JP2012144013A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately performing authentication more efficiently than conventional methods regardless of the type of PDL.
An MFP that receives PDL data including authentication data and data of a plurality of pages arranged after the authentication data includes authentication data acquisition means for acquiring authentication data from the PDL data, and PDL data. Page data acquisition means for acquiring page data, authentication execution means for executing authentication based on the authentication data acquired by the authentication data acquisition means, and page data when authentication by the authentication execution means is successful A print execution unit that executes printing based on the authentication, and the print execution unit succeeds in authentication by the authentication execution unit when the page data acquisition unit acquires the first page of data of a plurality of pages. (S114: YES), printing is performed based on the page data (S114). It is a sign.
[Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that performs authentication based on authentication data added to PDL data, which is print data described in a page description language, that is, PDL (Page Description Language).

  As an image forming apparatus that performs authentication based on authentication data added to PDL data, the ID and password as authentication data added to PDL data match the ID and password entered from the operation panel or the like. In this case, the confidential information portion of the PDL data is printed out in a readable state, and the ID and password as authentication data added to the PDL data match the ID and password input from the operation panel or the like. There is known a printer that prints out the secret information portion of the PDL data in a face-down state when there is no such information (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  Here, the authentication data is added before the data of the first page as an ID command that is an ID command and a password command that is a password command in the PDL data. That is, the authentication data is received by the image forming apparatus before the first page data.

  Conventionally, as an authentication method based on authentication data added to PDL data, authentication is performed when authentication data is received among PDL data, and authentication is performed when all PDL data is received. Is known to be a method.

JP 2005-173720 A

  However, in a method in which authentication is executed when authentication data is received among PDL data, the structure of PDL data differs depending on the type of PDL, such as the order in which ID commands and password commands are arranged in PDL data. Therefore, there is a problem that the image forming apparatus must be able to execute processing according to the type of PDL. Further, in the method in which authentication is executed when authentication data is received among PDL data, when a plurality of authentication data is included in the PDL data, authentication by the first authentication data among the plurality of authentication data is performed. If the authentication fails, even if the authentication data other than the first authentication data may succeed, the authentication is performed when the first authentication data is received and interpreted by the image forming apparatus. Will fail, so there is a problem that is not appropriate.

  Further, in the method in which authentication is executed when all the PDL data is received, when the data of a plurality of pages is included in the PDL data, the data of all the pages is received and interpreted by the image forming apparatus. Since authentication is performed later, there is a problem that when the authentication fails, interpretation of page data by the image forming apparatus is wasted and efficiency is low.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus that can execute authentication appropriately and efficiently regardless of the type of PDL.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus that receives PDL data including authentication data and data of a plurality of pages arranged after the authentication data, and executes authentication based on the authentication data. Based on the authentication data acquisition means for acquiring the authentication data from the PDL data, page data acquisition means for acquiring the data of the page from the PDL data, and the authentication data acquired by the authentication data acquisition means Authentication execution means for executing the authentication, and print execution means for executing printing based on the data of the page when the authentication by the authentication execution means is successful, the print execution means , When the first page data among the data of the plurality of pages is acquired by the page data acquisition means When the authentication by the witness executing means is successful, and executes printing based on the data of the page.

  With this configuration, the image forming apparatus of the present invention executes printing when authentication is successful when data of the first page among the data of a plurality of pages included in the PDL data is acquired. Because of the structure of the PDL data, since the acquisition of the authentication data is completed when the first page data is acquired, the authentication can be executed regardless of the type of PDL. Further, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, even when a plurality of authentication data is included in the PDL data, acquisition of all the authentication data is completed when the first page data is acquired. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately execute authentication based on appropriate authentication data among all the authentication data that has been acquired. Also, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention executes printing when authentication is successful when the first page data among the plurality of page data included in the PDL data is acquired. Compared with a conventional configuration in which authentication is performed when all data is received, the success or failure of authentication can be determined earlier, and authentication can be performed efficiently.

