Application for providing print-setting screen

Abstract

To eliminate the case not allowing a print-setting application to acquire data of a printer icon.SOLUTION: An application described in the present embodiment, to be installed on a computer so as to provide a print-setting screen allowing a user to make a print setting to be used in generating a print command which a driver in the computer is to provide for printing on a printer, allows the computer to execute: a first acquiring step of acquiring information of a location in which data of an icon indicative of the printer is stored, from an external device different from the computer through a network; a second acquiring step of acquiring an icon image based on the acquired information of the location; and a control step of allowing display means of the computer to display the icon acquired.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 20

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an application that provides a print setting screen for a standard driver (hereinafter, referred to as a standard driver) that is not limited to certain models. [Background technology]

[0002] Traditionally, printing has been performed using a driver provided by a printer vendor (printer manufacturer). In recent years, by using a standard driver provided by the manufacturer that provides the OS, it has become possible to print without using a driver provided by the printer vendor. For example, Windows (registered trademark) is equipped with a standard driver called an IPP class driver. Android (registered trademark) is equipped with a standard driver called Mopria (registered trademark). In addition, iOS (registered trademark) is equipped with a standard driver called AirPrint (registered trademark) as one of the OS functions. These standard drivers are drivers that output print commands that comply with a printing protocol called IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). Therefore, printers that support IPP can receive such print commands and execute printing. A characteristic of such standard drivers is that they can execute printing on multiple models of printers from multiple printer vendors that support the printing protocol. In other words, they are compatible with multiple models of printers.

[0003] In Patent Document 1, in an information processing device capable of communicating with a printer, a driver installed in the information processing device acquires icon image data representing the external appearance of the printer from the printer (FIG. 7). The icon image data is then provided to an OS. In response to this, the OS displays the icon on a printer management screen (e.g., a device and printer screen) provided by the OS (FIG. 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-310154 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When using a standard driver, it is possible to extend the functions of the standard driver using an application provided by the printer vendor.

[0006] However, when using a standard driver, it is possible that the OS does not provide a function for acquiring icon images, or that the application provided by the printer vendor cannot reference the icon images acquired by the OS. In such cases, the application provided by the printer vendor cannot use the icon images provided by the printer. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An application of one embodiment of the present invention is an application that is installed on a computer and provides a print setting screen that allows a user to make print settings to be used when generating a print command provided by a driver in the computer for printing on a printer, and is characterized in that the application causes the computer to execute the following steps: a first acquisition step of acquiring location information where data of an icon representing the printer is stored via a network from an external device other than the computer; a second acquisition step of acquiring an icon image based on the acquired location information; and a control step of displaying the acquired icon on a display means of the computer. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to use icon images in applications provided by printer vendors. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network configuration of the present embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a client computer 100 according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of a printer 200 according to the present embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block of a cloud print proxy 1054 in the present embodiment. [Diagram 5] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks in a cloud print service in the present embodiment. [Figure 6] 11 is a diagram showing an example of an icon acquisition process of the cloud print service 500 when the printer 200 is registered in the cloud print service 500 in this embodiment. [Figure 7] 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an icon storage method of the cloud print service 500 in this embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of icon acquisition processing when the printer 200 is registered in the client computer 100 in this embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a print common dialogue screen in the embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a detailed setting screen in the present embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a processing sequence in which the cloud print service 500 acquires an icon in response to an icon request from the operating system 1053 in this embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a processing sequence in which a print setting extending application acquires an icon from a printer in the present embodiment. [Figure 13] 1 is a diagram showing an example of icon display on a client computer 100 in this embodiment. [Figure 14] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating an example of icon display in a print setting expanding application 1052 in the present embodiment. [Figure 15] 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an icon acquisition process flow of a cloud print proxy server in the embodiment. [Figure 16] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a processing sequence in which the cloud print service 500 acquires an icon in response to an icon request from the operating system 1053 in this embodiment. [Figure 17] 10 is a flowchart of a process for acquiring an icon in the present embodiment. [Figure 18] 11 is a sequence diagram when acquisition of an icon image is instructed in the present embodiment. FIG. [Figure 19] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram when a direct icon request is made to the cloud print service 500 in this embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an icon image acquisition sequence in the fifth embodiment. [Figure 21] 13 is a flowchart showing the process of acquiring an icon image in the fifth embodiment. [Figure 22] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence for acquiring an icon image when a print setting expanding application is started in the fifth embodiment. [Diagram 23] 13 is a flowchart showing a process of acquiring an icon image when a print setting expanding application is started in the fifth embodiment. [Figure 24] 23 is a flowchart showing a process in which the OS acquires an icon image in the sixth embodiment. [Diagram 25] 23 is a flowchart showing a process for acquiring an icon image when a print setting expanding application is started in the sixth embodiment. [Figure 26] 23 is a flowchart showing a process in which a print setting expanding application acquires an icon image when a printer to be used for printing is selected in the sixth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] [Embodiment 1] 1 is a simplified network configuration diagram of a network 150 environment showing an embodiment of the present invention. A client computer 100 is connected to the network 150 and is in a communicable state. In addition, a cloud print-compatible printer 201, a cloud print non-compatible printer 202, and a cloud print proxy server 300, which are connected to a different intranet, are also present and are connected via the Internet. A printer driver distribution service 600, a print setting extension application distribution service 400, and a cloud print service 500 are connected to the network 150.

[0012] The printer driver distribution service 600 executes a service of distributing printer drivers to the client computer 100 on a web basis. The client computer 100 acquires from the printer driver distribution service 600 a printer driver corresponding to the printer identification information acquired when searching for and discovering a printer using a predetermined protocol, and installs the printer driver. The predetermined protocol is, for example, WSD (Web Services for Devices) or IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). The client computer 100 also performs a printer driver update process. For example, it is considered that a printer driver with a newer version than the printer driver installed in the client computer 100 has been uploaded to the printer driver distribution service 600. At this time, the client computer 100 acquires the new printer driver from the printer driver distribution service 600. The client computer 100 then updates the installed printer driver.

[0013] The print setting extension application distribution server 400 is a server that executes a service for distributing an application executed on the client computer 100. When the client computer 100 receives a user operation requesting the installation of a print setting extension application, the client computer 100 acquires the corresponding print setting extension application from the print setting extension application distribution server 400 and installs it. Also, when an application identifier is described in an information file (hereinafter, Inf file) of a printer driver, the client computer 100 acquires the corresponding print setting extension application from the print setting extension application distribution server 400 and installs it.

[0014] The cloud print service 500 is a service for print control on the Internet, which is constructed on a cloud (i.e., on a server system) that is a server system consisting of multiple servers. In this embodiment, it is possible to connect to each intranet, and it is possible to directly connect to the client computer 100 and the cloud print compatible printer 201 via the Internet. On the other hand, in the case of a cloud print non-compatible printer 202, it is possible to connect via a cloud print proxy server 300, which will be described later. The cloud print service 500 manages accounts using a user ID and a password, and a user can access the cloud print service 500 using this account. In this embodiment, the cloud print service 500 functions as a print server system.

[0015] The cloud print proxy server 300 refers to a computer having the same hardware configuration as the client computer 100, on which a cloud print proxy 1054 is installed. The cloud print non-compatible printer 202 can connect to the cloud print service 500 via this cloud print proxy server 300. This allows registration to the cloud print service 500 and output even if the printer is not compatible with cloud print.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram showing the internal configuration of the client computer 100 and the cloud print proxy server 300. As shown in FIG.

[0017] In the figure, a CPU 101 included in a client computer 100 controls the entire device in accordance with a program stored in a ROM 1021 or a RAM 1022 of a main storage device 102 or in an auxiliary storage device 105 .

[0018] The RAM 1022 is also used as a work area when the CPU 101 performs various processes. The auxiliary storage device 105 stores an operating system (OS) 1053 including a cloud printer driver 1057, an application 1051, a print setting extension application 1052, a device management system 1055, a printer driver 1056, etc. In the following description, the main storage device 102 and the auxiliary storage device 105 will be collectively referred to as a storage device.

[0019] Input devices such as a pointing device 109, such as a mouse or touch panel, and a keyboard 108 are connected via the input I / F 103 and are used by the user to give various instructions to the computer.

[0020] The output I / F 104 is an interface for outputting data to the outside, and outputs data to an output device such as a monitor 110 or a panel 111 .

[0021] Connection with the printer 200 (in the embodiment of the present invention, the printer 200 is collectively referred to as the printer regardless of the support status of cloud printing) and each system is made through the network 150 via the communication I / F 106. Also, 107 is a common data system bus that exchanges data between the I / Fs and modules. In addition, the processing of the present invention is realized by the CPU 101 executing processing based on a program stored in a storage device.

