JP2013084047A - Print relay server device, cloud print service providing server device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a default printer at the head of a printer list.SOLUTION: A print relay server device comprises: list acquisition means which manages pieces of printer information composed of a printer ID and attribute information of a printer, and acquires a printer list which is a list of a plurality of pieces of managed printer information from a cloud print service providing server device which displays, on an output printer selection screen, printer names corresponding to the respective pieces of printer information included in the printer list in order starting from a printer name corresponding to the head printer information; and replacement means which identifies printer information corresponding to a default printer in the printer list acquired by the list acquisition means, and replaces the attribute information included in the printer information corresponding to the default printer with attribute information included in the head printer information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a print relay server device, a cloud print service providing server device, an information processing method, and a program.

There is a technique in which a print instruction is transmitted from a client to a server, and the server that receives the print instruction converts content to be printed into print data.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method in which a server receives a print instruction and information for controlling printing from a client, and generates print data based on the information for controlling printing. The server of Patent Literature 1 provides a client with a service for generating print data.
As described above, a form in which a server provides a service to a client has existed in the past, and cloud computing, which has been attracting attention in recent years, is a form in which a server provides a service to a client. The main feature of cloud computing is that data conversion and data processing are executed in a distributed manner using many computing resources, and requests from many clients are simultaneously processed. Currently, vendors that implement a web service on a cloud computing environment that realizes this cloud computing and provide a wide variety of services are becoming increasingly prone.

  Among them, Google (registered trademark) is a notable vendor. Google has established a number of large-scale data centers, proposed services to be provided in cooperation with devices, and has made positive moves such as developing a data communication mechanism between devices and services. . For example, Google has developed a data communication mechanism for providing a service in cooperation with a printer, and has released an interface for the printer to perform data communication with a cloud computing environment prepared by Google. If this interface is implemented in a printer, the advantage that there is no need to install a printer driver in the client as in Patent Document 1 is born.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-196054

However, some vendors provide a print screen for selecting a printer that is output by a vendor server in a cloud computing environment. In this case, since the client cannot customize a list of available printers, a default printer cannot be set as a normal printer.
For example, a server in a cloud computing environment prepared by Google displays registered printers in a random order in a printer list. The server displays the printer at the top of the printer list once the printer is used, and displays the other printers in random order.
Therefore, in the printer list displayed by the server, the default printer, which is a normally used printer, is not displayed at the top of the printer list, and it is difficult for the user to select the default printer.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to display a default printer at the top of a printer list.

  Therefore, the present invention is a cloud print service providing server device that provides a cloud print service, and a print relay server device that relays communication with a printer, and a printer ID issued to uniquely identify the printer, A printer that manages printer information including printer attribute information uniquely identified by the printer ID, and that corresponds to the first printer information in a printer list that is a list of a plurality of managed printer information. A list acquisition unit that acquires the printer list from the cloud print service providing server device that displays the printer name corresponding to each printer information included in the printer list in order from the name on the output printer selection screen; and the list acquisition unit The printer corresponding to the default printer in the acquired printer list Information for identifying the information and replacing the attribute information included in the printer information corresponding to the default printer with the attribute information included in the first printer information, and a list of printers whose attribute information has been replaced by the replacement unit Update request means for transmitting printer information to the cloud print service providing server apparatus and requesting update of printer information managed by the cloud print service providing server apparatus.

  According to the present invention, the default printer can be displayed at the top of the printer list.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure of a content printing system. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of each apparatus and each server group which comprise a content printing system. It is a figure which shows an example of the software structure of each apparatus and each server group which comprises a content printing system. It is a figure which shows an example of a printing control part. It is a figure which shows the information of a printing service. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managed by a print service information management unit. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in a printer information storage unit. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a registration screen (the 1). 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen. FIG. FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a print dialog (part 1); It is FIG. (2) which shows an example of a registration screen. FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating an example of a print dialog. It is a figure which shows an example of Capabilities. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of print settings. It is a figure which shows an example of the notification information A. It is a figure which shows an example of the notification information. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a relay virtual printer management service unit. It is a figure which shows an example of a relay virtual printer. It is a figure which shows an example of a printing service. It is a figure which shows that the print button is pushed. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing for registering a relay virtual printer in a print service. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing for causing a printer to print print data transmitted from a print server group. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a service printer list (part 1); FIG. 6 is a second diagram illustrating an example of a service printer list. FIG. 6 is a third diagram illustrating an example of a service printer list. FIG. 6 is a diagram (part 4) illustrating an example of a service printer list; FIG. 10 is a third diagram illustrating an example of a print dialog. FIG. 14 illustrates an example of a print dialog (part 4); FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a print dialog (part 5); FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a print dialog (part 6); 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in a print service information storage unit. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram (part 1) illustrating an example in which information associated with an SPID stored in a print service information storage unit is replaced. FIG. 10 is a diagram (part 2) illustrating an example in which information associated with an SPID stored in a print service information storage unit is replaced. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in a printer information storage unit. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram (part 1) illustrating an example in which information associated with an SPID stored in a printer information storage unit is replaced. FIG. 10 is a second diagram illustrating an example in which information associated with an SPID stored in a printer information storage unit is replaced. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing when the print server supports a default printer.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
In the present embodiment, a print relay server that relays communication between the environment of the vendor providing the interface and the printer will be mainly described. The print relay server acquires a list of printers that can print from the vendor's environment, changes the table information owned by the print relay server associated with the printer identifier, and provides the printer identifier information to the vendor based on the changed information. Update. With such information processing, a default printer is set.
First, the configuration of the content printing system 1000 according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of the content printing system 1000. The content printing system 1000 includes a client computer 104 and a printer 101. The two devices are devices arranged in the user environment, and are connected to each other via the network 100. The network 100 is connected to the Internet 110. The content printing system 1000 includes a web application server group 105 and a print server group 103. The two server groups may be server groups provided by the same vendor. The two server groups are connected to each other via the network 100. The network 100 is connected to the Internet 110. In the first embodiment, the two server groups are connected via the network 100, but may be connected via the Internet 110. The content printing system 1000 includes a print relay server 102. The print relay server 102 is connected to the network 100. The network 100 is connected to the Internet 110. Each device and each server group constituting the content printing system 1000 can be connected via the Internet 110 and can perform data communication with each other. Each apparatus is only one, but a plurality of apparatuses may be provided. Each server group includes a plurality of servers, but may be a single server.
The print server group 103 is an example of a cloud print service providing server device that provides a cloud print service. The print relay server 102 is an example of a print relay server device. Note that the cloud print service is a print job directly from the terminal as long as it can be connected to the cloud without installing a driver corresponding to the printer on the PC or mobile terminal (hereinafter referred to as the terminal). Or a print setting request, the job is transferred to a printer connected to the Internet, and a print service is provided.

