Image processing apparatus, data processing method and data processing program

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-57711 filed on Mar. 7, 2007, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus that is used by a plurality of users belonging to one same group to share data stored in a storage area that is allowed to be accessed only by the group users, a data processing method used in the image processing apparatus, and a data processing program stored in a computer readable recording medium to make a computer provided in the image processing apparatus execute image processing.

2. Description of the Related Art

The following description sets forth the inventor's knowledge of related art and problems therein and should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art.

In recent years, an art is generally used, wherein personal storage areas used by individual users respectively, and a group storage area that is used by a plurality of users belonging to one same group and allowed to be accessed only by the group users, are created in a recording medium such as a hard disk drive (hereinafter to be referred to also as “HDD”) of an image processing apparatus represented by a MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) that is a multifunctional digital machine. With this image processing apparatus, a user copies data such as document data, image data, etc. stored in his/her own personal storage area to the group storage area, so as to share information with the other group users.

Meanwhile, another art is heretofore known, wherein original data is not physically copied to a copy destination but reference information that is pointer information pointing to the original data stored in a storage location of a storage area is stored in a copy destination, so that the storage capacity of an HDD, etc. can be saved. And when a user makes access to the reference information, the original data stored in the storage location, to which is pointed by the pointer information, is called out and displayed. And thereby a result that is the same as expected in the case of physically copying the original data to a copy destination is drawn.

However, this art described above still leaves an issue. That is, if the original data happens to be changed (updated, deleted or etc.), the reference information is also changed accordingly, and a user cannot call the original data any more even if makes access to the reference information. Similarly, in such a case where reference information pointing to original data is stored in a group storage area and thereby the original data is copied to the group storage area, if the original data happens to be changed after some of the group users make access to the reference information stored therein, different data will be provided to the users having made access and the other users not having made access, which could not achieve information sharing among the group users.

According to an art disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2004-362418, if file data to which is pointed by pointer information happens to be updated, the file data is temporarily stored. And when a user makes access to new pointer information after the update, a notification is transmitted to let him/her know that file data to which is pointed by the new pointer information is not the original file data, and he/she makes selection whether or not to receive the updated data, and then his/her selection is accepted.

However, this art disclosed in the publication above still leaves an issue. That is, even if users belonging to one same group would like to share data, they tend to make different selections whether or not to receive the updated data. And some users who select receiving the updated data and the other users who do not select receiving the updated data will have different data, which could not achieve information sharing among the group users.

The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been developed in view of the above-mentioned and/or other problems in the related art. The Preferred embodiments of the present invention can significantly improve upon existing methods and/or apparatuses.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus that is capable of eliminating inconvenience that may be caused, that is, if an instruction to change original data is given in the case where reference information pointing to the original data is stored in a group storage area and thereby the original data is copied to the group storage area, different data will be provided to users having made access to the reference information and other users not having made access thereto.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a data processing method that is capable of eliminating inconvenience that may be caused, that is, if an instruction to change original data is given in the case where reference information pointing to the original data is stored in a group storage area and thereby the original data is copied to the group storage area, different data will be provided to users having made access to the reference information and other users not having made access thereto.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a data processing program stored in a computer readable recording medium to make a computer execute image processing by the image processing method.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an image processing apparatus comprises:

a first storage area that stores in itself original data to be copied; a copier that copies the original data to a second storage area that is shared and allowed to be accessed by a plurality of users belonging to one same group, by storing reference information pointing to the original data stored in the first storage area, in the second storage area; a judger that judges whether or not all of access judgment target users who are the group users sharing the second storage area or preliminarily specified users, make access to the reference information stored by the copier in the second storage area; and a controller that suspends execution of an instruction given to change the original data for the access judgment target users so that the original data could be provided to all of them, if the judger judges that only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information when the instruction to change the original data is given, and then, cancels the suspension after the original data is provided to all of the access judgment target users.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a data processing method used in an image processing apparatus, comprises:

copying original data stored in a first storage area, to a second storage area that is shared and allowed to be accessed by a plurality of users belonging to one same group, by storing reference information pointing to the original data stored in the first storage area, in the second storage area; judging whether or not all of access judgment target users who are the group users sharing the second storage area or preliminarily specified users, make access to the reference information stored in the second storage area; and suspending execution of an instruction given to change the original data for the access judgment target users so that the original data could be provided to all of them, if it is judged that only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information when the instruction to change the original data is given, and then, cancelling the suspension after the original data is provided to all of the access judgment target users.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a data processing program stored in a computer readable recording medium to make a computer provided in an image processing apparatus execute:

copying original data stored in a first storage area, to a second storage area that is shared and allowed to be accessed by a plurality of users belonging to one same group, by storing reference information pointing to the original data stored in the first storage area, in the second storage area; judging whether or not access judgment target users who are all of the group users sharing the second storage area or preliminarily specified users, make access to the reference information stored in the second storage area; and suspending execution of an instruction given to change the original data for the access judgment target users so that the original data could be provided to all of them, if it is judged that only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information when the instruction to change the original data is given, and then, cancelling the suspension after the original data is provided to all of the access judgment target users.

