JP2010128578A - Image forming system and retrieval program for image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system allowing efficient retrieval of an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming system includes at least: one or more information processors (clients PC1-PC4); a plurality of image forming apparatuses (printers PR1-PR4) each forming an image based on print information (a print packet) transmitted from the information processor; a storage means (a retrieval address table 103) storing identification information for identifying each image forming apparatus; a retrieval means (a device retrieval part 203) retrieving the usable image forming apparatus based on the identification information; an extraction means (a print printer analysis part 302) analyzing and extracting the identification information for identifying each image forming apparatus from the print information; and an update means (a table update part 301) updating the identification information stored in the storage means based on the identification information extracted by the extraction means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming system and a search program for an image forming apparatus.

  Conventionally, in an image forming system in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses (printers, etc.) and information processing apparatuses (personal computers, servers, etc.) are connected to a network such as a LAN, usable image forming apparatuses or desired image forming apparatuses are provided. Various techniques for searching or introducing a printer driver or the like into the searched image forming apparatus have been proposed.

  For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-122944 discloses a technique that simplifies setting of a network device by returning a response with a MAC address as device network information to the network control device.

With this technology, it is not possible to search for devices that exceed the subnet. However, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-331392, a network is monitored, a printer IP address is detected from a print packet (print information), and stored in a server. A technique is disclosed in which a user searches for a device across subnets by using the data when searching for a printer.
JP 2000-122944 A JP 2001-331392 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system and an image forming apparatus search program capable of efficiently searching for an image forming apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an image forming apparatus according to a first aspect of the invention includes one or more information processing apparatuses and a print that is connected to the information processing apparatus via a network and transmitted from the information processing apparatus. A plurality of image forming apparatuses that form images based on information; a storage unit that stores identification information for identifying each image forming apparatus; and a search unit that searches for usable image forming apparatuses based on the identification information An acquisition unit that monitors and acquires print information distributed through the network, an extraction unit that analyzes the print information acquired by the acquisition unit and extracts identification information that identifies each image forming apparatus, And at least update means for updating the identification information stored in the storage means based on the identification information extracted by the extraction means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, the identification information includes an IP (Internet Protocol) address assigned to each image forming apparatus.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the identification information includes a MAC (Media Access Control) address unique to each image forming apparatus. It is characterized by.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the search unit uses the identification information updated by the update unit to perform global The image forming apparatus is searched by performing broadcast or subnet broadcast.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third or fourth aspect, the MAC address stored in the storage unit and the MAC address extracted by the extraction unit Based on the list displayed on the display unit, a MAC address comparison unit that compares the MAC address, a display unit that displays a list of image forming apparatuses determined by the MAC address comparison unit that the two MAC addresses match. And selecting means for selecting an image forming apparatus to be used.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus according to the fifth aspect, further comprising an introducing unit that introduces software necessary for operation to the image forming apparatus selected by the selecting unit. And

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any of the third to sixth aspects, the identification information is stored in the storage means when the identification information includes the IP address and the MAC address. IP address comparing means for comparing the IP address and the IP address extracted by the extracting means, and the updating means, when the IP address comparing means and the both IP addresses are different, The IP address is modified and updated based on the MAC address.

  An image forming apparatus search program according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is a storage process for storing identification information for identifying an image forming apparatus, and a search processing for searching for an available image forming apparatus based on the identification information. And an extraction process for analyzing and extracting identification information for identifying each image forming apparatus from the print information, and an update for updating the stored identification information based on the identification information extracted in the extraction process The processing process is executed by an arithmetic means.

  According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the identification information stored is updated based on the identification information extracted from the print information as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. The image forming apparatus can be searched efficiently based on the above.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the identification information includes the IP address assigned to each image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. You can search efficiently.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the identification information includes the MAC address unique to each image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided, and the image forming apparatus is made efficient based on the identification information. Can be searched.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to search the image forming apparatus more efficiently across the subnet than in the case where the present configuration is not provided.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to accurately specify the image forming apparatus as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided, and to search and select the image forming apparatus more efficiently. it can.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the selected image forming apparatus can be put into a usable state as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to accurately specify the image forming apparatus even when the IP address is changed as compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided. You can search efficiently.

