JP2005173892A - Execution instruction method for service cooperative processing and service cooperative processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an execution instruction method for service cooperative processing and a service cooperative processing system that can reduce a load concerned with instructions for service cooperative processing. <P>SOLUTION: When there is service cooperative processing of "scanning→image correction→facsimile transmission→job completion notice mail transmission", the service cooperative processing is divided into several parts. For example, the processing is divided into units of "scanning→image correction", "facsimile transmission", and "job completion notice mail transmission" and an instruction form is created including the divided units as subroutine instruction forms. Then a subroutine instruction form is specified and a main routine instruction form in which contents for controlling performance of the respective subroutine instruction forms are described is created. This main routine instruction form is created by describing, for example, subroutine instruction form performance of scan image correction→subroutine instruction form performance of facsimile transmission→subroutine instruction form performance of job end notice mail transmission as shown in the figure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a service cooperation processing execution instruction method and a service cooperation processing system, and more particularly, a service cooperation processing system that digitizes paper documents to construct a workflow, and a service cooperation processing execution instruction suitable for the service cooperation processing system. Regarding the method.

  There has been proposed a workflow system in which a scanner, a facsimile machine, a copier, or a multifunction machine combining these, a personal computer, a mail server, and the like are connected to each other via a network to share paper documents and electronic information.

  Along with the development of Internet technology, Web services have been proposed that easily construct more advanced business processes by linking independently developed applications. A web service makes it possible to easily construct a more advanced business system by using an application on a network as a service component. And new services are also created by organically linking and combining these services.

For example, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, a network management unit that collects cooperative service information from each device connected to the network, and input / output of each device that stores the cooperative service information and cooperates via the network The storage means for storing the cooperative service program provided corresponding to each function and program, and the input / output mechanism and the program operating on each device based on the cooperative service information of each device are assigned to each device. A cooperative use reservation unit for making reservations, and a cooperation execution unit that links the input / output functions and programs of each reserved device on the network by executing the cooperative service program stored in the storage means, In addition, it facilitates the processing that links and combines the services of each device.
JP 2001-306534 A (first page, FIG. 1)

  However, in the technology for performing the service cooperation processing such as the technology described in Patent Document 1, even when the service cooperation processing with a part of the content of the service cooperation processing is performed, an instruction for performing the service cooperation processing is created from the beginning. Therefore, there is a problem that a load related to an instruction for performing service cooperation processing is high.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a service cooperation processing execution instruction method and a service cooperation processing system that can reduce the load related to an instruction for performing service cooperation processing. Objective.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 includes a plurality of service processing devices that execute a service that performs predetermined processing, and combines one or more of the services that are executed by the plurality of service processing devices A service cooperation processing execution instruction method in a service cooperation processing system for performing service cooperation processing, wherein a plurality of first instructions describing the contents of partial service cooperation processing constituting a part of the service cooperation processing are provided. A description is given of the contents constituting the service cooperation process to be executed using at least one of the first instructions, and the control contents for controlling the execution of the first instructions. Using the second instruction and the first instruction included in the second instruction for the plurality of service processing devices. It is characterized by the execution instruction of the service cooperative processing Te.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the first instruction sheet describes the contents of the partial service cooperation process that constitutes a part of the service cooperation process. That is, the service cooperation process can be instructed to execute using a plurality of first instructions. In the second instruction, the contents constituting the service cooperation process to be executed are described using at least one first instruction, and the execution of the first instruction is controlled. Control contents (for example, control contents such as various parameters and conditional branches) are described. Each instruction can describe the above contents using a markup language such as XML.

  Then, using each of the first instruction sheet and the second instruction sheet, an instruction to perform service cooperation processing is issued to each service processing apparatus. Accordingly, each service processing apparatus can execute a service to be performed by the own apparatus from the first instruction sheet and the second instruction sheet among the services constituting the service cooperation process.

  That is, since the second instruction is created using the first instruction, the first instruction is reused by describing the partial service cooperation process to be reused in the first instruction. be able to. In other words, since the second instruction sheet can be created by reusing the first instruction sheet, the second instruction sheet can be easily created, and the load related to the instruction for performing the service cooperation processing can be reduced. Can be reduced.

