Electronic devices, information processing systems and information processing methods

Abstract

An electronic device includes: a storage unit for storing a personal address book; and a processing unit, wherein when a first user performs an update input for a first address information contained in the first personal address book, the processing unit determines whether the corresponding address information is contained in a second personal address book; if the corresponding address information is contained in the second personal address book, the processing unit performs a notification process to ask the second user whether to permit the update of the corresponding address information; and when the user responds to the notification process with permission, the processing unit updates the corresponding address information contained in the second personal address book.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to electronic devices, information processing methods, and information processing techniques. Background Technology

[0002] Various methods for managing address books used in image forming apparatuses and the like have been known in the past.

[0003] For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-174298 discloses an image forming apparatus that determines whether to reflect personal settings or shared settings based on the user's login status. Personal settings include the user's address book, while shared settings include a shared address book. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-174298 envisions a method for switching between shared address books and individual user address books, without disclosing an efficient way to change the individual address books of multiple users.

[0005] According to several methods disclosed herein, electronic devices, information processing systems, and information processing methods are capable of providing appropriate ways to share changes to address books.

[0006] One aspect of this disclosure relates to an electronic device, comprising: a storage unit storing a personal address book; and a processing unit, the personal address book including: a first personal address book associated with a first user; and a second personal address book associated with a second user, wherein the processing unit, when the first user inputs an update to first address information contained in the first personal address book, determines whether the second personal address book contains corresponding address information corresponding to the first address information; if the second personal address book contains the corresponding address information, performs a notification processing to inquire whether the second user permits the update of the corresponding address information; and when the user responds to the notification processing with permission, updates the corresponding address information contained in the second personal address book.

[0007] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to an information processing system, comprising: a first image forming apparatus; a second image forming apparatus; and a server system, which performs processing on a personal address book, the personal address book including: a first personal address book associated with a first user; and a second personal address book associated with a second user. In the first image forming apparatus, when the first user inputs an update to first address information contained in the first personal address book, the server system determines whether the second personal address book contains corresponding address information corresponding to the first address information; if the second personal address book contains the corresponding address information, it performs a notification processing requesting the second user whether to permit the update of the corresponding address information; when the user responds to the notification processing with permission, it updates the corresponding address information contained in the second personal address book and sends the updated second personal address book to the second image forming apparatus.

[0008] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to an information processing method for processing a personal address book, the personal address book including: a first personal address book associated with a first user; and a second personal address book associated with a second user. When the first user inputs an update to first address information contained in the first personal address book, the method determines whether the second personal address book contains corresponding address information corresponding to the first address information. If the second personal address book contains the corresponding address information, the method performs a notification process to ask the second user whether they permit the update of the corresponding address information. When the user responds to the notification process with permission, the method updates the corresponding address information contained in the second personal address book. Attached Figure Description

[0009] Figure 1 This is an example of the configuration of an information processing device.

[0010] Figure 2 This is an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus.

[0011] Figure 3 This is an example of the structure of a server system.

[0012] Figure 4 This is an example of a shared address book.

[0013] Figure 5A This is an example of a personal address book.

[0014] Figure 5B This is an example of a personal address book.

[0015] Figure 6 This is an example of authentication data.

[0016] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating the address book display task.

[0017] Figure 8 This is an example of data used in display processing with user A as the target.

[0018] Figure 9 This is an example of content changes made by the user.

[0019] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating the change notification task.

[0020] Figure 11 This is a diagram illustrating the process of retrieving information from the corresponding address.

[0021] Figure 12 This is an example of an email used in notification processing for other users.

[0022] Figure 13 This is a flowchart illustrating web processing tasks.

[0023] Figure 14 This is a flowchart illustrating the change approval process.

[0024] Figure 15A This is an example of a screen displayed on the web after a permission response has been received.

[0025] Figure 15B This is an example of a screen displayed on the web while retaining the response.

[0026] Figure 15C This is an example of a screen displayed on the web when a rejection response is received.

[0027] Figure 15D This is an example of a screen displayed on the web when the specified response is ignored.

[0028] Figure 16A This is an example of ignoring the list of objects.

[0029] Figure 16B This is an example of ignoring the list of objects.

[0030] Figure 17 These are other examples of shared address books.

[0031] Figure 18 These are other examples of personal address books.

[0032] Figure 19 These are other examples of notification handling.

[0033] Figure 20A Example of an approved list.

[0034] Figure 20B This is an example of a list of approved objects.

[0035] Figure 21 This is an example of the structure of an information processing system. Detailed Implementation

[0036] The present embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are given the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are omitted. Furthermore, the present embodiment described below does not unreasonably limit the content of the technical solution. Additionally, not all components described in this embodiment are essential elements of this disclosure.

[0037] 1.1. System Configuration Example

[0038] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating the structure of an information processing system 10, which includes an electronic device according to this embodiment. Figure 1 As shown, the information processing system 10 according to this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 100, a server system 200, and a terminal device 300. The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral). However, other devices besides MFPs can also be used as image forming apparatuses. Furthermore, the system configuration is not limited to [specific type of MFP]. Figure 1 It can perform various transformations, such as omitting parts of the composition or adding other components. Furthermore, it can perform transformations such as omitting and adding components; this is a key feature... Figure 2 The same applies to the accompanying figures described later.

[0039] The electronic device in this embodiment can be either an image forming apparatus 100 or a server system 200. Alternatively, the electronic device can be implemented using multiple devices, including the image forming apparatus 100 and the server system 200. That is, the processing unit of the electronic device can be either... Figure 2 The processing unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 described later may also use... Figure 3 The processing unit 210 of the server system 200 described later can also be either of these two. Similarly, the storage unit of the electronic device can be either... Figure 2 The storage unit 130 of the image forming apparatus 100 described later may also be used Figure 3 The storage unit 230 of the server system 200 described later can also be either of these two. Furthermore, if the electronic device is the image forming apparatus 100, the server system 200 can be omitted from the system according to this embodiment.

[0040] For the sake of simplicity, the following description will primarily focus on the example of the electronic device in this embodiment being the server system 200. However, in the following description, the processing performed by the server system 200 may be performed by the image forming apparatus 100, or by a distributed processing of the image forming apparatus 100 and the server system 200.

[0041] The image forming apparatus 100 is, for example, an apparatus that includes at least one of a printing function and a scanning function. The image forming apparatus 100 may be a printer with a printing function, a scanner with a scanning function, or both. That is, the image forming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment may be an image forming apparatus or an image processing apparatus. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 100 may also be a device with other functions such as a fax function or a copying function.

[0042] Server system 200 can be a single server or a combination of multiple servers. For example, server system 200 may also include a database server storing shared address books and personal address books, and a processing server for address management that handles changes to personal address books. Furthermore, the term "server" here can refer to either a physical server or a virtual server. Additionally, multiple servers can be configured in a distributed manner, and the specific configuration of server system 200 can be varied in many ways.

[0043] The terminal device 300 is a device provided for each user utilizing the information processing system 10 according to this embodiment, such as a portable terminal device like a smartphone. However, the terminal device 300 can be a PC (Personal Computer), a tablet terminal, or a wearable device, and various modifications can be implemented.

[0044] The image forming apparatus 100, server system 200, and terminal device 300 are connected to a network NW. This network NW can be, for example, a public communication network such as the Internet. However, the network NW can also be an intranet, and various variations can be implemented. The image forming apparatus 100 and server system 200, the server system 200 and terminal device 300, and the image forming apparatus 100 and terminal device 300 can communicate via the network NW.

[0045] For example, the image forming apparatus 100 is a device used in an organization such as a business. The image forming apparatus 100 can also be a device configured in an office or similar space and shared by personnel within the organization. The server system 200 is a device used to manage the organization's address book. The server system 200 can be managed within the organization or provided by an external service provider. The terminal device 300 is a device used by personnel within the organization. Here, it is assumed that there are multiple personnel. Therefore, in Figure 1 For convenience, only one terminal device 300 is shown, but the information processing system 10 may also include multiple terminal devices 300. Furthermore, depending on the size of the organization, image forming devices 100 may be installed on each floor of the office, or multiple image forming devices 100 may be installed on a single floor. Therefore, in Figure 1 For convenience, only one image forming apparatus 100 is shown in this embodiment; however, the information processing system 10 according to this embodiment may include multiple image forming apparatuses 100. Examples of multiple image forming apparatuses 100 are used in this embodiment. Figure 21 To be discussed later.

[0046] Figure 2 This diagram illustrates an example configuration of the image forming apparatus 100. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a processing unit 110, a communication unit 120, a storage unit 130, a display unit 140, and an image reading unit 150. However, the image forming apparatus 100 may have printing functions, and may also include, for example, a printing unit not shown.

