CN111556213B

CN111556213B - Information processing apparatus, method and system

Info

Publication number: CN111556213B
Application number: CN201910110192.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卢雨
Original assignee: Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd
Current assignee: Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-02-11
Filing date: 2019-02-11
Publication date: 2024-06-04
Anticipated expiration: 2039-02-11
Also published as: CN111556213A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides an information processing device, method and system, wherein the information processing device comprises: a communication section for communicating with the image forming apparatus; a display unit configured to display a setting screen on which a user sets options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; a control unit for controlling the display of the display unit; and when the relation between the set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is a contradictory relation, controlling according to the setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items acquired from the image forming apparatus.

Description

Information processing apparatus, method and system

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of information processing, and in particular, to an information processing apparatus, method, and system.

Background

Currently, an information processing apparatus (e.g., a Personal Computer (PC), a mobile terminal, etc.) is connected to an image forming apparatus by installing a driver of the image forming apparatus (e.g., a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, etc.) to form an image. For example, in generating a print job for a printer, a user can set options corresponding to a plurality of items (e.g., print mode, toner saving, etc.) displayed in a setting screen through the setting screen displayed by an information processing apparatus so that the printer outputs a corresponding image according to the setting.

Since there are a plurality of items in which print setting is possible, and there are a plurality of options in each item, that is, there are a plurality of values, there is a case in which setting is restricted, that is, there are contradictions between the options corresponding to the plurality of items set, that is, these options belong to an contradictory relationship.

In the related art, in the case where the items input by the user belong to a contradictory relationship, the information processing apparatus eliminates the contradictory relationship according to a fixed value (generally, a default value).

It should be noted that the foregoing description of the background art is only for the purpose of providing a clear and complete description of the technical solution of the present invention and is set forth for the convenience of understanding by those skilled in the art. The above-described solutions are not considered to be known to the person skilled in the art simply because they are set forth in the background of the invention section.

Disclosure of Invention

The inventors found that the value used in the prior art to eliminate the contradiction is fixed, and the fixed value is not a value that the user wants to set in many cases. In this case, the user needs to further modify the fixed value to an appropriate value, and thus, the operation of canceling the contradictory relation is complicated.

The embodiment of the invention provides an information processing device, method and system, which can properly eliminate the contradictory relation between setting values corresponding to setting items corresponding to an image forming device, and can improve the convenience of the contradictory relation eliminating operation.

According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, wherein the information processing apparatus has: a communication section for communicating with the image forming apparatus; a display unit configured to display a setting screen on which a user sets options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; a control unit for controlling the display of the display unit; and when the relation between the set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is a contradictory relation, performing corresponding control according to the setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items acquired from the image forming apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method, wherein the information processing method includes: displaying a setting screen for a user to set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; and when the relation between the set options corresponding to the at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is a contradictory relation, performing corresponding control according to the setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items acquired from the image forming apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information processing system, wherein the information processing system includes: an image forming apparatus; and an information processing apparatus as described in the first aspect.

The embodiment of the invention has the advantages that when the relation between the options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming device set by a user is an contradictory relation, corresponding control is performed according to the setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items acquired from the image forming device, thereby the contradictory relation can be properly eliminated, and the convenience of the contradictory relation eliminating operation can be improved.

Specific embodiments of the invention are disclosed in detail below with reference to the following description and drawings, indicating the manner in which the principles of the invention may be employed. It should be understood that the embodiments of the invention are not limited in scope thereby. The embodiments of the invention include many variations, modifications and equivalents within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

It should be emphasized that the terms "first," "second," and the like are used to distinguish between different elements and shall not be limited by these terms, but do not denote a spatial or temporal arrangement of such elements, etc. The term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "including," "having," and the like, are intended to reference the presence of stated features, elements, components, or groups of components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, or groups of components.

In embodiments of the present invention, the singular forms "a," an, "and" the "include plural referents and should be construed broadly to mean" one "or" one type "and not limited to" one "or" another; furthermore, the term "comprising" is to be interpreted as including both the singular and the plural, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, the term "according to" should be understood as "based at least in part on … …", and the term "based on" should be understood as "based at least in part on … …", unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of embodiments of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. It is evident that the figures in the following description are only some embodiments of the invention, from which other figures can be obtained without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a setting screen of embodiment 1 of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a display screen of setting information according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 4A is another schematic diagram of the information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 4B is another schematic diagram of the information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a method for acquiring setting information according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is another schematic diagram of the information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an information processing apparatus of embodiment 2 of the present invention;

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a control section of embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an information processing system of embodiment 3 of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of the workflow of the information processing system of embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The foregoing and other features of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the specification and drawings, there have been specifically disclosed specific embodiments of the invention that are indicative of some of the ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed, it being understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described, but, on the contrary, the invention includes all modifications, variations and equivalents falling within the scope of the appended claims.

Example 1

Embodiment 1 of the present invention provides an information processing method. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the information processing method includes the steps of:

step 101: displaying a setting screen for a user to set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus;

Step 102: when the relation between the set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is a contradictory relation, corresponding control is performed based on the setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items acquired from the image forming apparatus.