  The invention according to claim 2 is provided with a plurality of service processing devices that execute a service that performs a predetermined process, and performs service cooperation processing that performs service cooperation processing that combines one or more of the services that are executed by the plurality of service processing devices. A processing system for acquiring at least one first instruction from among a plurality of first instructions describing the contents of partial service cooperation processing that constitutes a part of the service cooperation processing And at least one of the first instructions acquired by the acquisition means to describe the contents constituting the service cooperation process to be executed and to control the execution of the first instructions Creating means for creating a second instruction describing the control content of the first, the second instruction created by the creating means, and the first instruction included in the second instruction Based on 示書, it is characterized by and a control means for controlling the plurality of service processing unit.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the acquisition unit acquires at least one first instruction among the plurality of first instructions described in claim 1, and the generation unit acquires the first instruction. The contents constituting the service linkage process to be executed are described using the at least one first instruction written, and the control contents for controlling the execution of the first instruction (for example, various parameters) And a second instruction form describing the control contents such as conditional branch).

  The control unit controls the plurality of service processing devices based on the second instruction sheet created by the creating unit and the first instruction sheet included in the second instruction sheet. As a result, service cooperation processing can be performed.

  That is, since the second instruction is created using the first instruction, the first instruction acquired by the acquisition unit can be reused. In other words, since the second instruction can be created by reusing the first instruction acquired by the acquisition unit, the second instruction can be easily generated and the service linkage process is performed. The load related to the instruction can be reduced.

  The invention according to claim 3 is provided with a plurality of service processing devices that execute a service that performs a predetermined process, and performs service cooperation processing that performs service cooperation processing that combines one or more of the services that are executed by the plurality of service processing devices. A processing system for acquiring at least one first instruction from among a plurality of first instructions describing the contents of partial service cooperation processing that constitutes a part of the service cooperation processing And at least the first instruction acquired by the acquisition means, the contents constituting the service cooperation process to be executed are described, and the control for controlling the execution of the first instruction A second instruction for generating a second instruction describing the content, wherein the plurality of service processing devices are the second instructions generated by the generating means; And based on the first instruction contained in the instruction of the second, it is characterized by performing the service.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, the acquisition means acquires and creates at least one first instruction among the plurality of first instructions described in claim 1, as in the case of claim 2. In the means, the contents constituting the service cooperation processing to be executed are described by using at least one first instruction acquired by the acquiring means, and control for controlling the execution of the first instruction is performed. A second instruction is described in which the contents (for example, control contents such as various parameters and conditional branches) are described.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the control for controlling a plurality of service processing devices based on the second instruction sheet created by the creating unit and the first instruction sheet included in the second instruction sheet. However, in the invention described in claim 3, there is no control means, and each service processing device has a second instruction and a second instruction created by the creation means. The service is executed based on the included first instruction. Even with this configuration, the second instruction is created using the first instruction, as in the invention described in claim 2, so that the first instruction acquired by the acquiring means is reused. can do. In other words, since the second instruction can be created by reusing the first instruction acquired by the acquisition unit, the second instruction can be easily generated and the service linkage process is performed. The load related to the instruction can be reduced.

  The invention according to claim 2 and claim 3 further includes storage means for storing the different first instructions, as in the invention according to claim 4, wherein the acquisition means is the storage means. At least one of the first instructions may be acquired. By providing the storage means in this manner, the reusability of the first instruction sheet can be improved, and the second instruction sheet can be easily created.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the second instruction is created by reusing the first instruction describing the contents of the partial service cooperation processing that constitutes a part of the service cooperation processing. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to reduce a load related to an instruction for performing service cooperation processing.

Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a service cooperation processing system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The service cooperation processing system 10 is configured by connecting a job execution device 18 as a service processing device of the present invention that performs various services and applications via a network 12. Here, a service refers to a function that can be used for a document in response to an external request. Services include, for example, copying, printing, scanning, facsimile transmission / reception, mail delivery, storage in the repository, reading from the repository, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) processing, noise removal processing, etc., and are not particularly limited. . The service cooperation processing is performed by linking a plurality of services. For example, a combination of a service for scanning an image and a service for mail delivery and delivering a scanned image by mail. Corresponds to a combination of services.

  Specifically, the service cooperation processing system 10 includes an instruction form execution instructing device 14 having a user interface for instructing execution of service cooperation processing in which a plurality of services are cooperated, a service configuring the service cooperation processing, and An instruction sheet storage server device 16 in which instructions describing the contents are stored, and a job execution device A 18a and a job execution device B 18b for executing various services are provided. Although FIG. 1 shows two job execution devices, job execution device A 18a and job execution device B 18b, the number of job execution devices is not limited to two, and a plurality of job execution devices may be provided. Further, the job execution device A 18a and the job execution device B 18b will be referred to as the job execution device 18 unless otherwise distinguished.

