JP2016119106A - Information processing apparatus, management method, and management program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing apparatus configured to efficiently manage data, a management method, and a management program.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus 100 is connected to an image processing apparatus 400 that executes a job, and includes a data management section 12 which accumulates unconverted data which is data received at the time of job submission and converted data formed by converting the unconverted data to data to be executed in an electronic device, by job, to manage jobs. The management section determines whether the unconverted data and/or the converted data satisfy a deletion condition for controlling deletion of the accumulated data, on the basis of the condition of a control information holding section 80 with the deletion condition set thereto, to delete data satisfying the condition.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for managing job data of stored jobs.

  In recent years, information terminals such as smartphones and tablet personal computers (PCs) have become widespread. Such information terminals are used not only for personal use but also for business use. For example, an information terminal requests printing from an image processing apparatus such as a printer installed in an office environment. A scene can be considered.

  Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151820 discloses a technique in which a print server receives application data from a mobile terminal, converts it into printable data (executes rendering processing), and transmits the print data to a printer.

  However, the conventional method has a problem in data management in the server. Conventionally, in consideration of user convenience, application data of pre-conversion data and print data of post-conversion data are held and managed in a print server. However, since the storage area of the storage device provided in the print server is limited, it is desirable to efficiently use the limited storage area and perform data management.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and provides an information processing apparatus, a management method, and a management program capable of efficient data management.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus connected to an electronic device that executes a job, and includes pre-conversion data and pre-conversion data that are received data when a job is submitted. The post-conversion data converted into data executable by the electronic device is stored in units of jobs, and has management means for managing jobs, and the management means is set with a deletion condition for controlling deletion of the stored data. On the basis of the control information, it is determined whether or not the pre-conversion data and / or the post-conversion data satisfy a deletion condition, and data that satisfies the condition is deleted.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus, a management method, and a management program that can perform efficient data management.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the management system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the management apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the management function which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of data of the management information which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of data of the control information which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence example of the data management which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence example (the 1) of the deletion condition determination which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence example (the 2) of the deletion condition determination which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence example (the 3) of the deletion condition determination which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence example (the 4) of the deletion condition determination which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the management function which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of data of the user information which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of data of the control information which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence example of the data management which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the example of a process sequence of the deletion condition determination which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the management function which concerns on the modification 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the management function which concerns on the modification 2 of this invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiments”) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a management system 1 according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 1, one or a plurality of information terminals 300 _{1 to} 300 _n (hereinafter collectively referred to as “information terminal 300”), one or a plurality of image processing apparatuses 400 _{1 to} 400 _n (hereinafter collectively referred to as “image processing apparatus”). 400 ”), an example of a system configuration in which the management apparatus 100 and the conversion apparatus 200 are connected via an external network I such as the Internet.

  The information terminal 300 is a device having an information processing function and excellent in portability, such as a smartphone or a tablet PC. The image processing apparatus 400 is a device having an image processing function including printing, and is a printer, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), or the like.

  The management device 100 is a device having a data management function for stored jobs including storage / management of jobs input from the information terminal 300 and provision of stored jobs in accordance with requests from the image processing device 400. For example, a management server. The conversion apparatus 200 is a device having a data conversion function for converting a job input to the management apparatus 100 into data executable by the image processing apparatus 400 as an output destination, and is a data conversion server or the like.

  The management system 1 provides the following job execution service with the above system configuration. Here, push printing and pull printing by the print job execution service will be described as an example.

《Push printing》
The information terminal 300 transmits application data to the management apparatus 100 and submits a print job. At this time, the information terminal 300 designates the image processing apparatus 400 as an output destination. In response to this, the management apparatus 100 transmits the received data to the conversion apparatus 200 and requests conversion to print data. At this time, the management apparatus 100 passes an output destination designation to the conversion apparatus 200.

  As a result, the conversion device 200 converts the received data into print data based on the output destination designation, and responds to the requesting management device 100 with the print data. In response to this, the management apparatus 100 transmits print data to the image processing apparatus 400 designated as the output destination. Thereby, printing is executed in the image processing apparatus 400.

<Pull printing>
The information terminal 300 transmits application data to the management apparatus 100 and submits a print job. As a result, the management apparatus 100 accumulates the received data and waits until a print request is received from the image processing apparatus 400. In the meantime, the image processing apparatus 400 requests the management apparatus 100 to execute printing when receiving a print job designation and print instruction to be executed by a screen operation from the user. At this time, the image processing apparatus 400 passes the print job designation and the output destination designation indicating the own apparatus to the management apparatus 100. In response to this, the management apparatus 100 identifies the corresponding data from the stored received data based on the print job designation, transmits the identified data to the conversion apparatus 200, and requests conversion to print data. At this time, the management apparatus 100 passes an output destination designation to the conversion apparatus 200.

  As a result, the conversion device 200 converts the received data into print data based on the output destination designation, and responds to the requesting management device 100 with the print data. In response to this, the management apparatus 100 transmits print data to the image processing apparatus 400 designated as the output destination. Thereby, printing is executed in the image processing apparatus 400.

