Print control device, print control method, and program product

Abstract

The present invention provides a print control device, a print control method, and a program product that solve the technical problem that a file to be printed is required to be acquired even when a character string for which URL encoding is not appropriately performed is submitted as a URL. A print control device (100) includes: a submission acquisition unit (111) that acquires a first URL submitted to a chat room; a file acquisition unit (112) that acquires a file; an encoding processing unit (113) that encodes a character that can be encoded; and a printing control unit (115) that causes the image forming apparatus to execute printing of the acquired file, the encoding processing unit (113) encoding encodable characters other than a predetermined character in the character string of the first URL, and the printing control unit (115) being configured to control the image forming apparatus to print the acquired file. The file acquisition unit (112) acquires a file represented by a second URL in which an encodable character other than the predetermined character in the character string of the first URL is encoded.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a printing control device, a printing control method, and a program. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, chat services that allow users to post messages and the like have become popular. In addition, a chat robot that responds to user posts is known. In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, when a user posts a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a file that the user wants to print in a chat, the chat robot acquires the file based on the URL and performs processing for printing the file.

[0003] According to the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the file represented by the posted URL is printed. However, when a URL is posted to a chat, a character string that is not properly URL-encoded may be posted as a URL. In this case, since the file to be printed cannot be obtained, printing cannot be performed, which reduces user convenience.

[0004] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-107128 Summary of the invention

[0005] The printing control device involved in the present disclosure comprises: a posting acquisition unit, which acquires a first URL posted to a chat room; a file acquisition unit, which acquires a file; an encoding processor, which encodes encodable characters; and a printing control unit, which causes an image forming device to execute printing of the acquired file, wherein the encoding processor encodes encodable characters other than specified characters in a character string of the first URL when the file represented by the first URL cannot be acquired by the file acquisition unit, and the file acquisition unit acquires a file represented by a second URL in which encodable characters other than the specified characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded when the file represented by the first URL cannot be acquired.

[0006] In addition, the printing control method involved in the present disclosure includes the following contents, namely: obtaining a first URL posted to a chat room; obtaining a file; encoding encodable characters; and causing an image forming device to execute printing of the obtained file. In the printing control method, when the file represented by the first URL cannot be obtained, the encodable characters other than specified characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded. When the file represented by the first URL cannot be obtained, the file represented by a second URL in which the encodable characters other than the specified characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded is obtained.

[0007] In addition, the program involved in the present disclosure enables a computer to execute the following steps, namely: a posting acquisition step, which acquires a first URL posted to a chat room; a file acquisition step, which acquires a file; an encoding processing step, which encodes encodable characters; a printing control step, which enables an image forming device to execute printing of the acquired file, in which, in the encoding processing step, if the file represented by the first URL cannot be acquired in the file acquisition step, encodable characters other than specified characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded, and in the file acquisition step, if the file represented by the first URL cannot be acquired, a file represented by a second URL in which encodable characters other than the specified characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded is acquired. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 A block diagram showing an example of the structure of an information processing system according to an embodiment.

[0009] Figure 2 This is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of the printing control device according to the embodiment.

[0010] Figure 3 This is a diagram showing an example of posting a URL to a chat room by a user.

[0011] Figure 4A A diagram showing a character string of a URL related to a certain file in a state where the URL encoding has not been performed.

[0012] Figure 4B This figure shows an example of a URL posted to a chat room.

[0013] Figure 4C A diagram showing an example of a processing result of the first encoding process.

[0014] Figure 4D A diagram showing an example of a result of a coding process according to a comparative example.

[0015] Figure 4E The figure shows a character string obtained by decoding a URL subjected to the encoding process according to the comparative example.

[0016] Figure 5A A diagram showing a character string of a URL related to a certain file in a state where the URL encoding has not been performed.

[0017] Figure 5B A diagram showing an example of a processing result of the first encoding process.

[0018] Figure 5C This is a diagram showing a character string obtained by decoding the result of the first encoding process.

[0019] Figure 5D A diagram showing an example of a processing result of the second encoding process.

[0020] Figure 6 It is a sequence diagram showing the flow of operations of the information processing system according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to make the description clear, the following description and the accompanying drawings are appropriately omitted and simplified. In addition, in each of the accompanying drawings, the same symbols are marked for the same elements, and repeated descriptions are omitted as needed.

