Information processing apparatus and information processing method for transmitting information about a print job

Abstract

An information processing apparatus and an information processing method that transmit information about a print job are disclosed. An information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present disclosure acquires information about a print job generated by a printer driver in a predetermined print queue, and transmits the acquired information about the print job to an external service to aggregate information about the print job.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to a technique for sending information about scheduled print jobs (e.g., information about printing performed for a job during remote work) to an external service. Background Technology

[0002] When a user prints documents while working remotely, the user may use a printer owned by the user. As in this case, if the printing is for work purposes, the user's employer should cover the cost of the printing. Furthermore, when a user uses a printer borrowed from their employer to print documents, it is desirable to determine whether the printing is for work (public use) or for private use.

[0003] US2014 / 0067456 discusses a technique that displays buttons on a print settings screen for setting information such as paper size, color / monochrome, and print surface, allowing the user to select between printing for private or public use. Furthermore, when using a borrowed printer for public use, a usage log for calculating print costs and a content log indicating the printed image are sent to a log collection device at the workplace; whereas when printing for private use is performed, only the usage log is sent to the log collection device. This allows the user to claim reimbursement for print costs incurred for public use, as opposed to printing for private use. US2014 / 0067456 also discusses the following as another example: When a user-owned printer is used, the user only sends the usage log and content log to the log collection device at the workplace when printing for public use is performed, allowing the user to claim reimbursement for print costs performed for work.

[0004] However, in the technology discussed in US2014 / 0067456, it is desirable to provide a printer driver that is configured to display buttons on a print settings screen for setting information such as paper size, color / monochrome, and print surface, allowing the user to select whether to print for private or public use. Summary of the Invention

[0005] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an information processing apparatus includes: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor executing the instructions to perform the following operations: obtaining information about print jobs generated by a printer driver in a predetermined print queue; and sending the obtained information about the print jobs to an external service to aggregate the information about the print jobs.

[0006] Other features of this disclosure will become clear from the following description of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Figure 1 This is a diagram illustrating a system configuration according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0008] Figure 2 The figure illustrates an example of system configuration for a client terminal according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0009] Figure 3 The figure illustrates an example of software configuration according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0010] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating the sequence of printing processes in this exemplary embodiment.

[0011] Figure 5 The figure illustrates an example of a cloud printing service administrator settings screen in this exemplary embodiment.

[0012] Figure 6 The figure illustrates an example of a screen for additionally registering cluster target printers in this exemplary embodiment.

[0013] Figure 7 The figure illustrates a flowchart of a process for displaying a settings screen in this exemplary embodiment, which displays a list of options for aggregating a target printer to prompt the user to make a selection.

[0014] Figure 8 The figure illustrates an example of a selection screen for choosing a cluster target printer in this exemplary embodiment.

[0015] Figure 9 The figure illustrates a flowchart of the process for creating an aggregated target printer in this exemplary embodiment.

[0016] Figure 10 The figure illustrates an example of a screen used to notify the completion of the creation of the aggregated target printer in this exemplary embodiment.

[0017] Figure 11 The image shows an example of the printer selection screen.

[0018] Figure 12 The image shows an example of a printer list displayed on the printer selection screen. Detailed Implementation

[0019] Figure 1This is a block diagram illustrating the system configuration in an exemplary embodiment. Client terminals 103 to 105 are connected to a cloud printing service (hereinafter referred to as "CPS") 102 via a network (Internet or Local Area Network (LAN)). CPS 102 is a cloud printing service provided by cloud computing. CPS 102 controls print jobs and provides processing such as aggregation / reimbursement processing of information about print jobs (such as the number of pages printed for the job). Client terminal 103 can communicate with an image forming apparatus (printer or multifunction peripheral) 101 via a LAN or Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable and can issue print commands based on user actions. Client terminal 103 can send print jobs to the image forming apparatus 101 via a LAN or USB cable to issue print commands, and can also send print jobs to the image forming apparatus 101 via CPS 102. Client terminals 104 and 105, used by other users or administrators of CPS 102, are also connected to CPS 102 via the network. The image forming apparatus 101 directly receives print jobs sent from the client terminal 103 or receives print jobs sent from the client terminal 103 via the CPS 102, and performs printing processing based on the received print jobs. In this exemplary embodiment, the image forming apparatus 101 is a printer or multi-functional peripheral device for private use in a user's home, but is not limited thereto. Furthermore, in this exemplary embodiment, the CPS 102 is provided by cloud computing, but is not limited thereto, and may be a server device (different from an external device of the client terminal) that provides services such as the aggregation of information about print jobs.

