JP2010193054A - System, apparatus, and method for processing image, program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program and a recording medium for executing pull type image output.
A system 10 of the present invention includes an image processing apparatus 20 and a server 14 connected to the image processing apparatus 20 via a network 12. The image processing apparatus 20 includes a document receiving unit 160 that receives electronic document data in an encryptable format specified by an address indicating a storage position from the server 14 via the network 12, and a decryption corresponding to the electronic document data. A key acquisition unit 164 for acquiring a key; a detection unit 162 for detecting that the received electronic document data is encrypted; and if the electronic document data is encrypted, the encrypted electronic document data Includes a decryption unit 166 for decrypting the image using a decryption key, and an image output unit (56 or 54) for outputting an image using the decrypted data decrypted from the electronic document data.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing technique, and more particularly to an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium that execute pull-type image output.

  Along with the recent trend toward broadband networks, image processing apparatuses such as digital multifunction peripherals have become compatible with the network, and printing methods have been diversified. For example, so-called pull-type printing has been proposed in addition to conventional push-type printing in which an image processing apparatus such as a multi-function peripheral receives a print request and data including print contents from a host and prints it out (Patent Document 1). This pull type printing specifies electronic document data to be printed out by a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) address indicating a data storage position on the network from an operation panel of the image processing apparatus or an operation terminal in the vicinity of the image processing apparatus. In this printing method, the image processing apparatus is downloaded and printed out.

  In recent years, in addition to the above-mentioned networking, as the performance of digital multifunction peripherals has increased, multifunction peripherals having a browser function to be displayed on an operation panel have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-352845 (Patent Document 2) has a browser function capable of interpreting a script, and controls the hardware of the image processing apparatus according to the script, thereby causing the image forming apparatus to perform image forming processing. A technique for executing the above is disclosed.

  In the pull type printing, the electronic document data to be printed and output downloaded by the image processing apparatus is, for example, print data described in PDL (Page Description Language) that can be interpreted by a multifunction device of a specific model, or bitmap format. The image data is provided to the image processing apparatus. In recent years, multifunction devices and laser printers that can directly handle standardized electronic document data such as PDF (Portable Document Format) have been developed.

  There is electronic document data that is an object of pull-type printing image output, such as confidential information and personal information, which only a specific user or user group wants to permit browsing or printing. A PDF document is configured so that an encryption password can be set, and it is considered that security in document management can be ensured by using this PDF encryption function.

  In relation to security in pull-type printing, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4062893 (Patent Document 3) discloses that when a printer that has received a pull-type print request obtains data, authentication is requested from a server. When the authentication information is entered again, the priority is raised and the job is resumed. Also, in response to the authentication request from the server, the printer authentication information is used to temporarily accumulate and hold, An information processing system for resuming a job with user authentication information is disclosed.

  As described above, in recent years, image processing apparatuses capable of directly handling standardized electronic documents such as PDF documents have been developed. However, in the conventional image processing apparatuses disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above, a password can be acquired when a downloaded PDF document is encrypted in pull-type printing. The PDF document could not be decrypted because it was not possible, and printing failed. Moreover, although the said patent document 3 is trying to ensure security by authentication, it does not have the structure which can respond to encryption PDF.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described prior art, and an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and an image processing system that can process encrypted electronic document data and realize a pull-type image output with security ensured. An object is to provide an image processing method, a program, and a recording medium.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an image processing system including an image processing device and a server. An image processing apparatus according to the present invention receives electronic document data in an encryptable format specified by an address indicating a storage position from a server via a network, and further receives a decryption key corresponding to the received electronic document data To get. The image processing apparatus detects that the received electronic document data is encrypted, decrypts the encrypted electronic document data using the decryption key, and decrypts the decrypted data decrypted from the electronic document data Use to output the image.

  According to the above configuration, pull-type image output of electronic document data in an encryptable format typified by a PDF document is executed without causing an error, and as a result, a pull-type image with a certain level of security is ensured. Image output is realized. As a result, the width of the file format that can be handled in pull-type image output is expanded.

  In the present invention, the server can store the encrypted electronic document data and the decryption key corresponding to the electronic document data in association with each other. In this configuration, the server responds to a request from the image processing apparatus, obtains the requested electronic document data from the document storage means, and transmits it to the image processing apparatus, while responding to a request from the image processing apparatus. In addition, the decryption key of the requested electronic document data can be acquired from the document storage means and transmitted.

  Further, in the present invention, the image processing apparatus can further include an authentication requesting unit that transmits apparatus authentication information of the image processing apparatus itself or user authentication information of the user. The server can include key transmission determination means for determining whether or not to transmit the decryption key according to the authentication result based on the apparatus authentication information or the user authentication information received from the image processing apparatus.

  According to the above configuration, if the image processing apparatus to be used is registered with the server or the user is registered and the server is logged in, the decryption key for the encrypted document data is required. It can be automatically acquired from the server when it becomes. Therefore, it is possible to improve user convenience in pull-type image output of encrypted document data while ensuring a certain level of security by device authentication or user authentication. In addition, since the access right can be set for each device or for each user, it is possible to control the pull-type image output of the encrypted electronic document data with high flexibility.

  In the present invention, the operator of the image processing apparatus can be requested to input a decryption key via user interface means such as an operation panel provided in the image processing apparatus. Furthermore, in the present invention, the server can continue the determination using the user authentication information when the authentication result of the device authentication information is negative. Further, according to the present invention, the image forming apparatus can request input by the user interface when the decryption key is not obtained by the apparatus authentication information and the user authentication information.

  According to the above configuration, the acquisition of the decryption key is attempted by the process of two or more stages selected from acquisition by user authentication, acquisition by device authentication, and acquisition by manual input. For this reason, it is possible to ensure high security while avoiding complicated input by the user as much as possible, and to achieve both security and user convenience.

  Still further, according to the present invention, the image forming apparatus can erase the electronic document data temporarily stored in the storage device when the encrypted electronic document data cannot be decrypted. According to this configuration, the electronic document data that has failed to be decrypted is automatically deleted from the image processing apparatus, so that information leakage of the electronic document data can be prevented as much as possible.

