Communication system and image forming apparatus

Abstract

To provide a communication system and an image forming apparatus that allow a cloud server to learn the timing of completion of download of print data and preparation of the print data.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus communicates with a server that renders web contents and displays the web contents on the basis of a result of the rendering. The image forming apparatus has: means that receives a rendering image corresponding to the web contents from the server; means that transmits a first request related to print data to the server on the basis of the received rendering image; means that receives a completion notification from the server on the basis of the completion of reception of the print data from an external device; and means that transmits a second request related to the print data to the server on the basis of the reception of the completion notification.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication system and an image forming apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, communication terminals equipped with a web browser (hereafter referred to as a browser) and capable of browsing web pages on the browser are in widespread use. By displaying the web pages of external services through the browser, the communication terminal can link with the external services.

[0003] One type of browser is called a cloud browser, which generates the rendering results of web pages on a cloud server. With a cloud browser, computationally intensive processes such as web page analysis and execution are performed on the server, eliminating the computational load on the communication terminal.

[0004] In a cloud browser, the browser runs on a virtual machine running on a cloud server. The virtual machine is virtually assigned various device resources required for a PC. Therefore, the browser running on the virtual machine can operate in the same way as if it were running on a PC.

[0005] Since inexpensive image forming devices, for example, cannot have many device resources, the aforementioned cloud browser makes it possible to operate the latest web pages and even connect to external services. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-174126 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In the image forming apparatus, when a file is downloaded from an external web service via browsing in a configuration using a cloud browser, the destination storage is the storage on the cloud browser, not the image forming apparatus.

[0008] A user wants to print a document file stored in storage on a cloud browser, but the image forming device does not know when the cloud server has finished downloading the print data and preparing the print data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention is characterized in that an image forming device that communicates with a server that renders Web content and displays the Web content based on the results of the rendering has the following features: means for receiving a rendering image corresponding to the Web content from the server; means for sending a first request for print data to the server based on the received rendering image; means for receiving a completion notification from the server based on the server completing reception of the print data from an external device; and means for sending a second request for print data to the server upon receiving the completion notification. Effect of the Invention

[0010] The image forming device can know the timing when the cloud server has completed downloading the print data and preparing the print data. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] Block diagram showing an example of the cloud browser system configuration [Diagram 2] Virtual machine hardware and software configuration examples [Diagram 3] Example of hardware and software configuration of image forming device [Figure 4] An example of the cloud browser settings screen [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a home screen of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a screen generated in a cloud browser system. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an access screen. [Figure 8] A diagram showing an example of a sequence [Figure 9] A diagram showing an example of a sequence [Figure 10] Figure showing an example of the screen when file download is selected [Figure 11] A diagram showing an example of a sequence [Figure 12] Flowchart diagram [Figure 13] A table showing the file format classification of downloaded files [Figure 14] A diagram showing an example of a screen DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all of the combinations of features described in each embodiment are necessarily essential to the solution of the present invention. In this embodiment, an image forming apparatus is used as an example of an information processing apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0013] Example 1 A first embodiment will now be described.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the entire communication system of the cloud web browser in this embodiment. In the system of FIG. 1, a user browses the screen of an image forming device 101. The user operates the image forming device 101 to input the URL of a Web content server 105 that the user wants to browse. The image forming device 101 transmits the received URL of the Web content server 105 to an image generating system 100 as an information processing system installed on the cloud via a router 1-04. The image forming device 1-01 has a function of printing an image or a function of transmitting image data generated by scanning to an arbitrary destination. Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which three image forming devices are connected, the number of connections is arbitrary. The image forming device 101, the image forming device 102, and the image forming device 103 have the same configuration, and the image forming device 101 will be described below.

