This patent application is based on and claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-124550, filed on Jun. 23, 2016 in the Japan Patent Office, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, a method of managing a web application, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium.
There has been a demand for customization of user interfaces or settings of applications installed in an image forming apparatus based on workflows that differ depending on industries or tasks.
For example, it has been already known that an administrator edits profiles, which are configuration information of an operation screen displayed on a control panel of a device, when using a Scan to Storage service. The profiles are information relating to the operation screen displayed on the control panel. The profiles include information relating to virtual keys on the screen, a layout of the screen, scanning conditions, manipulations to be performed on image data obtained by scanning, and a storage in which the image data is to be stored (delivered).
To customize the user interfaces or settings of the applications used in the image forming apparatus based on the workflows that differ depending on industries or tasks, manufacturers of the image forming apparatus gather information about a user's industry or tasks. In consideration of the gathered information, the manufacturers of the image forming apparatus incorporate, into the applications, the settings that are suitable to the user's industries or tasks.
An information processing apparatus for managing one or more web applications includes a memory and circuitry. The memory includes a first memory area and a second memory area. The first memory area stores one or more pieces of application initial data, each application initial data including a set of a web application and settings of the web application, and one or more packages of the application initial data. The second memory area is associated with an organization, and stores at least one of the packages that has been sold to the organization. The circuitry copies at least one package of the packages being sold to the organization from the first memory area to the second memory area to allow an electronic device of the organization to use the web application based on the package stored in second memory area.
A more complete appreciation of the embodiments and many of the attendant advantages and features thereof can be readily obtained and understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The accompanying drawings are intended to depict embodiments of the present invention and should not be interpreted to limit the scope thereof. The accompanying drawings are not to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted.
In describing embodiments illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the disclosure of this specification is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that have a similar function, operate in a similar manner, and achieve a similar result.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the multiple forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Hereinafter, a description is given of several embodiments of the present disclosure with reference drawings.
The planner terminal 12 is a terminal apparatus operated by, for example, a planner of a manufacturer of the image forming apparatus 20. The planner accesses the service provision system 10 from the planner terminal 12 to design a product or add a package, which is described later. The sales person terminal 14 is a terminal apparatus operated by, for example, a person in charge of sales of a manufacturer of the image forming apparatus 20. The person who is in charge of sales accesses the service provision system 10 from the sales person terminal 14 to set up a tenant or install the package to the tenant, for example. For example, the person who is in charge of sales sets up the tenant and installs the package to the tenant in response to an installation request from a sales representative after the conclusion of a sales contract. The tenant is set up for each organization such as a company, a group in the company, and a division in the company, or any group of individuals.
The system administrator terminal 16 is a terminal apparatus that is operated by, for example, a system administrator on a user side. The system administrator accesses the service provision system 10 from the system administrator terminal 16 to prepare for usage. For example, the system administrator accesses the service provision system 10 from the system administrator terminal 16 to add a user to the tenant or to customize settings of an application profile. A description is given later of the preparation for usage. Further, the system administrator logs in the image forming apparatus 20 to perform preparation for enabling the image forming apparatus 20 to access the service provision system 10. For example, the system administrator performs device registration or URL registration. Alternatively, a service engineer of the manufacturer may perform the preparation for usage in place of the system administrator.
The end user terminal 18 is a terminal apparatus operated by a user of the tenant. The user of the tenant may be referred to as an “end user” hereinafter. The end user accesses the service provision system 10 from the end user terminal 18 or the image forming apparatus 20 to use Scan to Storage service or Job Print service. Each of the planner terminal 12, the sales person terminal 14, the system administrator terminal 16, and the end user terminal 18 is an information processing apparatus such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a desktop PC, and a laptop computer.
The image forming apparatus 20 is an electronic device such as a laser printer and a multifunction peripheral (multifunction printer). A web browser is installed on the image forming apparatus 20. The web browser processes a web content received from the service provision system 10. The image forming apparatus 20 processes the web content provided from the service provision system 10 to perform processes of the Scan to Storage service or the Job Print service.
The service provision system 10 is implemented by one or more information processing apparatuses. The service provision system 10 controls a system configuration management site accessed from the planner terminal 12 or the sales person terminal 14. Further, the service provision system 10 controls a system management site accessed from the system administrator terminal 16. Furthermore, the service provision system 10 manages the tenant, the user, application data, and the application profile to provide the user with the Scan to Storage service or the Job Print service.
The configuration illustrated in
Each of the planner terminal 12, the sales person terminal 14, the system administrator terminal 16 and the end user terminal 18 of
The input device 501 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and/or a touch panel enabling a user to input various operation instruction. The display device 502 includes a display on which results of processing by the computer 500 are displayed.
The communication interface 507 is an interface device to connect the computer 500 to various networks. The computer 500 performs data communication via the communication interface 507.
The HDD 508 is an example of a nonvolatile storage device that stores programs or data therein. Examples of the programs or data stored in the HDD 508 include an operating system (OS) for controlling an entire operation of the computer 500 and application software providing various functions on the OS. The computer 500 may include, instead of the HDD 508, a drive device such as a solid state drive that uses a flash memory as a storage medium.
