JP6973178B2 - Information processing equipment, systems, methods, and programs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to information processing devices, systems, methods, and programs.

Conventionally, an information processing device that manages a plurality of devices (for example, MFP (Multifunction Peripheral)) registered for each company has been used. As such an information processing device, it collects daily data of each device, executes monthly processing to generate monthly data from daily data at the timing according to the closing date set for each company, and generates it. It is known that the monthly data is provided to the user.

The daily data includes various cumulative usages of the device such as the cumulative number of copies and the cumulative number of prints as data items. The information processing device calculates the usage amount of the current month by subtracting the cumulative usage amount included in the daily data of the previous month closing day from the cumulative usage amount included in the daily data of the closing day of the current month. Generate monthly data for the current month, including quantities.

The number of data items included in the daily data varies depending on the daily data collection method, such as 100 items in one collection method and 20 items in another collection method. Conventionally, as the daily data of each device, as described above, the daily data having a large number of data items and the daily data having a small number of data items are mixed and stored.

When the daily data of the current month closing date and the daily data of the previous month closing date are both daily data (100 items) having a large number of data items, the information processing apparatus has a large number of data items (100 items). Item) can be generated. On the other hand, in the information processing apparatus, when at least one of the daily data on the closing day of the current month and the daily data on the closing day of the previous month is daily data (20 items) having a small number of data items, the monthly data has a small number of data items. Only data (20 items) can be generated. Such monthly data with a small number of data items is inconvenient for a user who desires a large number of data items in the monthly data.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to be able to generate monthly data having a large number of data items.

The information processing apparatus according to one embodiment shows an attribute corresponding to the number of data items of the daily data storage unit that stores the daily data of the device and the latest date of the current month, which is the latest date of the daily data of the current month. A monthly processing unit that generates monthly data for the current month based on the daily data of the latest date of the current month selected based on the attribute information, and a monthly processing unit that stores the latest date of the current month for each attribute information. A monthly data storage unit that stores the next data, and a previous month latest date storage unit that stores the latest date of the previous month, which is the latest date of the daily data of the previous month, which was used to generate the monthly data of the previous month. To prepare for.

According to each embodiment of the present invention, monthly data having a large number of data items can be generated.

The figure which shows an example of the structure of a monthly processing system. The figure which shows an example of the hardware configuration of the management server. The figure which shows an example of the functional configuration of a management server. The figure which shows an example of a data file. The figure which shows an example of daily data in a table format. The figure which shows an example of monthly data in a table format. The figure which shows an example of user information in a table format. The figure which shows an example of the device information in a table format. A diagram showing an example of the latest date of the current month in table format. A diagram showing an example of the latest date of the previous month in table format. A flowchart showing an example of daily data update processing. A flowchart showing an example of monthly processing. The figure which shows an example of user information in a table format. A flowchart showing an example of monthly processing. A diagram showing an example of the latest date of the previous month in table format. The figure which shows an example of monthly data in a table format. A flowchart showing an example of monthly processing.

Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Regarding the description of the specification and the drawings according to each embodiment, the components having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, and the superimposed description will be omitted.

<First Embodiment>
The monthly processing system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12. The monthly processing system 100 according to the present embodiment can be applied to any system that collects daily data from a large amount of devices registered for each user and generates monthly data from the daily data by monthly processing. Is. Examples of such a system include a sales management system that collects daily sales as daily data, and a device management system that collects device usage as daily data. Devices managed by the device management system include image forming devices, projectors, electronic blackboards, video conference devices, cameras, industrial devices, medical devices, refrigerators, air conditioning devices, lighting devices, and the like.

Hereinafter, a case where the monthly processing system 100 is an image forming system that manages a plurality of image forming devices registered for each user will be described as an example. The image forming system is an example of a device management system, which collects daily data from a plurality of registered image forming devices, generates monthly data by monthly processing, and generates daily data and monthly data of the device. , Provide to the user who is the owner or user of the device. The user of the monthly processing system 100 is, for example, an individual, a company, a government office, or a non-profit organization, but is not limited to this.

First, the configuration of the monthly processing system 100 will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the monthly processing system 100 according to the present embodiment. The monthly processing system 100 of FIG. 1 includes a management server 1, information collecting devices 2a and 2b, image forming devices 3a to 3d, a web server 4, and a user terminal 5.

The management server 1, the information collecting devices 2a and 2b, the web server 4, and the user terminal 5 are connected to each other via the network N1. The information collecting device 2a and the image forming devices 3a and 3b are connected via the network N2. The information collecting device 2b and the image forming devices 3c and 3d are connected via the network N3. The networks N1 to N3 may be the Internet, an intranet, or a combination thereof.

The management server 1 is an example of an information processing device, and is a server computer provided with a DB (Data Base). In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus can be any computer (for example, a client computer) having the same function as the management server 1. The management server 1 receives the data of the image forming devices 3a to 3d from the information collecting devices 2a and 2b via the network N1 and manages the received data.

The management server 1 may directly receive data from at least a part of the image forming apparatus included in the monthly processing system 100. Further, a plurality of devices such as a gateway and a router may intervene between the management server 1 and the information collecting devices 2a and 2b. Further, the function of the management server 1 may be realized by an information processing system including a plurality of computers (for example, a DB server, an application server, etc.) connected via the network N1.

The information collecting device 2a collects daily data from the image forming devices 3a and 3b via the network N2, and transmits the collected daily data to the management server 1. The information collecting device 2a is, for example, a server computer, but is not limited thereto. In the example of FIG. 1, the information collecting device 2a collects daily data from two image forming devices 3a and 3b, but may collect data from one or more image forming devices.

