Patent Grant
8115945
Embodiments of the present invention comprise methods and systems for imaging device job configuration management.
Imaging devices such as printers, copiers, scanners and fax machines can have a wide array of functions and capabilities to fit specific uses or combinations of uses. Imaging devices often take the form of a multi-function peripheral device (MFP) that combines the functions of two or more of the traditionally separated imaging devices. An MFP may combine any number of imaging devices, but typically comprises the functions of a printer, scanner, copier and fax machine.
Some imaging devices may contain computing resources for data storage and processing such as processors, hard disk drives, memory and other devices. As imaging devices add more features and functions, they become more costly and complex.
More complex imaging devices and MFPs may comprise network connectivity to provide communication with other computing devices, such as personal computers, other imaging devices, network servers and other apparatus. This connectivity allows the imaging device to utilize off-board resources that are available on a connected network.
Imaging devices' typically have a user input panel with an array of buttons, knobs and other user input devices. Some devices also have a display panel, which can be for display only or can be a touch panel display that enables user input directly on the display.
Devices with touch panel displays or displays with buttons arranged in cooperation with the display can display menu data that may be selected by user input. This menu data is typically driven by an on-board server module within the imaging device.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise systems, methods and devices for interacting with a remote computing device from an imaging device. These embodiments comprise remote computing devices configured to communicate with imaging devices, imaging devices configured to communicate with remote computing devices and systems comprising various combinations of remote computing devices in communication with imaging devices.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise methods and systems for imaging device job configuration management.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention may be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Embodiments of the present invention may be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. The figures listed above are expressly incorporated as part of this detailed description.
It may be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the methods and systems of the present invention is not intended to limit the scope of the invention but it is merely representative of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention.
Elements of embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in hardware, firmware and/or software. While exemplary embodiments revealed herein may only describe one of these forms, it is to be understood that one skilled in the art would be able to effectuate these elements in any of these forms while resting within the scope of the present invention.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise interfaces and architecture that integrate imaging devices with remote computing device applications and environments to provide solutions that may not be possible solely with an imaging device alone. Some embodiments comprise an infrastructure and set of interfaces that allow applications on a network to programmatically control imaging device functions and interact with a user through an imaging device input panel. Software functions that are not practical within the imaging device can be performed on the server but are accessible from the imaging device.
For the purposes of this specification and claims, an imaging device (IDev) may be described as a device that performs an imaging function. Imaging functions comprise scanning, printing, copying, image transmission (sending and receiving), image conversion and other functions. Exemplary imaging devices comprise printers, copiers, facsimile machines, scanners, computing devices that transmit, convert or process images and other devices. An IDev may also perform multiple imaging functions. For example, and not by way of limitation, a multi-function peripheral device (MFP), which typically has the capability to perform a plurality of functions comprising a printer, scanner, copier and/or a facsimile machine or image transmitter/receiver, is a type of imaging device. Other MFP imaging devices may comprise other combinations of functions and still qualify as an IDev.
For the purposes of this specification and claims, a remote computing device (RCD) is a device capable of processing data and communicating with other devices through a communications link. An RCD is a remote device because it requires a communications link, such as a network connection, a telephone line, a serial cable or some other wired or wireless link to communicate with other devices such as an imaging device. Some exemplary RCDs are network servers, networked computers and other processing and storage devices that have communications links.
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
These embodiments further comprise a remote computing device (RCD) 6 that is linked to the imaging device 4 via a communications link 10, such as a network connection. This network connection may be a typical wired connection or a wireless link.
Embodiments of the present invention may provide menu data from the RCD 6 to the imaging device UI panel 2 or remote panel 8 via the network connection 10. Once this menu data is fed to the imaging device 4, an UI panel 2, 8 on the imaging device 4 may be used to interact with applications that run on the remote computing device 6. User input received from UI panels 2, 8 may be returned directly to the remote computing device 6.
A Web Service is a software application identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), whose interfaces and binding are capable of being defined, described and discovered by Extensible Markup Language (XML) artifacts and supports direct interactions with other software applications using XML based messages via Internet-based protocols.
An application on the remote computing device 6 may use one or more Web Services to control various features in the imaging device 4, such as enabling, disabling or setting device values or controlling device functions.
Embodiments of the present invention allow network applications running on remote computing devices to interact with the user of the imaging device through the imaging device I/O panel. These embodiments allow imaging device user interface (UI) control (i.e., touch panel, button/display) by applications. Some embodiments may also integrate custom display screens or menus with the native imaging device UI. Embodiments may hand off control of imaging device functions between standard operation modes performed on the imaging device in response to user input to an imaging device UI and open systems modes that utilize network resources, such as applications on RCDs, through user input at the imaging device UI.
Embodiments of the present invention comprise network-based applications that have full control over the imaging device UI to display text and graphics in any format. In these embodiments, the application can programmatically display buttons, textboxes, graphics, etc. in any layout desired.
In some embodiments, the UI layout is easy to program using a standard language, such as a markup language. These languages comprise Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) and other languages.