[0020] Figure 2The figure illustrates an example system configuration of client terminal 103 (information processing device) in this exemplary embodiment. Client terminals 104 and 105 each have a similar configuration. The central processing unit (CPU) 201 of client terminal 103 directly or indirectly controls each device connected by system bus 207 and executes programs for implementing this exemplary embodiment. Read-only memory (ROM) 2021 stores the basic input / output system (BIOS). Random access memory (RAM) 2022 is used as the working area of ​​CPU 201 and as the main memory for loading programs for implementing this exemplary embodiment. Memory 205 stores the operating system (OS) 2051, printer driver 2052, and applications 2053, which serve as the basic software of client terminal 103. The printing application 301 and the print report management application 310, which will be described below, belong to application 2053 in terms of software configuration. The printer driver setup tool 2054 also belongs to application 2053 in terms of software configuration, but is illustrated separately for ease of description. Specific examples of memory 205 include hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs), but memory 205 is not limited to these. Output interface (I / F) 204 is an interface for connecting to a monitor 210, etc. Input interface 203 is an interface for connecting to a keyboard 208, a clicking device 209 such as a mouse, etc. Communication interface 206 is an interface for connecting to a network 300 such as a LAN or the Internet.

[0021] Typically, when a user of client terminal 103 specifies the image forming apparatus 101 they wish to use and provides an instruction to add the specified image forming apparatus 101 to the printing system of OS 2051, a printer driver for the image forming apparatus 101 is installed on client terminal 103, and a logical printer (print queue) corresponding to the image forming apparatus 101 is additionally registered in the printing system of OS 2051. The logical printer (print queue) is registered in association with information such as the printer driver used, the port name to be used when sending data to the image forming apparatus 101, and the model name of the image forming apparatus 101. When printing is performed according to a general printing application, when the user selects the desired printer from one or more logical printers (print queues) registered in the printing system and provides a print instruction, a print job is sent to the image forming apparatus associated with the selected logical printer and printing is performed.

[0022] However, simply adding the logical printer (print queue) of the image forming apparatus 101 used at home to the printing system of the client terminal 103 makes it difficult to distinguish between printing for personal use and printing for work. Therefore, in this exemplary embodiment, as described below, the printer driver setup tool 2054 is executed to additionally register a logical printer (print queue) for work using information of the logical printers (print queues) registered in the printing system. For the additionally registered logical printer for work, a new printer driver and port name to be used is created by copying the printer driver and port name of the registered logical printer, but one that is easily identifiable as being for work is given. Furthermore, when this logical printer for work is selected and a print instruction is provided, the print report management application 310 sends information about the print job that has undergone print processing as a print report to the CPS 102. The CPS 102 saves the received print report (information about the print job that has undergone print processing) and performs processes such as aggregation processing and reimbursement processing.

[0023] Figure 3 This is a diagram illustrating an example of software configuration in this exemplary embodiment. The client terminal 103 includes: a printing application 301, a printing system 20511 provided by OS 2051, a printer driver 2052 cooperating with the printing system 20511, and a print report management application (hereinafter referred to as the print report management app) 310.

[0024] Furthermore, the print report management application 310 can communicate with the CPS 102 via a network. The print application 301, the print system 20511, and the print report management application 310 run on the OS 2051. The print application 301 is a general application capable of issuing print commands, and examples of the print application 301 include document creation applications, spreadsheet applications, and web browsers.

