Administrative system and method

Abstract

To solve the problem that it is inefficient to monitor a job with a problem based on job history information.SOLUTION: An administration system according to the preset invention has display means that acquires information about a job of an image formation device, stores a condition for a subject of intensified display that includes information about a location of the image formation device that executed the job, and performs intensified display that displays the acquired information about the job in a different manner depending on whether or not the information is a subject of the intensified display, based on the condition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a management system and method for an image forming apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there exists a management system that collects device management information, such as the number of printed sheets, from an image forming apparatus, such as a multifunction peripheral capable of copying, printing, etc., via a network, and displays the information on a screen. The management system aims to present the device management information to an administrator of the image forming apparatus, for example, and can consolidate and display the management information of a plurality of image forming apparatuses or a plurality of device management information on a single screen.

[0003] In such a management system, history information of jobs that have been executed, such as copying and printing, by the image forming apparatus is displayed as device management information.

[0004] For example, in Patent Document 1, the history of print jobs is stored on a server, and later, by appropriately searching by job name, user name, etc., jobs that match the search criteria are displayed with job information and thumbnail images. This makes it possible to find print jobs that could be problematic, such as leaking confidential information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-257552 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the management system described above, it is necessary to search the print job history each time to find problematic jobs. Also, the search results are displayed as job information such as the job name and thumbnail images, but when there are a large number of jobs, it is not possible to determine under what conditions the jobs match, and it is not possible to efficiently determine whether or not a job is problematic.

[0007] Furthermore, due to recent changes in work styles, operations such as printing are now performed using image forming devices not only in traditional offices but also in satellite offices and homes. Jobs performed in satellite offices and homes are considered to pose a higher risk in terms of information leakage. Therefore, in order to efficiently identify problematic jobs, it is necessary to consider categorized execution locations such as offices, satellite offices, and homes.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned conventional examples, and has an object to enable history information obtained by a search to be output with emphasis in accordance with preset conditions, thereby improving the productivity of monitoring work for high-risk jobs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including: a storage means for storing conditions for highlighting, including information regarding the location of the image forming device that executed the job; a display unit that performs highlighting by displaying information related to the job acquired by the acquisition unit in a different manner based on the condition, the information being a subject of highlighting and the information not being a subject of highlighting. A management system is provided. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, the history information obtained by the search can be output with emphasis according to preset conditions, thereby making it possible to improve the productivity of the monitoring work for high-risk jobs. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] Overall system configuration diagram. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of components. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the software configuration of a device management service. [Figure 4] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a determination of whether to highlight each job in the job history information according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 6 is a display flow diagram of a job history screen 600 in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a job history screen in the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an emphasis display setting screen in the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of highlighting setting data in the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of job history information according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a location setting screen in the first embodiment. [Figure 11] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of place setting data in the first embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a job history screen in the second embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a processing sequence of approval printing in the third embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of device information data according to the third embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of input job information data in the third embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of approved job information according to the third embodiment. [Figure 17]FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an approved job screen in the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although the embodiments describe a number of features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any manner. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numbers are used for the same or similar configurations, and duplicated descriptions are omitted.

[0013] [Embodiment 1] System Configuration FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a system according to this embodiment. The image forming apparatus 101 has functions such as scanning, printing, copying, faxing, and transmission, and is an execution device that executes jobs in response to user operations. The image forming apparatus 101 periodically transmits its own device management information to a device management service 102 connected via a communication network 100. The image forming apparatus 101 may transmit the device management information in response to a request from the device management service 102. In this configuration, it is preferable that the network 100 is an intranet.

[0014] The device management service 102 has management functions related to the image forming apparatus 101, such as management of users, job management, and device management. In device management, device management information is collected from the image forming apparatus 101, and a user interface is provided for an administrator who manages the image forming apparatus 101 to manage one or more image forming apparatuses 101. The device management information includes history information of jobs executed by the image forming apparatus 101. The job history information includes, for example, device information such as the serial number of the image forming apparatus that executed the job, and job information such as the name of the job executed and the date and time of execution. The device management service 102 is a service realized by a general-purpose computer (information processing apparatus), and may be considered as a virtually existing server computer. Therefore, it may be called a device management server, etc.

[0015] The client terminal 103 is a terminal used when accessing the device management service 102 via a web browser. An administrator can refer to a user interface for managing the image forming apparatus 101 via the web browser.

[0016] The above components are communicatively connected via a network 100. The network is, for example, a LAN such as the Internet, a WAN, a telephone line, a dedicated digital line, an ATM, or a communication network realized by a combination of these. The network may be any network capable of transmitting and receiving data.

[0017] Furthermore, in this embodiment, one device of each type is described, but a plurality of devices of each type may be connected to the network 100 .

[0018] Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 101, the device management service 102, and the client terminal 103 shown in Fig. 1. The hardware configuration of a general information processing apparatus can be applied to the PC and the image forming apparatus of this embodiment.

[0019] The CPU 201 executes a program to provide overall control over each piece of hardware, and controls each unit connected to the bus 200 to execute each function, such as printing or scanning. The CPU may also be called a processor. The CPU 201, memory, and programs stored therein may also be collectively called a control unit (controller).

