Information processing apparatus, control method for information processing apparatus, and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus that is able to obtain printer capability information for setting items different from setting items that can be set by a general-purpose printer driver when using the general-purpose printer driver.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus in this embodiment is configured to: acquire capability information related to a first setting item that can be set by a printer driver from a cloud print service based on the installation of the printer driver for transmitting print data to the cloud print service in which printer information is registered; after the acquisition of the capability information related to the first setting item is completed, acquire capability information related to a second setting item that is not supported by the printer driver from the cloud print service; and display an object for selecting a setting value of the second setting item based on the capability information related to the second setting item acquired by second acquisition means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method for the information processing apparatus, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, general-purpose printer drivers using industry-standard protocols such as IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) have been considered. Examples of general-purpose printer drivers include a local printer driver that directly connects to a printer and a cloud printer driver that transmits print data to a cloud print service.

[0003] A general-purpose printer driver can communicate with printers of multiple printer vendors. Therefore, by using a general-purpose printer driver, a user can transmit print data to an image forming apparatus or a cloud print service without installing a vendor-specific printer driver.

[0004] Since the above general-purpose printer driver handles print jobs printed by printers of various vendors, the items and functions that can be set as print settings are limited. Therefore, as described in Patent Document 1, it has been considered to extend a print queue associated with the printer driver by using identification information of the printer associated with the printer driver. Thereby, a vendor-specific print setting UI and a print job editing function can be realized.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Even when printing is performed using a general-purpose driver, an improvement in convenience is required. 。

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] An application program that cooperates with a general-purpose driver capable of outputting a print instruction to an image forming apparatus by communication using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), and causes an information processing apparatus to display a first object for receiving a setting related to page aggregation from a user and a second object for receiving a setting related to the arrangement order from the user, wherein the information processing apparatus can display the second object by using the application program. 。

Effect of the Invention

[0008] In the present invention According to the application program, even when printing is performed using a general-purpose driver, convenience is improved. can be achieved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

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Figure 6B

Figure 7

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Figure 13

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a print system in cloud printing in this embodiment. A client terminal 101, a cloud printing server 102, an application management server 103, a cloud printing compatible printer 104, and an online support server 105 are connected via a network 107.

[0012] In FIG. 1, one client terminal 101 and one cloud printing compatible printer 104 are shown respectively, but there may be a plurality of client terminals 101 and cloud printing compatible printers 104.

[0013] Also, the cloud printing server 102, the application management server 103, and the online support server 105 may be server systems composed of a plurality of information processing devices. By configuring each server as a server system composed of a plurality of information processing devices, load distribution can be dispersed to the plurality of information processing devices.

[0014] In addition, the cloud print server 102, the application management server 103, and the online support server 105 may be virtually configured inside a single information processing device physically.

[0015] The network 107 assumes a WAN such as the Internet for connection to cloud services, but all of them may be in a closed environment such as an in-house LAN.

[0016] The client terminal 101 is an information processing device such as a PC, a tablet, or a smartphone, and is a terminal directly operated by a user. Any application software can be executed on the client terminal 101.

[0017] The cloud print-compatible printer 104 is a device that actually performs printing on a recording medium such as paper, and is an image forming device that converts the print data received via the network 107 into image data and prints it.

[0018] The cloud print-compatible printer 104 can receive print data from the client terminal 101 via the cloud print server 102, or can also receive print data directly from the client terminal 101 without going through the cloud print server 102.

[0019] The cloud print-compatible printer 104 receives the print data generated by the cloud printer driver 311 of the client terminal 101 via the cloud print server 102. In addition, the cloud print-compatible printer 104 receives the print data generated by the local printer driver 314 of the client terminal 101 without going through the cloud print server 102.

[0020] The cloud print server 102 receives a print instruction and print data from the outside. Then, the cloud print server 102 transmits the received print data to a predetermined cloud print-compatible printer 104.

[0021] The application management server 103 holds and manages various applications. The application management server 103 receives the identification information of an application and a download request from the client terminal 101, and transmits the application specified based on the received identification information to the client terminal 101.

[0022] The online support server 105 is a server device that provides an online support service 351. The online support service 351 is a server device for providing an extended setup information file in which information for expanding the functions of the client terminal 101 is described to the client terminal 101.

[0023] Next, the hardware configuration in the system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0024] FIG. 2(a) is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the client terminal 101.

[0025] The client terminal 101 includes a display unit 216, an operation unit 217, a storage unit 214, a control unit 211, and a network communication unit 215.

[0026] The storage unit 214 refers to a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk or an SSD, and can store and rewrite digital data.

[0027] The control unit 211 is composed of a CPU 212 and a memory 213, and controls the overall operation of the client terminal 101. The CPU 212 expands the program stored in the storage unit 214 into the memory 213 and executes it. The memory 213 is the main memory of the CPU 212 and is used as a work area and a temporary storage area for expanding various programs.

[0028] The network communication unit 215 is a device that communicates with an external network 107, and inputs and outputs digital data with an external server, a client terminal, etc. via the network 107.

[0029] The display unit 216 is a device for displaying visual information to the user, such as a liquid crystal display. The operation unit 217 is a device for receiving input from the user by means of a keyboard, mouse, etc. A device having both functions of the display unit 216 and the operation unit 217, such as a touch panel, may be used.

[0030] FIG. 2(b) is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the cloud print server 102. The cloud print server 102 includes a storage unit 224, a control unit 221, and a network communication unit 225.

[0031] Since the descriptions of the storage unit 224, the control unit 221, and the network communication unit 225 are the same as those of the client terminal 101, they are omitted.

[0032] Note that the cloud print server 102 is described as being composed of a single information processing device having the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2(b), but the cloud print server 102 may be composed of a plurality of information processing devices shown in FIG. 2(b).

[0033] FIG. 2(c) is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the application management server 103. The application management server 103 includes a display unit 236, an operation unit 237, a storage unit 234, a control unit 231, and a network communication unit 235.

