JP2022079351A - Communication device, method for controlling communication device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve the problem in which: when print data is transimitted without changing a tenant in connection with a communication device, the print data may be transmitted to an unintended tenant.SOLUTION: A communication device has: acquisition means (S1001, 1002) that acquire, from an image forming apparatus, information for specifying a tenant in a cloud system in cooperation with the image forming apparatus; and setting changing means (S1003-S1009) that, when a tenant set as a connection destination in the communication device and the tenant specified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means are different from each other, set the tenant specified based on the information as the connection destination.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

The present invention relates to a communication device that facilitates switching of print settings, a control method and a program of the communication device.

In recent years, with the spread of communication devices such as smartphones, printing from communication devices has increased. Patent Document 1 describes a method for easily performing a pull print using a smartphone. According to this technique, a communication device acquires print data from a communication device to a pull print server by acquiring server information for pull print via an image forming device (hereinafter referred to as "MFP"). Will be possible.
Traditional pullprint systems were typically offered as an on-premises service. In recent years, with the spread of the cloud, pull print systems are increasingly being provided as cloud services. There is a concept of tenants in cloud services, and tenants can be used properly according to the purpose. For example, users who use cloud services often use different tenants depending on where they work, such as the head office, branch offices, and satellite offices, and manage accounts and printing costs for each tenant.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-174999

When using the cloud service pull print from a communication device, it is necessary to send print data to the logged-in cloud service tenant. For example, when printing from an MFP installed in a branch office, it is necessary to log in to the tenant for the branch office from a communication device and send print data to the tenant for the branch office. On the other hand, when printing from the MFP installed in the satellite office, it is necessary to log in to the tenant for the satellite office from the communication device and send the print data to the tenant for the satellite office. In other words, the user must switch the tenant to be used according to the location of the MFP to be used.
This will be described in detail. If the user wants to print from the MFP installed in the satellite office from the communication device, it is necessary to log in to the tenant for the satellite office from the communication device and send the print data to the tenant. For example, when the communication device is logged in to the tenant for the branch office, printing from the desired MFP can be performed by switching the communication device to log in to the tenant for the satellite office. However, if you log in to the tenant for the branch office from the communication device and send the print data as it is without switching the communication device to log in to the tenant for the satellite office, the print data will be sent to the tenant for the branch office. It ends up.
If the print data is transmitted without switching the tenant connected from the communication device in this way, there is a problem that the print data is transmitted to an unintended tenant. Further, even if the user is aware of the change of tenant, the work of consciously operating the communication device and switching the tenant of the connection destination is complicated.
The present invention has been made in view of at least one of the above-mentioned problems. One aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for appropriately switching a printing environment to be used from a communication device without deteriorating the convenience of a user.

The present invention is a communication device, and is set as an acquisition means for acquiring information specifying a tenant of the cloud system with which the image forming device is linked from the image forming device and as a connection destination on the communication device. It is characterized by having a setting changing means for setting a tenant specified based on the information as the connection destination when the tenant specified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means is different from the tenant. ..

It is possible to suitably switch the printing environment used from the communication device without deteriorating the convenience of the user.

Overall configuration of the printing system Hardware configuration diagram of communication device Server hardware configuration diagram Hardware configuration diagram of MFP Software configuration diagram of the entire printing system Diagram showing the tenant information list Flowchart showing the processing of the communication device application Diagram showing the screen of the application of the communication device Flowchart showing the processing of the communication device application Diagram showing the screen of the application of the communication device

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the means for solving the invention.

[System configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a system according to this embodiment. The printing system includes a communication device 110, a server 120, and an image forming device, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 130. The communication devices 110 and MFP 130 are communicably connected to a server that provides various services on the Internet via a wireless LAN such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or a WAN. Here, LAN is an abbreviation for Local Area Network, and WAN is an abbreviation for Wide Area Network. Further, the communication device 110 and the MFP 130 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a wireless LAN. Further, the communication device 110 can receive a signal transmitted by the MFP 130 based on the communication standard of Bluetooth (registered trademark). Further, the communication device 110 is not limited to this as long as it is a small information processing device such as a smartphone, a tablet PC, or a notebook computer.
The communication device 110 is a mobile terminal having a plurality of functions such as a telephone, an e-mail, a web browser, and a camera, and is a smartphone or a tablet. The communication device 110 is an example of an information processing device and may be a PC (personal computer) or the like. The server 120 is an example of a server having a function of storing files in various formats such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language), Javascript (registered trademark), images, and texts constituting a web page. The server 120 provides a web page and various information in response to a request from an external terminal such as a communication device 100. The MFP 130 is a multifunction device having a plurality of functions such as a scanner and a printer, and is an example of an image processing device. In this embodiment, the MFP is described as a multifunction device, but it may be a home printer.
The printing system of this embodiment has a configuration including a communication device 110, a server 120, and an MFP 130, but is not limited thereto.