[0022] Figure 1 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of the information processing system 10 according to the embodiment. Figure 1 In the example shown, the information processing system 10 includes a terminal device 200, a chat server 300, a web server 400, a print control device 100, and an image forming device 500. The terminal device 200, the chat server 300, the web server 400, the print control device 100, and the image forming device 500 are connected to a network N such as the Internet.

[0023] In the present embodiment, the terminal device 200 is connected to at least the chat server 300 in a communicable manner. The print control device 100 is connected to at least the chat server 300 , the web server 400 , and the image forming device 500 in a communicable manner.

[0024] The terminal device 200 is a device operated by a user U, such as a smart phone, a tablet terminal, a personal computer, etc. In the terminal device 200, application software (also called a chat application) for utilizing the chat service provided by the chat server 300 is installed. The user U is a user who has an account for utilizing the chat service, and the user U can use the chat service using the terminal device 200. The account includes identification information for identifying the user, and other information associated with the identification information. Specifically, for example, in addition to the user ID, the account also includes a password, etc. In addition, a browser for browsing files on the Web server 400 may also be installed in the terminal device 200. In addition, although in Figure 1, one terminal device 200 and one user U are illustrated, but a plurality of users may utilize the information processing system 10 . Therefore, the information processing system 10 may include a plurality of terminal devices 200 .

[0025] The chat server 300 is a server that provides a chat service. In addition, the chat server 300 may also be composed of a plurality of servers. In the chat service, members participating in the same chat room can chat with each other by posting to the chat room. The chat room is a virtual place where members exchange posts. The chat room is sometimes called a conversation room, sometimes a channel, and sometimes a workspace.

[0026] The printing control device 100 is a device that functions as a chat robot. Here, the so-called chat robot refers to a software robot that receives posted data in a chat service and performs processing corresponding to the data. The printing control device 100 has an account for using the chat service, and participates as a member in a chat room in which the user U participates as a member. In this embodiment, as described later, the printing control device 100 performs processing for causing the image forming device 500 to print a file specified in the posting of the user U. Although the printing control device 100 is, for example, a server, it is not limited to a server, as long as it is a device that has the function of a computer. In addition, the printing control device 100 may also be composed of multiple computers (multiple servers).

[0027] The web server 400 is a server that stores any file that can be printed. The web server 400 may also be a cloud storage. In the present embodiment, the print control device 100 obtains the file to be printed from the web server 400 using the URL posted in the chat room.

[0028] The image forming device 500 is a device having a function of performing printing processing, and specifically, is a printer, for example. The image forming device 500 is pre-registered in the printing control device 100 as an image forming device used in printing. Figure 1 , one image forming apparatus 500 is shown in the figure, but a plurality of image forming apparatuses 500 may be registered in the printing control apparatus 100 as image forming apparatuses that can be used for printing. For example, in the printing control apparatus 100, an image forming apparatus 500 may be registered for each user U. In the present embodiment, the printing control apparatus 100 prints a file acquired based on a URL posted by the user U to the chat room in the image forming apparatus 500 associated with the account of the user U.

[0029] Next, the specific configuration and processing of the print control device 100 will be described. Figure 2 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of the printing control device 100. Figure 2 As shown, the print control device 100 includes a processor 110, a memory 130, and a network interface 150. Thus, the print control device 100 has a function as a computer.

[0030] The network interface 150 is used to perform communication via the network N. The network interface 150 may include, for example, a network interface card (NIC).

[0031] The memory 130 is configured by a combination of a volatile memory and a nonvolatile memory, for example. The memory 130 is used to store programs executed by the processor 110 and data used in various processes.

[0032] The processor 110 reads the program from the memory 130 and executes it. Thus, the processor 110 realizes the functions of the submission acquisition unit 111, the file acquisition unit 112, the encoding processing unit 113, the submission unit 114, and the printing control unit 115 described later. The processor 110 may be, for example, a microprocessor, an MPU (Micro Processor Unit), or a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 110 may also include a plurality of processors.

[0033] The program includes a command group (or software code) for causing the computer to perform one or more functions described in the embodiment when read by the computer. The program may also be stored in a non-temporary computer-readable medium or a storage medium having a physical body. As non-limiting examples, the computer-readable medium or the storage medium having a physical body includes random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, solid-state drive (SSD) or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray (registered trademark, Blu-ray) disc or other optical disc storage, cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device. The program may also be sent on a temporary computer-readable medium or communication medium. As non-limiting examples, the temporary computer-readable medium or communication medium includes electrical, optical, acoustic or other forms of propagation signals.