[0034] Since the descriptions of the display unit 236, the operation unit 237, the storage unit 234, the control unit 231, and the network communication unit 235 are the same as those of the client terminal 101, they are omitted.

[0035] Note that the application management server 103 is described as being composed of a single information processing device having the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2(c), but the application management server 103 may be composed of a plurality of information processing devices.

[0036] FIG. 2(d) is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the cloud print-compatible printer 104. The cloud print-compatible printer 104 includes a display unit 246, an operation unit 247, a storage unit 244, a control unit 241, a network communication unit 245, and a printing unit 248.

[0037] The display unit 246 is a device for displaying information to the user, such as a touch panel or an LED provided in the cloud print-compatible printer 104.

[0038] The operation unit 247 is a device for receiving input from the user, and may include hard keys such as a numeric keypad in addition to the touch panel. Since the storage unit 244 and the control unit 241 are equivalent to those of the client terminal 101, their description is omitted.

[0039] The network communication unit 245 is a device for communicating with an external network 107, and mainly has the role of receiving print data and transmitting the state of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 such as an error to an external server or the like.

[0040] The printing unit 248 is a device that performs printing processing by performing a series of operations of feeding paper, printing, and discharging paper on the paper prepared in a cassette or a tray. The printing method is not particularly limited, such as an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method. Finishing devices such as a duplex unit, stapler, and punching process used at the time of paper discharge are also included in the printing unit 248.

[0041] In this embodiment, as an example of the cloud print-compatible printer 104, a single-function printer that only performs a printing function is described, but a multi-function printer (MFP) that also has a scanner function or a FAX function may be used.

[0042] Figure 2(e) is a hardware block diagram showing details of the online support server 105. In the present embodiment, the online support server 105 is described as being configured by a single information processing apparatus, but it may be configured by a plurality of information processing apparatuses. The online support server includes a display unit 256, an operation unit 257, a storage unit 254, a control unit 251, and a network communication unit 255. Since the display unit 256 and the operation unit 257 are the same as the display unit 216 and the operation unit 217 of the client terminal 101, the description thereof is omitted. The storage unit 254 is a memory device such as an HDD or an SSD. The storage unit 254 stores an extended setup information file, which is a file in which information for extending the functions provided by the client terminal 101 is described.

[0043] The control unit 251 includes a CPU 252 and a memory 253. The CPU 252 controls the entire online support server 105. The memory 253 is used for the processing executed by the CPU 252. The network communication unit 255 is an interface for the online support server 105 to communicate with the client terminal 101. The online support server 105 receives a request for acquiring a file stored in the storage unit 254 via the network communication unit 255, and transmits the corresponding file to the client terminal 101.

[0044] Next, with reference to FIG. 3, an example of the user procedure and the sequence among each software and the print service in the present embodiment will be described.

[0045] First, the Cloud Print-compatible printer 104 receives a printer registration operation from the user to register the Cloud Print-compatible printer 104 with the Cloud Print service 321. The Cloud Print-compatible printer 104 transmits a printer registration request to the Cloud Print service 321 together with the device identification information of the printer (S3001). Here, the device identification information transmitted to the Cloud Print service 321 is, for example, the HWID (Hardware ID) assigned to each printer model. Note that the device identification information may be any information as long as it can identify the printer model.

[0046] When the Cloud Print service 321 receives the registration request, it transmits the URL of the Cloud Print service 321 for printer registration to the Cloud Print-compatible printer 104. When the user accesses the URL from the Cloud Print-compatible printer 104 or the information processing device, an input screen for entering the user ID and password is displayed on the display unit of the terminal that accessed the URL. The user enters the user ID and password for using the Cloud Print service 321 and logs in to the Cloud Print service 321. When the user's login is successful, the Cloud Print service 321 transmits a request for acquiring information necessary for printer registration to the Cloud Print-compatible printer 104. The Cloud Print-compatible printer 104 transmits printer information to the Cloud Print service 321 in response to the request.

[0047] Next, the Cloud Print service 321 that has received the printer registration request registers the information of the Cloud Print-compatible printer 104 and generates a print queue for the Cloud Print-compatible printer 104. At this time, the Cloud Print service 321 acquires the capability information of the Cloud Print-compatible printer 104 and associates it with the generated print queue. The capability information is information representing the functions installed in the printer, and refers to information necessary for the user to set as print settings at the time of printing, such as double-sided printable information, color printable information, stapling possible information, etc.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the capability information. The capability information is composed of an item name and an attribute value. The item name corresponds to a setting item of the print settings. The attribute value corresponds to a setting value, an option, or a value range that can be set for each setting item. The cloud print-compatible printer 104 stores not only the item names and attribute values defined as industry-standard specifications by IPP but also the item names and attribute values uniquely defined by the printer vendor. For example, among the item names shown in FIG. 5, "Save Job to Printer", "Shorten Job Name", "Stapleless Binding", and their associated attribute values are item names and attribute values uniquely defined by the printer vendor. "Save Job to Printer" is a setting item for setting whether the printer saves the print data received from the cloud print service 321 in the printer even after printing. "Shorten Job Name" is an item for setting whether to shorten and display the name given to the print data when the printer displays the bibliographic information of the print data received from the cloud print service 321 on the display unit of the printer. "Stapleless Binding" is an item for setting whether to bind the output paper based on the print data received from the cloud print service 321 without using staple pins. Binding without using staple pins means, for example, binding the paper by pressure bonding. Note that a printer-vendor-unique attribute value may be defined as an attribute value corresponding to an item name defined as an industry-standard specification. For example, "Folding Setting" is an item name defined in IPP. On the other hand, "Saddle Stitch", which is one of the attribute values of "Folding Setting", is a function for folding and discharging multiple sheets of paper together without stapling, and is an attribute value uniquely defined by the printer vendor.