[0047] The processing unit 110 is composed of the following hardware. The hardware may include at least one of circuitry for processing digital signals and circuitry for processing analog signals. For example, the hardware may consist of one or more circuit devices or one or more circuit elements mounted on a circuit board. The one or more circuit devices may be, for example, an integrated circuit (IC), an FPGA (field-programmable gate array), etc. The one or more circuit elements may be, for example, resistors, capacitors, etc.

[0048] Alternatively, the processing unit 110 can also be implemented by the software described below. The image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment includes: a memory storing information; and a processor performing operations based on the information stored in the memory. The information includes, for example, programs and various types of data. The processor includes hardware. The processor can be various processors such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The memory can be a semiconductor memory such as SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) or DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), or it can be a register, a magnetic storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), or an optical storage device such as an optical disc drive. For example, the memory stores commands that can be read by a computer, and the processor executes these commands, thereby implementing the function of the processing unit 110 as processing. These commands can be commands constituting a set of commands for a program, or commands instructing the processor's hardware circuitry to perform operations.

[0049] Processing Unit 110 Control Figure 2 The image forming apparatus 100 shown includes various units. For example, the processing unit 110 performs communication control, data read-out and write control, display control, etc. Additionally, the processing unit 110 can also perform printing control, scanning control, fax transmission and reception control, etc.

[0050] The communication unit 120 is an interface for communication via a network. The image forming apparatus 100 is connected to the network NW via the communication unit 120. The communication unit 120 includes, for example, an antenna, an RF (radio frequency) circuit, and a baseband circuit. The communication unit 120 operates according to the control of the processing unit 110. Alternatively, the communication unit 120 may include a processor for communication control, different from the processing unit 110. The communication unit 120 may be, for example, an interface for communication based on IEEE 802.11, specifically for communication based on WiFi (registered trademark). However, the communication unit 120 may be a communication interface for other wireless communication methods, or a communication interface for wired connection. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus 100 of this embodiment can also perform communication via fax. For example, the communication unit 120 may include a telephone line connection unit for communication using the public switched telephone network. The communication unit 120 of this embodiment may include any one of different connection units among communication methods such as a wireless LAN connection unit, a wired LAN connection unit, and a telephone line connection unit, or may include two or more of them.

[0051] The storage unit 130 is the working area of ​​the processing unit 110, where various types of information are stored. The storage unit 130 can be implemented using various types of memory, including semiconductor memory, registers, magnetic storage devices, and optical storage devices.

[0052] Display unit 140 is a display that displays image information. Display unit 140 can be implemented using, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. Display unit 140 can also be a UI (User Interface) when utilizing the functions of image forming apparatus 100 such as printing function or scanning function.

[0053] The image reading unit 150, for example, corresponds to a scanning function, reads the original document, and acquires an image as the reading result. The image reading unit includes, for example, a transport unit that transports the original document to be read; a light source unit that illuminates the original document along the transport path; and a light receiving unit that receives light reflected from the original document. The transport unit includes, for example, a transport roller. The light source unit is, for example, a light-emitting element such as an LED (light-emitting diode). The light receiving unit is, for example, a photoelectric conversion element such as a PD (photodiode). Furthermore, the image reading unit is not limited to transporting the original document; it may also include a mechanism for driving the light source unit and the light receiving unit. The image reading unit acquires an image based on the detection result of the light receiving unit.

[0054] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a server system 200. The server system 200 includes a processing unit 210, a communication unit 220, and a storage unit 230.

[0055] The processing unit 210 is composed of hardware including at least one of circuitry for processing digital signals and circuitry for processing analog signals. For example, the hardware may be composed of one or more circuit devices or one or more circuit elements mounted on a circuit board.

[0056] Alternatively, the processing unit 210 can also be implemented by various processors such as CPU, GPU, and DSP. The server system 200 of this embodiment includes a memory for storing information and a processor for performing actions based on the information stored in the memory. For example, the memory stores commands that can be read by a computer, and the processor executes these commands, thereby implementing the function of the processing unit 210 as processing.

[0057] Processing Unit 210 Control Figure 3 The server system 200 shown includes various components. For example, the processing unit 210 performs communication control, data read / write control, and other functions. Additionally, the processing unit 210 can also perform address book management. Details regarding management processes will be described later.

[0058] The communication unit 220 is an interface for communication via a network. The server system 200 is connected to the network NW via the communication unit 220. The communication unit 220 includes, for example, an antenna, RF circuitry, and baseband circuitry. The communication unit 220 may also be an interface for communication based on IEEE 802.11, specifically for communication based on WiFi. However, the communication unit 220 may also be a communication interface for other forms of wireless communication or for wired connections.

[0059] The storage unit 230 is the working area of ​​the processing unit 210, where various types of information are stored. The storage unit 230 can be implemented using various types of memory, including semiconductor memory, registers, magnetic storage devices, and optical storage devices.

[0060] In addition, storage unit 230 can also store shared address books and non-shared personal address books. Figures 4-6 This is an example of information stored in storage unit 230. Additionally, Figures 4-6 It refers to information stored in the storage unit of an electronic device. For example, when the electronic device is an image forming apparatus 100, the storage unit 130 can also store this information.

[0061] Figure 4This is an example of a shared address book. A shared address book is a collection of address information shared by multiple users. For example, a shared address book could also be information accessible to all employees of an enterprise equipped with an image forming apparatus 100. However, as described later, the scope of accessibility within a shared address book can vary depending on the user's permissions. Alternatively, as described later, there may be multiple shared address books, and the address books accessible to users can differ depending on their permissions.

[0062] A shared address book can also be table data containing entries such as "ID", "User", "Name", "Phone Number", "FAX Number", "Email Address", and "Address". Below, we will describe a single record from the shared address book as shared address information. Shared address information is... Figure 4 The set of values ​​for each item shown. However, the items included in the shared address book are not limited to... Figure 4 As an example, you can delete some items or add others. Furthermore, a shared address book is not limited to tabular data; it can also be other forms of data.

[0063] "ID" is a unique identifier for shared address information. The value of "ID" can be, for example, a non-repeating numerical data, but other forms of data that can uniquely identify shared address information can also be used.

[0064] "User" identifies the user who has access to the object's shared address information. As mentioned above, shared address information is shared by multiple users; therefore, the value of "User" represents this information. For example, the value of "User" in a shared address book could be text data such as "shared".

[0065] "Name" is the name of the entity that becomes the object. This entity can be a business, another organization, or an individual. The value of "Name" can be text data, for example, representing the name of an entity called "AA Business".

[0066] "Telephone number" refers to the telephone number of the object entity; it is a list of multiple digits. "FAX number" refers to the fax number of the object entity; it is a list of multiple digits.

[0067] "Email address" is information that represents the email address of an entity. The value of "email address" is, for example, data containing multiple numbers or letters, including "@".

[0068] "Address" is information that represents the address and location of an object entity. The value of "address" can be text data that specifies, for example, the name of a prefecture, city, town, house number, etc.

[0069] Figure 5A An example of a user's personal address book is shown. Figure 5B An example of a user's personal address book is shown. Thus, the personal address book includes a first personal address book associated with a first user and a second personal address book associated with a second user. The first user is, for example, user A, and the first personal address book is, for example, user A. Figure 5A The address book shown. For example, if the second user is user B, the second person's address book is... Figure 5B The address books shown are as follows. The first personal address book is accessible to the first user, but not to other users, including the second user. The second personal address book is accessible to the second user, but not to other users, including the first user. However, this does not preclude the settings of users with permissions to access other users' personal address books, such as organizational administrators.

[0070] For example, a personal address book is generated and updated by users belonging to an organization by adding information such as customers acquired in their work. For example, when a user obtains new customer information, they input the information using the display unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100 and the operation unit (not shown), thereby adding new personal address information to their own personal address book. Therefore, the personal address book becomes information different for each user.

[0071] A personal address book can contain tabular data, similar to a shared address book, including fields such as "ID," "Username," "Name," "Phone Number," "Fax Number," "Email Address," and "Home Address." Below, we will describe one record from a personal address book as personal address information. Personal address information is... Figure 5A , Figure 5B The set of values ​​for each item shown. However, the items included in a personal address book are not limited to... Figure 5A , Figure 5B You can delete some items or add others. Also, it's fine if the items in the shared address book are different from those in your personal address book.

[0072] like Figure 5A , Figure 5B As shown, "ID" is information that uniquely identifies an individual's address. "ID" can be, for example, a unique numerical value that is not repeated in a shared address book or in all users' personal address books. Alternatively, "ID" only needs to be unique within a given personal address book, but may be allowed to be repeated in other users' personal address books.

