Electronic device

Abstract

To obtain an electronic apparatus capable of restoring data erroneously designated by a user as deletion reservation data.SOLUTION: When the deletion reservation can be set for the data according to the user operation and the deletion reservation is set for the data, the control unit 21 deletes the data at a predetermined timing without immediately deleting the data at the time when the deletion reservation is set. The backup processing unit 22 (a) determines whether or not the deletion reservation is set for the data, and (b) if the deletion reservation is set for the data, stores the backup data of the data in the external storage 2 before the above-mentioned predetermined timing. Further, the backup processing unit 22 restores the data for which the deletion reservation is set with the backup data stored in the external storage 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device. [Background technology]

[0002] A certain data processing device (a) when configured to perform backup processing for a certain business, copies the data files for that business stored in the data file area to a backup area, and when the data processing for that business is completed, deletes the data files copied to the backup area, and (b) when the power is turned on, determines whether or not a data file is stored in the backup area, and if a data file is stored in the backup area, restores the data file in the backup area to the data file area (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-287585 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Some image forming devices have a deletion reservation function that, if data designated by a user as deletion target is in use, does not immediately delete the data, but deletes the data when it is no longer in use. Since such data designated for deletion (hereinafter referred to as "deletion-scheduled data") is intentionally designated for deletion by the user, it is generally not included in backup targets. However, if the deletion-scheduled data is mistakenly designated for deletion by the user, the deletion-scheduled data is not backed up, and therefore cannot be restored and is lost.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to provide an electronic device that can restore data that has been mistakenly designated by a user as data to be scheduled for deletion. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The electronic device of the present invention includes a storage device that stores data, a communication device that can transfer the data to an external storage device, a control unit that can set a deletion schedule for the data in accordance with a user operation and, if the deletion schedule has been set for the data, deletes the data at a predetermined time rather than immediately deleting it when the deletion schedule has been set, and a backup processing unit that uses the communication device to store backup data of the data in the storage device in the external storage device.The backup processing unit (a) determines whether the deletion schedule has been set for the data, (b) if the deletion schedule has been set for the data, stores the backup data of the data in the external storage before the predetermined time, and (c) restores the data for which the deletion schedule has been set using the backup data stored in the external storage. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, an electronic device can be provided that can restore data that has been mistakenly designated by a user as data to be deleted.

[0008] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the backup process performed by the electronic device 1 shown in FIG. [Figure 3]FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the restore process performed by the electronic device 1 shown in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 1 shown in Fig. 1 is an image forming device such as a multifunction peripheral. The electronic device 1 includes an image reading device 11, a printing device 12, a facsimile device 13, a communication device 14, an operation panel 15, a storage device 16, a controller 17, and the like.

[0012] The image reading device 11 is an internal device that optically reads an original image from an original placed on a platen glass or an original fed by an automatic document feeder at a specified resolution and generates image data of the original image.

[0013] The printing device 12 is an internal device that prints original images or the like using an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method.

[0014] The facsimile device 13 is an internal device that transmits image data obtained by scanning as a facsimile signal, and receives a facsimile signal and generates image data.

[0015] The communication device 14 is an internal device that performs data communication with the external storage 2 according to a predetermined communication protocol (such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or SMB (Server Message Block)). The communication device 14 is a peripheral device interface such as a network interface or USB, and the external storage 2 is a file server, storage server, USB memory, or the like.

[0016] The operation panel 15 is an internal device located on the top surface of the housing of the image reading device, and includes a display device 15a that displays an operation screen to the user and an input device 15b that accepts user operations. The display device 15a is a liquid crystal display or the like. The input device 15b is a touch panel that, together with the display device 15a, realizes hard keys and soft keys.

[0017] The storage device 16 is a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory, SSD (Solid State Drive), or HDD (Hard Disk Drive) that stores data and programs. User data such as internal device and job setting data, account information, address book data, and other user registration data, and document image data in document boxes, are stored in the storage device 16. Each piece of data stored in the storage device 16 is associated with various flags, such as a deletion reservation flag indicating whether the data is scheduled for deletion (described later), and a backup target flag indicating whether the data is the target of the backup process (described later).

[0018] The controller 17 includes a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., and operates as various processing units. The controller 17 loads programs stored in the ROM or storage device 16 into the RAM and executes them on the CPU, thereby operating as various processing units through software. Here, the controller 17 operates as a control unit 21 and a backup processing unit 22.