  In the present invention, the image output is executed via hardware resources that handle images, and can be, for example, print output or facsimile transmission. Further, according to the present invention, there are provided an image processing method, an apparatus executable program for functioning as the image processing apparatus, and a recording medium for storing the program.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing system according to a first embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a multifunction machine according to a first embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a software configuration and a hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral according to the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration realized in the print system according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating pull-type printing processing executed by the multifunction peripheral in the printing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a GUI screen displayed on a touch panel of an operation panel of the multifunction machine. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration realized in a print system according to a second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating login processing executed by the multifunction peripheral in the print system according to the second embodiment. 9 is a flowchart illustrating pull-type printing processing that is executed by a multifunction peripheral in a printing system according to a second embodiment. 12 is a flowchart illustrating electronic document password transmission processing executed by the document management server in the print system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration realized in a print system according to a third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating pull-type printing processing executed by a multifunction peripheral in a printing system according to a third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing for transmitting a print page of an electronic document executed by a document management server in the print system according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a GUI screen displayed on a touch panel of an operation panel of the multifunction machine according to the third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, although embodiment of this invention is described, embodiment of this invention is not limited to embodiment described below. In the embodiment described below, as an example of an image processing system including an image processing apparatus and a server, in addition to a communication function, a multifunction machine having a complex function for handling images such as a copy, a facsimile, a scanner, and a print, and an electronic A description will be given using a print system that includes a document management server that manages documents and distributes electronic documents in response to requests.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing system according to the first embodiment. A print system 10 shown in FIG. 1 manages a digital document, delivers a digital document in response to a request, a document management server 14, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 16, and the electronic document. And a multifunction device 20 that prints out. These devices 14, 16, and 20 are a LAN (Local Area Network) based on a transaction protocol such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol), a VPN (Virtual Private Network), or a dedicated line. Are communicated with each other in accordance with, for example, HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) via a network 12 configured as a WAN (Wide Area Network) or the like connected by using. However, the network 12 is not particularly limited, and may include the Internet connected via a router (not shown).

  The document management server 14 shown in FIG. 1 implements a document management database, and registers an electronic document in the database in response to a document registration request from a client including the multi-function device 20 and the PC 16, while the document from the client. In response to the acquisition request, the requested electronic document is extracted from the database and distributed.

  The data format of the electronic document managed by the document management server 14 is not particularly limited, but print data and bitmap data in a page description language (PDL) such as PostScript (registered trademark), RPDL, PCL, and LIPS. And image data. In the present embodiment, the data format of the electronic document managed by the document management server 14 includes a PDF (Portable Document Format) document that is an electronic document format that can be encrypted. In addition, the document management server 14 may have a function of appropriately converting the data format of the electronic document so that the requesting image processing apparatus can handle it.

  The document management server 14 implements, for example, a web server function, and implements server programs such as CGI (Common Gateway Interface), SSI (Server Side Include), servlets, and web applications. Then, the document management server 14 processes an HTTP request related to processing such as registration and acquisition of electronic documents, acquisition of an electronic document list, and login from clients including the multi-function device 20 and the PC 16, and returns an HTTP response.

  The document management server 14 may include any single-core processor or multi-core processor, and is controlled by an appropriate operating system such as WINDOWS (registered trademark) 200X, UNIX (registered trademark), or LINUX (registered trademark). The implementation is not particularly limited as long as the electronic document can be managed and the electronic document can be distributed in response to a request from the client. In the present embodiment, an electronic document or the like will be described as being transmitted and received between the document management server 14 and the client according to HTTP.

  In the print system 10 shown in FIG. 1, the PC 16 and the multifunction device 20 operate as a web client of the document management server 14 and upload an electronic document held by the PC 16 and the multifunction device 20 to the document management server 14. Electronic documents can be registered for printing or viewing. For example, the multifunction device 20 can convert a document image read from a document or a document image received by facsimile into a PDF document, transmit it to the document management server 14, and register it as an electronic document. In addition, when registering a PDF document, a password can be appropriately set as a decryption key for encryption in the electronic document. The password set in the electronic document can be managed by the document management server 14 as appropriate.

  The MFP 20 of the present embodiment further specifies an electronic document from an external device such as the document management server 14 by designating a URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and a URN (Uniform Resource Name). It has a so-called pull-type printing function for downloading and printing. Hereinafter, a case where a URL is used as an address indicating the storage location of the electronic document will be described as an example.

  Hereinafter, the hardware configuration and software configuration of the multifunction machine 20 will be described more specifically with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 20 according to the first embodiment. The multi-function device 20 includes a controller 22, an operation panel 52, an FCU (facsimile control unit) 54, and an engine unit 56 including, for example, a plotter engine and a scanner engine. The controller 22 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 24, an NB (North Bridge) 28, an ASIC 30 connected to the CPU 24 via the NB 28, and a system memory 26. The ASIC 30 executes various image processing and is connected to the NB 28 via an AGP (Accelerated Graphic Port) 58. The system memory 26 is used as a drawing memory or the like.

  The ASIC 30 is connected to a local memory 32, a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) 34, and a non-volatile memory (hereinafter referred to as NV-RAM) 36 such as a flash memory. The local memory 32 is used as a copy image buffer or a code buffer, and the HDD 34 is image data, document data, a program, font data or form data, downloaded document data, or data decrypted from an encrypted PDF document. It is used as a storage that accumulates etc. The NV-RAM 36 stores a program for controlling the multifunction machine 20, various system information, and various setting information.

  The controller 22 further includes an SB (South Bridge) 38, a NIC (Network Interface Card) 40, an SD (Secure Digital) card slot 42, a USB interface 44, an IEEE 1394 interface 46, and a Centronics interface 48. These are connected to the NB 28 via the PCI bus 60. The SB 38 is a bridge for connecting the NB 28 to a ROM or a PCI bus peripheral device (not shown). The NIC 40 is an interface device that connects the multifunction machine 20 to a network such as the Internet or a LAN, and accepts commands via the network. The USB interface 44, the IEEE 1394 interface 46, and the Centronics interface 48 are interfaces conforming to the respective standards, and can accept print jobs and the like.

  The operation panel 52 is connected to the ASIC 30 of the controller 22 and accepts input of various instructions from an operator via a hard key or a touch panel, displays a screen of the touch panel, and provides a user interface. The FCU 54 and the engine unit 56 are connected to the ASIC 30 via the PCI bus 62. The engine unit 56 receives a print command or a scan command issued by the application and executes an image forming process or an image reading process.

  FIG. 3 shows a software configuration and a hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 20 according to the first embodiment. 3 includes a software unit 100 including various software components, a hardware unit 102 including various hardware resources, and a multifunction device starting unit 104.

  The hardware unit 102 includes an engine unit 56 and other hardware resources 106. The software unit 100 includes an application layer 108 including various applications 126 to 136 for providing a function as a multifunction peripheral, a platform layer 114, and a virtual application service (VAS) 110 that mediates the application layer 108 and the platform layer 114. And comprising. The VAS 110 has a wrapping function for hiding the platform layer 114 from the application layer 108, and absorbs differences due to version upgrades of the platform layer 114.

  The application layer 108 performs processing specific to a user service related to image processing such as printer, copy, fax, and scanner. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a printer application 126 that provides a printer function and a copy A copy application 128 that provides a function, a fax application 130 that provides a facsimile function, a scanner application 132 that provides a scanner function, a network file application 134 that provides a network file function, and a multi-function device browser 136. And comprising.

  The multi-function device browser 136 acquires HTML (HyperText Markup Language) data from an external web server using the WWW library 112 that realizes a client function in HTTP communication, and the operation panel of the multi-function device 20 according to the HTML data. 52 is displayed. The multi-function device browser 136 is further configured to be able to interpret a script language such as Java (registered trademark) Script, and hardware resources such as the engine unit 56 of the multi-function device 20 are allocated according to the script described in the HTML data. It is possible to control.

