CA3060951A1

CA3060951A1 - Printing data processing method and apparatus, electronic invoice generating method and server

Info

Publication number: CA3060951A1
Application number: CA3060951A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Hu Yang; Bo Zhang; Kaiming Yang; Xuewu HAO
Original assignee: 10353744 Canada Ltd
Current assignee: 10353744 Canada Ltd
Priority date: 2018-11-14
Filing date: 2019-11-06
Publication date: 2020-05-14
Also published as: CA3231680A1; CN109491623A

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a printing data processing method and apparatus, an electronic invoice generating method and a server and pertains to the field of Internet technology. The printing data processing method comprises: obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring; sending the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data; and generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page. This method provides a universal solution for issuance of electronic invoices under the precondition of not upgrading cashier software and not specially developing middleware connecting various kinds of cashier software and invoicing systems, and reduces development cost and maintenance cost.

Description

PRINTING DATA PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, ELECTRONIC
INVOICE GENERATING METHOD AND SERVER
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of Internet technology, specifically to a printing data processing method and apparatus, an electronic invoice generating method and a server.
BACKGROUND ART

[0002] Electronic invoice is a product of the information epoch. Same as regular invoices, electronic invoices are issued to merchants for use by tax bureaus in a unified way. The invoice numbers are nationally unified codes, adopt a uniform anti-counterfeit technology and are distributed to merchants. Electronic invoices are attached with an e-tax bureau signature mechanism, have such advantages as no paper, low energy consumption, easy storage and easy query and are gaining increasing popularity among users and increasing favor from traditional small and medium enterprises.

[0003] The foregoing information disclosed in the section of background art is only intended to deepen understanding on the background of the present disclosure, so it may include information that does not constitute the prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
SUMMARY

[0004] The present disclosure provides a printing data processing method and apparatus, an electronic invoice generating method and a server to solve at least one of the foregoing problems.

[0005] Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be evident through the following detailed description, or partially learnt through practice of the present disclosure.

[0006] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a printing data processing method is provided, comprising:

[0007] obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring; sending the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data; and generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.

[0008] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring comprises:

[0009] converting the printing data of the order receipt into an instruction file;

[0010] monitoring the instruction file by means of monitoring, and parsing the monitored instruction file to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds, wherein the instruction file contains data that can be received and recognized by a printer.

[0011] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the means of monitoring include:

[0012] monitoring application layer data or driver layer data of client-side cashier software through port monitoring.

[0013] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, parsing the monitored instruction file to obtain bill detail data comprises:

[0014] if the instruction file is a text, then parsing printing instructions in the monitored instruction file through a printer instruction set to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds;

[0015] if the instruction file is an image, then performing OCR recognition of the image to obtain a text to which the image corresponds and then parsing printing instructions in the monitored instruction file through a printer instruction set to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds.

[0016] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the recognizable image data is a QR
code image and generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page comprises:

[0017] encoding the address link and the universally unique identifier by an encoding method for QR codes to obtain the QR code image.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic invoice generating method is further provided, comprising:

[0019] recognizing recognizable image data to obtain an address link, and presenting the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page; obtaining user information of an invoice at the invoicing page; and submitting an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtaining an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request.

[0020] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, before obtaining a universally unique identifier of an order receipt, the method further comprises:

[0021] obtaining bill detail data of the order receipt; and generating a universally unique identifier of the order receipt according to the bill detail data.

[0022] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after obtaining a universally unique identifier of the order receipt, the method further comprises:

[0023] parsing the universally unique identifier to obtain bill detail data of the order receipt;
wherein the invoicing page presented to a user contains the bill detail data.

[0024] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user information contains at least: an invoice title and an identification number.

[0025] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a printing data processing apparatus is further provided, comprising:

[0026] a detail obtaining module, configured to obtain bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring; an identification code obtaining module, configured to send the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data; and an image generating module, configured to generate recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.

[0027] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a server is further provided, comprising:

[0028] a page presenting module, configured to recognize recognizable image data to obtain an address link, and present the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page; an information obtaining module, configured to obtain user information of an invoice at the invoicing page; and an invoicing module, configured to submit an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtain an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request.

[0029] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory, storing instructions for controlling steps of the foregoing method by the processor.

[0030] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a computer readable medium is provided, and stores computer executable instructions, which achieve steps of the foregoing method when being executed.