[0015] The browser 108 in the virtual machine 107 of the image generation system 100 receives the URL of the Web content server 105 transmitted from the image forming apparatus 101 via the gateway 106. The browser 108 then accesses the Web content server 105 corresponding to the received URL via the gateway 106. The Web content server 105 generates Web content for the requested URL and transmits it to the requesting browser 108. The browser 108 generates a rendering result of the Web content received from the Web content server 105. The data used for this browser operation and rendering generation uses a storage 109 on the virtual machine. The browser 108 then transmits the generated rendering result of the Web content to the image forming apparatus 101 via the gateway 106. The image forming apparatus 101 receives the rendering result of the Web content transmitted from the image generation system 100, and presents the Web content to the user by displaying the received rendering result. Note that in addition to the image forming apparatus 101, a plurality of image forming apparatuses such as the image forming apparatuses 102 and 103 may be connected to the cloud web browser system.

[0016] In the following description, the browser engine 108 running on the virtual machine 107 and the image generating system 100 including the browser engine 108 will be referred to as a "cloud browser." The entire system including the operation of the image forming apparatus in cooperation with the cloud browser will be referred to as a "cloud browser system."

[0017] FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a virtual machine that operates in a cloud browser system in this embodiment. A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 201 executes various processes using computer programs and data stored in a storage. As a result, the CPU 201 controls the operation of the entire virtual machine 107, and executes or controls each process that will be described as being performed by the virtual machine 107. The storage 202 stores setting data for the virtual machine 107, computer programs and data related to the startup of the virtual machine 107, computer programs and data related to the basic operation of the virtual machine 107, and the like. The RAM 203 has an area for storing computer programs and data loaded from the storage 202, and data received from an external device via the communication interface 205. The RAM 203 also has a work area used when the CPU 201 executes various processes. In this way, the RAM 203 can provide various areas (storage areas) as appropriate.

[0018] The interface 204 is an interface including a display unit for displaying the processing results by the CPU 201 as images and characters, and an operation unit operated by the user to perform various operational inputs. The display unit includes a liquid crystal screen and a touch panel screen. The operation unit includes user interfaces such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel screen. The communication interface 205 is an interface for performing data communication with an external device. The CPU 201, the storage 202, the RAM 203, the interface 204, and the communication interface 205 are all connected to a bus 206.

[0019] Note that the configuration shown in Fig. 2(A) is merely an example of a configuration applicable to the virtual machine according to this embodiment, and is not intended to be limited to the configuration shown in Fig. 2(A). For example, in the configuration shown in Fig. 2(A), a memory device may be further connected to the bus 206. The memory device may include, for example, a hard disk drive, a USB memory, a magnetic card, an optical card, an IC card, a memory card, and a drive device (a drive device for a storage medium such as an optical disk such as a flexible disk (FD) or a compact disk (CD)).

[0020] The virtual machine 107 can be configured by so-called virtualization technology, and various resources constituting a computer system can be organized into logical units independent of the physical configuration. That is, it is possible to configure the virtual machine 107 by integrating multiple resources, or to divide one resource and configure one of the divided resources as the virtual machine 107. That is, the virtual machine 107 can be configured using at least a portion of multiple resources (which can be configured by multiple devices) of an information processing system constituting a cloud.

[0021] FIG. 2(B) is a diagram showing the software configuration of a virtual machine that operates in the cloud browser system. The overall control unit is a module that controls the entire virtual machine of the cloud browser system. The NW control unit 253 is a module that receives communication from the outside and transmits data through the communication interface 205. The NW control unit 253 receives a rendering request for Web content specified by a URL and notifies the overall control unit 250 of the request. Rendering refers to generating an image or the like from abstract, high-level information described in a data description language or data structure. In this embodiment, the rendered image is called a rendered image.

[0022] The overall control unit 250 receives the rendering request notification and notifies the browser engine 251 of the specified URL. The browser engine 251 passes the URL to the HTTP client 252 to acquire the Web content indicated by the URL. The HTTP client 252 requests the NW control unit 253 to acquire the Web content of the specified URL via the Proxy. The NW control unit 253 accesses the URL via the specified Proxy and acquires the Web content. The browser engine 251 requests the drawing control unit 255 to draw information of the acquired Web content. The overall control unit 250 notifies an external communication device of the image data drawn by the drawing control unit 255 via the NW control unit 253.

