JP5304201B2 - Computer program, server device, portable device, and system for controlling job processing - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for controlling processing of a job such as a print job using a portable device.

  In Patent Document 1, when a mobile phone transmits print target data and information designating an output terminal device, the print target data is sent to the output terminal device designated by the designation information existing in a remote place. Has been disclosed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151561 discloses a technique in which data is sent from a mobile terminal to a printing apparatus by short-range wireless communication, and the printing apparatus prints and stores the data. Patent Document 3 discloses a system in which when a USB memory is connected to a printing apparatus, a predetermined key is input from the USB memory to the printing apparatus, and the printing apparatus permits execution of printing in response to the key. Has been.

  In addition, so-called immediate printing, that is, a system in which print data with a password is sent to a printing apparatus and then the print data can be printed when the password is input by the printing apparatus is put into practical use. In addition, an authentication printing system in which a printing apparatus reads user information from a recording medium such as an ID card, performs user authentication, and enables printing when the user authentication is successful, is also in practical use.

JP 2004-213370 A JP 2006-202331 A JP 2007-98850 A

  According to the above-described printing system and authentication printing system, a user can have his / her print data printed by a printing device in front of his / her own eyes at his convenience. There is an advantage that the risk of information being stolen is low.

  However, the conventional near-field printing system has a problem that the input operation is troublesome because the user needs to manually input the password to the printing apparatus. In addition, since it is difficult to use a long password to facilitate password input operation and storage, it is difficult to sufficiently increase the security level. In a conventional authentication printing system using a recording medium, the user performs user authentication using the recording medium, and then the user needs to perform an operation for causing the printing apparatus to execute printing. However, since the operation method of the printing apparatus for user authentication and printing execution differs depending on the model of the printing apparatus, there is a problem that this confuses the user.

  Further, the technique described in Patent Document 1 for transmitting print target data and information designating an output terminal device from a mobile phone is not a solution to the above-described problem. The technique described in Patent Document 2 that transmits data from a mobile terminal to a printing apparatus by wireless communication and prints and stores the data is not a solution to the above-described problem.

  The technique described in Patent Document 3 for inputting a key for permitting print execution from a USB memory to the printing apparatus is not a solution to the above-described problem. In addition, storing a key in a device that is not always carried by the user, such as a USB memory, has problems in terms of security and convenience. Also, it is troublesome for the user that a separate operation such as key registration to the USB memory is necessary.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable job processing such as printing to be performed safely without a user directly operating an operation panel of a job processing apparatus such as a printing apparatus.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a job processing apparatus that can communicate with a job transmission apparatus (for example, a printer driver installed in a personal computer (PC)) that transmits a job, and processes the job. (For example, a printer) and wireless communication with a portable device (for example, a cellular phone) capable of bidirectional wireless communication and transmitting a processing request related to a job when operated by a user. A machine-readable computer that, when executed by a possible server computer (eg, the personal computer or another personal computer), causes the server computer to perform a server process for controlling job processing In the program, the server process Storing job processing apparatus information for specifying a job processing apparatus and portable device information for specifying the portable device; and (B) receiving and receiving a job transmitted from the job transmitting apparatus. The stored job in association with the portable device information stored in the step (A), and (C) after the steps (A) and (B), the portable device information is transmitted from the portable device by wireless communication. And (D) searching for the job stored in association with the portable device information in step (B) in response to the portable device information received in step (C). (E) receiving a processing request relating to the job searched in step (D) from a portable device by wireless communication; (F) The job processing device specified by the job processing information stored in step (A) is controlled, and the job searched in step (D) is received in step (E). And a step of executing a process in response to the processing request.

  The server process may be configured as follows. That is, the server process further (G) when a plurality of jobs are searched in step (D), creates a job list indicating the plurality of searched jobs, and stores the created job list in the portable device. Sending, thereby allowing the mobile device to select any job from the list, and (H) the selection selected at the mobile device from the list sent in step (G) Receiving the selected job information for specifying the job from the portable device by wireless communication. In the step (F), the selected job specified by the selected job information received in the step (H) On the other hand, the selected job processing apparatus is controlled so as to execute the processing according to the processing request received in the step (E).

