JP6828424B2 - Print server - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a print server that causes a printer to perform a print operation according to an instruction from an external device.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming system including a client PC in which a printer driver and a status monitor are installed, a print server, and an image forming apparatus. The printer driver converts the document data into print job data, and transmits the converted print job data to the image forming apparatus via the print server. The status monitor receives information indicating the status of the image forming apparatus via the print server, and displays the received status of the image forming apparatus on the monitor.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-010583

As in Patent Document 1, in order to cause the image forming apparatus to perform printing, it is common to install a printer driver that converts document data according to a protocol that the image forming apparatus can recognize in advance on the client PC. is there. However, for example, when the image forming apparatus on the go is used temporarily, if the printer driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus must be installed, there arises a problem that the work of the user becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a print server capable of causing a printer to execute a print operation according to an instruction from an external device in which a printer driver is not installed. There is.

Various disclosures are made herein. The print server, which is one of the disclosure examples, includes a memory, a communication interface, and a controller. The controller uses a file sharing protocol to publish a shared area that is a part of the storage area of the memory so that an external device connected to the print server can access it through the communication interface. A printer connected through the communication interface performs a first acquisition process of acquiring a file written in the shared area through the communication interface and a print operation of recording an image indicated by the file acquired in the first acquisition process on a sheet. Executes the print instruction processing to be executed by.

According to the above configuration, the external device can cause the printer to execute a print operation targeting the file simply by writing a desired file in the shared area published by the print server using the file sharing protocol. That is, any external device that supports the file sharing protocol can use the printer even if the printer driver is not installed.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the system 100 according to the embodiment. FIG. 2A shows a block diagram of the print server 50, and FIG. 2B shows an example of a device list. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the device management process. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the printer connection process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the print process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the monitor process. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the status notification process. 8A and 8B are display examples of the display of the information processing terminal 20, in which FIG. 8A is a list screen including device icons 111 to 113 corresponding to devices connected to the communication network 101, and FIG. 8B is a print server 50. The list screen including the folder icons 121 and 122 corresponding to the printers 10A and 10B connected to is shown. FIG. 9 shows a state in which the list screens 130 and 140 are simultaneously displayed on the display of the information processing terminal 20. 10A and 10B are display examples of the display of the information processing terminal 20, where FIG. 10A shows a list page and FIG. 10B shows a status page.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. It goes without saying that the embodiments described below are merely examples of the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention can be appropriately changed without changing the gist of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the system 100 according to the present embodiment. The system 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes printers 10A and 10B (hereinafter, these may be collectively referred to as "printer 10") and information processing terminals 20A and 20B (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as "printer 10"). , "Information processing terminal 20") and a print server 50.

The information processing terminal 20 and the print server 50 are connected to each other through the communication network 101. Specific examples of the communication network 101 are not particularly limited, but may be, for example, a wired LAN, a wireless LAN, or a combination thereof. On the other hand, the printer 10 and the print server 50 are connected by a USB cable 102. A USB hub or the like may be interposed between the printer 10 and the print server 50. Further, the printer 10 and the print server 50 may be connected through the communication network 101 instead of the USB cable 102.

The printer 10 executes a printing operation of recording an image represented by image data on a sheet. More specifically, the printer 10 executes a print operation targeting a file or print data received from the print server 50 through the USB cable 102. As the recording method of the printer 10, a known method such as an inkjet method or an electrophotographic method can be adopted. Since the configuration of the printer 10 is well known, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The printer 10 can decode one or more printer languages. More specifically, the printer 10 can execute the printing operation according to the print data (so-called RAW data) described in the printer language. The printer language is a language for instructing the printer to draw, and is also called a page description language or the like. Specific examples of the printer language are not particularly limited, and examples thereof include PS (abbreviation of PostScript, registered trademark) and PCL (abbreviation of Printer control Language, registered trademark). In the present embodiment, the printer 10A can decipher both the printer languages "PS" and "PCL", and the printer 10B can decipher only the printer language "PS". Further, the printer 10 is equipped with PJL (abbreviation of Priter Job Language, a registered trademark) for managing a print job using print data described in the above-mentioned page description language.

In addition, the printer 10A can execute a printing operation for a JPEG format file. The "print operation for a file" refers to recording, for example, an image shown in a file that has not been converted into print data on a sheet. On the other hand, the printer 10B cannot execute the printing operation for the file. The file format is distinguished by the extension added to the end of the file name, and is, for example, an image format (for example, ".JPG", ".BMP", etc.), a text format (for example, "." There are .txt "," .doc ", etc.) and any other format (eg," .PDF "," .xls ", etc.).

The "file" in the present specification refers to data generated on the premise that the image shown in the file is visually recognized by the user by using, for example, an application that can be installed in the information processing terminal 20. In other words, the "file" refers to general-purpose image data that has not been converted into print data in the printer language. On the other hand, the "print data" is a file converted in the printer language, and is also called an intermediate file or the like. That is, the "print data" refers to data that is not premised on allowing the user to visually recognize the image indicated by the data on the display.

The printer 10 stores the printer information in the memory. The printer information indicates, for example, the supported printer language and the file format that can be the target of the printing operation (hereinafter, referred to as "printer compatible format"). That is, the printer information A of the printer 10A indicates the printer languages "PS" and "PCL" and the printer compatible format "JPEG". On the other hand, the printer information B of the printer 10B indicates the printer language "PS" and the printer compatible format "none". The printer information is included in the IEEE1284 ID.

The information processing terminal 20 is an example of an external device, and is, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a PC, or the like. The information processing terminal 20 includes a display, a memory, an input I / F (for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, and a mouse), and a communication I / F. As shown in FIG. 9, the OS of the information processing terminal 20 displays a pointer image (for example, an image representing an arrow) 110 on the display, and follows the movement of the mouse to position the pointer image 110 on the display. Move it.