[0049] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the capability information is transmitted to the cloud printing service 321 in accordance with IPP as the communication protocol. The cloud print-enabled printer 104 registers the capability information by using a command prepared for the cloud print-enabled printer 104 to register the capability information with the cloud printing service 321. The cloud print-enabled printer 104 notifies the cloud printing service 321 of the item names shown in FIG. 5, the attribute values corresponding to the respective item names, and the default values. The capability information to be notified here is regardless of whether each item and attribute value is defined in IPP. For example, for "Save Job to Printer", "Job Name Shortening", and "Stitch without Needle" shown in FIG. 5, the item names and attribute values are notified to the cloud printing service 321. Also, "Saddle Stitch", which is an attribute value unique to the printer vendor among the attribute values of "Folding Settings", is registered with the cloud printing service 321 as one of the attribute values of "Folding Settings".

[0050] Next, the installation of the print setting extension application 312 that is performed when the user performs a setup operation for printing with the cloud print-enabled printer 104 on the client terminal 101 will be described. When registering the cloud print-enabled printer 104 with the client terminal 101, the standard printing function, which is one of the functions of the OS (Operating System) 313 of the client terminal 101, is used.

[0051] The OS 313 of the client terminal 101 accepts an additional operation of the printer, which is a setup operation of the cloud print-enabled printer 104 by the user (S3002). The setup operation of the cloud print-enabled printer 104 is, for example, an operation as follows. FIG. 4 is a screen related to the printers registered with the client terminal 101, which is displayed by the OS 313 of the client terminal 101. When the user selects the object 401, a printer search instruction is input to the OS 313.

[0052] Upon receiving a printer search instruction, the OS 313 determines whether it holds a token for the Cloud Print Service 321. If the OS 313 does not hold a token, it displays a screen for entering user information (login name, password) (not shown). The OS 313 of the client terminal 101 transmits the user information entered via the screen to the Cloud Print Service 321 and requests user authentication and an access token (S3003).

[0053] The Cloud Print Service 321 performs an authentication process using the user information received from the client terminal 101 (S3004). When the authentication process is completed, the Cloud Print Service 321 notifies the client terminal 101 of the result of the authentication process.

[0054] Here, if the user authentication is successful, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 acquires an access token from the Cloud Print Service 321 (S3005).

[0055] If the user authentication fails in S304, the Cloud Print Service 321 notifies the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 of an authentication error (S3006). The OS 313 of the client terminal 101 aborts the process based on the received authentication error information (S3007). If the access token cannot be acquired, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 ends the process described in FIG. 3.

[0056] If the OS 313 holds an access token or acquires a token in S3005, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 proceeds to S3008. The OS 313 searches for printers registered with the Cloud Print Service 321 and printers connected to the network 107.

[0057] The OS 313 of the client terminal 101 sends a request to obtain printer information registered in the cloud printing service 321 and performs printer discovery (S3008). In S3008, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 sends a request to obtain printer information attached with an access token to the cloud printing service 321.

[0058] The cloud printing service 321 sends, for the client terminal 101, information on printers permitted to be used by the user identified by the access token attached to the acquisition request (S3009). The printer information transmitted to the client terminal 101 in S3009 is the printer name assigned to the printers registered in the cloud printing service 321 and the HWID of the printers.

[0059] The OS 313 of the client terminal 101 acquires the list of printers sent by the cloud printing service 321 and the device identification information of each printer. Incidentally, in parallel with the processes of S3008 and S3009, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 searches for printers connected to the same network as the client terminal 101. This is device discovery using mDNS, Bonjour, or the like.

[0060] OS313 displays a list of printers on the client terminal 101 based on the printer information obtained from the cloud print service 321 and the printer information detected by searching the network 107. In the area 402 of FIG. 4, the printer information received from the cloud print service 321 is displayed in a list. Among the information displayed in the area 402, "Cloud Printer 001 / 002 / 003" is the information of the printers registered in the cloud print service 321. On the other hand, "Printer XX" is the printer detected by the client terminal 101 searching the network 107. In this way, the printer information obtained from the cloud print service 321 and the printer information detected by searching the network 107 are displayed in a list. The printer information received from the cloud print service 321 is displayed with the icon 403 added. On the other hand, the printer information detected by searching the network 107 is displayed with the icon 404 added. By doing so, the printer information received from the cloud print service 321 and the printer information detected by searching the network 107 can be distinguished and displayed. Note that the client terminal 101 may display only the information of the printers registered in the cloud print service 321.

[0061] Next, the user selects the printer information corresponding to the printer that the user wants to register in the client terminal 101 from the printer information displayed in the area 402.

[0062] The OS313 of the client terminal 101 inquires about the capability information of the printer corresponding to the selected printer information in the cloud print service 321 (S3010). What setting items the OS313 of the client terminal 101 inquires about the capability information is determined by the specification of the OS313 and is set in the OS313. The OS313 of the client terminal 101 makes an inquiry about the capability information by specifying the preset setting items. The items preset in the OS313 are the setting items defined as standard specifications by IPP, such as items like "paper size", "type of paper", and "color mode".

[0063] The cloud printing service 321 responds to the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 with the capability information of the cloud printing-compatible printer 104 (S3011).

[0064] In this embodiment, it is described that the information registered in the cloud printing service 321 at the time of registration in S3001 is transmitted to the client terminal 101 in S3011. However, the capability information registered in the cloud printing service 321 may be transmitted to the client terminal 101 at a timing other than the above. For example, the capability information registered in the cloud printing service 321 may be transmitted to the client terminal 101 along with the change in the capability information of the cloud printing-compatible printer 104. Also, the user may instruct the update of the capability information on the user interface provided by the cloud printing service 321, and the updated capability information may be transmitted to the client terminal 101 along with the instruction. Also, at the timing of S3010, the cloud printing service 321 may acquire the capability information from the cloud printing-compatible printer 104 and notify the acquired capability information to the client terminal 101.