  The instruction sheet storage server device 16 stores a plurality of subroutine instructions describing the contents of the partial service cooperation processing that constitutes a part of the service cooperation processing created in advance. This corresponds to the storage means of the present invention. A plurality of instructions describing the entire contents of the service cooperation process may be stored.

  The instruction execution execution device 14 is a general computer having an interface for selecting an instruction stored in the instruction storage server 16 and changing parameters such as processing conditions in the selected instruction. In FIG. 1, one instruction form execution instruction device 14 is shown, but a plurality of instructions may be provided.

  Each job execution device 18 executes the service described in the instruction document stored in the instruction document storage server device 16. For example, the job execution device 18 includes an image processing device that performs image processing such as image noise removal processing, image rotation processing, OCR processing, and image binding, a document management server that manages documents, and a document that delivers documents by mail. It is possible to apply a distribution server, a printer that records images or the like on paper, and the like.

  In addition, the instruction form execution instruction device 14 uses the subroutine instruction stored in the instruction form storage server device 16 to describe the contents of the service linkage processing to be executed and to control the execution of the subroutine instruction. It is possible to create a main routine instruction describing the control contents for the instruction, and the instruction storing server device 16 includes the main routine instruction created by the instruction execution instruction device 14 and the main routine instruction. Based on the included subroutine instructions, the job execution device 18 is controlled to perform service cooperation processing.

  Here, a subroutine instruction stored in advance in the instruction storage server 16 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a subroutine instruction in the service cooperation processing system 10 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a main routine instruction in the service cooperation processing system 10 according to the present embodiment. It is.

  As described above, the instruction sheet is composed of two types of instruction sheets, the main routine instruction sheet and the subroutine instruction sheet. The subroutine instruction is an instruction that describes part of the processing contents of the service linkage process. The subroutine instruction can be specified by the main routine instruction, and detailed parameters can be specified by the main routine instruction. It is possible. That is, in this embodiment, the execution instruction of the service cooperation processing is performed using the subroutine instruction and the main routine instruction, and the contents of the service cooperation processing and the processing in each service are determined by two types of instructions. The contents are instructed.

  For example, two types of instructions can be applied as described in XML (Extensible Markup Language). 2 and 3 show examples of instructions (main routine instructions 30 and subroutine instructions 20) described in XML, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, marks such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language) An up language may be used, or another language may be used.

  The instruction storage server device 16 may store two types of instructions, the main routine instruction 30 and the subroutine instruction 20, or may store only the subroutine instruction 20. .

  Next, a method for creating a subroutine instruction stored in advance in the instruction storage server 16 will be described with an example.

  As an example, when there is a service cooperation process such as “scan → image correction → facsimile transmission → job completion notification mail transmission”, this service cooperation process is divided into several parts. For example, it is divided into units such as “scan → image correction”, “facsimile transmission”, and “job completion notification mail transmission”. As a unit of division, it is preferable to divide in units that improve the reusability of each divided process.

  Then, an instruction is created using the processing of each divided unit as a subroutine instruction. FIG. 2 shows a subroutine instruction 20 for each divided unit. That is, each subroutine instruction 20 shown in FIG. 2 is an instruction that describes processing contents that can constitute a part of the service cooperation processing. For example, the subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. 2A represents “scan → image correction”, an A4 size image is read at 600 dpi, and image processing is performed on the read image (in FIG. 2A, oblique correction and noise). (Image processing for performing removal processing) is described. In addition, the subroutine instruction form 20 in FIG. 2B describes that facsimile transmission is performed in the color mode at 03-xxxx-xxxx. Further, the subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. 2C is xxx @ aaa. co. It is described that an email with the content “Job execution completed” is sent to the address of jp.

  On the other hand, the main routine instruction sheet specifies the above-described subroutine instruction sheet and creates an instruction sheet that describes the contents for controlling the execution of each subroutine instruction sheet. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the main routine instruction is executed by the subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. 2 (A) → the subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. 2 (B) → the subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. 2 (C). As shown in FIG. 2, the execution of the subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. 2 (A) is divided into the case of success and the case of success. The execution of the subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. Conditional branching may be performed, such as execution of subroutine instruction 20 in (C) or failure in execution of subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. 2A → execution of subroutine instruction 20 in FIG. . FIG. 3 shows the simple main routine instruction 30 described above, and shows an example of the main routine instruction 30 for executing the subroutine instructions 20 in FIGS. 2A to 2C in combination. Yes.