With the above-described embodiments, when the relationship between the options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus set by the user is an contradictory relationship, the corresponding control is performed based on the setting information corresponding to at least one of the at least two items acquired from the image forming apparatus, whereby the contradictory relationship can be appropriately eliminated, and the convenience of the contradictory relationship elimination operation can be improved.

In the present embodiment, the information processing method may be executed in an information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus may be any electronic device such as a computer or a mobile terminal. For example, the information processing apparatus may include, but is not limited to, the following devices: desktop computers, computer all-in-one computers, notebook computers, tablet computers, laptop computers, smart phones, cellular phones (Cellular Phone), personal digital assistants (PDA, personalDigital Assistant), digital cameras, and so forth.

In the present embodiment, a printer driver corresponding to an image forming apparatus may be installed in an information processing apparatus, and a user may set options of items related to the image forming apparatus through a setting screen displayed by the information processing apparatus.

In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus may be any apparatus capable of performing an image forming task. For example, the image forming apparatus may be a color/black-and-white printer (single function printer, single Function Printer, SFP) having only a printing function; the present invention may be a color/black-and-white integrated machine (multi-function integrated machine Multiple Function Printer, MFP) having a plurality of functions such as printing, copying, scanning, and facsimile.

In this embodiment, in step 101, the information processing apparatus may display a setting screen according to which the user sets options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus. The item may be any item that can be set by a user in the image forming apparatus. For example, the items include a print mode and a toner saving, a resolution and a toner saving, a print paper and a paper type, a print mode and a paper type, and the like, and at least one option may be further included in each item for selection by the user.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a setting screen according to embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 2, in the setting screen 200, items corresponding to the image forming apparatus include a print mode 201 (referred to as item 1) and a toner save mode 202 (referred to as item 2).

As shown in fig. 2, 2 options such as "PCL" or "photo" are included in the print mode 201, i.e., options related to the printing language of the printer, wherein the option "PCL" represents a printer control language (Printer Command Language) capable of increasing the speed of the image forming apparatus when processing text or documents, and the option "photo" represents a language in which the printer language employed by the image forming apparatus is favorable for processing graphic image files, but the present embodiment is not limited to the above 2 options, and may also include options thereof according to actual situations, which are not listed here.

As shown in fig. 2, the toner saving mode 202 includes 5 options, such as options "printer set", "less", "slightly more", "more", and "OFF", which respectively correspond to different degrees of saving toner. However, the present embodiment is not limited to the above 5 options, and may also include the options according to practical situations, which are not listed here.

Further, as shown in fig. 2, in the setting screen 200, a determination button 203 for determining the set option and/or a cancel button 204 for canceling the set option may also be displayed.

The ok button 203 is used to save the option "PCL" and the option "printer setting" set by the user, and the cancel button 204 is used to cancel the option "PCL" and the option "printer setting" set by the user, so that the user can easily confirm and modify the options set by the set buttons. For example, in the print mode 201, the user sets the option "PCL", in the toner save mode 202, the user sets the option "printer setting", if the user determines the option set by the user, the user presses the determination button 203 so that the information processing apparatus receives the above-described option input by the user, and otherwise presses the cancel button 204. The above-described determination button 203 and cancel button 204 are optional components.

Fig. 2 illustrates only two setting screens for two items, and it is understood that the setting screens may also include more than three items, which are not described herein.

In this embodiment, the user can set the options corresponding to each item according to the displayed setting screen, and thus the method may further include the steps of (not shown in the figure): the information processing apparatus receives options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus, which are set by a user according to the setting screen. The number of items to be set by the user may be 2 or more, for example, in fig. 2, and the user may select the options in the toner save 202 and the print mode 201 according to the displayed setting screen 200. For example, in the print mode 201, the option "PCL" is selected; in the toner save mode 202, the option "printer setting" is selected.

In this embodiment, in step 102, the fact that the relationship between the set options corresponding to the at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is an contradictory relationship means that the set options corresponding to the at least two items contradict each other, that is, the options corresponding to the at least two items cannot be set at the same time, which is generally called that a restriction setting or a competition occurs. The number of items for the user to set may be 2 or more, and if there is an contradiction between the options corresponding to at least 2 items among the 2 or more items, the restriction setting is generated.

For example, the items corresponding to the image forming apparatus set by the user include the above-described toner saving and printing modes, and when the item "printing mode" is set to "picture" and the item "toner saving" is set to "printer setting", the "printer setting" is a process of performing toner saving on the image forming apparatus side based on the menu setting of the image forming apparatus, whereas when the printing mode is "picture", the process of performing toner saving on the information processing apparatus side is required, and therefore, a contradiction occurs between the item "picture" and the item "printer setting", and the two belong to "contradiction relation".

In this embodiment, in step 102, when the above-described restriction setting is generated, the information processing apparatus performs corresponding control based on setting information corresponding to at least one of at least two items acquired from the image forming apparatus; in the present embodiment, the content of the setting information may include an item and a setting value corresponding to the item. Wherein the item may be at least one item of the at least two items generating an contradictory relation, and the set value may be an option corresponding to the item.