[0065] In S3011, the cloud printing service 321 answers the attribute value and the default value corresponding to the setting item specified from the client terminal 101 for the setting item. Here, the answered attribute value is all the attribute values registered in the cloud printing service 321 regardless of whether it is an attribute value defined as a standard or not. The default value is the value initially set when the client terminal 101 displays the print settings screen. Note that the cloud printing service 321 does not respond to the OS 313 if it does not store the response to the attribute queried by the OS 313 of the client terminal 101.

[0066] Next, the OS 313 starts the installation of the cloud printer driver 311 based on the device identification information and the printer name of the printer selected by the user.

[0067] Then, the OS 313 generates a print queue of the cloud printer driver 311 having basic device capability information included in the OS 313 (S3012). The device capability information refers to definition information necessary for generating print setting capability information of the printer driver, for example, information described in XML such as PrintDeviceCapabilities. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing an example of the device capability information in the initial state included in the OS 313. For example, "Feature" indicates that "PageMediaSize" representing the paper size is a setting item. "Option" indicates options corresponding to "PageMediaSize". In the initial value of the device capability information, as shown in FIG. 6A, there are only two options, "A4" and "LETTER", as the paper size. This information is stored in association with the print queue at the time of generating the print queue and is managed by the OS 313. Note that the device capability information in the initial state is fixed device capability information regardless of the information of the connected printer.

[0068] After that, the OS 313 updates the device capability information that configures the cloud printer driver 311 by using the capability information acquired from the cloud print service 321. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of the device capability information updated by using the capability information acquired from the cloud print service 321. For example, for "PageMediaSize" representing the paper size, "Option" other than "A4" and "LETTER" is added as the paper sizes that the cloud print-compatible printer 104 can print. In this way, the client terminal 101 first associates the device capability information included in the cloud printer driver 311 and the OS 313 and registers it in the print queue. Then, the device capability information linked to the print queue is updated with the capability information acquired from the cloud print service 321. At this time, the OS 313 updates the device capability information by using only the attribute values defined by industry standard specifications among the capability information acquired from the cloud print service 321. Therefore, for example, even if a vendor-specific attribute value is acquired as the paper type in the acquisition of the capability information, the vendor-specific attribute value is not added to the device capability information.

[0069] By doing so, it becomes possible to set print setting values that cannot be set with the device capability information included in the OS 313.

[0070] As described above, the installation of the cloud printer driver 311 is completed. By performing the processing up to this point, it becomes possible to transmit print data to the print queue for the cloud print-compatible printer 104 generated by the cloud print service 321 from the client terminal 101.

[0071] Next, the OS 313 starts the installation process of an application that is linked to the printer and extends the cloud print driver.

[0072] First, the OS 313 performs an identification additional information adding process on the device identification information. This is a process necessary when acquiring the extended setup information file 700 from the online support server 105, and any string different from the normal device identification information may be used. In the case of this embodiment, in order to distinguish it from applications of other devices, the OS 313 adds identification additional information ("PrinterApp_") indicating that it is an application corresponding to the printer to the device identification information. Note that "PrinterApp_" is just an example, and other strings, numbers, or symbols may also be used. As a result of the above process, for example, if the device identification information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 is device001, the device identification information after the identification additional information adding process becomes PrinterApp_device001.

[0073] The OS 313 sends a search request for the extended setup information file 700 including the target device identification information with additional information to the online support service 351 (S3013). By S3013, "PrinterApp_devoce001" with the identification additional information added is notified to the online support service 351.

[0074] The online support service 351 stores the extended setup information file shown in FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is an example of the extended setup information file 700. The extended setup information file is a file created by the vendor of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 and registered in the online support service 351.

[0075] The extended setup information file 700 describes an application identifier for identifying a print setting extension app used for setting print data to be sent to the cloud print-compatible printer 104. Among the extended setup information files written in FIG. 7, the item "PackageFamilyName" is the identification information of the print setting extension application. On the other hand, for "PrinterHardwareID", a character string obtained by adding identification additional information to the identification information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 is described.

[0076] Note that the online support service 351 stores extended setup information in which identification information of a printer driver is described, in addition to the extended setup information file in which identification information of a print setting extension application is described. In the extended setup information file in which the identifier of the printer driver is described, the identifier of the printer driver is described in "PackageFamilyName". Also, for "PrinterHardwareId" of the extended setup information file, device identification information without additional identification information written is described.

[0077] In this way, the online support service 351 stores both an extended setup information file in which the identifier of the printer driver is described and an extended setup information file in which the identifier of the print setting application is described. Therefore, the OS 313 adds additional identification information to the device identification information in order to appropriately acquire the necessary extended setup information file.

[0078] The online support service 351 that has received a search request identifies an extended setup information file in which the device identification information with additional identification information specified in the request matches the "PackageFamilyName" in the file.

[0079] As a result of the search, if the extended setup information file 700 containing the device identification information targeted by the online support service 351 is stored, the OS 313 returns the extended setup information file 700 (S3014). At this time, the content of the extended setup information file is written to the registry of the OS 313.

[0080] Next, the OS 313 associates the extended setup information written in the extended setup information file obtained from the online support service 351 with the print queue generated in S3012 and installs it (S3015).

[0081] Next, the OS 313 extracts the application ID from the installed extended setup information (S3016). The application ID is an identifier defined by "PackageFamilyName" in the extended setup information file. This is the process when the extended setup file corresponding to the cloud print-compatible printer 104 is stored in the online support service 351.

[0082] As a result of the search, there may be a case where the extended setup information file 700 containing the device identification information targeted by the online support service 351 is not detected. At this time, the OS 313 completes the installation of the cloud print driver and aborts the application installation process (S3017). The OS 313 executes the process described in S3017 when it cannot receive the extended setup file within a predetermined time from the search request in S3013 or when it receives an error notification from the online support service 351.

[0083] The processing when the extended setup file can be obtained after S3018 and the application ID can be extracted in S3916 will be described.

[0084] OS313 requests the application management service 331 to search for an application whose extracted application ID matches (S3018). The application management service 331 stores, in association, an application operating on the client terminal 101 and an application ID that is an identifier of the application. The application and the application ID are registered in the application management service 331 by a vendor providing the cloud print-compatible printer 104.