[0022] In this embodiment, two standard drivers are assumed to be included in the operating system: a cloud printer driver 1057 and an IPP standard driver.

[0023] The cloud printer driver 1057 is a printer control program that can issue print instructions to any printer, regardless of model, as long as the printer is connected to the cloud print service 500. The IPP standard driver is a printer control program that can issue print instructions to any printer, regardless of model, connected to a printer connected via the IPP protocol.

[0024] Application 1051 indicates a general business application, which is a general application capable of editing documents and creating presentation materials, etc., and is intended to enable printing instructions to be issued by operating a UI such as a menu.

[0025] The print setting extension application 1052 is an application that operates in conjunction with a standard printer driver included in the operating system 1053, such as a cloud printer driver 1057. The print setting extension application 1052 provides a function for making detailed print settings specific to the target printer. The print setting extension application 1052 may also store a group of icons for each corresponding printer. Note that the icon for a printer (i.e., the printer icon) is created for each model of the printer, for example. The icon for a printer can also be considered visual information (a diagram or a picture) that represents the printer.

[0026] The device management system 1055 is downloaded from the printer driver distribution service 600 in the same manner as the printer driver 1056 described below, and is a program for managing various information related to the output target non-cloud print compatible printer 202. Furthermore, the device management system 1055 holds an icon corresponding to the output target printer as information other than the above.

[0027] The printer driver 1056 is a printer control program specific to a model provided by a printer vendor, and is assumed to be obtained from the printer driver distribution service 600. Also, the printer driver 1056 is assumed to be capable of performing detailed print settings specific to a device on its own.

[0028] On the other hand, the cloud print proxy server 300 differs only in the application stored in the auxiliary storage device 105. More specifically, a cloud print proxy 1054 is stored instead of the print setting extension application 1052. The cloud print proxy 1054 is a program for converting various communication procedures in order to provide a cloud print service to the non-cloud print compatible printer 202.

[0029] As for the cloud print proxy server 300, the functional modules other than those mentioned above are similar to those of the client computer 100, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0030] The cloud print proxy server 300 may be integrated with the client computer 100. In that case, the auxiliary storage device 105 stores all of the print setting extension application 1052, the cloud printer driver 1057, the cloud print proxy 1054, the device management system 1055, and the printer driver 1056.

[0031] 3 is a diagram showing functional blocks of a printer 200, which is an example of an image processing apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention. Note that the cloud print-compatible printer 201 and the cloud print-incompatible printer 202 are also configured in accordance with the same printer 200.

[0032] The control unit 221 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 222 controls the overall operation of the printer 200. The CPU 222 reads out control programs stored in the memory 223 and the storage unit 224, and performs various controls such as print control and read control. The memory 223 is used as a work area or a temporary storage area for developing various control programs. The storage unit 224 stores print data, image data, various programs, and various setting information. In this embodiment, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) is assumed as the storage unit 224, but a non-volatile memory such as a solid state drive (SSD) may be used instead of the HDD. In this manner, the hardware such as the CPU 222, the memory 223, and the storage unit 224 constitute a so-called computer.

[0033] The processing unit 230 has a function of a RIP (Raster Image Processor) that expands print data received via a network and generates a print image. The processing unit also has an image processing capability, and can also perform image resolution conversion and correction processing. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the image processing unit is realized by a hardware circuit (such as an ASIC or an FPGA), but this is not limited to this. For example, the printer 200 may have a processor for image processing, and the processor for image processing may execute an image processing program to realize image processing and print data expansion processing. Furthermore, it is also possible to configure the printer 200 to execute a program for image processing by the CPU 222, and to perform image processing and print data expansion processing. Image processing may also be performed by any combination of these.

[0034] The operation unit 227 is provided with a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function, various hard keys, and the like, and functions as a display unit 226 that displays information, a reception unit that receives user instructions, and reads an original document to generate a read image. The generated read image is stored in the storage unit 224. A print image generated by analyzing print data by the processing unit 230 is transferred from the control unit 221 to the printing unit 228, which receives a control command and a print image via the control unit 221, and prints the image on a sheet fed from a paper feed cassette (not shown) based on the image.

[0035] The control unit 221 is also connected to the network 150 via a network communication unit 225. The network communication unit 225 transmits images and information to a communication device on the network 150, and receives print data and information from a communication device on the network 150.

[0036] The printer information storage unit 229 stores a hardware ID (hereinafter, HWID), which is an identifier for uniquely identifying the printer 200, capability information, and an icon. The printer information storage unit 229 may exist in the storage unit 224.

[0037] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a cloud print proxy 1054 illustrating an embodiment of the invention.

[0038] The cloud print proxy 1054 is an application having a conversion function for enabling the use of the non-cloud print compatible printer 202 in the cloud print service 500. In this embodiment, it has the functions of a driver registration unit 301, a job management unit 302, an authentication unit 303, and a registered driver list 310. The driver registration unit 301 lists the printer drivers 1056 that are registered in advance in the cloud print proxy server 300, and accepts a selection from the user. The driver registration unit 301 registers the corresponding printer driver 1056 in the cloud print service 500, and if the registration is successful, registers it in the registered driver list 310.

[0039] A job management unit 302 receives a print job from the cloud print service 500, and sends the print job directly to the printer 201 depending on the situation.

[0040] The authentication unit 303 manages credential information, such as a user ID and a password, for the cloud print service 500 used by the user. This function may also exist in the cloud print service 500 that is the authentication destination.

[0041] FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a cloud print service 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] The cloud print service 500 is a service that exists on a cloud via the Internet and is capable of providing functions related to printing. In this embodiment, the cloud print service 500 has the functions of a printer registration unit 501, a print queue generation unit 502, a printer list generation unit 503, a search response unit 504, and a printer database 510. The cloud print service 500 further has the functions of a print job management unit 505, a print job generation unit 506, and a print job storage area 511. These functions may be provided in another cloud print service 500 that cooperates with the cloud print service 500.

[0043] When a printer registration instruction is received from the cloud print-compatible printer 201, the printer registration unit 501 uses the print queue generation unit 502 to generate a print queue, and registers the generated print queue in the printer database 510 by linking it with the printer identification information. The printer database 510 also stores the printer icon. For the cloud print non-compatible printer 202, it is necessary to perform the registration operation by using the cloud print proxy server 300. When the printer's print queue and printer identification information are linked and registered in this manner, this is called the printer being registered. Various attributes may be added to the registered printer here. For example, the location of the printer.

[0044] A printer list generating unit 503 generates a list of registered printers.

[0045] A search response unit 504 responds to a printer search event from the client computer 100 to the cloud print service 500 by sending information about registered printers.

[0046] A print job management unit 505 receives a print job from the client computer 100, and depending on the situation, sends the print job directly to the printer 200. Alternatively, the print job is temporarily stored in a print job storage area 511, and when the output destination printer is determined, the print job is passed to a print job generation unit 506, which converts the print job into an appropriate format and sends the print job.

[0047] 6 is a flowchart of a process for acquiring an icon of the cloud print service 500 when a printer is registered to the cloud print service 500 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, the subject of the operation in this flowchart is the cloud print service 500. Also, in this flowchart, it is assumed that the information on the icon that can be acquired is contained in the printer.

[0048] This flow starts with the user selecting an arbitrary printer and registering it with the cloud print service 500 (S600). If the printer to be registered is a cloud print-compatible printer 201, it can also be operated from a WebUI (not shown in the present embodiment) provided in the cloud print-compatible printer 201. The cloud print service 500 accepts a device registration operation by the user (S600), and in step S601, the cloud print service 500 determines whether the printer is compatible with cloud print. If it is determined that the printer is a cloud print-compatible printer 201, the process proceeds to S602. In step S602, the cloud print service requests the cloud print-compatible printer 201 that was the target of registration in S600 to obtain an icon.

[0049] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S601 that there is no direct connection to the cloud print service 500, the process proceeds to step S603, which will be described in embodiment 2 (for ease of understanding, the embodiments will be described separately. However, since S602 and S603 can be performed in the same product, they are the same embodiment). In step S604, if the icon requested in steps S602 and S603 is successfully received, the process proceeds to step S605. In step S605, the received icon is linked to the printer identification information in the printer database 510 and saved. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the HWID and the like are linked to the icon for each printer and saved. On the other hand, if the icon is not successfully received in step S604, the printer identification information is used to save an appropriate generalized icon for that model in the printer database 510, linked to the identification information.