[0025] The printing system 20511 includes a spool area 306 and a print processor 307. The printer driver 2052 receives print data 303 from the printing application 301 and generates a print job 308 using Graphics Device Interface (GDI), Extensible Markup Language (XML) paper specifications (XPS), etc. The printer driver 2052 includes a configuration module 304 and a render module 305. The configuration module 304 primarily has the function of editing print settings information 302. Print settings information 302 is auxiliary information used when generating a print job 308 based on print data 303, and includes information such as duplex printing settings, color printing settings, paper size settings, print target page settings, and copy quantity settings. Print settings information 302 may also include information about the user who provided the print instruction and information such as print time. The printer driver 2052 also has the function of providing information such as information about the function of the image forming apparatus 101 via the printing system 20511 for setting print settings information 302 in the printing application 301. After completing the print settings in the print settings screen, the print application 301 sends the print data 303 to the presentation module 305 of the printer driver 2052 via the print system 20511. The presentation module 305 converts the received print data 303 into a print job 308 in a format (Page Description Language (PDL)) that can be interpreted by the image forming apparatus 101. The format of the print job 308 is not limited to PDL and can be any format as long as it can be interpreted by the image forming apparatus 101. The printer driver 2052 also has the function of reflecting the print settings information 302 set by the configuration module 304 in the print job 308 when converting the print data 303. For example, in the case of setting up to print two pages laid out on one sheet of paper—a so-called layout printing—the image of each page of the print data 303 is reduced so that the actual image size is approximately half, and the data of the two pages is placed on one sheet of paper. The presentation module 305 sends the converted print job 308 to the spool area 306. Print job 308 is temporarily stored in spool area 306 because if print job 308 were sent directly to image forming apparatus 101, image forming apparatus 101 might be unable to complete processing, and depending on the situation, print job 308 might be lost. Therefore, print job 308 is temporarily stored in spool area 306 and sent when image forming apparatus 101 is ready to process print job 308. When printing system 20511 determines that image forming apparatus 101 can process the next data, print job 308 stored in spool area 306 is sent to print processor 307. Print processor 307 primarily manages the entire print job 308.The print processor 307 may have the function of additionally displaying watermarks such as "Confidential" and "Do Not Copy" on the printed pages, as well as the function of calculating the total number of printed pages in the print job 308.

[0026] The print report management application 310 monitors print jobs 308 generated by the printer driver 2052 and registers information indicating the type of printing performed as a print report 309 in the CPS 102. The print report management application 310 includes a print report control unit 3101 and a print report upload unit 3102. The print report control unit 3101 determines whether the logical printer (print queue) corresponding to the generated print job is the print report target (aggregation target). If the print report control unit 3101 determines that the logical printer is the report target, then the print report control unit 3101 creates a print report 309 based on information about the print job. Subsequently, the print report upload unit 3102 uploads the print report 309 created by the print report control unit 3101 to the CPS 102. The print report 309 includes information such as the number of pages printed duplex / single-sided, the number of pages printed in color / monochrome, the total number of pages printed, the name of the print job, and the name of the user who performed the printing. Each time a print job is executed, or at a predetermined time (e.g., periodically), a print report 309 is uploaded to the CPS 102. The print report management application 310 of this exemplary embodiment remains resident after activation of the client terminal 103 and determines which logical printer (print queue) has processed the print job by periodically referencing the spool area 306 of the printing system 20511. However, this exemplary embodiment is not limited to the configuration in which the print report management application 310 periodically references the spool area 306. In other words, any technique can be used if the print report management application 310 is able to detect which print queue has processed the print job. For example, a mechanism can be employed whereby the printing system 20511 notifies the print report management application 310 of the generation of print job 308 by the printer driver 2052. Furthermore, a mechanism can be employed whereby the print processor 307 notifies the print report management application 310 of the transmission when it sends print job 308 to the image forming apparatus 101.

[0027] Reference Figure 4The sequence of printing processes in this exemplary embodiment is described. In step S400, the print report management application 310 periodically references and retrieves information (such as printer name) about the logical printer used for the job as the aggregation target (the destination for sending the print report). The administrator of CPS 102 pre-designates the logical printer used for the job as the aggregation target, and information (such as printer name) about this designated logical printer is retrieved. The timing of retrieving this information is not limited to this example. For example, as described below, when the print report management application 310 detects the registration of a print job in the print queue after a print job is generated by the printer driver 2052, the print report management application 310 may reference CPS 102 and retrieve the latest information about the aggregation target printer.

[0028] Next, in step S410, the user selects a print menu based on user actions. In step S411, the print application 301 refers to the printing system 20511 for information on the registered logical printer and displays a printer selection screen to prompt the user to select a printer as the print output destination. Figure 11 The illustration shows a printer selection screen 1101 as an example of a displayed printer selection screen. Printer selection screen 1101 includes: a drop-down list 1103 for selecting a logical printer as the output destination based on user operation; a selection menu 1104 for further displaying a print settings screen (not shown) for making detailed print settings regarding the logical printer currently selected in drop-down list 1103; a preview 1105 of the document as the print target; and a button 1102 for starting print processing. When the user selects drop-down list 1103, a list 1201 of printers (logical printers) registered in client terminal 103 is displayed as shown... Figure 12 The dropdown menu appears as shown. Subsequently, when a user selects a logical printer for a job (e.g., a printer named "Remote Work") from list 1201 and provides a print instruction, information about the print job in the instruction is notified to CPS 102 as a print report (described below). On the other hand, when printing is performed after the user selects a logical printer for a purpose other than work (e.g., a printer named "AAAA TS XXXX series") from dropdown list 1103, no information is notified to CPS 102 as a print report. Therefore, the user can choose whether to automatically send a print report simply by selecting the appropriate logical printer from dropdown list 1103 depending on whether the printing is for work or other purposes. In this exemplary embodiment, the printing application 301 is described as displaying a printer selection screen, but this exemplary embodiment is not limited to this, and the printing system 20511 may display a printer selection screen.