[0085] When the application management service 331 holds a print setting extension application that matches the requested application ID, the application management service 331 returns the print setting extension application 312 to the client terminal 101 (S3019). Here, the returned print setting extension application 312 is an application assigned the same ID as the transmitted application ID.

[0086] OS313 installs the acquired print setting extension application 312 in association with the client-side print queue (S3020). OS313 saves the application ID in the registry as information on the print queue. Also, the print setting extension application 312 is set in OS313 to send an event notification to OS313 at the timing when the print queue associated with the application is set on the print setting screen. The installed print setting extension application 312 is launched after the power of the client terminal 101 is turned on and OS313 is started, and operates as a background task after startup.

[0087] When the application management service 331 does not hold a print setting extension application that matches the requested application ID, OS313 aborts the application installation process (S3021). In this case, the generated print queue and the cloud printer driver 311 are installed in association, and the print setting extension application 312 is processed without being associated with the print queue.

[0088] In the above description, a predetermined string is added to the device identification information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 to search for the extended setup file. If it is possible to distinguish the files for installing the printer driver, a configuration may be adopted in which the search is performed without adding the predetermined string.

[0089] Next, with reference to FIG. 8, an example of the user procedure in this embodiment and the sequence among each software and the print service will be described.

[0090] The document generation application 315 is an application such as a document data creation application, a presentation material creation application, a photo or image data display application, or the like.

[0091] The document generation application 315 displays a print setting screen (FIG. 11) for selecting a print queue as the initial print setting screen. In this embodiment, the document generation application 315 displays the initial print setting screen, but the OS 313 may also display a similar screen. On the initial print setting screen, an object 1101 for selecting a print queue, an object 1102 for performing various print settings, and a print preview image 1103 are displayed. The OS 313 selects the print queue associated with the printer set as the default printer (S801). In this example, it is assumed that the cloud print-compatible printer 104 is selected as the default printer. Note that the processing after S801 is also executed when the user operates the object 1101 to change the printer to be used.

[0092] Next, the OS 313 inquires about the capability information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 with respect to the cloud queue of the cloud print service 321 corresponding to the cloud print-compatible printer 104 (S802). Which setting items to inquire about the capability information for is determined in advance in the specification of the OS 313. Therefore, the capability information obtained at this timing is the same as that obtained in S3001 of FIG. 3. The inquiry is made to the cloud print-compatible printer 104 using a command of a standard protocol defined by IPP, such as Get-print-Attributes. When using Get-print-Attributes, the capability information determined by the OS 313 is inquired in a list format.

[0093] The cloud print service 321 returns the capability information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 to the OS 313 from the list of the capability information sent by Get-print-Attributes (S803). For example, it is assumed that the media size attribute is specified by Get-print-Attributes (IPP). If the cloud print service 321 holds the media size attribute, it returns the value (A4, B5, Letter, etc.) associated with that attribute. If the attribute specified by Get-print-Attributes does not exist in the queue of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 of the cloud print service 321, no response of the associated value is made. The capability information obtained in S803 is merely the capability information to be inquired regardless of the type and capabilities of the printer to which the OS 313 is connected.

[0094] OS313 updates the device capability information by using the capability information obtained from the cloud printing service 321. OS313 adds the capability information obtained in S803 of FIG. 8 to the device capability information generated in S3012 of FIG. 3 (S804). When there is an update to the device capability information, by performing S803, the device capability information managed by the client terminal 101 can be updated. Note that in the update of the device capability information in S804, the device capability information is updated only for the attribute values defined by industry standard specifications.

[0095] Next, OS313 notifies the printing settings extension app 312 of the API used for event and device capability information editing (S805). The notification timing of this event is registered when the printing settings extension app 312 is installed on the OS313 of the client terminal 101.

[0096] When the printing settings extension app 312 receives this event, it makes a request to the cloud printing service 321 to obtain capability information. The acquisition of the capability information performed here is for obtaining the capability information for writing the setting items and attribute values uniquely defined by the printer vendor to the device capability information.

[0097] When the printing settings extension app 312 receives an event from OS313, it inquires about the capability information of the cloud printing compatible printer 104 via the cloud printing service 321 (S806). At this time, the printing settings extension app 312 inquires of the cloud printing service 321 about the capability information of the setting items unique to the printer vendor and the setting items including the attribute values specific to the printer vendor. The inquiry is performed using Get-print-Attributes in the same manner as S802 of FIG. 8, and the capability information is obtained by specifying the item name of the setting item to be inquired about as the item name. Note that in this embodiment, it is described that the capability information acquisition is performed for the setting items uniquely defined by the printer vendor and the setting items including the attribute values uniquely defined by the printer vendor in S806. It may also be possible to perform the capability information acquisition for the setting items that have already been acquired in the capability information acquisition by OS313.

[0098] When the print setting extension app 312 makes an inquiry for unique capability information from the cloud print-compatible printer 104, the cloud print-compatible printer 104 responds to the print setting extension app 312 via the cloud print service 321 (S807). The response method here is the same as S3011 in FIG. 8 described above. In this embodiment, in S807, the cloud print service 321 responds with the capability information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 stored in the cloud print service 321. Note that upon receiving the request in S806, the cloud print service 321 may re-acquire the capability information from the cloud print-compatible printer 104 and respond to the client terminal 101.

[0099] When the print setting extension app 312 acquires the capability information from the cloud print-compatible printer 104, it edits the device capability information managed by the OS 313 via the configuration information object. The configuration information object is a set of data groups necessary for editing the device capability information. The print setting extension app 312 cannot directly edit the device capability information held by the OS 313. Therefore, this configuration information object is used to change the device capability information held by the OS 313. The capability information such as "stitch binding" and "save job to printer" acquired in S807 of FIG. 8 is converted into device capability information and added to the configuration information object to edit the device capability information (S808). By performing the processing up to S808, in addition to the capability information regarding the standard setting items acquired by the inquiry of the OS 313, the device capability information stores the printer vendor-specific setting items and attribute values.

