JP7210621B2 - Information processing device, control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, control method, and program.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in mobile terminal OSs (operating systems) such as Android (registered trademark) operating on mobile terminal devices such as smartphones, print functions have come to be supported as standard by the operating systems. In Windows (registered trademark) operating on a personal computer, software called a printer driver controls the printing function, but in Android, software called a print plug-in is used instead of the printer driver.

The print plug-in has a search function and a print function for printers (image forming apparatuses), presents a list of printers detected by the search function in response to a request from an application, and prints to the selected printer. Submit a job. The print plug-in is provided in the form of an Android application, and is provided to users by printer vendors and application vendors via application distribution services such as Google Play (registered trademark).

In order for the user to use the functions of the print plug-in, it is necessary to download and install the print plug-in. Some portable terminal devices have a print plug-in pre-installed so that the user can use the print function without downloading and installing the print plug-in. However, in the case of pre-installing the print plug-in, the amount of storage used in the portable terminal increases regardless of whether the user prints or not.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200002 discloses a management system that, when a driver for a printer selected by a user is not installed on the client, distributes the driver to the client and automatically installs the driver on the client. .

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-190320

This specification discusses a method of displaying selection candidates for each of a plurality of print plug-ins when a plurality of print plug-ins are compatible with one printer. With this method, even if there are print plug-ins that have already been installed, if there are print plug-ins that have not been installed, the print plug-ins that have not been installed are also displayed as selection candidates on the selection screen. In other words, even though the installed print plug-in enables printing to a certain printer, if there is another print plug-in corresponding to the printer that has not yet been installed, the user is guided to install the print plug-in. is displayed. This is troublesome for the user and reduces operability.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200001 does not consider the case where a plurality of printer drivers are compatible with one printer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus capable of improving operability when selecting and using an image forming apparatus.

An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed with a first print plug-in capable of detecting a printer by searching , the first print plug-in is disabled, and the printer is detected by searching . an information processing apparatus in which the second print plug-in different from the first print plug-in is not installed, wherein the information processing apparatus an area for displaying information only about print plug-ins among installable software, and an object for accepting a user operation to enable the first print plug-in that is set to be disabled; It is characterized by comprising display control means for displaying the area for displaying the information of the second print plug-in on the display section.

According to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to improve operability when selecting and using an image forming apparatus.

It is a figure which shows the network configuration in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a portable terminal device. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of software that operates on a mobile terminal device; FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the application which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the application which concerns on 1st Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation after the target printer display area is tapped; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation after the target printer display area is tapped; It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the application which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the application which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the application which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation after the target printer display area is tapped; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation after the target printer display area is tapped; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a corresponding print plug-in table;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network configuration according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
A mobile terminal device 2000 as an information processing device is connected to the same network as printers 1000 , 1001 and 1002 via an access point 2013 . Each printer internally holds a model name and an IP address as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, a printer is used as an example of an image processing apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this. good.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal device 2000. As shown in FIG.
A flash memory (Flash) 2003 stores various programs. SoC (System on a Chip) 2001 is the hardware execution entity, and the software control entity is a program stored in the flash memory 2003 . A program is developed in a RAM (Random Access Memory) 2002 and interpreted and executed by the SoC.

A Bluetooth (registered trademark) unit 2004 performs communication by Bluetooth. A WiFi unit 2005 performs wireless communication via the access point 2013 . The NFC unit 2006 performs short-range wireless communication. A power supply 2007 supplies necessary power to each unit in the mobile terminal device 2000 . A Voice/Audio unit 2008 has a microphone, a speaker, etc., and is used for voice input/output. A touch panel 2009 is an operation input unit operated by a user's fingers. An LED (Light Emitting Diode) section 2010 is used for various displays.

A camera unit 2011 includes an imaging unit for taking pictures and moving images. The sensor unit 2012 includes a GPS (Global Positioning System), an acceleration sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, a proximity sensor, and the like. Each unit described above is connected to the SoC 2001 , and the mobile terminal device 2000 can be connected to the network via the access point 2013 . In this embodiment, the OS (operating system) is assumed to be, for example, Android OS (registered trademark) of Google (registered trademark), but is not limited to this.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of software operating on the mobile terminal device 2000. As shown in FIG.
Each software program in this embodiment is stored in the flash memory 2003 . The applications 112 to 114 are installed in the mobile terminal device 2000 and provide a function of displaying and printing contents such as photographs, documents, and web pages via the printing system 100 .

