JP6921544B2 - Applications and information processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an application and an information processing device.

In the Windows (registered trademark) OS provided by Microsoft (registered trademark), a new printer driver (V4 driver) architecture called Version 4 is adopted in the OS of Windows (registered trademark) 8 or later. The V4 driver has a different installation mechanism from the Version3 driver (V3 driver) that has been adopted before that.

The mainstream method is to install the V3 driver on the computer using the installation media included with the printer, but the mainstream method is to automatically install the V4 driver on the computer when the V4 driver compatible printer is connected to the computer. It becomes.

In addition, Microsoft also provides a mechanism for providing a Windows store device application linked to a V4 driver compatible printer to users of a V4 driver compatible printer. Hereinafter, the Windows store device application will be referred to as a device application. The device application is an application for expanding the function of the V4 driver. When the V4 driver compatible printer is connected to the computer, the device application associated with the V4 driver compatible printer is also automatically installed on the computer.

Patent Document 1 discloses a print processing device in which a UI module DCA that performs print settings in a V4 driver executes a background task that collects statistical information of print settings and displays the information on a print setting screen. There is.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-219730

For example, suppose you have a resident or regularly running application that runs in the background in connection with a printer. Hereinafter, such an application will be referred to as a "background application". The background application can be provided to the user of the printer by being attached to the driver of the printer. Background applications need to be registered in the OS (operating system), scheduling service, etc. in order to operate in the background.

In a V3 driver compatible printer, in order to provide a background application to a user, it is common to put the installer of the background application on the driver installation media included with the printer. When the driver installation media is used, the background application can be registered in the OS or the scheduling service by the installer at the time of driver installation, and can be operated in the background. Similarly, in a printer compatible with a V4 driver, it is possible to provide a background application to a user by using the driver installation media.

However, as the transition from V3 drivers to V4 drivers progresses in the future and automatic driver installation becomes mainstream, it is expected that the number of users who bother to use driver installation media will decrease sharply. This means that many users will lose the opportunity to install background apps.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that enables a background application to be used by a larger number of users in an environment in which an application corresponding to a network device can be automatically installed.

The application of one embodiment of the present invention is an application installed in an information processing device having an operating system (OS), and by executing the application in the OS, it becomes possible to register a background task. If the background task is not registered and is executed by the OS due to an event notification from a device connected to the information processing device via a network, the back is given to the user. When a notification is given to request permission for registration of a ground task and the background task is executed by the OS due to a user operation to the start menu of the OS while the background task is not registered, the user is notified. No notification will be given to request permission for registration of the background task.

According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, a background application can be used by a larger number of users in an environment in which an application corresponding to a network device can be automatically installed.

It is a figure which shows the hardware configuration example of an information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of a software module. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which a device application displays. It is a figure which shows the process at the time of starting a device application in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the registration process of a background task. It is a figure which shows the configuration example of the software module in 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the process at the time of starting a device application in 2nd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to drawings and the like.

(First Embodiment)
In this embodiment, a mechanism for providing a background application in an environment in which an application corresponding to a network device can be automatically installed via a network service will be described. In the present embodiment, as an example, in an environment where the network device is a printer and the Windows V4 driver is supported, the background application is provided to the user's information processing device together with the device application as one function of the device application.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of an information processing device on which a device application operates.
The device application is stored in the HDD 1002 or the ROM 1003 as a computer program. The CPU 1005 reads the OS and the computer program from the HDD 1002 or the ROM 1003, loads them into the RAM 1004, and executes them.

The processing result is stored in the HDD 1002 as a file or stored in the RAM 1004 as data. The device application acquires user input and reading values of various sensors from an input device 1007 such as a mouse or a touch panel connected to a computer. Further, the device application outputs information to the output device 1006 including the display unit of the information processing device, and displays the processing result.

Further, the device application communicates with other devices such as a computer and a printer connected to the network via the communication device 1008. The hardware shown in FIG. 1 is connected to each other by a bus 1001 and is configured to be operated from a computer program.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a device application according to the present embodiment and a related software module.
Application 400 is a printable application built using an application model supported by Windows 8 and later operating systems. When the application 400 receives a print request from the user, the application 400 transmits the print target data to the print system 500.

The print system 500 is a subsystem of the OS, and executes common processing that does not depend on the printer model, such as printer selection and basic print settings. The printer driver 600 executes processing depending on the printer model, such as print settings specific to the selected printer and conversion processing of print target data. The print spooler 700 is a subsystem of the OS, and is in charge of transmitting and receiving data between the printer driver 600 and the printer. The event broker 800 is an OS subsystem that coordinates the execution of background tasks in application 400.

