JP2008134931A - Printing service and print service server device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for notifying each base of frequently used printing capability in supporting a plurality of printing bases in a print service system. <P>SOLUTION: In a system configuration of a client, a CPS server and the printing bases, the CPS server is provided with a means for taking history of operating frequency of printing capability values provided to a user as a whole system, and a means for reflecting printing capability values newly added to the bases, in a history and also in a printing capability menu screen of the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print service system that performs a print service in response to a user request in a print service including an output device such as a printer.

  When a user (user) uses a printer of a print service store, for example, the user brings electronic data in which a document or an image is recorded to a print service store equipped with an output device such as a printer and prints it, or a personal computer ( There is a form in which an electronic document stored in a terminal is printed by bringing a terminal such as a PC) and connecting it to an output device with a cable. Also, there is a form in which printing is performed by connecting an electronic document from a terminal in an office or home to a server via a network such as an ISDN line and transmitting the electronic document from the terminal to any print service store.

For example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can be cited as conventional examples.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-306828 JP 2001-306829 A

  When a plurality of print service stores are connected to the network, there is an operation for the user to select a print service store that satisfies the print appearance ability to be requested. At this stage, narrowing down of stores that grasp user needs occurs. In other words, it means that the amount of orders received is reduced at stores that do not support printing styles that fit user needs. On the other hand, at each store, the store manager knows the frequency of use for each installed device, but it is within all the printing capabilities provided by the print service system to which multiple stores are connected. So, there was no way to know what printing capability was used frequently.

  In the present invention, there is provided means for counting up the printing format capability value selected by the user from among the printing capability values managed in the usage count DB at the timing when the user instructs printing of the document uploaded to the server. Yes. This DB provides a means for managing the number of times of use of the printing capability provided by the print service system and providing data service to the store as usage frequency information in accordance with a request from the print service store.

  In addition, when a print service store installs a new print capability value that was not supported by any store, a means for reflecting that capability value in the usage count DB and also reflecting it in the user's print appearance setting menu screen Provided. By this means, it becomes possible to provide data services to individual stores using the new printing capability value as usage frequency information.

  As explained above, at the timing when the user instructs printing, the printing ability value selected by the user is counted up in the usage count DB of the entire system, and the usage count is stored as a history on a daily basis. When there is a request for the usage frequency of the printing capability value, it is possible to provide a data service as appropriate frequency information in real time. The store can grasp the user needs of the printing capability at the time of device replacement, and can install a device that can expect an increase in orders. Further, if the number of print service stores that possess print capability values with many user requests increases as a whole print service system, the convenience of users who use the system can be improved.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 are examples of a configuration diagram of a print service system in the present embodiment.

  A print service server 100 performs operation management and service management of the entire print service.

  In principle, the billing process for the user and the handling of the device information of the service store are also managed here.

  A user terminal 101 is a tool for accessing the print service system.

  Reference numerals 102 and 103 denote print service stores which serve as bases for providing print services based on user instructions.

  Hereinafter, the operation mode in each figure will be described.

  FIG. 1 shows an operation mode in which a user terminal (for example, a general personal computer), a print service store, and a print service server are arranged on the same network. Specifically, each system is connected to the Internet, and a user can access a print service server and print a predetermined document at a predetermined print store. The handling of the print capability information is a print service. It is done on the server.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which the user terminal is a mobile phone having a function as an information terminal that has been used in recent years, and the basic service operation mode is the same as FIG.

  The access means to the print service server is implemented mainly with a general Internet protocol (HTTP, etc.), and the system is also used as a security measure using a general means represented by SSL (Secure Socket Layer). It has come to be used.

  Further, the connection means between the print service store system and the user terminal is also implemented by general parallel and serial connection means.

  FIG. 3 shows functional blocks of the print service server in this embodiment.

  A communication control unit 401 performs data communication processing with the user terminal 101 and the print service stores 102 and 103. Here, processing such as user authentication is performed using data managed by the authentication information management device 451.

  Reference numeral 402 denotes an information providing unit that retrieves requested data from various data managed by the server and generates data to be returned to the request source. In particular, the print appearance information according to the present invention is acquired from the store information management device 456 and provided to the user terminal.

  A job reception unit 403 receives job data (mainly a print request) from the user and manages it in the job management apparatus 454.

  A document uploaded from the user is also accepted here, and the data is managed by the document information management device 455.

  Reference numeral 404 denotes a job distribution unit that transfers unprocessed job data managed by the job management apparatus 454 to the designated print service store.

