JP7732249B2 - Terminal device, information processing device, information processing system, and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a terminal device, an information processing device, an information processing system, and an information processing method.

In recent years, services that combine multiple functions, such as scanning and printing using devices like image forming devices, and email delivery, have become popular. For example, a service is known that performs predetermined processing on image files generated by scanning, before printing or emailing them. Applications that implement such functions require functional testing and load testing of multiple parameters. Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2005-102526) discloses a conventional technique for automatically setting parameters for load testing of applications.

However, conventional technology was unable to automatically set application performance targets through load testing. Performance targets are information about the application's achievable performance without excessive load.

In consideration of the above issues, an embodiment of the present invention aims to automatically set performance target values for applications.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an information processing system having an information processing device that executes a load test of an application in response to a request from a terminal device, the information processing system including: a display control unit that displays an execution screen for the load test; an operation reception unit that receives a request for execution of the load test from a user on the execution screen; a control unit that increases the load of a process flow for a load test created based on the application at a predetermined rate; and a communication unit that transmits information regarding the load and an execution request for the process flow to the information processing device , wherein the control unit increases the number of parallel executables of the process flow at a predetermined rate as the load. The information processing device is characterized by having the terminal device, a processing unit that receives information about the load and the execution request from the terminal device, applies the load, and executes the processing flow, and a memory unit that stores information about the load when the execution result of the load test is successful as a performance target value , wherein the processing unit executes the number of processing flows that can be executed in parallel based on the execution request, and the memory unit stores the maximum number that can be executed in parallel when the execution result is successful, and the memory unit stores the maximum number that can be executed in parallel for each operation of a component corresponding to each process in the processing flow .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, performance targets for applications can be automatically set.

1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic diagram of an information processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a server and a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block configuration diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a load test process when an application according to an embodiment of the present invention is a target of the load test. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an execution screen for a load test according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a load test execution result screen (failure) according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of result information of a load test according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a load test execution result screen (success) according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process of controlling a load during operation by using an application as a load test target according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification screen for notifying a user of a high load state according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a load test process when the operation of a component is the target of the load test according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of result information of a load test targeting the operation of a component according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process of controlling a load during operation by subjecting an operation of a component to a load test according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process for generating a test case on the server side according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of application information according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a combination of parameter settings according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of component information according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of selective parameter setting according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of text input type parameter setting according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of result information of an automatic test according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic diagram of an information processing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments of a terminal device, information processing device, information processing system, and information processing method according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First embodiment]
<System Overview>
1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic diagram of an information processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The information processing system 1 includes a device 5, a terminal device 3, and a server 2, and each device can communicate with each other via a communication network 4.

The server 2 is implemented by one or more information processing devices and provides various services via the communication network 4, realized by a series of processes that combine one or more processes from among multiple processes that each realize a variety of functions. Applications are created to execute a series of processes and registered in the information processing system 1. Functions include, for example, printing, scanning, faxing, email distribution, OCR (Optical Character Recognition), and file processing (data format conversion, processing, compression, decompression, barcoding, saving or uploading files to cloud storage, etc.). Here, a "series of processes" can also be expressed as a "processing flow" or "job." Furthermore, components are realized by programs or modules that execute processes that realize a specific function, and are defined, for example, by classes or functions. Furthermore, the processes executed by components are called operations.

Device 5 is, for example, an image forming device 9 such as an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a PC (Personal Computer), a projector, an electronic whiteboard, a digital camera, etc. A user can use device 5 to access various applications and services provided by information processing system 1. Note that hereinafter, when multiple devices 5 are to be distinguished from one another, they will be referred to using subscripts such as "device 5a" and "device 5b."

The terminal device 3 is, for example, a desktop PC, notebook PC, smartphone, tablet device, etc. used by the user. The user can use the terminal device 3 to access various services provided by the information processing system 1. Note that hereafter, when multiple terminal devices 3 are to be distinguished from one another, they will be referred to using subscripts such as "terminal device 3a," "terminal device 3a," etc.

The configuration of the information processing system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and other configurations are also possible. The information processing system 1 according to this embodiment includes various devices that input and/or output electronic data, and these devices use various services provided by the server 2.

<Hardware Configuration Example (Server 2 and Terminal Device 3)>
2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the server 2 and the terminal device 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 2, the server 2 and the terminal device 3 are constructed by a computer, and include a CPU 501, a ROM 502, a RAM 503, a hard disk (HD) 504, a hard disk drive (HDD) controller 505, a display 506, an external device connection interface (I/F) 508, a network I/F 509, a bus line 510, a keyboard 511, a pointing device 512, a digital versatile disk rewritable (DVD-RW) drive 514, and a media I/F 516.

Of these, the CPU 501 controls the overall operation of the server 2 and terminal device 3. The ROM 502 stores programs used to drive the CPU 501, such as IPL. The RAM 503 is used as a work area for the CPU 501. The HDD 504 stores various data, such as programs. The HDD controller 505 controls the reading and writing of various data from the HDD 504 under the control of the CPU 501. The display 506 displays various information, such as a cursor, menus, windows, characters, or images. The external device connection I/F 508 is an interface for connecting various external devices. In this case, external devices include, for example, USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory and printers. The network I/F 509 is an interface for data communication using the network N2. The bus line 510 is an address bus, data bus, etc. for electrically connecting the various components, such as the CPU 501, shown in FIG. 2.