The device metadata storage unit 900 is an OS subsystem that stores device metadata. The device metadata has basic information such as the model name and manufacturer of the printer, as well as information that links the printer and the device application such as the ID and publisher of the device application 100 associated with the printer. The device metadata is automatically downloaded when the printer is connected to the computer and stored in the device metadata storage unit 900.

The device application 100 is an application constructed by using an application model supported by an OS of Windows 8 or later. The device application 100 is positioned as a function expansion application that assists the printer driver 600. The device application 100 is associated with one or more V4 driver compatible printers, and is automatically installed when the printer is connected to an information processing device connected to the network.

The device application 100 has a function of displaying and setting print settings and the like specialized for the printer selected by the printing system 500 with its own UI (user interface). The device application 100 includes a start application processing unit 110, a print setting processing unit 120, a background task processing unit 140, a background task registration unit 150, and a background task registration condition storage unit 160.

The device application 100 provides the user with two activation methods. One is a method of starting by selecting the device application 100 from the Windows start menu. The other is a method of starting the printing system 500 by issuing a print request from the application 400, and further starting by opening a screen for making detailed print settings (hereinafter referred to as a print setting screen) from the UI of the printing system 500. Is. In order to distinguish between these two activation methods, the former is referred to as "boot by the user" and the latter is referred to as "boot by the printing system".

When the device application 100 is started by the user, the start application processing unit 110 is controlled to perform the processing at the time of startup, and when the device application 100 is started by the printing system 500, the print setting processing unit 120 is controlled to perform the processing at the time of startup. .. The state in which the device application 100 is activated by the above two methods is referred to as the device application 100 being active or operating in the foreground.

The background task processing unit 140 is one of the background applications, which is a computer program that operates in the background in connection with the printer. In this embodiment, the background application is implemented as a background task of the device application 100. Background tasks are executed triggered by time or OS system events. In order to use those triggers provided by the OS, it is necessary to pair the background task and the trigger used by the background task and register them in the OS.

The background task registration unit 150 is responsible for registering the task executed by the background task processing unit 140 in the OS. Unless otherwise specified, the "background task" below means a task executed by the background task processing unit 140. The background task registration condition storage unit 160 stores information for determining whether or not it is necessary to register the background task in the OS.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the background task cannot operate without the permission of the user, but the background task may not require the permission of the user. In the present embodiment, the device application 100 presents a notification screen and a permission confirmation screen in order to obtain the user's permission. Details of the notification screen and the permission confirmation screen will be described later with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process at the time of starting the device application 100.
As described above, the device application 100 has two activation methods, and the processing differs depending on the activation method. When the device application 100 is started by the user in step S2001, the start application processing unit 110 is called and the process proceeds to step S2101.

On the other hand, when the device application 100 is started by opening the print setting screen from the UI of the print system, the print setting processing unit 120 is called and the process proceeds to step S2201. In step S2101, the start application processing unit 110 starts the device application 100. The process of starting the device application 100 when it is started by the user is called "starting process of the start application".

In step S2102, the background task registration unit 150 inquires the OS whether or not the background task has been registered. This process is performed so that the same background task is not registered multiple times in the OS. If the background task is not registered, the process proceeds to step S2103, and if it is registered, the process ends. In step S2103, the background task registration unit 150 determines whether to execute the background task registration process.

Details of the determination process executed in step S2103 will be described later with reference to Table 1. If it is determined in step S2103 that the background task registration unit 150 executes the registration process, the process proceeds to step S3000, and if it is determined that the registration process is not executed, the process ends. In step S3000, the background task registration unit 150 executes the background task registration process. The details of the background task registration process will be described later with reference to FIG.

In step S2201, the print setting processing unit 120 starts the device application 100. The activation process of the device application 100 when activated by the print system 500 is referred to as "activation process of the print setting screen". When the print setting screen is started, the print setting processing unit 120 executes the start processing of the print setting screen. In step S2202, the background task registration unit 150 inquires the OS whether or not the background task has been registered, as in the process after the start application startup process (step S2101).

Then, when the background task is not registered, in step S2203, the background task registration unit 150 determines whether to execute the background task registration process. Details of the determination process executed in step S2203 will be described later with reference to Table 1. If the background task registration unit 150 determines that the registration process is to be executed, the process proceeds to step S2204. In step S2204, the background task registration unit 150 displays a notification screen for notifying an unregistered background task.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of a notification screen displayed by the background task registration unit 150.
The notification screen 200 is a toast display (toast notification). The toast display is a message (notification) displayed in a corner of the screen separately from the print setting screen of the device application 100 so as not to interfere with the user's operation. The notification screen 200 has a role of notifying the user of the existence of the background task of the device application 100 and prompting the user to register the background task. In the present embodiment, the case where the notification to the user is a toast display will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the user may be notified by any method.

