Information processing device and program

Abstract

To improve the convenience of a user to whom information is be notified with compared to displaying the information on the display of a device after the user has logged into the device all the time when displaying information indicating that the data to be processed by the device is stored in an external device on the display of the device, and to prevent the information from being notified to a person other than the user to whom the information is be notified as compared to always displaying that information on the device's display before the user logs into the device.SOLUTION: When data has shared access rights, information indicating that the data is stored on an external device is displayed before a user logs into a device that processes the data. When the data has no shared access rights, the information will not be displayed before login.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Devices and systems that acquire data stored in an external device (for example, a storage device provided by a cloud service) and process the data are known.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes notifying a user when a file stored in a document management server is updated.

[0004] Patent Document 2 describes changing the content of a notification screen displayed on a device's display after a user logs in according to the user's authority to log in to the device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Incidentally, if the data to be processed by the device is stored in an external device, it is conceivable to display information on the device's display indicating that the data to be processed by the device is stored in the external device. If the device is one that a user logs in to use, and this information is displayed on the device's display after login, the user cannot know of the existence of this information from the display content unless they log in to the device. On the other hand, if this information is displayed on the display before the user logs in to the device, the user can know of the existence of this information from the display content even if they do not log in to the device. However, if this information is always displayed on the device's display before login, the information will become known to people other than the user to whom it should be notified.

[0007] The object of the present invention is to display information on the device's display indicating that data to be processed by the device is stored in an external device, and to always improve the convenience of the user to whom the information should be notified compared to when the information is displayed on the device's display after the user has logged into the device, and to always prevent the information from being notified to persons other than the user to whom the information should be notified compared to when the information is displayed on the device's display before the user has logged into the device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The invention according to claim 1 has a processor, and if shared access rights are set for data to be processed stored in an external device, the processor provides information indicating that the data is stored in the external device before the user logs in to the device that processes the data. , the device that processes the data This is an information processing device that displays information on a screen, and if shared access rights are not set for the data but access rights are set for a specific user, it does not display the information on the screen before login, but displays it on the screen after the specific user has logged into the device.

[0009] The invention according to claim 2 is an information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor displays the information on the display before login if a specific name is associated with the data and shared access rights are set for the data.

[0010] The invention according to claim 3 is an information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor displays the information on the display before login if the data is stored in a specific storage area and shared access rights are set for the data.

[0011] The invention according to claim 4 is an information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor displays the information on the display before login if a predetermined user access right is set for the data that prevents personal data from being stored in the external device, and a shared access right is set for the data.

[0012] The invention according to claim 5 is an information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein, when shared access rights are set for the data, when a user who has access rights to the data logs into the device, the processor displays the information on the display after login, and when an operation is performed on the information displayed on the display after login, the processor displays a screen for processing the data on the display.

[0013] The invention according to claim 6 is an information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processor displays an image on the display before login to hide the information displayed before login, when shared access rights are set for the data.

[0014] The invention according to claim 7 is an information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the processor does not display the information on the display when a user who has access rights to the data logs in to the device and then logs out of the device, and displays the information on the display when a user who does not have access rights to the data logs in to the device and then logs out of the device.

[0015] The invention according to claim 8 is an information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the processor does not display the information on the pre-login screen when the data has been processed.

[0016] The invention according to claim 9 is an information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the data is data processed by one of the multiple devices, and the processor does not display the information on the screen before login when the data has been processed by one of the multiple devices.

[0017] The invention according to claim 10 relates to a computer that, when shared access rights are set for data to be processed stored in an external device, provides information indicating that the data is stored in the external device before the user logs in to the device that processes the data. , the device that processes the data This program is designed to display information on a screen, and if shared access rights are not set for the data but a specific user has access rights, it will not display the information on the screen before login, but will display it on the screen after the specific user has logged into the device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] According to the invention according to claims 1-4, 10, when displaying information indicating that data to be processed by the device is stored in an external device on the display of the device, the convenience of the user to whom the information should be notified is always improved compared to the case where the information is displayed on the display of the device after the user logs in to the device, and the information is always prevented from being notified to a person other than the user to whom the information should be notified compared to the case where the information is displayed on the display of the device before the user logs in to the device.

[0019] According to the invention according to claim 5, a screen for processing the data can be displayed on the display only by operating information indicating that the data is stored in an external device.

[0020] According to the invention according to claim 6, information indicating that data is stored in an external device can be made non-displayed before the user logs in to the device.

[0021] According to the process according to claim 7, the display and non-display of information indicating that data is stored in an external device can be controlled according to whether the user logged in to the device has access rights to the data.