[0073] In a personal address book, "User" identifies the user whose personal address information corresponds to the object. For example, the value of "User" in User A's personal address book can identify User A, and the value of "User" in User B's personal address book can also identify User B.

[0074] Regarding "Name", "Phone Number", "FAX Number", "Email Address", and "Address", please use... Figure 4 Same as the shared address book mentioned above. Additionally, in Figure 5 and... Figure 5B The example shown illustrates an instance where the entity in the personal address book is an individual. For instance, a customer company (legal entity) can also manage its business through a shared address book, while individual responsible persons within the customer company can manage their businesses through each user's personal address book. However, the type of address information stored in the shared and personal address books is arbitrary, and the specific methods are not limited to these.

[0075] In addition, such as Figure 5A as well as Figure 5B As shown, the format of values ​​in a given item in a personal address book can also differ from user to user. For example, the value for "Name" could be as follows: Figure 5A The example shown uses both the surname and given name, or it can be done as follows: Figure 5B The example shows a combination of surname and honorific title. Furthermore, the value of "Name" can be varied, including combinations of surname and job title, and combinations of surname, first name, and job title. Thus, the values ​​of some items related to the same entity can differ depending on the user using the personal address book.

[0076] By using Figures 4 to 5B The shared address book and personal address book shown can improve the convenience of using the image forming apparatus 100. For example, when sending a fax to a specific customer or sending scanned image data to a customer's email address, the user can determine the fax number or email address based on the address book, thus reducing the burden of input.

[0077] Figure 6 This is an example of authentication data. As mentioned above, in order to properly manage a personal address book, it is necessary to identify the users who utilize the personal address book. Therefore, when displaying a personal address book, authentication processing such as login processing is preferred. Authentication data is the information used for this authentication processing.

[0078] The authentication data includes items such as "User ID", "Username", "Password", and "Contact Destination". The "User ID" is information that uniquely identifies a user, such as a non-repeating numerical value.

[0079] "Username" is text data that represents the name of a user, such as information in the same form as the "user" value in a personal address book.

[0080] A password is information that users enter when using their personal address book, such as information set by the user themselves. A password can be a collection of numbers, letters, symbols, etc.

[0081] "Contact destination" is, for example, each user's email address. This email address can also be used, for example, as information to determine the destination of emails in the change notification task described later.

[0082] 2. Sharing of changes to personal address books

[0083] In this embodiment, when a first user inputs an update to the first address information contained in a first personal address book, the processing unit of the electronic device determines whether a corresponding address information is contained in a second personal address book. If the corresponding address information is present in the second personal address book, the processing unit performs a notification process asking the second user for permission to update the corresponding address information. If the user grants permission, the processing unit updates the corresponding address information contained in the second personal address book. Here, the first address information and the corresponding address information correspond to the aforementioned personal address information. For example, the first address information is any address information contained in the first personal address book. Furthermore, the first address information, in a narrow sense, refers to information representing an address different from the first user's address. For example, the first address information represents the address of a third party different from both the first and second users. This third party is, for example, an external entity not belonging to the organizations to which either the first or second user belongs. The third party could be, for example, a customer of the first user, an organization such as a company, or an individual.

[0084] Furthermore, the method of this embodiment can be applied to information processing methods that process personal address books. An information processing method includes: determining whether a second person's address book contains corresponding address information when a first user updates first address information contained in a first person's address book; when the second person's address book contains corresponding address information, requesting permission from the second user to update the corresponding address information; and updating the corresponding address information contained in the second person's address book when permission is granted in the notification process.

[0085] According to the method of this embodiment, even when the personal address book itself is not shared with other users, changes to the personal address book can be shared with other users. For example, if an address change is known to be caused by a customer moving, and one person in the organization changes their personal address book, the change will also be reflected for other users who have registered the same customer in their personal address books. As a result, the burden of change management on users can be reduced.

[0086] Furthermore, this processing targets individual address books rather than shared address books, thus increasing the likelihood that each user will actually use the address information contained in their own personal address book. For example, an entity included in a user's personal address book might be a customer with whom that user has a direct professional relationship. Therefore, being able to appropriately determine whether to reflect changes made by other users in one's own personal address book also ensures the accuracy of the address book.

[0087] For example, to achieve the above processing, the processing unit of the electronic device may also perform tasks such as address book display, change notification, web processing, and change approval. The processing flow will be explained in detail below using specific examples. As described above, the following explanation uses an example where the electronic device is a server system 200.

[0088] <Address book display task>

[0089] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating the address book display task. The address book display task, for example, refers to the task of displaying an address book accessible to an organization's personnel when the image forming apparatus 100 is operated. Furthermore, users can also view and modify the address book using their own terminal device 300. For example, by using application software installed on the terminal device 300 for the image forming apparatus 100, users can refer to shared address books and personal address books corresponding to the image forming apparatus 100. In this case, the image forming apparatus 100 and its components described below can be replaced with the terminal device 300 and its components.

[0090] First, in step S101, the processing unit 210 performs user authentication processing. For example, the processing unit 210 executes the process of displaying an image requesting the user to input a user ID and password on the display unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100. Alternatively, the processing unit 210 can generate the image itself and send it to the image forming apparatus 100, or it can send image generation information to the image forming apparatus 100, causing the processing unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 to generate the image. Alternatively, the image forming apparatus 100 can also obtain only the necessary data from the server system 200 in advance, and the processing unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 performs image generation and display processing on the display unit 140. Regarding the display processing, similarly after step S102, it can be performed by the processing unit 210, by the processing unit 210 and the processing unit 110 separately, or by the processing unit 110 alone. The image forming apparatus 100 obtains the user ID and password input using the image. The processing unit 210 obtains the user ID and password from the image forming apparatus 100 and... Figure 6 The processing involves comparing the authentication data shown.

[0091] In step S102, the processing unit 210 determines whether authentication has been performed appropriately. If the obtained user ID and password match any record in the authentication data, the processing unit 210 determines that authentication is OK. In this case, the processing unit 210 uses the matching record's "user ID" or "username" to determine which user has logged in. Conversely, if the obtained user ID and password do not match any record in the authentication data, the processing unit 210 determines that authentication is NG.

[0092] If authentication fails ("No" in step S102), the processing unit 210 returns to step S101 and performs user authentication again.

[0093] If authentication is OK (Yes in step S102), in step S103, the processing unit 210 performs the process of displaying a list of the authenticated user's address book on the display unit 140.

[0094] Figure 8 This is an example of information used in the display process of step S103, for instance, when user A is authenticated. Figure 8 As shown, the address book displayed to the user can be a combination of the shared address book and user A's personal address book. This allows user A to be appropriately prompted about the address books they have viewing permissions for. Furthermore, while user A's address book is exemplified here, the same applies to other users such as user B; the shared address book and the authenticated user's personal address book are displayed. Additionally, in Figure 8The example also includes information such as "ID" and "User," but since these are administrative items, they can be excluded from the displayed processing objects. Additionally, in Figure 8 The example shows a list sorted by ID, but sorting by other items such as username can also be performed during the display process. Additionally, upon receiving a user's selection action, a process can be executed to reorder the items based on the selected criteria.

[0095] During the overview display, in step S104, the processing unit 210 determines whether a display end instruction has been given. For example, if a display end button (not shown) is displayed on the overview screen, the processing unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 determines whether the display end button has been pressed. When the display end button is pressed, the image forming apparatus 100 sends information indicating this to the server system 200. Upon receiving information indicating that the display end button has been pressed, the processing unit 210 determines that a display end instruction has been given ("Yes" in step S104) and returns to step S101.

[0096] If no end instruction is displayed (No in step S104), in step S105, the processing unit 210 determines whether a detailed display instruction has been given. For example, if each address information contained in the overview display screen can be selected individually, the processing unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 determines which address information has been selected, or whether no address information has been selected. The image forming apparatus 100 sends the determination result to the server system 200.

[0097] If no address information is selected, the processing unit 210 determines that no detailed display instruction has been given ("No" in step S105) and returns to step S104. That is, the overview display continues.

[0098] When any address information is selected, the processing unit 210 determines the selected address information as the designated address and determines that a detailed display instruction for the designated address has been given. In this case, "Yes" is given in step S105, and in step S106, the processing unit 210 displays the detailed information of the designated address on the display unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100.

[0099] The level of detail in the detailed display screen can take various forms. For example, it could display a specific address without showing information about other addresses. However, the detailed display screen simply needs to show the specified address in more detail compared to the overview screen. For instance, the detailed display screen could be a screen with a relatively large area displaying the specified address, a screen displaying a relatively large number of items, or other types of screens.