[0050] (Another method A of the first embodiment) Note that in step S602, the following method may be used instead of simply making a request to acquire the icon. That is, the printer 201 sends a request for URL information indicating the storage location of the icon to the cloud print service in advance. Specifically, the printer 201 sends a request to acquire information of the attribute printer-static-resource-directory-uri by the operation Get-Printer-Attributes in IPP. Then, in step S602, the printer 201 responds to the request. Specifically, the cloud print service 500 responds by sending URL information indicating the storage location of the icon to the printer 201. More specifically, when responding to the operation Get-Printer-Attributes in IPP, the cloud print service 500 sets the URL information to the attribute printer-static-resource-directory-uri. As a result, the cloud print service 500 sends the attribute in which the URL information is set. Then, the printer 201 sends the icon to this URL information, and the icon is saved in the above-mentioned storage location. Specifically, the printer 201 sends the icon to the URL using the HTTP PUT method. Meanwhile, in S604, it is not checked whether the icon has been received successfully, but is checked whether the icon has been saved in the storage location. If the icon has been saved in the storage location, the URL information and device information (printer identification information) are linked and saved in S605. Also, according to this alternative method A, it is not checked whether the icon has been received successfully, but is checked whether the icon has been saved in the storage location. If the icon has been saved in the storage location, the URL information and device information (printer identification information) are linked and saved in S605.

[0051] (Another method B) In the embodiment described in FIG. 6, the printer 201 transmits icon data to the cloud print service 500. However, the printer 201 may notify the cloud print service 500 of information (URL information) on the location where the icon data is stored, instead of transmitting the icon data itself. This configuration is based on the premise that a server on which the icon data is stored exists on the cloud and that the printer 201 holds the URL information. In this case, the icon is acquired in S602 as follows. The printer 201 transmits URL information indicating the location where the icon is stored to the cloud print service 500. Specifically, the printer 201 sets the URL information to the attribute printer-static-resource-directory-uri in the IPP operation Set-Printer-Attributes. Then, the printer 201 transmits the URL information by transmitting the attribute in which the URL information is set. Here, the printer-static-resource-directory-uri is the name of an IPP attribute that can store a URI that stores static information of the printer, such as icon information. If the icon is not stored in advance in the URL, the printer 201 may transmit icon information to the icon storage location using operation PUT in HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol).

[0052] If the cloud print service 500 succeeds in acquiring the URL information in S604, the cloud print service 500 stores the URL information indicating the icon storage location in association with the device information in S605.

[0053] FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the process of acquiring an icon in the process of registering a printer by the operating system 1053 running on the client computer 100. The operating system 1053 executes each step. This flowchart starts with the process of the operating system searching for a printer when a user performs a print operation from an application 1051. In S800, the operating system searches using protocols such as WSD (Web Services for Devices) and IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) and lists the discovered printers (their names). Furthermore, in this step S800, printers that are registered in the cloud print service 500 and for which the user is permitted to output are also detected. In other words, if the cloud print-compatible printer 201 and the cloud print-incompatible printer 202 that are not on the same intranet are registered in the cloud print service 500, they can be found by printer search. Here, the operating system saves detection flag information indicating whether the detected printers were detected by WSD search, IPP search, or are printers on the cloud print service.

[0054] Next, in S801, a registration operation (selection operation) of (the name of) a printer selected by the user from the printers listed in S800 is accepted. In S802, the printer whose selection was accepted in S801 is determined. In S803, it is determined whether the printer is a printer on the cloud printer service based on the detection flag information saved for the printer selected in S801. If the printer is a printer on the cloud print service 500, the process proceeds to S804. In step S804, based on the detection flag information saved in S800, the operating system 1053 identifies the driver to be installed as the cloud printer driver 1057. Then, the identified cloud printer driver 1057 is installed, a print queue (printer queue) is created, and the installed driver and the print queue are linked.

[0055] Next, in step S805, the operating system 1053 downloads a driver extension package from the printer driver distribution service 600 based on the HWID, which is information for identifying the printer.

[0056] The driver extension package is an example of a package distributed from the printer driver distribution service 600. The driver extension package is an information file that can be distributed from the printer driver distribution service, and stores an HWID for identifying a printer and identifier information of the print setting extension application 1052. Furthermore, the driver extension package has information indicating that the package is a driver extension package, information such as the version of the driver extension package, etc.

[0057] In step S806, the operating system 1053 installs the driver extension package downloaded in step S1005, and then associates the installed driver extension package with the print queue.

[0058] Next, in step S807, the operating system 1053 searches for the print setting expanding application 1052 from within the print setting expanding application distribution service 400 based on the identifier information of the print setting expanding application 1052 described in the driver extension package. That is, the operating system 1053 searches for the print setting expanding application 1052 having the same identifier information as the identification information. Then, the operating system 1053 downloads the print setting expanding application 1052 found by the search.

[0059] In this embodiment, in the print setting extending application distribution service 400, the identifier information of the print setting extending application 1052 in the driver extension package is associated with the print setting extending application 1052 on a one-to-one basis. That is, when a search is performed using the identifier information described in the driver extension package, two or more print setting extending applications are not found, and only one print setting extending application is always found. Also, in the print setting extending application distribution service 400, association information (hereinafter, metadata) between the identifier information of the print setting extending application 1052 and the HWID included in the printer information may be stored. In this case, the appropriate print setting extending application 1052 is downloaded using the metadata.

[0060] In S808, the operating system 1053 installs the print setting extension application 1052 downloaded in S807.

[0061] After the print setting extending application 1052 is installed, the print setting extending application 1052 is associated with the print queue of the printer selected in S801 on a one-to-one basis by the operating system. Since the print queue holds the printer model information and print setting information, the print setting extending application 1052 can acquire the information, and construct and present an appropriate print setting UI according to the acquired information. The print setting extending application 1052 may directly communicate with the cloud print service 500, acquire the target model information and print setting information, and use the information to construct and provide a UI. In any case, when the installation of the print setting extending application 1052 is completed, the user can use detailed print setting changes. An example of printing using the print setting extending application 1052 will be described below.

[0062] When a user prints using a standard driver (cloud printer driver or IPP standard driver), a print instruction is given from an application 1051 of the client computer 100. As a specific example, print is pressed from the file menu of the application. As a normal application operation, when a print instruction is received from a user, the application instructs the operating system 1053 to display a print common dialog (print setting screen provided by the operating system) shown in FIG. 9. The operating system 1053 receives an instruction from the application and displays the print common dialog. The print common dialog displayed by the operating system 1053 allows the user to set a list of printers installed in the client computer 100, specify pages to be printed, and set the number of copies. The user selects a print queue of a printer to be output from the print common dialog, and presses a detailed setting button (object) displayed on the same screen to instruct the print queue to change the print settings. At that time, the print setting extension application 1052 linked to the print queue is started by the operating system, and a print setting change UI shown in FIG. 10 is displayed. For example, image processing settings such as density and color, whether stamp composition is possible, punch position and staple position settings, etc. can be set. When a user changes the print settings on the print setting UI and issues a print instruction, the operating system 1053 that receives the instruction transmits the print setting contents to the driver associated with the print queue. The driver then transmits the data to be printed to the printer or the cloud print service 500. That is, if it is an IPP standard driver, the data to be printed is sent to the printer, and if it is a cloud printer driver, the data is sent to the cloud print service 500.

[0063] In step S809, the operating system 1053 sends an icon request to the cloud print service 500 based on the HWID or the like that identifies the printer.

[0064] The cloud print service 500 that receives the icon request sends to the request source an icon that matches the received HWID from among the icons stored as shown in Fig. 7. The operating system 1053 then associates the received icon with a print queue. The icon associated with the print queue is displayed as an icon representing the print queue on the printer management screen displayed by the operating system.

[0065] In this flow, the operating system 1053 makes an icon acquisition request to the cloud print service 500, but the print setting extension application 1052 may make the icon acquisition request instead. In this case, the print setting extension application 1052 provides the acquired icon to the operating system 1053. In addition, when the print setting extension application 1052 makes an acquisition request to the cloud print service 500, the print setting extension application 1052 may be configured to make the acquisition request upon receiving a request from the operating system 1053.

[0066] In this embodiment, the cloud print service 500 acquires an icon from the printer in advance, and then the operating system 1053 or the print setting extension application 1052 requests the cloud print service 500 to acquire the icon. However, when the operating system 1053 or the print setting extension application 1052 sends the icon acquisition request to the cloud print service 500, the cloud print service 500 that receives the request may acquire the icon from the printer at that time. Also, the print setting extension application 1052 may include icons corresponding to each model of printer that this application supports before it is installed. In that case, it is only necessary to acquire the icon from the included area without having to take the trouble of acquiring the icon from the printer or the cloud print service.