[0020] The ROM 202 is a memory dedicated to reading data, and stores, for example, a basic control program for the image forming apparatus. The RAM 203 is a memory from which data can be read and written, and is used, for example, as a working memory for the CPU 201. The storage device 204 is used as a storage area for temporary data during execution of each program and for permanent data. For example, the storage device 204 is often a hard disk drive (HDD), but may also be a solid-state drive (SSD) or a device that can read and write data by loading external media such as a CD, DVD, or memory card.

[0021] The communication device 205 connects the image forming apparatus 101, the device management service 102, and the client terminal 103 via a LAN or the Internet, enabling data communication between the apparatuses using TCP / IP. The CPU 200 of the device management service 102 receives device management information from the image forming apparatus 101 via the communication device 205.

[0022] The input device 206 is an operation unit for accepting input operations of characters and data by a user, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a hard key, or a touch panel.

[0023] The display device 207 is a device for displaying various screens, and is, for example, a liquid crystal display or a touch panel. The user inputs instructions via the input device 206 on the user interface screen displayed on the display device 207.

[0024] In addition, a scanner device 208 and a printer device 209 are connected to the image forming apparatus 101 via the bus 200 .

[0025] The device management service 102 is constructed using hardware resources of multiple information processing devices, such as a virtual CPU, a virtual ROM, a virtual RAM, a virtual storage device, a virtual communication device, etc. The device management service 102 is realized by so-called cloud computing technology. Note that the device management service 102 may be realized on one server device.

[0026] Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the software configuration of the device management service 102 in embodiment 1. The software configuration shown in Fig. 3 is realized by the CPU 200 reading a program stored in, for example, the ROM 201 into the RAM 202 and executing it. The device management service 102 described here is a service provided to companies or groups that use this service, and the unit of provision is called a tenant.

[0027] The user management unit 301 manages users who use the device management service 102 on a tenant-by-tenant basis. The administrator registers users who wish to use the device management service 102 in the tenant. The registered users can use the functions provided by the device management service 102.

[0028] The device management unit 302 manages devices that use the device management service 102 on a tenant-by-tenant basis. A user or administrator registers a device that the user or administrator wishes to manage in the device management service 102 to a tenant. The user or administrator can use functions provided by the device management service 102 from the registered device.

[0029] A job management unit 303 manages job history information acquired from the image forming apparatus 101. The job history information includes the user who executed the job, the execution date and time, the job name, and the like. The job history information may also hold an image file of the image output by the executed job. The administrator can check the history of jobs executed by users.

[0030] A setting management unit 304 manages the setting values ​​of the functions provided by the device management service 102. The management targets include settings such as data related to the conditions for highlighting on a job history screen, which will be described later with reference to FIG.

[0031] The determination unit 305 determines whether or not each job included in the job history information managed by the job management unit 303 matches the highlighting conditions of the highlighting settings.

[0032] The UI control unit 306 controls the screens displayed on the web browser for the user interface UI and UI operations required for the functions provided by the device management service 102. Specifically, this is UI control of a job history screen 600 and the like.

[0033] A communication unit 307 controls the overall communication process for connecting to the device management service 102. Specifically, communication for collecting device management information from the image forming apparatus 101 registered in the device management unit 302 is performed via the communication unit 307.

[0034] Highlighting and location settings 4 and 5 show the procedure for determining whether to highlight job information and displaying the job information. Before that, the job history information, highlighting settings, and location settings referenced in the process will be described.

[0035] An example of job history information is shown in Fig. 9(A). Job history information 900 in Fig. 9(A) is job history information newly received by the device management service 102 from the image forming apparatus 101, and includes job information for which highlighting has not been determined. The job information includes a job ID that uniquely identifies the job, a job name, a user name indicating the user who executed the job, execution date and time, and the number of pages. In addition, as information on the device that executed the job, information on the execution location that is the installation location of the device is included, including a serial number that uniquely identifies the device, a device name, an IP address, and information on the execution location that is the installation location of the device. The newly acquired job history information is empty of a location classification that is information on the classification of the execution location, a situation that indicates a risk situation as to whether or not to highlight the job, information on keywords included in the job name, and highlight information that is job information to be highlighted.

[0036] As described above, the job information collected by the device management service 102 from the acquired image forming apparatus 101 does not include the fields "Status," "Keywords," and "Highlight." The device management service 102 that acquired the job information may add these fields and save them as job history information. The initial value of the filled-in field may be a value indicating that the field is blank, such as 9.

[0037] FIG. 8 shows an example of an emphasis display setting 800. The emphasis display setting 800 is a setting of conditions for identifying character strings to be highlighted, which is saved and managed by the setting management unit 304. The emphasis display setting 800 is set on an emphasis display setting screen 700 as shown in FIG. 7, which is displayed by the UI control unit 306. The administrator accesses the device management service 102 from the client PC 103 to obtain the UI of the emphasis display setting 800, which is displayed on the screen, and can change the settings by operating the controls displayed. The emphasis display setting 800 is applied, for example, on a tenant basis, but may also be applied on a subdivision basis of the tenant. In that case, the emphasis display setting 800 is held for each unit of application.