The information collecting device 2a has a special management mode and a general management mode as operation modes. The special management mode and the general management mode are operation modes in which the method of collecting daily data is different, and the number of data items included in the daily data collected in the special management mode is the daily data collected in the general management mode. More than the number of data items contained in. Hereinafter, daily data having a large number of data items collected in the special management mode may be referred to as rank A daily data, and daily data having a small number of data items collected in the general management mode may be referred to as rank B daily data. ..

The information collecting device 2a may have three or more operation modes in which the method of collecting daily data is different, that is, the number of data items included in the collected daily data is different. Further, one operation mode may have a plurality of types of collection methods of daily data.

Since the configuration corresponding to the information collecting device 2b is the same as that of the information collecting device 2a, the description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, when the information collecting devices 2a and 2b are not distinguished, they are referred to as an information collecting device 2. In the example of FIG. 1, the monthly processing system 100 includes two information collecting devices 2a and 2b, but may include one or three or more information collecting devices 2. Further, the information collecting device 2 may be integrally configured with the management server 1.

The image forming apparatus 3a is a device registered for each user as a management target of the management server 1, and transmits daily data to the information collecting apparatus 2a via the network N2. The image forming apparatus 3a is, for example, an MFP, a printer, a fax machine, a scanner, or a copier, but is not limited thereto.

Since the configurations of the image forming apparatus 3b to 3d are the same as those of the image forming apparatus 3a, the description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, when the image forming devices 3a to 3d are not distinguished, they are referred to as an image forming device 3.

The daily data is data showing the cumulative usage amount of the image forming apparatus 3 up to the target date. The daily data includes identification information (hereinafter referred to as “DID”) of the image forming apparatus 3 as data items, a date of the target date, and a plurality of cumulative usage amounts. Cumulative usage includes, but is not limited to, cumulative number of copies, cumulative number of copies, cumulative number of prints, and cumulative number of prints.

In the example of FIG. 1, two image forming devices 3 are connected to each information collecting device 2, but one or more image forming devices 3 may be connected. Further, a plurality of devices such as a gateway and a router may be interposed between the image forming device 3 and the information collecting device 2. Further, each image forming apparatus 3 may be of the same type or may be of a different type.

The web server 4 acquires the data stored in the management server 1 in response to the request from the user terminal 5, generates a web page for displaying the information according to the acquired data, and generates the generated web page. It is a server computer provided to the user terminal 5.

The user terminal 5 is a client computer used by the user of the monthly processing system 100. The user terminal 5 is, for example, a PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, or a tablet terminal, but is not limited thereto. The user terminal 5 includes a web client and displays a web page generated by the web server 4 on a display device. The user of the monthly processing system 100 can display the desired information according to the data stored in the management server 1 on the user terminal 5.

As described above, the monthly processing system 100 according to the present embodiment is not limited to the image forming system. For example, the monthly processing system 100 may be applied to a sales management system that manages orders from a plurality of user terminals, or may be applied to a sensor system that manages data from a plurality of sensors.

Next, the hardware configuration of the management server 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the management server 1. The management server 1 of FIG. 2 displays a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 14, and an input device 15. A device 16, a communication interface 17, and a bus 18 are provided.

By executing the program, the CPU 11 controls the entire management server 1 and realizes the function of the management server 1. The program executed by the CPU 11 can be recorded on any computer-readable recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disk), a DVD, or a flash memory.

The ROM 12 stores various data including a program executed by the CPU 11. The RAM 13 provides a working area for the CPU 11. The HDD 14 stores various data including a program executed by the CPU 11. The HDD 14 includes a DB for storing the data collected from the image forming apparatus 3.

The input device 15 inputs information according to the operation from the user to the management server 1. The input device 15 is, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or a hardware button, but is not limited thereto. The display device 16 displays various information output by the management server 1. The display device 16 is, but is not limited to, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The communication interface 17 connects the management server 1 to the network N1. The management server 1 receives the data of the image forming apparatus 3 via the communication interface 17. The bus 18 connects the CPU 11, the ROM 12, the RAM 13, the HDD 14, the input device 15, the display device 16, and the communication interface 17 to each other.

Since the hardware configurations of the information collecting device 2, the web server 4, and the user terminal 5 are the same as those of the management server 1, the description thereof will be omitted. Further, the image forming apparatus 3 is configured by adding hardware (printer, fax, scanner, etc.) corresponding to the function of the image forming apparatus 3 to the hardware of FIG.

Next, the functional configuration of the management server 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the management server 1 according to the present embodiment. The management server 1 of FIG. 3 includes a receiving unit 101, a daily data storage unit 102, and a monthly processing unit 103 includes a monthly data storage unit 104, a user information storage unit 105, and a device information storage unit 106. It includes a storage unit 107 for the latest date of the current month, a storage unit 108 for the latest date of the previous month, and a display unit 109. These functional configurations are realized by the CPU 11 executing a program and cooperating with other hardware. The daily data storage unit 102, the monthly data storage unit 104, the user information storage unit 105, the device information storage unit 106, the current month latest date storage unit 107, and the previous month latest date storage unit 108 are on the ROM 12, RAM 13, or HDD 14. It will be provided.

The receiving unit 101 receives a data file from the information collecting device 2. The data file is a file containing one or more daily data collected by the information collecting device 2 from one or more image forming devices 3. The data file may contain both rank A daily data and rank B daily data. The information collecting device 2 is generated based on the daily data collected from each image forming device 3 and transmitted to the management server 1. That is, the receiving unit 101 receives daily data from one or more image forming devices 3 via the information collecting device 2. The data file is, for example, a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file, but is not limited to this.

