JP2014017553A - Information processing apparatus, portable terminal device, and print control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism by which: when a printer cannot complete printing, a print processing request from a portable terminal device can be cancelled.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus receives e-mail having a file of a print object attached thereto and describing a print instruction of the file, transmits the file attached to the received e-mail to a printer, and controls the printer to print the file. When the information processing apparatus acquires a print result of the file from the printer, and the acquired print result of the file indicates incompletion of the printing, transmits notification mail notifying a transmission source of the e-mail that the printing of the file can be cancelled to the transmission source of the e-mail.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that controls a printer, a portable terminal device that requests printing, a printing control method, and a program.

  In a conventional printing system from a mobile terminal device, a file desired to be printed is attached to an e-mail from the e-mail software of the mobile terminal device and transmitted to the printer (Patent Document 1). According to Patent Document 1, an e-mail address is assigned to a printer in advance, an e-mail with a file attached is transmitted to the e-mail address, and the attached file is printed by the printer. Specifically, at the initial setting of the printer, the printer requests an e-mail address from the server, and acquires and holds a unique e-mail address. From the mobile terminal device used by the user, a file desired to be printed is attached to the e-mail address and transmitted. The server holds a table in which printers are associated with electronic mail addresses. When an electronic mail is received, the server specifies a printer as a print output destination by referring to the above-described table. That is, in the conventional printing system, each configuration as described above is necessary on the server side and the printer side.

  There is also known a configuration in which a dedicated adapter is installed between a server and a printer, and printing of a file attached to an e-mail from a mobile terminal device is realized (Patent Document 2). In such a configuration, it is further necessary to add a dedicated device in addition to the server and the printer. A configuration is also known in which a print job completion notification is transmitted by e-mail from a printer to a dedicated e-mail address of an apparatus that has transmitted a print job (Patent Document 3). A configuration is also known in which specific information such as print completion or an error message is notified by e-mail for a print job transmitted by a method other than e-mail (Patent Document 4).

JP 2004-220606 A JP 2001-312392 A JP 2005-107741 A JP 2001-216105 A

  Conventionally, a file desired to be printed from a mobile terminal device is attached to an e-mail, transmitted, and printed by a printer, so that both the printer and the server or other devices can realize a printing system. I needed to add a configuration.

  On the other hand, in the printing system, when a problem or the like occurs on the printer side and printing cannot be completed, the printer stops receiving the e-mail addressed to itself, and during that period, the e-mail is suspended on the server for a certain period of time. It will be. If the e-mail is not received after a certain period of time, the e-mail is deleted from the server. In other words, conventionally, while it is on hold, the print processing request corresponding to the e-mail cannot be canceled from either the e-mail sending side or the receiving side, and the e-mail put on hold is Was supposed to continue to be stored.

  An object of the present invention is to solve such conventional problems. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of canceling a print processing request from a portable terminal device, a portable terminal device, a print control method, and a printing system that requests printing from the portable terminal device when printing with the printer cannot be completed. The purpose is to provide a program.

  In order to solve the above problems, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an e-mail receiving unit that receives an e-mail to which a file to be printed is attached and a print instruction for the file is described, and the e-mail receiving unit. A print control unit that controls the printer to send the file attached to the received e-mail to a printer and print the file; and an acquisition unit that acquires a print result of the file from the printer; If the print result of the file acquired by the acquisition means indicates that the print could not be completed, a notification mail notifying that the print of the file can be canceled is sent to the sender of the e-mail And e-mail transmission means.

