JP2004005015A - Search method, search program and information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the time needed for a search process in searching the equipment connected to a network. <P>SOLUTION: Search data for searching for the equipment are transmitted to the network and response data to the search data are received from the network to search for the equipment. Further, it is made possible to set the number of response data received, so that when the number of response data received has reached or exceeded the set number, reception of the response data is terminated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a search method for searching for network devices (network devices) connected to a network, and a system, apparatus, and program for performing the search.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a device search method in a conventional network device management system, device search is performed using a network management protocol. For example, in the case of using a simple network management protocol (commonly known as SNMP; abbreviation for Simple Network Management Protocol), first, a computer sends an SNMP Get-request to a specified IP (Internet Protocol) address or an IP broadcast address. Send a command. On the other hand, the network device receives this and responds with a Get-response command. Then, the computer can specify from which network device a response has been received by extracting the address information accompanying the Get-response command. This makes it possible to search for a network device and find a network device currently connected to the network (obtain address information of the network device).
[0003]
Further, when the search time can be specified by the user, the search time is set as the time to wait for a response, and information on the network device that has responded within the search time is displayed as a search result.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above conventional example, the search process is not completed until the search time expires. Therefore, even when a user (such as a network administrator) knows the number of network devices connected to the network, the user must wait for the search time to expire. For example, the number of network devices is small, and the user must wait for the search time to elapse, even though the original search ends when a response corresponding to the number of network devices is returned. There was a risk that the response would be poor.
[0005]
In addition, when diverting search results to set the use of devices, it is better not to display information on devices that have already been set, even if they have been found in the search. Ease of use is improved. However, when the search function of the conventional device is used as it is, the search result has to be displayed as it is.
[0006]
Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and by reducing the search waiting time and hiding the device information unnecessary for the user, the processing efficiency of the user is improved. It is an object to provide an easy-to-use search method, or a system, an apparatus, and a program for executing the search method.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the present invention, search data for searching for a device is transmitted to a network, response data for the search data is received from the network, reception is performed, and a device search is performed. By allowing the number of data to be set, when the number of received response data reaches a set number or exceeds a set number, the reception of the response data is terminated. I do.
[0008]
Further, a search range can be set, and search data is transmitted to a network address belonging to the set search range.
[0009]
When the number of received response data reaches a set number or exceeds a set number, the acquired device information is displayed.
[0010]
Also, a condition for specifying a device to be displayed or a condition for specifying the type of device information to be displayed can be set, and the device information is displayed according to the set condition.
[0011]
Further, a range of a network address can be set, and only device information relating to a device having a network address belonging to the set range is displayed.
[0012]
Also, the device information about the device registered in the management server that manages the device connected to the network is obtained, and the device information obtained by the search is compared with the device information obtained from the management server. It is characterized by displaying only device information on devices not registered in the management server.
[0013]
Also, it is possible to search for a management server, display server information relating to the management server detected by the search, and obtain device information from a management server selected by the user among the displayed management servers. Features.
[0014]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment suitable for applying the present invention will be described.
[0015]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system to which the present invention can be applied. It is assumed that one or a plurality of client computers in this system are connected.
[0016]
In FIG. 1, reference numerals 102, 103, and 104 denote information processing apparatuses as client computers (clients). These client computers are connected to the network 106 by a network cable such as Ethernet (registered trademark), and can execute various programs such as application programs. Further, a printer driver having a function of converting print data into a printer language corresponding to the printer is installed. It is assumed that the printer driver supports a plurality of printers or a plurality of printer languages.
[0017]
As the printer, various types of printing apparatuses such as a laser beam printer using an electrophotographic system, an ink jet printer using an ink jet system, and a printer using a thermal transfer system are assumed.
[0018]
101 is an information processing device as a server computer. The server computer 101 is connected to the network 106 by a network cable, accumulates files shared on the network, and monitors and manages the use state of the network 106 or network devices connected to the network 106.
[0019]
The client computers 102 to 104 and the server computer 101 are general information processing apparatuses, and the client computer and the server computer store print control programs for performing different controls, respectively.
[0020]
The server computer 101 is a general information processing apparatus, and can have the functions of the client computers 102 to 104 at the same time.
[0021]
The server computer 101 in this embodiment further stores a print job including print data for which a print request has been issued from the client computers 102, 103, and 104, and transfers the print job to a printer. Alternatively, it receives only print job information that does not include print data from the client computers 102, 103, and 104, manages the printing order among the client computers 102, 103, and 104, and Notification of transmission permission of a print job including print data is given. Further, a function for acquiring various information such as information on the status of the network printers 105A to 105C and information on print jobs held in the network printers 105A to 105C and notifying the client computers 102, 103, and 104 is provided. I have.
