JP2008210371A - Information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

When a plurality of server devices each start a program and perform joint processing, when there is a conflict in program setting information, the conflict is resolved and the resolved setting information is set for each server device. It can be so.
Upon receiving a processing request from a client device, the collection unit of the server device A collects the setting file from the server device B by requesting the server device B to process jointly to transmit the setting file. To do. The conflict resolution unit 11 checks whether there is a conflict of setting information between the setting file of the own device and the setting file of the other device. When there is a conflict, setting information with a high priority is adopted. The creation unit 12 creates a new setting file based on the canceled setting information.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system in which a plurality of server devices jointly process information.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in offices and the like, an information processing system has been constructed in which a client device such as a personal computer is connected to a server device via a network to process information such as images and sentences. The server apparatus is an image processing apparatus such as an MFP that performs functions such as printing, scanning, copying, and filing.

  In printing, print data (image data or text data) is received from a client device via a network, and an image, text, or the like based on the print data is recorded on a recording sheet. In scanning, image data of a read document is transmitted to a client device via a network, and the client device receives the image data and displays it on a display or saves it in a storage device. In copying, a document image read by the scan is recorded on a recording sheet. In the document server, the document read by the scan is stored in the storage device as an image file, and the image data is reused. In addition, image data is shared by publishing on the network.

  Such a server apparatus greatly contributes to improvement of work efficiency in the office and can be used easily and easily. In order to realize each function of information processing, the server device is loaded with a program. However, depending on the function, it may be realized using a program made by another company instead of using a program made in-house. For example, in printing, a program made by another company may be used in order to obtain an output result different from the recording result of print data using a program made in-house. At this time, there is a case where the same setting item exists in the setting information between the program made by the company and the program made by another company, and the contents of the setting item are in conflict. In this case, there is a case where it is not clear whether the setting is made in-house or another company, or which setting is effective.

For example, in Patent Document 1, when there is a contradiction between the print setting on the application side and the function set in the printer driver in the host computer, the print setting that does not contradict the application is reset in the printer driver. It is described.
JP 2006-164240 A

  In an information processing system having a plurality of server devices, a plurality of server devices may perform processing together. Each server device has a program, and each program is started and processed in accordance with a processing request from the client device. At this time, if the setting information of each program conflicts, the server device does not operate. When contention occurs in the device itself, it can be handled as described above. However, when the conflict of the setting information relates to a plurality of server devices, it is not possible to set each server device so as to eliminate the conflict.

  In the present invention, in view of the above, when a plurality of server devices each start a program and perform joint processing, if there is a conflict in the setting information of the program, the conflict is resolved, and after each server device is resolved It aims at providing the information processing system which can set up setting information.

  The present invention is an information processing system in which a plurality of server devices each have a program, and a plurality of server devices jointly process a processing request from a client device. The setting information of the necessary program is collected from other server devices, and when there is conflicting setting information, the conflict is resolved, new setting information is created, and the setting information is transmitted to the client device.

  The server device recognizes other server devices that process together. Accordingly, by collecting setting information from another server device in one server device, it is possible to check whether there is a conflict in the setting information and create new setting information in which the conflict is resolved. The client device can instruct the execution of processing based on the setting information with no conflict.

  As described above, as a server device that resolves the conflict, when receiving a request from the client device, there is a conflicting setting information with a collection unit that collects the setting information of the program necessary for processing from another server device. In some cases, a conflict resolution unit that resolves the conflict, a creation unit that creates new setting information based on the resolved setting information, and a communication unit that transmits the setting information to the client device are provided.

  Based on the priority added to the setting information of the program, the server device resolves the conflict by adopting the setting information having a high priority. Conflicts can be easily resolved by adding priority to the setting information.

  Of the plurality of server devices, the server device that has received the request from the client device collects the setting information from the other server devices to be jointly processed, and resolves the conflict of the setting information. That is, the server device that executes the process can access the other server device and perform the conflict resolution process in the same way as when performing the normal process.

  When the management server device that manages the setting information is provided, the server device collects the setting information from the management server device. The management server device manages setting information of each server device. By providing the management server device, it is possible to easily cope with a change in setting information. When the management server device is not provided, the server device collects setting information from other server devices that perform joint processing.