In some embodiments of the present invention a remote computing device application or server application is able to request a keyboard UI to be displayed on the imaging device display 12, 8. In some embodiments, this functionality is available on the imaging device and does not need to be recreated by remote computing device applications. In some embodiments, the remote computing device may define the keyboard prompt and default values. These embodiments may comprise a remote computing device that is able to rename imaging device UI buttons, such as the OK and Cancel buttons as well as define additional buttons.
In some embodiments, menu templates may be served to the imaging device UI by the imaging device itself 4 or from a remote computing device 6.
External Authorization Application
Some embodiments of the present invention may comprise a remote computing device application that is registered as the External Authorization server. The External Authorization application may control access to the imaging device and may have top-level control of the UI. UI control may be given to this application in the same manner that control is given to an internal auditor.
In these embodiments, when an imaging device system boots, it checks to see if an External Authorization application is registered. If so, the imaging device is placed in disabled mode and the application is contacted to take control of the UI. If the External Authorization server is not available, an error message may be displayed and the device may remain disabled. The imaging device may periodically try to contact the External Authorization server until it is available. Table 1 below describes what entity has control of the UI, in an exemplary embodiment, when the device is in a disabled state.
Remote Computing Device Applications
In embodiments of the present invention, access to the custom UI panels of imaging devices may vary from application to application. Some solutions, such as Document Management integration, may wish to leverage the native Image Send screens, but display some custom UI's to gather additional information about a scan job. Other solutions, like custom printing applications, may be accessed from a separate mode than the native functions.
In order to accommodate the diversified needs of these solutions applications, embodiments may support multiple integration points for UI control. These integration points are based on a user action (“trigger”) for which applications may register. In some embodiments, applications may be registered with target devices so that the device knows that when “trigger A” occurs on the front panel to contact “remote computing device B” for instructions. In exemplary embodiments, applications may be integrated with an imaging device at any of several “trigger” points.
Remote computing devices may be registered to a specific function and contacted when that function's hardware key is pressed (e.g. Image Send) on the imaging device UI. Any UI information provided by the remote computing device may be displayed instead of the standard function screens native to the imaging device. This trigger may be used for applications that wish to replace the existing functions with completely custom UI's, such as an alternative scan solution or a specialized display, such as a “Section 508” compatible screen or other specialized-need interface that may have large buttons or other accommodations.
In some embodiments, each function on the imaging device may have a menu on the touch screen that remote computing devices, such as servers, can register. This enables solutions applications to provide custom content and still use some of the standard functionality provided by the imaging device. When a button assigned to a custom application is selected, a menu may be displayed with the solutions registered to that function. Users may select the desired solution and the remote computing device may be contacted for instructions.
In some embodiments, a stand-alone RCD mode that provides remote computing device application access can be accessed from the job queue portion of the UI that is displayed on every screen. This trigger point may be used for applications that do not fit within one of the standard device functions, such as custom printing solutions on an imaging device. When the RCD menu is selected, a menu may be displayed with the solutions applications registered to the generic RCD mode. Users may select the desired solution and the remote computing device may be contacted for instructions.
Hardware Key Interaction
In some embodiments of the present invention, when an imaging device is enabled, additional hardware keys may be used to manage the device. Hardware key assignments for an exemplary embodiment are shown in table 2.
In some embodiments, in addition to the * key for logout, a timeout period may be implemented. Some embodiments also comprise an auto clear setting that can be configured for a given period of time, such as 10 to 240 seconds (or disabled). In these embodiments, when there is no activity for the time configured in auto clear, the device may automatically return to disabled mode and attempt to contact a remote computing device to retake control of the UI.
Error & Jam Notifications
Depending on a particular solution, a remote computing device application may have full or only partial control of the imaging device UI and a particular imaging job. In some embodiments, partial control may include cases where a remote computing device is monitoring clicks, but native modes are responsible for the UI interaction and controlling the job. Partial control may also include cases where the remote computing device application is integrated with a native mode (UI trigger=function custom menu). In these embodiments, the imaging device may handle all error and jam notifications with only a notification sent to the relevant remote computing device application.
For some embodiments, in cases where the remote computing device application has full control over the UI and the job, error and jam notifications may be handled differently depending on the type of error. For recoverable errors, a notification may be sent to the remote computing device application and the application may be responsible for displaying messages and resolving the error. For non-recoverable errors, the imaging device and RCD mode may interact to gracefully handle the error condition (e.g. provide user with instructions for clearing jam).
Control Handoffs
In some embodiments, at different points throughout an imaging job, several applications may need control over an imaging device including, but not limited to, an External Authorization application, a standard RCD application, an imaging device native mode and other applications. The following section describes, for an exemplary embodiment, the various steps in an exemplary job, the entities that may have control during each step, and what type of control may be allowed.
Step 1: User provides credentials to access the device at the device UI. This step may be controlled by a remote computing device, such as an External Authorization application or by Internal Accounting (native mode) in the imaging device itself. At the end of this step, the device is enabled. The External Authorization application may also specify default parameters or disable specific job parameters (e.g. default file format is PDF, but user may change; color mode is set to B/W and user may not change).