[0038] 7 is an example of the highlighting setting screen 700. The highlighting setting screen 700 is operated by, for example, an administrator.

[0039] The highlight setting field 701 is a control for setting whether or not to highlight jobs that satisfy certain conditions on the job history screen 600. Checking the highlight setting field 701 makes it possible to set each of the controls in the keyword setting field 702 to top screen display setting field 706. The keyword setting 702 is a control for setting whether or not to set the inclusion of a specific keyword in the job name as a condition for highlighting. When the keyword setting field 702 is checked, it is possible to input a keyword, and the field is used to determine whether or not the input keyword is included in the job name.

[0040] The display condition setting field 703 is a control for setting whether or not to set the conditions of the job to be highlighted using not only keywords but also job history information. When the display condition setting field 703 is on, a location setting field 704 for setting the location of use of the image forming apparatus and a time setting field 705 for setting the execution time can be set. The location setting field 704 is a control for setting whether or not to set the conditions using a location classification that is a classification of the execution location of the job history information. When the location setting field 704 is checked, one or more of three types of classifications, office, satellite office, and home, can be selected. The method of classifying the execution location will be described later with reference to the location setting screen 1000 in FIG. 10. The time setting field 705 is a control for setting whether or not to set the conditions of the highlighting using the execution date and time of the job history information. When the time setting field 705 is checked on, the time range for highlighting can be set. In FIG. 7, the screen is displayed so that the time is specified in 24-hour notation, but it is also possible to specify the day of the week, date, etc.

[0041] The top screen setting field 706 is a control for setting whether or not to preferentially display the job history screen 600 on the top screen when a job to be highlighted that matches the conditions set in the keyword setting field 702 to the time setting field 705 exists in the job history information. Here, the top screen refers to the basic screen that is displayed after the administrator logs in to the device management service 102. Pressing an OK button 707 applies the settings to the highlight display settings 800. Pressing a cancel button 708 cancels the settings without applying them to the highlight display settings 800.

[0042] An emphasis display setting 800 in FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of emphasis display setting data set by the emphasis display setting screen 700 in FIG. 7. An emphasis display setting 801 holds a setting of whether or not the emphasis display set in the emphasis display setting field 701 is to be displayed on the job history screen. If the emphasis display setting 801 is on (enabled), the settings of a keyword setting 802 and the following are enabled. The keyword setting 802 holds a setting of whether or not to determine whether or not the keyword set in the keyword setting field 702 is included in the job name. If the keyword setting 802 is enabled, the keyword information 803 is enabled. The keyword information 803 holds keyword information inputted by the keyword setting field 702. A plurality of keywords may be registered. A display condition setting 804 holds a setting of whether or not to set conditions for a job to be highlighted using the job history information set in the display condition setting field 703. If the display condition setting 804 is enabled, the settings of a location setting 805 and the following are enabled.

[0043] The location setting 805 holds a setting of whether or not to set a condition using the location classification (location information) performed in the location setting field 704. If the location setting 805 is valid, the settings of the office setting 806, the satellite office setting 807, and the at-home setting 808 are valid. The office setting 806, the satellite office setting 807, and the at-home setting 808 hold whether or not to set the location classification set in the location setting field 704 as a condition for highlighting. The time setting 809 holds whether or not to set a condition for highlighting using the execution date and time of the job history information performed in the time setting field 705. If the location setting 809 is valid, the time information held in the time information 810 becomes valid. The time information 810 holds a setting of a time range for highlighting. A plurality of time ranges may be registered. The top screen setting 811 holds a setting of whether or not to preferentially display the job history screen on the basic screen, which is set in the top screen setting field 706.

[0044] 10 is an example of a location setting screen. The administrator accesses the device management service 102 from the client PC 103 to obtain the UI of the location setting screen 1000, and can change the settings by operating the controls displayed on the screen. The location display settings 1000 are applied, for example, on a tenant basis, but are not limited thereto and may be applied in the same units as the highlight display settings 800.

[0045] The administrator selects either control 1001 or control 1002 on location setting screen 1000. These controls may be, for example, radio buttons for exclusive selection. When control 1001 is selected, the execution location is not classified. When control 1002 is selected, the execution location is classified by referring to the IP address in the job history information. On this screen, the IP address ranges of the office and satellite offices are set, and the locations are classified based on whether the IP addresses in the job history information are included in the respective set ranges. The IP address range may be specified, for example, by the network address portion of the IP address. Also, multiple ranges may be specified instead of a single range. Also, one or multiple network addresses may be specified instead of a range.

[0046] Note that, although the execution locations are classified according to the IP address range here, they may also be classified according to the device name or execution location in the job history information 900, or according to the method of registering the device in the device management service 102. Furthermore, it may be possible to set the classification of the execution location for the device. Pressing an OK button 1003 applies the set contents to the location setting 1100. Pressing a Cancel button 1004 cancels the set contents without applying them to the location setting 1100.