  According to the present invention, in a printing system that issues a print request from a mobile terminal device, it is possible to cancel a print processing request from the mobile terminal device when printing by the printer cannot be completed.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of an access point. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of a mail server and a print server. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a printer. It is a figure for demonstrating electronic mail transmission / reception operation | movement. It is a figure which shows the flow until the file which desires printing is printed with a printer. It is a figure which shows the detailed procedure of the process of S631-S635 of FIG. It is a figure which shows a response | compatibility with the extension of a file, and an application. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence between a printer driver and a printer name. It is a figure which shows the table which associates an email address and printing process information. It is a figure which shows the email sent in response to the portable terminal device from the print server. It is a figure which shows an example of the transmission screen of an email. It is a figure for demonstrating preparation of the cancellation request | requirement mail from a transmission history. It is a figure which shows the electronic mail which requests cancellation. It is a figure for demonstrating preparation of the cancellation request | requirement mail from an error notification.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the present embodiments are not necessarily essential to the solution means of the present invention. . The same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment. In the present printing system, the mobile terminal device 101 can request the print server 104 to print with the printer 105 by sending an e-mail attached with a file to be printed. The portable terminal device 101 is of a size that can be carried by hand, is equipped with an operation system (OS), and can execute various applications on the OS. In this embodiment, the mobile terminal device 101 executes an e-mail application that is one of the applications, and transmits an e-mail by wireless communication. The mobile terminal device 101 can be connected to the network 106 by the access point (AP) 102. Here, the network 106 is, for example, a wired LAN (Local Area Network). Hereinafter, the network 106 will be described as a wired LAN. The internal configuration of the access point 102 will be described with reference to FIG. As the mail server 103, for example, an information processing apparatus such as a general PC is used. A mail server application is installed in the mail server 103. The internal configuration will be described with reference to FIG. The e-mail transmitted from the mobile terminal device 101 is held by the mail server 103.

  As the print server 104, an information processing apparatus such as a general PC is used as in the mail server 103. The internal configuration will be described with reference to FIG. A printer driver corresponding to each of a plurality of printers connected to the wired LAN 106 is installed in the print server 104. In response to a print command from the print server 104, the printer 105 prints on a recording medium such as paper based on the print data. The wired LAN 106 is, for example, an Ethernet (registered trademark) cable, and connects the access point 102, the mail server 103, the print server 104, and the printer 105 so that they can communicate with each other.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the access point 102. The access point 102 enables communication between a device (for example, the mobile terminal device 101) connected to the wireless communication network and a device (for example, the mail server 103) connected to the wired communication network. Device. The access point 102 includes an electronic circuit unit 201, an operation / display unit 204, and a wired LAN port 205. The wired LAN port 205 has a connector that can be connected to, for example, an Ethernet cable in order to connect to the wired LAN 106. The operation / display unit 204 includes an LED, a switch, and the like, and displays the state of the main body of the access point 102 and the state of each port in an identifiable manner. In addition, a switch or the like for simple connection to the wireless LAN may be provided. Further, the access point 102 may have a security function for safely performing wireless LAN connection.

  The access point 102 includes a CPU / MAC unit 202 and a radio frequency transmission / reception (RF (Radio Frequency)) unit 203. The CPU / MAC unit 202 includes a CPU (not shown) and a MAC (Media Access Control). The CPU / MAC unit 202 includes various processors and memories. The devices in the CPU / MAC unit 202 are connected to each other via a bus (not shown). The MAC has a part that performs processing related to wireless communication and a part that performs processing related to wired communication.

  As shown in FIG. 2, both the CPU / MAC unit 202 and the RF unit 203 are configured in the electronic circuit unit 201. An antenna 206 for transmitting and receiving radio waves is connected to the RF unit 203. The CPU / MAC unit 202 is connected to the operation / display unit 204, the RF unit 203, and the wired LAN port 205. The access point 102 is connected to the wired LAN 106 via an Ethernet cable (not shown). In this case, one end of the Ethernet cable is connected to the wired LAN port 205, and the other end is connected to a network hub (not shown).

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the mail server 103 and the print server 104. In this embodiment, a general information processing apparatus such as a PC is used as the mail server 103 and the print server 104. Each of the mail server 103 and the print server 104 includes a CPU 301, a ROM 302, a RAM 303, and a network interface controller (NIC) 304. Each unit is connected to each other via a bus 309. A keyboard controller (KBC) 305, a disk controller (DKC) 306, a local interface controller (LIC) 307, and a CRT controller (CRTC) 308 are also connected to each other via a bus 309.

  For example, the above-described Ethernet cable is connected to the network interface controller (NIC) 304. A keyboard 311 and a pointing device 312 are connected to the keyboard controller (KBC) 305. A hard disk (HD) 310 is connected to the disk controller (DKC) 306. A peripheral device is connected to the local interface controller (LIC) 307 via a USB or the like. A CRT display 313 is connected to the CRT controller (CRTC) 308. The ROM 302 stores a basic I / O program, an operating system (OS), and the like. The CPU 301 manages and executes various application programs based on the OS.