[0100] Next, the print setting extension app 312 passes the edited device capability information to the OS 313 (S809). The OS 313 stores the device capability information acquired from the print setting extension app 312 in association with the print queue.

[0101] When OS313 updates the device capability information, an object that serves as a trigger for displaying the UI of the print settings extension app 312 becomes valid (S810). An object that serves as a trigger for displaying the UI of the print settings extension app 312 is, for example, the object 1104 in FIG. 11. Until the process of S810 is completed, the object 1104 is grayed out, and even if the user clicks it, the print settings screen of the print settings extension app 312 is not displayed. When the process of S810 is completed, the graying out of the object 1104 is released, and the user can select the object 1104.

[0102] When the user selects the object 1104, the print settings extension app 312 is launched, and a print settings screen as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed (S811). This print settings screen does not depend on the type of document generation app 315 to be used.

[0103] If the print settings extension app 312 is not associated with the selected print queue, the standard print settings screen pre-installed in OS313 is displayed as shown in FIG. 9(a). In the standard print screen, by pressing the detailed settings button 901, the detailed print screen in FIG. 9(b) is displayed, and a detailed print screen for setting the setting items that cannot be fully displayed in FIG. 9(a) is displayed. Note that the detailed print screen shown in FIG. 9(b) can be scrolled by operating the scroll bar, and as shown in FIGS. 9(c) and 9(d), print settings can be performed for a plurality of setting items supported by OS313. By selecting the OK button 902, the set print settings can be saved and returned to FIG. 9(a). The apply button 903 in FIG. 9(a) is a button for saving the print settings, and the cancel button 904 is a button for returning to the screen in FIG. 11 without saving the print settings. When the OK button 905 is selected, the print settings are saved and returned to the screen in FIG. 11. Note that in FIGS. 9(a) to 9(d), it is not possible to set the print setting items and attribute values uniquely defined by the printer vendor.

[0104] Return to the Print Settings Extension App 312. The Print Settings Extension App 312 receives print setting information generated based on the print setting capability information generated by the OS 313 from the device capability information, and displays the extended print settings screen shown in Fig. 10(a). The extended print settings screen can be scrolled by operating the scroll bar as shown in Figs. 10(a) to (e), and the setting values of various print setting items can be set.

[0105] For example, the output paper size of setting item 1001 in Fig. 10 is the print setting information generated from psk:PageMediaSize in Fig. 6(b). Also, A4, which is an option for the output paper size, is generated and displayed by the Print Settings Extension App 312 based on the information of print setting information psk:IOSA4. In this way, the Print Settings Extension App 312 converts the device capability information into setting values and displays the extended print settings screen. Since the extended print settings screen is generated from the device capability information including the capability information regarding the printer vendor-specific setting items, it is possible to set the setting items and setting values that cannot be set on the screen shown in Fig. 9 provided by the OS 313.

[0106] In the screen of FIG. 10 displayed by the print setting extension app 312, the user selects the object 1002. The object 1002 is an object for determining the print settings. The print setting extension app 312 provides a function for the user to arbitrarily change the print settings, and saves the set value if changed. For example, assume that the user changes the media size from A4 to Letter on the UI. In that case, the print setting information held by the print setting extension app 312 changes from A4 to Letter. When the object 1002 is selected, the print setting extension app 312 acquires the print setting information processed within the controls of the print setting screen from the print setting screen, and passes the print setting information to the OS 313. When the print setting extension app 312 passes the print setting information to the OS 313, it ends the display of the print setting screen shown in FIG. 10 (S812). When the process of S812 is completed, the print setting screen shown in FIG. 11 is displayed. At this time, the displayed print setting screen is the screen with the set value set by the print setting extension app 312.

[0107] When the user selects the object 1105 on the screen shown in FIG. 11, a print instruction is input to the OS 313. The OS 313 executes the process related to printing based on the instruction input via the document generation app 315 (S813).

[0108] When the execution of printing is instructed to the OS 313, the OS 313 generates intermediate data, and passes the generated intermediate data and the print setting information edited in the print setting screen section to the print setting extension app 312 (S814). The intermediate data is data generated before being converted into print data such as PDL. For example, XPS data corresponds to this. The print setting information is also included in this intermediate data.

[0109] When the print setting extension app 312 receives the intermediate data and the print setting information from the OS 313, it generates print data based on the intermediate data and print capability information based on the print setting information (S815). The print data refers to PDL such as a PDF file, and specifically, the print capability information is information described with the print setting information in the attribute values defined by IPP.

[0110] After generating the print data, the print setting extension application 312 passes the generated print data and print capability information to the print queue of the OS 313 (S816).

[0111] S814 to S816 are processes when the print setting extension application 312 associated with the print queue is installed on the client terminal 101. When the print setting extension application 312 is not installed on the client terminal 101, the client terminal 101 executes the process described later in S816. The OS 313 generates XPS data, edits the page layout, converts the XPS data into a predetermined format, and generates print data and print capability information (S817). The predetermined format is, for example, PDF, PWG - Raster, etc.

[0112] The OS 313 transmits the print data and print capability information passed from the print setting extension application 312 or the print data and print capability information generated by the OS 313 to the cloud print service 321 via the print queue (S818).

[0113] The cloud print service 321 transmits the print data and print capability information passed from the client terminal 101 to the cloud print - compatible printer 104 (S819). In this embodiment, when the cloud print service 321 receives the print data and print capability information, it is assumed that the received print data and capability information are transmitted to the cloud print - compatible printer 104. It is also possible that the cloud print - compatible printer 104 periodically makes an inquiry to the cloud print service 321 to obtain unprinted print data and the print capability information corresponding to the print data.

[0114] By doing the above, it is possible to transmit the print data reflecting the print settings made using the print setting extension application 312 to the cloud print - compatible printer 104 via the cloud print service 321.