  The platform layer 114 interprets processing requests from the applications 126 to 136 together with an operating system (OS) (not shown) and generates a hardware resource acquisition request, and one or more hardwares. Hardware resources are managed, and a system resource management unit (SRM) 118 that arbitrates and controls execution requests from the control service layer 116, and manages hardware resources according to the acquisition requests from the SRM 118. And a handler layer 120. As the OS, for example, UNIX (registered trademark) can be adopted, but WINDOWS (registered trademark) or any other OS can be adopted.

  As the various control services, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a network control service (NCS) 138, a delivery control service (DCS) 140, an operation panel control service (OCS) 142, and a facsimile control service (FCS) 144, engine control service (ECS) 146, memory control service (MCS) 148, authentication control service (CCS) 150, user information control service (UCS) 152, and system control service (SCS) 154. It consists of

  The SCS 154 manages various applications, controls user interfaces such as system screen display and LED display, manages hardware resources, and controls interrupt applications. The UCS 152 manages user information. The CCS 150 performs control related to authentication processing and billing processing. The MCS 148 performs memory control such as acquisition and release of image memory and compression / decompression of image data.

  The ECS 146 controls hardware resources such as the engine unit 56 and the HDD 34, executes image reading and image forming operations, etc., and divides the process of jobs received from each application into a single document and transfer paper level. Then, the process is managed, and image reading and image forming operations are controlled. The FCS 144 is connected to the GSTN interface and controls facsimile transmission / reception using the GSTN network, registration / quotation of various facsimile data managed in the backup memory, facsimile reading, and the like.

  The OCS 142 controls the operation panel 52 serving as an interface between the operator and the main body control. The DCS 140 controls the distribution of stored documents stored in the HDD 34 or the like. The NCS 138 controls the NIC 40 to connect the MFP 20 to the Ethernet (registered trademark) and provides a service that can be commonly used for applications that require network I / O. The received data is distributed to each application, and mediation is performed when data from each application is transmitted to the network side.

  In addition, an application program interface (API) 122 is provided between the platform layer 114 and the application layer 108, and the platform layer 114 can be executed from various applications 126 to 136 by a predefined function included in the API 122. A processing request has been received.

  The SRM 118 performs system control and management of hardware resources together with the SCS 154, determines whether or not the requested hardware resource is available, and if available, the requested resource can be used. The effect is notified to the upper layer. Further, the SRM 118 performs scheduling for using hardware resources in response to an acquisition request from an upper layer. For example, paper transport, image forming operation, memory allocation, file generation, and the like by the plotter engine of the engine unit 56 are performed. Has been implemented directly.

  The handler layer 120 includes a facsimile control unit handler (FCUH) 156 that manages the FCU 54, and an image memory handler (IMH) 158 that performs memory allocation to the process and manages the memory allocated to the process. The SRM 118, the FCUH 156, and the IMH 158 use a predefined function included in the engine interface (I / F) 124 to transmit a processing request for the hardware resource of the hardware unit 102.

  Each software group of the software unit 100 described above is realized in parallel on a process basis by an OS such as UNIX (registered trademark). In the multifunction device 20, hardware resources such as the engine unit 56 are controlled by the above-described software group, and in response to a user command via the user interface or an input from an external computer, copying, facsimile, monochrome, etc. It provides users with multifunctional functions such as copying and full-color copying.

  The multifunction machine starting unit 104 is executed first when the multifunction machine 20 is turned on, and the control programs corresponding to the software groups (processes) of the platform layer 114 and the application layer 108 described above are not shown in the ROM, HDD 34, and SD (not shown). A process is started by reading out from a card or the like, appropriately acquiring it via a network, and expanding it on a system memory 26 that provides a working memory area of the CPU 24. Thereby, the above-described software means and each functional means described later are realized.

  Note that the above-described application, control service, and hardware can be configured in various combinations. For example, they can be added or deleted according to a specific application or model. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, common parts in each application and control service as a multifunction peripheral are extracted and referred to as a platform configuration. However, the hardware configuration and the software configuration of the multifunction peripheral 20 are as follows. There is no particular limitation.

  The electronic document pull-type printing function in the printing system 10 of the first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration realized in the print system 10 according to the first embodiment. The functional block of the document management server 14 illustrated in FIG. 4 includes a document distribution unit 180 and an electronic document storage unit 182 that stores a plurality of electronic documents. The document distribution unit 180 is provided by a web server function, receives a document acquisition request by a GET method that specifies a URL, for example, from a client, acquires a corresponding electronic document from the electronic document storage unit 182, and receives an electronic response as an HTTP response Deliver the document to the requesting client. The electronic document storage unit 182 is provided by a storage area on an HDD (not shown) managed by the file system of the document management server 14.

  4 includes a document receiving unit 160, a print command unit 168, and an engine unit 56. The document receiving unit 160 transmits a document acquisition request including a URL indicating the storage location of a desired electronic document by, for example, the GET method in accordance with hyperlink information described in the HTML data displayed by the multi-function device browser 136. Then, the document receiving unit 160 receives a desired electronic document by the HTTP response, and temporarily stores the received file in a storage area such as the HDD 34. The document receiving unit 160 is called in response to a download instruction from the user via the operation panel 52, for example.

  The print command unit 168 calls an image library for accessing the print function of the MFP 20, and causes the engine unit 56 to print out the received electronic document via a module of the control service layer 116 such as ECS 146 and MCS 148. . In the present embodiment, the engine unit 56 constitutes an image output unit. The print command unit 168 is called in response to a print start instruction from the user via the operation panel 52 according to a script in HTML data, for example. The image library is a library that provides a function interface for accessing functions such as copying, scanning, and printing of the multifunction device 20.

  The functional block of the MFP 20 shown in FIG. 4 further includes an encryption detection unit 162, a password acquisition unit 164, and a decryption processing unit 166. The encryption detection unit 162 is called when the document reception unit 160 is downloaded with “Content-Type: application / pdf” and the received electronic document is a PDF document. The encryption detection unit 162 checks the structure information in the PDF file and determines whether or not the received PDF document is encrypted. If the document is an unencrypted PDF document, the print command unit 168 reads the document data of the PDF file temporarily stored, and causes the engine unit 56 to print out the electronic document as it is.

  The password acquisition unit 164 is called when the PDF document is encrypted with a password. For example, on the display screen of the operation panel 52, the API 122 interface function or the like is called to display a dialog box for requesting password input. The password character string input from the user via the dialog box is acquired.

  The decryption processing unit 166 includes a software module that performs security protection of a shared key encryption method, such as a PDF standard security handler. The decryption processing unit 166 attempts to decrypt the PDF file using the password character string acquired by the password acquisition unit 164 as a decryption key in accordance with the information described in the encryption dictionary that is the structure information of the PDF file. When the decryption processing unit 166 successfully decrypts the encrypted PDF, the decryption processing unit 166 temporarily stores the decrypted document data in the storage area such as the HDD 34 or the system memory 26. In this case, the print command unit 168 reads the decrypted document data and causes the engine unit 56 to print it out. In addition, when the decryption processing fails or the encrypted PDF print permission is not obtained, the decryption processing unit 166 notifies the multifunction device browser 136 of an error, and the multifunction device browser 136 displays the multifunction device 20. An error is notified on the display screen.

