Patent Publication Number: US-2011055736-A1

Title: Image forming apparatus, method of providing UI user interface contents thereof, and host apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application Nos. 2009-82590 and 2010-51765, filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Sep. 2, 2009 and Jun. 1, 2010 respectively, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     Aspects of the present embodiment relate to an image forming apparatus, a method of providing user interface (UI) contents thereof, and a host apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus which generates UI contents using a web-based language, a method of providing UI contents thereof, and a host apparatus. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     An image forming apparatus is an apparatus to generate, print, receive and transmit image data, and the examples of the image forming apparatus include a printer, a scanner, a copier, a fax machine, and a multi-functional printer combining the functions of the above apparatuses. 
     An external host apparatus may check information regarding the state of an image forming apparatus using an application or remote user interface (RUI). The application or the RUI of the external host apparatus may check the state of the current image forming apparatus and notify the state to a user. However, there is limit to the information provided to the user through the application or the RUI. 
     Accordingly, there needs to be a method in which the image forming apparatus provides a screen which is the same as the screen provided through a UI window formed on one portion of the image forming apparatus to the external host apparatus, so that a user may check the screen from the external host apparatus. 
     Since the UI contents of the UI window of the image forming apparatus, however, are generated using languages such as C or JAVA, the external host apparatus equipped with a browser may not display the UI contents of the UI window of the image forming apparatus appropriately. 
     SUMMARY 
     Aspects of the present embodiments relate to an image forming apparatus to generate UI contents using a web-based language, a method of providing UI contents thereof, and a host apparatus. 
     Other aspects of the present embodiments relate to an image forming apparatus to generate the same screen as that displayed on the UI of the image forming apparatus and provide the screen to a host apparatus, a method of providing UI contents thereof and a host apparatus. 
     An image forming apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment, includes an interface unit to interface at least one host apparatus with the image forming apparatus, a web server unit to generate UI contents displayed on a graphical user interface (GUI) using a web-based language and store the generated UI contents, and a first display unit to display the stored UI contents using a web browser. 
     The image forming apparatus further includes a control unit which, if the at least one host apparatus connects to the web server unit using the web browser and requests same user interface (UI) contents displayed on the GUI, controls the interface unit to provide the requested UI contents to the connected host apparatus. 
     The UI contents displayed on the GUI and the UI contents provided to the connected host apparatus may be displayed on a second display unit of the connected host apparatus in a same manner. 
     The interface unit may receive a user&#39;s command from the connected host apparatus, and the control unit may control the image forming apparatus to operate to correspond to the UI contents displayed on the second display unit according to the received user&#39;s command. 
     The user&#39;s command may include at least one of performing a job executable by the image forming apparatus and editing a predetermined setting value of the image forming apparatus. 
     The editing of the setting value may be at least one of viewing, changing, storing, and performing the setting value. 
     The control unit may control the interface unit to transmit operation result of the image forming apparatus operated according to the user command to the connected host apparatus. 
     If the at least one host apparatus is connected, the web server unit may register the connected host apparatus and checks connection status of the registered host apparatus periodically. 
     The web server unit may authenticate the connected host apparatus and register the authenticated host apparatus. 
     A method of providing UI contents of an image forming system, according to an exemplary embodiment, includes generating UI contents displayed on GUI using a web-based language, storing the generated UI contents, and displaying the stored UI contents using a web browser. 
     The method may further include, if the at least one host apparatus connects to the web server unit using a web browser and requests same UI contents displayed on the GUI, providing the requested UI contents to the connected host apparatus. 
     The UI contents displayed on the GUI and the UI contents provided to the connected host apparatus may be displayed on a second display unit of the connected host apparatus in a same manner. 
     The method may further include receiving a user&#39;s command from the connected host apparatus, and controlling the image forming apparatus to operate to correspond to UI contents displayed on the second display unit according to the received user&#39;s command. 
     The user&#39;s command may include at least one of performing a job executable by the image forming apparatus and editing a predetermined setting value of the image forming apparatus. 
     The editing of a setting value may include at least one of viewing, changing, storing, and performing a setting value. 
     The method may further include transmitting operation result of the image forming apparatus operated according to the user&#39;s command to the connected host apparatus. 
     The method may further include, if the at least one host apparatus connects to the web server unit using a web browser, registering the connected host apparatus and checking connection status of the registered host apparatus periodically. 