  The hard disk (HD) 310 of the print server 104 stores a portable terminal printing application and various application programs for realizing the operation of this embodiment, a printer driver for enabling the print server 104 to control the printer, and the like. Yes. Here, the portable terminal printing application is an application for realizing the operation of a printing system that enables printing of an attached file from a portable terminal as shown in FIG. The portable terminal printing application program stored in the hard disk 310 of the print server 104 also realizes processing as shown in FIG. The print server 104 has a mail client function and a printer control function, and by using these functions, it is possible to execute transmission / reception of e-mail and printing of attached files of e-mail. The mail server function of the mail server 103 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the internal configuration of the printer 105. The controller unit 401 prints print data received via the network interface unit 403 or the local interface unit 406. The controller unit 401 includes a CPU (not shown) and an ASIC 402 that mainly passes print data to the engine unit 411. In addition, the operation unit 408 displays a printing state on the printer to the user and accepts an instruction operation from the user. The ROM 409 stores various programs executed by the CPU. The RAM 410 is used as an image development area or a CPU work area when print data is printed. The network interface unit 403 communicates with the print server 104 and the like via Ethernet, USB, or the like. A peripheral device is connected to the local interface controller (LIC) 406 via a USB or the like. Also, the engine interface unit 407 sends print data that has undergone print processing to the engine unit 411. The engine unit 411 controls each printing mechanism such as a recording head to print on a recording medium such as paper based on the sent print data. Note that the printer includes all devices having at least a printing function, such as a multifunction peripheral and a FAX device.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an electronic mail transmission / reception operation centered on the mail server 103. First, an operation in which the mail server 103 receives an email will be described. Inside the mail server 103, an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server 501 and a POP (Post Office Protocol) server 502 operate. The mobile terminal device 101 transmits an email to the mail server 103 by an email application. The transmitted electronic mail is received by the mail server 103 connected to the wired LAN 106 via the access point 102 (not shown). In the transmission of the e-mail, the e-mail application of the mobile terminal device 101 designates a predetermined mail address (destination) of the mail server 103. For example, the mail address is specified as “USER@mailprint.xx.jp”. The mail server 103 that has received the e-mail stores the e-mail on the hard disk 503 of the mail server 103 (corresponding to the hard disk 310 shown in FIG. 3).

  Next, an operation in which the print server 104 receives an email from the mail server 103 will be described. The print server 104 polls the mail server 103 to confirm whether or not the POP server 502 of the mail server 103 has received an e-mail requested to be printed from the portable terminal device 101 in accordance with the operation of the portable print application. . At that time, the print server 104 designates a predetermined mail address (destination). The polling interval is arbitrarily set by the mobile printing application.

  The POP server 502 of the mail server 103 requests a user name and password for polling access from the print server 104. If it is confirmed that the user name and password are correct, the e-mail addressed to the print server 104 out of the e-mails stored in the mail server 103, that is, the e-mail addressed to the e-mail address designated by the print server 104 described above is stored. Returns presence or absence. When there is an email stored in the POP server 502, the POP server 502 of the mail server 103 transmits the email to the print server 104. Thereafter, the print server 104 can acquire an e-mail from the mail server 103. In contrast to the case of FIG. 5, there is a case where the e-mail transmission source is the print server 104 and the e-mail reception destination is the mobile terminal device 101. Even in this case, the mail server 103 operates in the same manner as described above, and an electronic mail can be transmitted from the print server 104 to the mobile terminal device 101.

  Hereinafter, the flow of processing from when the mobile terminal device 101 transmits an e-mail attached with a file desired to be printed until it is printed by the printer 105 will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S601, the electronic mail application of the mobile terminal device 101 attaches a file that the user desires to print to the electronic mail, and transmits the electronic mail. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of an e-mail transmission screen for instructing printing, which is displayed on the display screen of the mobile terminal device 101 as a result of display control by the e-mail application. As shown in FIG. 12, the destination field is input by the user, for example, “USER@mailprint.xx.jp”. In the subject field, the printer name of the printer that prints the file is input. Here, the printer name may be input in the text instead of the subject field. For example, “LBP100” is entered in the subject field.

  When the user performs an e-mail transmission operation, the e-mail is transmitted to the access point 102 via the wireless LAN.

