JP2016051332A - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology of allowing a user to perform printing with ease of use even when a plurality of printing modules are installed.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus having one or more pieces of print execution means includes: acquisition means for acquiring capability information on printing capability of an image forming apparatus from the image forming apparatus configured to execute printing by means of the print execution means; determination means which determines whether an extended capability, which is not a basic capability determined in advance in the information processing apparatus, has been included in printing capability indicated by the capability information acquired by the acquisition means; and display means which displays a print setting screen for receiving print settings in the printing capability including the extended capability in addition to the basic capability when the determination means determines that the extended capability has been included.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program.

In recent years, mobile terminal devices such as smartphones have become widespread. And in portable terminal devices, such as a smart phone represented by Android (trademark), the printing function is also supported by the operating system as standard.
In a personal computer represented by Windows (registered trademark), software that controls the printing function is software called a printer driver. In Android, software called a print plug-in is used instead of the printer driver.
In recent years, the printing environment has been diversified, and it is possible to print in various places such as a hotel, an airport lounge, a coffee shop, a convenience store as well as an individual home. A variety of printer vendor printers are installed in the various locations described above, and when performing printing, printer drivers and print plug-ins corresponding to the various printer vendors are required.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for selecting a printer driver from a plurality of candidates.

JP 2006-344081 A

In a printing system using a print plug-in used in an environment typified by Android, a printer is searched on the spot, a printer capable of printing is found and a printer for printing is selected each time. Usually, each printer vendor provides a print plug-in corresponding to its own printer, but there is also a print plug-in corresponding to a multi-vendor printer. When a plurality of these print plug-ins are installed at the same time, each of the plurality of print plug-ins executes a network search. Therefore, even if the printer is physically the same, it is discovered by each of a plurality of print plug-ins and is listed as a print candidate. In addition, since each print plug-in is also under the control of the printing system, the special color of each print plug-in is output. For this reason, there is a problem that the user needs to select a print module at the time of printing, which is troublesome.
Patent Document 1 described above discloses a method for selecting a printer driver of a printer to be output based on user-desired print settings. However, this problem cannot be solved. Furthermore, in recent Android, there are cases in which a plurality of print plug-ins are installed in advance and shipped, and this problem cannot be ignored.
An object of the present invention is to provide a technique that allows a user to print conveniently even when a plurality of printing modules are installed.

  Therefore, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus having one or more print execution units, and the capability relating to the print capability of the image formation apparatus from an image formation apparatus that can execute printing by the print execution unit. An acquisition unit that acquires information; a determination unit that determines whether or not the print capability indicated by the capability information acquired by the acquisition unit includes an extended capability that is not a basic capability predetermined in the information processing apparatus; And a display means for displaying a print setting screen for accepting a print setting with a printing ability including the extended ability in addition to the basic ability when the judging means determines that the extended ability is included.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, even if it is a case where several printing modules are installed, the technique which enables a user to print with sufficient convenience can be provided.

It is a figure which shows an example of a system configuration. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a portable terminal. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a printer. It is a figure which shows an example of the software configuration of a portable terminal. FIG. 3 is a diagram (part 1) illustrating an example of a screen of a mobile terminal. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing in Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the mobile terminal according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of capability information and printer information. It is FIG. (2) which shows an example of the screen of a portable terminal. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of a mobile terminal according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram (part 3) illustrating an example of a screen of a mobile terminal;