     The registering may include authenticating the connected host apparatus and registering the authenticated host apparatus. 
     A host apparatus, according to an exemplary embodiment, includes a second display unit to display UI contents on a web browser, an interface unit, if the host apparatus connects to the web server unit using a web browser, to receive UI contents generated using a web-based language from the web server, and a control unit to control the second display unit to display the received UI contents on the web browser. 
     The UI contents displayed on GUI of the first display unit and the received UI contents may be displayed on the second display unit in a same manner. 
     The control unit may control the interface unit to transmit a signal to operate the image forming apparatus according to a user command in accordance with the UI contents displayed on the second display unit to the image forming apparatus. 
     The user command may include at least one of operating a job executable by the image forming apparatus and editing a predetermined setting value of the image forming apparatus. 
     The editing of a setting value may include at least one of viewing, changing, storing, and performing a setting value of the image forming apparatus. 
     The control unit may control the second display unit to receive an operation result of the image forming apparatus which is operated according to the user command and display the operation result on the second display unit. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other aspects and advantages will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a view illustrating a web server unit in greater detail; 
         FIG. 3  is a view illustrating a host apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIGS. 4A to 4C  are views illustrating various UI screens; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart illustrating a method of providing UI contents of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating a method of providing UI contents of an image forming system according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart illustrating a method of processing an occurred event in an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is a flow chart illustrating a method of processing an image forming job requested by a host apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment; and 
         FIG. 9  is a flow chart illustrating operations performed by a session management unit. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below by referring to the figures. 
       FIG. 1  is a view illustrating an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 1 , an image forming system  1000  includes an image forming apparatus  100  and at least one host apparatus  200 . 
     The image forming apparatus  100  and the at least one host apparatus  200  have interface respectively, and may be interfaced wired or wirelessly through each interface unit  130 ,  220  and from the Internet or an Intranet. 
     At least one host apparatus  200  may be a host personal computer (PC). Alternatively, at least one host apparatus may be a mobile apparatus, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a portable media player (PMP) having an engine which is capable of transmitting various image forming job commands to the image forming apparatus  100 . At least one host apparatus  200  may connect to the image forming apparatus  100  using an IP address applied to the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The image forming apparatus  100 , according to an exemplary embodiment includes a first display unit  110 , a web server unit  120 , an interface unit  130 , a control unit  140 , an engine unit  150 , and an input unit  160 . 
     The first display unit  110  displays user interface (UI) contents. The first display unit  110  may be a local user interface (LUI) in the form of graphic or text, and preferably be a graphic user interface (GUI). The second display unit  210  formed on the at least one image forming apparatus  200  may be remote user interface (RUI), corresponding to the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The first display unit  110  may be a screen having an operating panel disposed in one portion of the image forming apparatus  100 . The first display unit  110  may perform the operation of the input unit  160 , which will be explained later, which receives a user&#39;s command using an operating panel or a touch screen, for example. 
     The web server unit  120  generates UI contents displayed on the first display unit  110 , that is, the graphic user interface (GUI) of the image forming apparatus  100  using a web-based language. Since the web server unit  120  generates UI contents using a web-based language, the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100  may be displayed using a web browser. 
     Since the image forming apparatus  100  transmits the UI contents generated by the web server unit  120  to at least one external host apparatus  200  according to a request by the at least one host apparatus  200 , the screen provided by the at least one external host apparatus  200  (that is, the second display unit  210  which will be explained later) may be displayed in the same way as the screen of the first display unit  110  provided by the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The UI contents include an image, text, and tag forming a web browser. The web browser may be, for example, MSIE, Firefox, Opera, CHrome, Safari, Maemo, Android, LiMo, etc. The web-based language may be, for example, HTML, XML, JSP, ASP, PHP, or a web-based language for a rich internet application (RIA) such as Flex, JavaFX, etc. 
     That is, the web server unit  120  is not a web server for external RUI, but a web server for internal LUI which is disposed in one portion of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The web server  120  may generate not only local user interface (UI) contents using a web-based language, but also contents forming a UI screen using such languages as C or JAVA, which is a related art method of generating UI contents. 
     In addition, as opposed to the description in the drawing, the web server unit  120  may be disposed outside of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The interface unit  130  interfaces at least one host apparatus  200  having a web browser with the image forming apparatus  100 . Specifically, the interface unit  130  may receive a user&#39;s command from the connected host apparatus  200 . In addition, the interface unit  130  may transmit the result of operation of the image forming apparatus  100  performed according to the user&#39;s command to the connected host apparatus  200 . 