[0022] According to the invention according to claim 8, it is possible to prevent the data from being processed again after the data has been processed.

[0023] According to the invention according to claim 9, it is possible to prevent the same data from being processed by another device after the data has been processed by a certain device.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0024] [Figure 1] It is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 3]This is a diagram showing the login screen. [Figure 4] This is a diagram showing the login screen. [Figure 5] This is a diagram showing the menu screen. [Figure 6] This is a diagram showing the login screen. [Figure 7] This is a diagram showing the cloud print settings screen. [Figure 8] This is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing system related to the modified example. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0025] The information processing system according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 1. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system according to the embodiment.

[0026] The information processing system according to this embodiment includes one or more image forming apparatuses 10, one or more terminal devices 12, and one or more servers 14.

[0027] Each device included in the information processing system according to this embodiment has the function of communicating with other devices. This communication may be wired communication using cables or wireless communication. In other words, each device may be physically connected to other devices by cables to send and receive information from each other, or it may send and receive information from each other by wireless communication. Examples of wireless communication include short-range wireless communication and Wi-Fi (registered trademark). Wireless communication of other standards may also be used. For example, each device may communicate with other devices via a communication path N such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet.

[0028] The image forming apparatus 10 is an example of a data processing device and has at least a printing function. As will be described later, the image forming apparatus 10 acquires data from a server 14, which is an example of an external device, and prints it. In addition to the printing function, the image forming apparatus 10 may have at least one function from among scanning, copying, and facsimile. The image forming apparatus 10 may be a printer, or it may be a multifunction device that has at least one function from among scanning, copying, and facsimile in addition to the printing function.

[0029] The terminal device 12 is a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC"), tablet PC, smartphone, or mobile phone, etc. One or more application software programs are installed on the terminal device 12, and tasks and processes are performed using the application software.

[0030] Server 14 is an example of an external device and is a device that stores data. For example, Server 14 receives and stores data from the image forming apparatus 10, the terminal device 12, or other devices. Server 14 may be a server that provides cloud services or a file server. The format of the data stored in Server 14 may be anything. For example, the data stored in Server 14 may be data in the form of an image (e.g., image data), data in the form of text or a document (e.g., document data), data in the form of audio (e.g., audio data), data in the form of video (e.g., video data), etc.

[0031] For example, data to be processed by the image forming apparatus 10 is transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server 14 and stored in the server 14. The image forming apparatus 10 retrieves the data from the server 14 and processes it. For example, image data or document data is transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server 14 as data to be processed by the image forming apparatus 10 and stored in the server 14. The image forming apparatus 10 retrieves the image data or document data from the server 14 and prints the retrieved image data or document data.

[0032] The hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described below with reference to Figure 2. Figure 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 10.

[0033] The image forming apparatus 10 includes, for example, an image forming unit 16, a communication device 18, a user interface (UI) 20, a memory 22, and a processor 24.

[0034] The image forming unit 16 has at least a printing function and prints image data and document data. The printing method is not particularly limited and may be electrophotographic, inkjet, thermal, or thermal transfer. The image forming unit 16 may print image data and document data acquired from the server 14, or image data and document data acquired from devices other than the server 14. In addition to the printing function, the image forming unit 16 may have at least one function from among scanning, copying, and facsimile. The image forming unit 16 corresponds to an example of a processing unit that processes data.

[0035] The communication device 18 includes one or more communication interfaces having a communication chip, communication circuits, etc., and has the function of transmitting information to other devices and the function of receiving information from other devices. The communication device 18 may have wireless communication capabilities or wired communication capabilities.

[0036] UI20 is a user interface and includes a display and an input device. The display is an LCD or EL display, etc. The input device is a keyboard, mouse, input keys, or control panel, etc. UI20 may also be a UI such as a touch panel that combines a display and an input device.

[0037] Memory 22 is a device that constitutes one or more storage areas for storing data. Memory 22 is, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), various types of memory (e.g., RAM, DRAM, NVRAM, ROM, etc.), other storage devices (e.g., optical discs, etc.), or a combination thereof.

[0038] The processor 24 controls the operation of each part of the image forming apparatus 10.

[0039] In this embodiment, the display of information to the data processing device is controlled by the information processing device. The data processing device and the information processing device may be the same device or they may be separate devices. In the following description, the image forming apparatus 10 is an example of both a data processing device and an information processing device.

[0040] For example, the processor 24 causes various information to be displayed on the UI 20 display of the image forming apparatus 10, which is an example of a device that processes data.