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment. The mobile terminal 100 is connected to the same network as the printers 200, 201, 202 via the access point 300. As shown in FIG. 1, each printer holds information about a model name and an IP address. The mobile terminal 100 is an example of an information processing apparatus. The printers 200, 201, and 202 are examples of image forming apparatuses.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 100. Various programs are stored in the flash memory (Flash) 103. A SoC (System on a Chip) 101 calls various programs stored in the Flash 103 to a RAM (Random Access Memory) 102 and executes them, thereby realizing a software configuration of the mobile terminal 100 described later. Similarly, the process of the mobile terminal 100 and the process related to the flowchart of the mobile terminal 100 in a sequence diagram to be described later are realized.
The mobile terminal 100 includes an NFC (Near Field Communication) 106 and Bluetooth (registered trademark) 104 that perform short-range wireless communication, and a WiFi (registered trademark) 105 that performs wireless communication via the access point 300. In addition, the mobile terminal 100 includes a power source (Power) 107 of the mobile terminal, a Voice / Audio 108 such as a microphone and a speaker, a touch panel 109 operated by a user with a finger, and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) 110. Furthermore, the mobile terminal 100 includes a camera 111 for performing photography, video shooting, and the like, and sensors 112 such as GPS (Global Positioning System), acceleration, geomagnetism, and proximity. In the present embodiment, for example, Android (registered trademark) Android is assumed as an OS (Operating System), but is not limited thereto.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the printers 200, 201, and 202. Since the configurations of the printers are the same, the printer 200 will be described below as an example. In the printer 200, the CPU 211 calls various programs stored in the ROM 213 and the external memory 220 to the RAM 212 and executes them, thereby realizing the functions of the printer 200 and the processing of the printer 200 in a sequence diagram to be described later.
The printer 200 outputs an image signal as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 218 via a printing unit I / F 216 connected to the system bus 214. In addition to various programs, the ROM 213 stores information related to the printer model name shown in FIG. The network I / F 215 performs network communication such as WiFi and Ethernet (registered trademark). The CPU 211 can perform communication processing with the mobile terminal 100 via the network I / F 215 and can notify the mobile terminal 100 of information in the printer. The RAM 212 is a memory that functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 211, and is configured such that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). As shown in FIG. 1, the external memory 220 stores information on IP addresses and printer setting values. The operation unit 219 is an operation panel, and is provided with a switch for operation, an LED display, and the like.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration related to the present embodiment that operates on the mobile terminal 100. As described above, the program for realizing this software configuration is stored in the Flash 103.
The applications 411 to 413 are installed on the mobile terminal 100 and have a function of displaying and printing content such as photographs, documents, and Web pages via the print control unit 400.
The print control unit 400 includes a UI (User Interface) unit 401, a print plug-in control unit 402, a communication unit 403, a print plug-in management unit 404, and a detection result receiving unit 405. A UI unit 401 is a user interface of the print control unit 400. The print plug-in control unit 402 controls the operation of the print plug-in installed on the mobile terminal 100. A communication unit 403 performs network communication with the printer using WiFi. The print plug-in management unit 404 manages information on print plug-ins installed on the mobile terminal 100. More specifically, the print plug-in management unit 404 manages information on the name of the print plug-in installed on the mobile terminal 100, the corresponding print capability, and the like. The detection result receiving unit 405 receives a notification of the result that each print plug-in has detected a printer on the network.

The print plug-ins 420, 430, and 440 have functions such as printer search, print job generation, and printer status acquisition, and are modules that transmit target printer information to the print control unit 400. The print plug-in can be installed / uninstalled as necessary, and the print plug-in management unit 404 manages the installation state of the print plug-in. Since the functions of each print plug-in are equivalent, the print plug-in 420 will be described below as an example. The print plug-in and the printer driver are examples of a print module (print execution unit) that executes printing.
The printer search unit 421 searches for a printer using multicast or broadcast. As the protocol, SLP (Service Location Protocol), Multicast-DNS (Domain Name System) or the like is used, but the protocol is not limited to this, and may be different for each print plug-in. The print processing unit 422 performs rendering on a PDL (Page Description Language) or an image that can be printed by the printer 200. The status acquisition unit 423 communicates with the printer 200 using WiFi and acquires status information of the printer 200. The package name holding unit 424 holds information related to the package name, which is a unique name assigned to the print plug-in 420 and is different for each print plug-in. For example, a package name “jp.co.aaa.xxxx” is assigned to the print plug-in 420. The package name is an example of identification information for identifying a print plug-in.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen in an application in which the function of the print control unit 400 is implemented. FIG. 5A shows an example of a screen 500 in the application. When the print button 501 is tapped on the screen 500, the UI unit 401 of the print control unit 400 is called and the print setting screen 502 is displayed. The print setting screen 502 includes a target printer display area 503, a print setting area 504, and a print button 505.
After the user confirms the desired print setting in the print setting area 504, the mobile terminal 100 outputs the application content data to the printer displayed in the target printer display area 503 by tapping the print button 505. Here, the printer “Printer-A” having the IP address “192.168.0.10” is selected. When the user changes the output destination to another printer, the portable terminal 100 displays a printer list screen 510 on the network as shown in FIG. 5B by tapping the target printer display area 503.

The overall operation of the print control unit 400, the print plug-in 420, and the printer 200 in the portable terminal 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing in the present embodiment.
In the process in the sequence diagram, first, the print control unit 400 requests the print plug-in 420 on the portable terminal 100 to search for a printer that can communicate via the network (S601). Upon receiving the printer search request from the print control unit 400, the print plug-in 420 searches the printer network using the broadcast using the printer search unit 421 (S602). When the print plug-in 420 receives a response to the network search (S603), the print plug-in 420 requests the printer that has received the response to acquire capability information (S604). The capability information here is information relating to the printing capability (printing function) of the printer that can be set when printing is executed. The printer that has received the capability information acquisition request returns the capability information as a response to the print plug-in 420 (S605). The print plug-in 420 analyzes the received data packet. Then, the print plug-in 420 returns the capability information acquired from the printer together with basic information such as the IP address and name of the printer found by network search to the print control unit 400 as a response to the above-described printer search request (S606). ).