[0022]
105A to 105C are network printers as an example of network devices. The network device is a device that can be connected to the network 106 via a network interface. In addition to a network printer, there are a copier, a facsimile device, a scanner, a home appliance, and the like. Each of the network printers 105A to 105C receives and analyzes a print job including print data transmitted from a client computer, generates dot image data for each page, and generates dot image data for each page based on the dot image data. To print on recording paper.
[0023]
A network 106 communicably connects the client computers 102, 103, 104, the server computer 101, the network printers 105A to 105C, and the like.
[0024]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the client computers 102, 103, and 104 have the same configuration, and the server computer 101 has a similar or equivalent hardware configuration.
[0025]
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 200 denotes a CPU that is a control unit of the information processing apparatus, and executes an application program, a printer driver program, an OS, a network printer control program of the present invention, and the like stored in a hard disk (HD) 205. Control is performed to temporarily store information, files, and the like necessary for executing the program in the RAM 202.
[0026]
Reference numeral 201 denotes a ROM serving as a storage unit, which internally stores programs such as a basic I / O program and various data such as font data and template data used in document processing. Reference numeral 202 denotes a RAM as a temporary storage unit, which functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 200.
[0027]
Reference numeral 203 denotes a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD) drive as a storage medium reading unit, which stores programs and the like stored in an FD (floppy (R) disk) 204 as a storage medium, as shown in FIG. Can be loaded into the device. The storage medium is not limited to the FD, but may be a CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, PC card, DVD, IC memory card, MO, memory stick, or the like.
[0028]
Reference numeral 204 denotes a floppy (R) disk (FD) as a storage medium, which is a storage medium storing a computer-readable program.
[0029]
A hard disk (HD) 205 is one of the external storage units and functions as a large-capacity memory. The hard disk 205 stores an application program, a printer driver program, an OS, a network printer control program, related programs, and the like. Further, a storage area of a spooler as a spool means is secured here.
[0030]
The spool means is a client spooler in a client computer, and is a server spooler in a server computer. In the server computer, a table for storing the job information received from the client computer and controlling the order is also stored in the external storage means.
[0031]
Reference numeral 206 denotes a keyboard as an instruction input unit, which is used by a user to input a command of a device control command to a client computer, and an operator or an administrator to input a command to a server computer.
[0032]
A display 207 displays a command input from the keyboard 206, a printer status, and the like.
[0033]
Reference numeral 208 denotes a system bus that controls the flow of data in a computer that is a client computer or a server computer.
[0034]
Reference numeral 209 denotes an interface as input / output means, and the information processing device exchanges data with the network 106 via the interface 209.
[0035]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a memory map of the RAM 202 illustrated in FIG. 2, in which the network printer control program loaded from the FD 204 is loaded into the RAM 202 and is executable.
[0036]
In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which the network printer control program and related data are directly loaded from the FD 204 to the RAM 202 and executed. However, each time the network printer control program is operated from the FD 204, the network printer control program is already executed. May be loaded into the RAM 202 from the HD 205 in which is installed.
[0037]
The medium storing the network printer control program may be a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a PC card, a DVD, or an IC memory card other than the FD. Further, the present network printer control program may be stored in the ROM 201, configured to be a part of the memory map, and directly executed by the CPU 200.
[0038]
Further, software that realizes the same functions as those of the above devices may be configured as an alternative to a hardware device.
[0039]
Further, the network printer control program may be simply referred to as a print control program. The print control program includes a program that controls the client computer to change the print destination of the print job or change the print order. Further, the server computer includes a program for controlling the order of print jobs, and for notifying the end of printing of a print job and a request for changing a printing destination. Further, in the print control program of the present invention that performs such control, a module installed in the client and a module installed in the server computer may be separately divided, or one print control program is executed. Depending on the environment, it may function for a client or may function for a server computer. Alternatively, a configuration is also possible in which a module having a function for a client and a module having a function for a server computer are both installed in one computer, and the parallel operation is performed simultaneously or in a time-division manner.
[0040]
Reference numeral 301 denotes a basic I / O program, which has an IPL (initial program loading) function for starting the operation of the OS by reading the OS from the HD 205 into the RAM 202 when the control device is turned on. This is the area that contains the program.
[0041]
302, an operating system (OS); 303, a network printer control program, which is stored in an area secured on the RAM 202; Reference numeral 304 denotes related data, which is stored in an area secured on the RAM 202. Reference numeral 305 denotes a work area, which secures an area where the CPU 200 executes the printer control program.
