JP2022158843A - System, print system, and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To exchange information among different print systems securely and smoothly.SOLUTION: A first print system which can communicate with a client terminal and an authorization system sends the authorization system a request for acquiring authorization information to a second print system and receives the authorization information to the second print system from the authorization system to store the received authorization information. Then, once the first print system receives a print job from the client terminal, the first print system transmits the print job to the second print system by using the stored authorization information. The second print system which can communicate with an image forming apparatus receives the print job transmitted from the first print system and transmits the received print job to the image forming apparatus.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

The present invention relates to a system for printing, a printing system, and a control method.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a cloud print service (hereinafter referred to as CPS) that inputs a print job via the cloud and transmits the print job to an image forming apparatus has started to spread. In such a printing system, an administrator first registers an image forming apparatus with a CPS tenant to which the administrator belongs. The administrator sets which user is permitted to use the image forming apparatus. Here, a tenant means a service system deployed on the cloud for each user. A tenant is assigned a storage area with restricted access for the exclusive use of a user.

Patent Literature 1 describes that the CPS 104 confirms with the CPS 105 whether or not the CPS 105 has a print job addressed to a cloud printer managed by the CPS 105 . If the corresponding print job exists, the CPS 104 requests the CPS 105 to acquire the print job using the access token, and the CPS 105 transmits the print job to the CPS 104 .

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-187700

In the technique described in Patent Document 1 above, when a print job in a first printing system (corresponding to CPS 105) is acquired from a second printing system (corresponding to CPS 104), the first printing system from the second printing system Regular polling of the printing system is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to securely and smoothly exchange information between different printing systems.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a system including a first printing system communicable with a client terminal and an authorization system, and a second printing system communicable with an image forming apparatus, The first printing system includes request means for requesting the authorization system to obtain authorization information for the second printing system, and receiving authorization information for the second printing system from the authorization system. storage means for storing the received authorization information; second reception means for receiving the print job from the client terminal; and the received print job using the stored authorization information. a first transmission unit for transmitting to the second printing system, the second printing system includes a third reception unit for receiving the transmitted print job; and a third reception unit for receiving the received print job. and second transmitting means for transmitting to the image forming apparatus.

According to the present invention, information can be securely and smoothly exchanged between different printing systems.

It is a figure which shows the whole structural example of a system. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example hardware configuration of a cloud print service; FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a software configuration example of a cloud print service; FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an authorization flow; FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of acquiring a job execution result; 8 is a flowchart showing details of processing for specifying a user executing a print job; It is a figure which shows an example of a selection screen. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a print job transmission flow; FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a print job transmission flow; FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of deleting authorization information; It is a figure which shows an example of a selection screen. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting disconnection; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting job deletion;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the following embodiments do not limit the present invention related to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution of the present invention. Not necessarily. Identical configurations will be described with the same reference numerals.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system according to this embodiment. A system 1 according to this embodiment includes cloud print services (hereinafter referred to as CPS) 160 , 170 , 180 , client terminals 100 , 120 , 140 , and image forming apparatuses 110 , 130 , 150 . The image forming apparatuses 110 to 150 receive print jobs via the CPSs 160 to 180 connected thereto, execute the received print jobs, and print images on paper. Client terminals 100 to 140 are PCs (personal computers) operated by users, and transmit print jobs input by users to CPSs 160 to 180 connected thereto.

The client terminal 100 and the image forming apparatus 110 are installed in a shared office and are communicably connected to the CPS 160 via the Internet. A shared office is a shared space that can be used based on a contract with a specific company. The client terminal 120 and the image forming apparatus 130 are installed in a specific company A and are communicably connected to the CPS 170 via the Internet. The client terminal 140 and the image forming apparatus 150 are installed in a specific company B and are communicably connected to the CPS 180 via the Internet.

The CPS 160 is managed by the shared office manager, and the tenants assigned to the CPS 160 are defined as shared office tenants. Users who use the shared office are registered in the CPS 160 . The CPSs 170 and 180 are managed by Company A and Company B, respectively, and the tenants assigned to the CPSs 170 and 180 are defined as in-house tenants. Employees working for company A and company B are registered as users in CPS 170 and 180, respectively. CPS 160 is communicatively connected to CPSs 170 and 180 by a network. The network is, for example, a LAN such as the Internet, a WAN, a telephone line, a dedicated digital line, and an ATM. Alternatively, it is a communication network realized by a combination of these.

