acquisition 1. The SRMS 200_4 does not manage service information of the PIDS 201_1. Therefore, the SRMS 200_4 returns error information indicating that “designated service information is not present” to the scan application 101_5 (Step S453). The scan application 101_5 receives the error information (Step S454). The scan application 101_5 requests the SRMS 200_4 to pass a list of service information (execute the service acquisition 3) (Step S455). The SRMS 200_4 forms, referring to the trust-relationship-information table 300B_4 stored in the service DB 300_4, a list of service information of the SRMSs 200 having a trust relationship with the SRMS 200_4 and passes the list to the scan application 101_5 using the function of the service acquisition 3. The SRMS 200_4 passes service information of the SRMS 200_4 itself and respective kinds of service information of the SRMS 200_2 and the SRMS 200_5 to the scan application 101_5 (Step S456). The scan application 101_5 receives the list of the service information (Step S457). The scan application 101_5 passes the UUID extracted at Step S445 to the SRMS 200_2 in the list as a parameter and requests the SRMS 200_2 to acquire the service information of the UUID (execute the service acquisition 1) (Step S458). Again, the multifunction peripheral MFP5 having the scan application 101_5 is the client as the request source of the processing explained referring to
The SRMS 200_2 retrieves the designated service information of the UUID using the function of the service acquisition 1 (Step S459). The SRMS 200_2 has a trust relationship with the SRMS 200_1. Therefore, the service information of the PIDS 201_1 is stored in a service-information table 300A_2 managed by the SRMS 200_2. Therefore, as a result of the retrieval, the SRMS 200_2 acquires the relevant service information of the PIDS 201_1 and returns the service information to the scan application 101_5 (Step S459). In this way, the service acquisition 1 is executed using the UUID included in the paper ID, the relevant service information is retrieved, the service acquisition 3 is executed when the service information is not obtained, the SRMS 200 having a trust relationship is retrieved, and the SRMS 200 having the trust relationship is caused to execute the service acquisition 1, and the service acquisition 1 and the service acquisition 3 are repeated until the service information is obtained. This processing is referred to as service retrieval.
The scan application 101_5 receives the service information from the SRMS 200_2. The scan application 101_5 judges, referring to “name space” of the service information, what service the service information indicates (Step S460). For example, when “jp.co.ricoh.pids” is set in “name space”, the scan application 101_5 judges that the service information indicates a PIDS. When “jp.co.ricoh.eids” is set in “name space”, the scan application 101_5 judges that the service information indicates an EIDS. Because the service information of the PIDS 201_1 is returned to the scan application 101_5, the name space is “jp.co.ricoh.pids”. Therefore, the scan application 101_5 judges that a service indicated by the service information is the PIDS 201. Then, the scan application 101_5 accesses the PIDS 201_1 referring to “URI” of the service information, passes the paper ID 1-2 acquired at Step S444 to the PIDS 201_1, and requests the PIDS 201_1 to acquire paper information (Step S461). Again, the multifunction peripheral MFP5 having the scan application 101_5 is the client as the request source of the processing explained referring to
The scan application 101_5 requests, using the extracted UUID, the SRMS 200_2, service information of which is finally found in the service retrieval, to execute the service acquisition 1 (Step S464). The service retrieval is performed from the SRMS 200_2 because it is highly likely that service information corresponding to the present retrieval object UUID exists in the SRMS 200_2, which has found the service information of the PIDS 201_2 at Step S459. However, instead of starting the retrieval from the SRMS 200_2, the retrieval may be started from the SRMS 200_5 in the same manner as explained above. Service information of the EIDS 202_1 is stored in the service-information table 300A_2 managed by the SRMS 200_2 because the SRMS 200_2 and the SRMS 200_1 are in a trust relationship. Therefore, as a result of the retrieval, the SRMS 200_2 returns the service information of the EIDS 202_1 to the scan application 101_5 (Step S465).
