JP2008107940A - Information processor, information processing method, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a unified interface for requesting image recording to two or more image recording services of different specifications. <P>SOLUTION: "Common Application Interface" disposed directly under "User Interface Application" is a layer comprising a function of abstracting the difference between "PrintEnhanced" and "PictPrint", and "User Interface Application" does not need to be conscious of the difference in print service specification and controls any print service by the common interface specification. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program for supplying image data to an image recording apparatus such as a printer for recording, and in particular, transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium. The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program.

  More specifically, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer that perform recording by transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium in an environment in which a plurality of standards for performing an image recording service coexist. An information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer that provide a unified interface for requesting image recording for two or more image recording services with different standards, particularly for a user application・ Regarding the program.

  Cameras have a long history as a means of recording visual information. Recently, a digital camera that digitally encodes an image captured by a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or CMOS (Complementary Mental-Oxide Semiconductor) instead of a silver salt camera that photographs using a film or a photosensitive plate. Is widely spread. According to the digital camera, there is an advantage that a digitally encoded image can be stored in a memory, image processing and image management by a computer can be performed, and there is no problem of film life.

  In many cases, a captured image in a digital camera is encoded and compressed in a format such as JPEG (Joint Picture Experts Group) in the camera body and stored in a removable medium such as a built-in memory or a Memory Stick (registered trademark). Such a stored image is transferred to a personal computer via a medium or using a cable connection such as USB (Universal Serial Bus), for example, and a rich GUI (Graphical User Interface) provided on the personal computer. Through the operating environment, it is possible to perform various data processing such as image processing such as storage and management of image files, reproduction, image quality conversion, image editing, and printout of images.

  When printing out a captured image of a digital camera via a personal computer, application software for performing data transfer and printing operation is necessary, which is a troublesome operation. Therefore, recently, a “direct print” technique in which a digital camera is directly connected to a printer and printed out without taking image data captured by the digital camera into a personal computer is becoming common.

  For example, CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) defines “PictBridge” as a communication standard for performing direct printing between a digital camera and a printer. PictBridge compatible devices can be connected directly with a USB cable for printing without installing special software. On the digital camera side, the image being displayed on the LCD monitor can be easily printed out by operating buttons. In addition to being able to specify print settings (paper size, etc.), there is also a function for printing unspecified images with the standard settings on the printer side. In addition to printing a designated image, various functions such as an index print function for printing a list of reduced images, a plurality of prints of the same image, and a dated print can be used. Further, when an error occurs during printing, an error display can be performed via a liquid crystal monitor of a digital camera.

  Many digital cameras and printers already on the market support the PictBridge standard. In the PictBridge standard, it is assumed that USB is used for the physical layer and that PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol) is used as a data communication protocol. PTP is a protocol for transferring an image from a digital camera to a computer via a USB connection, and can be used as a standard in major computer operating systems such as Windows (registered trademark) X and MacOS X, for example.

  For example, it is possible to switch between mass storage, PTP, and PictBridge standards as communication specifications using the USB standard, and internally when the connection destination device does not correspond to the currently specified communication specification. Proposals have been made for digital still cameras that initialize communication lines and change communication specification settings (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  As a means for connecting the digital camera and the printer, a method using an IP network in addition to the USB can be considered. PTP is based on USB connection, but PTP / IP extended to IP support so that it can be transferred via a wireless LAN is also disclosed by CIPA.

  On the other hand, UPnP (registered trademark) proposed by US Microsoft Corporation is known as a technical specification in which a plurality of devices mutually provide functions (services) through an IP network (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). ). Devices on the UPnP network are classified into devices that provide services and control points that control the services, and service notification and detection are performed between the devices. Further, when a device is connected to a UPnP network, the device acquires an IP address from a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server on the network, and information on the type of device and the services that the device has in an XML (extensible Markup Language) format. Multicast transmission of the message described in.

  For example, a digital camera that can be connected to a network as a UPnP control device and automatically selects a specific device (printer) to be controlled from among a plurality of UPnP devices existing on the network has been proposed ( For example, see Patent Document 2).