  In step S611, the access point 102 receives the electronic mail transmitted from the mobile terminal device 101 via the wireless LAN. Specifically, a radio signal indicating an e-mail is input from the antenna 206. The radio signal is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the RF unit 203. Thereafter, the CPU / MAC unit 202 analyzes the destination and route of the e-mail from the converted digital signal, and transmits it to the wired LAN 106 via the wired LAN port 205. In step S <b> 612, the access point 102 transmits an e-mail to the SMTP server 501 of the mail server 103 via the wired LAN 106. In S621, the mail server 103 receives the e-mail, and in S622, the e-mail is stored in the hard disk 310 together with the attached file.

  At this time, in S631, the print server 104 polls the POP server 502 of the mail server 103 at regular time intervals. The polling operation is as described in FIG. In step S <b> 623, the mail server 103 determines whether there is polling from the print server 104. If it is determined that there is polling, the POP server 502 of the mail server 103 prints the e-mail corresponding to the e-mail address (destination) designated by the print server 104 and its attached file in S624. Send to server 104. In step S632, when the print server 104 receives the electronic mail, in step S633, the print server 104 analyzes the attached file of the electronic mail. As a result of the analysis, in step S634, the print server 104 determines whether the attached file is a file to be printed. If it is determined that the file is to be printed, the print server 104 expands the attached file of the e-mail into print data that can be printed by the printer 105 and transmits it to the printer 105 in step S635.

  In the present embodiment, the file attached to the e-mail is referred to as “attached file” until the print server 104 analyzes the file in S633. On the other hand, after the print server 104 analyzes in S633, the data developed into data that can be processed by the printer 105 is referred to as “print data”. The processing of S631 to S635 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. In step S641, the printer 105 receives print data from the print server 104. In step S642, the printer 105 prints on a recording medium such as paper based on the print data.

  In the printer 105, when an error such as a fixing device error or out of paper / paper jam occurs, or when the next print processing cannot be performed due to a large amount of print processing, the print server 104 prints to the printer 105. The data cannot be sent. In such a case, it is necessary to cancel the pending print processing in the print server 104 and send it to another printer, or send it again after the printer 105 returns.

  In this embodiment, the print server 104 associates and manages the e-mail address of the transmission source and the print processing information so that the print processing can be canceled from the mobile terminal device 101. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an information table that is managed in the print server 104 and associates an e-mail address of a transmission source with print processing information. When the print server 104 receives the e-mail and recognizes that it is a normal print request mail from the portable terminal device 101, the print server 104 extracts an attached file to be printed from the e-mail. Then, the source e-mail address 1001, the file name 1002 of the attached file, the e-mail transmission time 1003, and the message ID 1004 are registered in association with each other. The e-mail transmission time 1003 and the message ID 1004 are uniquely assigned to the e-mail header at the time of e-mail transmission, and are therefore extracted from the e-mail header information. The transmission time 1003 and the message ID 1004 are used when specifying the transmission source.

  In this embodiment, in addition to the attached file name 1002, the e-mail transmission time 1003, and the message ID 1004, other information may be managed together. Alternatively, other information may be managed instead of the message ID and the e-mail transmission time as long as the information can uniquely identify the e-mail. Each print processing information shown in FIG. 10 is deleted from the table of FIG. 10 after the printing is completed or after the job cancellation processing is completed.

  When a cancel request is issued from the mobile terminal device 101 for a print processing request by email transmitted from the mobile terminal device 101, the transmission history of the email transmitted from the mobile terminal device 101 is used as shown in FIG. Create a cancellation instruction email. That is, the e-mail that has already been sent is re-edited and sent as “printer name-cancel”, in which the term “cancel” is added to the “printer name” requested for print processing in the subject field of the e-mail. An e-mail transmitted from the mobile terminal device 101 is transmitted to the print server 104 via the mail server 103. The print server 104 recognizes that it is a cancel request for canceling a print processing request to a predetermined printer from “printer name-cancel” input in the subject field, and analyzes the e-mail. The analysis here is to acquire the source e-mail address 1001 and the attached file name 1002 for the e-mail. The acquired information is checked against an information table managed by the print server 104 to determine whether there is the same information. If it is determined that there is the same information, the corresponding print processing request is canceled. When the user cancels the print processing request for an arbitrary attached file from the mobile terminal device 101, as shown in FIG. 14A, only the necessary attached file is left when the sent electronic mail is re-edited. In the example of FIG. 14A, in the transmitted email, A1. jpg and A2. jpg has been requested for print processing, but the cancel target of the print processing request is A1. In the case of jpg, editing is performed as shown in FIG.