[0041] In this embodiment, data such as image data and document data to be processed by the image forming apparatus 10 is generated by the terminal device 12, and this data is transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server 14 and stored in the server 14. Hereinafter, the data such as image data and document data to be processed by the image forming apparatus 10 will be referred to as "data to be processed".

[0042] Access rights may be set on the data being processed. Types of access rights include, for example, access rights that only allow viewing of the data being processed (i.e., access rights that only allow displaying the data), access rights that allow viewing and editing of the data being processed, and access rights that allow viewing, editing, and printing of the data being processed. Editing includes changing, deleting, and adding to part or all of the document or image represented by the data being processed.

[0043] For example, user identification information (e.g., user ID) of a user with access rights is linked to the data to be processed, thereby setting the user's access rights to that data. Specifically, user identification information (e.g., user ID) of a user who is only allowed to view the data to be processed, user identification information of a user who is allowed to view and edit the data to be processed, or user identification information of a user who is allowed to view, edit, and print the data to be processed, etc., is linked to the data to be processed.

[0044] Access permissions may be set on the data to be processed that allow all users to view the data only, access permissions that allow all users to view and edit the data, or access permissions that allow all users to view, edit, and print the data.

[0045] For example, when sending data to be processed to server 14 for storage, if a user accesses server 14 by operating terminal device 12, the screen of a service provided by server 14 (e.g., a cloud service) is displayed on the terminal device 12's display. On this screen, the user specifies the data to be processed to be stored in server 14 and sets access rights for the data. As described above, access rights may be set for each user, or access rights may be set for all users. Furthermore, any type of access rights may be set.

[0046] Furthermore, the user may specify the image forming apparatus 10 that processes the data to be processed on the screen displayed on the terminal device 12. The image forming apparatus 10 that processes the data to be processed may be specified in advance.

[0047] When a user operates the terminal device 12 and gives an instruction to store the data to be processed in the server 14, the data to be processed, information indicating the access rights set for the data to be processed, and device identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus 10 that processes the data to be processed are transmitted from the terminal device 12 to the server 14. The device identification information may be, for example, a MAC address, IP address, serial number, or device name.

[0048] When server 14 receives data to be processed, information indicating access rights set for the data to be processed, and device identification information, it stores and manages the data to be processed, the information indicating access rights, and the device identification information in association with each other. Server 14 also stores and manages information related to the data to be processed.

[0049] Information regarding the data to be processed includes, for example, information indicating the storage area where the data is stored (e.g., an address such as a URL) and the name of the data to be processed (e.g., a file name). Furthermore, if the data to be processed is stored in a hierarchical folder, the information regarding the data to be processed includes information about the folder hierarchy.

[0050] When data to be processed is stored in server 14, server 14 identifies the device that should process the data based on the device identification information associated with the data, and transmits information about the data and access rights to the identified device. For example, if the device identification information indicates an image forming apparatus 10, server 14 transmits information about the data to be processed by the image forming apparatus 10 and access rights to the image forming apparatus 10.

[0051] Information regarding the data to be processed and information indicating access rights are transmitted from the server 14 to the image forming apparatus 10, thereby notifying the image forming apparatus 10 that the data to be processed is stored in the server 14.

[0052] When the processor 24 of the image forming apparatus 10 receives information about the data to be processed and information indicating access rights from the server 14, it controls the display of information indicating that the data to be processed is stored in the server 14. Hereinafter, "information indicating that the data to be processed is stored in the server 14" will be referred to as "notification," and "controlling the display of information indicating that the data to be processed is stored in the server 14" will be referred to as "controlling the display of the notification."

[0053] If shared access rights are set for the data to be processed, the processor 24 displays a notification before the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 10. For example, the processor 24 displays the notification on the UI 20's display.

[0054] Displaying a notification before login means displaying a notification on the login screen, or displaying a notification on a screen other than the login screen that is displayed before login. Screens other than the login screen that are displayed before login include, for example, the main screen displayed before login, a screen showing a list of functions that can be used without logging in, or other screens, and are not particularly limited.

[0055] Having shared access rights means that at least two users have access rights set. In other words, at least two user identifiers are linked to the data being processed. Having shared access rights may also mean that more than a predetermined threshold number of users have access rights set.

[0056] The processor 24 may continue to display notifications that were displayed before login even after the user has logged into the image forming apparatus 10, or it may hide the notifications after login. If the notifications are to be displayed after login, and the user logs out of the image forming apparatus 10, the processor 24 may hide the notifications or continue to display them. In addition, if the data to be processed has been processed (for example, if the data to be processed has been printed), the processor 24 may hide the notifications.