  Next, the hardware configuration of each device and each server group constituting the content printing system 1000 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of each device and each server group included in the content printing system 1000. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 202 is a unit that executes various programs and realizes various functions. A ROM (Read Only Memory) 203 is a unit that stores various programs. The RAM 204 is a unit that is also used as a temporary work storage area for the CPU 202. The CPU 202 loads a program stored in the ROM 203 into a RAM (Random Access Memory) 204 and executes the program. The Input / Output interface 205 is a unit that receives data from a pointing device (not shown) in addition to sending data to each device and a display (not shown) connected to each server group. A NIC (Network Interface Card) 206 is a unit for connecting each device and each server group constituting the content printing system 1000 to the network 100. The units described above can transmit and receive data via the bus 207. In the case of the printer 101, a printing unit (not shown) is mounted. The printing unit can transmit / receive data to / from each unit via the bus 207. The printing unit is a unit that can print a raster image on a recording medium.

Next, functions of each device and each server group constituting the content printing system 1000 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration of each device and each server group included in the content printing system 1000. The programs that realize the functions of the software configurations shown in FIG. 3 are stored in the ROM 203 of each device and each server group. When the CPU 202 loads and executes the programs in the RAM 204, these functions are Realized.
The functions of each device and each server group will be described below. The functions described here are classified into the following two systems. The function classified as the first system is a registration system that registers the printer 101 in the print relay server 102, implements the relay virtual printer 303 in the print relay server 102, and registers the relay virtual printer 303 in the print service 304. It is a function classified into. The function classified as the second system sends a print instruction for the content generated by the Web application server group 105 to the print server group 103, and print data based on the print notification sent from the print server group 103. This is a function classified as a printing system to be printed by a printer. When print data is to be printed by the printer 101 based on the print notification information transmitted from the print server group 103, the print server group 103 transmits a print notification to the printer 101 via the print relay server 102 serving as an intermediary. And print it.

First, the functions classified into the registration system will be described.
First, functions classified into the registration system of the printer 101 will be described. The printer 101 has a print control unit 301. The print control unit 301 implements each function illustrated in FIG. The display unit 401 displays various screens. The print service information holding unit 402 has print service information. FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating print service information. FIG. 5A shows information of a plurality of print services, but the print service 304 in the first embodiment corresponds to PrintServiceA. When the user instructs the print service 304 to register the printer 101 with respect to the print service 304, the display unit 401 generates a print service registration UI as shown in FIG. 6A based on the information in FIG. 5A. indicate. On the screen shown in FIG. 6A, the user selects a print service from which the printer 101 is to be registered from 901.
In the case of the first embodiment, since the print service is only one of the print services 304, the user cannot select other than PrintServiceA. The user inputs a user ID for the selected print service in a text box 902 and a password in a text box 903. Further, the user selects a setting of a default printer which is a normally used printer in a check box 904. When the default printer setting is validated, a default printer is set when a printer is selected in a function classified as a printing system described later.

Subsequently, the user presses a registration button 905. The registration unit 403 issues registration information in response to the user pressing the registration button 905. In the first embodiment, the print service is only the print service 304. However, when a plurality of print services can be selected, the user can separately set the user ID, password, and default printer setting validation for each print service using the registration UI as shown in FIG. 6A.
Also, the registration unit 403 transmits the issued registration information to the request reception unit 501 included in the relay virtual printer management service 302 described later. Other functions not described will be described later.

  Here, the registration information will be described. The registration information includes a print service name. The print service name is information for specifying the print service selected by the user, and is information for specifying the print service 304 of the print server group 103. The registration information includes a user ID and a password. The user ID and password are information necessary for using the print service 304 and the Web application server group 105, and such information is referred to as user information. It is assumed that the vendors that provide the Web application server group 105 and the print server group 103 are the same. Therefore, when a user uses services provided by both server groups, the user can receive both services with the same user information. The registration information includes default printer setting information. The default printer setting information is information necessary for switching the presence / absence of the default print setting in a function classified as a printing system described later. In the first embodiment, the user registers user information in the Web application server group 105 in advance.

  The registration information includes RPID (Real Printer ID) which is unique identification information assigned to the printer 101. Each printer (not shown) including the printer 101 is assigned unique identification information. Each printer is specified by this identification information. The registration information includes PrinterKind, which is model information of the printer 101. The same model information is assigned to the same model. The two printers having the same model indicates that the same communication module B ′ is mounted. The details of the communication module B ′ and the communication module A, communication module A ′, and communication module B described later will be described in detail separately. Further, the registration information includes the printer name of the printer 101. The printer name is a name assigned to the printer 101 and is used when the printer 101 is called. Note that, unlike the identification information, the printer name of each printer may be the same. The registration information includes capabilities. The capabilities include, for example, information such as whether or not the printer 101 is capable of duplex printing, whether or not color printing is possible, and the output paper size. The capabilities are transmitted from the printer 101 to the request receiving unit 501 in the XML format as shown in FIG. 7A. Note that <Item> in FIG. 7A indicates the capability of the printer 101. The printer 101 can perform imposition printing, can output color, and has B5 size, A4 size, and A3 size. It is shown that paper can be output.

  Next, functions classified into the registration system of the print relay server 102 will be described. The print relay server 102 has a relay virtual printer management service 302. The relay virtual printer management service 302 implements each function shown in FIG. The request receiving unit 501 receives registration information. The control unit 502 acquires the registration information received by the request reception unit 501 and interprets the registration information. Then, the control unit 502 instructs the virtual printer generation unit 503 and the print service printer generation unit 504 to perform the following two processes. The first process is a process in which the virtual printer generation unit 503 realizes the function of the relay virtual printer 303. The second process is a process in which the print service printer generation unit 504 registers information of the relay virtual printer 303 in the print service 304.

A first process, that is, a process in which the virtual printer generation unit 503 realizes the function of the relay virtual printer 303 will be described. The relay virtual printer 303 implements the functions shown in FIG. 9, but details will be described later. The virtual printer generation unit 503 identifies and acquires the communication module B 602 stored in the interface information management unit 506 based on the PrinterKind transmitted from the control unit 502. Further, the virtual printer generation unit 503 specifies and acquires the communication module A ′ 601 stored in the interface information management unit 506 based on the print service name. The communication module B is a module for communicating with the printer 101. Since the same model has the same communication module B as described above, the communication module B can be specified from the PrinterKind. Note that the communication module B communicates with a communication module B ′ 410 included in the print control unit 301. The communication module A ′ 601 is a module for communicating with the print server group 103, and is a module capable of communicating with the communication module A 707 included in the print service 304.
The virtual printer generation unit 503 that has acquired two or more communication modules implements a process (thread) loaded with these two or more communication modules. This process corresponds to the relay virtual printer 303.
After realizing the relay virtual printer 303, the virtual printer generation unit 503 issues a VPID (Virtual Printer ID) that is identification information for identifying the realized relay virtual printer 303. The issued VPID is sent to the control unit 502. The relay virtual printer is realized every time registration information is sent from the printer 101, and a unique identifier VPID is assigned to each realized relay virtual printer.