The user can either activate, ignore, or hide the displayed notification screen 200. The activation can be performed by the user clicking or tapping the notification screen 200. When the device application 100 is active and the user activates the notification screen 200, the device application 100 is notified. Further, when the device application 100 is not active and the user activates the notification screen 200, the device application 100 can be activated.

When the user ignores the notification screen 200, the notification screen 200 disappears after a certain period of time. In the present embodiment, as an example of the user's input to the notification screen, the case where the user activates the notification screen 200 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, although not shown in FIG. 3A, it is possible to install a button on the notification screen 200. Pressing the button on the notification screen 200 may be input by the user to the notification screen. Further, for example, a button for activating the notification screen 200 and a button for hiding the notification screen 200 may be provided. In this case, the notification screen 200 may be activated or hidden by having the user click or tap any of them.

Returning to the description of FIG. After the notification screen 200 is displayed in step S2204, the background task registration unit 150 determines whether the user has activated the notification screen 200. If the background task registration unit 150 determines that the notification screen 200 has been activated, the process proceeds to step S3000, and if it determines that the notification screen 200 has not been activated, the process proceeds to step S2206.

In step S2206, the background task registration unit 150 stores in the background task registration condition storage unit 160 that the user did not activate the notification screen 200. In the present embodiment, the background task registration condition storage unit 160 stores the number of times the notification screen 200 is not activated.

When the user activates the device application 100 through the print setting screen, it is highly possible that the user has the purpose of setting the print setting. Therefore, it is necessary to encourage the registration of background tasks without forcibly interrupting the processing on the user's print setting screen. When the background task provides the user with a function different from the print setting, it is even more necessary not to interrupt the process on the user's print setting screen.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the device application 100 is started through the print setting screen, the device application 100 registers the background task with the user by using the notification screen 200 that does not affect the print setting process of the user. To urge.

On the other hand, when the user starts by selecting the device application 100 from the start menu, the user aims to use the function of the device application 100. The background task provides one function of the device application 100. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the device application 100 is started from the start menu, the device application 100 executes the background task registration process without displaying the notification screen 200.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a background task registration process (step S3000) executed by the background task registration unit 150.
In step S3001, the background task registration unit 150 displays a permission confirmation screen for obtaining the user's permission.

FIG. 3B is an example of a permission confirmation screen displayed by the background task registration unit 150.
The permission confirmation screen 300 has a display area 301 for displaying a permission statement for executing a background task, and buttons 302 and 303 for accepting the intention of whether or not the user agrees with the permission statement.

By pressing the button 303, the user notifies the device application 100 that he / she has agreed to the license statement, that is, has approved the execution of the background task. Further, by pressing the button 302, the user notifies the device application 100 that he / she does not agree with the license statement, that is, does not approve the execution of the background task.

Returning to the description of FIG. In step S3002, the background task registration unit 150 determines whether the user has given permission. If the background task registration unit 150 determines in step S3002 that the user has licensed, the process proceeds to step S3003, and if it determines that the user does not permit, the process proceeds to step S3004. In step S3003, the background task registration unit 150 registers the background task licensed by the user in the OS in association with the above-mentioned trigger.

As a result, the background task processing unit 140 is executed by the OS at the timing corresponding to the designated trigger. On the other hand, in step S3004, the background task registration unit 150 stores in the background task registration condition storage unit 160 that the permission has not been obtained from the user, and ends the process.

Next, in step S2103 or step S2203 of FIG. 4, the details of the determination process for determining whether to execute the background task registration process, which is executed by the background task registration unit 150, will be described.

The background task registration unit 150 refers to the information stored in the background task registration condition storage unit 160, and determines whether to execute the background task registration process. In the present embodiment, the background task registration condition storage unit 160 stores the following two pieces of information. One is information on whether or not the user has approved the execution of the background task in step S3002 shown in FIG. This information is set as condition 1.

The other is information on whether or not the user has activated the notification in step S2205 of FIG. This information is set as condition 2. Table 1 shows the values A to D corresponding to these conditions. The background task registration unit 150 determines whether to execute the background task registration process based on the combination of the values of condition 1 and condition 2. The initial value of the background task registration condition storage unit 160 is true for both condition 1 and condition 2. That is, the value A in Table 1 is the initial value.