  As described above, the management system 1 according to the present embodiment can provide a print job execution service that can be used even from an information terminal 300 that does not have a data conversion function, such as a printer driver.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the management device 100 includes an input device 101, a display device 102, an external I / F 103, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 104, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 105, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 106, a communication. An I / F 107, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 108, and the like are provided and are connected to each other via a bus B.

  The input device 101 includes a keyboard and a mouse and is used to input each operation signal to the management device 100. The display device 102 includes a display and the like, and displays a processing result by the management device 100.

  The communication I / F 107 is an interface that connects the management apparatus 100 to a network. Accordingly, the management apparatus 100 can perform data communication with other devices (“conversion apparatus”, “information terminal”, and “image processing apparatus”) via the communication I / F 107.

  The HDD 108 is a non-volatile storage device that stores programs and data. The stored programs and data include an OS (Operating System) that is basic software for controlling the entire apparatus, and application software that provides various functions on the OS. The HDD 108 manages stored programs and data by a predetermined file system and / or DB (Data Base).

  The external I / F 103 is an interface with an external device. The external device includes a recording medium 103a. Thereby, the management apparatus 100 can read and / or write to the recording medium 103a via the external I / F 103. The recording medium 103a includes a floppy (trademark or registered trademark) disk, a CD (Compact Disk), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an SD memory card, a USB memory (Universal Serial Bus memory), and the like. is there.

  The ROM 105 is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can retain internal data even when the power is turned off. The ROM 105 stores programs and data such as BIOS (Basic Input / Output System), OS settings, and network settings that are executed when the management apparatus 100 is activated. The RAM 104 is a volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that temporarily stores programs and data. The CPU 106 is an arithmetic device that realizes control and mounting functions of the entire apparatus by reading programs and data from the storage device (for example, “HDD” and “ROM”) onto the RAM and executing processing.

  As described above, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can provide various information processing services including management of stored data by the above hardware configuration.

<Management function>
A management function according to the present embodiment will be described.
The management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment holds control information in which a deletion condition for controlling deletion of stored data is set. Based on the control information, the management apparatus 100 determines whether or not the stored data satisfies the deletion condition, and deletes the stored data that satisfies the condition. The management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has such a management function.

  For example, the user submits a job to the management apparatus 100 and not only executes the job on the desired image processing apparatus 400 but also designates a submission job from the image processing apparatus 400 and designates the input from the management apparatus 100 There are times when you want to get a job and execute it. In this case, the following convenience is required from the user. The point is that the designated input job can be quickly executed by the image processing apparatus 400, and the execution condition of the designated input job can be changed from the image processing apparatus 400.

  In the conventional data management, in consideration of the above points, the configuration is such that the pre-conversion data and the post-conversion data are managed in a management device for one job, and data management that efficiently uses a finite storage area is performed. It was not done.

  In view of this, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has a mechanism in which pre-conversion data and post-conversion data managed in units of jobs are deleted in units of data according to predetermined control conditions.

  Thereby, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment provides an environment in which data can be accumulated using a finite storage area efficiently. As a result, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can efficiently manage data.

The configuration and operation of the management function according to this embodiment will be described below.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the management function according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, the management function according to the present embodiment includes a data conversion control unit 11, a data management unit 12, a data conversion unit 21, a data transmission unit 31, an execution control unit 41, and the like.

  The data conversion control unit 11 and the data management unit 12 are functions that the management device 100 has. The data conversion unit 21 is a functional unit included in the conversion device 200. The data transmission unit 31 is a functional unit included in the information terminal 300. The execution control unit 41 is a functional unit included in the image processing apparatus 400.

  As described above, the management function according to the present embodiment is realized by the cooperative operation of the functional units included in each device.

<Image processing device>
The execution control unit 41 is a functional unit that controls job execution. The execution control unit 41 receives job data from the management apparatus 100 and executes a job according to predetermined execution conditions.

  For example, in the case of push printing, print data is transmitted from the management apparatus 100 to the image processing apparatus 400 that is the output destination. The execution control unit 41 executes the received print data according to predetermined printing conditions. In the case of pull printing, the image processing apparatus 400 acquires a user job list (an information list related to a user's stored job) from the management apparatus 100. The image processing apparatus 400 displays the acquired job list and accepts an execution job designation from the user. The image processing apparatus 400 acquires the print data of the designated execution job from the management apparatus 100. The execution control unit 41 executes the acquired print data according to predetermined printing conditions.

《Information terminal》
The data transmission unit 31 is a functional unit that transmits job data and requests job accumulation. The data transmission unit 31 transmits job data of an accumulation job designated by the user to the management apparatus 100 and requests job accumulation. In the present embodiment, since job data is transmitted from the information terminal 300 to the management apparatus 100 and can be converted into data that can be executed by the image processing apparatus 400, the user can convert pre-conversion data such as application data into the stored job. Can be specified as job data. Therefore, the data transmission unit 31 transmits the pre-conversion data to the management apparatus 100.