Step 2: User sets parameters for the job using one of the native imaging device modes or a standard RCD application. At the end of this step the user makes an input to initiate the job. When the input is made, an optional notification may be sent to the standard RCD application, which can then change job parameters if desired. An e-mail application is one example of an application that may request notification when the user input is made. A user may use native Image Send screens or other input to select scan options and choose e-mail recipients. A user may then select a custom application button and choose the scan-to-e-mail option from the menu. The e-mail application may then display custom screens for the user to set permissions for the file. Once a user places the original document(s) on the scanner and initiates the process, the e-mail application may capture the destination parameters set by the user and change the target destination to the e-mail application FTP server. The e-mail application may then receive the file, apply the appropriate permissions, and send to the e-mail recipients selected by the user. A remote computing device application may also want to retake control of the UI at this point, if, as in some embodiments, the application generates thumbnails of the scanned images and displays them to the user for verification.
Step 3: Once the job is initiated, the imaging device is responsible for scanning or RIPing the job and spooling it to the HDD. If the imaging device is configured to authorize jobs with an external authorization application, it may send a click report to the application and wait for instructions. The external authorization application may enable the job for sending/printing, cancel the job, or change job parameters (and then enable). As an example, a rules-based printing application may wish to change job parameters after it receives a click report. Some rules-based printing applications support rules-based printing and scanning that can limit what each user is allowed to do based on the time of day, the destination, or many other parameters. For example, only users in the marketing group may be able to scan high-quality color images. If a user from another group selects color and 600 dpi, a rules-based application may change the parameters to color and 200 dpi. At the end of this step the job should either be authorized or canceled.
Step 4: In some embodiments, this may be an optional step, where the standard RCD application in step 2 may have specified the destination as a HDD for temporary storage. This step may also be used, in some embodiments, by a Java application running on the imaging device. For example, a government office may have a custom encryption application running on the device that takes the scanned document, encrypts it, and then requests the imaging device to send it to the target destination selected by the user in step 2. In some embodiments, it may be beneficial to send a notification to the external authorization application after this step—because the imaging device does not know how long the file may be on the HDD or what the application is going to do with it—and after the send/print step.
Step 5: In the final step, the file is actually output. In typical embodiments, the file is either sent over the network or printed locally. At the end of this step, a notification that the job was successfully completed should be sent to the external authorization application and optionally, to the standard RCD application.
Device Control and Management API's
The API's may be used to allow a remote computing device application to control access to an imaging device for vend applications and to manage the device from a remote location.
Device Control and Vend API
In some embodiments of the present invention, a Device Control and Vend API allows applications to enable and disable access to the device and track click counts. The Device Control and Vend API may provide an RCD with the following controls:
Enable/disable device of function—this may allow an RCD to enable or disable access to the device as a whole or by function to enforce individual user privileges. In some exemplary embodiments, the functions listed in Table 3 may be selectively enabled or disabled by an application.
Report clicks used—at the end of a successful job, the clicks used may be reported back to an RCD including:
Debit mode—in these embodiments, when an application enables the device it may specify if the current job requires authorization. If so, the job may be spooled to memory and click information (e.g., as defined in Table 4) may be sent to an RCD. An RCD may then notify the device if the job should be deleted or output/sent. At this point, the application also has the option of changing job parameters. If the application does not require authorization, the job may continue as normal and a click report may be sent at the end of the job.
Print job accounting—in these embodiments, an RCD may wish to monitor print jobs along with walk-up functions. For print job accounting, an IDev may monitor all incoming print jobs and send accounting data in the PJL header to an RCD for verification before printing the job. The RCD may evaluate the accounting data (or lack thereof) and inform the IDev to continue with or cancel the job.
Report on unidentified jobs—in these embodiments, an RCD may also wish to monitor print jobs that it cannot associate to a specific user, such as device reports and incoming fax jobs. The RCD can register to receive click counts for all unidentified jobs, so that it may bill them to a general account.
Device Management API
In some embodiments of the present invention, a Device Management API allows a network application to remotely setup and manage the imaging device. In exemplary embodiments, the Device Management API may provide an RCD with the following controls:
The above groupings are provided only as an exemplary embodiment detailing which settings should be included. In some embodiments, actual API's should be grouped by functional areas since there may be overlap between Key Operator settings and web page settings.
Internal Accounting API
In some embodiments, an Internal Accounting API may allow a remote computing device application to configure internal accounting and report click counts. In some exemplary embodiments an Internal Accounting API may include:
Some embodiments of the present invention may comprise a Font and Form Management API, which allows an RCD application to remotely download and manage fonts and forms in mass-storage. In some exemplary embodiments, a Font and Form Management API may provide a remote computing device with the following controls:
In some embodiments of the present invention, a Firmware Management API may allow a remote computing device or network application to remotely download and manage the imaging device firmware. In some exemplary embodiments, a Firmware Management API may provide a remote computing device (e.g., a server) with the following controls:
In some embodiments of the present invention, device function API's allow a remote computing device application to use existing imaging device functionality to provide new custom solutions.
Image Send API
In some embodiments, an Image Send API may provide the remote computing device application with the following controls:
In some embodiments, a remote computing device can change the default values on the imaging device or the values for the current job. For the current job, the remote computing device may also specify if scan parameters may be modified by the user or not. If one remote computing device application (e.g. Access Control) specifies that a parameter cannot be changed and then a second application (e.g. Document Management) tries to set the parameter, a notification may be sent to the second application and the setting may not be changed.