[Hardware configuration of communication device]
FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the communication device 110. The communication device 110 includes a control unit 210, an operation unit 220, a Bluetooth unit 221 and an NFC unit 222. The control unit 210 is composed of the following units 211 to 216, and controls the operation of the entire communication device 110. The CPU 211 reads a control program stored in the ROM 212 or the like to execute and control various functions of the communication device 110 such as a camera / communication. The RAM 213 is used as a temporary storage area for the main memory, work area, etc. of the CPU 211. In this embodiment, one CPU 211 uses one memory (RAM 213 or SSD 214) to execute each process shown in the flowchart described later, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of CPUs, a plurality of RAMs, or SSDs may be linked to execute each process. The SSD (Solid State Drive) 214 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores an HTML file, a Javascript file, image data, text data, various programs, and the like. The operation unit I / F 215 is an interface for connecting the operation unit 220 and the control unit 210. The operation unit 220 is provided with a touch panel display, buttons, and the like, and accepts operations / inputs / instructions by the user and outputs a screen to be displayed to the user. The network I / F 216 is an interface for connecting the control unit 210 (communication device 110) to a network such as a wireless LAN or WAN. The communication device 110 uses the network I / F 216 to send and receive various information such as images and texts to and from each service on the Internet. The Bluetooth unit 221 is a communication unit that communicates with an external device in accordance with the Bluetooth standard. The NFC unit 222 is a communication unit that performs short-range wireless communication with an external device in accordance with the NFC standard. In the present embodiment, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone is assumed as an example of the communication device 110, but the present embodiment is not limited to this. For example, it may be a communication device such as a tablet terminal or a notebook PC (Personal Computer).

[Server hardware configuration]
FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the server 120.
The server 120 is composed of a CPU 311, a ROM 312, a RAM 313, an HDD 314, and a network I / F 315. The CPU 311 controls the entire operation by reading the control program stored in the ROM 312 and executing various processes. The RAM 313 is used as a temporary storage area for the main memory, work area, etc. of the CPU 311. The HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 314 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores an HTML file, a Javascript file, image data, text data, various programs, and the like. The network I / F 315 is an interface for connecting the server 120 to the Internet. The server 120 uses the network I / F315, receives a processing request from another device (communication device 110, MFP 130, etc.) via the network, and transmits / receives various information. The server 120 is a cloud server that provides a cloud print service that receives a print job from the communication device 110 and transfers the print job to the MFP via the cloud. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the server 120 provides the cloud print function to the user belonging to the tenant A and the user belonging to the tenant B. The cloud print function is also called a pull print system. The server 120 can provide a cloud print service to a plurality of different tenants by using containerization or virtualization technology. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the application layer module is executed by a common module, and the database that manages user-specific data is provided as a multi-tenant architecture service that is managed separately for each tenant. Therefore, the printer information, job information, and user information of each tenant stored in the database are configured to be accessible only by the users belonging to each tenant. Therefore, the user belonging to the tenant A can perform cloud printing to the printer managed by the tenant A, and the user belonging to the tenant B can perform the cloud printing to the printer managed by the tenant B.