[0023] 3A is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes a controller unit 300. A scanner 370, which is an image input device, and a printer 395, which is an image output device, are connected to the controller unit 300, and an operation unit 312 is also connected to the controller unit 300. The controller unit 300 performs control to realize a copy function in which the scanner 370 reads an original and generates image data, and the printer 395 prints out the image data on paper.

[0024] The controller unit 300 has a CPU 301. The CPU 301 starts up an operating system (OS) by a boot program stored in a ROM 303. The CPU 301 executes a program stored in a storage 304 on this OS, thereby executing various processes. This RAM 302 is used as a working area for the CPU 301. Furthermore, the RAM 302 provides an image memory area for temporarily storing image data, as well as providing a working area. The storage 304 stores programs and image data.

[0025] The CPU 301 is connected to the ROM 303, RAM 302, operation unit interface (hereinafter, I / F) 306, network I / F 310, USB host I / F 313, and image bus I / F 305 via a system bus 307. The operation unit I / F 306 is an interface with an operation unit 312 having a touch panel, and outputs image data to be displayed on the operation unit 312 to the operation unit 312. The operation unit I / F 306 also sends information input by a user on the operation unit 312 to the CPU 301. The network I / F 310 is an interface for connecting the image forming apparatus to a LAN.

[0026] The USB host I / F 313 is an interface unit that communicates with the USB storage 314. The USB host I / F 313 is an output unit for storing data stored in the storage 304 in the USB storage 314. The USB host I / F 313 also inputs data stored in the USB storage 314 and transmits it to the CPU 301. The USB storage 314 is an external storage device that stores data, and is detachable from the USB host I / F 313. A plurality of USB devices including the USB storage 314 can be connected to the USB host I / F 313.

[0027] The RTC 315 controls the current time. The time information controlled by the RTC 315 is used for recording the time when a job is input, etc. The image bus I / F 305 is a bus bridge that connects the system bus 307 and the image bus 308 that transfers image data at high speed, and converts the data format. The image bus 308 is configured by a PCI bus or IEEE3394, etc. The device I / F 320, the scanner image processing unit 380, and the printer image processing unit 390 are connected to the image bus 308. The device I / F 320 is connected to the scanner 270 and the printer 395. The device I / F 320 performs synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data. The scanner image processing unit 380 corrects, processes, and edits input image data. The printer image processing unit 390 performs correction, resolution conversion, etc. on print output image data according to the printer 395.

[0028] Fig. 3B is a diagram showing the software configuration of an image forming apparatus that operates in a cloud browser system in this embodiment. Each unit indicated by a solid line in Fig. 3 is a software module that is realized by a CPU 301 executing a main program loaded in a RAM 302. The execution of each module of the main program, which will be described later, is managed and controlled by an OS (Operating System) 351.

[0029] The UI control unit 352 displays a screen on the operation unit 312 and accepts operations from the user via the operation unit I / F 306. The UI control unit 352 also has a function of notifying other modules of user operations, receiving drawing instructions from other modules, and controlling screen updating.

[0030] The job execution control unit 353 is a module that receives a job execution instruction from the UI control unit 352 and controls job processing such as copying, scanning, and printing.

[0031] The NW control unit 354 receives a communication request from another module and controls the network IF 310, and controls communication with an external device. In addition, the NW control unit 354 receives a notification from an external device and notifies other modules of the content of the notification.

[0032] A storage control unit 355 records and manages the setting information and job information recorded in the storage 304. Each module located in the OS hierarchy accesses the storage control unit 355 to refer to and set setting values.

[0033] Browser control unit 360 is a sub-module included in OS 351, and performs control specific to the cloud browser of this embodiment, which will be described later. In addition, browser control unit 360 may include any number of sub-modules in the OS.

[0034] The browser operation unit 362 has a function of notifying the command IF unit or the Proxy processing unit 365 of the content of the user operation upon receiving a notification of the user operation from the UI control unit 352 .

[0035] The proxy processing unit 365 receives a notification from the browser operation unit 362 and requests the storage control unit 355 to obtain proxy setting information. If the proxy setting is valid based on the obtained proxy setting information, the proxy processing unit 365 requests communication to the proxy server 104 via the NW control unit 354. The proxy processing unit 365 further has a function of receiving a response from the proxy server 104 via the NW control unit 354 and notifying the browser display unit 363 or the command IF unit 364 of the result of processing the contents of the response.