  In the above description, “printer name-cancel” is input in the subject field. However, the term “cancel” may be described in the body of the e-mail. Further, since the transmitted e-mail is re-edited, the previous transmission time and the message ID may be transmitted as they are, and the corresponding print processing request may be canceled based on the information. Also, when multiple attachments are attached to an email address, if you want to cancel all print processing requests for these attachments, enter “Printer Name-Cancel” in the subject field and attach You may make it transmit without attaching a file (deleting an attached file). Further, as shown in FIG. 14 (b), in the body of the e-mail, a message indicating that the print processing request for all attached files is canceled may be input and transmitted.

  If an error such as a fixing device error or out of paper / paper jam occurs in the printer 105, or if the next print processing cannot be performed because of a large amount of print processing, the print server 104 sends print data to the printer 105. Cannot be sent. In such a case, it is necessary to cancel the pending print processing in the print server 104 and send it to another printer, or send it again after the printer 105 returns. In this embodiment, in this case, the print server 104 notifies the portable terminal device 101 that is the request source of the print processing request put on hold by e-mail. The e-mail includes a notification that printing cannot be performed with the designated printer, a confirmation notification as to whether or not to cancel, and information such as the printer name when there are alternative printer candidates.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an e-mail (notification mail) returned from the print server 104 to the mobile terminal device 101. In the body of the e-mail, information indicating that the designated printer has a problem and printing could not be performed, whether or not to cancel, and notification of the printer name if there is an alternative printer are described. When the user selects (clicks, etc.) the shaded portion in the body of the e-mail, an e-mail for canceling the print process request is automatically created, and the user sends a print process request by sending the e-mail. Can be canceled. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, when the user clicks the hatched portion in the body of the e-mail returned from the print server 104 to the mobile terminal device 101, the information managed by the print server 104 is input. An email may be automatically created. The user can cancel the print processing request by sending the e-mail.

  Next, the processing of S631 to S635 executed on the print server 104 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The process illustrated in FIG. 7 is executed by the CPU 301, for example. First, in step S701, the print server 104 receives an email from the mail server 103 by polling or the like. In step S <b> 702, the CPU 301 determines whether the e-mail has been successfully received. If it is determined that the e-mail has not been successfully received, the process shown in FIG. 7 ends. On the other hand, if it is determined in S702 that the e-mail has been successfully received, the process proceeds to S710. In step S <b> 710, the CPU 301 determines whether the received electronic mail is an electronic mail for canceling the print processing request. For example, the CPU 301 makes a determination based on whether or not there is a description to cancel the print processing request in the subject field of the e-mail. If there is a description to cancel in the subject column of the e-mail, the CPU 301 determines that the e-mail is for canceling the print processing request, and proceeds to S712. In step S712, the print processing management table shown in FIG. 10 is used to search for print processing information (that is, a print processing request) corresponding to the source e-mail address.

  Here, as information used for the search, information on an e-mail address, an attached file name, a transmission date and time, or a message ID is used. For example, when an e-mail for canceling a print job is received from the mobile terminal device 101, if there is an attached file, a search is made as to whether there is a corresponding file name associated with the e-mail address of the transmission source. To do. If the message ID at the time of transmission is entered in the body of the e-mail, it is searched whether there is a corresponding message ID associated with the e-mail address of the transmission source. Or you may make it search with the combination of the some information in an email. The information used for the search is not limited to this, and other information may be used.

  In step S713, the CPU 301 determines whether a corresponding print processing request has been searched in the search processing in step S712. If it is determined that there is a corresponding print processing request, the process advances to step S714 to cancel the corresponding print processing request. If it is determined in S713 that there is no corresponding print processing request, it is assumed that the print processing has already been performed. Therefore, the process proceeds to S715, and the print processing has been performed on the transmission source e-mail address. Notify the sender by e-mail of the possibility.

