Information processing device, information processing method, and computer readable medium

Abstract

The present invention provides an information processing device, an information processing method, and a computer-readable medium. The information processing device comprises: a receiving unit that receives print settings about a web page from an operator; a requesting unit that sends terminal information set according to the print settings to a web server that provides data of the web page, requesting the data of the web page; and a generating unit that generates print data according to the data of the web page obtained from the web server through the request of the requesting unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a computer-readable medium. Background Art

[0002] As a technology for printing a web page whose display mode is switched according to terminal information, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-161780 discloses an image processing device, which is connected to a portable terminal and a web server and comprises: a receiving unit that receives designated information from the portable terminal, wherein the designated information specifies how to print the web page when there are two pages of the web page being browsed, namely, a web page for a portable terminal and a web page for a non-portable terminal; and an instruction receiving unit that receives information about the portable terminal obtained via the web server. A printing instruction for a WEB page for a terminal; an information receiving unit, which receives page information including the URL of the WEB page for a portable terminal according to the received printing instruction; an acquiring unit, which acquires a WEB page for a non-portable terminal corresponding to the WEB page for a portable terminal being browsed by sending the page information to a WEB server; and a printing unit, which executes printing of the WEB page for a portable terminal, printing of the WEB page for a non-portable terminal, or printing of both the WEB page for a portable terminal and the WEB page for a non-portable terminal according to the designated information received by the receiving unit. Summary of the invention

[0003] For example, a method called responsive design may switch the display method of a web page according to terminal information. When printing such a web page, the web page data is always obtained and printed using the same terminal information regardless of the print settings. Therefore, depending on the print settings, unnecessary blank spaces may be generated in the printout, the number of prints may increase unnecessarily, or the web page content may be printed with cutouts.

[0004] The present disclosure aims to obtain print data suitable for print settings even when printing a web page whose display mode is switched according to terminal information, compared with a configuration that always uses the same terminal information regardless of print settings, when print data is obtained based on terminal information.

[0005] According to the first scheme of the present disclosure, there is provided an information processing device comprising: a receiving unit that receives print settings regarding a Web page from an operator; a requesting unit that sends terminal information set according to the print settings to a Web server that provides data of the Web page, requesting the data of the Web page; and a generating unit that generates print data based on the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server through the request of the requesting unit.

[0006] According to the second aspect of the present disclosure, the generating unit generates the print data by using other terminal information set according to the print setting together with the data of the web page obtained from the web server.

[0007] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, the other terminal information includes a width of a display area when displaying the Web page, and is set such that the width of the display area becomes larger as the width of the paper in the print setting becomes larger.

[0008] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, the print setting includes the size of paper used for printing, and the request unit sends the terminal information corresponding to the received print setting to the Web server through a correspondence relationship that corresponds a plurality of paper sizes to the terminal information.

[0009] According to the fifth aspect of the present disclosure, the print settings further include at least one of the orientation and pagination of the paper used in printing, and the correspondence is obtained by corresponding each combination of the sizes of the plurality of papers and the orientation or pagination of the papers to the terminal information.

[0010] According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, the correspondence relationship is obtained by respectively associating the plurality of paper sizes with the terminal information and the other terminal information.

[0011] According to the seventh scheme of the present disclosure, the corresponding relationship corresponds the first paper to the first terminal information, and corresponds the second paper which is smaller than the first paper to the second terminal information, the first terminal information is terminal information representing a terminal having a screen larger than that of a mobile terminal, and the second terminal information is terminal information representing a mobile terminal.

[0012] According to the 8th scheme of the present disclosure, there is provided an information processing device comprising: a receiving unit which receives print settings regarding a Web page from an operator; a requesting unit which requests the data of the Web page from a Web server which provides the data of the Web page; and a generating unit which generates print data together with the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server through the request of the requesting unit, using terminal information set according to the print settings.

[0013] According to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure, the request unit transmits other terminal information set according to the print setting to the Web server to request the data of the Web page.

[0014] According to the 10th scheme of the present disclosure, a computer-readable medium is provided, which stores a program that causes a computer to execute a process, wherein the process comprises: accepting print settings regarding a Web page from an operator; sending terminal information set according to the print settings to a Web server that provides data of the Web page, requesting the data of the Web page; and generating print data based on the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server through the request.

[0015] According to the 11th scheme of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process comprising: accepting print settings regarding a Web page from an operator; requesting the data of the Web page from a Web server that provides the data of the Web page; and generating print data together with the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server through the request using terminal information set according to the print settings.

[0016] According to the 12th scheme of the present disclosure, an information processing method is provided, which comprises: accepting print settings about a Web page from an operator; sending terminal information set according to the print settings to a Web server that provides data of the Web page, requesting the data of the Web page; and generating print data based on the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server through the request.