  Further, the authentication execution unit of the image forming apparatus of the present invention may be configured so that the page other than the first page is based on the authentication data used for the authentication when the first page data is acquired by the page data acquisition unit. The authentication is executed for each page of the print data, and the print execution unit is successful when the authentication by the authentication execution unit is successful when the data of each page is acquired by the page data acquisition unit. Printing may be executed based on the data of each page.

  With this configuration, the image forming apparatus of the present invention can also use the authentication data used for authentication on the first page for authentication on other pages.

  An image forming program according to the present invention includes an image forming apparatus that receives PDL data including authentication data and data of a plurality of pages arranged after the authentication data and executes authentication based on the authentication data. Authentication data acquisition means for acquiring the authentication data from the PDL data, page data acquisition means for acquiring data of the page from the PDL data, and the authentication based on the authentication data acquired by the authentication data acquisition means An authentication execution unit that executes, and a print execution unit that executes printing based on the data of the page when the authentication by the authentication execution unit is successful, and the print execution unit acquires the page data Before the data of the first page among the data of the plurality of pages is acquired by the means When the authentication by the authentication execution unit is successful, and executes printing based on the data of the page.

  With this configuration, the image forming apparatus that executes the image forming program according to the present invention is authenticated when the first page of the plurality of pages of data included in the PDL data is acquired. However, since the acquisition of the authentication data is completed when the first page data is acquired due to the structure of the PDL data, the authentication can be executed regardless of the type of PDL. In addition, the image forming apparatus that executes the image forming program of the present invention, even when the PDL data includes a plurality of pieces of authentication data, all of the pieces of authentication data are obtained when the first page data is acquired. Since the acquisition is completed, it is possible to appropriately execute authentication based on appropriate authentication data among all the authentication data acquired. In addition, the image forming apparatus that executes the image forming program of the present invention prints when authentication is successful at the time when the first page of the plurality of pages of data included in the PDL data is acquired. Therefore, the success or failure of the authentication can be confirmed earlier than in the conventional configuration in which the authentication is performed when all the PDL data is received, and the authentication can be performed efficiently.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention can execute authentication appropriately and more efficiently than before, regardless of the type of PDL.

1 is a block diagram of an image forming system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the PDL data produced | generated by PC shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart subsequent to the operation shown in FIG. 3. 10 is a flowchart of an operation of a part of the MFP of the image forming system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
First, the configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an image forming system 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming system 10 includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 20 as an image forming apparatus of the present invention, and a PC (Personal Computer) 90 that generates PDL data 80 (see FIG. 2). ing. The MFP 20 and the PC 90 are directly connected so as to be communicable with each other via a cable such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable, or are communicably connected to each other via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing PDL data 80 generated by the PC 90.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the PDL data 80 includes authentication data 81 and a page data group 82 that is data of a plurality of pages.

  The authentication data 81 includes an ID command 81a that is an ID command and a password command 81b that is a password command.

  The page data group 82 is arranged after the authentication data 81. In the page data group 82, a plurality of pages of data from the first page data 82a to the last page data are arranged in order.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the MFP 20 includes a controller 30 that controls the MFP 20, a display 41 that is connected to the controller 30 and displays various information, and a controller 30 that is connected to the controller 30 and inputs various operations by the user. An operation unit 42 that is connected to the controller 30 and executes printing on a recording medium such as paper. A scanner 44 that is connected to the controller 30 and that reads a document and generates image data. A communication I / F (interface) unit 45 that is connected to the controller 30 and communicates with the PC 90; and an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) connected to the controller 30. ) And a non-volatile storage device 46 such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

  The controller 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a program (including an image forming program of the present invention) and a ROM (Read Only Memory) preliminarily storing various data, and a rewritable volatile memory used as a work area of the CPU. RAM (Random Access Memory) which is a storage device. The CPU is an arithmetic processing unit that operates the controller 30 by executing a program stored in the ROM. The RAM temporarily stores programs and various data when the programs are executed by the CPU. The controller 30 executes an image forming program, thereby obtaining authentication data acquisition means 31 for acquiring authentication data 81 from the PDL data 80, page data acquisition means 32 for acquiring page data from the PDL data 80, and authentication data acquisition. An authentication execution unit 33 that executes authentication based on the authentication data 81 acquired by the unit 31, and a print execution unit that executes printing based on page data when the authentication execution unit 33 succeeds in authentication. Function.