The printing system 100 includes a UI (User Interface) section 101 , a print plug-in control section 102 , a communication section 103 , a print plug-in management section 104 , a detection result reception section 105 and a printer search section 106 . A UI unit 101 provides a user interface for the printing system 100 . The print plug-in control unit 102 controls operations of print plug-ins (plug-in modules) installed in the mobile terminal device 2000 . A communication unit 103 performs network communication with the printer using WiFi.

A print plug-in management unit 104 manages information on print plug-ins installed in the mobile terminal device 2000 . A detection result receiving unit 105 receives notification of the detection result when the print plug-in detects a printer on the network. The printer search unit 106 is a printer search function pre-installed in the mobile terminal device 2000, and searches for a printer on the network in response to a request from an application.

The print plug-in 200 has functions such as printer search, print job generation, and printer status acquisition, and acts as a bridge between the printing system 100 and the printer (target printer) that the print plug-in corresponds to. The print plug-in 200 can be installed and uninstalled as required, and the print plug-in management unit 104 of the printing system 100 manages the installation status of each print plug-in. The print plug-in 200 has a printer search section 201 , a print processing section 202 , a package name 203 and a vendor name 204 . In this embodiment, the pre-installed print plug-in 200 is assumed to be a print plug-in conforming to the standard for printers provided by multiple vendors for ease of explanation. However, it is not limited to this.

A printer search unit 201 searches for printers on the network using multicast or broadcast. Protocols used for searching include SLP (Service Location Protocol), Multicast-DNS (Domain Name System), and the like. However, the protocol is not limited to this, and different protocols may be used for each print plug-in.

The print processing unit 202 performs rendering processing on PDL (Page Description Language) data or image data printable by the target printer. The package name 203 is a uniquely identifiable name assigned to the print plug-in 200, and is "com.stdprintplugin.xxx" in this example. A different package name is assigned to each print plug-in, and each print plug-in is stored in the package name 203 . The vendor name 204 is the name of the vendor that provides the print plug-in 200, and is "stdprintplugin" in this example.

The corresponding print plug-in table 150 is a table having list information of printers on the network detected by the printer search unit 106 and print plug-ins corresponding to the printers.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the corresponding print plug-in table 150. As shown in FIG.
The corresponding print plug-in table 150 holds the following information in association. That is, the vendor name 1101 acquired from the printer on the network by the printer search unit 106, the package name 1102 of the print plug-in, and the download site (URL information) 1103 of the print plug-in are stored in association with each other.

By referring to the corresponding print plug-in table 150, the printer searched on the network and the print plug-in can be connected, so that the print plug-in can be guided to the download site when the print plug-in is not installed. For example, the example of the table data 1104 indicates that a printer with a vendor name of "ABC" corresponds to a print plug-in with a package name of "jp.co.abc.xxxxx". A printer with a vendor name of "ABC" corresponds to a print plug-in with a download site URL of "http:store.abc.printplugin".

4 and 5 are diagrams showing examples of display screens of applications implementing the functions of the printing system 100. FIG.
FIG. 4A shows an application screen 400 displaying content to be printed. When the user taps the print button 401, the UI unit 101 of the printing system 100 is called and the screen transitions to the screen shown in FIG. 4B.

FIG. 4B shows a print setting screen 402 . The print setting screen 402 has a target printer display area 403 , a print setting area 404 and a print button 405 . When the user taps a print button 405 after setting desired print settings in the print setting area 404 , the content data of the application is output to the printer displayed in the target printer display area 403 .

In FIG. 4B, the printer "Printer-C" having the IP address "192.168.0.12" is selected. In this embodiment, the case of changing the output destination to another printer will be described. To change the output destination to another printer, when the user taps the target printer display area 403, the screen transitions to the screen shown in FIG. 5A. FIG. 5A shows a printer list screen 406 on the network. Contents displayed on the printer list screen 406 are controlled by the print plug-in control unit 102 and the UI unit 101 . Processing related to display control of the printer list screen 406 will be described below.