The keyboard 511 is a type of input device equipped with multiple keys used to input characters, numbers, and various instructions. The pointing device 512 is a type of input device used to select and execute various instructions, select processing targets, move the cursor, and so on. The DVD-RW drive 514 controls the reading and writing of various data from a DVD-RW 513, which is an example of a removable recording medium. Note that the DVD-RW drive 514 is not limited to a DVD-RW, and may be a DVD-R or the like. The media I/F 516 controls the reading and writing (storage) of data from a recording medium 515, such as a flash memory.

<Hardware Configuration Example (Image Forming Apparatus 9)>
3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus 9, which is an example of the device 5 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the image forming apparatus 9 (MFP, Multifunction Peripheral/Product/Printer) includes a controller 910, a short-range communication circuit 920, an engine control unit 930, an operation panel 940, and a network I/F 950.

Of these, the controller 910 includes the CPU 901, which is the main part of the computer, system memory (MEM-P) 902, north bridge (NB) 903, south bridge (SB) 904, ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 906, local memory (MEM-C) 907, HDD controller 908, and HD 909, with the NB 903 and ASIC 906 connected via an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus 921.

Of these, the CPU 901 is a control unit that performs overall control of the image forming device 9. The NB 903 is a bridge that connects the CPU 901 with the MEM-P 902, SB 904, and AGP bus 921, and includes a memory controller that controls reading and writing to the MEM-P 902, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) master, and an AGP target.

MEM-P902 consists of ROM902a, which is memory for storing programs and data that realize the various functions of controller 910, and RAM902b, which is used for expanding programs and data and as drawing memory during memory printing. The programs stored in RAM902b may also be provided by being recorded in installable or executable files on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, CD-R, or DVD.

SB904 is a bridge connecting NB903 with PCI devices and peripheral devices. ASIC906 is an integrated circuit (IC) for image processing applications that contains hardware elements for image processing and acts as a bridge connecting AGP bus 921, PCI bus 922, HDD 908, and MEM-C 907. This ASIC 906 consists of a PCI target and AGP master, an arbiter (ARB) that forms the core of ASIC 906, a memory controller that controls MEM-C 907, multiple DMACs (Direct Memory Access Controllers) that rotate image data using hardware logic, and a PCI unit that transfers data between scanner unit 931 and printer unit 932 via PCI bus 922. A USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface or an IEEE 1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394) interface may also be connected to the ASIC 906.

<About the function>
4 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration diagram of functional blocks of the information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Each functional block is a function or means realized by, for example, the CPU 501, 901 executing instructions contained in one or more programs installed in the server 2, the terminal device 3, and the device 5.

Device 20 has an operation reception unit 22, a display control unit 23, a second communication unit 24, and a control unit 25 that function via a browser 21. Device 20 is, for example, a device 5 such as an image forming device 9 having an operation panel 940, or a terminal device 3 such as a PC having a display 506, a keyboard 511, a pointing device 512, etc. Device 20 may also be an electronic device that performs functions such as scanning and printing that are possessed by image forming device 9.

The operation reception unit 22 receives user input regarding operations such as configuring applications (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as apps) and services in the information processing system 1, and running load tests.

The display control unit 23 displays screen information received from the screen configuration unit 31 of the web service processing unit 30 on the operation panel 940 or display 506, which are the display screens of the device 20.

The second communication unit 24 sends and receives data with the server 2 via the first communication unit 33. For example, it sends requests to the web service processing unit 30 to obtain app settings or execute processing flows, and receives processing results in response to the requests from the web service processing unit 30.

The control unit 25 controls the number of process flows (value of C) that can be executed in parallel in a load test of an application. This value may also be called the number of process flows that can be executed in parallel.

The web service processing unit 30 has a screen configuration unit 31 and an application execution unit 32, and performs processing to allow the user to use various services or run load tests using the browser 21 of the device 20.

In response to a request from the browser 21, the screen configuration unit 31 creates app screen information based on the app setting information and transmits the app setting information and app screen information to the browser 21.

In response to a request from the browser 21, the application execution unit 32 sends an application execution request to the input/output service processing unit 50. In addition, in response to a request from the browser 21, the application execution unit 32 sends a component information acquisition request to the processing unit 52.

The portal service unit 40 has a UI provision unit 41 and an application registration unit 42, and performs processing that allows the user to register applications using a browser 21 on a terminal device 3 or the like.

In response to a request from the browser 21, the UI providing unit 41 replies with portal screen information stored in the portal screen information DB 82. Here, a portal is a website where applications can be registered using the browser 21. The portal screen information is information that defines various screens such as the portal's top screen (portal top screen) and application registration screen. The portal screen information is information that defines various screens in the browser 21 using, for example, HTML, XML, CSS, JavaScript (trademark), etc. As a result, the portal top screen and application registration screen are displayed by the browser 21 of the terminal device 3, etc. Therefore, the user of the terminal device 3, etc. can perform application registration operations on the application registration screen.

In response to a request from the UI providing unit 41, the app registration unit 42 requests the app management unit 51 to register an application. In other words, when an application registration operation is performed on the application registration screen, the app registration unit 42 requests the app management unit 51 to register the application.