Print API
In some embodiments, print jobs may be submitted by remote computing device applications using standard printing channels. In some exemplary embodiments, a Print API may provide a remote computing device with the following additional control:
In some embodiments of the present invention, a Copy API may provide a remote computing device with the following exemplary controls:
In some embodiments, a remote computing device can change the default values on the imaging device or the values for the current job. For the current job, the remote computing device may also specify if copy parameters may be modified by the user or not.
Document Filing API
In some embodiments of the present invention, a Document Filing API may provide a remote computing device with the following exemplary controls:
Allowing external applications to control an imaging device opens up the imaging device to new security vulnerabilities. In embodiments of the present invention that provide some security measures, the following exemplary items are security concerns that may be addressed by the remote computing device interface.
Access to remote computing device interfaces may be limited to valid applications. Embodiments provide extensive access and control of the imaging device, which poses a significant security risk. The interface of these embodiments may be protected from access by attackers, while maintaining ease of setup and use for valid solutions.
Confidential data (user credentials and job data) may be protected during network transfer. User credentials and job data may be secured during network transfer to ensure that it cannot be stolen, an intruder cannot monitor device activity, and a man-in-the-middle attack cannot change messages. Imaging devices may support Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and other connections to ensure data is safe while being communicated between the imaging device and remote computing device applications.
Administrators may have the ability to lock-down imaging device access. For users with strict security policies, administrators may have the ability to disable access by remote computing devices or limit access to specific applications. Administrators may have an option to register the limited applications that they wish to access the imaging device interfaces.
Remote computing device applications may ensure the imaging device is not being “spoofed.” The remote computing device may be able to authenticate an imaging device that it is contract with it to ensure an intruder cannot imitate the imaging device to collect network configuration and password information, monitor file/folder structures of a document management system, or spoof security settings and DSK status of the imaging device.
A remote computing device may ensure that the server is not being “spoofed.” The imaging device must be able to authenticate all remote computing devices that it is in contact with to ensure that an intruder is not spoofing the remote computing device's IP address. By pretending to be the remote computing device, an intruder could steal user credentials, redirect scanned documents, change device settings or firmware, or bring down the access control system (either to provide access to unauthorized users or initiate a denial of service attack for valid users).
Access control/vend applications may not be compromised when a remote computing device is unavailable. When the remote computing device is unavailable, it may not be acceptable to provide open access to the device. If the remote computing device is unavailable at startup or becomes unavailable at anytime (e.g. someone disconnects network cable), the imaging device may immediately be disabled and an error message displayed.
An administrator may be able to adjust a security level based on company and application requirements. Security requirements can have a large impact on the time it takes to develop a remote computing device application and the resources required to implement the solution. Users using some embodiments may range from a small business with one imaging device, no IT staff, and a simple scan or print application to a large government office using access control and audit trails to track all device activity. The security measures used to protect imaging device interfaces may be adjustable by the administrator to match the target environment.
The imaging device and remote computing device applications may be able to hand-off user credentials. Users may be prompted to login at multiple points throughout a job. For example, an access control application or accounting application may control total device access, the imaging device may have user authentication enabled for Image Send, and a document management application may require user login before showing a folder list. In many environments, all of these applications may use a common user database. In some embodiments, it is, therefore, desirable for the applications to pass user credentials to each other, so that each one does not have to repeat the authentication process.
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
Imaging device 30 may typically be capable of performing one or more imaging functions including, but not limited to, scanning, printing, copying, facsimile transmission (sending and receiving) and others.
These embodiments further comprise a communications link 38, which may be a wired connection (as shown in
The operation of some imaging device embodiments may be explained with reference to
Imaging devices of these embodiments are further configured to accept input from a user in response to a display of remote menu data and communicate 44 that user input to a remote computing device. In some embodiments, this user input data may be processed by a remote computing device. This may comprise running an application on the remote computing device. This processing may also comprise accessing and communicating data that is stored on the remote computing device.
The imaging devices of these embodiments are further configured to receive 46 data resulting from processing the user input data. This may comprise data generated by an application running on the remote computing device in response to the user input. The imaging device may also receive data that was stored on a remote computing device, such as a file server, in response to processing the user input.
Once the imaging device 30 has received 46 the processed data, the imaging device 30 may perform 48 a native function in response to the data or using the data. For example, and not be way of limitation, the imaging device 30 may print a document that was stored on the remote computing device and modified on the remote computing device according to the user input. As another non-limiting example, the imaging device 30 may active or enable functions (i.e., scanning, copying, printing, fax transmission) on the imaging device in response to the receipt 46 of processed data.
Some, more specific, imaging device embodiments may be explained with reference to
Once the menu data is received 50, it may be displayed 52 on the imaging device user interface display 36. As in previously described embodiments, the menu data is typically intended to prompt user input on imaging device user interface 32. Display 52 of the remotely-stored menu data may be accomplished with a browser application that is native to the imaging device 30.