  In the main routine instruction 30 of FIG. 3, first, the subroutine instruction 20 of FIG. 2A is called and executed, and then the subroutine instruction 20 of FIG. 2B is called and executed. An example of calling and executing the subroutine instruction 20 of 2 (C), that is, an execution instruction of service cooperation processing for performing the above-described “scan → image correction → facsimile transmission → job completion notification mail transmission” can be performed.

  In this way, different subroutine instructions 20 created in advance are stored in the instruction book storage server 16, and the main routine instructions 30 for calling these subroutine instructions 20 are created or created. If selected, a plurality of services can be easily linked. Therefore, it is possible to easily give an instruction when executing the service cooperation processing.

  In this embodiment, parameters indicating processing conditions necessary for execution of each job (for example, the size at the time of scanning or printing, the folder of the document storage destination, the mail transmission destination, the facsimile transmission destination, etc.) are executed. When the instruction device 14 instructs execution of service cooperation processing, the instruction device 14 may be changeable. In this case, the subroutine instructions 20 in FIGS. 2A to 2C are stored in the instruction storage server 16 as subroutine instructions 20 whose parameters can be changed as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C. . Then, by creating a main routine instruction sheet 30 as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to change parameters and easily link a plurality of services.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the main routine instruction 30 when the parameters can be changed. In the main routine instruction 30 shown in FIG. 5, a necessary parameter is specified by a tag of <param>. Then, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the parameter can be changed by specifying the <Param> portion of the subroutine instruction 20 with the <param> tag of the main routine instruction 30.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the main routine instruction sheet 30 when performing conditional branching. In this case, the main routine instruction sheet 30 describes two conditional branches of <Call Result = "OK"> and <Call Result = "NG">, and subroutine instructions corresponding to the conditional branch under the respective tags. The specification and processing contents of the document 20 are described. Thereby, a different subroutine instruction 20 can be called for each condition.

  Next, an example of a user interface (graphical user interface: GUI) provided in the instruction form execution instruction device 14 that instructs execution of service cooperation processing will be described. Here, an example will be described in which a main routine instruction is created by a user interface provided in the instruction execution execution apparatus 14 and execution of service cooperation processing is instructed.

  A plurality of subroutine instructions as described above are stored in advance in the instruction storage server device 14 and a subroutine instruction constituting the service cooperation process is selected using the user interface 22 as shown in FIG. For example, in FIG. 7, by sequentially operating the selection button 24 from the list of subroutine instructions, the subroutine instructions constituting the service cooperation process are selected, and after confirming the selection, the confirmation button 25 is operated, as shown in FIG. Main routine instructions are generated. If there is a conditional branch as shown in FIG. 5, it is possible to create a main routine instruction with a conditional branch as shown in FIG. It becomes.

  Further, when it is necessary to set the parameters described above in the subroutine instruction incorporated in the main routine instruction, the parameters are set using the user interface 22 as shown in FIG. 7B. That is, the subroutine instruction that constitutes the main routine instruction is analyzed, the parameters in each subroutine instruction are extracted, displayed as shown in FIG. 7B, and the user inputs the parameters. For example, in FIG. 7B, the parameters can be set by causing the user to input parameters and operating the execution button 26.

  By using such a user interface 22, it is possible to easily create a main routine instruction for instructing service processing cooperation. In addition, subroutine instructions created in advance and stored in the instruction sheet storage server device 16 can be reused.

  In addition, if there is a changeable parameter in the subroutine instruction, the processing contents can be easily changed, and the reusability of the subroutine instruction can be further enhanced.

  Next, the operation of the service cooperation processing system 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described. First, processing performed by the instruction form execution instruction device 14 when performing service cooperation processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing performed by the instruction form execution instruction device 14 according to the first embodiment when performing service cooperation processing. FIG. 8 shows an example in which a main routine instruction is generated by the instruction execution instruction device 14 using a subroutine instruction stored in the instruction storage server device 16 and an execution instruction for service cooperation processing is issued.

  In step 100, it is determined whether or not a subroutine instruction list acquisition instruction has been made. If the determination is negative, the process is terminated, processing other than the service cooperation processing is performed, and the determination is affirmed Then, the process proceeds to step 102.

  In step 102, the subroutine instruction list is acquired from the instruction storage server 16 and displayed. That is, by using the user interface 22 as shown in FIG. 7, a list of subroutine instructions stored in the instruction storage server 16 is acquired and displayed.

  Next, in step 104, it is determined whether or not the selection of the subroutine instruction has been completed. That is, using the user interface 22 as shown in FIG. 7A, it is determined whether or not the selection of the subroutine instruction that constitutes the service cooperation process is completed, and if the determination is negative, the determination is affirmed. And waits until step 106 proceeds.