[0057] If the data to be processed does not have shared access permissions, processor 24 will not display a notification before login.

[0058] After a user logs in to the image forming apparatus 10, if the logged-in user has at least one access right to view the data to be processed, the processor 24 displays a notification.

[0059] If the data to be processed does not have shared access rights set but does have access rights set for a specific user, the processor 24 does not display a notification before login, but displays a notification after the specific user has logged into the image forming apparatus 10.

[0060] For example, the processor 24 displays a login screen on the UI 20 display of the image forming apparatus 10. If the data to be processed has shared access rights, the processor 24 displays a notification on the login screen; if the data to be processed does not have shared access rights, it does not display a notification on the login screen. If the data to be processed does not have shared access rights but does have access rights for a specific user, the processor 24 does not display a notification on the login screen, and displays a notification after that specific user has logged into the image forming apparatus 10.

[0061] In addition, a device other than the image forming apparatus 10 may control the display of the login screen or the display of notifications.

[0062] The embodiments will be described in detail below with specific examples.

[0063] Figure 3 shows the login screen 26. The login screen 26 is displayed on the UI 20 display of the image forming apparatus 10. The login screen 26 is displayed on the UI 20 display before the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 10. For example, the login screen 26 is a screen where the user enters the authentication information necessary to log in to the image forming apparatus 10. The authentication information includes, for example, user identification information (e.g., user ID, account, name, etc.) and a password to identify the user.

[0064] In the example shown in Figure 3, the authentication information consists of a user ID and a password. The login screen 26 displays an input field 28 for entering the user ID, an input field 30 for entering the password, and an image 32 representing a button to request login. When the user ID is entered in input field 28, the password is entered in input field 30, and the image 32 is pressed, a login request is sent to the image forming apparatus 10.

[0065] When the image forming apparatus 10's processor 24 receives a login request, it compares the authentication information entered in input fields 28 and 30 (e.g., user ID and password) with pre-registered authentication information (e.g., user ID and password). If the authentication information entered in input fields 28 and 30 matches the pre-registered authentication information, user authentication is successful and login to the image forming apparatus 10 is permitted. If the authentication information entered in input fields 28 and 30 does not match the pre-registered authentication information, user authentication fails and login to the image forming apparatus 10 is not permitted.

[0066] The login screen 26 shown in Figure 3 is merely an example. For example, an IC card storing authentication information may be used. In this case, the authentication information stored on the IC card may be transmitted from the IC card to the image forming apparatus 10 by short-range wireless communication or the like, and the processor 24 may receive the authentication information and authenticate the user. When such authentication is performed, the input fields 28 and 30 may or may not be displayed on the login screen 26. As yet another example, biometric information such as fingerprints or vein patterns may be used as authentication information. For example, a device for reading biometric information may be installed in the image forming apparatus 10, the biometric information may be read by the device, and the processor 24 may authenticate the user using the read biometric information. In this case as well, the input fields 28 and 30 may or may not be displayed on the login screen 26. In any case, the login screen 26 is a screen that is displayed on the UI 20 display before the user logs into the image forming apparatus 10, and the login screen 26 may display information according to the user authentication method.

[0067] The following explains an example of how notifications are displayed, referring to Figure 4. Figure 4 shows the login screen.

[0068] When the image forming apparatus 10 receives information about the data to be processed and information indicating access rights from the server 14, the processor 24 refers to the information indicating access rights and determines whether shared access rights have been set for the data to be processed.

[0069] If shared access rights are set for the data to be processed, the processor 24 displays a notification 34 on the login screen 26. The notification 34 is information indicating that the data to be processed by the image forming apparatus 10 is stored in the server 14. For example, the notification 34 indicates that the data to be processed, "Delivery Note.pdf", is stored in the server 14.

[0070] As an example, a service called "cloud printing" is provided here. Cloud printing is a process that involves downloading data to be processed stored on server 14 and printing it, and this service is provided by server 14. This service may also be provided by a device other than server 14. For example, this service may be provided by the image forming apparatus 10.

[0071] If there are multiple data to be processed by the image forming apparatus 10, a notification corresponding to each data to be processed will be displayed on the login screen 26. When multiple notifications are displayed, each notification may be displayed overlapping each other, either entirely or partially.

[0072] If notification 34 is displayed on the screen before login, the processor 24 may display an image on the screen before login to hide notification 34.

[0073] For example, an image 36 representing a button to instruct the user to hide notification 34 is displayed on the login screen 26. Image 36 is displayed, for example, within the display area of ​​notification 34. When the user presses (for example, clicks or taps) image 36, the processor 24 hides notification 34.