  The priority included in the setting information can be changed, and the management server device manages the priority of the setting information of each server device. The server device stores setting information that does not include the priority, and acquires the priority from the management server device.

  In other words, the server device that has received the request from the client device acquires the priority from the management server device upon receiving this request. When the other server device that performs the joint processing receives a request for the setting information from the server device that collects the setting information, the server device acquires the priority from the management server device. Then, setting information including priority is provided to the requested server apparatus.

  The client device changes the setting information transmitted from the server device, and the server device updates the setting information of the program based on the changed setting information from the client device. Thereby, the program can be operated based on the updated setting information.

  Some of the plurality of server devices are connected to the internal network together with the client device, the remaining server devices are connected to the external network, and the server device connected to the internal network is connected to the client device and the external network. Relay communication with the device. As a result, the number of communicable server devices increases and various processes can be executed.

  The setting information uses structured data. Thereby, the client device can display the setting information on the screen. The setting information has areas for storing a plurality of setting items, and the setting items of the adopted server device are stored in each area. The client device displays setting information for each setting item.

  When displaying the setting information, various forms can be selected, such as displaying a plurality of setting items in a table format, displaying them separately for each server device, and displaying a tab for each server device. Therefore, a display that is easy for the user to use is possible.

  According to the present invention, when processing is performed jointly, one server device among a plurality of server devices resolves conflicting program setting information. As a result, the server devices can always jointly perform processing without causing an operation stop due to competition.

  Further, by providing a management server device that manages setting information including priority, the setting information can be easily changed. As a result, the setting can be made according to the environment of the system, and processing can be performed efficiently.

  An information processing system according to this embodiment is shown in FIG. The information processing system includes a client device 1 and a server device 2 that are communicably connected via a network. There are a plurality of client apparatuses 1 and server apparatuses 2, and they are connected to a network such as a LAN or a WAN. This network is connected to the Internet or an external network via a router or a LAN switch.

  The server apparatus 2 is an image processing apparatus that processes image information, that is, an MFP, by executing functions such as copying, printing, scanning, filing, and facsimile communication. The server device 2 includes a scanner unit 3 that reads a document and inputs image data, an image forming unit 4 that performs predetermined image processing on the input image data and prints it on a recording sheet, and image data and various controls. A storage unit 5 that stores information and setting information and a control unit 6 that controls each unit to execute each function are provided. Although not shown, a communication interface, a display unit, and an input unit for communicating through a network are provided. In addition, communication with a USB device, an IC card, or the like is possible.

  The client device 1 is an information processing terminal such as a personal computer, and includes a display unit 7, an input unit 8, and a control unit 9. In addition, a storage unit and a communication interface (not shown) are also provided.

  In the information processing system, the client device 1 and the server device 2 operate in cooperation, so that various processes can be performed on the image information. The client device 1 and the server device 2 are loaded with a program for executing such information processing.

  Processes executed by the program include those related to image processing such as color conversion, resolution conversion, scaling, RET, specific image discrimination, transmission processing such as time designation transmission, broadcast processing, file management, OCR, translation, etc. There are things related to documents and operability such as setting and switching of functions of the image processing apparatus 1, job programming, and customization of operations.

  A system that uses such a program is referred to as OSA (Open Systems Architecture). In OSA, a Web service using SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) is performed. Communication using TCP / IP such as HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP is performed between the client apparatus 1 and the server apparatus 2 using SOAP.

  The control unit 9 of the client device 1 and the control unit 6 of the server device 2 operate according to a predetermined program by performing communication using SOAP and transmitting and receiving information. SOAP is a protocol for calling data and services based on XML, HTTP, and the like, and can give instructions for control.

  Here, the program includes an in-house program developed in-house and another company-developed program developed by an external vendor. The program has setting information necessary for executing processing. A setting file describing setting information is stored in the storage unit 5 of the server device 2. The setting file is described in a markup language such as XML, HTML, or SGML, and the setting information is structured data.