[0031] The printing data processing method and apparatus, electronic invoice generating method and server provided by embodiments of the present disclosure on the one hand obtain bill detail data from printing data by means of monitoring and then may generate a corresponding address link according to a universally unique identifier and an invoicing page to which the bill detail data corresponds, and present the address link to a user in form of recognizable image data. By packaging the bill detail data and the invoicing page into a special link, a universal solution for issuance of electronic invoices can be provided under the precondition of not upgrading cashier software and not specially developing middleware connecting various kinds of cashier software and invoicing systems, thereby reducing development cost and maintenance cost.

[0032] It should be understood that the foregoing general description and subsequent detailed description are only exemplary and cannot limit the present disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Through detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to accompanying drawings, the foregoing and other objectives, features and advantages of the present disclosure will be evident.

[0034] FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a printing data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of step S110 in FIG. 1 in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of driver printing in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0037] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of obtaining bill detail data based on a mode of driver printing in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an SPL file during driver printing in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0039] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram after an SPL file is parsed during driver printing to obtain bill detail data in a text form in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0040] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of port printing in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0041] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of obtaining bill detail data based on a mode of port printing in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of instruction data obtained from port monitoring during port printing in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram after instruction data of port printing is parsed during port printing to obtain bill detail data in a text form in an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a printing data processing method in an embodiment of the present disclosure by taking an order receipt printed by cashier software to obtain an QR code image as an example.

[0045] FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an electronic invoice generating method provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 13 is a flow chart of an electronic invoice issuing method in another embodiment of the present disclosure by taking user's filling in an invoice title as an example.

[0047] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a printing data processing apparatus provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0048] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a server provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0049] FIG. 16 is a structural schematic diagram of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure and suitable to achieve embodiments of the present application.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0050] Now, exemplary implementation manners are more comprehensively described with reference to accompanying drawings. However, exemplary implementation manners can be implemented in various forms and should not be understood that they are limited to the examples set forth herein; on the contrary, provision of these implementation manners makes the present disclosure more comprehensive and complete and comprehensively conveys the conception of the exemplary implementation manners to those skilled in the art. The accompanying drawings are only schematic diagrams of the present disclosure and not drawn definitely in proportion. The same reference signs in the drawings denote the same or similar parts, so the repetitive description on them will be omitted here.

[0051] Further, the described characteristics, structures or features can be combined in one or more implementation manners in any appropriate way. In the following description, many details are provided to fully understand the implementation manners of the present disclosure.
However, those skilled in the art will be aware that the technical solution of the present disclosure can be practiced while omitting one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, apparatuses and steps can be adopted. Under other circumstances, well-known structures, methods, apparatuses, realizations, materials or operations are not stated or described in detail to avoid stealing the show and blur various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0052] Some block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are functional entities and do not have to correspond to physically or logically independent entities.
These functional entities can be achieved in form of software, or in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different networks and/or processor devices and /or microprocessor devices.

[0053] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer and more comprehensible, the present invention is further elaborated in combination with specific embodiments and with reference to accompanying drawings.

[0054] In relevant embodiments of the present invention, if cashier software also needs to possess a function of supporting issuance of electronic invoices, the original cashier software can be upgraded. By connecting an electronic invoice system to submit bill details, the upgraded cashier software can support issuance of electronic invoices. However, the upgrading of the original cashier software is costly. Many small and medium enterprises use third-party cashier software. If they want support to issuance of electronic invoices, they need to obtain consent of cashier software before they can implement the upgrading. Moreover, upgrading of the existing business system is labor and time consuming.

[0055] Further, a system that can not only connect cashier software to obtain bill details but also connect an electronic invoice system to issue electronic invoices can be developed additionally, but this system needs to connect cashier software to obtain purchase details, and there are numerous brands of cashier software, imposing a great difficulty in connection. As the business reformation schemes are diverse, subsequent reformation for new requirements will be troublesome and no unified solution can be provided.

[0056] Neither of the above two schemes provides a general solution for fast issuance of an electronic invoice. Some embodiments of the present disclosure provide a printing data processing method and apparatus, an electronic invoice generating method and a server as well as an electronic device and a computer readable medium to which the printing data processing method and the electronic invoice generating method correspond.

[0057] FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a printing data processing method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, comprising the following steps:

[0058] As shown in FIG. 1, at step S110, obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 1, at step S120, sending the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 1, at step S130, generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.