[0115] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing of the OS 313 until the print setting extension application is installed on the client terminal 101. A program for executing the processing described in this flowchart is stored in the storage unit 214 of the client terminal 101. The processing is realized by the CPU 212 executing the program.

[0116] The CPU 212 displays the screen shown in FIG. 4 and accepts a printer search instruction (S1201). When the user selects the object 401 in FIG. 4, the CPU 212 accepts the printer search instruction.

[0117] The CPU 212 determines whether or not it stores an access token for the cloud print service 321 (S1202). The client terminal 101 stores an access token for obtaining information from the cloud print service 321 for each user who logs in to the client terminal 101. The CPU 212 determines whether or not an access token associated with the user logged in to the client terminal 101 is stored. If the access token is stored, the CPU 212 proceeds to S1206 described later. If the access token is not stored, the CPU 212 sends an authentication request to the cloud print service 321 (S1203). Then, the CPU 212 receives a URL used to display a screen for inputting information required for authentication from the cloud print service 321.

[0118] The CPU 212 accesses the received URL and displays a screen for inputting information used for authentication (S1204). The information used for authentication is, for example, a user ID (user identifier) and a password.

[0119] The CPU 212 sends the input information used for authentication to the cloud print service 321 and obtains an access token (S1205). If the authentication to the cloud print service 321 fails, the CPU 212 cannot obtain an access token and ends the processing shown in FIG. 12.

[0120] The CPU 212 uses the access token to send a request to the Cloud Print Service 321 to obtain information about the printers registered with the Cloud Print Service 321 (S1206). The Cloud Print Service 321 selects the information about the printers that can be used by the user identified by the received access token and sends it to the client terminal 101. Here, the printer name registered in association with the printer that can be used by the user identified by the access token received from the client terminal 101 and the HWID of the printer are sent to the client terminal 101.

[0121] The CPU 212 displays the printer information obtained from the Cloud Print Service 321 on the display unit of the client terminal 101 (S1207). By performing the display according to S1207, the printer information is displayed in a list in the area 402 of FIG. 4.

[0122] The CPU 212 determines whether printer information has been selected (S1208). The CPU 212 repeats the process of S1208 until the printer information is selected. When the printer information is selected, the CPU 212 executes the process described in S1209.

[0123] The CPU 212 sends a request to the Cloud Print Service 321 to obtain the capability information of the selected printer (S1209). Here, an inquiry is made to the Cloud Print Service 321 about the setting items previously registered in the OS 313.

[0124] Based on the information obtained from the Cloud Print Service 321, the CPU 212 updates the printer capability information stored in the client terminal 101 and generates a print queue.

[0125] The CPU 212 sends a request to the Online Support Service 351 to obtain the extended setup information file (S1211). This acquisition request includes the HWID of the printer.

[0126] The CPU 212 determines whether it has successfully obtained the extended setup information file (S1212). If it has successfully obtained the extended setup information file, the CPU 212 proceeds to S1213. If it has failed to obtain the extended setup information file, the CPU 212 ends the process described in FIG. 12.

[0127] The CPU 212 sends a request to obtain the print setting extension application described in the obtained extended setup information file to the application management service 331 (S1213). The CPU 212 obtains the application identifier of the print setting extension application from the extended setup information file, and specifies the obtained application identifier to send a request to obtain the print setting extension application to the application management service 331.

[0128] The CPU 212 determines whether it has successfully obtained the print setting extension application (S1214). If it has failed to obtain the print setting extension application, the CPU 212 ends the process described in FIG. 12. If it has successfully obtained the print setting extension application, the CPU 212 executes the process described in S1215.

[0129] The CPU 212 installs the obtained print setting extension application, associates the application identifier of the print setting extension application with the print queue, and registers it. Furthermore, the CPU 212 performs event registration indicating the notification timing to the OS 313. Here, registration is performed such that when a print queue associated with the print setting extension application is selected on the print setting screen displayed by the document application, an event is notified to the print setting extension application.

[0130] The above is the process until the print setting extension application is registered in the client terminal 101.

[0131] Next, with reference to FIG. 13, a process of performing print settings and generating print data using the installed print settings extension application will be described. The program for executing the process described in FIG. 13 is stored in the print settings extension application 312, and the program is deployed in the memory 213 of the client terminal 101 and executed by the CPU 212.

[0132] The CPU 212 determines whether it has received an event notification (S1301). An event is an event issued by the OS 313, and it is an event for notifying the print settings extension application 312 that it is the timing registered in S1215 of FIG. 12. When the CPU 212 has not received an event notification, it repeats the process described in S1301. When the CPU 212 has received an event notification, it executes the process described in S1302.

[0133] The CPU 212 sends a request for acquiring capability information to the cloud print service 321 (S1302). The CPU 212 sends a request for acquiring capability information to the cloud print service 321 regarding the setting items set in the print settings extension application 312. Here, capability information is also acquired for the setting items that were not acquired in S1206 of FIG. 12.

[0134] The CPU 212 determines whether the acquisition of the capability information has been completed (S1303). When the acquisition of the capability information has not been completed, the CPU 212 repeats the process described in S1303. When the acquisition of the capability information has been completed, the CPU 212 executes the process described in S1304.

[0135] The CPU 212 updates the device capability information with the acquired capability information (S1304). By performing the process of S1304, the capability information for the setting items that the OS 313 does not acquire is also stored in the client terminal 101.

[0136] The CPU 212 determines whether it has received an instruction to display the print settings screen by the print settings extension app (S1307). The instruction to display the print settings screen by the print settings extension app is an instruction issued based on a user operation such as the selection of the object 1104 in FIG. 11, for example. If it has not received the instruction to display the print settings screen, the CPU 212 proceeds to S1309. If it has received the instruction to display the print settings screen, the CPU 212 executes the process described in S1306.

[0137] Based on the printer device information updated in S1304, the CPU 212 displays the print settings screen shown in FIG. 10 (S1306). Then, it receives a user operation to select a setting value via the displayed print settings screen.