Hereinafter, the operation of pressing the left mouse button with the pointer image 110 superimposed on the position of the icon displayed on the display is referred to as "left-click operation on the icon". In addition, the left button is pressed with the pointer image 110 superimposed on the position of the icon displayed on the display, the pointer image 110 is moved while pressing the left button, and the left button is moved at a movement end position different from the movement start position. The operation of releasing the press is described as "drag operation of moving the icon to the movement end position".

Further, the OS of the information processing terminal can display a plurality of screens (that is, windows) on the display at the same time, as shown in FIG. 9, for example. That is, the OS has a so-called multi-window function. The screen displayed on the display may be one displayed by the OS itself (for example, a desktop screen).

Further, for example, so-called file management programs called "Explorer", "Finder" and the like are installed in the information processing terminal 20. The file management program can display a list of file icons 141, 142, and 143 corresponding to the files stored in the memory of the information processing terminal 20, for example, as shown in the list screen 140 of FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8A, for example, the file management program has device icons 111, 112, corresponding to devices (for example, print server 50, information processing terminals 20A, 20B) connected to the communication network 101. 113 can be displayed in a list. Detection of devices connected to the communication network 101 is realized by well-known protocols such as DNS, mDNS, NetBIOS and the like.

Further, the file management program displays a list of folder icons 132, 133 corresponding to the shared folder published on the communication network 101 by an external device (for example, the print server 50), as shown in the list screen 130 of FIG. Can be done. Access to the shared folder is achieved by, for example, well-known file sharing protocols such as SMB and CIFS.

In addition, a browser program or the like for displaying a page described in HTML or the like on a display is installed in the information processing terminal 20. The browser program requests the WEB server connected to the communication network 101 to transmit the HTML data, receives the requested HTML data from the WEB server, and displays the page indicated by the received HTML data on the display. Transmission and reception of HTML data is realized by a well-known protocol such as HTTP.

As shown in FIG. 1, the SMB server 41, the WEB server 42, and the CUPS server 43 are running on the print server 50. Further, as shown in FIG. 2A, the print server 50 mainly includes a LAN-I / F55, a USB-I / F56, a speaker 57, a CPU 61, a memory 62, and a communication bus 63. Be prepared. The components constituting the print server 50 are connected to each other through the communication bus 63. The print server 50 can be realized by, for example, a single board computer.

The SMB server 41 publishes a part of the storage area of the memory 62 as a shared folder accessible to the information processing terminal 20 connected through the communication network 101 by using the file sharing protocol. The shared folder is an example of a shared area and a backup area. The WEB server 42 receives the HTML request from the external device through the LAN-I / F55, and transmits the HTML data indicated by the HTTP request to the external device through the LAN-I / F55.

The CUPS server 43 instructs the printer 10 connected through the USB-I / F56 to perform the printing operation, and acquires the printer status indicating the status of the printer 10. Further, the CUPS server 43 manages the RAW port queue for each of the printers 10A and 10B connected through the USB-I / F56. That is, the CUPS server 43 instructs the corresponding printer 10 to perform a print operation targeting the file or print data registered in the RAW port queue in the order of registration.

Further, the CUPS server 43 has a function of publishing the following two types of print queues (1) and (2) to a device (for example, an information processing terminal 20 or the like) on the communication network 101. These functions are realized by the IPP protocol and the like.
(1) RAW data print queue by TCP port number 9100 (2) Print queue of network shared printer (in cooperation with SMB server described later)

The SMB server 41, the WEB server 42, and the CUPS server 43 are started when the print server 50 is started, and are executed by the CPU 61. Since the SMB server 41, the WEB server 42, and the CUPS server 43 can be realized by a well-known server program, detailed description thereof will be omitted. Further, the WEB server 42 may be realized by a so-called EWS (abbreviation of Embedded Web Server) instead of the server program. Further, the shared folder described above is realized by the SMB server 41. A well-known protocol such as SMB or CIFS is used for the SMB server 41.

PJL is an example of a first protocol for communicating with a printer. However, the specific example of the first protocol is not limited to PJL, and may be, for example, one that directly sends PS data or PCL data, or one that is compliant with IPP over USB. Further, in this embodiment, the printer status specified in the USB printer class specification is also used as the first protocol. In addition, HTTP is an example of a second protocol different from the first protocol. However, the specific example of the second protocol is not limited to HTTP, and may be SNMP, HTTPS, or the like. The second protocol assumes, for example, a protocol supported by a general-purpose tool (for example, a browser program or a MIB viewer) installed as standard in a generally popular information processing terminal 20. Further, the "protocol" in the present specification is not limited to a communication protocol such as IPP / USB, HTTP, SNMP, etc., and may refer to a language used such as PS, PCL, PJL, etc. ..

The LAN-I / F55 is an example of a second interface capable of communicating with an external device through the communication network 101. That is, the print server 50 transmits various information to the external device through the LAN-I / F55, and receives various information from the external device through the LAN-I / F55. The specific communication procedure of LAN-I / F55 is not particularly limited, and for example, Ethernet (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark) can be adopted.

The USB-I / F56 is an example of the first interface to which the USB cable 102 is connected. The USB-I / F56 circuit outputs control signals corresponding to the electric signals input from the USB cable to various programs described later, and outputs electric signals corresponding to the control signals input from various programs to the USB cable 102. To do.

The speaker 57 outputs sound. The print server 50 has only a mounting interface to which the speaker 57 can be connected, and the speaker 57 connected to the mounting interface may output audio.

The CPU 61 controls the overall operation of the print server 50. The CPU 61 acquires various programs to be described later from the memory 62 and executes them based on various information received from the external device through the LAN-I / F55 and the USB-I / F56. The CPU 61 and the memory 62 are examples of the controller.

