Role Creation Screen for Image Forming Apparatus Authority Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
The cumbersome process of creating roles in image forming apparatuses, such as MFPs, where multiple functions require individual authority selections, making it laborious to assign appropriate permissions to users.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with an operation input unit, selection information obtaining unit, authority information obtaining unit, display control unit, and storage control unit that allows users to select and create roles by choosing pre-defined base roles and optionally adding or removing authorities, simplifying the role creation process by displaying a role creation screen that shows selected authorities and enabling easy association of these with newly created roles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If individual authority selections are made for each function, then precise permission control is achieved, but the role creation process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-defines multiple base roles (e.g., administrator, operator, viewer) with predetermined combinations of authorities for different functions. When creating a new role, the system automatically assigns these pre-configured authority sets based on the selected base role, eliminating the need to manually configure each authority individually and significantly reducing role creation time while maintaining precise permission control
2Ease of operation
If multiple base roles are provided with pre-defined authorities, then role creation is simplified, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the authority management system into distinct base roles, each representing a specific functional category (e.g., administration, operation, viewing). This segmentation allows users to select appropriate base roles based on functional needs without being overwhelmed by individual authority options, simplifying the user interface and interaction while the system internally manages the complexity of authority combinations
3Adaptability or versatility
If individual authorities are selected for each function, then customized permission sets are achieved, but the operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual authorities into consolidated base roles that represent common functional combinations. Users can select these merged base roles to obtain pre-configured permission sets that cover typical functional requirements. The system maintains adaptability by allowing users to later modify or extend these base role assignments if customizations beyond the predefined options are needed
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided an image forming apparatus which can simply create a role that is an assembly of the authorities for using each function of the image forming apparatus.The image forming apparatus includes an operation input unit receiving an input of operation performed by a user; a selection information obtaining unit obtaining role selection information indicating a role selected by the input of the operation performed in the operation input unit from at least one role out of roles having at least one authority per role and registered in advance; an authority information obtaining unit obtaining information indicating the authority of the selected role; a display control unit displaying a role creation screen in which the authority that can be provided to the role to be newly created can be selected and displaying a state where the authority of the selected role is selected as an authority to be provided to the role to be created in the role creation screen based on the information indicating the authority obtained by the authority information obtaining unit; a selected authority information obtaining unit obtaining the information indicating the authority that is selected when an input for completing selection of authority is performed, in the case the input for completing the selection of authority is performed in the role creation screen by the operation input unit; and a storage control unit storing the authority obtained by the selected authority information obtaining unit in a storage area in association with the information indicating the created role.