Electronic apparatus, method of controlling same, computer program product, and storage medium

Abstract

The invention provides an electronic device, a control method thereof, a computer program product, and a storage medium. The electronic device includes: a recording control unit that controls a storage unit to record a permission state for indicating whether a user has agreed permission content for indicating that the user permits information transmission from the electronic device; and a display control unit that, when information for indicating that permission content requiring use permission of a specific function has been agreed is not stored in the storage unit, performs control such that, if a predetermined condition is satisfied, a specific screen for receiving an operation for indicating user agreement to the permission content is not displayed. And displays a specific screen if the predetermined condition is not satisfied; and a control unit that performs control to execute a specific function in a case where a predetermined condition is satisfied even when no information for indicating that the permission content has been agreed is stored as a permission state in the storage unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an electronic device, a control method of an electronic device, a computer program product, and a storage medium. Background Art

[0002] There is known a system that transmits status information of an electronic device to a server based on user consent and provides a service corresponding to the state of the electronic device by analyzing the status information on the server side.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-019238 discloses a system that obtains permission for information transmission from a user of a multifunction device and transmits status information to a server for service. Summary of the Invention

[0004] However, according to Patent Document 1, even when permission is not required, the user is sometimes requested to perform a permission operation, which causes inconvenience to the user.

[0005] An electronic device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a recording control unit configured to control a storage unit to record a permission status indicating whether a user has agreed to permission content indicating that the user permits information transmission from the electronic device; a display control unit configured to perform the following control: when no information indicating that permission content requiring use permission for a specific function has been agreed is stored as the permission status in the storage unit, a specific screen for receiving an operation indicating user consent to the permission content is not displayed if a predetermined condition is satisfied, and the specific screen is displayed if the predetermined condition is not satisfied; and a control unit configured to perform the following control: even when no information indicating that the permission content has been agreed is stored as the permission status in the storage unit, the specific function is executed if the predetermined condition is satisfied.

[0006] Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 It is the configuration diagram of the system;

[0008] Figure 2A and Figure 2B It is a block diagram of the electronic device and external instruments;

[0009] Figure 3 is a diagram showing model information of an image processing device;

[0010] Figure 4FIG. 1 is a diagram showing whether user permission is required when transmitting information of an image processing device to a server, for each model type;

[0011] Figure 5 is a diagram showing management information of an application group provided by an image processing apparatus;

[0012] Figure 6 is a diagram showing the types of permission and the permission status of the image processing apparatus;

[0013] Figure 7 is a diagram showing screen transitions in a license approval reception process of the image processing apparatus;

[0014] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating an application control method used by an image processing device;

[0015] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating an application control method used by an image processing apparatus; and

[0016] Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating an application control method used by an image processing apparatus. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] The following describes embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the accompanying drawings. The relative arrangement of the components of the apparatus used in the present embodiment and the apparatus shape, etc. are merely exemplary, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In the accompanying drawings, identical or similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated descriptions are omitted.

[0018] Figure 1 3 is a configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of the system according to this embodiment. The information processing system of this embodiment includes a service providing server group 001, a license text information management server 002, a license text update information management server 003, a web server 004, an image processing device 100, and a mobile terminal 200. These components are connected to each other via a communication network 300 to communicate therebetween.

[0019] The service providing server group 001 is a server for providing services of the image processing apparatus 100 in cooperation with the cloud. The cloud services include services such as printing image data on the cloud at the image processing apparatus 100 and storing image data scanned by the image processing apparatus 100 on the cloud.

[0020] The latest license version of the license text is managed by the license text information management server 002. When the license text requiring user consent is changed due to, for example, function addition or legal revision, the latest license version is updated.

[0021] The license text update information management server 003 manages a transferable license version, which is a license version required for information transfer, for each country. Furthermore, the license text update information management server 003 determines the country where the image processing device 100 is installed and returns the transferable license version of the license corresponding to that country. If the license text requiring user consent is changed due to, for example, the addition of functionality or legal amendments, the transferable license version information in the server is updated.

[0022] The WEB server 004 stores the latest license texts for each area.

[0023] Figure 2A and Figure 2B is a block diagram of the electronics and external instruments. Figure 2A 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of an image processing apparatus 100 in this embodiment. The image processing apparatus 100 is an electronic device. The image processing apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101, a program memory 102, a data memory 103, a communication control unit 104, an input interface 105, an output interface 106, a display unit 107, a print engine 108, a non-volatile memory 109, and a RAM 110.

[0024] The CPU 101 is a system control unit and controls the entire image processing apparatus 100. The program memory 102 stores control programs executed by the CPU 101 and embedded operating system programs, etc. The data memory 103 stores program control variables, etc., and includes various work buffer areas used during processing at the print engine 108.

[0025] The communication control unit 104 controls data communication with the outside via the communication line 130. The input interface 105 is an interface for receiving data input and operation instructions from the user, and is composed of a physical keyboard, buttons, touch panel, etc. The output interface 106 and the input interface 105, which will be described later, can be an integrated component, and screen output and reception of user operations can be performed by this integrated component. The output interface 106 is an interface that the display unit 107 controls to display data and notify the status of the image processing device 100.

[0026] The display unit 107 is composed of a light emitting diode (LED) or a liquid crystal display (LCD), and performs data display and notification of the status of the image processing apparatus 100. A software keyboard equipped with keys such as a numerical value input key, a mode setting key, an OK key, a cancel key, and a power key may be mounted on the display unit 107 to receive input from the user through the display unit 107. The print engine 108 forms an image on a print medium such as paper by using a printing material such as ink based on the information stored in the data memory 103 and the received print job, and outputs the print result.