The receiving unit 101 may receive the data file at a predetermined time interval, may receive the data file at a predetermined time, or may receive the data file at an arbitrary timing when the information collecting device 2 transmits the data file. May be received. Further, the receiving unit 101 may receive one data file at a time, or may receive a plurality of data files at a time.

In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 3 transmits the daily data to the information collecting apparatus 2 on the day after the target day, and the information collecting apparatus 2 sends the data file including the daily data to the management server on the day after the target day. It is assumed that the data is transmitted to 1. That is, it is assumed that the daily data is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 3 to the management server 1 on the day after the target day (the transmission date of the daily data is the day after the target day). However, the transmission date of the daily data is not limited to the day following the target date, and can be arbitrarily set.

Even if the transmission date of the daily data is set to the day after the target date, the transmission date may not be the day after the target date. This is because the power of the image forming apparatus 3 may be turned off at the time of transmitting the daily data from the image forming apparatus 3 to the information collecting apparatus 2. In such a case, the image forming apparatus 3 may transmit the daily data to the information collecting apparatus 2 two days or more after the target day.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data file. Each record in FIG. 4 corresponds to each daily data. Each daily data in FIG. 4 includes the date of the target date, the DID, and the cumulative usage amount (total number of sheets, number of colors, number of black-and-whites, etc.). The total number of sheets is the cumulative number of prints, the number of colors is the cumulative number of color prints, and the number of black-and-white sheets is the cumulative number of black-and-white prints. For example, the daily data in the first row of FIG. 4 has a target date of 2018/1/20, a DID of D001, a total number of sheets of 12000, a color number of 2500, and a black-and-white number of 9500. The type of cumulative usage shown in FIG. 4 is only an example, and the daily data may include the cumulative usage according to the type of device. Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus 3 having a DID of D00X may be referred to as an image forming apparatus 00X.

Since the data file of FIG. 4 is a data file received by the management server 1 on 2018/1/21, the daily data whose target date is 2018/1/20 is mainly included, but the day of 1/19. The following data is also included. This is because, as described above, the daily data may be transmitted two days or more after the target date.

When the receiving unit 101 receives the data file as shown in FIG. 4, the receiving unit 101 stores each daily data included in the received data file in the daily data storage unit 102 in association with the rank of each daily data. The rank is attribute information indicating an attribute according to the number of items of data, and may be represented by an arbitrary symbol. The attribute information may be referred to by a name other than the rank. Ranks are given to daily data and monthly data according to the number of data items. The rank of the daily data is given according to the number of data items included in the daily data. Therefore, the rank of the daily data corresponds to the method of collecting the daily data by the information collecting device 2. Further, the rank of the monthly data is given according to the number of data items included in the monthly data. Monthly data will be described later.

The receiving unit 101 can acquire the rank of the daily data by checking the number of data items included in the daily data. Further, the receiving unit 101 may acquire the rank of the daily data by confirming the method of collecting the daily data with the information collecting device 2. Further, the receiving unit 101 may acquire the rank of the daily data by confirming the rank associated with the daily data included in the data file. In this case, the information collecting device 2 may generate a data file in which the daily data is associated with the number of data items and the rank according to the collecting method. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the rank of the rank A daily data is A and the rank of the rank B daily data is B.

The information contained in the data file is not limited to the example of FIG. The data file may contain other information (such as set values) about the image forming apparatus 3.

The daily data storage unit 102 is a DB that stores daily data. The daily data storage unit 102 stores the daily data of each target day in association with the rank for each image forming apparatus 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of daily data stored in the daily data storage unit 102 in a table format. Each record in FIG. 5 corresponds to each daily data. For example, the daily data in the first row of FIG. 5 has a DID of D001, a date of 2017/12/27, a total number of sheets of 10,000, a color number of 2000, a black and white number of 8000, a data item 4 of 200, and a data item N. Is 800. This daily data corresponds to the rank A daily data associated with the rank A. In the example of FIG. 5, the rank A daily data is daily data including N cumulative usages from the total number of sheets to the data item N.

On the other hand, in the daily data on the fifth line of FIG. 5, the DID is D001, the date is 2018/1/20, the total number of sheets is 12000, the number of colors is 2500, the number of black and white sheets is 9500, and the data item 4 and the data item N are NULL. (Null value). This daily data corresponds to the rank B daily data associated with the rank B. In the example of FIG. 5, the rank B daily data is daily data including three cumulative usage amounts from the total number of sheets to the number of black-and-white sheets. Therefore, there are no values from the data item 4 to the data item N of the rank B daily data.

The monthly processing unit 103 executes monthly processing for generating monthly data of the current month from the daily data of the current month of the image forming apparatus 3. The current month referred to here is the target month of the monthly processing executed by the monthly processing unit 103, and in principle, corresponds to the period from the day following the closing day of the previous month to the closing date of the current month. The closing date is set for each user. The monthly data is data showing the usage amount of the image forming apparatus 3 in the target month of the monthly processing. The monthly data includes, as data items, the DID of the image forming apparatus 3, the target month, and a plurality of usage amounts. The usage amount includes, but is not limited to, the number of copies, the number of copies, the number of prints, and the number of prints.

When the execution timing according to the closing date of a certain user (for example, a predetermined time on the day following the closing date) arrives, the monthly processing unit 103 executes monthly processing for each image forming apparatus 3 of the user. .. As a general rule, the monthly processing unit 103 calculates the usage amount of the current month by subtracting the cumulative usage amount of the daily data of the previous month closing day from the cumulative usage amount of the daily data on the closing day of the current month. The monthly processing by the monthly processing unit 103 will be described in detail later. The monthly processing unit 103 stores the monthly data generated by the monthly processing in the monthly data storage unit 104.