[Hardware configuration of MFP]
FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the MFP 130. The MFP 130 is composed of a control unit 410, an operation unit 420, a printer unit 421, a scanner unit 422, a modem 423, a Bluetooth unit 424, and an NFC unit 425. The control unit 410 is composed of the following units 411 to 419, and controls the operation of the entire MFP 130. The CPU 411 reads out the control program stored in the ROM 412, and executes and controls various functions of the MFP 130 such as reading / printing / communication. The RAM 413 is used as a temporary storage area for the main memory, work area, etc. of the CPU 411. In this embodiment, one CPU 411 uses one memory (RAM 413 or HDD 414) to execute each process shown in the flowchart described later, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a plurality of CPUs, a plurality of RAMs, or HDDs may be linked to execute each process. The HDD 414 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores image data and various programs. The operation unit I / F 415 is an interface for connecting the operation unit 440 and the control unit 410. The operation unit 420 is provided with a touch panel, a keyboard, and the like, and receives operations / inputs / instructions by the user. The printer I / F 416 is an interface for connecting the printer unit 421 and the control unit 410. The image data for printing is transferred from the control unit 410 to the printer unit 421 via the printer I / F 416 and printed on the recording medium. The scanner I / F417 is an interface for connecting the scanner unit 422 and the control unit 410. The scanner unit 422 reads a document set in a document table (not shown) or an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) to generate image data, and inputs the image data to the control unit 410 via the scanner I / F417. The MFP 130 can print out (copy) the image data generated by the scanner unit 422 from the printer unit 421, and can also send a file or send an e-mail. The modem I / F418 is an interface for connecting the modem 423 and the control unit 410. Modem 423 facsimiles and communicates image data with a facsimile machine on the PSTN. The network I / F419 is an interface for connecting the control unit 410 (MFP130) to the LAN, the Bluetooth unit 424, and the NFC unit 425. The MFP 130 uses the network I / F419 to transmit image data and information to each service on the Internet via the network, and to receive various information. The Bluetooth unit 424 is a communication unit that communicates with an external device in accordance with the Bluetooth standard. The NFC unit 425 is a communication unit that performs short-range wireless communication with an external device in accordance with the NFC standard.

[Software configuration of the entire system]
FIG. 5 is a software configuration diagram of the license display system according to this embodiment. Each functional unit is realized by the CPU 211 reading and executing the control program stored in the ROM 212 or SSD 214, or by the CPU 311 reading and executing the control program stored in the ROM 312 or HDD 314.
The mobile application 500 is an application (hereinafter referred to as “application”) installed in the communication device 110. The mobile application 500 has a communication unit 510, a control unit 511, a data management unit 512, a screen display unit 513, an MFP search unit 514, and an information acquisition unit 515.
The communication unit 510 requests the server 120 for various processes. For example, in order to access the cloud system for pull printing managed by the server 120, a login request to the cloud system is sent to the server 120. Further, the communication unit 510 receives a request from the mobile application 500 and transmits a request for screen configuration information (HTML file, Javascript file, etc.) necessary for screen display to the server 120. The communication with the server 120 uses a protocol such as REST or SOAP, but other communication means may be used.
The control unit 511 performs general control processing such as communication instructions, screen display instructions, and data management instructions in the mobile application 500. For example, when the mobile application 500 is started, the screen configuration information is acquired from the server 120 via the communication unit 510, and the screen display instruction is given to the screen display unit 513 based on the screen configuration information.
The data management unit 512 manages information related to the mobile application 500 in general, such as setting values of the mobile application 500, and a tenant information list 600. The tenant information list 600 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The screen display unit 513 displays a UI screen for accepting an operation by a user on a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function of the operation unit 220 of the communication device 110. Here, the UI screen is a screen provided by the server 120 or a screen stored in advance by the mobile application 500.