[0100] During the detailed display, in step S107, the processing unit 210 determines whether the return button has been pressed. The specific processing is, for example, the same as the operation detection of the end-of-display button in step S104. If the return button has been pressed (yes in step S107), the processing unit 210 returns to step S103. That is, it returns from the detailed display to the overview display.

[0101] If the return button is not pressed (No in step S107), in step S108, the processing unit 210 determines whether a content change instruction has been given. For example, the values ​​of each item at a specified address included in the detail display screen can be selected and rewritten. For example, if the image forming apparatus 100 selects the change confirmation button included in the detail display screen while the value has been rewritten, it can also send the meaning of the content change instruction and the change content to the server system 200.

[0102] The changes here could be a group of items that have been changed and their values. Alternatively, the changes could also be a group of items that have been changed, their original values, and their new values. Furthermore, changes are not limited to a single item; multiple items can be changed simultaneously.

[0103] Figure 9 This diagram illustrates an example where a portion of user A's personal address book was changed through modifications made by user A. The areas highlighted in color against the background represent the modified parts. Figure 8 and Figure 9 A comparison was made regarding the address information for "ID" = 202. The values ​​for "Phone Number," "FAX Number," and "Address" were changed. Specifically, the "Phone Number" changed from "34-5678" to "66-7890." The "FAX Number" changed from "34-5000" to "66-7000." The "Address" changed from "5-5, ZZ-cho, XX City" to "6-3, ZZ-cho, XX City." The changes confirmed these details. Additionally, the changes could also include unchanged items such as "Name" and "Email Address."

[0104] If no content change instruction is given ("No" in step S108), the processing unit 210 returns to step S106. That is, the detailed display continues. If a content change instruction is given ("Yes" in step S108), in step S109, the processing unit 210 controls the display unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100 to display the changed content.

[0105] In step S110, the processing unit 110 performs the process of notifying the change notification task of the changes input by user A in order to reflect the changes in other users' personal address books. After the processing in step S110, the process returns to step S103.

[0106] <Change Notification Task>

[0107] Figure 10 This is a flowchart illustrating a change notification task. A change notification task, for example, refers to notifying other members of an organization of the changes made by any member of their personal address book. For clarity, the user who made the address book change will also be labeled as the source user. If... Figure 9 In the example, user A is the source user of the change. Additionally, the user whose change content is reflected in the change processing will also be marked as the destination user of the change. Furthermore, the following describes an example of the processing of each step in the change notification task executed in the processing unit 210 of the server system 200, but at least some of the following processing can also be executed in the processing unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 100. For example, the image forming apparatus 100 may also obtain only the necessary data in advance from the server system 200, execute the processing described below in the processing unit 110 and the communication unit 120, and notify the processing unit 210 of the execution result.

[0108] First, in step S201, the processing unit 210 determines whether there is a notification from the address book display task. Specifically, after performing... Figure 7 In the case of step SllO, the processing unit 210 determines that there is a notification.

[0109] Without a notification from the address book display task, changes that should be shared within the organization will not occur. Therefore, processing unit 210 determines "no" in step S201 and performs the processing in step S201 again. In other words, in the change notification task, processing unit 210 remains on standby until a notification from the address book display task is received.

[0110] Upon receiving a notification from an address book display task ("Yes" in step S201), the processing unit 210 initializes the designation of the target address book. The target address book is a personal address book used to determine whether changes need to be reflected, and it is any personal address book of a user other than the user who caused the change. In other words, the user whose target address book is being searched is the user who is the destination of the change.

[0111] In step S203, the processing unit 210 determines whether the notification from the address book display task was caused by a change operation that ignores the specified user. For example, if user A and user B have a shallow relationship (e.g., different departments, work destinations), even if user A changes their personal address book, user B may sometimes feel that they do not need to be notified. In this case, user B is ignoring the specified user A. Regarding ignoring the specified user, using... Figure 15D Figure 16 Figure 16B To be discussed later.

[0112] For example, the processing unit 210 determines whether the user changing the destination ignores the specified source user. If the specified user is ignored ("Yes" in step S203), no notification related to the current search target address book is needed, so the processing in steps S204-S209 is skipped, and the process proceeds to step S210.

[0113] If the specified condition is not ignored (No in step S203), in step S204, the processing unit 210 retrieves the corresponding address information that corresponds to the personal address information changed by the change source user, using the specified search target address book as the target. Here, corresponding address information refers to personal address information that is inferred to be the same entity as the changed personal address information.

[0114] Figure 11 This is a diagram illustrating the retrieval process for corresponding address information. As mentioned above, using... Figure 9 Consider the example where user A changes their address information to "ID" = 202. Therefore, processing unit 210 sequentially designates the personal address books of users other than user A as the search target address books. For example, if user B's personal address book is the search target address book, it determines whether the address information for each person with "ID" = 301 to 308 is the same as the customer's address information for "ID" = 202.

[0115] For example, processing unit 210 sets the value of the personal address information before the change of "ID" = 202 as the comparison source. Then, for each item other than "ID" and "user", it determines whether the value of the comparison source is consistent with the value of the personal address information in the search target address book. In addition, "ID" and "user" are excluded because they are management items, and it is considered that even the same entity may have inconsistent values. For example, if the values ​​of more than a certain number of items that are compared are consistent, processing unit 210 determines that the personal address information is the corresponding address information.

[0116] exist Figure 11In the example, the items that match the background color are the personal address information with "ID" = 302. The four items "telephone number", "fax number", "email address", and "residential address" match the comparison source. Therefore, the processing unit 210 determines that the address with "ID" = 302 is the corresponding address information.

[0117] Furthermore, there are situations where different customers share the same name, or multiple customers with the same address belong to the same company. Therefore, even if the entities are different, there is still a possibility that some items may have the same value. Therefore, the specified number in the above judgment is preferably 2 or more. Additionally, if... Figure 11 As shown, even for the same entity, there may be inconsistencies such as different forms of "names". Therefore, the aforementioned specified number can also be a value smaller than the total number of items being compared.

[0118] In step S205, the processing unit 210 determines whether the corresponding address information has been found through the search process. If the corresponding address information is not found ("No" in step S205), the change does not need to be reflected in the specified search target address book, so no notification is required. Therefore, the processing of steps S206-S209 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S210.

[0119] If the corresponding address information is found (Yes in step S205), in step S206, the processing unit 210 obtains the contact destination information of the user corresponding to the specified search target address book. For example, the processing unit 210 can compare the value of "user" in the search target address book with... Figure 6 The value of the "username" in the authentication data. For example, if the address book being retrieved is user B's personal address book, then the contact destination information is... Figure 6 The email address shown is "qq@nnn". Alternatively, it could be the "User" field in an individual's address book, representing the user ID, which is used to determine the contact destination.

[0120] In step S207, the processing unit 210 notifies the change approval task of the user ID of the destination user and the changed content. In this way, the change approval task can appropriately manage the change content notified to the destination user.

[0121] In step S208, the processing unit 210 generates an email that notifies the user at the destination of the change of content. Figure 12 This is an example of the email generated in step S208. For example... Figure 12As shown, the recipient of the email is the changed destination user corresponding to the personal address book where the corresponding address information was found, and the email address is the information determined in step S206. Additionally, the email may also contain information identifying the source user of the change and the content before and after the change.

[0122] In this implementation, the user changing the destination can decide the appropriate response to the email. For example, each user can choose one of the following responses: an approval response reflecting the change, a hold response indicating that the change is retained, a denial response indicating that the change is not reflected, or an ignore response indicating that the change is not reflected and future notifications from the same user are ignored. Therefore, the email can also contain four objects representing each response. For example... Figure 12 In this context, OK corresponds to a permission response, Reserve corresponds to a reservation response, No need to respond to a rejection response, and Ignore in the future corresponds to ignoring the specified response.

[0123] The four objects can include links to different URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). That is, notification of changes can be sent via email, and each destination user can respond to the email using a web browser or similar means. However, the method of this embodiment is not limited to this; at least one of the notification of changes and the responses from each destination user can also be performed using dedicated application software.

[0124] In step S209, the processing unit 210 performs the process of sending the email generated in step S208. Specifically, the electronic device includes a communication unit that communicates with the terminal device 300 used by the second user. The communication unit is, for example, the communication unit 220 of the server system 200. The processing unit 210 performs the following process as a notification process: based on contact destination information indicating the second user's contact destination, the communication unit 220 sends information indicating an update to the second user's terminal device 300. Thus, changes can be appropriately notified to users with corresponding address information in their personal address books.

[0125] For example, through the processing in step S209, Figure 12 The email shown is sent to user B. User B receives the email on their terminal device 300 and responds to the notification by selecting any of the four objects mentioned above.