  When the client device 1 activates the program and requests execution of processing, the server device 2 activates the program, reads the setting file, and transmits setting information to the client device 1 using SOAP. When the client apparatus 1 inputs processing conditions and gives an execution instruction, the server apparatus 2 executes the instructed process according to a program. In the case where a plurality of server devices 2 perform processing together, the server device 2 that has received a processing request from the client device 1 executes processing in cooperation with other server devices 2.

  By the way, when the setting information of the program held by each server device 2 competes, the server device 2 does not operate. In order to prevent such a problem, when the conflict of setting information relates to a plurality of server devices 2, it is possible to resolve the conflict and set the resolved setting information for each server device 2. .

  That is, when the control unit 6 of the server apparatus 2 receives a request from the client apparatus 1, there is setting information that conflicts with the collection unit 10 that collects the setting information of the program necessary for processing from the other server apparatus 2. The contention resolution unit 11 that resolves the contention, the creation unit 12 that creates new setting information based on the resolved setting information, and the communication unit 13 that transmits the setting information to the client device 1. The control unit 6 of the other server device 2 has the same configuration.

  The control unit 9 of the client device 1 includes a communication unit 15 that communicates with the server device 2, a display processing unit 16 that displays setting information based on structured data on the display unit 7, and an instruction for performing an instruction to execute the process. Part 17.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of setting information. (A) is the setting information of the server apparatus A, (b) is the setting information of the server apparatus B. The setting information includes a plurality of setting items. Each setting item is assigned a priority. Here, the lower the numerical value of the priority, the higher the priority. The priority is determined in advance by a user having authority such as an administrator.

  The collection unit 10 of the server device 2 requests the other server device 2 to process jointly to transmit the setting information. Then, the transmitted setting information is received and temporarily stored in a memory such as a RAM.

  The communication unit 13 performs data communication with the client device 1 according to a predetermined communication protocol such as HTTPS or FTP. Further, other server devices 2 perform data communication according to the same communication protocol. Information necessary for communication such as IP addresses of the client device 1 and other server devices 2 is stored in the storage unit 5 and managed.

  For each program, the destination server information related to the server device 2 to be processed jointly is registered and stored in the storage unit 5. The collection unit 10 refers to the destination server information and identifies another server device 2 when performing joint processing. In order to collect the setting information, the communication unit 13 communicates with another server device 2 based on the partner server information.

  The conflict resolution unit 11 checks whether the setting information of the own device and the setting information of the other device have the same setting item. If there is the same setting item, the setting information of the setting item with the higher priority is adopted based on the priority. If there is a setting item in only one of them, the setting information of that setting item is adopted as it is.

  The creation unit 12 creates new setting information including a plurality of setting items based on the setting information adopted by the conflict resolution unit 11 and stores the setting information in the storage unit 5 as a setting file. For example, as shown in FIG. 2C, the setting information of the server apparatus A is adopted as the setting item related to HTTPS, and the setting information of the server apparatus B is adopted as the setting item related to FTPS.

  FIGS. 3 and 4 show operations of the client device 1 and the server devices A and B when the conflict of the setting information is resolved and the processes are performed jointly. In the server apparatus A, in order to perform a desired process, in the client apparatus 1, when the program is activated, the instruction unit 17 accesses a program corresponding to the process of the server apparatus A and makes a processing request (S1). Here, a setting screen for inputting setting conditions necessary for processing is requested. The communication unit 15 transmits a request message to the designated server device A using SOAP.

  In the server device A, the communication unit 13 receives a request message from the client device 1 (S2), and a predetermined program for the requested processing is activated. The control unit 6 determines whether or not to perform joint processing. When the process can be performed independently, the control unit 6 transmits the setting information to the client apparatus 1 and executes the process according to an instruction from the client apparatus 1.

  When processing in cooperation with another server device 2, the collection unit 10 refers to the destination server information corresponding to the requested processing program and extracts and specifies the server device B to be processed jointly. (S3). Then, the server device B is requested for a program setting file (S4). The communication unit 13 transmits a request message to the server device B.

  When the server apparatus B receives the request message from the server apparatus A (S5), the control unit 6 reads the setting file corresponding to the requested program from the storage unit 5. The communication unit 13 transmits the setting file to the server device A (S6).