The MFP search unit 514 searches for a nearby MFP 130 via the Bluetooth unit 221. When the MFP search unit 514 can receive the Bluetooth signal transmitted by the MFP 130, the MFP search unit 514 determines that the MFP 130 is present near the communication device 110. On the other hand, when the MFP search unit 514 cannot receive the Bluetooth signal transmitted by the MFP 130, it determines that the MFP 130 does not exist near the communication device 110. In the present embodiment, the MFP 130 periodically transmits an advertising packet of Bluetooth Low Energy (registered trademark) in order to notify that it exists in the surroundings. The advertising packet contains information that identifies it as a printing device.
The information acquisition unit 515 acquires the setting information of the MFP 130 via the Bluetooth unit 221. For example, the setting information includes the URL of the cloud system to which the MFP 130 is connected, the installation location of the MFP (for example, a branch office, a satellite office, etc.). The acquisition of the setting information is performed by using the scan request of Bluetooth Low Energy. The information acquisition unit 515 sends a scan request requesting additional information to the device that is the source of the advertising packet. The MFP 130 that has received the scan request responds to the URL including the tenant information of the cloud system in which it participates and the installation location information as a response to the scan request. In the present embodiment, the case where the setting information is acquired by the scan request is illustrated as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the advertising extension (EXTENDED ADVERTISING) of Bluetooth 5 may be used to respond to URLs and installation location information. It should be noted that the data area of the advertising packet can also be configured to include information that identifies the tenant. Further, the information acquisition unit 515 can be configured to establish a connection with the MFP 130 and acquire the URL including the information for identifying the tenant and the installation location information of the MFP by using GATT communication.
The server 120 has a request control unit 531 and a data management unit 532. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the pull print cloud system is installed on the server 120 by an installer (not shown).
The request control unit 531 is on standby in a state where it can receive a request from an external device. Upon receiving the processing request, the data management unit 532 and the account management unit 533 are instructed to process as appropriate according to the request.
The data management unit 532 stores and manages screen configuration information of the cloud system, print data received from the mobile application 500, and the like.
The account management unit 533 stores and manages account information and the like of the cloud system.
The data management unit 532 and the account management unit 533 receive a request from an application running on another terminal such as a communication device 110 or an MFP 130 connected via the Internet, and return a response according to the request. In this embodiment, for example, screen configuration information, print data, token information, etc. required for screen display are returned as a response, but the response is not limited to this.
The MFP 130 receives a request from the Bluetooth unit 221 of the mobile application 500 and returns a response according to the request.
The method of linking each system in this embodiment will be described. By transmitting the print data from the mobile application 500 to the cloud system of pull print, the print data is stored in the cloud system of the server 120. Further, the MFP 130 can connect to the cloud system of the server 120, refer to the print data stored in the cloud system, and print.

[Tenant information list]
FIG. 6 is a diagram relating to a tenant information list according to this embodiment. The tenant information list 600 is managed by the data management unit 512 of the mobile application 500, and includes the URL 601 of the cloud system, the token information 602, and the status 603. The data included in the tenant information list 600 is not limited to this. Further, the tenant information list 600 centrally manages a plurality of tenant information such as tenant A and tenant B.
The URL 601 of the cloud system is the URL of the cloud system of the server 120.
The token information 602 is a token issued by the account management unit 533 of the server 120. When the URL 601 of the cloud system is accessed from the mobile application 500 and the login to the cloud system is successful, the token is returned from the server 120. The mobile application 500 stores this token as token information 602 in a form corresponding to the URL 601 of the cloud system in the data management unit 512. For example, if the tenant A's cloud system URL601 (figure example: https://tent-a.app.com/) is accessed and the login to the cloud system is successful, the token (figure example: 3ci5qk89y88t33h2) is returned. .. This token is stored as token information 602 in a form corresponding to the URL 601 of the cloud system of the tenant A. If the mobile application 500 has not successfully logged in to the URL 601 of the cloud system, the token information 602 is not set.
The status 603 is a setting value for determining which setting is enabled as a connection destination in the mobile application 500. For example, in FIG. 6, the status of tenant A is “active” and the status of tenant B is “passive”. That is, it can be determined that the setting currently enabled in the mobile application 500 is tenant A.
In this embodiment, the URL 601 and the status 603 of the cloud system are set via the UI (not shown) of the mobile application 500. The mobile application 500 accesses the cloud system of the server 120 by using the URL 601 of the cloud system of the tenant in which the status 603 is enabled.