The input/output service processing unit 50 has an application management unit 51, a processing unit 52, and a memory unit 53, and performs processing related to the services provided by the information processing system 1.

In response to a request, the application management unit 51 retrieves application setting information stored in the application information DB 80. In addition, in response to an application execution request, the application management unit 51 performs load control by managing the processing flow execution request in a queue, and sends the processing flow execution request to the processing unit 52. The application management unit 51 also stores application load test result information in the load test result information DB 81. A load test is performed to check whether an application operates normally, for example, when a new application is registered or when the settings of a registered application are modified.

In response to requests, the processing unit 52 obtains component information, executes processing flows, and performs load control by managing processing flow execution requests in a queue. The processing unit 52 also stores the results information of the load test in which the component's operation processing was executed in the load test result information DB 81.

The memory unit 53 registers (saves, stores) the load test result information, including the value of C, which is the number of processing flows that can be executed in parallel, in the load test result information DB 81.

The component unit 60 manages components such as OCR 61, email sending 62, file download 63, and barcode assignment 64.

OCR61 is a component that performs OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and performs the function of recognizing and acquiring character data contained in image data.

Mail Send 62 is a component that performs the function of sending an email to a specified address.

File DL63 is a component that performs the function of downloading (DL) and obtaining files stored in cloud storage, etc.

Barcode assignment 64 is a component that performs the function of assigning a barcode to a specified file.

The application data management unit 70 has a UI provision unit 71 and an application data registration unit 72, and performs processing that allows a user to use a browser 21 on a terminal device 3 or the like to register application data such as document files and image files used in applications.

The UI providing unit 71 performs processing similar to that performed by the UI providing unit 41 of the portal service unit, thereby returning portal screen information for registering app data in response to a request from the browser 21. Therefore, a user of the terminal device 3 or the like can perform app data registration operations on the app data registration screen.

In response to a request from the UI providing unit 71, the application data registration unit 72 requests the application management unit 51 of the input/output service processing unit 50 to register application data. In other words, when an application data registration operation is performed on the application data registration screen, the application data registration unit 72 requests the application management unit 51 to register application data.

The application information DB 80 is a database (DB) for storing application processing information, which is information related to application processing, application setting information, which is information related to application settings, and data used by the application.

The load test result information DB81 is a database (DB) for storing information regarding the test results of load tests related to the operation of applications and components.

The portal screen information DB82 is a database (DB) for storing information about portal website screens for registering applications and data used in applications.

<Application load testing process>
5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a load test process when an application according to an embodiment of the present invention is subjected to the load test. Each step will be described below.

Step S100: The user operates the browser 21 of the device 20, which is a device 5 such as the image forming device 9 or a terminal device 3 such as a PC, to perform a load test. The display control unit 23 displays the load test execution screen 200 shown in FIG. 6 on the screen of the device 20. As shown in FIG. 6, the load test execution screen 200 displays a load test execution button 201. Returning to FIG. 5, the explanation will be given below. The operation reception unit 22 receives a press of the load test execution button 201 by the user. The applications executed include "Scan to Email," which sends image data scanned by the image forming device 9 via email, and "Print My Cloud Storage," which prints an electronic document stored in cloud storage.

Step S101: The second communication unit 24 of the browser 21 of the device 20 sends an application setting acquisition request to the screen composition unit 31 of the web service processing unit 30. Alternatively, the second communication unit 24 may send the application setting acquisition request to the first communication unit 33, and the first communication unit 33 may send the received acquisition request to the screen composition unit 31. Hereinafter, a description of the processing via the first communication unit 33 in the communication between the device 20 and the web service processing unit 30 will be omitted, but the processing may also be performed via the first communication unit 33.

Step S102: The screen configuration unit 31 sends a request to obtain app settings to the app management unit 51 of the input/output service processing unit 50.

Step S103: The app management unit 51 obtains app setting information from the app information DB 80.

Step S104: The app management unit 51 sends the app setting information to the screen configuration unit 31.

Step S105: The screen configuration unit 31 creates app screen information based on the received app setting information.

Step S106: The screen configuration unit 31 transmits the app screen information and app setting information to the second communication unit 24 of the browser 21 of the device 20. The display control unit 23 uses the received app screen information to display the app screen on the screen of the device 20.

Step S107: The second communication unit 24 sends a component information acquisition request to the application execution unit 32 of the web service processing unit 30.

Step S108: The application execution unit 32 sends a component information acquisition request to the processing unit 52 of the input/output service processing unit 50.

Step S109: The processing unit 52 obtains component information from the component unit 60.

Step S110: The processing unit 52 sends the acquired results to the application execution unit 32.

Step S111: The application execution unit 32 transmits the received acquisition result to the second communication unit 24 of the browser 21 of the device 20.

Step S112: The device 20 generates a test case based on the application setting information and component information received from the web service processing unit 30. The method for generating a test case will be described later.

Step S113: The device 20 initializes the load settings. For example, the initial value C of the number of process flows to be executed in parallel (simultaneously, in parallel) is set to 1, the maximum value Cmax of C is set to 64, the time T for executing a load test for any C is set to 600 seconds, and the total execution time Tall of the load test is set to 4200 seconds. Here, the values of Cmax, T, and Tall may be determined based on the performance of the platform on which the app is executed, or may be specified by the app developer. The value of C is doubled each time loop process (1) is executed, and loop process (1) is terminated when C exceeds the value of Cmax or the total execution time of the load test exceeds Tall. Within loop process (1), steps S114 to S118 are executed as loop process (2), repeatedly executing C process flows simultaneously for time T.