[0017] (Effect)

[0018] According to the first aspect, when obtaining print data based on terminal information, compared with a configuration that always uses the same terminal information regardless of print settings, even when printing a Web page whose display format changes according to terminal information, print data suitable for the print settings can be obtained.

[0019] According to the second aspect, compared with a configuration that always uses the same other terminal information regardless of the print setting, it is possible to obtain print data that is suitable for the print setting.

[0020] According to the third aspect, compared with a configuration in which the same width of the display area is always used regardless of the width of the paper in the print setting, print data suitable for the print setting can be obtained.

[0021] According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to obtain print data suitable for the print setting including the size of paper used for printing.

[0022] According to the fifth aspect, it is possible to obtain print data suitable for the print settings including the orientation of the paper and the imposition.

[0023] According to the sixth aspect, compared with a configuration in which only one of the terminal information and other terminal information is associated with the print setting, print data suitable for the print setting can be obtained.

[0024] According to the seventh aspect, it is possible to obtain print data suitable for the print setting including the size of paper used for printing.

[0025] According to the eighth aspect, when obtaining print data based on terminal information, compared with a configuration that always uses terminal information regardless of print settings, print data suitable for print settings can be obtained even when printing a Web page whose display format is switched according to terminal information.

[0026] According to the ninth aspect, compared with a configuration in which the same terminal information is always sent to the Web server regardless of the print setting, print data suitable for the print setting can be obtained.

[0027] According to the tenth scheme, the following actions can be implemented by a computer: when obtaining print data based on terminal information, compared with a structure that always uses the same terminal information regardless of the print setting, even when printing a Web page whose display mode is switched according to the terminal information, print data suitable for the print setting can be obtained.

[0028] According to the 11th scheme, the following actions can be implemented by a computer: when obtaining print data based on terminal information, compared with a structure that always uses the same terminal information regardless of print settings, even when printing a Web page that switches the display mode according to the terminal information, print data suitable for the print settings can be obtained.

[0029] According to the twelfth aspect, when obtaining print data based on terminal information, compared with a configuration that always uses the same terminal information regardless of print settings, even when printing a Web page whose display mode is switched according to terminal information, print data suitable for the print settings can be obtained. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Figure 1 It is a diagram showing an overall configuration example of an information processing system according to the present embodiment.

[0031] Figure 2 (A) to (C) are diagrams showing examples of Web pages in which the display mode is switched according to terminal information.

[0032] Figure 3 This is a diagram for explaining an example of a user agent.

[0033] Figure 4 (A) to (C) are diagrams for explaining an example of display width.

[0034] Figure 5 It is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a connection terminal according to the present embodiment.

[0035] Figure 6 This is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example of a connection terminal according to the present embodiment.

[0036] Figure 7 This is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure for connecting a terminal.

[0037] Figure 8 It is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence table.

[0038] Fig. 9 (A) to (C) are diagrams for explaining specific examples of processing of connecting terminals.

[0039] Fig.10 (A) to (C) are diagrams for explaining other examples of print settings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0041] <Overall structure of information processing system>

[0042] Figure 1 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the information processing system 1 according to the present embodiment, a connection terminal 100 , a web server 200 , and a printing device 300 are connected via a network 400 .

[0043] In addition, in this embodiment, the connection terminal 100 is used as an example of the information processing device.

[0044] The connection terminal 100 is a computer device operated by a user. As the connection terminal 100, for example, a PC (Personal Computer), a tablet terminal, a mobile terminal (such as a smartphone), etc. are exemplified. A PC is, for example, a laptop computer or a desktop computer. A tablet terminal is, for example, a terminal that uses an OS (Operating System) and applications shared with a smartphone and does not have a call function. The user performs an operation to display a web page on the connection terminal 100, or performs an operation to print a web page.

[0045] The web server 200 is a server device that publishes a web page and provides data of the web page in response to a request from the connection terminal 100 .

[0046] The printing device 300 has a printing function, and performs printing by forming an image on paper as an example of a recording material.

[0047] The network 400 is a communication means for connecting the terminal 100 , the Web server 200 , and the printing device 300 for information communication, and is, for example, the Internet, a public line, a LAN (Local Area Network), or the like.

[0048] Here, for example, as in a method called adaptive design, the display mode of a web page may be switched according to terminal information. Such a web page is usually defined in a display mode according to terminal information.

[0049] Terminal information refers to information related to the screen on which the Web page is displayed, and is information indicating what screen the Web page is displayed on. For example, the terminal information includes information that can estimate the size of the terminal screen, and more specifically, the user agent (User-Agent) and the width of the display area when the Web page is displayed (hereinafter referred to as "display width").

[0050] User agent refers to information such as the type of terminal, the type of OS used, the type of web browser, etc. User agent is an example of terminal information sent to web server 200 when requesting web page data. On the other hand, display width is an example of terminal information not sent to web server 200 when requesting web page data. As described later, display width is used when interpreting web page data received from web server 200.