[0047] FIG. 11 shows an example of location settings 1100. The location settings 1100 in FIG. 11 are diagrams showing an example of location setting data set by the location setting screen 1000 in FIG. 10. The "no classification" setting 1101 is ON when the control 1001 is selected, and when ON, it means that the location is not classified. The "classify by IP" setting 1102 is ON when the control 1002 is selected, and when ON, it means that the location is classified by IP address. The office IP setting 1103 stores the IP address range of the office in the control 1002. The satellite office IP setting 1104 stores the IP address range of the satellite office in the control 1002. When multiple ranges are set, the corresponding IP address ranges are stored. Note that the "no classification" setting 1101 may be eliminated, and the "classify by IP" setting 1102 to the satellite office IP setting 1104 may be set as the location setting 1100. In that case, the "off" value of the "classify by IP" setting 1102 may mean that the location is not classified by IP address.

[0048] * Job history information update process Fig. 4 shows a flow of determining whether to highlight each job in job history information in the device management service 102 according to this embodiment. This flow is executed by the CPU 201 when the device management service 102 acquires device management information from the image forming apparatus 101. However, in the explanation of the figure, the software module shown in Fig. 3, which is realized by the CPU 201, is the execution subject. This flow is also executed when the highlight setting is changed on the highlight setting screen shown in Fig. 8. If device management information is acquired periodically, the process in Fig. 4 may be executed periodically. Alternatively, or in addition, the process in Fig. 4 may be executed in response to an instruction from an administrator.

[0049] In step S 401 , the determination unit 305 acquires the highlight setting 800 and the location setting 1100 .

[0050] In step S402, the determination unit 305 acquires job history information 900. The job history information 900 is part of the device management information that the image forming apparatus 101 transmits to the device management service 102, and is configured from one or more pieces of job information, and stores information on various jobs executed by the image forming apparatus 101.

[0051] Next, in step S403, the determination unit 305 acquires a list of highlighted undetermined job information whose status data (status field) is empty from the job history information 900 managed by the job management unit 303. In step S404, the determination unit 305 acquires (or focuses on) one piece of job information from the list of undetermined job information acquired in step S403. Hereinafter, this focused job information will be referred to as focused job information or target job information.

[0052] In step S405, the determination unit 305 refers to the "Do not classify" setting 1101 and the "Classify by IP" setting 1102 of the location setting 1100 acquired in S401, and determines whether or not to perform location classification. If the "Do not classify" setting 1101 is ON, it is determined that classification is not to be performed, and the process proceeds to step S412. If the "Classify by IP" setting 1102 is ON, it is determined that classification is to be performed, and the process proceeds to step S406.

[0053] In step S406, the determination unit 305 obtains address information, here an IP address, from the job information obtained in step S404. In step S407, the determination unit 305 compares the IP address obtained in step S406 with the office IP setting 1103 of the location setting 1100, and determines whether the IP address is within the range of the office IP setting 1103. If it is determined to be within the range, the process proceeds to step S411, and if it is determined to be outside the range, the process proceeds to step S408.

[0054] In step S408, the determination unit 305 compares the IP address acquired in step S406 with the satellite office IP setting 1104 of the location setting 1100, and determines whether or not the IP address is within the range of the satellite office IP setting 1104. If it is determined to be within the range, the process proceeds to step S410, and if it is determined to be outside the range, the process proceeds to step S409.

[0055] In step S409, the determination unit 305 updates the location classification field of the target job information to "at home". In step S410, the determination unit 305 updates the location classification field of the target job information to "satellite". In step S411, the determination unit 305 updates the location classification field of the target job information to "office". In this way, the location of the image forming device 101 is classified in correspondence with the location classification that can be set as a condition for the location of use of the image forming device, which is included in the highlighting setting.

[0056] In step S412, the determination unit 305 refers to the highlighting setting 801 of the highlighting setting 800, and determines whether or not to highlight on the job history screen 600. If the highlighting setting 801 is ON, it is determined that highlighting is to be performed and the process proceeds to step S413, whereas if it is OFF, it is determined that highlighting is not to be performed and the process proceeds to step S428.

[0057] In step S413, the determination unit 305 refers to the keyword setting 802 of the highlighting setting 800 and determines whether or not to perform highlighting based on the keyword setting. If the keyword setting 802 is ON, it is determined that highlighting based on a keyword is to be performed and the process proceeds to step S414, whereas if it is OFF, it is determined that highlighting based on a keyword is not to be performed and the process proceeds to step S417.

[0058] In step S414, the determination unit 305 compares the job name in the job information with the keyword information 803 in the highlight display setting 800, and determines whether or not a keyword included in the keyword information 803 is present in the job name. If the keyword is present in the job name, the process proceeds to step S415, and if not, the process proceeds to step S416. If multiple keywords are registered in the keyword information 803, it may be determined that the keyword is present in the job name if any of them is included in the job name.

[0059] In step S415, the determination unit 305 registers the keyword character string present in the job name in step S414 in the keyword field of the focused job information. In step S416, the determination unit 305 sets information indicating that the focused job information is not subject to highlighting, in the status field of the focused job information, "None" in this example.