     Accordingly, the image forming apparatus  100  may transmit and/or receive information to and from the host apparatus through the interface unit  130  wired or wirelessly. 
     If the web server unit  120  is disposed outside of the image forming apparatus  100 , the interface unit  130  may transmit UI contents to the external web server unit  120 . In this case, the UI contents may be converted into a file in an executable format, and then be transmitted to the web server unit  120 . Accordingly, at least one host apparatus  200  may download the UI contents in an executable format which is provided by the web server unit  120  and install them on the at least one host apparatus  200 . 
     The control unit  140  controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     If at least one host apparatus  200  connects to the web server unit  120  and requests the same UI contents as those displayed on the GUI of the image forming apparatus  100 , the control unit  140  may control the interface unit  130  to provide the requested UI contents to the connected host apparatus  200 . 
     If at least one host apparatus  200  connects to the image forming apparatus  100 , the control unit  140  may control the interface unit  130  to monitor the real-time operation status of the image forming apparatus  100  and to transmit information regarding the operation status of the image forming apparatus  100  to the host apparatus  200 . 
     Once a user&#39;s command is input through the second display unit  210  of at least one host apparatus  200 , which will be explained later, or the input unit  250 , and the user&#39;s command is received through the interface unit  130 , the control unit  140  may control the image forming apparatus  100  to operate according to the user&#39;s command. 
     The user&#39;s command may include at least one of operating a job executable by the image forming apparatus  100 , and editing of a predetermined setting value of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     In this case, the job executable by the image forming apparatus  100  may include scanning, printing, copying, faxing, scanning to e-mail, scanning to save, and scanning to USB. 
     For example, if a user&#39;s command to performing printing is input through the second display unit  210  of at least one host apparatus  200 , the engine unit  140  may be controlled to perform printing. 
     Subsequently, the control unit  140  may control the interface unit  130  to notify at least one host apparatus  200  of the result of the operation according to the user command to perform printing, such as, a message informing success of printing, printing time, or the number of papers printed. 
     The editing of a setting value may be at least one of viewing, correcting, storing, and executing a setting value. Specifically, the editing of a setting value may be performed using information, machine setting, networking setting, maintenance, and support in  FIG. 4B , which will be explained later. 
     For example, whether to notify the occurrence of an event in the image forming apparatus  100  to at least one host apparatus  200 , or if so, how frequently the notification will be made, is edited in the second display unit  210 , the image forming apparatus  100  may operate according to the result of editing. 
     If the event management unit  125 , which will be explained later, notifies of the occurrence of an event, the control unit  140  controls the interface unit  130  to transmit the information regarding the event to at least one host apparatus  200  so that the information regarding the notified event may be displayed on the second display unit  210  of at least one host apparatus  200 . 
     If at least one host apparatus  200  connects to the image forming apparatus  100  using a web browser, the control unit  140  controls the web server unit  120  to authenticate the connected host apparatus  200 . If the host apparatus  200  fails to be authenticated, the host apparatus  200  may not be connected to the image forming apparatus  100 . If the host apparatus  200  is successfully authenticated, the host apparatus  200  is registered (that is, stored) in the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     In this case, various known algorithms may be applied for the authentication of al east one host apparatus  200 . 
     The engine unit  150  performs various image forming jobs, including printing, copying and scanning. 
     The input unit  160  receives a user&#39;s command. In general, the first display unit  110  and the input unit  160  may perform operations together, but the input unit  160  may be formed separately. 
     Therefore, according to the present image forming system  1000 , a user may perform various functions including an image forming job provided by the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100  and editing of a setting value directly in at least one host apparatus  200  without approaching the image forming apparatus  100 , and thus user convenience may be enhanced. 
       FIG. 2  is a view illustrating a web server unit in greater detail. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the web server unit  120  includes a processing unit  123 , an event management unit  125 , a session management unit  127 , and a storage unit  129 . 
     The processing unit  123  generates UI contents displayed on the GUI using a web-based language. In addition, the processing unit  123  may parse a web-based language which is not in a HTML format to be in a HTML format. 
     The processing unit  123  manages overall operations of the event management unit  125 , the session management unit  127 , and the storage unit  129 . 