[0061] The printing data processing method in this exemplary embodiment obtains bill detail data from printing data by means of monitoring and then may generate a corresponding address link according to a universally unique identifier and an invoicing page to which the bill detail data corresponds, and present the address link to a user in form of recognizable image data.
By packaging the bill detail data and the invoicing page into a special link, a universal solution for issuance of electronic invoices can be provided under the precondition of not upgrading cashier software and not specially developing middleware connecting various kinds of cashier software and invoicing systems, thereby reducing development cost and maintenance cost.

[0062] Below, all steps of the printing data processing method in the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described further.

[0063] At step S110, obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring.

[0064] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, an order receipt is a consumption voucher printed by merchant's cashier register after shopping or consumption of a user. In general, an order receipt contains the following content: seller name, contact way, cashier register number, bill serial number, cashier number, sales date, goods name, quantity, unit price, goods amount, total amount, payment method, paid-in amount, amount of change, bill printing time, etc. The printing data in this embodiment particularly refers to goods name, quantity, unit price, goods amount, total amount and other detail data relevant to invoicing and does not include cashier register number, bill serial number, cashier number and other information irrelevant to invoicing.

[0065] FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of step S110 in FIG. 1, comprising the following steps:

[0066] As shown in FIG. 2, at step S201, converting printing data of an order receipt into an instruction file, wherein the instruction file contains data that can be received and recognized by a printer.

[0067] As shown in FIG. 2, at step S202, monitoring the instruction file by means of monitoring.

[0068] As shown in FIG. 2, at step S203, parsing the monitored instruction file to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds.

[0069] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, parsing the monitored instruction file to obtain bill detail data at step S203 specifically comprises: parsing printing instructions in the monitored instruction file through a printer instruction set to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds, to be specific:

[0070] judging if the designated file is a text or an image, and if the instruction file is a text, then parsing printing instructions in the monitored instruction file through a printer instruction set to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds; if the instruction file is an image, then performing OCR recognition of the image to obtain a text to which the image corresponds and parsing the text to which the image corresponds through a printer instruction set, i.e., parsing the text after image conversion through an instruction set to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds and to avoid garbling, omission of bill detail data obtained by means of monitoring printing data, and wrong information in the issued invoices.

[0071] After bill detail data is obtained, the following setting can be adopted to save parsed bill detail data:

[0072] In Printer ->Printer attribute -> Advanced, tick a printed file to save it.

[0073] In addition to issuing an invoice, a saved file can also be used for other purposes. For example, the saved file contains bill details, which can be saved in a format of text or table or can be sent to a file designated by a user so that the user conducts electronic bookkeeping.

[0074] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the means of monitoring include:
monitoring application layer data or driver layer data of client-side cashier software through port monitoring. The printer prints data mainly in two modes, including driver printing and port printing. Accordingly, the processes of monitoring printing data are different, too. Below they are introduced separately:

[0075] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of driver printing. As shown in FIG.
3, driver printing relates to application programs (such as cashier software, etc.) installed on the client side (such as a computer), a printing driver installed on the client side and a printer connected to the client side in form of communication. The communication connection can be wired connection or wireless connection. The principle of driver printing is that the client side converts printing data via a drive program into an EMF file (Enhanced Meta File) that can be recognized and printed by a printer, and sends the EMF file to a printer for printing. In the process of printing, a GDI
(Graphics Device Interface) module performs basic data exchange with a printing driver (provided by the printer manufacturer in general) to generate printer command files: SPL file and SHD file. Printing data is mainly included in the SPL file, while information describing which printer the printing data is sent to, via which port the printing data is sent and at what baud rate the printing data is sent is included in SHD data. Data in the SPL file is in a format of EMF, i.e., is EMF data. Then (Windows for example) printing thread processes the printing operation (i.e., data is printed one by one), the SPL file is transmitted to the printer for printing according to the description information in SHD, and the file of the printing data is deleted after the printing is completed. Further, in addition to a GDI module, which converts printing data from the client side into an SPL file in a format of EMF, the printing driver in this embodiment also includes a format conversion module (GDI/DDI driver for example is a data recovery mirroring tool), which is used to parse the SPL file to obtain bill detail data in a text form.

[0076] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of obtaining bill detail data based on a mode of driver printing. As shown in FIG. 4, firstly, the GDI module processes printing data into an SPL file.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an SPL file during driver printing. Then, the SPL file is obtained by means of monitoring and parsed to obtain data in a format of EMF.
The monitored and intercepted SPL file is not plaintext data (visualized data). The data in a format of EMF in the SPL file needs to be parsed into plaintext data, i.e., bill detail data in a text form. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram after an SPL file is parsed during driver printing to obtain bill detail data in a text form.