<Conversion device>
The data conversion unit 21 is a functional unit that converts data that can be executed by the image processing apparatus 400. The conversion device 200 receives the pre-conversion data and the output destination designation from the management device 100 and receives a data conversion request. Based on the output destination designation, the data conversion unit 21 converts the pre-conversion data into data that can be executed by the output destination image processing apparatus 400 and generates post-conversion data. The data conversion unit 21 responds to the request source (management device) with the generated converted data.

《Management device》
The data conversion control unit 11 is a functional unit that transmits pre-conversion data and requests data conversion. The data conversion control unit 11 receives pre-conversion data and output destination designation from the data management unit 12 described later, and receives a data conversion request. The data conversion control unit 11 transmits the pre-conversion data and the output destination designation to the conversion device 200 and requests data conversion. When receiving the converted data from the conversion device 200, the data conversion control unit 11 responds to the request source (data management unit).

  The data management unit 12 is a functional unit that manages data of stored jobs. The data management unit 12 manages stored jobs using the management information held by the management information holding unit 90. The management information holding unit 90 corresponds to a predetermined storage area of a storage device included in the management device 100.

Here, the management information will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data example of the management information 90D according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 4, the management information 90D includes one or a plurality of information sets in which information items such as job identification, user identification, file name, execution condition, reception date and time, and data relation are associated with each other. Information sets are managed on a job-by-job basis.

  The [Job Identification] item is an item that holds job identification information for identifying a job, and the item value includes an identifier (job ID) issued (numbered) when a job accumulation request is received. This item value is registered by the data management unit 12 when the management apparatus 100 receives a job accumulation request from the information terminal 300.

  The [User Identification] item is an item that holds user identification information for identifying a user, and the item value includes an identifier (user) that is assigned to the user who requested job storage (stored job owner) ID). The [File Name] item holds file name information indicating the file name of job data, and the item value includes the data name of job data received when a job storage request is received. The [Execution Condition] item is an item that holds execution condition information indicating a job execution condition, and the item value includes a print condition setting value set for the print job. Each item value is registered based on the value (bibliographic information) obtained from the analysis result obtained by analyzing the received data when the job storage request is made by the data management unit 12. When the management apparatus 100 receives an execution condition change request from the image processing apparatus 400, the [execution condition] item value is updated by the data management unit 12 based on the changed content.

  The [Reception Date / Time] item is an item for holding reception date / time information indicating the reception date / time of job data, and the item value includes a reception date / time value of a job storage request. This item value is registered by the data management unit 12 when the management apparatus 100 receives a job accumulation request from the information terminal 300.

  [Data related] item is an item for holding data related information of job data. The data related information is divided into pre-conversion data and post-conversion data, and each data has the following item values. In the item value of the pre-conversion data, a value indicating whether or not data such as “◯” or “×” is accumulated (hereinafter referred to as “data presence / absence value”), and a value indicating a data size such as N [KB]. (Hereinafter referred to as “data size value”), URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) and other values indicating the data storage destination (hereinafter referred to as “storage destination path”). In addition, the item value of the converted data includes a data format value (hereinafter referred to as “data type value”) such as a PDL (Page Description Language) identifier in addition to the data presence / absence value, data size value, and storage destination path. There is. Each item value of the pre-conversion data is registered when the management apparatus 100 stores the pre-conversion data received when the data storage unit 12 receives the job storage request. Each item value of the converted data is stored when the management apparatus 100 accumulates the converted data received (received from the data conversion control unit) by the data management unit 12 when the data conversion response is received from the conversion device 200. be registered. At this time, the data management unit 12 passes the pre-conversion data and the output destination designation received at the time of accepting the job accumulation request to the data conversion control unit 11 and requests the conversion device 200 for data conversion.

  Thus, in the management information 90D, pre-conversion data and post-conversion data are managed in units of jobs.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The data management unit 12 performs the following data management. The data management unit 12 deletes job data (pre-conversion data and post-conversion data) accumulated in units of jobs based on the control information held by the control information holding unit 80 in units of data. The control information holding unit 80 corresponds to a predetermined storage area of a storage device included in the management apparatus 100.

Here, the control information will be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data example of the control information 80D according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 5, the control information 80D is setting information of deletion conditions for controlling the deletion of accumulated job data, and one or a plurality of pieces of information in which information items such as attributes and determination reference values are associated with each other. These information sets are managed in units of deletion conditions.

  The [Attribute] item is an item that holds a determination attribute value indicating a determination attribute of a deletion condition to be applied to deletion target data. The determination attribute value is associated with a type value indicating the type of data to be deleted and a type value indicating the type of the determination parameter. The type value of the data to be deleted includes “data before conversion” and “data after conversion”, and the type value of the determination parameter includes “accumulation period”, “data size”, “data type”, and the like. The “judgment criterion” item is an item that holds a criterion value indicating a criterion for the deletion condition. The determination reference value includes a threshold value corresponding to a determination parameter at the time of deletion condition determination. The control information 80D is set in advance by the administrator in consideration of the operation policy of the storage destination storage area (the storage device provided in the management apparatus).