[0034] The following describes the posting acquisition unit 111 , the file acquisition unit 112 , the encoding processing unit 113 , the posting unit 114 , and the print control unit 115 .

[0035] The posting acquisition unit 111 acquires data posted by the user U to the chat room in which the printing control device 100 as a chat robot participates. In addition, the data posted by the user U refers to data posted by the terminal device 200 to the chat room provided by the chat server 300 through the operation of the user U. The posting acquisition unit 111 acquires the data posted to the chat room from the chat server 300. In more detail, the posting acquisition unit 111 acquires the data posted to the chat room and the identification information of the user U who posted the data from the chat server 300. In the present embodiment, the user U posts the URL of a file existing in the Web server 400 to the chat room in order to print the file. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the posting acquisition unit 111 specifically acquires the URL posted to the chat room. In addition, in the following description, it is assumed that the URL posted to the chat room is referred to as the first URL.

[0036] The user U, for example, posts the URL of the file to be printed to the chat room by copying and pasting the URL displayed on any application software operating in the terminal device 200. Although the application software (hereinafter referred to as application) is, for example, a browser, it may also be software other than a browser. In this case, the user U performs an operation of copying the URL displayed on the application operating in the terminal device 200 on the terminal device 200, and then the user U performs an operation of pasting the copied URL to the chat room on the terminal device 200. In addition, the user U may also post the URL of the file to be printed to the chat room by indicating the sharing of the URL on any application operating in the terminal device 200. In this case, the user U performs an operation of specifying the URL of the shared object, an operation of indicating the use of the sharing function of the application operating in the terminal device 200, and an operation of specifying the chat room as the sharing destination on the terminal device 200. In addition, the user U may also post the URL of the file to be printed to the chat room by inputting a character string of the URL into the terminal device 200.

[0037] Figure 3 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of posting to the URL 51 of the chat room 50 by the user U. Figure 3 In FIG. 5 , a chat room 50 displayed on the terminal device 200 and a posted URL 51 are shown. Figure 3 In the illustrated example, the posting acquisition unit 111 acquires the posted URL 51 via the chat server 300 .

[0038] The file acquisition unit 112 acquires the file to be printed based on the URL acquired by the posting acquisition unit 111. Specifically, the file acquisition unit 112 acquires the file indicated by the URL acquired by the posting acquisition unit 111 or the URL in which the character string of the URL is modified. In the present embodiment, the file acquisition unit 112 acquires the file indicated by the URL from the Web server 400.

[0039] If the character string of the submitted URL is a character string that has been properly URL-encoded, the file acquisition unit 112 can acquire the file represented by the URL represented by the submitted character string. However, in the case where the submission of the URL is based on copying and pasting, or in the case where the submission of the URL is a submission using the sharing function of an application, sometimes the character string of the URL is submitted in a state where part or all of the characters that require URL encoding are not URL-encoded. In addition, this phenomenon can be considered to be caused by the specifications of applications such as browsers. In the case where the URL encoding of the character string of the submitted URL is insufficient, the domain name, path name, or file name obtained when the character string is URL-decoded will be incorrect, so the file represented by the URL composed of the character string will not be acquired. In order to solve such a problem, in the case where the acquisition of the file fails, the printing control device 100 can perform URL encoding on the character string of the submitted URL. However, in a case where only a portion of the characters that require URL encoding are not URL-encoded, if URL encoding is performed on all characters that can be URL-encoded in the string of the submitted URL, doubly URL-encoded characters may be generated. That is, in a case where the string of the submitted URL contains characters that have been URL-encoded and characters that should be URL-encoded but have not been, the characters that have been URL-encoded will be doubly URL-encoded. In this case, file acquisition will also fail. That is, since the domain name, path name, or file name obtained when URL decoding the string of the doubly URL-encoded URL is wrong, the file acquisition unit 112 cannot acquire the file of the printing object. In the present embodiment, such a problem will be solved. Below, the description of the structural elements of the printing control device 100 continues.