The CPS 160 transmits print jobs received from the client terminal 100 and print jobs received from the CPSs 170 and 180 to the image forming apparatus 110 . The CPS 170 also transmits the print job received from the client terminal 120 and the print job received from the CPS 160 to the image forming apparatus 130 .

A case in which the CPS 170 transmits a print job received from the client terminal 120 to the CPS 160 using the system 1 will be described below. The client terminal 120 is an example of an information processing device. CPS 170 is an example of a first printing system. CPS 160 is an example of a second printing system.
In this embodiment, CPS 160 is described as a shared office tenant, and CPS 170 and 180 are described as separate CPSs as in-house tenants. However, the CPSs 170 and 180 may also serve as the CPS 160, and these CPSs may be CPSs having the same configuration.
Also, in this embodiment, the CPSs 160, 170 are communicatively connected to an authorization system including an authorization server via the Internet.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of the CPS 160-180. In this embodiment, a server as a real resource provides CPS 160 to 180 in which resource resources are allocated to a plurality of different tenants by using containerization and virtualization technology. Since the CPS 160 and the CPSs 170 and 180 can be realized with the same hardware configuration, the CPS 160 will be explained in FIG. 2 and the explanation of the CPSs 170 and 180 will be omitted.

The CPS 160 is composed of a CPU 201 , ROM 202 , RAM 203 , HDD 204 and network I/F 205 , which are connected via a bus 206 . CPU201 cooperates with each part and controls the operation|movement of the whole CPS160. CPU 201 executes processing based on programs stored in ROM 202 or HDD 204 . A RAM 203 is a main memory of the CPU 201 and is used as a work area or a temporary storage area for developing various programs. The HDD 204 stores print data, image data, various programs, and various other data. In this embodiment, one CPU 201 executes a program stored in the ROM 202 or the like using one memory (RAM 203) to execute each process shown in sequence diagrams and flow charts to be described later. Other modes may also be possible. For example, a plurality of CPUs, RAMs, ROMs, HDDs, and other storage devices can cooperate to execute each process described later.

A network I/F 205 is an interface for network communication with the outside. The CPS 160 receives processing requests from the client terminal 100, the image forming apparatus 110, and the CPSs 170 and 180 via the network I/F 205, performs various processes, and transmits and receives various data. Similarly, the CPS 170 receives processing requests from the client terminal 120, the image forming apparatus 130, and the CPS 160 via the network I/F 205, performs various processes, and transmits and receives various data.

<Software configuration>
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of software modules that operate on the CPSs 160-180. Each software module is stored in the ROM 202 or the like shown in FIG. 2, and is loaded into the RAM 203 by the CPU 201 and executed. Since the CPS 160 and the CPSs 170 and 180 can be realized by the same software configuration, the CPS 160 will be explained in FIG. 3 and the explanation of the CPSs 170 and 180 will be omitted.
The setting management unit 301 holds settings related to various functions of the CPS 160 in storage devices such as the RAM 203 and the HDD 204, and reads the settings from the storage devices. Here, the setting is, for example, information (for example, URL) indicating an external CPS that can be linked, or information about an image forming apparatus registered in the CPS 160 . The job management unit 302 stores print jobs received from the client terminal 100 , print jobs received from an external CPS, and print job-related information (for example, print job identification information described later) in the data storage unit 305 .

A communication unit 303 communicates with the client terminal 100 registered in the CPS 160, the image forming apparatus 110, and an external CPS via the network I/F 205, and receives each processing request and transmits each processing result. . The authentication control unit 304 performs user management. Specifically, the authentication control unit 304 stores the user information of the user added by the tenant administrator in the data storage unit 305 or a dedicated user management DB (not shown). Also, the authentication control unit 304 may cooperate with other authentication services. A data storage unit 305 stores data in response to a request from the job management unit 302 or the authentication control unit 304 . A UI control unit 306 generates and transmits a screen UI (user interface) in response to a request from the client terminal 100 or the image forming apparatus 110 . For example, the UI control unit 306 of the CPS 170 generates a screen such as that shown in FIG.

<Authorization sequence>
FIG. 4 shows a sequence diagram for authorizing access from CPS 170 to CPS 160 using an authentication authorization mechanism such as OAuth. It is assumed that the user has already issued user accounts for CPS 160 and CPS 170 respectively. In the following description, notation of each process (step) is omitted by adding S to the beginning of each process (step).