  For example, the following deletion conditions are set in the control information 80D shown in FIG. Among the accumulated job data, the pre-conversion data determines whether or not the deletion condition based on whether the data accumulation period exceeds “1 month” and the data size is “10 MB” or more. The reference deletion condition is set. The converted data includes a deletion condition based on whether or not the data accumulation period exceeds “one day”, a deletion condition based on whether or not the data size is “100 MB” or more, A deletion condition is set based on whether or not the data type as the conversion format is RPCS (predetermined PDL). In addition, a deletion condition based on whether or not the free capacity of the storage area of the storage destination is “2 GB” or less is set for both the pre-conversion and post-conversion data.

  Thus, the deletion condition is applied to the stored job in units of data when determining the deletion condition.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The data management unit 12 specifies data to be deleted based on the management information 90D. The data management unit 12 specifies a deletion condition to be applied to the specified deletion target data based on the control information 80D. The data management unit 12 determines whether or not the deletion target data satisfies the deletion condition. If the deletion target data satisfies the deletion condition, the data management unit 12 deletes the deletion target data, and deletes the management information 90D (information item of the corresponding information set). Value). The data management unit 12 executes this data deletion process according to a predetermined schedule (for example, “predetermined execution timing”).

  Thereby, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment deletes the pre-conversion data and the post-conversion data managed in units of jobs in units of data according to a predetermined control condition, and a finite storage area (storage apparatus corresponding to the accumulation destination). Provide a job storage environment that efficiently uses jobs.

  As described above, the management function according to the present embodiment is realized by the above-described functional units working together. Note that each of the above functional units has a program (software that implements a management function) installed (installed) in the management apparatus 100, and is stored in a memory (“HDD” or “ROM”) from a storage device (“HDD” or “ROM”). RAM) and the following processing is executed.

  A detailed operation of the management function according to the present embodiment (cooperation operation of the functional unit group) will be described using a flowchart showing a processing procedure.

<< Basic data management process >>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a data management processing procedure according to the present embodiment. The process illustrated in FIG. 6 is a process executed by the data management unit 12 included in the management apparatus 100.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the data management unit 12 accesses the control information holding unit 80, refers to the control information 80D (step S101), and obtains the determination attribute value of the set deletion condition from the control information 80D. (Step S102).

  The data management unit 12 accesses the management information holding unit 90, refers to the management information 90D (step S103), and deletes the data to be deleted for each stored job based on the data presence / absence value of the data related information included in the management information 90D. The presence / absence (presence / absence of pre-conversion data and post-conversion data) is confirmed (step S104).

  The data management unit 12 specifies the type value of the determination parameter associated with the type value corresponding to the deletion target data from the acquired determination attribute value based on the confirmation result of the presence / absence of data, and the type value of the specified determination parameter The determination reference value associated with is specified (step S105). At this time, for example, when the determination attribute value is acquired from the control information 80D illustrated in FIG. 5, the data management unit 12 specifies the type value and determination reference value of the determination parameter as follows. When the confirmation result “with pre-conversion data” is obtained, from the determination attribute value, the determination parameter type values “accumulation period” and “data size” associated with the pre-conversion data, and the determination parameter type The determination reference values “1 month” and “10 MB” associated with the value are specified. On the other hand, when the confirmation result of “with converted data” is obtained, the type values “accumulation period”, “data size”, and “data type” of the determination parameter associated with the converted data are determined from the determination attribute value. And the determination reference values “1 month”, “100 MB”, and “RPCS” associated with the type value of the determination parameter. In addition, in the case where the confirmation result of “there is any data” of the pre-conversion data or the post-conversion data is obtained, in addition to the above values, the judgment parameter type value “free capacity” and the judgment criterion Specify the value “2 GB”.

  As a result, the determination parameter and determination criterion for the deletion condition to be applied to the deletion target data are determined.

  The data management unit 12 acquires the determination parameter value of the data to be deleted from the reception date information and the data related information included in the management information 90D based on the identified determination parameter type value (step S106). At this time, the data management unit 12 acquires the determination parameter value as follows. When the type value of the determination parameter is “accumulation period”, the elapsed date and time since the deletion target data is stored is calculated based on the value of the reception date and time and the current date and time, and the calculated value is acquired as the determination parameter value To do. When the type value of the determination parameter is “data size”, the data size value of the data related information is acquired as the determination parameter value. When the type value of the determination parameter is “data type”, the data type value of the data related information is acquired as the determination parameter value. When the type value of the determination parameter is “free capacity”, a system value indicating the free capacity of the storage area of the accumulation destination is acquired as the determination parameter value.

  Based on the comparison result between the obtained determination parameter value and the determination reference value, the data management unit 12 determines whether the deletion target data satisfies the deletion condition determination criterion (step S107). Details of the deletion condition determination process performed at this time will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  When the deletion target data satisfies the deletion condition (step S107: YES), the data management unit 12 deletes the deletion target data based on the accumulation destination path of the data related information included in the management information 90D (step S108). ), Among the data related information included in the management information 90D, the data related information corresponding to the deleted data is updated (step S109). At this time, the data management unit 12 updates the data presence / absence value of the data-related information from “◯” to “×”, and updates the data size value and the storage destination path to the default value (NULL) (after the deleted data is converted) If it is data, the data type value is included).