  Also, there are multiple job processing devices and multiple job transmission devices. Each job transmission device corresponds to each job processing device, and each job transmission device transmits a job that can be processed by the corresponding job processing device. If so, the server process may be configured as follows. That is, in the step (A), in order to specify the selected job processing device information for specifying the selected job processing device selected from the plurality of job processing devices and the selected job transmitting device corresponding to the selected job processing device. The selected job processing device information is stored in association with each other, and in step (B), the job is received from the selected job transmission device, and the received job is stored in the portable device stored in step (A). The information is stored in association with the selected job processing device information, and in the step (F), the job retrieved in the step (D) is specified by the selected job processing device information associated in the step (B). The selected job processing device is controlled to perform processing corresponding to the processing request received in step (E) for the searched job. To row.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, as an example, the job is an authenticated print job, the job processing apparatus is a printing apparatus, and the job transmitting apparatus is for creating an authenticated print job corresponding to the printing apparatus. This is realized by executing the printer driver by a server computer or another computer.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a portable computer capable of two-way wireless communication with a server computer that executes a computer program as described above and capable of transmitting a processing request relating to a job when operated by a user. In a machine-readable computer program for causing a mobile device to execute a client process for controlling job processing by being executed by an internal computer embedded in the device, the client process includes: ) Transmitting wireless device information for identifying the mobile device to the server computer by wireless communication; and (b) searching by the server computer based on the mobile device information transmitted in the step (a). Processing requests for submitted jobs Computer program having a step of transmitting by radio communication to the server computer is provided.

  The client process may be configured as follows. That is, the client process further indicates (c) the plurality of jobs retrieved when the server computer retrieves the plurality of jobs based on the portable device information transmitted in step (a). Receiving a job list from a server computer by wireless communication; and (d) selecting an arbitrary job from the job list received in the step (c), the step (b) The computer program transmits the processing request to the server computer with respect to the selected job selected in step (d).

  According to another aspect of the present invention, communication with a job transmission device that transmits a job is possible, communication with a job processing device for processing a job is possible, bidirectional wireless communication is possible, and a user (A) for specifying the job processing device in a server device for controlling job processing, which is capable of wireless communication with a portable device that can transmit a processing request relating to a job by being operated by Means for storing job processing apparatus information and portable device information for identifying the portable device; (B) receiving a job transmitted from a job transmitting apparatus; and receiving the received job as the means (A) (C) receiving the portable device information from the portable device by wireless communication; (D) means for retrieving the job stored in association with the portable device information by the means (B) in response to the portable device information received by the means (C); E) a means for receiving a processing request related to the job searched by the means (D) from the portable device by wireless communication; and (F) specified by the job processing information stored by the means (A). A server apparatus comprising: means for controlling the job processing apparatus to execute processing according to the processing request received by the means (E) for the job searched by the means (D) Is provided.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, in a portable device capable of two-way wireless communication with the server device as described above and capable of transmitting a processing request regarding a job by being operated by a user, (A) means for transmitting portable device information for specifying the portable device to the server apparatus by wireless communication; (b) by the server apparatus based on the portable device information transmitted by the means (A). A portable device including means for transmitting a processing request to the server device by wireless communication in response to a predetermined operation of the portable device by a user with respect to the searched job is provided.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a job control system including the server device and the portable device as described above.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to safely perform job processing by operating a portable device that can be used at an arbitrary place instead of directly operating the operation panel of the job processing apparatus by the user. Since the panel operation of the job processing apparatus is unnecessary, the convenience in the case of frequently processing jobs is improved.

  In addition, it is not necessary to install special hardware or software on the job processing device to implement functions for safely performing job processing such as authentication printing and current printing. A safe job processing function can be realized using the device.