The above and/or other aspects, features and/or advantages of various embodiments will be further appreciated in view of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying figures. Various embodiments can include and/or exclude different aspects, features and/or advantages where applicable. In addition, various embodiments can combine one or more aspect or feature of other embodiments where applicable. The descriptions of aspects, features and/or advantages of particular embodiments should not be construed as limiting other embodiments or the claims.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown by way of example, and not limitation, in the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration of an image processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the image processing apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart to explain a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart continued from the FIG. 4 ;

FIG. 6 shows drawings to explain typical operations in the first embodiment, a second embodiment and a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart continued from the FIG. 7 ;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is flowchart continued from FIG. 9 ;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 11 ; and

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In the following paragraphs, some preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example and not limitation. It should be understood based on this disclosure that various other modifications can be made by those in the art based on these illustrated embodiments.

Embodiment-1

FIG. 1 is a view showing a configuration of an overall image processing system in which an image processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is used;

This image processing system comprises image processing apparatuses 1 and 2 , terminal apparatuses 3 , 4 and 5 that are personal computers, FAX apparatuses 6 and 7 , and etc., and these apparatuses are connected to each other via a communication circuit 8 .

Each of the image processing apparatuses 1 and 2 , the terminal apparatuses 3 , 4 and 5 , has its own identification information that is an IP address and a computer name, and the apparatuses identify each other by their own identification information. Further, each of the FAX apparatuses 6 and 7 has a phone number that is generally used for fixed-line phones or IP phones.

Each of the image processing apparatuses 1 and 2 is a MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) that is a multifunctional digital machine collectively having various functions such as copying, network printing, scanning, FAX and document serving, and executes jobs such as print jobs transmitted from the terminal apparatuses 3 , 4 , and 5 . Further, a hard disk drive 35 (shown in FIG. 3 ) of the image processing apparatus 1 has its storage area divided into a plurality of storage areas (hereinafter, to be referred also as “boxes”). In this embodiment, the hard disk drive 35 has first storage areas that are personal storage areas (hereinafter, to be referred as “personal boxes G 1 ”) each assigned for an individual user and storing data of an individual user, and second storage areas that are group storage areas (hereinafter, to be referred as “group boxes G 2 ”) each assigned for a group, shared by a plurality of users belonging to one same group, and storing data of a group.

Further, it also can be configured such that users are not allowed to use the image processing apparatuses 1 and 2 without user authentication using user information preliminarily registered therein respectively. With this configuration, a user hoping to use the image processing apparatuses 1 and 2 is required to transmit his/her user information via the terminal apparatuses 3 , 4 or 5 , or via an operation portion 11 (shown in FIG. 3 ).

Each of the terminal apparatuses 3 , 4 and 5 has document creation software for users to create thereby documents, images and etc., and other various software including printer drivers for the image processing apparatus 1 and 2 . When a user gives a print instruction after creating a document, image or etc., using the document creation software, the print driver for the image processing apparatus 1 or 2 generates a print job then transmits it via the communication circuit 8 to the image processing apparatus 1 or 2 .

Each of the FAX apparatuses 6 and 7 performs signal processing including data compression, signal modulation and etc., on image data read out from a document, and then transmits the image-processed data via the communication circuit 8 to the image processing apparatuses 1 and 2 , the other FAX apparatus and etc. or receives the image-processed image data from other apparatuses.

The communication circuit 8 is a LAN, the internet, a public line or etc., and is used to transmit/receive data such as image data between the apparatuses.

Hereinafter, a configuration of the image processing apparatus 1 will be detailed on behalf of the image processing apparatuses 1 and 2 , since their configurations are the same.

As shown in FIG. 2 , the image processing apparatus 1 comprises an operation portion 11 , a display 12 , a scanner 13 , a printer 14 , a finisher 15 , a communication interface 16 , a document feeder 17 , a sheet feeder 18 , a sheet discharge tray 19 , a controller 20 and etc.

The operation portion 11 comprises a plurality of keys to enter numbers, characters, marks and etc., a sensor to detect pressed keys, a transmission circuit to transmit signals indicating the detected keys to a CPU 30 (shown in FIG. 3 ) of the controller 20 , and others.

The display 12 displays a screen giving a message or an instruction to users, a screen for users to enter a preferable setting or process, a screen showing users an image formed and a processing result drew by the image processing apparatus 1 , and other screens. Further, a touch panel is employed for the display 12 in this embodiment, and the display 12 detects locations touched by users with fingers on the touch panel and transmits signals indicating the detecting results to the CPU 30 .

As explained above, each of the operation portion 11 and the display 12 functions as a user interface so that users can directly operate the image processing apparatus 1 . Further, each of the terminal apparatuses 3 , 4 and 5 has an application program and others installed thereon to give instructions to the image processing apparatus 1 , so that users also can operate the image processing apparatus 1 remotely via the terminal apparatus 3 , 4 and 5 , not via the operation portion 11 and the display 12 .

The scanner 13 photoelectrically reads information of image such as a photo, text, a picture, etc. that is on a document, and thereby acquires image data. The acquired image data (density data) is converted into digital data by an image processor (not shown in Figure), and heretofore known various image processes are performed on the image data, and then transmitted to the printer 14 or the communication interface 16 , or stored in the hard disk drive 35 for later use.