[0067] (Continuation of Alternative Method A of the First Embodiment) Note that the icon request in S809 may be made in the following procedure. First, the operating system 1053 requests URL information indicating the storage location of the icon from the cloud print service 500. Specifically, the operating system 1053 transmits an operation Get-Printer-Attributes in IPP to the cloud print service 500. At that time, the IPP attribute printer-static-resource-directory-uri is set as an argument of this operation. By doing so, the value of printer-static-resource-directory-uri is requested. The cloud print service 500 that receives the request responds to the operating system 1053 with the value of printer-static-resource-directory-uri. Here, the value stores URL information indicating the storage location of the icon (which may be the URL information previously received from the printer, or may be the URL information if the icon has been replaced with another location) as described above. Therefore, the URL information is transmitted to the operating system 1053. After that, the operating system 1053 transmits an icon request to the acquired URL information. As a result, the icon is sent from the storage location and received by the operating system 1053. Note that with regard to the above-mentioned further alternative method B, the operation in this step is the same as that of the alternative method A.

[0068] 11 is a sequence diagram of a process in which the cloud print service 500 acquires an icon in response to an icon request from the operating system 1053. This sequence diagram shows an example of a sequence included in S809 in FIG.

[0069] This sequence diagram begins with the process (S1100) in which the operating system 1053 makes an icon request to the cloud print-compatible printer 201 of the print queue linked to the cloud print service 500. As described above, the icon request may be made by another method using URL information. In that case, the icon response in S1103 also involves acquisition of an icon using URL information, as described above. After that, the cloud print service 500 that received the icon acquisition request in step S1101 sends an icon acquisition request to the requested cloud print-compatible printer 201. As described above, the icon acquisition request may be made by another method using URL information. In that case, the icon response in S1102 also involves acquisition of an icon using URL information, as described above.

[0070] Then, in step S1102, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 that has received the icon acquisition request transmits the icon stored in the printer information storage unit 229 to the cloud print service 500 that has made the request. In step S1103, the cloud print service 500 that has received the icon transmitted in step S1102 transmits the icon to the operating system 1053 that has made the icon request. After that, in step S1104, the operating system 1053 that has received the icon links the icon to a print queue.

[0071] In step S1103, the icon received by the cloud print service 500 may be associated with printer information and stored as shown in FIG. 7, or may be stored temporarily.

[0072] In addition, in the present embodiment, a method of acquiring an icon from the cloud print service 500 has been described, but the operating system 1053 may determine and acquire an appropriate icon based on the HWID from among the icons stored in the print setting extension application 1052. In addition, the icon may be linked to a print queue.

[0073] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S803 that the printer selected by the user in the registration operation is not a printer on the cloud print service 500 based on the detection flag information created in step S800, the process proceeds to step S810. If, in step S810, the printer selected by the user in step S801 is a printer found by other means than IPP search in the detection flag information created in step S800, the process proceeds to step S811. In step S811, the corresponding driver is downloaded from the printer driver distribution service 600 based on the detection flag information by the HWID, and a print queue is created by installing the driver. The HWID is used to identify the corresponding driver. Then, in step S812, the device management system 1055 corresponding to the printer is downloaded. In step S813, the operating system 1053 acquires an icon present in the device management system 1055 downloaded in step S812, and associates it with the created print queue.

[0074] On the other hand, if it is determined in S810 that the printer selected by the user in S801 is a printer found in the IPP search based on the detection flag information created in S800, the process proceeds to S814. In step S814, the IPP standard driver defined in the operating system 1053 communicates with the printer as determined by the standard specification, and generates a print queue that reflects the necessary capability information.

[0075] That is, an IPP standard driver having a function of printing to a plurality of printer models of a plurality of printer vendors is installed. After the installation, the printer is connected via a print queue, so that a print instruction can be sent only to the connected printer. In addition, in S814, a print queue associated with the installed IPP standard driver is created on the operating system. In addition, since S815 to S818 are the same as the processes in S805 to S808, a description thereof will be omitted. In S819, the operating system 1053 selects an appropriate icon from the group of icons of the print setting extension application 1052 installed in S818 based on information such as the HWID of the printer, and acquires the icon. In addition, the icon acquired at this time may be linked to the print queue created in S814.

[0076] Also, instead of S819, the print setting expanding application 1052 may acquire an icon from the printer 200 as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 12. Alternatively, the print setting expanding application 1052 may acquire an icon suitable for the printer determined in S802 from among a plurality of icons contained in advance in the print setting expanding application 1052 itself. In S1200, the print setting expanding application 1052 requests the printer 200 for an icon. Then, in S1201, the printer 200 returns the icon stored in the printer information storage unit 229 to the request source. In S1202, the print setting expanding application 1052 that has received the returned icon stores the icon. Also, this icon may be linked to a print queue. Note that, as shown in FIG. 16 described later, the print setting expanding application 1052 may acquire access information (link) to a server storing the icon from the printer 200, access the server based on the link, and acquire the icon from the server.

[0077] The icon acquired by Fig. 8 is displayed by the operating system 1053, for example, on a screen system that displays a list of peripheral devices of the operating system 1053 (i.e., a printer management screen that manages devices such as printers) as shown in Fig. 13. Also, the icon may be displayed on a screen that is displayed when the print setting extension application 1052 is started from a screen that displays a list of applications 1051 installed in the client computer 100 (Fig. 14).

[0078] Through the above procedure, an icon can be obtained for a printer on the cloud print service 500. This allows the user to easily identify the printer to which he or she is connected by displaying it on a screen (FIG. 13) that lists peripheral devices of the operating system 1053 or on a screen (FIG. 14) of the print setting extension application 1052, etc.

[0079] [Embodiment 2] In the first embodiment, the cloud print service 500 acquires an icon from the printer 200 or the cloud print-compatible printer 201, and the operating system 1053 or the print setting extension application 1052 acquires the icon and displays it on the screen. However, the cloud print service 500 may use a cloud print non-compatible printer 202. In this case, the cloud print non-compatible printer 202 is connected to the cloud print service 500 via the cloud print proxy server 300, so the method of the first embodiment cannot be implemented.

[0080] In this embodiment, a means for realizing icon acquisition even from a cloud print non-compatible printer 202 when the cloud print service 500 is used will be described with reference to FIG.

[0081] 6, the flow starts with accepting a user's registration operation of the non-cloud print compatible printer 202 to the cloud print service 500 using the cloud print proxy 1054. If it is determined in step S601 that the registered printer is not directly connected, the flow proceeds to step S603. In step S603, an icon acquisition request is made to the cloud print proxy server 300. The flow that follows is the same as in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0082] FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the process in which the cloud print proxy server 300, having received the icon acquisition request in step S603 in FIG. 6, acquires the icon of the non-cloud print compatible printer 202 and responds.

[0083] This flow begins with receiving an icon request from the cloud print service 500 and determining whether the requested printer icon is in the device management system 1055.

[0084] Here, the device management system 1055 is assumed to be, for example, Device Stage by Microsoft. More specifically, it is a mechanism for extending the functions of various peripheral devices, and is started by the device management system 1055 incorporated in the operating system 1053. The device management system 1055 detects that a peripheral device has been selected by the user, and automatically downloads necessary control software and applications for extending the functions from a server on the Internet in advance. In this embodiment, the server is the printer driver distribution service 600, and the control software is a driver. In this embodiment, it is assumed that an icon of the corresponding printer is also stored on this server.

[0085] In step S1500, if the device management system 1055 of the requested printer exists in the cloud print proxy server, the process proceeds to step S1501. In step S1501, an icon existing in the primary storage device 102 or the secondary storage device 105 is acquired. Then, in step S1602, the icon acquired in step S1501 is sent to the cloud print service 500 that is the request source. In step S1500, if the device management system 1055 of the requested printer does not exist, a message is sent to the request source to the effect that the icon acquisition has failed.

[0086] Through the above procedure, an icon can be obtained even for the cloud print non-compatible printer 202 on the cloud print service 500. This allows the user to easily identify the printer he or she is connected to by the printer icon displayed on the screen (FIG. 13) that displays a list of peripheral devices of the operating system 1053 or the screen (FIG. 14) of the print setting extension application 1052.

[0087] [Embodiment 3] FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram of a process in which the operating system 1053 acquires an icon when the cloud print service 500 manages the location (URL) where the icon data is stored, rather than the icon data itself.

[0088] The operating system 1053 transmits an icon storage location request S1602 together with the HWID to the cloud print service 500. The cloud print service 500 acquires an icon storage location (URL) corresponding to the transmitted HWID from the printer database 510 and transmits it to the operating system 1053 as an icon storage location response S1603. The operating system 1053 transmits an icon request S1604 to the icon data storage server 1601 indicated by the icon storage location (URL) notified in S1603. The icon data storage server 1601 transmits icon data to the operating system 1053 in S1605.

[0089] [Embodiment 4] In the first and second embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8, a method for acquiring an icon has been described in the process of installing a driver for a printer selected after searching for the printer.