[0126] When the result of step S203 is "Yes", or when the result of step S205 is "No", or after the process of step S209, in step S210, the processing unit 210 determines whether the processing for all personal address books has been completed. If there is an unprocessed personal address book (i.e., "No" in step S210), in step S211, the processing unit 210 changes the retrieval target address book and then returns to step S203. That is, different users are set as the destination users for change, and the above processing is repeated for the personal address books of these destination users for change. Therefore, a single content change made by a given source user for change can be notified to multiple destination users for change.

[0127] In addition, when the processing for all personal address books is completed (i.e., "Yes" in step S210), the processing unit 210 ends the processing for one notification from the address book display task and returns to step S201. That is, the processing unit 210 waits for the next notification from the address book display task and executes the above processing when there is a next notification.

[0128] <Web Processing Task and Change Approval Task>

[0129] Figure 13 It is a flowchart illustrating the Web processing task. Figure 14 It is a flowchart illustrating the change approval task. The Web processing task performs processing for obtaining a response to a notification of change content from a destination user for change using the Web, and processing for notifying the destination user for change of the processing result of the server system 200 based on the response using the Web. The change approval task performs processing based on the response content of the destination user for change obtained by the Web processing task. In addition, an example of processing each step in the Web processing task and the change approval task executed in the processing unit 210 of the server system 200 is described below. However, the processing unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 may also execute at least a part of the processing in the Web processing task and the change approval task shown below.

[0130] First, the Figure 13 Web processing task is described. In step S301, the processing unit 210 determines whether there is a Web access. For example, the server system 200 functions as a Web server and accepts access to the URLs corresponding to the four objects shown in Figure 12 . That is, if there is a Web access, it means that the destination user for change who has received the notification email has selected any one of the objects.

[0131] When there is no Web access (i.e., "No" in step S301), the processing unit 210 returns to step S301. In other words, the processing unit 210 waits until there is a Web access.

[0132] If web access is available ("Yes" in step S301), in step S302, processing unit 210 determines the change content based on the accessed URL. Furthermore, processing unit 210 notifies the change approval task of the determined change content. For example, the URL here may vary depending on the change content and the response selected by the destination user. In this way, processing unit 210 can appropriately determine, notify, what kind of change content was notified, and how the destination user responded to the notification based on the URL.

[0133] In step S303, the processing unit 210 determines whether there is a response from the change approval task in response to the notification in step S302. If there is no response ("No" in step S303), the processing unit 210 returns to step S303. In other words, after the notification in step S302, the processing unit 210 waits for a response from the change approval task.

[0134] If there is a response ("Yes" in step S303), in step S304, the processing unit 210 determines from the change approval task whether there is a response indicating processing OK. If it is a processing OK response ("Yes" in step S304), then in step S305, the processing unit 210 will appropriately reflect the user's response meaning and display it on the Web. If it is a processing NG response ("No" in step S304), then in step S306, the processing unit 210 will not appropriately reflect the user's response meaning and display it on the Web. Specific examples of steps S304 to S306 will be provided below. Figure 14 The changes to the approval process will be explained along with the task description.

[0135] right Figure 14 The change approval task will be explained below. First, in step S401, the processing unit 210 determines whether there is a notification from the Web processing task. The notification here is... Figure 13 The notification of step S302.

[0136] If no notification is received ("No" in step S401), in step S402, the processing unit 210 determines whether a notification from a change notification task exists. The notification here is... Figure 10 The notification in step S207. If a notification from a change notification task exists ("Yes" in step S402), in step S403, the processing unit 210 stores information indicating the change content in the storage unit 230. As described above, in step S207, the notification is used to determine information about the change destination user and the specific change content. Through the processing in step S403, the processing unit 210 is able to store and manage the change content notified to the change destination user.

[0137] If there is no notification from the change notification task ("No" in step S402), or after the processing in step S403, return to step S401.

[0138] If a notification is received from a web processing task ("Yes" in step S401), the processing unit 210 branches the processing based on the response content of the changed destination user. First, in step S404, the processing unit 210 determines whether the response content is a permission response.

[0139] If the response is "yes" ("Yes" in step S404), in step S405, the processing unit 210 performs the process of reflecting the changes in the object's personal address book. For example, Figure 11 As shown, when the corresponding address information is the address with "ID" = 302 contained in user B's personal address book, the processing unit 210 attempts to contact... Figure 9 The same applies to changing the "telephone number", "fax number", and "address" of the corresponding address information.

[0140] In step S406, the processing unit 210 determines whether the change response in step S405 was successful. If successful ("Yes" in step S406), in step S407, the processing unit 210 notifies the Web processing task of the processing OK.

[0141] thus, Figure 13 Steps S303 and S304 are determined to be "yes". In this case, since the changes made by user A are also reflected in user B's personal address book, in step S305, the processing unit 210 may, for example, display on the web the meaning that user B's personal address book has been changed and the content before and after the change.

[0142] Figure 15A This is an example of the screen displayed in this situation. For example, when operating... Figure 12 When the email displays an "OK" object, user B's terminal device 300 launches a web browser and accesses the URL corresponding to the selected object. Furthermore, the server system 200, acting as the web server, performs... Figure 15A The displayed screen is processed and shown on a web browser operating on terminal device 300. Thus, if user B selects "OK" as the object indicating a permission response, user B is notified that their personal address book has been appropriately changed.

[0143] On the other hand, if the change response in step S405 fails ("No" in step S406), in step S408, the processing unit 210 notifies the Web processing task of processing NG. Therefore, Figure 13 Step S303 determines "yes", and step S304 determines "no". In this case, although user B allows the reflection of user A's changes, the reflection fails. Therefore, in step S305, the processing unit 210 may, for example, display text such as "Personal address book update failed" on the web.

[0144] After the processing in step S407 or S408, in step S409, the processing unit 210 deletes the corresponding information from the storage unit 230. In the example described above, the deletion of information stored in the storage unit 230 through the processing in step S403 indicates that this information will be reflected in user B's personal address book. Figure 9 The information regarding the changed content is shown. Through the processing in step S409, a response is received from the destination user, and the information for which processing was performed is deleted. As a result, information for which no appropriate response was received from the sending destination user remains in the storage unit 230, thus enabling proper management of unprocessed information. After the processing in step S409, the processing unit 210 returns to step S401 to continue processing.

[0145] Additionally, if the response content from the user notifying them of a web processing task is not a permission response (no in step S404), in step S410, the processing unit 210 determines whether the response content is a reserved response.

[0146] If the response is retained (Yes in step S410), in step S411, the processing unit 210 starts the retransmission timing. After processing in step S411, the processing unit 210 proceeds to step S407 and notifies the Web processing task of the processing OK.

[0147] thus, Figure 13 Steps S303 and S304 are judged as "Yes". In this case, the user's changes are not reflected immediately, but are resent after a specified time has elapsed. Figure 12 The same email. Therefore, in step S305, the processing unit 210 may, for example, display the intention to contact again on the web after a specified time.

[0148] Figure 15B This is an example of what the screen would look like in this situation. Figure 15BThe displayed screen includes the intention to contact again after the specified time and the content of the changes. In this way, the reservation response from the user who changed the destination is appropriately sent to the server system 200, which can notify the user who changed the destination whether the judgment on whether the change has been reserved for the specified time.

[0149] If a response is retained, after processing in step S407, the processing unit 210 deletes the corresponding information in step S409. Additionally, if the retransmission timer determines that a predetermined time has elapsed, for example, a change notification task can be executed again. Figure 10 The processing steps S207 to S209 are then performed. This enables the re-notification of information regarding the changes made to the change approval task and the resending of emails to the destination user of the change.

[0150] In addition, if the response content from the user notifying the user of the Web processing task is not a retained response ("No" in step S410), in step S412, the processing unit 210 determines whether the response content is a rejection response indicating that no changes are needed.

[0151] If the response is rejected ("Yes" in step S412), the processing unit 210 proceeds to step S407 and notifies the Web processing task of the processing OK.

[0152] thus, Figure 13 Steps S303 and S304 are determined to be "yes". In this case, user A's changes are not reflected in user B's personal address book. Therefore, in step S305, the processing unit 210 may, for example, display on the web that the address indicating "ID" = 302 remains in its previous state.

[0153] Figure 15C This is an example of the screen displayed in this situation. Figure 15C The displayed screen includes the meaning and specific values ​​of maintaining the personal address book content. This allows for the appropriate sending of a rejection response to the server system 200, informing the user that their personal address book has not been changed and is being maintained.

[0154] Furthermore, if the response content from the user notifying the user of the Web processing task is not a rejection response ("No" in step S412), in step S413, the processing unit 210 determines whether the response content is an ignored response.