The external interface 503 is an interface device with an external device. Examples of the external device include a storage medium 503a. The external interface 503 enables the computer 500 to read or write data from or to the storage medium 503a. Examples of the storage medium 503a include a flexible disc, a compact disc (CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), a SD memory card, and a universal serial bus (USB) memory.
The ROM 505 is an example of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory (storage device), which holds programs or data even after the computer 500 is turned off as the power is not supplied. The ROM 505 stores programs and data such as a basic input output system (BIOS), which is executed when the computer 500 starts up, OS settings, and network settings. The RAM 504 is an example of a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device), which holds programs or data temporarily.
The CPU 506 reads programs or data from a storage device such as the ROM 505 and the HDD 508 onto the RAM 504, and executes processing to implement the entire control of the computer 500 or functions of the computer 500. The planner terminal 12, the sales person terminal 14, the system administrator terminal 16, and the end user terminal 18 implement processes or functions as described later with the example hardware configuration of the computer 500 as illustrated in
The image forming apparatus 20 illustrated in
The controller 601 includes a CPU 611, a RAM 612, a ROM 613, a non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM) 614, and a HDD 615. The ROM 613 stores various programs and data. The RAM 612 stores programs and data temporarily. The NVRAM 614 stores setting information, etc., for example. The HDD 615 stores various programs and data.
The CPU 611 performs processing according to the programs, data, setting information, etc., read from the ROM 613, the NVRAM 614, the HDD 615, etc., onto the RAM 612 to control an entire operation of the image forming apparatus 20 and implement functions.
The control panel 602 includes an input unit that receives a user input, and a display unit that displays various types of information. The external interface 603 is an interface device with an external device. Examples of the external device include a storage medium 603a. The external interface 603 enables the image forming apparatus 20 to read or write data from or to the storage medium 603a. Examples of the storage medium 603a include an IC card, a flexible disc, a CD, a DVD, a SD memory card, and a USB memory.
The communication interface 604 is an interface device to connect the image forming apparatus 20 to the network 22. The image forming apparatus 20 performs data communication via the communication interface 604. The printer 605 is a printing device that forms an image on a transferred medium in accordance with print data. Examples of the transferred medium include paper, coated paper, thick paper, overhead projector (OHP) transparencies, plastic films, pre-preg, and copper foil. The scanner 606 is a reading device that scans a document to obtain image data (electronic data).
The service provision system 10 according to the present embodiment is implemented by processing blocks as illustrated in
As illustrated in
The application data storage unit 40 stores application data, which are described later. The application profile storage unit 42 stores an application profile, which is described later. The tenant/user information storage unit 44 stores tenant information and user information.
The system configuration management site controller 30 controls the system configuration management site accessed from the planner terminal 12 or the sales person terminal 14. The application data management unit 32 manages the application data stored in the application data storage unit 40 and the application profile stored in the application profile storage unit 42. The system management site controller 34 controls the system management site accessed from the system administrator terminal 16. The tenant/user management unit 36 manages the tenant information and the user information stored in the tenant/user information storage unit 44.
The information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment performs steps in an operation as illustrated in
At S12, the person who is in charge of sales accesses the system configuration management site of the service provision system 10 from the sales person terminal 14 to set up the tenant or install the package to the tenant based on an installation request from a sales representative after the conclusion of a sales contract.
At S13, the system administrator accesses the system management site of the service provision system 10 from the system administrator terminal 16 to perform preparation for usage such as adding a user to the tenant and customizing the application profile settings described later. Further, the system administrator logs in the image forming apparatus 20 to perform preparation for enabling the image forming apparatus 20 to access the service provision system 10. The process at S13 enables the end user to use the application of the package installed to the tenant.
At S14, the end user accesses the service provision system 10 from the end user terminal 18 or the image forming apparatus 20 to use the application contained in the package installed to the tenant. The end user may access the service provision system 10 from the end user terminal 18 to configure personal application settings.
Hereinafter, descriptions are given of the application initial data, the package, and the application profile according to the present embodiment.
The base application is a module having a screen constituting a basis. Examples of the base application include a scan base application, a print base application, and a storage base application. An application part contained in the base application is a module that sets a function such as scanning and printing, for example, to control operation of the image forming apparatus 20.
The application setting is a set of initial setting values that the application possesses. The application setting includes a user interface (UI) setting and a flow. The UI setting is a setting of a label or an icon. The flow is a flow executed by the application part after scanning or before printing.
For example, the planner of the manufacturer designs the application initial data as illustrated on the right side of the
For example, the initial data of the Scan to Storage application include a scan base application as the base application. Further, the initial data of the Scan to Storage application include a cloud storage delivery flow as the flow of the application setting. The initial data of the mark sheet score calculation application include the scan base application as the base application. Further, the initial data of the mark sheet score calculation application include a mark sheet score calculation flow as the flow of the application setting.