[0029] In step S412, Figure 11 When the user specifies a selection menu 1104 for displaying printer features on the printer selection screen 1101, the printing system 20511 instructs the corresponding printer driver 2052 to display the print settings screen. Subsequently, in step S413, the configuration module 304 of the printer driver 2052 displays the print settings screen. The print settings screen (printer features screen) is used to make detailed print settings such as duplex printing settings and color printing settings. In step S414, when the changes to the print settings specified by the user on the print settings screen are completed, the changed print settings information 302 is sent to the printing system 20511.

[0030] In step S415, when the user... Figure 11 When the printer selection screen 1101 selects the button 1102 for starting print processing, the print application 301 instructs the print system 20511 to begin print processing. In step S416, upon being instructed to start print processing, the print system 20511 sends the print data 303 and print settings information 302 to the printer driver 2052 and issues a presentation start command. Subsequently, in step S417, the presentation module 305 of the printer driver 2052 performs conversion processing (presentation processing) on ​​the print data 303 and generates a print job 308. In step S418, the printer driver 2052 sends the generated print job 308 to the print system 20511 and registers the print job 308 in the print queue of the selected logical printer.

[0031] In step S419, the print report management application 310 detects whether a print job has been registered in the print queue of the logical printer of the aggregation target (report target). The print report management application 310 can detect this by periodically monitoring the spool area 306. Alternatively, the print report management application 310 can provide a callback function to the printing system 20511 in advance, and when a print job 308 is registered in the print queue, the printing system 20511 can invoke the callback function and notify the print report management application 310.

[0032] In step S420, the printing system 20511 of the client terminal 103 sends the print job 308 to the image forming apparatus 101. In step S421, once the printing process is completed, the print report management application 310 obtains the result of the printing process. In step S422, when the print report management application 310 obtains the result of processing the print jobs in the print queue of the logical printers of the aggregation target, the print report management application 310 notifies the CPS 102 of the information about the print jobs as a print report 309. In step S423, upon receiving the print report 309, the CPS 102 saves the print report 309 in the print report storage area 1022. Thus, when a logical printer is selected by the user for the work and the printing process is performed, a print report is notified to the CPS 102, and therefore, the CPS 102 can reimburse the cost of printing for the work based on this print report.

[0033] Next, the process of creating a logical printer (print queue) as an aggregation target in the client terminal 103 will be described. In this exemplary embodiment, the administrator of CPS 102 pre-specifies information such as the printer name and printer model of the printer as the aggregation target, and will refer to... Figure 5 and Figure 6 This describes the process of setting this type of information. Figure 5 The diagram illustrates a cloud print service administrator settings screen 500 that can be operated by the administrator of CPS 102. The cloud print service administrator settings screen 500 can be accessed via a web browser on a client terminal used by the administrator of CPS 102, but is not limited to this. The cloud print service administrator settings screen 500 includes: a checkbox 501 for "Enable collection of print reports", a checkbox 502 for "Limit the printers to be collected", and a list 506 of the names of the aggregated target printers. Furthermore, the addition, deletion, and editing of aggregated target printers in the list 506 of aggregated target printer names can be performed by operating the add button 503, delete button 504, and edit button 505. The administrator of CPS 102 can manage the printers used for print reports 309 by enabling / disabling checkboxes 501 and 502 and by adding / deleting aggregated target printers.

