Abstract:
An information providing apparatus for providing prescribed information to a user terminal includes a receiving unit configured to receive a first request for a frame page containing said prescribed information from the user terminal, and a frame page creator configured to extract identification information specifying said prescribed information from a first URL designated in the first request, and create the frame page having a plurality of frames and allowing said prescribed information to be displayed in a first frame among said frames.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus that creates and transmits a Web page to a user terminal connected via a network, in response to a request from the user terminal. The present invention also relates to an information display device that displays the Web page transmitted from the information providing apparatus.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0004]    Along with development of Web-related technology, operability and user-friendliness of Web pages are also improving. Framing is one of such functions for improving operational performance of Web pages, which is widely used in recent days. JPA 2001-34527 discloses a framing technique for requesting only a changed portion of contents from the WWW server when the frame layout is changed.  
           [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a framed Web page displayed in a Web browser. In this example, a Web page  500  includes three frames  501 ,  502 , and  503 . One advantage of using a framing technology is to offer a document navigation function. For example, a search function is given to frame  501 , while frame  502  functions as a contents frame that displays a table of contents or a site map. The search result retrieved through the frame  501  or the document selected from the site map in frame  502  is displayed in frame  503 . In this case, only the content displayed in frame  503  is changed, while the values input through frame  501  or selection of contents from frame  502  is still maintained. Accordingly, the user can confirm readily where the currently browsing information is positioned, without being lost in the spider-webbed information link.  
           [0006]    However, since in the multi-frame Web page the document first displayed in each of the frames is statically determined, the user has to conduct several iterations of manipulation to reach a target document. In the example shown in FIG. 1, when the user inputs the URL of Web page  500 , Web page  500  is displayed in the Web browser. In frame  503 , a document named a so-called top page or a home page is first displayed every time. Accordingly, the user needs to conduct one or more manipulations (such as mouse clicking) to reach the target document using the site map function or the table of contents of frame  502 .  
           [0007]    In particular, an interface with a tree structure is often used in the site map function in order to visually represent the hierarchical structure of information. In this case, operations become more bothersome because the user has to trace the hierarchy level by level.  
           [0008]    To refer to the same document many times, use of a bookmark is considered. However, for the Web page using a framing technique, recorded in the bookmark is the URL of a page that defines the frame layout, not the URL of the document itself displayed in the frame. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the URL of the Web page  500  is recorded in the bookmark, and the URL of the document viewed in frame  503  is not recorded. Even if the Web page is registered in the bookmark with the target document displayed in fame  503 , it is still the home page (or the top page) that is displayed in frame  503  when the bookmark is utilized next time.  
           [0009]    By the way, in recent years and continuing, not only general-purpose computers, but also machines and equipment dedicated to specific use, can be furnished with a function of a Web server. Such machines and equipment provide a home page (which is referred to as Web page  500 ) to allow various types of remote operations with respect to the machines and equipment. The user can view and check, for example, an error information page containing detailed information about errors or malfunctions of a machine or a parameter setting page for setting parameters in the machine in frame  503 , using the site map in frame  502  of the Web page  500 . Some machines automatically report occurrence of errors or malfunctions to administrators by e-mail. Such an e-mail contains the URL of the error checking page to encourage the user to access the URL to check the detailed information about the error.  
           [0010]    However, even if the Web browser is started by clicking the URL of the error checking page, only the error checking page is displayed, at the maximum size in the entire area of the Web browser. The user cannot make use of the operating environment (such as the searching environment or the site map function) offered by the Web page  500 . In order to enter the operating environment, the user has to input the URL of the Web page  500 .  
           [0011]    JPA 11-296463 discloses a technique for recording the URLs of the pages displayed in the respective frames of a Web page when registering the framed Web page in a bookmark. When this bookmark is selected next time, a target page is displayed directly in the associated frame. With this method, each client apparatus has to be furnished with a function of recording the URLs of the respective pages.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    It is an object of the present invention to provide an information providing apparatus that allows target information to be displayed in one of the frames of a frame page (or a Web page) on a remotely located user terminal.  
           [0013]    It is another object of the invention to provide an information display apparatus for displaying page information provided by the information providing apparatus.  
           [0014]    To achieve the objects, in one aspect of the invention, an information providing apparatus for providing prescribed information to a user terminal comprises a receiving unit configured to receive a first request for a frame page containing said prescribed information from the user terminal, and a frame page creator configured to extract identification information specifying said prescribed information from a first URL designated in the first request and create the frame page having a plurality of frames and allowing said prescribed information to be displayed in a first frame among said frames.  
           [0015]    In other aspect of the invention, an information displaying device is provided. The information displaying device comprises (a) web page requesting means that transmits a first request for a web page to an information providing apparatus connected via a network, the first request containing a URL including identification information for specifying target information, (b) receiving means that receives a definition of the requested web page from the information providing apparatus, and (c) displaying means that displays a frame page with the target information viewed in one of a plurality of frames formed in the frame page.  