  In step 106, the selected subroutine instruction is acquired from the instruction storage server 16 and analyzed, and the process proceeds to step 108.

  In step 108, it is determined whether there is a parameter to be indicated in each selected subroutine instruction based on the analysis result. If the determination is negative, that is, if there is no parameter to be indicated, step 114 is performed as it is. If the determination at step 108 is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 110.

  In step 110, parameters to be input from the analysis result are displayed. That is, the input parameters are displayed as in the user interface 22 shown in FIG.

  Next, in step 112, it is determined whether or not a parameter has been input. This determination is made by determining whether or not the execution of the execution button 26 and the like shown in FIG. The process waits until the determination is affirmed, and the process proceeds to step 114.

  In step 114, a main routine instruction is generated. That is, based on the above steps, the order of the subroutine instructions, parameters, etc. selected in order from the subroutine instructions stored in the instruction storage server device 16 are described, as shown in FIG. A main routine instruction is generated.

  Subsequently, in step 116, the generated main routine instruction is output to the instruction sheet storage server device 16, an execution instruction for service cooperation processing is given, and the processing in the series of instruction sheet execution instruction devices 14 is terminated.

  Steps 100 to 106 correspond to the obtaining unit of the present invention, and steps 108 to 114 correspond to the creating unit of the present invention.

  Next, processing performed in the instruction sheet storage server device 16 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the instruction sheet storage server device 16 of the first embodiment when performing service cooperation processing.

  In the instruction sheet storage server device 16, first, in step 150, it is determined whether or not a subroutine instruction list acquisition instruction has been issued from the instruction sheet execution instruction device 16, waits until the determination is affirmed, and the process proceeds to step 152. .

  In step 152, the subroutine instruction list is output to the instruction execution instruction device 14 (see FIG. 1). As a result, the instruction form execution instructing device 14 can obtain a list of subroutine instruction forms in step 102 and display it as a user interface 22 shown in FIG.

  In step 154, it is determined whether or not the selection of the subroutine instruction that constitutes the service cooperation process is completed by the instruction execution instruction device 14, and the process waits until the determination is affirmed, and the process proceeds to step 156.

  In step 156, the subroutine instruction selected by the instruction execution instruction device 14 is output to the instruction execution instruction device 14 (see FIG. 1). That is, the instruction form execution instructing device 14 can analyze the subroutine instruction form selected in step 106.

  Next, in step 158, it is determined whether or not the main routine instruction created by the instruction execution instruction device 14 has been received. The process waits until the determination is affirmed, and the process proceeds to step 160.

  In step 160, service cooperation processing based on the main routine instruction received from the instruction execution instruction device 14 is performed, and a series of processing of the instruction storage server device 16 ends. Step 160 corresponds to the control means of the present invention.

  Here, the service cooperation processing based on the main routine instruction in step 160 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step 180, the received main routine instruction is analyzed, and the process proceeds to step 182 where a sequential subroutine instruction is issued to the job execution apparatus 18 that executes the contents described in the subroutine instruction included in the main routine instruction. Is output. At this time, if there is a parameter setting, the parameter is output to each job execution device 18 together with the subroutine instruction. That is, the instruction document storage server device 16 executes each job to sequentially execute the processing described in the subroutine instruction according to the contents of the main routine instruction while monitoring the processing start and end of each job execution device 18. The device 18 is controlled. As a result, the service cooperation process described in the main routine instruction and the subroutine instruction can be executed.

  Next, processing performed in each job execution device 18 will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the job execution apparatus 18 of the first embodiment when performing service cooperation processing.

  In step 200, the job execution apparatus 18 determines whether a subroutine instruction has been received. That is, it is determined whether or not a processing request for service cooperation processing or the like has been received from the instruction sheet storage server device 16, and if the determination is negative, the processing ends and processing other than the service cooperation processing is performed. If the determination at step 200 is affirmative, the routine proceeds to step 202.

  In step 202, the contents of the subroutine instruction are analyzed. That is, of the contents described in the subroutine instruction, contents to be performed by the own apparatus are analyzed.

  Next, in step 204, based on the analysis result, it is determined whether there is document data for performing predetermined processing (for example, image processing, scanning, mail delivery, facsimile transmission, etc.) in the job execution apparatus 18, and If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 206, waits until the document data is acquired from another job execution apparatus 18, instruction form execution instruction apparatus 14, etc., and proceeds to step 208.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step 204 is negative, for example, in the case of document data acquired by the apparatus by e-mail or facsimile, or document data acquired by reading by scanning, the process proceeds to step 208 as it is. .