     The event management unit  125  manages various events occurring in the image forming apparatus  100 . The event management unit  125  notifies an event according to a user&#39;s command received from at least one host apparatus  200  to the engine unit  159 , which will be explained later, and checks an event occurring in the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The occurred event in the image forming apparatus  100  may be transmitted to the host apparatus  200  connected to the image forming apparatus  100  in real time through the interface unit  130 . 
     The session management unit  127  manages at least one host apparatus  200  connected to the image forming apparatus  100 . Specifically, the session management unit  127  identifies at least one host apparatus  200  connected to the image forming apparatus  100 , and manages history information regarding the host apparatus  200  which was previously connected to the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     In addition, if at least one host apparatus  200  is connected to the web server unit  120 , the session management unit  127  may authenticate the connected host apparatus  200 , register the connected host apparatus  200  in the session management unit  120  according to the authentication result, and identifies connection status of the currently connected host apparatus  200  periodically. 
     The storage unit  129  stores UI contents generated from the processing unit  123 . The storage unit  129  may store various information including an IP address of the image forming apparatus  100 , an event occurred in the image forming apparatus  100  or received from the image forming apparatus  100 , history, the registered image forming apparatus  100 , an address book, an e-mail, and scanned data. 
     Unlike in  FIG. 2 , the storage unit  129  may be disposed outside of the web server unit  120 . 
     As such, the web server unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100  may generate UI contents using a web-based language, and thus an easy and simple web-based language may be used when an application developed by a third party in an open source environment, that is, UI contents are added to the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     Unlike in  FIG. 2 , the interface unit  130  may be included in the web server unit  120 , and accordingly, the web server unit  120  may directly communicate with at least one host apparatus  200 . Furthermore, the interface unit  130  may be included in the session management unit  127 . 
       FIG. 3  is a view illustrating a host apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the host apparatus  200 - 1  includes a second display unit  210 , an interface unit  220 , a control unit  230 , a storage unit  240 , and an input unit  250 . The host apparatus  200 - 1  may be one of at least one host apparatus  200 . 
     The second display unit  210  displays UI contents on a web browser. 
     The second display unit  210  may receive a user&#39;s command in the form of a touch screen or through various input apparatuses, such as a keyboard of the host apparatus  200 - 1  and a mouse. That is, the second display unit  210  may also perform the operation of the input unit  250 , which will be explained later. 
     The interface unit  220  may transmit/receive information to and from the image forming apparatus  100  through wire or wirelessly. Specifically, if the host apparatus  200 - 1  connects to the web server unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100  using a web browser, the interface unit  220  receives UI contents which are generated using a web-based language from the web server unit  120 . 
     The host apparatus  200 - 1  may connect to the web server unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100  through the interface unit  220  as the IP address of the web server unit  120  is input into one portion of the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200 - 1  having a web browser. 
     The control unit  230  controls overall operation of the host apparatus  200 - 1 . Specifically, the control unit  230  controls the second display unit  210  to display the received UI contents on the web browser. Accordingly, the UI contents received from the host apparatus  200  may be displayed on the second display unit  210  in the same way as the UI contents displayed on the GUI of the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100  using a web-based language. 
     The control unit  230  controls the interface unit  220  to transmit a signal to operate the image forming apparatus  100  in accordance with the UI contents displayed on the second display unit  210  according to the user&#39;s command. 
     The control unit  230  controls the second display unit  210  to receive the operation result of the image forming apparatus  100  which is operated according to the user&#39;s command and display the received operation result on the second display unit  210 . 
     The storage unit  240  stores received UI contents. In addition, the storage unit  240  may store various information including information regarding an event and editing of a setting value. 
     The input unit  250  may include various input apparatuses including a key board, a mouse, and a stylus pen, and receive a user&#39;s command. 
     Accordingly, a user may e-mail scanned data through the host apparatus  200 - 1  which is connectable to the image forming apparatus  100 , or may connect to information, such as an address book and scanned data, which is stored in the image forming apparatus  100 , without approaching the image forming apparatus  100 , and thus user convenience may be enhanced. 
     In addition, various events occurring in the image forming apparatus  100 , such as whether or not fax data is received, the type of occurred problem in an apparatus, and whether or not papers should be further supplied may be checked at the host apparatus  200 - 1  in real time, so user convenience may be enhanced. 
     Since the web server unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100  generates UI contents using a web-based language, the host apparatus  200 - 1  may connect to the image forming apparatus  100  using only a web browser without further adding an application (status monitor) or generating contents for RUI. 