In these embodiments, the imaging device 30 is further configured to route 54 user input received through its user interface 32 to a remote computing device. The remote computing device that receives the user input may then run an application or otherwise process the user input and return the results of the processing to the imaging device 30. Accordingly, the imaging device 30 is further configured to receive 56 processed data from a remote computing device. In some embodiments, the imaging device 30 may perform one or more functions in response to the receipt 56 of processed data.
Some embodiments of the present invention may be explained with reference to
Embodiments of RCD 60 may be further described with reference to
In some embodiments, described with reference to
An RCD 60, of some embodiments, may be further configured to receive 84 user input obtained through the user interface 32 of an imaging device 30 and transferred to the RCD 60 over communications links 38 & 64. Once this input data is received at an RCD 60, the input data may be processed 86. This processing 86 may comprise conversion of the data to a new format, execution of commands contained within the data or some other process. Once the input data has been processed 86, the processed output may be sent 88 back to the imaging device 30 where the processed output may be used in an imaging device process or function.
In some embodiments, as described with reference to
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
In these embodiments, menu data is stored on RCD 60 and sent 110 to at least one of the imaging devices 30a-30d where the menu data is displayed on a user interface. Any of Imaging devices 30a-30d that receive the menu data are configured to accept 112 and transmit 114 user input to an RCD 60. Once the user input data is received at the RCD, the data may be processed 116 as discussed in previously described embodiments. The result of processing 116 may then be sent 118 back to any combination of the imaging devices 30a-30d.
In these embodiments, a single RCD 60 may be used to provide processing power, resources and functionality to a plurality of imaging devices 30a-30d without reproducing these resources in each imaging device. In some embodiments, data generated by input on one imaging device 30a may be directed to another imaging device 30d for processed data output or final processing.
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
Imaging Device Job Configuration Management Embodiments
Some embodiments of the present invention may allow an application to manage a device specific set of properties without the need for a specific Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) definition for different imaging devices (IDev). In some embodiments, a list of device settable elements may be available to an application at run-time; therefore the application may avoid hard coding the setting at design time. This may avoid the risk of not being able to run correctly on different devices or with different users. A list of device settable elements available to an application may comprise the following: Scanner, paper-source, original-size, paper-size, exposure-mode, exposure-level, duplex-mode, duplex-dir, compression, rotation, file-format, pages2scan, Delivery-info, ftp-destination, delivery-access-point, url-type, Security, UsernameToken, User-name, password, file-info, file name and dest-path.
In some embodiments of the present invention, an application may obtain property names or property value definitions at run-time by sending a request to an IDev. In some exemplary embodiments an application may use the following SOAP methods:
1. GetDeviceSettableElements—an application may use this method to retrieve a list of properties that this application has been allowed to manage. The IDev may return a list of properties that the application is allowed to manage in the form of property descriptors. The actual scope of settable properties returned by this SOAP method may vary and may be affected by the user scope of rights and other factors. For example, if a particular user scope of rights, defined in <acl/>, states that for a copy job type this particular user account must use double-sided output then the corresponding descriptor for this property may only allow this setting for this property for this user on this device. On the other hand, an administrator account may not be limited in that respect by means of an <acl/> definition and therefore may be allowed to manage that particular property or properties to a full extent.
2. GetDeviceElements—An application may use this method to retrieve a current value of particular IDev property or properties. The application may designate the actual property or properties of interest by using generic property descriptors.
3. SetDeviceElements—An application may use this method to set a new value for a particular IDev property or properties. The application may designate the actual property or properties of interest by using the generic property descriptors.
In some embodiments of the present invention, an application may assume some additional responsibilities when controlling an IDev. In some embodiments an application may obtain, at run-time, from each device, a list of properties that it may use when configuring a job. This list may be provided to the application in response to a GetDeviceSettableElements SOAP request. This list may comprise a detailed descriptor list of settable variables along with constraints that the device may impose on the application for a given account.
In other embodiments of the present invention, an application may also be required to construct a job definition list (JDL). A JDL may comprise a list of elements with properly assigned values that is created using the rules provided to the application in the descriptor list which was received from the IDev. An application may be required to use the JDL when making a SetDeviceElements SOAP request to an IDev.
In some embodiments of the present invention, An IDev may have additional responsibilities imposed at implementation. An IDev may be required to implement and support an advanced parsing scheme that is based on the principle that an individual property may be provided by the application in polymorphic form. After parsing the property received from the application, the IDev may report a SOAP fault when it receives a property definition with an unknown property name, a value assigned to a property that is out of scope or a property definition that is out of scope in terms of element multiplicity. In an exemplary embodiment, an IDev may report a fault when it receives a property describing multiple FTP destinations and the IDev cannot support delivery to multiple FTP destinations.
In some embodiments of the present invention, an application may configure jobs in terms of setting values to properties associated with a job type. Some IDevs may have a slightly different set of properties that they would like to expose to an application and allow them to be managed by the application. This flexibility may be difficult to achieve with current methods that expose IDev properties to applications directly via the WSDL definition file. Current systems may require several different versions of WSDL for application interface that define the specific properties of each particular device, making it difficult to write an application that may function on multiple devices at the same time. Some embodiments of the present invention may solve this problem by providing a generic and device independent mechanism for management of device/job properties. In some embodiments, each device/job property that an application may be allowed to manage may have been defined using a generic syntax, e.g. property descriptor.