[0060] In step S417, the determination unit 305 refers to the display condition setting 804 and the location setting 805 of the highlighting setting 800 and determines whether or not to perform highlighting determination based on location classification. If the display condition setting 804 and the location setting 805 are both ON, it determines that highlighting determination based on location classification is to be performed, and proceeds to step S418. Otherwise, it determines that highlighting determination based on location classification is not to be performed, and proceeds to step S421.

[0061] In step S418, the determination unit 305 compares the location classification of the job information of interest set in steps S409, 410, and 411 with the office setting 806, satellite office setting 807, and at-home setting 808, and determines whether the location classification highlighting condition is met. When the office setting 806 is ON, if the location classification of the job information is office, it is determined that the location classification highlighting condition is met. When the satellite office setting 807 is ON, if the location classification of the job information is satellite office, it is determined that the location classification highlighting condition is met. When the at-home setting 808 is ON, if the location classification of the job information is at-home, it is determined that the location classification highlighting condition is met. If the location classification highlighting condition is met, the process proceeds to step S419. If none of the above is true, i.e., if the location classification highlighting condition is not met, the process proceeds to step S420.

[0062] In step S419, the determination unit 305 adds a location classification that matches the conditions for highlighting by location classification to the emphasis information field of the focused job information. For example, if the office setting 806 is on and the location classification of the job information is office, "office" is added to the emphasis information field. If the satellite office setting 807 is on and the location classification of the job information is satellite office, "satellite office" is added to the emphasis information field. If the at-home setting 808 is on and the location classification of the job information is at-home, "at-home" is added to the emphasis information field. In step S420, the determination unit 305 sets information indicating that there is no target for highlighting at that time, for example "none", to the status field of the focused job information.

[0063] In step S421, the determination unit 305 refers to the time setting 809 of the highlighting setting 800 and determines whether or not to perform highlighting determination based on the execution date and time. If the time setting 809 is ON, it determines that highlighting determination based on the execution date and time is to be performed, and the process proceeds to step S422, whereas if the time setting 809 is OFF, it determines that highlighting determination based on the execution date and time is not to be performed, and the process proceeds to step S424.

[0064] In step S422, the determination unit 305 compares the execution date and time of the focused job information with the time information 810 to determine whether or not the conditions for highlighting based on the execution date and time are met. If the execution date and time of the job information is included in the date and time range specified in the time information 810, it is determined that the condition is met and the process proceeds to step S423. If not included, it is determined that the condition is not met and the process proceeds to step S426. In step S419, the determination unit 305 adds the value of the execution date and time field of the focused job information to the emphasis information field of the job information.

[0065] In step S424, the determination unit 305 determines whether all of the highlighting conditions set on the highlighting setting screen 700 in Fig. 7 are met. More specifically, if the status field of the job information of interest is not "None" at the time of this processing and at least one of a keyword and highlighting information is included, it is determined that all of the highlighting conditions are met. If it is determined that all of the highlighting conditions are met, the process proceeds to step S425, and if it is determined that they are not met, the process proceeds to step S426.

[0066] In step S425, the determination unit 305 sets the status field of the job information of interest to "Warning", which indicates that the job satisfies the highlighting condition, and in step S426, the determination unit 305 sets the status of the job information to "None".

[0067] In step S427, it is determined whether or not processing has been completed for all of the undetermined job information acquired in step S403. If processing has not been completed for all jobs, the process proceeds to step S404, and processing from S405 onward is performed, focusing on the next unprocessed job information. If all jobs have been completed, the process ends. In step S428, the determination unit 305 sets "none" in the status field of the job information of interest.

[0068] By applying this processing flow to job history information 900 in Fig. 9(A), the state is updated to job history information 910 in Fig. 9(B). A location classification for job information in which the status was blank is set, and if the status is warning, either a keyword or emphasis information or both are set according to the set conditions.

[0069] In this embodiment, the highlight setting screen 700 in Fig. 7 and the highlight display determination flow in Fig. 4 are set to have all the conditions of keyword, location classification, and execution date and time met as the condition for highlight display, but highlight display may be performed when any of the conditions are met. In that case, for example, S416 and S420 may not be performed, and if it is determined in S422 that the date and time condition is not met, the process may branch to S424 instead of S426. Furthermore, in S424, without referring to the status field of the focused job information, if information corresponding to at least either the keyword or the collaboration information is written, the process may branch to S425, and if not, the process may branch to S426.

[0070] - Display process of job history information 5 shows a flow when the job history screen 600 is displayed in the device management service 102 according to the first embodiment. This flow is executed when an instruction to display the job history screen is given to the UI control unit 306 of the device management service 102. The main executing hardware is the CPU 201.

[0071] According to the procedure in Fig. 5, a job history screen 600 in Fig. 6 is displayed. The job history screen 600 includes a job history list 601 that displays job history information, and a job warning character string 602. If the job history information also includes an image file of a job, it may be possible to refer to the image file of each job displayed in the job history list 601. On the job history screen 600, the part that is to be highlighted and the part that is not to be highlighted are displayed in different modes.