[0027] The non-volatile memory 109 is composed of a device such as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The non-volatile memory 109 is mainly used to store data such as setting values ​​of the image processing device 100, which need to be maintained even when the image processing device 100 is not powered. The RAM 110 is composed of, for example, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) that requires a backup power supply. The RAM 110 is used as a main memory and working memory of the CPU 101, and stores a receiving buffer for temporarily storing print information received from a PC, etc. and various information. The above-mentioned constituent components 101 to 106 and 108 to 110 are connected to each other via a CPU bus 120 managed by the CPU 101.

[0028] The image processing apparatus 100 can communicate with the servers 001 to 004 and the mobile terminal 200 via the communication network 300. The image processing apparatus 100 obtains license texts, license versions associated with the license texts, etc. through communication with the servers 001 to 004 and stores them in the non-transitory memory 109.

[0029] Figure 2B 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the mobile terminal 200 in this embodiment. The mobile terminal 200 includes a CPU 201, a program memory 202, a data memory 203, a communication control unit 204, an input interface 205, an output interface 206, a display unit 207, a non-transitory memory 209, and a RAM 210.

[0030] The CPU 101 is a system control unit and controls the entire mobile terminal 200. The program memory 202 stores control programs executed by the CPU 201 and embedded operating system programs, etc. The data memory 203 stores program control variables, etc., and includes various work buffer areas.

[0031] The communication control unit 204 controls data communication with the outside via the communication line 230. The input interface 205 is an interface for receiving data input and operation instructions from the user, and is composed of a physical keyboard, buttons, a touch panel, etc. The output interface 206 and the input interface 205, which will be described later, can be integrated components, and screen output and reception of user operations can be performed by the integrated component. The output interface 206 is an interface that the display unit 207 controls to display data and notify the status of the mobile terminal 200.

[0032] The display unit 207 is composed of a light emitting diode (LED) or a liquid crystal display (LCD), etc., and performs data display and notification of the status of the mobile terminal 200. A software keyboard equipped with keys such as a numerical input key, a mode setting key, an OK key, a cancel key, and a power key can be installed on the display unit 207 to receive input from the user through the display unit 207. The non-volatile memory 209 is composed of a device such as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or a flash memory. The non-volatile memory 209 is mainly used to store data such as setting values ​​of the mobile terminal 200, which needs to be maintained even when the mobile terminal 200 is not powered.

[0033] The RAM 210 is composed of, for example, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) that requires a backup power supply. The RAM 210 serves as a main memory and working memory for the CPU 201 and stores a transmission buffer for temporarily storing information to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 200 and various information. The above-mentioned components 201 to 206 and 209 to 210 are connected to each other via a CPU bus 220 managed by the CPU 101.

[0034] The mobile terminal 200 can communicate with the servers 001 to 004 and the image processing apparatus 100 via the communication network 300. The mobile terminal 200 obtains the license text and the license version associated therewith by communicating with the servers 001 to 004 and stores them in the non-transitory memory 209.

[0035] Figure 3 : is a diagram showing the model categories (model type information) of the image processing apparatus 100 in this embodiment. Figure 3 It is also a setting value related to the sales form of the image processing apparatus 100 .

[0036] The image processing apparatus 100 has three model categories: B-to-B model, B-to-C model, and multi-model for each sales form, and the image processing apparatus 100 is any one of them.

[0037] The B-to-B model is designed for office use, with a set price per printed sheet and a monthly fee calculated based on the number of printed sheets. A maintenance contract is established between the user of the B-to-B model image processing device 100 and the B-to-B model vendor. Under this contract, when a malfunction occurs in the B-to-B model image processing device 100, a service technician will visit and repair it. The B-to-B model image processing device 100 is then provided to the user. Therefore, the status of the B-to-B model image processing device 100 or the number of printed sheets must be regularly transmitted to a server connected via a network. When a vendor sells an image processing device, they typically obtain written permission from the user company to transmit information indicating the status of the image processing device 100 or the number of printed sheets from the image processing device 100 to the server.

[0038] The B-to-C model is a sales model designed for home use, where users purchase consumables. Therefore, users can use the print function without transmitting the status of the image processing device and the number of printed sheets to a server. When a user uses a function that can be used by transmitting information to a server (such as a web service), the image processing device 100 must obtain permission to transmit information to the server (receive an operation indicating consent to the permitted content).

[0039] The multi-model is a model that can be switched between a B-to-B model mode and a B-to-C model mode. Typically, the setting of whether to operate in a B-to-B model mode or a B-to-C model mode is performed before the image processing device 100 is sold, and the image processing device 100 can be set to operate in which model according to the sales form. The setting for switching is performed by setting a service mode in which a service technician can operate the image processing device 100. This service mode is a mode that cannot be operated by a general user but can be operated when the authentication of the service technician is successful based on input of an authentication key, etc. In this service mode, it can be set whether to operate the multi-model in a B-to-B model mode (in other words, to operate as a B-to-B model) or in a B-to-C model mode (in other words, to operate as a B-to-C model).

[0040] In the image processing apparatus 100, Figure 3 The model type information shown is input and recorded at the time of shipment. At the factory of the image processing apparatus 100, a value among the B-to-B model, the multi-model, and the B-to-C model is input through the display unit 107, and the CPU 101 stores the input value in the non-volatile memory 109. Figure 3Indicates that a multi-model is set as the model kind of the image processing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment.

[0041] In the multi-model image processing apparatus 100, the model mode of the multi-model is input and recorded (in other words, set) by a service technician in the service mode. In the case where the model type is a multi-model, when selling, the service technician inputs the value of the B-to-B model mode or the B-to-C model mode through the display unit 107. The CPU 101 sets the model type by storing the input value in the non-volatile memory 109. Figure 3 As shown, a B-to-B model mode is set in the image processing apparatus 100 of this embodiment.