[0019] The control unit 21 controls the internal devices described above to execute various processes such as requested jobs. The control unit 21 can also set a deletion reservation for the above data in accordance with a user operation on the input device 15b, and when a deletion reservation is set for the data, the control unit 21 does not immediately delete the data at the time the deletion reservation is set, but deletes the data (deletion reservation data) at a predetermined timing. The control unit 21 turns on the deletion reservation flag for the data for which a deletion reservation has been set.

[0020] Note that data scheduled for deletion is not immediately deleted, but is immediately made invisible to the user and not displayed in data lists, etc. Furthermore, before the data is deleted, the deletion reservation can be canceled based on user operation.

[0021] The predetermined timing may be a predetermined time point during a time period when the data is not being used and the load on the electronic device 1 is low (for example, at night) set by the user, when the electronic device 1 is not being used, or when the operation mode of the electronic device 1 is in an energy saving mode. Note that the operation mode of the electronic device 1 is either a normal mode or an energy saving mode that consumes less power than the normal mode, and the electronic device 1 transitions to the energy saving mode when no operation is performed for a predetermined period of time or when a predetermined user operation is performed.

[0022] The backup processing unit 22 executes backup processing and restore processing for data specified by the user among the data stored in the storage device 16. In the backup processing and restore processing, the data can be transferred between the external storage 2 via the communication device 14. Note that in the backup processing, operations of the electronic device 1 other than the backup processing are prohibited in order to guarantee the state of the data to be backed up.

[0023] The backup processing unit 22 sets whether or not to include data stored in the storage device 16 in the data to be backed up, in accordance with a user operation on the input device 15b. Specifically, the backup processing unit 22 (a) turns on a backup target flag for data designated as a target for backup processing by a user operation, and (b) performs backup processing for data whose backup target flag is on, but does not perform backup processing for data whose backup target flag is off.

[0024] In the backup process, the backup processing unit 22 uses the communication device 14 to store backup data of the data in the storage device 16 in the external storage 2. At this time, the backup data is the original data that has been compressed. In the restore process, the backup processing unit 22 uses the communication device 14 to read data from the backup data in the external storage 2, restore it to the original data, and store it in the storage device 16. At this time, the backup data is decompressed to restore the original data.

[0025] In the backup process, the backup processing unit 22 (a) identifies data to be backed up from among the data in the storage device 16 based on the backup target flag, (b) determines whether a deletion reservation has been set for each piece of the backup target data based on the deletion reservation flag, and (c) if a deletion reservation has been set for each piece of data, stores backup data of that data in the external storage 2 before the above-mentioned predetermined timing. Correspondingly, in the restore process, the backup processing unit 22 restores data for which a deletion reservation has been set from the backup data stored in the external storage 2.

[0026] The backup processing unit 22 (a) sets whether or not to include data for which a deletion reservation has been set in the data to be restored in accordance with user operation on the input device 15b, (b1) if it is set that data for which a deletion reservation has been set is to be included in the data to be restored, it executes a restore process for the data for which a deletion reservation has been set, and (b2) if it is set that data for which a deletion reservation has been set is not to be included in the data to be restored, it does not execute a restore process for the data for which a deletion reservation has been set.

[0027] Specifically, the backup processing unit 22 (a) stores a flag in the external storage 2 indicating whether each backup data to be stored in the external storage 2 during the backup process is backup data of data for which a deletion reservation has been set, and (b) determines, according to the flag, whether or not to restore the backup data of data for which a deletion reservation has been set among the backup data stored in the external storage 2 to the original data.

[0028] Next, the operation of the electronic device 1 will be described.

[0029] (a) Backup process

[0030] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the backup process performed by the electronic device 1 shown in FIG.

[0031] The backup processing unit 22 monitors whether a backup request has been received (step S1). The backup request is issued automatically at a predetermined timing or by a user operation via the input device 15b. The backup request specifies whether or not deletion scheduled data should be included in the backup target in the backup process.

[0032] When the backup request is received, the backup processing unit 22 identifies the data to be backed up from among the data stored in the storage device 16 based on the backup target flag (step S2).