[0072] In step S501, the UI control unit 306 acquires the highlighting setting 800. In step S502, the UI control unit 306 acquires the job history information 910. In step S503, the UI control unit 306 acquires the highlighting on / off setting 801 of the highlighting setting 800, and determines whether or not to perform highlighting on the job history screen. If the highlighting on / off setting 801 is ON, it is determined that highlighting is to be performed and the process proceeds to step S504, whereas if the highlighting on / off setting 801 is OFF, it is determined that highlighting is not to be performed and the process proceeds to step S515.

[0073] In step S504, the UI control unit 306 acquires (focuses on) one piece of job information from the job history information 910 acquired in step S502. Hereinafter, the navy blue job information will be referred to as the focused job information. In step S505, in accordance with the focused job information acquired in S504, a job is additionally displayed in the job history list 601 of the job history screen 600. In this step, the job name, user, execution date and time, number of pages, device name, and IP address fields in the job history list 601 display values ​​that are managed with the same names in the job history information 910. The location field of the job history list 601 displays the value of the location classification in the job history information 910. However, if there is no location classification value, the value of the execution location field in the job history information 910 may be displayed.

[0074] In step S506, the UI control unit 306 refers to the status field of the focused job information, and if the status is "warning", proceeds to step S506, and if not, proceeds to step S512. In step S507, the UI control unit 306 displays a symbol indicating a warning in the status column of the job history list 601. In the example of the job history list 601, the "!" mark is displayed in red, for example, to distinguish it from other character strings.

[0075] In step S508, the UI control unit 306 refers to the keyword of the job information of interest, and if the keyword exists, the process proceeds to step S509, and if the keyword does not exist, the process proceeds to step S510. In step S509, the UI control unit 306 highlights the part of the job name in the job history list 601 that corresponds to the same character string as the keyword of the job information. In the example of the job history screen 600 in FIG. 6, when "confidential" exists as a keyword, the "confidential" part of the job name "confidential_specification" is highlighted in bold, italics, red, or the like to distinguish it from other character strings. It may be highlighted not only by font or color, but also by simple animation such as blinking. In any case, the part to be highlighted is displayed in a manner that makes it visually distinguishable from the other parts.

[0076] In step S510, the UI control unit 306 refers to the emphasis information field of the job information of interest, and if emphasis information exists, the process proceeds to step S511, and if not, the process proceeds to step S512. In step S511, the UI control unit 306 highlights information included in the emphasis information of the job information with respect to the location, date, time, etc. of the job history list 601. In the example of the job history screen 600 in Fig. 6, when a location classification exists as emphasis information, the location value "at home" is highlighted in bold, italics, red, or the like to distinguish it from other character strings.

[0077] In step S512, the UI control unit 306 determines whether or not processing has been completed for all job information in the job history information 910 acquired in step S502. If processing has been completed for all job information in the job history information, the process proceeds to step S513, and if processing has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S504 to perform display processing for the next job.

[0078] In step S513, the UI control unit 306 determines whether or not one or more pieces of job information with a status of "warning" are present in the processed job history information 910. If one or more pieces of job information with a status of "warning" are present, the process proceeds to step S514; if not, the process ends.

[0079] In S514, the job warning character string 602 is displayed in association with the job history list 601. In the example of FIG.

[0080] In step S515, since the UI control unit 306 is set to not highlight, the UI control unit 306 displays each piece of job information without highlighting in accordance with the job history information 910. At this time, the status column may be hidden.

[0081] With the configuration and processing procedures described above, the management system of this embodiment highlights the display of job history according to the set highlighting conditions, making it easier for the administrator to monitor jobs and enabling efficient monitoring.

[0082] In this embodiment, the location of the image forming device is identified from the IP address, but for example, identification information of the image forming device, such as a device name and a location, may be registered in the device management service 102 in association with each other, and the management service may identify the location based on the device name.

[0083] [Embodiment 2] In the first embodiment, the job history screen 600 of the image forming apparatus 101 always highlights job information that meets the conditions according to the highlighting setting 800. However, not all highlighted jobs have problems. Despite this, even jobs that the administrator checks on the job history screen 600 and determines to have no problems are highlighted every time the job history screen 600 is displayed. This creates a problem in that jobs that are truly problematic may be overlooked.

[0084] Therefore, the job history screen 1200 in FIG. 12 is an example of a screen for solving the above problem. A confirmation column 1202 is added to a job history list 1201 that displays each job information. In the confirmation column 1202, an administrator can set a state of "confirmed" that indicates that the job is problem-free. For a job in a confirmed state, even if the status of the job information is a warning, the job is not highlighted. The information of "confirmed" set in the confirmation column is managed as a part of the job history information. That is, when a confirmed field is added to the job history information shown in FIG. 9 and "confirmed" is set in the UI, the fact that the job has been confirmed is saved in the confirmed field of the corresponding job information. In this embodiment, for example, immediately after S505 in FIG. 5, it is determined whether the value of the confirmed field of the target job information has been confirmed. If the job has been confirmed, the process branches to S512, and if the job has not been confirmed, the process branches to S506.

[0085] By applying the above, it is possible to highlight problematic jobs while excluding problem-free jobs.