  According to the invention described in claim 8, compared with the case where the present configuration is not provided, the stored identification information is updated based on the identification information extracted from the print information, and based on this identification information. Thus, the image forming apparatus can be searched efficiently.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment as an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Here, in the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same members, and duplicate descriptions are omitted. In addition, since description here is the best form by which this invention is implemented, this invention is not limited to the said form.

  An image forming system S1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image forming system S1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of (four in the present embodiment) printers PR1 to PR4 (four in the present embodiment) via a network N such as a LAN or the Internet. An example of the image forming apparatus is connected to a plurality of (four in this embodiment) information processing apparatuses (for example, personal computers) PC1 to PC4 as clients.

  Note that the number of printers and clients connected in the image forming system S1 may be four or more.

  Each of the printers PR1 to PR4 includes a network connection device or a network interface that can be connected to the network N, and each network connection device is assigned a unique MAC address and given a predetermined IP address. Yes.

  Next, the configuration of the client PC 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.

  The client PC 1 is configured by a personal computer or the like, and each unit described below is realized by software stored in a CPU, a memory, a hard disk device, a network board, and the like included in the personal computer.

  Further, it is assumed that the client PCs 2 to 4 have the same configuration as the client PC 1.

  The client PC 1 resides in an installer unit 101 that installs (installs) a printer driver in the searched printers PR1 to PR4 and a predetermined operating unit of an OS (operating system) installed in the client PC 1 and transmits / receives via the network N. A resident unit 102 that monitors print packets (print information) to be printed, a search address table 103 (an example of a storage unit) that stores identification information including IP addresses and MAC addresses for searching for the printers PR1 to PR4, and An arithmetic unit (for example, composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc.) 401 that executes arithmetic processing based on predetermined software and constitutes the MAC address comparison means 401a and the IP address comparison means 401b, and a liquid crystal monitor, etc. Display unit 402 (display means And Example), and it includes an example) and the selection unit 403 (selecting means for selecting a desired printer from the list displayed on the display unit 402 is constituted by a mouse or a keyboard.

  The installer unit 101 includes a device search unit (an example of a search unit) 203 that searches for a printer (device) based on identification information corresponding to each of the printers PR1 to PR4 stored in the search address table 103, and A printer driver storage unit 202 configured by a hard disk device or the like that stores printer drivers corresponding to the printers PR1 to PR4, and a printer driver corresponding to a predetermined printer searched by the device search unit 203 and selected by the selection unit 403 A printer driver installation unit (an example of introduction unit) 201 for installation is provided.

  The resident unit 102 also analyzes the print packet acquired by the print packet acquisition unit 303 and the print packet acquisition unit 303 (an example of an acquisition unit) that monitors and acquires the print packet (print information) distributed through the network N. The print packet analysis unit 302 (an example of an extraction unit) that extracts identification information for identifying each of the printers PR1 to PR4, and is stored in the search address table 103 based on the identification information extracted by the print packet analysis unit 302. A table updating unit 301 (an example of an updating unit) that updates the identification information (IP address or MAC address).

  Here, in the communication via the network N, the print packet is a small amount of print data to which control information such as a destination address (IP address) or the like, identification data unique to a device such as a MAC address, is added. Refers to the unity.

  The IP address is assigned to identify each of the devices (clients PC1 to PC4 and printers PR1 to PR4) on the network in Internet communication using TCP / IP.

  The IP address is expressed by dividing four numbers with dots, and one number is 0 to 255. For example, “192.168.100.23” is an example.

  Each device connected to a network such as the Internet is assigned a different IP address, and becomes a unique number in the world. This is called a global IP address.