The monthly data storage unit 104 is a DB that stores monthly data. The monthly data storage unit 104 stores monthly data for each target month for each image forming apparatus 3.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of monthly data stored in the monthly data storage unit 104 in a table format. Each record in FIG. 6 corresponds to each monthly data. For example, in the monthly data in the first row of FIG. 6, the DID is D001, the target month is January 2018, the total number is 2000, the number of colors is 500, the number of black and white is 1500, the data item 4 is 50, and the data item N. Is 200. This monthly data has the same number of data items as the rank A daily data. When the daily data of the previous month's closing date and the daily data of the current month's closing date are rank A daily data, the monthly processing unit 103 has the same number of data items as the rank A daily data like this monthly data. Monthly data (hereinafter referred to as "Rank A monthly data") can be generated.

On the other hand, the monthly data in the second row of FIG. 6 has a DID of D002, a date of January 2018, a total number of sheets of 6000, a color number of 1000, a black and white number of 5000, and data item 4 and data item N are NULL. be. This monthly data has the same number of data items as the rank B daily data. When at least one of the daily data of the previous month's closing date and the daily data of the current month's closing date is rank B daily data, the monthly processing unit 103 is the same as the rank B daily data like this monthly data. Only monthly data having the number of data items (hereinafter referred to as "rank B monthly data") can be generated. This is because, in the rank B daily data, there is no value in a part of the data items of the rank A daily data.

Since the rank B monthly data has a smaller number of data items than the rank A monthly data, it is inconvenient for a user who desires a large number of data items in the monthly data. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the monthly processing unit 103 generates rank A monthly data as much as possible by selecting the daily data to be used for generating the monthly data based on the rank of the daily data. do.

The user information storage unit 105 stores user information of each user registered in the monthly processing system 100. The user information is arbitrary information about the user, and includes user identification information (hereinafter referred to as "UID") and the closing date of the user.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of user information stored in the user information storage unit 105 in a table format. Each record in FIG. 7 corresponds to the user information of each user. For example, in the user information in the first line of FIG. 7, the UID is U001 and the closing date is the last day. As described above, the closing date is set by the user. Hereinafter, the user whose UID is U00X may be referred to as user 00X. The user information is not limited to the example of FIG. 7. The user information may include a user name, a registration date and time, and the like.

The device information storage unit 106 stores the device information of each image forming apparatus 3 registered in the monthly processing system 100. The device information is arbitrary information about the image forming apparatus 3, and includes the DID of the image forming apparatus 3 and the UID of the user of the image forming apparatus 3.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of device information stored in the device information storage unit 106 in a table format. Each record in FIG. 8 corresponds to the device information of each image forming apparatus 3. For example, in the device information in the first line of FIG. 8, the DID is D001 and the UID is U001. This indicates that the image forming apparatus 001 is the image forming apparatus 3 of the user 001. The device information is not limited to the example of FIG. The device information may include a device type, a registration date and time, and the like.

The current month latest date storage unit 107 stores the current month latest date in association with the rank of the daily data of the current month latest date for each rank and for each image forming apparatus 3. The latest date of the current month is the latest date among the dates of the daily data of the current month stored in the daily data storage unit 102. For example, in the example of FIG. 5, when the current month is January and the closing date is the last day, the latest date of the current month corresponding to rank B of the image forming apparatus 001 is 2018/1/20, and the latest date of the current month is It is stored in association with rank B. Further, the latest date of the current month corresponding to the rank A of the image forming apparatus 001 is 2018/1/19, and the latest date of the current month is stored in association with the rank A.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the latest date of the current month stored in the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month in a table format. Each record in FIG. 9 corresponds to the latest date of each month. For example, the latest date of the current month in the first row of FIG. 9 is 2018/1/19, and is stored in association with D001 and rank A. This indicates that the latest date of the current month corresponding to the rank A of the image forming apparatus 001 is 2018/1/19. The latest date of the current month in the second row of FIG. 9 is 2018/1/20, and is stored in association with D001 and rank A. This indicates that the latest date of the current month corresponding to the rank B of the image forming apparatus 001 is 2018/1/20. As described above, the latest date of the current month storage unit 107 stores the latest date of the current month, which is different for each rank, even if the image forming apparatus 3 is the same.

The latest date storage unit 108 of the previous month stores the latest date of the previous month for each image forming apparatus 3. The latest date of the previous month is the latest date among the dates of the daily data used to generate the monthly data of the previous month. For example, the current month is February 2018, and the monthly data for January 2018 (previous month) is generated based on the daily data of 2017/12/31 and the daily data of 2018/1/31. In that case, the latest date of the previous month will be 2018/1/31.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the latest date of the previous month stored in the latest date storage unit 108 of the previous month in a table format. Each record in FIG. 10 corresponds to the latest date of each previous month. For example, the latest date of the previous month in the first row of FIG. 10 is 2017/12/27, which is stored in association with D001. This indicates that the latest date of the previous month of the image forming apparatus 001 is 2017/12/27.

The display unit 109 causes the user terminal 5 of the user to display the daily data and the monthly data of the image forming apparatus 3 of the user. Specifically, the display unit 109 transmits daily data and monthly data to the web server 4 in response to a request from the web server 4. The web server 4 generates a web page for displaying the daily data and the monthly data received from the display unit 109, and provides the generated web page to the user terminal 5. As a result, daily data and monthly data are displayed on the display device of the user terminal 5. The display unit 109 may display device information and user information on the user terminal 5.