[0040] The encoding processing unit 113 encodes the characters that can be encoded. Specifically, the encoding processing unit 113 implements the well-known URL encoding for the characters that can be URL encoded. In addition, for URL encoding, specifically, for example, it can be percent encoding (percent-encoding) or it can be encoding defined by url-standard, 5.application / x-www-form-urlencoded.

[0041] In particular, when the URL obtained by the posting acquisition unit 111, that is, the file represented by the first URL described above, cannot be obtained through the file acquisition unit 112, the encoding processing unit 113 encodes the encodable characters other than the specified characters in the character string of the first URL. Hereinafter, this process is also referred to as the first encoding process. In addition, the URL in which the encodable characters other than the specified characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded is called the second URL. In addition, the specified characters described above are called encoding reserved characters. Here, the encoding reserved characters (the specified characters described above) are characters that may become doubly encoded when encoded. That is, the encoding reserved characters are characters that have the possibility of being doubly URL-encoded when URL-encoded. In more detail, the encoding reserved characters refer to characters that can be URL-encoded and may also appear as characters that are URL-encoded. In addition, the characters that can be URL-encoded can also be said to be characters for which the character conversion of URL encoding has been defined in the URL encoding rules. In this embodiment, the reserved characters for encoding are specifically, "%" (half-width percent sign) and "+" (half-width plus sign). In addition, although only one of "%" and "+" may be used as the reserved characters for encoding, in order to properly obtain a file for any URL, it is preferred to use both "%" and "+" as the reserved characters for encoding.

[0042] When such a first encoding process is performed, characters that may be doubly encoded are excluded and the encoding process is performed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent characters that have been URL-encoded from being doubly URL-encoded. Therefore, it is possible to expect to obtain a string that has been properly URL-encoded. When the first encoding process is performed, the file acquisition unit 112 will attempt to obtain the file represented by the second URL. In the case where a string that has been properly URL-encoded is obtained through the first encoding process, the file acquisition unit 112 successfully obtains the file of the printing object. In this way, in the present embodiment, the file acquisition unit 112 will obtain the file represented by the second URL when it is unable to obtain the file represented by the first URL. In this way, the file of the printing object can be properly obtained.

[0043] Incidentally, when the characters excluded as encoding objects in the first encoding process are characters that have not been encoded, the characters to be encoded are excluded and the encoding process is performed in the first encoding process. That is, when the first URL contains "%" or "+" that does not appear as the encoded characters of a certain character, in the first encoding process, "%" or "+" is not URL-encoded. Therefore, "%" or "+" remains in the second URL as characters that have not been processed for encoding. In such a case, since an appropriate file name or the like cannot be obtained even if the second URL is decoded, the file acquisition unit 112 fails in acquiring the file represented by the second URL.

[0044] Therefore, when the file represented by the second URL cannot be obtained by the file acquisition unit 112, the encoding processing unit 113 encodes the encoding reserved characters (the prescribed characters described above) in the character string of the second URL. That is, the encoding processing unit 113 encodes the encoding reserved characters that are not the object of the encoding process in the first encoding process. Hereinafter, this process is also referred to as the second encoding process. In addition, the URL in which the encoding reserved characters in the character string of the second URL are encoded is referred to as the third URL. Therefore, in this embodiment, specifically, the "%" and "+" contained in the second URL are URL-encoded by the second encoding process. However, in order to prevent double URL encoding in the second encoding process, it is preferred that the encoding processing unit 113 operates in the following manner. It is preferred that the following manner is set, that is, for the encoding processing unit 113, in the second encoding process, when the character string composed of the encoding reserved characters (the prescribed characters described above) contained in the second URL and the characters following the encoding reserved characters conforms to the prescribed pattern, the encoding of the encoding reserved characters is not implemented. For example, in percent encoding, the character to be encoded is converted into a character such as "%XX" (where "X" represents a character used in hexadecimal) by URL encoding. That is, the character to be encoded becomes a character string pattern in which two characters used in hexadecimal (i.e., any one of "0" to "9" or any one of "A" to "F") are immediately followed by "%". Therefore, in the second encoding process, if such a character string pattern is also encoded, double encoding will occur. Therefore, for the encoding processing unit 113, even if "%" is included in the second URL, when the character string composed of the "%" and the characters following it conforms to the pattern of "%XX", the URL encoding of the "%" is not performed. That is, the encoding processing unit 113 will not perform URL encoding of "%" when a character string used in hexadecimal is immediately followed by "%". In other words, for the encoding processing unit 113, in the second encoding process, when the "%" contained in the second URL does not conform to the pattern of "%XX", the URL encoding of the "%" is performed. In this way, by limiting the encoding targets of the second encoding process, it is possible to acquire a file more appropriately.