[0036] The command IF unit 364 receives notifications from the browser operation unit 362 and the proxy processing unit 365, and requests communication with the image forming system 100 through the NW control unit 354. The communication request at this time may include the notified information. The notified information may be user operations such as text input, link press, scrolling, and zooming. For example, in the case of text input, the notified information includes the character string entered by the user. In the case of link press, the notified information includes the pressed coordinates, and in the case of scrolling and zooming, the notified information includes the character strings associated with each of them. The command IF unit 364 also accepts communication from the image generating system 100 through the NW control unit 354. It processes the accepted content and notifies the image data acquisition unit 361 or the browser display unit 363.

[0037] The image data acquisition unit 361 receives the URL on the storage 202, which is the storage destination of the rendering result, from the command IF unit 364. The image data acquisition unit 361 receives the image from the URL and passes it to the browser display unit 363.

[0038] Browser display unit 363 receives an image from image data acquisition unit 361 and instructs UI control unit 352 to draw the image. Browser display unit 363 also receives a notification from command IF unit 364 and proxy processing unit 365 and instructs the drawing of a screen that displays a message corresponding to the notification.

[0039] 4 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen in this embodiment. A user accesses a specific URL of the image forming apparatus, browses the URL, and operates this setting screen to set the cloud browser function. A cloud browser function switching checkbox 401 is a checkbox that is checked when using the cloud browser function.

[0040] Furthermore, the proxy usage switching checkbox 402 is a checkbox that is checked when a proxy is used for web access. When the proxy usage switching checkbox 402 is checked, the proxy host and port information are set. The proxy authentication checkbox 403 is a checkbox that is checked when the proxy requires authentication. When the proxy authentication checkbox 403 is checked, the proxy authentication information (ID, Password) is specified.

[0041] The start URL specification checkbox 404 is a checkbox that allows you to specify the URL to be displayed first when the cloud browser function is executed by checking and specifying the URL. The information set here is notified via the network I / F 310 and recorded in the storage 304.

[0042] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a home screen display displayed on the operation unit 312 of the image forming apparatus. The home screen 500 is composed of buttons 501 to 506 that display functions related to the image forming apparatus. In FIG. 5, six buttons having functions are displayed on the home screen 500, but the number of buttons is arbitrary. The button 501 is an example of a button related to a copy function. When the button 501 is pressed, the function associated with the button 501 is executed. The buttons 502 and 503 are also examples of buttons related to a copy function. When the buttons 502 and 503 are pressed like the button 501, the functions associated with the respective buttons are executed. The buttons 504 and 505 are examples of buttons related to a scan function. When the buttons 504 and 505 are pressed, the functions associated with the respective buttons are executed. The button 506 is an example of a button related to a cloud browser function. When the button 506 is pressed, the function associated with the button 506 is executed.

[0043] 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen generated in the cloud browser system of this embodiment. Cloud browser screen 600 is displayed on operation unit 312. When the cloud browser is started, screen 600 displays the rendering result of the web page if start-up URL check box 404 is selected.

[0044] The startup URL is a setting acquired by the image forming apparatus 101 through the NW control unit 354 and stored in the storage 304. The startup URL is acquired by the proxy processing unit 365 with reference to the storage control unit 355 when the cloud browser is started.

[0045] The rendering result 610 is an image sample rendered by the virtual machine 107. The rendering result 610 is displayed on the operation unit 312 when the image data acquisition unit 361 acquires image data from the virtual machine 107 and the browser display unit 363 instructs the UI control unit 352 to draw the image.

[0046] Menu 601 is a button for referring to favorites and history, which are browser functions. When menu 601 is selected, for example, a cloud browser menu screen is displayed, and it is possible to view bookmarked web pages and the history of visited web pages.