[0051] Figure 2(A) to (C) of FIG. 1 are diagrams showing an example of a Web page whose display mode is switched according to terminal information. In this example, the Web server 200 prepares a plurality of Web pages with the same URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Figure 2 For example, when using a user agent represented as a mobile terminal, the display Figure 2 In addition, for example, when a user agent is used, the web page is switched according to the display width. Figure 2 In addition, for example, when a user agent represented as a PC is used, the display width is switched according to the display width. Figure 2 There are three display modes shown in (A) to (C).

[0052] The display method includes, for example, the layout of a Web page, and more specifically, the arrangement of images and articles on the Web page.

[0053] Figure 3 This is a diagram for explaining an example of a user agent.

[0054] exist Figure 3 In the example shown, as user agents, PC, tablet terminal, and mobile terminal are shown. For example, when it is for PC, it is indicated as PC by the name of OS such as "Windows NT" (registered trademark). When it is for tablet terminal, it is indicated as tablet terminal by the name of OS such as "Android" (registered trademark) and characters such as "Tablet". When it is for mobile terminal, it is indicated as mobile terminal by the name of OS such as "Android" and characters such as "Mobile". The display mode of the web page is switched by such terminal information.

[0055] and, Figure 4 This is a diagram for explaining an example of display width.

[0056] exist Figure 4 In the example shown in (A), the connection terminal 100 is a PC, and the state of displaying a web page in the display area 11 of the web browser is shown. The width of the display area 11 is W, and the height is H. In this case, the width W of the display area 11 is the display width of the terminal information. For additional explanation, for example, when a rectangular coordinate system is set in the screen and the center of the screen is set as the origin, the horizontal direction is set as the X-axis (left-right direction in the figure), and the vertical direction is set as the Y-axis (up-down direction in the figure), the length of the display area 11 in the X-axis direction is the display width.

[0057] Since the connection terminal 100 is a PC, for example, when displaying Figure 2 In the case of a web page with the URL shown, the width W is switched Figure 2 More specifically, for example, in Figure 2 When the display mode (A) is used for display, if the user gradually increases the width W of the display area 11, Figure 2 If the width W is further increased, the Figure 2 The display is displayed in the display mode of (C).

[0058] And, in Figure 4 In the example shown in (B), the connection terminal 100 is a tablet terminal, and the state of displaying a web page on the entire screen of the tablet terminal is shown. In this example, the width W of the screen is the display width. For additional explanation, for example, when a rectangular coordinate system is set in the screen and the center of the screen is set as the origin, the horizontal direction is set as the X-axis (left-right direction in the figure), and the vertical direction is set as the Y-axis (up-down direction in the figure), the length of the screen in the X-axis direction is the display width.

[0059] exist Figure 4 In the example shown in (C), it is shown that Figure 4 The connection terminal 100 shown in (B) is rotated 90 degrees in the clockwise direction. In this case, the width W of the switching screen, that is, the display width. Figure 4 (B) Different display modes for displaying web pages.

[0060] In addition, the height of the display area when displaying a web page (hereinafter referred to as "display height") can also be used as terminal information. In addition, in a web page that switches the display mode according to the display height, the display height is used as terminal information. Figure 4 In the example shown in (A), the height H of the display area 11 is the display height. Also, the length of the display area 11 in the Y-axis direction is the display height. Figure 4 In the example shown in (B), the height H of the screen is the display height. Also, the length of the screen in the Y-axis direction is the display height. To explain further, the display width or display height is an example of a value indicating the size of the display area when displaying a web page.

[0061] In this way, since the terminal information is different in PC, tablet terminal and mobile terminal, even if it is a web page with the same URL, the display method of the web page displayed on the PC, the display method of the web page displayed on the tablet terminal, and the display method of the web page displayed on the mobile terminal are sometimes different.

[0062] However, these display methods are based on the premise of displaying a web page. Therefore, when printing such a web page, there is a possibility that useless blanks are generated in the printout, the number of pages is increased unnecessarily, or the content of the web page is printed with cuts, depending on the print settings. Therefore, the following describes the steps for printing a web page using the terminal information set according to the print settings.

[0063] <Hardware structure of the connection terminal>

[0064] Figure 5 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the connection terminal 100 according to the present embodiment. Figure 5 The illustrated example shows a case where the connection terminal 100 is a PC as an example.

[0065] As shown in the figure, the connection terminal 100 has: a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 as a computing unit; a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102 as a storage area for storing programs such as BIOS (Basic Input Output System); and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103 as an execution area for programs. In addition, the connection terminal 100 has a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 104 as a storage area for storing various programs such as OS and applications, and for storing input data for various programs, output data from various programs, etc. In addition, the programs stored in the ROM 102 or the HDD 104 are read into the RAM 103 and executed by the CPU 101, thereby realizing various functions of the connection terminal 100.