  The display 41 is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display).

  The operation unit 42 is an input device such as a button that forms a touch panel together with the display 41.

  The printer 43 is a printing device that prints various data such as image data generated by the scanner 44 and PDL data 80 received from the PC 90 via the communication I / F unit 45.

  For example, the communication I / F unit 45 transmits image data generated by the scanner 44 to the PC 90 and receives PDL data 80 to be printed by the printer 43 from the PC 90.

  The nonvolatile storage device 46 stores a combination of an ID 46a and a password 46b corresponding to the ID 46a for each user. The ID 46 a and the password 46 b are input by the user via the operation unit 42 or input by the user from the PC 90 via the communication I / F unit 45.

  Next, the operation of the image forming system 10 will be described.

  When printing by the MFP 20 is instructed by the user, the PC 90 generates PDL data 80 corresponding to the instruction from the user, and transmits the generated PDL data 80 to the MFP 20. Here, when generating the PDL data 80, the PC 90 includes the user ID and password previously stored in the printer driver in the PDL data 80 as an ID command 81a and a password command 81b, respectively.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the MFP 20. FIG. 4 is a flowchart subsequent to the operation shown in FIG.

  When the MFP 20 receives the PDL data 80 from the PC 90 via the communication I / F unit 45, the MFP 20 executes the processes shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the controller 30 of the MFP 20 starts reading the PDL data 80 received by the communication I / F unit 45 from the communication I / F unit 45 (S101). That is, the controller 30 starts to analyze the PDL data 80 from the beginning by the interpreter. When the controller 30 recognizes the ID command 81 a by analyzing the PDL data 80, the controller 30 acquires the recognized ID command 81 a by the authentication data acquisition unit 31. When the controller 30 recognizes the password command 81 b by analyzing the PDL data 80, the controller 30 acquires the recognized password command 81 b by the authentication data acquisition unit 31. When the controller 30 recognizes the page data by analyzing the PDL data 80, the controller 30 obtains the recognized page data by the page data obtaining unit 32.

  Next, the authentication data acquisition unit 31 of the controller 30 determines whether or not the ID command 81a is acquired from the PDL data 80 (S102).

  If it is determined in S102 that the ID command 81a has been acquired, the authentication data acquisition unit 31 temporarily stores the ID corresponding to the acquired ID command 81a in the RAM (S103). If the ID is already stored in the RAM, the authentication data acquisition unit 31 overwrites the ID on the RAM in the process of S103.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S102 that the ID command 81a has not been acquired, the authentication data acquisition unit 31 determines whether or not the password command 81b has been acquired from the PDL data 80 (S104).

  If it is determined in S104 that the password command 81b has been acquired, the authentication data acquisition unit 31 temporarily stores the password corresponding to the acquired password command 81b in the RAM (S105). If the password is already stored in the RAM, the authentication data acquisition unit 31 overwrites the password on the RAM in the process of S105.

  When the processing of S103 or S105 is completed, the authentication execution unit 33 determines whether or not the ID temporarily stored in the RAM in S103 and the password temporarily stored in the RAM in S105 are available (S105). S106).

  If it is determined in S106 that the ID and password are available, the authentication execution means 33 executes authentication (S107). That is, the authentication execution unit 33 uses the ID 46a and password stored in the nonvolatile storage device 46 as a combination of the ID temporarily stored in the RAM in S103 and the password temporarily stored in the RAM in S105. If it exists in the combination 46b, it is determined that the authentication has succeeded, and if it does not exist, it is determined that the authentication has failed. When the authentication is successful, the MFP 20 enters a login state using the PDL data 80.

