JP2003303077A - Remote print system, printer registration method, recording medium and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To permit printer registration by a client's remote operation, to eliminate the cumbersomeness of construction of a printer port, and setting of a communication protocol and to facilitate the management of a printer object, in a remote print system. <P>SOLUTION: A Web server is provided with a client instruction analysis means 201, a printer retrieval means 202 and a client display data generation means 203, and further a port construction means 204, a driver installation means 205 and a printer configuration information acquisition/setting means 206. In addition, by an operation by a user having an administrator's privilege, users capable of making printer registration can be restricted. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote print system, a printer registration method, a recording medium, and a program that use a client terminal, a server, and a printer connected to a network to provide a print service in response to a user's request.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a remote print system that prints by a printer connected to a Web server in response to a request from a client, printer devices that the client can use for printing are limited to those installed in advance in the server. .

In order to add a device that can be used in this system, a driver corresponding to the device must be installed by operating the server. At the same time, a port corresponding to the device must be created and its communication protocol must be set.

[0004]

However, as the network environment becomes widespread, the conventional procedure is as follows.
As described above, since it is necessary to construct a port and set a communication protocol by operating the server, port management becomes complicated, which is a big problem.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention allows a printer driver to be installed without a complicated server operation, and in that case, a printer object can be easily managed by a remote print system and a printer registration method. , A recording medium and a program are provided.

[0006]

In a remote print system of the present invention, a client terminal, a server and a printer are connected to a network, and a document stored in the server is printed in response to an instruction from the client terminal. In the remote print system, the server includes a user authentication unit that authenticates the user identification information notified by the client terminal as an access start unit,
As a result of the authentication, when the client terminal has the authority of the administrator, it is provided with control means for controlling to return the browse page information for which printer registration can be set to the client terminal.

Further, in the remote print system of the present invention, the server has a client instruction analyzing means for discriminating an instruction from a client terminal, and a result of the discrimination,
When the instruction from the client terminal is a printer search instruction, printer search means for searching for a printer connected to the specified subnet, and information obtained by the search are formed into a list, and the browse page is displayed. It is characterized by comprising a client display data creating means for notifying the client terminal as information.

Further, in the remote print system of the present invention, when the server judges by the client instruction analysis means that the instruction from the client terminal is the printer registration instruction, the server constructs the port of the designated printer. , Port construction means for setting the communication protocol of the port, driver installation means for installing the driver of the printer specified by the client terminal, and obtaining the configuration information of the printer and installing this configuration information for the installed driver. It is characterized by comprising printer configuration information acquisition / setting means for recording in a printer object.

Further, the printer registration method of the present invention uses a client terminal, a server and a printer connected to a network to print a document stored in the server according to an instruction from the client terminal,
A user authentication step in which the server authenticates the user identification information notified by the client terminal as an access start means, and as a result of the authentication, if the client terminal has the authority of an administrator, a printer registration setting can be set. A control step of controlling the page information to be returned to the client terminal.

Further, in the printer registration method of the present invention, a client instruction analysis step of discriminating an instruction from a client terminal, and as a result of the discrimination, if the instruction from the client terminal is a printer search instruction, an instruction is issued. A printer search step of searching for a printer connected to the subnet; and a client display data creation step of forming a list of the information obtained by the search and notifying the client terminal as the browse page information. And

Further, in the printer registration method of the present invention, when the client instruction analysis unit determines that the instruction from the client terminal is a printer registration instruction, the port of the designated printer is constructed and the port is established. Port setting step for setting the communication protocol of the printer, a driver installation step for installing the driver of the printer specified by the client terminal, a printer configuration information is acquired, and the configuration information of the printer is obtained from the printer object of the installed driver. The printer configuration information recording / recording step is included.

Further, the recording medium of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the remote printing system is recorded.

Further, the recording medium of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium characterized in that a program for causing a computer to execute each procedure of the printer registration method is recorded.

The program of the present invention causes a computer to function as each unit of the remote print system.

Further, the program of the present invention causes a computer to execute each procedure of the printer registration method.

According to the present invention, the user of the client terminal can remotely install a printer desired to print on the server. Moreover, the printer
Since the server side automatically configures the ports and sets the communication protocol, it is possible to eliminate the hassle of installation. In addition, since the user who has the authority of the administrator can restrict the user who can register the printer, it is possible to prevent the printer object from being increased in a chaotic manner by the registration operation of a large number of users and to manage the printer object easily. Can be done.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a network configuration of a remote print system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This remote print system includes a client terminal 101 in which a browser is installed, a printer B 102 and a printer C 103, and a Web server (server) 104.
Are connected to the network, and the printer B 102 and the printer C 103 are connected to the Web server 104 in a different subnet.