[0066] The connection terminal 100 also includes a communication interface (communication I / F) 105 for communicating with the outside, a display unit 106 such as a display, and an input device 107 such as a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch panel.

[0067] <Functional structure of connection terminal>

[0068] Figure 6 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the connection terminal 100 according to the present embodiment. The connection terminal 100 includes a Web client 110 and an OS / printing software execution unit 120 .

[0069] The web client 110 is a web browser or program that displays a web page or instructs the printing apparatus 300 to print a web page. The web client 110 includes a UI (User Interface) unit 111 , a web page data request unit 112 , a web page data interpretation unit 113 , a terminal information management unit 114 , and a print processing unit 115 .

[0070] The UI unit 111 as an example of a receiving unit includes an operation receiving unit 111A for receiving a user's operation and a display control unit 111B for controlling the display of the display device 106 .

[0071] Operation accepting portion 111A accepts, as user operations, for example, an operation of designating a Web page to be displayed, an operation of designating a Web page to be printed, and an operation of inputting print settings regarding a Web page.

[0072] The display control unit 111B generates a control signal for controlling the display on the display unit 106, and controls the display on the display unit 106. For example, the display control unit 111B performs control so that a Web page provided by the Web server 200 is displayed.

[0073] The web page data requesting unit 112, which is an example of a requesting unit, requests the web page data from the web server 200. Here, the web page data requesting unit 112 requests the web page data designated by the user as a display target, or requests the web page data designated by the user as a print target. Furthermore, the web page data requesting unit 112 receives the web page data transmitted from the web server 200 in response to the request.

[0074] In addition, when requesting data of a web page, the web page data request unit 112 transmits the terminal information managed by the terminal information management unit 114 to the web server 200. The terminal information transmitted here is, for example, a user agent.

[0075] For example, when displaying a web page, the web page data request unit 112 receives a predetermined user agent from the terminal information management unit 114 and sends it to the web server 200. The predetermined user agent is based on the connection terminal 100. For example, when the connection terminal 100 is a PC, the user agent for the PC is sent to the web server 200.

[0076] On the other hand, when the print setting is accepted in the UI unit 111, the web page data request unit 112 receives the user agent corresponding to the accepted print setting from the terminal information management unit 114 and transmits it to the web server 200. The user agent corresponding to the print setting is the user agent set according to the print setting.

[0077] The web page data interpretation unit 113, which is an example of a generating unit, interprets the data of the web page received from the web server 200. Specifically, the web page data interpretation unit 113 interprets the language of the web page received from the web server 200, and performs data processing for processing the web page. Examples of the language of the web page include HTML (HyperText Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and JavaScript (registered trademark).

[0078] In addition, when processing the data of the web page, the web page data interpreting unit 113 uses the terminal information managed by the terminal information managing unit 114. The terminal information used here is, for example, the user agent and the display width.

[0079] For example, when displaying a web page, the web page data interpreter 113 receives a predetermined user agent and a display width of a display area displayed on the screen from the terminal information manager 114 and processes the web page data using the received user agent and display width.

[0080] On the other hand, when the print setting is accepted in the UI unit 111, the web page data interpretation unit 113 receives the user agent and display width corresponding to the accepted print setting from the terminal information management unit 114, and processes the web page data using the received user agent and display width. Like the user agent corresponding to the print setting, the display width corresponding to the print setting refers to the display width set according to the print setting.

[0081] The terminal information management unit 114 manages terminal information and provides the terminal information to the web page data request unit 112 and the web page data interpretation unit 113. The terminal information management unit 114 has a correspondence table that associates print settings with terminal information, and manages terminal information different from the terminal information based on the connection terminal 100.

[0082] For example, when displaying a web page, the terminal information management unit 114 provides the web page data request unit 112 and the web page data interpretation unit 113 with predetermined terminal information regardless of the correspondence table.

[0083] On the other hand, when print settings are accepted in the UI unit 111 , the terminal information management unit 114 refers to the correspondence table and provides the web page data request unit 112 and the web page data interpretation unit 113 with the terminal information corresponding to the print settings accepted in the UI unit 111 .

[0084] In this embodiment, a correspondence table is used as an example of the correspondence relationship.

[0085] When a print instruction of a web page is received in the UI unit 111, the print processing unit 115 as an example of a generating unit issues a print instruction of the web page to the OS / printing software. Here, the print processing unit 115 outputs the print setting received in the UI unit 111 and the web page data processed in the web page data interpreting unit 113 to the OS / printing software executing unit 120.

[0086] The OS / printing software execution unit 120 as an example of a generating unit receives a print instruction from the Web client 110 and generates print data. Then, the OS / printing software execution unit 120 transmits the generated print data to the printing device 300. By transmitting the print data, the Web page is printed in the printing device 300.