For example, as shown in fig. 3, the setting information is "toner save: slightly more "; the setting information may be "print mode: PCL ", or" print mode: PCL; toner saving: slightly more). Thus, the information processing apparatus can use the setting value (e.g., a little more) corresponding to the setting information as the setting value for eliminating the above-mentioned contradictory relation, and perform corresponding control by using the setting value to eliminate the above-mentioned contradictory relation. Further, the items may be items corresponding to all the items belonging to the contradictory relation, and for example, the information processing apparatus may acquire setting information corresponding to the items corresponding to all the items belonging to the contradictory relation from the image forming apparatus, whereby when the contradictory relation is generated, the waiting time for communication with the image forming apparatus can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, when the corresponding control is performed according to the setting information, an automatic or manual mode may be adopted. For example, the information processing apparatus automatically uses the set value in the set information as the set value for canceling the contradictory relation, whereby the convenience of the contradictory relation canceling operation can be further improved. Or the information processing apparatus displays the setting information, and after receiving a determination instruction input by the user, uses the setting value in the setting information as the setting value for canceling the contradictory relation, thereby enabling the user to understand the content of the setting information and improving the reliability of the contradictory relation canceling operation.

In this embodiment, whether the control is performed in an automatic or manual manner, the method may further include the steps of: the setting information is displayed so that the user can learn the setting values employed. In addition, when the control is performed manually, a confirm button and a cancel button may be displayed in addition to the setting information; thus, the method may further comprise: and receiving a confirmation instruction input by the user. In this way, the reliability of the contradictory cancellation operation can be further improved.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a display screen of setting information according to embodiment 1 of the present invention. For example, taking an example of an contradictory relation between the item "toner save" and the item "print mode", in the case where the item "printer setting" and "picture" are in the contradictory relation, as shown in fig. 3, the information processing apparatus sets information 301 such as "toner save" acquired from the image forming apparatus: the setting information 301 includes an item "toner save" and a setting value "slightly more" corresponding to the item, and this is eliminated by replacing the setting value in the setting information with the option "printer setting" of the item "toner save" set by the user.

As shown in fig. 3, the display screen 300 may further display options 302 set by the user, or prompt information 303, where the prompt information 303 may include first prompt information 303a for prompting the contradictory relation between the options, so that the user can understand that the contradictory relation between the options set currently occurs, and user experience can be improved.

As shown in fig. 3, the prompt message 303 may further include a second prompt message 303 for prompting to use the set value of the set message to eliminate the contradiction. For example, the first hint information 303a displayed in the display screen 300 may be "the setting of toner saving competes with other settings"; in addition, the second presentation information 303b "is displayed, and in order to eliminate the competition, the setting needs to be changed as follows.

As shown in fig. 3, the display 300 may further include a ok button 304 and a cancel button 305. For example, as shown in fig. 3, the determination button 304 is a button for determining to perform corresponding control according to setting information acquired from the image forming apparatus; in this way, the user can confirm that the contradiction can be eliminated by using the appropriate setting value. The cancel button 305 is a button for canceling the corresponding control based on the setting information acquired from the image forming apparatus. Wherein the ok button 304 and the cancel button 305 are optional components.

While fig. 3 above illustrates only one way of displaying the setting information, it will be appreciated that the setting information may be displayed in other forms as well.

In this embodiment, before step 102, the method may further include the following steps (not shown in the figure): the information processing apparatus determines whether a relationship between options corresponding to the at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus set by a user is an contradictory relationship.

For example, the information processing apparatus may determine the contradiction relation based on the first information stored in advance, and determine that the options corresponding to the at least two items are the contradiction relation when the set options corresponding to the at least two items are included in the first information. The first information may be a set of items belonging to an contradictory relation, which may include all items belonging to the contradictory relation corresponding to the image forming apparatus, and for example, the first information may include items belonging to the contradictory relation of the items "print mode" and "toner save", items belonging to the contradictory relation of the items "resolution" and "toner save", items belonging to the contradictory relation of the items "print paper" and "paper type", items belonging to the contradictory relation of the items "print mode" and "paper type", and the like. The first information may be in the form of a list, as shown in table 1, which may be referred to as a restriction table.

Table 1: limiting table

Project name	Options
		Item 1	Option i
Item 2	Option j

As shown in table 1, item 1 contains n options, item 2 contains m options, wherein the options corresponding to item 1 and item 2 are option i and option j, respectively, and an contradictory relationship exists between option i and option j, wherein n and m are integers greater than or equal to 1, i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to n, and j is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to m. In step 402, in the case where the option of the 1 st item set by the user is "option i" and the option of the 2 nd item set by the user is "option j", it is determined that the option of the 1 st item set by the user and the option of the 2 nd item are in a contradictory relationship.