           [0016]    With the information providing apparatus and/or the information displaying device, target information is displayed in a prescribed frame of a frame page (or a Web page) on the user terminal simply by designating prescribed identification information in a URL. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is an example of a Web page with an area divided into multiple frames;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the functional structure of an image processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of functional structure of an image processing apparatus that functions as a Web server;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the loading page module shown in FIG. 3;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the frame page module shown in FIG. 3;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the XSLT processor shown in FIG. 3;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7 illustrates an example of frame layout including a frame showing the top page;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a Web page having a frame displaying paper feed tray information in English in the administrator mode;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining the process of transmitting an event reporting mail by the image processing apparatus;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of transmission of an event reporting mail carried out by the image processing apparatus;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 11 is an example of event/URL corresponding table;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 12 is an example of the event reporting mail for reporting the paper-out condition;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of providing loading page information from the image processing apparatus to a user terminal;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing the operation of providing frame page information from the image processing apparatus to a user terminal;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the URL replacing operation executed by the Web server program;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing selection of language carried out by the loading page module;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 17 is an example of language information control table;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the loading page creating operation carried out by the loading page module;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 19 is an example of a definition of a loading page template;  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 20 is an example of a definition of the accomplished loading page;  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 21 is an example of argument information converted into the XML format;  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the frame page creating operation carried out by the XSLT processor;  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 23 is an example of a definition of an XSL frame page;  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 24 is an example of a definition of the created frame page;  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 25 is an example of a frame page in which paper feed tray information is displayed in the work frame in English and in the administrator mode by designating argument information;  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing the operation of transmitting an e-mail to report receipt of a facsimile message;  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 27 is an example of table listing users to whom receipt of facsimile message is to be reported; and  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 28 is an example of the e-mail reporting receipt of a facsimile message. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0046]    The preferred embodiments of the present invention are explained below in conjunction with attached drawings. In the embodiments, an image processing apparatus is used as an example of an information providing apparatus.  
         [0047]    [0047]FIG. 2 shows the functional structure of the image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. Image processing apparatus  10  has hardware resources, such as a plotter engine  1025  and a scanner engine  1026 , required to carry out individual image processing operations, and an engine control board  1024 . The image processing apparatus  10  also has an operating system (OS)  1023 , a system control service  1016 , a network control service  1017 , a memory control service  1018 , an ope-pane control service  1019 , an engine control service  1020 , a delivery control service  1021 , and a facsimile control service  1022 . The image processing apparatus has multiple independent applications, such as copy application  1011 , facsimile application  1012 , printer application  1013 , Web application  1014 , machine/equipment information reporting application  1015 , and other applications.  
         [0048]    The engine control board  1024  controls individual functions, such as plotter engine  1025  and scanner engine  1026 , of the image processing apparatus  10 , and provides the functions of the engine control board  1024  to the OS  1023  via the engine interface (I/F).  
         [0049]    The OS  1023  is, for example, UNIX (registered trademark) or another suitable operating system, and implements various types of software loaded as applications, such as copy application  1011 , facsimile application  1012 , etc., in parallel.  
         [0050]    The system control service  1016 , the network control service  1017 , the memory control service  1018 , the ope-pane control service  1019 , the engine control service  1020 , the delivery control service  1021 , and facsimile control service  1022  provide their functions to the higher layer applications (such as copy application  1011 ) via the API (Application Programming Interface). For instance, the system control service  1016  offers a function relating to system control. The network control service  1017  offers a function for network communication. The memory control service  1018  offers a function relating to memory control. The ope-pane control service  1019  controls the operations panel of the image processing apparatus  10 . The engine control service  1020  offers a function of controlling the plotter engine  1025  and scanner engine  1026  through the engine control board  1024 . The delivery control service  1021  offers a function of transmitting an e-mail (referred to as an “event notification mail”) reporting an event having occurred in the image processing apparatus  10 . The facsimile control service  1022  offers a function for controlling the operation of transmitting and receiving a facsimile message.  
         [0051]    The copy application  1011  implements copy jobs. The facsimile application  1012  implements facsimiles operations. The printer application  1013  implements printer jobs, and it contains PDL (page description language), PCL (printer control language), and Postscript (PS). The Web application  1014  provides various types of information with a language suitable to the user of a terminal device connected via a network to the image processing apparatus  10 . The machine/equipment information reporting application  1015  collects information required to create an event reporting mail and controls the transmission of the created event reporting mail.  
         [0052]    Next, a description is made of the operations of the image processing apparatus  10  when it functions as a Web server implemented mainly by the Web application  1014  and the network control service  1017  and other functions. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the functional structure of the image processing apparatus  10  that functions as a Web server.  
         [0053]    In the example shown in FIG. 3, the image processing apparatus  10  has a Web server program  15 , Web applications  11  through  13 , and the XSLT processor  14 . The Web server program  15  corresponds to a program generally referred to as HTTPd (HTTP daemon), and is used to allow the image processing device  10  to function as a Web server. The Web server program  15  receives a HTTP request transmitted by the Web browser  21  of a terminal  20  (e.g., a personal computer (PC)) connected via a network, such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN), and starts the Web application  11  corresponding to the URL designated by the HTTP request. The Web server program  15  also transmits a Web page created by the Web application  11  with HTML (HyperText Markup Language) data to the Web browser  21 . In this example, the Web server program  15  is implemented as a part of the function of the network control service  1017  shown in FIG. 2.  
         [0054]    The Web application  11  provides a Web page that becomes a portal for providing various types of information about the image processing apparatus  10 . In the example shown in FIG. 3, the Web application  11  includes page module calling means  111 , a load page module  112 , a frame page module  113 , and a library  114 . The page module calling means  111  is called by the Web server program  15  when the image processing apparatus  10  receives an HTTP request addressed to the Web application  11 . The page module calling means  111  is formed by a set of functions used to call a page module corresponding to the requested URL. In this example, page module is a function defined for each type of Web page, and the Web application  11  shown in FIG. 3 includes a loading page module  112  and a frame page module  113 .  
         [0055]    The loading page module  112  and the frame page module  113  call a function from the library  114  as necessary, and create individually corresponding Web pages. The library  114  also contains a set of functions offering various functions to the page modules.  
         [0056]    Other Web applications  12  and  13 , shown for the illustrative purpose, also provide a variety of functions relating to Web page creation, offering information about a facsimile function, a document managing function, or a printing function. In this embodiment, explanation is made focusing on the Web application  11 , and the Web application  11  is referred to as a “system application  11 ” in order to distinguish it from other Web applications  12  and  13 .  
         [0057]    Each of the Web applications creates a Web page using the XSLT processor  14 . The XSLT processor  14  functions as data converting means that converts prescribed information (XML data) into a Web page (HTML data) according to predetermined format information (XSL data). The XSLT processor  14  is used in common by multiple Web applications.  