[0087] The method of generating print data and the format of the generated print data by the OS / print software execution unit 120 are not limited. The method of generating print data and the format of the print data vary depending on the functions of the OS or the print software.

[0088] Furthermore, the role allocation between the print processing unit 115 and the OS / printing software execution unit 120 is not limited to the above example. The role allocation between the print processing unit 115 and the OS / printing software execution unit 120 varies depending on the functions of the OS or the printing software. For example, the print processing unit 115 may generate and send print data.

[0089] <Processing steps for connecting to the terminal>

[0090] Figure 7 FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the connection terminal 100. Figure 7 In the example shown, as an initial state, the user starts a web browser and inputs a URL, whereby a web page is displayed on the display unit 106 .

[0091] In addition, the processing step is denoted by the symbol "S" below.

[0092] For example, when the user selects to print the web page displayed on the screen, the UI unit 111 receives the designation of the web page to be printed (S101). Next, the UI unit 111 displays a screen for receiving print settings (S102). Here, the UI unit 111 receives the print settings and print instructions of the web page through the user's input on the screen (S103). Next, the terminal information management unit 114 refers to the correspondence table and determines the terminal information corresponding to the print settings received in the UI unit 111 (S104). Here, as the terminal information corresponding to the print settings, for example, the user agent and the display width are determined.

[0093] Next, the web page data request unit 112 uses the terminal information determined in S104 to request the web page data from the web server 200 (S105). Specifically, the web page data request unit 112 sends, for example, an HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) request to the web server 200. At this time, the user agent, which is the terminal information determined in S104, is stored in the header of the HTTP request. Then, the web page data request unit 112 receives the web page data from the web server 200 (S106). Specifically, the web page data request unit 112 receives, for example, an HTTP response from the web server 200.

[0094] Next, the web page data interpretation unit 113 executes a process of processing the web page data received from the web server 200 using the terminal information specified in S104 ( S107 ).

[0095] Specifically, the web page data interpretation unit 113 obtains the HTML data and style sheet of the web page based on the HTTP response received from the web server 200, for example. The style sheet is described using CSS, which is a style sheet language, and specifies the expression rules of color, font, layout, etc. In the HTTP response, multiple style sheets are defined. In the case where the style sheet changes according to the display width, the web page data interpretation unit 113 obtains the style sheet corresponding to the display width determined in S104. In addition, in the description of the obtained HTML data and style sheet, there are branches based on the user agent, display width, etc., and there are also cases where the processing changes according to the user agent, display width, etc. In this case, the web page data interpretation unit 113 interprets the HTML data and style sheet according to the user agent, display width, etc. determined in S104, and processes the data of the web page.

[0096] Next, the print processing unit 115 outputs the data of the web page processed in S107 to the OS / print software execution unit 120 and issues a print instruction (S108). Next, the OS / print software execution unit 120 receives the print instruction from the print processing unit 115 and generates print data (S109). Next, the OS / print software execution unit 120 sends the generated print data to the printing device 300 (S110). Then, this processing flow ends.

[0097] In addition, Figure 7 In the example shown, the UI unit 111 receives the print setting and the print instruction in S103, but the configuration is not limited to this. For example, in S103, the print setting may be received instead of the print instruction. In this case, the processing of S104 to S107 is performed by receiving the print setting from the user. Furthermore, during the processing of S104 to S107 or after the processing of S107, the processing of S108 to S110 is performed by receiving the print instruction from the user.

[0098] Furthermore, a print preview showing how to print the Web page may be displayed before printing the Web page. In this case, the layout of the Web page to be printed using the terminal information corresponding to the print setting is displayed as the print preview.

[0099] Moreover, in Figure 7 In the example shown, the web page data requesting unit 112 requests the web page data using the terminal information corresponding to the print setting in S105. However, if the requested web page data has already been received, the web page data may not be requested again. For example, if the web page data is requested using the same user agent as the user agent used when displaying the web page, the requested web page data has already been received. Therefore, the processing after S107 may also be performed using the web page data that has already been received.

[0100] <Explanation of the correspondence table>

[0101] Next, the correspondence table held by the terminal information management unit 114 will be described. Figure 8 It is a diagram showing an example of a correspondence table.

[0102] exist Figure 8 In the example shown, "paper size" is specified as the print setting. "Paper size" is the size of the paper used for printing. It can also be understood as the width of the paper used for printing. Specifically, B3, A3, B4, A4, B5, and A5 are specified as the paper size specifications. The widths are 364mm, 297mm, 257mm, 210mm, 182mm, and 148mm.

[0103] Furthermore, as terminal information, "User Agent" and "Display Width" are specified. "User Agent" specifies PC, tablet terminal, and mobile terminal. Also, "Display Width" specifies 1032px (pixel), 842px, 729px, 595px, 516px, and 420px.