  “PrintEnhanced” exists as a communication standard for performing direct printing between a digital camera and a printer based on UPnP (registered trademark). According to PrintEnhanced, a digital camera can be connected not only to a printer but also to various other UPnP compatible digital devices on an IP network such as a wireless LAN. PrintEnhanced is delayed compared to the above-mentioned PictBridge, but can enjoy standard procedures and functions specified in UPnP, including IP address assignment, name resolution, device discovery and understanding of functions. There are many more use cases than USB connection.

  The two types of standards related to direct printing, PictBridge and PrintEnhanced, differ in the connection form between the digital camera and the printer and the devices that support the standard. For this reason, it is expected that both standards will coexist in the future, rather than converging on one of the standards, rather than using them differently depending on the application. Therefore, it is conceivable that the same device (for example, one digital camera) is provided with these two types of direct print services simultaneously.

  Whichever direct print service is used, it is nothing but printing a photograph from the user's point of view. However, since both are essentially different standards, client devices that require direct print services, such as digital cameras, must develop separate applications for each standard, even those that provide the same user interface. Therefore, there is a problem that the apparatus cost increases.

JP 2005-128869 A JP 2005-217974 A Universal Plug and Play Device Architecture Version 1.0

  An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent information processing apparatus, information processing method, and computer program capable of suitably recording by transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent information processing apparatus capable of suitably performing recording by transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium in an environment where a plurality of standards for performing an image recording service coexist. And an information processing method and a computer program.

  A further object of the present invention is to provide an excellent information processing apparatus capable of providing a unified interface for requesting image recording to two or more image recording services of different standards for a user application. It is to provide an information processing method and a computer program.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and a first aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus that performs recording by transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium,
An image recording control middleware unit that is provided for each service standard for recording image data of image data, makes a processing request to the image recording apparatus in accordance with the image recording service standard, and receives a processing result or event information from the image recording apparatus; ,
A common application interface unit for receiving a processing request from the user interface application and notifying a processing result from the middleware unit for image recording control to the user interface application;
It is an information processing apparatus characterized by comprising.

  A “direct print” technique in which a digital camera is directly connected to a printer and printed out without taking image data captured by the digital camera into a personal computer is becoming common. Currently, there are two types of standards related to direct printing, PictBridge and PrintEnhanced. However, it is expected that both standards will be used in the future depending on the application.

  However, since these print service standards are essentially different, in client devices that require direct print services such as digital cameras, even if the application provides the same user interface, the user It is necessary to develop an application, which increases the device cost.

  Therefore, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is provided for each service standard for recording an image of image data, and makes a processing request to the image recording apparatus in accordance with the image recording service standard, and the processing result from the image recording apparatus or An image recording control middleware unit that receives event information, and a common application interface unit that receives a processing request from a user interface application and notifies the user interface of a processing result from the image recording control middleware unit. .

  That is, the common application interface arranged immediately below the user interface application is a layer having a function of abstracting the difference between PrintEnhanced and PictPrint, and the user interface application is based on the PrintEnhanced and PictPrint standards. There is no need to be aware of the difference, and these printing services can be controlled by a common interface specification.

  The image recording control middleware unit manages the corresponding specifications of the state control unit for controlling the state inside the image recording control middleware unit and the image recording apparatus connected via the communication medium, and the user interface An image recording setting management unit that holds and manages image recording setting information instructed by an application, and a job management unit that manages the progress of an image recording job being executed.

  The state control unit receives a processing request from the user interface application, performs intermediate processing, and issues a processing request to the lower PrintEnhanced middleware. Further, the state control unit receives a processing result in response to the processing request from the lower-level PrintEnhanced middleware, performs intermediate processing, and generates information to be notified to the user interface application in an appropriately abstracted form. The processing result mentioned here is an execution result of processing requested to the printer, event information notified from the printer, or the like.

  The print setting management unit, for example, manages the corresponding specifications of printers connected by UPnP, and holds and manages print setting information instructed by the user interface application.

  The job management unit manages the progress status of the print job being executed. Further, the job management unit divides a print request instructed by the user interface application into a plurality of print jobs, and issues them as print requests for, for example, a lower level PrintEnhanced middleware. Manage.