  In addition, since the job is held in the server device, before the job processing is executed, the number of job processing is changed (for example, increase / decrease in the number of copies in printing) or the job processing condition is changed (for example, in printing) It is also easy to expand the functions so that double-sided / single-sided printing, change of the number of combined prints, etc.) can be performed.

  Further, if a mobile phone or the like familiar to the user is used as the portable device, the occurrence of operation mistakes is small. Further, the user does not need to be aware of the difference in operation method for each model of the job processing apparatus.

  Furthermore, since the user's job is searched using portable device information (for example, ID information unique to the portable device) for specifying the portable device, the user inputs a password for that purpose. Hassle-free.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an authentication printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, in this authentication printing system, one user uses one personal computer (PC) dedicated to the user and performs authentication printing using one printing apparatus on the network. In reality, this system is configured so that a plurality of users can perform authentication printing by using a common (single) printing apparatus using a PC dedicated to each person. It shall be.

  The authentication printing referred to here means that a print job issued by a user is temporarily stored in the authentication printing system, and when the user later inputs a print execution request to the authentication printing system, The stored print job from the user is retrieved, and the retrieved print job is executed by the printing apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the authentication printing system, a network 3 such as a LAN, a server 3 using a PC used by a user, a wireless access point 5 that relays wireless communication, and a single printing apparatus 7. And are connected. A mobile device 9 such as a mobile phone possessed by the user can be connected to the network 1 via the wireless access point 5.

  The mobile device 9 can be connected to a public mobile phone network, such as a certain mobile phone in practical use at the time of filing of the present application, and can be connected to a LAN such as the network 1 shown in FIG. A mobile phone having a connectable function can be used. The mobile device 9 has a built-in computer, and a client program, which will be described later in detail, is installed, and the built-in computer executes the client program so that the client process referred to in the present invention is performed. It has become.

  The portable device 9 is capable of two-way communication with the wireless access point 5, and includes an operation key that can be operated by a user such as a numeric keypad, and a display such as a liquid crystal display panel that can display text and images. When the user operates the operation key to instruct the client program, the mobile device 9 transmits a mobile device ID (mobile device information) for specifying the mobile device 3 to the server 3 for registration. A job search request can be transmitted to the server 3, a job search result can be received from the server 3 and displayed, and a print request (job processing request) can be transmitted to the server 3.

  As described above, the server 3 is, for example, a personal computer used by the user. A printer driver corresponding to the printing device 7 is installed in the server 3. By executing the printer driver, the server 3 In response to the instruction, an authentication print job can be created in a data format that can be processed by the printing apparatus 7, and the authentication print job can be passed to the server process.

  Further, a server program, which will be described in detail later, is installed in the server 3, and the server process referred to in the present invention is executed by executing the server program. The server 3 includes a hard disk drive (HDD) 3d as an external storage device. The server program temporarily stores the authentication print job received from the printer driver in the HDD 3d in association with the mobile device ID of the mobile device 9 registered in advance. When the search request is received, the authentication print job stored in association with the mobile device ID of the mobile device 9 is searched from the HDD 3d, the search result is returned to the mobile device 9, and then printed from the mobile device 9. When the request is received, the authentication print job designated by the print request is transmitted to the printing apparatus 7.

  Incidentally, the server 3, the printer driver in the server 3, the printing device 7, and the portable device 9 shown in FIG. 1 are respectively a server device (server computer), a job transmission device, a job processing device, and Each corresponds to a mobile device.

  By the way, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, an authentication printing system that processes an authentication print job is shown as an example of a job. However, the present invention is also applicable to a system that processes a job of a type other than a print job. can do. For example, the present invention can be applied to a system that processes a job for performing FAX communication, data conversion, data storage, and the like.

  2 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration contents of each element in the authentication printing system shown in FIG. 1, and the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In FIG. 2, a printing apparatus 7 includes an operation panel 7a for performing various operations related to printing processing, a USB device connector 7b for connecting a device such as a USB memory, and a network for connecting the printing apparatus 7 to a network 1 such as a LAN. A connector 7c, an external storage device connector 7d for connecting an external storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a print engine 7e that is a mechanism element for executing print processing, and control and image processing of each part in the print device 7 It includes a controller 7f for performing.