[0074] The following describes an example in which user A operates terminal device 12 to create data to be processed representing a delivery slip and sends this data to users B and C. Users B and C are users of the image forming apparatus 10.

[0075] When storing the data to be processed, "Delivery Note.pdf," on the server 14, user A operates the terminal device 12 to set access rights for users A, B, and C to the data to be processed. These access rights allow users to at least view and print the data. Once the data to be processed, "Delivery Note.pdf," and the information indicating the access rights are stored on the server 14, the information regarding the data to be processed, "Delivery Note.pdf," and the information indicating the access rights are transmitted from the server 14 to the image forming apparatus 10. It is assumed that the image forming apparatus 10 is specified as the device to process the data to be processed, "Delivery Note.pdf."

[0076] Because access rights for multiple users (i.e., users A, B, and C) are set for the data to be processed, the processor 24 determines that shared access rights are set for the data to be processed. Therefore, the processor 24 displays notification 34 before the user logs in to the image forming apparatus 10. For example, the processor 24 displays notification 34 on the login screen 26. This allows users B and C to view notification 34 without logging in to the image forming apparatus 10.

[0077] On the other hand, for example, if user B stores data to be processed for personal use on server 14, only user B's access rights are set for that data. Since access rights for multiple users are not set for that data, processor 24 determines that shared access rights are not set for that data. In this case, processor 24 does not display a notification on the screen before login (for example, login screen 26), but displays a notification on the UI 20 display after user B has logged into the image forming apparatus 10. After user B has logged into the image forming apparatus 10, processor 24 displays a notification on the display indicating that data to be processed for which user B's access rights are set is stored on server 14.

[0078] Refer to Figure 5 to explain the screens displayed after logging in. Figure 5 shows the menu screen 38. Menu screen 38 is an example of a screen displayed after user B logs in to the image forming apparatus 10.

[0079] The menu screen 38 displays a list 40 of functions that can be performed using the image forming apparatus 10. For example, an image (e.g., an icon) representing each function is displayed on the menu screen 38.

[0080] Here, as an example, the list 40 includes functions such as copy, scan / transmit, fax, print, box save, and cloud print, and an image representing each function is displayed. The scan / transmit function is a function that sends image data generated by scanning by the image forming apparatus 10 to another device (for example, a PC or server). The box save function is a function that stores image data generated by scanning by the image forming apparatus 10 in a storage area formed in the memory 22 of the image forming apparatus 10. The cloud print function is a function that downloads and prints the data to be processed stored on the server 14. The user can specify a function included in the list 40 and give instructions to the image forming apparatus 10 to execute the specified function.

[0081] Furthermore, notifications 34 and 42 are displayed on menu screen 38. As mentioned above, since shared access rights (i.e., access rights for users A, B, and C) are set for the data to be processed, notification 34 is displayed on menu screen 38, which is shown after user B logs in to the image forming apparatus 10. Of course, after user B logs in to the image forming apparatus 10, the processor 24 may hide notification 34. For example, the processor 24 does not have to display notification 34 on menu screen 38.

[0082] Notification 42 indicates that the data to be processed, "payslip.pdf," is stored on server 14. Only user B has access rights set for the data to be processed, "payslip.pdf." In other words, shared access rights are not set for the data to be processed, "payslip.pdf." In this case, processor 24 does not display notification 42 before login, but displays it after user B has logged into the image forming apparatus 10. For example, processor 24 does not display notification 42 on the login screen 26, but displays it on the menu screen 38.

[0083] Since the data to be processed, "Payroll Details.pdf," does not have access rights set for users other than User B, notification 42 will not be displayed after another user (for example, User C) logs into the image forming apparatus 10. For example, even if User C logs into the image forming apparatus 10 and the menu screen is displayed, notification 42 will not be displayed on that menu screen. This prevents other users (for example, User C using the image forming apparatus 10) from seeing notification 42.

[0084] Under the conditions described below, a notification may be displayed before login.

[0085] (Condition 1) If a specific name is associated with the data to be processed, and shared access rights are set for that data, the processor 24 may display a notification before login. For example, the processor 24 displays a notification on the login screen. The specific name may be set by the user, for example, or it may be set in advance.

[0086] If a specific name is not associated with the data to be processed, the processor 24 will not display a notification before login, even if shared access rights are set for that data.