6 and 7 are flowcharts showing an example of the operation of the printing system 100 after the target printer display area 403 is tapped on the print setting screen 402 shown in FIG. 4B.
The processing shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is realized by loading the program recorded in the flash memory 2003 into the RAM 2002 and executing it by the SoC 2001 .

When the target printer display area 403 is tapped on the print setting screen 402, in step S501, the print plug-in control unit 102 activates the print plug-in installed in the mobile terminal device 2000 via the print plug-in management unit 104. Get a list of In step S502, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines through the print plug-in management unit 104 whether there is a print plug-in 200 that has been installed.

If it is determined in step S502 that there is an installed print plug-in 200, the process proceeds to step S503. In step S503, the print plug-in control unit 102 acquires a list of validation settings indicating whether the installed print plug-in is valid or invalid. Settings related to print plug-in display control, including activation settings, are performed on the activation setting screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an activation setting screen.
The activation setting screen is managed by the print plug-in management unit 104 . On the validation setting screen, it is possible to perform display settings for non-installed print plug-ins and validation settings for installed print plug-ins.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, in the activation setting 606, for each installed print plug-in, it is possible to specify whether to enable or disable the print plug-in. In the example shown in FIG. 8A, "STD Print Plugin" is enabled. Only when this setting is valid, the print plug-in control unit 102 instructs the print plug-in to search for a printer in step S505, which will be described later.

In step S503, when the print plug-in control unit 102 acquires the list of activation settings of installed print plug-ins shown in FIG. 8, the process advances to step S504. In step S504, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether the print plug-in is enabled or disabled based on the activation setting of the first installed print plug-in obtained in step S503.

If it is determined in step S504 that the print plug-in is valid, the process advances to step S505. In step S505, the print plug-in control unit 102 instructs the print plug-in to search for a target printer. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S504 that the print plug-in is not valid, the process proceeds to step S506 without searching for the target printer.

In step S506, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether the print plug-in targeted for processing in steps S504 and S505 is the last installed print plug-in in the list of activation settings acquired in step S503. determine whether or not If it is determined in step S506 that it is not the last installed print plug-in in the activation setting list, the process returns to step S504. Then, the processing of steps S504 to S506 is repeated for the next installed print plug-in in the activation list. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S506 that it is the last installed print plug-in in the activation setting list, the process advances to step S507.

In step S507, the print plug-in control unit 102 instructs the printer searching unit 106 of the printing system 100 to search. In step S508, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether or not timeout has been reached. If it is determined in step S508 that the timeout has not been reached, the process proceeds to step S509. In step S509, the detection result receiving unit 105 of the printing system 100 receives the detection results of the search processes in steps S505 and S507.

In step S510, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines the notification source of the detection result received in step S509. If it is determined that the detection result is the result received from the printer search unit 201 of the print plug-in 200 instructed in step S505, the process advances to step S511. On the other hand, if it is determined that the detection result is the result received from the printer searching unit 106 of the printing system 100 instructed in step S507, the process proceeds to step S512 in FIG.

In step S<b>511 , the UI unit 101 of the printing system 100 updates the printer list screen 406 as shown in FIG. 5A based on the detection result information received from the print plug-in 200 . That is, as indicated by the printer information 407 on the printer list screen 406, information on the printer to which the installed print plug-in 200 corresponds is added. After that, the process returns to step S508 and repeats the process until the timeout is reached.

On the other hand, in step S512, the print plug-in control unit 102 refers to the corresponding print plug-in table 150 and acquires information on the print plug-in corresponding to the printer included in the detection result received in step S509. At this time, the print plug-in control unit 102 acquires information on the print plug-in corresponding to the vendor name of the printer based on the vendor name information acquired from the printer searched by the printer search unit 106 .

If the detection result received in step S509 is a response defined by a standard such as Mopria (registered trademark), the print plug-in control unit 102 determines that the printer is compatible with the standard print plug-in. judge that it is. If the printer supports both the standard print plug-in and the print plug-in provided by the vendor (vendor plug-in), information (information list) on a plurality of print plug-ins is acquired in step S512.