         [0058]    [0058]FIG. 4 is a diagram for illustrating the loading page module  112 . The loading page module  112  is called by the page module calling means  111  to create a loading page, when the image processing apparatus  10  is accessed from the Web browser  21 . Loading page is a Web page described by an HTML format, which in this embodiment is created not for loading information in the Web browser, but for allowing the Web browser  21  to load a frame page described below. In the loading page created by the loading page module  112 , an instruction set is defined by JAVA (registered trademark) Script, such that the frame page is automatically loaded when the Web browser  21  reads this loading page.  
         [0059]    When the loading page module  112  is called by the page module calling means  111 , a language used in the frame page is selected. As has been described above, the loading page is created for the purpose of loading a frame page, not for the purpose of being displayed in the frame area of the browser  21 . Therefore, a language (such as Japanese, English, etc.) suitable for the user viewing the frame page in the browser  21  is selected.  
         [0060]    Upon selection of a language, the loading page module  112  creates a loading page making use of the loading page creating function  115 . The loading page creating function  115  is a set of functions used to create a loading page, and corresponds to the library  114  shown in FIG. 3. The loading page module  112  adds an HTML header to the loading page output from the loading page creating function  115  to provide the loading page as HTML data, and outputs the provided loading page to the Web server program  15 , as illustrated by the right-hand-side arrows in FIG. 4. The loading page is then transmitted to the Web browser  21  by the Web server program  15 .  
         [0061]    [0061]FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating the frame page module  113 . The frame page module  113  is called by the page module calling means  111  when the image processing apparatus  10  receives a frame page transmission request. A frame page is a Web page divided into a plurality of frame areas or sub-frames, at least one of which becomes the basis of providing various types of information from the image processing apparatus  10 . The frame page includes the definition of frame layout. Information provided by image processing apparatus  10  is displayed in one of the frames defined by the frame page.  
         [0062]    When the page module calling means  111  calls the frame page module  113 , the frame page module  113  converts data transmitted as character strings from the Web browser  21  into a data type of programming language used to implement the frame page module  113  and the frame page processing function  116  (which will be described below). If the frame page module  113  is implemented in the C programming language, and if the transmitted character strings are to be processed as numerical values, then the frame page module  113  converts the character strings into int type or long type data. The following examples are explained assuming that the frame page module  113  and the frame page processing function  116  are implemented in the C programming language.  
         [0063]    The frame page module  113  calls the frame page processing function  116 , designating the data converted into a data type of the C programming language as an argument. The frame page processing function  116  is a function set corresponding to the library  114  shown in FIG. 3. The frame page processing function  116  carries out a prescribed process and outputs the processing result as a parameter required to create a frame page, to the frame page module  113 .  
         [0064]    The frame page module  113  converts the parameter of the data type of the C programming language supplied from the frame page processing function  116  into a DOM (Document Object Model) format, and outputs the converted data to the page module calling means  111 . The page module calling means  111  further converts the DOM parameter into an XML parameter, and designates this XML parameter as input information to call the XSLT processor  14 .  
         [0065]    The XSLT processor  14  applies the XML parameter supplied from the page module calling means  111  to XSL data (not shown) to create a HTML frame page. The created HTML frame page is returned to the page module calling means  111 .  
         [0066]    The page module calling means  111  adds an HTML header to the HTML frame page, and outputs the HTML page to the Web server program  15 . The HTML frame page is transmitted to the Web browser  21  by the Web server program  15 .  
         [0067]    [0067]FIG. 6 illustrates the XSLT processor  14 , which includes an input module  141  and an output module  142 . The input module  141  reads XML data  145  and XSL data  146 , and converts the content of XML data  145  and XSL data  146  into DOM data. In this embodiment, the XML data  145  is supplied form the page module calling means  111 , and the XSL data  146  contains a predetermined definition of the frame page format.  
         [0068]    The output module  142  carries out XSL transformation (XSLT), using the DOM data supplied from the input module  141  as input information, and creates HTML data  147 . The HTML data  147  constitutes a frame page in this embodiment.  
         [0069]    Next, description is made of the Web page provided by the image processing device  10 . FIG. 7 illustrates an example of frame page displayed in the Web browser  21  with a top page viewed in a work frame. When the user inputs the IP address or the domain name (hereinafter, collectively referred to as the “host name”) of the image processing apparatus  10 , or alternatively, the URL of the frame page, in the URL input area  211  of the Web browser  21 , the frame page  200  is displayed in the Web browser  21 . In the example shown in FIG. 7, the frame page  200  includes three separate frame areas, namely, a header frame  201 , a menu frame  202 , and a work frame  203 .  
         [0070]    The header frame  201  includes a combo box  2011  and button  2012 . The user can change the language of information displayed in each frame by manipulating the combo box  2011 . When clicking the button  2012 , the user is required to input the user ID and the password. When the authentication is successful, the user can receive services of the image processing apparatus  10  in the administrator mode. The administrator mode allows only authorized users (i.e., administrators) to use specific services. Beside the administrator mode, there is a general user mode that allows general users to use limited services. In the initial state where the frame page is first opened in the Web browser  21 , the mode is generally set to the general user mode.  
         [0071]    In the menu frame  202 , an information tree representing the table of contents or the service menu provided by the image processing apparatus  10  is displayed. In the initial state, the menu frame  202  indicates a status node  2021  and a document box node  2022 , which are route nodes corresponding to types of information.  
         [0072]    In the work frame  203 , information corresponding to the item (or the node) selected from the menu frame  202  is viewed. The menu frame  202  and the work frame  203  are associated with each other. It should be noted that a prescribed top page is displayed in the work frame  203  in the initial state.  
         [0073]    If the user wishes to see the information about the paper feed tray of the image processing apparatus  10  in English and in the administrator mode, the conventional technique generally requires the following procedures.  
         [0074]    (1) Inputting the host name of the image processing apparatus  10  or the URL of the frame page  200  in the Web browser  21  to open the frame page  200 .  