  Reference numeral 405 denotes a store capability registration unit, which performs a process of collecting the print capability sent from the print service store and its capability value into a store print capability and storing it in the store information management device 456.

  A result reception unit 407 receives the result of the job executed at the print service store, updates the job management data of the job management device 454 according to the content, and records the log in the log information management device 453.

  Reference numeral 408 denotes a charge calculation unit, which performs a calculation process for a charge amount to be charged for the job result based on various charge conditions described in the charge system management apparatus 452.

  Next, a supplementary description will be given of various data management devices operated and managed in this server.

  Reference numeral 451 denotes an authentication information management device that manages data to be managed with sufficient password security corresponding to each user ID.

  452 is a charge system management device, which is a standard charge table imposed on a service, a user charge management attribute reference table serving as a calculation reference for various charge processing services applied according to usage records, and a service operation record. The contracted store loyalty standard table, which serves as a basis for calculating loyalty for contracted stores to be applied, is managed.

  Reference numeral 453 denotes a log information management apparatus, which can record and manage from which person to where, what job is issued, and the result, etc. for each service.

  Reference numeral 454 denotes a job management apparatus that first manages jobs received from the user and sequentially processes the jobs.

  It is also possible to set job priority designation, schedule job execution, accept time-designated jobs, and store job data so that it can be re-executed later.

  Reference numeral 455 denotes a document information management apparatus, which can register, manage, search, and the like when requested by a user.

  Reference numeral 456 denotes a store information management device, which manages store information such as printing capability and its capability value. Further, the number of times the printing capability used by the user of the present invention is used and all the printing capability values of the print service system are also managed here.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the print service store system in this embodiment.

  A communication control unit 501 performs data communication processing with the print service server 100, the print service stores 102 and 103, and the like.

  Reference numeral 502 denotes a printing base capability providing unit that generates data to be sent back to the print service server, including store information such as the printing capability managed by this system and its capability value.

  A job reception unit 503 receives job data (mainly print requests) from the user from the print service server and manages the job data in the job management apparatus 551.

  A job processing unit 504 sequentially transfers unprocessed job data managed by the job management apparatus 551 to the distributor 505 and executes the job.

  The distributor 505 that receives the job distributes it to the printing apparatus A 507 or the printing apparatus B 508 according to the distribution standard.

  A result notification unit 506 notifies the print service server of the result of the executed job.

  Next, a supplementary description will be given of various data management devices that are operated and managed in the system.

  Reference numeral 551 denotes a job management apparatus that first manages jobs received from others and sequentially processes the jobs.

  It is also possible to set job priority designation, schedule job execution, accept time-designated jobs, and store job data so that it can be re-executed later.

  Reference numeral 552 denotes a printing base capability management device that acquires the device capability and the capability value of the printing device connected to the store and stores the acquired device capability. When there is a registration request to the print service server, the storage information is transmitted from the communication control unit to the server.

  Reference numeral 553 denotes a log information management apparatus which can sequentially record and manage who received what jobs and what the results were regarding services performed in the system.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating a series of flows in which a job is input from the user terminal to the print service server, and the print service server requests printing of the job input to the printing apparatus in the store. The basic flow will be described.

  In S701, the user inputs the user ID and password, and checks whether the user is registered in the authentication process of the server that received the information. If registered, the access right of the user is checked, and a restriction on the functions that can be operated on the user terminal is set.

  If the user can print in S703, the document to be printed by the user is first uploaded to the server. The document is temporarily stored in the server in S704. Printing instructions are given to the stored document in the following procedure. A method may be used in which a document that has already been temporarily stored is searched and a document to be printed is selected from the documents. In this case, the procedure of S703 can be omitted.

  In S705, the store that the user wants to request printing is selected from the stores registered in the print service server.

  In S706, the printing capability information of the selected store is acquired. In S707, the capability is set, and a store printing capability setting screen is created on the server side and displayed on the user terminal.

  In S708, a user operation screen for setting the print style is displayed, but only the capability capable of printing in the store can be set.

  In S709, if the print format setting is completed, the data is transmitted to the server.

  In S710, based on the print appearance data received from the user terminal, the cost for printing is calculated in S713 and transmitted to the user terminal.

  In S714, after confirming the fee, the user instructs printing in S715 if this condition is acceptable. In S716, the server that has received the job execution request counts up the number of times the capability value selected by the user is used in the print capability usage count DB. Next, a log that accepts the execution of the job from the user is recorded in S721, and the print document and the print format setting value are issued as a job to the store.