Next, the operation of the mobile terminal 100 according to this embodiment having the print control unit 400 and the print plug-in 420 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the mobile terminal 100 in the present embodiment.
In step S <b> 701, the print plug-in 420 acquires capability information from the printer 200.
In step S <b> 702, the print plug-in 420 reads basic information such as the IP address and model name of the printer 200 from the capability information acquired from the printer 200, and stores the basic information in a memory such as the flash 103. Here, an example of capability information acquired by the print plug-in 420 will be described with reference to FIG. The capability information 800 shown in the example of FIG. 8A includes basic information indicating that the model name 801 is “Printer-A” and the IP address 802 is “192.168.0.10”. . The capability information 800 includes basic capability information 803 indicating basic printing capabilities predetermined by the OS and print control unit 400, and extended capability information 804 indicating extended capabilities other than the basic capabilities. .

In step S <b> 703, the print plug-in 420 acquires the basic information, and then reads the basic capability information 803 from the capability information 800 and stores it in a memory such as the flash 103. As described above, the basic capability indicated by the basic capability information 803 is determined in advance by the OS and the print control unit 400. In the example of FIG. 8A, the number of copies (cap_COPIES), paper size (cap_PAPERSIZE), color setting (cap_COLOR), print range (cap_PAGES), and vertical and horizontal (cap_ORIENTATION) can be set as basic capabilities.
In step S704, the print plug-in 420 determines whether the print capability has an expansion capability (determination process). More specifically, the print plug-in 420 determines whether or not the capability information 800 includes extended capability information 804. If the print plug-in 420 determines that the print capability has the expansion capability, the print plug-in 420 determines whether the expansion capability indicated by the expansion capability information 804 can be determined.

In step S <b> 705, if there are a plurality of expansion capabilities, the print plug-in 420 refers to the model name for the first expansion capability and determines whether it can be set (setting availability determination process). The extended capability information 804 in FIG. 8A will be described as an example. First, the print plug-in 420 can enable the print control unit 400 to set the Nup setting for the first capability “cap_NUP”. It is determined whether or not. If the print plug-in 420 determines that the setting is possible, the process advances to step S706. If the print plug-in 420 determines that the setting is not possible, the setting is skipped and the process advances to step S707.
In step S706, the print plug-in 420 stores information on the display name and setting value regarding the setting of the extended capability in a memory such as the flash 103, and the process advances to step S707.
In step S707, the print plug-in 420 determines whether the processing in steps S705 and S706 has been executed for all the extended capabilities determined in step S704. In other words, the print plug-in 420 determines whether or not there is an extension capability other than the extension capability described above. If the print plug-in 420 has the second and subsequent expansion capabilities, the process returns to S705, and determines whether the second and subsequent expansion capabilities can be set as described above. If the print plug-in 420 does not have the extension ability to be determined next, it determines that all settings have been determined, and proceeds to S708.

In step S <b> 708, the print plug-in 420 detects the basic information acquired in step S <b> 702, the basic capability information 803 acquired in step S <b> 703, and the information related to the extended capability acquired in steps S <b> 705 to S <b> 706 as the printer information. The data is passed to the receiving unit 405. An example of printer information passed from the print plug-in 420 to the detection result receiving unit 405 in S708 is shown in FIG. The printer information 810 in FIG. 8B includes basic printer information regarding the model name 811 and the IP address 812. Further, the printer information 810 includes information 813 of the print plug-in 420 that is the creation source of this data. Further, the printer information 810 includes information 814 regarding basic capabilities and information 815 regarding extended capabilities.
In step S709, the UI unit 401 displays a print setting screen based on the printer information 810 passed from the print plug-in 420 by the detection result reception unit 405 in step S708, and ends the processing in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the print setting screen 901 displayed in S709 of FIG. The print setting screen 901 in FIG. 9 is a screen corresponding to the print setting screen 502 in FIG. 5, and the print setting area 902 includes Nup setting and Print Side setting compared to the print setting area 504 in the print setting screen 502. Printing capabilities have been added. These indicate that the setting of the information 815 regarding the extended capability described above with reference to FIG. 8B is reflected on the UI (print setting screen).