[0087] For example, if the file name of the data to be processed is "Delivery Note*.pdf" and shared access rights are set for that data, processor 24 will display a notification before login. Note that "*" in the file name represents any string. For data to be processed with file names other than "Delivery Note*.pdf", no notification will be displayed before login, even if shared access rights are set.

[0088] If a specific name is associated with the data to be processed, and shared access rights are not set for that data, the processor 24 may display a notification before login. In other words, if the data to be processed has a specific file name, the processor 24 may display a notification before login, regardless of whether or not shared access rights are set for that data.

[0089] For example, if the file name of the data to be processed is "Delivery Note*.pdf", the processor 24 will display a notification before login, regardless of whether shared access rights are set for the data to be processed. For data to be processed with file names other than "Delivery Note*.pdf", no notification will be displayed before login. This allows users to confirm on the login screen or other screens before logging in that the data to be processed representing a delivery note is stored in the server 14.

[0090] (Condition 2) If the data to be processed is stored in a specific memory area and shared access rights are set for that data, the processor 24 may display a notification before login. For example, the processor 24 displays a notification on the login screen. The specific memory area may be set by the user, for example, or it may be set in advance.

[0091] A specific storage area is, for example, a specific folder, which may be formed on server 14 or on another device other than server 14.

[0092] If the data to be processed is not stored in a specific folder, the processor 24 will not display a notification before login, even if shared access rights are set for that data.

[0093] To illustrate with the above example of a delivery slip, if the data to be processed is stored in a folder dedicated to delivery slips and shared access rights are set for that data, processor 24 will display a notification before login. If the data to be processed is not stored in a folder dedicated to delivery slips, processor 24 will not display a notification before login, even if shared access rights are set for that data. The folder dedicated to delivery slips may also be a folder that users B and C are permitted to access.

[0094] If the data to be processed is stored in a specific storage area and shared access rights are not set for that data, the processor 24 may display a notification before login. In other words, if the data to be processed is stored in a specific folder, the processor 24 may display a notification before login regardless of whether or not shared access rights are set for that data.

[0095] (Condition 3) If a user has access rights to the data to be processed that prevent them from storing their personal data on the server 14, and if the data to be processed also has shared access rights, the processor 24 may display a notification before login. For example, the processor 24 displays a notification on the login screen. Users who do not want their personal data stored on the server 14 are predetermined, and user identification information for identifying such users is stored in the memory 22 of the image forming apparatus 10 and the server 14 in advance.

[0096] For example, user B is registered with the image forming apparatus 10 and server 14 as a user who does not handle data other than the data to be processed, which represents delivery slips, in the cloud service. If user B has access rights to the data to be processed, which represents delivery slips, and access rights to other users other than user B are set, the processor 24 displays a notification before login.

[0097] If a user has access rights set for data to be processed that prevent them from storing their personal data on the server 14, the processor 24 may display only notifications for the data to be processed that the user has access rights to, regardless of whether or not shared access rights are set for the data to be processed. For example, if user B is registered with the image forming apparatus 10 and server 14 as a user who does not handle data other than data representing delivery slips in the cloud service, the processor 24 will display only notifications for the data to be processed that user B has access rights to, before login. As a result, notifications about personal data (for example, user C's personal data) will not be displayed before login.

[0098] For example, a combination of multiple conditions from conditions 1 to 3 above (e.g., AND conditions or OR conditions) may be set, and a notification may be displayed before login according to that combination.

[0099] When a notification is displayed before login, such as on the login screen, the image representing the button to hide the notification does not need to be displayed before login. For example, as shown in Figure 6, when a notification 34 is displayed on the login screen 26, the image 36 representing the button to hide the notification 34 is not displayed on the login screen 26. This prevents the notification 34 from being hidden by user action before login.

[0100] In this case, as shown in Figure 5, an image representing a button to instruct the user to hide notifications (for example, images 36 and 44) ​​is displayed on the screen after logging in.

[0101] After a user logs into the image forming apparatus 10, if the user performs an action in response to a notification, the processor 24 may display a screen on the UI 20 display for processing the data to be processed corresponding to the notification in which the action was performed (for example, a screen for setting up the processing).

[0102] For example, when user B logs into the image forming apparatus 10, the menu screen 38 shown in Figure 5 is displayed on the UI 20's display. As shown in Figure 5, notifications 34 and 42 are displayed on the menu screen 38.

[0103] When a notification 34 is interacted with by the user on the menu screen 38 (for example, when the notification 34 is clicked or touched), the processor 24 displays a screen on the display for processing the data to be processed corresponding to the notification 34 (i.e., the data to be processed representing the delivery slip).