The printer 14 prints on recording sheets of paper, film, or etc. loaded in the sheet feeder 18 , the image data acquired by the scanner 13 , the image data received from an external terminal apparatus by the communication interface 16 , or the image data stored in the hard disk drive 35 .

The finisher 15 automatically performs post-processes such as stapling, punching and etc.

The communication interface 16 is a NIC, a modem, a TA, or etc., and comprises a receiver 33 and a transmitter 34 as shown in FIG. 3 . It exchanges image data and other data with external apparatuses such as the image processing apparatus 2 , terminal apparatuses 3 , 4 and 5 , FAX apparatuses 6 and 7 , and etc.

The receiver 33 receives data transmitted by the external apparatuses, and the transmitter 34 transmits image data read out by the scanner 13 and other data to the external apparatuses.

The document feeder 17 automatically transfers a document placed thereon to the document reading position that is the scanner 13 .

The sheet feeder 18 is provided in the lower position of the image processing apparatus 1 . It loads recording sheets of paper, film or etc., and selects preferable recording sheets automatically or according to user instruction, then transfers them to the printer 14 .

The sheet discharge tray 19 discharges recording sheets of paper, film or etc. that have images printed thereon by the printer 14 and is post-processed (stapled, punched, etc.) by the finisher 15 .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the image processing apparatus 1 .

The controller 20 comprises a CPU 30 , a ROM 31 , a RAM 32 and etc.

The CPU 30 controls the entire image processing apparatus 1 by executing a program stored in the ROM 31 or a program loaded in the RAM 32 . Especially in this embodiment, the CPU 30 further controls data processing using the personal box G 1 and the group box G 2 , which will be detailed later.

The ROM 31 stores a program executed by the CPU 30 and other data.

The RAM 32 is an operation area for the CPU 30 to execute processing, and temporarily stores a program and data to be used when the CPU 30 executes the program.

A data storage 38 comprises a hard disk drive 35 , a card reader/writer 36 and etc.

The hard disk drive (HDD) 35 has an area to store image data read out by the scanner 13 and image data and other data transmitted via the communication interface 16 by the terminal apparatuses 3 , 4 and 5 , and the FAX apparatuses 6 and 7 , an area to store a job mode history, and an area to store the boxes. The box storage area has one or a plurality of personal boxes G 1 and a group box G 2 . The data stored in the HDD 35 can be also accessed via the network from the image processing apparatus 2 .

The card reader/writer 36 reads and writes image data from and in a memory card 37 .

The memory card 37 is a portable recording medium such as a compact flash (the registered trademark), a smart media or etc., and is used for use in data backup or other.

Explanation about the operation portion 11 , the display 12 , the scanner 13 , the printer 14 , the communication interface 16 , the document feeder 17 and the sheet feeder 18 is omitted here, since those are already explained.

[Operations of the Image Processing Apparatus 1 ]

A procedure performed in the image processing apparatus 1 , to perform data processing using personal boxes G 1 and a group box G 2 , will be explained with reference to flowcharts shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , and drawings shown in FIG. 6 . This procedure is executed by the CPU 30 according to a program stored in a recording medium such as the ROM 31 .

In an embodiment to be described hereinafter, data such as image data and document data are preliminarily stored in a personal box G 1 by a user owning the personal box G 1 . And this user is trying to copy data stored in his/her personal box G 1 to a group box G 2 of a group to which he/she belongs. The copy operation will be detailed as follows. That is, original data that is target data stored in the personal box G 1 is not physically copied to the group box G 2 , but reference information that is pointer information indicating a storage location of the original data within the storage area of HDD 35 is stored in the group box G 2 , and when a user makes access to the reference information, the original data that is the pointing destination is called from a storage location indicated by the pointer information and displayed.

In other words, these operations to store in the group box G 2 the reference information pointing to the original data are performed as under the pretense that the original data is physically copied to the group box G 2 . Actually, the data is not physically copied, and thereby the storage capacity of the HDD 35 is saved. In this case, if an instruction to change (for example, update or delete) the original data is given, the instruction is executed and accordingly the changed data is provided to the user making access to the reference information. Especially in this embodiment, execution of an instruction given to change the original data is suspended under a certain condition for users who make access to the reference information stored in the group box G 2 .

In an embodiment to be explained hereinafter, the original data is document data. However, the original data is not limited to document data, and can be other data such as image data.

If an instruction given by a user to copy a document D 1 that is original data stored in a personal box G 1 of the image processing apparatus 1 , to a group box G 2 of the image processing apparatus 2 , is received by the CPU 30 (see Step S 50 in FIG. 4 and # 1 in FIG. 6 ), then only reference information L 1 pointing to the document D 1 is stored in the group box G 2 of the image processing apparatus 2 (see Step S 51 in FIG. 4 and # 2 in FIG. 6 ).

Subsequently, it is judged whether or not any of the users makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 52 in FIG. 4 ). This judgment is made based on a notification received from the image processing apparatus 2 . That is, if a user makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 as shown in # 3 and # 4 , information of the user, such as user information, access information and the number of accesses, which originates from MDN (Message Disposition Notification) or an operation history, is notified via the communication circuit 8 by the image processing apparatus 2 . Based on the notification, it is judged whether or not any of the users makes access.