[0155] If the specified response is ignored ("Yes" in step S413), the processing unit 210 updates the list of ignored objects in step S414. Figure 16A and Figure 16BThis is an example of a list of objects to ignore. A list of objects to ignore can also contain, for example, a source user to change, a destination user to change, or a user ID representing the destination user to change. A source user to change in the list of objects to ignore indicates a disregard for the destination user change specification.

[0156] In the state shown in Figure 16, for any user changing the destination, the source user becomes "None". That is, no user has set any user to ignore. On the other hand, when user B ignores a specified user A, the list of ignored objects is as follows: Figure 16B The update shown is as follows. Specifically, user A is added to user B's "Change Destination User" record under "Change Source User".

[0157] In use Figure 10 In step S203 above, the ignore object list is used for judgment. Processing unit 210 reads the records of users corresponding to the search target address book from the ignore object list. For example, if user B's personal address book is the search target address book, the data of the second row of the ignore object list is read. Then, processing unit 210 determines whether the user who has changed their personal address book is included in the value of "change source user" in that record. If the ignore object list is updated... Figure 16B After the state is reached, user A is included in the value of "Change Source User", so the judgment result of step S203 is "Yes". As a result, since the processing of steps S204 to S209, which target user B's personal address book, is not executed, the changes made by user A are not notified to user B, and the changes are not reflected in user B's personal address book.

[0158] In this way, when the processing unit of the electronic device receives a ignore response from the second user indicating that the notification processing based on the first user should be ignored, the second user is removed from the list of notification processing objects updated based on the first user. This suppresses notification processing with low necessity, thus improving convenience. In particular, by having the second user provide an ignore response, the accuracy of the ignore object list can be improved.

[0159] After the processing in step S414, the processing unit 210 moves to step S407 and notifies the Web processing task that the processing is OK.

[0160] thus, Figure 13 Steps S303 and S304 determine "Yes". In this case, the changes made by user A are not reflected, and user A is further added to user B's ignored specified list. Therefore, in step S305, the processing unit 210 can also display this message on the Web.

[0161] Figure 15D This is an example of the screen displayed at this time. Figure 15D The image shown is the same as Figure 15C Similarly, this includes both the meaning and specific values ​​of maintaining the contents of a personal address book. Furthermore, Figure 15D The screen contains text notifying user A of the changes but without reflecting the changes. This allows the disregard-specified response for the changed destination user to be appropriately sent to server system 200, notifying the changed destination user that their personal address book has been maintained and the disregard-specified list updated.

[0162] Furthermore, if the response from the user notified by the Web processing task is not a response that ignores the specified response ("No" in step S413), in step S415, the processing unit 210 notifies the Web processing task of processing NG. In this case, for example, the response from the Web processing task is an unknown response for the change approval task. The change approval task cannot perform the processing corresponding to the response content, therefore it notifies of processing NG.

[0163] thus, Figure 13 If step S303 is determined to be "yes" and step S304 is determined to be "no", then the processing unit 210 may display text such as "An inappropriate response was made".

[0164] 3. Shared address book

[0165] Furthermore, while the above example illustrates changes to a shared personal address book by multiple users, this embodiment allows for updating the shared address book. However, since the shared address book is data shared by multiple users, accidental updates can have significant consequences. Therefore, the shared address book should reflect changes only upon approval from an administrator with update privileges.

[0166] For example, the processing unit 210 communicates with... Figure 7 The address book display task is handled in the same way, including user authentication, display of the shared address book, and acceptance of changes. For example, if the authenticated user A does not have the permission to update the shared address book and the "user" value of the changed address information is "shared", it is determined that a change request for the shared address book has been made.

[0167] In addition, the processing unit 210 can communicate with... Figure 10 The notification to the administrator is processed using the same method as the change notification task shown. Furthermore, since the shared address book is shared by multiple users, the process of retrieving corresponding address information can be omitted. For example, processing unit 210 uses the administrator's contact destination information to send an email to the administrator's terminal device 300 containing the source user and the changed content of the shared address book. This email may, for example, contain objects corresponding to permission responses, reservation responses, and denial responses.

[0168] The administrator determines whether to approve the change request based on the content of the email, and selects any object based on the decision. Subsequent processing is similar to the example of a personal address book, including judging the response content of a web-based task, processing the response content of a change approval task, and notifying the administrator of the web-based task. Additionally, the administrator can be notified of the judgment result and the processing result of the change approval task to the user who requested the change.

[0169] However, administrators with access to the shared address book are sometimes department heads, department managers, or heads of information management departments. These administrators have fewer direct interactions with customers compared to on-site managers who lack update permissions. Consequently, even if an update request is submitted by the on-site manager, it may be difficult to determine whether the updated content is correct.

[0170] Therefore, if the first user does not have permission to update the shared address book, and the first user has entered an update input for the first shared address information contained in the shared address book, the processing unit of the electronic device can perform a notification process to ask a user with a history of using the first shared address information whether permission to update is granted, and notify the management user with the response of the user with the history of using the first shared address information.

[0171] Figure 17 These are other examples illustrating the data structure of a shared address book. For example... Figure 17 As shown, the shared address book, in addition to Figure 4 In addition to the items shown, "administrators" and "those with usage history" can also be included.

[0172] "Administrator" refers to the information of users who have the authority to update the shared address information of objects. If it is... Figure 17 In the example, the manager of the shared address information with "ID" = 101 is user P, and the manager of the shared address information with "ID" = 102 to 104 is user Q.

[0173] "Has usage history" refers to information about users who have a history of using the shared address information of an object within a specified period. The length of the specified period is, for example, a period of several months, or it can be shorter or longer.

[0174] Furthermore, this usage could be, for example, using the fax function of the image forming apparatus 100 to send a fax with the value of the "FAX number" as the destination. Alternatively, this usage could be, for example, sending image data acquired using the scanning function of the image forming apparatus 100 via the communication unit 120 with the value of the "email address" as the destination. In either case, the functions of the image forming apparatus 100 are utilized, so the processing unit 110 of the image forming apparatus 100 can determine the user using the shared address and the usage time based on the user authentication result and the operation history of the logged-in user. However, this usage could also include other methods such as displaying detailed shared address information of the object in the address book display task. Furthermore, manually entering the usage history is not prohibited.

[0175] in the case of Figure 17 For example, the shared address information with "ID" = 101 has a history of use by user A. The shared address information with "ID" = 102 has a history of use by users B and C. The shared address information with "ID" = 103 has a history of use by users A and B. The shared address information with "ID" = 104 has a history of use by user D.

[0176] For example, when user A changes the shared address information with "ID" = 102, the processing unit 210 sends an email containing the changed shared address information to the respective terminal devices 300 of user B and user C based on the contact destination information of user B and user C.

[0177] Because users B and C have a history of using the shared address of the object, they are considered to have a deep relationship with "BB construction." For example, users B and C are responsible for "BB construction." Therefore, it is highly likely that they can correctly determine whether user A's changes to the shared address are appropriate.

[0178] Processing unit 210 obtains the responses from user B and user C through the same processing as the Web processing task, and notifies user Q, who is the administrator, along with the changed content. Although user Q may not be aware of the "BB construction," as mentioned above, the responses from user B and user C are highly reliable. Therefore, according to the method of this embodiment, the judgment of the administrator with update permissions for the shared address book becomes easier, thus reducing the burden on the administrator and improving the accuracy of the shared address book.

[0179] 4. Variations

[0180] The following are some examples of variations.

[0181] 4.1 Scope of Public Disclosure (Sharing) of the Changed Content

[0182] The above, such as Figure 10 Step S203 illustrates an example where no notification is processed when the source user of the change is ignored by the destination user. In other words, the personal address books of all users whose names are not ignored can also be used to retrieve the corresponding address information. However, the source user can also set the scope of sharing the changed content.

[0183] For example, the processing unit of an electronic device may determine the scope of notification processing based on the settings input of a first user, and skip notification processing if the second user is not included in the scope.

[0184] Figure 18 This is another example of user A's personal address book. For example... Figure 18 As shown in Figure 5, in addition to the items illustrated, a personal address book can also include a "shared scope." Here, the shared scope refers to information that defines a portion or all of an organization. For example, in a company with a hierarchical structure of department-department-section, the value representing the shared scope would be within the company, department, deployment, section, etc. However, organizational structures are not limited to this, and the specific value can be varied.

[0185] For example, storage unit 230 can also store information that associates users within the organization with their respective departments, deployments, and sections. Processing unit 210 can then use this information to determine user groups within the same department as the user who caused the change, user groups within the same deployment as the user who caused the change, and user groups within the same section as the user who caused the change.