[0047] Button 602 is an example of a button that returns a screen transition or user operation, which is one of the browser functions, to the previous state. When button 602 is pressed, operation unit 312 displays a rendering result in which the operation has been returned to the previous state. Button 603 is an example of a button that returns a screen transition or user operation, which is one of the browser functions, to a state one step forward. Button 603 is selectable only when it is possible to advance a user operation by one step, and when button 603 is pressed, operation unit 312 displays a rendering result in a state in which the user operation has been advanced by one step.

[0048] The character string display area 604 is an example of an area that shows the URL and title of the displayed Web page. When the user selects a link in the rendering result 610, such as a Web page link 611 or a PDF file link 612, the proxy processing unit 365 requests the virtual machine 107 to render the linked Web page.

[0049] Fig. 7(A) is a diagram showing an example of a screen when accessing a cloud storage service with a general browser. Browser screen 700 is the screen when using a cloud storage service to download a file. In this example, pressing download item 701 in the selection box that appears when selecting a file starts downloading from the web service using the browser function.

[0050] Fig. 7(B) is a diagram showing an example of a screen when a website is accessed using a general browser. Browser screen 700 is a download screen for a website that distributes program files. In this example, clicking a link 711 for the program file uses the browser function to start downloading from the web service.

[0051] FIG. 8A is a sequence diagram showing a flow of printing content downloaded from a Web service using a general browser-equipped PC and an image forming apparatus as a comparative example to this embodiment.

[0052] The user operates the PC 802 to perform a download start operation such as pressing a download item 701 or a program file link 711 (S801). The PC 802 executes a download start instruction to the browser engine 802b that has received the operation, and sends a download request to the WEB content server 803 (S802, S803).

[0053] When downloading is executed from the web content server 803, the PC 802 stores the content in the storage 802a via the browser engine 802b (S804, S805).

[0054] After the data is saved, the user issues a print instruction to the PC 802 and issues an instruction to transmit the file in the storage (S806, S807). The PC transmits print data to the image forming apparatus 801, and the image forming apparatus that receives the print data executes printing (S808, S809).

[0055] 8B is a sequence diagram showing a flow of printing content downloaded from a WEB service using an image forming apparatus equipped with a browser function as a comparative example for the present embodiment. Note that the image forming apparatus 801 is controlled by the CPU 301.

[0056] The image forming apparatus 801 receives a download start operation from the user, such as pressing a download item 701 or a program file link 711 (S811). Receiving the operation, the image forming apparatus 801 issues a download start instruction to the browser engine 801b, and sends a download request to the WEB content server 803 (S812, S813).

[0057] When the image forming apparatus 801 downloads the data from the WEB content server 803, the image forming apparatus 801 saves the data in the storage 801a through the browser engine 801b (S814, S815). The image forming apparatus 801 causes the printer 395 to print the data (S816, S817) when the data is saved in the storage 801a.

[0058] 9 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of printing content downloaded from a web service in the cloud browser system of this embodiment. Note that the image forming apparatus 901 is controlled by the CPU 301.

[0059] The image forming apparatus 901 accepts a download start operation from a user (S901). The image forming apparatus 901 that has received the operation transfers a download start instruction operation to the connected cloud browser 902 (S902). The cloud browser 902 that has received the operation executes a download start instruction to the browser engine 902b, and sends a download request to the web content server 903 (S903, S904). When downloading is executed from the web content server 903, the cloud browser 902 saves it in the storage 902a through the browser engine 902b (S905, S906). The cloud browser 902 notifies the connected image forming apparatus 901 of the download completion, triggered by the completion of saving in the storage 902a (907, S908).

[0060] Triggered by the download completion notification (S908), the image forming apparatus 901 requests print data from the cloud browser 902 (S909). In response to the print data request (S909), the cloud browser 902 transmits the print data to the image forming apparatus 901. The image forming apparatus 901 uses the received print data (image data) to cause the printer 395 to execute a print process that prints the image data on paper (910, S911).

[0061] When the print process is completed and the connection between the image forming apparatus 901 and the cloud browser 902 is cut off, the cloud browser storage 902a deletes the stored data.

[0062] In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 901 waits for a download completion notification after a download start operation (S902). However, the image forming apparatus 901 may poll the cloud browser 902 and receive the download completion notification as a response to the polling.