In step S513, the print plug-in management unit 104 determines whether or not the same print plug-in has already been installed for the first print plug-in in the print plug-in information list acquired in step S512. . If it is determined that the first print plug-in has already been installed, the process proceeds to step S519. On the other hand, if it is determined that the first print plug-in has not been installed, the process proceeds to step S514.

In step S514, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether a link to the download site of the print plug-in corresponding to the information regarding the print plug-in acquired in step S512 has been created on the printer list screen 406. to judge. If it is determined that the link to the download site has not been created, the print plug-in management unit 104 acquires display settings for the print plug-in in step S515. Display settings for the print plug-in are performed on the activation setting screen described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8A, in the display setting 601, it is possible to specify whether or not to display the print plug-in on the printer list screen 406 for each print plug-in that has not been installed. That is, for each print plug-in that has not been installed, it is possible to specify whether or not to perform a display (create a link to a download site) to guide the installation. In the example shown in FIG. 8A, the display setting 602 is set to display the uninstalled print plug-in “ABC Plugin” on the printer list screen 406 .

Further, FIG. 8B shows another example of the activation setting screen for performing display settings in this embodiment. In FIG. 8A, display or non-display can be set for each print plug-in that has not been installed. On the other hand, in FIG. 8B, whether or not to display standard print plug-ins and print plug-ins provided by non-standard vendors in the display settings 604 and 605 is set on the printer list screen. You can specify

That is, in FIG. 8B, it is possible to set display/hide by a single operation instead of setting display/hide for each individual vendor plug-in. As a result, for example, if print plug-ins provided by multiple vendors are not installed and standard print plug-ins are installed, all vendor plug-ins can be hidden with a simple operation. becomes possible. In FIG. 8B, for example, if a standard print plug-in is installed, the display settings 604 may be grayed out.

As described above, by using the setting screen shown in FIG. 8, the user can specify a condition as to whether or not to perform a display prompting installation of the print plug-in on the printer selection screen. In this embodiment, the setting screen is used to specify the condition for displaying or hiding, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a predetermined condition, such as not displaying a prompt to install another corresponding print plug-in for a printer that has a print plug-in already installed and is capable of printing, without allowing the user to set the condition. may be set by the printing system. This case will be described in a second embodiment.

However, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, a method is used in which the user is instructed to set whether to display or not to display. This allows the user to easily add print plug-ins. For example, in a printer compatible with Mopria, printing is possible using a print plug-in provided by each printer vendor in addition to a print plug-in provided by Mopria (hereinafter referred to as a Mopria plug-in). Mopria is a standard that enables printing from mobile terminal devices to printers provided by various vendors.

If only a standard print plug-in such as the Mopria plug-in is installed, it is possible to print to a printer that supports the standard, but the standard print plug-in has some functions common to all printers. It often supports only Therefore, printer-specific functions cannot be used.

For users who want to use printer-specific functions, after the Mopria plug-in makes it possible to print to the printer, it is conceivable to install a print plug-in provided by a printer vendor that supports various functions. be done. In such a case, if a display prompting installation of the print plug-in is not displayed, the print plug-in cannot be easily added, which impairs the user's convenience.

By having the setting means shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B as in this embodiment, the user can easily add a print plug-in. In the following, a case where display settings for print plug-ins that have not been installed individually are made on the screen shown in FIG. 8A will be described.

In step S516, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether to display the print plug-in based on the display settings acquired in step S515. If it is determined in step S516 that the print plug-in is to be displayed, the process proceeds to step S517, and if it is determined not to be displayed, the process proceeds to step S519 without performing steps S517 and S518.

In step S517, the UI unit 101 displays a prompt to install the print plug-in on the printer list screen 406. FIG. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5A, a link to the download site of the print plug-in is added to the printer list screen 406 as a display for inducing installation.

FIG. 5A shows a case where the display settings obtained in step S515 are set to display all print plug-ins that have not been installed (all are set to ON in FIG. 8A). . FIG. 5B shows a case in which the display settings obtained in step S515 are set so that none of the print plug-ins that have not been installed are displayed (all are set to OFF in FIG. 8A). . That is, no links to download sites for print plug-ins that have not been installed are displayed on the printer list screen 406 .