Step S114: The second communication unit 24 of the device 20 sends an execution request for the C processing flows to the application execution unit 32 of the web service processing unit 30.

Step S115: The application execution unit 32 sends the received processing flow execution request to the processing unit 52 of the input/output service processing unit 50.

Step S116: The processing unit 52 executes the processing flow based on the received processing flow execution request. The processing unit 52 requests the component unit 60 to execute the processing flow depending on the application to be executed. For example, if the application to be executed is "Scan to Email," the processing unit 52 sends a request to the component unit 60 to execute email transmission 62. Alternatively, if the application to be executed is "Print My Cloud Storage," the processing unit 52 sends a request to execute file download 63. Also, depending on the application, for example, in the case of "Scan to Email," the second communication unit 24 of the device 20 sends the image file scanned by the image forming apparatus 9 to the first communication unit 33 of the server 2. Alternatively, in the case of "Print My Cloud Storage," the first communication unit 33 of the server 2 sends the downloaded file to the second communication unit 24 of the device 20.

Step S117: The processing unit 52 sends the processing result to the application execution unit 32 of the web service processing unit 30. Here, the processing result includes information indicating whether the processing was successful (OK) or unsuccessful (NG).

Step S118: The application execution unit 32 sends the processing result to the second communication unit 24 of the device 20.

Step S119: The device 20 checks the received processing results, and if any of the processing results is a failure (NG), it ends loop processing (1) and proceeds to processing in step S121.

Step S120: The device 20 doubles the value of C and executes loop processing (2) (repeating steps S114 to S118).

Step S121: If C exceeds the value of Cmax, or if the total execution time of the load test exceeds Tall, or if there is even one failure in the processing results, the device 20 ends loop processing (1) and terminates the load test. Furthermore, the current value of C is divided by 2.

Step S122: If the value of C is less than 1, the device 20 reports a failure of the load test. The display control unit 23 of the device 20 displays the execution result screen 202 shown in FIG. 7 on the screen of the device 20 as the result of the load test. The execution result screen 210 displays a message 211 saying "Test Failed." The execution result screen 210 also displays information about the executed load test, such as "Test Case Name" 212, "Execution Time" 213, "App ID" 214, "App Name" 215, "Value of C" 216, and "Parameter Information" 217. Here, "App ID" 214 and "App Name" 215 are the ID and name of the application executed in the load test. "ID" is an abbreviation for "Identification" and is indicated by a preset number or symbol to identify the application.

Let's go back to Figure 5 for further explanation.

Step S123: If the value of C is 1 or greater, the device 20 executes steps S123 to S126. The second communication unit 24 of the device 20 transmits (reports) the value of C to the application management unit 51 of the input/output service processing unit 50. Here, the second communication unit 24 may transmit information such as the ID and name of the application executed in the load test along with the value of C.

Step S124: The application management unit 51 stores the received value of C in the storage unit 53. Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of load test result information according to an embodiment of the present invention. The load test result information 220 shown in Figure 8 registers two sets of information: "App ID" 221, which is the application ID; "App Name" 222, which is the application name; and "Value of C" 223.

Let's go back to Figure 5 for further explanation.

Step S125: The app management unit 51 sends a success notification to the device 20 informing that the registration of the value of C was successful (OK).

Step S126: The display control unit 23 of the device 20 displays the execution result screen 230 shown in FIG. 9 on the screen of the device 20 to report that the load test was successful. The execution result screen 230 displays a message 231 saying "Test successful!". The execution result screen 230 also displays information about the executed load test, such as "Test Case Name" 232, "Execution Time" 233, "App ID" 234, "App Name" 235, "Value of C" 236, and "Parameter Information" 237. Here, "App ID" 234 and "App Name" 235 are the ID and name of the application executed in the load test. Furthermore, if C×2≦Cmax (the value obtained by multiplying C by two is less than or equal to Cmax), the processing result when the load test fails (NG) (when the value of C is twice the final value) may be displayed.

Through the above processing, the information processing system 1 can execute a load test by gradually increasing the number of processing flows (the value of C) executed in parallel (simultaneously) (by gradually increasing the load). The performance target value of the application in the load test is automatically set as the number of concurrently executing processing flows (the value of C) at the time the load test is successfully executed. Therefore, there is no need for the application developer or others to set the performance target value in the load test. The value of C can be increased by multiplying it by a predetermined value greater than 1, by adding a predetermined value, or by increasing the value of C at a predetermined rate (or rule or method).

<Load control process during operation with application as load target>
10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a process for load control during operation of an application as a load test target according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the device 20 is an image forming apparatus 9 (MFP), which executes an application that adds a barcode to a scanned image file and then executes printing. Each step is described below.

Step S130: The operation reception unit 22 of the browser 21 of the device 20 receives an operation by the user requesting the display of an app screen.

Step S131: The second communication unit 24 of the browser 21 of the device 20 sends a display request for the app screen to the screen composition unit 31 of the web service processing unit 30. Alternatively, the second communication unit 24 may send the display request for the app screen to the first communication unit 33, and the first communication unit 33 may send the received display request to the screen composition unit 31. Hereinafter, a description of the processing via the first communication unit 33 in the communication between the device 20 and the web service processing unit 30 will be omitted, but the processing may also be performed via the first communication unit 33.