         [0075]    (2) Selecting English as the language to be displayed using the comb box  2011 .  
         [0076]    (3) Clicking the button  2012  to select the administrator mode through authentication.  
         [0077]    (4) Clicking the status node  2021  to open the status information.  
         [0078]    (5) Finally, clicking the node representing the paper feed tray information in the status information.  
         [0079]    [0079]FIG. 8 shows an example of the frame page  200  that indicates the paper feed information in English and in the administrator mode. In the menu frame  202 , the status node  2021  is expanded, and the node  2121  corresponding to the paper feed tray information is currently selected. Accordingly, a Web page representing the paper feed tray information (referred to as a “paper feed tray page”) is viewed in the work frame  203 .  
         [0080]    With the conventional technique, the user has to take several steps before reaching the target page (that is, the paper feed tray page in this example). This is troublesome for the user because the user cannot directly reach the paper feed tray page.  
         [0081]    If the paper feed tray page is often accessed by the user, the Web browser&#39;s “bookmark” may be used. However, the address displayed in the URL input area  211  is the URL of the frame page  200 , and not the URL of the paper feed tray page itself. In other words, even if the frame page  200  with the paper feed tray information viewed in the work frame  203  is registered in the book mark in the state shown in FIG. 8, only the URL of the frame page  200  is registered in the book mark. Accordingly, when the frame page  200  registered in the state shown in FIG. 8 is read from the bookmark next time, the initial-state frame page  200  shown in FIG. 7 with the top page in the work frame  203  is opened in the Web browser  21 .  
         [0082]    If the user inputs the URL of the paper feed tray page directly in the URL input area  211 , then only the paper feed tray information is displayed in the entire view area of the Web browser  21 , without indication of the frame configuration in the frame page  200 . If the user wants to continue to work in the frame page  200  with multiple frames opened, the user has to call the initial state frame page  200  shown in FIG. 7, after all.  
         [0083]    In contrast, in the embodiment of the present invention, a target page is viewed in the work frame  203  with a single manipulation in response to an event notification from the image processing apparatus. For example, when the user receives an event notification mail reporting the paper-out state, the user can view the paper feed tray page in the work frame  203  of the frame page  200  by a single manipulation.  
         [0084]    First, how the event notification mail is transmitted from the image processing apparatus is explained with reference to FIG. 9 through FIG. 12.  
         [0085]    [0085]FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the procedure of transmitting an event notification mail from the image processing apparatus  10  based on the operations of system control service  1016 , network control service  1017 , Web server program  15 , delivery control service  1021 , machine/equipment information reporting application  1015 , Web application  11  (system application  11 ), and XSLT processor  14  (see FIG. 2 and FIG. 3). The image processing apparatus  20  has a non-volatile RAM (NVRAM)  17  and an event-URL corresponding table  18 , in addition to the above-described elements. The NVRM  17  stores various parameters (including IP addresses, machine names, and language determining information) and mail addresses to which an event notification mail is to be addressed. The event-URL corresponding table  18  records the URLs of information (or the Web pages) in association with the respective events, which are referred to when reporting particulars of the events.  
         [0086]    [0086]FIG. 10 is a flowchart of transmission of an event notification mail carried out by the image processing apparatus  10 . The step numbers shown in FIG. 10 correspond to those shown in the block diagram of FIG. 9.  
         [0087]    When the system control service  1016  detects occurrence of an event, for example, detecting that the paper has run out in the paper feed tray in the image processing apparatus  10  (step S 101 ), the system control service  1016  reports the paper-out condition of the paper feed tray to the machine/equipment information reporting application  1015  (step S 102 ). Then, in step S 103 , the machine/equipment information reporting application  1015  refers to the event-URL corresponding table  18  to acquire the URL of the Web page (referred to as the “corresponding page”) which is to be used to indicate the contents of the event (i.e., the paper-out condition in this example) detected by the system control service  1016 .  
         [0088]    An example of the event-URL corresponding table  18  is illustrated in FIG. 11. The URL of each Web page is recorded in association with one of the events occurring in the image processing apparatus  10 . In this example, upon detection of the paper-out condition, the URL of “websys/status/inTray.cgi” is specified.  
         [0089]    Then, in step S 104 , the machine/equipment information reporting application  1015  acquires one or more e-mail addresses of the destinations, to which the event notification mail is to be transmitted, from the NVRAM  17 . In step S 105 , the machine/equipment information reporting application  1015  requests the system application  11  to create the text of the event notification mail, using the URL as the argument. In response to the request, the system application  11  acquires the language information for the event notification mail, the IP address or the machine name of the image processing apparatus  10 , and other information from the NVRAM  17  (step S 106 ). In step S 107 , the system application  11  creates the text of the event notification mail in the text format using the XSLT processor  14 , based on the URL and the information acquired in step S 106  (which are collectively referred to as “input information”). To be more precise, the system application  11  creates XML data containing each information item of the input information as an element value, and applies this XML data to XSL data in which the format of the e-mail text is defined in advance. This SXL transformation is executed by the XSLT processor  14  in response to the instruction from the system application  11 . The created text of the event notification mail is output to the machine/equipment information reporting application  1015 .  
         [0090]    Step S 108  follows step S 107 , and the machine/equipment information reporting application  1015  requests the delivery control service  1021  to transmits the event notification mail to the destination address. Then, in step S 109 , the delivery control service  1021  transmits the event notification mail to the destination address via the network control service  1017 . This event notification mail is delivered to the associated user terminal  20  via the mail server  30 .  
         [0091]    [0091]FIG. 12 shows an example of the event notification mail reporting the paper-out condition. The event notification mail  500  contains a message informing necessity of filling the tray and where to call (or access). The message in the event notification mail  500  also contains a URL  501  for referring to the detailed information. In this example, the URL  501  has a format of  
                     〈   hostname   〉     /     ?   open=websys/status/inTray.cgi &amp; profile=                     admin   &amp;                   lang     =     en   .                   (   a   )                               
 
         [0092]    This URL is referred to as URL (a).  