[0042] Figure 4 is a diagram for indicating, for each model type, whether user permission is required when transmitting information of the image processing apparatus 100 in this embodiment to the server. In other words, Figure 4 Is used to indicate Figure 3 The diagram shows whether each model type (B to B, B to C, or multi-model) requires user permission.

[0043] In the B-to-B model, since user permission is obtained at the time of sale as described above, when the user uses a function that can be used by transmitting information to the server, permission is not required. However, if permission is not obtained, the administrator of the image processing apparatus 100 can set whether the application can be used (described later). Figure 5 ) to "Don't Allow" instead of getting permission from the user.

[0044] In the B-to-C model, since user permission is not obtained at the time of sale, permission is required when the user uses functions that can be used by transmitting information to the server.

[0045] In multiple models, whether a license is required is determined based on the current setting of the model category. Figure 4 The information shown indicating whether permission is required is held in the non-transitory memory 109 .

[0046] Figure 5 : is a diagram showing management information of an application group provided by the image processing apparatus 100 in this embodiment. Figure 5 The illustrated applications A to E are application software programs for providing services in cooperation with the service providing server group 001. Examples of services performed in cooperation with the service providing server group 001 include services (functions) for printing image data on the cloud using the image processing apparatus 100 and storing image data scanned by the image processing apparatus 100 on the cloud.

[0047] For each application, the image processing apparatus 100 holds in the non-transitory memory 109 information on whether a license is required, the kind of license (the kind of licensed content), the license unit (the method of receiving consent to the licensed content), and settings on whether the application can be used.

[0048] The information on whether or not permission is required is information indicating whether or not the user needs to agree to the permission text when using the application.

[0049] The license type indicates the type of license text that the user must agree to when using the application. For example, this indicates that when using application E, the user must agree to both License A (License Text A) and License B (License Text B). In this embodiment, License A is a license for the transmission of information required to provide a service (specific function). License B is a license for the transmission of information that is not necessary for providing the service and is used by the service provider for user analysis. Each of these licenses is associated with a license text and the latest license version, which are managed by the license text information management server 002.

[0050] There are two types of permission means: "UI" and "paper." The "UI" type is a method in which a screen for receiving an operation for accepting a permission document is displayed on display unit 107 of image processing apparatus 100 or an external device capable of communicating with image processing apparatus 100, and permission (acceptance of the permission document) is obtained when the user performs an operation for indicating whether or not to accept the permission document.

[0051] The category "paper" is a method in which a contract process is required for a user and a service provider to use a target service (e.g., the service of application C), and as part of the contract, the user agrees to the license content. In the event that the user does not agree to the license content, a contract for the use of the service is not established. The contract process method includes a method in which the user fills out a contract document. The consent to the license content is obtained by filling out a contract document to establish a contract. A service in which a service use contract is established between a user and a service provider by an electronic document rather than a paper document on a medium other than the image processing apparatus 100 (e.g., an electronic device such as a personal computer, etc.) is considered to be equivalent to paper in this context. For example, a method in which the receipt of consent (approval) to a license text is stored as part of a service use contract by a workflow system is considered to be equivalent to the method of obtaining a license using paper in this embodiment.

[0052] When the user agrees to the license text, the administrator or management system of the service providing server group 001 registers the serial number of the image processing apparatus 100 (device specific identification information of the image processing apparatus) of the user who has agreed to the license text in the service providing server group 001. By verifying the serial number, the service providing server group 001 provides the service to the image processing apparatus 100, and it can be confirmed that the image processing apparatus 100 has received the consent to the license text.

[0053] The setting for whether an application can be used has two settings: "Allow" and "Not Allow." If "Allow," the user can use the application; if "Not Allow," the user cannot use the application. The initial value is "Allow," and this setting can be changed by the administrator of the image processing device 100. For example, the administrator can set "Not Allow" to restrict the use of applications that cooperate with the service providing server group 001. Examples of applications that cooperate with the service providing server group 001 include applications that store scanned professional image data in the cloud. Figure 5 The information shown is maintained in non-transitory memory 109 .

[0054] Figure 6 1 is a diagram showing the recording status of the consent status of each license type by the image processing device 100 in this embodiment. The recording status is controlled and recorded by the CPU 101 and maintained in the non-volatile memory 109. The CPU 101 records the consent status of the license A or license B as the license type. The non-volatile memory 109 maintains the consent status and the license version (the version of the license text corresponding to the consent status) of each license type. The consent status stores a value corresponding to one of the following three states: pending consent (pending permission), non-consent (non-permitted), and agreed (permitted). For example, in Figure 6 , the consent status (license state) of license B is "accepted." The license version of license B is "1.1."

[0055] The consent state "Agreed" is a state in which an operation indicating that the user agrees to the license text managed by the license text information management server 002 has been received, and the license version of the license text at the time of receiving the consent operation (acceptance obtained) is associated and recorded. The consent state "Non-Agreed" is a state in which an operation indicating that the user does not agree to the license text managed by the license text information management server 002 has been received.

[0056] The consent status "pending consent" is a status in which the permission text is neither agreed nor disapproved. The consent status "pending consent" is an initial value set when the image processing apparatus 100 is shipped.

[0057] In addition to these three states, a value indicating the state "needs re-consent". The state "needs re-consent (needs re-permission)" is a state in which the license text requiring the user's consent is changed due to a legal amendment or the like, and the user's consent intention needs to be reconfirmed. The CPU 101 periodically communicates with the license text update information management server 003 and obtains a transferable license version of each license type. Then, when the transferable license version is greater than Figure 6 In the case of the license version in , the consent status is set to "Re-consent required".

[0058] Figure 7 7 is a diagram showing screen transitions in the license approval reception process of the image processing apparatus 100 in this embodiment. The screen for instructing the approval reception process is controlled and displayed by the CPU 101. Screen 700 is a screen that displays a license summary text.