  When it is determined in S104 that the password command 81b has not been acquired, it is determined in S106 that the ID and password are not complete, or the processing of S107 ends, the page data acquisition unit 32 starts from the PDL data 80. It is determined whether or not the data 82a for the page has been acquired (S108).

  If it is determined in S108 that the first page data 82a has not been acquired, the process of S102 is executed again.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S108 that the first page data 82a has been acquired, the print execution unit 34 determines whether or not the authentication is successful (S111).

  If it is determined in S111 that the authentication has failed, the controller 30 deletes the ID temporarily stored in the RAM in S103 and the password temporarily stored in the RAM in S105 (S112). An error display is output to the display 41 (S113), and the processes shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are terminated.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in S111 that the authentication is successful, the print execution unit 34 executes the printing of the first page by the printer 43 based on the data 82a of the first page (S114).

  Next, the print execution unit 34 determines whether there is data for the next page (S115).

  If it is determined in S115 that the next page data exists, the page data acquisition unit 32 determines whether the next page data has been acquired until it is determined that the next page data has been acquired ( S116).

  If it is determined in S116 that the data for the next page has been acquired, the print execution unit 34 prints the page using the printer 43 based on the data for the page determined to be acquired in S116 (S114). .

  If it is determined in S115 that the next page data does not exist, the controller 30 deletes the ID temporarily stored in the RAM in S103 and the password temporarily stored in the RAM in S105 (S117). ), The login state by the PDL data 80 is changed to the logout state (S118), and the processes shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are ended.

  As described above, the MFP 20 performs authentication when the page data acquisition unit 32 acquires the first page data 82a among the data of the plurality of pages included in the PDL data 80 (YES in S108). When the authentication by the means 33 is successful (YES in S111), the print execution means 34 executes printing based on the page data (S114). However, the data 82a of the first page is the PDL data 80 structure. Since acquisition of the authentication data 81 has been completed (YES in S106) at the time of acquisition (YES in S108), authentication can be executed regardless of the type of PDL (S107). For example, even if the PDL data 80 in which the ID command 81a is arranged after the password command 81b, the MFP 20 completes the acquisition of the authentication data 81 when the data 82a of the first page is acquired. Authentication can be executed regardless of the type of PDL.

  In addition, even when the PDL data 80 includes a plurality of authentication data 81, the MFP 20 has already acquired all the authentication data 81 when the first page data 82a is acquired. The authentication can be appropriately executed based on the appropriate authentication data 81 among all the authentication data 81 for which acquisition has been completed. For example, even if the authentication fails when the MFP 20 executes authentication based on the preceding authentication data 81 among the plurality of authentication data 81 (S107), the MFP 20 executes authentication based on the subsequent authentication data 81 (S107). ) If authentication is successful, printing can be executed (S114). Note that if the authentication is successful in S107, the MFP 20 does not overwrite the ID or password on the RAM in the processing of S103 or S105 until the processing shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is completed. good.

  Further, when the authentication is successful (YES in S111), the MFP 20 acquires the first page data 82a among the plurality of pages of data included in the PDL data 80 (YES in S108). Since printing is executed based on the page data (S114), the success or failure of the authentication can be determined at an early stage as compared with the conventional configuration in which the authentication is executed when all the PDL data 80 is received. Authentication can be performed.

  The MFP 20 is stored in the nonvolatile storage device 46 as an ID and password to be compared in S107 with a combination of the ID temporarily stored in the RAM in S103 and the password temporarily stored in the RAM in S105. The combination of the ID 46a and the password 46b is used, but not the combination of the ID 46a and the password 46b stored in the nonvolatile storage device 46, but the ID input by the user from the operation unit 42 each time. And a combination of passwords may be used.