In this system, the Web server 104 searches for the printers 102 and 103 in the designated network according to the search instruction from the browser. The user finds the printers 102, 10 found by this search.
The printer to be used is selected from among 3 and the document stored in the Web server 104 is printed.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the Web server 104. In the figure, 201 is a client terminal 1
Client instruction analysis means for determining the instruction from 01,
Reference numeral 202 denotes a printer search unit that searches for the printers 102 and 103 based on an instruction from the client terminal 101.
Reference numeral 203 denotes a client display data creating means for creating a printer list to be displayed on the client terminal 101 side from the search result, 204 denotes a port building means for creating a port for installing a printer driver, 20
5 is a driver that installs the printer driver
An installation unit 206 is a printer configuration information acquisition / setting unit that acquires information on the functions of the printer.

Next, the operation of the Web server 104 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure of the Web server 104. The web server 104 is
When receiving any instruction from the client terminal 101,
The client instruction analysis unit 201 determines the instruction. If this instruction is a printer search instruction, the search for the printers 102 and 103 is started (step S101).

FIG. 4 shows the printer 1 in the Web server 104.
2 is a display screen of the client terminal 101 for issuing a search instruction of 02, 103. The user selects from the drop down list the address of the subnet on which to search for the printers 102 and 103 on this screen, and
Press the "T" button. At the timing of pressing this button,
The search instruction is notified to the Web server 104.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing how the search instruction notified from the client terminal 101 passes through the network. The search instruction from the browser first reaches the Web server 104. The web server 104 is
The printer search means 202 broadcasts to a designated subnet address by a communication protocol predetermined to the subnet. Then, the broadcast of this communication protocol reaches the designated subnet via the Router / Gateway 105 as shown in the figure, and searches for all the printers 102 and 103 connected to the subnet,
Information necessary for creating a port and installing a driver, such as a device IP address, is acquired (step S102).

After the printers 102 and 103 are searched in this manner, these pieces of information are sent to the client terminal 10
In order to notify 1 to 1, the client display data creation means 203 creates a list of data, creates HTML-format display data (also referred to as browsing page information) that can be browsed by the Web browser of the client terminal, and transfers it to the client terminal 101. To do. FIG. 6 shows the printer 102, 1.
13 is a screen of the client terminal 101 displaying a list of search results of No. 03. This screen shows the IP addresses of all the printers 102, 103 connected to the specified subnet, and the printers 102, 1 for the server.
Information indicating whether 03 is already installed,
Information indicating whether or not the printer is supported by the Web system is displayed.

From this list, the user selects a printer that the Web system supports. Here, if the selected printer is not installed in the Web server 104, installation is performed.
Check the Select check box of the list item of the selected printer, and press the "NEXT" button (step S103). Thereby, the Web server 1
The printer registration instruction is notified to the printer 04, and after the client instruction analysis unit 201 determines the instruction, installation of the printer selected by the user on the Web server 104 is started.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of information in the Web server 104 to explain this driver installation step. The installation is performed from the client terminal 101 via
This is performed using the information of the IP address and printer name of the printer notified to the server 104.

First, the driver group 30 in which the drivers of the corresponding printer 301 are stored in the Web server 104.
It is acquired from step 2 (step S104). Next, a printer port is created and a communication protocol for that port is set. The driver is installed in association with this port, and finally collected in the printer object 303. Here, in the remote printing system according to this embodiment, these steps are performed by the resident remote printer process 305.

That is, the authority of the administrator is required to install the driver. However, IIS process 3 which is Web server software
04 runs in the Guest process, so it cannot be installed. Therefore, it operates under the local system authority that can access local resources with administrator authority, and requests the resident remote printer process 305 for installation. Upon receiving the request, the process 305 creates the printer port and installs the driver.

After that, the remote printer process 305 obtains the configuration information of the device.
Inquiries about what functions the printer 301 is equipped with via the network. For example, if the printer 301 is equipped with a finisher and information such as stapling and punching holes can be used,
The functions available in the device are recorded in the printer object 303 of the driver that has been installed (step S106).