[0186] For example, in the address book display task, the processing unit 210 performs processing to determine the "sharing scope" of the source user of the change and the personal address information of the confirmed change, and notifies the change notification task of the processing result. In the change notification task, the processing unit 210 determines the user group included in the sharing scope based on the notified information, and determines whether the destination user of the change is included in the user group. The processing unit 210 may also perform the processing after step S204 if the destination user of the change is included in the user group, and skip the processing of steps S204-S209 if the destination user of the change is not included in the user group.

[0187] If this is done, the scope of publicly announced changes can be defined, thus allowing for appropriate information management, such as narrowing the sharing of information that needs to be kept confidential. Furthermore, Figure 18 The example shown is an example of information about the sharing scope included in an item in a personal address book, but other information can also be used to set the sharing scope.

[0188] Furthermore, the sharing scope can be set based on the shared address book. As mentioned above, the shared address book is information shared by multiple users, but it is not limited to information where all shared address information is shared by all users. For example, it can also use shared address books that differ based on user attributes, such as for each deployment or each job role. In addition, different shared address books can be implemented as separate tabular data. Alternatively, the shared address book itself can be tabular data, and when used, a portion or all of it can be extracted based on user attributes, thus suggesting different shared address books based on attributes; the specific data format can be implemented in various ways.

[0189] The processing unit of the electronic device can determine the scope of the notification processing based on the shared address book used by the first user, and skip the notification processing if the second user is not included in the scope.

[0190] For example, storage unit 230 may also store information that maps users within the organization to the shared address books used by those users. Based on this information, processing unit 210 can identify user groups that use the same shared address book as the user from whom the change originated.

[0191] For example, in the address book display task, processing unit 210 notifies the change source user of the change notification task. In the change notification task, processing unit 210, based on the notified information, determines the user group using the same shared address book as the change source user and checks whether the change destination user is included in that user group. Processing unit 210 may also execute the processing after step S204 if the change destination user is included in the user group, and skip steps S204-S209 if the change destination user is not included in the user group.

[0192] Even with this configuration, the scope of publicly notified changes can be defined. Furthermore, because the scope can be determined based on the shared address book, processing can be performed efficiently when using a combination of shared and personal address books.

[0193] 4.2 Notification processing above, such as Figure 10 , Figure 12 The image illustrates an example of using email to notify users of changes in their destination. However, notification processing is not limited to this.

[0194] For example, when a second user performs a display operation on a second person's address book, the processing unit of the electronic device can perform a notification process, such as displaying a notification screen on the display unit asking whether permission is granted to update the corresponding address information. The notification screen is, for example, displayed on the display unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100.

[0195] For example, the processing unit 210 can also be in Figure 10The processing steps S206, S208, and S209 are omitted in the change notification task. In this case, the email notification processing is omitted. In addition to the processing in step S207, the processing unit 210 can also notify a second change notification task (not shown) of the change of destination user and the information confirming the change content.

[0196] For example, the address book shows the task in Figure 7 If the determination in step S105 is "yes", the second change notification task can also be notified of the information of the user who has logged into the image forming apparatus 100 and the address book information of the object to be displayed in detail.

[0197] That is, the second change notification task accumulates information that associates the user who changed the destination with the corresponding address information, and obtains information that associates the user who logged into the image forming apparatus 100 with the personal address information of the detailed display object. Therefore, in the second change notification task, the processing unit 210 determines whether the personal address information of the user who logged into the image forming apparatus 100 and the detailed display object is consistent with the change destination user and the corresponding address information.

[0198] Figure 19 This diagram illustrates the processing of the second change notification task. For example, as described above, it is performed by user A. Figure 9 The changes shown are made through... Figure 11 Following the same steps, suppose user B is a user changing their destination, and their personal address information (ID = 302) contains the corresponding address information. Then, at a later time, user B logs into the image forming apparatus 100, thereby... Figure 19 The data shown was determined to be the information used to display user B's address book, and the personal address information of "ID"=302 was selected as the object to be displayed in detail.

[0199] In this case, the destination user and the logged-in user are the same, and the corresponding address information is the same as the address information displayed in detail. Therefore, the processing unit 210 displays a notification screen on the display unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100, which includes information about the source user who made the address change and the content before and after the change. Alternatively, the notification screen may include four objects representing the aforementioned responses. The image forming apparatus 100 sends the selection result of the object representing the destination user, for example, to the server system 200.

[0200] In this way, the display unit 140 can notify the destination user of the changes made by the source user. In particular, when the detailed display of the corresponding address information is used as a notification trigger, the changes can be appropriately displayed if the corresponding address information may be used for faxing, scanning data transmission, etc. Furthermore, email sending can be omitted, thus reducing network load.

[0201] Furthermore, the conditions for displaying a notification screen on the display unit 140 are not limited to the examples described above. For example, it can be displayed during the timing of the user login image forming apparatus 100, which is used for registering a user as a change of destination. Figure 19 The notification screen shown can also be displayed at other times.

[0202] Additionally, the above example demonstrates notification handling in the notification screen instead of notification handling in the email, but both notification handling in the email and notification handling in the notification screen can be used.

[0203] For example, the processing unit 210 can first execute Figure 10 The change notification task shown performs email notification processing. If a hold response is made as a response to the changed destination user, a second change notification task is executed. For example, the changed destination user receives the email on their own terminal device 300, holds the email, and then moves to the image forming apparatus 100 to perform login and detailed display operations. Thus, by implementing different notification processing methods, the sending destination user can respond flexibly. For example, the following response can be made: for emails that are easy to determine whether they reflect a change, the email can be granted or denied; for emails that are difficult to determine, the email can be held until the corresponding address information is actually used before deciding on a response.

[0204] 4.3 User-Trusted Approval Responses The above sections described permission responses, reservation responses, rejection responses, and ignore-specified responses as responses to notifications regarding changes in the destination user. However, the responses that a user changing the destination user can input are not limited to these.

[0205] Conversely, there are cases where the source and destination users of a change have a close relationship. For example, consider situations where the source and destination users belong to the same deployment and serve the same customers. For instance, if user A and user C are in the same deployment and have similar business operations, a change made by user A might be considered highly reliable for user C. User C is likely to grant permission to respond to notifications that user A is the source user. In this case, if user C is notified of user A's changes every time, user C might become annoyed.

[0206] Therefore, the processing unit of the electronic device can handle notification processing, and after receiving the approval designation response from the second user, perform the update processing of the second user's address book without performing notification processing to the second user based on the update input of the first user.

[0207] Figure 20A and Figure 20BThis is an example of a list of approved objects. The list of approved objects can include, for example, a source user for the change, a destination user for the change, and a user ID representing the destination user. The source user in the list of approved objects indicates that the destination user was approved as a reliable user.

[0208] exist Figure 20A In this state, for any change destination user, the change source user becomes "None". That is, no user has set a reliable user. Therefore, when reflecting changes, each user needs to receive a notification and respond with permission. On the other hand, if user C approves the designation of user A, the list of approved users is as follows: Figure 20B The update is shown. Specifically, user A is added to user C's "Change Destination User" record as "Change Source User".

[0209] In this case, during the change notification task, processing unit 210 reads the records of users corresponding to the address books of the search targets from the approval target list. For example, if user C's personal address book is the address book of the search targets, the data in the third row of the approval target list is read. Then, processing unit 210 determines whether the user who made the change to their personal address book is included in the value of "change source user" in that record. If the approval target list is updated to... Figure 20B After the status is determined, user A is included in the value of "Change Source User".

[0210] In this case, for example, after skipping steps S204 to S209, the processing unit 210 executes... Figure 14 The feedback process is shown in step S405. In this way, changes approved by designated users are reflected without notification processing, thus improving user convenience.

[0211] 4.4 Timed specification and above, in Figure 10 In the change notification task shown, the specific processing, including sending an email, is triggered by receiving a notification from the address book display task ("Yes" in step S201). Therefore, it is envisioned that if the source user of the change has given a content change instruction (in... Figure 7 If "Yes" is selected in step S108, the notification processing is executed quickly. However, the method of this embodiment is not limited to this.

[0212] For example, the processing unit of an electronic device can perform notification processing at a time specified by the timer specification when the first user makes an update input including a timer specification.

[0213] For example, suppose a customer is moving and changes their address to a new one on October 1st. In this case, since the existing address is used until September 30th, while the customer is aware of the address change, it's not ideal to reflect the details immediately. On the other hand, it's inconvenient because the change cannot be entered until October 1st. In this situation, the user who made the change can also update the personal address information corresponding to the aforementioned customer based on the specified date of October 1st.