For example, in table 1, item 1 is "print mode", corresponding option i is "picture", item 2 is "toner save", and corresponding option j is "printer setting". In this way, in the case where the option "picture" corresponding to the print mode set by the user and the set toner saving corresponding option "printer setting" are determined, the option of the 1 st item and the option of the 2 nd item set by the user are included in this table 1, and the relationship between the options can be determined as the contradictory relationship.

In this embodiment, the method may further include: the step of acquiring setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items from the image forming apparatus (not shown in the figure) or the step of acquiring setting information corresponding to items corresponding to all items belonging to an contradictory relation from the image forming apparatus may acquire setting information corresponding to all items in table 1 from the image forming apparatus, for example, according to table 1 described above. Wherein the setting information is described above and will not be described here again. The specific obtaining method is shown in fig. 5, and is described below, and is not described here again.

In this embodiment, in step 102, before performing the corresponding control according to the acquired setting information, the method may further include: judging whether a set value (option) corresponding to an item in the acquired set information corresponding to at least one item in the at least two items has an contradictory relation with options of other items set by a user, and executing corresponding control if the contradictory relation does not exist. Here, the determination of the contradiction may be performed based on the first information described above, and for example, when the setting information is not included in the first information, it may be determined that the setting information is not in a contradiction with the options of other items set by the user. When the determination result indicates that the contradictory relation does not exist, the setting value corresponding to the item in the setting information is set as the setting value for eliminating the contradictory relation. For example, the information processing apparatus acquires setting information of "toner save, slightly more" from the image forming apparatus, and since "toner save, slightly more" does not exist in the first information as in table 1, there is no contradiction between "slightly more" of the acquired setting information and "picture" of the option "print mode" of the item ".

Fig. 4A is another schematic diagram of the information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4A, the information processing method has the steps of:

step 401: displaying a setting screen for a user to set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; step 401 is the same as step 101 in fig. 1, and the contents thereof are incorporated herein and are not described again.

Step 402: receiving options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming device, which are set by a user; the above options are set as described above, and the contents thereof are incorporated herein and will not be described in detail.

Step 403: judging whether the options set by the user have a contradictory relation or not; if the result of the determination in step 403 is yes, step 404 is executed, otherwise, the process is ended;

The contradictory relation may be determined in the manner described above, for example, whether the relation between the options set by the user is the contradictory relation is determined according to the first information stored in advance, and the content thereof is incorporated herein and will not be described herein.

Step 404: acquiring setting information from an image forming apparatus; the setting information may be acquired as described above, for example, setting information corresponding to at least one of the at least two items, or setting information corresponding to items corresponding to all items belonging to a contradictory relation may be acquired;

Step 405: judging whether a set value in the set information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items has an contradictory relation with options of other items set by a user; if the determination result in step 405 is yes, step 406 is executed, otherwise step 407 is executed;

The contradiction relationship may be determined in the manner described above, for example, whether there is a contradiction relationship between the set value in the setting information and the options of other items set by the user according to the first information stored in advance, and the content thereof is incorporated herein and will not be described herein.

Step 406: control is performed based on the setting information, for example, a setting value of the setting information corresponding to the at least one item acquired from the image forming apparatus is set as a setting value for eliminating the contradictory relation; as described above, the setting value in the setting information may be used as the setting value for eliminating the contradictory relation automatically or manually, and the content thereof is incorporated herein and will not be described herein.

Step 407: control is performed according to a default value, for example, the default value is taken as a set value for eliminating the contradictory relation; the manner of setting the setting value for eliminating the contradictory relation in step 407 may be similar to that of step 406, and the contents thereof are incorporated herein and will not be described again.

In the present embodiment, the execution order of the steps of the information processing method is not limited to this, and for example, step 404 may be executed before step 401 or step 402 or step 403, or may be executed while step 401 or step 402 or step 403 is executed. The setting information may be displayed after being acquired from the image forming apparatus, and the setting information may be displayed in the manner described above, and the contents thereof are incorporated herein and will not be described again.

Fig. 4B is another schematic diagram of the information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention. Fig. 4B is different from fig. 4A in that the execution order of step 404 "acquire setting information from the image forming apparatus" in fig. 4B is different from the execution order of the corresponding steps in fig. 4A. As shown in fig. 4B, step 404 may be performed between step 401 and step 402, wherein the information processing apparatus may also perform step 401 and step 404 simultaneously, for example, acquire setting information from the image forming apparatus while displaying a setting screen for a user to set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of a method for acquiring setting information according to embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 5, the setting information acquisition method includes:

step 501: establishing a communication connection with an image forming apparatus;

In the present embodiment, any one of communication connection may be established between the information processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus, for example, wireless communication or wired communication connection, and the present application is not particularly limited thereto.

Step 502: transmitting a request for acquiring setting information to the image forming apparatus;

Here, the information processing apparatus may execute step 502 at any timing when the setting information is used, for example, may execute step 502 while displaying a setting screen for a user to input options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus.