[0045] By implementing the second encoding process, encoding is implemented for characters that were not encoded in the first encoding process. Therefore, even if the file cannot be obtained due to insufficient URL encoding of the character string in the second URL, an appropriate URL for obtaining the file can be obtained. When the second encoding process is implemented, the file acquisition unit 112 obtains the file represented by the third URL. In this way, when the file acquisition unit 112 cannot obtain the file represented by the second URL, it will obtain the file represented by the third URL in which the specified characters described above in the character string of the second URL are encoded. In this way, the file to be printed can be appropriately obtained.

[0046] The posting unit 114 posts data such as messages to the chat room in which the printing control device 100 as a chat robot participates. Specifically, the posting unit 114 sends data of the posting object to the chat server 300. In particular, when the file of the printing object cannot be obtained through the file acquisition unit 112, the posting unit 114 posts an error message to the chat room. Although in the present embodiment, the posting unit 114 also posts an error message when the acquisition of the file represented by the third URL fails, the error message may also be posted when the acquisition of the file represented by the first URL fails or when the acquisition of the file represented by the second URL fails. In addition, for the posting unit 114, as error information, for example, a message notifying the user U that the file cannot be obtained is posted. By posting error information in this way, the user can understand the occurrence of the error, thereby improving the convenience of the user.

[0047] Furthermore, the posting unit 114 posts the file name of the acquired file in the chat room when the file acquisition unit 112 cannot acquire the file to be printed. Thus, by posting the acquired file name, the user can appropriately grasp the progress of the processing, thereby improving the convenience of the user.

[0048] The printing control unit 115 causes the image forming device 500 to print the file acquired by the file acquisition unit 112. The printing control unit 115 causes the image forming device 500 that has established a correspondence with the user who posted the first URL to print the acquired file. In addition, the printing control unit 115 may cause the image forming device 500 to print instead of directly giving the printing instruction to the image forming device 500 via another device (e.g., a server) that manages or controls the printing of the image forming device 500.

[0049] Next, a specific example of the encoding process performed by the encoding processing unit 113 will be described. Figure 4A A string representing a non-URL-encoded URL for a file. Figure 4AThe character string shown includes character C1, character C2, and character string C3 as characters that require URL encoding. Specifically, character C1 is a half-width space, character C2 is a full-width space, and character string C3 is a character string expressed in Chinese characters. Figure 4B is an example of a URL posted to the chat room (i.e., the first URL described above), and indicates that only Figure 4A A portion of the string shown is URL-encoded. Specifically, only Figure 4A The characters C1 and C2 are URL encoded, but the string C3 is not URL encoded. Figure 4B In , character E1 is a character obtained by URL encoding character C1, and character string E2 is a character string obtained by URL encoding character C2.

[0050] Assume that the submission acquisition unit 111 acquires Figure 4B In this case, since the character string C3 is not URL-encoded, the file acquisition unit 112 uses Figure 4B Therefore, the encoding processing unit 113 fails to obtain the file of the URL string shown in Figure 4B In the string shown, the encodable characters other than "%" and "+" which are reserved characters for encoding are URL encoded. Thus, the string C3 is URL encoded into the string E3, and the result is Figure 4C The string shown. Figure 4C In the string shown, characters C1, C2, and C3 are all properly URL-encoded. Figure 4C When the string shown is decoded, we get Figure 4A Therefore, when the file acquisition unit 112 attempts to use Figure 4C When acquiring a file with the indicated character string, the file acquisition succeeds.

[0051] In contrast, Figure 4D Indicates that Figure 4B The string obtained by URL encoding all the encodable characters contained in the string shown. In this case, not only is the string C3 URL-encoded to the string E3, but also the character E1 (i.e., "+") is URL-encoded again to be converted to the string F1, and the "%" contained in the string E2 is URL-encoded again to be converted to the string F2. Figure 4D When the string shown is decoded, we get Figure 4E This is the same as Figure 4AThe character string shown in is different. Therefore, the file acquisition unit 112 fails in acquiring the file. In contrast, in this embodiment, as described above, since encoding processing is performed on characters other than the encoding reserved characters, Figure 4C The character string shown can be used to obtain the file appropriately.