[0034] Figure 6 This is an image showing a screen for additionally registering information about the target printer, and pressing... Figure 5This screen is displayed when the Add button 503 is pressed. The Cluster Target Printer Add Screen 600 includes: a control 601 for entering the "Cluster Target Printer Name", a drop-down list 602 for specifying the "Copy Source Printer Model", and a control 603 for entering the "Driver Module Name". The corresponding button in the radio buttons can be used to select either the drop-down list 602 for specifying the "Copy Source Printer Model" or the control 603 for entering the "Driver Module Name". In the control 601 for entering the "Cluster Target Printer Name", the name of the cluster target printer actually used when creating the logical printer in the client terminal 103 is entered. In the drop-down list 602 for specifying the "Copy Source Printer Model", the model or product name of the printer driver used as the copy source when creating the logical printer of the cluster target is selected. Therefore, when the printer driver setting tool 2054 creates a cluster target logical printer in the client terminal 103, it is easy to determine which logical printer registered in the printing system 20511 of the client terminal 103 is the basis for creating the logical printer of the cluster target. Furthermore, when the administrator specifies the printer driver module name in control 603 instead of the printer driver model name in drop-down list 602, the logical printer of the aggregation target is created based on the logical printer that includes this printer driver module name. This printer driver module name refers to... Figure 3 The file name of the presentation module 305 described is not limited to this, and may also be the module name included in the driver package used to define the supported printer models. Nowadays, printer drivers are generic, and in many cases, different models use common printer driver modules. Therefore, the logical printer of the aggregation target can be identified not only by the printer driver model name, but also by the driver module name, thus eliminating the inconvenience of entering the model names of all printer drivers as the aggregation target, and thereby reducing the workload of cloud printing service administrators.

[0035] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of displaying a settings screen for showing options of the logical printers for clustering targets by executing the printer driver setup tool 2054 in the client terminal 103, prompting the user to make a selection.

[0036] First, in step S701, the printer driver setup tool 2054 obtains a list of logical printers (print queues) registered in the printing system 20511 of the client terminal 103. Next, in step S702, the printer driver setup tool 2054 obtains the printer model name from the printer information of one of the logical printers in the obtained list. In step S703, the printer driver setup tool 2054 checks whether the printer model name obtained in step S702 matches any of the clustered target printer model names obtained from CPS 102 (each in...). Figure 6 If the printer driver setup tool 2054 determines that the obtained printer model name matches the model name of the aggregated target printer ("Yes" in step S703), the process proceeds to step S706. In step S706, the printer driver setup tool 2054 adds this logical printer to the list of options for copying. If the printer driver setup tool 2054 determines that the obtained printer model name does not match the model name of the aggregated target printer ("No" in step S703), the process proceeds to step S704. In step S704, the printer driver setup tool 2054 obtains the driver module name from the printer information used in step S702. Subsequently, in step S705, the printer driver setup tool 2054 determines whether the obtained driver module name includes a string representing the "driver module name" obtained from CPS 102 (in...). Figure 6 The printer driver setup tool 2054 determines that the obtained driver module name includes the specified string ("Yes" in step S705), then the process proceeds to step S706. In step S706, the printer driver setup tool 2054 adds this logical printer to the list of options for copying. If the printer driver setup tool 2054 determines that the obtained driver module name does not include the specified string ("No" in step S705), then the process proceeds to step S707. In step S707, the printer driver setup tool 2054 determines whether all logical printers in the list obtained in step S701 have been processed. If the printer driver setup tool 2054 determines that there are logical printers that have not yet been processed ("No" in step S707), then the process returns to step S702 to repeat the above process for the next printer information. If the printer driver setup tool 2054 determines that all logical printers registered in the printing system 20511 of the client terminal 103 have been processed ("Yes" in step S707), then processing proceeds to step S708. In step S708, as in Figure 8 As shown in the diagram, the printer driver setup tool 2054 displays a selection screen for choosing the clustered target printer, with options displayed in a drop-down list. Figure 8 In the selection screen 800 for selecting the target printer, the printer name of the logical printer that serves as the copy source is displayed in the drop-down list 801. Therefore, the user of the client terminal 103 can provide instructions to create a logical printer for use in the image forming apparatus 101.

[0037] Figure 9 This is a flowchart illustrating the process of creating a logical printer (print queue for work) for work on the image forming apparatus 101 as the aggregation target. The printer driver setup tool 2054 performs this process.