Further, in FIG. 5C, in the display settings obtained in step S515, only "ABC Plugin" is set to be displayed (in FIG. 8A, only "ABC Plugin" is set to ON, and other print plug-ins are set to OFF). ). Comparing FIGS. 5A and 5C, it can be seen that the link to the “EFG Plugin” download site is not displayed on the printer list screen 406 in FIG. 5C. In step S518, the UI unit 101 displays "(1)" as the number of printers to which the print plug-in corresponds after the name of the print plug-in displayed in the display area of the printer information 408 in step S517.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S514 that a link to the download site of the print plug-in has been created, the process proceeds to step S520. In step S520, the UI unit 101 increments by one the number of printers corresponding to the print plug-in displayed in the printer information 408 display area of the printer list screen 406, and updates the display. In step S519, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether the print plug-in targeted for processing in steps S513 to S518 and step S520 is the last print plug-in in the information list acquired in step S512. to judge.

If it is determined in step S519 that the print plug-in is not the last print plug-in in the information list, the process returns to step S513. Then, the processing of steps S513 to S518 and step S520 is repeated for the next print plug-in in the information list. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S519 that it is the last print plug-in in the information list, the process returns to step S508. Then, in step S508, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether or not the timeout has been reached, and if it is determined that the timeout has been reached, the processing shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 ends.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of the screen for setting the display for the non-installed print plug-in shown in FIG.
In this example, by swiping the display area of the printer information 408 on the printer list screen 406 in FIG. 9A, a UI (user interface) for making display settings is displayed. Specifically, the UI unit 101 displays a setting area 701, which is a UI for changing the display settings of print plug-ins that have not been installed, as shown in FIG. 9B. In the setting area 701, display/non-display can be selected for each print plug-in.

For example, if the display setting of "ABC Plugin" is changed to OFF in the setting area 701, the screen transitions to the screen shown in FIG. . In this embodiment, an example in which the setting area 701 is displayed by performing a swipe operation on the printer information 408 has been described. may be displayed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a plurality of print plug-ins correspond to one printer and there is already an installed print plug-in, installation of other print plug-ins You can set whether to display to guide the That is, the user is no longer prompted to install another print plug-in in the printer that has become printable, thereby improving operability. In addition, even if another print plug-in is desired to be used in a printer that is ready for printing, it is possible to easily add another print plug-in, so convenience is not impaired.

(Second embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the content displayed on the printer list screen 406 is controlled according to the display/non-display setting set by the user on the activation setting screen (FIG. 8). On the other hand, in the present embodiment, a method for controlling display/hide of non-installed print plug-ins on the printer list screen 406 without requiring the user to make settings will be described. Note that the network configuration, hardware configuration, and software configuration of the mobile terminal device 2000 according to the present embodiment are the same as those according to the first embodiment. Therefore, hereinafter, the same reference numerals are given to the same configurations as in the first embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of an application that implements the functions of the printing system 100 according to this embodiment. 11 and 12 are flowcharts showing an example of the operation of the printing system 100 after the target printer display area 403 is tapped on the print setting screen 402 shown in FIG. 4B.

The processes in FIGS. 11 and 12 correspond to the processes in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the first embodiment, and the same steps as those already explained are given the same reference numerals, and the explanation thereof will be omitted. The processing shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 is implemented by loading the program recorded in the flash memory 2003 into the RAM 2002 and executing it by the SoC 2001 .

In step S901 of FIG. 12, the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether or not there is at least one installed print plug-in among the print plug-ins included in the information list acquired in step S512. do. If it is determined in step S901 that none of the print plug-ins included in the information list has been installed, the process advances to step S902. In step S<b>902 , the print plug-in control unit 102 determines whether an uninstalled print plug-in included in the information list is displayed on the printer list screen 406 .

If it is determined in step S902 that the non-installed print plug-in is displayed, the process returns to step S508, and the processes after step S508 are performed for the next printer until timeout is reached. repeat. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S902 that the non-installed print plug-in is not displayed, the process advances to step S903. In step S<b>903 , the UI unit 101 displays the non-installed print plug-in on the printer list screen 406 . That is, a link to the print plug-in download site is created on the printer list screen 406 .