         [0093]    In general, a URL includes the elements name of &lt;host name&gt;/&lt;path name&gt;?&lt;argument information&gt;, where each element name is bracketed in the symbol &lt; &gt;. The URL(a) of the above-described example includes only the host name and the argument information, and does not includes the path name. It should be noted that the URL “websys/status/inTray.cgi” of the corresponding page is designated as the argument information, not as the path name. This is because if the URL of the corresponding page is designated directly as the path name, the corresponding page is displayed in the entire view area of the Web browser when this URL is clicked. However, it is desirable for the user that the corresponding page be viewed in one of the frames of the frame page  200 . To realize this, URL  501  is generated such that the URL of the corresponding page is contained as the argument information when the system application  11  creates the text of the event notification mail using the XSLT processor  14 .  
         [0094]    Next, explanation is made of the procedure carried out when the user receives the event notification mail  500  and accesses the URL  501  contained in the event notification mail  500  to check the particulars of the event information, with reference to FIG. 13 through FIG. 25.  
         [0095]    [0095]FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 are sequence diagrams of the detailed information providing procedure conducted between the image processing apparatus  10  and the Web browser of the user terminal. In FIG. 13, a loading page is created by and transmitted from the image processing apparatus  10 , and in FIG. 14, a frame page is created by and transmitted from the image processing apparatus.  
         [0096]    In FIG. 13, when the user clicks the URL  501  (URL(a) in this example), the Web browser  21  transmits an HTTP request to the image processing apparatus  10 , requesting information with respect to the URL(a) (step S 11 ). When the image processing apparatus  10  receives the HTTP request, the Web server program  15  replace the URL(a) with a prescribed URL (step S 12 ). The detailed process of the replacement of the URL carried out by the server program  15  is illustrated in FIG. 15.  
         [0097]    In FIG. 15, the server program  15  replaces the URL(a) transmitted from the Web browser  21  with the URL of a loading page, which is, for example, “web/user/zz/websys/load.cgi” (step S 12   a ). Then, the Web server program  15  determines whether any argument information (i.e., description following the question mark) is added to the URL (a) (step S 12   b ). If there is argument information added (YES in S 12   b ), the Web server program  15  adds this argument information to the new URL (step S 12   c ). Consequently, the replacement URL becomes  
         web/user/zz/websys/load.cgi?open=websys/status/inTray.cgi&amp;profile=admin&amp;lang=en.  (b)  
         [0098]    The new URL is referred to as URL(b).  
         [0099]    In the process executed in step  12 , when URL not containing a path name is transmitted from the Web browser  21 , the Web server program  15  regards the HTTP request as a request for the loading page. Accordingly, the user can make a request for the loading page simply by inputting the host name of the image processing apparatus  10 , without designating the URL of the loading page.  
         [0100]    Returning to FIG. 13, the Web server program  15  interprets that the URL is addressed to the system application  11 , based on the description of “websys” contained in the path name of the URL(b), and therefore, calls the page module calling means  111  of the system application  11  (step S 13 ). The description “websys” is an identifier of the system application  11 . For requests to other Web applications  12  and  13 , there are other identifications (for example, “webfax”) to be inserted in place of “websys”.  
         [0101]    Then, in step S 14 , the page module calling means  111  interprets that the URL represents a request to the loading page module  112 , based on the description “load.cgi” contained in the path name of the URL(b), and therefore, calls the loading page module  112 .  
         [0102]    In step S 15 , the loading page module  112  selects a language used to indicate the information. The detailed flow of selection of language carried out in step S 15  is shown in FIG. 16.  
         [0103]    In FIG. 16, the loading page module  112  determines whether any language is designated in URL(b) (step S 15   a ). Designation of language is expressed by “lang=en” contained in the argument information of the URL(b). If language is designated (YES in S 15   a ), the loading page module  112  takes the designated value (step S 15   b ). If language is not designated (NO in step S 15   a ), then the loading page module  112  takes the value of Accept-Language contained in the header of the HTTP request (step S 15   c ). In this example, since URL(b) contains the description “lang=en”, the value “en” representing English is taken.  
         [0104]    Then, the loading page module  112  determines whether the language corresponding to the value acquired in step S 15   b  or S 15   c  is supported by the image processing apparatus  10 , referring to the language information control table (step S 15   d ). An example of the language information control table is illustrated in FIG. 17.  
         [0105]    In FIG. 17, language information control table  16  has data items of “supported language” and “ope-pane language”, and an entry is recorded for each supported language. In the data field of “supported language”, identifications of the languages supported by the image processing apparatus  10  are recorded. In the data field of “ope-pane language”, values indicating whether the supported languages are the ope-pane language are recorded. If the supported language is the ope-pane language, value “1” is recorded.  
         [0106]    Ope-pane language is the language currently used in the operations panel of the image processing apparatus  10 . The operation panel is provided to the image processing apparatus  10  to indicate manipulation information so as to allow the user to operate the image processing apparatus  10 . The user can select an ope-pane language from among multiple languages installed in the image processing apparatus  10 . If the user selects Japanese as the ope-pane language, the image processing apparatus  10  causes the manipulation information to be displayed on the operations panel in Japanese.  
         [0107]    In the example shown in FIG. 17, two languages identified by “ja” and “en”, namely, Japanese language and English language are supported by the image processing apparatus.  
         [0108]    Retuning to FIG. 16, if it is determined in step S 15   d  that the acquired language is supported by the image processing apparatus  10 , the acquired language is selected as the language to be used in the requested page (S 15   e ). If the acquired language is not supported by the image processing apparatus  10 , then the ope-pane language is selected as the language to be used (S 15   f ). In this example, value “en” (that is, English language) is supported by the image processing apparatus  10 , and therefore, English is selected as the language to be used (step S 15   e ).  