  Based on the management information 90D, the data management unit 12 determines whether or not the deletion condition determination process has been executed for all stored jobs (step S110). If the data to be deleted does not satisfy the deletion condition (step S107: NO), the data management unit 12 skips the processing of steps S108 and S109 (data deletion / management information update) and performs the processing of step S110. Move to (Execution Judgment).

  If the deletion condition determination process has not been executed for all stored jobs (step S110: NO), the data management unit 12 proceeds to the process of step S103 (refer to management information) and stores unprocessed storage. To the job.

  Hereinafter, detailed processing (details of determination parameter value acquisition, deletion condition determination, data deletion, and management information update) in steps S106 to S109 will be described for each deletion condition.

<< Deletion condition determination process: Part 1 >>
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure example of deletion condition determination according to the present embodiment (part 1). The process shown in FIG. 7 is an example when the type value of the determination parameter identified from the determination attribute value is “accumulation period”.

  As illustrated in FIG. 7, the data management unit 12 uses the elapsed date and time value calculated from the reception date and time information included in the management information 90D based on the identified determination parameter type value “accumulation period” as the determination parameter for the deletion target data. Obtained as a value (step S106).

  The data management unit 12 determines whether or not the elapsed date and time of the acquired determination parameter value (the elapsed date and time of the deletion target data) exceeds the determination reference value (step S107). At this time, the data management unit 12 determines whether the accumulation period has been exceeded as follows. If the pre-conversion data is the data to be deleted from the result of confirming whether or not there is data, it is determined whether or not the elapsed date and time exceeds “1 month”. Further, when the converted data is the data to be deleted, it is determined whether or not the elapsed date and time exceeds “1 day”.

  When the data management unit 12 determines that the elapsed date and time exceeds the determination reference value (satisfies the deletion condition) (step S107: YES), the data management unit 12 deletes the data to be deleted (step S108), and the management information 90D The relevant data related information is updated (step S109).

  In this way, the management apparatus 100 deletes data that has passed a predetermined accumulation period from the accumulated job data.

<< Deletion Condition Judgment Processing: Part 2 >>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure example (part 2) of the deletion condition determination according to the present embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 8 is an example when the type values of the determination parameter specified from the determination attribute value are “data size” and “free capacity”.

  As illustrated in FIG. 8, the data management unit 12 stores the data size value of the data related information included in the management information 90 </ b> D and the storage destination based on the identified determination parameter type values “data size” and “free space”. The free space value of the area is acquired as the determination parameter value of the data to be deleted (step S106).

  The data management unit 12 determines whether or not the free space (the free space in the storage area of the storage destination) of the acquired determination parameter value is equal to or less than the determination reference value “2 GB” (step S1071).

  When the data management unit 12 determines that the free space is equal to or less than the determination reference value (satisfies the deletion condition) (step S1071: YES), the data size (data size of the deletion target data) of the acquired determination parameter value is determined. It is determined whether or not the reference value is exceeded (step S1072). At this time, the data management unit 12 determines whether the data size is exceeded as follows. From the result of confirming the presence or absence of data, if the pre-conversion data is to be deleted, it is determined whether or not the data size exceeds “10 MB”. Further, when the converted data is the data to be deleted, it is determined whether or not the data size exceeds “100 MB”.

  When the data management unit 12 determines that the data size exceeds the determination reference value (the deletion condition is satisfied) (step S1072: YES), the data management unit 12 deletes the data to be deleted (step S108), and the management information 90D The relevant data related information is updated (step S109).

  As described above, the management apparatus 100 deletes data having a predetermined data size or more from the stored job data when the free space at the storage destination becomes equal to or less than the predetermined capacity.

<< Deletion condition determination process: Part 3 >>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for determining the deletion condition according to the present embodiment (part 3). The process shown in FIG. 9 is an example when the type value of the determination parameter identified from the determination attribute value is “data type”.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the data management unit 12 uses the data type value of the data related information included in the management information 90D as the determination parameter value of the deletion target data based on the specified determination parameter type value “data type”. Obtain (step S106).

  The data management unit 12 determines whether or not the data type of the acquired determination parameter value (data type of the deletion target data) matches the determination reference value (step S107).

  When the data management unit 12 determines that the data type matches the determination reference value (step S107: YES), the data management unit 12 deletes the converted data that is the data to be deleted (step S1081), and the data type is the determination reference. If it is determined that the values do not match (step S107: NO), the pre-conversion data that is the data to be deleted is deleted (step S1082).

  The data management unit 12 updates the relevant data related information in the management information 90D (step S109).

  As described above, the management apparatus 100 deletes pre-conversion data or post-conversion data from the accumulated job data based on a predetermined data type. The job data may have different data sizes before and after conversion. For example, the post-conversion data may be larger than the pre-conversion data depending on the data type of the conversion format. In such a case, the corresponding post-conversion data is deleted from the accumulated job data based on the data type of the conversion format that increases in size.

<< Deletion Condition Determination Processing: Part 4 >>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure example (No. 4) for determining the deletion condition according to the present embodiment. The process illustrated in FIG. 10 is an example when the type value of the determination parameter identified from the determination attribute value is “data size”.