[0042]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a memory map of the FD 204 illustrated in FIG. 4, reference numeral 400 denotes the data content of the FD 204; 401, volume information indicating data information; 402, directory information; 403, a network printer control program, which is a print control program described in the present embodiment; Is the relevant data. The network printer control program 403 is programmed based on the flowchart described in the embodiment. In this embodiment, the client computer and the server computer have the same configuration.
[0043]
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the FD drive 203 shown in FIG. 2 and the FD 204 inserted, and the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 5, the FD 204 stores a network printer control program and related data described in the present embodiment.
[0044]
Next, a print job control system using a plurality of network printers will be described.
[0045]
In the present embodiment, print settings can be centrally instructed to individual printer drivers corresponding to a plurality of network printers. Further, the group printer driver generates base data (general-purpose document data) for a De-spooler (described in detail below) to generate a general-purpose print file for notifying each printer driver of a drawing command. Further, individual printer drivers depending on the network printer are called member printer drivers.
[0046]
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating how a print request issued from a general application program is processed in the print job control system.
[0047]
In FIG. 6, reference numeral 600 denotes a client computer, which indicates a computer on which a client module of the print job control system operates.
[0048]
Normally, when a user instructs printing, the application program causes a series of drawing commands to be generated via a graphic function of the OS, and passes the generated drawing commands to a spooler via a printer driver. The spooler takes a procedure of passing the print job data to the port monitor selected by the user and transmitting the print job data to the printer.
[0049]
Now, a specific description will be given with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the user designates a port monitor 621 for the print job control system (hereinafter, abbreviated as a job control port monitor in the present embodiment) in advance and instructs printing.
[0050]
Accordingly, the application program 601 generates a series of drawing commands using the graphic function of the OS, and passes the drawing commands to the group printer driver (group printer driver) 603.
[0051]
The group printer driver 603 that has received the drawing command generates general-purpose document data for generating a general-purpose print file, and transmits the general-purpose document data to the job control port monitor 621 as print job data.
[0052]
The job control port monitor 621 does not transmit the print job data to the network printer 650A or 650B, but transmits the print job data to the print job control system print service 622 (hereinafter abbreviated as job control print service in this embodiment). .
[0053]
The job control print service 622 has a function of managing the status of jobs / devices managed by the job control server 630. Furthermore, when the network printer and the client computer 600 operate in a peer-to-peer (Peer To Peer) connection environment, the job control print service 622 transmits the device status and job status notified from the network printers 650A to 650B. And the like, and a function of giving a predetermined command to the network printers 650A to 650B. This corresponds to a function of managing device information and job information of a plurality of network printers.
[0054]
A print manager 623 for the print job control system (hereinafter, abbreviated as “job control print manager” in the present embodiment) allows a user to check the state of the print job inside the job control print service 622 or to manage the print job. It is a program that provides a user interface (UI) for performing operations.
[0055]
The job control print manager 623 transmits and receives information to and from the job control print service 622 via a software interface (API) of the job control print service 622, and mainly executes an external network printer managed by the job control print service 622. It has a function to acquire the status information of an event as an event. The types of event notifications include error / warning information such as a warning that the toner level is low, communication failure between the client and the device, lack of memory, and a full output tray, and a return from the error state to the normal state. Notification of normal information is assumed.
[0056]
The print job control system server 630 (hereinafter abbreviated as a job control server in the present embodiment) centrally controls (scheduling) the timing at which the job control print service 622 on each client 600 transmits print job data to the network printer. are doing. Also, the print job control system server 630 monitors the status of power control status, failure information (paper jam) and the like during printing of each device (printing device) communicable via the network, and executes a job control print service 622. It has a function to notify an event. Here, regarding the monitoring of the status change of the printer status, the job control print service 622 can directly acquire the notification (event) of the status change from the network printer.
[0057]
The print job control system management console 633 (hereinafter, abbreviated as “job control management console” in the present embodiment) exchanges information and instructions with the job control server 630 via an API to be accessed by software of the job control server 630. By doing so, the entire print job control system can be monitored.
[0058]
The job control server 630 communicates with each of the network printers 650A to 650B by using the device information control module 631, and obtains information regarding a print job and an operation state in each printer, and performs an operation. The obtained information can be passed to the job control print service 622 on the client 600 side.
[0059]
Next, printing from the group printer driver 603 according to the present embodiment will be described.
[0060]
In brief, the group printer driver 603 is a printer driver for using this system, and generates data suitable for the job control print service 622 to perform job control. The job control print service 622 controls a plurality of PDL drivers 602 based on data from the group printer driver 603. For example, when distributed printing is to be performed by a plurality of network printers, the divided data is transmitted to each of a plurality of PDL drivers. Then, since data that can be processed by each of the plurality of network printers is generated by each PDL driver, a plurality of different network printers can perform printing in response to a print request from the application program 601.