The scan application 101_5 acquires the service information of the EIDS 202_1. The scan application 101_5 judges, referring to “name space” of the service information, which service the service information indicates (Step S466). The scan application 101_5 judges that a service indicated by the service information is an EIDS because “jp.co.ricoh.eids” is set in the name apace. Then, the scan application 101_5 accesses the EIDS 202_1 referring to “URI” of the service information, passes the ID (the electronic ID) acquired at Step S463 to the EIDS 202_1, and requests the EIDS 202_1 to execute acquisition of electronic information (Step S467). The multifunction peripheral MFP5 having the scan application 101_5 is a client as a request source of the processing explained in
As explained above, in the service retrieval, the service acquisition 1 is executed using a UUID included in a paper ID, a relevant service information is retrieved, the service acquisition 3 is executed when the service information is not obtained, the SRMS 200 having a trust relationship is retrieved, and the SRMS 200 having the trust relationship is caused to execute the service acquisition 1, and the service acquisition 1 and the service acquisition 3 are repeated until the service information is obtained. Moreover, paper information is acquired using the obtained service information, an electronic ID or a paper ID is obtained from “link to an original document” of the paper information, when a paper ID is obtained, paper information corresponding to the paper ID is acquired, and the acquisition of paper information is repeated until an electronic ID is obtained. When an electronic ID is obtained, electronic information and an electronic document (a TIFF file) corresponding to the electronic ID are obtained. As a result, it is possible to perform printing using the electronic document.
At Step S485, the scan application 101_6 extracts a UUID of the PIDS 201 from the paper ID 5-1 passed from the decoder 204_6. The scan application 101_6 cannot judge whether the PIDS 201 is the PIDS 201_5 only from the UUID. Therefore, in the same manner as Step S446 explained above, the scan application 101_6 passes the UUID to an SRMS 200_6 of the multifunction peripheral MFP6 as a parameter and requests the SRMS 200_6 to execute the service acquisition 1 (Step S486). The SRMS 200_6 retrieves service information of the designated UUID using the function of the service acquisition 1. The SRMS 200_6 does not manage service information of the PIDS 201_5. Therefore, the SRMS 200_6 returns error information indicating that “designated service information is not present” to the scan application 101_6 (Step S487). The scan application 101_6 receives the error information (Step S488). The scan application 101_6 requests the SRMS 200_6 to pass a list of service information (execute the service acquisition 3) (Step S489). The SRMS 200_6 refers to a trust-relationship-information table 300B_6 stored in a service DB 300_6 using the function of the service acquisition 3. The multifunction peripheral MFP6 forms a trust relationship with none of the multifunction peripherals MFP1 to MFP5, MFP7, and MFP8. Therefore, service information of the other SRMSs 200 is not stored in a service-information table 300A_6 of the multifunction peripheral MFP6. Therefore, the SRMS 200_6 returns error information indicating that “designated service information is not present” to the scan application 101_6 (Step S490).
The scan application 101_6 receives the error information (Step S491). The scan application 101_6 requests the SRMS 200_6 to perform service retrieval (Step S492). Then, the SRMS 200_6 applies the service retrieval to the SRMS 200_7 and the SRMS 200_8 of the multifunction peripherals MFP7 and MFP8 connected to the intranet NT3 to which the multifunction peripheral MFP6 is connected. The SRMS 200_6 obtains a list of service information of the SRMS 200_7 and the SRMS 200_8 and returns the list to the scan application 101_6 (Step S493). The scan application 101_6 receives the list of service information (Step S494). The scan application 101_6 applies the service retrieval to all the SRMSs 200, service information of which exists in the list, in order (Step S495). First, the scan application 101_6 performs the service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_7. The scan application 101_6 obtains service information of the SRMS 200_3 from the SRMS 200_7, obtains service information of the SRMS 200_2 from the SRMS 200_3, and obtains service information of the SRMS 200_4 from the SRMS 200_2. Service information of the PIDS 201_5 is stored in the service-information table 300A_4 managed by the SRMS 200_4 because the SRMS 200_4 and the SRMS 200_5 are in a trust relationship. Therefore, the SRMS 200_4 reads out the service information of the PIDS 201_5 from the service-information table 300A_4 and returns the service information to the scan application 101_6. As a result, the scan application 101_6 acquires the service information of the PIDS 201_5. As a result of performing the service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_7 in the list of service information obtained at Step S494, retrieval object service information (the service information of the PIDS 201_5) is obtained. Therefore, the scan application 101_6 does not perform the service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_8, service information of which exists in the list. If the service information of the PIDS 201_5 is not obtained as a result of performing the service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_7, the scan application 101_6 performs the service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_8.