[0086] [Embodiment 3] In the first embodiment, a case has been described in which highlighting is performed on the job history screen 600 of the image forming apparatus 101. Meanwhile, the device management service 102 may have a cloud print function in which a user accepts submission of a document held by the client terminal 103 and causes the image forming apparatus 101 to print the document. In the case of such a printing form, approval printing is performed in which the device management service 102 manages the submitted document as a submission job, and an administrator checks the document before printing is performed on the image forming apparatus 101, and only jobs without problems are allowed to be printed.

[0087] In this embodiment, a case will be described in which highlighting processing is applied to the approval waiting list screen 1700 that is checked by the administrator. In this embodiment, the job management unit 303 manages jobs submitted to the device management service 102 on a tenant-by-tenant basis. In addition, the determination unit 305 also determines whether or not the submitted job managed by the job management unit 303 matches the highlighting conditions of the highlighting settings.

[0088] 13 is a diagram showing the processing sequence of approval printing according to the third embodiment. A user who actually performs printing performs a print execution operation on the client terminal 103. At this time, the document to be printed and the image forming device 101 as the output destination are specified (S1301). Upon receiving the execution operation, the client terminal 103 uploads a print job including information on the document and the image forming device as the output destination to the device management service 102, and requests execution of printing (S1302).

[0089] Upon receiving the print execution request, the device management service 102 saves the received print job as a pending job and adds the job information to submitted job information 1500. The submitted job information 1500 includes a job ID, job name, user ID, execution date and time, number of pages, serial number of the image forming device, and device name of the image forming device. The job ID is identification information for identifying the job, and the job name is a name generated from, for example, the name of the document to be printed. The user ID is identification information of the user who issued the print instruction, and the execution date and time may be blank if the job has not yet been executed. The number of pages is the number of pages to be printed by the job. The serial number and device name are the serial number and name of the image forming device specified as the output destination.

[0090] When the submitted job information 1500 is added, approval-awaiting job information is generated to which information (IP address and execution location) of the output destination image forming apparatus is added, and added to approval-awaiting job information 1600 .

[0091] In the approval waiting job information 1600, an IP address and execution location are added to the submitted job information 1500 and the values ​​are set. Furthermore, a location classification, a status, a keyword, and emphasis information are added as blank fields. The IP address and execution location are identified by referring to the device information 1400 in Fig. 14 held by the device management service 102, based on a serial number that uniquely identifies the output destination image forming apparatus included in the submitted job information 1500. In addition, the approval waiting job information 1600 can include documents accepted at the time of submission for each job.

[0092] The device information 1400 is information that is added when the image forming device 101 is registered in the print management service 102, and includes information such as the serial number, device name, IP address, and execution location (installation location) of the image forming device 101. By referring to the device information 1400, the IP address and execution location corresponding to the serial number of the submitted job information 1500 are identified and added to the approval waiting job information.

[0093] The approval job information 1600 has the same data format as the job history information 900. Therefore, by applying the highlight display determination flow of Fig. 4 of the first embodiment to the approval job information 1600, it is possible to set the location classification, situation, keyword, and highlight information, and update it to the approval waiting job information 1610 in the lower part of Fig. 16.

[0094] Thereafter, the administrator performs a display operation of the job waiting for approval screen in order to check the jobs waiting for approval (S1304).The device management service 1702 displays the approved job screen 1700 (S1305).

[0095] 17 includes a waiting job list 1701 displaying the waiting job information 1610, and a job warning string 1702 if there is a job that is subject to a warning. When the administrator inputs approval or rejection for each job and touches an OK button 1703, the approval result is applied. Furthermore, when a cancel button 1704 is touched, the approval result is cancelled. A rejected job may be deleted from the jobs waiting for approval. Furthermore, an approved job may be removed from the jobs waiting for approval and moved to a list of approved jobs. Approved jobs may be executed by the specified image forming apparatus 101.

[0096] The job history information 610 and the approval-awaiting job information 1610 have the same data format. The approval-awaiting job list 1701 on the approval-awaiting job screen 1700 has a format in which an approval column has simply been added to the job history list 601. Therefore, by applying the highlighting flow in Fig. 5 when displaying the approval-awaiting job screen 1700, it is possible to highlight jobs that meet the highlighting conditions in the approval-awaiting job list 1701. If the approval-awaiting job information also includes job documents, the documents of each job displayed in the approval-awaiting job list 1701 may also be made available for reference.

[0097] The administrator refers to the highlighted list of jobs waiting for approval 1701, selects "Allow" in the approval column for jobs that can be printed without any problems, selects "Reject" for jobs that have problems with printing, and presses the OK button 1703 (S1306 / S1309).

[0098] For a job for which printing is permitted, the device management service 102 transmits a print job in response to a request from the image forming apparatus 101 (S1307). Upon receiving the print job, the image forming apparatus 101 executes printing (S1308).

[0099] For a job for which printing has been rejected, the device management service 102 cancels the print job. Information indicating approval or rejection in response to an input of approval / denial may be saved for each job. In this way, it is not necessary to manage approved jobs separately from rejected jobs.

[0100] By applying this processing flow, it becomes possible to efficiently check jobs that have printing risks in a printing system that performs approval printing.