The memory 62 stores the OS 64, the print program 65, and the monitor program 66. Each of the print program 65 and the monitor program 66 may be a single program or a collection of a plurality of programs. Further, the memory 62 stores data or information necessary for executing the print program 65 and the monitor program 66. The memory 62 is composed of, for example, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, an HDD, a portable storage medium such as a USB memory attached / detached to / from the print server 50, a buffer included in the CPU 61, or a combination thereof.

The memory 62 may be a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium is a non-transitory medium. In addition to the above examples, the non-transitory medium also includes recording media such as a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM. The non-transitory medium is also a tangible medium. On the other hand, an electric signal that carries a program downloaded from a server on the Internet is a computer-readable signal medium, which is a kind of computer-readable medium, but is a storage that can be read by a non-transitory computer. Not included in the medium.

The print program 65 executes, for example, the processes shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. More specifically, the print program 65 receives a file from the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55, and causes the printer 10 connected through the USB-I / F56 to execute a print operation targeting the received file. .. The print program 65 is realized by utilizing, for example, the functions of the SMB server 41 and the CUPS server 43.

The monitor program 66 executes, for example, the processes shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. More specifically, the monitor program 66 acquires the printer status of the printer 10 connected through the USB-I / F56, and HTML data including the acquired printer status and data status (hereinafter, referred to as "status HTML"). ) Is transmitted to the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55. The monitor program 66 is realized by using, for example, the function of the WEB server 42.

Further, the memory 62 can store, for example, the device list shown in FIG. 2 (B). The device list contains one or more device records. The device record corresponds to a device that can be connected via USB-I / F56 (hereinafter, referred to as "USB device"). The device record includes, for example, device ID, printer information, status information, URL, and execution parameters. The device record is registered by the print program 65 in S15 and S34 described later, and deleted by the print program 65 in S18 described later.

The device ID is information for uniquely identifying the USB device. Specific examples of the device ID are not particularly limited, but for example, an IEEE1284 ID or a combination of a USB vendor ID, a product ID, and a serial number can be used. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the printer 10A is simply identified by the device ID "printer A" and the printer 10B is identified by the device ID "printer B".

The printer information, status information, URL, and execution parameters are stored as device records when the USB device is a printer class device (that is, printer 10). The printer information is information acquired from the corresponding printer 10 in S32 described later. The URL indicates the location of HTML data that describes the status of the corresponding printer 10. The URL is an example of address information, and the HTML data describing the status or the like indicating the location by the URL is an example of screen information. The execution parameter indicates the execution condition of the print operation to be executed by the corresponding printer 10.

The status information includes a printer status indicating the status of the corresponding printer 10 and a data status indicating the acceptance status of data to be printed. The printer status includes, for example, "ONLINE" indicating that the printer 10 is connected, "READY" indicating that the printer 10 can execute a printing operation, and "READY" indicating that the inside of the printer 10 is jammed with a sheet. "SHEET JAM" or "OFFLINE" indicating that the printer 10 is not connected is set.

For the data status, for example, "ACCEPT" indicating that the file written in the shared folder was accepted, "REFUSE" indicating that the file written in the shared folder was not accepted, or the file can be accepted through the shared folder. "IDLE" or the like indicating that is set. "ACCEPT" is an example of the first value, and "IDLE" is an example of the second value.

The execution condition of the printing operation is specified by a combination of a plurality of execution parameters corresponding to each of the plurality of items (for example, "size", "paper type", and "color"). The execution parameter of the item "size" indicates the size of the sheet on which the image is recorded (for example, "A4", "B5", "postcard"). The execution parameter of the item "paper type" indicates the type of sheet on which the image is recorded (for example, "plain paper", "glossy paper"). The execution parameter of the item "color" indicates the color (eg, "color", "monochrome") used to record the image on the sheet. However, the execution conditions of the print operation are not limited to the above-mentioned example.

[Operation of system 100]
The operation of the system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7. In this embodiment, an example will be described in which the processes of FIGS. 3 to 5 are executed by the print program 65, and the processes of FIGS. 6 and 7 are executed by the monitor program 66. However, the division of roles between the print program 65 and the monitor program 66 is not limited to the above-mentioned example, and a part of the processes of FIGS. 3 to 5 may be executed by the monitor program 66, or the processes of FIGS. 6 and 7 may be executed. A part of may be executed by the print program 65. Furthermore, the processes of FIGS. 3 to 7 may be executed by one program.

The flowchart of the present specification basically shows the processing of the CPU 61 according to the instruction described in the program. That is, the processes such as "determination", "extraction", "selection", "calculation", "determination", "specification", and "control" in the following description represent the processes of the CPU 61. The processing by the CPU 61 also includes hardware control via the OS 64. Further, the "data" in the present specification is represented by a computer-readable bit string. Then, data having the same substantial meaning and contents but different formats are treated as the same data. The same applies to "information" in the present specification.

The print program 65 executes the device management process. The device management process is a process for managing a USB device using the device list shown in FIG. 2 (B). The details of the device management process will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the print program 65 monitors the connection and disconnection of the USB device through the USB-I / F56 (S11, S12). The connection of the USB device means, for example, that the USB cable 102 extending from the powered-on USB device is connected to the USB-I / F56, or that the USB device already connected by the USB cable 102 is turned on. including. Further, the disconnection of the USB device includes the removal of the USB cable 102 from the USB-I / F56, the power off of the USB device connected by the USB cable 102, and the like. The connection and disconnection of the USB device can be detected by a well-known method.

The print program 65 determines whether or not a printer-class USB device is connected in response to detecting the connection of the USB device through the USB-I / F56 (S11: Yes) (S13). The class of the USB device can be determined, for example, by acquiring the device descriptor of the USB device. Then, the print program 65 executes the printer connection process described later (S14) in response to the determination that the printer class USB device is connected (S13: Yes). On the other hand, the print program 65 registers the device record including the device ID of the USB device in the device list in response to the determination that the USB device other than the printer class is connected (S13: No) (S15).