Next, the process executed by the management server 1 will be described. Hereinafter, the daily data update process and the monthly data process will be described.

First, the daily data update process will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of daily data update processing.

First, the receiving unit 101 receives the data file from the information collecting device 2 (step S101). When the receiving unit 101 receives the data file, the receiving unit 101 stores the daily data included in the data file in the daily data storage unit 102 in association with the rank (step S102). When the daily data contained in the data file and the daily data having the same DID and date are not stored in the daily data storage unit 102, the receiving unit 101 uses the daily data contained in the data file as daily data. It is added to the storage unit 102. On the other hand, when the daily data contained in the data file and the daily data having the same DID and date are stored in the daily data storage unit 102, the receiving unit 101 overwrites the daily data contained in the data file. save. As a result, the daily data is updated.

Next, the receiving unit 101 determines the latest date of each rank of each image forming apparatus 3 included in the data file, the latest date of each rank of each image forming apparatus 3 stored in the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month, and the latest date of each rank of each month. Are compared (step S103). When the latest date of a certain rank of the image forming apparatus 3 is newer than the latest date of the current month of the image forming apparatus 3 stored in the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month, the receiving unit 101 (step S103: YES). The latest date of the corresponding month is updated to the latest date (step S104). On the other hand, when the latest date of a certain rank of a certain image forming apparatus 3 is before the latest date of the current month of the image forming apparatus 3 stored in the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month, the receiving unit 101: NO), do not update the latest date of the month.

The receiving unit 101 executes the processes of steps S103 and S104 for the latest date of each rank of each image forming apparatus 3 included in the data file (step S105: NO), and when the execution is completed for all the latest dates (step S105: NO). S105: YES), the update process is completed.

The management server 1 executes the above update process every time the receiving unit 101 receives the data file. As a result, the latest daily data and the latest date of the current month are stored in the daily data storage unit 102 and the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month, respectively.

Next, the monthly processing will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of monthly processing.

First, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the user information storage unit 105 to specify the target user to be the target of the monthly processing (step S201). The monthly processing unit 103 identifies a user whose execution timing according to the closing date has arrived as a target user. For example, when the execution timing according to the closing date is the day after the closing date and the current is the 26th, in the example of FIG. 7, the user 002 whose closing date is set to the 25th is specified as the target user.

Next, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the device information storage unit 106 to specify the target device, which is the image forming apparatus 3 to be the target of the monthly processing (step S202). The monthly processing unit 103 specifies the image forming apparatus 3 of the target user as the target device. For example, when the target user is user 002, in the example of FIG. 8, the image forming apparatus 003,004 is specified as the target device.

Subsequently, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the current month latest date storage unit 107 and confirms whether or not the current month latest date corresponding to the rank A of the target user is stored (step S203). When the latest date of the current month corresponding to the rank A of the target user is stored (step S203: YES), the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the current month as the latest date of the current month of the target user (step S204). On the other hand, when the latest date of the current month corresponding to the rank A of the target user is not saved (step S203: NO), the monthly processing unit 103 sets the latest date of the current month corresponding to the rank B of the target user of the target user. Obtained as the latest date of the current month (step S205). The case where the latest date of the current month corresponding to the rank A of the target user is not saved corresponds to the case where the daily data of the rank A of the target user has not been received even once in the current month.

For example, when the current month is January and the closing date is the last day, in the example of FIG. 9, the monthly processing unit 103 is the latest date of the current month corresponding to rank B as the latest date of the current month of the image forming apparatus 001. Acquires 2018/1/19, which is the latest date of the current month corresponding to rank A, instead of 2018/1/20. That is, the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the current month by giving priority to the number of data items over the newness of the latest date of the current month.

When the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the current month of the target user, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the daily data storage unit 102 and acquires the daily data of the latest date of the current month of the target user (step S206). In the above example, the daily data of 2018/1/19 of the image forming apparatus 001 is acquired.

Further, the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the previous month of the target user by referring to the latest date storage unit 108 of the previous month (step S207). For example, when the current month is January and the closing date is the last day, in the example of FIG. 10, the monthly processing unit 103 acquires 2017/12/27 as the latest date of the previous month of the image forming apparatus 001.

When the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the previous month of the target user, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the daily data storage unit 102 and acquires the daily data of the latest date of the previous month of the target user (step S208). In the above example, the daily data of 2017/12/27 of the image forming apparatus 001 is acquired.

When the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the daily data of the latest date of the current month and the daily data of the latest date of the previous month, each cumulative amount of the daily data of the latest date of the previous month is obtained from the cumulative usage of the daily data of the latest date of the current month. By subtracting each usage amount, each usage amount of the target device of the current month is calculated, and monthly data of the current month including each usage amount is generated (step S209).

In the above example, as the monthly data of January of the image forming apparatus 001, monthly data including each usage amount from 2017/12/28 to 2018/1/19 is generated. As described above, in the present embodiment, since the latest date of the current month is acquired with priority given to the large number of data items, the monthly data is from the day after the closing date of the previous month (1/1/2018) to the closing date of the current month (2018). Monthly data including usage during the period up to / 1/31) is not always generated. The monthly processing unit 103 stores the generated monthly data in the monthly data storage unit 104. As a result, the monthly data for the current month is updated.

After that, the monthly processing unit 103 updates the latest date of the previous month stored in the latest date storage unit 108 of the previous month to the latest date of the current month used when generating the monthly data of the current month (step S210). In the above example, the latest date of the previous month of the image forming apparatus 001 is updated from December 28, 2017 to January 19, 2018.