  In step 208, it is determined whether there is a parameter based on the analysis result in step 202. The determination is made by determining whether or not there is a parameter to be specified in the subroutine instruction. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 210 and the instruction storage server device. 16 waits until a parameter is received from the instruction form execution instructing device 14, and the process proceeds to step 212. Note that the parameters may be received simultaneously with the reception of the subroutine instruction. In this case, the processing of step 208 and step 210 can be omitted.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step 208 is negative, that is, if there is no parameter and there is a subroutine instruction in which all fixed values are described, the process proceeds to step 212 as it is.

  In step 212, processing corresponding to the content of the subroutine instruction is executed, and a series of processing is terminated. Here, if there is a parameter, processing according to the parameter received in step 210 is executed. At this time, by outputting the processing contents by the job execution device 18 to the instruction sheet storage server device 16, the instruction sheet storage server device 16 can instruct the start of the subsequent job.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the execution instruction of the service cooperation processing is performed using the main routine instruction sheet and the subroutine instruction sheet, so that the subroutine instruction sheet can be reused. In other words, the subroutine instruction is reused to create the main routine instruction and execute the service cooperation process execution instruction. Therefore, it is possible to easily create the instruction sheet for instructing to execute the service cooperation process. .

  Also, since the main routine instructions and subroutine instructions are used, if there is a part that needs to be changed, the subroutine instructions for the corresponding part can be corrected, so that the trouble of correction can be reduced. .

  Furthermore, when some operations in the contents of the service linkage processing are changed depending on the processing conditions, conventionally, instructions for the number of conditions are required. As described in the main routine instruction sheet, it is possible to perform a plurality of types of service linkage processing with a single instruction sheet, thereby reducing costs and time required for creating and managing the instruction sheet.

On the other hand, on the device sales side, it is also possible to create a subroutine instruction document that can effectively use the new functions implemented in the device and sell it together with the device or sold separately. It is also possible to know how to use the functions effectively, and it is possible to use the purchased apparatus more effectively.
[Second Embodiment]
Next, a service cooperation processing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the service cooperation processing system 11 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and demonstrated about the component same as 1st Embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the instruction storage server device 16 is provided, and the instruction storage server device 16 controls each job execution device 18 that performs service cooperation processing. However, in the second embodiment, the instruction storage server The apparatus 16 is not provided.

  As in the first embodiment, the service cooperation processing system 11 according to the second embodiment is configured by connecting job execution apparatuses 18 that perform various services and applications via a network 12. Here, since the service is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

  Specifically, the service cooperation processing system 11 according to the second embodiment executes various services with the instruction form execution instruction device 15 having a user interface for instructing service cooperation processing in which a plurality of services are linked. A job execution device A 18a and a job execution device B 18b. Although FIG. 8 shows two job execution devices 18, job execution device A 18 a and job execution device B 18 b, the number is not limited to two, and a plurality of job execution devices 18 may be provided. Note that the job execution device A 18a and the job execution device B 18b are referred to as the job execution device 18 unless otherwise distinguished.

  The instruction form execution instruction device 15 of the second embodiment generates an instruction form for instructing service cooperation processing. Further, the instruction form execution instruction device 15 of the second embodiment stores a plurality of subroutine instruction forms created in advance. Alternatively, a plurality of subroutine instructions created in advance can be acquired from another device.

  In addition, the instruction form execution instruction device 15 is composed of a general computer having an interface for creating an instruction form and changing parameters such as conditions in the instruction form. Although one instruction form execution instruction device 15 is shown, a plurality of instructions may be provided.

  Each job execution device 18 can execute a service described in an instruction document such as a subroutine instruction document output from the instruction document execution instruction device 15. For example, the job execution apparatus 18 includes an image processing apparatus that performs image processing such as image noise removal processing, image rotation processing, OCR processing, and image binding, a document management server that manages documents, and document distribution that distributes documents. A server or the like can be applied.

  Note that the main routine instruction and the subroutine instruction generated or stored by the instruction execution instruction device 15 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted. Further, as in the first embodiment, when the subroutine instruction includes parameters to be instructed, the parameters can be described in the main routine instruction. The parameter can be specified using the user interface 22 as shown in FIG. 7 as in the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, the subroutine instruction list is read from the instruction sheet storage server device 16, but in this embodiment, when a plurality of subroutine instructions are stored in the instruction sheet execution instruction device 15, the first instruction list is stored. As in the embodiment, an instruction sheet can be selected using an interface 22 as shown in FIG. 7A, and the parameters in the selected subroutine instruction sheet can be selected from the interface 22 as shown in FIG. It can be instructed by using.