  Each function block of the multifunction device 20 shown in FIG. 4 uses, for example, the function of the multifunction device browser 136 that receives HTML data describing a page for pull-type printing from the document management server 14 and operates according to the HTML data. However, the implementation method is not particularly limited. In other embodiments, it may be implemented as a separate application in the application layer 108.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating pull-type printing processing executed by the multifunction device 20 in the printing system 10 according to the first embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 5 is started from step S100 in response to, for example, activation of the multifunction machine browser 136. In step S101, the multi-function device browser 136 designates a URL predetermined as an initial page, and transmits a web page acquisition request as an HTTP request. Here, it is assumed that a page indicating document list information managed by the document management server 14 (hereinafter referred to as a document list page) is requested as an initial page. The document list page generation processing by the document management server 14 will not be described in detail in this specification. In step S102, the multi-function device browser 136 receives an HTTP response including HTML data describing a document list page in the content body, interprets the HTML data, and displays it on the display screen of the operation panel 52.

  FIG. 6 shows a graphical user interface (hereinafter referred to as GUI) displayed on the touch panel of the operation panel 52 of the MFP 20 of the present embodiment. FIG. 6A shows an example of a document list page display screen that displays each document in a selectable manner. The display screen 200 shown in FIG. 6A includes a table 202 including a document name display 202 a and a URL display 202 b for each document managed by the document management server 14, and a cancel button 204 that waits for a pull type print processing cancel instruction. Including. In the URL display 202b, a hyperlink to a document download page is set, and by touching the hyperlink on the touch panel screen, a document to be printed is selected and jumps to a corresponding document download page. .

  Referring again to FIG. 5, in step S103, the multi-function device browser 136 monitors an event that occurs for a GUI component on the display screen (in the example of FIG. 6A, the URL display 202b), and prints. It is determined whether or not the target document has been selected. In step S103, the selection of a document is awaited, and the process is looped in step S103 until a document to be printed is selected (during NO). For convenience of explanation, details such as a processing flow for canceling printing are not entered. If it is determined in step S103 that an event has occurred by touching the URL display 202b on the display screen and the document to be printed has been selected (YES), the process proceeds to step S104.

  In step S <b> 104, the MFP browser 136 sends a download page acquisition request for the linked document to the document management server 14 in order to acquire the selected document. In step S105, the multi-function device browser 136 receives an HTTP response including a document download page, interprets the HTML data, and displays the HTML data on the display screen of the operation panel 52. Further, the MFP browser 136 extracts a URL indicating the storage location of the document to be printed from the HTML data of the download page, makes a request for acquiring the resource of the URL to the document management server 14, and in step S106, Download the selected document. Here, it is assumed that the selected document is a PDF document.

  When the downloading of the PDF document is completed, in step S107, the encryption detection unit 162 verifies the structure information of the PDF document and determines whether the PDF document is an encrypted PDF document. If it is determined in step S107 that the file is an encrypted PDF (YES), the process proceeds to step S108. In step S108, the password acquisition unit 164 displays a dialog box for inputting a password on a display screen such as a touch panel.

  FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen including a dialog box for requesting password input. The display screen 210 shown in FIG. 6B includes a dialog box 212 that prompts the operator to enter a password. Dialog box 212 includes a text box 214 for inputting a password, an OK button 216 that waits for a password determination instruction, and a cancel button 218 that waits for a password input cancel instruction. Input to the text box 214 is performed by, for example, a hard key on the operation panel 52. When the OK button 216 is touched on the touch panel screen, the password input is determined, and the character string input in the text box 214 is delivered to the password acquisition unit 164. When the cancel button 218 is touched, for example, a code indicating cancellation is delivered to the password acquisition unit 164.

  Referring to FIG. 5 again, in step S109, the multi-function device browser 136 monitors an event that occurs for the GUI component on the display screen, and determines whether or not a password has been input. In step S109, input of a password is awaited, and the process is looped in step S109 until the password is input and determined (during NO). If it is determined in step S109 that an event has occurred by touching the OK button or the like and a password has been input (YES), the process proceeds to step S110. In step S110, the password acquisition unit 164 acquires a password from the value in the text box 214 and closes the dialog box 212.

  FIG. 6C is a diagram illustrating an example of a print page display screen for instructing printing of a selected document after obtaining a password. A display screen 220 shown in FIG. 6C includes a document summary display 222 indicating a document name, URL, and password acquisition status of a document selected as a print target, a print button 224 waiting for an instruction to print the document, And a cancel button 226 that waits for a print cancel instruction. When the print button 224 is touched on the touch panel screen, printing of the document is started.

  Referring to FIG. 5 again, in step S111, the multi-function device browser 136 monitors an event that occurs for a GUI component on the display screen, and determines whether or not a print instruction for a document to be printed has been received. In step S111, an input of a print instruction is awaited, and the process is looped in step S111 until the print instruction is received (during NO). If it is determined in step S111 that an event has occurred due to the start key on the operation panel being pressed or the print button 224 on the screen is touched, and the print instruction has been received (YES), step S112 is performed. The process proceeds.

  In step S112, the decryption processing unit 166 attempts to decrypt the encrypted PDF document using the password acquired in step S110 as a decryption key according to the method described in the encryption dictionary of the PDF document. In step S113, the decryption processing unit 166 determines whether or not the encrypted PDF document has been decrypted normally. If it is determined in step S113 that the encrypted PDF document has been successfully decrypted (YES), the process proceeds to step S114. In step S114, the print command unit 168 reads the decrypted document data decrypted from the encrypted PDF document, causes the engine unit 56 to print it out, and ends the processing flow in step S115. On the other hand, if the encrypted PDF document has not been successfully decrypted in step S113 (NO), the process proceeds to step S116, and the multi-function device browser 136 provides an error notification on the screen. End the processing flow.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S107 that the acquired document is not an encrypted PDF (NO), the process proceeds to step S117. In step S117, the multi-function device browser 136 monitors an event that occurs for a GUI component on the display screen, and determines whether a print instruction for a document to be printed has been received. In step S117, an input of a print instruction is awaited, and the process is looped until the print instruction is received (during NO).

  If it is determined in step S117 that an event has occurred by touching the print button 224 on the screen or the like and a print instruction has been received (YES), the process proceeds to step S114. In this case, in step S114, the print command unit 168 reads out the document data of the received PDF document, causes the engine unit 56 to print it out, and ends this processing flow in step S115.

  In the above description, for convenience of explanation, description of processing corresponding to designation of whether or not to print PDF is omitted. However, for example, when it is determined in step S113 that the PDF document cannot be printed, It is also possible to cancel the execution of the pull-type printing process, send an error notification in step S116, and end the process in step S115.

  According to the print system 10 including the MFP 20 and the document management server 14 according to the first embodiment described above, pull-type printing of an encrypted PDF that could not be handled conventionally is executed without causing an error. As a result, pull-type printing with a certain level of security is realized. Thereby, the width of the file format that can be handled in pull-type printing is expanded.