  Next, a second process, that is, a process in which the print service printer generation unit 504 registers information of the relay virtual printer 303 in the print service 304 will be described. The control unit 502 transmits user information to the print service printer generation unit 504. The print service printer generation unit 504 authenticates the print server group 103 based on the received user information. If the authentication is successful, the print service printer generation unit 504 transmits the printer name, capabilities, and VPID to the print service 304. The print service printer generation unit 504 receives an SPID (Service Printer ID) as a response. The SPID is identification information issued to uniquely identify a printer (service printer) when the print service 304 receives a service printer registration request. The control unit 502 acquires the VPID and the SPID from the virtual printer generation unit 503 and the print service printer generation unit 504. The control unit 502 that has acquired the VPID and the SPID instructs the print service information management unit 505 to store the information. The print service information management unit 505 stores the VPID, the SPID, and the registration information in association with each other as illustrated in FIG. 5B. The VPID is 1301, the print service name is 1302, the RPID is 1303, the PrinterKind is 1304, the SPID is 1305, the printer name is 1306, the capabilities are 1307, and the default printer setting is 1308.

Next, functions classified into the registration system of the print server group 103 will be described. The print server group 103 has a print service 304. The print server group 103 virtualizes a plurality of servers and regards it as one server, and realizes the function of the print service 304 with the one server. The print server group 103 activates a plurality of virtual machines in the single server, and realizes the function of the print service 304 for each of the virtual machines. The print service 304 shown in FIG. 3 shows one of them.
The print service 304 implements the functions shown in FIG. The printer information registration unit 701 receives user information from the print service printer generation unit 504. The printer information registration unit 701 reads user information stored in the Web application 306 of the Web application server group 105 and checks whether the received user information exists. If it exists, the printer information registration unit 701 considers that the authentication has succeeded, receives the printer name, capabilities, and VPID from the print service printer generation unit 504, and stores the received VPID in the printer information storage unit 702. Give instructions. Also, the printer information registration unit 701 issues an SPID corresponding to the VPID, and transmits the issued SPID to the printer information storage unit 702 and the print service printer generation unit 504. The printer information storage unit 702 stores a printer name, capabilities, VPID, SPID, user ID, and password in association with each other. FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating information stored in the printer information storage unit 702. The SPID is 1401, the printer name is 1402, the capabilities are 1403, the VPID is 1404, the user ID is 1405, and the password is 1406. Other functions not described will be described later.
The SPID is an example of a printer ID. Also, the printer name, capabilities, VPID, user ID, password, Default Printer, Default Printer Setting, and Use Case are examples of attribute information.
The functions described above are classified into registration systems that register the printer 101 in the print relay server 102, implement the relay virtual printer 303 in the print relay server 102, and register the relay virtual printer 303 in the print service 304. It is a function.

Next, functions classified into the printing system will be described. First, functions of the client computer 104 will be described. The client computer 104 has a web browser 305. The web browser 305 transmits an instruction to print content stored in the web application server group 105 to the web application server group 105. Further, the Web browser 305 receives an access command to the print server group 103 from the Web application server group 105, that is, a redirect instruction, and accesses the print server group 103 according to the received redirect instruction. The Web browser 305 acquires a list of printers that can be printed by the user using the Web browser 305 from the accessed print server group 103 and displays the list. FIG. 6C is a diagram illustrating an example of a print dialog for selecting a printable printer displayed by the Web browser 305. The order of the list displayed at this time depends on the specifications of the print server group 103. There can be various specifications such as printer name order, registration order, SPID order, recently used order, and random order. FIG. 6C shows an example of random order. As shown in FIG. 5C, even if the printer 1 to the printer 5 are stored in order, the order of the list displayed on the UI is a random order.
Further, the web browser 305 acquires a print setting screen corresponding to the selected printer from the print server group 103 and displays the print setting screen. FIG. 6B shows a print setting screen corresponding to the printer selected by the user displayed on the Web browser 305. Also, the Web browser 305 transmits the print setting value set by the user on the print setting screen to the print server group 103. The above is the description of the Web browser 305 that the client computer 104 has. The print dialog is an example of an output printer selection screen.

Next, functions of the Web application server group 105 will be described. The web application server group 105 includes a web application 306. The Web application server group 105 virtualizes a plurality of servers and regards it as a single server, and realizes the function of the Web application 306 with the single server. Note that the Web application server group 105 activates a plurality of virtual machines in the single server, and realizes the function of the Web application 306 for each virtual machine.
The web application 306 provides a document creation service. For example, when a user wants to distribute a material at a company meeting, the user uses a document creation service to create the material. When the client computer 104 uses the Web application 306, it is not necessary to install the application on the client computer 104, and it is only necessary to have the Web browser 305. The web application 306 transmits screen information for creating the material to the web browser 305. The Web application 306 performs authentication based on user information including a user ID and password input by the user via the Web browser 305, and displays screen information for creating a document in response to successful authentication. send. The Web browser 305 that has received the screen information displays a creation screen for creating a document based on the screen information. The user creates materials to be distributed at the conference using the creation screen. The web application 306 receives information on a material created by the user using the creation screen, creates content based on the received information, and creates the content in a storage device such as a RAM or HDD of the web application server group 105 Remember. Further, the Web application 306 stores the created content in various formats. For example, a general word processor document, a spreadsheet document, a presentation document, a PDF format, and an HTML format. The Web application 306 provides not only a document creation service but also a mail service and a schedule service.

A user who wants to print content created using the document creation service presses a print button displayed on the creation screen. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing that the print button 1201 has been pressed. The content created by the user is 1202. The Web application 306 receives information that the print button has been pressed, and transmits an access command to the print server group 103, that is, a redirect instruction to the Web browser 305. The redirect instruction includes a request for acquiring a list corresponding to the user using the Web browser 305, content identification information for identifying the content that the user has instructed to print, and user information. include. In addition, when there is a print data acquisition request from the print server group 103, the Web application 306 transmits print data identification information for identifying print data to the print server group 103. In the present embodiment, the print data is PDF content. Therefore, the print data identification information is identification information regarding the content in the PDF format.
As described above, the Web application 306 provides not only a document creation service but also a mail service and a schedule service. Content generated by these services provided by the Web application 306 can be used from programs and services provided by a third party through the interface of the Web application 306. Since the Web application 306 holds content in various formats, the content can also be acquired in various formats using the above interface.
The above is the description of the Web application 306 included in the Web application server group 105.