  Next, the operation of the service cooperation processing system 11 according to the second embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described. First, processing performed by the instruction form execution instruction device 15 when performing service cooperation processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the instruction form execution instruction device 15 of the second embodiment when performing service cooperation processing.

  In the instruction form execution instruction device 15 of the second embodiment, first, at step 300, it is determined whether or not there is a subroutine instruction list. The determination is made by determining whether or not there are a plurality of subroutine instructions stored in advance in the instruction execution instruction device 15. The plurality of subroutine instructions are stored in the instruction execution instruction device 15 in advance. If not, the process proceeds to step 302, a subroutine instruction is created or obtained from another device, and the process proceeds to step 304. On the other hand, if the determination is affirmative in step 300, that is, if the subroutine instruction is stored in advance in the instruction execution instruction apparatus 15, the process proceeds to step 304 as it is.

  In step 304, a list of subroutine instructions is displayed. That is, a subroutine instruction is displayed as in the interface 22 shown in FIG.

  Next, in step 306, it is determined whether or not the selection of the subroutine instruction has been completed. That is, using the user interface 22 as shown in FIG. 7A, it is determined whether or not the selection of the subroutine instruction that constitutes the service cooperation process is completed, and if the determination is negative, the determination is affirmed. Waits until step 308 is entered.

  In step 308, the selected subroutine instruction is analyzed, and the process proceeds to step 310 to determine whether or not there is a parameter to be specified in the selected subroutine instruction. If there is no parameter, the process proceeds to step 316 as it is, and if the determination in step 310 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step 312.

  In step 312, parameters input from the analysis result are displayed. That is, the input parameters are displayed as in the user interface 22 shown in FIG.

  Next, in step 314, whether or not a parameter has been input is determined by determining whether or not the parameter input has been completed and the execution button 26 and the like shown in FIG. 7B have been operated. The process waits until the determination is affirmed, and the process proceeds to step 316.

  In step 316, a main routine instruction is generated. That is, based on the above steps, a main routine instruction as shown in FIG. 3 in which the selection order of the subroutine instructions, parameters, and the like are described is generated.

  Subsequently, in step 318, the main routine instruction and subroutine instruction are output to the first job execution device 18 described in the generated main routine instruction, and the processing of the instruction execution instruction device 15 is terminated. Accordingly, service cooperation processing is performed by sequentially executing each service by the job execution device 18 described in the main routine instruction and the subroutine instruction.

  Steps 300 to 308 correspond to an acquisition unit of the present invention, and steps 310 to 316 correspond to a creation unit of the present invention.

  Next, processing performed in each job execution device 18 of the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing performed by each job execution device 18 according to the second embodiment when performing service cooperation processing.

  In step 400, the job execution device 18 determines whether or not the main routine instruction and subroutine instruction are received from the instruction execution instruction device 15. If the determination is negative, the process ends. If processing other than the service cooperation processing is performed and the determination in step 400 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step 402.

  In step 402, the contents of the main routine instruction and the subroutine instruction are analyzed. That is, the contents of processing performed by the own device in the service cooperation processing are analyzed.

  Next, in step 404, based on the analysis result, it is determined whether there is document data for performing processing (for example, image processing, scanning, mail delivery, facsimile transmission, etc.) in the job execution device 18, and If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 406, waits until document data is acquired from another job execution device 18 or the like, and then proceeds to step 408.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step 404 is negative, for example, in the case of document data acquired by mail, facsimile, or the like in the own apparatus, or document data acquired by reading by scanning, the process proceeds to step 408 as it is. .

  In step 408, processing corresponding to the contents of the main routine instruction and the subroutine instruction is executed. That is, when a parameter is described in the main routine instruction, a process to be performed by the own apparatus is executed according to the parameter.

  Subsequently, in step 410, it is determined whether or not there is a subsequent process in the service cooperation process. If the determination is negative, the process ends as it is, and if the determination in step 410 is affirmed. The process proceeds to step 412.

  In step 412, the main routine instruction and subroutine instruction are output to the job execution apparatus 18 that performs subsequent processing, and the processing ends. That is, the service cooperation process is performed by sequentially transferring the main routine instruction and the subroutine instruction to the job execution apparatus 18 that performs the service cooperation process.