Further, the print program 65 determines whether or not the printer-class USB device has been disconnected in response to detecting the disconnection of the USB device through the USB-I / F56 (S12: Yes) (S16). Then, the print program 65 makes the shared folder published in association with the USB device in S37, which will be described later, private in response to the determination that the USB device of the printer class has been disconnected (S16: Yes). S17). On the other hand, the print program 65 deletes the device record including the device ID of the USB device from the device list in response to the determination that the USB device that is not the printer class has been disconnected (S16: No) (S18).

Next, the printer connection process when the printer 10A is connected will be described with reference to FIG. First, the print program 65 determines whether or not the printer 10A is connected for the first time (S31). More specifically, the print program 65 determines whether or not a device record including the device ID "printer A" of the printer 10A is registered in the device list. Then, the print program 65 skips the processes of S32 to S34 in response to the determination that the device record including the device ID "printer A" is registered in the device list (S31: No).

On the other hand, the print program 65 determines that the device record including the device ID "printer A" is not registered in the device list (S31: Yes), and the printer information A is transmitted from the printer 10A through the USB-I / F56. Is received (S32). The process of S32 is an example of the second acquisition process.

Next, the print program 65 generates a unique URL in the device list (S33). As an example, the URL is unique due to different directory names, such as “http://print-server/printer-a/status.html” and “http://print-server/printer-b/status.html”. May be made. As another example, the URL is uniqueed by different port numbers, such as “http://print-server:50000/status.html”, “http://print-server:50001/status.html”. You may.

Next, the print program 65 registers the device record including the device ID “printer A” of the printer 10A, the printer information A acquired in S32, and the URL-A generated in S33 in the device list (S34). .. At the time of S34, the printer status "ONLINE" and the data status "IDLE" are set in the status information. In addition, a predetermined default execution parameter is set as the execution parameter. By the processing of steps S31 to S34, when the same printer 10 is connected, the same URL is always assigned regardless of the order of connection and the connected USB socket.

Next, the print program 65 starts the new thread of the monitor program 66 in association with the connected printer 10A (S35). The newly started thread of the monitor program 66 executes the monitor process described later. That is, the threads of the monitor program 66 (hereinafter, may be simply referred to as "monitor program 66") are started by the number of printers 10 connected to the print server 50, and the monitor processing for the corresponding printer 10 is independent. And execute. Further, when the printer 10A can decipher the printer language "PJL", the print program 65 waits for the execution of the processing after S36 until the started monitor program 66 executes the processing of S63.

Next, the print program 65 determines whether or not the printer can print the following data (A) or (B) according to the activated monitor program 66 executing the process of S63 (S36). The process of S36 is an example of the first determination process. Then, the print program 65 skips the process of S37 and ends the printer connection process in response to the determination that the printer 10 cannot print the following data (A) and (B) (S36: No). To do.
(A) Data format that the printer 10 can print directly (data format described as a corresponding language in the IEEE1284 ID)
(B) Data format that can be converted in S48 described later

On the other hand, the print program 65 sets the shared folder associated with the printer 10A to the communication network 101 in response to the determination that it supports at least one of the above (A) and (B) (S36: Yes). It will be made public (S37). The shared folder published here includes, for example, the parent folder shown in FIG. 8B, and the print data folder and the backup folder in the hierarchy below the parent folder. The process of S37 is an example of a public process. In addition, this folder name is a name related to the above-mentioned URL. That is, this folder name does not depend on the USB connection order or the connected socket, and is published with the same name when the same printer 10 is connected.

As a result, the correspondence between the folder name and the destination URL can be easily determined. This shared folder corresponds to the character string “Printer A print data folder” added to the folder icon 132 in FIG. 9 and the character string “Printer A backup folder” added to the folder icon 133. Next, the print program 65 sets the connected printer 10 as a shared printer by using the functions of the CUPS server 43 and the SMB server 41. This shared printer corresponds to the queue icon 131 in FIG.

Then, returning to FIG. 3, the print program 65 again monitors the connection and disconnection of the USB device through the USB-I / F56 in response to executing any of S14 to S18 (S11, S12). That is, every time the printer 10 is connected through the USB-I / F56, the print program 65 publishes the shared folder associated with the printer 10 to the communication network 101.

Further, the print program 65 executes the print process in response to publishing the printer 10 connected through the USB-I / F56 as a shared printer. The print process is a process of acquiring a file or print data from the information processing terminal 20 and causing the printer 10 to execute a print operation for the acquired file or print data. The details of the printing process will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the print program 65 waits until a file or print data is received from the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 (S41). “Receiving a file” means that the file is copied to the print data folder published in S37 using the file management program of the information processing terminal 20, or the shared printer queue published by the CUPS server 43. Alternatively, it means that print data is transmitted from the information processing terminal 20 to the port number 9100 of the TCP program. It should be noted that the instruction of the print operation for the port number 9100 acts only on a specific type of printer 10 set in advance.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, an example of a procedure in which the information processing terminal 20 transmits a file or print data to the print server 50 will be described. It is assumed that the printers 10A and 10B are connected to the print server 50.

First, as shown in FIG. 8A, the file management program of the information processing terminal 20 displays a list screen including device icons 111, 112, and 113 corresponding to the devices connected to the communication network 101 on the display. .. The device icon 111 corresponds to the print server 50, the device icon 112 corresponds to the information processing terminal 20A, and the device icon 113 corresponds to the information processing terminal 20B. For example, a character string indicating the device name (for example, NetBIOS name) of the corresponding device is added to the device icons 111 to 113.

Next, the file management program receives, for example, a left-click operation on the device icon 111, and as shown in FIG. 8B, the folder icon 121 corresponding to the parent folder published by the print server 50. , 122 is displayed on the display. The folder icon 121 corresponds to the parent folder of the printer 10A, and the folder icon 122 corresponds to the parent folder of the printer 10B. For example, the character strings "printer A" and "printer B" indicating the device IDs of the corresponding printers 10A and 10B are added to the folder icons 121 and 122. That is, the folder name shown in FIG. 8B does not depend on the USB connection order or the connected socket, and is published with the same name when the same printer 10 is connected.