  In the print system 10 of the first embodiment described above, the decryption key of the encrypted PDF file is acquired by requesting the operator to input a password via the user interface such as the operation panel 52. Hereinafter, another embodiment for more effectively realizing the decryption key of the encrypted PDF file will be described.

  The electronic document pull type printing function in the printing system 10 of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. Since the print system 10 of the second embodiment has substantially the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, the following description will mainly focus on the differences. The main parts of the hardware configuration and software configuration of the multifunction machine 20 are the same as those shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration realized in the print system 10 according to the second embodiment. It should be noted that the constituent elements included in the multifunction machine 20 and the document management server 14 in the second embodiment are given the same reference numerals if there are corresponding elements in the first embodiment.

  The functional block of the document management server 14 of the second embodiment includes a user authentication unit 184 that performs user authentication in addition to the document distribution unit 180 and the electronic document storage unit 182, and user data that stores user data used for the user authentication. The storage unit 186 and a password distribution unit 188 that distributes the password of the electronic document according to the user authentication result are configured.

  The user data storage unit 186 stores user data including information related to users who use the multifunction device 20 and the document management server 14. This user data associates a user identification name for identifying each user with verification data for authenticating each user such as a login password. When a printable role or security level is set for each document, user data is associated with each user with access control data such as a role and security level assigned to each user.

  The user authentication unit 184 receives data required for user authentication (hereinafter referred to as user authentication data) such as a user identification name and a login / password from the multi-function device 20 and collates with collation data in the user data storage unit 186. Authenticate the user. For example, the document management server 14 can generate and transmit a user page unique to the user to the authenticated user.

  The functional block of the MFP 20 shown in FIG. 7 further includes a login request unit 170. For example, the login request unit 170 transmits the user identification name and login password entered on the login page received from the document management server 14 to the document management server 14 and requests login processing to the document management server. In the present embodiment, a case where so-called BASIC authentication using a user identification name and password is used as user authentication will be described as an example. However, it goes without saying that any authentication method such as DIGEST authentication, LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) authentication, biometric authentication (including fingerprint authentication and vein authentication), or IC card authentication can be adopted for user authentication. .

  The password acquisition unit 164 of the MFP 20 according to the second embodiment causes the document management server 14 to display, for example, GET instead of displaying the dialog box 212 for requesting password input of the electronic document as illustrated in FIG. A password acquisition request is transmitted including information identifying the electronic document by the method (hereinafter referred to as document identification information) as a parameter. And the password acquisition part 164 receives a desired password by the HTTP response.

  The electronic document storage unit 182 of the document management server 14 of the present embodiment stores the set password in association with the electronic document when registering the electronic document. The password distribution unit 188 of the document management server 14 includes a permission determination unit 190 that determines whether or not the password can be transmitted to the request source according to the result of user authentication by the user authentication unit 184. The permission determination unit 190 refers to the user data in the user data storage unit 186 and determines whether or not password transmission is possible according to the authority the user has for the electronic document.

  When printing is permitted, password distribution unit 188 responds with a password in response to the password acquisition request from password acquisition unit 164. If printing is not permitted, the password distribution unit 188 responds with an error status notification. In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that a user who is authenticated by the document management server 14 is given the authority to print all electronic documents managed by the document management server 14. However, as described above, authority may be set for each electronic document and for each user.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a login process executed by the multifunction machine 20 in the print system 10 according to the second embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 8 is started from step S200 in response to, for example, the activation of the multifunction machine browser 136. In step S <b> 201, the multi-function device browser 136 designates a URL predetermined as an initial page and transmits an HTTP request for a web page acquisition request. Here, it is assumed that the login page of the document management server 14 is requested to be acquired as the initial page. In step S202, the multi-function device browser 136 receives an HTTP response including HTML data describing a login page, interprets the HTML data, and displays it on the display screen of the operation panel 52.

  In step S203, the multi-function device browser 136 monitors an event that occurs for the GUI component on the display screen, and determines whether or not a login instruction has been received. In step S203, a login instruction is awaited, and the process is looped in step S203 until the login instruction is received (during NO). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S203 that a login identification name, password, and the like have been input and the login button has been touched, an event has occurred and a login instruction has been received (YES), the process proceeds to step S204. Processing proceeds.

  In step S <b> 204, the login request unit 170 transmits an HTTP request including user authentication data, and requests the document management server 14 to log in. In step S205, the multi-function device browser 136 receives the HTTP response, interprets the HTML data, and in step S206, branches the process according to the login result.

  If the login is successful in step S206 (YES), the process proceeds to step S207. In step S207, the multi-function device browser 136 displays the user page in accordance with the interpretation of the HTML data, and ends the processing flow in step S209. This user page includes a user-specific document list generated by the document management server 14 for each user. The sessions of the MFP 20 and the document management server 14 are managed, and thereafter, the document management server 14 can identify the user until logging out.

  On the other hand, if the login has failed in step S206 (NO), the process proceeds to step S208. In step S208, the multi-function device browser 136 displays a page notifying that the login has failed according to the interpretation of the HTML data, and ends the processing flow in step S209.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a pull-type printing process executed by the multifunction machine 20 in the print system 10 according to the second embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 9 is started from step S300 after, for example, the login process shown in FIG. 8 has been successfully completed and a user page including a user-specific document list generated by the user is displayed. It is assumed that the user page has the same configuration as the document list page display screen 200 shown in FIG.

  In step S301, the MFP browser 136 monitors an event that occurs for a GUI component on the display screen (in the example of FIG. 6A, the URL display 202b), and whether a document to be printed has been selected. Determine whether or not. In step S301, the selection of a document is awaited, and the process is looped in step S301 until a document to be printed is selected (during NO). If it is determined in step S301 that a document to be printed has been selected (YES), the process proceeds to step S302. Note that the processing flow from step S302 to S304 is the same as the processing flow from step S104 to S106 shown in FIG.

  When the download of the selected PDF document is completed, in step S305, the encryption detection unit 162 determines whether the PDF document is an encrypted PDF document. If it is determined in step S305 that the file is an encrypted PDF (YES), the process proceeds to step S306. In step S306, the password acquisition unit 164 transmits a password acquisition request including electronic document identification information to be printed such as a file name and an identifier to the document management server 14, and receives the response in step S307.

  In step S308, the password acquisition unit 164 determines whether the password has been normally acquired. If it is determined in step S308 that the password has been acquired normally (YES), the process proceeds to step S309. Note that the processing flow from step S309 to S315 is the same as the processing flow from step S111 to S117 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S308 that the password has not been acquired normally (NO), the process proceeds to step S314. In this case, in step S314, the multi-function device browser 136 displays an error notification indicating that the password could not be acquired normally, and in step S313, this processing flow is terminated.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a password transmission process for an electronic document executed by the document management server 14 in the print system 10 according to the second embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 10 is started from step S400 in response to the password acquisition request in step S306 shown in FIG. In step S <b> 401, the password distribution unit 188 of the document management server 14 receives a password acquisition request from the multifunction device 20. In step S402, the permission determination unit 190 accesses the user data storage unit 186, and acquires the user's access authority to the electronic document specified from the identification information included in the password acquisition request.