In this embodiment, users who are the targets of access judgment are assumed as “access judgment target users”. The access judgment target users can be all of the group users sharing the group box G 2 , or some users preliminarily specified among the group users in an arbitrary manner. For example, the access judgment target users can be defined as users other than the user who gives an instruction to copy the document to the group box G 2 .

If it is judged that none of the users makes access to the reference information L 1 (NO in Step S 52 ), the routine proceeds to Step S 55 . If it is judged that any of the users makes access (YES in Step S 52 ), information of this user, such as user information, is stored in the HDD 35 (Step S 54 ), then the routine proceeds to Step S 55 .

In Step S 55 , it is judged by the CPU 30 whether or not an instruction to update the document D 1 stored in the personal box G 1 is given. If it is judged that an instruction to update the document D 1 is not given (NO in Step S 55 ), the routine returns to Step S 52 , and repeats Steps S 52 through S 55 until it is judged that an instruction to update the document D 1 is given. On the other hand, if an instruction to update the document D 1 stored in the personal box G 1 is given as shown in # 5 in FIG. 6 (hereinafter, the updated document D 1 will be assumed as a document D 2 ), it is judged as “YES” in Step S 55 . Then the routine proceeds to Step S 56 , wherein it is judged whether or not any of the access judgment target users makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 before an instruction to update the document D 1 is given. This judgment is made based on the information stored in Step S 54 .

If it is judged that none of the access judgment target users makes access before an instruction to update the document D 1 is given (NO in Step S 56 ), the routine proceeds to Step S 67 , wherein the document D 1 is overwritten with the document D 2 thereby the update instruction is executed, since the document D 1 that is the original document is not yet provided to any of the access judgment target users. And then, the routine terminates.

If it is judged that any of the access judgment target users makes access to the reference information L 1 before an instruction to update the document D 1 is given as shown in # 6 in FIG. 6 (YES in Step S 56 ), then it is judged by the CPU 30 whether or not all of them makes access to the reference information L 1 (Step S 57 ), since different documents are provided to the users who already make access and the other users who do not make access to the reference information L 1 , if the document D 1 is overwritten with the document D 2 without this judgment.

If it is judged that all of the access judgment target users make access (YES in Step S 57 ), the routine proceeds to Step S 67 and the document D 1 is overwritten with the document D 2 , since information sharing is achieved. If it is judged that only some of the access judgment target users do not make access to the reference information L 1 (NO in Step S 57 ), difference information Δ 1 indicating the difference between the document D 1 and the document D 2 , is stored in his/her personal box G 1 by the CPU 30 (see Step S 58 in FIG. 4 and # 7 in FIG. 6 ), since information sharing will not be achieved if the document D 1 is overwritten with the document D 2 without this judgment.

Subsequently, it is judged whether or not any of them makes access to the personal box G 1 or the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 59 ). If it is judged that none of them makes access (NO in Step S 59 ), the routine waits until it is judged that any of them makes access. If it is judged that any of them makes access (YES in Step S 59 ), then it is judged by the CPU 30 whether this user makes access to the personal box G 1 or the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 60 in FIG. 5 ).

If it is judged that this user makes access to the personal box G 1 (YES in Step S 60 ), the document D 2 is created by the CPU 30 based on the document D 1 and the difference information Δ 1 , then provided to this user (see Step S 61 in FIG. 5 and # 10 in FIG. 6 ), since he/she has a possibility of exactly being the user who gives an instruction to update the document D 1 and maybe the document D 1 that is the original data is not needed to be provided to this user again. And then, the routine returns to Step S 59 . On the other hand, if it is judged that this user makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group Box G 2 (NO in Step S 60 ), what the reference information L 1 points to is not changed but set still as the document D 1 , then the document D 1 is provided to this user (see Step S 62 in FIG. 5 and # 10 in FIG. 6 ), since he/she has a possibility of not being the user who gives an instruction to update the document D 1 and maybe the document D 1 is not yet provided to this user. In other words, execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users.

Then, information of the user who makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 is stored (Step S 63 ), and it is judged whether or not all of the access judgment target users make access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 64 ).

If it is judged that not all of the access judgment target users make access (NO in Step S 64 ), the routine returns to Step S 59 , since some of them do not make access to the document D 1 . If it is judged that all of the access judgment target users make access (YES in Step S 64 ), the document D 1 is overwritten with the document D 2 , the difference information Δ 1 is deleted, and what the reference information L 1 points to is changed to the document D 2 stored in the personal box G 1 , by the CPU 30 (see Step S 65 in FIG. 5 and # 13 in FIG. 6 ), since information sharing is achieved. That is, the suspension of execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 stored in the personal box G 1 is canceled, and the update instruction is executed.

Then, a notification that reference information pointing to the updated data is stored in the group box G 2 , i.e. the original data is updated, is transmitted to all of the access judgment target users (Step S 66 ). And then, the routine terminates. In this way, they know that their having document D 1 has been updated. The notification can be transmitted by e-mail, and can be issued when they login the image processing apparatus 1 or when they make access to the group box G 2 .