(Second Embodiment)
The configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment is the same as the configuration of the image forming system according to the first embodiment except for the image forming program. Therefore, the configuration of the image forming system according to the present embodiment is denoted by the same reference numeral as the configuration of the image forming system according to the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The operation of the image forming system according to the present embodiment is the same as the operation of the image forming system according to the first embodiment except for the operation of the MFP 20 described below. Therefore, the description of the same operation as that of the image forming system according to the first embodiment is omitted.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a part of the operation of the MFP 20 according to the present embodiment.

  If it is determined in S108 shown in FIG. 3 that the first page data 82a has been acquired, the MFP 20 according to the present embodiment executes the processing shown in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the MFP 20 according to the present embodiment performs the processes of S111 to S115, S117, and S118 in the same manner as the MFP 20 according to the first embodiment.

  If it is determined in S115 that the next page of data exists, the authentication execution unit 33 executes authentication (S151). That is, the authentication execution unit 33 uses the ID 46a and password stored in the nonvolatile storage device 46 as a combination of the ID temporarily stored in the RAM in S103 and the password temporarily stored in the RAM in S105. If it exists in the combination 46b, it is determined that the authentication has succeeded, and if it does not exist, it is determined that the authentication has failed.

  Next, the page data acquisition unit 32 determines whether or not the data of the next page has been acquired until it is determined that the data of the next page has been acquired (S152).

  If it is determined in S152 that the data of the next page has been acquired, the print execution unit 34 determines whether the authentication is successful (S111).

  As described above, the authentication execution unit 33 according to the present embodiment is based on the authentication data 81 used for authentication when the page data acquisition unit 32 acquires the data 82a of the first page. Authentication is executed for each page other than the page (S151). Further, the print execution unit 34 according to the present embodiment is successful when authentication by the authentication execution unit 33 is successful (YES in S111) when the data of each page is acquired by the page data acquisition unit 32 (YES in S152). YES), printing is executed based on the data of each page (S114). Therefore, the MFP 20 can also use the authentication data used for authentication on the first page for authentication on other pages.

  The image forming apparatus of the present invention is an MFP in each of the embodiments described above, but may be an image forming apparatus other than the MFP, such as a copier or a printer.

20 MFP (image forming apparatus)
31 Authentication data acquisition means 32 Page data acquisition means 33 Authentication execution means 34 Print execution means 46a ID
46b Password 80 PDL data 81 Authentication data 82 Page data group (multiple page data)
82a First page data

Claims (3)

An image forming apparatus that receives authentication data and PDL data including data of a plurality of pages arranged after the authentication data and performs authentication based on the authentication data,
Authentication data acquisition means for acquiring the authentication data from the PDL data, page data acquisition means for acquiring data of the page from the PDL data, and the authentication based on the authentication data acquired by the authentication data acquisition means And an authentication execution unit that executes printing based on the data of the page when the authentication by the authentication execution unit is successful, and
The print execution unit is configured to display the page data when the authentication by the authentication execution unit is successful when the page data acquisition unit acquires the first page data of the plurality of page data. An image forming apparatus that executes printing based on the above. The authentication execution unit performs the authentication for each page other than the first page based on the authentication data used for the authentication when the data of the first page is acquired by the page data acquisition unit. Run,
The print execution unit executes printing based on the data of each page when the authentication by the authentication execution unit is successful when the data of each page is acquired by the page data acquisition unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. An image forming apparatus that receives PDL data including authentication data and data of a plurality of pages arranged after the authentication data and performs authentication based on the authentication data is transmitted from the PDL data to the authentication data. Authentication data acquisition means for acquiring, page data acquisition means for acquiring data of the page from the PDL data, authentication execution means for executing the authentication based on the authentication data acquired by the authentication data acquisition means, and When the authentication by the authentication execution unit is successful, function as a print execution unit that executes printing based on the data of the page,
The print execution unit is configured to display the page data when the authentication by the authentication execution unit is successful when the page data acquisition unit acquires the first page data of the plurality of page data. An image forming program that executes printing based on the above.

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