When both condition 1 and condition 2 are true ((A) in Table 1), the background task registration unit 150 determines that the background task registration process is executed. That is, the notification screen 200 is displayed, and the number of times the user has not input to the notification screen 200 is less than or equal to a predetermined value, and the user does not explicitly agree to execute the background task on the permission confirmation screen 300. Applicable when it is not indicated.

Further, when the condition 1 is true and the condition 2 is false (Table 1 (B)), the background task registration unit 150 determines that the background task registration process is not executed. That is, when the notification screen 200 is displayed and the number of times the user has not input to the notification screen 200 is larger than a predetermined value, even if the background task is not registered, the background task is registered. No processing is performed.

This corresponds to the case where the background task registration unit 150 determines in steps S2103 and S2203 of FIG. 4 that the task is not executed (No). If it is determined in step S2203 that "do not execute", the process of step S2204 is not executed. In other words, when the notification screen 200 is displayed and the number of times the user has not input to the notification screen 200 is larger than a predetermined value, the notification screen 200 is displayed even if the background task is not registered. It means that no processing is performed.

Further, when the condition 1 is false, the background task registration unit 150 determines that the background task registration process is not executed regardless of the value of the condition 2. This corresponds to the case where the user presses the button 302 on the permission confirmation screen 300 to explicitly indicate that he / she does not agree to the execution of the background task.

Then, in steps S2103 and S2203 of FIG. 4, the background task registration unit 150 determines that the task is not executed (No), so that the background task registration process (S3000) is not executed. Further, since the process of step S2204 is not executed, the process of displaying the notification screen 200 is not performed.

By this determination process, it is possible to avoid executing the background task registration process every time the device application 100 is started. Note that Table 1 is an example of the conditions for whether or not to execute the background task registration process, and other conditions may be provided.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following is possible in an environment in which an application corresponding to a network device can be automatically installed. That is, computer programs running in the background can be used by more users without using installation media.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the background task is registered in the OS when the user starts the device application. However, since the device application 100 is automatically installed, the user may not be aware that the device application 100 has been installed in his / her information processing device. In this case, the device application 100 is not started by the user, and there is no opportunity to start the background task without being registered in the OS.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the device application 100 is started by using the event notification from the printer associated with the device application 100, and the background task is registered in the OS. According to this embodiment, the background task can be registered in the OS even when the user does not start the device application 100 from the start menu or the print setting screen. Hereinafter, the same configurations and processes as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a device application according to the present embodiment and a related software module.
In the present embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, the device application 100 has a device event processing unit 130.

The printer driver 600 can acquire information from the printer by using BiDi (two-way communication). For example, printer information such as printer name, manufacturer, and model name, and printer status such as paper jam, ink level, and open / closed status of doors and covers can be acquired.

The printer driver 600 creates a BiDi request for the printer, sends it to the print spooler 700, and receives a BiDi response from the printer via the print spooler 700. The print spooler 700 transmits the print target data received from the printer driver 600 to the printer, and executes data transmission / reception in BiDi communication between the printer driver 600 and the printer.

The device event processing unit 130 is executed by the event broker 800 when there is a BiDi response to the printer driver 600 from the printer associated with the printer driver 600. The device event processing unit 130 is one of the background tasks of the device application 100. The device event processing unit 130 is another background task different from the background task processing unit 140.

Normally, the background task needs to be registered in the OS by the device application 100 as described in the first embodiment. Therefore, when the device application 100 is started, the background task registration unit 150 performs a process of registering the task executed by the background task processing unit 140 in the OS.

On the other hand, the registration of the task to be executed by the device event processing unit 130 is not performed by the device application 100 itself, but is performed by using the device metadata of the printer stored in the device metadata storage unit 900. Specifically, only one background task of the device application 100 to be executed when the BiDi response is received can be registered in the device metadata in advance. In the present embodiment, the device event processing unit 130 is registered as one background task that can be registered in advance.

According to the configuration of the software module shown in FIG. 6, when the user requests a print process and the printer driver 600 sends a BiDi request to the printer, the device event processing unit 130 is activated by the BiDi response from the printer. That is, the device application 100 is activated by the event notification from the printer.

The content of the BiDi request from the printer driver 600 to the printer is not limited to the request for printing processing, and may be anything. BiDi for registering the background task of the device application 100 may be prepared, or BiDi prepared for other purposes may be used. For example, the BiDi request required by the printer driver 600 and the BiDi request required by other functions of the device application 100 may be used.