         [0109]    Using the ope-pane language as the displayed language is convenient especially in the international working environment. If the image processing apparatus is placed on a floor where international members from many different countries work on a project, the user who wants to check the condition or information about the image processing apparatus  10  is likely to be limited to those people working on this floor. These people are likely to communicate with each other using a common language, and the language displayed in the operations panel of the image processing apparatus  10  is likely to be set to the common language. Accordingly, by selecting the ope-pane language, requested information can be provided to the user with the language assumed to be understandable to the user even if the ope-pane language is different from the designated language.  
         [0110]    Returning to FIG. 13, step S 16  follows step S 15 , and the loading page module  112  creates a loading page. Detailed process for creating the loading page is shown in FIG. 18.  
         [0111]    In the flowchart of FIG. 18, the loading page module  112  reads the template of the loading page in the buffer or the storage area defined in the program (step S 16   a ). An example of the template definition is illustrated in FIG. 19.  
         [0112]    In FIG. 19, the template  150  includes a description  151  defining that a prescribed function “jumpToMainFrame( )” is called when the Web browser  21  reads the loading page. Description  152  describes the definition of the function “jumpToMainFrame( )” to be executed when the Web browser  21  reads the loading page. Description  153  contained in this definition  152  defines that a Web page designated by the URL  154  is to be called. In this manner, the template  150  defines that the Web page indicated by the URL  154  is called when the load page is read.  
         [0113]    The URL  154  is a template rather than a real value processed during the execution. Although the URL  154  includes character strings, such as “_PROFILE_”, “_LANG_CODE_”, and “_JUMP_TARGET_”, these values do not indicate real values, but are macros to be replaced by argument information. The template  150  may be saved as a file, or alternatively, it may be hardcoded in the program of the loading page module  112 .  
         [0114]    Returning to FIG. 18, the loading page module  112  determines whether a mode designation is contained in URL(b) (step S 16   b ). If URL(b) includes description of “profile=admin”, then it is determined that the administrator mode is designated, and the user mode is set to the designated value (step S 16   c ). If there is no mode designation, then the mode is set to the general user mode “user” (step S 16   d ).  
         [0115]    Then, the selected mode and the language are applied to the corresponding portions “_PROFILE_” and “_LANG_” of the URL  154  in the template  150  (steps S 16   e  and S 16   f ). Furthermore, it is determined whether a target page is designated (step S 16   g ). The target page is a page that the user wants to access, and is described as “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi” in the URL  154 . If there is page designation (YES in S 16   g ), the designated page is set to the page to be viewed in the work frame  203  (step S 16   h ). If there is no page designation, the top page is set to the page to be viewed in the work frame  203  (step S 16   i ). Then, argument information “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi&amp;profile=admin&amp;lang=en” including the selected page information is applied to “_JUMP_TARGET_” in URL  154  of the template  150  to accomplish the loading page (step S 16   j ).  
         [0116]    [0116]FIG. 20 shows an example of the created loading page. The exemplified loading page  181  includes the URL  1812 , which reads as “/web/admin/en/websys/mainFame.cgi?open=websys/status/inTray.cgi&amp;profile=admin&amp;lang=en”. This URL  1812  is obtained by replacing macros “_PROFILE_”, “_LANG_CODE”, “_JsUMP_TARGET_” of the URL  154  in template  150  with values of “admin”, “en”, and “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi&amp;profile=admin&amp;lang=en”, respectively. Thus, the loading page  181  defines that the frame page  200  specified by the path name “/web/admin/en/websys/mainFame.cgi”” is to be called using the argument “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi”. The path name “/web/admin/en/websys/” represents that the language to be used in the frame page  200  is English as designated by “en”, and that the frame page is viewed in the administrator mode as designated by “admin”.  
         [0117]    Returning to the sequence diagram of FIG. 13, when the loading page is created in step S 16 , then the loading page module  112  outputs the created loading page  18  to the Web server program  15  (step S 17 ). The Web server program  15  transmits the loading page  181  to the Web browser  21 .  
         [0118]    The process after the Web browser  21  receives the loading page  181  is shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 14. The Web browser  21  transmits an HTTP request requesting for the frame page to the image processing apparatus  10  according to the definition of the loading page  181  (step S 19 ). According to the values indicated by the URL  1812  of the loading page  181 , the URL designated in this HTTP request is:  
         &lt;host name&gt;/web/admin/en/websys/mainFrame.cgi?open=websys/status/inTray.cgi&amp;profile=admin&amp;lang=en.  (c)  
         [0119]    This URL is referred to as URL(c).  
         [0120]    In URL(c), item &lt;host name&gt; is added to the head because the host name of the image processing apparatus  10  is input to the URL input area  211  of the Web browser  21  by the user in step S 11  of FIG. 13, and therefore, the path name “/web/admin/en/websys/mainFame.cgi” is interpreted as a relative path from &lt;host name&gt; by the Web browser  21 .  
         [0121]    In step S 20 , the Web server program  15  interprets that the URL(c) is addressed to the system application  11 , based on the description of “websys” contained in the path name of the URL(c), and therefore, calls the page module calling means  111  of the system application  11 . Then, in step S 21 , the page module calling means  111  interprets that the URL represents a request to the frame module  113 , based on the description “mainFrame.cgi” contained in the path name of the URL(c), and therefore, calls the frame page module  113 .  
         [0122]    Then, in step S 22 , the frame page module  113  converts the argument information “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi&amp;profile=admin&amp;lang=en” of URL(c) into DOM data, and outputs the converted result to the page module calling means  111  (step S 23 ). In step S 24 , the page module calling means  111  converts the DOM argument information into XML data. An example of the XML argument information is shown in FIG. 21.  
         [0123]    In FIG. 21, descriptions  161 ,  162 , and  163  included in the XML argument information are output based on values “lang=en”, “profile=admin”, and “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi”, respectively, which are contained in the argument information of URL(c). The argument information converted into the XML format is referred to as “XML argument information”.  