[0077] Below, a processing method in a parsing process is introduced:

[0078] Firstly, EMF mainly comprises EMF header record, description and record.

[0079] (1) The structure of the EMF header record is as follows:
typedef struct tagENHMETAHEADER
{
DWORD iType; it should be 1 (EMR_HEADER) DWORD nSize; Header size, not including description

[0080] RECTL rclBounds; image frame size (device unit) RECTL rclFrame; image frame size (0.01 mm is a unit) DWORD dSignature; 0x464d4520 (EMF tag)

[0081] This structure describes the type of sorted record, data size, image data toning position and other relevant data attributes. Through this structure, detailed information of the record can be obtained, and data can be parsed.

[0082] (2) EMF description:

[0083] If nDescription of the header record is greater than 0, it means there is content, and otherwise it means it is empty. Generally, it is immediately behind EMR_HEADER.

[0084] (3) EMF record:

[0085] iType; type, such as EMR_HEADER, EMR_EOF. All the parsed data are among these types. Through type judgment, we can know types of these data. These data are all between EMR_HEADER and EMR_EOF, these two types.

[0086] Example: EMR_HEADER data starting record.

[0087] Data behind EMR_EXTTEXTOUTA is plaintext and can be outputted directly.

[0088] Data behind EMR_STRETCHDIBITS and EMR SETDIBITSTODEVICE is image data.

[0089] EMR_EOF data ending record.

[0090] After analysis and processing of the above records, printer data can be obtained.

[0091] As data in a format of EMF includes text data and image data, the image data also needs to be subjected to OCR image parsing to generate plaintext, obtain text data and eventually obtain text data after SPL parsing to facilitate subsequent corresponding applications, such as an intelligent invoicing system, and printing of an added QR code on an order receipt.

[0092] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of port printing. As shown in FIG. 7, port printing relates to application programs (such as cashier software, etc.) installed on the client side (such as a computer) and a printer connected to the client side in form of communication. Ports in port printing include without limitation: serial port, parallel port, Ethernet port and USB port. The principle of port printing is to convert printing data (in a text form) sent by an application program on the client side into instruction data, and then send the instruction data via a port to a printer and print it. Port printing does not need a driver program.

[0093] Based on the above description, in a mode of port printing, printing data needs to be obtained by means of port monitoring.

[0094] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of obtaining bill detail data based on a mode of port printing. As shown in FIG. 8, firstly, a printing port is monitored in a driver layer to obtain instruction data converted from printing data. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of instruction data obtained from port monitoring during port printing. Secondly, after the instruction data is obtained, the instruction data is submitted to an application layer, the application layer performs instruction parsing of the instruction data, and conducts parsing in combination with an instruction set after OCR recognition or directly in combination with an instruction set to obtain bill detail data in a text form. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram after instruction data of port printing is parsed during port printing to obtain bill detail data in a text form

[0095] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, printing data is converted into instruction data during port printing. This instruction data is recognizable to printers. That is, a client-side computer controls printer operation through a printing control language by the method of software commands, interpretively executes printing data and obtains a printing result. As far as complex functions achieved by a printer are concerned, a printing control language is a foundation, which has a direct bearing on quality of printing input.

[0096] Currently, there are three mainstream printer control languages:

[0097] (1) ESC command set of Epson: The ESC command set is a de facto industrial standard in the fields of needle printers and bill printing;

[0098] (2) PCL command set of HP: The PCL command set is an industrial standard in the fields of low-end laser printers and ink printers;

[0099] (3) PostScript ("PS" for short) command set of Adobe: The PS command set is a page description language assuming a monopoly position in the field of high-end typesetting.

[0100] When printing order receipts, cashier software typically uses an ESC
instruction set.
There are two formats of ESC instructions: text mode control codes and Escape sequence codes.
A text mode control code is expressed with a single-byte character code and achieves an instruction relevant to operation of printer hardware. An Escape sequence code comprises an Escape character and a parameter character or printing data.