In some embodiments of the present invention, there may be two or more types of property descriptors used. One type of descriptor may describe a device/job property in terms of syntax, type and allowed content. This type of descriptor may be used to describe each property.
Another type of descriptor may be used to get or set the actual value to a given property. This type may be used to set or get a particular property value. These descriptors may provide a generic property description mechanism that may enable the IDev to describe its settable elements to the application in generic terms using the property descriptor types.
In some embodiments of the present invention, an application may obtain a list of settable properties from an IDev in the response message of a GetDeviceSettableElements soap request. In some embodiments, the scope of settable values for any property on any device may change depending on the user. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, settable properties received for one user may allow the application to select color printing while in another instance with a different user the application may be required to use just black and white. This may be accomplished by means of an ACL definition for the account behind the job.
Some embodiments of the present invention may use Property Descriptor Type Definitions. These may be XML Schema type elements and may be used to define each device/job property. These may comprise compositors used to describe a property. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a COMPLEX_DSC_TYPE compositor may be used. This compositor may be used to describe complex definitions. A complex definition may be a definition that consists of zero or more PROPERTY_DSC_TYPE definitions and/or other nested COMPLEX_DSC_TYPE definitions such as defining an FTP destination consisting of an IP address, file name, path, security complex structure, etc. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a PROPERTY_DSC_TYPE compositor may be used. This compositor may be used to describe a simple property such as an IP address, user ID, etc. Each property may be uniquely described.
In still further exemplary embodiments, a COMPLEX_SET_TYPE compositor may be used to set a property value. This compositor may be used to define a new value of a complex property. A complex property of this type may contain zero or more instances of PROPERTY_SET_TYPE definitions and/or other nested COMPLEX_SET_TYPE complex definitions. A PROPERTY_SET_TYPE compositor may be used to define a new value for a simple property identified by this type.
In some embodiments of the present invention, a Simple Descriptor Type Compositor may be used to describe simple properties. In some exemplary embodiments, a PROPERTY_DSC_TYPE compositor may be used. This compositor may be used for describing each and every device simple property, which may be a property that does not have child elements and has been exposed to an application. An exemplary embodiment of a PROPERTY_DSC_TYPE compositor may comprise the following;
wherein:
AppInfo is an element that contains a list of rules and constraints imposed on the value the property that is being described and that the application should take into account when validating the user input.
Value is an element in the property descriptor that specifies a default value for the property.
allowedValueList is an element that serves as a container for a list of allowed values of enumerated type.
sys-name is an attribute whose value specifies a system variable name known to the device.
isType is an attribute that defines the property type such as bool (this type descriptor may be used to describe device properties of Boolean types), integer (this type descriptor may be used to describe properties of integer types), string (this type descriptor may be used to describe properties of string types), list (this type descriptor may be used to describe properties of enumerator types, where only one element can be selected)
The multiplicity of the user choice is controlled by the maxOccurs attribute.
sequence—This type descriptor may be used to describe complex properties. This type imposes an order in which the properties are defined.
choice—This type descriptor may be used to describe complex properties. This type imposes a rule where only one element can be selected from the provided list of choices.
all—This type descriptor may be used to describe complex properties. This type imposes a rule where any element, more then one element from the list can be selected in any order.
operation—This type descriptor may be used to describe an operation.
minOccurs—The value of the minOccurs attribute of the COMPLEX_DSC_TYPE element determines the minimum number of occurrences of this group described by this complex definition. If the value of this property has been set to 0, zero, then this element is considered optional.
maxOccurs—The value of the maxOccurs attribute of the COMPLEX_DSC_TYPE element determines the maximum number of occurrences of this group described by this complex definition.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an instance of this type may comprise the following:
In some embodiments of the present invention, property descriptors may have a complex structure that includes validation hints that the application may use when validating user input. The constraint information that the IDev imposes on some of the properties may be communicated to the application via the <appInfo/> container element. Depending on the actual property type, the list of validation hints may vary and may have zero or more validation rules attached to it. In an exemplary embodiment, each individual validation rule may be expressed to the application by means of using the <hasConstraint name=“validator name”>value<hasConstraint/>XML element inside the <appInfo/> descriptor:
Wherein: The value of the name attribute of the <hasConstraint/> element specifies a specific validation rule to be applied by the application when processing the element. For example, for string type it may say that the validator to be used is the “minLength” and the value to use is 16, which means that when the application should accept a string that has the minimum length of 16 characters. The value of the <hasConstraint/> element may provide the actual data for the validator. The following “validators” may be supported:
Validator Description
regex Regular expression.
minLength Imposes minimum length on the string.
maxLength Imposes maximum length on the string
minValue Imposes a minimum value on an integer
maxValue Imposes maximum value on an integer
In other embodiments of the present invention, a Complex Descriptor Type Compositor may be used to describe complex properties. In an exemplary embodiment a COMPLEX_DSC_TYPE compositors may be used for describing each and every device complex property that has been exposed to an application and may comprise:
wherein:
property is a description of a simple property in this complex definition. There maybe zero or more simple property definitions.