  The common application interface unit issues an image recording request to a state control unit corresponding to a desired image recording service standard in response to the image recording request from the user interface application.

  Then, the status control unit acquires the print settings relating to the connected image recording apparatus from the image recording setting management unit, instructs the job management unit to generate image recording job information to be managed internally, and then It issues a print request to the recording device, receives a print acceptance from the corresponding image recording device, converts it into a common format, and notifies the user interface application.

  Further, the state control unit receives event information notified from the image recording apparatus that is performing the image recording process, converts the event information into event information in a common format that does not depend on the image recording service standard, and at a common timing, Notify the user interface application.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program written in a computer-readable format so that processing for transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium for recording is executed on the computer. For the computer,
In response to an image recording device connection request from the user interface application, the image recording device connection process corresponding to the desired image recording service standard is performed, and the support information acquired from the image recording device is received from the image recording service standard. A procedure for notifying the user interface application in a common format independent of
In response to an image recording request from the user interface application, obtain print settings relating to the connected image recording apparatus, generate image recording job information to be internally managed for the job management unit, Issuing a print request to the image recording device in accordance with the image recording service standard, receiving a print acceptance from the corresponding image recording device, converting to a common format, and notifying the user interface application;
Event information notified from an image recording apparatus that is performing image recording processing is received, converted into event information in a common format that does not depend on the image recording service standard, and notified to the user interface application at a common timing Procedure and
Is a computer program characterized in that

  The computer program according to the second aspect of the present invention defines a computer program described in a computer-readable format so as to realize predetermined processing on the computer. In other words, by installing the computer program according to the second aspect of the present invention on the computer, a cooperative action is exhibited on the computer, and the same as the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention. An effect can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, in an environment in which a plurality of standards for performing an image recording service coexist, an excellent information processing apparatus capable of suitably performing recording by transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium, and An information processing method and a computer program can be provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, an excellent information processing apparatus capable of providing a unified interface for requesting image recording to two or more image recording services having different standards for a user application. And an information processing method and a computer program can be provided.

  According to the present invention, even when different print services are incorporated in the same device, the user application can control each print service by common processing. That is, it is not necessary to develop a user application separately for each standard, so that the apparatus cost can be reduced.

  Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from more detailed description based on embodiments of the present invention described later and the accompanying drawings.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows a hardware configuration of an information device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. An example of the information device 1 is a digital camera, which can store a captured image and can perform direct printing in accordance with a print service standard of either PictBridge or PrintEnhanced. However, the configuration of the camera block can be applied with the prior art as it is, and since the configuration itself is not related to the gist of the present invention, the camera block is omitted in FIG.

  The information device 1 is configured by connecting various modules to a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 100 via a system bus 103. The CPU 100 controls the overall operation of the device 1 by developing a predetermined processing program from the flash memory 102 to the memory 101 and executing it. Further, the CPU 100 temporarily stores in the memory 101 system variables and environment variables at the time of program execution.

  Image data captured by a camera block (not shown) is stored in the flash memory 102. The image data is once read into the memory 101 when printing is executed.

  The LCD controller 105 controls the display content of the LCD monitor 104. The user can operate the information device 1 by inputting from the key operation unit 106 while viewing the display screen of the LCD monitor 104, for example.

  A USB controller 114 is connected to the system bus 103, and a USB connector 115 is connected to the end of the USB controller 114. As shown in the figure, when the PictBridge compatible printer 117 and the information device 1 are connected via the USB cable 116, the PicBridge service 117 is used to directly print the image data in the flash memory 102 using the PictBridge service. can do.

  A wireless LAN module 108 is connected to the system bus 103 via a wireless LAN interface controller 107, and an RF (Radio Frequency) processing unit 109 is connected as an external interface. As shown in the figure, the RF processing unit 109 of the information device 1 is in the communication cell of the access point (AP) 111, and the printer 113 compatible with PrintEnhanced is connected to the access point 111 via the LAN cable 112 such as Ethernet (registered trademark). When connected, the PrintEnhanced service 113 can be used to directly print the image data in the flash memory 102 with the PrintEnhanced compatible printer 113.