[0101] EPSON ESC/POS control commands are as follows:

[0102] Commands in an English mode are shown in Table 1:

[0103]
Code Function Code Function LF Line feed ESC m Local cutting CR Carriage return ESC o Seal ESC SP Set a right margin ESC q Release paper ESC! Set a printing mode ESC r Select a printing color ESC Set a bit-mapping mode ESC z Set or cancel parallel printing of two pages ESC @ Initialize the printer ESC Buzzer ON/OFF
BEL
ESC R Select an international character ESC c5 Disable/enable the panel switch subset ESC d Print and Line N feed ESC c6 Disable/enable the ON-LINE
switch , ESC t Select a character code table ESC p Generate a designated pulse ESC 1 Select or cancel inverted ESC V Send a printer state characters ESC c0 Select a printing page ESC ¨ LED ON/OFF
FF Print out a leaflet HT Horizontal TAB
RS Running TAB ESC % Select or cancel a user-defined character set ESC 2 Select a line space of 1/6 inches ESC & .. Define a user-defined character set ESC 3 Set line width as the minimum ESC D Set a TAB position space ESC < Go back to the beginning of line ESC i Full cutting ESC C Set leaflet length ESC f Set a leaflet wait time ESC F Select or cancel the back paper ESC e Print and return to line N
area of the leaflet

[0104]
ESC J Print and feed in a minimum ESC c4 Select printing paper and detector space (end printing) ESC K Print and feed in a minimum ESC c3 Select paper end signal output space ESC U Select or cancel one-way ESC cl Select a line space printing

[0105] Table 1

[0106] The commands in a Chinese mode are as shown in Table 2:

[0107]
Code Function Code Function FS & Select a Chinese character FS-n Set a Chinese character underline mode mode switch FS Cancel the Chinese mode FS ! n Select a Chinese font

[0108] Table 2

[0109] At step S120, sending the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data.

[0110] UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) means that it guarantees numbers generated on a machine are unique to all machines in the same time and space. Typically, the platform will provide generated API. UUID is calculated according to a standard formulated by the Open Software Foundation (OSF) and used in Ethernet card addresses, nanosecond time, chip ID codes and many other possible numbers.

[0111] UUID comprises the following few parts:

[0112] (1) Present date and time: The first part of UUID is relevant to time. If one more UUID is generated a few seconds after generation of a UUID, they are different in the first part and same in rest parts.

[0113] (2) Clock sequence.

[0114] (3) Globally unique IEEE machine identification number: It is obtained from a network card MAC address if there is a network card, or obtained by other methods if there is not a network card.

[0115] At step Si 30, generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.

[0116] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the recognizable image data is a QR
code image. Generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page comprises:

[0117] encoding the address link and the universally unique identifier by an encoding method for QR codes to obtain the QR code image. This step mainly packages an UUID
containing bill detail data and an address link of the invoicing page to obtain recognizable data in a packaged form.

[0118] Next, FIG. 11 is a flow chart of a printing data processing method by taking an order receipt printed by cashier software to obtain an QR code image as an example.
As shown in FIG.
11, this process relates to client-side cashier software, a client plug-in, a printer and a server and comprises the following steps:

[0119] Step S1101, cashier software obtains printing data of an order receipt.

[0120] Step S1102, the cashier software sends the printing data to a printer for printing. The printing data contains bill detail data and exists in form of an SPL file or instruction data.

[0121] Step S1103, the client plug-in monitors through printing data sent to a printer by a cashier system, and parses the monitored SPL file or instruction data into bill detail data in a text form, i.e., receipt details.

[0122] Step S1104, the client plug-in uploads the receipt details to a server.

[0123] Step S1105, the server converts the receipt details into a corresponding receipt detail UUID and returns it to the client plug-in.

[0124] Step S1106, the client plug-in generates a QR code image according to the receipt detail UUID and an address link of an invoicing page.

[0125] Step S1107, the client plug-in sends the QR code image to a printer for printing.

[0126] To sum up, the printing data processing method provided in this embodiment obtains bill detail data from printing data by means of monitoring and then may generate a corresponding address link according to a universally unique identifier and an invoicing page to which the bill detail data corresponds, and present the address link to a user in form of recognizable image data. By packaging the bill detail data and the invoicing page into a special link, a universal solution for issuance of electronic invoices can be provided under the precondition of not upgrading cashier software and not specially developing middleware connecting various kinds of cashier software and invoicing systems. The printing data processing method is suitable for clients of most systems (Windows system) without connecting or transforming the existing ERP system, thereby reducing development cost and maintenance cost.

[0127] Based on the foregoing printing data processing method for order receipts, the present disclosure further provides an electronic invoice generating method.
FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an electronic invoice generating method provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure, comprising the following steps:

[0128] As shown in FIG. 12, at step S1210, recognizing recognizable image data to obtain an address link, and presenting the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page.

[0129] As shown in FIG. 12, at step S1220, obtaining user information of an invoice at the invoicing page.

[0130] As shown in FIG. 12, at step S1230, submitting an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtaining an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request.