[Tenant switching process]
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details for performing the MFP switching process used in the mobile application 500. The CPU 211 reads and executes the control program stored in the ROM 212 or SSD 214. Each process of the flowchart is executed. Hereinafter, it will be described in detail.
This process is started when the mobile application 500 is activated.
In S1001, the MFP search unit 514 of the mobile application 500 determines whether or not the Bluetooth signal of the MFP 130 is detected via the Bluetooth unit 221. If it is detected (Yes in S1001), it proceeds to S1002, and if it is not detected (No in S1001), it waits in S1001. In this embodiment, the following description will be given using the Bluetooth signal for confirming the existence of the MFP 130, but the method for confirming the existence of the MFP 130 is not limited to this.
In S1002, the information acquisition unit 515 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the server (tenant) information could be acquired from the MFP 130 via the Bluetooth unit 221. The server information is, for example, a URL related to the pull print cloud system to which the MFP 130 is connected, and includes a character string that uniquely identifies the tenant. If it can be acquired (Yes in S1002), the process proceeds to S1003, and if it cannot be acquired (No in S1002), the process ends.
In S1003, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the server information acquired in S1002 and the server information set in the mobile application 500 are different. Here, the server information set in the application of the communication device refers to the URL 601 of the cloud system included in the information of the tenant A which is currently "active" in FIG. If the server information is different (Yes in S1003), the process proceeds to S1004, and if they are the same (No in S1003), there is no need to switch servers, so the process ends.
In S1004, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the server information (URL of the cloud system) acquired in S1002 is included in the tenant information list 600 managed by the mobile application 500 as a candidate for a connection destination. When the server information is not included in the tenant information list 600, it can be determined that the server information set in the MFP 130 is a server (tenant) not registered in the mobile application 500. The result determined by S1004 is used in S1005, S1006, and S1010.
In S1005, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the automatic switching setting (813 or 814 in FIG. 8B) is ON. Here, when it is determined in S1004 that the automatic switching setting 813 is a server registered as a candidate for a connection destination, the value set in the automatic switching setting 813 becomes valid. On the other hand, when it is determined in S1004 that the automatic switching setting 814 is a server that is not registered as a candidate for a connection destination, the value set in the automatic switching setting 814 becomes valid. If the automatic switching settings 815 and 814 are ON (Yes in S1005), change the setting of the connection destination server by changing the status 603 related to the acquired server information to "active", and proceed to S1009. .. If the automatic switching settings 815 and 814 are not ON (No in S1005), the process proceeds to S1006. If it is determined in S1004 that the server is registered as a candidate for a connection destination, the automatic switching setting 813 may be automatically set to ON in consideration of the convenience of the user.

In S1006, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the notification setting (811 or 812 in FIG. 8B) is ON. Here, when it is determined in S1004 that the notification setting 811 is a server registered as a candidate for a connection destination, the value set in the notification setting 811 becomes valid. On the other hand, when the notification setting 812 is determined by S1004 to be an unregistered server, the value set in the notification setting 812 becomes valid. If the notification settings 811 and 812 are ON (Yes in S1006), the process proceeds to S1007, and if it is not ON (No in S1006), the process ends without changing the connection destination server.
In S1007, the screen display unit 513 of the mobile application 500 displays the message 801 of FIG. 8A. The content of the message 801 indicates that the MFP 130 holding the server information different from the server information set in the mobile application 500 exists in the vicinity of the current location. If it is determined in S1004 that the server is not registered, the message may further indicate that the server information not managed by the mobile application 500 is newly found.
In S1008, the screen display unit 513 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the [change setting] button is pressed as a response of the user to the inquiry about the difference in the server (tenant) information in the message 801. If the [Change Settings] button instructing to change the server to connect to is pressed as a user response (Yes in S1008), proceed to S1009, and if the [Cancel] button is pressed (No in S1008), the process is performed. finish. When the [Change Settings] button is clicked, the status 603 related to the server information specified in the message is changed to "active", and the server to be connected is changed.
In S1009, the communication unit 510 of the mobile application 500 accesses the server of the tenant (URL 601 of the cloud system) in which the status of the tenant information list 600 is "active".
In S1010, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the server to be accessed is a server registered as a candidate for a connection destination in the mobile application 500 based on the result of the determination in S1004. If the server is registered as a candidate for a connection destination (Yes in S1010), the process proceeds to S1011, and if the server is not registered as a candidate for a connection destination (No in S1010), the process proceeds to S1012.
In S1011, the network unit 510 of the mobile application 500 connects to the server 120, transmits token information, and executes a login process. The screen display unit 513 displays a web page in a state of being logged in to the tenant corresponding to the token information of the server 120, and ends the process. For example, when the MFP 130 is transmitting a Bluetooth signal including specific information of tenant B, a web page in a state of being logged in to tenant B is displayed. When the login is completed, the mobile application 500 can perform so-called cloud printing in which print data is transmitted via the server to the printing device under the control of the tenant B. When the mobile application 500 accepts a print operation (not shown), it generates print data corresponding to the file selected based on the user operation and sends it to the server 120 together with the token information.
The server 120 that has received the data including the print data and the token information identifies the tenant based on the token information. When the token information corresponding to the tenant B is included, the server 120 temporarily stores the print data in the virtual printer queue of the tenant B. The stored print data is printed in response to the user logging in to the printing device participating in the tenant B. For example, when a user logs in to the MFP 130, the MFP 130 inquires the tenant B of the server about the job of the user who has logged in to the MFP 130. If there is a job of the logged-in user, the MFP 130 acquires and prints the job. Further, when the login process is completed, the mobile application 500 can acquire the information managed by the tenant B. For example, the mobile application 500 can acquire the information of the user of the tenant B from the server and display the print history and the print record of the user.
In S1012, the network unit 510 of the mobile application 500 has the screen display unit 513 connected to the server 120, displays a web page in a non-logged-in state, and ends the process.
From the above flowchart, a method of switching to a suitable setting according to the usage location of the mobile application 500 has been described. As a result, when a plurality of tenants are used from the mobile application 500, it is possible to easily change the server switching of the tenant to be used.