Whatever the BiDi request, the device event processing unit 130 is activated, that is, the device application 100 is activated by the BiDi response from the printer. Then, when the device application 100 is started, the task registration of the background task processing unit 140 is executed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process at the time of starting the device application 100 in the present embodiment.
In this embodiment, the device application 100 has three activation methods. The method activated by the user and the method activated by the printing system are the same as in the case of the first embodiment.

In the present embodiment, there is a method of further activating the device application 100 by an event notification from the printer, specifically, a BiDi response from the printer. This method is realized by the mechanism described with reference to FIG. When the device application 100 is activated by the BiDi response from the printer, the process proceeds to step S2301. In step S2301, the device event processing unit 130 executes processing for the BiDi response of the printer.

The content of the background task of the device event processing unit may be anything. For example, the device event processing unit 130 uses BiDi to acquire the ink remaining amount of the printer and executes a process such as notifying the user of the ink remaining amount as a background task. Then, in the processes after step S2202, the notification screen 200 and the permission confirmation screen 300 are displayed as in the case of the first embodiment (FIG. 4), and the background task registration unit 150 executes the background task registration process. do.

The details when the notification screen 200 and the permission confirmation screen 300 are displayed are the same as the process of step S2203 in FIG. 4 and the conditions described in Table 1. That is, when the notification screen 200 is displayed and the number of times the user has not input to the notification screen 200 is larger than a predetermined value, in step S2203, the background task registration unit 150 performs the background task registration process. Judge not to execute. Further, in this case, since step S2204 is not executed, the notification screen 200 is not displayed either.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to register the background task in the OS even when the user does not start the device application 100. That is, a computer program running in the background can be used by more users.

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

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications and modifications can be made within the scope of the gist thereof.

Claims (11)

An application installed in an information processing device that has an operating system (OS).
By executing it in the OS, it is possible to register background tasks.
When the background task is not registered and is executed by the OS due to an event notification from a device connected to the information processing device via a network, the background task is sent to the user. Notify you to ask for permission to register
When the background task is not registered and is executed by the OS due to a user operation to the start menu of the OS, the user is requested to obtain permission for registration of the background task. An application characterized by not giving notifications. An application installed in an information processing device that has an operating system (OS).
It is possible to register a background task according to the fact that it has been started in the OS.
If the background task is not registered and is started by the OS due to an event notification from a device connected to the information processing device via a network, the background task is sent to the user. Notify you to ask for permission to register
When the background task is not registered and is started by the OS due to a user operation to the start menu of the OS, the user is requested to obtain permission for registration of the background task. An application characterized by not giving notifications. The application according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the background task is registered in response to the permission given by the user regarding the registration of the background task. When the background task is not registered and is started by the OS due to a user operation to the start menu of the OS, the background task is registered without the notification. The application according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The application according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the device is a printer. The application according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the application is an application for displaying a print setting screen. The application according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the application is an application that is automatically installed in the information processing device in response to the printer being connected to the information processing device. application. An information processing device that executes an OS that can automatically install applications corresponding to network devices via network services.
When the application is started as a function of the application installed from the OS and the background task is not registered, the registration means for registering the background task and the registration means.
When the application is started in response to an event notification from a network device and a background task is not registered, a display means for executing a process for notifying the display unit of the information processing device. Prepare,
The registration means registers the background task when the user inputs the notification to the display unit .
The registration means presents a screen for requesting consent from the user, registers the background task when the consent from the user is obtained, and does not obtain the consent from the user. Is not registered for the background task
When the application is started from the start menu of the OS and the background task is not registered, the process for notifying the display unit of the information processing device is not executed.
The information processing device is characterized in that the registration means presents a screen for asking the user for consent. An information processing device that executes an OS that can automatically install applications corresponding to network devices via network services.
When the application is started as a function of the application installed from the OS and the background task is not registered, the registration means for registering the background task and the registration means.
When the application is started in response to an event notification from a network device and a background task is not registered, a display means for executing a process for notifying the display unit of the information processing device. Prepare,
The registration means registers the background task when the user inputs the notification to the display unit .
An information processing device further comprising a storage means for storing the number of times a user has not input the notification to the display unit. When the number of times stored in the storage means is greater than a predetermined value, even if the application is started in response to an event notification from the network device and the background task is not registered. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the process for notifying the display unit is not executed. When the application is started from another application different from the application and the background task is not registered and the number of times stored in the storage means is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the display means. Executes the process for notifying the display unit, and if the number of times stored in the storage means is greater than a predetermined value, the process for notifying the display unit is not executed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9.

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