     In addition, a developer may check a screen provided by the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200 - 1  without checking a screen provided by the first display unit  110 . Therefore, developer-friendly environment may be provided. 
       FIG. 4A  to  FIG. 4C  are views illustrating various UI screens. 
       FIG. 4A  illustrates the first display unit disposed in one portion of the image forming apparatus  100  according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4A , the first display unit  110  disposed in one portion of the image forming apparatus  100  may be realized using a web-based language or using a language, such as C or JAVA, which are used in the related art. However, it is desirable that the first display unit  110  disposed in one portion of the image forming apparatus  100  is displayed on a web browser using a web-based language. 
     Unlike in  FIG. 4A , the first display unit  110  may display an address window to input an IP address. 
       FIG. 4B  illustrates a screen provided in a conventional remote user interface (RUI) form. Conventionally, various setting values of an image forming apparatus may be checked or changed in the screen provided by a host apparatus in a RUI form. 
     However, the functions to perform image forming jobs, such as copying, scanning, or transmitting an email after scanning provided by a UI screen of an image forming apparatus, that is a display unit, cannot be performed on a screen illustrated in  FIG. 4B . 
       FIG. 4C  illustrates the UI screen of a host apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. According to the present image forming apparatus  100 , the UI contents displayed on the first display unit  110  disposed in one portion of the image forming apparatus  100  as illustrated in  FIG. 3A  is the same as the UI contents of the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200 - 1  as illustrated in  FIG. 4C . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4C , the UI contents which are the same as the UI contents of the first display unit  110  may be displayed on the second display unit  210  as the IP address of the image forming apparatus  100  is input to the URL area of a web browser to be connected. 
     According to various exemplary embodiments, the UI contents displayed on the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200 - 1  may be set to be the same as the UI contents displayed on the first display unit  110 . To do this, the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100  and the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200 - 1  may be displayed using a web language-based web browser. 
     However, the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100  may be realized using a language such as C or JAVA, and the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200 - 1  may be realized using a web-based language. 
     Accordingly, a user may perform various functions to perform image forming jobs provided by the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100  directly in the host apparatus  200  and edit various setting values of the image forming apparatus  100  without approaching the image forming apparatus  100 , and thus user convenience may be enhanced. 
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart illustrating a method of providing UI contents of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a method of providing UI contents of an image forming apparatus includes generating UI contents to be displayed on GUI using a web-based language (S 510 ), and storing the generated UI contents (S 520 ). 
     Subsequently, the stored UI contents are displayed using a web browser (S 530 ). 
     According to the present method of providing UI contents of the image forming apparatus, therefore, UI contents to be displayed on GUI may be generated using a web-based language and the generated UI content may be displayed. Thus, the host apparatus  200  may connect to the image forming apparatus  100  using only a web browser without further adding an application (status monitor) or generating contents for RUI. Consequently, the UI contents of the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100  may be displayed in the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200  in the same manner. 
     The method of providing UI contents of the image forming apparatus further includes, if at least one host apparatus  200  connects to the web server unit  120  using a web browser, requests the same UI contents as those displayed on GUI, providing the requested UI contents to the connected host apparatus  200 . 
     The method of providing UI contents of the image forming apparatus further includes receiving a user&#39;s command from the connected host apparatus  200  and controlling the image forming apparatus  100  to operate corresponding to the UI contents displayed on the second display unit  210  according to the received user command. 
     In addition, the method of providing UI contents of the image forming apparatus further includes transmitting operation result of the image forming apparatus  100  according to the user command to the connected host apparatus  200 . 
     The method of providing UI contents of the image forming apparatus further includes, if at least one host apparatus  200  connects to the web server unit  120  using a web browser, authenticating the connected host apparatus  200  and registering the authenticated host apparatus  200 . 
       FIG. 6  is a flow chart illustrating a method of providing UI contents of the image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , a method of providing UI contents of the image forming apparatus includes generating UI contents to form the UI screen of the image forming apparatus  100  using a web-based language by the web server unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100  (S 610 ). 
     The generated UI contents are stored in the storage unit  129  (S 620 ). 
     Subsequently, the host apparatus  200  connects to the web server unit  120  of the image forming apparatus  100  using a web browser (S 630 ). 
     The host apparatus  200  requests the same UI contents as those displayed on the GUI of the image forming apparatus  100  (S 640 ). 