[0090] In the fourth embodiment, a method for acquiring an icon when the print setting extension application 1052 is started will be described.

[0091] 17 is a flowchart of a process for acquiring an icon when the user launches the print setting expanding application 1052. This flowchart begins when the user launches the print setting expanding application 1052.

[0092] In step S1700, the print setting extension application 1052 that has received the start instruction acquires a list of printers associated with itself. The print setting extension application may be associated with all printers described in the driver extension package. Therefore, in step S1701, it is necessary to check whether there is an icon associated with each of the printers in the list acquired in S1700. Here, it is checked whether the corresponding printer and the icon are associated, and if there is a printer that is not associated with an icon, the process proceeds to S1702. The icon acquisition in step S1702 follows the process flow shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 18. At this time, in S1800, the print setting extension application 1052 issues an icon request instruction to the operating system 1053. Since S1801 to S1805 are the same as those described in FIG. 11 used as an example of S809 in FIG. 8, the description will be omitted. In S1806, the operating system passes the icon received in S1804 to the print setting extension application 1052.

[0093] 18 shows a sequence diagram in which the print setting extension application 1052 initiates an instruction to acquire an icon to the operating system 1053. On the other hand, it is also possible that the print setting extension application 1052 directly requests an icon to the cloud print service 500 without going through the operating system 1053, as shown in FIG.

[0094] In this case, in S1900, the print setting extending application 1052 makes an icon request to the cloud print service 500. Since S1901 and S1902 are the same as S1101 and S1102 in FIG. 11, the description will be omitted. Next, in S1903, the cloud print service 500 passes the acquired icon to the print setting extending application 1052. In S1904, the icon received in S1903 is associated with the corresponding printer and saved. In S1905, the print setting extending application passes the icon received in S1903 to the operating system 1053. In S1906, the operating system 1053 associates the icon received with the corresponding printer queue and saves the icon. In either case of FIG. 18 or FIG. 19, the icon may be requested from the cloud print server as described above. In addition, after requesting URL information indicating the storage location of the icon as described in the third embodiment, the print setting extending application 1052 may make an icon acquisition request to obtain icon information from the URL. Alternatively, the print setting extension application 1052 may hold URL information in which an icon is stored in advance, send an icon request to the URL in which the icon is stored using the HWID of the connected printer as a query parameter, and receive the corresponding icon.

[0095] In S1703, if the icon cannot be received in S1702, the process proceeds to S1704. In S1704, the attributes of the printer, such as personal use or office use, are determined based on information acquired in a procedure not shown this time, such as HWID and marker-type. A default icon may be associated with the determined attributes and saved. In S1703, if the icon can be received in S1702, the icon is associated with the corresponding device and saved. In S1705, the started UI is displayed after all printers associated with the started print setting extension application 1052 have been associated with the icons. The icons saved in steps S1702 and S1704 may be displayed as part of the display contents.

[0096] [Embodiment 5] In the first and second embodiments, as shown in FIG. 8, a method for acquiring an icon has been described in the process of installing a driver for a printer selected after searching for the printer.

[0097] In the fifth embodiment, a method in which the print setting extension application 1052 acquires an icon will be described.

[0098] In FIG. 20, a cloud print-compatible printer 201 registers an icon image in a cloud print service, and a print setting extension application 1052 installed in a client computer 100 acquires the icon image from the cloud print service.

[0099] In this embodiment, when the cloud print-compatible printer 201 registers printer information in the cloud print service, the icon of the cloud print-compatible printer 201 is uploaded to the cloud print service. The print setting extension application 1052 acquires the icon image from the cloud print service. This sequence diagram starts with the user instructing the cloud print-compatible printer 201 to register in the cloud print service 500.

[0100] In S2001, a user operates an operation unit of the cloud print-compatible printer 201 to input an instruction to register the printer information in the cloud print service. The instruction to register may be given by accessing a web server function of the cloud print-compatible printer 201 from a client computer, instead of through the operation unit of the cloud print-compatible printer 201.

[0101] At this time, the user is authenticated to log in to the cloud print service with his / her own account. The cloud print-compatible printer 201 displays an authentication screen provided by the cloud print service and accepts input of user identification information and password. The cloud print-compatible printer 201 transmits the input user identification information and password to an authentication server (not shown) to receive user authentication.

[0102] If the authentication is successful, in S2002, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 sends a printer registration request to the cloud print service. The printer registration unit 501 of the cloud print service 500 receives the cloud print-compatible printer 201 and executes processing. Upon receiving the registration request, the printer registration unit 501 generates a print queue using the print queue generation unit 502. Furthermore, the generated print queue is linked to the printer identification information and registered in the printer database 510. By generating the print queue and registering it in the printer database 510, the cloud print service becomes able to send print data received from the client computer 100 to the cloud print-compatible printer 201.

[0103] In S2003, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 inquires of the cloud print service 500 about the upload destination of the printer's icon image. The cloud print-compatible printer 201 specifies the print queue created in S2002 and sends the IPP operation Get-Printer-Attributes. At that time, the IPP attribute printer-static-resource-directory-uri is set as an argument of the operation. The printer-static-resource-directory-uri is an argument for acquiring the URL of a storage that can store information about the printer. In addition, in S2003, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 sends the above inquiry to the cloud print service 500 together with the access token of the user who uses the cloud print service 500.

[0104] Next, in S2004, the cloud print service 500 sets the value of printer-static-resource-directory-uri for the cloud print-compatible printer and sends a response. The value of printer-static-resource-directory-uri at this time is the location of the available storage corresponding to the print queue created in S2002. Specifically, a URL starting with http or https, such as https: / / print.print-dev.com / ipp / resource / 0cc23168-d681-49b4-bc22-ef704a024aff, is returned. The URL may have the following configuration: https: / / <cloud print service URL> / ipp / resource / <uniquely determined printer ID>. Here, the uniquely determined printer ID indicates the ID issued when the print queue was created in S2002 and registered in the printer database 510. As the "uniquely determined printer ID", a character string including the printer name, the printer serial number, the printer IP address, etc. may be used.

[0105] In S2005, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 that has received the value of printer-static-resource-directory-uri uploads an icon image to that URL. The icon image is an image stored in the storage unit 224 of the cloud print-compatible printer 201. The process in S2005 will be described in more detail. The cloud print-compatible printer 201 designates the URL received from the cloud print service 500, and uploads the icon image using an HTTP PUT request. At this time, if the printer has multiple icons, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 may upload multiple icon images as necessary. Note that at the time of this upload, the user's access token is notified to the cloud print service 500.

[0106] In addition, in S2003 to S2005, the following processing may be performed. In S2003, in addition to the URL of the upload destination of the icon image, the free space of the upload destination is inquired. The cloud print-compatible printer 201 inquires about the free space of the storage area to which the icon image is to be sent, using printer-static-resource-k-octets-free defined by IPP. In S2004, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 receives the free space of the storage area to which the icon image is to be sent from the cloud print service 500. In S2005, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 compares the free space received in S2004 with the data size of the icon image. If the data size of the icon image is smaller than the received free space, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 uploads the icon image to the specified storage area. If the data size of the icon image is larger than the capacity of the storage area, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 does not upload the icon image.

[0107] Next, in S2006, the cloud print-compatible printer 201 notifies the cloud print service 500 of printer capability information. The printer capability information is information such as the color mode setting value supported by the printer, paper size, paper type, and setting values ​​related to finishing. The process in S2006 will be described in more detail. The cloud print-compatible printer 201 transmits the printer capability information to the cloud print service using Update-Output-Device-Attributes defined by IPP. At this time, a value obtained by concatenating the upload destination and the name of the icon uploaded in S1805 is set to the IPP attribute printer-icons. For example, if the file name of the icon uploaded by the printer in S1805 is 512.png, the file name will be https: / / print.print-dev.com / ipp / resource / 0cc23168-d681-49b4-bc22-ef704a024aff / 512.png. In S2005, if multiple icon images have been uploaded, the URLs for that number are set in printer-icons and the IPP Update-Output-Device-Attributes is sent to the cloud print service 500. Upon receiving the IPP Update-Output-Device-Attributes, the cloud print service 500 rewrites the value of the IPP attribute printer-icons of the print queue created in S2002 with the notified value. This allows the cloud print service 500 to store the URL of the area where the icon images are saved. This completes the process for registering a printer in the cloud print service 500.

[0108] Next, a process for generating a print queue for transmitting print data to a printer via a cloud print service in the OS 1053 of the client computer 100 will be described.

[0109] In step S2007, the user operates the client computer 100 to instruct the OS 1053 to search for a printer. The instruction is received by a UI (not shown) provided by the OS 1053.