[0052] Next, another specific example of the encoding process performed by the encoding processing unit 113 will be described. Figure 5A A string representing a non-URL-encoded URL for a file. Figure 5A The character string shown includes character C4 and character string C5 as characters that require URL encoding. Specifically, character C4 is a half-width plus sign, and character string C5 is a character string expressed in Chinese characters.

[0053] Here, it is assumed that the posting acquisition unit 111 acquires a URL that is not URL-encoded at all. Figure 5A In this case, since the characters C4 and the character string C5 are not URL encoded, the file acquisition unit 112 uses Figure 5A Therefore, the encoding processing unit 113 performs the first encoding process on the file whose URL is the string. Figure 5A The URL encoding is performed on the encodable characters other than the "+" character in the string shown. Thus, the string C5 is URL-encoded into the string E5, and the result is Figure 5B The string shown.

[0054] exist Figure 5B In the character string shown in FIG. 1 , since the character C4 that needs URL encoding is not URL encoded, the file acquisition unit 112 Figure 5B Failed to obtain the file indicated by the string in . This is because Figure 5B The string shown, when decoded, becomes Figure 5C The URL shown is the same as Figure 5A Therefore, the encoding processing unit 113 is different from the URL shown in Figure 5B Specifically, the encoding processing unit 113 performs the second encoding process on the character string. Figure 5B The URL encoding is performed on the character C4 in the string shown in the figure, which is not set as the object of encoding in the first encoding process. Specifically, this process is performed by replacing the characters according to the encoding rules. As a result, the character C4 is URL-encoded into the string E4, thereby obtaining Figure 5D The string shown. Figure 5D In the string shown, character C4 and string C5 are properly URL encoded. Figure 5D When the string shown is decoded, we get Figure 5A Therefore, when the file acquisition unit 112 attempts to use Figure 5D When acquiring the file of the character string shown, the acquisition of the file succeeded.

[0055] Figure 6 , which is a timing diagram showing the flow of the operation of the information processing system 10. Figure 6 The flow of operations of the information processing system 10 will be described.

[0056] In step S100 , the terminal device 200 posts the URL of the file to be printed to the chat room provided by the chat server 300 by the operation of the user U. Accordingly, in step S101 , the posting acquisition unit 111 of the print control device 100 acquires the URL posted to the chat room from the chat server 300 .

[0057] Next, in step S102, the file acquisition unit 112 attempts to acquire the file represented by the URL obtained in step S101. When the file can be acquired, that is, when the acquisition of the file is successful, the processing of steps S103 to S106 is implemented. In step S103, the posting unit 114 of the printing control device 100 posts the file name of the file acquired in step S102 to the chat room. As a result, in step S104, the file name is displayed on the terminal device 200. In addition, in step S105, the printing control unit 115 of the printing control device 100 outputs a printing command for the file acquired in step S102. As a result, in step S106, the file is printed by the image forming device 500.

[0058] When the file cannot be obtained in step S102, that is, when the acquisition of the file fails, the processing after step S107 is implemented. In step S107, the encoding processing unit 113 of the printing control device 100 implements the first encoding processing described above for the URL obtained in step S101. That is, the encoding processing unit 113 encodes the encodable characters other than the pre-defined encoding reserved characters in the character string of the URL obtained in step S101. Then, in step S108, the file acquisition unit 112 of the printing control device 100 attempts to acquire the file represented by the URL obtained as a result of the processing in step S107. When the file can be acquired, that is, when the acquisition of the file is successful, the processing from step S109 to step S112 is implemented.

[0059] In step S109, the posting unit 114 of the print control device 100 posts the file name of the file acquired in step S108 to the chat room. As a result, in step S110, the file name is displayed on the terminal device 200. In addition, in step S111, the print control unit 115 of the print control device 100 outputs a print command for the file acquired in step S108. As a result, in step S112, the file is printed by the image forming device 500.