  In S710, if there is no description to cancel the print processing request in the subject field of the received e-mail, the process proceeds to S711, and the CPU 301 determines whether or not a request to cancel is described in the body of the e-mail. Determine whether. If it is determined that the request for cancellation is described in the body of the e-mail, the process proceeds to S712. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no description to cancel the print processing request, the process advances to step S703 and is processed as an ordinary print processing request e-mail. In step S703, the CPU 301 extracts an email attachment file. In step S <b> 704, the CPU 301 determines whether extraction of the attached file of the e-mail is successful. If it is determined in step S704 that the attachment file has been successfully extracted, the CPU 301 controls the DKC 306 to store the attachment file in the HD 310. Further, the sender's e-mail address, transmission time, and message ID are also extracted, correlated as print processing information, and managed as a table in FIG. If it is determined in S704 that the extraction has not succeeded, a processing result log to that effect is generated. In step S <b> 709, the CPU 301 displays the processing result log on the CRT 313 by controlling the CRTC 308. At the same time, the CPU 301 stores the processing result log in the HD 310. The processing result log can be used by a user for troubleshooting, for example.

  In step S <b> 705, the CPU 301 switches the default printer setting to a printer corresponding to “printer name” described in the subject field of the received e-mail. In step S <b> 706, the CPU 301 determines whether the default printer setting has been successfully switched. If it is determined in step S706 that the process has succeeded, the process advances to step S707, and the CPU 301 prints the attached file. On the other hand, if it is determined in S706 that the process has not succeeded, the CPU 301 generates a processing result log to that effect. The CPU 301 displays the processing result log on the CRT 313 by controlling the CRTC 308. At the same time, the CPU 301 stores the processing result log in the HD 310. In step S <b> 707, the CPU 301 refers to the extension of the attached file, activates the application stored in the HD 310, and performs print processing using the print function of the application. For example, the print server 104 holds a table as shown in FIG. 8 in which an extension of a file attached to an e-mail is associated with an application installed in the print server 104 in advance. The CPU 301 activates the printing function of the application associated with each extension to execute the attached file printing process. In addition, the CPU 301 activates the printer driver associated with the output destination printer name acquired in step S <b> 705, thereby generating print data based on the attached file and expanding the print data in the RAM 303. It transmits to the described printer and instructs to perform printing based on the print data (an example of print control). The printer driver and “printer name” described in the subject field of the e-mail are associated with each other in a table as shown in FIG. 9, for example. For example, when a new printer is connected to the wired LAN 106 or the local interface of the print server 104, the CPU 301 adds information about the printer driver and printer name corresponding to the new printer to the table shown in FIG. Note that the printer name is an example of an identifier that identifies a printer, and other information such as an IP address may be used as long as the information can identify a printer. In this case, in the table of FIG. 9, information such as an IP address is managed in association with the printer driver.

  In step S <b> 722, the CPU 301 determines a print result indicating whether or not the attached file print processing has been completed. If it is determined that the attached file has been printed, the process advances to step S708, and the CPU 301 restores the default printer setting. In S709, the CPU 301 generates a processing result log to that effect. The CPU 301 displays the processing result log on the CRT 313 by controlling the CRTC 308. At the same time, the CPU 301 stores the processing result log in the HD 310.

  If it is determined in step S722 that printing of the attached file has not been completed, it is assumed that some problem has occurred in the printer 105 that has failed to complete printing. Accordingly, in S716, the CPU 301 requests and acquires status information from the printer 105, and determines whether an error has occurred in the printer 105 based on the status information. In step S <b> 717, the CPU 301 determines whether the waiting time for the printing process has passed a predetermined time (that is, whether the printing process has been performed within the predetermined time). If it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed (that is, the printing process has not been performed within the predetermined time), the process advances to step S718, and the CPU 301 puts the print processing request on hold. If it is determined in S716 that an error has occurred, it is not determined in S717 that the predetermined time has not elapsed (that is, the printing process has been performed within the predetermined time), and the process always proceeds to S718. In step S719, the CPU 301 refers to the table in FIG. 10 to search for an e-mail address that is a transmission source of the print processing request e-mail. In S720, if there is another printer registered in the print server 104, a candidate for an alternative printer is searched, and in S721, notification is made by e-mail to the sender of the print processing request e-mail. As the e-mail at that time, the e-mail described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 15 is transmitted (an example of e-mail transmission).