[0104] Furthermore, a plurality of print settings correspond to the terminal information, respectively. For example, the paper size "B3" corresponds to the user agent "for PC" and the display width "1032px". Furthermore, for example, the paper size "A3" corresponds to the user agent "for tablet terminal" and the display width "842px". Furthermore, for example, the paper size "A5" corresponds to the user agent "for mobile terminal" and the display width "420px".

[0105] In addition, in the Web server 200, the display modes for each terminal are usually defined on the premise that the display modes are PC, tablet terminal, and mobile terminal in descending order of screen size. Figure 8 In the correspondence table shown, PC, tablet, and mobile terminals are set in order from the larger paper size (i.e., the larger the paper width) in the print settings. And, the larger the paper size (i.e., the larger the paper width) in the print settings, the larger the display width.

[0106] In this embodiment, a user agent for a PC or a tablet terminal is used as an example of the first terminal information, and a user agent for a mobile terminal is used as an example of the second terminal information.

[0107] In addition, Figure 8 In the correspondence table shown, the following value is set as the display width, which is the value obtained by converting the width of the paper into pixels (px) using 72DPI (Dots Per Inch). In addition, user agents are classified into PC, tablet terminal, and mobile terminal based on 480px and 992px. However, the method of converting the display width and classifying the user agents is not limited. For example, multiple correspondence tables can be prepared, and they can be changed arbitrarily according to the user's settings. In addition, for example, it can also be changed according to the purpose of printing and the industry of the user. Specifically, for example, if multiple correspondence tables are prepared and the purpose of printing and the industry of the user are specified, it is also possible to select a correspondence table corresponding to the specified purpose and industry, and use the selected correspondence table.

[0108] <Specific example of processing of connection terminal>

[0109] Next, the processing of the connection terminal 100 will be described with reference to a specific example. Fig. 9This is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the processing of the connection terminal 100. In this example, the connection terminal 100 is assumed to be a PC.

[0110] Fig. 9 The example shown in (A) shows a state where a web page is displayed on the screen of the display unit 106 when a user inputs a URL. To be specific, when the UI unit 111 receives the input of the URL, the web page data request unit 112 requests the web page data from the web server 200. Here, since the connection terminal 100 is a PC, the web page data request unit 112 sends a user agent represented as a PC to the web server 200. Figure 3 In the example shown, the user agent "for PC" is sent. Then, the web page data request unit 112 receives the web page data from the web server 200. Next, the web page data interpretation unit 113 processes the received web page data. At this time, the web page data is processed according to the user agent "for PC" and the display width (in this example, width W). Then, as shown in FIG. Fig. 9 As shown in (A), the web page is displayed in the display area 11.

[0111] Here, if the user chooses to print the web page, Fig. 9 As shown in (B) of FIG. 1 , a screen 12 for accepting print settings is displayed. In this example, the user enters "B5" in a field 12A for inputting a paper size. Then, when the user selects an OK button 12B, the UI unit 111 accepts the print settings and print instructions of the web page.

[0112] In addition, the paper size may be set by default. When the paper size is set by default, the UI unit 111 receives the print setting and the print instruction of the web page from the user by selecting the OK button 12B. In addition, the print instruction may be received on a screen different from the screen 12 for receiving the print setting. For example, the UI unit 111 receives the print setting by selecting the OK button 12B by the user, and is used to select a print button (not shown) on another screen, thereby receiving the print instruction.

[0113] Next, the terminal information management unit 114 refers to the correspondence table to determine the terminal information corresponding to the paper size of "B5". Figure 8 In the correspondence table shown, the user agent "for tablet terminals" and the display width "516px" are determined as terminal information. Next, the web page data request unit 112 sends the user agent "for tablet terminals" to the web server 200 to request the data of the web page. To add, when displaying the web page, the user agent "for PC" is used, but the user agent "for tablet terminals" is used here.

[0114] Then, the web page data interpretation unit 113 processes the data of the web page received from the web server 200. Here, the web page data interpretation unit 113 processes the data of the web page according to the user agent "for tablet terminals" and the display width "516px". In addition, when displaying the web page, the user agent "for PC" and the display width (in this example, the width W of the display area 11) are used, but the user agent "for tablet terminals" and the display width "516px" are used here. Then, the OS / printing software execution unit 120 generates print data and sends the generated print data to the printing device 300.

[0115] Fig. 9 (C) shows an example of a printed material 13 printed by the printing device 300. By printing using the user agent "for tablet terminals" and the terminal information of the display width "516px", printing is performed according to the display mode when the display width is set to 516px for tablet terminals. For additional explanation, Fig. 9 The layout of the printed matter 13 shown in (C) is Fig. 9 The display mode of the web page displayed in the display area 11 shown in (A) is different.

[0116] In this way, the connection terminal 100 involved in this embodiment sends the terminal information set according to the print setting to the Web server 200 to request the data of the Web page. Then, the print data of the Web page is generated based on the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server 200 and the terminal information set according to the print setting. Then, printing is performed based on the generated print data.