  In the server device A, the collection unit 10 receives the setting file from the server device B (S7). Then, the conflict resolution unit 11 executes a conflict resolution process (S8). As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in the conflict resolution process, the setting file of the server apparatus A is read from the storage unit 5 (S100), and each setting item and its value are stored in the memory as Set1 (S101). The setting file of the server device B is read from the memory (S102), and each setting item and its value are saved as Set2 in the memory (S103).

  Of the number of set items in Set1 and the number of set items in Set2, the smaller set item number is setA. When the number of set items is the same, the set item number of Set1 is set to SetA (S104). Of the number of setting items, the larger number of setting items is setB. When the number of set items is the same, the set item number of Set2 is set to SetB (S105).

  The conflict resolution unit 11 sequentially determines whether or not there is a conflict for each setting item (S106). First, the priority of the first setting item in SetA is acquired (S107). It is checked whether the same setting item as this setting item exists in SetB (S108). When there are the same setting items in Set A and B, the priority of the first setting item in Set B is acquired (S109), and the level of priority is determined (S111). Here, since the priority is represented by a numerical value, the priority is high when the numerical value is low by judging the magnitude of the numerical value.

  For example, when the priority of the setting item of SetA is high, the setting information of the setting item of the server device A is adopted (S112). When the priority of the setting item of SetB is high, the setting information of the setting item of the server apparatus B is adopted (S113). When the priorities are the same, the setting information of the SetA setting item in which the setting information of the server apparatus A that performs the processing is set is employed (S110).

  The adopted setting information is stored in the memory. At this time, among the setting items of SetB, the same setting item as the setting item of SetA is deleted from the memory (S114). Thus, by selecting the setting information of the setting item having a high priority, the conflict in this setting item is resolved.

  The above operation is repeated for the number of set items of SetA, and setting information with high priority is determined for each set item of SetA (S115, S116). Next, the setting information of the remaining setting items of SetB is stored in the memory (S117). Thereby, setting information in which the conflict is resolved is generated.

  The creation unit 12 of the server apparatus A creates a new setting file based on the setting information in which the conflict is resolved. The setting file is stored in the storage unit 5. As shown in FIG. 7, the setting file is created by describing setting information in a markup language such as XML. This setting file is structured data for displaying a setting screen related to setting information on the display unit 7 of the client device 1. The setting file is created so as to form an area for displaying a plurality of setting items. Each area stores setting items of the adopted server device 1. Then, the communication unit 13 of the server device A transmits the setting file to the client device 1 (S9).

  In the client device 1, the communication unit 15 receives the setting file, and the display processing unit 16 renders the setting file. That is, the structured data is analyzed, and a setting information setting screen is displayed on the display unit (S10). For example, when the setting file shown in FIG. 7 is visualized, a setting screen as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed. In this setting screen, setting information is displayed for each setting item, and a plurality of setting items are displayed in a table format. In this case, the display format is linked from the server device A to the server device B.

  As another form of the setting screen, when the server apparatus A creates a setting file as shown in FIG. 9, a setting screen as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed. On this setting screen, the setting information is displayed separately for each server device. As described above, the setting information of the server apparatuses A and B can be displayed on the same page.

  As another form of setting screen, when the server apparatus A creates a setting file as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a setting screen as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed. In this setting screen, the setting information is displayed as a tab for each server device. As described above, the setting information of each of the server apparatuses A and B can be switched and displayed, and when there are a large number of setting items, it is possible to display on one page instead of a plurality of pages.

  In the client device 1, the user performs user setting for changing the setting information. In response to the user input, the instruction unit 17 transmits the changed setting information to the server device A through the communication unit 15 (S11).

  In the server device A, when the changed setting information is received from the client device 1 (S12), the control unit 6 determines whether the changed content is the setting item of the own device or the setting item of the server device B (S13). In the case of the own device, the setting file is updated based on the setting information, and the setting file is stored in the storage unit 5 (S14). In the case of the server apparatus B, the communication unit 13 transmits a setting information update request message to the server apparatus B (S15).

  In the server apparatus B, when the setting information is received (S16), the control unit 6 updates the setting file based on the setting information, and stores the setting file in the storage unit 5 (S17). When the change of the setting information is related to both server apparatuses A and B, the server apparatus A makes an update request on the own apparatus and an update request to the server apparatus B.