  In step S403, the permission determination unit 190 determines whether or not a password can be transmitted in accordance with the user's access authority to the specified electronic document. If it is determined in step S403 that printing of the user's electronic document is possible and password transmission is permitted (YES), the password distribution unit 188 corresponds to the specified electronic document in step S404. A password is acquired from the electronic document storage unit 182, and the password is transmitted to the request source password acquisition unit 164. In step S405, the process flow ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S403 that password transmission cannot be permitted (NO), in step S406, the password distribution unit 188 transmits an error status to the request source password acquisition unit 164, and in step S405, End the processing flow.

  According to the print system 10 including the multifunction machine 20 and the document management server 14 of the second embodiment described above, the decryption key of the encrypted PDF document can be used when the user has logged in. Obtained automatically from the management server 14. For this reason, it is possible to improve user convenience in pull-type printing of encrypted PDF while ensuring a certain level of security through user authentication. In addition, since the access right can be set for each user and each electronic document, pull-type printing of the encrypted PDF document can be controlled with high flexibility.

  Hereinafter, the electronic document pull-type printing function in the printing system 10 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Since the print system 10 of the third embodiment has substantially the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, the following description will mainly focus on the differences. The main parts of the hardware configuration and software configuration of the multifunction machine 20 of the third embodiment are the same as those shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration realized in the print system 10 according to the third embodiment. It should be noted that the constituent elements included in the multifunction machine 20 and the document management server 14 in the third embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals when there are corresponding elements in the first or second embodiment.

  The functional block of the document management server 14 of the third embodiment is configured to include a device management data storage unit 192 in addition to the configuration of the second embodiment. The device management data storage unit 192 stores a permitted device list for registering devices to which usage permission is granted. This permitted device list is configured, for example, as a list of serial numbers uniquely given to the multifunction peripheral, and is set in the document management server 14 in advance.

  On the other hand, the functional block of the multifunction machine 20 of the third embodiment is configured to include a self-machine information management unit 172 in addition to the configuration of the second embodiment. The own device information management unit 172 is configured as a MIB (Management Information Base) or the like, and stores device management information such as a serial number of the multifunction device 20. In the present embodiment, the apparatus authentication is described as being performed using a serial number. However, the apparatus authentication can be performed using any information that can identify the apparatus.

  The password acquisition unit 164 of the multifunction machine 20 according to the third embodiment transmits a password acquisition request including the electronic document identification information as a parameter to the document management server 14 by, for example, the GET method. Further, the password acquisition unit 164 of the third embodiment is configured to include a device authentication request unit 174. The device authentication request unit 174 acquires the serial number of the own device from the own device information management unit 172, and acquires the password. At the time of the request, the document management server 14 is requested to perform device authentication using a serial number. And the password acquisition part 164 can receive a desired password by the HTTP response according to the result of apparatus authentication or user authentication.

  The permission determination unit 190 of the document management server 14 of this embodiment refers to the permitted device list in the device management data storage unit 192 to determine whether or not password transmission is possible. The permission determination unit 190 determines that the password can be transmitted to the device when the serial number of the MFP 20 included in the password acquisition request exists in the permitted device list. Further, when it is determined that password transmission is not possible due to device authentication, the permission determination unit 190 can further determine whether or not password transmission is possible from the result of user authentication.

  When the password transmission is permitted as a result of device authentication or user authentication, the password distribution unit 188 of the present embodiment acquires the corresponding password from the electronic document storage unit 182 in response to the password acquisition request, respond. If the password transmission is not permitted for printing according to the result of either device authentication or user authentication, the password distribution unit 188 responds with an error status notification. In the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that an apparatus registered to be usable in the document management server 14 is given the authority to print all managed electronic documents. However, it goes without saying that authority may be set in detail for each electronic document and each device.

  If the password acquisition unit 164 of the MFP 20 according to the third embodiment fails to acquire a password from the document management server 14, the password acquisition unit 164 displays a dialog box 212 shown in FIG. Twenty operators can be requested to input a password for the electronic document.

  The functional block of the multifunction machine 20 according to the third embodiment further includes a data erasing unit 176. The data erasure unit 176 explicitly erases the temporarily stored encrypted PDF document when printing is canceled halfway or when decryption of the encrypted PDF fails.

  The decryption processing unit 166 according to the present embodiment notifies the MFP browser 136 of an error when the decryption processing fails or permission to print the encrypted PDF is not obtained, and to the data erasing unit 176. Perform error notification. In response to the error notification, the data erasure unit 176 performs an erasure process on the encrypted PDF document temporarily stored in the storage area such as the HDD 34. It should be noted that the erasure processing of the encrypted PDF document can be performed by an overwrite erasure method such as NAS (US National Security Agency) method or DoD (US Department of Defense Standard) method. As a result, information leakage from the residual magnetism or the like of the HDD is preferably prevented, and security in using the encrypted PDF can be improved.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a pull-type printing process executed by the multifunction machine 20 in the print system 10 according to the third embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 12 is started from step S500 after, for example, the login process shown in FIG. 8 has been successfully completed and a user page including a user-specific document list generated by the user is displayed.

  In step S501, the MFP browser 136 monitors an event that occurs for a GUI component on the display screen (in the example of FIG. 6A, the URL display 202b), and whether a document to be printed has been selected. Determine whether or not. The process is looped through step S501 until a document to be printed is selected (during NO). If it is determined in step S501 that a document to be printed has been selected (YES), the process proceeds to step S502.

  In step S502, the device authentication request unit 174 acquires the serial number from the own device information management unit 172, and in step S503, the multifunction device browser 136 acquires the serial number and the electronic document identification information in order to acquire the selected document. Is used as a parameter of the GET method, and a print page acquisition request is sent to the document management server 14. In the present embodiment, the print page acquisition request also serves as a device authentication request and a password acquisition request.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the transmission process of the print page of the electronic document executed by the document management server 14 in the print system 10 of the third embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 13 is started from step S600 in response to the print page acquisition request by the multifunction machine 20 in step S503 shown in FIG. In step S <b> 601, the document management server 14 receives a print page acquisition request from the multifunction device 20.

  In step S602, the permission determination unit 190 accesses the device management data storage unit 192, and from the serial number included in the print page acquisition request, the permission determination unit 190 of the device for the electronic document specified from the electronic document identification information included in the print page acquisition request. Get access rights. In step S603, the permission determination unit 190 determines whether or not a password can be transmitted according to the access authority of the apparatus for the specified electronic document. If it is determined in step S603 that the electronic document of the apparatus can be printed and password transmission is permitted (YES), the process proceeds to step S606. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S603 that password transmission cannot be permitted by device authentication (NO), the process proceeds to step S604.

  In step S604, the permission determination unit 190 further accesses the user data storage unit 186, and obtains the user's access authority to the specified electronic document. If the user is not logged in, the guest user access authority is acquired. In step S605, the permission determination unit 190 determines whether or not the password can be transmitted according to the user's access authority to the specified electronic document. If it is determined in step S605 that printing of the user's electronic document is allowed and password transmission is permitted (YES), the process proceeds to step S606.