[0138] The CPU 212 determines whether an instruction to end the display of the print settings screen by the print settings extension app has been given (S1307). If no instruction to end the display of the print settings screen has been given, the CPU 212 performs the process described in S1307. If an instruction to end the display of the print settings screen has been given, the CPU 212 executes the process described in S1308.

[0139] The CPU 212 edits the print settings information with the setting value selected in the print settings screen displayed by the print settings extension app (S1308). Then, the CPU 212 ends the display of the print settings screen by the print settings extension app.

[0140] The CPU 212 determines whether the print settings extension app 312 has received intermediate data from the OS 313 (S1309). If it has not received the intermediate data, the CPU 212 returns the process to S1305. If it has received the intermediate data, the process proceeds to S1310.

[0141] The CPU 212 generates print data and print capability information based on the intermediate data received by the print setting extension application 312 (S1310). The CPU 212 generates image data in a predetermined format based on the intermediate data and the print setting information. Also, the CPU 212 generates print capability information described by attribute values defined in IPP based on the print setting information. In addition to the attribute values defined in IPP, the print capability information can also be freely described. Therefore, the settings and attribute values of the setting items uniquely defined by the printer vendor can also be described in the print capability information.

[0142] The CPU 212 provides the generated print data to the OS 313 (S1312). The OS 313 transmits the data received via the print queue to the cloud print service 321.

[0143] The above is a flowchart showing the processing when performing print settings using the print setting extension application 312 and generating print data and print capability information.

[0144] By performing the above processing, when selecting a print queue associated with a general cloud printer driver or a local printer driver and transmitting print data, the setting values of the setting items unique to the printer vendor can be set.

[0145] <Other Embodiments> The present invention is also realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or device reads out and executes the program code. In this case, the computer program and the storage medium storing the computer program constitute the present invention.

Claims

An application program that cooperates with a general-purpose driver capable of outputting a print instruction to an image forming apparatus by communication using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), causes an information processing apparatus to display a first object for receiving a setting regarding page aggregation from a user and a second object for receiving a setting regarding the arrangement order from the user, wherein the information processing apparatus can display the second object by using the application program. An application program characterized by this.

2. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the second object is displayed by performing a predetermined operation on a print setting screen that the application program causes the information processing apparatus to display.

3. The application program according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined operation is a scroll operation of the print setting screen.

4. The application program according to claim 2, wherein the print setting screen is displayed in response to a predetermined object being selected on another print setting screen displayed by a document generation application.

5. The print setting screen is generated from device capability information, receives a selection of a print queue on the other print setting screen, obtains printer capability information associated with the selected print queue, and includes at least a part of the information included in the capability information in the device capability information. After that, the application program according to claim 4, characterized in that the predetermined object can be selected.

6. The application program according to claim 1, further causing the information processing apparatus to acquire information on the setting regarding the arrangement order by communication conforming to IPP.

7. The application program according to claim 1, further causing the information processing apparatus to acquire information on the setting regarding the arrangement order by using Get-Printer-Attributes.

8. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the setting regarding the arrangement order can be selected as a setting value from left to right or right to left.

9. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the driver is a printer driver.

10. An application program that enables setting a function that cannot be set using a general-purpose driver capable of outputting a print instruction to an image forming apparatus by communication using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), characterized in that the information processing apparatus is caused to display a first object for receiving a setting regarding page aggregation from a user and a second object for receiving a setting regarding the arrangement order from the user.

11. The application program according to claim 10, wherein the second object is displayed by performing a predetermined operation on a print setting screen that the application program causes the information processing apparatus to display.

12. The application program according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined operation is a scroll operation of the print setting screen.

13. The application program according to claim 12, characterized in that the print setting screen is displayed in response to a predetermined object being selected on another print setting screen displayed by a document generation application.

14. The print setting screen is generated from device capability information, and in the other print setting screen, a selection of a print queue is received, the capability information of the printer associated with the selected print queue is acquired, and after including at least a part of the information included in the capability information in the device capability information, the predetermined object becomes selectable. The application program according to claim 13.

15. The application program according to claim 10, characterized in that the information processing apparatus is further caused to acquire information on the setting regarding the arrangement order by communication conforming to IPP.

16. The application program according to claim 10, characterized in that the information processing apparatus is further caused to acquire information on the setting regarding the arrangement order using Get-Printer-Attributes.

17. The application program according to claim 10, wherein the setting regarding the arrangement order can be selected as a setting value from left to right or from right to left.

18. The application program according to claim 10, wherein the driver is a printer driver.

19. A control method for an information processing apparatus, by executing an application program that cooperates with a general-purpose driver capable of outputting a print instruction to an image forming apparatus by communication using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), causing the information processing apparatus to display a first object for receiving a setting regarding page aggregation from a user and a second object for receiving a setting regarding the arrangement order from the user, The control method is characterized in that the information processing apparatus can display the second object by using the application program.

20. A control method for an information processing apparatus, by executing an application program that enables setting of a function that cannot be set using a general-purpose driver capable of outputting a print instruction to an image forming apparatus by communication using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), causing the information processing apparatus to display a first object for receiving a setting regarding page aggregation from a user and a second object for receiving a setting regarding the arrangement order from the user.

21. An information processing apparatus, by executing an application program that cooperates with a general-purpose driver capable of outputting a print instruction to an image forming apparatus by communication using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), displaying, on the information processing apparatus, a first object for receiving a setting regarding page aggregation from a user and a second object for receiving a setting regarding the arrangement order from the user, The control method is characterized in that the information processing apparatus can display the second object by using the application program.

22. An information processing apparatus, By executing an application program that enables setting a function that cannot be set using a general-purpose driver capable of outputting a print instruction to an image forming apparatus by communication using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), A control method characterized by displaying, on an information processing apparatus, a first object for receiving a setting related to page aggregation from a user and a second object for receiving a setting related to the arrangement order from the user.

Images