The request may include an item corresponding to the setting information, and the item may be at least one item of the at least two items set by the user based on the setting screen. Taking the above-described item "print mode" and item "toner save" as examples, the item "toner save" is included in the request, for example; after receiving the request, the image forming apparatus may read the setting value "slightly more" of the item "toner save" and transmit setting information including the item "toner save" and the setting value "slightly more" thereof to the information processing apparatus. However, the present application is not limited thereto, and the request may include items corresponding to all options belonging to the contradictory relation, and for example, the request may include items such as "print mode", "toner saving", "resolution", "print paper", "paper type", and the like.

Step 503: setting information transmitted from the image forming apparatus is received.

Wherein the information processing apparatus may receive the setting information transmitted from the image forming apparatus via the communication connection. For example, the information processing apparatus may receive "toner save" transmitted by the image forming apparatus: somewhat more information, as shown in fig. 3.

In addition, as shown in fig. 5, the setting information obtaining method may further include the following optional steps:

step 504: storing the received setting information; for example, the setting information may be stored in the third information first.

Wherein the third information may include a name of an "item" in the setting information and a set value of the item in the setting information. This third information may be in the form of a list, which may be referred to as a temporary table in this embodiment, as shown in table 2.

Table 2: temporary watch

Project name	Setting value
		Item 1	1 St set point

In one embodiment, the temporary table may store items corresponding to some of the options having an contradictory relationship and set values thereof. For example, as shown in table 2, item 1 is an item corresponding to one of the options having an contradictory relationship, and the 1 st setting value is a setting value of item 1 in the image forming apparatus. For example, the "toner save" is received at the information processing apparatus: in the case of setting information of "slightly more", the 1 st item may be "toner save", and the 1 st setting value may be "slightly more". In another embodiment, the temporary table may store items corresponding to all options having an contradictory relationship and setting values thereof. For example, when the items "print mode" and "toner save" corresponding to the image forming apparatus, the items "resolution" and "toner save", the items "print paper" and "paper type", and the items "print mode" and "paper type" belong to the contradictory relation, the items "print mode", "toner save", "resolution", "print paper", "paper type", and their corresponding set values may be stored in the temporary table.

Next, an information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention will be exemplarily described taking the above-described print mode and toner saving as an example. Fig. 6 is another schematic diagram of the information processing method of embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 6, the information processing method includes:

step 601: installing a printer driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus;

Step 602: establishing a communication connection with an image forming apparatus;

step 603: a setting screen for displaying options for a user to set items "print mode" and "toner save" corresponding to the image forming apparatus; for example, an item setting screen as shown in fig. 2 is displayed.

Step 604: transmitting a request for acquiring the setting information to the image forming apparatus, the request including all items stored in the above table 1, wherein the items include "toner save";

Step 605: receiving setting information sent by an image forming apparatus; for example, the image forming apparatus transmits setting information corresponding to the item in the request to the information processing apparatus, which receives the setting information, wherein the setting information includes "toner save: slightly more). The above-described steps 604 and 605 may be performed at any time after step 602 and before step 608.

Step 606: receiving options corresponding to the items 'printing mode' and 'toner saving' set by a user;

Step 607: judging whether options corresponding to the items 'print mode' and 'toner saving' set by a user are in a contradictory relation or not; if the determination in step 607 is yes, step 608 is executed, otherwise, the process ends.

For example, the contradiction relation is judged based on the first information shown in table 1, and when the print mode set by the user is "picture" and the toner saving is "printer setting", the contradiction relation is judged to occur.

In step 608, it is determined whether or not there is a contradictory relationship between the set value of the setting information and the options of other items set by the user, and if the determination result is that there is a contradictory relationship, step 609 is executed, otherwise step 610 is executed.

Wherein, can judge according to the following way:

For example, the information processing apparatus stores the setting information and uses the stored setting information as the third information. Wherein the third information may be in a form as shown in table 2.

The information processing apparatus generates fourth information. For example, the fourth information may be generated from the first information and the second information stored in advance. Wherein the second information may include all options of the item corresponding to the option having the contradictory relation. For example, the second information may be in the form of a list, as shown in table 3, which may be referred to as an option list.

Table 3: options list

As shown in table 3, there is a contradictory relation between a certain option of the 1 st item and a certain option of the 2 nd item, wherein the 1 st item has n options, the 2 nd item has m options, and all options of the 1 st item and all options of the 2 nd item are listed in the option table. Wherein n and m are integers of 1 or more. For example, item 1 may be item "print mode", and options 1-n may be "PCL" and "picture"; item 2 may be item "toner save", and option 1-option m may be "print connect setting", "OFF", "few", "slightly more" and "more".

Wherein the fourth information may include an option corresponding to at least one item capable of eliminating the contradictory relation. The fourth information may be generated based on the first information and the second information, for example, by removing the option corresponding to the 2 nd item of the first information from the option corresponding to the 2 nd item of the second information, the option corresponding to the 2 nd item capable of eliminating the contradictory relation may be obtained, and the obtained 2 nd item and the corresponding option may be used as the fourth information. For example, the fourth information may be in the form of a list, as shown in table 4, and this embodiment may be referred to as a cancel value temporary table.