  As illustrated in FIG. 10, the data management unit 12 uses the data size value of the data related information included in the management information 90D as the determination parameter value of the deletion target data based on the identified determination parameter type value “data size”. Obtain (step S106).

  The data management unit 12 determines whether the data size before conversion is larger than the data size after conversion based on the data size of the obtained determination parameter value (data size of data to be deleted) (step S107).

  If the data management unit 12 determines that the pre-conversion data size is larger than the post-conversion data size (step S107: YES), the data management unit 12 deletes the pre-conversion data that is the data to be deleted (step S1081). If it is determined that the data size is smaller than the converted data size (step S107: NO), the converted data that is the data to be deleted is deleted (step S1082).

  The data management unit 12 updates the relevant data related information in the management information 90D (step S109).

  As described above, the management apparatus 100 deletes the larger pre-conversion data or post-conversion data from the accumulated job data based on the comparison result of the data size of the pre-conversion data and the post-conversion data. .

<Summary>
As described above, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment holds the control information 80D in which the deletion condition for controlling the deletion of the accumulated job data is set. Based on the control information 80D, the management apparatus 100 determines whether the accumulated job data satisfies the deletion condition based on the control information 80D, and deletes the job data that satisfies the condition.

  Accordingly, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can provide a job storage environment that efficiently uses a finite storage area, and can efficiently perform data management.

  In the above embodiment, the determination process for each deletion condition has been described. The determination process may be a combination of a plurality of deletion conditions.

[Second Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, a technique is proposed in which a value obtained from user information is used as a determination parameter value for a deletion condition.

  As a result, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment provides an environment in which data can be stored by efficiently using a finite storage area and considering user convenience.

  Hereinafter, only matters different from the first embodiment will be described, and the same matters will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

<Management function>
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a management function according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 11, the management function according to the present embodiment has a user information holding unit 70.

  The user information holding unit 70 corresponds to a predetermined storage area of a storage device included in the management apparatus 100 and holds user information including various types of information related to users.

Here, the user information will be described.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a data example of the user information 70D according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 12, the user information 70D includes one or a plurality of information sets associated with information items such as user identification, user name, contact information, usage history (execution frequency), etc. Are managed on a per-user basis.

  The [user identification] item is an item that holds user identification information, and the item value includes an identifier (user ID) assigned to a user who uses the service.

  The [user name] item is an item that holds user name information indicating the name of the user, and the item value includes the name of the user received at the time of use registration of the service.

  The [Contact] item holds contact information indicating the contact information to the user, and the item value includes the user's e-mail address and telephone number received at the time of registration for use of the service. These item values are registered by the data management unit 12 based on the input values at the time of use registration received by the management apparatus 100 via a predetermined input screen.

  The [Usage history (execution frequency)] item is an item that holds usage history information in which a user's usage history is recorded. The item value includes a usage value issued when using the service (for example, the print function). In this case, there is a cumulative value for each device / function (for example, “counter value” in the case of a print function). This item value is recorded (registered / updated) by the data management unit 12 based on the usage value for each device / function included in the execution job completion notification received by the management device 100 from the image processing device 400 (execution control unit). Is done.

  In this embodiment, the control information holding unit 80 holds the control information 80D in which the information item of the user information 70D is set as the type value of the determination parameter of the deletion condition.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a data example of the control information 80D according to the present embodiment.
For example, the following deletion conditions are set in the control information 80D shown in FIG. Of the accumulated job data, both pre-conversion and post-conversion data are set with a deletion condition based on whether or not the usage history (execution frequency) is “100” or more. As a result, the deletion condition based on the user information 70D is applied to the accumulated job data when the deletion condition is determined.

  Returning to the description of FIG. The data management unit 12 specifies data to be deleted based on the management information 90D. The data management unit 12 specifies a deletion condition to be applied to the specified deletion target data based on the control information 80D. At this time, the data management unit 12 acquires a determination parameter value (corresponding user information) used when determining the deletion condition from the user information 70D based on the specified deletion condition. The data management unit 12 determines whether or not the deletion target data satisfies the deletion condition. If the deletion target data satisfies the deletion condition, the data management unit 12 deletes the deletion target data and updates the deletion data management information 90D. The data management unit 12 executes this data deletion process according to a predetermined schedule. Accordingly, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment provides a job storage environment that efficiently uses a finite storage area.

  As described above, the management function according to the present embodiment is realized by the above-described functional units working together.

<< Basic data management process >>
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of data management according to the present embodiment. The process illustrated in FIG. 14 is a process executed by the data management unit 12 included in the management apparatus 100.

  As illustrated in FIG. 14, the data management unit 12 accesses the control information holding unit 80, refers to the control information 80D (step S201), and acquires the determination attribute value of the set deletion condition from the control information 80D. (Step S202).

  The data management unit 12 accesses the management information holding unit 90 and the user information holding unit 70, and refers to the management information 90D and the user information 70D (step S203).

  The data management unit 12 checks the presence / absence of data to be deleted (presence / absence of pre-conversion data and post-conversion data) for each accumulation job based on the data presence / absence value of the data-related information included in the management information 90D (step S204).