[0060] When the file cannot be acquired in step S108, that is, when the acquisition of the file fails, the processing after step S113 is implemented. In step S113, the encoding processing unit 113 of the printing control device 100 implements the second encoding processing described above for the URL obtained in step S107. That is, the encoding processing unit 113 encodes the encoding reserved characters that are not the objects of the encoding processing in the first encoding processing of step S107. Then, in step S114, the file acquisition unit 112 of the printing control device 100 attempts to acquire the file represented by the URL obtained as a result of the processing in step S113. When the file can be acquired, that is, when the acquisition of the file is successful, the processing of steps S115 to S118 is implemented.

[0061] In step S115, the posting unit 114 of the print control device 100 posts the file name of the file acquired in step S114 to the chat room. As a result, in step S116, the file name is displayed on the terminal device 200. In addition, in step S117, the print control unit 115 of the print control device 100 outputs a print command for the file acquired in step S114. As a result, in step S118, the file is printed by the image forming device 500.

[0062] If the file cannot be obtained in step S114, that is, if the file acquisition fails, the processing of steps S119 and S120 is performed. In step S119, the posting unit 114 of the print control device 100 posts error information to the chat room. As a result, in step S120, the error information is displayed on the terminal device 200.

[0063] In addition, in the sequence diagram described above, the printing control unit 115 immediately causes the image forming apparatus 500 to print the file when the file can be obtained, but the image forming apparatus 500 may be caused to print after waiting for a print instruction from the user who confirms the obtained file name. That is, the printing control unit 115 may cause the image forming apparatus 500 to print the obtained file when the posting acquisition unit 111 obtains the print instruction posted in the chat room after the file name is posted by the posting unit 114. By setting it in this way, the user can instruct the execution of printing after confirming the file name, thereby improving the convenience of the user.

[0064] The above is a description of the implementation method. According to the present embodiment, when the file represented by the posted URL cannot be obtained, the first encoding process described above is implemented. Therefore, characters that may become double-encoded are excluded, so that the encoding process is appropriately implemented. In addition, in the case where the file cannot be obtained even in this way, the second encoding process is implemented. Thus, the encoding process is implemented for the characters that are not encoded in the first encoding process, so that a proper URL for obtaining the file can be obtained. In this way, according to the present embodiment, since the file of the printing object can be obtained even if a character string that is not properly URL-encoded is posted as a URL, the convenience of the user is improved.

[0065] Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified within a scope not departing from the gist of the invention.

[0066] Although part or all of the above-mentioned embodiments may be described as the following supplementary notes, they are not limited to the following contents.

[0067] (Note 1)

[0068] A printing control device, comprising:

[0069] a posting acquisition unit that acquires a first URL posted to the chat room;

[0070] A document acquisition department, which acquires documents;

[0071] an encoding processor that encodes encodable characters;

[0072] a printing control unit that causes the image forming device to print the acquired document,

[0073] The encoding processing unit encodes encodable characters other than predetermined characters in the character string of the first URL when the file indicated by the first URL cannot be obtained by the file obtaining unit,

[0074] When the file indicated by the first URL cannot be obtained, the file acquisition unit acquires a file indicated by a second URL in which encodable characters other than the predetermined characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded.

[0075] (Note 2)

[0076] A printing control device as described in Supplementary Note 1, wherein:

[0077] The encoding processing unit encodes the predetermined character in the character string of the second URL when the file indicated by the second URL cannot be obtained by the file obtaining unit,

[0078] When the file indicated by the second URL cannot be obtained, the file acquisition unit acquires a file indicated by a third URL in which the predetermined character in the character string of the second URL is encoded.

[0079] (Note 3)

[0080] A printing control device as described in Supplementary Note 2, wherein:

[0081] The encoding processing unit does not encode the predetermined character when a character string consisting of the predetermined character and a character following the predetermined character matches a predetermined pattern.

[0082] (Note 4)

[0083] A printing control device as described in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 3, wherein:

[0084] A posting unit is provided for posting error information to the chat room when a file to be printed cannot be obtained.

[0085] (Note 5)

[0086] A printing control device as described in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 4, wherein:

[0087] A posting unit is provided for posting a file name of the file to the chat room when a file to be printed is available.

[0088] (Note 6)

[0089] A printing control device as described in Supplementary Note 5, wherein:

[0090] The print control unit causes the image forming apparatus to print the acquired file when the posting acquisition unit acquires a print instruction posted in the chat room after the file name is posted.