[0059] The CPU 101 reads the summary text of the license currently undergoing the consent reception process from the non-transitory memory 109 and displays the summary text on the display unit 107. When the pressing (touch) of the “Details” button 701 is sensed through the input interface 105, the CPU 101 displays a screen 703. When the pressing of the “Next” button 702 is sensed, the CPU 101 displays a screen 707.

[0060] Screen 703 displays a URL for accessing the detailed license text. CPU 101 obtains the URL for accessing web server 004 from license text information management server 002 via communication control unit 104. Display unit 107 then displays URL character string 704 and QR code 705 containing information about the URL. When input interface 105 senses the pressing of "End" button 706, CPU 101 displays screen 700.

[0061] Screen 707 is a screen for receiving consent (consent receiving screen). The CPU 101 reads text 708 "Agree?" from the non-transitory memory 109 and displays the text on the display unit 107. When the pressing of the "Agree" button 709 is sensed through the input interface 105, the CPU 101 records information indicating consent as the consent status of the license text (license type) currently undergoing the consent receiving process. Then, the CPU 101 obtains the license version from the license text information management server 002 through the communication control unit 104, and records the license version as the license version shown ( Figure 6 ).

[0062] When the pressing of the “Disagree” button 710 on the screen 707 is sensed through the input interface 105, the CPU 101 displays the screen 712. When the pressing of the “Return” button 711 is sensed, the CPU 101 displays the screen 700.

[0063] Screen 712 is a non-consent confirmation screen. CPU 101 reads text 713 indicating that the service cannot be provided due to non-consent from non-volatile memory 109 and displays the text on display unit 107. When input interface 105 senses the pressing of "Yes" button 714 on screen 712, CPU 101 records "non-consent" as the consent status of the permission text (permission type) currently undergoing consent reception processing. When the pressing of "No" button 715 on screen 712 is sensed, CPU 101 displays screen 707.

[0064] Figure 8 This flowchart is a process related to receiving a license consent in image processing apparatus 100 according to this embodiment. Each process in the flowchart is implemented by CPU 101 loading a computer program stored in program memory 102 into RAM 110 and executing the program. This flowchart begins when any of a plurality of applications is activated by CPU 101.

[0065] At S800, the CPU 101 determines whether the startup (operation for executing the function of the application) of any application among a plurality of application software programs (hereinafter referred to as applications) has been instructed. If it has been determined that startup has been instructed, the CPU 101 proceeds to S801. Otherwise, the CPU 101 waits for an instruction to start any application at S800.

[0066] At S801, the CPU 101 determines whether the image processing apparatus 100 is a model requiring a license. In this process, the CPU 101 first Figure 3 The model type applied to the image processing device 100 is obtained from the model information in the non-transitory memory 109 shown. Any model among the B-to-B model, the multi-model, and the B-to-C model is obtained. In the case where the obtained value is the multi-model, the setting value of the model type of the multi-model is obtained ( Figure 3 In this embodiment, a B-to-B model mode or a B-to-C model mode is obtained.

[0067] Then, the CPU 101 uses Figure 4The information verification of whether or not a license is required for each model type is shown to obtain a value to obtain "permission required" or "permission not required". Specifically, the CPU 101 determines the B-to-C model or the multi-model in the B-to-C model mode that requires permission. In the case where the B-to-C model or the multi-model in the B-to-C model mode has been determined, the CPU 101 proceeds to S802. Otherwise, in other words, in the case of the B-to-B model or the multi-model in the B-to-B model mode, the CPU 101 proceeds to S816. In particular, in the case where the model type of the image processing device 100 is a multi-model, the processing changes depending on whether the B-to-C model mode or the B-to-B model mode is set. In the case where the model type is the B-to-C model mode, sometimes a process for receiving consent to the license text is performed in the processing of S802 and thereafter. In the case where the model type is the B-to-B model mode, CPU 101 proceeds to S816 without performing processing for receiving consent to the license text (such as displaying a consent reception screen, etc.), thereby executing processing of the launched application and executing the function of the launched application.

[0068] At S802, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 5 The application group management information in the non-transitory memory 109 shown in FIG. 1 is used to determine whether the started application is an application requiring permission. If it has been determined that permission is not required, the CPU 101 proceeds to S816. If it has been determined that permission is required, the CPU 101 proceeds to S803.

[0069] At S803, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 5 The application group management information in the non-volatile memory 109 shown is read, and it is determined whether the launched application is an application that requires paper permission. In the case where it has been determined that the launched application is an application that requires paper permission, the CPU 101 proceeds to S813. Otherwise, in other words, in the case where it has been determined that the launched application is an application that obtains permission through the UI of the image processing device 100, the CPU 101 proceeds to S804. In the case where the launched application is an application that obtains paper permission, processing for receiving consent for the permission text through the UI (such as display of a consent reception screen, etc.) is not performed. In this way, inconsistency with the consent status that has been obtained separately through paper, etc. can be avoided, and an increase in the number of operations due to unnecessary consent operations from the user can also be prevented.

[0070] At S804, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 5The CPU 101 checks the application group management information in the non-transitory memory 109 shown in FIG. 1 and determines whether the launched application requires consent to license A. If it has been determined that consent to license A is required, the CPU 101 proceeds to S805. If it has been determined that consent to license A is not required, the CPU 101 proceeds to S808.

[0071] At S805, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 6 The CPU 101 checks the license status (approval status) associated with License A and stored in non-transitory memory 109, and determines whether "disapproval" is stored. If it is determined that "disapproval" is stored for License A (disapproval has been determined), the CPU 101 proceeds to S808. If it is determined that "disapproval" is not stored for License A (disapproval has not yet been determined), the CPU 101 proceeds to S806. If License A is not approved, this can be interpreted as the user having previously performed an operation to indicate disapproval of License A, and therefore, the approval reception process for License A at S807 is no longer performed. Therefore, if the judgment at S805 is "yes," the CPU 101 proceeds to S808. If the version of the stored approval status for License A is older than the latest license text stored in the license text update information management server 003 (the latest license text to be approved), the same processing as in the case of "pending approval" is performed regardless of the approval status, and the process proceeds to S807. Likewise, in the case where "re-approval required" is stored as the approval status of license A, the process proceeds to S807.