  The data management unit 12 specifies the type value of the determination parameter associated with the type value corresponding to the deletion target data from the acquired determination attribute value based on the confirmation result of the presence / absence of data, and the type value of the specified determination parameter The determination reference value associated with is specified (step S205). At this time, for example, when the determination attribute value is acquired from the control information 80D shown in FIG. 13, the data management unit 12 specifies the type value and determination reference value of the determination parameter as follows. When the confirmation result “with pre-conversion data” is obtained, from the determination attribute value, the determination parameter type values “accumulation period” and “data size” associated with the pre-conversion data, and the determination parameter type The determination reference values “1 month” and “10 MB” associated with the value are specified. On the other hand, when the confirmation result of “with converted data” is obtained, the type values “accumulation period”, “data size”, and “data type” of the determination parameter associated with the converted data are determined from the determination attribute value. And the determination reference values “1 month”, “100 MB”, and “RPCS” associated with the type value of the determination parameter. In addition, in the case where the confirmation result of “there is any data” of the pre-conversion data or the post-conversion data is obtained, in addition to the above values, the determination parameter value from the determination attribute value “free space” and “use” “History (execution frequency)” and determination reference values “2 GB” and “100” are specified.

  As a result, the determination parameter and determination criterion for the deletion condition to be applied to the deletion target data are determined.

  Based on the type value of the specified determination parameter, the data management unit 12 determines the determination parameter value of the data to be deleted from the reception date / time information, the data related information included in the management information 90D, and the usage history information included in the user information 70D. Is acquired (step S206). At this time, the data management unit 12 acquires the determination parameter value as follows. When the type value of the determination parameter is “accumulation period”, the elapsed date and time since the deletion target data is stored is calculated based on the value of the reception date and time and the current date and time, and the calculated value is acquired as the determination parameter value To do. When the type value of the determination parameter is “data size”, the data size value of the data related information is acquired as the determination parameter value. When the type value of the determination parameter is “data type”, the data type value of the data related information is acquired as the determination parameter value. When the type value of the determination parameter is “free capacity”, a system value indicating the free capacity of the storage area of the accumulation destination is acquired as the determination parameter value. When the type value of the determination parameter is “use history (execution frequency)”, the recorded value of the use history is determined from the user information 70D based on the user identification information of the data to be deleted included in the management information 90D. Get as a parameter value.

  Based on the comparison result between the obtained determination parameter value and the determination reference value, the data management unit 12 determines whether or not the deletion target data satisfies the determination criterion of the deletion condition (step S207). Details of the deletion condition determination process based on the user information 70D performed at this time will be described later with reference to FIG.

  When the deletion target data satisfies the deletion condition (step S207: YES), the data management unit 12 deletes the deletion target data based on the accumulation destination path of the data related information included in the management information 90D (step S208). ) Of the data related information included in the management information 90D, the data related information corresponding to the deleted data is updated (step S209). At this time, the data management unit 12 updates the data presence / absence value of the data-related information from “◯” to “×”, and updates the data size value and the accumulation destination path to the default value (NULL).

  Based on the management information 90D, the data management unit 12 determines whether or not the deletion condition determination process has been executed for all stored jobs (step S210). If the data to be deleted does not satisfy the deletion condition (step S207: NO), the data management unit 12 skips the processing of steps S208 and S209 (data deletion / management information update) and performs the processing of step S210. Move to (Execution Judgment).

  When the deletion condition determination process is not executed for all accumulated jobs (step S210: NO), the data management unit 12 proceeds to the process of step S203 (see management information / user information), Perform for unprocessed stored jobs.

  In the following, detailed processing of steps S206 to S209 (details of determination parameter value acquisition from user information, determination of deletion conditions based on user information, data deletion, and management information update) will be described.

<< Determination processing based on user information >>
FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for deletion condition determination according to the present embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 15 is an example when the type value of the determination parameter identified from the determination attribute value is “use history (execution frequency)”.

  As illustrated in FIG. 15, the data management unit 12 determines the value of the usage history information included in the user information 70 </ b> D as the deletion target data based on the identified determination parameter type value “usage history (execution frequency)”. Obtained as a parameter value (step S206).

  The data management unit 12 determines whether or not the usage history of the acquired determination parameter value (the usage history of the data to be deleted) is greater than or equal to the determination reference value (step S207). At this time, the data management unit 12 determines whether the usage history is exceeded as follows. If the pre-conversion data and / or the post-conversion data is the data to be deleted, it is determined whether or not the usage history exceeds “100” based on the data presence / absence confirmation result.

  If the data management unit 12 determines that the usage history is greater than or equal to the determination reference value (step S207: YES), the data management unit 12 deletes the pre-conversion data that is the data to be deleted (step S2081), and determines that the usage history is less than the determination reference value. If so (step S207: NO), the post-conversion data that is the data to be deleted is deleted (step S2082).

  The data management unit 12 updates the relevant data related information in the management information 90D (step S209).