In this embodiment as described above, if only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information L 1 , i.e. not all of them have made access thereto when an instruction to update the document D 1 is given, the document D 1 that is the original data is provided to users making access to the reference information L 1 , until all of them make access thereto. That is, execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users, and the document D 1 will be provided to all of them. In this way, information sharing is achieved, which improves user convenience of the image processing apparatus. Further, if the user owning the personal box G 1 makes access to the personal box G 1 , the document D 2 that is the updated data, i.e. created based on the document D 1 and the difference information Δ 1 is provided to him/her. And thereby, an instruction given to update the document D 1 is executed for the user owning the personal box G 1 . After the document D 1 is provided to all of the access judgment target users, what the reference information L 1 points to is changed to the document D 2 thereby an instruction given to update the document D 1 is executed, which prevents execution of the update instruction from being suspended unnecessarily longer.

Although it is assumed in this embodiment above that the group box G 2 exists in the image processing apparatus 2 , the group box G 2 also can exist in the image processing apparatus 1 just like the personal boxes G 1 .

Embodiment-2

Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained. In the first embodiment of the present invention, difference information Δ 1 indicating the difference between a document D 2 that is the updated data and a document D 1 that is original data, is created and stored, and then the document D 2 is created based on the document D 1 and the difference information Δ 1 . Meanwhile, in the second embodiment of the present invention, a document D 2 that is the updated data and a document D 1 that is original data are both stored in a personal box G 1 , and then what the reference information L 1 points to is set still as the document D 1 thereby execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 is suspended, until the document D 1 is provided to all of the access judgment target users. And after the document D 1 is provided to all of them, what the reference information L 1 points to is changed to the document D 2 , thereby suspension of execution of the update instruction is canceled.

Since an image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, its explanation is omitted here.

[Operations of the Image Processing Apparatus 1 ]

Hereinafter, a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus 1 will be explained with reference to flowcharts shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 , and drawings in FIG. 6 . This procedure is executed by the CPU 30 according to a program stored in a recording medium such as the ROM 31 .

Since Steps S 50 through S 57 of the flowchart in FIG. 7 are exactly the same as Steps S 50 through S 57 of the flowchart in FIG. 4 , explanation about these Steps is omitted here.

In Step S 57 of FIG. 4 , if it is judged that all of the access judgment target users make access to the reference information L 1 (YES in Step S 57 ), the routine jumps ahead to Step S 87 shown in FIG. 7 , wherein the document D 1 is updated. If it is judged that only some of the access judgment target users do not make access to the reference information L 1 (NO in Step S 57 ), the document D 1 is not overwritten, but the document D 2 that is the updated data is newly created and stored in the personal box G 1 by the CPU 30 (see Step S 78 in FIG. 7 and # 8 in FIG. 6 ), since information sharing will not be achieved if the document D 1 is updated without this judgment.

Subsequently, it is judged whether or not any of them makes access to the personal box G 1 or the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 79 ). If it is judged that none of them makes access (NO in Step S 79 ), the routine waits until any of them makes access. If it is judged that any of them makes access (YES in Step S 79 ), then it is judged by the CPU 30 whether the user makes access to the personal box G 1 or the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 80 in FIG. 8 ).

If it is judged that this user makes access to the personal box G 1 (YES in Step S 60 ), the document D 2 is provided to this user (see Step S 81 in FIG. 8 and # 11 in FIG. 6 ) since he/she has a possibility of exactly being the user who gives an instruction to update the document D 1 and maybe the document D 1 that is the original data is not needed to be provided to this user again. And then, the routine returns to Step S 59 . On the other hand, if it is judged that this user makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (NO in Step S 80 ), what the reference information L 1 points to is not changed but set still as the document D 1 , then the document D 1 is provided to this user (see Step S 82 in FIG. 8 and # 11 in FIG. 6 ), since he/she has a possibility of not being the user who gives an instruction to update the document D 1 and maybe the document D 1 is not yet provided to this user. In other words, execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users.

Subsequently, information of the user who makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 is stored (Step S 83 ), and it is judged whether or not all of the access judgment target users make access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 84 ).

If it is judged that not all of the access judgment target users make access (NO in Step S 84 ), the routine returns to Step S 59 since some of them do not make access to the document D 1 . If it is judged that all of the access judgment target users make access (YES in Step S 84 ), the document D 1 is deleted, and what the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 points to is changed to the document D 2 stored in the personal box G 1 , by the CPU 30 (see Step S 85 in FIG. 8 and # 13 in FIG. 6 ), since information sharing is achieved.

Then, a notification that reference information pointing to the updated data is stored in the group box G 2 , i.e. the original data is updated, is transmitted to all of the access judgment target users (Step S 86 ). And then, the routine terminates.

In this embodiment as described above, if only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information L 1 , i.e. not all of them have made access thereto when an instruction to update the document D 1 is given, the document D 1 that is the original data is provided to users making access to the reference information L 1 , until all of them make access thereto. That is, execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users, and the document D 1 will be provided to all of them. In this way, information sharing is achieved. Further, if the user owning the personal box G 1 makes access to the personal box G 1 , the document D 2 that is the updated data is provided to this user, thereby an instruction given to update the document D 1 is executed for the user owning the personal box G 1 . After the document D 1 is provided to all of the access judgment target users, what the reference information L 1 points to is changed to the document D 2 thereby an instruction given to update the document D 1 is executed, which prevents execution of the update instruction from being suspended unnecessarily longer.

