IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR MANAGING THE IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS, AND INFORMATION PROVIDING METHOD OF THE IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

1 . An image forming apparatus comprising:

a network interface unit which is connected to a host device in which a manager program is stored;

a printing unit which performs a printing job;

a storage unit which stores information on the image forming apparatus, a management information base (MIB), and an agent program corresponding to the manager program; and

a control unit which communicates with the host device using a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP),

wherein if an application is newly installed, the control unit updates the MIB using an object identifier (OID) of a management object (MO) of the newly installed application, and

wherein if a request for information designating an OID included in the updated MIB is input from the host device, the control unit transmits information corresponding to the designated OID to the host device by executing an application corresponding to the designated OID using the agent program.

2 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein if the newly installed application has a new MO, the control unit adds an OID of the new MO to the MIB.

3 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein if the newly installed application has a changed MO which changes an existing MO, the control unit changes an OID of the existing MO recorded in the MIB to an OID of the changed MO.

4 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein if the newly installed application is an application to delete an existing MO, the control unit deletes an OID of the existing MO recorded in the MIB.

5 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the storage unit stores an embedded application having at least one MO and an additional application to be installed later, and

wherein if the OID designated by the information request transmitted from the host device is an OID of the MO of the embedded application, the control unit provides the host device with information using the embedded application, or if the designated OID is an OID of an MO of the additional application, the control unit provides the host device with information using the additional application.

6 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising:

an interface unit which is connected to an external source in which an application to newly install is stored; and

a user interface (UI) unit which receives a request to install an application,

wherein if the external source is connected to the interface unit and if the request to install the application is input, the control unit installs and stores the application stored in the external source, in the storage unit.

7 . The image forming apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit comprises:

an agent execution module which executes the agent program;

an application registration module which verifies the application stored in the external source if the request to install the application is input;

an application storage module which installs and stores the application in the storage unit if the verification is completed; and

an application control module which executes the application newly installed in the storage unit and registers object information for an MO which the newly installed application has, in the agent program.

8 . A management system comprising:

a host device which stores a manager program; and

an image forming apparatus which stores an agent program corresponding to the manager program,

wherein the image forming apparatus comprises:

a network interface unit which is connected to a host device;

a printing unit which performs a printing job;

a storage unit which stores information on the image forming apparatus, a first management information base (MIB), and the agent program; and

a control unit which communicates with the host device using a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP),

wherein if an application is newly installed, the control unit updates the first MIB using an object identifier (OID) of a management object (MO) which the newly installed application has, and

if a request for information designating an OID included in the updated first MIB is input from the host device, the control unit transmits information corresponding to the designated OID to the host device by executing an application corresponding to the designated OID using the agent program, and

wherein the host device has a second MIB individually, transmits a request for information to the image forming apparatus using the second MIB, and receives the information, and

wherein if the application is newly installed in the image forming apparatus, the host device updates the second MIB using an OID of an MO which the newly installed application has.

9 . The management system according to claim 8 , wherein if the application newly installed in the image forming apparatus has a new MO, the control unit adds an OID of the new MO to the first MIB, and

wherein the host device adds the OID of the new MO and the information on the image forming apparatus to the second MIB.

10 . The management system according to claim 8 , wherein if the application newly installed in the image forming apparatus has a changed MO which changes an existing MO, the control unit changes an OID of the existing MO recorded in the first MIB to an OID of the changed MO.

11 . The management system according to claim 8 , wherein if the application newly installed in the image forming apparatus is an application to delete an existing MO, the control unit deletes an OID of the existing MO recorded in the first MIB.

12 . The management system according to claim 8 , wherein the storage unit stores an embedded application having at least one MO and an additional application to be installed later, and

wherein if the OID designated by the information request transmitted from the host device is an OID of the MO of the embedded application, the control unit provides the host device with information using the embedded application, or if the designated OID is an OID of an MO of the additional application, the control unit provides the host device with information using the additional application.

13 . The management system according to claim 12 , wherein the image forming apparatus further comprises:

an interface unit which is connected to an external source in which an application to newly install is stored; and

a user interface (UI) unit which receives a request to install an application, and

wherein if the external source is connected to the image forming apparatus and if the request to install the application is input, the control unit installs and stores the application stored in the external source, in the storage unit.

14 . An information providing method of an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:

if an application is newly installed, storing the application;

updating a management information base (MIB) using an agent program based on an object identifier (OID) of an MO which the application has;

receiving an information request from a host device in which a manager program corresponding to the agent program is installed, using a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP);

searching the MIB for a management object (MO) designated by the information request; and

providing the host device with information corresponding to the designated MO using an application corresponding to the searched MO from among pre-installed applications.

15 . The method according to claim 14 , wherein in the updating of the MIB,

if the newly installed application has a new MO, an OID of the new MO is added to the MIB,

if the newly installed application has a changed MO which changes an existing MO, an OID of the existing MO recorded in the MIB is changed to an OID of the changed MO, and

if the newly installed application is an application to delete an existing MO, an OID of the existing MO recorded in the MIB is deleted.