  Next, functions classified into the printing system of the print server group 103 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the print service 304 included in the print server group 103 includes a printer information presentation unit 703. The printer information presentation unit 703 transmits the list list to the web browser 305 in response to receiving the list list acquisition request from the web browser 305. The printer information presentation unit 703 identifies the SPID and printer name stored in the printer information storage unit 702 based on the user information. Then, the printer information presentation unit 703 generates a list of printers that can be used by the user based on the SPID and the printer name. The printer information presentation unit 703 receives the SPID of the printer selected by the user from the list. The printer information presentation unit 703 identifies the capabilities stored in the printer information storage unit 702 based on the received SPID, generates a print setting screen, and transmits the generated print setting screen to the web browser 305. The printer information storage unit 702 generates a print setting screen shown in FIG. 6B from the information on capabilities shown in FIG. 5C. As illustrated in FIG. 6B, the printer information storage unit 702 generates a print setting screen in which only the print settings described in the capabilities can be selected. The print instruction receiving unit 704 receives the print settings and SPID set via the print setting screen from the Web browser 305. Further, when the Web browser 305 accesses based on the redirect instruction, the print instruction reception unit 704 receives print data identification information for identifying print data for which the user has instructed printing.

  The print data information acquisition unit 705 receives print data identification information from the print instruction reception unit 704. The print data information acquisition unit 705 receives the print settings input by the user from the print instruction reception unit 704 and the SPID corresponding to the printer selected by the user. The control unit 706 acquires print data identification information, print settings, and SPID from the print data information acquisition unit 705. The print settings are described in the XML format as shown in FIG. 7B. FIG. 7B shows that the user has set the duplex setting, the monochrome setting, and the paper size A4. The communication module A 707 is capable of communicating with a device having the communication module A ′ 601 and is an interface for data communication between two parties. Communication modules other than the communication module A ′ 601 cannot communicate with the communication module A 707. The reason for this will be described after the functions of the communication module A707 are described.

  The communication module A 707 includes a print data identification information storage unit 708, a print setting information storage unit 709, and a print job notification unit 710. The print data identification information storage unit 708 receives the print data identification information from the control unit 706 and stores it. The print setting information storage unit 709 receives print settings from the control unit 706 and stores them. Note that the print data identification information storage unit 708 and the print setting information storage unit 709 receive a storage instruction from the control unit 706 and perform storage processing. The control unit 706 instructs the print job notification unit 710 to send notification information in response to receiving the storage end information from the print data identification information storage unit 708 and the print setting information storage unit 709. The print job notification unit 710 acquires the SPID from the control unit 706 in response to an instruction to send notification information from the control unit 706, and obtains the VPID based on the information stored in the printer information storage unit 702. Identify. Note that transmission destination information corresponding to the SPID, that is, the VPID in the first embodiment is called a target. The user designates the VPID by selecting the SPID. Also, the print job notification unit 710 acquires the storage location of the print data and the storage location of the print settings from the control unit 706, generates notification information A, and transmits the notification information A to the registered printer.

Note that the registered printer in the first embodiment refers to a relay virtual printer corresponding to the VPID. The notification information A is expressed in XML as shown in FIG. 7C, in which print data storage location 1001 and print setting storage location 1002 are described.
Here, the reason why communication modules other than the communication module A ′ cannot communicate with the communication module A will be described. This is because communication modules other than the communication module A ′ cannot interpret the notification information A described in XML transmitted by the print job notification unit 710. As another example in which communication modules other than the communication module A ′ cannot communicate with the communication module A, there are the following examples. For example, when the communication module A does not have the print job notification unit 710 and print data and print settings are acquired by the communication module A ′ by another method, the communication module A ′ that acquires the notification information A acquires it. Can not do it. This is because the communication module A ′ that acquires the notification information A is in a state of waiting for the notification information A from the communication module A, and therefore cannot acquire print data and print settings unless the notification information A is notified. . The communication module A ′ that can communicate with the communication module A is required to have a configuration for inquiring whether the communication module A has data to be acquired. As described above, since the communication module A ′ does not correspond to the data communication standard of the communication module A, the communication module A and the communication module A ′ may not be able to communicate with each other. A mechanism that enables communication between the communication module A and the communication module A ′ is referred to as a vendor specification that provides the print server group 103. This specification is deeply dependent on the vendor that manages the print server group 103.

  A vendor managing the print server group 103 mounts the communication module A in the print server group 103 and discloses a communication module A ′ for communicating with the communication module A. In fact, in recent years, such a system has been established, and vendors that manage the print server group 103 have published their own specifications for data communication between the print server group 103 and devices. In order for the printer 101 to communicate with the print server group 103, the device vendor of the printer 101 must install the communication module A ′ in the printer 101. Assume that the vendor managing the print server group 103 changes the configuration of the communication module A. That is, it is assumed that the vendor managing the print server group 103 has changed the specification. Then, the device vendor has to change the communication module A ′ of the printer 101 in accordance with the change of the specification. This work is very expensive. This is because the printers are arranged in various customer environments, and in order to make the print server group 103 and the printer communicate again, a service person goes to the various customer environments and changes the communication module A ′. Because you have to do it. Although a solution method for distributing the communication module A ′ without using a service person is also conceivable, it must be distributed to a plurality of printers, which places a load on the communication band. However, this problem is solved by using a function classified as a printing system of the print relay server 102 described below. The interfaces of the communication module A and the communication module A ′ are interfaces created in accordance with the data communication specification published by the vendor managing the print server group 103.

  Next, functions classified into the printing system of the print relay server 102 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the relay virtual printer 303 includes a communication module A ′ 601 and a communication module B 602. The print notification reception unit 604 of the communication module A ′ 601 receives the notification information A transmitted from the print job notification unit 710. Since the relay virtual printer 303 is registered in the print service 304 instead of the RPID of the printer 101, the notification information A is transmitted to the print notification reception unit 604. Since the communication module A ′ is a module that makes a pair with the communication module A, the print notification receiving unit 604 can interpret the notification information A. The print notification reception unit 604 confirms the storage location of the print data and the storage location of the print setting described in the notification information A, and notifies the print setting acquisition unit 605 and the print data acquisition unit 606 of the respective information. The print setting acquisition unit 605 acquires the print setting from the print setting information storage unit 709 based on the notified storage location of the print setting. The print data acquisition unit 606 acquires the print data from the print data identification information storage unit 708 based on the notified storage location of the print data.

  The print data acquisition unit 606 instructs the print data storage unit 607 to store the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit 606. The print setting acquisition unit 605 instructs the print setting storage unit 608 to store the print settings acquired by the print setting acquisition unit 605. The print data storage unit 607 that stores the print data notifies the print job notification unit 609 of the storage location. The print setting storage unit 608 that stores the print settings notifies the print job notification unit 609 of the storage location. The print job notification unit 609 generates notification information B in response to receiving a storage location notification from the print data storage unit 607 and the print setting storage unit 608. The notification information B is expressed in the XML format as shown in FIG. 7D. A storage location of print data is described in 1003, and a storage location of print settings is described in 1004. The print job notification unit 609 transmits the notification information B to the print control unit 301. In this way, the communication module A ′ 601 passes print data and print settings to the communication module B 602 to realize inter-module communication.