  In step S606, the password distribution unit 188 acquires a password corresponding to the specified electronic document from the electronic document storage unit 182, includes the password in the generated print page, and the document management server 14 includes the password. The HTML data of the print page is returned to the requesting multifunction machine 20, and the process flow ends in step S607.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S605 that password transmission cannot be permitted by either user authentication or device authentication (NO), the process proceeds to step S608. In step S608, the document management server 14 responds to the requesting MFP 20 with HTML data of a print page that does not include a password. In step S607, the process flow ends.

  Referring to FIG. 12 again, in step S504, the multi-function device browser 136 receives the HTTP response including the print page, interprets the HTML data, and displays it on the display screen of the operation panel 52.

  FIG. 14 illustrates a GUI displayed on the touch panel of the operation panel 52 of the multifunction machine 20 according to the third embodiment. FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating an example of a print page display screen for performing a download instruction and print instruction for a selected document. A display screen 230 shown in FIG. 14A includes a document summary display 232 indicating the document name, URL, and password acquisition status of a document selected as a print target, a download button 234 waiting for an instruction to download the document, A print button 236 that waits for a document print instruction and a cancel button 238 that waits for a print cancel instruction are included. When the download button 234 is touched on the touch panel screen, downloading of the document is started. In the display screen shown in FIG. 14A, the print button 236 is inactivated because the download is not completed.

  Referring to FIG. 12 again, in step S505, the multi-function device browser 136 monitors an event generated for a GUI component on the display screen (in the example of FIG. 14A, the download button 234), and prints. It is determined whether or not an instruction to download the target document has been received. The process is looped in step S505 until a download instruction is received (during NO). If it is determined in step S505 that a download instruction has been received (YES), the process proceeds to step S506.

  In step S506, the multi-function device browser 136 extracts a URL indicating the storage location of the document to be printed from the HTML data of the print page, makes a request for acquiring the resource of the URL to the document management server 14, and is selected. Download the downloaded document.

  When the download of the selected PDF document is completed, in step S507, the encryption detection unit 162 determines whether the PDF document is an encrypted PDF document. If it is determined in step S507 that the file is an encrypted PDF (YES), the process proceeds to step S508. In step S508, the password acquisition unit 164 determines whether the print page includes a password and the corresponding password has been acquired normally.

  If it is determined in step S508 that the corresponding password has not been acquired normally (NO), the process proceeds to step S509. In step S509, the password acquisition unit 164 displays a dialog box 212 for requesting password input as shown in FIG. 6B on a display screen such as a touch panel.

  In step S510, the multi-function device browser 136 monitors an event that occurs for the GUI component on the display screen, and determines whether or not a password has been input. The process is looped through step S510 until the password is input and determined (NO). If it is determined in step S510 that a password has been input (YES), the process proceeds to step S511. In step S511, the password acquisition unit 164 acquires a password from the value in the text box 214, closes the dialog box 212, and advances the process to step S512.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S508 that the corresponding password has been successfully acquired (YES), the process proceeds directly to step S512. In step S512, it is determined whether a print instruction for the document to be printed has been received. Until the print instruction is received in step S512 (NO), the process is looped in step S512.

  FIG. 14B is a diagram illustrating an example of a print page display screen after the download is completed. In the display screen 230 shown in FIG. 14B, the print button 236 is activated because the download is completed. Referring to FIG. 12 again, if it is determined in step S512 that an event has occurred by touching the print button 236 on the screen or the like and a print instruction has been received (YES), the process proceeds to step S513. It is advanced.

  In step S513, the decryption processing unit 166 attempts to decrypt the encrypted PDF document using the acquired password as a decryption key. In step S514, the decryption processing unit 166 determines whether or not the encrypted PDF document has been decrypted normally. If it is determined in step S514 that the encrypted PDF document has been successfully decrypted (YES), the process proceeds to step S515. In step S515, the print command unit 168 reads the decrypted document data decrypted from the encrypted PDF document, causes the engine unit 56 to print it out, and ends the processing flow in step S516.

  On the other hand, if the encrypted PDF document is not successfully decrypted in step S514 (NO), the process proceeds to step S517, and the multi-function device browser 136 notifies the screen of an error, and in step S518, The data erasure unit 176 erases the temporarily stored encrypted PDF document, and the process flow ends in step S516. If it is determined in step S507 that the file is not an encrypted PDF (NO), the process proceeds to step S519. Note that the processing from step S508 is the same as the processing flow shown in FIG.

  According to the print system 10 including the MFP 20 and the document management server 14 according to the third embodiment described above, the MFP 20 decrypts the encrypted PDF document by transmitting device authentication information such as a serial number. The key can be acquired from the document management server 14. When a password can be acquired by device authentication, complicated user login is not required. For this reason, it is possible to further improve user convenience in pull-type printing of encrypted PDF while ensuring a certain level of security.

  Further, according to the print system 10 of the third embodiment, when the password cannot be acquired by the device authentication, it is automatically switched to the password acquisition by the user authentication, and further by either the device authentication or the user authentication. If the password could not be obtained, the password can be switched to the dialog box. In this way, since password acquisition is attempted in a plurality of stages, security can be ensured while avoiding complicated input by the user as much as possible, and both security and user convenience can be achieved. In addition, since the access right can be set for each device and each electronic document, pull-type printing of the encrypted PDF document can be controlled with higher flexibility.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image processing system, the image processing apparatus, the image processing method, the program, and the like that enable processing of an encrypted PDF document and realizes pull-type printing with security ensured. A recording medium is provided.

  As an example of pull-type image output, description has been given using pull-type printing of an electronic document. However, by specifying an address indicating the storage location of electronic document data, such as facsimile transmission of an electronic document, The present invention can be applied to any image processing that is executed by acquiring electronic document data. Note that, in the MFP according to the above-described embodiment, when outputting an image of facsimile transmission, the FCU is an image output unit.

  In the above-described embodiment, the multifunction apparatus is used as an example of the image processing apparatus. However, any image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or an image communication apparatus such as a facsimile can process and output an image. It can be configured as a device.