  FIG. 2 schematically shows a stack structure of software programs installed in the information device 1. The illustrated protocol stack implements two types of printing services, PictBridge and PrintEnhanced, and can perform direct printing using each service.

  The PictBridge side is configured by stacking a PictBridge middleware layer, a PTP middleware layer, a USB middleware layer, and a driver layer for a USB controller.

  In addition, the PrintEnhanced side includes a PrintEnhanced middleware layer, a UPnP middleware layer, an HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) layer, and a UDP (User Datagram Protocol) or TCP (Transmission Layer). Protocol layer) and a driver layer for a wireless LAN and a wireless LAN interface are stacked.

  Here, since PrintEnhanced and PictBridge are different print service standards, in the stack structure shown in FIG. 2, the functions for both services must be implemented in the front-end User Interface Application. That is, as shown in the figure, the User Interface Application is a “PrintEnhanced Application” module for PrintEnhanced and a “PictBridge Application” interface for PictBridge. This is equivalent to developing an application separately for each standard even if it provides an application, resulting in an increase in cost.

  Therefore, an alternative protocol stack structure as shown in FIG. 3 can be considered. In the illustrated stack structure, a common application interface is disposed immediately below the user interface application. This Common Application Interface is a layer that has a function that abstracts the difference between PrintEnhanced and PictPrint, and in this case, User Interface Application is aware of the difference between the PrintEnhanced and PictPrint service standards. Can be controlled by a common interface specification.

  The PictBridge side stack has a Pictridge middleware layer, a USB middleware layer for the PictBridge middleware layer, a USB middleware layer for the PictBridge middleware layer, and a printer control middleware for the PictBridge, which is located below the Common Application Interface. It is configured by stacking.

  In addition, the PrintEnhanced side includes a PrintEnhanced compatible printer control middleware, a PrintEnhanced middleware layer, a UPnP middleware layer, an HTTP layer, a transport layer composed of UDP or TCP, and a network layer composed of IP, etc. The driver layers for wireless LAN and wireless LAN interface are stacked.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of printer control middleware provided for each print service standard. The printer control middleware is middleware that performs a common application interface (common application interface) and an intermediate process for abstracting differences in communication standards in the user interface application at the top.

  Common Application Interface provides an interface that is abstracted and generalized so that User Interface Application that does not know the contents of the PrintEnhanced standard can be controlled, accepts processing requests from the User Interface Application side, and receives control requests from the User Interface Application side. Communication processing such as notification of the processing result from User Interface to User Interface Application.

  The printer control middleware includes a state control unit (State Controller), a print setting management unit (Print Setting Management), and a job management unit (Job Management).

  The state control unit manages the internal state of the middleware and controls the operation of the entire middleware. Specifically, the state control unit accepts a processing request from User Interface Application, performs intermediate processing, and issues a processing request to the lower PrintEnhanced middleware. Further, the state control unit receives the processing result for the processing request from the lower-level PrintEnhanced middleware, performs intermediate processing, and generates information to be notified to User Interface Application in an appropriately abstracted form. The processing result mentioned here is an execution result of processing requested to the printer, event information notified from the printer, or the like.

  The print setting management unit manages the corresponding specifications of the UPnP connected printer, and holds and manages the print setting information instructed from the User Interface Application.

  The job management unit manages the progress status of the print job being executed. The job management unit manages each internally divided job when the print request instructed by the User Interface Application is divided into a plurality of print jobs and issued as a print request for the lower PrintEnhanced middleware.

  According to the protocol stack structure shown in FIG. 4, the difference between two types of communication standards, PrintEnhanced and PictBridge, is abstracted for the top-level User Interface Application. Either the PrintEnhanced compatible printer or the PictBridge compatible printer Even when a printout is performed, the processing by the printer control middleware is the same.

  FIG. 5 shows a basic processing procedure for performing a printing process in User Interface Application in the form of a flowchart. It should be understood that the same processing procedure is used when the printing process is performed using either the PictBridge or the PrintEnhanced protocol.