First, the client terminal 120 inputs user account information (for example, login ID and login password) of the CPS 160 and the URL of the CPS 160 by the user's operation (S401). In this embodiment, it is assumed that the user is in the shared office, so the operations here and the operations in S501 and S503 in FIG. is.
Next, the client terminal 120 transmits an authorization request for the CPS 160 to the CPS 170 together with the information input in S401 (S402). The CPS 170 receives authorization requests and the like from the client terminal 120 . Here, the CPS 170 assigns a tenant name to the URL of the CPS 160 included in the received information and stores it in the RAM 203 or the like. After that, the CPS 170 transmits the information received from the client terminal 120 to the authorization server (S403).

Subsequently, the authorization server performs authentication/authorization processing based on the information received from the CPS 170 (S404), and when the authentication/authorization is successful, issues an access token as authorization information and transmits it to the CPS 170 (S405). . Next, the CPS 170 stores the access token received from the authorization server in the RAM 203 or the like in association with the user who made the authorization request (the user who is logged in to the CPS 170) (S406), and notifies the client terminal 120 that authorization has been completed. Notify (S407). After that, the series of processes shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 4 ends.

According to the authorization sequence of FIG. 4 as described above, by using the mechanism of authentication and authorization, it is possible to transmit confidential data such as a print job from the CPS 170 to the CPS 160 in a secure manner. Note that in the authorization sequence of FIG. 4, user authentication is performed by a method in which the user inputs a login ID and a login password, but the method of user authentication is not limited to this method.

<Print job transmission flow>
FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing until the image forming apparatus 110 executes a print job for printing data such as a document file held in the client terminal 120. As shown in FIG. As a premise, it is assumed that authorization from the CPS 170 to the CPS 160 has been completed by the authorization sequence shown in FIG.

First, the client terminal 120 transmits a login request to the CPS 170 together with information for logging in to the CPS 170, which is input by the user's operation (S801). After that, the CPS 170 uses the information received from the client terminal 120 to permit the login of the client terminal 120 (S802). Next, in response to a print request from the client terminal 120, the CPS 170 generates a selection screen for selecting a print job execution destination, and provides the client terminal 120 with the selection screen. The client terminal 120 displays the provided selection screen, and selects a tenant to execute the print job by the user's operation (S803).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a print job execution destination selection screen. This selection screen is displayed on the display of the client terminal 120 . A selection screen 700 in FIG. 7 is provided with a check box 701 for selecting an in-house tenant and a check box 702 for selecting a shared office tenant. In the following description, it is assumed that the check box 702 is checked and the shared office tenant is selected on the selection screen 700 .

When the shared office tenant is selected as the print job execution destination, the client terminal 120 transmits the selected tenant name and the print job to the CPS 170 (S804).

Subsequently, the CPS 170 transmits the print job received from the client terminal 120 to the CPS 160 together with the access token held in S406 of FIG. 4 (S805). The CPS 160 saves the print job received from the CPS 170 in the HDD 204 or the like (S806). A user in the shared office moves in front of the image forming apparatus 110 when performing an operation to send a print job with the client terminal 120 via the client terminal 100 currently connected remotely. The image forming apparatus 110 transmits a login request to the CPS 160 together with information for logging in to the CPS 160, which is input by the user's operation (S807). The CPS 160 permits login using the information received from the image forming apparatus 110 (S808). After that, the image forming apparatus 110 selects a print job to be executed by the user's operation (S809). Here, it is assumed that the print job transmitted from the CPS 170 to the CPS 160 has been selected.

Subsequently, the image forming apparatus 110 transmits an acquisition request for the selected print job to the CPS 160 (S810), and the CPS 160 transmits the print job to the image forming apparatus 110 in response to the acquisition request (S811). ). The image forming apparatus 110 that has received the print job executes the print job and prints (S812). After that, the series of processes shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 8 ends.

In the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 8, in S803, when a print job is submitted, a tenant that executes printing is specified. However, it is not always necessary to specify the tenant that executes printing when submitting a print job. FIG. 9 shows the process until the image forming apparatus 110 executes a print job for printing data such as a document file held in the client terminal 120 after designating that the tenant to execute the print job will be selected later. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing; FIG.