Next, the file management program displays the list screen 130 including the queue icon 131 and the folder icons 132 and 133, as shown in FIG. 9, in response to receiving the left-click operation on the folder icon 121, for example. Display on the display. The queue icon 131 corresponds to the printer 10A published as a shared printer. The folder icon 132 corresponds to the print data folder of the printer 10A, and the folder icon 133 corresponds to the save folder of the printer 10A.

Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the file management program can display the list screen 140 including the file icons 141, 142, and 143 in an area different from the list screen 130 on the display. The file icons 141 to 143 correspond to the files stored in the memory of the information processing terminal 20. A character string indicating the file name of the corresponding file is added to the file icons 141 to 143.

In the example of FIG. 9, the file "photograph.JPG" corresponding to the file icon 141 cannot be directly printed by the printer 10 and can be converted by S48. Further, the file "text.PDF" corresponding to the file icon 142 can be directly printed by the printer 10. Further, the file "report.DOC" corresponding to the file icon 143 cannot be directly printed by the printer 10 and cannot be converted by S48.

First, the case of printing the file "report.DOC" will be described. When the user double-clicks the file icon 143 with the mouse, the application associated with the file is started and the file "report.DOC" is read. Further, when the user operates the started application to instruct printing, the application calls a printer driver (not shown) corresponding to the printer 10 and generates the corresponding print data. The created print data is transmitted to port number 9100 or the corresponding shared printer queue.

On the other hand, the file management program converts the file "photo.JPG" associated with the file icon 141 into print data in response to receiving, for example, a drag operation for moving the file icon 141 to the position of the folder icon 132. The file is written to the print data folder of the printer 10A published on the communication network 101 without conversion. When the drag operation for moving the file icons 142 and 143 to the position of the folder icon 132 is performed, the corresponding file is also written to the print data folder.

Next, returning to FIG. 5, the print program 65 issues a “USTATTUS DEVICE” command, which will be described later, in response to receiving print data from the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 (S41: Yes & S42: shared printer). The cancel command is deleted from the received print data (S43). If the command is not included in the pudding data, the process of S43 is skipped. By the process of S43, even if there is information in the print data to stop the transmission of the status information, the function of the status monitor can be continued.

Then, the print program 65 registers the print data in the RAW port queue associated with the printer A (S44). Then, the CUPS server 43 causes the printer 10A to execute a print operation targeting the print data registered in the RAW port queue. The process of S44 is an example of a print instruction process.

On the other hand, the print program 65 stores the file in the memory 62 (that is, the shared folder) in response to the file "photograph.JPG" being written in the print data folder of the printer 10A published on the communication network 101 (S41: Yes & S42: shared folder). , Print data folder of printer 10A). This process is an example of the first acquisition process. Next, the print program 65 determines whether or not the acquired file "photograph.JPG" is in a printable format (S45). The printable format refers to, for example, a predetermined file format that can be converted into print data by the print program 65. The process of S45 is an example of the third determination process.

Next, the print program 65 sets "ACCEPT" in the data status of the device record of the printer 10A according to the determination that the acquired file "photo.JPG" is in a printable format (S45: Yes) (S45: Yes). S46). Further, the print program 65 determines whether or not the acquired file "photograph.JPG" is in a printer-compatible format (S47). The process of S47 is an example of the second determination process.

Next, the print program 65 determines that the acquired file "photo.JPG" is not in a printer-compatible format (S47: No), and displays the acquired file "photograph.JPG" in the printer information. It is converted into print data described in a language (S48). The print data generated here is for executing the print operation for the file "Photo.JPG" according to the execution parameters "A4", "plain paper", and "color" included in the device record of the printer 10A. It is data. The process of S48 is an example of the conversion process.

Then, the print program 65 registers the print data generated in S48 in the RAW port queue of the printer 10A corresponding to the print data folder for which the file was acquired in S42 (S49). Next, the print program 65 moves the file "photo.JPG" written in the print data folder to the save folder (S50), and sets the data status of the printer 10A to "IDLE" (S51). The process of S49 is an example of a print instruction process, and the process of S50 is an example of a save process.

As another example, when the file "text.PDF" is written in the print data folder of the printer 10A published on the communication network 101, the print program 65 can print the acquired file "text.PDF" in a printable format. It is determined that the format is compatible with the printer (S45: Yes & S47: Yes), the processing of S48 is skipped, and the acquired file and the execution parameters of the printer 10A are registered in the RAW port queue of the printer 10A (S49).

The PDF format file contains some execution parameters (for example, execution parameters of the item "size"). Then, the execution parameters included in the PDF format file are applied in preference to the execution parameters included in the device record. That is, in the print program 65, among the execution parameters "A4", "plain paper", and "color" included in the device record of the printer 10A, the items not included in the file "text.PDF" (for example, "paper type"". , "Color") execution parameters "plain paper" and "color" are added to the file "text.PDF" and registered in the RAW port queue.

As yet another example, when the file "report.DOC" is written in the print data folder of the printer 10A published on the communication network 101, the print program 65 can print the acquired file "report.DOC". It is determined that the format is not (S45: No), "REFUSE" is set in the data status (S52), the processes of S46 to S49 are skipped, and the processes after S50 are executed.

Next, the details of the monitoring process will be described with reference to FIG. First, the monitor program 66 reads the URL from the device record of the printer 10A. The URL read here is the one generated in S33 when the printer 10A is connected to the print server 50 for the first time. That is, the same URL is read each time the printer 10A is connected to the print server 50.