  If it is determined in S716 that no error has occurred in the printer 105, it is assumed that the printer 105 is waiting for printing because the printer 105 is performing a large amount of printing processing. Also in that case, in S717, it is determined whether or not the print processing waiting time has passed a predetermined time. If it is determined that the predetermined time has passed, the process advances to step S718 to place the print processing request on hold. Thereafter, the processing of S718 to S721 is executed. If it is determined in S717 that the predetermined time has not elapsed, that is, if the printing process is performed within the predetermined time, it is determined that the printing is successful in S722, and the processes of S708 and S709 are executed.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the user can cancel a print processing request from the mobile terminal device 101 to the printer 105 without changing the configuration of the printer 105. Further, even when a problem occurs in the printer, the user can cancel the transmitted print job from the mobile terminal device 101.

  In the embodiment, the printer 105 is directly connected to the wired LAN 106. However, the printer 105 having only a local interface can be connected to the LIC 307 of the print server 104 with a USB cable or the like. It goes without saying that the processing described in this embodiment can be executed even with such a configuration. In the embodiment, the mail server 103 and the print server 104 are described as separate information processing apparatuses. However, the mail server 103 and the print server 104 may be configured as one information processing apparatus. Such a configuration is possible when the mail server function and the print server function are realized by software. Further, in the present embodiment, a wireless LAN has been described as a communication line through which the mobile terminal device 101 transmits an e-mail, but a mobile phone line may be used.

  The present invention is also realized by executing the following processing. In other words, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various computer-readable storage media, and the computer of the system or apparatus (or CPU, MPU, etc.). This is a process of reading and executing a program.

Claims (9)

An e-mail receiving means for receiving an e-mail to which a file to be printed is attached and a print instruction for the file is described;
Print control means for transmitting the file attached to the e-mail received by the e-mail receiving means to a printer and controlling the printer to print the file;
Obtaining means for obtaining a print result of the file from the printer;
If the print result of the file acquired by the acquisition means indicates that the print could not be completed, a notification mail notifying that the print of the file can be canceled is sent to the sender of the e-mail E-mail sending means to
An information processing apparatus comprising:   When the e-mail receiving unit receives a cancel instruction mail describing a cancel instruction corresponding to the notification mail transmitted by the e-mail transmitting unit, the print control unit cancels printing of the file. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. When the e-mail receiving unit receives the e-mail, the e-mail receiving unit further includes a holding unit that holds the transmission source of the received e-mail and the file in association with each other,
When the e-mail receiving unit receives the cancel instruction e-mail corresponding to the notification e-mail, the print control unit cancels printing of the file associated with the e-mail transmission source and held by the holding unit. To
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The holding unit holds a table in which the transmission source of the e-mail is associated with the file,
When the e-mail receiving unit receives the cancel instruction mail corresponding to the notification mail, the print control unit searches the table associated with the transmission source of the e-mail from the table. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein printing of the file is canceled.   5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification mail notifies a candidate of an alternative printer that prints the file in place of the printer. 6.   6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail receiving unit receives the electronic mail from a mail server. A portable terminal device capable of communicating with the mail server according to claim 6,
Receiving means for receiving the notification mail;
When the receiving means receives the notification mail, based on the email sent to the mail server, a creation means for creating an instruction mail for instructing cancellation of printing of the file notified by the notification mail;
Transmitting means for transmitting the instruction mail created by the creating means to the mail server;
A portable terminal device comprising: A printing control method executed by an information processing apparatus,
An e-mail receiving step in which the e-mail receiving means of the information processing apparatus receives the e-mail in which a file to be printed is attached and a print instruction of the file is described;
A print control step in which the print control means of the information processing apparatus transmits the file attached to the e-mail received in the e-mail receiving step to a printer and controls the printer to print the file; ,
An acquisition step in which the acquisition unit of the information processing apparatus acquires the print result of the file from the printer;
When the e-mail transmission unit of the information processing apparatus indicates that the printing result of the file acquired in the acquiring step indicates that printing could not be completed, a notification that notifies that printing of the file can be canceled An email sending step for sending email to the sender of the email;
A printing control method characterized by comprising:   A program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the information processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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