[0104] The data to be processed and information indicating the processing to be performed on that data are linked in advance. The processing to be performed on the data to be processed may be specified by the user who sent the data to the server 14, or it may be predetermined.

[0105] For example, data to be processed, such as a delivery slip, may have information indicating printing, such as cloud printing, associated with it as an example of processing. In this case, when notification 34 is operated by the user, processor 24 displays a screen for executing printing (for example, a print settings screen) on the display. Here, as an example of information indicating processing, we assume that information indicating cloud printing is associated with the data to be processed.

[0106] Figure 7 shows the cloud print settings screen 46. When notification 34 is activated by the user, this settings screen 46 is displayed on the UI20 display. The settings screen 46 displays fields for selecting a printer, setting the print range, setting the print target, setting the number of copies, and setting the zoom level, etc. Cloud print conditions are set on the settings screen 46.

[0107] Additionally, the settings screen 46 displays images 48 and 50, including icons. Image 48 represents a button to initiate cloud printing. Image 50 represents a button to cancel cloud printing.

[0108] When image 48 is pressed by the user (for example, clicked or touched), the processor 24 downloads the data to be processed corresponding to the notification 34 (i.e., the data to be processed representing the delivery slip) from the server 14 and causes the image forming unit 16 to print the data to be processed.

[0109] If a user who has access rights to the data to be processed logs into the image forming apparatus 10 and then logs out of the image forming apparatus 10, the processor 24 does not need to display a notification on the UI 20 display regarding the data to be processed for which that user has access rights.

[0110] For example, as shown in Figure 4, if notification 34 is displayed on the login screen 26, and user B logs in to the image forming apparatus 10 and then logs out of the image forming apparatus 10, the processor 24 displays a login screen without notification 34 on the UI 20 display, as shown in Figure 3.

[0111] On the other hand, if a user who does not have access rights to the data to be processed logs into the image forming apparatus 10 and then logs out of the image forming apparatus 10, the processor 24 displays a notification on the UI 20's display.

[0112] For example, as shown in Figure 4, if notification 34 is displayed on the login screen 26, and a user who does not have access rights to the processing target data corresponding to notification 34 logs into the image forming apparatus 10 and then logs out of the image forming apparatus 10, the processor 24 displays the login screen 26 with notification 34 on the UI 20 display, as shown in Figure 4.

[0113] As described above, if a user who has access rights to the data to be processed corresponding to the notification logs into the image forming apparatus 10, the notification will not be displayed after logging out. On the other hand, if a user who does not have access rights to the data to be processed corresponding to the notification logs into the image forming apparatus 10, the notification will be displayed even after logging out. In other words, if it is presumed that the user who should see the notification has seen it, the notification will not be displayed after logging out; otherwise, the notification will not be displayed after logging out.

[0114] If the data to be processed is processed (e.g., printed) by the image forming apparatus 10, the processor 24 does not display a notification corresponding to the data to be processed on the screen before login (e.g., the login screen).

[0115] For example, as shown in Figure 4, if notification 34 is displayed on the login screen 26, and the user logs into the image forming apparatus 10 and the data to be processed corresponding to notification 34 is printed, the processor 24 will not display notification 34 on the login screen 26 that is displayed after logging out, as shown in Figure 3.

[0116] Furthermore, processor 24 may hide the notification after a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the notification was displayed on the pre-login screen.

[0117] The data to be processed may be data processed by any one of several devices. If a notification corresponding to the data is displayed on each of these devices before login, and the data is processed by one of these devices, the notification will be hidden. In other words, the notification that was displayed on the device that processed the data will no longer be displayed, and notifications that were displayed on the other devices that did not process the data will also no longer be displayed.

[0118] The following section will describe the case where the data to be processed is processed by one of the multiple image forming apparatuses 10, with reference to Figure 8.

[0119] In the example shown in Figure 8, the information processing system includes image forming apparatuses 10A and 10B. Image forming apparatuses 10A and 10B have the same configuration as image forming apparatus 10.

[0120] For example, data to be processed by either the image forming apparatus 10A or 10B is stored in the server 14, and information regarding the data to be processed and information indicating access rights are transmitted from the server 14 to the image forming apparatuses 10A and 10B. The information regarding the data to be processed includes the device identification information of each of the image forming apparatuses 10A and 10B.

[0121] When each processor 24 of the image forming apparatus 10A and 10B receives information about the data to be processed and information indicating access rights from the server 14, it displays a notification on the display of its own UI 20 indicating that the data to be processed is stored in the server 14 before logging in. For example, as shown in Figure 4, each processor 24 of the image forming apparatus 10A and 10B displays a login screen 26 on the display of its own UI 20 and displays the notification 34 on that login screen 26. In this way, the notification 34 is displayed on the display of the UI 20 of each image forming apparatus 10A and 10B before logging in.