Step S132: The screen configuration unit 31 sends a request to obtain app settings to the app management unit 51 of the input/output service processing unit 50.

Step S133: The app management unit 51 obtains app setting information from the app information DB 80.

Step S134: The app management unit 51 sends the app setting information to the screen configuration unit 31.

Step S135: The screen configuration unit 31 creates app screen information based on the received app setting information.

Step S136: The screen configuration unit 31 transmits the app screen information and app setting information to the second communication unit 24 of the browser 21 of the device 20.

Step S137: The display control unit 23 uses the received app screen information to display the app screen on the screen of the device 20.

Step S138: The operation reception unit 22 receives an operation by the user to execute the app.

Step S139: The device 20 (image forming device 9) performs the scan process.

Step S140: The second communication unit 24 sends an application execution request to the application execution unit 32 of the web service processing unit 30.

Step S141: The application execution unit 32 sends an application execution request to the application management unit 51 of the input/output service processing unit 50.

Step S142: The application management unit 51 adds a processing flow execution request R to a queue prepared for each application. The queue stores execution requests for processing flows that are currently running or waiting to start execution in the order in which they were requested.

Step S143: If the position of execution request R in the queue is greater than the number C of process flows that can be executed in parallel (farther from the head of the queue), the application management unit 51 sends a notification to the application execution unit 32 informing it of a high load state. In this case, the number of execution requests stored in the queue ahead of execution request R is C or more. Here, the number C of process flows that can be executed in parallel is the value of C for the corresponding application registered in the load test result information DB 81 in step S124 of Figure 5. It is also assumed that the value of C corresponding to the application executed in this sequence has been registered.

Step S144: The application execution unit 32 sends a notification to the device 20 informing it that it is in a high load state.

Step S145: The display control unit 23 displays a notification screen on the screen of the device 20 to notify the user that a high load state has occurred. Figure 11 is a diagram showing an example of a notification screen for notifying the user that a high load state has occurred according to an embodiment of the present invention. The notification screen 240 in Figure 11 displays a message 241 stating, "Processing is taking a long time. Please wait a while or try again later."

Let's go back to Figure 10 for further explanation.

Step S146: The app management unit 51 waits without executing the process flow until the position of the execution request R in the queue is smaller than C (closer to the top of the queue), i.e., until the number of process flows that are being executed or waiting to start execution is smaller than C.

Step S147: When the application management unit 51 detects that the position of execution request R in the queue is smaller than C (closer to the top of the queue), it sends a processing flow execution request to the processing unit 52. In this case, this means that there is still room before the upper limit on the number of jobs that can be run in parallel.

Step S148: The processing unit 52 executes a processing flow. Here, the processing flow executed is a process of adding a barcode to the image data scanned in step S139. Here, in order to send the image data from the device 20 (image forming apparatus 9) to the server 2, the second communication unit 24 sends the image data to the first communication unit 33. The processing unit 52 sends a request to the component unit 60 to execute barcode addition 64.

Step S149: After the execution of the processing flow is completed, the processing unit 52 sends the processing result to the application management unit 51. Here, the execution of the processing flow is considered to be successful (OK), and the content of the processing result is considered to be successful (OK).

Step S150: After receiving the processing results, the application management unit 51 removes the execution request R from the queue. This frees up space in the queue for the next processing flow to be executed.

Step S151: The app management unit 51 transmits the received processing results to the app execution unit 32.

Step S152: The application execution unit 32 transmits the received processing result to the second communication unit 24 of the device 20.

Step S153: The device 20 (image forming device 9) executes the processing flow to print the image file to which the barcode has been added.

Through the above processing, the information processing system 1 can refer to (link) the number C of processing flows that can be executed in parallel, which is the tolerable load limit obtained as a result of the load test, when executing an application or processing flow. This allows the information processing system 1 to dynamically control the load during operation by queuing and managing processing execution requests so that the load limit is not exceeded. Furthermore, if the server 2 that manages the application or processing flow and the server 2 that executes each component (OCR 61, etc.) of the component unit 60 are separate devices, the loads on each will be independent. Therefore, for example, even if the processing of a certain component becomes highly loaded, the load control processing will not be affected by that high load.

<Component load test processing>
12 is a sequence diagram showing an example of load test processing when the load test targets the operations of a component according to an embodiment of the present invention. While FIG. 5 describes the load test processing of an application, the load test can also target the operations of a component instead of the application. In this case, the upper load limit is measured for the operations of the component. Furthermore, the test cases used in the load test are not combinations of parameters for the processing flow, but combinations of parameters for the operations of the components that make up the flow. A method for creating test cases will be described separately later.

Below, we will explain an example of load testing processing when component operations are the target of the load test. We will only explain the differences from the sequence diagram of the application load testing processing shown in Figure 5 (differences from Figure 5 (1) and (2)).

Difference (1) from Figure 5: Because the load test targets component operations rather than applications, steps S101 to S106 shown in Figure 5 are not executed.

Difference (2) from Figure 5: Because the number of concurrently executing process flows (the value of C) is linked to the operation of a component rather than an application, the process of registering the value of C is performed by the processing unit 52 rather than the application management unit 51. Therefore, the processes of steps S123 to S125 shown in Figure 5 become the following steps S123' to S125'.