  The controller 7f includes an image processing ASIC 71, an image data interface 72, a memory control ASIC 73, an I / O control ASIC 74 that performs input / output control, an SDRAM 75, a ROM 76, and a CPU 77 that controls these elements.

  The server 3 includes a CPU 3a, a ROM 3b, a RAM 3c, an HDD (hard disk drive) 3d, a network connector 3e for connecting the server 3 to the network 1, and the like.

  The wireless access point 5 includes a CPU 5a, ROM 5b, RAM 5c, a network connector 5d for connecting the wireless access point 5 to the network 1, and a wireless connector 5e for connecting the wireless access point 5 and the wireless device 9 wirelessly. Have.

  The wireless device 9 wirelessly connects the CPU 9a, ROM 9b, RAM 9c, HDD and / or flash memory (hereinafter referred to as HDD / flash memory) 9d as an external storage device, and the wireless device 9 and the wireless access point 5. For example, a wireless connector 9e.

  FIG. 3 shows various execution programs stored in the HDD 3d of the server 3 shown in FIG.

  As described above, the authentication print job is temporarily stored in the HDD 3d. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the HDD 3d stores a printer driver 31 whose functions are realized by the CPU 3a and a server program 33 including various programs.

  The printer driver 31 corresponds to the printing device 7, creates an authentication print job in a data format that can be processed by the printing device 7, and sends the authentication print job to a server program 33 (which will be described later. The printer driver 31 has a function of transmitting to a printer that is recognized as a virtual printing apparatus.

  The server program 33 is a kind of registration / management program 33a for registering and managing the printing device 7 used for authenticated printing, or registering and managing a mobile device ID unique to the mobile device 9, and the server program 33 itself. A server search response program 33b that enables search from the printer driver 31 as a printing device (virtual printing device), a processing execution program 33c that receives a print request received from the portable device 9 and transmits an authentication print job to the printing device 7. A print job reception program 33d that receives an authentication print job from the printer driver 31 and stores the print job in association with the portable device ID of the portable device 9, and a portable device ID and a job search request received from the portable device 9. , The authentication print job associated with the mobile device ID Locate and has a job list response program 33e to transmit the list of those authentication print job to the mobile device 9.

  FIG. 4 shows various execution programs stored in the HDD / flash memory 9d of the wireless device 9 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a client program 91 is stored in the HDD / flash memory 9d, and this client program 91 is installed with a server that can register the portable device ID of the portable device 9 (that is, the server program 33 is installed). PC) 3, a server search program 93 for searching 3, a mobile device ID of the mobile device 9 and a job search request are transmitted to the server 3, and a corresponding authentication print job list is received from the server 3 and displayed. A list request program 95, and a processing request program 97 for selecting a desired authentication print job from the authentication print job list and transmitting a print request to the server 3.

  Next, the operation flow of the authentication printing system according to the present embodiment shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the initial setting operation in this authentication printing system, FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the authentication print job issuing process, which is a continuation of the flow of FIG. 5, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing for executing an authentication print job in response to a request from the mobile device 9, which is a continuation of the flow of FIG. Hereinafter, the operation flow of the authentication printing system will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 in order. In these flows, all communication performed by the mobile device 9 with the server 3 is performed wirelessly. Therefore, the mobile device 9 can communicate with the server 3 from any location (as long as radio waves reach).

  First, the flow of the initial setting operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The user operates the registration / management program 33 of the server program 33 of the server 3 to select the printing device 7 used for the authentication printing, and printing device information (for example, for specifying the selected printing device 7) The name, model, IP address, etc. of the printer 7 are registered (step S1).

  Further, when the user operates the server 3 (or the registration / management program 33a of the server program 33 automatically operates), the server 3 (server program 33) is one printing device as viewed from the printer driver 31. As a result, the server 3 (server program 33) is set (step S2). For example, the server program 33a is registered as a kind of printing device (virtual printing device) in the program for registering and managing the printing device in the OS of the server 1, whereby the printer driver 31 is connected to the server 3 (server program). 33) is recognized as a printing apparatus.