[0072] At S806, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 6 The CPU 101 checks the license status (approval status) associated with license A and stored in non-transitory memory 109, and determines whether "approved" is stored. If it has been determined that "approved" is stored for license A (approval has been determined), the CPU 101 proceeds to S808. If it has been determined that license A has not been approved (approval is pending or needs to be re-approved), the CPU 101 proceeds to S807.

[0073] For example, consider a case where application B requiring consent to license A was started in the image processing device 100 in the past and an operation for consenting to license A has been performed, but consent to license B is yet to be performed. In this case, when application E requiring consent to both license A and license B is started in the image processing device 100, the CPU 101 judges as "yes" at S806, and does not perform consent reception processing for license A at S807. Then, in the processing on and after S808, only consent reception processing for license B is performed (S811). In this way, the number of unnecessary operations in which the user consents again to a license type that has already been consented to can be omitted, thereby reducing the number of operations. In the case of applications with the same license type, when consent to a license is obtained when one application is started, the other application can be used when another application is started without displaying a consent reception screen for the license content.

[0074] At S807, the CPU 101 displays the consent reception screen for the license A and performs consent reception processing related to the license A. This consent reception processing is the same as that described above by using Figure 7 The CPU 101 first displays the screen transition diagram. Figure 7 The screen 700 as the license reception screen related to license A is displayed, and the above reference is performed according to the operation from the user. Figure 7 When the user presses the "Agree" button 709, the CPU 101 records "Agree" as Figure 6 The license state of the license A in the non-transitory memory shown in FIG. 1 is recorded as the license version associated with the license text. In the case where the user presses the “Disagree” button 710, the CPU 101 records “Disagree” as Figure 6 The license status of license A is shown.

[0075] At S808, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 5 The CPU 101 checks the application group management information in the non-transitory memory 109 shown in FIG. 1 and determines whether the launched application requires consent to license B. If it has been determined that consent to license B is required, the CPU 101 proceeds to S809. If it has been determined that consent to license B is not required, the CPU 101 proceeds to S812.

[0076] At S809, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 6The license status (consent status) associated with license B and stored in the non-transitory memory 109 is shown, and it is determined whether "non-consent" is stored. In the case where it has been determined that "non-consent" is stored for license B, the CPU 101 proceeds to S812. In the case where it has been determined that "non-consent" is not stored for license B, the CPU 101 proceeds to S810. In the case of not agreeing to license B, the user has performed an operation for indicating non-consent to license B in the past, so the consent reception processing associated with license B at S811 is no longer performed. In the case where the version of the consent status of license B stored is older than the latest license text (the latest license text to be agreed) stored in the license text update information management server 003, regardless of the consent status, the same handling as in the case of "pending consent" is performed, and the processing proceeds to S811. Similarly, in the case where "re-consent is required" is stored as the consent status of license B, the processing proceeds to S811.

[0077] At S810, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 6 The CPU 101 checks the license status (approval status) associated with license B and stored in the non-transitory memory 109, and determines whether "approved" is stored. If it has been determined that "approved" is stored for license B, the CPU 101 proceeds to S812. If it has been determined that license B has not been approved (in other words, it has yet to be approved or needs to be approved again), the CPU 101 proceeds to S811.

[0078] At S811, the CPU 101 displays the consent reception screen of the license B and performs consent reception processing related to the license B. The consent reception processing is the above-mentioned consent reception processing by using Figure 7 The CPU 101 first displays the screen transition diagram. Figure 7 The screen 700 as the license receiving screen related to license B is displayed, and the above reference is performed according to the operation from the user. Figure 7 When the user presses the "Agree" button 709, the CPU 101 records "Agree" as Figure 6 The license status of the license B shown in FIG. 1 is recorded as the license version associated with the license text. In the case where the user presses the “Disagree” button 710, the CPU 101 records “Disagree” as Figure 6 The license status of license B is shown.

[0079] At S812, the CPU 101 refers to the application group management information ( Figure 5 ) and license status ( Figure 6), and determines whether all license types required by the launched application have been approved. If it has been determined that the approval status for all required license types is "approved," the CPU 101 proceeds to S816. Otherwise, in other words, if it has been determined that the approval status for any required license type is "pending approval," "disapproved," or "re-approval required," the CPU 101 proceeds to S817.

[0080] At S813, the CPU 101 transmits the serial number (identification information of the image processing device 100) to the service providing server group 001. In the case where the user has a paper contract, the administrator of the service provider registers the serial number of the image processing device 100 to the service providing server group 001. The CPU of the service providing server group 001 verifies whether the received serial number is registered. Then, in the case where the received serial number is registered, the CPU of the service providing server group 001 transmits information indicating a successful connection to the image processing device 100. In the case where the received serial number is not registered, the CPU transmits information of a connection error to the image processing device 100. This processing is performed without performing the processing of S805 to S807. Specifically, in the case of indicating the execution of a function related to a service contracted on paper (an operation to indicate the start of application C), even when no information indicating consent to the license content required for the service is stored in the non-transitory memory 109, an attempt is made to connect to the external system that provides the service. Then, when the connection is established, control is performed to execute the service (function of the application). Furthermore, based on the occurrence of the operation to instruct the activation of the application C, the license reception screen for the license content required for executing the application C is not displayed. The above-described processing makes it possible to eliminate redundant work of the user in a service contracted on paper (a service in which a service use contract is established between a service provider and a user through a medium different from the image processing apparatus 100).