[0131] By the electronic invoice generating method provided in this exemplary embodiment, when a user needs to issue an electronic invoice, the user only needs to scan the QR code to enter a specific page. As the special link provided to the user during invoicing contains bill detail data, after providing user information needed for invoicing, the user can submit an invoicing request and have an electronic invoice containing bill detail data issued, thereby simplifying operations of the user and the merchant, raising invoicing speed and improving user experience. Further, invoices are no longer issued by category but by details, conforming to relevant provisions.

[0132] Below, all steps of the electronic invoice issuing method in the embodiment of the present disclosure will be further described.

[0133] At step S1210, recognizing recognizable image data to obtain an address link, and presenting the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page.

[0134] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, before obtaining a universally unique identifier of an order receipt, step S1210 further comprises:

[0135] obtaining bill detail data of the order receipt, wherein the method for obtaining bill detail data according to a printed order receipt is as described in foregoing embodiments and is not described again here;

[0136] generating a universally unique identifier of the order receipt according to the bill detail data.

[0137] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, after obtaining a universally unique identifier of an order receipt, step S1210 further comprises:

[0138] parsing the universally unique identifier to obtain bill detail data of the order receipt, wherein the invoicing page presented to a user contains the bill detail data.

[0139] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, recognizable image data is a QR code image, and a user can invoke a QR code recognition program of a mobile terminal, scan the QR
code image and jump to an invoicing page according to the address link. It needs to be explained that after parsing, a QR code is not only an address link, and the opened page also contains a receipt detail UUID that has been packaged in the QR code, in other words, the page has contained bill detail data, so the user does not need to input details any more.

[0140] It needs to be explained that the page entered at this step is a popular H5 page in the industry as an example, but no limitation is set to page types.

[0141] As shown in FIG. 12, at step S1220, obtaining user information of an invoice at the invoicing page.

[0142] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the user information contains at least: an invoice title and an identification number. At an invoicing page, a user can complete information entry of invoicing by only inputting an invoice title, an identification number and other relevant information.

[0143] As shown in FIG. 12, at step S1230, submitting an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtaining an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request.

[0144] Next, FIG. 13 is a flow chart of an electronic invoice issuing method by taking user's filling in an invoice title as an example. As shown in FIG. 13, this process relates to a mobile terminal, a server and an invoice platform, and comprises the following steps:

[0145] Step S1301, a user scans a QR code by a mobile terminal and requests for an invoice title H5 page to a server.

[0146] Step S1302, the server returns the invoice title H5 page and a receipt detail UUID to the mobile terminal.

[0147] Step S1303, the user inputs an invoice title at an invoice title H5 page presented on the mobile terminal, and submits an invoicing request to the server.

[0148] Step S1304, the mobile terminal sends the invoice title and the receipt detail UUID to the server.

[0149] Step S1305, the server sends an electronic invoice issuing request to an invoice platform.

[0150] Step S1306, the invoice platform generates an electronic invoice and returns the electronic invoice to the server.

[0151] Step S1307, the server sends the electronic invoice to the user in a way designated by the user, for example, the server may send the electronic invoice to a mailbox reserved by the user.

[0152] To sum up, by the electronic invoice issuing method provided in this embodiment, when a user needs to issue an electronic invoice, the user only needs to scan the QR code to enter a specific page. As the special link provided to the user during invoicing contains bill detail data, after providing user information needed for invoicing, the user can submit an invoicing request and have an electronic invoice containing bill detail data issued, thereby simplifying operations of the user and the merchant, raising invoicing speed and improving user experience. Further, invoices are no longer issued by category but by details, conforming to relevant provisions.

[0153] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of a printing data processing apparatus provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 14, the apparatus 1400 comprises: a detail obtaining module 1410, an identification code obtaining module 1420 and an image generating module1430.

[0154] The detail obtaining module 1410 is configured to obtain bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring; the identification code obtaining module 1420 is configured to send the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data; the image generating module 1430 is configured to generate recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.

[0155] The printing data processing apparatus can be a plug-in installed on the client side so as to monitor printing data sent from the client side to a printer, thereby parsing and obtaining bill detail data. The bill detail data not only can be used to issue an invoice but also can be used in more scenarios such as electronic bookkeeping. Functions of modules in this apparatus are shown in relevant description in the foregoing embodiment of a printing data processing method and are not described again.

[0156] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a server provided in another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 15, a user of the server achieves issuance of an electronic invoice. The server 1500 comprises: a page presenting module 1510, an information obtaining module 1520 and an invoicing module 1530.