Since the processing from S901 to S903 is the same as that from S801 to S803 in FIG. 8, the description thereof is omitted. However, in S903 of FIG. 9, a selection screen is displayed that allows the user to designate the tenant to be the print job execution destination later.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a print job execution destination selection screen displayed in S903 of FIG. This selection screen is displayed on the display of the client terminal 120 . The selection screen 1100 in FIG. 11 has a check box 1101 for selecting an internal tenant, a check box 1102 for selecting a shared office tenant, and a check box 1103 for selecting a tenant later. It is In the following description, it is assumed that the check box 1103 is checked on the selection screen 1100 and the tenant is selected later.

When the client terminal 120 is set to select a tenant to execute the print job later, the client terminal 120 transmits the selected setting and the print job to the CPS 170 (S904).

Subsequently, the CPS 170 stores the print job received from the client terminal 120 in the HDD 204 or the like (S905).

For example, when a user in the company performs an operation to send a print job on the client terminal 120, the user moves to the shared office and operates the client terminal 100 installed in the shared office. The client terminal 100 transmits a login request to the CPS 170 together with the information for logging in to the CPS 170 that has been input by the user's operation (S906). After that, the CPS 170 uses the information received from the client terminal 100 to permit the login of the client terminal 100 (S907).

Next, in response to a print request from the client terminal 100, the CPS 170 generates a selection screen for selecting a print job execution destination, and provides the client terminal 100 with the selection screen. The client terminal 100 displays the provided selection screen and sets the tenant to execute the print job by the user's operation (S908). In the following description, it is assumed that the check box 1102 is checked and the shared office tenant is selected on the selection screen 1100 shown in FIG.

When the shared office tenant is selected as the print job execution destination, the CPS 170 transmits the print job held in S905 to the CPS 160 together with the access token held in S406 of FIG. 4 (S909). The CPS 160 saves the print job received from the CPS 170 in the HDD 204 or the like (S910). Next, the user in the shared office moves in front of the image forming apparatus 110 . Since the processing from S911 to S916 is the same as that from S807 to S812 in FIG. 8, the description is omitted. After that, the series of processes shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 9 ends.

According to the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9 as described above, it is possible for the image forming apparatus 110 to execute a print job for printing data such as a document file held in the client terminal 120 . At this time, by using the authorization information issued by the authorization server and pre-stored in the CPS 170, the print job can be quickly transmitted from the CPS 170 to the CPS 160 without periodic polling from the CPS 160. That is, it is possible to securely and smoothly exchange information between printing systems.

<Flow for deleting authorization information>
FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing for deleting authorization information stored in the CPS 170. As shown in FIG.

First, the client terminal 120 transmits a login request to the CPS 170 together with information for logging in to the CPS 170, which is input by the user's operation (S1001). After that, the CPS 170 uses the information received from the client terminal 120 to permit the login of the client terminal 120 (S1002). Next, in response to a request from the client terminal 120, the CPS 170 generates a screen for selecting disconnection from the connected tenant and provides it to the client terminal 120. The client terminal 120 displays the provided screen and receives an instruction to disconnect from the connected tenant by the user's operation (S1003).

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting disconnection from a connected tenant. This screen is displayed on the display of the client terminal 120 . A screen 1200 in FIG. 12 is provided with disconnection buttons 1201 and 1202 in association with the tenant names of connected tenants. In the description of this embodiment, the number of shared office tenants that can be connected to the CPS 170 is one, but there may be multiple shared office tenants that can be connected. By completing the authorization for each of the connectable shared office tenants, the connection with the shared office tenants is completed. In such a case, a list of a plurality of connected tenants is displayed, such as shared office tenant A and shared office tenant B shown in FIG. In the following description, it is assumed that the disconnection button 1201 of the CPS 160 corresponding to the shared office tenant A has been pressed on the screen 1200 .

When the disconnection is instructed, the client terminal 120 transmits an authorization information deletion request to the CPS 170 (S1004).

Subsequently, the CPS 170 transmits a list request of unexecuted print jobs to the CPS 160 together with the access token held in S406 of FIG. 4 (S1005). The CPS 160 transmits to the CPS 170 a list of unexecuted print jobs among the print jobs received from the CPS 170 (S1006).