Although it is assumed in this embodiment above that the group box G 2 exists in the image processing apparatus 2 , the group box G 2 also can exist in the image processing apparatus 1 just like the personal boxes G 1 .

Embodiment-3

Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be explained. In this embodiment, if only some of the access judgment target users has made access to reference information L 1 when an instruction to update a document D 1 is given, the document D 1 stored in a personal box G 1 is moved to a group box G 2 and a document D 2 that is the updated data is created and stored in the personal box G 1 . And then, the document D 1 stored in the group box G 2 can be accessed by the users who make access thereby execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 is suspended for them, until the document D 1 that is the original data is provided to all of the access judgment target users.

Since an image processing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, its explanation is omitted here.

[Operations of the Image Processing Apparatus 1 ]

Hereinafter, a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus 1 will be explained with reference to flowcharts shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 , and drawings shown in FIG. 6 . This procedure is executed by the CPU 30 according to a program stored in a recording medium such as the ROM 31 .

Since Steps S 50 through S 57 of the flowchart in FIG. 9 are exactly the same as Steps S 50 through S 57 of the flowchart in FIG. 4 , explanation about these Steps is omitted here.

In Step S 57 of FIG. 4 , if it is judged that all of the access judgment target users make access to the reference information L 1 (YES in Step S 57 ), the routine jumps ahead to Step S 107 , wherein the document D 1 is updated. If it is judged that only some of the access judgment target users do not make access to the reference information L 1 (NO in Step S 57 ), the document D 1 is moved to the group box G 2 , the document D 2 that is the updated data is created and stored in the personal box G 1 , and the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 is deleted, by the CPU 30 (see Step S 98 in FIG. 7 and # 9 in FIG. 6 ), since information sharing will not be achieved if the document D 1 is updated without this judgment.

Subsequently, it is judged whether or not any of them makes access to the personal box G 1 or the group box G 2 . If it is judged that none of them makes access (NO in Step S 99 ). The routine waits until any of them makes access. If it is judged that any of them makes access (YES in Step S 99 ), then it is judged by the CPU 30 whether the user makes access to the personal box G 1 or the group box G 2 (Step S 100 in FIG. 10 ).

If it is judged that this user makes access to the personal box G 1 (YES in Step S 100 ), the document D 2 stored in the personal box G 1 is provided to this user by the CPU 30 (see Step S 101 in FIG. 10 and # 12 in FIG. 6 ) since he/she is the user who gives an instruction to update the document D 1 . And then, the routine returns to Step S 99 . On the other hand, if it is judged that this user makes access to the group box G 2 (NO in Step S 100 ), the document D 1 stored in the group box G 2 is provided to this user (see Step S 102 in FIG. 19 and # 6 in FIG. 6 ). In other words, execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users.

Subsequently, information of the user who makes access to the group box G 2 is stored (Step S 103 ), and it is judged whether or not all of the access judgment target users make access to the group box G 2 (Step S 104 ).

If it is judged that not all of them make access (NO in Step S 104 ), the routine returns to Step S 99 since some of them do not make access to the document D 1 . If it is judged that all of them make access (YES in Step S 104 ), the document D 1 stored in the group box G 2 is deleted, and reference information L 2 pointing to the document D 2 stored in the personal box G 1 is created in the group box G 2 , by the CPU 30 (see Step S 105 in FIG. 10 and # 14 in FIG. 6 ), since information sharing is achieved. And thereby, suspension of execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 stored in the personal box G 1 is canceled, and the update instruction is executed.

Then, a notification that reference information pointing to the updated data is stored in the group box G 2 , i.e. the original data is updated, is transmitted to all of the access judgment target users (Step S 106 ). And then, the routine terminates.

In this embodiment as described above, if only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information L 1 , i.e. not all of them have made access thereto when an instruction to update the document D 1 is given, the document D 1 that is the original data is moved to the group box G 2 and the reference information L 1 is deleted, so that the access judgment target users can directly make access to the document D 1 that is the original data. That is, execution of an instruction given to update the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users, until the document D 1 is provided to all of them. In this way, information sharing is achieved. Further, if the user owning the personal box G 1 makes access to the personal box G 1 , the document D 2 that is the updated data is provided to this user, thereby an instruction given to update the document D 1 is executed for the user owning the personal box G 1 . After the document D 1 is provided to all of the access judgment target users, the document D 1 stored in the group box G 2 is deleted and the reference information L 2 pointing to the document D 2 stored in the personal box G 1 is newly created in the group box G 2 , thereby an instruction given to update the document D 1 is executed, which prevents execution of the update instruction from being suspended unnecessarily longer.

Although it is assumed in this embodiment above that the group box G 2 exists in the image processing apparatus 2 , the group box G 2 also can exist in the image processing apparatus 1 just like the personal boxes G 1 .