Table 4: temporary table of elimination values

For example, the items of table 4 may be the items "toner save", and the options may be "OFF", "little", "slightly more", and "more".

The information processing apparatus determines whether the third information is included in the fourth information. If the third information is included in the fourth information, an contradiction is not satisfied between the option specifying the print mode set by the user and the setting information corresponding to the toner saving acquired from the image forming apparatus. For example, as shown in table 3, the current setting information of the toner saving of the image forming apparatus is "slightly more" which is included in the fourth information, whereby, in step 609, control can be performed based on the setting information to eliminate the contradictory relation. The control manner is as described above, and the content thereof is incorporated herein and will not be described in detail.

If the third information is not included in the fourth information, an contradiction is made between the option specifying the print mode set by the user and the setting information corresponding to the toner saving acquired from the image forming apparatus. For example, when the current setting information for saving toner in the image forming apparatus is "printer setting", the current setting information is not included in the fourth information, and thus the contradictory relation cannot be eliminated based on the setting information, and therefore, in step 610, control is performed based on a default value that is predetermined to eliminate the contradictory relation. Wherein the default value may be in the form as shown in table 5, according to table 5, the contradiction is made by setting the toner save to OFF.

Table 5: default value information

Project name	Value taking
		Toner savings	OFF

Example 2

Embodiment 2 of the present invention provides an information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus may be the information processing apparatus involved in the information processing method of embodiment 1.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of an information processing apparatus 700 of embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, the information processing apparatus 700 may include: a communication unit 701, a display unit 702, and a control unit 703.

Wherein the communication section 701 is for communicating with the image forming apparatus; the display unit 702 displays a setting screen for a user to set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; the control unit 703 is configured to control the display of the display unit 702, and when the relationship between the set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is a contradictory relationship, the control unit performs corresponding control based on the setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items acquired from the image forming apparatus.

In this embodiment, the information processing apparatus 700 may be any electronic device such as a computer or a mobile terminal, and the contents thereof are specifically incorporated herein as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail.

In this embodiment, a printer driver corresponding to an image forming apparatus can be installed in the information processing apparatus 700, and options of items related to the image forming apparatus can be set by the printer driver. However, the present application is not limited to this, and the information processing apparatus 700 may not be provided with a printer driver, and for example, may be provided with an option to set a corresponding item by registering a web page or the like corresponding to the image forming apparatus.

In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus may be any apparatus capable of performing an image forming task. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, the communication section 701 may communicate with the image forming apparatus by any communication method, for example, wireless communication or wired communication, and the present application is not particularly limited thereto. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In this embodiment, the display unit 702 may display a setting screen, and the user sets options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus according to the setting screen. The item may be any item that can be set by a user in the image forming apparatus. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In this embodiment, the fact that the relationship between the set options corresponding to the at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is a contradictory relationship means that the set options corresponding to the at least two items contradict each other, that is, the options corresponding to the at least two items cannot be set at the same time. The number of items for generating the contradictory relation may be two or three or more. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, the information processing apparatus 700 may further include: an operation unit 704 for setting options corresponding to the at least two items by a user based on the setting screen displayed on the display unit 702. The operation unit 704 may be a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a touch panel integrated in the display unit 702, or the like of the information processing apparatus.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, the information processing apparatus 700 may further include: an operation unit 704 for setting options corresponding to the at least two items by a user based on the setting screen displayed on the display unit 702. The operation unit 704 may be a keyboard, a microphone, a touch panel integrated in the display unit 702, or the like of the information processing apparatus.

In the present embodiment, the control unit 703 may be, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), which may include a microprocessor or other processor device and/or logic device, and the control unit 703 may receive input information and control operations of the respective components of the information processing apparatus 700, and the control unit 703 may also perform various arithmetic processing.

In the present embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, the information processing apparatus 700 may further include: the storage section 705, which may be, for example, one or more of a buffer, a flash memory, a hard drive, a removable medium, a volatile memory, a nonvolatile memory, or other suitable devices, may store data related to the information processing apparatus 700, and may store a program for executing the related information. And the control section 703 may execute a program stored in the storage section 705 to realize information storage, processing, or the like.

The storage section 705 may be a solid state memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random Access Memory (RAM), SIM card, or the like. But also a memory which holds information even when powered down, can be selectively erased and provided with further data, an example of which is sometimes referred to as EPROM or the like. The storage 705 may also be some other type of device. The storage section 705 may include a buffer memory (sometimes referred to as a buffer). The storage section 705 may include an application/function storage section for storing application programs and function programs or a flow for executing operations of the information processing apparatus 700 by the control section 703.

The storage section 705 may further include a data storage section for storing data such as data of the first information, the second information, the third information, the fourth information, the default value information, and the like as described in embodiment 1. The driver storage section of the storage section 705 may include various drivers for the image forming apparatus for a communication function and/or for performing other functions of the image forming apparatus.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a control section according to embodiment 2 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 8, the control section 703 may include: the display control unit 7031, the setting information acquisition unit 7032, the contradiction processing unit 7033, the operation control unit 7034, and the determination unit 7035.