complex is a description of a complex property in this complex definition. There may be zero or more complex/nested descriptions of properties.
sys-name is a value that specifies a system variable name known to the device.
isType is an attribute that defines the property type. The following may be allowed values for this attribute:
bool—This type descriptor may be used to describe device properties of Boolean types.
integer—This type descriptor may be used to describe properties of integer types.
string—This type descriptor may be used to describe properties of string types.
list—This type descriptor may be used to describe properties of enumerator types, where only one element can be selected. The multiplicity of the user choice may be controlled by the maxOccurs attribute.
sequence—This type descriptor may be used to describe complex properties. This type imposes an order in which the properties are defined.
choice—This type descriptor may be used to describe complex properties. This type imposes a rule where only one element can be selected from the provided list of choices.
all—This type descriptor may be used to describe complex properties. This type imposes a rule where any element, more then one element from the list can be selected in any order.
operation—This type descriptor may be used to describe operation.
minOccurs—The value of the minOccurs attribute of the COMPLEX_DSC_TYPE element may determine the minimum number of occurrences of this group described by this complex definition. If the value of this property has been set to 0, zero, then this element is considered optional.
maxOccurs—The value of the maxOccurs attribute of the COMPLEX_DSC_TYPE element may determine the maximum number of occurrences of this group described by this complex definition.
In further exemplary embodiments, an instance may comprise:
In further embodiments of the present invention, a Simple Set Type Compositor may be used. In an exemplary embodiment, an application may use a PROPERTY_SET_TYPE compositor to define a new value to a simple property. This compositor may comprise:
In further exemplary embodiments, an instance of this type may comprise:
Sys-name—The value of this attribute may specify a system variable name known to the device.
In other embodiments of the present invention a Complex Set Type Compositor may be used. In an exemplary embodiment, an application may use a COMPLEX_SET_TYPE compositor to define a new value to a complex property. An exemplary embodiment may comprise:
wherein:
property is a description of a simple property in this complex definition. There may be zero or more simple property definitions.
complex is a description of a complex property in this complex definition. There may be zero or more complex/nested description of properties.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an instance of this type may comprise:
Attr. Name Description
sys-name—The value of this attribute specifies a system variable name known to the device.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, descriptor types may comprise the following:
Simple Descriptor Type Compositors: (This class of property descriptors defines descriptors for very basic properties, such as: Boolean values, numbers and strings.)
Boolean Type Descriptor (This type of descriptor may be used to describe Boolean type properties).
Example of Descriptor Use:
Integer Type Descriptor (This type of descriptor may be used to describe numeric type properties) example of descriptor use:
String Type Descriptor (This type of descriptor may be used to describe string type properties) example of descriptor use:
Enumerator type—The List Type
This type of descriptors may be used to describe single-choice enumerated types. The following is an example of such descriptor use:
In some embodiments of the present invention Complex Descriptor Type Compositors may provide a mechanism for describing more complex device properties like FTP destination, e-mail description, etc. This class of descriptors serves as a container that allows building more complex types.
In other embodiments of the present invention, a “sequence” Type Descriptor may be used to describe complex types, where all elements must be provided in the order defined by this descriptor. The following is an example of such descriptor use:
In still other embodiments of the present invention, a “choice” Type Descriptor may be used to describe complex types, where only one element of the group may be provided as defined by this descriptor. The following is an example of such descriptor use:
In further embodiments of the present invention, an “all” Type Descriptor may be used to describe complex types, where any of the elements from the list can appear in any order. The following is an example of such descriptor use:
In other embodiments of the present invention, an “operation” Type Descriptor may be used to describe operations that the application may be allowed to execute. This descriptor may be reserved for administrative jobs.
In some embodiments of the present invention, SOAP Method Signatures may be used. An exemplary embodiment of the present invention may use the following SOAP method signatures:
GetDeviceSettableElements SOAP method signature:
Arg(This is a mandatory complex type element. It specifies sub-set of properties specific to a job type that the remote application can set. The proposed definition for this complex argument has been presented below):
Where “UI_USER_TYPE” has been defined as
In some embodiments of the present invention, the GetDeviceSettableElements method may return an xml-doc element, which may contain a list of property descriptions associated with a given job type. The application may be allowed to configure these property descriptions for a current account. The definition of the xml-doc element that may be returned by the GetDeviceSettableElements SOAP request may comprise the following:
Further exemplary embodiments of this SOAP request when passing <JobId/> as an argument may comprise the following:
Further exemplary embodiments of this SOAP request when passing <job-type/> as an argument may comprise the following:
Still further exemplary embodiments of this SOAP request when passing <ui-user/> as an argument may comprise the following:
In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a SOAP response message may be received in response to the SOAP GetDeviceSettableElements request: The response message may comprise the following:
The following is the proposed signature for the SetDeviceElements SOAP method:
Synopsis
JobId. This is a mandatory argument that identifies a specific job on the IDev.
config-data List of settable properties specific to a job type using generic description format, e.g. the XML_DOC_SET_TYPE type definition.