  When the setting file is updated, the control unit 6 of the server device A transmits a message to the effect that it has been updated to the client device 1 through the communication unit 13 (S18). The client device 1 displays the update result (S19). Furthermore, when the user changes the setting information, the above operation is repeated (S20).

  When the user inputs process execution, the client apparatus 1 transmits an execution start message to the server apparatus A (S21). In response to this, the server apparatus A starts processing in cooperation with the server apparatus B based on the setting file (S22). At this time, since there is no conflicting setting item in the setting information necessary for the processing, the program operates without any problem in each of the server apparatuses A and B, and the processing is executed.

  Therefore, when using a program made in-house and a program made by another company, even if the setting information conflicts in the same setting item, which setting of the company-made or another company is adopted, and which setting information is Clarify whether priority is given. In order to supplement or extend some of the functions made by the company, it may be used as an in-house product after being supplied with a program made by another company. In such a case, the program can be smoothly operated, and a convenient usage method as an information processing system can be provided.

  By the way, in the information processing system, a plurality of server apparatuses 2 communicate through a network. As illustrated in FIG. 14, some server devices 2 may belong to an internal network such as a LAN together with the client device 1, and other server devices 2 may belong to an external network. The internal network and the external network are communicably connected through the Internet.

  In the server device 2 belonging to the internal network, the control unit 6 has an address conversion unit 18 in order to communicate with the server device 2 belonging to the external network. The address conversion unit 18 mutually converts a global IP address and a private IP address by an IP masquerade function. Thereby, the server apparatus 2 belonging to the internal network can transmit / receive the setting file to / from the server apparatus 2 belonging to the external network. The other configuration of the server apparatus 2 belonging to the internal network is the same as that of the server apparatus 2 shown in FIG.

  The server apparatus 2 belonging to the internal network performs the resolution of the setting information conflict. The server device 2 belonging to the internal network requests the server device 2 belonging to the external network to transmit the setting file. When the setting file is received from the server device 2, the conflict of setting information is resolved.

  In the information processing system, a priority is added to each setting item of the setting information. This priority is fixed. However, it is necessary to change the setting information of each server device 2 in the case of joint processing according to the system environment.

  Therefore, the priority can be changed. In this information processing system, as shown in FIG. 15, one of the server devices 2 is provided as a management server device 20 for managing such setting information. The management server device 20 includes an information processing terminal such as a personal computer, and includes a storage unit 21 that stores setting information and a control unit 22 that manages setting information. Although not shown, a communication interface, a display unit, and an input unit for communicating through a network are provided. In addition, communication with a USB device, an IC card, or the like is possible. The client device 1 and the server device 2 are the same as described above.

  The management server device 20 manages the priority of each setting item among the setting information. The priority of the setting item in each server device 2 is set in advance. The control unit 22 creates a priority setting file based on the set priority, and stores this file in the storage unit 21. In the priority setting file, the priority for each setting item of the setting information is written for each server device 2. The priority is set through the client device 1 or the server device 2, and the control unit 22 stores the priority input from the outside. Further, the priority may be set directly from the input unit of the management server device 20.

  Therefore, in the server device 2, the priority is not set in the setting information stored in the storage unit 5. Therefore, the collection unit 10 of the server device 2 inquires the management server device 20 about the priority of the setting information, and acquires the priority from the management server device 20.

  FIG. 16 shows an example of setting information. As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the priority of the setting item of each server device 2 is not written. As shown in FIG. 5C, the priority of the setting item is written for each server device 2 in the priority setting file of the management server device 20.

  The control unit 22 of the management server device 20 includes a communication unit 23 that communicates with the server device 2 and the client device 1, and a search unit 24 that searches for the priority of designated setting information. The communication unit 23 performs data communication with the client device 1 according to a predetermined communication protocol such as HTTPS or FTP. The server apparatus 2 also performs data communication according to the same communication protocol. Information necessary for communication such as the IP addresses of the client device 1 and the server device 2 is stored in the storage unit 21 and managed. The storage unit 21 stores partner server information related to the server device 2 to be jointly processed for each program.