[0061]
Now, a more detailed description will be given. The group printer driver 603 generates the above-described general-purpose document data from a series of drawing commands generated by the application program. The general-purpose document data is converted by the job control print service 622 into a general-purpose print file that is an intermediate format file independent of the type of the network printer. The configuration of the general-purpose print file will be described later.
[0062]
This general-purpose print file is guided from the Windows (R) spooler 604 through the job control port monitor 621 (a) to the job control print service 622 (b) as described above. The job control print service 622 generates a drawing command based on the general-purpose print file in accordance with the type of job control performed on the print job (c), and then the PDL driver 602 sends the drawing command to the network printer. Convert to a PDL file that can be interpreted.
[0063]
FIG. 6 shows an example in which job control for dividing one print job into two print jobs is performed in the job control print service 622. Two arrows (c) indicate that two member jobs have been generated. I have. The PDL file generated by the PDL driver 602 passes through the Windows (R) spooler 604 and the job control port monitor 621 (d), and is passed again to the job control print service 622 (e). The job control print service 622 transmits print job data described in PDL to the network printers 650A to 650B according to the instruction of the job control server 630 (f).
[0064]
The job control print service 622 logically divides one general-purpose print file into a plurality of print jobs according to the instruction of the print instruction in the general-purpose print file, and transmits each to a different network printer or transmits once. For example, retransmit print job data to another network printer. (C), (d), (e), and (f) in FIG. A show the path of the print job data in such a case.
[0065]
On the other hand, when the application software creates a general-purpose print file and the application software directly submits the general-purpose print file as a print job, a general application is defined as a method of passing information to the group printer driver 603 or a method of passing information to the group printer driver 603. Is different. As described above, in the case of a general application, when passing drawing information to the group printer driver 603, the application calls the WindowS (R) GDI function in the same manner as a normal printer driver, and the group printer driver 603 responds accordingly. General-purpose document data is generated, and the generated general-purpose document data is generated by the job control print service 622 into a general-purpose print file. On the other hand, in the case of an application that directly creates a general-purpose print file, the application already has a general-purpose print file and supplies it to the group printer driver 603. The group printer driver 603 rewrites the print instruction in the general-purpose print file and sends it to the Windows (R) spooler 604 as necessary based on a preset printing method.
[0066]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a general-purpose print file. The general-purpose print file used in the present embodiment includes a print instruction section and a document data section. The print instruction section is a portion in which document information and a print instruction are described. The document data is obtained by converting application data into general-purpose format data, and has a data format independent of a printer language.
[0067]
The print instruction section includes a header section, a page information section, a print format instruction section, an output method designation section, a group printer driver setting information section, the number of member printers, a member printer driver name, a member printer driver setting information section, and the like.
[0068]
The header section is a section for storing information such as the version identification of this file and file information.
[0069]
The page information section is a section for storing information such as the number of pages of the document data in the document data section and the size of each page.
[0070]
The print format instructing unit is a portion for storing information on output format such as a print page range, the number of copies, imposition information of document data (N-UP, bookbinding printing, etc.), a staple instruction, a punch instruction, and the like.
[0071]
The output method designating section is a section for storing information such as distributed printing, color / monochrome distributed printing, proxy printing, and broadcast printing as output methods.
[0072]
The group printer driver setting information section is a section for storing UI printer setting information of a group printer driver described later.
[0073]
The number of member printers stores the number of member printers associated with the group printer driver.
[0074]
The member printer driver name is a part for storing the printer driver name of the member printer.
[0075]
The member printer driver setting information section stores, for example, DEVMODE information as setting information of the driver UI of the member printer.
[0076]
The member printer driver name and the member printer driver setting information section have the same number of storage areas as the number of member printers.
[0077]
In the group printer driver 603 described with reference to FIG. 6, when generating a general-purpose print file, the settings on the group printer driver GUI are recorded in the print instruction unit. Further, the group printer driver 603 converts the data received by the GDI into general-purpose data, and records the document data in the document data section of the general-purpose print file.
[0078]
Next, referring to FIG. 7, the relationship between PrintSystem provided by the OS and the print job in the print job control system and the processing outline will be described in further detail.