  First, the relevant middleware is activated and its initialization process is performed (step S1).

  Next, a search is made as to whether or not a printer is connected via a USB cable or a UPnP network (step S2). If the printer can be found (step S3), the printer is connected to the printer (step S4).

  Thereafter, when the corresponding specification is acquired from the connected printer (step S5), the connection with the printer is completed (step S6).

  Subsequently, the user selects an image to be printed through an operation screen or the like provided by the user interface (step S7), specifies a layout to be printed (step S8), issues a print command to a lower layer, and performs printing. Execute (Step S9).

  Even when the printing process is performed using either the PictBridge or the PrintEnhanced protocol, the progress information of the printing process is received through the lower layer (step S10). When the printing process is completed, a completion notification is received (step S11).

  When the printing process is completed, the printer returns to the idle state (step S12), disconnects from the printer connected in step S4 (step S13), and terminates the middleware that is activated (step S14).

  FIG. 6 shows an example of an operation sequence when print processing is executed in the protocol stack structure shown in FIG. In the figure, the printing middleware corresponds to the PictBridge middleware and the PrintEnhanced middleware. The communication middleware corresponds to PTP and USB driver in PictBridge, and corresponds to UPnP, HTTP, and TCP / IP in PrintEnhanced. The physical layer corresponds to USB in PictBridge, and corresponds to a wireless LAN or Ethernet (registered trademark) in PrintEnhanced.

  When the printing process is activated, the common application interface performs an initialization process for the print middleware and the communication middleware in accordance with an initialization instruction from the UI application. This initialization process is a process that depends on each system of PictBridge and PrintEnhanced.

  Next, the common application interface searches for a printer connected via a communication path such as a USB or wireless LAN in accordance with a request from the UI application.

  Then, the connection with the discovered printer is established. The printing middleware actually performs a plurality of communications with the printer. The communication contents depend on each system of PictBridge and PrintEnhanced.

  Next, the UI application makes print settings for the common application interface, and then requests execution of printing. During printing, the common application interface notifies the UI application of an event received from the printer side that executes the printing process.

  In this way, when the printing process is completed, the UI application instructs the common application interface to end the process. The common application interface performs termination processing depending on each system of PictBridge and PrintEnhanced on the print middleware and communication middleware.

  FIG. 7 illustrates the flow of processing in the protocol stack when a printer is connected.

  When connecting a PictBridge compatible printer, the common application interface issues an instruction to the PictBridge compatible status control unit (State Controller) in response to a connection request from the UI application, and the PictBridge compatible status control unit sends the printer to the PictBridge middleware. Request connection. The PictBridge middleware performs PictBridge Discovery processing to connect a PictBridge compatible printer.

  Subsequently, when the PictBridge middleware issues a -GetCapabilities () request and collects support information from the PictBridge compatible printer, the PictBridge middleware notifies this to the PictBridge compatible state control unit. The PictBridge compatible state control unit converts the received support information into a common format independent of the system and passes it to the common application interface (see FIG. 8). The common application interface notifies the UI application of the connection completion together with the printer support information. The UI application generates a print setting screen based on the connection completion notification and presents it to the user.

  On the other hand, when connecting a PrintEnhanced compatible printer, the common application interface issues an instruction to the PrintEnhanced state control unit (State Controller) in response to a connection request from the UI application, and the PrintEnhanced compatible state control unit prints the PrintEnhanced middleware. Request a printer connection. The PrintEnhanced middleware transmits an SSDP: SUBSCRIBE request to connect the PrintEnhanced compatible printer.

  Subsequently, the PrintEnhanced middleware issues a −GetMediaList () action and a −GetMargins () action, collects support information from the PrintEnhanced compatible printer, and notifies the PrintEnhanced compatible state control unit of this. The PrintEnhanced corresponding state control unit converts the received support information into a common format independent of the system and passes it to the common application interface (see FIG. 8). The common application interface notifies the UI application of the connection completion together with the printer support information. The UI application generates a print setting screen based on the connection completion notification and presents it to the user.

  FIG. 9 illustrates a specific example of collecting support information from a PictBridge compatible printer.