[0214] Processing unit 210 can, for example, replace Figure 10 Step S201 determines whether the timeout specified by changing the timeout specified by the source user has been exceeded. Alternatively, the processing unit 210 may perform the process in advance before October 1st. Figure 10 This is part of the change notification task, such as retrieving corresponding address information, generating emails, and processing the sending of generated emails after October 1st. This allows for flexible adjustment of the timing of sharing changes after they have been pre-registered. Furthermore, regarding changes made to the personal address book by the source user, the processing unit 210 can also process these changes based on a specified timeframe.

[0215] In addition, if you change the data in your personal address book, you can delete the data from before the change. However, if the changes are made incorrectly, or if the timer is set earlier than expected, you may want to revert to the data from before the change.

[0216] Therefore, when the given personal address information is updated, the processing unit 210 can save the old data before the update in the storage unit 230. For example, when it is determined that the user has given a reply instruction, the processing unit 210 can also use the old data to reply with the personal address information. Alternatively, the processing unit 210 can also record both the updated information and the information before the update in the address book overview display screen or the detailed display screen.

[0217] 4.5 Changes in service personnel, etc.

[0218] In cases of municipal mergers or changes, it is necessary to change the "address" for all entities that have registered addresses or residences in that municipality. This means that when multiple address information changes, each responsible person must perform the change operation individually, potentially increasing the burden on users.

[0219] Therefore, in this embodiment, specific administrators, service personnel, or other designated users with unified modification permissions can be designated. When a user with unified modification permissions issues a content change instruction, the processing unit 210 executes a change notification task targeting all personal address books stored in the storage unit 230. For example, if the name of the city / town / village before and after the change is entered, the processing unit 210 selects all personal address books, including the name of the city / town / village before the change, as the target address information. Furthermore, shared address books can also be included in the change targets. This reduces the burden on users even when a large number of address information changes may occur.

[0220] Alternatively, in this case, the processing unit 210 can also perform notification processing using email or the like. Since name changes in municipalities may only be reflected in a portion of the target area, notification processing allows each user to determine whether the change is appropriate.

[0221] 4.6 Information Processing System

[0222] Figure 21 Other structural examples of the information processing system 10, including electronic devices. For example... Figure 21 As shown, the information processing system 10 may also include multiple image forming apparatuses 100. The first image forming apparatus is, for example, image forming apparatus 100-1, the second image forming apparatus is, for example, image forming apparatus 100-2, ..., image forming apparatus 100-n. Here, n is an integer greater than 2. The multiple image forming apparatuses 100 are each connected to the network NW. Alternatively, the multiple image forming apparatuses 100 may be connected in a hierarchical manner. For example, an image forming apparatus 100 acting as a slave device among the multiple image forming apparatuses 100 may also be connected to the network NW via another image forming apparatus 100 acting as a master device. The server system 200 and the terminal device 300 are connected to... Figure 1 same.

[0223] Thus, the information processing system 10 may also include a first image forming apparatus, a second image forming apparatus, and a server system 200 that performs processing for a personal address book. The first and second image forming apparatuses here are, for example, MFPs (multifunction peripherals). The first image forming apparatus is, for example, image forming apparatus 100-1, and the second image forming apparatus is, for example, image forming apparatus 100-2.

[0224] In the first image forming apparatus, when a first user inputs an update to first address information contained in a first address book, the server system 200 determines whether a second address book contains corresponding address information. If the second address book contains the corresponding address information, the server system 200 queries the second user for permission to update the corresponding address information. If the user grants permission, the server system 200 updates the corresponding address information in the second address book. Then, the server system 200 sends the updated second address book to the second image forming apparatus.

[0225] The specific processing in the server system 200 is as described above. In this way, in the information processing system 10 including multiple image forming apparatuses 100, changes input using any image forming apparatus 100 can be appropriately reflected in the personal address books of other users, and changes can also be shared between image forming apparatuses 100 different from those used for the changes. That is, as... Figure 21 As shown, when using multiple image forming devices 100, users within an organization can appropriately utilize the latest address book information even when using any of the image forming devices 100.

[0226] 4.7 Backend

[0227] use Figures 7 to 9 As described above, for example, the display unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100 is used to perform tasks such as displaying the address book and inputting changes. On the other hand, as described above... Figures 10 to 16B The display processing for reflecting the changes to other users' personal address books is performed using an email program or a web browser on the terminal device 300 of the destination user.

[0228] That is, the display unit displays the update screen used for updating input, but does not display screens related to notification processing or screens related to the second user's response to the notification processing. Here, the display unit is the display unit 140 of the image forming apparatus 100, but it could also be a display unit (not shown) included in the server system 200. Thus, for example, if user A changes their personal address book, the process of sharing that change with other users is performed in the background for user A. In other words, the sharing of change content does not interfere with the operation of the user who made the change, thereby improving convenience.

[0229] Furthermore, while this embodiment has been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily understand that many modifications can be made without substantially departing from the new features and effects of this embodiment. Therefore, all such modifications should be included within the scope of this invention. For example, at least once in the specification or drawings, a term described together with a broader or synonymous term may be replaced with a different term anywhere in the specification or drawings. Additionally, all combinations of this embodiment and its modifications are also included within the scope of this invention. Furthermore, the configuration and operation of electronic devices, image forming apparatus (MFP), server systems, terminal devices, information processing systems, etc., are not limited to those described in this embodiment, and various modifications can be implemented.

Claims

1. An electronic device, characterized in that, Include: Storage department, which stores personal address books; and Processing Department The personal address book includes: a first personal address book associated with the first user; and a second personal address book associated with the second user. When the first user inputs an update to the first address information contained in the first personal address book, the processing unit determines whether the second personal address book contains corresponding address information that corresponds to the first address information. If the corresponding address information is contained in the second personal address book, a notification process is initiated to ask the second user whether they permit the updating of the corresponding address information. If the user grants permission in response to the notification process, the corresponding address information contained in the second personal address book is updated. The storage unit stores a shared address book. If the first user does not have update permissions for the shared address book, and if the first user has entered an update command for the first shared address information contained in the shared address book, The processing unit queries the user with the usage history of the first shared address information to ask whether the user is allowed to update, and notifies the management user with the update permission of the shared address book of the user's response.

2. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, The processing unit determines the scope of the notification processing based on the shared address book used by the first user. If the second user is not included in the scope of the notification processing, the notification processing is skipped.

3. The electronic device as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, It also has a display section. When the second user performs the operation of displaying the second personal address book, the processing unit performs a notification screen display process on the display unit that asks whether to allow the update of the corresponding address information, as the notification processing.

4. The electronic device as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, It includes a communication unit that communicates with the terminal device used by the second user. The processing unit performs a process based on the contact destination information representing the contact destination of the second user, causing the communication unit to send information indicating the existence of the update to the terminal device of the second user, as the notification process.

5. The electronic device as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, After receiving a ignore-specified response from the second user indicating an intention to ignore the notification processing based on the first user, the processing unit excludes the second user from the objects of the notification processing based on the updated input of the first user.

6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, In the notification processing, after receiving an approval designation response from the second user indicating that the first user agrees, the processing unit does not perform the notification processing for the second user based on the update input of the first user, but instead performs the update processing for the second personal address book.

7. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The processing unit determines the scope of the notification processing based on the settings input of the first user. If the second user is not included in the scope of the notification processing, the notification processing is skipped.

8. An information processing system, characterized in that, include: First image forming apparatus; Second image forming apparatus; as well as The server system performs processing for individual address books. The personal address book includes: the first personal address book associated with the first user; And a second personal address book associated with the second user, In the first image forming apparatus, when the first user makes an update input on the first address information contained in the first personal address book, the server system determines whether the second personal address book contains corresponding address information corresponding to the first address information; If the corresponding address information is contained in the second personal address book, the server system performs a notification process to inquire whether the second user permits the update of the corresponding address information. When the user grants permission in response to the notification process, the server system updates the corresponding address information contained in the second personal address book. The updated second personal address book is sent to the second image forming device.

9. An information processing method for processing personal address books and shared address books, characterized in that, The personal address book includes: a first personal address book associated with the first user; and a second personal address book associated with the second user. If the first user updates the first address information contained in the first personal address book, determine whether the second personal address book contains corresponding address information that corresponds to the first address information. If the corresponding address information is contained in the second personal address book, a notification process is initiated to ask the second user whether they permit the updating of the corresponding address information. If the user grants permission in response to the notification process, the corresponding address information contained in the second personal address book is updated. If the first user does not have update permissions for the shared address book, and if the first user has entered an update command for the first shared address information contained in the shared address book, The system queries users with a history of using the first shared address information for permission to update, and notifies the administrator with update permissions for the shared address book of the user's response.

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