[0063] Fig. 10A is a diagram showing an example of a pop-up screen when file download is selected in the cloud browser system of this embodiment. Fig. 10A shows a pop-up screen when download item 701 is selected on browser screen 700 of a cloud storage service in the cloud browser system. Print confirmation screen 1000 displays file name 1001 of the downloaded file to be printed. When "Yes" 1002 is pressed, image forming apparatus 901 starts the above-mentioned print sequence by treating the selection operation as a download start operation (S901). When "No" 1003 is pressed, image forming apparatus 901 returns to browser screen 700.

[0064] 10B is a diagram showing an example of a pop-up screen that appears when a file download in a file format that cannot be printed is selected in the cloud browser system of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the pop-up screen is shown when a program file link 711 is selected on a browser screen 710 of a website that distributes program files in the cloud browser system. Because the download target is an executable file, a warning pop-up screen 1010 displays 1011 that the download target cannot be printed. Pressing "Return to page" 1012 on the warning pop-up screen 1010 returns to the browser screen 710.

[0065] 11 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of operations when a file download is selected in the cloud browser system of this embodiment. Note that the image forming apparatus 901 is controlled by the CPU 301.

[0066] Upon receiving a press of a download link such as a press of a download item 701 or a press of a program file link 711 from the user, the image forming apparatus 901 transmits to the cloud browser 902 a notification that the link press has been received (S1101, S1102).

[0067] The cloud browser 902 checks the downloaded file with the browser engine 902b (S1103). The browser engine 902b checks the file by acquiring the file format from the link information and determining whether the file can be printed from the file format (S1104, S1105).

[0068] When the Web content server 903 determines that the file is printable in the printability determination (S1105), it notifies the image forming apparatus 901 that the file is printable via the cloud browser 902 (printability notification) (S1106, S1107). Note that a printable file is an image that can be handled as print data without converting the file format. For example, the PDF format is included.

[0069] The image forming apparatus 901 uses the notification as a trigger to display a print confirmation screen 1000, and selects "Yes" 1002 to start downloading (S1108, S0901). If the file is determined to be unprintable in the printability determination (S1105), the image forming apparatus 901 is notified that the file is unprintable (S1110, S1111). The image forming apparatus 901 uses the notification as a trigger to display a warning pop-up screen 1010 (S1112). Note that unprintable files include files in a format that requires format conversion processing, such as ZIP format.

[0070] When the print process is completed and the connection between the image forming apparatus 901 and the cloud browser 902 is cut off, the cloud browser storage 902a deletes the stored data.

[0071] 12 is a flowchart showing the process of checking a downloaded file in the cloud browser in this embodiment. This flow shows the operation of the browser engine 108 in the above-mentioned sequence.

[0072] First, the browser engine 108 acquires the file format of the file to be downloaded from the MIME type (S1104). Then, the operation is switched based on the file format acquired in the previous step (S1105). The classification of file formats will be described later.

[0073] If the file format is directly printable by the image forming device, the image forming device notifies the user that printing is possible (S1106). After that, the image forming device waits for an instruction to start downloading (S1201), and executes downloading based on the instruction (S0904, S0905). Finally, the downloaded data is stored in the storage 109 (S906).

[0074] If the file format requires rendering outside the image forming device, the image forming device is notified that printing is possible (S1106). Then, the device waits for an instruction to start downloading (S1201), and executes downloading based on the instruction (S0904, S0905). Finally, the downloaded data is rendered into print data (S1202), and the print data is saved in storage 109 (S1203). If the file format is not printable, the image forming device is notified that printing is not possible (S1110).

[0075] Fig. 13 is a table showing file format classifications of downloaded files in this embodiment. The first classification 1301 is a format in which the image forming device 101 can directly process the data and directly print it. The second classification 1302 is a format other than the first classification, such as images, text, and documents, that can be made into print data by rendering them. The third classification 1303 is all data formats that are not included in the first and second classifications.

[0076] This classification depends on the capabilities of the image forming device and the rendering capabilities of the browser engine, so it is not guaranteed that the file will be classified accurately according to its file format.