The configuration information of this device is stored in the Web when setting the print format on the client terminal 101 side.
It is acquired by the server 104 by inquiring the printer object, and is used to display only the items that can be set on the printer device on the client terminal 101. As a result, the user can issue a print instruction according to the device configuration information, and can perform the expected printing on the printer 301 immediately after the installation on the server.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the user operates the printer 301 desired to print by remote operation on the Web.
It can be installed on the server 104. Moreover, since the construction of the printer port and the setting of the communication protocol are automatically performed on the Web server 104 side, the troublesomeness at the time of installation can be eliminated.

However, if the printer registration permission is given to all the users, the printer objects in the server increase in a chaotic manner, which causes pressure on the server resources. Therefore, the remote print system according to this embodiment limits the users who can register the printer as follows.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an authentication step of a user who is going to register a printer, and FIG. 9 is a screen of a client terminal displaying a list of cabinets set in the Web server 104 before login. Here, in the Web server 104, all the users who can use this system are registered in advance in the user management utility of the server, and the supervisor user is given the authority of the administrator.

First, the user who wants to register the printer double-clicks an arbitrary cabinet from the list shown in FIG. As a result, a login dialog is displayed, and the user name is entered in this dialog (step S201).

Web server 104 to which the user name is input
Checks whether the user is registered in the server (step S202), and if the user is registered, checks whether the supervisor (administrator) is authorized (step S203).
If the user is a supervisor user, then Private = 1 is stored as information that the session is a user who has the authority of the administrator. If the user is not a supervisor user, then Private = 0 is stored as information indicating that there is no administrator authority (step S204).

Next, it is controlled whether or not the remote print function can be executed based on the information thus saved by the login processing and the remote print environment setting state. Figure 10
Is a remote print configuration screen, which can be operated only when the user is authenticated as a supervisor user. That is, when the server determines that the client terminal that requested the access has the authority of the supervisor, the server should generate the display data (browsing page information) that is this screen and send it to the client terminal. Control.

On the remote print environment setting screen,
If the supervisor user has set “Register printer to server” at the bottom of the screen to “Registration possible only by system administrator”, the process of step S204 is performed by the private user.
The printer registration function can be accessed only when image = 1 is saved. If "all users can register" is set in the process of step S204, Privilege = 0 and Privilege = 1.
Whichever is stored, the printer registration function can be accessed. If it is determined that the printer registration function cannot be accessed, the "printer registration" button at the top of the screen is not displayed.

That is, the user who can register the printer can be restricted by the operation of the supervisor user. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the printer objects from increasing in a chaotic manner due to the registration operation of a large number of users, and to easily manage the printer objects.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the browser is used as the application of the client terminal 101, but a normal application may be used. In this case, the server
b. By implementing a resident program such as a service instead of the server, the communication path between the client and the server can be secured. The installed program can be requested to the remote print process of the server by the inter-process communication from the implemented program.

Further, each function and printer registration method constituting the remote print system according to the above-described embodiment can be realized by operating a program stored in the RAM or ROM of the computer. This program and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program are included in the embodiments of the present invention.

Specifically, the program is, for example, a CD
-Recorded in a recording medium such as a ROM, or provided to a computer via various transmission media. As the recording medium for recording the program, a flexible disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, a magneto-optical disk, a non-volatile memory card, or the like can be used in addition to the CD-ROM. On the other hand, as a transmission medium of the above-mentioned program, a communication medium (a wired line such as an optical fiber or the like) in a computer network (LAN, WAN such as the Internet, a wireless communication network, etc.) system for propagating and supplying the program information as a carrier wave. Wireless line) can be used.

Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the supplied program, but also the OS (operating system) or other application software running the program on the computer. In the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized in cooperation with the above, or all or part of the processing of the supplied program is performed by the function expansion board or function expansion unit of the computer, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized. However, such a program is also included in the embodiment of the present invention.

For example, FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the internal structure of a general personal user terminal device. This Figure 1
In 1, the reference numeral 1200 is a computer (PC).
The PC 1200 has a CPU 1201 and a ROM 120.
2 or a hard disk (HD) 1211 or a flexible disk drive (FD) 1
The device control software supplied from 212 is executed to comprehensively control each device connected to the system bus 1204.

[0044]

According to the present invention, in the remote print system, the Web server includes a client instruction analysis unit, a printer search unit, a client display data creation unit, a port construction unit, a driver installation unit, and a printer configuration. Since the information acquisition / setting unit is provided, the client can install the printer desired to print by remote operation in the server. Moreover, since the printer port construction and the communication protocol setting are automatically performed on the server side, the troublesomeness at the time of installation can be eliminated.