  In PictBridge, the printer side supports date insertion printing, what paper size is supported, what layout is supported for each supported paper size, etc. Whether the connected printer supports the printing function requested by the camera is checked at the time of connection. The digital camera side makes inquiries over and over again until the information it wants is acquired.

  The PictBridge compatible state control unit generates common format information based on the information collected from the printer, and notifies the UI application of information on parameters that can be printed.

  FIG. 10 illustrates a specific example of collecting support information from a PrintEnhanced compatible printer.

  In PrintEnhanced, since the layout is generated by XHTML on the digital camera side, there is no inquiry about the support status for date insertion printing and layout. It inquires about the paper size supported by the printer and the numerical value of the margin area of each paper size (the area from the edge of the paper in the area where printing is guaranteed). The digital camera side makes inquiries over and over again until the information it wants is acquired.

  The PrintEnhanced state control unit generates common format information based on the information collected from the printer, and notifies the UI application of information on parameters that can be printed. Since date insertion printing is always possible, information indicating that date printing is possible is set. Based on the acquired margin information, layout information that can be specified for each paper size is generated.

  FIG. 11 illustrates the flow of processing in the protocol stack when issuing a print request to the printer.

  When making a print request to the PictBridge compatible printer, the common application interface issues a print request to the PictBridge compatible state control unit (State Controller) in response to the print request from the UI application. The PictBridge compatible status control unit acquires print settings related to the connected PictBridge compatible printer from the print setting management unit (Print Setting Management), and print job information internally managed for the job management unit (Job Management). After instructing the generation, a print request is issued to the PictBridge middleware. The PictBridge middleware issues a print request to the connected PictBridge compatible printer in accordance with the PictBridge standard.

  A print acceptance is returned from the PictBridge compatible printer. When accepting this print acceptance via the PictBridge middleware, the PictBridge compatible state control unit converts the print acceptance into a common format independent of the system, and notifies the common application interface of the print acceptance. Then, the common application interface notifies the UI application of this print acceptance.

  On the other hand, when making a print request to the PrintEnhanced compatible printer, the common application interface issues a print request to the PrintEnhanced compatible state control unit (State Controller) in response to the print request from the UI application. The PrintEnhanced state control unit acquires print settings related to the connected PrintEnhanced printer from the print setting management unit (Print Setting Management) and print job information internally managed for the job management unit (Job Management). After instructing generation, a print request is issued to the PrintEnhanced middleware. The PrintEnhanced middleware issues a print request to the connected PrintEnhanced compatible printer according to the PrintEnhanced standard.

  A print acceptance is returned from the PictBridge compatible printer. When accepting this print acceptance via the PictBridge middleware, the PictBridge compatible state control unit converts the print acceptance into a common format independent of the system, and notifies the common application interface of the print acceptance. Then, the common application interface notifies the UI application of this print acceptance.

  Print acceptance is returned from the PrintEnhanced compatible printer. When receiving the print acceptance via the PrintEnhanced middleware, the PrintEnhanced compatible state control unit converts the print acceptance into a common format independent of the system and notifies the common application interface of the print acceptance. Then, the common application interface notifies the UI application of this print acceptance.

  Thereafter, the PrintEnhanced compatible printer issues a print document acquisition request to the PrintEnhanced middleware, and prints the print document data sent from the PrintEnhanced middleware.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of a sequence in which the PictBridge middleware on the digital camera side issues a print request to the connected PictBridge compatible printer in accordance with the PictBridge standard, and a print acceptance is returned from the PictBridge compatible printer. As shown in the figure, the print request (DPS_StartJob () request) and the response thereto are described as an XML format message. Then, after such a request-response procedure is performed, image data is transmitted from the digital camera side to the printer using the PTP protocol.

  FIG. 13 shows a sequence example in which the PrintEnhanced middleware on the digital camera side issues a print request to the connected PrintEnhanced compatible printer in accordance with the PrintEnhanced standard, and a print acceptance is returned from the PictBridge compatible printer. Yes. As shown, a print request is made using the POST method on the HTTP protocol. The PrintEnhanced middleware issues a CreateURIJob () action to the connected PrintEnhanced compatible printer and requests creation of a storage location for print document data. When the requested enhanced storage location is secured, the PrintEnhanced compatible printer returns a response to the PrintEnhanced middleware. These messages are described as XML format messages.