Embodiment-4

Hereinafter, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be explained. In this embodiment, the following operations are performed if an instruction to delete a document D 1 is given. Even if the deletion instruction is given, the document D 1 is not deleted but still stored, and what reference information L 1 points to is set still as the document D 1 . That is, execution of the deletion instruction is suspended, until the document D 1 is provided to all of the access judgment target users.

Since an image processing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, its explanation is omitted here.

[Operations of the Image Processing Apparatus 1 ]

Hereinafter, a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus 1 will be explained with reference to flowcharts shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 . This procedure is executed by the CPU 30 according to a program stored in a recording medium such as the ROM 31 .

If an instruction given by a user to copy the document D 1 that is the original data stored in the personal box G 1 of the image processing apparatus 1 , to the group box G 2 of the image processing apparatus 2 , is received by the CPU 30 (Step S 150 in FIG. 11 ), then only the reference information L 1 pointing to the document D 1 is stored in the group box G 2 of the image processing apparatus 2 (Step S 151 ).

Subsequently, it is judged whether or not any of the users makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 152 ).

If it is judged that none of the users makes access (NO in Step S 152 ), the routine proceeds to Step S 154 . If it is judged that any of the users makes access (YES in Step S 152 ), information of the user, such as user information, is stored (Step S 153 ), then the routine proceeds to Step S 154 .

In Step S 154 , it is judged by the CPU 30 whether or not an instruction to delete the document D 1 stored in the personal box G 1 is given. If it is judged that the deletion instruction is not given (NO in Step S 154 ), the routine returns to Step S 152 , and repeats Steps S 152 through S 154 until it is judged that an instruction to delete the document D 1 is given. If it is judged that an instruction to delete the document D 1 is given, the judgment result is “YES” in Step S 154 . Then the routine proceeds to Step S 155 , wherein it is judged whether or not any of the access judgment target users makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 before the deletion instruction is given. This judgment is made based on the information stored in Step S 153 .

If it is judged that none of the access judgment target users makes access before the deletion instruction is given (NO in Step S 155 ), the routine proceeds to Step S 157 , wherein the document D 1 and the reference information L 1 are deleted thereby the deletion instruction is executed, since the document D 1 that is the original data is not provided to any of them. And then, the routine terminates.

If it is judged that any of the access judgment target users makes access to the reference information L 1 before an instruction to delete the document D 1 is given (YES in Step S 155 ), then it is judged by the CPU 30 whether or not all of them make access to the reference information L 1 (Step S 156 ).

If it is judged that all of the access judgment target users make access (YES in Step S 156 ), the routine proceeds to Step S 157 and the document D 1 and the reference information L 1 are deleted, since information sharing is achieved. If it is judged that only some of the access judgment target users do not make access to the reference information L 1 (NO in Step S 156 ), the document D 1 is still stored in the personal box G 1 but is hidden by mask processing or other by the CPU 30 (Step S 158 ), since information sharing will not be achieved if the document D 1 is deleted without this judgment.

Subsequently, it is judged whether or not any of them makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 159 ). If it is judged that none of them makes access (NO in Step S 159 ), the routine waits until any of them makes access. If it is judged that any of them makes access (YES in Step S 159 ), what the reference information L 1 points to is not changed but set still as the document D 1 1 , then the document D 1 is provided to this user, since he/she has a possibility of not making access to the document D 1 yet (Step S 160 ). That is, execution of an instruction given to delete the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users.

Then, information of this user who makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 is stored (Step S 161 ), and it is judged whether or not all of the access judgment target users make access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 162 ).

If it is judged that not all of them make access (NO in Step S 162 ), the routine returns to Step S 159 , since some of them does not make access to the document D 1 yet. If it is judged that all of them make access (YES in Step S 162 ), the document D 1 is deleted from the personal box G 1 and the reference information L 1 is deleted from the group box G 2 , by the CPU 30 (Step S 163 ), and then the routine terminates. That is, suspension of execution of an instruction given to delete the document D 1 stored in the personal box G 1 is canceled, and the deletion instruction is executed.

In this embodiment as described above, if only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information L 1 , i.e. not all of them have made access thereto when an instruction to delete the document D 1 is given, the document D 1 that is the deletion target is provided to the access judgment target users, who make access to the reference information L 1 . That is, what the reference information L 1 points to is set still as the document D 1 , thereby execution of an instruction given to delete the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users, and the document D 1 will be provided to all of them. In this way, information sharing is achieved. Further, even if the user owning the personal box G 1 makes access to the personal box G 1 , the document D 1 is hidden by mask processing or other, thereby an instruction given to delete the document D 1 is executed for the user owning the personal box G 1 . After the document D 1 is provided to all of the access judgment target users, the document D 1 and the reference information L 1 are deleted thereby an instruction given to delete the document D 1 is executed, which prevents execution of the deletion instruction from being suspended unnecessarily longer.

Although it is assumed in this embodiment above that the group box G 2 exists in the image processing apparatus 2 , the group box G 2 also can exist in the image processing apparatus 1 just like the personal boxes G 1 .

Embodiment-5

Hereinafter, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be explained. Also in this embodiment, the following operations are performed if an instruction to delete the document D 1 is given. If only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information L 1 when an instruction to delete the document D 1 is given, the document D 1 stored in the personal box G 1 is moved to the group box G 2 so that the access judgment target users can directly make access to the document D 1 stored in the group box G 2 . That is, execution of the deletion instruction is suspended.