  In S718, the store that accepts the job is a distributor in S719 that determines which printing device to use in accordance with the distribution standard, and in S720 submits the job to the printing device.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a job reception procedure when a user of the print service server issues a print instruction.

  In S1201, the print capability value selected by the user from the print appearance menu screen is notified to the job reception processing unit of the print service server. Since the print service server stores a DB that collects the number of times the user is used as a whole system, the DB item corresponding to the print capability value that has arrived at the reception processing unit in S1202 is counted up. Thereafter, in S1203, the document designated by the user and the print capability value are transmitted to the print service store. In this procedure, in S1202, it is not possible to create appropriate frequency information simply by counting up the capability value in the usage count counting process that is the original data for creating usage frequency information. This is because the capability value that has been installed in the store for a long time has a long use period and thus has a large count value, and the print capability value that has been relatively newly installed has a low count value. Data must be created so that the count values collected over a period of time can be calculated. An example of how to collect the data will be described with reference to the table of FIG. For example, if it is assumed that the capacity value of the store is B2 to A5 with respect to the printing capacity of the output paper size, the number of times used in one day is totaled for each capacity value. On the next day, the previous day's data is left as a history and counted up as new data. In this way, by creating a device that can collect daily aggregated data as a history, it is possible to calculate the number of capacities used in a certain period. When the print service usage frequency information is requested from the print service store, if the number of print capability values used for a certain period is calculated, it can be output as appropriate data.

  The store application uses this data to shape the information indicating the frequency of use. For example, with paper types, you might rank percentages to indicate which types of paper are more commonly used.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram for reflecting the capability value in the use frequency DB of the print service server when a new device is installed in the print service store.

  In order to provide useful information when data service of the printing capacity value of the entire system is provided to the printing base in real time, the latest printing capacity value must be included. In other words, when a new device is installed at a certain store and it is a new capability value as a print service, it is dynamically reflected in the index of the usage DB of the print service server, and at the same time, the capability is also displayed in the user's print appearance menu. It is necessary to create a screen so that values can be selected.

  When a new device is installed in a store that is S1301, the printing capability of the store is updated. The updated information is notified to the print service server in step S1303 via the network. Since the print service server has a DB of printing capability for each store, the corresponding DB is searched and updated with the received printing capability value. In addition, if the capability value data of the entire system is managed separately and matched with the received print capability value, and if a new capability value is included as a result, the capability value data of the entire system is determined in S1304. The capability value is added to the index, and the capability value data is added to the usage count DB in S1305. In S1306, the capability value data is also reflected on the user's print menu creation means. Now you are ready to keep track of the number of uses of the new ability value. Then, the user logs in to the print service system, selects a new print capability from the menu in S1307, and the use count is counted up from the timing when the print instruction is given.

Print service system configuration diagram (Part 1) Print service system configuration diagram (2) Print service server block diagram Print service store system block diagram Example print service sequence Job reception processing flow (server side) Example of store printing capability, its capability value, and number of uses Sequence diagram when a new device is installed in the store

Claims (5)

A print service system that accepts a print request including at least an electronic document to be printed, provides a printer based on the request, and provides a service for printing the electronic document by the printer;
In the print request, it has means for displaying setting items that can be printed in the store,
The setting item depends on a means for acquiring the capability value from a printing apparatus capable of printing by the store.
A means for registering the print capability value with the print service server;
A print service system comprising a screen creation means for displaying the print capability value as a print appearance menu on a user terminal. When making the print request, the document uploaded to the print service server,
A print service store,
It is a user terminal that can select a capability value from the print appearance menu,
The selected information is a system that transmits a print job to a print service store via a print service server.
The print service server stores a print capability value selected by the user;
2. The print service system according to claim 1, further comprising means for storing a capability value of the print service store.   The print capability value information selected by the user is stored as data of the entire print service system, and has means for counting up the number of times the print capability value is used in response to a single print instruction from the user. The print service system according to claim 2, wherein the print service system is stored as a history. When a request is made from the store to the print service server for the usage frequency of the printing capability value for a certain period, the number of times of use for the specified period is totaled from the history and transmitted to the store.
A print service system, characterized in that an application in a store has means for presenting a printing capability value that is frequently used to a user of the application based on the received information. When a store installs a new device, it has a means to update the store's print capability value,
Send the updated information to the print service server,
A means for matching the print capacity value of the entire system stored in the server with the updated print capacity value;
As a result of matching, if a new printing capability value is included as a whole system, there is means for adding it as an index to the printing capability usage count DB
A print service system comprising print menu addition means for reflecting the print capability value in print menu creation means.

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