[0038] In step S901, the printer driver setup tool 2054 determines that the user has set up the printer driver in order to ... Figure 8 After selecting the desired printer from the drop-down list 801 in the selection screen 800 for selecting the cluster target printer, is the OK button pressed? If the OK button is pressed ("Yes" in step S901), then the process proceeds to step S902. In step S902, the printer driver setup tool 2054 copies the selected logical printer, thereby creating the logical printer as the cluster target. Subsequently, in step S903, the printer driver setup tool 2054 displays the printer name predefined in CPS 102 (in... Figure 5 The printer name specified in list 506 is used as the printer name of the logical printer to be created as the aggregation target. In step S904, the creation of the logical printer as the aggregation target is completed, as follows: Figure 10 As shown in the image, the printer driver setup tool 2054 displays a creation completion notification screen 1000 to notify users of the created printer name. For example, when selecting... Figure 8 If a printer model named "AAAA TS XXXX series" appears in the dropdown list 801, a logical printer corresponding to the selected printer model is created and given the printer name "Remote Work," and displayed as shown in... Figure 10 The image shown is a screenshot. When printing using the printing application 301, a logical printer created in this way (the printer as the aggregation target) is displayed as shown in the image. Figure 12 In the list 1201 shown in the diagram, the user can thus select the logical printer that was created.

[0039] As described above, according to this exemplary embodiment, a logical printer (print queue) for work can be easily created based on the printers registered in the client terminal 103 (print queues of printers owned by the user). Furthermore, in cases where printing for work may be desired during remote work, the user simply selects the logical printer for work and provides a print instruction, thereby automatically notifying the CPS 102 of the printing information for work.

[0040] In this way, information about print jobs generated in the print queue of the logical printer used for work can be obtained and sent, and users use the print queue for work and the print queue for private use separately, so information about printing performed for work can be easily sent to external services.

[0041] Additionally, according to this exemplary embodiment, unlike US2014 / 0067456, it is not necessary to prepare a new printer driver for displaying a button for the user to select whether printing is for private or public use in the print settings screen.

[0042] Other embodiments

[0043] Embodiments of this disclosure can also be implemented by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads and executes computer-executable instructions recorded on a storage medium (e.g., a non-transient computer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one or more embodiments of the above-described embodiments of this disclosure, and by a method executed by a computer of a system or apparatus, for example, by reading and executing computer-executable instructions from a storage medium to perform the functions of one or more embodiments of the above-described embodiments. The computer may include one or more of a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor unit (MPU), or other circuitry, and may include a separate computer or a network of separate computer processors. The computer-executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or a storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), storage devices for distributed computing systems, optical discs (such as CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs). TM One or more of the following: flash memory devices, memory cards, etc.

[0044] Other embodiments

[0045] The embodiments of the present invention can also be implemented by providing software (programs) that perform the functions of the above embodiments to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and the computer or central processing unit (CPU) or microprocessor unit (MPU) of the system or device reads out and executes the program.

[0046] Although the invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims will be given the broadest interpretation to include all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor that executes the instructions to perform operations of: creating a logical printer for queuing a print job in a predetermined print queue by copying a logical printer that has been registered in the information processing apparatus and changing a printer name thereof; acquiring information about the print job in the predetermined print queue; and transmitting the acquired information about the print job to an external service to aggregate information about print jobs. the at least one processor executes the instructions to further perform operations of:

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein displaying, among a plurality of logical printers registered in the information processing apparatus, at least a logical printer of a predetermined printer model or a logical printer using a predetermined driver module as an option; and wherein the copied logical printer is based on a logical printer selected by a user of the information processing apparatus from among the displayed options. the information about the print job is transmitted to the external service each time the information about the print job is acquired.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information about the print job is transmitted to the external service periodically.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein 5.An information processing method comprising: creating a logical printer for queuing a print job in a predetermined print queue by copying a logical printer that has been registered in the information processing apparatus and changing a printer name thereof; acquiring information about the print job in the predetermined print queue; and transmitting the acquired information about the print job to an external service to aggregate information about print jobs. 6.A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a processor of an information processing apparatus to perform operations of: creating a logical printer for queuing a print job in a predetermined print queue by copying a logical printer that has been registered in the information processing apparatus and changing a printer name thereof; acquiring information about the print job in the predetermined print queue; and transmitting the acquired information about the print job to an external service to aggregate information about print jobs. the program causes the processor to further perform operations of: displaying, among a plurality of logical printers registered in the information processing apparatus, at least a logical printer of a predetermined printer model or a logical printer using a predetermined driver module as an option; 7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein, and wherein the copied logical printer is based on a logical printer selected by a user of the information processing apparatus from among the displayed options. the information about the print job is transmitted to the external service each time the information about the print job is acquired. the information about the print job is transmitted to the external service periodically.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein, ​ 9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein, ​

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