[0079]
In FIG. 7, a print job control system 700 indicates a range of the print job control system across physical machines on which control programs of a server and a client operate. An output port (Output Port) 711 managed by the server is associated with a proxy output port (Proxy Output Port) 712 of the job control print service 622 of the client, and a proxy output port on each client associated with one port. All ports are managed in a unified manner. In this embodiment, the actual print job data is held in the proxy output port 712 of each client. The job control server 630 does not transmit the print job data itself, but only issues a print job transmission instruction to the job control print service 622. In response to the instruction, the job control print service 622 of the client computer transmits the print job data to the network printers 650A to 650B.
[0080]
Next, processing in a case where the print job control system 700 performs value-added printing such as proxy printing, distributed printing, or broadcast printing will be described.
[0081]
When the print job control system 700 performs value-added printing such as proxy printing, distributed printing, or broadcast printing, the user or application 601 must issue a print job to the group printer driver 603 as described above. No. The job control print service 622 receives the job data processed by the group printer driver 603 as a general-purpose print file via the job control port monitor 621.
[0082]
The job control print service 622 receives the job data, issues a job (member job) to another PDL driver via the De-spooler 701, and causes the network printers 650A to 650B corresponding to the PDL driver to perform printing. .
[0083]
At this time, the De-spooler 701 interprets the print instruction section of the general-purpose print file described with reference to FIG. 8, processes the document data in the document data section, converts the document data into GDI of the OS, Issue a print instruction and issue a print job.
[0084]
For example, when a 2-UP instruction is recorded in the print format designation unit, the document data of two pages is reduced and laid out on one sheet of paper. In the case of distributed printing or broadcast printing, a job is issued to a plurality of member printers described in the print instruction unit according to these settings. In the case of proxy printing, when a proxy condition is satisfied, a member job is issued according to a preset setting in the automatic proxy and according to a user operation in the manual proxy.
[0085]
Further, the instruction information corresponding to each member printer driver is extracted from the printing instruction section by a module different from the above-described De-spooler, and the extracted printing instruction for each member printer driver is interpreted by the De-spooler. It is also assumed that such a configuration is adopted.
[0086]
Also, when the De-spooler 701 issues a job to each member printer, it is necessary to create a DEVMODE of each member printer as a print instruction corresponding to the member printer driver, and this DEVMODE is the content described in the print instruction section. Is appropriately reflected in the DEVMODE of each member printer.
[0087]
The job control print service 622 on the client computer receives the PDL data of each member job rendered by the PDL driver 602 via the job control port monitor 621, notifies the server of information on the received job, and sends the job data to the server. Is temporarily stored in its own proxy output queue (Proxy Output Port) 712. Thereafter, after receiving a transmission instruction from the job control server 630, the job is transmitted to the network printers 650A to 650B.
[0088]
As described above, in a system using a plurality of network devices, settings for using the network devices are performed. For example, in the printing system of FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, a PDL driver suitable for each of the network printer 650A and the network printer 650B is installed on a client computer, and further, a network is connected to associate each PDL driver with the network printer. Set the printer's network address, etc. Further, in order for the job control server 630 to obtain information on the status and the processing status of a job from each network printer, the network address of each network printer must be set.
[0089]
Then, in order to make settings for using the network devices, it is necessary to search for network devices connected to the network and obtain information on each network device.
[0090]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the client computer or the server computer in the device search method. Hereinafter, the device search processing of the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart.
[0091]
In this embodiment, the job control management console 633, the job control print manager 623, and the like implement the following functions.
[0092]
First, when starting a program for processing the following functions, necessary initialization processing is performed (step S901). Thereafter, a processing loop is entered. First, it is determined whether a device search request has been detected (step S902). The search request is issued when the user presses a “search” button on a setting screen as shown in FIG.
If a search request has been detected (yes in step S902), a search range specified by the user is acquired (step S903). The search range is set by the user on a setting screen as shown in FIG. In FIG. 16, there are a method of specifying a network address and a subnet mask (1601) and a method of directly specifying an IP address (1602). Note that the IP broadcast address can be directly specified.
[0093]
Next, the search time T1 specified by the user on the setting screen as shown in FIG. 15 is obtained, and the reception time T2 is obtained as the time at which the search request was received (step 904). The search time can be designated by reference numeral 1501 in FIG.
[0094]
Further, when a search for a device is performed, a response from the device is received, and a maximum response receiving device number Nmax indicating the maximum number of responses to be received is obtained (step S905). This is either an initial value in the program or a value specified by the user. If not specified, a numerical value (a predetermined numerical value such as 0xFFFFFFFF in the DWORD type) indicating that is specified. If the user wants to specify, it can be specified by 1502 in FIG.
[0095]
Next, the number of detected devices N indicating the number of devices actually found by the search is initialized to 0 (zero), and a device information list L holding searched device information is initialized (step S906).