  Next, the user operates the printer driver 31 to set the printer driver 31 so that the destination of the authentication print job from the printer driver 31 is the server 3 (server program 33) (step S3). That is, the printing device corresponding to the printer driver 31 is originally the printing device 7, but only when the authentication print job is transmitted, the printing device (virtual printing device) corresponding to the printer driver 31 is the server 3. The printer driver 31 is set to be (server program 33). Along with this setting, the printer driver 31 allows the user to select either a certified print job or a normal print job that is not a certified print job as the type of print job (for example, when the user issues an authenticated print job, An authentication print icon to be clicked and a normal print icon that the user clicks when issuing a normal print job are added (step S4). Thereafter, the printer driver 31 sends an authentication print job to the server program 33 as a virtual printing device, and sends it to the printing device 7 when issuing a normal print job. Become.

  Thereafter, the user activates the client program 91 of the mobile device 9 (step S5). Then, the server search program 93 in the client program 91 in the portable device 9 determines whether or not the server 3 is already registered in the portable device 9 (step S6).

  If the server 3 is unregistered (Yes in step S6), the server search program 93 transmits a server search request to the network 1 and registers the mobile device ID of the mobile device 9 on the network 1. Whether there is a server 3 that can perform authentication (that is, a server 3 that controls authentication printing) (step S7).

  Then, the server search response program 33b of the server 3 receives the search request from the mobile device 9 (step S8), server information for specifying the server 3 (for example, server name, IP address, etc.), and step S1. The printing device information (for example, the name, model, IP address, etc. of the printing device 7) registered in step S5 is returned to the portable device 9 as a response to the search request (step S9).

  Then, the server search program 93 of the mobile device 9 registers the server information and the printing apparatus information received from the server 3 in the mobile device 9 (step S10), and further, a mobile device ID for specifying the mobile device 9 ( For example, a telephone number, a MAC address, etc.) are transmitted to the server 3 (step S11).

  Then, the registration / management program 33a of the server 3 receives the portable device ID transmitted from the portable device 9 (step S12), registers the portable device ID in the server 3, and a response indicating that the registration is completed. Is transmitted to the portable device 9 (step S13). In this step 13, the portable device ID of the portable device 9 is registered in the server 3 in association with the printing device information of the printing device 7.

  The server search program 93 of the mobile device 9 receives a registration completion response from the server 3 (step S14). This completes the initial setting. If the server 3 has already been registered in the portable device 9 in step S6 (No in step S6), the above-described processing from step S7 to step S14 is omitted.

  Next, the flow of authentication print job issue processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the user selects authentication printing on the printer driver 31 and requests issuance of an authentication print job (step S15), the printer driver 31 creates an authentication print job and transmits it to the server 3 (step S16). .

  Then, the print job reception program 33d of the server 3 receives the authentication print job from the printer driver 31 (step S17). Then, the print job reception program 33d stores the received authentication print job in the server 3 in association with the mobile device ID of the mobile device 9 (step S18). Describing step S18 more specifically, the print job reception program 33d corresponds to the printer driver 31 based on the fact that the received authentication print job is issued from the printer driver 31. It is recognized that it should be executed by the registered printing apparatus 7 to be executed. Based on this recognition, the print job receiving program 33d associates the received authenticated print job with the registered portable device ID associated with the registered printing apparatus 7, and then sends the authenticated print job to the HDD 3d. And the authentication print job information for specifying the authentication print job is registered in the authentication print management table as described below (step S18).