  A communication module B ′ corresponding to the communication module B is mounted on the printer 101. As described above, the printer 101 is configured to acquire print data from the print service 304. Thereby, even if the communication module A ′ is changed due to the change of the communication module A, the notification information can be sent to the printer 101 by changing the communication module A ′ of the print relay server 102. That is, even if the vendor managing the print server group 103 changes the original specification for data communication between the print server group 103 and the printer 101, the device vendor does not need to change the communication module of the printer 101. . By changing the relay virtual printer 303 of the print relay system, the device vendor can communicate with the printer 101 and the print server group 103 arranged in various user environments. As a method of changing the relay virtual printer 303, there is a method of discarding the existing relay virtual printer 303 and newly generating the relay virtual printer 303, in addition to a method of changing the communication module A ′ of the relay virtual printer 303.

Next, functions classified into the printing system of the printer 101 will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the print control unit 301 includes a communication module B′410. The print notification reception unit 404 of the communication module B ′ 410 receives the notification information B transmitted from the print job notification unit 609. Since the communication module B ′ is a module that forms a pair with the communication module B, the print notification receiving unit 404 can interpret the notification information B. Note that the specifications defined by the device vendor for data communication between the relay virtual printer 303 and the printer 101 are specifications that can be handled by the device vendor. The interfaces of the communication module B and the communication module B ′ are interfaces created in accordance with specifications defined by the device vendor in order for the relay virtual printer 303 and the printer 101 to perform data communication.
The print notification reception unit 404 confirms the storage location of the print data described in the notification information B, and notifies the print setting acquisition unit 405 and the print data acquisition unit 406 of the respective information. The print setting acquisition unit 405 acquires the print setting from the print setting storage unit 608 based on the notified storage location of the print setting. The print data acquisition unit 406 acquires the print data from the print data storage unit 607 based on the notified storage location of the print data. The acquired print settings and print data are transmitted to the job management unit 407 via the print notification reception unit 404. The job management unit 407 acquires print data and print setting information, and instructs the print execution unit 408 to execute printing. Upon receiving the instruction, the print execution unit 408 generates a raster image based on the print settings and the print data, and instructs the print unit to print the generated raster image. The above is the description of the printing system that transmits the print instruction of the content generated by the Web application server group 105 to the print server group 103 and causes the printer to print the print data transmitted from the print server group 103.

Next, processing for registering the printer 101 in the print relay server 102, realizing the relay virtual printer 303 in the print relay server 102, and registering the relay virtual printer 303 in the print service 304 will be described with reference to FIG.
In step S1301, the user selects a print service to be registered from the UI of the printer 101, and inputs a user ID and a password.
In step S <b> 1302, the print control unit 301 of the printer 101 requests the relay virtual printer management service 302 to register the printer. At this time, the print control unit 301 transmits the registration information described above to the relay virtual printer management service 302.
In step S1303, the relay virtual printer management service 302 implements the relay virtual printer 303 based on the registration information.
In step S <b> 1304, the relay virtual printer 303 transmits the VPID to the relay virtual printer management service 302 as a response to the successful creation.
In step S <b> 1305, the relay virtual printer management service 302 transmits a user ID and password to the print service 304 and receives authentication.
If the authentication by the print service 304 is successful, the print service 304 transmits to the relay virtual printer management service 302 that the authentication has been successful in step S1306.
In step S1307, the relay virtual printer management service 302 requests the VPID to be registered as a printer (service printer) provided by the print service 304 to the user.
In step S <b> 1308, the print service 304 issues an SPID in response to registering the VPID as a service printer, and transmits the SPID to the relay virtual printer management service 302.

In step S1309, the relay virtual printer management service 302 instructs the print service information management unit 505 to store the SPID, and transmits to the relay virtual printer 303 that the setting has been completed.
In step S1310, the relay virtual printer 303 connects to the communication module A of the print service 304 based on the SPID and waits for notification information A to be transmitted.
In step S1311, the relay virtual printer management service 302 notifies the print control unit 301 that printer registration has been completed.
In step S1312, the print control unit 301 instructs the UI of the printer 101 to display that the printer registration has been completed.
In step S <b> 1313, the print control unit 301 connects to the relay virtual printer 303 based on the VPID and waits for notification information B to be transmitted.
The above is the description of the registration process.

Next, processing for transmitting a print instruction for content generated by the Web application server group 105 to the print server group 103 and causing the printer 101 to print print data transmitted from the print server group 103 will be described with reference to FIG. .
In step S1401, the web browser 305 requests the web application 306 to display content that the user wants to edit.
In step S1402, the web application 306 transmits a content screen corresponding to the requested content to the web browser 305.
In step S <b> 1403, the Web browser 305 requests a list screen of printers (service printers) registered in the print service 304 in response to the user instructing printing via the content screen.
In step S <b> 1404, the print service 304 transmits a service printer list screen corresponding to the user using the web browser 305 to the web browser 305.
In step S1405, the Web browser 305 requests a print setting screen corresponding to the selected printer in response to the user selecting a printer from the list screen.
In step S <b> 1406, the print service 304 transmits a print setting screen to the web browser 305.
In step S <b> 1407, the web browser 305 transmits the print setting input by the user via the print setting screen to the print service 304.

In step S <b> 1408, the print service 304 acquires from the Web application 306 identification information of print data that the user has instructed to print. Also, the print service 304 combines the print data identification information and the print settings into a job.
In step S1409, the print service 304 notifies the relay virtual printer 303 that a job has been generated.
In step S1410, the relay virtual printer 303 requests the print service 304 to acquire a job.
In step S <b> 1411, the relay virtual printer 303 acquires a job from the print service 304.

In step S1412, the relay virtual printer 303 notifies the print control unit 301 that a job has been generated.
In step S1413, the print control unit 301 requests the relay virtual printer 303 to acquire print data.
In step S <b> 1414, the print control unit 301 acquires print data from the relay virtual printer 303.
In step S1415, the print control unit 301 requests the relay virtual printer 303 to acquire print settings.
In step S <b> 1416, the print control unit 301 acquires print settings from the relay virtual printer 303.
In step S1417, the print control unit 301 draws a raster image based on the acquired print setting and print data, and causes the printer 101 to print the raster image.