[0096]
Then, a search packet for searching for a device is generated, transmitted toward the search range acquired in step S903 (step S907), and finally returns to step S902. The search packet may be a command requesting the network address of the device, a command requesting predetermined information of the device, or a command instructing the device to reply.
[0097]
On the other hand, if No in step 902, it is determined whether a response packet to the search packet has been received from the network device (step S908). If a response packet has been received (Yes in step S908), device information such as a network address of the device is acquired from the response packet (step S909). Then, the acquired device information is registered in the device information list (step 910).
[0098]
Further, the number N of detected devices is increased by 1 (step S911), and it is determined whether the number N of detected devices is smaller than the maximum number Nmax of response receiving devices (step 912). Here, it may be determined whether it is smaller than or not.
[0099]
If it is smaller (Yes in step S912), the process returns to step S902 to continue the search processing. If No in step S912, the process proceeds to step S914.
[0100]
If No in step S908, the current time is acquired, and it is determined whether the search time T1 has elapsed from the search request reception time T2 (step S913).
[0101]
If the number of found devices has reached the maximum response accepting device number Nmax (No in step S912), or if the search time T1 has elapsed (Yes in step S913), the reception of the response packet from the device ends. (Step S914).
[0102]
Then, the display condition of the device information is acquired (S915). The display condition specifies whether to display the device information for all the network devices found by the search or to display the device information for only some of the network devices after filtering. Alternatively, for each network device, whether to display all of the obtained device information or to display only a part of the device information by applying a filter is designated. The display condition may be specified by the user, or may be determined inside the program.
[0103]
Next, network devices that match the display conditions or device information that matches the display conditions are extracted from the device information list, and a display list is generated (step S916).
[0104]
When the display condition is “display all devices”, the display list and the device information list are equivalent. In the case of “display only devices belonging to a specific IP address range”, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13 is executed.
[0105]
In the processing shown in FIG. 13, first, an address range specified by the user on the setting screen is acquired (step S1301), the IP address of each network device is compared with the specified address range, and the specified address range is specified from the device information list. Network devices belonging to the specified address range are extracted and displayed as a display list (step S1302). In addition, devices that do not belong to the specified address range may be deleted from the device information list and used as the display list.
[0106]
The description returns to step 917 in FIG. Here, a screen as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed based on the display list (step S917). In FIG. 17, 1701 displays the IP address and device name of the found network device. In 1702, an address range of a network device to be displayed can be designated as one of the display conditions.
[0107]
The display in step 1302 may use a web browser. In this case, HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data in which a screen as shown in FIG. 17 is described is generated based on the display list, and the HTML data is transmitted to a web browser of the external device. A screen as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the browser.
[0108]
The description returns to step S913 in FIG. If No in step S913, it is determined whether a program termination request has been detected (step S918). If a program termination request is detected, the program termination processing is performed (step S919), and the program is terminated. If No in step S918, other processing is performed as appropriate (step S920).
[0109]
Here, a function of additionally registering device information by a user will be described. In the registration function, when the user selects any of the devices displayed in 1701 in FIG. 17, the setting screen in FIG. 18 is displayed. In the screen of FIG. 18, “IP address or host name” is automatically set based on the search result. Other "port name" and "product name" fields are registered when the user inputs values and presses the "OK" button.
[0110]
Then, the screen as shown in FIG. 20 can be browsed based on the device information obtained by the search and the information input on the setting screen in FIG.
[0111]
Next, the operation of the network device will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processing on the device side in the search processing. Here, a printing device having a printing function such as a printer will be described as an example of the network device. First, the device is reset and an initialization process is performed (step S1101).
[0112]
Next, it is determined whether data has been received from the network (step S1102). If data has been received (Yes in step S1102), it is determined whether the packet is a search packet (step S1103). Here, a Get-request command of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is used as the search packet. Therefore, if the command is a Get-request command (Yes in step S1103), a Get-response command is generated as a response packet, and the command is written in the RAM (step S1104). As a result, the transmission unit of the device transmits the Get-response command written in the RAM to the source of the Get-request command.
[0113]
On the other hand, if No in step S1103, it is determined whether the request is a print request (step S1105). In the case of a print request (Yes in step S1105), print processing is performed based on the print data transmitted together with the print request (step S1106).
[0114]
Further, if No in step S1103, it is determined whether an end command has been received (step S1107). If it is an end command, the power of the device is turned off and the operation ends.
[0115]
If No in step S1107, other processing is performed as appropriate (step S1109). In the printing device, there are processes such as device configuration information acquisition and job information acquisition command processing, but this is not related to the essence of the present invention, and a description thereof is omitted.