[0081] At S814, the CPU 101 determines whether the connection result received from the service providing server group 001 is "connection successful". If it has been determined that the connection is "connection successful", the CPU 101 proceeds to S815. If it has been determined that the connection is unsuccessful (the connection result indicates a connection error), the CPU 101 proceeds to S817. A successful connection means that a paper contract has been established.

[0082] At S815, the CPU 101 refers to the application group management information ( Figure 5 ) and license status ( Figure 6Then, the CPU 101 records "approved" as the license status of the license type required by the currently controlled application. In addition, as its license version, the CPU 101 obtains the license version from the license text information management server 002 and records its value.

[0083] For example, for application C whose license type is paper, license A is required as the license type. Successful connection with the service providing server group 001 indicates that license A is agreed by the user on paper. Therefore, Figure 6 The license status of license A among the license statuses shown can be changed from "pending permission" to "approved".

[0084] At S816, the CPU 101 executes the processing of the launched application, that is, the function of the launched application. For example, the CPU 101 executes the processing of the launched application's function, utilizing which the image processing device 100 cooperates with the service providing server group 001 to print image data on the cloud and stores the image data scanned by the image processing device 100 on the cloud. The CPU 101 then terminates the processing of this flowchart.

[0085] At S817, the CPU 101 stops the processing of the currently controlled application and ends the processing of this flowchart. In this case, the function of the started application is not executed. Therefore, the CPU 101 controls the application not to transmit information without obtaining the necessary consent.

[0086] In the above description of this embodiment, Figure 8 The image processing apparatus 100 performs the processing of the permission acceptance reception, but the mobile terminal 200 may perform the permission acceptance reception processing and transmit the permission status to the image processing apparatus 100 via the communication control unit 204. In this case, the image processing apparatus 100 may record the permission status received from the mobile terminal 200 via the communication control unit 104 as the permission status in the non-transitory memory 109 ( Figure 6 ).

[0087] As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user inconvenience associated with the permission operation can be reduced. Specifically, in the case where a predetermined condition is satisfied (the model type of the image processing device 100 is a B-to-B model or a multi-model in the B-to-B model mode), control is performed as if permission is obtained, without performing a permission consent reception process. Therefore, it is possible to execute a function without requiring unnecessary consent operations from the user while minimizing the number of operations. In addition, for example, when a user mistakenly performs an operation that disagrees with the required permission text despite operating as a B-to-B model, it is possible to prevent inconsistencies with existing contracts (such as maintenance contracts at the time of sales, etc.).

[0088] For applications that have obtained paper permission, if a successful connection with service provider server group 001 determines that permission has been obtained, CPU 101 records "Accepted" as the permission status. By sharing the permission status of License A and License B between applications, control is performed to prevent the license consent process from being performed if the permission status is "Accepted." This control can reduce the number of license consent processes performed when permission is not required, and can be expected to reduce user inconvenience.

[0089] Other embodiments

[0090] Although there are two license types in the above embodiment, the present invention is not limited thereto. The number of license types may be one, three, or more than three. Figure 8 The flowchart includes a plurality of processes for determining whether a specific function can be used, but the determination processes can be appropriately performed in an interchangeable order. For example, the process of determining the model of the image processing device 100 can be performed after the process of determining whether the required permission has been granted. For example, the process of determining whether a paper permission is required can be performed after the process of determining whether the required permission has been granted. Based on the above description, the following reference Figure 9 and Figure 10 The number of description permission types is one and the judgment order is different from Figure 8 An example of the judgment order in .

[0091] Figure 9 is a flow chart showing an application control method used by an image processing device. Figure 8 The same process as in the flowchart shown, but the order of "processing for determining whether the model requires permission" is different Figure 8 , and shows the processing when the number of license types is one for license A.

[0092] The processing at S800 to S817 is the same as Figure 8 The processes shown are the same, so their description is omitted.

[0093] At S806, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 6 The CPU 101 checks the license status (approval status) associated with license A and stored in the non-transitory memory 109, and determines whether "approved" is stored. If it has been determined that "approved" is stored for license A, the CPU 101 proceeds to S812. If it has been determined that license A has not been approved (in other words, it has yet to be approved or needs to be approved again), the CPU 101 proceeds to S901.

[0094] At S901, the CPU 101 Figure 3The model information in the non-transitory memory 109 shown is used to obtain the model type applied to the image processing device 100. Any model among the B-to-B model, the multi-model, and the B-to-C model is obtained. In the case where the obtained value is the multi-model, the setting value of the model type of the multi-model is obtained ( Figure 3 In this embodiment, a B-to-B model mode or a B-to-C model mode is obtained.

[0095] Then, by using Figure 4 The information regarding whether each model requires a license is verified, and the obtained value is determined to be "license required" or "license not required." Specifically, the CPU 101 determines whether a B-to-C model or a multi-model in the B-to-C model mode requires a license. If the B-to-C model or the multi-model in the B-to-C model mode has been determined, the CPU 101 proceeds to S807. Otherwise, in other words, if the B-to-B model or the multi-model in the B-to-B model mode has been determined, the CPU 101 proceeds to S816.

[0096] Figure 10 is a flow chart showing an application control method used by an image processing device. Figure 8 The same process as in the flowchart shown in FIG. 1 is performed, but the order of "processing for determining whether the application requires paper permission" is different from Figure 8 , and shows the processing when the number of license types is one for license A.

[0097] The processing at S800 to S817 is the same as Figure 8 The processes shown are the same, so their description is omitted.

[0098] At S806, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 6 The CPU 101 checks the license status (approval status) associated with license A and stored in non-transitory memory 109, and determines whether "approved" is stored. If it has been determined that "approved" is stored for license A, the CPU 101 proceeds to S812. If it has been determined that license A has not been approved (in other words, it has yet to be approved or needs to be approved again), the CPU 101 proceeds to S1001.