  However, since there are only 4.3 billion global IP addresses in the IPv4 standard, it is practically difficult to assign a global IP address (one number in the world) to all devices such as computers all over the world. It is.

  That is, if a global IP address is assigned to a computer or the like that is only occasionally connected to a network such as the Internet, the IP address is insufficient. Therefore, private IP addresses are assigned to computers that are not directly connected to the Internet (such as personal computers on a LAN).

  On the other hand, a new network protocol standard based on a wide address space has recently appeared, following the basic concept of IPv4, called IPv6.

  In IPv4, since the network address expressed in 32 bits is expressed in 128 bits in IPv6, there is virtually no fear of exhaustion of IP addresses.

  However, there are still few systems and applications that can be used, and they have not been widely used.

  As described above, an IP address once assigned to a predetermined device may be changed depending on circumstances such as using a global IP address and a private IP address.

  If the IP address is changed, a situation in which the device cannot be connected via the network N occurs.

  That is, considering the case of a general image forming system as a comparison target of the image forming system S1 according to the present embodiment, the IP address once given to each printer connected to the network is changed for some reason. If this happens, it becomes impossible for the client to access the printer whose IP address has been changed, resulting in a state where the printing process cannot be executed.

  For example, in a general image forming system as a comparison target, the IP address of a device may be changed by DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) or the like, and address resolution at that time cannot be handled.

  When the IP address is changed, the device handling on the network is not equivalent to the previous setting, so a new setting is created. Every time the IP address is changed by DHCP or the like, new data is created. There is a problem that will increase.

  Even if the new setting is not increased, there is a problem that an error occurs when print information is sent to the previous IP address.

  Therefore, in the image forming system S1 according to the present embodiment, the print packet (print information) distributed through the network N is monitored and acquired by the print packet acquisition unit 303, and the acquired print packet is acquired by the print packet analysis unit 302. The identification information for identifying each printer PR1 to PR4 is extracted by analysis, and the identification information (IP address or MAC address) stored in the search address table 103 based on the identification information extracted by the print packet analysis unit 302 is used. It is updated by the table update unit 301.

  As a result, the identification information (IP address or MAC address) stored in the search address table 103 can always be updated, even if the IP addresses of the printers PR1 to PR4 are changed. By reflecting the change in the search address table 103 immediately, an efficient search is realized and a situation in which the printer cannot be accessed is suppressed.

  When the IP address is changed, the printer can be specified using the MAC address unique to each printer PR1 to PR4.

  If an IP address that is not stored in the search address table 103 is extracted, a printer corresponding to the IP address may be newly registered. In this case, the corresponding printer driver is installed by the printer driver installation unit 201 to be usable.

  Here, the MAC address is an ID number unique to each network device (NIC (Network Interface Card)). A unique number is assigned to each network connection device in the world, and data is transmitted and received between the network connection devices based on this number. Specifically, the first 24 bits of the 48 bits are referred to as “OUI (Organizationally Unique Identifier) numbers”, which are numbers that are not duplicated and assigned to each manufacturer. The remaining 24 bits are assigned with responsibility by the manufacturer so that there is no duplication when the network device is manufactured.

  Address resolution refers to replacing a protocol address with a physical address. ARP (address resolution protocol) that obtains an Ethernet MAC address from an IP address and ATM ARP that obtains an ATM address from an IP address are typical protocols for address resolution.

  For example, ARP is used to find a destination Ethernet (Xerox and DEC (currently a LAN standard devised by Hewlett Packard)) address when the destination IP address is known. Specifically, the source machine broadcasts an ARP request message storing the destination IP address on the LAN, and the destination machine receiving this sends an ARP response message storing its own Ethernet address to the source machine. The procedure is to reply to.

  In NetWare (a trademark of Novell), the MAC address is used as it is as an IPX address on the protocol (see FIG. 6), so address resolution is not necessary.