  In this way, the management apparatus 100 deletes the pre-conversion data or post-conversion data from the accumulated job data based on the usage history (execution frequency). In the image processing apparatus 400, a job is executed based on the converted data. That is, the usage history (execution frequency) is a value calculated from the number of executions of the converted data. Therefore, when the usage history is equal to or greater than the predetermined number (judgment criterion), it means that the job is executed mainly based on the converted data. For this reason, based on the usage history, post-conversion data that is frequently used at the time of job execution is left, and pre-conversion data that is less frequent is deleted from the accumulated job data.

<Summary>
As described above, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment holds the control information 80D in which the deletion condition for controlling the deletion of the accumulated job data is set. Based on the control information 80D, the management apparatus 100 determines whether or not the accumulated job data satisfies the deletion condition according to the user information 70D, and deletes job data that satisfies the condition.

  As a result, the management apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment can provide an environment that can efficiently use a finite storage area and can store data in consideration of user convenience, and can efficiently manage data. It can be carried out.

  Up to this point, the above embodiment has been described. The “management function” according to the above embodiment is a code for each processing procedure described with reference to the drawing in a programming language suitable for the operating environment (platform). The computerized program is realized by being executed by an arithmetic unit (CPU) included in the management apparatus 100.

  The program can be stored in a computer-readable recording medium 103a. Thereby, the program can be installed in the management apparatus 100 via the external I / F 103. Further, since the management apparatus 100 includes the communication I / F 107, the program can be downloaded and installed using an electric communication line.

  In the above embodiment, the determination process may be a combination of a plurality of deletion conditions. In this case, the deletion condition used (applied) in the determination process is associated with each determination condition. You may make it determine according to the set priority. Specifically, the control information 80D has priority information associated with each deletion condition, and the data management unit 12 determines a deletion condition to be applied to the deletion target data based on the priority information.

  Moreover, although the management apparatus 100 and the conversion apparatus 200 showed the structure converted into the data which can be performed with the image processing apparatus 400 by cooperating operation | movement in the said embodiment, it is not this limitation.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a management function according to the first modification.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16, in the management system 1 according to the first modification, the management device 100 may include a data conversion unit 21.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a management function according to the second modification.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 17, in the management system 1 according to the first modification, the image processing apparatus 400 may include a data management unit 12 and a data conversion unit 21.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the image processing apparatus 400 acquires a print job stored in the management apparatus 100 and executes the acquired print job has been described in the operation description of the management system 1. Not limited. For example, image data is stored in the management apparatus 100 as a job, and an image processing apparatus 400 such as a projection apparatus (projector) or a display apparatus (multimedia board) acquires the image data stored in the management apparatus 100, A system for projecting and displaying the acquired image data may be used.

  In other words, the functions described in the above embodiment accumulate jobs that can be executed by the image processing apparatus 400 in the management apparatus 100, and the image processing apparatus 400 acquires and acquires the jobs accumulated in the management apparatus 100. Applicable to systems that execute jobs.

  Finally, the present invention is not limited to the requirements shown here, such as combinations of other elements with the shapes and configurations described in the above embodiments. With respect to these points, the present invention can be changed within a range that does not detract from the gist of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Management system 11 Data conversion control part 12 Data management part 21 Data conversion part 31 Data transmission part 41 Execution control part 70 User information holding part (D: User information)
80 Control information holding unit (D: control information)
90 Management information holding unit (D: management information)
100 management device (data management server)
200 Conversion device (data conversion server)
300 Information terminal 400 Image processing apparatus (electronic device)

JP 2001-290742 A

Claims (8)

First data that is transmission data transmitted in response to a user instruction, and second data that is generated from the first data and is execution data when a job is executed in an electronic device. Having management means for managing in association with each other;
The management means includes
Based on a deletion condition for controlling deletion of the first data or the second data, control is performed so that one of the first data and the second data is deleted. Information processing apparatus. The management means includes
Control is performed so that one of the first data and the second data is deleted based on whether the first data or the second data satisfies the deletion condition. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.   2. The first data is application data instructed to be transmitted by the user, and the second data is print data on which a printing process is executed in the electronic device. Or the information processing apparatus of 2. The management means includes
When the data type of the second data is a predetermined data type, control is performed so that the second data is deleted, and the data type of the second data is not the predetermined data type 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first data is controlled to be deleted. The management means includes
When the data size of the second data is larger than the first data, the second data is controlled to be deleted, and the data size of the second data is smaller than the first data The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first data is controlled to be deleted. The management means includes
When the number of executions of the second data executed in the electronic device is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, control is performed so that the second data is deleted, and the number of executions is equal to or greater than the predetermined value. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first data is controlled to be deleted when there is no data. Information processing device
First data that is transmission data transmitted in response to a user instruction, and second data that is generated from the first data and is execution data when a job is executed in an electronic device. Managing in association with each other;
Controlling one of the first data and the second data to be deleted based on a deletion condition for controlling the deletion of the first data or the second data;
Management method to execute. In the information processing device,
First data that is transmission data transmitted in response to a user instruction, and second data that is generated from the first data and is execution data when a job is executed in an electronic device. Managing in association with each other;
Controlling one of the first data and the second data to be deleted based on a deletion condition for controlling the deletion of the first data or the second data;
Management program to execute.

Images