[0099] At S1001, the CPU 101 refers to Figure 5The application group management information in the non-volatile memory 109 shown is read, and it is determined whether the permission unit of the launched application corresponds to the application that has obtained the permission on paper. In the case where it has been determined that the launched application is an application that has obtained the permission on paper, the CPU 101 proceeds to S1002. In the case where it has been determined that the launched application is not an application that has obtained the permission on paper, the CPU 101 proceeds to S807. In the case where the launched application is an application that has obtained the permission on paper, the processing for receiving the consent for the permission text through the UI (such as the display of the consent reception screen, etc.) is not performed. In this way, inconsistency with the consent status that has been obtained separately through paper, etc. can be avoided, and an increase in the number of operations due to unnecessary consent operations from the user can also be prevented.

[0100] At S1002, the CPU 101 transmits the serial number (identification information of the image processing device 100) to the service providing server group 001. In the case where the user has a paper contract, the administrator of the service provider registers the serial number of the image processing device 100 to the service providing server group 001. The CPU of the service providing server group 001 verifies whether the received serial number is registered. Then, in the case where the received serial number is registered, the CPU transmits information indicating a successful connection to the image processing device 100. In the case where the received serial number is not registered, the CPU transmits a connection error to the image processing device 100. Figure 10 As shown, this process is performed without performing the process of S807. Specifically, when the execution of a function related to a service contracted on paper is instructed, even when no information indicating consent to the license content required for the service is stored in non-transitory memory 109, an attempt is made to connect to the external system providing the service. Then, if the connection is established, control is performed to execute the service (function of the application). In addition, based on the occurrence of the operation to instruct the startup of application C, the license acceptance screen for the license content required for executing application C is not displayed.

[0101] At S1003, the CPU 101 determines whether the connection result received from the service providing server group 001 is "connection successful". If it has been determined that the connection is "connection successful", the CPU 101 proceeds to S1004. If it has been determined that the connection is unsuccessful (the connection result indicates a connection error), the CPU 101 proceeds to S817. A successful connection means that a paper contract has been established.

[0102] At S1004, the CPU 101 refers to the application group management information ( Figure 5 ) and license status ( Figure 6Then, the CPU 101 records "approved" as the license status of the license type required by the currently controlled application. In addition, as its license version, the CPU 101 obtains the license version from the license text information management server 002 and records its value.

[0103] For example, for application C whose license type is paper, license A is required as the license type. Successful connection with the service providing server group 001 indicates that license A is agreed by the user on paper. Therefore, Figure 6 The license status of license A among the license statuses shown can be changed from "pending permission" to "approved".

[0104] Although the case where the order of the determination processing is different has been described above, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the order of the processing may be changed as appropriate.

[0105] Various controls performed by the image processing apparatus 100 in the above description may be performed by one hardware component, or control of the entire apparatus may be performed by distributing processing to a plurality of hardware components (eg, a plurality of processors or circuits).

[0106] Although the present disclosure is described in detail based on the preferred embodiments above, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific embodiments, and the present disclosure also includes various forms that do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the various above-mentioned embodiments only indicate embodiments of the present disclosure, and these embodiments can be appropriately combined.

[0107] Although the above description of the embodiment has been made using an example in which the present disclosure is applied to an image processing apparatus, the present invention is not limited thereto but may be applied to a printer apparatus, an information processing apparatus, or a cellular phone terminal each including a display.

[0108] The present invention can also be implemented by reading and executing computer-executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which can also be more fully referred to as a "non-transitory computer-readable storage medium") to perform one or more functions of the above-mentioned (one or more) embodiments and / or including a system or device of one or more circuits (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing one or more functions of the above-mentioned (one or more) embodiments and by the following method, wherein the computer of the system or device performs the above-mentioned method by, for example, reading and executing computer-executable instructions from a storage medium to perform one or more functions of the above-mentioned (one or more) embodiments and / or controlling the one or more circuits to perform one or more functions of the above-mentioned (one or more) embodiments. The computer may include one or more processors (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor unit (MPU)), and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read and execute computer-executable instructions. For example, these computer-executable instructions can be provided to the computer from a network or a storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a storage portion of a distributed computing system, an optical disk such as a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), or a Blu-ray disk (BD). TM etc.), one or more of a flash memory device and a memory card, etc.

[0109] While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising: a recording control unit configured to control a storage unit to record a permission status indicating whether a user has agreed to permission content indicating that the user permits information transmission from the electronic device; a display control unit configured to perform the following control: when no information indicating that licensed content requiring permission for use of a specific function has been agreed to is stored as the permission status in the storage unit, not displaying a specific screen for receiving an operation for indicating user consent to the licensed content if a predetermined condition is satisfied, and displaying the specific screen if the predetermined condition is not satisfied; as well as A control unit configured to perform control such that, even when no information indicating that the licensed content has been agreed is stored as the licensed status in the storage unit, the specific function is executed if the predetermined condition is satisfied.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The control unit controls to restrict execution of the specific function in a case where no information indicating that the licensed content has been agreed is stored as the licensed status in the storage unit and the predetermined condition is not satisfied.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein: Control is performed such that, when information indicating that the licensed content has been agreed upon is stored as the licensed status in the storage unit, the specific function is executed even when the predetermined condition is not satisfied.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The predetermined condition includes information indicating that the type of the electronic device corresponds to a specific type.

5. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein: The specific type is a type in which the electronic device is sold with a maintenance contract. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein: The predetermined conditions include conditions related to setting values ​​related to a sales form of the electronic device.

7. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein: The predetermined condition is satisfied in the case where the setting value associated with the sales form of the electronic device is a setting value indicating a first sales form with a maintenance contract attached.

8. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein: In a case where the setting value associated with the sales form of the electronic device corresponds to a second sales form to which no maintenance contract is attached, the predetermined condition is not satisfied.

9. The electronic device according to claim 6, wherein: The predetermined condition is satisfied when the type of the electronic device is a type that supports multiple sales forms including a first sales form with a maintenance contract and a second sales form without the maintenance contract, and the setting value related to the sales form of the electronic device is a setting value for indicating the first sales form.

10. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The electronic device is capable of performing at least one of printing and scanning.

11. An electronic device comprising: a recording control unit configured to control a storage unit to record a permission status indicating whether a user has agreed to permission content indicating that the user permits information transmission from the electronic device; as well as A control unit configured to: performing control of: displaying a specific screen for receiving an operation for indicating user consent to the licensed content based on occurrence of a first operation for using the first function, if no information indicating that licensed content requiring permission for use of a first function involving information transmission to an external system has been agreed to is stored as the licensed status stored in the storage unit; and restricting use of the first function if no operation for indicating consent is performed on the specific screen; The following control is performed: in a case where no information indicating that the license content of the use license of the second function requiring information transmission to the external system has been agreed is stored as the license status stored in the storage unit, although there is a second operation for using the second function, the specific screen is not displayed, and communication with the external system is performed to use the second function.

12. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein: The second function is a function of establishing a usage contract related to the second function between a service provider who provides the second function and a user through a process using other media than the electronic device.

13. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein: The other medium is paper.

14. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein In a case where no information indicating that the licensed content has been agreed upon is stored in the storage unit, when verification for using the second function in the external system succeeds as a result of control for communicating with the external system to use the second function, the control unit controls to record information indicating agreement to the licensed content in the storage unit.

15. The electronic device according to claim 14, wherein: The control for using the second function includes a process of transmitting device-specific identification information of the electronic device to the external system, and the verification is a process of verifying in the external system whether the user of the electronic device has a usage contract related to the second function based on the device-specific identification information of the electronic device.

16. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein The control unit performs control for using the first function based on occurrence of the first operation in a case where information indicating that the licensed content has been agreed to is stored in the storage unit.

17. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein: The control unit performs control for using the first function in a case where information indicating that license content requiring permission for use of the first function has been agreed is stored as the license status stored in the storage unit.

18. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein: In a case where the license content requiring permission for use of the first function is the same as the license content requiring permission when using a third function different from the first function, the control unit performs the following control based on the occurrence of a third operation for using the third function: the third function is used based on the storage in the storage unit of information indicating that the license content requiring permission for use of the first function has been agreed upon, without displaying a specific screen for receiving an operation for indicating user consent to the license content.

19. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein The electronic device is capable of performing at least one of printing and scanning. 20 . A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing at least one computer to function as each unit of the electronic device according to claim 1 .

21. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing at least one computer to function as each unit of the electronic device according to claim 11.

22. A method for controlling an electronic device, the method comprising: a recording control step for controlling a storage unit to record a permission status indicating whether a user has agreed to permission content indicating that the user permits information transmission from the electronic device; a display control step for performing the following control: when no information indicating that license content requiring permission for use of a specific function has been agreed is stored as the permission status in the storage unit, not displaying a specific screen for receiving an operation for indicating user consent to the license content if a predetermined condition is satisfied, and displaying the specific screen if the predetermined condition is not satisfied; as well as A control step of performing control such that, even when no information indicating that the licensed content has been agreed is stored as the licensed status in the storage unit, the specific function is executed if the predetermined condition is satisfied.

23. A method for controlling an electronic device, the method comprising: a recording control step for controlling a storage unit to record a permission status indicating whether a user has agreed to permission content indicating that the user permits information transmission from the electronic device; as well as Control steps for: performing control of: displaying a specific screen for receiving an operation for indicating user consent to the licensed content based on occurrence of a first operation for using the first function, if no information indicating that licensed content requiring permission for use of a first function involving information transmission to an external system has been agreed to is stored as the licensed status stored in the storage unit; and restricting use of the first function if no operation for indicating consent is performed on the specific screen; The following control is performed: in a case where no information indicating that the license content of the use license of the second function requiring information transmission to the external system has been agreed is stored as the license status stored in the storage unit, although there is a second operation for using the second function, the specific screen is not displayed, and communication with the external system is performed to use the second function.

24. A computer program product comprising a program for causing a computer to perform a method for controlling an electronic device, the method comprising: a recording control step for controlling a storage unit to record a permission status indicating whether a user has agreed to permission content indicating that the user permits information transmission from the electronic device; a display control step for performing the following control: when no information indicating that license content requiring permission for use of a specific function has been agreed is stored as the permission status in the storage unit, not displaying a specific screen for receiving an operation for indicating user consent to the license content if a predetermined condition is satisfied, and displaying the specific screen if the predetermined condition is not satisfied; as well as A control step of performing control such that, even when no information indicating that the licensed content has been agreed is stored as the licensed status in the storage unit, the specific function is executed if the predetermined condition is satisfied.

25. A computer program product comprising a program for causing a computer to perform a method for controlling an electronic device, the method comprising: a recording control step for controlling a storage unit to record a permission status indicating whether a user has agreed to permission content indicating that the user permits information transmission from the electronic device; as well as Control steps for: performing control of: displaying a specific screen for receiving an operation for indicating user consent to the licensed content based on occurrence of a first operation for using the first function, if no information indicating that licensed content requiring permission for use of a first function involving information transmission to an external system has been agreed to is stored as the licensed status stored in the storage unit; and restricting use of the first function if no operation for indicating consent is performed on the specific screen; The following control is performed: in a case where no information indicating that the license content of the use license of the second function requiring information transmission to the external system has been agreed is stored as the license status stored in the storage unit, although there is a second operation for using the second function, the specific screen is not displayed, and communication with the external system is performed to use the second function.

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