Next, the monitor program 66 stores the HTML data describing the stator of the printer 10A in the memory area indicated by the read URL (S61). The monitor program 66, for example, copies the template HTML stored in advance in the memory 62 to the memory area indicated by the URL, and sets the status information and execution parameters of the printer 10 in the copied template HTML. Further, the monitor program 66 determines whether or not the printer 10A can decipher the specific language "PJL" (S62). Whether or not the PJL can be deciphered can be determined by reading the IEEE1284 ID of the printer 10 specified in the USB printer class specification.

For example, the thread of the monitor program 66 associated with the printer 10A is defined in the printer language "PJL" in response to the determination that the printer 10A can decode the printer language "PJL" (S62: Yes). The "INFO DEVICE" command and the "USTATTUS DEVICE" command are transmitted to the printer 10A via USB-I / F56 (S63). The "INFO DEVICE" command is an example of the first instruction information instructing the transmission of the current printer status. The "USTATUS DEVICE" command is an example of the second instruction information for instructing the transmission of the printer status at the timing when the printer status changes.

Next, the monitor program 66 repeatedly requests the printer 10A to transmit the printer status at predetermined time intervals until it receives the printer status or waits until it detects the disconnection of the printer 10A (S65: No & S67: No). (S64). Then, the monitor program 66 updates the status information of the device record of the printer 10A with the received printer status in response to receiving the printer status from the printer 10A through the USB-I / F56 (S65: Yes).

The printer status received from the printer 10A is text data in a format conforming to the PJL rules. Therefore, the monitor program 66 converts the printer status received in S65 into a character string representing the status of the printer 10A indicated by the printer status. Then, the monitor program 66 sets the character string converted into the status HTML of the printer 10A (S68).

Next, the monitor program 66 determines whether or not the printer status received in S65 is a specific status (S69). The specific status is, for example, a predetermined printer status (for example, no paper, no paper jam, no ink, etc.) such as a status that can be resolved by the user and a status that the printing operation cannot be continued unless the status is resolved. Then, the monitor program 66 causes the speaker 57 to output a sound indicating the status in response to the determination that the status is specific (S69: Yes) (S70). On the other hand, the monitor program 66 skips the process of S70 according to the determination that the status is not specific (S69: No). Then, the monitor program 66 executes the processing after S64 again.

Further, the monitor program 66 sets the printer status of the device record of the printer 10A and the printer status described in the HTML data to "Yes" in response to detecting the disconnection of the printer 10A through the USB-I / F56 (S67: Yes). Change to "OFFLINE" (S71). Then, the monitor program 66 deletes the status HTML of the printer 10A from the memory 62 according to the elapse of a certain time (for example, 30 seconds) after executing the process of S71 (S72). Then, the thread of the monitor program 66 corresponding to the printer 10A ends the process (S73).

On the other hand, the thread of the monitor program 66 associated with the printer 10B determines the printer status of the USB printer class according to the determination that the printer 10B cannot decode the printer language "PJL" (S62: No). Received from the printer 10B through USB-I / F56 (S74). The printer status of this USB printer class is a bit string indicating only the presence / absence of an error and the presence / absence of a paper error. The monitor program 66 analyzes the bit string received in S74 and generates a character string indicating the status (S75). The processing of S76 to S77 is the same as that of S69 to S70 described above. Then, the monitor program 66 repeatedly executes the processes of S74 to 77 at predetermined time intervals (for example, 1 second) until the disconnection of the printer 10B is detected through the USB-I / F56 (S78: No). Further, the monitor program 66 executes the above-described processes S71 to S73 in response to detecting the disconnection of the printer 10B through the USB-I / F56 (S78: Yes).

Although not shown, the monitor program 66 sets a character string indicating the changed data status to the corresponding status HTML each time the data status of the device record is changed in S46, S51, and S52. Further, although not shown, the monitor program 66 sets a character string indicating the changed execution parameter to the corresponding status HTML each time the execution parameter of the device record is changed in S88 described later. That is, in the browser program of the information processing terminal 20, when the screen indicated by the status HTML is displayed, the printer status at that time is displayed in the steady state, and when the printer 10 is turned off or the USB cable is disconnected. , The page disappears after "OFFLINE" is displayed for a certain period of time.

Further, the monitor program 66 executes the status notification process in parallel with the monitor process. The status notification process is a process of transmitting the status HTML updated by the monitor process to the information processing terminal 20 and registering the execution parameters transmitted from the information processing terminal 20 in the corresponding device record. This process is executed by the WEB server 42 based on the HTML data and the CGI program embedded in the HTML data, but here, for the purpose of explaining the functions, the functions of the present invention are schematically performed in a separated form. The details of the status notification process will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

First, the monitor program 66 waits until the list page request information, the individual status request information, or the registration request information is received from the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 (S81, S82, S83). The list page request information is an HTTP request for requesting transmission of HTML data (hereinafter, referred to as “list HTML”) indicating the list page shown in FIG. 10 (A). The individual status request information is an HTTP request requesting transmission of the status HTML. The registration request information is an HTTP request requesting registration of the execution parameter in the device record.

Next, the monitor program 66 responds to receiving the list page request information from the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 (S81: Yes), based on the device list currently stored in the memory 62. Generate list HTML (S84). Then, the monitor program 66 transmits the HTML generated in S84 to the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 as a response to the list page request information (S85).

More specifically, the monitor program 66 includes the device icons 151 and 152 corresponding to the device records registered in the device list in the list HTML. Further, in the device icons 151 and 152, a character string indicating the printer status of the corresponding device record is described. Further, the URL of the corresponding device record is set in the "href" attribute of the <a> tag corresponding to the device icons 151 and 152.

On the other hand, the browser program of the information processing terminal 20 displays the list page shown in FIG. 10A on the display according to the list HTML received from the print server 50. Then, the browser program transmits the individual status request information to the print server 50 in response to receiving the left-click operation for the device icon 151, for example. The individual status request information transmitted here is information for requesting transmission of the status HTML whose location is indicated by the URL-A set in the "href" attribute of the <a> tag corresponding to the device icon 151. ..