[0117] <Other examples of print settings>

[0118] In the above example, the paper size is illustrated as the print setting, but the print setting is not limited to the paper size. For example, the print setting may include settings related to the layout on the paper, specifically, it may also include at least one of the orientation of the paper used in printing, imposition (face-up), and poster layout. Fig.10 This is a diagram for explaining another example of print setting.

[0119] Reference Fig.10 (A) of FIG. 1 describes the orientation of the paper used for printing. The orientation of the paper used for printing includes vertical and horizontal. The width of the paper used for printing changes according to the orientation of the paper. For example, when printing on A4 paper, if the orientation of the paper is vertical, then Fig.10 As shown on the left side of the figure (A), the width of the paper is 210 mm. On the other hand, if the paper is oriented horizontally, Fig.10 As shown on the right side of the figure (A), the width of the paper is 297 mm. In the corresponding table, the terminal information changes according to the width of the paper, so Fig.10 As shown in (A) of FIG. 1 , the design of a Web page printed as a printed material may change.

[0120] Reference Fig.10 (B) describes imposition. Imposition generally refers to the arrangement of data of multiple pages on one sheet of paper during binding. However, the imposition involved in this embodiment is not limited to binding as a premise. It includes the case where multiple pages are outputted on one sheet of paper without relying on binding.

[0121] exist Fig.10 In the example shown in (B), when printing on A4 paper, data of two pages are arranged on one sheet of paper. In this case, the web pages are printed on the left and right areas respectively, and the width of the paper is half of the 297 mm of A4, which can be considered as the width of A5 paper (i.e., 148 mm). Therefore, in the correspondence table, printing is performed using the terminal information corresponding to the width of A5 paper.

[0122] Reference Fig.10 (C) explains poster layout. Poster layout is a function that prints data on one page by dividing it into multiple sheets. Fig.10 In the example shown in (C), as shown on the left side of the figure, four A5 sheets (two vertical sheets and two horizontal sheets) are used to print the web page. In this case, as shown on the right side of the figure, the four A5 sheets printed are combined to form an A3 size as a whole. Therefore, in the correspondence table, the terminal information corresponding to the width of the A3 paper (i.e., 297 mm) is used for printing.

[0123] In addition, when the print setting includes the paper orientation, a plurality of combinations of paper sizes and paper orientations are set in the correspondence table. Then, the plurality of combinations are respectively associated with the terminal information. For example, the width (297 mm) of A3 paper when the paper orientation is vertical and the width (297 mm) of A4 paper when the paper orientation is horizontal are associated with the same terminal information.

[0124] Similarly, when the print setting includes imposition, multiple combinations of paper sizes and imposition are set in the correspondence table. Then, the multiple combinations are respectively matched with the terminal information. For example, in the setting of A4 paper and data of 2 pages arranged on one sheet of paper, the terminal information with the same width (148mm) of A5 paper is matched.

[0125] Furthermore, when the print setting includes a poster layout, multiple combinations of paper size and poster layout are set in the correspondence table. Then, the multiple combinations are respectively associated with the terminal information. For example, in the setting of using 2×2=4 sheets of A5 paper, the terminal information that is the same as the width of A3 paper (297 mm) is associated.

[0126] Furthermore, two or more combinations of paper orientation, imposition, and poster layout may be set in the correspondence table. For example, when the print setting includes paper orientation and imposition, multiple combinations of paper size, paper orientation, and imposition are set in the correspondence table. Then, the multiple combinations are respectively associated with the terminal information.

[0127] In this way, print settings other than paper size are also set in the correspondence table.

[0128] The print settings other than the paper size may not be set in the correspondence table. For example, the width of the area where the web page is printed may be calculated based on various print settings such as the paper orientation, imposition, and poster layout. Figure 8 The corresponding table shown in the figure obtains the terminal information corresponding to the calculated width of the area. For example, when printing in the horizontal direction on A4 paper, the width of the area where the web page is printed is calculated to be 297 mm. Then, it is also possible to Figure 8 The corresponding table shown in the figure obtains the terminal information corresponding to 297 mm (in Figure 8 In the example shown, for a tablet terminal, 842px).

[0129] In addition, the paper size of the print setting (i.e., the size of the paper used for printing) can be understood as the "size of the area for printing the Web page". For example, if the margin is too large in the print setting, even if the same paper is used, it may be appropriate to print with a design different from that without margin. Therefore, for example, if the print setting is set to have margin, the remaining size after removing the margin from the paper can be set as the paper size, and the terminal information can be determined based on the paper size and the width of the paper.

[0130] <Other structural examples>

[0131] In the above example, the terminal information set according to the print setting is used in both the case where the web page data request unit 112 requests the web page data and the case where the web page data interpretation unit 113 processes the web page data. However, in the present embodiment, the terminal information set according to the print setting may be used in either case.