  FIG. 14 shows a sequence example in which a PrintEnhanced compatible printer issues a print document acquisition request to the PrintEnhanced middleware, and print document data is sent from the PrintEnhanced middleware. As illustrated, a print document acquisition request is made using the GET method on the HTTP protocol. In other words, a PrintEnhanced compatible printer issues a GET request to request desired print document data, and the PrintEnhanced middleware returns print document data. These messages are described as XML format messages. Thereafter, the image data is transferred to the printer according to the HTTP protocol.

  FIG. 15 illustrates the flow of processing in the protocol stack when receiving an event notified from the printer during printing processing.

  An event message is notified from the PictBridge compatible printer during the printing process. Similarly, an event message is also notified from a PrintEnhanced compatible printer that is performing printing. The PictBridge corresponding state control unit and the PrintEnhanced corresponding state control unit receive the event message via the PictBridge middleware and the PrintEnhanced middleware, respectively.

  PictBridge and PrintEnhanced are completely different print service standards, and the contents of event information notified from each printer do not match. In some cases, the event information notified in one standard does not have the same message definition in the other standard.

  FIG. 16 shows an example of a sequence for performing event notification in the PictBridge standard. In the same standard, at the timing when printing on a sheet starts on the printer side, the DPS_NotifyJobStatus () request command is used to notify the printing progress. Also, when the printing process is completed, the printer status is notified using the DPS_NotifyDeviceStatus () request command.

  FIG. 17 shows a sequence example in which event notification is performed in the PrintEnhanced standard. In the same standard, event information is notified using an SSDP: NOTIFY message. First, the status of the printer is notified when printing processing is started, the progress of printing is notified at the timing when printing on paper is completed and discharged, and the status of the printer is changed when printing processing is completed. Be notified.

  In the present embodiment, the PictBridge compatible state control unit and the PrintEnhanced compatible state control unit convert the received event information into a common format independent of the system, and notify the common application interface. In other words, the print progress status, current printer status, error information, etc. are extracted from the contents of event notifications that differ for each print service standard as described above, and the event information is in an abstract format independent of the system. Notify the common application interface.

  Also, since the timing for notifying the event information differs between the PictBridge compatible printer and the PrintEnhanced compatible printer, the PicBridge compatible status control unit and the PrintEnhanced status control unit are notified to the common application interface at the same timing. Perform the matching process.

  The present invention has been described in detail above with reference to specific embodiments. However, it is obvious that those skilled in the art can make modifications and substitutions of the embodiment without departing from the gist of the present invention.

  In this specification, PictBridge and PrintEnhanced are given as examples of parallel print service standards, but the gist of the present invention is not necessarily limited to these, and the present invention can be similarly applied to combinations of other different standards. The invention can be applied.

  In short, the present invention has been disclosed in the form of exemplification, and the description of the present specification should not be interpreted in a limited manner. In order to determine the gist of the present invention, the claims should be taken into consideration.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a hardware configuration of an information device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a stack structure of software programs installed in the information device 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a stack structure of software programs installed in the information device 1. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the printer control middleware. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a basic processing procedure for performing a printing process in User Interface Application. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an operation sequence when print processing is executed in the protocol stack structure shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining processing in the protocol stack when a printer is connected. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating how the support information acquired from the PictBridge compatible printer and the PrintEnhanced compatible printer is converted into a common format. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of collecting support information from a PictBridge compatible printer. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of collecting support information from a PrintEnhanced compatible printer. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing in the protocol stack when issuing a print request to the printer. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a sequence example in which the PictBridge middleware on the digital camera side issues a print request to the connected PictBridge compatible printer in accordance with the PictBridge standard, and a print acceptance is returned from the PictBridge compatible printer. . FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a sequence example in which the PrintEnhanced middleware on the digital camera side issues a print request to a connected PrintEnhanced compatible printer in accordance with the PrintEnhanced standard, and a print acceptance is returned from the PictBridge compatible printer. . FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a sequence example in which a PrintEnhanced compatible printer issues a print document acquisition request to the PrintEnhanced middleware, and print document data is sent from the PrintEnhanced middleware. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in the protocol stack when receiving an event notified from the printer during print processing. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence for performing event notification in the PictBridge standard. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sequence for performing event notification in the PrintEnhanced standard.