  FIG. 8 shows an example of an authentication print management table managed by the print job reception program 33d.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the printing device information “A” of the printing device 7 is registered in the above-described step S1 on the authentication print management table, and the portable device ID of the portable device 9 is registered in the aforementioned step S13. “X” is registered. Both are associated with each other (by being in the same row on the same table). Further, in step S18 (this may be performed a plurality of times), the authentication print job received from the printer driver 31 is stored in the HDD 3d, and the authentication print job information “# 1” for specifying each authentication print job is stored. , “# 2”, “# 3”, “# 4”,... Are registered in the authentication print management table. Each authentication print job information is associated with the portable device information of the portable device 9 and the printing device information unit of the printing device 7 (by being in the same row on the same table).

  Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a flow of operations for performing the authentication print execution process using the portable device 9 will be described.

  The user operates the operation keys of the portable device 9 to make a request for executing authentication printing in the client program 91 (step S19). Then, the job list request program 95 in the client program 91 transmits a job list request with the portable device ID “X” of the portable device 9 to the server 3 (step S20).

  Then, the job list response program 33e of the server 3 receives the job list request accompanied by the portable device ID “X” (step S21), and is associated with the received portable device ID “X” (ie, The print job information “# 1”, “# 2”, “# 3”, “# 4”,... Of the print job issued by the user from the printer driver 31 is retrieved from the authentication print management table (see FIG. 8). Then, a list of the print job information “# 1”, “# 2”, “# 3”, “# 4”,... Is returned to the portable device 9 (step S22).

  Then, the job list request program 95 of the portable device 9 receives the print job list (“# 1”, “# 2”, “# 3”, “# 4”,...) (Step S23), and The print job list is displayed on the display device of the portable device 9 (step S24). When the user operates the operation key to select a desired print job (for example, “# 1”) from the displayed print job list and inputs a print request to the client program 91, The processing request program 97 transmits a print request for the selected authenticated print job (for example, “# 1”) to the server 3 (step S25).

  Then, the process execution program 33c of the server 3 receives a print request for the selected authenticated print job (for example, “# 1”) (step S26), and the selected authenticated print job (for example, “ # 1 ") is transmitted to the printer 7 (step S27). The printing apparatus 7 receives the selected authenticated print job (for example, “# 1”) (step S28) and executes print output (step S29).

  As described above, after issuing the authentication print job, the user operates the portable device 9 and issues a print execution request at an arbitrary place at any time, so that the authentication print job is processed by the printing device 7. can do. The user does not need to directly operate the printing device 7. Since a mobile device ID unique to the mobile device 9 is used instead of personal information such as a password input in conventional authentication printing or current printing, the user needs to manually input personal information such as a password. Nor. The authentication print job can be processed by the printing apparatus 7 not only when the user is at the place where the printing apparatus 7 is present, but also when the user is away from the printing apparatus 7. If you use the function that allows you to input complex information of mobile devices such as mobile phones, the user can send an instruction from the mobile device to execute the authentication print job execution conditions (for example, the number of copies, duplex / single-sided printing) It is also possible to change the selection, the aggregated number of aggregated prints, the selection of monochrome printing / color printing, and the like after the authentication print job is issued from the printer driver 31.

  In the above embodiment, the case where one printer driver 31 corresponding to one printing apparatus 7 creates an authentication print job has been described. However, there are many cases where a plurality of printing apparatuses exist in a company office or the like, and a plurality of printer drivers are installed in the user's PC (server 3) corresponding to each of the printing apparatuses. Even in such a case, the above description can be applied to each pair of a corresponding printing apparatus and printer driver. In such a case, the authentication print management table managed by the server 3 may be configured as described below.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an authentication print management table when a plurality of printing apparatuses exist on the network in the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 9, in step S <b> 1 described above, printing devices used for authentication printing, for example, printing device information “A” and “B” are selected from a plurality of printing devices on the network 1. The printing apparatus information “A” and “B” are registered in the authentication print management table. A plurality of printer drivers “AA” and “BB” respectively corresponding to the printing apparatuses “A” and “B” are installed in the server 3 in advance. In step 1 described above, each printer driver is specified. Printer driver information “AA” and “BB” for registration are also associated with the corresponding printing device information “A” and “B” and registered in the authentication print management table.