Note that if there are a plurality of print plug-ins that have not been installed in step S902, at least one print plug-in that has not been installed may be displayed in step S903, but the present invention is not limited to this. . For example, in step S903, all non-installed print plug-ins may be displayed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S901 that even one print plug-in included in the information list is installed, the process proceeds to step S904. In step S904, the print plug-in management unit 104 determines whether there is an uninstalled print plug-in among the print plug-ins included in the information list acquired in step S512.
If it is determined in step S904 that there is no print plug-in that has not been installed, the process returns to step S508, and the processes after step S508 are repeated for the next printer until timeout is reached. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S904 that there is an uninstalled print plug-in, the process advances to step S905. In step S905, the UI unit 101 adds the non-installed print plug-ins to a list (aggregate display list) for aggregate display.

FIG. 10A shows an example of aggregate display. The consolidated display is a display indicating that there are print plug-ins that are not yet installed among the print plug-ins that can be used in printers for which already installed print plug-ins overlap with corresponding printers. In the example shown in FIG. 10A, the message "Other print plug-ins are available" is displayed in the combined display area 801. In the example shown in FIG.

When the consolidated display area 801 is tapped, the screen transitions to the screen shown in FIG. 10B, and the UI unit 101 displays a prompt to install an uninstalled print plug-in. That is, a link to the download site of the print plug-in that has not been installed is displayed on the printer list screen 406 . The non-installed print plug-ins displayed here are the print plug-ins added to the consolidated display list in step S905.

In step S<b>906 , the UI unit 101 determines whether or not the printer list screen 406 is aggregated and displayed as shown in FIG. 10A . That is, in the case of this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the consolidated display area 801 is displayed. If it is determined in step S906 that the combined display area 801 has already been displayed, the process returns to step S508, and the processes after step S508 are repeated until timeout is reached.

On the other hand, if it is determined that the combined display area 801 is not displayed, the process proceeds to step S907. In step S907, the UI unit 101 performs aggregate display as shown in FIG. 10A. In this example, the screen is updated so that the integrated display area 801 is displayed on the printer list screen 406 . Then, the process returns to step S508, and when it is determined that the time-out has been reached, the processes of FIGS. 11 and 12 are terminated.

Note that in the present embodiment, when at least one corresponding print plug-in is installed in S901, print plug-ins that are not installed among the other corresponding print plug-ins are aggregated and displayed. It is not limited. For example, print plug-ins that have not been installed may not be displayed.

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

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

100 printing system 102 print plug-in control unit 200 print plug-in 2000 portable terminal device

Claims (27)