  When there is an inquiry about the priority of the setting information from the server device 2 or the client device 1, the search unit 24 searches the priority setting file for the designated setting information and reads the priority of the setting information. The communication unit 23 notifies the retrieved priority to the server device 2 or the client device 1 that has inquired.

  The operation when the conflicting of the setting information in the information processing system having the management server device 20 is resolved and processed jointly will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the management server device 20 is a server device C. The operations of the server device 2 and the client device 1 are basically the same as those shown in FIG.

  In the server apparatus A, in order to perform a desired process, the instruction unit 17 of the client apparatus 1 accesses a program corresponding to the process of the server apparatus A and makes a process request (S1). Here, a setting screen for inputting setting conditions necessary for processing is requested. The communication unit 15 transmits a request message to the designated server device A using SOAP.

  In the server device A, the communication unit 13 receives a request message from the client device 1 (S2), and a predetermined program for the requested processing is activated. The collection unit 10 inquires the management server device 20 about the priority related to the setting items necessary for the processing (S30).

  In the management server device 20, the search unit 24 searches for the priority of necessary setting items in response to the inquiry. The communication unit 23 transmits the retrieved priority to the inquiry destination. The collection unit 10 of the server apparatus A acquires the priority for the setting item of the setting information and writes it in the setting file. As shown in FIG. 18A, the priority of each setting item is set.

  The collection unit 10 of the server device A refers to the destination server information corresponding to the requested program for processing and extracts and specifies the server device B to be jointly processed (S3). Then, the server device B is requested for a program setting file (S4). The communication unit 13 transmits a request message to the server device B.

  When the server apparatus B receives the request message from the server apparatus A (S5), the collection unit 10 inquires the management server apparatus 20 about the priority related to the setting items necessary for processing (S31). The management server device 20 retrieves the inquired priority level and notifies the server device B of it. The collection unit 10 writes the priority in the setting file. The communication unit 13 transmits this setting file to the server device A (S6).

  In the server device A, when the collection unit 10 receives the setting file from the server device B (S7), the conflict resolution unit 11 executes a conflict resolution process as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 (S8). As shown in FIG. 18C, the conflict resolution unit 11 generates setting information in which the conflict is resolved.

  The operations after S9 are the same as those shown in FIGS. And if a user inputs process execution, the server apparatus A will start a process jointly with the server apparatus B based on a setting file (S22). At this time, since there is no conflicting setting item in the setting information necessary for the processing, the program operates without any problem in each of the server apparatuses A and B, and the processing is executed.

  In the information processing system, the setting information is changed when the program is updated or the server device 2 is exchanged. In response to this, the management server device 20 changes the priority for the setting information. Therefore, setting information can be managed so as to cope with changes in the system environment, and appropriate processing can always be performed.

  In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 19, some server apparatuses 2 may belong to an internal network such as a LAN together with the client apparatus 1, and other server apparatuses 2 may belong to an external network. The internal network and the external network are communicably connected through the Internet. The management server device 20 belongs to the internal network.

  When the server device 2 belonging to the internal network performs processing together with the server device 2 belonging to the external network, the server device 2 belonging to the external network collects the priority of the setting information from the management server device 20. At this time, the external server device 2 communicates with the management server device 20 via the internal server device 2 having the address conversion unit 18.

  When the management server device 20 belongs to an external network, the internal server device 2 communicates with the management server device 20 through the server device 2 having the address conversion unit 18 and collects priorities.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Of course, many corrections and changes can be added to the said embodiment within the scope of the present invention. Even in a case where three or more server devices perform processing together, one server device collects setting information from another server device or management server device, and resolves conflict of setting information. The server apparatus is not limited to an image processing apparatus such as an MFP, and may be an information processing terminal such as a personal computer. The management server device may be an image processing device.

  The management server device may manage not only the priority of the setting item but also each setting item of the setting information. The server device acquires the setting information from the management server device and executes the requested process. That is, the management server apparatus manages the setting information in an integrated manner, so that the maintenance of the program necessary for processing can be performed reliably.