The scan application 101_6 judges, referring to “name space” of the obtained service information, a service indicated by the service information (Step S496). The name space is “jp.co.ricoh.pids” because the service information of the PIDS 201_5 is returned. Therefore, the scan application 101_6 judges that the service indicated by the service information is a PIDS. Then, the scan application 101_6 accesses the PIDS 201_5 referring to “URI” of the service information, passes the ID (the paper ID 5-1) acquired at Step S484 to the PIDS 201_5, and requests the PIDS 201_5 to execute paper acquisition (Step S497). The PIDS 201_5 acquires paper information corresponding to the paper ID 5-1 referring to a paper-information table 301A-5 stored in a paper-information DB 301_5 and returns the paper information to the scan application 101_6 (Step S498). The scan application 101_6 acquires the paper information. The scan application 101_6 acquires an ID (the paper ID 1-2) set in “link to an original document” of the paper information and extracts a UUID of the service from the ID in the same manner as Step S463 (Step S499).
The scan application 101_6 performs, using the extracted UUID, service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_4, service information of which is finally found in the service retrieval explained above (Step S500). Alternatively, the scan application 101_6 may perform the service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_6. When the scan application 101_6 performs the service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_4, the scan application 101_6 obtains service information of the SRMS 200_2 from the SRMS 200_4. Service information of the PIDS 201_1 is stored in the service-information table 300A_2 managed by the SRMS 200_2 because the SRMS 200_2 and the SRMS 200_1 are in a trust relationship. Therefore, the SRMS 200_2 reads out the service information of the PIDS 201_1 from the service-information table 300A_2 and returns the service information to the scan application 101_6. As a result, the scan application 101_6 acquires the service information of the PIDS 201_1. Subsequently, the scan application 101_6 judges, referring to “name space” of the obtained service information, a service of the service information (Step S501). The name space is “jp.co.ricoh.pids” because the service information of the PIDS 201_1 is returned. Therefore, the scan application 101_6 judges that the service indicated by the service information is a PIDS.
Then, the scan application 101_6 accesses the PIDS 201_1 referring to “URI” of the service information, passes the ID (the paper ID 1-2) acquired at Step S499 to the PIDS 201_1, and requests the PIDS 201_1 to execute paper acquisition (Step S502). The PIDS 201_1 acquires paper information corresponding to the paper ID 1-2 referring to the paper-information table 301A_1 stored in the paper-information DB 301_1 and returns the paper information to the scan application 101_6 (Step S503). The scan application 101_6 acquires the paper information. The scan application 101_6 acquires an ID (an electronic ID) set in “link to an original document” of the paper information and extracts a UUID of a service (the EIDS 202_1) from the ID in the same manner as Step S463 (Step S504). The scan application 101_6 performs, using the extracted UUID, service retrieval starting from the SRMS 200_2, service information of which is finally found in the service retrieval explained above (Step S505). Service information of the EIDS 202_1 is stored in the service-information table 300A_2 managed by the SRMS 200_2 because the SRMS 200_2 and the SRMS 200_1 are in a trust relationship. Therefore, the SRMS 200_2 reads out the service information of the EIDS 202_1 from the service-information table 300A_2 and returns the service information to the scan application 101_6. As a result, the scan application 101_6 acquires the service information of the EIDS 202_1. The scan application 101_6 judges, referring to “name space” of the obtained service information, which service the service information indicates (Step S506). The scan application 101_6 judges that the service indicated by the service information is an EIDS because “jp.co.ricoh.eids” is set in the name space.