Explanation of symbols

1 Information equipment (digital camera)
100 ... CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Memory 102 ... Flash memory 103 ... System bus 104 ... LCD monitor 105 ... LCD controller 107 ... Wireless LAN interface controller 108 ... Wireless LAN module 109 ... RF processing part 111 ... Access point 112 ... LAN cable 113 ... PrintEnhanced compatible printer 114 ... USB controller 115 ... USB connector 116 ... USB cable 117 ... PictBridge compatible printer

Claims (8)

An information processing apparatus for transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium for recording,
An image recording control middleware unit that is provided for each service standard for recording image data of image data, makes a processing request to the image recording apparatus in accordance with the image recording service standard, and receives a processing result or event information from the image recording apparatus; ,
A common application interface unit that receives a processing request from the user interface application and notifies the user interface application of a processing result from the middleware unit for image recording control;
An information processing apparatus comprising: The image recording control middleware unit manages the corresponding specifications of the state control unit for controlling the state inside the image recording control middleware unit and the image recording apparatus connected via the communication medium, and the user interface An image recording setting management unit that holds and manages image recording setting information instructed by an application, and a job management unit that manages the progress of an image recording job being executed.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The common application interface unit makes an image recording device connection request to a state control unit corresponding to a desired image recording service standard in response to the image recording device connection request from the user interface application.
The status control unit notifies the user interface application of support information acquired from the connected image recording apparatus in a common format that does not depend on the image recording service standard.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. In response to the image recording request from the user interface application, the common application interface unit issues an image recording request to a state control unit corresponding to a desired image recording service standard.
The status control unit acquires print settings related to the connected image recording apparatus from the image recording setting management unit, instructs the job management unit to generate image recording job information to be managed internally, and then performs image recording. Issuing a print request to the device, receiving a print acceptance from the corresponding image recording device, converting to a common format, and notifying the user interface application;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The state control unit receives event information notified from the image recording apparatus during the image recording process, converts the event information into event information in a common format that does not depend on the image recording service standard, and performs the user Notify the interface application,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The image recording control middleware unit is arranged in association with each service standard of PictBridge and PrintEnhanced.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. An information processing method for recording by transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium,
In response to an image recording device connection request from the user interface application, the image recording device connection process corresponding to the desired image recording service standard is performed, and the support information acquired from the image recording device is received from the image recording service standard. Notifying the user interface application in a common format format independent of
In response to an image recording request from the user interface application, obtain print settings relating to the connected image recording apparatus, generate image recording job information to be internally managed for the job management unit, Issuing a print request to the image recording apparatus in accordance with the image recording service standard, receiving a print acceptance from the corresponding image recording apparatus, converting to a common format, and notifying the user interface application;
Event information notified from an image recording apparatus that is performing image recording processing is received, converted into event information in a common format that does not depend on the image recording service standard, and notified to the user interface application at a common timing Steps,
An information processing method comprising: A computer program written in a computer-readable format so that processing for transferring image data to an image recording apparatus via a communication medium for recording is executed on the computer,
In response to an image recording device connection request from the user interface application, the image recording device connection process corresponding to the desired image recording service standard is performed, and the support information acquired from the image recording device is received from the image recording service standard. A procedure for notifying the user interface application in a common format independent of
In response to an image recording request from the user interface application, obtain print settings relating to the connected image recording apparatus, generate image recording job information to be internally managed for the job management unit, Issuing a print request to the image recording device in accordance with the image recording service standard, receiving a print acceptance from the corresponding image recording device, converting to a common format, and notifying the user interface application;
Event information notified from an image recording apparatus that is performing image recording processing is received, converted into event information in a common format that does not depend on the image recording service standard, and notified to the user interface application at a common timing Procedure and
A computer program for executing