After updating the latest date of the previous month, the monthly processing unit 103 uses the latest date of the target device stored in the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month to generate the monthly data of the current month. Delete all dates (step S211). For example, in the above example, of the two latest dates of the current month stored in the image forming apparatus 001 stored in the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month, 2018/1/19 corresponding to the rank A is deleted (becomes NULL).

The management server 1 executes the above monthly processing every predetermined time (for example, one hour). As a result, monthly data of the image forming apparatus 3 of the user is generated every time the execution timing corresponding to the closing date of the user arrives.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, rank A daily data (daily data with a large number of data items) is preferentially selected as the daily data of the latest date of the current month used for generating monthly data. Will be done. When rank A daily data is selected as the daily data on the latest date of the current month, the rank A daily data is used as the daily data on the latest date of the previous month of the next month. As a result, the rank A daily data is preferentially selected as the daily data on the latest date of the current month and the daily data on the latest date of the previous month used for generating the monthly data.

Here, the current month is January 2018, the closing date is the last day, the daily data of 2017/12/31 and the daily data of 2018/1/31 are rank B daily data, and the daily data of 2017/12/30. And the case where the daily data of 2018/1/30 is the rank A daily data is considered. In this case, when the monthly data of the current month is generated based on the daily data selected by giving priority to the newness of the date, it is based on the daily data of 2017/12/31 and the daily data of 2018/1/31. Then, rank B monthly data is generated. On the other hand, when the monthly data of the current month is generated based on the daily data selected by giving priority to the large number of data items as in the present embodiment, the daily data of 2017/12/30 and Rank A monthly data is generated based on the 2018/1/30 daily data.

As described above, the management server 1 according to the present embodiment generates monthly data based on the daily data selected by giving priority to the large number of data items, thereby performing rank A monthly data (data items). It is possible to preferentially generate a large number of monthly data). As a result, the management server 1 can provide monthly data that is convenient for a user who desires to have a large number of data items in the monthly data.

In the present embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that the number of data items of the daily data is two types, but the number of data items of the daily data may be three or more types. When the number of data items of the daily data is n types, n ranks may be set and stored in association with the daily data. In this case, in steps S203 to S205, the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the current month corresponding to the rank having the largest number of data items among the ranks in which the latest date of the current month is stored in the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month. do it. As a result, the monthly processing unit 103 can generate monthly data having as many data items as possible.

<Second Embodiment>
The monthly processing system 100 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14. In the first embodiment, the management server 1 that preferentially generates rank A monthly data has been described, assuming a user who desires to have a large number of data items of monthly data. However, it is possible that some users may wish that the latest date of the current month is newer than the number of data items in the monthly data. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the monthly processing system 100 capable of generating monthly data having a large number of data items (rank A monthly data) and monthly data having a new latest date of the current month according to the user's wishes. explain. Since the configuration of the monthly processing system 100 and the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the management server 1 according to the present embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, the differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

In the present embodiment, the user information stored in the user information storage unit 105 includes priority items. The priority item is an item to be prioritized when generating monthly data, and includes a large number of data items and a newness of the latest date of the current month. The user presets the priority items desired by the user.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of user information stored in the user information storage unit 105 in a table format. Each record in FIG. 13 corresponds to the user information of each user. For example, in the user information in the first line of FIG. 13, the UID is U001, the closing date is the last day, and the priority item is the large number of data items. Further, in the user information in the second line of FIG. 13, the UID is U002, the closing date is 25th, and the priority item is the newness of the latest date of the current month. In this way, the priority items are stored in association with the UID and the closing date. The user information is not limited to the example of FIG. The user information may include a user name, a registration date and time, and the like.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of monthly processing in the present embodiment. The flowchart of FIG. 14 corresponds to the flowchart of FIG. 12 with steps S212 to S214 added.

First, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the user information storage unit 105 to specify the target user to be the target of the monthly processing (step S201). The monthly processing unit 103 identifies a user whose execution timing according to the closing date has arrived as a target user. For example, when the execution timing according to the closing date is the day after the closing date and the current is the 26th, in the example of FIG. 7, the user 002 whose closing date is set to the 25th is specified as the target user.

When the monthly processing unit 103 identifies the target user, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the user information storage unit 105 and specifies the priority item of the target user (step S212). When the target user is user 002, in the example of FIG. 13, the newness of the latest date of the current month is specified as a priority item.

Next, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the device information storage unit 106 to specify the target device, which is the image forming apparatus 3 to be the target of the monthly processing (step S202). The monthly processing unit 103 specifies the image forming apparatus 3 of the target user as the target device. For example, when the target user is user 002, in the example of FIG. 8, the image forming apparatus 003,004 is specified as the target device.

When the priority item of the target user is a large number of data items (step S213: YES), the monthly processing unit 103 executes the processing after step S203. The processing after step S203 is the same as that of the first embodiment. As a result, rank A monthly data (monthly data having a large number of data items) is preferentially generated as in the first embodiment.

On the other hand, when the priority item of the target user is the newness of the latest date of the current month (step S213: NO), the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the storage unit 107 of the latest date of the current month and corresponds to each rank of the target user. The latest current month latest date among the current month latest dates is acquired as the current month latest date of the target user (step S214).

For example, when the current month is January and the closing date is the last day, in the example of FIG. 9, the monthly processing unit 103 is the latest date of the current month corresponding to rank B as the latest date of the current month of the image forming apparatus 001. Acquire 2018/1/20. That is, the monthly processing unit 103 obtains the latest date of the current month by giving priority to the newness of the latest date of the current month rather than the large number of data items.

