Patent ID: 9075972
Filing Date: 2015-07-07
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. An image forming apparatus comprising: a control unit capable of executing a plurality of functions; a login information storage for storing a plurality of pieces of login information for authenticating each of a plurality of authenticated users permitted in advance to use the image forming apparatus; a login information receiver for receiving input of login information; a login authenticator for setting an authenticated user corresponding to the login information in a login state when the login information received by the login information receiver matches login information stored in the login information storage; a target function setter for receiving functions designated by a user as functions to be executed by the control unit out of the plurality of functions and setting received functions as target functions; an authorization information storage for storing in advance initial authorization information indicating initially authorized functions permitted to be executed by a user when the image forming apparatus is in an initial state where there is no authenticated user set in the login state and user authorization information relating user authorized functions permitted to be executed by each authenticated user to each authenticated user; an alternative function information storage for storing in advance alternative function information determining combinations of mutually alternative functions out of the plurality of functions; a target function changer for performing a target function changing process when the authenticated user is set in the login state by the login authenticator, the target function changer, in the target function changing process, changing one or more user prohibited functions that are included in the target functions set by the target function setter and are different from user authorized functions relating to the authenticated user set in the login state by the user authorization information respectively to one or more user alternative functions that are determined as functions alternative to the respective user prohibited functions by the alternative function information and match the user authorized functions related to the authenticated user set in the login state by the user authorization information; and a setting pattern information storage for storing in advance setting pattern information which, for each combination included in a plurality of combinations formed when two mutually different functions are designated successively and combined as functions to be executed by the control unit out of the plurality of functions, determines whether each of the combinations is of a first pattern in which only a function designated earlier is supposed to be set as one of the target functions, of a second pattern in which two functions are both supposed to be set as the target functions or of a third pattern in which only a function designated later is supposed to be set as the target function after the setting of a function designated earlier as one of the target functions is canceled; wherein: in changing a plurality of user prohibited functions respectively to a plurality of user alternative functions when there are the plurality of user prohibited functions in the target function changing process, the target function changer changes the plurality of user prohibited functions to the user alternative functions first from the one having a largest number of first exclusive functions, which are user coexistence possible functions as the user alternative functions that are settable together with the user alternative functions already set as the target functions and other functions that are not settable together with the user coexistence possible functions; each of the first exclusive functions is a function combined as the function designated earlier with the user coexistence possible functions by the combination of the third pattern; and the target function changer further cancels a setting as the target functions of each of the first exclusive functions corresponding to each of the user coexistence possible functions if each of the first exclusive functions corresponding to each of the user coexistence possible functions is set as one of the target functions every time each of the user prohibited functions is changed to each of the user coexistence possible functions.