[0110] The OS 1053 that has received the instruction to search for a printer transmits a request for a printer list to the cloud print service 500 (S2008). The OS 1053 transmits an access token for acquiring a printer list from the cloud print service 500 and a request for the printer list to the cloud print service 500. If the OS 1053 does not have an access token for the cloud print service 500, the following process may be performed. The client computer 100 displays an input screen for a user ID and password for logging in to the cloud print service 500, and performs an access token acquisition process. The access token for acquiring a printer list from the cloud print service may be acquired by the above process, and the process described in S2008 may be executed. In addition, in S2008, the OS 1053 may additionally search for a printer that communicates directly with the client computer 100 without using the cloud print service. The acquired access token is also used in S2011 later.

[0111] The cloud print service 500 transmits to the OS 1053 the identifiers of one or more printers that can be used by the user identified by the received access token (S2009). The OS 1053 displays the received identifiers of the one or more printers on the display unit of the client computer 100. The printer identifier is the printer name registered in the cloud print service 500 in association with each printer. In S2009, the OS 1053 also receives the HWID of the printer from the cloud print service 500.

[0112] In S2010, the user operates the client computer 100 to select the identifier of a printer for which a print queue is to be generated from the identifiers of one or more displayed printers. The OS 1053 associates the identifier of the selected printer with the identifier of a printer driver for the cloud print service and stores them in the main storage device 102. Then, the OS 1053 transmits a request to the cloud print service 500 to obtain capability information of the printer linked to the print queue (S2011). In S2011, the OS 1053 uses a Get-Printer-Attribute command defined in IPP to obtain the capability information of the printer from the cloud print service.

[0113] In S2012, the cloud print service 500 transmits the capability information of the printer registered in S2002 to the OS 1053. The capability information acquired in S2012 is, for example, a setting value that can be set for each setting item such as color mode, whether or not double-sided printing is possible, and stapling. The OS 1053 stores the received capability information in association with the print queue. This allows the printer capability information to be managed for each print queue. Furthermore, the OS 1053 identifies the print setting extension application 1052 corresponding to the printer using the HWID received in S2009. The OS 1053 stores the print queue and an identifier of the identified print setting extension application 1052 in association with each other.

[0114] The process from S2007 to S2012 is for generating a print queue in the client computer 100.

[0115] Next, a description will be given of the process of issuing a print instruction by activating an application on the client computer 100. The above-mentioned application is an application such as a word processing application, a presentation application, or a file display application. In S2013, the user selects a printer to be used for printing. Then, in S2014, the OS 1053 notifies the print setting extension application 1052 of an event. In association with this event, the print setting extension application 1052 is notified of an API (Application Programming Interface) that can be used to edit device capability information for the selected printer or to inquire about capabilities of the device.

[0116] In S2015, the print setting extension application 1052 inquires of the cloud print service 500 about the URL of the area in which the icon image is stored. Specifically, the print setting extension application 1052 sends an IPP operation, Get-Printer-Attributes, to the cloud print service 500. At that time, the IPP attribute printer-icons is set as an argument of this operation. By doing so, the print setting extension application 1052 can request the value of the IPP attribute printer-icons from the cloud print service 500. The cloud print service that has received the capability acquisition request returns the value of the IPP attribute printer-icons of the target printer to the print setting extension application 1052.

[0117] In S2016, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires a URL in which an icon image of a printer linked to the selected print queue is stored from the cloud print service 500.

[0118] In S2017, the print setting extension application 1052 transmits a request to acquire an icon image by specifying the URL received in S2016. The print setting extension application 1052 transmits an HTTP Get request to the received URL.

[0119] In S2018, the print setting extension application 1052 receives an image of an icon from the cloud print service 500. Then, in S2019, the print setting extension application 1052 stores the received icon image in association with the print queue.

[0120] In S2020, the icon image received in S2018 is provided to the OS 1053. By providing the acquired icon image to the OS, it becomes possible to use the icon image provided by the cloud print-compatible printer 201 also in a printer management screen or the like provided by the OS 1053.

[0121] 21 is a flowchart showing the process in which the print setting extending application 1052, upon receiving the event notification, acquires the icon of the printer selected in S2007 from the cloud print service 500. FIG 21 is a flowchart showing the details of the process described in S2013 to S2020 in FIG 20. Note that each step shown in FIG 21 is realized by the CPU 101 of the client computer 100 executing the program of the print setting extending application 1052.

[0122] In S2101, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires capability information from the cloud print service 500. The print setting extension application 1052 transmits a capability information acquisition request to the cloud print service 500 using an API provided by the OS 1053. The OS 1053 acquires capability information of the printer selected in S2013 from the cloud print service 500 using Get-Printer-Attribute defined by IPP. The capability information acquired here is capability information defined by IPP, such as color mode, double-sided printing, and stapling. In addition to the above, unique capability information not defined by IPP may be acquired. Note that, if the OS 1053 does not store an access token used when acquiring capability information from the cloud print service 500, the OS 1053 executes the following process. An input screen for a user ID and a password for using the cloud print service 500 is displayed. The user ID and the password entered on the input screen are sent to an authentication server for the cloud print service 500. If the authentication is successful, the OS 1053 receives an access token from the authentication server and stores it. The stored access token is used in S2103 and S2104 in addition to S2101.

[0123] In S2102, the print setting expanding application 1052 that has received the event notification checks whether an icon image of the printer selected in S2013 is stored. The print setting expanding application 1052 determines whether an icon image associated with the print queue of the selected printer is stored. If an icon image corresponding to the print queue is not stored, or if a default icon image is stored as the icon image corresponding to the print queue, the print setting expanding application 1052 ends the process shown in FIG.

[0124] If the icon image of the selected printer is not stored, the print setting expansion application 1052 advances the process to S2103.

[0125] In S2103, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires the URL of the storage in which the icon image is stored for the connected printer. Specifically, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires the URL of the storage in which the icon image is stored using an API provided by the OS 1053. The OS 1053 sends an IPP operation Get-Printer-Attributes to the cloud print service 500. At that time, the IPP attribute printer-icons is set as an argument of this operation. By doing so, it is possible to request the value of the IPP attribute printer-icons from the cloud print service 500. The cloud print service that has received the capability acquisition request returns the value of the IPP attribute printer-icons of the target printer.

[0126] Next, in S2104, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires an icon image. The specific processing is described below. The print setting extension application 1052 uses an API provided by the OS 1053 to send an HTTP Get request to the URL that is the value of the IPP attribute printer-icons acquired in S2103. The cloud print service that receives the Get request sends the icon image stored in the received URL to the print setting extension application 1052. At this time, if there are multiple values ​​for the IPP attribute printer-icons, icon images may be acquired for those values ​​by the HTTP Get.

[0127] Next, in S2105, the print setting expanding application 1052 determines whether or not the icon image has been acquired. If the icon image has been acquired, the print setting expanding application 1052 advances the process to S2107. On the other hand, if the icon image has not been acquired, the print setting expanding application 1052 advances the process to S2106.

[0128] In S2106, the print setting expanding application 1052 stores a default icon indicating a general-purpose printer icon saved in its local area as the icon image of the printer. The print setting expanding application 1052 stores the icon image previously stored in the application in association with the printer selected in S2013.

[0129] In S2107, the print setting extension application stores the icon image acquired in S2104 in the local area of ​​the application in association with the printer selected in S2013.

[0130] In S2108, the print setting extension application provides the icon image acquired in S2104 to the OS 1053. The OS 1053 that has received the icon associates the icon with the print queue of the printer selected in S2103 and saves it. At this time, the OS 1053 stores the icon image in a memory area under the system file of the OS 1053. This memory area is an area that the OS 1053 can refer to, but is an area that the print setting extension application 1052 cannot refer to.

[0131] The icon image is stored in an area that can be referenced by the OS 1053, and the print setting extension application 1052 ends the process shown in FIG.

[0132] By performing the above process, the icon image is stored in both the local area of ​​the application that can be referenced by the print setting extension application 1052 and the storage area under the OS file system that can be referenced by the OS 1053. The icon images stored in each area are used as follows.

[0133] The icon image stored in the local area of ​​the application is used to display a screen that displays printer information managed by the print setting application 1052 when the print setting application 1052 is started. When the print setting extension application 1052 is selected from a screen that displays a list of applications installed in the client computer 100 and started, the screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed. The screen shown in FIG. 14 displays a list of printers associated with the print setting extension application 1052. In FIG. 14, an icon image of "Printer A" associated with the print setting extension application 1052 is displayed. Note that, although an icon image of one printer is displayed in FIG. 14, when the print setting extension application 1052 is associated with multiple printers, icon images of multiple printers are displayed. In this screen, all printers associated only with the print setting extension application 1052 are listed, and the remaining amount of toner and the printer status can be checked for each printer. In this screen, an icon image saved so that the user can easily distinguish the printer is used.