[0101] The method of identifying the IP address and execution location from the serial number of the image forming apparatus by referring to the device information 1400 in FIG. 14 held by the device management service 102 can also be applied to the first and second embodiments.

[0102] (Other embodiments) The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) for implementing one or more of the functions.

[0103] Summary of embodiments The above embodiments can be summarized as follows:

[0104] (Item 1) An acquisition unit for acquiring information regarding a job of an image forming apparatus; a storage means for storing conditions for highlighting, including information regarding the location of the image forming device that executed the job; a display unit that performs highlighting by displaying information related to the job acquired by the acquisition unit in a different manner based on the condition, the information being a subject of highlighting and the information not being a subject of highlighting. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 2) The management system according to item 1, the location information indicates a classification of a location where the image forming apparatus is installed; When the classification of the place where the image forming apparatus is installed is set as a condition for the highlighting, the display unit highlights the classification of the place. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 3) The management system according to item 2, The image forming apparatus further includes a classification unit that classifies the location where the image forming apparatus is installed in accordance with the location classification included in the condition. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 4) Item 3. The management system according to item 3, The classification unit classifies the locations where the image forming apparatuses are installed based on address information of the image forming apparatuses included in the information. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 5) The management system according to any one of items 1 to 4, the information is history information regarding jobs executed by the image forming apparatus, a confirmation unit that sets a job included in the history information as having been confirmed in response to an input by a user; The display means excludes the job that is set to be confirmed from the highlighted display. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 6) The management system according to any one of items 1 to 5, the information is approval-awaiting job information regarding a job that is awaiting approval for execution by the image forming apparatus; The method further includes an approval unit that accepts an input by a user indicating that each job included in the information has been approved, A job for which the "approved" setting is not set is not subject to execution by the image forming apparatus. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 7) The management system according to any one of items 1 to 6, The conditions further include an execution time of the job and a keyword included in the name of the job. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 8) The management system according to any one of items 1 to 7, The display device further includes a user interface that accepts the setting of the conditions for highlighting by a user. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 9) The management system according to any one of items 1 to 8, The conditions for the target of the highlighting include, as information regarding the location of the image forming apparatus, information indicating that the user is at home or information indicating that the user is in a satellite office. 1. A management system comprising: (Item 10) A management method in a management system having an acquisition means, a storage means, and a display means, comprising: the acquiring means acquires information regarding a job of the image forming apparatus; the storage means stores conditions for highlighting, including information regarding the location of the image forming apparatus that executed the job; The display means performs highlighting by displaying the information related to the job acquired by the acquisition means in a different manner based on the condition, depending on whether the information is to be highlighted or not. A management method comprising:

[0105] The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims are appended to apprise the public of the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0106] 101 Image forming apparatus, 102 Device management service, 103 Client terminal

Claims

1. An acquisition unit for acquiring information regarding a job of an image forming apparatus; a storage means for storing conditions for highlighting, including information regarding the location of the image forming device that executed the job; a display unit that performs highlighting by displaying information related to the job acquired by the acquisition unit in a different manner based on the condition, the information being a subject of highlighting and the information not being a subject of highlighting.

1. A management system comprising:

2. The management system according to claim 1, the location information indicates a classification of a location where the image forming apparatus is installed; When the classification of the place where the image forming apparatus is installed is set as a condition for the highlighting, the display unit highlights the classification of the place.

1. A management system comprising:

3. The management system according to claim 2, The image forming apparatus further includes a classification unit that classifies the location where the image forming apparatus is installed in accordance with the location classification included in the condition.

1. A management system comprising:

4. The management system according to claim 3, The classification unit classifies the locations where the image forming apparatuses are installed based on address information of the image forming apparatuses included in the information.

1. A management system comprising:

5. The management system according to claim 1, the information is history information regarding jobs executed by the image forming apparatus, a confirmation unit that sets a job included in the history information as having been confirmed in response to an input by a user; The display means excludes the job that is set to be confirmed from the highlighted display.

1. A management system comprising:

6. The management system according to claim 1, the information is approval-awaiting job information regarding a job that is awaiting approval for execution by the image forming apparatus, The method further includes an approval unit that accepts an input by a user indicating that each job included in the information has been approved, A job for which the "approved" setting is not set is not subject to execution by the image forming apparatus.

1. A management system comprising:

7. The management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The conditions further include an execution time of the job and a keyword included in the name of the job.

1. A management system comprising:

8. The management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The display device further includes a user interface that accepts the setting of the conditions for highlighting by a user.

1. A management system comprising:

9. The management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The conditions for the target of the highlighting include, as information regarding the location of the image forming apparatus, information indicating that the user is at home or information indicating that the user is in a satellite office.

1. A management system comprising:

10. A management method in a management system having an acquisition means, a storage means, and a display means, comprising: the acquiring means acquires information regarding a job of the image forming apparatus; the storage means stores conditions for highlighting, including information regarding the location of the image forming apparatus that executed the job; The display means performs highlighting by displaying the information related to the job acquired by the acquisition means in a different manner based on the condition, depending on whether the information is to be highlighted or not. A management method comprising:

Images