Step S123': The second communication unit 24 of the device 20 transmits (reports) the value of C to the processing unit 52 of the input/output service processing unit 50. Here, the second communication unit 24 may transmit information such as the ID and name of the application executed in the load test along with the value of C.

Step S124': The processing unit 52 stores the received value of C in the storage unit 53. Figure 13 is a diagram showing an example of result information of a load test targeting the operation of a component according to an embodiment of the present invention. The load test result information 250 shown in Figure 13 registers two sets of information: "Component Name" 251, which is the name of the component, "Operation Name" 252, which is the name of the component's operation, and "Value of C" 253.

Let's go back to Figure 12 for further explanation.

Step S125': The processing unit 52 sends a success notification to the device 20 indicating that the registration of the value of C was successful (OK).

Through the above processing, the information processing system 1 can gradually increase the number of processing flows executed in parallel to perform a load test, even when the load test targets the operations of a component. The information processing system 1 can also automatically set the target performance values for applications in a load test.

<Component load control processing during operation>
14 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a process for controlling a load during operation by using a component operation as a load test target according to an embodiment of the present invention. While the process for controlling a load during operation by using an application as a load test target has been described in FIG. 10, the load test target can be the operation of a component instead of an application.

Below, we will explain an example of load test processing when component operations are the target of the load test, and will only explain the differences from the sequence diagram of the application load test processing shown in Figure 10. The difference from the processing shown in Figure 10 is that in step S141, the application execution unit 32 transfers (sends) the application execution request to the processing unit 52, rather than the application management unit 51. In the sequence diagram of Figure 14, steps S141 to S143 and steps S146 to S151 in Figure 10 become steps S141' to S143' and steps S146' to S151' below.

Step S141': The application execution unit 32 sends an application execution request to the processing unit 52 of the input/output service processing unit 50.

Step S142': The processing unit 52 adds a processing flow execution request R to a queue prepared for each operation. The queue stores execution requests for processing flows that are currently being executed or waiting to start execution in the order in which they were requested.

Step S143': If the position of execution request R in the queue is greater than the number C of process flows that can be executed in parallel (farther from the top of the queue), the processing unit 52 sends a notification to the application execution unit 32 notifying that a high load state exists. In this case, the number of execution requests stored in the queue ahead of execution request R is C or more. Here, the number C of process flows that can be executed in parallel is the value C of the operation of the corresponding component shown in Figure 13 that was registered in the load test result information DB 81 in step S124'.

Step S146': The processing unit 52 waits without executing the processing flow until the position of the execution request R in the queue is smaller than C (closer to the top of the queue), i.e., until the number of processing flows currently being executed or waiting to start execution is smaller than C. Here, among the processing flows, operations that do not depend on the results of operations in a high-load state may be executed without waiting for the high-load state of other operations to be resolved. For example, consider the case where an application is executed that performs OCR processing on scanned documents and uploads them to a Cloud Drive. Here, as shown in Figure 13, the number of processing flows (value C) that can be executed in parallel for OCR processing and Cloud Drive operations is 16 and 4, respectively. If four or more processing flows of this application are already running in parallel, a high-load state is notified, and the next processing flow is put on hold. However, since OCR processing does not depend on the results of uploading to the Cloud Drive, only OCR processing that has sufficient load may be executed. However, if OCR processing is running at 16 or more parallel processes, the OCR processing will also be put on hold. If the processing flow of this application is running at less than 4 parallel processes, the entire processing flow of the application can be executed.

Step S147': At this point, the processing unit 52 is executing the processing flow, so this step is not executed.

Step S148': The processing unit 52 executes the processing flow.

Step S149': After the execution of the processing flow is completed, the processing unit 52 sends the processing result to the application management unit 51. Here, the execution of the processing flow is considered to have been successful (OK), and the content of the processing result is considered to have been successful (OK).

Step S150': After receiving the processing results, the processing unit 52 removes the execution request R from the queue. This frees up space in the queue for the next processing flow to be executed.

Step S151': The processing unit 52 transmits the received processing result to the application execution unit 32.

Through the above processing, the information processing system 1 can refer to (link) and use the number C of process flows that can be executed in parallel obtained as a result of the load test when executing an application or process flow, even if the target of the load test is the operation of a component. This allows the information processing system 1 to dynamically control the load during operation by queuing and managing process execution requests so as not to exceed the load upper limit.

<How to generate test cases>
A method for generating (creating) test cases executed in processes such as step S112 in FIG. 5 will now be described. In a load test, test cases (combinations of process flow parameters) are generated from application parameter settings, and all of these test cases are executed as a process flow for load testing. If the number of parameter combinations is small, all possible combinations are generated. If the number is enormous, the number is reduced using a test case selection method such as the all-pairs method (pairwise method). Whether to generate all possible combinations or reduce the number is determined by setting a threshold for the number of test cases to be generated or by setting a threshold for test time by predicting the total test time from the time required to execute the process flow. Furthermore, in addition to being generated by the device 20 as executed in processes such as step S112 in FIG. 5, test cases may also be generated by the server 2 and transmitted to the device 20.

Figure 15 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the process of generating test cases on the server side according to an embodiment of the present invention. Each step is explained below.