[0157] The page presenting module 1510 is configured to recognize recognizable image data to obtain an address link, and present the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page; the information obtaining module 1520 is configured to obtain user information of an invoice at the invoicing page; and the invoicing module 1530 is configured to submit an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtain an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request.

[0158] This server is the server shown in the above diagram. Functions of modules in this server are shown in relevant description in the foregoing embodiment of an electronic invoice issuing method and are not described again.

[0159] On the other hand, the present disclosure further provides an electronic device, comprising a processor and a memory, storing instructions for controlling steps of the following method by the foregoing processor:

[0160] obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring; sending the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data; and generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.
Or

[0161] recognizing recognizable image data to obtain an address link, and presenting the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page; obtaining user information of an invoice at the invoicing page; submitting an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtaining an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request

[0162] Below FIG. 16 is referred to. FIG. 16 is a structural schematic diagram of a computer system 1600 of an electronic device suitable to achieve embodiments of the present application.
FIG. 16 shows only an example of an electronic device and should not impose any restriction on functions and use scope of embodiments of the present application.

[0163] As shown in FIG. 16, the computer system 1600 comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 1601, which can execute various appropriate actions and processing according to programs stored in a read only memory (ROM) 1602 or programs loaded from a storage unit 1606 to a random access memory (RAM) 1603. The RAM 1603 also stores all kinds of programs and data that operation of the system 1600 needs. The CPU 1601, ROM 1602 and RAM 1603 are mutually connected via a bus 1604. An input/output (I/0) interface 1605 is also connected to the bus 1604.

[0164] The following components are connected to the I/0 interface 1605: an input unit 1606 comprising a keyboard, a mouse, etc.; an output unit 1608 comprising for example a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a loudspeaker, etc.; a storage unit 1608 comprising a hard disk, etc.; as well as a communication unit 1609 comprising for example an LAN card, Modem and other network interface cards. The communication unit 1609 performs communication processing via a network such as the Internet. The driver 1610 is also connected to the I/0 interface 1605 according to the need. A detachable medium 1611, such as magnetic disk, optical disk, magnetic optical disc and semiconductor memory, is installed on the driver 1610 according to the need so that computer programs read from the detachable medium 1611 are installed and saved in the storage unit 1608 as needed.

[0165] Specially, according to embodiments of the present disclosure, the process described with reference to a flow chart in the preceding part of the text can be achieved as a computer software program. For example, an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a computer program product, comprising a computer program loaded on a computer readable medium. This computer program contains a program code used to implement the method shown in the flow chart. In such embodiment, this computer program can be downloaded and installed from the network via the communication unit 1609, and/or installed from the detachable medium 1611.
When this computer program is executed by the CPU 1601, the foregoing functions defined in the system of the present application are executed.

[0166] It needs to be explained that the computer readable medium shown in the present application can be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable medium or any combination of the foregoing two. The computer readable medium for example can be ¨ without limitation ¨ an electric, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared or semiconductor system, apparatus or device, or any combination thereof. More concrete examples of the readable memory media may include without limitation: electric connection with one or more conductors, portable computer magnetic disk, hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), optical memory module, magnetic memory module or any appropriate combination thereof In the present application, a readable memory medium can be any tangible medium containing or storing programs, which can be used by an instruction execution system, apparatus or device or can be used in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus or device. In the present application, computer readable signal media may include data signals transmitted in base band or as part of carriers, and carry computer readable program codes. Such transmitted data signals can adopt various forms, including but not limited to: electromagnetic signals, optical signals or any appropriate combination thereof The computer readable signal media may also be any computer readable media except readable memory media. Such computer readable media can send, transmit or transfer programs used by an instruction execution system, apparatus or device or used in combination with an instruction execution system, apparatus or device. The program codes contained on a computer readable medium can be transferred by any appropriate medium, including but not limited to: wireless, wired, optical cable and RF, or any appropriate combination thereof

[0167] The flow charts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings show system architectures, functions and operations likely achieved according to the systems, methods and computer program products of various embodiments of the present application.
At this point, every box in the flow charts or block diagrams can represent a part of a module, a program segment or a code. The foregoing part of a module, a program segment or a code comprises one or more executable instructions used to achieve a specified logical function.
It should also be noted that in the realization of some replacements, functions marked in boxes may also occur in a sequence different from that marked in the accompanying drawings. For example, two boxes expressed successively can be executed basically in parallel in fact, and sometimes, they can be executed in a reverse sequence, depending on involved functions. It should also be noted that each box in block diagrams or flow charts and combinations of boxes in the block diagrams or flow charts can be achieved using a special hardware-based system that executes specified functions, or can be achieved using a combination of special hardware and computer instructions.