         [0124]    Step S 25  follows step S 24 , and the page module calling means  111  supplies the XML argument information to the XSLT processor  14 , requesting the XSLT processor  14  to create an HTML frame page  200 . In response to the request, the XSLT processor  14  carries out XSL transformation by applying the XML argument information to XSL data defining format information of the frame page  200  (which is referred to as an “XSL frame page”) to create a frame page  200  (step S 26 ).  
         [0125]    [0125]FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the detailed process for creating the frame page carried out by the XSLT processor  14 . First, the XSLT processor  14  reads the XML argument information and the XSL frame page (step S 26   a ). An example of the definition of the XSL frame page is shown in FIG. 23, in which description  171  defines the header frame  201  of the frame page  200  (see FIG. 7), description  172  defines the menu frame  202 , and description  173  defines the work frame  203 .  
         [0126]    In description  172  for the menu frame  202 , sub-section  1721  defines that if the XML argument information contains an open element (such as description  163  sandwiched by the &lt;open&gt; tags in FIG. 21), then “menu.cgi” is to be called in the menu frame  202  of the frame page  200 , inserting the value “websys/status/inTray.cgi” of the open element as the argument information. Another sub-section  1721  defines that if the XML argument information does not contain an open element, then “menu.cgi” is to be called in the menu frame  202  of the frame page  200  without designation of the argument information.  
         [0127]    In description  173  for the work frame  203 , sub-section  1731  defines that if the XML argument information contains an open element, then the Web page specified by the value of the open element is loaded in the work frame  203  of the frame page  200 . Another sub-section  1732  defines that if the XML argument information does not contain the open element, the top page specified by the value “topPage.cgi” is loaded in the work frame  203  of the frame page  200 .  
         [0128]    In this manner, the XSL frame page defines the format information for the frame page  200  such that information to be viewed in each of the frames in the frame page  200  is determined based on the argument information. Consequently, the process in step S 26   b  and the subsequent steps are carried out based on the definition of the XSL frame page shown in FIG. 23.  
         [0129]    In step S 26   b , it is determined whether the XML argument information contains page designation (that is, whether an open element is contained in the XML argument). If there is page designation (YES in S 26   b ) the URL of the Web page to be loaded in the work frame  203  is set to the value specified by the open element (step S 26   c ). Furthermore, the value of the open element is added as the argument information to the URL for the menu frame  202  (step S 26   e ). On the other hand, if there is no page designation or the open element in the XML argument information (NO in S 26 ), then the URL of the page to be called in the work frame  203  is set to “topPage.cgi” representing the top page (step S 26   d ). Then, the frame page  200  is output after other processes defined in the XSL frame page are carried out (step S 26   f ).  
         [0130]    [0130]FIG. 24 shows an example of the definition of the created frame page. Description  251  defines the header frame  201 , for which “header.cgi” is to be called. Description  252  for the menu frame  202  defines that the argument information “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi” is to be added to call “menu.cgi”. Description  253  for the work frame  203  defines that “inTray.cgi” representing the paper feed tray is to be called.  
         [0131]    Returning to FIG. 14, when the frame page is created in step S 26 , the XSLT processor  14  outputs the created frame page  200  to the page module calling means  111  (step S 27 ). The frame page is then transmitted to the Web browser  21  via the Web server program  15  (steps S 28  and S 29 ). The Web browser  21  interprets the definition of the frame page  200 , and loads a Web page having multiple frames, namely, the header frame  201 , the menu frame  202 , and the work frame  203  in this example, based on the descriptions  251 ,  252 , and  253 , respectively.  
         [0132]    The Web browser  21  interprets the paths “menu.cgi” and “i Tray.cgi” as relative paths from the frame page. Since the URL of the frame page “mainframe.cgi” is “&lt;host name&gt;/web/admin/en/websys/mainFrame.cgi”, the Web browser  21  calls menu.cgi specified by “&lt;host name&gt;/web/admin/en/websys/menu.cgi”, as well as inTray.cgi specified by “&lt;host name&gt;/web/admin/en/websys/inTray.cgi.”. In either path, the administrator mode and English language are specified.  
         [0133]    When Web pages are read in the associated frames, the frame page  200  shown in FIG. 25 is displayed in the Web browser  21 . In the example shown in FIG. 25, frame page  200  is displayed in English and in the administrator mode, with English version paper feed tray information in the work frame  203 , by designating the argument information. The view of the frame page  200  shown in FIG. 25 is the same as that shown in FIG. 8.  
         [0134]    In the frame page  200 , the menu frame  202  is simultaneously opened so as to match the contents displayed in the work frame  203 . In other words, the status node  2121  is indicated in the menu frame  202  so that the location of the paper feed tray (input tray) information displayed in the work frame  203  is known. This arrangement is achieved because page “menu.cgi” is called accompanied by the argument information “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi” according to the description  252  shown in FIG. 24. The called “menu.cgi” recognizes that “inTray.cgi” is currently displayed in the work frame  203  based on the argument information “open=websys/status/inTray.cgi”, and develops the status node  2121  in the menu frame  202 .  
         [0135]    The user can make use of various services provided by the image processing apparatus  10  by manipulating the status node or the table of contents exhibited in the menu frame  202 . When the frame page is bookmarked in this state, URL(c), that is, “&lt;host name&gt;/web/admin/en/websys/mainFrame.cgi?open=websys/status/inTray.cgi&amp;profile=admin&amp;lang=en” is registered in the bookmark. Accordingly, when the bookmark is utilized next time, step S 19  and subsequent steps shown in FIG. 14 are executed, and the frame page  200  shown in FIG. 25 is called in the Web browser  21 .  