The object of the present embodiment is to set a default printer in the printer list in the print dialog displayed on the Web browser 305 determined by the specifications of the print service 304.
A default printer setting method will be described with reference to FIGS. As an example, a printer used by a print service is stacked at the top of the list, and an example of a print service specification in which unused printers are displayed at random is taken up.
Through the processing from S1301 to S1308, the service printer is registered in the print service 304. When a plurality of service printers are registered, the processing from S1301 to S1308 is repeated.
In step S <b> 1501, the relay virtual printer management service 302 issues a dummy print instruction to the print service 304. This is a process for determining the SPID at the top of the list in the specification of the printing service 304 that “prints printers used in the service printer list at the top of the list and printers that are not used are displayed at random”. It is. Since the order of printers once used is secured, the most recently selected printer is displayed at the top and the printer selected immediately before is displayed at the top when selecting a printer. The specification is displayed next to the printer.

In step S <b> 1502, the relay virtual printer management service 302 requests a service printer list from the print service 304.
In step S1503, the service printer list is passed from the print service 304 to the relay virtual printer management service 302 as a response. FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating an example of a service printer list created by the print service 304.
The processing of the relay virtual printer management service 302 in S1502 and S1503 is an example of list acquisition processing.
Since a dummy print instruction is issued in step S1501, the SPID at the top of the list is fixed to the SPID of the printer instructed to print. The order of the second and third SPIDs may be replaced with the request for the service printer list in S1502. The print dialog displayed on the Web browser 305 in the case of the service printer list of FIG. 14A is FIG. 15A. Further, the information stored in the print service information management unit 505 and the printer information storage unit 702 is as shown in FIGS. 16A and 17A. Even if it is desired to set Printer 1 as the default printer, Printer 3 is displayed at the top of the printer list of the print dialog as it is due to the specifications of the print service 304. In step S1504, the relay virtual printer management service 302 updates the print service information. The relay virtual printer management service 302 exchanges information associated with SPIDs of the Printer 1 and the Printer 3 as shown in FIG. 16B. The point is not to change the SPID. The relay virtual printer management service 302 does not change the SPID in the printer information, but replaces all information associated therewith, that is, printer attribute information.

  In step S <b> 1505, the relay virtual printer management service 302 sends a service printer information update request to the print service 304. In response to the service printer information update request, the print service 304 updates the information so that the information associated with the SPIDs of the Printer 1 and the Printer 3 is switched based on the information of FIG. 16B as shown in FIG. 17B. More specifically, the printing service 304 replaces the Name 1402, Capabilities 1403, Vertical Printer ID 1404, User Name 1405, and Password 1406 that are associated with the Service Printer ID 1401. When the printer information becomes FIG. 17B, the service printer list created by the print service 304 does not change the SPID order as shown in FIG. 14B, but the information associated therewith is updated. As a result, the intended printer 1 is displayed as the default driver at the top of the list as shown in FIG. 15B.

  Next, a process for displaying the default printer at the top of the printer list when executing printing will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, a document is selected and printed by the processing from S1401 to S1411. Note that the service printer list UI response passed from the print service 304 to the Web browser 305 in S1404 is FIG. 15B in which a default printer is displayed at the top of the list. By performing printing, the service printer information is updated in S1601 according to the specifications of the print service 304. That is, in step S1601, the print service 304 updates the service printer list as illustrated in FIG. 14C so that the used printer is at the top of the list. FIG. 14C is a diagram illustrating an example of printing by selecting Printer 3 from the state of FIG. 14B. The list in the order of Printer1, Printer2, and Printer3 is updated to the list in the order of Printer3, Printer1, and Printer2. When the print dialog is displayed along this service printer list, Printer 3 used for printing is displayed at the top of the list as shown in FIG. 15C.

In order to display Printer 1 as the default printer at the top of the list, the relay virtual printer 303 issues a print service information update request to the relay virtual printer management service 302 in step S1602. Here, the relay virtual printer 303 transmits the print service information update request to the relay virtual printer management service 302 by including the information of the printer used for printing in the print service information update request. In the above example, it is Printer3.
In step S1603, the relay virtual printer management service 302 updates the print service information as illustrated in FIG. 16C. That is, since the relay virtual printer management service 302 has information indicating that the default printer is Printer1, the relay virtual printer management service 302 replaces the information associated with the SPID of the printer 1 of the default printer with the information associated with the SPID of the Printer 3 used for the printing. More specifically, the relay virtual printer management service 302 replaces the Virtual Printer ID 1301, the Service Name 1302, the Real Printer ID 1303, the Printer Kind 1304, the Name 1306, and the Capabilities 1307 that are associated with the Service Printer ID 1305. Further, when the subject is clarified, the print service information update unit 507 that receives an instruction from the control unit 502 reads, updates, and stores the print information service managed by the print service information management unit 505.

  In step S <b> 1604, the relay virtual printer management service 302 sends a service printer information update request to the print service 304. The print service 304 is updated based on FIG. 16C so that the information associated with the SPIDs of the Printer 3 used for printing and the printer 1 of the default printer is exchanged as shown in FIG. 17C. By updating the service printer information, the service printer list at the next printing becomes FIG. 14D based on FIG. 17C. In the corresponding print dialog, as shown in FIG. 15D, Printer 1 of the default printer is the head of the list, and Printer 3 used for printing is the second of the list.

The method for setting the default printer in the printer list in the print dialog has been described above. Depending on the vendor, the vendor server in the cloud computing environment provides the print UI, and the client cannot customize the list of available printers. As a result, the problem that the default printer cannot be set as the normal printer can be solved. This time, the case of the printing service specification “printing printers used in the service printer list at the top of the list and displaying printers not in use at random” has been described. However, even if the specifications are displayed in printer name order, registration order, or SPID order, the default printer can be set by replacing and updating the print service information table.
For example, in the case of a specification displayed in the order of printer names, the relay virtual printer management service 302 adds early characters in the order of dictionary in the head of the name of the default printer. If it is "" (space character) or "_" (underbar), the visual effect can be reduced.
In the case of specifications displayed in the order of registration, the relay virtual printer management service 302 replaces all information other than the registration date and time of the print service information between the printer with the earliest registration date and the default printer.
In the case of specifications displayed in SPID order, the relay virtual printer management service 302 switches information associated with the smallest SPID in the dictionary order and the SPID of the default printer.

<Embodiment 2>
At the time of printer registration, the check box 906 in FIG. 6D may be used to select whether to display according to the print service specification or to display the default printer of the first embodiment at the top of the list. More specifically, the display unit 401 displays a print service registration UI as shown in FIG. 6D. When the check box 906 is on, the display described in the first embodiment displays the default printer at the top of the print UI. When the check box 906 is off, for example, a printer recently used in the print UI is displayed at the top in accordance with the print service specification. More specifically, when the registration button 905 is pressed in the registration UI of FIG. 6D, the registration unit 403 issues registration information including information on whether the check box 906 is on or off. The print relay server 102 sets the Default Printer Setting 1309 in the table of FIG. 5B based on information on whether the check box 906 included in the registration information is on or off. That is, the print relay server 102 sets Disable in the Default Printer Setting 1309 when the information is off, and sets Enable in the Default Printer Setting 1309 when the information is on. In the case of the first embodiment, it is assumed that Enable is set by default.
If the default printer setting 1309 is disabled, the processes S1501 to S1506 and S1602 to S1605 for setting the default printer described in FIG. 12 are not performed by the relay virtual printer management service 302 and the relay virtual printer 303. As a result, the display conforms to the print service specification.