In terms of WSDL this complex element has been defined as follows:
In some embodiments of the present invention a GetDeviceElements SOAP request method may be used to provide an application with a mechanism to read current values of a property within the scope of the given job type. This may be an argument that identifies a specific job on the IDev Property List of job properties that the application would like to obtain current values of. Typically, at least one <property/> element may be specified. If a request is successful, the IDev may respond with a SOAP response message that may contain a list of property/properties along with the current values as requested by the application. Values of all listed properties may be enclosed inside the <xml-doc-get/> container element, which may be of XML_DOC_SET_TYPE type.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention a GetDeviceElements SOAP request method may comprise the following:
In some embodiments of the present invention, a SOAP fault element may be returned to the caller in case of an error. The return property values may be those of the job, meaning that they may come from the job object and not from actual hardware registers. This may be because each job manages its job properties and the job object is responsible for storing them. These settings may eventually end up in the actual hardware registers at the time of ExecuteJob request. The <property sys-name=“property name”/> argument passed to this method may be used to specify the actual system property by name that the caller is interested in. Because this is a read operation, this argument may not have any value in this call. If a value has been specified, the server may not process the request. In some embodiments of the present invention, a SOAP fault element may be returned to the caller in case of an error.
In some embodiments of the present invention, both simple and complex properties may use the same <property../> format in the request. In some cases, the property names designated in the sys-name attribute may be unique names. In such cases, specifying just the property name itself may be sufficient to uniquely identify a given job property. For example <property sys-name=“paper-source”/>. However, in some embodiments there may be cases where the property name may not evaluate to a unique property address. In such cases, an application may be required to provide a fully qualified property name using XPath notation. In cases where the server may not be able to resolve the property name to a unique address, a SOAP Fault may be returned to the application. A property name may not directly evaluate to a unique property address if there is multiple use of the element, e.g. a particular element may be used in different structures, or if a particular structure may be allowed to appear more than once in the settings, thus each element of the structure may appear several times. An example of this may be multiple ftp destinations for a scan job type.
In further embodiments of the present invention, when specifying a property name that is part of an array, an application may uniquely identify the row by means of providing an index. The value of the index may be within the scope: <property sys-name=”/scanner/delivery-info/ftp-destination/Security”/><property sys-name=“/scanner/delivery-info/ftp-destination[0]/Security”/><property sys-name=“/scanner/delivery-info/ftp-destination[3]/Security”/>. In some embodiments, if a property is of array type and the application has not specified an array index, the server may assume the zero index, e.g. the first element in the array. In some embodiments, an application may request to read settings from multiple properties in one call. In this instance, the IDev may create the response message and may provide the property values in the same order as requested in the call. It is also possible that the application may request to read a particular property value more then one time. In such case, the response message may contain multiple instances of it as well.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention a GetDeviceElements SOAP request method may comprise the following:
In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a SOAP response message may be sent in response to the SOAP GetDeviceElements request: The response message may comprise the following:
In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention a GetDeviceElements SOAP request method may comprise an XML example of this SOAP request where the server supports an array of ftp destinations:
In other exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a SOAP response message sent in response to the immediately preceding SOAP GetDeviceElements request may comprise the following:
In still other exemplary embodiments of the present invention a GetDeviceElements SOAP request method may comprise an XML example of this SOAP request demonstrating a case where a particular property, such as the paper source, has been requested several times:
In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a SOAP response message sent in response to the immediately preceding SOAP GetDeviceElements request may comprise the following:
In some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a fully qualified property name may comprise: <property sys-name=“/scanner/paper-source”/><property sys-name=“/scanner/delivery-info/ftp-destination”/><property sys-name=“/scanner/delivery-info/ftp-destination[1]/Security”/>.
Some embodiments of the present invention may comprise a stand-alone imaging device (IDev) with internal processing capabilities. Other embodiments may comprise an imaging device (IDev) in communication with one or more remote computing devices (RCDs).
Some embodiments of the present invention, illustrated in
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
Some embodiments of the present invention, illustrated in
Some embodiments of the present invention, illustrated in
Some embodiments of the present invention, illustrated in
Further embodiments of the present invention, illustrated in
Still other embodiments of the present invention, illustrated in
In further embodiments, illustrated in
Other embodiments of the present invention, illustrated in
In other embodiments, illustrated in
In other embodiments, illustrated in
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
Some embodiments of the present invention may be described with reference to
The terms and expressions which have been employed in the forgoing specification are used therein as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention in the use of such terms and expressions of excluding equivalence of the features shown and described or portions thereof, it being recognized that the scope of the invention is defined and limited only by the claims which follow.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/962,248, entitled “Methods and Systems for Imaging Device Remote Application Interaction, filed on Oct. 8, 2004; this application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/961,793, entitled “Methods and Systems for Imaging Device Remote Form Management, filed on Oct. 8, 2004; this application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/961,911, entitled “Methods and Systems for Imaging Device Remote Location Functions, filed on Oct. 8, 2004; this application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/961,594, entitled “Methods and Systems for Imaging Device Remote document Management, filed on Oct. 8, 2004; and this application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/962,103, entitled “Methods and Systems for Imaging Device Document Translation, filed on Oct. 8, 2004; this application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/704,066, entitled “Methods and Systems for Imaging Device Applications,” filed Jul. 28, 2005.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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