         [0136]    The image processing apparatus  10  creates a frame page so as to be displayed with the layout described by the argument information, and transmits this frame page to the Web browser  21 . By designating the path name of a desired Web page (such as the paper feed tray page), as well as the language and the display mode, as the argument information, the user can call a desired Web page with a desired frame layout designated by the argument information at a single manipulation, without going through the Japanese version top page in the general user mode as provided by default.  
         [0137]    In the above-described embodiment, the target page is created by the image processing apparatus  10  (on the server side), and therefore, it is unnecessary to install an additional function in the client device as long as the client device has a Web browser. The client device can make use of the services provided by the image processing apparatus  10 , regardless of the type of its Web browser.  
         [0138]    The user can call the target information in the associated frame area of the frame page  200  at a single manipulation by appropriately designating the argument information, even if the user has never referred to that information, because the information to be displayed in the prescribed frame is determined by the image processing apparatus based on the argument information contained in the URL. In contrast, with the conventional technique disclosed in JPA 11-296463, the URL for each frame is saved in bookmark, which means that the user has to manually open the target information at least once before the information is saved.  
         [0139]    In addition, according to the embodiment, the user can acquire the frame page  200  in which the target information is directly indicated in the associated frame area simply by obtaining the URL, in place of data consisting of complicated information including several URLs for the respective frame areas. By transmitting an event notification mail that contains the URL directed to a specific event from the image processing apparatus  10  to the user terminal, the user can promptly and easily check the detailed information of the event in the frame page  200 .  
         [0140]    Although in the embodiment the target information is displayed in a fixed frame (such as the work frame  203 ), the frame area in which the target information is to be displayed may be designated. For example, if the argument information of URL includes “frame1=aaacgi frame2=bbb.cgi frame3=ccc.cgi . . . ”, information or Web pages specified by “aaa.cgi”, “bbb.cgi”, and “ccc.cgi” are displayed in the associated frames defined by “frame1”, “frame2”, and “frame3”.  
         [0141]    If the URL contains “open=aaacgi open=bbb.cgi open=ccc.cgi, . . . ”, then information to be displayed in each of the frames may be determined, taking into account the order designated in the argument information and the order predetermined among frames. These arrangements can be realized easily by modifying the definition of the XSL frame page shown in FIG. 23.  
         [0142]    Although the present invention is described using the example in which the event notification mail is triggered by detection of the paper-out condition, many other events, such as a toner-out condition or receipt of facsimile message, may trigger transmission of an event notification mail. The following is an example of transmission of an event notification mail reporting receipt of a facsimile message carried out when the image processing apparatus  10  receives a facsimile message.  
         [0143]    [0143]FIG. 26 is a block diagram for explaining transmission of an event notification mail reporting receipt of a facsimile message. The same elements and steps as those shown in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same numerical references and the same step numbers, and explanation for them is omitted.  
         [0144]    Receipt of a facsimile message is detected by facsimile control service  1022  (S 101 ). Based on the report from the facsimile control service  1022  (S 102 ) the machine/equipment information reporting application  1015  acquires the corresponding URL from the event-URL corresponding table  18  (S 103 ), and simultaneously, acquires a mailing address list from NVRAM  17  (S 104 ). An example of the mailing address list is shown in FIG. 27, in which e-mail addresses to which receipt of a facsimile message is to be reported are listed in association with user names.  
         [0145]    The machine/equipment information reporting application  1015  requests the facsimile Web application  12  to create the text of an event notification mail for reporting receipt of facsimile message (step S 105 ), and the mail text is created by the facsimile Web application  12  through the same operations carried out by the system application  11  as shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 (steps S 106  and S 107 ). The created e-mail is transmitted from the delivery control service  1021  via the network control service  1017  to the appropriate address to report the receipt of a facsimile message (steps S 108  and S 109 ). The facsimile Web application  12  is, for example, the Web application  12  shown in FIG. 3 and provides a Web page regarding the facsimile functions.  
         [0146]    [0146]FIG. 28 shows an example of the event notification mail reporting receipt of a facsimile message. The event notification mail  510  includes a message for reporting the receipt of a facsimile message, as well as URL  511  linked to the detailed information about the facsimile receipt. The URL  511  is  
         [0147]    &lt;host name&gt;/?open=webfax/list.cgi&amp;profile=user&amp;lang=ja.  
         [0148]    When the user clicks the URL  511 , the frame page  200  is displayed in the Web browser  21 , with the work frame  203  opened in which a Web page indicating the detailed information about the receipt of the facsimile message is displayed.  
         [0149]    The URL with argument information designating information to be displayed in a prescribed frame may be input to the Web browser  21  by an arbitrary method, other than clicking the URL contained in the event notification mail. For example, an instruction for activating the Web browser using the URL as argument may be installed in the user interface (such as a menu item or buttons) of a dedicated application associated with a function provided by the frame page  200 . In this case, when the user selects the menu item of “paper feed tray information” of the dedicated application, the frame page  200  is opened with the work frame  203  viewing the paper feed tray information.  
         [0150]    If the user knows the URL of information to be checked, the user may directly input the URL of the frame page designating the URL of the target information as argument information. Regardless of the URL inputting method, such as including the URL in the event notification mail, incorporating the URL in the user interface of a dedicated application, or directly inputting the URL, the frame page  200  opened in the Web browser with certain information displayed in a certain frame can be bookmarked. When this bookmark is selected next time, the frame page  200  can be called in the same state.  
         [0151]    The present invention can be applied not only to image processing apparatuses, but also arbitrary types of information processing apparatuses, such as general-purpose computers. The present invention is also applicable to digital cameras, cellular phones, and other digital appliances with limited memory capacities, as long as they have telecommunications functions.  
         [0152]    Although the present invention has been described based on specific embodiments, the invention is not limited to these examples, and various changes, modifications and substitutions are available without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the appended claims.  
         [0153]    This patent application is based on and claims the benefit of the earlier filing dates of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-070908 filed Mar. 14, 2003, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-065119, filed Mar. 9, 2004, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.