In the present embodiment, the contradictory relation processing section 7033 in the control section 703 may use a set value corresponding to the setting information as a set value for eliminating the contradictory relation; and the control section 703 may perform corresponding control based on the setting information including: the contradictory relation processing unit 7033 of the control unit 703 eliminates the contradictory relation based on the set value. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, the setting information acquiring unit 7032 in the control unit 703 may be configured to control the communication unit 701 to receive the setting information from the image forming apparatus. Further, the communication unit 701 may be controlled to establish a communication connection with the image forming apparatus, transmit a request for setting information, and the like. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, the setting information acquiring unit 7032 in the control unit 703 may also be configured to control the communication unit 701 to transmit a request for acquiring setting information to the image forming apparatus, wherein the request is transmitted to the image forming apparatus when the display unit 702 displays a setting screen, and the setting information acquiring unit 7032 in the control unit 703 controls the communication unit 701 to receive the setting information transmitted by the image forming apparatus based on the request. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, the operation control unit 7034 in the control unit 703 may be used to control the operation unit 704, for example, to control the operation unit 704 to receive an option for the user to set the at least two items according to the setting screen displayed on the display unit 702. Further, the operation section 704 may be controlled to receive a determination instruction or a cancel instruction input by the user. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In this embodiment, the display control portion 7031 in the control portion 703 may be used to control the display of the display portion 702, for example, the display control portion 7031 may control the display portion 702 to display a setting screen for a user to set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; after receiving the setting information from the image forming apparatus, the display control portion 7031 may control the display portion 702 to display the setting information, and may control the display portion 702 to display options set by the user and/or first presentation information and/or second presentation information. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, the at least two items set by the user may include a toner save item (which may also be referred to as item 2) corresponding to an ink save mode of the image forming apparatus and a print mode item (which may also be referred to as item 1) corresponding to a print language of the image forming apparatus. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, the storage unit 705 may be configured to store first information including a value corresponding to the 1 st item and a value corresponding to the 2 nd item satisfying a contradictory relationship, and the determination unit 7035 of the control unit 703 may determine that the relationship between the options corresponding to the 1 st item and the 2 nd item is a contradictory relationship when the set option corresponding to the 1 st item and the option corresponding to the 2 nd item are included in the first information. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

In the present embodiment, when the setting information corresponding to the 1 st item and/or the 2 nd item acquired from the image forming apparatus is not included in the first information, the contradictory processing unit 7033 of the control unit 703 sets the setting value of the setting information corresponding to the 1 st item as the setting value of the 1 st item and/or sets the setting value of the setting information corresponding to the 2 nd item as the setting value of the 2 nd item. The details of the method are as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail herein.

The following exemplarily illustrates the operation flow of the information processing apparatus 700. The information processing apparatus 700 can perform information processing according to the information processing method shown in fig. 1, 4 to 6. For example, the display unit 702 displays a setting screen for a user to set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; the operation unit 704 receives options set by a user and corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; the control unit 703 determines whether or not there is a contradiction between options set by the user; if the determination result is yes, the communication unit 701 may acquire setting information from the image forming apparatus, the setting information being set information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items, or set information corresponding to items corresponding to all items belonging to the contradictory relation; the control unit 703 determines whether or not a set value in the setting information corresponding to at least one of the at least two items has an contradictory relation with options of another item set by the user; if the determination result is negative, the control unit 703 controls the operation based on the setting information, and if the determination result is positive, the control unit 703 controls the operation based on a default value.

Example 3

Embodiment 3 of the present invention provides an information processing system. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of an information processing system of embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 9, the information processing system includes an image forming apparatus 901 and an information processing apparatus 902, wherein the image forming apparatus 901 may be the image forming apparatus involved in the information processing method of embodiment 1 or the image forming apparatus involved in embodiment 2; the information processing apparatus 902 may be the information processing apparatus according to the information processing method of embodiment 1, or may be the information processing apparatus 700 described in embodiment 2.

As shown in fig. 9, in the information processing system 900, one information processing apparatus 902 can establish a communication connection with one or more image forming apparatuses 901, and one image forming apparatus 901 can also establish a communication connection with one or more information processing apparatuses 902.

Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram of the workflow of the information processing system 900 of embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in fig. 10, the workflow of the information handling system 900 may include:

step 1001: the information processing apparatus 902 transmits a request to establish a communication connection to the image forming apparatus 901; any communication connection may be established between the information processing apparatus 902 and the image forming apparatus 901, and the content thereof is specifically described in embodiment 1 and is not described herein.

Step 1002: the image forming apparatus 901 transmits a communication connection establishment response to the information processing apparatus 902, whereby a communication connection can be established between the image forming apparatus 901 and the information processing apparatus 902.

Step 1003: the information processing apparatus 902 displays a setting screen for the user to set options corresponding to at least two items of the image forming apparatus 901, and the contents thereof are specifically incorporated herein as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail.

Step 1004: the information processing apparatus 902 transmits a setting information request to the image forming apparatus 901, and the contents thereof are specifically incorporated herein as described in embodiment 1, and will not be described in detail.