[0033] Next, the backup processing unit 22 determines whether or not to include the deletion scheduled data in the backup target based on the backup request (step S3), and if it determines that the deletion scheduled data should be included in the backup target, it identifies the deletion scheduled data among the data to be backed up based on the deletion schedule flag and includes the deletion scheduled data in the backup target (step S4).

[0034] On the other hand, when it is determined that the deletion scheduled data is not to be included in the data to be backed up, the backup processing unit 22 excludes the deletion scheduled data from the data to be backed up based on the deletion schedule flag.

[0035] Then, the backup processing unit 22 stores the backup data of the backup target in the external storage 2 (step S5).

[0036] Thereafter, the deletion scheduled data is deleted at a predetermined timing (step S6).

[0037] (b) Restore process

[0038] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the restore process performed by the electronic device 1 shown in FIG.

[0039] The backup processing unit 22 monitors whether a restore request has been received (step S11). The restore request is issued by a user operation on the input device 15b. The restore request specifies whether or not backup data of the deletion scheduled data should be included in the restore target in the restore process.

[0040] When a restore request is received, the backup processing unit 22 determines based on the restore request whether or not to include backup data of the deletion scheduled data in the restore target (step S12). If it determines that the backup data of the deletion scheduled data is to be included in the restore target, it identifies the backup data of the deletion scheduled data among the backup data in the external storage 2 based on the deletion reservation flag in the external storage 2, and includes the backup data of the deletion scheduled data in the restore target (step S13).

[0041] On the other hand, when it is determined that the backup data of the deletion scheduled data should not be included in the restoration target, the backup processing unit 22 excludes the backup data of the deletion scheduled data from the restoration target based on the deletion schedule flag in the external storage 2.

[0042] Then, the backup processing unit 22 reads out the backup data for the restoration target from the external storage 2, restores the original data from the backup data, and stores the restored data in the storage device 16 (step S14).

[0043] As described above, according to the above embodiment, the control unit 21 can set a deletion schedule for data in accordance with a user operation, and when a deletion schedule is set for data, the control unit 21 deletes the data at a predetermined timing rather than immediately deleting the data when the deletion schedule is set. The backup processing unit 22 uses the communication device 14 to store backup data of the data in the storage device 16 in the external storage 2. Then, the backup processing unit 22 (a) determines whether a deletion schedule is set for the data, and (b) if a deletion schedule is set for the data, stores backup data of the data in the external storage 2 before the above-mentioned predetermined timing. The backup processing unit 22 also restores the data for which a deletion schedule is set using the backup data stored in the external storage 2.

[0044] This allows the user to restore data that has been mistakenly designated by the user as data to be scheduled for deletion.

[0045] It should be noted that various changes and modifications to the above-described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter and without diminishing its intended advantages. In other words, it is intended that such changes and modifications be included within the scope of the claims.

[0046] For example, in the above embodiment, in the restore process, the backed up deletion reservation data may be restored from the backup data as deletion reservation data, or alternatively, the data may be restored from the backup data as data whose deletion reservation has been cancelled. [Industrial Applicability]

[0047] The present invention is applicable to, for example, electronic devices. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 1 Electronic equipment 2. External Storage 16 Storage device 21 Control section 22 Backup processing section

Claims

1. a storage device for storing data; a communication device capable of transferring the data to an external storage; a control unit that can set a deletion reservation for the data in accordance with a user operation, and that, when the deletion reservation is set for the data, deletes the data at a predetermined timing rather than immediately deleting the data at the time the deletion reservation is set; a backup processing unit that uses the communication device to store backup data of the data in the storage device in the external storage, the backup processing unit (a) determines whether the deletion reservation has been set for the data, (b) if the deletion reservation has been set for the data, stores backup data of the data in the external storage before the predetermined timing, and (c) restores the data for which the deletion reservation has been set using the backup data stored in the external storage; An electronic device characterized by:

2. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the backup processing unit sets whether or not the data is to be included in the data to be backed up in accordance with a user operation.

3. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the backup processing section sets, in accordance with a user operation, whether or not the data for which the deletion reservation is set is to be included in the data to be restored.

4. The electronic device described in claim 1, characterized in that the backup processing unit (a) stores a flag in the external storage indicating whether the backup data is backup data of data for which the deletion reservation has been set, and (b) determines, according to the flag, whether to restore the backup data of the data for which the deletion reservation has been set, among the backup data stored in the external storage.

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