[0134] The OS 1053 displays the saved icon image on a screen system that displays a list of peripheral devices of the operating system 1053 (i.e., a printer management screen that manages devices such as printers from various vendors) as shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 13 is a screen provided by the OS 1053, which is a screen for managing print queues registered in the OS 1053 of the client computer 100. When an icon image provided by a printer or a default printer icon stored by the print setting extending application 1052 is not used, an icon image provided by the OS 1053 is displayed. By implementing this embodiment, the icon image is replaced with an icon image acquired by the print setting extending application 1052, which improves user visibility and allows the user to easily identify the printer.

[0135] 20 and 21 show that an icon image is acquired when a printer is selected on the print setting screen. However, the print setting extending application 1052 may acquire the icon when the user launches the print setting extending application. The following describes a system for acquiring an icon image when the print setting extending application is launched.

[0136] Fig. 22 is a sequence diagram when an icon image uploaded by a printer to the cloud print service 500 is obtained from the cloud print service 500 when a user opens a print setting extension app 1052. In Fig. 22, the same reference numerals as in Fig. 20 are used for the parts that perform the same processes as in Fig. 20, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0137] In step S2201, the user opens the print setting extension application. Then, in step S2202, the OS 1053 issues a start instruction to the print setting extension application 1052.

[0138] In S2203, the print setting extending application 1052 transmits to the cloud print service 500 a request to obtain a URL for obtaining an icon image of a printer managed by the application. In S2204, the cloud print service 500 transmits to the print setting extending application 1052 the URL of a storage area in which an icon image of a printer specified by the print setting extending application 1052 is stored. In S2205, the print setting extending application 1052 transmits a request to obtain an icon image to the specified URL. In S2206, the print setting extending application 1052 obtains an icon image from the cloud print service 500. In S2207, the print setting extending application 1052 stores the obtained icon image in a storage area that the print setting extending application 1052 can refer to, in association with an identifier of a printer managed by the application. In S2208, the print setting extending application 1052 saves the icon image under the file system of the OS 1053, and stores the icon image in association with a print queue and a storage area.

[0139] 23 is a flowchart showing the process in which the print setting extending application 1052, which has received an application startup instruction in S2201, acquires a printer icon from the cloud print service 500. FIG 23 shows details of the process in S2203 to S2208 in FIG 22. The process shown in FIG 23 is realized by the CPU 101 executing the program of the print setting extending application 1052.

[0140] In S2301, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires a list of printers associated with itself. More specifically, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires information on print queues managed by the OS 1053. It is determined whether or not the value of the package family name stored in the properties of the acquired print queue is the same as the value of the package family name stored in the print setting extension application 1052. The package family name is application identification information. The OS 1053 can call an application corresponding to the print queue selected by the user by storing the print queue and the application identification information in association with each other. The print setting extension application 1052 identifies the print queue associated with the application by referring to the value of the device package family name of each print queue. Alternatively, the print setting extension application 1052 may acquire the list of associated printers by using an API passed from the OS 1053 when the print setting extension application is opened.

[0141] In S2302, the print setting extending application 1052 reads out an icon image stored in the local area of ​​the print setting extending application 1052. Note that, in this embodiment, the icon image is read out, but other information may be read out as long as it is possible to check whether or not there is an icon image corresponding to the acquired printer information.

[0142] In S2303, the print setting expanding application 1052 determines whether icon images associated with all print queues associated with the application are stored. In S2303, the print setting expanding application 1052 determines whether icon images corresponding to each printer information included in the list of printer information read in S2301 are read in S2302. If icon images corresponding to all print queues are stored, the print setting expanding application 1052 advances the process to S2310. If there is a print queue for which a corresponding icon image is not stored, the print setting expanding application 1052 advances the process to S2304.

[0143] In S2304, the print setting extension application 1052 selects one print queue in which an icon image is not stored, and transmits to the cloud print service an acquisition request for the URL of the storage in which the icon image corresponding to the selected print queue is stored. More specifically, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires the URL of the storage in which the icon image is stored, using the API of the OS 1053. The command used in S2304 is the same as that in S2103. The print setting extension application 1052 receives the URL of the storage in which the icon image is stored from the cloud print service 500 that has received the acquisition request.

[0144] In step S2305, the print setting extension application 1052 acquires an icon image from the received URL. The details of the acquisition of the icon image are the same as those in step S2104 of FIG.

[0145] In S2306, the print setting expanding application 1052 determines whether or not the icon image has been acquired. If the icon image has been acquired, the print setting expanding application 1052 advances the process to S2308. If the icon image has not been acquired, the print setting expanding application 1052 advances the process to S2307.

[0146] In S2308, the print setting extending application 1052 associates the print queue selected in S2304 with the acquired icon image and stores them in the local area of ​​the print setting extending application 1052. In S2307, the print setting extending application 1052 associates an icon image previously stored in the application with the print queue selected in S2304 and stores it. The print setting extending application 1052 associates a default icon image selected based on a HWID (hardware ID) or a COID (compatible ID) associated with the print queue with the print queue and stores it in the local area of ​​the application.

[0147] In S2309, the print setting extension application 1052 provides the icon image set in S2107 or S2106 to the OS 1053. The OS 1053 that receives the icon associates the icon with the print queue of the printer selected in S2304 and saves it. At this time, the OS 1053 stores the icon image in a memory area under the system file of the OS 1053. This memory area is an area that the OS 1053 can refer to, but is an area that the print setting extension application 1052 cannot refer to.

[0148] After completing the process of S2309, the print setting expanding application 1052 returns the process to S2303. The print setting expanding application 1052 executes the processes described in S2304 to S2309 until icon images are stored for all print queues corresponding to the print setting expanding application 1052.

[0149] In S2310, the print setting extension application 1052 displays the screen of Fig. 14 described above, and displays the icon images stored in the local area of ​​the application as icons of each associated printer. This allows the user to easily visually identify the printers. Also, in the case of Fig. 23, since the icons acquired in S2309 are provided to the OS 1053, the icon images of each device are displayed as in Fig. 13 on a screen system that displays a list of peripheral devices of the OS 1053 (i.e., a printer management screen that manages devices such as printers from various vendors).

[0150] As described above, in Figures 20 and 22, the timing of icon acquisition methods differs depending on whether the user selects a printer or opens a print setting extension app. However, it is also possible to adopt both methods and acquire icons at the respective timings.

[0151] In this way, in the fifth embodiment, even if the OS 1053 does not perform the process of acquiring an icon image, it is possible to display an icon image registered in the cloud print service on the client computer.

[0152] [Embodiment 6] So far, the method has been described in which the OS 1053 acquires an icon and passes it to the print setting extension application 1052, or the print setting extension application 1052 passes the acquired icon to the OS 1053. However, from a security perspective, there is a possibility that access to the icon acquired by the OS 1053 or the system area is not permitted. In that case, it is necessary for the print setting extension application 1052 and the OS 1053 to each acquire and hold the icon image and use it, rather than only acquiring it by one of them.

[0153] Therefore, in the sixth embodiment, a method in which the OS 1053 and the print setting extension application 1052 each acquire an icon will be described.

[0154] The processes in S2001 to S2006 in FIG. 20 of the fifth embodiment are similar to those in the sixth embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0155] In the sixth embodiment, the OS 1053 obtains an icon image from the cloud print service when creating a print queue on the client computer 100.

[0156] 24 is a flow chart showing a process for acquiring an icon when the OS 1053 installs a printer driver. Each process shown in FIG.

[0157] In S2401, the OS 1053 searches using protocols such as WSD (Web Services for Devices) and IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) and lists the identifiers of the detected printers. At this time, if a valid account of the cloud print service 500 is registered, the identifiers of the accessible printers in the tenant of the cloud print service 500 of the account are also listed. Note that, in S2401, if the OS 1053 does not store an access token used when acquiring a printer list from the cloud print service 500, the OS 1053 executes the following process. The OS 1053 displays an input screen for a user ID and a password for logging in to the cloud print service 500. The input user ID and password are transmitted to an authentication server for the cloud print service 500. If the authentication is successful, the OS 1053 receives and stores the access token of the cloud print service 500. The received access token is also used when acquiring information from the cloud service 500 in S2404 and S2405.

[0158] Next, in S2402, the OS 1063 performs a process of registering the detected printer identifier in the OS 1053. A specific operation in S2402 will be described. The user selects the printer identifier to be registered in the OS 1053 from the listed printer information.

[0159] In S2403, a print queue is generated based on the identifier of the printer accepted in S2402. In this embodiment, the subsequent flow will be described assuming that a printer on the cloud print service 500 is selected.