  In the subsequent step S13, the portable device ID “X” of the portable device 9 is registered in the authentication print management table. At this time, the portable device ID “X” is registered in association with each of the already registered printer driver information “AA” and “BB”.

  Thereafter, in step S18 described above, the authentication print job information “# A1” and “# A2” of the authentication print job received from the printer driver “AA” are associated with the corresponding printing apparatus information “A” in the same table. On the other hand, the authentication print job information “# B1” and “# B2” of the authentication print job received from the printer driver “BB” are registered in the same table in association with the corresponding printing device information “B”. Is done. In any case, the authentication print job information is associated with the portable device ID “X” of the same portable device 9.

  Thereafter, when a job search request is transmitted from the mobile device 9 in step S20 described above, all the authentication print job information “# A1”, “# A2”, “# B1” associated with the mobile device ID “X” are transmitted. ”And“ # B2 ”are searched, and a list thereof is sent to the mobile device 9. After that, when a print request for the authentication print job selected from the list is transmitted from the portable device 9 in step S25 described above, the authentication print is sent to the printing apparatus associated with the selected authentication print job. The job is sent. For example, when the authentication print job “# A1” or “# A2” is selected, the selected authentication print job “# A1” or “# A2” is transmitted to the printing apparatus “A” associated therewith. The On the other hand, when the authentication print job “# B1” or “# B2” is selected, the selected authentication print job “# B1” or “# B2” is transmitted to the printing apparatus “B” associated therewith. The

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described, this is an illustration for description of this invention, and is not the meaning which limits the scope of the present invention only to this embodiment. The present invention can be implemented in various modes different from the above-described embodiments without departing from the gist thereof. For example, in the above embodiment, the PC used by the user functions as both the server device and the job transmission device referred to in the present invention, but as a modification, the PC used by the user functions as the job transmission device, Another computer such as a PC may function as the server apparatus, and as another modification, the portable device may also function as the server apparatus or the job transmission apparatus.

1 is a configuration diagram of an authentication printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the more detailed structure of each component in the authentication printing system shown by FIG. Various execution programs stored in the HDD 3d of the server 3 shown in FIG. Various execution programs stored in the HDD / flash memory 9d of the portable device 9 shown in FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of an initial setting operation in the authentication printing system shown in FIG. 2. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of an authentication print job issuance process that is a continuation of the flow of FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of authentication print execution processing that is a continuation of the flow of FIG. 6. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an authentication print management table managed by a print job reception program 33d. FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an authentication print management table when a plurality of printing apparatuses are used for authentication printing in the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Network 3 Server 3d HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
5 Wireless Access Point 7 Printing Device 9 Mobile Device 9d HDD / Flash Memory 11 Disk 31 Printer Driver 33 Server Program 33a Registration / Management Program 33b Server Search Response Program 33c Processing Execution Program 33d Print Job Reception Program 33e Job List Response Program 91 Client Program 93 Server search program 95 Job list request program 97 Processing request program

Claims (9)