<Embodiment 3>
When a shared printer is set, if the information associated with the SPID is changed without permission, a different printer is selected when another client accesses. In order to prevent this, the SPID of the shared printer may not be exchanged.
More specifically, the relay virtual printer management service 302 and the relay virtual printer 303 are configured such that the default printer 1308 is the default printer 1308 even if the default printer 1308 is true when the share 1310 in the table of FIG. 5B is true (that is, the shared printer). The processing is the same as False. By performing the processing in this way, the SPID of the shared printer is not subject to exchange.
Alternatively, in the case of a shared printer, when two relay virtual printers 303 of a shared printer SPID and a default printer SPID are created and exchanged, information associated with the default printer SPID is exchanged. It may be.
More specifically, in step S1303, the relay virtual printer management service 302 determines that the shared printer SPID and the default printer SPID are 2 if the Share 1310 in the table of FIG. 5B is True when the relay virtual printer is created. One relay virtual printer 303 is created. In step S <b> 1504, the relay virtual printer management service 302 exchanges information associated with the SPID for the default printer when updating the print service information. On the other hand, another user who shares the printer uses the SPID for the shared printer, so that a different printer is not selected when another client accesses.

<Embodiment 4>
In the first embodiment, only one default printer is set, but a plurality of default printers may be used. In this case, the top three printer lists are fixed as default printers. For example, the first printer is set for a company, the second is for a home, the third is for a print shop, and the like. As a result, there is an advantage that a plurality of default printers are at the top of the printer list even if the access location for using the print service is different, and the default printer can be easily selected regardless of the access location. Note that the number of default printers fixed at the top of the printer list may be increased each time the number of terminals to be accessed increases.
In order to set three default printers, the relay virtual printer management service 302 issues a dummy print instruction to the print service 304 three times in S1501 of FIG. In step S <b> 1504, the relay virtual printer management service 302 replaces information associated with the first SPID in the service printer list with information associated with the first default printer. Similarly, the relay virtual printer management service 302 switches information associated with the second SPID from the top of the service printer list and information associated with the second default printer. In addition, the relay virtual printer management service 302 switches information associated with the third SPID from the top of the service printer list and information associated with the third default printer.

In S1603 of FIG. 13, the relay virtual printer management service 302 replaces the information associated with the first SPID in the list with the information associated with the first default printer. Similarly, the relay virtual printer management service 302 switches information associated with the second SPID from the top of the list and information associated with the second default printer. In addition, the relay virtual printer management service 302 switches information associated with the third SPID from the top of the list and information associated with the third default printer.
Here, the list corresponds to the service printer list created by the relay virtual printer management service 302 based on the printer information used for printing received from the relay virtual printer 303 in step S1602. More specifically, when the relay virtual printer management service 302 receives information that the printer 1 has been used for printing, the relay virtual printer management service 302 creates and holds a list in which the printer 1 comes first. Next, when the relay virtual printer management service 302 receives information that the printer 2 has been used for printing, the relay virtual printer management service 302 creates and holds a list of the printer 1 at the top and the printer 1 at the top. Next, when the relay virtual printer management service 302 receives information indicating that the printer 3 has been used for printing, the relay virtual printer management service 302 creates and holds a list of the printer 3 at the top, the printer 2 next, and the printer 1 next. To do.

<Embodiment 5>
In the default printer setting process of the first embodiment, the default printer can be set at the time of registration, but the default printer can also be set after registration. For example, as shown in FIG. 6E, the default printer may be set by the check box 916 when selecting a printer to print in the print dialog. A check box 917 can also be used to select whether to display according to the print service specification or to display the default printer of this alternative at the top of the list when registering the printer.
Processing of this embodiment at the time of printing will be described with reference to FIG. When the print setting UI is requested in step S1405, the Web browser 305 also sends on / off information on check boxes 916 and 917 in FIG. 6E to the print service 304. The print service 304 reflects the information on the default printer 1407 and the default printer setting 1408 in FIG. 5C. By updating the service printer list information in the print service 304 based on this information, it is possible to set a default printer or switch the default printer display when a print printer is selected.
The Default Printer 1407 is an example of default printer information.

<Embodiment 6>
In the first embodiment, the method for setting the default printer by the processing in the print relay server 102 has been described. However, finer settings can be made by performing processing in the print server group 103. For example, the print server group 103 may switch display contents of the printer list according to the terminal used by the client. For example, the print server group 103 can make display contents of a printer list suitable for each terminal based on terminal information (for example, information on whether the PC is mobile or information on the display resolution).

A process when the print server group 103 corresponds to the default printer will be described with reference to FIG.
First, processing when registering a printer will be described.
In step S2301, the web browser 305 acquires information on name, PC, PT, and default according to the user's printer registration operation. Here, name is a printer name (printer name). PC is print capabilities (printer capability information). PT is a printer ticket (printer setting information). Default is information indicating whether or not the printer is a default printer. If True, the default printer is indicated. If False, the default printer is not indicated.
In step S2302, the Web browser 305 transmits a printer registration request including the information acquired in step S2031 and proxy server information (proxy in FIG. 18) to the print service 304. The print service 304 registers the printer based on the received information. For example, the print service 304 sets the Default Printer 1407 as shown in FIG. 5C based on the default information.
In step S <b> 2303, the print service 304 transmits a printer ID (printerid in FIG. 18) that identifies the registered printer as a response to successful registration to the web browser 305.
In step S <b> 2304, the print service 304 updates the printer list displayed in the print dialog based on the setting of the default printer 1407. More specifically, the print service 304 updates the list so that a printer whose Default Printer 1407 is set to True is at the top of the printer list.
In step S2305, the Web browser 305 displays a printer registration management display indicating that printer registration has been completed.