After that, the monthly processing unit 103 executes the processing after step S206. The processing after step S206 is the same as that of the first embodiment. As a result, monthly data with a new latest date of the current month is preferentially generated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the management server 1 generates monthly data in which the number of data items is large or the latest date of the current month is prioritized based on the priority items set by the user. can do. As a result, the management server 1 can provide convenient monthly data to both the user who wants to have a large number of data items of monthly data and the user who wants to have a new latest date of the current month. ..

<Third Embodiment>
The monthly processing system 100 according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 to 17. In this embodiment, the rank of the monthly data, the rank of the daily data of the latest date of the current month used to generate the monthly data, and the rank of the daily data of the latest date of the previous month used to generate the monthly data The management server 1 that generates monthly data including the above will be described. Since the configuration of the monthly processing system 100 and the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the management server 1 according to the present embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted. Hereinafter, the differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

In the present embodiment, the previous month latest date storage unit 108 stores the previous month latest date of each image forming apparatus 3 in association with the rank of the daily data of the previous month latest date.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the latest date of the previous month stored in the latest date storage unit 108 of the previous month in the present embodiment in a table format. Each record in FIG. 15 corresponds to the latest date of each previous month. For example, the latest date of the previous month in the first row of FIG. 15 is 2017/12/27, and is stored in association with D001 and rank A. This indicates that the latest date of the previous month of the image forming apparatus 001 is 2017/12/27, and the daily data of the image forming apparatus 001 on 2017/12/27 is the rank A daily data.

Further, in the present embodiment, the monthly data storage unit 104 uses the monthly data of each target month for the monthly data rank (monthly rank) and the generation of the monthly data for each image forming apparatus 3. The rank of the daily data of the latest date of the current month (current rank) and the rank of the daily data of the latest date of the previous month used to generate the monthly data (previous month daily rank) are stored in association with each other. ..

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of monthly data stored in the monthly data storage unit 104 in a table format. Each record in FIG. 16 corresponds to each monthly data. For example, in the monthly data in the first row of FIG. 16, the DID is D001, the target month is January 2018, the total number is 2000, the number of colors is 500, the number of black and white is 1500, the data item 4 is 50, and the data item N. Is 200. This monthly data is associated with monthly rank A, current month daily rank A, and previous month daily rank A.

On the other hand, the monthly data in the second row of FIG. 16 has a DID of D002, a date of January 2018, a total number of sheets of 6000, a color number of 1000, a black and white number of 5000, and data item 4 and data item N are NULL. be. This monthly data is associated with monthly rank B, current month daily rank A, and previous month daily rank B.

The monthly rank, the current month's daily rank, and the previous month's daily rank are associated with each other by the monthly processing unit 103. Further, in the present embodiment, the monthly data may be stored in association with at least one of the monthly rank, the current month daily rank, and the previous month daily rank.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of monthly processing in the present embodiment. The flowchart of FIG. 17 corresponds to the flowchart of FIG. 12 with steps S215 to S217 added. Since steps S201 to S205 are the same as those in the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

When the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the current month of the target user (steps S204 and S205), the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the latest date storage unit 107 of the current month and obtains the rank corresponding to the acquired latest date of the current month (daily rank of the current month). Acquire (step S215). For example, when the target user is the user 001 and the target device is the image forming apparatus 001, in the example of FIG. 9, the rank is set as the current month daily rank corresponding to 2018/1/19 (the latest date of the current month of the target user). A is acquired.

When the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the daily rank of the current month, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the daily data storage unit 102 and acquires the daily data of the latest date of the current month of the target user (step S206). In the above example, the daily data of 2018/1/19 of the image forming apparatus 001 is acquired.

Further, the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the previous month of the target user by referring to the latest date storage unit 108 of the previous month (step S207). For example, when the current month is January and the closing date is the last day, in the example of FIG. 15, the monthly processing unit 103 acquires 2017/12/27 as the latest date of the previous month of the image forming apparatus 001.

When the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the latest date of the current month of the target user, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the latest date storage unit 108 of the previous month and acquires the rank (previous month / day rank) corresponding to the acquired latest date of the previous month (step S216). .. In the above example, rank A is acquired as the previous month daily rank corresponding to the latest date of the previous month of the image forming apparatus 001.

When the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the daily rank of the previous month, the monthly processing unit 103 refers to the daily data storage unit 102 and acquires the daily data of the latest date of the previous month of the target user (step S208). In the above example, the daily data of 2017/12/27 of the image forming apparatus 001 is acquired.

When the monthly processing unit 103 acquires the daily data of the latest date of the current month and the daily data of the latest date of the previous month, each cumulative amount of the daily data of the latest date of the previous month is obtained from the cumulative usage of the daily data of the latest date of the current month. By subtracting each usage amount, each usage amount of the target device of the current month is calculated, and monthly data of the current month including each usage amount is generated (step S209). In the above example, as the monthly data of January of the image forming apparatus 001, monthly data including each usage amount from 2017/12/28 to 2018/1/19 is generated.

Subsequently, the monthly processing unit 103 determines the rank of the monthly data (monthly rank) based on the daily rank of the current month and the daily rank of the previous month. When the current month's daily rank and the previous month's daily rank are rank A, the monthly processing unit 103 determines the monthly rank as rank A, and at least one of the current month's daily rank and the previous month's daily rank is rank B. If so, the monthly rank is determined to be rank B.