It is possible to communicate with a job transmission apparatus that transmits a job, communication with a job processing apparatus for processing the job, and bidirectional wireless communication is possible, and a processing request related to a job can be performed by a user operation. In a computer program for causing the server computer to perform a server process for controlling job processing by being executed by a server computer capable of wireless communication with a portable device to transmit,
The server process is
(A) storing job processing apparatus information for specifying the job processing apparatus and portable device information for specifying the portable device in association with each other;
(B) receiving a job transmitted from the job transmitting apparatus, and storing the received job in association with the portable device information associated with job processing apparatus information of a job processing apparatus on which the job is to be executed. And steps to
(C) After the steps (A) and (B), receiving the portable device information from the portable device by wireless communication;
(D) searching for the job stored in association with the mobile device information in step (B) in response to the mobile device information received in step (C);
(E) receiving a processing request related to the job searched in step (D) from the portable device by wireless communication;
(F) The job processing device specified by the job processing information stored in the step (A) is controlled, and the job searched in the step (D) is controlled in the step (E). And a step of executing processing according to the received processing request. The computer program according to claim 1, wherein the server process further includes:
(G) When a plurality of the jobs are searched in the step (D), a job list indicating the searched jobs is created, and the created job list is transmitted to the portable device, Allowing the portable device to select any job from the list;
(H) receiving selection job information for specifying a selection job selected by the portable device from the list transmitted in the step (G) from the portable device by wireless communication;
Have
In the step (F), a process corresponding to the processing request received in the step (E) is executed on the selected job specified by the selected job information received in the step (H). Controlling the selected job processing device,
Computer program. The computer program according to any one of claims 1 and 2,
There are a plurality of job processing devices and a plurality of job transmission devices, each job transmission device corresponds to each job processing device, and each job transmission device can be processed by the corresponding job processing device. If you are supposed to send
In the step (A), in order to specify the selected job processing device information for specifying the selected job processing device selected from the plurality of job processing devices, and the selected job transmitting device corresponding to the selected job processing device. The selected job processing device information is stored in association with each other,
In the step (B), the job is received from the selected job transmitting apparatus, and the received job is associated with the portable device information and the selected job processing apparatus information stored in the step (A). Remember,
In the step (F), the search is performed by controlling the selected job processing device specified by the selected job processing device information associated in the step (B) with the job searched in the step (D). A process corresponding to the processing request received in the step (E) is executed on the job that has been performed;
Computer program. In the computer program as described in any one of Claims 1-3,
The job is an authenticated print job;
The job processing device is a printing device;
The job transmission device is realized by executing, by the server computer or another computer, a printer driver for creating an authentication print job corresponding to the printing device.
Computer program. An internal computer incorporated in a portable device capable of bidirectional wireless communication with a server computer that executes the computer program according to claim 1 and capable of transmitting a processing request related to a job when operated by a user. In a machine-readable computer program for causing the portable device to execute a client process for controlling job processing by being executed,
The client process is
(A) transmitting portable device information for specifying the portable device to the server computer by wireless communication;
(B) transmitting a processing request to the server computer by wireless communication regarding the job searched by the server computer based on the portable device information transmitted in the step (A);
A computer program. 6. The computer program according to claim 5, wherein the client process further includes:
(C) When a plurality of the jobs are retrieved by the server computer based on the portable device information transmitted in the step (a), a job list indicating the retrieved jobs is displayed from the server computer. Receiving by wireless communication;
(D) selecting an arbitrary job from the job list received in step (c);
Have
In the step (b), the processing request is transmitted to the server computer for the selected job selected in the step (d).
Computer program. It is possible to communicate with a job transmission apparatus that transmits a job, communication with a job processing apparatus for processing the job, and bidirectional wireless communication is possible, and a processing request related to a job can be performed by a user operation. mobile devices that transmit, together are wirelessly communicable, in the server device for controlling the processing of the job,
(A) means for storing job processing apparatus information for identifying the job processing apparatus and portable device information for identifying the portable device in association with each other;
(B) Receiving a job transmitted from a job transmission device, and storing the received job in association with the portable device information associated with job processing device information of the job processing device on which the job is to be executed. Means,
(C) means for receiving the portable device information from the portable device by wireless communication;
(D) means for retrieving the job stored in association with the portable device information by the means (B) in response to the portable device information received by the means (C);
(E) means for receiving a processing request relating to the job searched by the means (D) from the portable device by wireless communication;
(F) By controlling the job processing device specified by the job processing information stored by the means (A), the means (E) for the job searched by the means (D) A server device comprising: means for executing processing according to the received processing request. A portable device capable of two-way wireless communication with the server device according to claim 7 and capable of transmitting a processing request related to a job by being operated by a user.
(A) means for transmitting portable device information for identifying the portable device to the server device by wireless communication;
(B) With respect to the job searched by the server device based on the mobile device information transmitted by the means (a), a processing request is wirelessly transmitted to the server device in response to a predetermined operation of the mobile device by a user. Means for transmitting by communication;
Mobile device equipped with. A job control system comprising the server device according to claim 7 and the portable device according to claim 8.

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