The initial data of the Print from Storage application include a print base application as the base application. Further, the initial data of the Print from Storage application include a cloud storage acquisition flow as the flow of the application setting. The planner of the manufacturer is able to design the application initial data as illustrated in
Further, the planner of the manufacturer is able to change the flow of the application initial data, resulting in change in processing of the application. For example, the planner replaces the flow of the application initial data to change a destination to which scanned data is to be delivered or to add notification by an email. The planner of the manufacturer is able to register the application initial data adapting to a desired industry or task as well as standard application initial data with the service provision system 10, as illustrated in
For example, a sales representative sells the package as illustrated in
The application area is an area in which the package is stored. The tenant is an area that is provided for each of a plurality of tenants. In the present disclosure, the package that is associated with the tenant is referred to as the application profile. In the application profile, the initial setting value contained in the application initial data of the package is converted to a setting value of the tenant. The system administrator is able to change the setting value of the tenant contained in the application profile, as described later. Further, the end user is able to define a desired setting from items selectable according to the setting value of the tenant.
For example, in
In the image forming apparatus 20, the home screen displayed on the control panel 602 of the image forming apparatus 20 transitions as illustrated in
When the login is successful, the planner registers the application initial data with the service provision system 10 from the planner terminal 12. Specifically, at S23, the planner terminal 12 sends a request for generation of the application initial data to the system configuration management site controller 30 according to the planner's instruction. At S24, the system configuration management site controller 30 sends the request for generation of the application initial data to the application data management unit 32. For example, the system configuration management site controller 30 causes the planner terminal 12 to display an application initial data edit screen as illustrated in
Referring again to the sequence diagram of
At S32, the system configuration management site controller 30 of the service provision system 10 sends the request for generation of the tenant to the tenant/user management unit 36. At S33, the tenant/user management unit 36 assigns a tenant ID to generate the tenant. At S34, the system configuration management site controller 30 performs user registration for the system administrator of the tenant.
At S35, the person who is in charge of sales requests acquisition of package information registered in the service provision system 10 from the sales person terminal 14. Specifically, the sales person terminal 14 sends, to the system configuration management site controller 30, a request for acquisition of the package information registered in the service provision system 10. At S36, the system configuration management site controller 30 of the service provision system 10 requests the application data management unit 32 to acquire information listing the packages. The application data management unit 32 sends the information listing the packages stored in the application data storage unit 40 to the system configuration management site controller 30. The system configuration management site controller 30 causes the sales person terminal 14 to display the information listing the packages stored in the application data storage unit 40.
At S37, the person who is in charge of sales selects a desired package and requests the service provision system 10 to install the selected package to the tenant from the sales person terminal 14. At S38, the system configuration management site controller 30 of the service provision system 10 requests the application data management unit 32 to install the package to the tenant. The application data management unit 32 installs the package in the application area to the tenant area as the application profile, as illustrated in
With the processes of S37 and S38, the application profile as indicated by an object diagram of
Hereinafter, a description is given of the preparation of usage of the application performed at S13 of
Hereinafter, a description is given of the usage of the application performed at S14 of
Hereinafter, a description is given of a range of the application setting that can be customized by the planner and the system administrator. It is assumed that the following items are all items that can be customized in the application.
All items:
For example, the planner is able to create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) the application initial data in the following range of the application settings:
For example, the system administrator is able to create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) the application instance in the following range of the application settings:
For example, the end user is able to apply personal settings to each application instance and use each application instance to which the persona settings is applied in the following range of the application settings:
In addition, the end user defines the personal settings from a list of items of the application settings as illustrated in
As described heretofore, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, the service provision system 10 manages the application initial data constituted by the combination of the application and the application setting. Further, in the service provision system 10, the standard package, the package dedicated to a specific industry, and/or the package dedicated to a specific task, are created in advance. This makes it easier for a sales representative to sell a solution to a customer. Accordingly, with the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to improve efficiency in selling an application used in the image forming apparatus 20. Hereinafter, a description is given of another embodiment of the present disclosure. In the above-described embodiment, examples of the application initial data edit screen are illustrated in
Further, the system management site controller 34 causes the system administrator terminal 16 to display the application setting edit screen as illustrated in
Further, the system management site controller 34 causes the end user terminal 18 to display an application setting screen as illustrated in
The information processing system 1 described in the above embodiments is just an example, and there may be various system configurations depending on applications or purposes. The image forming apparatus 20 is an example of an electronic device described in the appended claims. The service provision system 10 is an example of an information processing apparatus that manages one or more web applications that the electronic apparatus uses via a network.
According to an aspect of the present invention, efficiency is improved in selling a web application used in an electronic device.
The above-described embodiments are illustrative and do not limit the present invention. Thus, numerous additional modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, elements and/or features of different illustrative embodiments may be combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within the scope of the present invention.
Any one of the above-described operations may be performed in various other ways, for example, in an order different from the one described above.
Each of the functions of the described embodiments may be implemented by one or more processing circuits or circuitry. Processing circuitry includes a programmed processor, as a processor includes circuitry. A processing circuit also includes devices such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), DSP (digital signal processor), FPGA (field programmable gate array) and conventional circuit components arranged to perform the recited functions.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016-124550 | Jun 2016 | JP | national |