Since an image processing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the image processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, its explanation is omitted here.

[Operations of the Image Processing Apparatus 1 ]

Hereinafter, a procedure performed in the image processing apparatus 1 will be explained with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 13 . This procedure is executed by the CPU 30 according to a program stored in a recording medium such as the ROM 31 .

Since the flowchart shown in FIG. 13 is continued from Steps S 150 through S 157 of the flowchart in FIG. 11 , detailed explanation about the Steps will be omitted.

In Step S 156 of FIG. 11 , if it is judged that only some of the access judgment target users do not make access to the reference information L 1 (NO in Step S 156 ), the document D 1 is moved from the personal box G 1 to the group box G 2 and the reference information L 1 is deleted, by the CPU 30 (Step S 178 in FIG. 13 ). And then, it is judged whether or not any of them makes access to the document D 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 179 ).

If it is judged that none of them makes access (NO in Step S 179 ), the routine waits until any of them makes access. If it is judged that any of them makes access (YES in Step S 179 ), the document D 1 stored in the group box G 2 is provided to this user (Step S 180 ). That is, execution of an instruction given to delete the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users.

Then, information of this user who makes access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 is stored (Step S 181 ), and it is judged whether or not all of the access judgment target users make access to the reference information L 1 stored in the group box G 2 (Step S 182 ).

If it is judged that not all of them make access (NO in Step S 182 ), the routine returns to Step S 179 since some of them do not make access to the document D 1 yet. If it is judged that all of them make access (YES in Step S 182 ), the document D 1 is deleted from the group box G 2 by the CPU 30 (Step S 183 ), since information sharing is achieved. And then, the routine terminates.

In this embodiment as described above, if only some of the access judgment target users has made access to the reference information L 1 , i.e. not all of them have made access thereto when an instruction to delete the document D 1 is given, the document D 1 that is the original data is moved to the group box G 2 and the reference information L 1 is deleted, so that the access judgment target users can directly make access to the document D 1 that is the original data. That is, the document D 1 is still stored in the group box G 2 until the document D 1 is provided to all of them, thereby execution of an instruction given to delete the document D 1 is suspended for the access judgment target users. In this way, the document D 1 is provided to all of them and information sharing is achieved. Further, even if the user owning the personal box G 1 makes access to the personal box G 1 , the document D 1 does not exist any more in the personal box G 1 , thereby an instruction given to delete the document D 1 is executed for the user owning the personal box G 1 . After the document D 1 is provided to all of the access judgment target users, the document D 1 stored in the group box G 2 is deleted, thereby an instruction given to delete the document D 1 is executed, which prevents execution of the deletion instruction from being suspended unnecessarily longer.

Although it is assumed in this embodiment above that the group box G 2 exists in the image processing apparatus 2 , the group box G 2 also can exist in the image processing apparatus 1 just like the personal boxes G 1 .

All explained above are embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, update, deletion or other of the document D 1 can be immediately reflected to the reference information L 1 under the condition that all of the group users agree with that operation, even if only some of them makes access to the reference information L 1 before the update or deletion. Alternatively, that operation can be immediately reflected to the reference information L 1 under the condition that an arbitrary user or an authorized user among the group users agrees.

Further, although MFPs are employed as the image processing apparatuses according to these embodiments of the present invention, the image processing apparatuses are not limited to MFPs and can be any apparatuses having a box function. For example, scanners, printers and etc. can be employed in the present invention.

While the present invention may be embodied in many different forms, a number of illustrative embodiments are described herein with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as providing examples of the principles of the invention and such examples are not intended to limit the invention to preferred embodiments described herein and/or illustrated herein.

While illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described herein, the present invention is not limited to the various preferred embodiments described herein, but includes any and all embodiments having equivalent elements, modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g. of aspects across various embodiments), adaptations and/or alterations as would be appreciated by those in the art based on the present disclosure. The limitations in the claims are to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed in the claims and not limited to examples described in the present specification or during the prosecution of the application, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive. For example, in the present disclosure, the term “preferably” is non-exclusive and means “preferably, but not limited to”. In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this application, means-plus-function or step-plus-function limitations will only be employed where for a specific claim limitation all of the following conditions are present In that limitation: a) “means for” or “step for” is expressly recited; b) a corresponding function is expressly recited; and c) structure, material or acts that support that structure are not recited. In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this application, the terminology “present invention” or “invention” may be used as a reference to one or more aspect within the present disclosure. The language present invention or invention should not be improperly interpreted as an identification of criticality, should not be improperly interpreted as applying across all aspects or embodiments (i.e., it should be understood that the present invention has a number of aspects and embodiments), and should not be improperly interpreted as limiting the scope of the application or claims. In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this application, the terminology “embodiment” can be used to describe any aspect, feature, process or step, any combination thereof, and/or any portion thereof, etc. In some examples, various embodiments may include overlapping features. In this disclosure and during the prosecution of this case, the following abbreviated terminology may be employed: “e.g.” which means “for example” and “NB” which means “note well”.