Subsequently, when there is an unexecuted print job, the CPS 170 generates a screen for selecting job deletion and provides it to the client terminal 120 (S1007). The client terminal 120 displays the provided screen and receives an instruction to delete the job from the user's operation (S1008). On the other hand, if there is no unexecuted print job, the process after S1007 is skipped and the process proceeds to S1013. In the following description, it is assumed that there is an unexecuted print job.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen for selecting job deletion. This screen is displayed on the display of the client terminal 120 . A screen 1300 in FIG. 13 is provided with a message display area to the effect that unexecuted print jobs remain in the shared office tenant, an OK button 1301 for permitting deletion of the print jobs, and an NG button 1302 for canceling the deletion. It is In the following description, it is assumed that the OK button 1301 has been pressed on the screen 1300 .

When job deletion is instructed, the client terminal 120 transmits a job deletion request to the CPS 170 (S1009).

Subsequently, the CPS 170 transmits an unexecuted job deletion request to the CPS 160 together with the access token held in S406 of FIG. 4 (S1010). After deleting the unexecuted job in response to the deletion request received from the CPS 170 (S1011), the CPS 160 transmits the job deletion result to the CPS 170 (S1012).

After that, the CPS 170 deletes the access token held in S406 of FIG. 4 (S1013), and transmits the deletion result to the client terminal 120 (S1014).

According to the sequence of FIG. 10 as described above, it is possible to delete the held authorization information and release the connection between the tenants. Also, by deleting unexecuted jobs when deleting authorization information, it is possible to prevent jobs from remaining in the tenant even if the connection is terminated.

Here, when a print job transmitted from the CPS 170 to the CPS 160 is executed by the image forming apparatus 110 in the shared office, there is a demand for the CPS 170 to manage the execution result of the print job. For this purpose, after the print job transmitted from the CPS 170 to the CPS 160 is executed by the image forming apparatus 110 , it is necessary to transmit the job execution result from the CPS 160 to the CPS 170 . However, in order to transmit the job execution results in a secure manner, the user must go through an authorization procedure to allow access from CPS 160 to CPS 170 . That is, in order to send two pieces of data, the print job and the job execution result, the user has to perform authorization procedures twice, which is troublesome.

As a method of transmitting the job execution result from the CPS 160 to the CPS 170, for example, after the print job is transmitted from the CPS 170 to the CPS 160, there is a method of continuing the session until printing is executed by the image forming apparatus in the shared office. . Further, for example, there is a method of periodically polling the CPS 160 from the CPS 170 until printing is executed. However, these methods are not practical because it is not known when printing will be performed. Therefore, a method for solving these problems will be described with reference to FIG.

<Flow for acquiring print job execution results>
FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing after the image forming apparatus 110 executes a print job for printing data such as a document file held in the client terminal 120 until the CPS 170 acquires the print job execution result. be. Assume that authorization has been completed by the authorization sequence shown in FIG.

First, the client terminal 120 transmits a login request to the CPS 170 together with information for logging in to the CPS 170, which is input by the user's operation (S501). After that, the CPS 170 uses the information received from the client terminal 120 to permit the login of the client terminal 120 (S502). Next, in response to a print request from the client terminal 120, the CPS 170 generates a selection screen for selecting a print job execution destination, and provides the client terminal 120 with the selection screen. The client terminal 120 displays the provided selection screen and selects a tenant to execute the print job by user's operation (S503). In the following description, it is assumed that the check box 702 is checked and the shared office tenant is selected on the selection screen 700 .

Next, the CPS 170 identifies the user information of the user who submitted the print job (the user permitted to log in in S502). Subsequently, the CPS 170 generates history information in which the specified user information, serial number, and URL of the tenant selected as the execution destination of the print job (in this embodiment, the URL of the CPS 160) is associated, and stores it in the RAM 203 or the like. (S506). In this embodiment, each time a print job is received, the CPS 160 generates history information as described above and adds it to the job management list saved in the RAM 203 or the like. Note that the URL of the CPS 160 is held in S402 of FIG.

Table 1 is an example of a job management list. In the first row of Table 1, the user name (user information) "User01" sends the print job with the print job number (serial number) "000001" to the destination URL (URL of the selected tenant) "https:// You can see that it was sent to "tenantA.com". By using the job management list to hold the print job transmission history, it becomes possible to identify which user of the CPS 170 has sent which print job to which tenant. In the description of this embodiment, the CPS 170 can send print jobs to one shared office tenant, but there may be multiple shared office tenants to which print jobs can be sent. In such a case, as shown in Table 1, there are multiple destination URLs. Note that the print job number is an example of print job identification information.