Step S160: The user operates the browser 21 on the device 20, which is a device 5 such as an image forming device 9 or a terminal device 3 such as a PC, to perform a load test.

Step S161: The second communication unit 24 of the browser 21 of the device 20 sends a test case generation request to the screen configuration unit 31 of the web service processing unit 30.

Step S162: The screen configuration unit 31 sends a test case generation request to the application management unit 51 of the input/output service processing unit 50.

Step S163: The app management unit 51 obtains app setting information from the app information DB 80.

Step S164: The application management unit 51 generates a test case.

Step S165: The application management unit 51 sends the test case to the screen configuration unit 31.

Step S166: The screen configuration unit 31 sends the test case to the second communication unit 24 of the browser 21 of the device 20.

Subsequent processing, for example, by executing the processing from step S113 onwards in Figure 5, makes it possible to perform a load test using the test cases generated on server 2.

Next, we will explain how to generate test cases using the example of an application (called app A) that performs OCR on a scanned document and divides the generated PDF file into pages. Figure 16 is a diagram showing an example of application information for app A. In the application information 260 shown in Figure 16, the language is set to English (language: "English") as the default parameter (defaultParameters) setting 261. Furthermore, the user input parameter (userInputParameters) setting 262 has two setting items: division page range (divisionPageRange) 263 and number of division pages (divisionPageNumbers) 267. The setting item for the page division range 263 has an input type (inputType) of select 264, and the user can select from two options: each page (Each Page) 265 and specified page (Specified Page). The setting item for the number of pages divided 267 has an input type (inputType) of text input (text) 268, and the text entered by the user is set. Here, the maximum value (max) 269 and minimum value (min) 270 for the number of pages divided 267 are set to 100 and 0, respectively.

To generate test cases for this application information 260, parameter combinations are determined for the default parameter setting 261, page division range 263, and number of pages divided 267. The default parameter setting 261 is fixed at the setting value (English), the page division range 263 uses both options, and the number of pages divided 267 uses two values: the maximum value (=10) and the minimum value (=0). The number of combinations of these parameters is 1 (default parameter setting 261) x 2 (page division range 263) x 2 (number of pages divided 267) = 4. Figure 17 shows combinations 271 to 274 of these four types of parameter settings. As shown in Figure 17, the default parameter setting 261 is English for all combinations. Furthermore, with regard to the divided page range 263, combinations 271 and 272 are each page (Each Page), and combinations 273 and 274 are specified pages (Specified Page). Furthermore, with regard to the number of divided pages 267, combinations 271 and 273 are the minimum value (0), and combinations 272 and 274 are the maximum value (100).

Figure 18 is a diagram showing an example of component information according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 18 shows the setting values of component information, rather than the settings in the application information shown in Figure 16, with the output size (outputSize) 281 set to "A4" as the default value for the OCR component 280, and the number of division pages (divisionPageNumbers) 283 set to "2" as the default value for the PDF component 282. When generating test cases, these default values of component information are also referenced and included in the parameter combinations.

Figure 19 is a diagram showing an example of a selection-type parameter setting according to an embodiment of the present invention. As an example different from the selection type (select) 264 shown in Figure 16, Figure 19 shows a setting to select from three languages: English 285, French 286, and German 287. In such a case, the test case should include three combinations.

Figure 20 is a diagram showing an example of text input type parameter settings according to an embodiment of the present invention. As an example different from the text input type (text) 268 shown in Figure 16, Figure 20 shows a file name (filename) 290 to which text entered by the user is set. As with the example shown in Figure 16, a maximum value (max = 100) 291 and a minimum value (min = 0) 292 are set. Here, when setting the character string for file name 290, a random character string with a number of characters between the maximum and minimum values is generated and set as the parameter value in the test case.

Figure 21 is a diagram showing an example of result information for an automatic test according to an embodiment of the present invention. The result information 295 shown in Figure 21 includes an application ID 296, a test implementation date 297, and a test result 298. The application ID 296 is an ID that identifies the application that executed the automatic test. The test implementation date 297 is the date on which the automatic test was executed. The test result 298 is the result of the automatic test, and displays "OK" if successful, "NG" if unsuccessful, or "Not executed" if the automatic test was not executed for some reason or is scheduled to be executed. Only applications for which the test result 298 is "OK" can be registered in the information processing system 1.

Second Embodiment
Fig. 22 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic diagram of an information processing system 1 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The difference in configuration from the information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 is that in the second embodiment, only the image forming apparatus 9 (MFP) is connected to the server 2 via the communication network 4. Therefore, the device 20 in the functional block configuration diagram shown in Fig. 4 and the sequence diagrams shown in Figs. 5, 10, 12, and 14 is limited to the image forming apparatus 9.

Although several embodiments for implementing the present invention have been described above, the present invention is in no way limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and substitutions can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

For example, the example functional block diagram in Figure 4 is divided according to main functions to make it easier to understand the processing by information processing system 1. The method of dividing the processing units or their names does not limit the present invention. The processing of information processing system 1 can also be divided into even more processing units depending on the processing content. It can also be divided so that one processing unit includes even more processes.

Furthermore, each function of the embodiments described above can be realized by one or more processing circuits. Here, the term "processing circuit" in this specification includes processors programmed to perform each function by software, such as processors implemented in electronic circuits, as well as devices such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), and conventional circuit modules designed to perform each of the functions described above.