Next, the monitor program 66 generates the requested status HTML by the CGI function in response to receiving the individual status request information from the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 (S82: Yes) (S86). .. Then, the monitor program 66 transmits the read status HTML as a response to the individual status request information to the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 (S87).

On the other hand, the browser program of the information processing terminal displays the status page on the display according to the status HTML received from the print server 50. As shown in FIG. 10B, for example, the status page includes the character strings “READY” and “IDLE” indicating the status information included in the device record of the printer 10A, the pull-down menus 161 and 162, 163, and [change]. ] Icon 164 and included.

The pull-down menus 161 to 163 are objects for allowing the user to specify execution parameters corresponding to a plurality of items "size", "paper type", and "color" that constitute execution conditions for the print operation. In the pull-down menus 161 to 163 displayed first, the execution parameters "A4", "plain paper", and "color" included in the device record of the printer 10A are specified.

Further, the pull-down menu 161 corresponding to the item "size" has three options corresponding to the execution parameter candidates "A4", "B5", and "postcard". The pull-down menu 162 corresponding to the item "paper type" has three options. It has two options corresponding to the execution parameter candidates "plain paper" and "glossy paper". The pull-down menu 163 corresponding to the item "color" has two options corresponding to the execution parameter candidates "color" and "monochrome". Have a choice.

Then, the browser program displays the changed execution parameters in the pull-down menus 161 to 163 in response to the acceptance of the change in the execution parameters specified in the pull-down menus 161 to 163. Further, the browser program transmits the registration request information to the print server 50 in response to the acceptance of the left-click operation for the [change] icon 164. The registration request information includes the execution parameters displayed in the pull-down menus 161 to 163. The transmission of registration request information is realized by, for example, the POST method specified in HTTP.

Next, the monitor program 66 receives the registration request information from the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 (S83: Yes), and is an execution parameter included in the received registration request information of the printer 10A. The execution parameter of the device record is overwritten (S88). Then, the monitor program 66 waits again until it receives the HTTP request from the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55 in response to executing any one of S85, S87, and S88 (S81 to S83).

[Action and effect of this embodiment]
According to the above embodiment, the user of the information processing terminal 20 simply writes a desired file to the shared folder published by the print server 50 using the file sharing protocol, and the printer performs a print operation targeting the file. It can be executed by 10. That is, if the information processing terminal 20 supports the file sharing protocol, the printer 10 can be used even if the printer driver is not installed.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the shared folder is opened to the information processing terminal 20 in response to the connection of the printer 10 capable of decoding the printer language supported by the print server 50. On the other hand, when a printer 10 capable of decoding only a printer language not supported by the print server 50 is connected, the shared folder corresponding to the printer 10 is not disclosed. However, since the printer 10 is open to the public as a shared printer, the printer 10 can perform a print operation targeting the print data converted by the OS of the information processing terminal 20.

Further, according to the above embodiment, when the file written in the shared folder is not in a printer-compatible format, the file is converted into print data and transmitted to the printer 10. This makes it possible to appropriately relay the communication between the information processing terminal 20 and the printer 10 in which the printer driver is not installed.

Further, in the above embodiment, the file printed by copying to the print data folder is copied to the save folder. Therefore, the user of the information processing terminal 20 can easily perform reprinting by opening the saved folder and dragging and dropping the file stored in the saved folder into the print data folder again. The saved file may be deleted by the print program 65 or the monitor program 66 after a certain period of time has elapsed.

Further, in the above embodiment, when the printer 10B that does not support PJL is connected, the printer status defined by the USB printer class is used. This is because it is a function that is always provided in printer-class USB devices. Therefore, the print server 50 of the present embodiment can be used for general purposes and can provide more detailed status information when the printer 10A supporting PJL is connected.

Further, the print server 50 cannot always convert a file in any format that the information processing terminal 20 can write to the shared folder into print data. Therefore, as in the above embodiment, by determining in advance whether or not the format of the file written in the shared folder is a printable format, it is possible to suppress a malfunction of the printer 10 in the print instruction processing.

Further, according to the above embodiment, among the plurality of printers 10A and 10B connected to the print server 50, the printer 10A corresponding to the shared folder in which the file is written can be made to execute the print operation. That is, the user of the information processing terminal 20 can easily use the printer 10A because the file can be written to the shared folder associated with the desired printer 10A among the plurality of shared folders published by the print server 50. be able to.

The print server 50 may publish a plurality of print data folders associated with one printer 10 to the communication network 101. Further, different execution parameters may be associated with each of the plurality of print data folders. That is, one device record may include a plurality of execution parameters. Then, the print program 65 may cause the printer 10 to execute the print operation according to the execution parameters associated with the print data folder from which the file is acquired.

According to the above modification, the user of the information processing terminal 20 simply writes a file to the print data folder associated with the desired execution parameter among the plurality of print data folders published by the print server 50, and the desired execution is performed. The printer 10 can easily execute the printing operation according to the parameters.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the status HTML is transmitted using HTTP to the information processing terminal 20 that does not support the protocol for communicating with the printer 10. That is, it is possible to notify the information processing terminal 20 of the status of the printer 10 without installing a dedicated status monitor on the information processing terminal 20. Further, according to the monitor process shown in FIG. 6, not only the status of the printer 10A that supports PJL but also the status of the printer 10B that does not support PJL can be acquired. Further, according to the above embodiment, the status of the print operation instructed by the information processing terminal 20 can be further notified as the data status.

For the status HTML, for example, it is desirable that "refresh" is set in the "http-equiv" attribute of the <meta> tag. As a result, the browser program automatically reacquires the status HTML from the print server 50 when the time set in the "content" attribute of the <meta> tag has elapsed. As a result, even when the update timing of the status HTML (S68, S75, etc.) and the transmission timing of the status HTML (S87) are asynchronous as in the above configuration, the change in the printer status is appropriate for the user of the information processing terminal 20. Can be notified to.