A first print plug-in capable of detecting a printer by searching is installed, the first print plug-in is disabled, and a second print plug-in capable of detecting the printer by searching. an information processing apparatus in which the second print plug-in different from the first print plug-in is not installed,
an object that is an area for displaying information only about print plug-ins among software that can be installed in the information processing apparatus and that receives a user operation to enable the first print plug-in that has been set to be disabled; An information processing apparatus, comprising display control means for displaying, on a display unit, the area for displaying information of the second print plug-in that is not installed. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said area displays a list of information about print plug-ins installed in said information processing apparatus and information about print plug-ins not installed in said information processing apparatus. The information processing device described. The area includes an object for setting whether or not to display the information of the second print plug-in when displaying the search result by the first print plug-in set to valid. 3. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The print plug-in is software for generating print data used for printing by a printer supported by the print plug-in based on image data provided from an application. The information processing device according to any one of the items. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising control means for instructing a printer search for a print plug-in set to be valid. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said control means does not issue a printer search instruction to a print plug-in set to be disabled. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising installation means for installing said second print plug-in into said information processing apparatus. 8. The information of the non-installed second print plug-in displayed on the display control means, according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the name of a vendor that provides the second print plug-in is included. The information processing device according to item 1. further comprising searching means for searching for printers;
The display control means is a printer capable of executing printing based on the print data generated by the second print plug-in which is not installed, and the number of the printers detected by the search means is counted. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display. The display control means can execute printing based on the information of the second print plug-in and the print data generated by the second print plug-in at a timing different from the timing at which the area is displayed. 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the number of printers is displayed. the search means searches for a printer using the first print plug-in in a valid state;
The display control means executes printing based on the print data generated by the first print plug-in in the printer detected by the search at a timing different from the timing at which the area is displayed. 11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the information of the second print plug-in that is not installed is displayed together with the information of the printer capable of printing. The display control means is the printer detected by the search, and the second print displayed together with information of the printer capable of executing printing based on the print data generated by the first print plug-in. 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein an object for accepting an installation instruction of said second print plug-in is displayed based on the selection of plug-in information. An information processing apparatus in which a first print plug-in for generating print data to be transmitted to a printer is installed and a second print plug-in for generating print data to be transmitted to the printer is not installed. ,
control means for instructing the enabled first print plug-in to search for a printer;
A predetermined object is displayed together with the information of the printer detected by the first print plug-in based on the search instruction, and the information of the second print plug-in is displayed based on the selection of the predetermined object. 1 display control means;
changing means for changing the first print plug-in from enabled to disabled;
second display control for displaying information of the second print plug-in together with an object for enabling the first print plug-in when the first print plug-in is disabled; An information processing apparatus comprising: means. 14. An information processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the information on said second print plug-in is information on a vendor that provides said second print plug-in. A first print plug-in capable of detecting a printer by searching is installed, the first print plug-in is disabled, and a second print plug-in capable of detecting the printer by searching. A control method for an information processing apparatus in which the second print plug-in different from the first print plug-in is not installed,
an object that is an area that displays information only about print plug-ins among applications that can be installed in the information processing apparatus and that receives a user operation to enable the first print plug-in that has been set to be disabled; A control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising a display control step of displaying, on a display unit, the area for displaying information of the second print plug-in that is not installed. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the area displays a list of information about print plug-ins installed in the information processing apparatus and information about print plug-ins not installed in the information processing apparatus. A control method for the described information processing apparatus. The area includes an object for setting whether or not to display the information of the second print plug-in when displaying the search result by the first print plug-in set to valid. 17. The control method for an information processing apparatus according to claim 15 or 16. 18. The print plug-in is software for generating print data used for printing by a printer supported by the print plug-in based on image data provided from an application. A control method for an information processing apparatus according to any one of items. 19. The control method for an information processing apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a control step of instructing a printer search for a print plug-in set to be valid. 20. The method of controlling an information processing apparatus according to claim 19, wherein in said control step, a printer search instruction is not issued to a print plug-in set to be disabled. 21. The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 15, further comprising an installation step of installing said second print plug-in in said information processing apparatus. 22. The information of the non-installed second print plug-in displayed in the display control step includes the name of a vendor that provides the second print plug-in. A control method for the information processing apparatus according to item 1. further comprising a searching step of searching for a printer;
and a display control step of displaying the number of printers to which the second print plug-in that is not installed can send print data, and the number of printers detected by the search by the search step. 23. The method for controlling an information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein In the other display control step, the image forming apparatus detected by the search performs printing based on the print data generated by the first print plug-in at a timing different from the timing at which the area is displayed. 24. A control method for an information processing apparatus according to claim 23, wherein information about the second print plug-in that is not installed is displayed together with information about printers that can be executed. The display control step selects the information of the second print plug-in displayed together with the information of the printer detected by the search and receiving the print data generated by the first print plug-in. 25. A control method for an information processing apparatus according to claim 24, wherein an object for accepting an installation instruction for said second print plug-in is displayed based on said request. A control method for an information processing apparatus in which a first print plug-in for generating print data to be transmitted to a printer is installed and a second print plug-in for generating print data to be transmitted to the printer is not installed and
a control step of instructing the enabled first print plug-in to search for a printer;
A predetermined object is displayed together with the information of the printer detected by the first print plug-in based on the search instruction, and the information of the second print plug-in is displayed based on the selection of the predetermined object. 1 display control step;
a changing step of changing the first print plug-in from enabled to disabled;
second display control for displaying information of the second print plug-in together with an object for enabling the first print plug-in when the first print plug-in is disabled; A control method for an information processing device, comprising: A computer program for causing a computer to execute each means of the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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