[0168] Description of units involved in embodiments of the present application can be achieved in form of software, or in form of hardware. The described units may also be arranged in a processor. For example, it can be described as: a processor comprising a sending unit, an obtaining unit, a determining unit and a first processing unit. Names of these units do not constitute limitation to these units under some circumstances. For example, the sending unit may also be described as "a unit sending a picture obtaining request to a connected server".

[0169] On the other hand, the present disclosure further provides a computer readable medium, which may be included in a device described in the foregoing embodiments; or may exist separately, and is not assembled into the device. The foregoing computer readable medium carries one or more programs. When the foregoing one or more programs are executed by one of such devices, the device includes the following method steps:

[0170] obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring; sending the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data; generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.
Or

[0171] recognizing recognizable image data to obtain an address link, and presenting the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page; obtaining user information of an invoice at the invoicing page; and submitting an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtaining an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request.

[0172] It should be clearly understood that the present disclosure describes how to form and use specific examples, but the principles of the present disclosure are not limited to any details of these examples. On the contrary, based on teaching of the content disclosed by the present disclosure, these principles can be applied in many other implementation manners.

[0173] Exemplary implementation manners of the present disclosure are presented and described above. It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the detailed structures, setting modes or implementation methods described here; on the contrary, the present disclosure intends to cover all modifications and equivalent settings included in the spirit and scope of the claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A printing data processing method, comprising:
obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring;
sending the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data; and generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.

2. The printing data processing method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring comprises:
converting the printing data of the order receipt into an instruction file;
and monitoring the instruction file by means of monitoring, and parsing the monitored instruction file to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds, wherein the instruction file contains data that can be received and recognized by a printer.

3. The printing data processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the means of monitoring include:
monitoring application layer data or driver layer data of client-side cashier software through port monitoring.

4. The printing data processing method according to claim 2, wherein parsing the monitored instruction file to obtain bill detail data comprises:
if the instruction file is a text, then parsing printing instructions in the monitored instruction file through a printer instruction set to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds; or if the instruction file is an image, then performing OCR recognition of the image to obtain a text to which the image corresponds and then parsing printing instructions in the monitored instruction file through a printer instruction set to obtain bill detail data to which the printing data corresponds.

5. The printing data processing method according to claim 1, wherein the recognizable image data is a QR code image and generating recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page comprises:
encoding the address link and the universally unique identifier by an encoding method for QR codes to obtain the QR code image.

6. An electronic invoice generating method, comprising:
recognizing recognizable image data to obtain an address link and presenting the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page;
obtaining user information of an invoice at the invoicing page; and submitting an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtaining an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request.

7. The electronic invoice generating method according to claim 6, wherein before obtaining a universally unique identifier of an order receipt, the method further comprises:
obtaining bill detail data of the order receipt; and generating a universally unique identifier of the order receipt according to the bill detail data.

8. The electronic invoice generating method according to claim 6, wherein after obtaining a universally unique identifier of an order receipt, the method further comprises:
parsing the universally unique identifier to obtain bill detail data of the order receipt;
wherein the invoicing page presented to a user contains the bill detail data.

9. The electronic invoice generating method according to claim 6, wherein the user information contains at least: an invoice title and an identification number.

10. A printing data processing apparatus, comprising:
a detail obtaining module, configured to obtain bill detail data of an order receipt from printing data of the order receipt by means of monitoring; and an identification code obtaining module, configured to send the bill detail data to a server to obtain a universally unique identifier corresponding to the bill detail data; and an image generating module, configured to generate recognizable image data according to the universally unique identifier and in combination with an address link of an invoicing page.

11. A server, comprising:
a page presenting module, configured to recognize recognizable image data to obtain an address link, and present the invoicing page to a user via the address link, which contains a universally unique identifier of an order receipt and an invoicing page;
an information obtaining module, configured to obtain user information of an invoice at the invoicing page; and an invoicing module, configured to submit an invoicing request to an invoice platform according to the user information and the universally unique identifier, and obtain an electronic invoice returned by the invoice platform in response to the invoicing request.

12. An electronic device, comprising:
a processor; and a memory, storing instructions for controlling steps of the method in any of claims 1-9 by the processor.

13. A computer readable medium, storing computer executable instructions, wherein when the executable instructions are executed by a processor, steps of the method in any of claims 1-9 are achieved.