[0160] In S2404, the OS 1053 inquires of the cloud print service 500 about the capability information of the printer determined in S2403. The capability information here is information that indicates the functions installed in the printer, and includes color information, paper size, paper type, and the like. The URL of the storage that stores the icon image is also treated as capability information. This capability information is acquired using the IPP operation Get-Printer-Attributes. The IPP attributes to be set at this time are determined by the OS 1053. For example, there are output-mode-supported (color information) and media-type-supported (paper type). In this embodiment, in order to acquire the icon image from the cloud print service 500, the OS 1053 needs to set the IPP attribute printer-icons when acquiring the capability information using this Get-Printer-Attributes. As described above, by performing this operation, the OS 1053 can acquire capability information including the URL in which the icon is stored from the cloud print service 500. Also, instead of explicitly setting each IPP attribute for the operation Get-Printer-Attributes to obtain capability information, the values ​​of all IPP attributes may be obtained and checked by setting "all."

[0161] In S2405, the OS 1053 performs an icon image acquisition process. More specifically, the OS 1053 transmits an HTTP Get request to the URL value of the IPP attribute printer-icons acquired in S2404. If multiple URL values ​​are saved at this time, acquisition may be attempted for the number of values.

[0162] In S2406, the OS 1053 determines whether or not the icon image has been acquired. If the icon has been received in S2405, the OS 1053 advances the process to S2407. On the other hand, if the icon image has not been acquired, the OS 1053 advances the process to S2408. Note that if a valid URL is not stored in the IPP attribute printer-icons, the OS 1053 advances the process to S2408.

[0163] In step S2407, the OS 1053 saves the acquired icon image under the system in order to link it to the print queue, and stores the print queue and the file path of the storage in association with each other.

[0164] In step S2408, the OS 1053 stores the path of the default icon held to be associated with the print queue. Note that the default icon image here is an icon image that the OS 1053 stores in advance, and is different from the default icon image stored by the print setting extension application 1052 in the fifth embodiment.

[0165] Next, in step S2409, the OS 1053 stores the print queue in association with the printer name in step S2401, the capability information acquired in step S2404, and the path of the icon image stored in steps S2407 and S2408.

[0166] By doing this, if an icon image is obtained in S2405, a detailed icon image can be displayed on a screen system that displays a list of peripheral devices of OS1053 (i.e., a printer management screen that manages devices such as printers from various vendors) (Figure 13), allowing the user to visually identify the printer more easily than in the case of the default icon.

[0167] Next, a method in which the print setting expanding application 1052 acquires an icon image will be described. There are two possible timings for the print setting expanding application 1052 to acquire an icon image. The first is when the print setting expanding application 1052 is selected from a list screen of applications stored in the client computer 100 and launched. The second is when the user issues a print instruction from an application other than the print setting expanding application 1052 and selects the identifier of the printer to be used for printing. Each system will be described here.

[0168] 25 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the print setting extending application 1052 at the timing corresponding to the first timing described above. That is, it is a flowchart showing the process of acquiring an icon from the cloud print service 500 and displaying a UI when the print setting extending application 1052 is opened from the application list. The process shown in FIG. 25 is realized by the CPU 101 executing the program of the print setting extending application 1052.

[0169] 23, S2501 to S2508 are the same as S2301 to S2308 in Fig. 23, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. The difference from the fifth embodiment is that after S2508 and S2507, the print setting extending application 1052 does not perform processing for providing the acquired icon image to the OS 1053. In this manner, in the sixth embodiment, the OS 1053 acquires the icon image from the cloud print service at the timing of print queue generation, and therefore the print setting extending application 1052 does not provide the icon image.

[0170] In S2509, the print setting expansion application displays the icon images acquired and saved in S2501 to S2508 as corresponding printer icons on the screen of the print setting expansion application shown in FIG.

[0171] Next, a process for acquiring an icon image at the second timing mentioned above will be described, that is, a process for acquiring an icon image at the timing when the user selects a printer.

[0172] 26 is a flowchart showing a process in which the print setting extending application 1052 acquires an icon when the user selects a printer. Each process shown in FIG. 26 is realized by the CPU 101 executing a program provided by the print setting extending application 1052.

[0173] 21, S2601 to S2607 are similar to S2101 to S2107 in FIG. 21, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. The difference from the fifth embodiment is that after S2606 and S2607, there is no processing for providing the icon image acquired by the print setting extension application 1052 to the OS 1053. The OS 1053 acquires the icon image when generating a print queue in the client computer 100. Therefore, the print setting extension application 1052 does not provide the icon image to the OS 1053.

[0174] As described above, the OS 1053 and the print setting extension application 1052 each acquire and hold an icon. This makes it possible to display an icon image corresponding to a printer on both the screen provided by the print setting application 1052 and the screen provided by the OS 1053.

[0175] In the sixth embodiment, the OS 1053 acquires an icon image at the timing of generating a print queue, and the print setting expanding application acquires an icon image at the two timings described above. The print setting expanding application 1052 may acquire an icon image at only one of the two timings described above. For example, the print setting expanding application 1052 may acquire an icon image of a printer corresponding to a print queue linked to the application only at the timing when the print setting expanding application 1052 is started from the application list. Also, the print setting expanding application associated with a print queue corresponding to a printer may acquire an icon image of the printer at the timing when the printer is selected, and the print setting expanding application may not acquire an icon image at other timings.

[0176] By doing as described above, it becomes possible to use the icon image provided by the cloud print-compatible printer 201 on the screen provided by either the print setting extension application 1052 or the OS 1053.

[0177] (Other Examples) The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

Claims

1. An application that cooperates with a standard driver included in an operating system of an information processing device, the program of the application causing the information processing device to display a print setting screen for accepting from a user print settings used to generate a print command to be sent from the information processing device to a printer, the program including: a first acquisition step of acquiring, in response to an event issued by the operating system, information on a location where data of an icon representing the printer is stored from an external device different from the computer via a network; a second acquisition step of acquiring an icon image based on the acquired location information; a control step of displaying the acquired icon on a display means of the computer.

2. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the location information is a link sent using an attribute printer-static-resource-directory-uri in the Internet Printing Protocol.

3. The program described in Claim 1, characterized in that the event is an event issued by the operating system in response to the selection of a printer to be used for printing.

4. The program described in Claim 3, characterized in that the event is an event issued in response to the display of the print settings screen or the selection of the printer on the print settings screen.

5. the print command is transmitted via a print server system located between the printer and the information processing device; 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the location information is a link sent from the printer via the print server system.

6. The program described in Claim 1, characterized in that the acquired icon image is associated with a print queue corresponding to the printer and stored.

7. The program described in Claim 6, characterized in that the association is performed by correlating identification information of the print queue with information indicating the storage destination of the icon image.

8. The program described in Claim 7, characterized in that whether or not the first acquisition process and the second acquisition process need to be executed is determined based on whether or not the icon image is associated with the print queue, and the process is executed if the icon image is not associated.

9. The program described in Claim 1, characterized in that if acquisition of the icon image fails in the second acquisition process, a default icon is displayed on the display means.

10. The program described in Claim 9, characterized in that the default icon is selected from a plurality of default icons based on the identification information of the printer or the attributes of the printer.

11. The program described in Claim 9, characterized in that when the default icon is displayed, the first acquisition process and the second acquisition process are re-executed in response to the re-issuance of the event, and the default icon is replaced with the icon image.

12. The program described in Claim 1, characterized in that the event includes an event issued in response to the startup of the application.

13. The program described in Claim 12, characterized in that the first acquisition process and the second acquisition process are performed on a printer from among multiple printers associated with the application for which the icon image has not been acquired.

14. A control method for an information processing device, comprising: The information processing device executes a program of an application that cooperates with a standard driver included in an operating system of the information processing device, and that causes the information processing device to display a print setting screen for receiving, from a user, print settings used to generate a print command to be transmitted from the information processing device to a printer. a first acquisition step of acquiring, in response to an event issued by the operating system, information on a location where data of an icon representing the printer is stored from an external device different from the computer via a network; a second acquisition step of acquiring an icon image based on the acquired location information; a control step of displaying the acquired icon on a display means of the computer.

15. An information processing device, By executing a program of the application that cooperates with a standard driver included in the operating system of the information processing device, and that causes the information processing device to display a print setting screen for accepting print settings from a user that are used to generate a print command to be sent from the information processing device to a printer, a first acquisition step of acquiring, in response to an event issued by the operating system, information on a location where data of an icon representing the printer is stored from an external device different from the computer via a network; a second acquisition step of acquiring an icon image based on the acquired location information; and a control step of displaying the acquired icon on a display means of the computer.

Images