When the monthly data is generated, the monthly processing unit 103 stores the generated monthly data in the monthly data storage unit 104 in association with the monthly rank, the current month's daily rank, and the previous month's daily rank. As a result, the monthly data for the current month is updated. After that, the monthly processing unit 103 executes the processing after step S210. The processing after step S210 is the same as that of the first embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, the display unit 109 corresponds to the monthly data on the user terminal 5 with the monthly rank, the current month daily rank, and the previous month daily rank. It can be attached and displayed. As a result, the user can easily grasp the monthly rank, the current month's daily rank, and the previous month's daily rank of the monthly data displayed on the user terminal 5.

Further, the management server 1 can acquire the current month daily rank and the previous month daily rank from the current month latest date storage unit 107 and the previous month latest date storage unit 108, respectively. As a result, the monthly processing can be speeded up as compared with the case where the current month daily rank and the previous month daily rank are acquired from the daily data storage unit 102.

In the present embodiment, the display unit 109 may display at least one of the monthly rank, the current month daily rank, and the previous month daily rank on the user terminal 5 in response to a request from the user.

It is also possible to combine this embodiment with the second embodiment. As a result, the management server 1 provides convenient monthly data to both the user who wants to have a large number of data items of monthly data and the user who wants to have a new latest date of the current month, and the user. The terminal 5 can display at least one of the monthly rank, the current month's daily rank, and the previous month's daily rank in association with the monthly data.

The present invention is not limited to the configurations shown here, such as combinations with other elements in the configurations and the like described in the above embodiments. These points can be changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form thereof.

1: Management server 2, 2a, 2b: Information collecting device 3, 3a to 3d: Image forming device 4: Web server 5: User terminal 100: Monthly processing system 101: Receiving unit 102: Daily data storage unit 103: Month Next processing unit 104: Monthly data storage unit 105: User information storage unit 106: Device information storage unit 107: Current month latest date storage unit 108: Previous month latest date storage unit 109: Display unit

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-252671

Claims (13)

A daily data storage unit that stores the daily data of the device,
A storage unit for the latest date of the current month, which stores the latest date of the current month, which is the latest date of the daily data of the current month, for each attribute information indicating an attribute according to the number of data items.
A monthly processing unit that generates monthly data for the current month based on the daily data on the latest date of the current month selected based on the rank.
A monthly data storage unit that stores the monthly data,
A previous month's latest date storage unit that stores the latest date of the previous month, which is the latest date of the daily data of the previous month, which was used to generate the monthly data of the previous month.
Information processing device equipped with. The information according to claim 1, wherein the monthly processing unit generates the monthly data of the current month based on the daily data of the latest date of the current month and the daily data of the latest date of the previous month. Processing equipment. Claim 1 or claim 1 or claim that the monthly processing unit generates the monthly data of the current month based on the daily data of the latest date of the current month corresponding to the attribute information having the largest number of data items. 2. The information processing apparatus according to 2. A device information storage unit that stores the user of the device,
A user information storage unit that stores priority items when generating the monthly data, which is set for each user, and a user information storage unit.
Further prepare
The monthly processing unit selects the latest date of the current month based on the priority item, and generates the monthly data of the current month based on the daily data of the selected latest date of the current month. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 3. In claim 4, the monthly processing unit selects the latest date of the current month corresponding to the attribute information having the largest number of data items when the priority item is set to a large number of data items. The information processing device described. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the monthly processing unit selects the latest latest date of the current month when the priority item is set to the latest date of the current month. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the previous month latest date storage unit stores the previous month latest date in association with the attribute information. The monthly processing unit is based on the attribute information of the daily data on the latest date of the current month and the attribute information of the daily data on the latest date of the previous month, and the monthly data of the current month. Judge the attribute information and
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the monthly data storage unit stores the attribute information of the monthly data and the monthly data in association with each other. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a display unit for displaying the monthly data on a user terminal. The display unit includes the monthly data, the attribute information of the monthly data, the attribute information of the daily data of the latest date of the current month used for generating the monthly data, and the monthly data. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein at least one of the attribute information of the daily data of the latest date of the previous month used for generation is associated and displayed on the user terminal. A daily data storage unit that stores the daily data of the device,
A storage unit for the latest date of the current month, which stores the latest date of the current month, which is the latest date of the daily data of the current month, for each attribute information indicating an attribute according to the number of data items.
A monthly processing unit that generates monthly data for the current month based on the daily data on the latest date of the current month selected based on the attribute information.
A monthly data storage unit that stores the monthly data,
A previous month's latest date storage unit that stores the latest date of the previous month, which is the latest date of the daily data of the previous month, which was used to generate the monthly data of the previous month.
Information processing system equipped with. A daily data storage step to store the daily data of the device,
A step for storing the latest date of the current month, which is the latest date of the daily data of the current month, for each attribute information indicating an attribute according to the number of data items, and a step of storing the latest date of the current month.
A monthly processing step that generates monthly data for the current month based on the daily data on the latest date of the current month selected based on the attribute information.
The monthly data storage step for storing the monthly data and
A previous month's latest date storage step that stores the previous month's latest date, which is the latest date of the previous month's daily data, which was used to generate the monthly data of the previous month.
Information processing method. A daily data storage step to store the daily data of the device,
A step for storing the latest date of the current month, which is the latest date of the daily data of the current month, for each attribute information indicating an attribute according to the number of data items, and a step of storing the latest date of the current month.
A monthly processing step that generates monthly data for the current month based on the daily data on the latest date of the current month selected based on the attribute information.
The monthly data storage step for storing the monthly data and
A previous month's latest date storage step that stores the previous month's latest date, which is the latest date of the previous month's daily data, which was used to generate the monthly data of the previous month.
A program that causes a computer to execute an information processing method.

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