  The above functions can be realized by computer-executable programs written in legacy programming languages such as assembler, C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark), object-oriented programming languages, and the like, such as ROM, EEPROM, EPROM, Store in a device-readable recording medium such as flash memory, flexible disk, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, Blu-ray disc, SD card, MO, or distribute it through an electric communication line can do.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described so far, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and those skilled in the art may conceive other embodiments, additions, modifications, deletions, and the like. It can be changed within the range that can be done, and any embodiment is included in the scope of the present invention as long as the effects of the present invention are exhibited.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Print system, 12 ... Network, 14 ... Document management server, 16 ... PC, 20 ... Multifunction machine, 22 ... Controller, 24 ... CPU, 26 ... System memory, 28 ... NB, 30 ... ASIC, 32 ... Local memory 34 ... HDD, 36 ... NV-RAM, 38 ... SB, 40 ... NIC, 42 ... SD card slot, 44 ... USB interface, 46 ... IEEE 1394 interface, 48 ... Centronics interface, 52 ... Operation panel, 54 ... FCU, 56 ... engine unit, 58 ... AGP, 60 ... PCI bus, 62 ... PCI bus, 100 ... software unit, 102 ... hardware unit, 104 ... MFP start-up unit, 106 ... hardware resource, 108 ... application layer 110 ... VAS, 112 ... WWW , 114 ... platform layer, 116 ... control service layer, 118 ... system resource management unit, 120 ... handler layer, 122 ... API, 124 ... engine I / F, 126 ... printer application, 128 ... copy application, 130 ... Fax application, 132 ... scanner application, 134 ... network file application, 136 ... MFP browser, 138 ... NCS, 140 ... DCS, 142 ... OCS, 144 ... FCS, 146 ... ECS, 148 ... MCS, 150 ... CCS 152 ... UCS, 154 ... SCS, 156 ... FCUH, 158 ... IMH, 160 ... document receiving unit, 162 ... encryption detection unit, 164 ... password acquisition unit, 166 ... decryption processing unit, 168 ... print command unit, 170 ... Log-in request unit, 172 ... Self-machine information management unit, 174 ... Device authentication Request section, 176 ... Data erasure section, 180 ... Document distribution section, 182 ... Electronic document storage section, 184 ... User authentication section, 186 ... User data storage section, 188 ... Password distribution section, 190 ... Permission determination section, 192 ... Device Management data storage unit, 200, 210, 220, 230 ... display screen

Japanese Patent No. 3833221 JP 2006-352845 A Japanese Patent No. 4062893

Claims (24)

An image processing system including an image processing apparatus and a server connected to the image processing apparatus via a network, wherein the image processing apparatus includes:
Document receiving means for receiving electronic document data in an encryptable format specified by an address indicating a storage position from the server via the network;
Key acquisition means for acquiring a decryption key corresponding to the electronic document data;
Detecting means for detecting that the received electronic document data is encrypted;
Decrypting means for decrypting the encrypted electronic document data using the decryption key when the electronic document data is encrypted;
Image output means for outputting an image using decrypted data decrypted from the electronic document data,
Image processing system. The server
Document storage means for storing encrypted electronic document data and a decryption key corresponding to the electronic document data in association with each other;
In response to the request from the image processing apparatus, the requested electronic document data is acquired from the document storage means, and the document transmission means for transmitting to the image processing apparatus,
2. The image according to claim 1, further comprising: a key transmission unit that corresponds to a request from the image processing device, obtains a decryption key of the requested electronic document data from the document storage unit, and transmits the decryption key to the image processing device. Processing system.   The image processing device further includes device authentication request means for transmitting device authentication information of the image processing device itself, and the server receives the decryption key according to an authentication result by the device authentication information received from the image processing device. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not to transmit.   The image processing apparatus further includes user authentication requesting means for transmitting user authentication information of a user of the image processing apparatus, and the server performs the decoding according to an authentication result by the user authentication information received from the image processing apparatus. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not to transmit a key.   5. The image processing system according to claim 1, wherein the key acquisition unit obtains an input of a decryption key via a user interface unit included in the image processing apparatus.   The image processing system according to claim 4, wherein the server continues the determination using the user authentication information when the authentication result of the device authentication information is negative.   The image processing system according to claim 5, wherein the key acquisition unit obtains the input by the user interface unit when the decryption key is not obtained by the device authentication information and the user authentication information.   The image processing apparatus further includes an erasing unit that erases the electronic document data temporarily stored in a storage device when the encrypted electronic document data cannot be decrypted. The image processing system according to any one of the above. Document receiving means for receiving electronic document data in an encryptable format specified by an address indicating a storage position via a network;
Key acquisition means for acquiring a decryption key corresponding to the electronic document data;
Detecting means for detecting that the received electronic document data is encrypted;
Decrypting means for decrypting the encrypted electronic document data using the decryption key when the electronic document data is encrypted;
Output means for outputting an image using the decrypted data decrypted from the electronic document data.   The key acquisition means gives information for identifying the electronic document data to a server that stores the decryption key in association with the encrypted electronic document data, and requests acquisition of the corresponding decryption key. The image processing apparatus according to 9.   The image processing apparatus further includes authentication request means for transmitting apparatus authentication information of the image processing apparatus itself or user authentication information of a user of the image processing apparatus in order to acquire the decryption key. The image processing apparatus according to 10.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the key acquisition unit obtains an input of a decryption key via a user interface unit included in the image processing apparatus.   The image processing apparatus further includes an erasing unit that erases the electronic document data temporarily stored in a storage device when the encrypted electronic document data cannot be decrypted. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the above. A method executed by an image processing apparatus, the method comprising:
In response to a request for image output, receiving electronic document data in an encryptable format specified by an address indicating a storage location via a network;
Detecting that the received electronic document data is encrypted;
Obtaining a decryption key corresponding to the electronic document data;
Decrypting the encrypted electronic document data using the decryption key when the electronic document data is encrypted;
Outputting an image using decrypted data decrypted from the electronic document data.   The image processing method further includes a step of requesting acquisition of a corresponding decryption key by giving information for identifying the electronic document data to a server that stores the decryption key in association with the encrypted electronic document data. The image processing method according to claim 14, comprising:   The image processing method further includes a step of transmitting device authentication information of the image processing device itself or user authentication information of a user of the image processing device for acquiring the decryption key. An image processing method described in 1.   The image processing method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, further comprising a step of obtaining an input of a decryption key via a user interface unit included in the image processing method and the image processing apparatus. A method executed between an image processing device and a server connected to the image processing device via a network, the method comprising:
The image processing apparatus, in response to an image output request, requesting the server to transmit electronic document data in an encryptable format specified by an address indicating a storage position, via the network; ,
The server transmitting the electronic document data in response to a request from the image processing apparatus;
An image processing device detecting that the received electronic document data is encrypted;
An image processing apparatus obtaining a decryption key corresponding to the electronic document data;
Decrypting the encrypted electronic document data using the decryption key when the electronic document data is encrypted;
Outputting an image using decrypted data decrypted from the electronic document data.   In the image processing method, the image processing apparatus further provides information for identifying the electronic document data to the server that stores the decryption key in association with the encrypted electronic document data, and performs the corresponding decryption. The image processing method according to claim 18, comprising: requesting a key; and the server responding to a request from the image processing apparatus and transmitting the corresponding decryption key to the image processing apparatus.   The image processing method further includes the step of the image processing apparatus transmitting apparatus authentication information of the image processing apparatus itself, and the server according to the authentication result by the apparatus authentication information received from the image processing apparatus, 20. The image processing method according to claim 18, further comprising a step of determining whether or not to transmit a decryption key.   The image processing method further includes a step in which the image processing device transmits user authentication information of a user who uses the image processing device, and an authentication result according to the user authentication information received by the server from the image processing device. The image processing method according to claim 18, further comprising a step of determining whether or not to transmit the decryption key.   The image processing method according to any one of claims 18 to 21, further comprising a step in which the image processing apparatus requests input of a decryption key via user interface means included in the image processing apparatus. Image processing method.   14. An apparatus-executable program for causing an image processing apparatus to function as each unit according to claim 9.   24. A device-readable recording medium storing the device-executable program according to claim 23.

Images