Then, the scan application 101_6 accesses the EIDS 202_1 referring to “URI” of the service information, passes the ID (the electronic ID) acquired at Step S504 to the EIDS 202_1, and requests the EIDS 202_1 to execute acquisition of electronic information (Step S507). The EIDS 202_1 acquires electronic information corresponding to the electronic ID referring to the electronic information table 302A_1 stored in the electronic-information DB 302_1. The EIDS 202_1 acquires the electronic document (the TIFF file) stored in the electronic-document DB 303_1 using the document acquisition function of the repository 205_1 and returns the TIFF file to the scan application 101_6 together with the electronic information (Step S508). The scan application 101_6 acquires the electronic information and the TIFF file. The scan application 101_6 passes a print command including the TIFF file, the paper ID 5-1 obtained from the scan image at Step S484, and the print condition designated by the user on the operation panel 20 to the print application 100_6 (Step S509). Then, the print application 100_6 can execute the processing at Steps S420 to S431 and obtain a print result of three pieces of paper. For example, the print application 100_6 can obtain a print result of three pieces of paper on which code images representing new paper IDs 6-1, 6-2, and 6-3 are printed, respectively.
Thereafter, even if paper repeatedly printed in the office J3 is printed again in any one of the offices J1 to J3, an electronic document as a print source can be obtained because the functions of service acquisition, service retrieval, service retrieval, paper acquisition, and electronic information acquisition are realized as explained above. Therefore, even if the printed paper is copied many times, the printed paper can be printed using the electronic document as the print source. Therefore, it is possible to improve convenience for the user.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment explained above. Various modifications explained below as examples are possible.
The various programs executed by the multifunction peripheral MFP explained above may be stored in the HDD 18 instead of the ROM 12a. The various programs may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided by being downloaded through the network. The various programs may be provided by being recorded in computer-readable recording media such as a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a flexible disk (FD), a compact disk-recordable (CD-R), and a digital versatile disk (DVD) as files of an installable format or an executable format.
Functions of the print application 100, the scan application 101, the encoder 203, the decoder 204, and the repository 205 explained as the functions of the multifunction peripheral MFP in the embodiment are not limited to those explained above. At least two of these functions may be combined, a part of at least one of the functions may be incorporated in the other functions, or the function may be subdivided.
According to the embodiment, a different local ID is issued for each page and a code image of a paper ID including the different local ID is created for each page. However, the same local ID may be issued to all pages included in one electronic document to issue a paper ID including the local ID. A paper ID may be issued for each predetermined number of pages. A code image may be printed on at least one piece of paper among a plurality of pieces of paper. A code image may be printed only on a first page or a specific page. An identical code image may be printed on respective pages.
Information encoded and printed on paper as a code image is not limited to the paper ID. Information associated with the information is not limited to the paper information.
The service DB 300, the paper-information DB 301, the electronic-information DB 302, and the electronic-document DB 303 included in the multifunction peripheral MFP in the embodiment may be stored in a storage device such as a hard disk or may be stored in recording media such as a CD-ROM, an FD, a CD-R, and a DVD detachably insertable in the multifunction peripheral MFP.
According to the embodiment, a new paper ID is issued to the NG paper at step S4014. However, the paper ID issued at step S410 may be used without issuing a new paper ID to the NG paper.
Furthermore, according to the embodiment, reprinting is automatically performed by applying the processing at steps S4007 to S4029 and S416 to the NG paper. However, the NG paper does not always have to be automatically reprinted. In such a case, after step S4006 in
Moreover, according to the embodiment, the NG recording at step S4005 is applied to the NG paper and the NG paper is discharged to the garbage tray 72 at step S4006. However, only one of the NG recording and the discharge to the garbage tray 72 may be performed.
Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the multifunction peripheral MFP is connected to the other multifunction peripherals MFP through the network NT. However, the multifunction peripheral MFP does not have to be connected to the other multifunction peripherals MFP.
As described above, according to an aspect of the present invention, when a code image in which identification information associated with predetermined information is encoded is printed on paper, a print failure of the code image printed on the paper is discriminated by collating the identification information acquired by reading the code image with identification information before being encoded. When a print failure of the code image is discriminated, the print failure of the code image can be notified to a user by printing a predetermined image on the paper. Moreover, when a print failure of the code image is discriminated, consistency of a correspondence relation between the identification information and the predetermined information can be maintained by deleting the predetermined information associated with the identification information before being encoded in the code image.
Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, when a print failure of the code image is discriminated, consistency of a correspondence relation between the identification information and the predetermined information can be maintained by updating the predetermined information stored in the storing means in association with the identification information before being encoded in the code image.
Although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims are not to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying all modifications and alternative constructions that may occur to one skilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein set forth.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007-038237 | Feb 2007 | JP | national |