  As described above, even when the instruction sheet storage server device 16 is not provided, the execution instruction of the service cooperation processing is performed using the main routine instruction sheet and the subroutine instruction sheet, similarly to the first embodiment, so that the subroutine instruction sheet can be reused. Is possible. In other words, the subroutine instruction is reused to create the main routine instruction and execute the service cooperation process execution instruction. Therefore, it is possible to easily create the instruction sheet for instructing to execute the service cooperation process. .

  Also, since the main routine instructions and subroutine instructions are used, if there is a part that needs to be changed, the subroutine instructions for the corresponding part should be modified, reducing the time and effort for modification. it can.

  Furthermore, when some operations in the contents of the service linkage processing are changed depending on the processing conditions, conventionally, instructions for the number of conditions are required. As described in the main routine instruction sheet, it is possible to perform a plurality of types of service linkage processing with a single instruction sheet, thereby reducing costs and time required for creating and managing the instruction sheet.

  On the other hand, on the device sales side, it is also possible to create a subroutine instruction document that can effectively use the new functions implemented in the device and sell it together with the device or sold separately. Also, it is possible to know how to use the function effectively, and it is possible to use the purchased apparatus more effectively.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the service cooperation processing system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the subroutine instruction | indication described by XML. It is a figure which shows an example of the main routine instruction | indication described by XML. It is a figure which shows an example of the subroutine instruction | indication which can change the parameter described by XML. It is a figure which shows an example of the main routine instruction document which can be parameter-change described by XML. It is a figure which shows an example of the main routine instruction document in which the conditional branch setting described in XML is possible. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface used for preparation of a main routine instruction document. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process performed with the instruction | indication execution instruction device of 1st Embodiment at the time of performing a service cooperation process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process performed with the instruction document storage server apparatus of 1st Embodiment at the time of performing a service cooperation process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the service cooperation process based on a main routine instruction document. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process performed with the job execution apparatus of 1st Embodiment at the time of performing a service cooperation process. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the service cooperation processing system concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process performed with the instruction | indication execution instruction device of 2nd Embodiment at the time of performing a service cooperation process. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process performed with the job execution apparatus of 2nd Embodiment at the time of performing a service cooperation process.

Explanation of symbols

10, 11 Service cooperation processing system 14, 15 Instruction sheet execution instruction apparatus 16 Instruction sheet storage server apparatus 18 Job execution apparatus 20 Subroutine instruction sheet 22 User interface 30 Main routine instruction sheet

Claims (4)

Execution instruction of service cooperation processing in a service cooperation processing system that includes a plurality of service processing devices that execute services that perform predetermined processing and that performs service cooperation processing that combines one or more of the services executed by the plurality of service processing devices A method,
The service cooperation process to be executed using at least one first instruction among a plurality of first instructions describing the contents of the partial service cooperation process constituting a part of the service cooperation process And a second instruction describing the control contents for controlling the execution of the first instruction,
Instructing the plurality of service processing devices to execute the service cooperation processing using the second instruction document created and the first instruction document included in the second instruction document. A method for instructing execution of service linkage processing. A service cooperation processing system comprising a plurality of service processing devices for executing services for performing predetermined processing, and performing service cooperation processing combining one or more of the services executed by the plurality of service processing devices,
Obtaining means for obtaining at least one of the first instructions among a plurality of first instructions describing the contents of the partial service cooperation process constituting a part of the service cooperation process;
Control for describing the contents of the service cooperation process to be executed using at least one first instruction acquired by the acquisition means and controlling the execution of the first instruction Creating means for creating a second instruction describing the content;
Control means for controlling the plurality of service processing devices based on the second instruction created by the creating means and the first instruction included in the second instruction;
A service cooperation processing system comprising: A service cooperation processing system comprising a plurality of service processing devices for executing services for performing predetermined processing, and performing service cooperation processing combining one or more of the services executed by the plurality of service processing devices,
Obtaining means for obtaining at least one of the first instructions among a plurality of first instructions describing the contents of the partial service cooperation process constituting a part of the service cooperation process;
Using at least the first instruction obtained by the obtaining means, the contents constituting the service cooperation process to be executed are described, and the control contents for controlling the execution of the first instruction are provided. A creation means for creating a second instruction to be written;
The plurality of service processing devices execute the service based on the second instruction created by the creating unit and the first instruction included in the second instruction. Service linkage processing system.   4. The storage device according to claim 2, further comprising storage means for storing the different first instructions, wherein the acquisition means acquires at least one of the first instructions from the storage means. The service linkage processing system described.

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