Image processing apparatus, control method thereof, and program

• US 8,111,414 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2006
• Issued: 02/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Sato, Tomoya, Yamamoto, Masahito
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, II, Jerome
• Application Number:
  US11/908,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20090080013A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,093 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.15, 358/1.12, 358/448, 358/468, 358/443, 358/434, 358/426.12, 358/438, 358/439, 358/442, 358/1.9, 358/2.1
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00204 with a digital computer or a digital computer system, e.g. an internet server programmed control between transmitter and receiver or between image input and image output device H04N1/32561
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00464 using browsers, i.e. interfaces based on mark-up languages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32106 separate from the image data, e.g. in a different computer file
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/001 Sharing resources, e.g. processing power or memory, with a connected apparatus or enhancing the capability of the still picture apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0039 Connection via a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0094 Multifunctional device, i.e. a device capable of all of reading, reproducing, copying, facsimile transception, file transception
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3204 of data relating to a user, sender, addressee, machine or electronic recording medium H04N2201/3256 and subgroups take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 Transmission

Abstract

When information on addition and change of data which is stored in an apparatus and dynamically changes is set as a monitoring target, the information is accumulated in a syndication by an application management interface. Periodically or in response to a request, an update information generation unit reproduces an entry in the syndication as an RSS feed, i.e., XML data complying with the RSS feed standard in accordance with a template, and saves the XML data in an update information storage unit. A computer executes an RSS reader to acquire and display the RSS feed in the update information storage unit.

Claims

1. An image processing apparatus which is connected to a network and communicates with an external apparatus, comprising:

information collection means for collecting information on update of data stored in the apparatus;

generation means for generating and saving syndication data which describes the update information collected by said information collection means in a markup language; and

syndication data providing means for providing the syndication data in response to a request from the external apparatus.

2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said information collection means collects update information on addition, change, or deletion of the data.

3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising service management means for increasing/decreasing services to be provided to a user among a plurality of services which can be implemented using a function of the image processing apparatus,

wherein said information collection means collects information on a change in the services provided by said service management means.

4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

said service management means increases/decreases services of the apparatus by installing or uninstalling said service management means as an application program, and

said information collection means collects a change in an install state of the application as the update information.

5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

said service management means increases/decreases services of the apparatus by installing or uninstalling license data for controlling use of services embedded in the apparatus, and

said information collection means collects a change in an install state of the license as the update information.

6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising document storage means for accumulating and storing document data available as an image process target,

wherein said information collection means collects information on one of addition, deletion, editing, reception, and transmission of the accumulated document data, and a change of an accumulation method.

7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising address book means for accumulating and storing address data associated with a document transmission/reception process,

wherein said information collection means collects information on one of addition, deletion, and editing of the accumulated address data, and a change of an accumulation method.

8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a description format of the syndication data in the markup language is based on XML.

9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the description format based on XML is a syndication format including RSS or Atom used to supply news of a Web resource.

10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising information selection means for selecting the update information to be collected in accordance with an update target or an update type,

wherein said information collection means selectively collets the update information on the basis of selection by said information selection means.

11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising syndication period setting means for setting, in accordance with an update target or an update type, a period during which the update information is contained in the syndication data,

wherein said generation means sets each update information in the syndication data on the basis of the period set by said syndication period setting means.

12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising template storage means for accumulating template data containing format data of the syndication data and data which describes a generation rule,

wherein said generation means generates syndication data on the basis of the template.

13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the template contains an attribute associated with a configuration, setting, or state of the image processing apparatus, and a replaceable variable.

14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising template selection means for selecting, from a plurality of templates, a template used to generate the syndication data by said syndication data generation means.

15. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when an apparatus state associated with a license condition for controlling use of services changes, said information collection means collects the change as the update information.

16. The image processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus state associated with the license condition is a state based on either of a counter which is counted along with an operation of the apparatus, and a system timer for acquiring a time or timing by software of the apparatus.

17. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said information collection means also generates update information based on statistical information which changes along with use of the apparatus.

18. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said syndication data generation means sets, in the syndication data, reference to a thumbnail image of a document associated with the update information.

19. The image processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein while the reference to the thumbnail image of the document associated with the update information is contained in the syndication data, thumbnail image data of the document is held even after an entity of the document is deleted.

20. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein syndication data providing means performs communication by HTTP.

21. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising message bulletin board means for displaying a message set in an operation unit for allowing a user to operate the apparatus,

wherein said information collection means collects information on update of the set message.

22. A network apparatus which can communicate with an external apparatus on a network, comprising:

information collection means for collecting update information representing that data stored in the network apparatus has been updated;

generation means for generating data which describes the update information collected by said information collection means in a format that can be reproduced by the external apparatus;

save means for saving the data generated by said generation means; and

data transmission means for transmitting data saved in said save means in response to a request from the external apparatus.

23. A computer readable storage medium on which is stored a computer program, said program being executable by a computer incorporated in an image processing apparatus which is connected to a network and communicates with an external apparatus, said program causing the computer to implement

information collection means for collecting information on update of data stored in the apparatus,

generation means for generating and saving syndication data which describes the update information collected by said information collection means in a markup language, and

syndication data providing means for providing the syndication data in response to a request from the external apparatus.

24. A computer readable storage medium on which is stored a computer program, said program being executable by a computer incorporated in a network apparatus which can communicate with an external apparatus on a network, said program causing the computer to implement

information collection means for collecting update information representing that data stored in the network apparatus has been updated,

generation means for generating data which describes the update information collected by said information collection means in a format that can be reproduced by the external apparatus,

save means for saving the data generated by said generation means, and

data transmission means for transmitting data saved in said save means in response to a request from the external apparatus.

25. A control method of controlling an image processing apparatus which is connected to a network and communicates with an external apparatus, comprising:

an information collection step of collecting information on update of data stored in the apparatus;

a generation step of generating and saving syndication data which describes the update information collected in the information collection step in a markup language; and

a syndication data providing step of providing the syndication data in response to a request from the external apparatus.

26. A control method of controlling a network apparatus which can communicate with an external apparatus on a network, comprising:

an information collection step of collecting update information representing that data stored in the network apparatus has been updated;

a generation step of generating data which describes the update information collected in the information collection step in a format that can be reproduced by the external apparatus;

a save step of saving, in save means, the data generated in the generation step; and

a data transmission step of transmitting data saved in the save means in response to a request from the external apparatus.

27. A structure of syndication data in a markup language notation that is recorded on a computer readable recording medium and represents update information available in an information processing apparatus or an image processing apparatus, comprising:

a declaration of version information of the markup language;

a declaration of version information of the syndication data;

an element which describes information on distribution; and

elements which list pieces of update information,

wherein the structure of the syndication data is distributed as update information of data stored in an image processing apparatus which is connected to a network, communicates with an external apparatus, and has a printing unit or an image reading unit.

28. The syndication data structure according to claim 27, wherein the element which describes the information on distribution has at least one of

a link element representing a URI associated with the distribution,

a title element representing a name of the distribution, and

a description element which explains an outline of the distribution.

29. The syndication data structure according to claim 27, wherein each of the elements which list the update information has at least one of

a link element representing a URI associated with each update information,

a title element representing a name of said each update information, and

a description element which explains an outline of said each update information.

30. The syndication data structure according to claim 29, wherein the URI associated with the distribution represents a Web site held by the image processing apparatus.

31. The syndication data structure according to claim 30, wherein

a URI associated with the element which lists the update information represents a specific page of a Web site held by the image processing apparatus, and

the specific page includes a page representing each update information of data stored in the apparatus.