[0077] 14A is a diagram showing an example of an operation setting screen when a link of a page is clicked in this embodiment. For example, in a PDF or the like, a link may be written within a page, and the user may want to print the PDF file or use the link within the PDF file.

[0078] This screen is for setting the action to be taken when a link to such a page is clicked. The "always open page in browser" setting 1401 is a setting for always displaying the page on the browser screen when a file link such as a PDF is clicked. The "always open print popup" setting 1402 is a setting for always displaying the print confirmation screen 1000 when a file link such as a PDF is clicked. The "confirm every time" setting 1403 is a setting for displaying a popup screen 1410 when a file link such as a PDF is clicked.

[0079] 14B is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen when a link is clicked in this embodiment. A pop-up screen 1410 is displayed when the setting for the action to be taken when a link to a page such as a PDF is clicked is set to "Confirm every time" 1403.

[0080] This embodiment shows an example of the contents when a PDF file link 612 is selected in a cloud browser system. When "Open page in browser" 1411 is selected, the cloud browser 902 displays the linked page. When "Print" 1412 is selected, the cloud browser 902 transitions to a print confirmation screen 1000.

[0081] According to the configuration of this embodiment, when a document file stored in the storage on the cloud browser is printed, the image forming device can know the timing when the cloud server has completed downloading the print data and preparing the print data, so that the image forming device can start obtaining the data and start printing.

[0082] (Other embodiments) Although various examples and embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the spirit and scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific descriptions within this specification.

[0083] 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. [Explanation of symbols]

[0084] 100 Image Generation System 101 Image forming device 105 Web Content Server 107 Virtual Machines 108 Browser 109 Storage

Claims

1. A communication system including a server that renders Web content, and an image forming apparatus that communicates with the server and displays the Web content based on a result of the rendering, a means for receiving a rendering image corresponding to a Web content from the server by the image forming apparatus; a means for transmitting a first request for print data to the server based on the received rendering image by the image forming device; a means for receiving print data from an external device based on the request by the server; a means for transmitting a completion notification to the image forming apparatus based on completion of reception of the print data by the server; a means for transmitting a second request for print data to the server based on receipt of the completion notification by the image forming device; A communication system comprising:

2. a means for transmitting the print data to the image forming device based on the second request by the server; 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus further comprises a printing unit that prints an image on a sheet of paper based on the print data received from the server.

3. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the server has a means for transmitting a third request based on the first request to the external device based on the request.

4. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the completion notification is a response to a polling request sent from the image forming device to the server.

5. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the first request is a request to the server to download the print data from the external device.

6. 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the second request is a request to the server to transfer the print data to the image forming apparatus.

7. a means for the server to confirm whether the file format of the print data is a format that can be printed by the image forming device without format conversion; 2. The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the server has a means for accepting the first request if the file format is printable.

8. 8. The communication system according to claim 7, wherein the printable file format is a PDF format.

9. 8. The communication system according to claim 7, further comprising a means for causing the server to send a notification of printing failure to the image forming apparatus when the file format is not printable.

10. 10. The communication system of claim 9, wherein the non-printable file format is a ZIP format.

11. 1. An image forming apparatus that communicates with a server that renders Web content and displays the Web content based on a result of the rendering, means for receiving a rendering image corresponding to a Web content from the server; means for sending a first request for print data to the server based on the received rendered image; a means for receiving a completion notification from the server based on completion of reception of the print data from the external device in the server; a means for transmitting a second request for print data to the server upon receiving the completion notification; An image forming apparatus comprising:

12. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising: a unit for receiving print data from the server after making the second request, and printing an image on a sheet based on the print data.

13. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the completion notification is a response to a polling request sent from the image forming apparatus to the server.

14. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the first request is a request to the server to download the print data from the external device.

15. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the second request is a request to the server to transfer the print data to the image forming apparatus.

16. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising: a unit for receiving a notification from the server that printing is possible when the file format is printable.

17. 17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the printable file format is a PDF format.

18. 17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising a unit for receiving a notification from the server to the image forming apparatus that printing is not possible when the file format is not printable.

19. 20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the non-printable file format is a ZIP format.

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