  Next, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, a processing procedure of update processing executed by the client PC 1 (PC 2 to PC 4) will be described.

  When this process is started, first, in step S100, a packet (a unit of divided data flowing in the network layer (transport layer) in data communication) is acquired from the network N, and the process proceeds to step S101.

  In step S101, it is determined whether or not the acquired packet is a print packet (print information). If “No”, the process returns to step S100, and if “Yes”, the process proceeds to step S102.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, the data structure of the transmission data distributed through the network N includes a “dynamic global IP address” and a “port number” indicating a transmission destination, and a print packet (transmission information). It consists of “printer port numbers” of the printers PR1 to PR4 and “data” printed out by the printers PR1 to PR4. In the present embodiment, the data includes a MAC address unique to the communication device of each printer.

  With such a data structure, it is possible to grasp and manage which printer is the printer to which the data transmitted from the clients PC1 to PC4 is to be printed.

  In step S102, information about the printer is extracted from the print packet. According to the example of FIG. 4, the dynamic global IP address, printer port number, and MAC address are extracted and acquired.

  Next, in step S102, it is determined whether or not the MAC address stored in the search address table 103 matches the MAC address acquired in step S102. When the determination result is “Yes”, the process proceeds to step S104, and when the determination result is “No”, the process proceeds to step S105.

  In step S104, it is determined whether or not the IP address stored in the search address table 103 matches the IP address (dynamic global IP address) acquired in step S102. If the determination result is “Yes”, the process ends. If the determination result is “No”, the process proceeds to step S106, the data stored in the search address table 103 is updated, and the process ends.

  On the other hand, in step S105, new data (new printer data) is registered in the search address table 103, and the process ends.

  As a result, the identification information (IP address or MAC address) stored in the search address table 103 can always be updated, even if the IP addresses of the printers PR1 to PR4 are changed. By reflecting the change in the search address table 103 immediately, an efficient search is realized and a situation where the printer cannot be accessed is suppressed.

  Next, with reference to a flowchart of FIG. 5, a processing procedure of search processing executed by the client PC 1 (PC2 to PC4) will be described.

  When this process is started, first, in step S200, a printer is searched for by broadcast within its own subnet.

  Here, “broadcast” means simultaneous notification, and means that the same information is simultaneously sent to an unspecified number of people. That is, the same data is simultaneously transmitted to all printers on the network N. For example, it is used when acquiring a network address (IP address) through DHCP, or searching for a server whose destination address on IP is unknown.

  Next, in step S201, it is determined whether or not there is a search address table. If “No”, the process proceeds to step S207, and if “Yes”, the process proceeds to step S202.

  In step S202, after broadcasting all registered subnets, the process proceeds to step S203.

  In step S203, a printer list is acquired from the search address table 103.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a search address list acquired from the search address table 103. TCP / IP and IPX / SPX are examples of protocols.

  Next, in step S204, it is determined whether or not the acquired IP address matches the registered IP address. If “Yes”, the process proceeds to step S208. If “No”, the process proceeds to step S205. To do.

  In step S205, it is determined whether or not the acquired MAC address matches the registered MAC address. If “Yes”, the process proceeds to step S206 to rewrite the registered IP address.

  As a result, the identification information (IP address) stored in the search address table 103 can always be kept up-to-date, and even if the IP addresses of the printers PR1 to PR4 are changed, each printer PR1. A situation where an efficient search is realized and the printer cannot be accessed by changing the IP address to the correct IP address based on the MAC address unique to PR4 and immediately reflecting the change in the search address table 103 Etc. are suppressed.

  On the other hand, if “No” in the step S205, the process proceeds to a step S207 to newly register a printer in the search address table.

  In step S <b> 208, the search result printer list is displayed on the display unit 402.

  In step S209, the operation of the selection unit 403 selects a printer that performs print processing, and the process proceeds to step S210.