[0091] (Note 7)

[0092] A printing control method, comprising the following contents:

[0093] Get the first URL posted to the chat room;

[0094] obtain documents;

[0095] Encode encodable characters;

[0096] causing the image forming device to print the acquired document,

[0097] In the printing control method,

[0098] If the file indicated by the first URL cannot be obtained, encoding the encodable characters other than the prescribed characters in the character string of the first URL,

[0099] When the file indicated by the first URL cannot be obtained, a file indicated by a second URL in which encodable characters other than the predetermined characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded is obtained.

[0100] (Note 8)

[0101] A program that causes a computer to execute the following steps:

[0102] A posting acquisition step, which acquires the first URL posted to the chat room;

[0103] A document acquisition step, which acquires the document;

[0104] An encoding process step, which encodes the encodable characters;

[0105] a printing control step of causing the image forming device to print the acquired document,

[0106] In the encoding processing step, when the file represented by the first URL cannot be obtained in the file obtaining step, the encodable characters other than the prescribed characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded,

[0107] In the file acquisition step, when the file indicated by the first URL cannot be acquired, a file indicated by a second URL in which encodable characters other than the predetermined characters in the character string of the first URL are encoded is acquired.

[0108] Explanation of symbols

[0109] 10…information processing system; 50…chat room; 100…printing control device; 110…processor; 111…submission acquisition unit; 112…file acquisition unit; 113…encoding processing unit; 114…submission unit; 115…printing control unit; 130…memory; 150…network interface; 200…terminal device; 300…chat server; 400…Web server; 500…image forming device.

Claims

1. A printing control device, comprising: A contribution obtaining unit, which obtains a first uniform resource locator that is contributed to the chat room; A document acquisition department, which acquires documents; an encoding processor that encodes encodable characters; a printing control unit that causes the image forming device to print the acquired document, The encoding processing unit encodes encodable characters other than predetermined characters in the character string of the first uniform resource locator when the file indicated by the first uniform resource locator cannot be obtained by the file obtaining unit. When the file indicated by the first URL cannot be obtained, the file acquisition unit acquires a file indicated by a second URL in which an encodable character other than the predetermined character in the character string of the first URL is encoded.

2. The printing control device according to claim 1, wherein: The encoding processing unit encodes the predetermined character in the character string of the second uniform resource locator when the file indicated by the second uniform resource locator cannot be obtained by the file obtaining unit, When the file indicated by the second URL cannot be obtained, the file acquisition unit acquires a file indicated by a third URL in which the predetermined character in the character string of the second URL is encoded.

3. The printing control device according to claim 2, wherein: The encoding processing unit does not encode the predetermined character when a character string consisting of the predetermined character and a character following the predetermined character matches a predetermined pattern.

4. The printing control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: A posting unit is provided for posting error information to the chat room when a file to be printed cannot be obtained.

5. The printing control device according to claim 1, wherein: A posting unit is provided for posting a file name of the file to the chat room when the file to be printed is available.

6. The printing control device according to claim 5, wherein: The print control unit causes the image forming apparatus to execute printing of the acquired file when the posting acquisition unit acquires a print instruction posted in the chat room after the file name is posted.

7. A printing control method, comprising the following contents: Get the first uniform resource locator posted to the chat room; obtain documents; Encode encodable characters; causing the image forming device to print the acquired document, In the printing control method, If the file indicated by the first uniform resource locator cannot be obtained, encoding the encodable characters other than the prescribed characters in the character string of the first uniform resource locator, When the file indicated by the first uniform resource locator cannot be obtained, a file indicated by a second uniform resource locator in which encodable characters other than the predetermined characters in the character string of the first uniform resource locator are encoded is obtained.

8. A program product that causes a computer to execute the following steps, namely: A contribution obtaining step, which obtains a first uniform resource locator that is contributed to the chat room; A document acquisition step, which acquires the document; An encoding process step, which encodes the encodable characters; a printing control step of causing the image forming device to print the acquired document, In the encoding processing step, when the file represented by the first uniform resource locator cannot be obtained in the file obtaining step, the encodable characters other than the prescribed characters in the character string of the first uniform resource locator are encoded, In the file acquisition step, when the file indicated by the first uniform resource locator cannot be acquired, a file indicated by a second uniform resource locator in which encodable characters other than the predetermined characters in the character string of the first uniform resource locator are encoded is acquired.

Images