[0116]
If No in step S1102, it is determined whether an end instruction has been issued, such as pressing the power button of the device (step S1108), and if so, the operation ends.
[0117]
The above search processing does not require that the management server exist in the network. However, the display condition may be related to the information acquired from the management server. Here, a case where the display condition acquired in step S915 in FIG. 9 is “device not registered in the management server” will be described.
[0118]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing details of the processing in step S915 in FIG. First, the management server name and the network address of the management server are acquired (step S1201). This can be determined automatically in the program if there is only one management server, or can be determined by the user. It is also possible to determine the address from the management server name.
[0119]
Next, a management device information list acquisition request is transmitted to the management server (step S1202). Then, it waits until a response from the management server is received (step S1203). When the response is received (Yes in step S1203), the obtained management device information list is compared with the device information list to generate a display list (step S1204). When the display condition is “device not registered in the management server”, information that is included in the device information list and not included in the managed device information list is added to the display list. As a result, network devices that are not managed by the management server and are found by the search can be extracted and presented to the user.
[0120]
The operation of the management server in this case will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the management server in the search process. The management server function may be implemented in the job control server 630 or the like.
[0121]
First, necessary initialization processing is performed (step S1001). It is determined whether a management device information list acquisition request has been received from an external device (step S1002). If there is a management device information list acquisition request, a management device information list is generated from the device information of the managed device, and the list is returned to the external device (step S1003).
[0122]
If the request is not a request for acquiring the management device information list, it is determined whether a request for acquiring management server information has been received from an external device (step S1004). When the management server information acquisition request is received, information about the server is returned to the external device (step 1005).
[0123]
Finally, it is determined whether a program termination request has been detected (step S1006). If Yes, the program is terminated (step S1007), and the program is terminated. In the case of No, other processing is executed appropriately (step S1008). This part is irrelevant to the essence of the present invention and the embodiment, and the description is omitted.
[0124]
If there is a plurality of management servers, it is necessary to search for the management server. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a process of searching for and selecting a management server, which is executed at 920 in FIG.
[0125]
First, it is determined whether a search request for the management server has been made by the user (step S1401). If there is a management server search request (Yes in step S1401), a server information acquisition request is broadcast to the network (step S1402).
[0126]
Then, a response waiting time Tw indicating a time to wait for a response from the management server is acquired (step S1430). It is assumed that the response waiting time Tw is determined inside the program or can be changed by an initialization file or the like.
[0127]
Thereafter, it is determined whether a response from the management server has been received (step S1404). If a response has been received, the received server information is registered in the management server list (step S1405). If a response has not been received, It is determined whether the response waiting time Tw has elapsed (step S1406).
[0128]
If the response waiting time Tw has not elapsed, steps S1404 and S1405 are executed to obtain server information as needed. If the response waiting time Tw has elapsed (Yes in step S1406), the management server list is displayed. The image is displayed on the screen as in step 19 (step S1407). In 1901, the user can select a management server (step S1408).
[0129]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to specify the number of devices to be found by searching, and to determine whether the number of devices found by searching has reached the specified number or has exceeded the specified number. By making the determination, the time spent in the search process can be reduced, and the responsiveness to the user can be improved.
[0130]
In addition, by terminating the search process when the number of devices found by the search reaches a predetermined number or when the search time has elapsed, the time spent in the search process is limited, and the search process is stopped. It can be prevented that it does not end at all.
[0131]
In addition, by setting a search range, or by setting a condition for specifying a device to be displayed or a condition for specifying the type of device information to be displayed, device information on all devices found by the search is displayed. Can be prevented, and the user can easily understand the search result.
[0132]
Also, the device information about the device registered in the management server that manages the device connected to the network is obtained, and the device information obtained by the search is compared with the device information obtained from the management server. By displaying only the device information on the devices not registered on the management server, only the device information on the devices not registered on the management server can be displayed, thereby facilitating the registration of the device on the management server.
[0133]
Further, when there are a plurality of management servers, by making the management servers selectable, it is possible to present a search result corresponding to each management server to the user.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing system.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing device.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a memory map of a RAM.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a memory map of an FD.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between an FD drive 203 and an FD 204 inserted.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating how a print request issued from a general application program is processed in a print job control system.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a process performed in the print job control system.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a general-purpose print file.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by a client computer or a server computer in the device search method.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the management server in the search process.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing on the device side in search processing.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a process of acquiring device information from a management server.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a process of generating a display list.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a process of searching for and selecting a management server.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen.
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen.
FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 server computer
102 Client computer
103 Client computer
104 client computer
105A Network Printer
105B Network Printer
105C network printer
106 network

Claims (16)

A search method for searching for a device connected to a network,
A transmitting step of transmitting search data for searching for a device to a network,
A receiving step of receiving response data to the search data from a network;
From the response data, an acquisition step of acquiring device information about the device that transmitted the response data,
A setting step for setting the number of response data to be accepted;
A determining step of determining whether the number of response data received in the receiving step has reached the number set in the setting step or has exceeded the number set in the setting step. And
When the number of response data received in the receiving step reaches the number set in the setting step, or when the number exceeds the number set in the setting step, the reception of the response data is terminated. Search method. A time setting step for setting a time for performing the search;
Having a time determination step to determine whether the time set in the time setting step has elapsed,
The search method according to claim 1, wherein when the time set in the time setting step has elapsed, the reception of the response data is terminated. Having a range setting step of setting a search range,
The search method according to claim 1, wherein, in the transmitting step, search data is transmitted to a network address belonging to a search range set in the range setting step. When the number of response data received in the receiving step reaches the number set in the setting step, or exceeds the number set in the setting step, the device information obtained in the obtaining step 4. A display method according to claim 1, further comprising: a display step of displaying a search result. A condition setting step of setting a condition for specifying a device to be displayed or a condition for specifying a type of device information to be displayed,
The search method according to claim 4, wherein in the displaying step, device information is displayed according to the condition set in the condition setting step. In the condition setting step, a network address range can be set,
6. The search method according to claim 5, wherein in the displaying step, only device information relating to a device having a network address belonging to the range set in the condition setting step is displayed. Having a management device information acquisition step of acquiring device information on a device registered in a management server that manages devices connected to the network,
In the displaying step, the device information obtained in the obtaining step is compared with the device information obtained in the management device information obtaining step, and only the device information relating to the devices not registered in the management server is displayed. The search method according to claim 4, wherein: A search step of searching for a management server;
A server display step of displaying server information on the management server detected by the search in the search step,
8. The search method according to claim 7, wherein the management device information obtaining unit obtains device information from a management server selected by a user among the management servers displayed in the server display step. A search program for searching for a device connected to a network,
A transmitting step of transmitting search data for searching for a device to a network,
A receiving step of receiving response data to the search data from a network;
From the response data, an acquisition step of acquiring device information about the device that transmitted the response data,
A setting step for setting the number of response data to be accepted;
A determining step of determining whether the number of response data received in the receiving step has reached the number set in the setting step or whether the number exceeds the number set in the setting step; Let it run
When the number of response data received in the receiving step reaches the number set in the setting step, or when the number exceeds the number set in the setting step, the reception of the response data is terminated. And a search program. A time setting step for setting a time for performing the search;
Time determination step to determine whether the time set in the time setting step has elapsed, and the computer to execute,
10. The search program according to claim 9, wherein when the time set in the time setting step has elapsed, the reception of the response data is terminated. Causing the computer to execute a range setting step of setting a search range,
11. The search program according to claim 9, wherein in the transmitting step, search data is transmitted to a network address belonging to a search range set in the range setting step. 12. When the number of response data received in the receiving step has reached the number set in the setting step, a display step of displaying the device information obtained in the obtaining step is performed by a computer. The search program according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein Causing the computer to execute a condition setting step of setting a condition for specifying a device to be displayed or a condition for specifying a type of device information to be displayed;
13. The search program according to claim 12, wherein in the displaying step, device information is displayed according to the condition set in the condition setting step. In the condition setting step, a network address range can be set,
14. The search program according to claim 13, wherein, in the displaying step, only device information relating to a device having a network address belonging to the range set in the condition setting step is displayed. An information processing device for searching for a device connected to a network,
Transmitting means for transmitting search data for searching for a device to the network,
Receiving means for receiving response data to the search data from a network,
Acquisition means for acquiring device information on the device that transmitted the response data from the response data,
Setting means for setting the number of response data to be accepted;
Determining means for determining whether the number of response data received by the receiving means has reached the number set by the setting means or has exceeded the number set by the setting means; And
When the number of response data received by the receiving means reaches the number set by the setting means, or when the number exceeds the number set by the setting means, the reception of the response data is terminated. Information processing device. A search method for searching for a device connected to a network,
A transmitting step of transmitting search data for searching for a device to a network,
A receiving step of receiving response data to the search data from a network;
From the response data, an acquisition step of acquiring device information about the device that transmitted the response data,
A setting step for setting the number of response data to be accepted;
A determining step of determining whether the number of response data received in the receiving step has reached the number set in the setting step or whether the number has exceeded the number set in the setting step. A search method characterized in that:

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