In the present embodiment, the print plug-in 420 of the mobile terminal 100 has been described as acquiring the capability information of the printer 200 from the printer 200 and selecting the capability that can be read on the print plug-in 420 side. However, the print plug-in 420 may inquire the printer 200 only about the ability to read. When the print plug-in 420 inquires the printer 200 for capability information, the print plug-in 420 passes the name of the print plug-in 420 as a parameter, and the printer 200 selects the capability information to be returned to the print plug-in 420 from the plug-in name. Also good. That is, the print plug-in 420 transmits an acquisition request for capability information including identification information for identifying the print plug-in 420 to the printer 200, and receives and acquires the capability information selected on the printer 200 side as a response. It may be.
According to this embodiment, even when there are a plurality of print modules, that is, when the print control unit 400 manages a plurality of print plug-ins, the print capability of each print module is reflected in the print setting screen. It becomes possible. Thereby, usability can be improved.

<Embodiment 2>
Operations related to the print control unit 400 and the print plug-ins 420, 430, and 440 of the mobile terminal 100 in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the mobile terminal 100 in the present embodiment. In this embodiment, a case where a plurality of print plug-ins execute processing will be described.
The process of the flowchart of FIG. 10A starts when the print control unit 400 collects printer information.
In step S <b> 1001, the detection result receiving unit 405 of the print control unit 400 collects printer information of the printers 200, 201, and 202 connected from all the print plug-ins 420, 430, and 440 installed in the mobile terminal 100. .
In step S <b> 1002, the print control unit 400 determines whether there is a plurality of printer information for the same printer from the printer name / model name / IP address read from the collected printer information. If there is only one piece of printer information for the same printer, the print control unit 400 performs processing equivalent to that in the first embodiment in S1004 and displays a print setting screen reflecting the printer information. On the other hand, when there are a plurality of pieces of printer information for the same printer, the print control unit 400 performs an extension capability merge process read from the printer information passed from each print plug-in in step S1003. Here, merging means merging. In step S1004, the print control unit 400 displays a print setting screen that reflects the merged result.
In step S1005, the print control unit 400 enters an input standby state from the user, and ends the process of FIG.

Next, the data structure of the printer information after the extended capabilities are merged by the processing of S1003 will be described using FIG. The printer information 820 in FIG. 8C includes basic printer information regarding the model name 821 and the IP address 822. The printer information 820 includes information 823 that lists merge-based print plug-ins. Further, the printer information 820 includes information 824 regarding basic capabilities, and information 825 and 826 regarding merged extended capabilities. Here, the information 825 and 826 regarding the merged extension capabilities includes information about the name of the merge-based print plug-in and the display name / setting value of each extension capability.
Here, FIG. 11A shows an example of the print setting screen displayed in the process of S1004 after the process of S1003. The print setting screen 1101 is a screen corresponding to the print setting screen 502 in FIG. The print setting area 1102 corresponds to the print setting area 504 on the print setting screen 502, and displays setting items corresponding to information 824 regarding basic capabilities. In the print setting areas 1103 and 1104, setting items and print plug-in names corresponding to information 825 and 826 relating to the expansion capability are displayed, respectively.

Next, the operation of the print control unit 400 when the user operates the print setting screen after displaying the print setting screen will be described with reference to FIG. This flowchart starts from the user input standby state in S1005.
In step S <b> 1011, the UI unit 401 determines whether a print setting input from the user has been received.
In step S1012, the print plug-in control unit 402 determines whether the print capability related to the print setting item is included in the extended capability when the print setting is changed in step S1011. If the print plug-in control unit 402 determines that the print capability related to the print setting item is included in the extended capability, the print plug-in control unit 402 identifies a print plug-in that can control (use) the print setting item in step S1013. In step S <b> 1014, the print plug-in control unit 402 notifies the UI unit 401 of the print plug-in specification and reflects it on the print setting screen.

Here, FIG. 11B shows an example of the print setting screen when the expansion capability is changed. In the print setting screen 1111, an example in which the print capability is set in the print setting area 1113 of the print plug-in of “CCC Print Service” and the print plug-in is specified is shown. Since the print plug-in is specified, the name of the specified print plug-in is written in the target printer display area 1112 and the print setting area 1114 corresponding to the expansion capability of other print plug-ins is displayed in gray. In other words, only the setting items corresponding to the specified print plug-in are displayed effectively. As a result, it becomes possible to distinguish between the available expansion capabilities, so that convenience for the user can be improved.
If there is further change in the print setting screen, the process returns to S1011. If there is no further change on the print setting screen, it is assumed that printing has been executed. In step S1016, the print control unit 400 passes information on the print target and print settings to the specified print plug-in.
In step S1017, the print processing units 422, 432, and 442 execute print processing. In step S1018, if the internal data reserved for displaying the print setting area is cleared (deleted), the process illustrated in FIG. Exit.