[0122] If the data to be processed is downloaded from the server 14 and printed by either the image forming apparatus 10A or 10B (for example, image forming apparatus 10A), the processor 24 of the image forming apparatus 10A that printed the data to be processed will not display the notification 34 on the pre-login screen (for example, the login screen 26).

[0123] Furthermore, the processor 24 of the image forming apparatus 10A transmits information indicating that the data to be processed has been processed (i.e., information indicating that the data to be processed has been printed) to the image forming apparatus 10B, either via the server 14 or without going through the server 14. As a result, the processor 24 of the image forming apparatus 10B recognizes that the data to be processed has been processed by the image forming apparatus 10A and does not display the notification 34 on the pre-login screen (for example, the login screen 26). This prevents the same data to be processed multiple times in the image forming apparatus 10B.

[0124] In the embodiment described above, information indicating the subfolder in which the data to be processed is stored may be included in the notification and displayed on the screen before login or after login.

[0125] In the embodiment described above, an example of a data processing device is an image forming apparatus 10 having a printing function, and an example of data processing is printing. However, the data processing device may be a device other than the image forming apparatus 10, and the data processing may be a process other than printing.

[0126] For example, data processing may include image processing, encryption, decryption, transfer, or display. The device that processes the data may be a device that performs image processing, encryption, decryption, transfer, or display.

[0127] The functions of the image forming apparatuses 10, 10A, and 10B described above are realized, for example, through the cooperation of hardware and software. For instance, the processor reads and executes programs stored in the memory of each apparatus, thereby realizing the functions of each apparatus. Programs are stored in memory via recording media such as CDs or DVDs, or via communication paths such as networks.

[0128] In each of the above embodiments, the term "processor" refers to a processor in a broad sense, including general-purpose processors (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and dedicated processors (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.). Furthermore, the operation of the processor in each of the above embodiments may not be performed by a single processor, but may be performed by multiple processors located in physically separate locations working together. In addition, the order of the processor's operations is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments, and may be changed as appropriate. [Explanation of symbols]

[0129] 10, 10A, 10B Image forming apparatus, 12 Terminal devices, 14 Servers, 22 Memory, 24 Processors.

Claims

1. It has a processor, The aforementioned processor, If shared access rights are set for data to be processed stored on an external device, before the user logs in to the device that processes the data, information indicating that the data is stored on the external device will be displayed on the display of the device that processes the data. If shared access rights are not set for the aforementioned data but access rights are set for a specific user, the information will not be displayed on the display before login, but will be displayed on the display after the specific user has logged into the device. Information processing device.

2. The aforementioned processor, If a specific name is associated with the aforementioned data and shared access rights are set for the aforementioned data, the information is displayed on the display before login. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned processor, If the aforementioned data is stored in a specific storage area and shared access rights are set for the aforementioned data, the information is displayed on the display before login. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned processor, If the aforementioned data has predetermined user access rights set to prevent the storage of personal data on the external device, and if shared access rights have also been set for the aforementioned data, then the information will be displayed on the display before login. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

5. The aforementioned processor, If shared access rights are set for the aforementioned data, and a user with access rights to the aforementioned data logs into the device, the information will be displayed on the display after logging in. If an operation is performed on the information displayed on the screen after logging in, a screen for processing the data will be displayed on the screen. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The aforementioned processor, If shared access rights are set for the aforementioned data, an image that hides the information displayed before login will be displayed on the screen before login. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The aforementioned processor, If a user who has access rights to the aforementioned data logs into the device and then logs out of the device, the information will not be displayed on the display. If a user who does not have access rights to the aforementioned data logs into the device and then logs out of the device, the information will be displayed on the display. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The aforementioned processor, If the aforementioned data has been processed, the information will not be displayed on the screen before login. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

9. The aforementioned data is data processed by one of the devices among multiple devices. The aforementioned processor, If the data is processed by one of the aforementioned multiple devices, the information will not be displayed on the screen before login. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. Computers If shared access rights are set for data to be processed stored on an external device, before the user logs in to the device that processes the data, information indicating that the data is stored on the external device will be displayed on the display of the device that processes the data. If shared access rights are not set for the aforementioned data but access rights are set for a specific user, the information will not be displayed on the display before login, but will be displayed on the display after the specific user has logged into the device. A program designed to make it work in that way.

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