Subsequently, the CPS 170 transmits the print job received from the client terminal 120, the serial number, and the URL of the CPS 170 to the CPS 160 together with the access token held in S406 of FIG. 4 (S507). The CPS 160 stores the print job received from the CPS 170, the serial number, and the URL of the CPS 170 in association with each other in the HDD 204 or the like. A user in the shared office moves in front of the image forming apparatus 110 when performing an operation to send a print job on the client terminal 120 . The image forming apparatus 110 transmits a login request to the CPS 160 together with the information for logging in to the CPS 160 that was input by the user's operation (S508). The CPS 160 permits login using the information received from the image forming apparatus 110 (S509). After that, the image forming apparatus 110 selects a print job to be executed by the user's operation (S510). Here, it is assumed that the print job transmitted from the CPS 170 to the CPS 160 has been selected.

Subsequently, the image forming apparatus 110 transmits an acquisition request for the selected print job to the CPS 160 (S511), and the CPS 160 transmits the print job to the image forming apparatus 110 in response to the acquisition request (S512). ). The image forming apparatus 110 that has received the print job executes the print job and prints (S513). When the print job execution is completed, the image forming apparatus 110 notifies the CPS 160 that the print job execution has been completed (S514).
Upon receiving the print job execution completion notification, the CPS 160 identifies the serial number and the URL of the CPS 170 held in association with the executed print job, and transmits the serial number and the URL of the CPS 160 to the URL of the CPS 170. (S515). CPS 170 receives the serial number and the URL of CPS 160 . This allows the CPS 170 side to recognize which print job was executed by which tenant. The CPS 170 identifies the user who executed the print job based on the received serial number and the URL of the CPS 160 (S516). A user identification method will be described later with reference to FIG. If the CPS 170 cannot identify the user in S516, the processing shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 5 ends.

Next, the CPS 170 transmits the received print job execution result request including the serial number to the CPS 160 together with the access token held in association with the user identified in S516 (S517). CPS 160 receives a print job execution result request from CPS 170 . The CPS 160 transmits the print job execution result corresponding to the serial number included in the print job execution result request to the CPS 170 (S518). When the CPS 170 receives the print job execution result from the CPS 160, the CPS 170 stores the received print job execution result in the HDD 204 or the like in association with the serial number of the print job and the tenant name of the print job execution destination. In addition to these, the user information of the user identified in S516 may be associated and stored. After that, the series of processes shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 5 ends.

Table 2 is an example of a print job execution result. As shown in Table 2, the print job execution result includes information such as the number of prints, printing method, and billing information.

According to the sequence of FIG. 5 as described above, it is possible to transmit and receive print jobs and print job execution results starting from the CPS 170 . Therefore, the print job and the print job execution result can be transmitted and received in a secure manner without performing authorization processing from the CPS 160 to the CPS 170 . In addition, it is possible to collectively manage the print job execution results performed by the image forming apparatus 110 in the shared office together with the print job execution results performed by the image forming apparatus 130 in the company by the CPS 170 (in-house tenant). This allows billing of printing costs and review of a log of documents printed by a user. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to hold the authorization information in the CPS 160 (shared office tenant), which is a public environment, security can be strengthened.

<Processing to specify print job execution user>
Next, details of the process of specifying the user who executes the print job executed in S516 of FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, in S601, the CPS 170 acquires the URL of the external CPS and the serial number of the executed print job based on the information received in S515 of FIG. For example, assume that the URL is "https://tenantA.com" and the serial number is "0000001".
Next, in S602, the CPS 170 determines whether history information having the serial number obtained in S601 exists in the job management list as shown in Table 1. If the CPS 170 determines that there is history information, it specifies the history information and proceeds to S603, and if it determines that there is no history information, the flow chart shown in FIG. 6 ends.