Furthermore, since the user who can register the printer can be restricted by the operation of the user who has the authority of the administrator, it is possible to prevent the printer object from being increased in a chaotic manner by the registration operation of a large number of users. It can be easily managed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a network configuration of a remote print system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a Web server in the remote print system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure from printer search to printer driver installation in the remote print system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an image diagram showing a display screen of a client terminal for issuing a printer search instruction to a Web server in the remote print system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a route of a search instruction transmitted from a browser in the remote print system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an image diagram showing a display screen of a client terminal in which a list of printer search results is displayed in the remote print system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a flow of information in the Web server for explaining a driver installation step in the remote print system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an authentication step of a user who attempts printer registration in the remote printing system according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an image diagram showing a screen of a client terminal displaying a list of cabinets set in the server before login in the remote print system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an image diagram showing a remote print environment setting screen that can be operated only when the user is authenticated as a supervisor user in the remote print system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing an internal configuration of a general personal user terminal device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 client terminal 102 Printer B 103 Printer C 104 Web server (server) 105 Router / Gateway 201 Client instruction analysis means 202 printer search means 203 Client display data creation means 204 Port construction means 205 Driver installation means 206 printer configuration information acquisition / setting means 301 printer 302 driver group 303 Printer Object 304 IIS process 305 Remote Printer Process

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A remote print system, comprising a client terminal, a server and a printer connected to a network, for printing a document stored in the server according to an instruction from the client terminal, wherein the server comprises: A user authenticating unit that authenticates the user identification information notified by the client terminal as an access starting unit, and, as a result of the authentication, if the client terminal has the authority of the administrator, the browsing page information that can be set for printer registration is provided to the client. A remote printing system, comprising: a control unit that controls the terminal to return it. 2. The server is connected to the instructed subnet when the instruction from the client terminal is an instruction analysis unit that determines the instruction from the client terminal, and if the instruction from the client terminal is a printer search instruction. 2. A printer search means for searching for a printer that is present, and a client display data creation means for shaping the information obtained by the search into a list and notifying the client terminal as the browse page information. The remote printing system described. 3. The server constructs the port of the designated printer when the instruction from the client terminal is the printer registration instruction as a result of the discrimination by the client instruction analysis means, and sets the communication protocol of the port. Port constructing means for setting, driver installing means for installing the driver of the printer specified by the client terminal, and printer for acquiring the configuration information of the printer and recording the configuration information in the printer object of the installed driver 3. The remote print system according to claim 2, further comprising a configuration information acquisition / setting unit. 4. When a client terminal, a server and a printer connected to a network are used to print a document stored in the server in response to an instruction from the client terminal, the server starts access by the client terminal. A user authentication step of authenticating the user identification information notified as means, and as a result of the authentication, if the client terminal has the authority of the administrator, to send back browsing page information capable of setting printer registration to the client terminal. A printer registration method comprising: a control step of controlling. 5. A client instruction analysis step of determining an instruction from a client terminal, and when the result of the determination is that the instruction from the client terminal is a printer search instruction, a printer connected to the instructed subnet 5. The printer according to claim 4, further comprising: a printer search step of performing a search; and a client display data creation step of forming a list of information obtained by the search and notifying the client terminal as the browse page information. How to register. 6. If the result of the discrimination by the client instruction analysis means is that the instruction from the client terminal is a printer registration instruction, a port of the designated printer is constructed and a communication protocol of the port is established. A step of installing a driver of a printer designated by the client terminal; a step of acquiring printer configuration information; and recording the configuration information in a printer object of the installed driver. 6. The printer registration method according to claim 5, further comprising a setting step. 7. When printing a document stored in the server according to an instruction from the client terminal using a client terminal, a server and a printer connected to a network, the client terminal notifies as access start means. A user authentication step of authenticating user identification information, and a control step of controlling to return to the client terminal browsing page information capable of setting printer registration when the client terminal has administrator authority as a result of the authentication. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute is recorded. 8. When printing a document stored in the server in accordance with an instruction from the client terminal using a client terminal, a server and a printer connected to a network, the client terminal notifies as access start means. A user authentication step of authenticating user identification information, and a control step of controlling to return to the client terminal browsing page information capable of setting printer registration when the client terminal has administrator authority as a result of the authentication. A program for causing a computer to execute and.