Next, processing when printing is described.
In step S <b> 2306, the web browser 305 receives a user's printer list display request operation. Here, the Web browser 305 acquires terminal information of the client computer 104 in which it is installed. The terminal information includes information indicating whether the client computer 104 is a PC or a mobile device, the resolution of the display display of the client computer 104, position information indicating whether it is a company, home, or Printshop.
In step S <b> 2307, the web browser 305 transmits a printer list acquisition request including terminal information and proxy server information to the print service 304.
In step S2308, the print service 304 updates the printer list displayed in the print dialog based on the terminal information. More specifically, the print service 304 changes the default printer for each terminal based on the terminal information, or changes the length of the printer list according to the resolution of the display display of the terminal. Update.
For example, if the terminal information of the client computer 104 is company location information, the print service 304 changes the company printer to a default printer. If the terminal information of the client computer 104 is home location information, the print service 304 changes the home printer. Change to default printer. Further, for example, when the resolution of the display display of the terminal is higher than a predetermined threshold, the print service 304 increases the length of the printer list (for example, displays seven printer names) and is lower than the threshold. In this case, the list length of the printer list is shortened (for example, three printer names are displayed).
In step S <b> 2309, the print service 304 transmits the updated printer list (printid list) to the web browser 305.
In step S2310, the web browser 305 displays the received printer list.

<Embodiment 7>
In the first embodiment, the print relay server 102 has been described as performing a series of print service information update processing. However, the printer 101 may perform the processing of the print relay server 102. This also makes it possible to display the default printer at the top of the printer list.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

  As described above, according to each embodiment described above, the default printer can be displayed at the top of the printer list.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

Claims (11)

A cloud print service providing server device that provides a cloud print service, and a print relay server device that relays communication with a printer,
Managing printer information including a printer ID issued for uniquely identifying a printer and printer attribute information uniquely identified by the printer ID, and a list of a plurality of the managed printer information In the printer list, the cloud print service providing server device displays the printer name corresponding to each printer information included in the printer list in order from the printer name corresponding to the first printer information from the cloud print service providing server device. A list acquisition means for acquiring a printer list;
The printer information corresponding to the default printer is identified from the printer list acquired by the list acquisition means, the attribute information included in the printer information corresponding to the default printer, and the attribute information included in the head printer information Replacement means for replacing
Update that transmits printer information in the printer list whose attribute information has been replaced by the replacement means to the cloud print service providing server apparatus and requests update of printer information managed by the cloud print service providing server apparatus Request means;
A print relay server device.   The print relay server apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising registration means for registering the printer information in the cloud print service providing server apparatus. The attribute information further includes information on whether the printer is a shared printer,
The print relay server apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the replacement unit does not perform the replacement when the information indicating that the selected default printer is a shared printer is included in the attribute information of the selected default printer. A cloud print service providing server device that provides a cloud print service,
Management means for managing printer information including a printer ID issued for uniquely identifying a printer and printer attribute information uniquely identified by the printer ID;
Based on the default printer information indicating whether or not the printer included in the attribute information is a default printer, the printer information of the default printer comes to the top of the printer list that is a list of the plurality of printer information managed by the management unit. Updating means for updating the printer list,
Display means for displaying, on the output printer selection screen, the printer name corresponding to each printer information included in the printer list in order from the printer name corresponding to the first printer information in the printer list updated by the updating means;
A cloud printing service providing server device.   5. The cloud print service providing server device according to claim 4, further comprising a setting unit configured to set the printer information in the management unit in response to a printer registration request from a terminal device.   The cloud print service providing server device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the updating unit further updates the printer list based on terminal information included in a display request from the terminal device. An information processing method executed by a cloud print service providing server device that provides a cloud print service and a print relay server device that relays communication with a printer,
Managing printer information including a printer ID issued for uniquely identifying a printer and printer attribute information uniquely identified by the printer ID, and a list of a plurality of the managed printer information In the printer list, the cloud print service providing server device displays the printer name corresponding to each printer information included in the printer list in order from the printer name corresponding to the first printer information from the cloud print service providing server device. A list acquisition step for acquiring a printer list;
The printer information corresponding to the default printer is identified from the printer list acquired by the list acquisition step, the attribute information included in the printer information corresponding to the default printer, and the attribute information included in the head printer information An exchange step for exchanging and
The printer information in the printer list whose attribute information has been replaced by the replacement step is transmitted to the cloud print service providing server apparatus, and an update requesting update of the printer information managed by the cloud print service providing server apparatus A request step;
An information processing method including: An information processing method executed by a cloud print service providing server device that provides a cloud print service,
A management step for managing printer information composed of a printer ID issued for uniquely identifying a printer and printer attribute information uniquely identified by the printer ID;
Based on the default printer information indicating whether or not the printer included in the attribute information is a default printer, the printer information of the default printer comes to the top of the printer list that is a list of the plurality of printer information managed by the management step. Updating the printer list as follows:
A display step of displaying, on the output printer selection screen, printer names corresponding to the printer information included in the printer list in order from the printer name corresponding to the first printer information in the printer list updated by the updating step;
An information processing method including: To the cloud printing service providing server device that provides the cloud printing service and the computer that relays communication with the printer,
Managing printer information including a printer ID issued for uniquely identifying a printer and printer attribute information uniquely identified by the printer ID, and a list of a plurality of the managed printer information In the printer list, the cloud print service providing server device displays the printer name corresponding to each printer information included in the printer list in order from the printer name corresponding to the first printer information from the cloud print service providing server device. A list acquisition step for acquiring a printer list;
The printer information corresponding to the default printer is identified from the printer list acquired by the list acquisition step, the attribute information included in the printer information corresponding to the default printer, and the attribute information included in the head printer information An exchange step for exchanging and
The printer information in the printer list whose attribute information has been replaced by the replacement step is transmitted to the cloud print service providing server apparatus, and an update requesting update of the printer information managed by the cloud print service providing server apparatus A request step;
A program for running To the computer that provides the cloud printing service,
A management step for managing printer information composed of a printer ID issued for uniquely identifying a printer and printer attribute information uniquely identified by the printer ID;
Based on the default printer information indicating whether or not the printer included in the attribute information is a default printer, the printer information of the default printer comes to the top of the printer list that is a list of the plurality of printer information managed by the management step. Updating the printer list as follows:
A display step of displaying, on the output printer selection screen, printer names corresponding to the printer information included in the printer list in order from the printer name corresponding to the first printer information in the printer list updated by the updating step;
A program for running A printer that communicates with a cloud print service providing server device that provides a cloud print service,
Managing printer information including a printer ID issued for uniquely identifying a printer and printer attribute information uniquely identified by the printer ID, and a list of a plurality of the managed printer information In the printer list, the cloud print service providing server device displays the printer name corresponding to each printer information included in the printer list in order from the printer name corresponding to the first printer information from the cloud print service providing server device. A list acquisition means for acquiring a printer list;
The printer information corresponding to the default printer is identified from the printer list acquired by the list acquisition means, the attribute information included in the printer information corresponding to the default printer, and the attribute information included in the head printer information Replacement means for replacing
Update that transmits printer information in the printer list whose attribute information has been replaced by the replacement means to the cloud print service providing server apparatus and requests update of printer information managed by the cloud print service providing server apparatus Request means;
Having a printer.

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