[0132] For example, the web page data request unit 112 requests the web page data using the terminal information set according to the print setting. On the other hand, the web page data interpretation unit 113 may process the web page data using the predetermined terminal information (e.g., the user agent based on the connection terminal 100, the display width of the display area displayed on the screen) instead of the terminal information set according to the print setting.

[0133] The web page data request unit 112 requests web page data using predetermined terminal information (eg, based on a user agent of the connection terminal 100). On the other hand, the web page data interpretation unit 113 may process web page data using terminal information set according to print settings.

[0134] Furthermore, the user may be allowed to select the case where the terminal information set according to the print settings is used. For example, when the web page data request unit 112 requests the data of the web page, the user selects to use the terminal information set according to the print settings. Furthermore, for example, in both the case where the web page data request unit 112 requests the data of the web page and the case where the web page data interpretation unit 113 processes the data of the web page, the user may select to use the terminal information set according to the print settings.

[0135] Furthermore, the user may be allowed to select which terminal information set according to the print settings to use. For example, the user selects to use the user agent set according to the print settings. In this case, in the process using the user agent, the user agent obtained according to the correspondence table is used. Furthermore, for example, the user may be allowed to select to use the user agent set according to the print settings and the display width. In this case, in the process using the user agent, the user agent obtained according to the correspondence table is used, and in the process using the display width, the display width obtained according to the correspondence table is used.

[0136] Furthermore, in the above example, the Web page is printed after being displayed on the display unit 106 of the connection terminal 100. However, in the present embodiment, the Web page may not be displayed when printing. For example, the user may specify the Web page to be printed even when the Web page to be printed is not displayed.

[0137] Furthermore, the program for realizing the embodiments of the present disclosure can be provided via a communication unit, and can also be provided by being stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

[0138] Furthermore, although various embodiments and modifications have been described above, it is of course possible to configure the embodiments and modifications in combination with each other.

[0139] Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An information processing device, wherein: The information processing device has: an accepting unit that accepts print settings regarding the Web page from an operator; a request unit that receives the print setting and determines terminal information corresponding to the print setting, and sends the determined terminal information to a Web server that provides data of the Web page to request the data of the Web page; as well as A generating unit generates print data based on the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server through the request of the requesting unit.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein: The generating unit generates the print data by using other terminal information set according to the print setting together with the data of the web page obtained from the web server.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein: The other terminal information includes a width of a display area when displaying the Web page, and is set such that the width of the display area becomes larger as the width of the paper in the print setting becomes larger.

4. The information processing device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: The print settings include the size of the paper used for printing. The request unit sends the terminal information corresponding to the received print setting to the Web server in a correspondence relationship in which the plurality of paper sizes are respectively associated with the terminal information.

5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein: The print settings further include at least one of the orientation and imposition of paper used in printing, The correspondence relationship is obtained by respectively corresponding the sizes of the plurality of sheets of paper and the directions or combinations of imposition of the sheets of paper to the terminal information.

6. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein: The correspondence relationship is obtained by respectively associating the sizes of the plurality of papers with the terminal information and the other terminal information.

7. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein: The correspondence relationship corresponds the first paper to the first terminal information, and corresponds the second paper which is smaller than the first paper to the second terminal information. The first terminal information is terminal information indicating a terminal having a screen larger than a screen of a mobile terminal, and the second terminal information is terminal information indicating a mobile terminal.

8. An information processing device comprising: an accepting unit that accepts print settings regarding the Web page from an operator; a request unit that receives the print setting and determines terminal information corresponding to the print setting, and sends the determined terminal information to a Web server that provides data of the Web page to request the data of the Web page; and A generating unit generates print data using the determined terminal information together with the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server by the request of the requesting unit.

9. The information processing device according to claim 8, wherein: The request unit transmits other terminal information set according to the print setting to the Web server to request data of the Web page.

10. A computer-readable medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a process, wherein: The process has: Accepting print settings regarding the Web page from the operator; receiving the print setting and determining the terminal information corresponding to the print setting, and sending the determined terminal information to a Web server providing the data of the Web page to request the data of the Web page; as well as Print data is generated based on the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server by request.

11. A computer-readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process, the process comprising: Accepting print settings regarding the Web page from the operator; receiving the print setting and determining the terminal information corresponding to the print setting, and sending the determined terminal information to a Web server providing the data of the Web page to request the data of the Web page; and Print data is generated using the determined terminal information together with the data of the web page obtained from the web server by request.

12. An information processing method, wherein: The information processing method has the following features: Accepting print settings regarding the Web page from the operator; receiving the print setting and determining the terminal information corresponding to the print setting, and sending the determined terminal information to a Web server providing the data of the Web page to request the data of the Web page; as well as Print data is generated based on the data of the Web page obtained from the Web server by request.

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