     For example, the host apparatus  200  may connect to the web server unit  120  through an IP address of the web server  120  of the image forming apparatus  100 , http://123.123.123.123/localui.html and request UI contents. 
     The interface unit  130  of the image forming apparatus  100  transmits the requested UI contents to the host apparatus  200  (S 650 ). 
     The provided UI contents may be displayed on a web browser driven by the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200 . 
     The UI contents displayed on the GUI of the image forming apparatus  100  using a web-based language and the UI contents that the image forming apparatus  100  provides to the host apparatus  200  that may be displayed on the second display unit  210  of the host apparatus  200  are displayed in the same manner. 
     The image forming apparatus  100  may operate according to a user&#39;s input corresponding to the UI contents displayed on the second display unit  210 . 
     The user&#39;s command may include operating at least one job executable by the image forming apparatus  100 , including editing of a predetermined setting value of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     The editing of setting values may be at least one of viewing, changing, storing, and performing a setting value. 
     The image forming apparatus  100  may transmit the operation result of the image forming apparatus  100  which operates according to a user&#39;s command to the host apparatus  200  through the interface unit  130 . 
     Once a user&#39;s command is input from the host apparatus  200 , the first display unit  210  of the image forming apparatus  100  may display that the operation is performed according to the input from the host apparatus  200 . 
     Accordingly, the host apparatus  200  may perform operations, such as approaching the contents pre-stored in the image forming apparatus  100 , and thus user convenience may be improved. In addition, a user may connect to the image forming apparatus  100  easily using a browser without using a separate application or RUI. Moreover, since a simple and easy web-based language is used, a UI screen can be upgraded according to the user&#39;s intention. 
       FIG. 7  is a flow chart illustrating a method of processing an occurred event in an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     According to the method of processing an occurred event in an image forming apparatus, if an event occurs in the image forming apparatus  100  (S 710 ), the currently connected host apparatus  200  is identified and the occurred event is transmitted to the host apparatus  200  (S 720 ). 
     The host apparatus  200  receives the event through the second display unit  210  which is the same as the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100  (S 730 ). That is, the host apparatus  200  may notify the occurrence of an event through a flickering ‘event occurrence’ key, as illustrated in  FIG. 4C . 
       FIG. 8  is a flow chart illustrating a method of processing an image forming job requested by a host apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. 
     According to the method of processing an image forming job requested by a host apparatus, the image forming apparatus  100  receives an image forming job from the host apparatus  200  (S 810 ). 
     The host apparatus  200  may receive a user&#39;s to process the image forming job at the second display unit  210  which performs operation corresponding to the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
     Accordingly, the image forming apparatus  100  performs the image forming job corresponding to the user&#39;s command and notifies the event management unit  125  of the operation result (S 820 ). 
     The event management unit  125  identifies the host apparatus  200  which requested the image forming job through the session management unit  127  and transmits the operation result (S 830 ). Subsequently, the host apparatus  200  receives the operation result (S 840 ). 
     In this case, the host apparatus  200  may receive the event (that is, the operation result) through the second display unit  210  which performs operation corresponding to the first display unit  110  of the image forming apparatus  100 . 
       FIG. 9  is a flow chart illustrating operation performed by the session management unit. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , if at least one host apparatus  200  connects to the web server unit  120 , the session management unit  127  registers the connected host apparatus  200  in the session management unit  127  (S 910 ). 
     In addition, the session management unit  127  periodically checks connection status of the currently connected host apparatus  200  (S 920 ). 
     Subsequently, if there is no response from the currently connected host apparatus  200  for a predetermined time period, the session management unit  127  checks whether there is a problem in the job which is currently being performed (S 930 ). Accordingly, the session management unit  127  may manage resources designated to the connected host apparatus  200 . 
     The method of providing the UI contents of an image forming apparatus or the method of providing the UI contents of an image forming system, according to an exemplary embodiment, may be realized using a single processor performing the function of each step or a chip. 
     The present embodiments may include a computer reading and recording medium having a program to perform the method of providing the UI contents of an image forming apparatus or the method of providing the UI contents of an image forming system. The computer reading and recording medium includes all kinds of recording apparatuses which store data readable by a computer system. The examples of the computer reading and recording medium include a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, and an optical data storing apparatus. The computer reading and recording medium is distributed to a computer system connected through a network, and a code readable by a computer through a distribution method may be stored and performed. 
     Although a few embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.