Further, in the above embodiment, the data status is written in the status HTML, and the status HTML is transmitted at the timing when the individual status request information is received. However, the timing of transmitting the data status to the information processing terminal 20 is not limited to the above example. As another example, the monitor program 66 sends a character string indicating the rewritten data status at the timing (S46, S51, S52) when the print program 65 rewrites the data status to the information processing terminal 20 through the LAN-I / F55. May be sent to. In this case, the process of S46 is an example of the first notification process, and the process of S52 is an example of the second notification process. As a result, the user of the information processing terminal 20 can recognize the change in the data status in real time.

Further, according to the above embodiment, the status HTML indicating the status of the printers 10A and 10B is stored in the memory 62 in association with the URL issued for each of the printers 10A and 10B. Further, as a response of the individual status request information for which the URL is specified, the status HTML associated with the URL is transmitted to the information processing terminal 20. Thereby, among the plurality of printers 10A and 10B connected to the print server 50, the state of the printer 10A desired by the user of the information processing terminal 20 can be selectively notified.

Further, according to the above embodiment, even if the printer 10 repeatedly connects and disconnects from the print server 50, the URL indicating the location of the status HTML of the printer 10 is not changed. As a result, for example, if the URL-A of the printer 10A frequently used by the information processing terminal 20 is bookmarked, the status page of the printer 10A can be accessed without going through the list page.

Further, the print server 50 is generally installed near the printer 10. On the other hand, the information processing terminal 20 is not always installed near the printer 10. Therefore, by notifying the specific status of the printer 10 through the speaker 57 connected to the print server 50, it can be expected that a user near the printer 10 executes a process according to the specific status.

In the above embodiment, the example in which the printer 10 and the print server 50 are connected by the USB cable 102 has been described, but the print server 50 may be built in the printer 10. More specifically, the print program 65 and the monitor program 66 may be executed by the CPU mounted on the printer 10. That is, the component that realizes the print operation (for example, the transfer roller, the recording head, etc.) and the component that realizes the function of the print server 50 (for example, the CPU, the memory, etc.) are connected by the internal bus of the printer 10. You may be.

Further, in the print server 50 of the above embodiment, an example has been described in which various processes stored in the memory 62 are executed by the CPU 61 to realize each process executed by the controller of the present invention. However, the configuration of the controller is not limited to this, and a part or all of the controller configuration may be realized by hardware such as an integrated circuit.

Further, the present invention can be realized not only as a print server 50 but also as a program for causing the print server 50 to execute a process. Then, the program may be recorded and provided on a non-transitory recording medium. The non-transitory recording medium may include a memory mounted on a server that can be connected to the print server 50 through the communication network 101, in addition to a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, and the like. Then, the program stored in the memory of the server may be distributed through a communication network such as the Internet as information or a signal indicating the program.

10 ... Printer 20 ... Information processing terminal 50 ... Print server 55 ... LAN-I / F
56 ... USB-I / F
61 ... CPU
62 ... Memory 65 ... Print program 66 ... Monitor program

Claims (6)

A print server equipped with a memory, a communication interface, and a controller.
The controller
A public process in which a shared area, which is a part of the storage area of the memory, is made publicly accessible by an external device connected to the print server through the communication interface by a file sharing protocol.
The first acquisition process of acquiring the file written in the shared area by the external device through the communication interface,
A print instruction process for causing a printer connected through the communication interface to execute a print operation for recording an image indicated by a file acquired in the first acquisition process on a sheet .
A second acquisition process of acquiring printer information indicating a printer language that can be decoded by the printer from the printer through the communication interface in response to detecting a printer that can communicate through the communication interface.
Based on the printer information acquired in the second acquisition process, it is determined whether or not the printer has a file format that can be directly printed, and whether or not the printer can print a file in a format that can be converted by the print server. Execute the first judgment process and
The publishing process is executed according to the determination in the first determination process that the printer has a file format that can be directly printed or that the printer can print a file in a format that can be converted by the print server. And
In the second acquisition process, the printer information further indicating the file format that can be the target of the print operation is acquired.
A second determination process for determining whether or not the file format acquired in the first acquisition process matches the file format indicated in the printer information, and
In response to the determination that the second determination process matches, the print instruction process is executed.
A conversion process for converting the file acquired in the first acquisition process into print data described in the printer language indicated by the printer information in response to the determination that the files do not match in the second determination process.
The print instruction process of causing the printer to execute the print operation of recording the image indicated by the print data converted in the conversion process on the sheet.
A third determination process for determining whether the file format acquired in the first acquisition process can be converted into the print data, and a third determination process.
In response to the determination that conversion is possible in the third determination process, the second determination process is executed.
A save process for saving a file acquired in the first acquisition process to a save area which is a part of a storage area of the memory different from the shared area in response to the determination that conversion is not possible in the third determination process. Print server to run. The controller
The first notification process for notifying the external device of the source of the file of the data status indicating that the file has been accepted in response to the determination that the file can be converted in the third determination process.
In response to the determination that conversion is not possible in the third determination process, the second notification process for notifying the external device of the source of the file of the data status indicating that the file has not been accepted is executed. The print server according to claim 1 . The controller
In the publishing process, a plurality of the shared areas to which one of the plurality of printers is associated with each are published.
The print server according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein in the print instruction process, the printer associated with the shared area of the file acquisition source in the first acquisition process executes the print operation. The controller
In the publishing process, a plurality of the shared areas to which the execution conditions of the printing operation are associated with each are published.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein in the print instruction process, the printer is made to execute the print operation according to the execution condition associated with the shared area of the file acquisition source in the first acquisition process. Print server. The communication interface is
A first interface that communicates with the external device in a manner compliant with Ethernet (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark).
The print server according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a second interface to which the other end of the USB cable to which the printer is connected can be attached and detached. The print server according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the file sharing protocol is SMB (abbreviation of Server Message Block) or CIFS (abbreviation of Common Internet File System).