The mobile application 500 may be operated at a location away from the MFP 130 to print on the MFP 130. Here, when a plurality of tenants are managed in the tenant information list 600 of the mobile application 500, the user needs to correctly set the tenant to be used. However, in such a case, the mobile application 500 cannot detect the Bluetooth signal transmitted by the MFP 130 because the distance from the MFP 130 is long. That is, there is a possibility that the tenant switching method described in the first embodiment is not executed and the switch to the tenant desired by the user is not performed.
Therefore, in the second embodiment, when the signal of the MFP cannot be detected, it is possible to reliably switch to the desired tenant by displaying a confirmation message to the user whether the tenant to which the print data is transmitted is correct on the display screen of the communication device. It is something to do.
[Tenant switching process]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing details for performing notification processing in the mobile application 500 in this embodiment. The CPU 211 reads and executes the control program stored in the ROM 212 or SSD 214. Each process of the flowchart is executed. Hereinafter, it will be described in detail.
This process is started by detecting that the mobile application 500 is operating.
In S1101, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the print data has been transmitted to the tenant. When the print data is transmitted (Yes in S1101), the process proceeds to S1102, and when the print data is not transmitted (No in S1101), the process proceeds in S1101.
In S1102, the MFP search unit 514 of the mobile application 500 determines whether or not the Bluetooth signal of the MFP 130 is detected via the Bluetooth unit 221. If it is detected (Yes in S1002), the process ends, and if it is not detected (No in S1002), the process proceeds to S1103.
In S1103, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 determines whether the tenant information list 600 includes a plurality of tenants. If a plurality of tenants are included (Yes in S1003), the process proceeds to S1004, and if not included (No in S1003), the process ends. This is because when the tenant information list 600 includes two or more (plural) tenants (servers), it is necessary to confirm with the user whether the destination tenant (server) to which the print data is transmitted is correct.
In S1104, the screen display unit 513 of the mobile application 500 displays the message 1001 of FIG. The content of the message 1001 displays specific information that can easily identify the MFP 130 and the tenant (server) to be used, in addition to the information of the message 801. For example, this specific information is the installation location (for example, branch office, satellite office, etc.) and characteristics of the MFP 130. Further, this information may be acquired from the server 120 or the MFP 130, or the information set in the UI (not shown) of the application of the communication device may be displayed.

