Method to operate a control panel for a production system, as well as a control system for a production system

• US 9,395,943 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2015
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oce Printing Systems GmbH & Co KG (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Oce Printing Systems GmbH & Co KG (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Haas, Andreas, Linkel, Norbert, Keicher, Harald
• Primary Examiner(s): Vo, Anh T. N.
• Application Number:
  US14/878,426
• Publication Number:
  US 20160103643A1
• Time in Patent Office: 285 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1205 resulting in increased flexibility in print job configuration, e.g. job settings, print requirements, job tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1246 by handling markup languages, e.g. XSL, XML, HTML
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1253 Configuration of print job parameters, e.g. using UI at the client
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1282 High volume printer device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1285 Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1287 via internet
• 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 1/00238 using an image reproducing device as a local output from a computer output via network, e.g. network printing H04N1/00233
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00464 using browsers, i.e. interfaces based on mark-up languages

Abstract

In a method for operating a control panel for a production system in particular for printing system, a control system is provided comprising a main computer. The main computer is connected via a data connection with one or more client computers on which a browser is executed. The control panel for the production system is displayed in the respective browser. Via an operation of a user at the control panel, an action request is triggered at a web user interface with which an action is requested at the main computer. Upon every action request, the web user interface checks according to predetermined rules whether this action is allowed, and blocks the action if it is not allowed.

Claims

1. A method for operating a control panel for a production system wherein the production system has a control system that comprises a main computer connected via a data connection with at least one client computer on which a respective browser is installed and executed, comprising the steps of:

providing and executing a control panel library module on the main computer to generate and provide the control panel for the production system;

transmitting the control panel as a markup language file from the main computer to the respective browser and executing the control panel in the respective browser to present the control panel;

transmitting the markup language file from the main computer to the at least one client computer by means of a web user interface installed and executed on the main computer;

by an operation of a user at the control panel triggering an action request at the web user interface with which an action is requested at the main computer; and

upon every action request, the web user interface checking according to predetermined rules if said action request is allowed, and if the action is not allowed the action request is blocked.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the production system comprises a printing system.

3. The method according to claim 2 wherein the action request comprises at least one of a menu action that is executed at the web user interface and a control action with which settings at the printing system are modified.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein upon every action request the web user interface checks whether said action request is possible via the control panel presented in the browser, and blocks the action request if the action request is not possible via the control panel.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the control panel library module checks the predetermined rules, using a rule system, as to whether specific control actions may be executed in a respective current state of the production system, and said specific control actions are blocked if they may not be executed.

6. The method according to claim 5 wherein the predetermined rules of the rule system include at least one of the following security rules:

action requests may only be placed by authorized persons or apparatuses;

action requests may only be placed by persons or apparatuses that have sufficient access rights;

action requests may only be placed if the respective browser presents a data object that is suitable for execution of the action, and

action requests may only be placed if a status of the production system allows the action request.

7. The method according to any of the claim 1 wherein upon reviewing an action request, an identification of at least one of the user, a session, and a window in which the control panel is executed is extracted, and using said identification the user is identified who has triggered the action request, wherein rights associated with the user are determined and using said rights a check is made as to whether the requested action may be executed.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the user must respectively be registered or authorized upon every initialization of the control panel in the browser, upon reviewing an action request, the identification of at least one of the browser, the user, the session and of the window in which the control panel is executed is extracted, and using said identification the user is identified who has triggered the action request, wherein a check is made as to whether the user has been properly registered or authorized.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the control panel has at least one display object that is respectively a self-contained element of the control panel that serves for display of a specific value of a respective parameter, and at the main computer a reference table is stored with which a relationship between each display object and at least one of the browsers, the windows, and the sessions is established, wherein using the reference table a check is made as to which display objects are displayed in the respective browser and thus are operable, and the action is blocked if it is established that the display object from which the action request emanates is not presented.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein an error message or warning message is transmitted to at least one of the browser from which the action request has been initiated and another control panel.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein the warning message is transmitted to a user with higher rights than those of a user who has initiated the action request.

12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the web user interface and the respective browser communicate by means of web sockets, and wherein one of the web sockets at the web user interface and another of the web sockets at the browser are coupled so that a permanent logical data connection is formed between the web user interface and the respective browser.

13. A control system for a production system, comprising:

a main computer connected via a data connection with at least one client computer on which a respective browser is installed and executable;

a control panel library module installed and executable at the main computer and which generates and provides a control panel for the production system, said control panel being transmitted as a markup language file from the main computer to the respective browser and executed in the browser to present said control panel;

a web user interface installed and executed on the main computer for transmitting the markup language file from the main computer to the at least one client computer;

the web user interface by an operation of a user at the control panel triggering an action request with which an action is requested at the main computer; and

said web user interface upon every action request checking according to predetermined rules if said action request is allowed, and if the action is not allowed the action request is blocked.

14. The control system of claim 13 wherein the production system comprises a printing system.

15. A method for operating a control panel for a production system wherein the production system has a control system that comprises a main computer connected via a data connection with at least one client computer on which a respective browser is installed and executed, comprising the steps of:

providing a control panel library module on the main computer to generate the control panel for the production system;

transmitting the control panel as a markup language file from the main computer to the respective browser and executing the control panel in the respective browser to present the control panel;

transmitting the markup language file from the main computer to the at least one client computer by means of a web user interface installed on the main computer;

by an operation of a user at the control panel triggering an action request at the web user interface with which an action is requested at the main computer; and

for the action request, the web user interface checking according to predetermined rules if said action request is allowed, and if the action is not allowed the action request is blocked.

16. A control system for a production system, comprising:

a main computer connected via a data connection with at least one client computer on which a respective browser is installed;

a control panel library module installed at the main computer and which generates and provides a control panel for the production system, said control panel being transmitted as a markup language file from the main computer to the respective browser and executed in the browser to present said control panel;

a web user interface installed on the main computer for transmitting the markup language file from the main computer to the at least one client computer;

the web user interface by an operation of a user at the control panel triggering an action request with which an action is requested at the main computer; and

said web user interface for said action request checking according to predetermined rules if said action request is allowed, and if the action is not allowed the action request is blocked.