  In step S210, printer driver installation processing (subroutine) is executed by the printer driver installation unit 201 for the selected printer. Thereby, the user's desired printer can be easily selected, and the convenience of the printing process is improved.

  Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not limited to the disclosed technology. Should not be considered. That is, the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed restrictively based on the description in the above embodiment, but should be construed according to the description of the scope of claims. All modifications that fall within the scope of the claims and the equivalent technology are included.

  When using a program, it can be provided via a network or stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

  That is, the predetermined program including the image processing program is not limited to being recorded in a storage device such as a hard disk as a recording medium, and the predetermined program can be provided as follows.

  For example, a predetermined program may be stored in the ROM, and the CPU may load the predetermined program from the ROM to the main storage device and execute it.

  The predetermined program may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a DVD-ROM, a CD-ROM, an MO (magneto-optical disk), a flexible disk, and distributed.

  Further, the image processing apparatus or the like is connected to a server apparatus or a host computer via a communication line (for example, the Internet), and after the predetermined program is downloaded from the server apparatus or the host computer, the predetermined program is executed. You may do it. In this case, examples of the download destination of the predetermined program include a memory such as a RAM and a storage device (recording medium) such as a hard disk.

  The search program for an image forming system and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a copying machine, a laser printer, a full-color printer, a multifunction machine, a facsimile machine, and the like.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a configuration of an image forming system S1 according to an embodiment. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a main part of an image forming system S1 according to an embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of an update process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of data. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of a search process. It is a table | surface which shows the example of a search address list.

Explanation of symbols

S1 Image forming system PC1 to PC4 Client PR1 to PR4 Printer N Network 101 Installer unit 102 Resident unit 103 Search address table 201 Printer driver installation unit 202 Printer driver storage unit 203 Device search unit 301 Table update unit 302 Print packet analysis unit 303 Print packet Acquisition unit 401 Calculation unit 401a Address comparison unit 401b Address comparison unit 402 Display unit 403 Selection unit

Claims (8)

One or more information processing devices;
A plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to the information processing apparatus via a network and forming images based on print information transmitted from the information processing apparatus;
Storage means for storing identification information for identifying each image forming apparatus;
Search means for searching for usable image forming apparatuses based on the identification information;
Obtaining means for monitoring and obtaining print information distributed through the network;
Extracting means for analyzing the print information acquired by the acquiring means and extracting identification information for identifying each image forming apparatus;
Updating means for updating the identification information stored in the storage means based on the identification information extracted by the extraction means;
An image forming system comprising:   The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes an IP (Internet Protocol) address assigned to each image forming apparatus.   The image forming system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information includes a MAC (Media Access Control) address unique to each image forming apparatus. The search means includes
The image forming apparatus is searched for by performing global broadcast or subnet broadcast in the network using the identification information updated by the updating unit. Image forming system. MAC address comparison means for comparing the MAC address stored in the storage means with the MAC address extracted by the extraction means;
Display means for displaying, as a list, image forming apparatuses determined by the MAC address comparing means to match the both MAC addresses;
Selection means for selecting an image forming apparatus to be used based on the list displayed on the display means;
The image forming system according to claim 3, further comprising:   6. The image forming system according to claim 5, further comprising introducing means for introducing software necessary for operation to the image forming apparatus selected by the selecting means. In the case where the identification information includes the IP address and the MAC address, the IP address comparison means for comparing the IP address stored in the storage means and the IP address extracted by the extraction means,
The updating means includes
7. The IP address comparison unit according to claim 3, wherein when the both IP addresses are different from each other, the corresponding IP address is corrected and updated based on the MAC address. The image forming system described. A storage process for storing identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus;
A search process for searching for usable image forming apparatuses based on the identification information;
An extraction process for analyzing and extracting identification information for identifying each image forming apparatus from print information;
An update process for updating the stored identification information based on the identification information extracted in the extraction process;
A search program for an image forming apparatus, characterized by causing an arithmetic means to execute.

Images