Step 1005: the image forming apparatus 901 transmits the setting information to the information processing apparatus 902 according to the received setting information request, and the contents thereof are incorporated herein as described in embodiment 1, and will not be described again.

Step 1006: the information processing apparatus 902 stores the received setting information in the temporary table, and specifically, as described in embodiment 1, the contents thereof are incorporated herein, and will not be described again.

Wherein steps 1004 through 1006 may be performed at any time after step 1002 and before step 1008.

Step 1007: the information processing apparatus 902 determines whether the relationship between the options corresponding to the at least two items set by the user is an contradictory relationship, which is specifically described in embodiment 1, and the content thereof is incorporated herein and will not be described again.

Step 1008: the information processing apparatus 902 performs corresponding control according to the setting information in the temporary table, and the contents thereof are specifically incorporated herein as described in embodiment 1, and are not described in detail.

Thus, the contradictory relation can be appropriately eliminated, and the convenience of the contradictory relation elimination operation can be improved.

As shown in fig. 10, the workflow of the information handling system 900 may further include:

Step 1009: the information processing apparatus 902 transmits the setting values corresponding to the at least two setting items from which the contradictory relation is eliminated to the image forming apparatus 901. Thus, when the image forming apparatus 901 receives an image forming job, the corresponding image forming job can be executed according to the set value.

The above apparatus and method of the present invention may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware in combination with software. The present invention relates to a computer readable program which, when executed by a logic means, enables the logic means to carry out the apparatus or constituent means described above, or enables the logic means to carry out the various methods or steps described above. The present invention also relates to a storage medium such as a hard disk, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a DVD, a flash memory, or the like for storing the above program.

The methods/apparatus described in connection with the embodiments of the invention may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. For example, one or more of the functional blocks shown in FIGS. 7-8 and/or one or more combinations of the functional blocks may correspond to individual software modules or individual hardware modules of a computer program flow. These software modules may correspond to the individual steps shown in fig. 1, 4-6, respectively. These hardware modules may be implemented, for example, by solidifying the software modules using a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).

A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. A storage medium may be coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium; or the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The software modules may be stored in the memory of the mobile terminal or in a memory card that is insertable into the mobile terminal. For example, if the information processing apparatus employs a MEGA-SIM card of a large capacity or a flash memory device of a large capacity, the software module may be stored in the MEGA-SIM card or the flash memory device of a large capacity.

One or more of the functional blocks described in the figures and/or one or more combinations of functional blocks may be implemented as a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any suitable combination thereof for use in performing the functions described herein. One or more of the functional blocks described with respect to the figures and/or one or more combinations of functional blocks may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP communication, or any other such configuration.

While the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the description is intended to be illustrative and not limiting in scope. Various modifications and alterations of this invention will occur to those skilled in the art in light of the principles of this invention, and such modifications and alterations are also within the scope of this invention.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, characterized in that the information processing apparatus has:

a communication section for communicating with the image forming apparatus;

A display unit configured to display a setting screen on which a user sets options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus;

a control unit for controlling the display of the display unit;

and when the relation between the set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is a contradictory relation, acquiring setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items from the image forming apparatus, and controlling according to the setting information when the acquired setting information does not satisfy the contradictory relation with the options corresponding to other items set by a user.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the information processing apparatus further comprises:

And an operation unit for setting options corresponding to the at least two items by a user according to the setting screen displayed on the display unit.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control section regards a set value corresponding to the set information as a set value for eliminating the contradictory relation;

And the control section performs corresponding control according to the setting information, including: the control unit controls the control unit based on the set value.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control section is further configured to control the communication section to receive the setting information from the image forming apparatus.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control section is further configured to control the communication section to transmit a request to acquire the setting information to the image forming apparatus, wherein the request is transmitted to the image forming apparatus when the display section displays the setting screen;

the control section controls the communication section to receive setting information transmitted by the image forming apparatus based on the request.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control section controls the display section to display the setting information.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the information processing apparatus further comprises:

A storage section for storing first information including options corresponding to the at least 2 items belonging to an contradictory relation;

and the control unit determines that the relationship between the set options corresponding to the at least 2 items is an contradictory relationship when the set options corresponding to the at least 2 items are included in the first information.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein,

The control unit sets, as a setting value for eliminating the contradictory relation, a setting value of setting information corresponding to at least 1 item among the at least 2 items, when the setting information corresponding to at least 1 item among the at least 2 items acquired from the image forming apparatus is not included in the first information.

9. An information processing method, characterized in that the information processing method comprises:

displaying a setting screen for a user to set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus; and

When the relation between the set options corresponding to at least two items corresponding to the image forming apparatus is a contradictory relation, setting information corresponding to at least one item of the at least two items is acquired from the image forming apparatus, and when the acquired setting information does not satisfy the contradictory relation with the options corresponding to other items set by the user, control is performed based on the setting information.

10. An information processing system, characterized in that the information processing system comprises:

An image forming apparatus; and

The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8.