In S603, the CPS 170 determines whether the destination URL of the history information identified in S602 matches the URL obtained in S601. If the CPS 170 determines that they match, the process advances to S604, and if it determines that they do not match, the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 ends. That is, the CPS 170 confirms whether or not the print job with the serial number received in S515 has been sent to the external CPS having the URL received in S515. In the example, based on the first row of Table 1, it can be confirmed that the print job "0000001" has been sent to "https://tenantA.com", so the process proceeds to S604.
In S604, the CPS 170 identifies the user information included in the history information identified in S602 as the execution user of the print job. In the example, based on Table 1, the user name "User01" can be identified.

According to the flowchart of FIG. 6 as described above, it is possible to identify which user of the CPS 170 executed the print job in the image forming apparatus 110 connected to the CPS 160 .

According to the system of this embodiment, when a print job is executed by an image forming apparatus connected to a CPS (second service) different from the CPS (first service) to which a client terminal is connected, authorization is given once. With the procedure, the print job execution result can be obtained on the first service side. As a result, it is possible to reduce the user's labor involved in authorization processing.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a 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 processing to It can also be implemented by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

1: system, 100, 120, 140: client terminal, 110, 130, 150: image forming apparatus, 160: cloud print service (shared office tenant), 170: cloud print service (in-house tenant)

Claims (8)

A system including a first printing system communicable with a client terminal and an authorization system, and a second printing system communicable with an image forming apparatus,
The first printing system includes:
request means for requesting the authorization system to acquire authorization information for the second printing system;
a first receiving means for receiving authorization information for the second printing system from the authorization system;
a storage means for storing the received authorization information;
a second receiving means for receiving a print job from the client terminal;
a first transmission unit that transmits the received print job to the second printing system using the stored authorization information;
The second printing system includes:
a third receiving means for receiving the transmitted print job;
and second transmitting means for transmitting the received print job to the image forming apparatus. The first printing system includes:
further comprising first holding means for holding the received print job;
When the second printing system is selected as an execution destination of the held print job, the first transmission means sends the held print job to the second printing system using the saved authorization information. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the system transmits to the printing system of . The first printing system includes:
When disconnecting from the second printing system, the stored authorization information is used to issue a deletion request for unexecuted print jobs held in the second printing system to the second printing system. a third transmitting means for transmitting to the system;
a first deletion unit that deletes the stored authorization information when notified by the second printing system of a deletion result of the unexecuted print job;
The second printing system includes:
3. The system according to claim 1, further comprising second deletion means for deleting the print job in response to the deletion request for the unexecuted print job. the first transmission unit further transmits identification information of the received print job to the second printing system;
The first printing system includes:
When the identification information of the print job is received from the second printing system, the stored authorization information is used to transmit a request to acquire the execution result of the print job to the second printing system. a fourth transmission means;
a fourth receiving unit that receives a print job execution result from the second printing system;
The second printing system includes:
a second holding means for holding identification information of the received print job;
a fifth transmitting means for transmitting identification information of the print job to the first printing system when the print job is executed by the image forming apparatus;
4. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising sixth transmission means for transmitting a print job execution result to said first printing system in response to a print job execution result acquisition request. A system according to any one of the preceding claims. The first printing system includes:
a third holding means for holding user information of a user who submitted the print job and identification information of the print job in association with each other when the print job is sent by the first transmission means;
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising specifying means for, when print job identification information is received from said second printing system, specifying said user information associated with said received print job identification information. 5. The system according to any one of items 1 to 4. 6. The system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said authorization information is an access token issued when access to said second printing system is authorized by user authentication. A printing system communicable with a client terminal and an authorization system,
request means for requesting the authorization system to obtain authorization information from another printing system that can communicate with the image forming apparatus;
a first receiving means for receiving authorization information for the other printing system from the authorization system;
a storage means for storing the received authorization information;
a second receiving means for receiving a print job from the client terminal;
and transmission means for transmitting the received print job to the other printing system using the stored authorization information. A method of controlling a system including a first printing system communicable with a client terminal and an authorization system, and a second printing system communicable with an image forming apparatus, comprising:
a request step in which the first printing system requests the authorization system to acquire authorization information for the second printing system;
a first receiving step in which the first printing system receives authorization information for the second printing system from the authorization system;
a saving step in which the first printing system saves the received authorization information;
a second receiving step in which the first printing system receives a print job from the client terminal;
a first transmission step in which the first printing system transmits the received print job to the second printing system using the stored authorization information;
a third receiving step in which the second printing system receives the transmitted print job;
and a second transmission step, wherein the second printing system transmits the received print job to the image forming apparatus.

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