The method of displaying the message regarding the tenant to which the print data is sent in the mobile application 500 has been described above. As a result, the user can easily identify the tenant to be used at the time of printing even when a plurality of tenants are managed by the mobile application 500.
(Modification example)
In Examples 1 and 2, the case where the mobile application 500 acquires information for identifying the tenant of the printing system in which the MFP 130 participates from the MFP 130 using Bluetooth communication has been exemplified, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It can also be configured to acquire information that identifies a tenant by a communication method such as UWB (Ultra Wide Band).
Further, a two-dimensional code such as a QR code (registered trademark) can be used to transmit information that identifies the tenant of the printing system in which the MFP 130 participates. In this case, the following processing may be executed instead of the detection processing of S1001. First, the MFP 130 displays a two-dimensional code in which information for identifying the tenant (such as the URL of the tenant) is stored in the operation unit 420. This two-dimensional code is displayed on, for example, the standby screen of the MFP 130 or the mobile cooperation screen. In addition, the mobile application 540 displays a tenant switching button on the application setting screen (not shown) or the home screen (not shown). When the mobile application 500 detects a user operation of pressing the tenant switching button, the mobile application 500 cooperates with the camera included in the communication device 110 to display a two-dimensional code reading screen. When the mobile application 5400 detects that the two-dimensional code displayed on the operation unit 420 has been read, the mobile application 5400 analyzes the two-dimensional code and attempts to acquire information. After that, the same processing as in S1002 and later may be performed.
By this process, it becomes possible to access the tenant to which the MFP belongs and log in to the tenant by an intuitive operation such as reading the QR code displayed on the MFP to be used.
Therefore, the tenant can be switched by an intuitive operation, and various functions (cloud print function, history and performance report function) provided by the tenant after the switch can be used via the mobile application 500.

(Other examples)
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by the processing to be performed. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

110 Communication equipment 120 Server 130 MFP
221 Bluetooth Department 532 Data Management Department

Claims (11)

It ’s a communication device,
An acquisition means for acquiring information for identifying a tenant of a cloud system with which an image forming apparatus is linked from the image forming apparatus, and an acquisition means.
When the tenant set as the connection destination in the communication device and the tenant specified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means are different, the setting change in which the tenant specified based on the information is set as the connection destination. A communication device characterized by having means and means. The acquisition means is characterized in that it acquires information for identifying a tenant of a cloud system with which the image forming apparatus is linked from the image forming apparatus by using wireless communication of the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard. The communication device described in. It also has a receiving means for receiving Bluetooth Low Energy® advertising packets.
The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition means acquires information that identifies a tenant of a cloud system with which an image forming apparatus specified based on an advertising packet received by the reception means is linked. .. The third aspect of claim 3, wherein the information for identifying the tenant of the cloud system with which the specified image forming apparatus is linked is included in the advertising packet transmitted by the specified image forming apparatus. Communication device. The acquisition means establishes GATT communication with the image forming apparatus specified based on the advertising packet received by the receiving means, and obtains information for identifying the tenant from the specified image forming apparatus via the GATT communication. The communication device according to claim 3, wherein the communication device is to be acquired. The acquisition means reads the two-dimensional code displayed on the operation unit of the image forming apparatus, analyzes the two-dimensional code, and as a result of the analysis, identifies the tenant of the cloud system with which the image forming apparatus is linked. The communication device according to claim 1, wherein the information is acquired. A storage means for storing information on the tenant set as the connection destination and information on the tenant that is a candidate for the connection destination.
Further having a connection means for connecting to a tenant set as a connection destination to be stored by the storage means.
When the tenant specified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means is stored in the storage means as the information of the candidate for the connection destination, the connection means connects to the specified tenant and executes the login process. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the communication device is characterized in that. The cloud system is a system that provides a cloud print service, and the communication device further includes a transmission means for transmitting print data to a tenant set as a connection destination, according to claims 1 to 8. The communication device according to any one. Further, it has an inquiry means for inquiring about a change in the tenant setting when the tenant set as the connection destination of the communication device and the tenant specified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means are different.
The setting change means according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the setting changing means changes the setting of the tenant of the connection destination when the response for changing the tenant is received as the response of the user to the inquiry. Communication device. It is a control method for communication devices.
An acquisition step of acquiring information that identifies a tenant of a cloud system with which an image forming apparatus is linked from the image forming apparatus, and an acquisition step.
When the tenant set as the connection destination in the communication device and the tenant specified based on the information acquired in the acquisition step are different, the setting change to set the tenant specified based on the information as the connection destination. A method of controlling a communication device, which comprises having a step. A program for causing a computer to execute the control method of the communication device according to claim 10.

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