Schematic configuration diagram of an information processing system of the present invention (A) is an example of setting information of the server device A, (b) is an example of setting information of the server device B, and (c) is a diagram illustrating an example of setting information after conflict resolution. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of a client apparatus and a server apparatus when performing a process The flowchart which shows operation | movement of a client apparatus and a server apparatus when performing a process Contention resolution flowchart Contention resolution flowchart Figure showing data contents of configuration file The figure which shows the setting screen which displays the setting information in the table format The figure which shows the data contents of the setting file of other form The figure which shows the setting screen which divided and displayed the setting information for every server device The figure which shows the data content of the setting file of the server apparatus A of another form The figure which shows the data content of the setting file of the server apparatus B of another form Figure showing a setting screen with tabs for setting information Schematic configuration diagram of an information processing system using an external network Schematic configuration diagram of an information processing system having a management server device (A) is an example of setting information of a server device, (b) is an example of setting information of another server device, and (c) is a diagram showing an example of a priority setting file of a management server device. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of a client apparatus, a server apparatus, and a management server apparatus when performing a process (A) is an example of setting information after priority setting in a server device, (b) is an example of setting information after priority setting in another server device, and (c) is an example of setting information after conflict resolution, respectively. Illustration Schematic configuration diagram of an information processing system using an external network

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Client apparatus 2 Server apparatus 5 Storage part 6 Control part 10 Collection part 11 Conflict resolution part 12 Creation part 13 Communication part 20 Management server apparatus 21 Storage part 22 Control part 23 Communication part 24 Search part

Claims (18)

Each of the plurality of server devices is an information processing system in which each of the plurality of server devices has a program, and the plurality of server devices jointly process a processing request from the client device. Information is collected from other server devices, and when there is conflicting setting information, the conflict is resolved, new setting information is created, and the setting information is transmitted to the client device. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the server device resolves the conflict by adopting the setting information having a high priority based on the priority added to the setting information of the program. 3. The server apparatus that receives a request from a client apparatus among a plurality of server apparatuses collects setting information of other server apparatuses to be jointly processed, and performs conflict resolution of the setting information. Information processing system. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein a management server device that manages the setting information is provided, and the server device collects the setting information from the management server device. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the server device collects setting information from another server device that performs joint processing. The priority included in the setting information can be changed, the management server device manages the priority of the setting information of each server device, the server device stores setting information not including the priority, and from the management server device The information processing system according to claim 4, wherein priority is acquired. When receiving the request for the setting information from the server apparatus that collects the setting information, the other server apparatus that performs joint processing acquires the priority from the management server apparatus and provides the server apparatus with the setting information including the priority. The information processing system according to claim 6. 4. The information according to claim 3, wherein the client device changes the setting information transmitted from the server device, and the server device updates the setting information of the program based on the changed setting information from the client device. Processing system. Some of the plurality of server devices are connected to the internal network together with the client device, the remaining server devices are connected to the external network, and the server device connected to the internal network is connected to the client device and the external network. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein communication with the apparatus is relayed. The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the setting information uses structured data. 11. The information processing system according to claim 10, wherein the setting information has areas for storing a plurality of setting items, respectively, and the setting items of the adopted server device are stored in each area. The information processing system according to claim 11, wherein the client device displays setting information for each setting item. 13. The information processing system according to claim 12, wherein when the setting information is displayed, the client device displays a plurality of setting items in a table format. 13. The information processing system according to claim 12, wherein the client device displays the setting information separately for each server device. 13. The information processing system according to claim 12, wherein when the setting information is displayed, the client device displays a tab for each server device. A server device in an information processing system that processes a processing request from a client device in cooperation with another server device. When a request from the client device is received, the setting information of the program necessary for the processing is When there are conflicting setting information, a conflict resolution unit that resolves the conflict, a creation unit that creates new setting information based on the resolved setting information, and setting information on the client device A server device comprising: a communication unit for transmitting. The collection unit collects setting information from other server devices to be jointly processed, and the conflict resolution unit resolves the conflict by adopting setting information with high priority based on the priority added to the program setting information. The server device according to claim 16, wherein 18. The priority included in the setting information of the program is changeable, and the collection unit acquires the priority from the management server device that manages the priority of the setting information of each server device. Server device.

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