In this flowchart, the processing up to the end of printing has been described using the printing execution in S1015 as a key. Here, for example, in the case of processing for changing the target printer from the target printer display area 503, the processing of S1016 to S1017 may be skipped, and the internal data may be cleared in S1018.
According to the present embodiment, it is possible to absorb the functional difference between a plurality of print modules managed by the print control unit 400 on the print setting screen, and the user does not need to explicitly select the print modules. In addition, since the printing capability of the printer and the printing module is written together on the printing setting screen, it is not necessary to display the printer separately for each printing module on the printer list screen. As a result, the user can select the printer without being aware of the printing module.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

  As mentioned above, according to each embodiment mentioned above, even if it is a case where a plurality of printing modules are installed, a technique which enables a user to print conveniently can be provided. More specifically, by acquiring capability information from the printer via a plurality of installed printing modules, the user can execute desired print settings without explicitly selecting a plurality of printing modules. Is possible. Further, by displaying the capabilities of the printer and the printing module together, only one physically identical printer is listed. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that a physically identical printer is found in each of a plurality of printing modules and a plurality of printing candidates are listed. As a result, the user can execute printing without being confused.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but the present embodiment is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

100 Mobile terminal, 200, 201, 202 Printer, 400 Print control unit, 420, 430, 440 Print plug-in

Claims (8)

An information processing apparatus having one or more print execution means,
Obtaining means for obtaining capability information relating to printing capability of the image forming apparatus from an image forming apparatus capable of executing printing by the print executing means;
A determination unit that determines whether or not the print capability indicated by the capability information acquired by the acquisition unit includes an extended capability that is not a predetermined basic capability in the information processing apparatus;
Display means for displaying a print setting screen for accepting print settings with a print capability including the extended capability in addition to the basic capability when the determination unit determines that the extended capability is included;
An information processing apparatus. When the determination unit determines that the extended capability is included, the print execution unit further includes a setting availability determination unit that determines whether the print setting by the extended capability is possible,
The display unit displays a print setting screen for accepting a print setting with a printing capability including an extended capability determined to be printable by the setting availability determination unit in addition to the basic capability. Information processing device. Further comprising request means for transmitting an acquisition request for the capability information including identification information for identifying the print execution means to the image forming apparatus,
The acquisition unit receives and acquires capability information indicating a printing capability selected for the print execution unit specified by the identification information in the image forming apparatus as a response to the acquisition request by the request unit. Item 3. The information processing apparatus according to item 1 or 2.   In the display unit, the capability information acquired from the same image forming apparatus is included in the capability information acquired by the acquisition unit in the plurality of print execution units, and the same image is acquired by the determination unit. A print setting screen for receiving a print setting with a print capability combined with the extended capability is displayed when it is determined that each of the print capabilities indicated by the capability information acquired from the forming apparatus includes the extended capability. The information processing apparatus according to any one of 1 to 3. If the print setting received via the print setting screen includes a setting related to the extended capability, the print setting screen further includes a specifying unit that specifies a print execution unit that can use the extended capability,
5. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein among the setting items on the print setting screen, the display unit effectively displays only the setting item of the printing capability corresponding to the printing execution unit specified by the specifying unit. Information processing device.   6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion unit that deletes the capability information acquired by the acquisition unit after a print process is executed in the print setting received via the print setting screen. Information processing device. An information processing method executed by an information processing apparatus having one or more print execution means,
An acquisition step of acquiring capability information relating to a printing capability of the image forming apparatus from an image forming apparatus capable of executing printing by the print execution unit;
A determination step of determining whether or not the print capability indicated by the capability information acquired by the acquisition step includes an extended capability that is not a basic capability predetermined in the information processing apparatus;
A display step for displaying a print setting screen for accepting a print setting with a printing capability including the extended capability in addition to the basic capability when it is determined that the extended capability is included in the determination step;
An information processing method including: In a computer having one or more printing execution means,
An acquisition step of acquiring capability information relating to a printing capability of the image forming apparatus from an image forming apparatus capable of executing printing by the print execution unit;
A determination step of determining whether or not the print capability indicated by the capability information acquired by the acquisition step includes an extended capability that is not a basic capability predetermined in the computer;
A display step for displaying a print setting screen for accepting a print setting with a printing capability including the extended capability in addition to the basic capability when it is determined that the extended capability is included in the determination step;
A program for running

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