Furthermore, the described devices represent only one of several computing environments for implementing the embodiments disclosed herein. In one embodiment, information processing system 1 includes multiple computing devices, such as a server cluster. The multiple computing devices are configured to communicate with each other via any type of communication link, including a network, shared memory, etc., and to perform the processes disclosed herein.

The first communication unit 33 and the second communication unit 24 are sometimes simply referred to as communication units.

1 Information processing system 2 Server 3 Terminal device 4 Communication network 5 Equipment 9 Image forming apparatus 20 Device 21 Browser 22 Operation reception unit 23 Display control unit 24 Second communication unit 30 Web service processing unit 30
31 Screen configuration unit 32 Application execution unit 33 First communication unit 40 Portal service unit 41 UI providing unit 42 Application registration unit 50 Input/output service processing unit 51 Application management unit 52 Processing unit 53 Storage unit 60 Component unit 61 OCR
62 Send email 63 Download file
64 Barcode assignment 70 Application data management unit 71 UI provision unit 72 Application data registration unit 80 Application information DB
81 Load test result information DB
82 Portal screen information DB

JP 2006-031178 A

Claims (6)

An information processing system having an information processing device that executes a load test of an application in response to a request from a terminal device,
a display control unit that displays an execution screen of the load test;
an operation reception unit that receives a request to execute the load test from a user on the execution screen;
a control unit that increases the load of a process flow for load testing created based on the application at a predetermined rate;
a communication unit that transmits information about the load and a request to execute the process flow to the information processing device;
and
the control unit increases the number of processes that can be executed in parallel at a predetermined rate as the load;
the terminal device;
a processing unit that receives information about the load and the execution request from the terminal device, and applies the load to execute the processing flow;
a storage unit that stores information about the load when the execution result of the load test is successful as a performance target value;
and
the processing unit executes the parallel executable number of the process flows in parallel based on the execution request;
the storage unit stores the maximum number of parallel executable processes when the execution result is successful;
the storage unit stores a maximum number of operations that can be executed in parallel for each operation of a component corresponding to each process included in the process flow;
the information processing device;
An information processing system having the above. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit performs load control using the number of parallel executable operations corresponding to the operations of the component stored in the memory unit so that the number of operations executed in parallel during execution of the application does not exceed the number of parallel executable operations. An information processing device that executes a load test of an application in response to a request from a terminal device,
a processing unit that receives information about a load and an execution request from the terminal device, and applies the load to execute a processing flow;
a storage unit that stores information about the load when the execution result of the load test is successful as a performance target value;
and
the processing unit executes the requested number of process flows in parallel based on the execution request;
the storage unit stores the maximum number of parallel executable processes when the execution result is successful;
the storage unit stores a maximum number of operations that can be executed in parallel for each operation of a component corresponding to each process included in the process flow;
Information processing device. A terminal device that requests an information processing device to perform a load test on an application,
a display control unit that displays an execution screen of the load test;
an operation reception unit that receives a request to execute the load test from a user on the execution screen;
a control unit that increases the load of a process flow for load testing created based on the application at a predetermined rate;
a communication unit that transmits information about the load and a request to execute the process flow to the information processing device;
and
the control unit increases the number of processes that can be executed in parallel at a predetermined rate as the load;
the communication unit transmits the maximum number of parallel executables to the information processing device when the parallel execution of the process flow is successful, so that the information processing device stores the maximum number of parallel executables;
the communication unit transmits the maximum number of operations that can be executed in parallel to the information processing device so that the information processing device stores the maximum number of operations that can be executed in parallel for each of the operations of the components corresponding to each process included in the processing flow;
Terminal device. 1. An information processing method executed by an information processing system having an information processing device that executes a load test of an application in response to a request from a terminal device, comprising:
displaying an execution screen of the load test;
receiving a request to execute the load test from a user on the execution screen;
increasing the load of a process flow for load testing created based on the application at a predetermined rate;
transmitting information about the load and a request to execute the process flow to the information processing device;
increasing the number of processes that can be executed in parallel at a predetermined rate as the load;
receiving information about the load and the execution request from the terminal device, and applying the load to execute the processing flow;
storing information about the load when the execution result of the load test is successful as a performance target value;
executing the parallel executable number of the process flows in parallel based on the execution request;
storing the maximum number of parallel executable programs when the execution result is successful;
storing the maximum number of operations that can be executed in parallel for each operation of a component corresponding to each process included in the process flow;
An information processing method comprising: 1. An information processing method executed by a terminal device that requests an information processing device to perform a load test on an application, comprising:
displaying an execution screen of the load test;
receiving a request to execute the load test from a user on the execution screen;
increasing the load of a process flow for load testing created based on the application at a predetermined rate;
transmitting information about the load and a request to execute the process flow to the information processing device;
increasing the number of processes that can be executed in parallel at a predetermined rate as the load;
transmitting the maximum number of parallel executable processes to the information processing device when the parallel execution of the process flow is successful, so that the information processing device can store the maximum number of parallel executable processes;
transmitting the maximum number of operations that can be executed in parallel to the information processing device so that the information processing device can store the maximum number of operations that can be executed in parallel for each process of a component that corresponds to each process included in the process flow;
An information processing method comprising: