Information processing device, control method, and application program

Abstract

To enable users to set desired settings for notifications regarding the status of printing devices.SOLUTION: An application program extends the functionality of software that generates print data that can be printed on printing devices provided by multiple vendors. The program enables a computer to accept notification settings regarding the status of a printing device to which the print data is output, acquire the status of the printing device, and, based on the acquired notification settings, set whether to send notifications regarding the acquired status of the printing device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, a control method, and an application program. [Background technology]

[0002] A known configuration is to use a printer driver installed on a host computer as software for controlling the printing device, and to issue print instructions to the printing device connected to the host computer. An operating system (OS), which is the basic software, is installed on the host computer, and the printer driver is configured according to the specifications defined by the OS and is called by the OS to run.

[0003] A vendor (manufacturer) that provides a printing device can provide a means for instructing a printing device to print using the OS by providing a printer driver that conforms to the OS specifications.

[0004] In recent years, Windows® has provided standard class drivers (hereafter referred to as "standard drivers") that can be used with printing devices from multiple vendors. These standard drivers are included in the OS package and can be easily used by connecting any printing device to a host computer. This eliminates the need to separately install a model-specific printer driver suited to the printing device, providing great convenience.

[0005] The standard driver is also configured to allow the user to specify print functions according to the capabilities information (PrintCapabilities) generated based on information acquired from the connected printing device. This allows a user using the standard driver to specify print functions according to the capabilities of the connected printing device, even though the user is using a single standard driver.

[0006] The standard driver can be associated with an application for function extension (hereinafter also referred to as "extended application"). The extended application can be provided by the vendor that provides the printing device. The extended application can provide functions (extended functions) that cannot be realized only by the standard driver by editing the print function information (Print Device Capabilities) generated by the standard driver. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for extending functions such as assigned printing by an extended application.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0008] When printing, various notifications about the state of the printing device, such as a decrease in ink or toner, are displayed. There may be cases where it is not preferable for the notifications to be displayed, for example, during a meeting, etc., but Patent Document 1 does not disclose a method for making desired settings for notifications regarding the state of the printing device.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] The application program of the present invention is an application program that extends the function of software for generating print data that can be printed by printing devices provided by a plurality of vendors, and causes a computer to accept a notification setting regarding the state of the printing device that is the output destination of the print data, acquire the state of the printing device, and set whether to perform a notification regarding the acquired state of the printing device based on the notification setting.

Effects of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, a user can make desired settings for notifications regarding the state of a printing apparatus.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

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Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of the features described in this embodiment are essential for the solution means of the present invention. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same components, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0013] <<Embodiment 1>> <Hardware Configuration of Printing System> FIG. 1(a) is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a printing system. In this figure, the host computer 101 is an example of an information processing device, and has an input interface 110, a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, an external storage device 114, an output interface 115, and an input / output interface 116.

[0014] Input devices such as a keyboard 118 and a pointing device 117 are connected to the input interface 110, and display devices such as a display unit 119 are connected to the output interface 115. The NETIF 120 is a network interface and controls data transfer with external devices via the network.

[0015] An initialization program is stored in the ROM 112. The external storage device 114 stores an application program group, an operating system (OS), printing data generation software, and other various data. The RAM 113 is used as a work memory or the like when executing various programs stored in the external storage device 114, and various programs can operate within the host computer 101.

[0016] In this embodiment, the CPU 111 executes the functions described below in the host computer 101 and the processes according to the flowchart described below by performing processing according to the procedures of the program stored in the ROM 112 or the external storage device 114.

[0017] The printing device 102, which is a device, is connected to the host computer 101 via the input / output interface 116. Here, the host computer 101 and the printing device 102 are configured separately, but they may be configured as one information processing device. Note that the printing device will be described by taking an inkjet printer that prints by ejecting ink onto the paper surface as an example, but printing may be executed by other methods (for example, an electrophotographic method). Also, the host computer 101 may be a desktop personal computer, a smartphone, or a notebook personal computer.

[0018] Also, FIG. 1(b) will be described later.

[0019] <Configuration of a printing system centered on software> FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of a printing system centered on software. Here, a printing system using the host computer 101 equipped with Microsoft (registered trademark) Windows (registered trademark) 11 as the OS will be described as a premise. FIG. 2(a) is a diagram showing a general configuration when the extended application 204 is not associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102.

[0020] The drawing application 201 is software that creates content (drawing data) to be printed. For example, it corresponds to a document creation application or a spreadsheet application. When the drawing application 201 receives a print request from the user, it issues a print instruction to the OS. The print instruction includes print setting information for instructing the operations of the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. The print setting information is also called a PrintTicket (hereinafter, "PT").

[0021] The drawing application 201 can display a print setting screen provided by the print data generation software 202, the OS, or the drawing application 201 in order to output print setting information.

[0022] The print setting screen displays setting items (hereinafter also referred to as "control items") indicating configurable print functions and control items indicating their setting values according to capability information acquired from the print data generation software 202. Capability information is information that can be set as print settings, and is also called PrintCapabilities (hereinafter also referred to as "PC").

[0023] The print data generation software 202 determines the PC based on print capability information 203. The print capability information 203 is data indicating all configurable print functions, their setting values, and the exclusive relationships between the setting values. The print capability information 203 is also called PDC (Print Device Capabilities).

[0024] PDC 203 is included in a configuration file of print data generation software 202 and is stored as an unmodifiable file in external storage device 114. Alternatively, PDC 203 can be dynamically generated by print data generation software 202. Specifically, print data generation software 202 or the OS can be configured to acquire printing device attribute data from printing device 102 and generate PDC 203 according to attribute information in the acquired attribute data.

[0025] In addition, when the PDC203 is dynamically generated, the generated PDC203 can be edited. The attribute data of the printing device obtained from the printing device 102 is a response obtained by issuing a Get-Printer-Attributes operation of IPP (Internet Print Protocol) to the printing device 102. The response includes attribute information indicating functions (capabilities of the printing device) that can be specified by the printing device 102 and setting values related to the attribute information. This response is stored in the RAM 113.

[0026] By configuring in this way, the print data generation software 202 can be configured so that the user can specify the print functions available on each connected printing device 102 according to the connected printing device 102. That is, even when printing devices with different functions or printing devices developed by different vendors are connected, the print data generation software 202 can be configured so that the user can specify the print functions available according to the connected printing device.

[0027] Here, a configuration using the IPP Class Driver or UP (Universal Print) Class Driver installed in Windows (registered trademark) 10 will be described as the print data generation software 202.

[0028] The IPP Class Driver and the UP Class Driver are printer drivers that execute printing processes according to the specifications of a standard printing protocol called IPP and are included in the OS package. The IPP Class Driver and the UP Class Driver are not proprietary printer drivers corresponding to the models of the printing device 102, but are standard class drivers that can be commonly used on multiple printing devices.

[0029] The IPP Class Driver is a standard driver that performs local printing according to the above specifications, and the UP Class Driver is a standard driver that performs cloud printing. When cloud printing is executed using the UP Class Driver, the print data is not sent directly to the printing device, but is sent via cloud printing-related services, and printing is executed on the printing device.

[0030] In addition, the IPP Class Driver and the UP Class Driver acquire the attribute information of the connected printing device 102 so that the user can specify the printing functions supported by the connected printing device 102, and generate the PDC203 based on that information.

[0031] The OS generates intermediate data (also called input data) based on the print instruction output from the drawing application 201 and passes it to the print data generation software 202.

[0032] Note that the data output by the drawing application 201 for printing is data in the Graphic Device Interface format (GDI format data) or data in the XML Paper Specification format (XPS format data).

[0033] Consider the case where the IPP Class Driver is used as the print data generation software 202. If the data output by the drawing application 201 is GDI format data, the OS converts the GDI format data output from the drawing application 201 into XPS format data. Then, the converted XPS format data is passed to the print data generation software 202 as intermediate data.

[0034] If the data output by the drawing application 201 is XPS format data, the OS passes the XPS format data to the print data generation software 202 as intermediate data.

[0035] The intermediate data includes drawing data which is information of a picture formed on the paper surface, and print setting information set by the user.

[0036] The print data generation software 202 converts the acquired intermediate data into print data interpretable by the printing device 102 and transmits it to the printing device 102. The print data includes drawing data which is information of a picture formed on the paper surface, and print setting attribute information (attribute information specifying the print settings) generated based on the print setting information set by the user. The print setting attribute information includes attribute information indicating functions (capabilities of the printing device) specifiable by the printing device 102 and setting values related to the attribute information.

[0037] The printing device 102 performs printing on the paper based on the print data sent from the print data generation software 202. At this time, the printing device 102 forms the drawing data included in the print data on the paper surface by operating according to the print setting attribute information included in the print data. The print setting attribute information includes attribute information for specifying print quality (such as quality priority, speed priority, etc.) and double-sided printing, etc., and their setting values. For example, when the print setting attribute information includes attribute information for specifying double-sided printing, the printing device 102 executes double-sided printing.

[0038] In this way, the print function of the host computer 101 is provided by the print data generation software 202 and the OS. Therefore, the print data generation software 202 and the OS are an example of software for generating print data printable by printing devices provided by a plurality of vendors in the present invention.

[0039] FIG. 2(b) is a diagram showing a configuration when the extended application 204 is associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. Regarding configurations and processes not particularly mentioned below, they are the same as those in FIG. 2(a).

[0040] The print data generation software 202 has limited available functions so that it can generate print data that can be printed on printing devices provided by multiple vendors. The extension application 204 is an application provided by the vendor (manufacturer) of the printing device to which the print data is output. By using the extension application 204, it becomes possible to use functions (settings related to printing and finishing) that are not available in the print data generation software 202.

[0041] In this way, the extension application 204 is software for extending the functions of the print data generation software 202. Furthermore, the extension application 204 is software that is not included (bundled) in advance in the OS. Therefore, the user must operate the host computer 101 to download the extension application 204 from a server via the Internet and install it.

[0042] Alternatively, the extension application 204 may be automatically installed when the printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101. Specifically, when the printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101, the OS acquires device identification information from the printing device 102. The OS may download and install the extension application 204 corresponding to the acquired device identification information from a server via the Internet. In other words, the print data generation software 202 and the extension application 204 are stored in the host computer 101 as separate files.

[0043] The print data generation software 202 and the extension application 204 may be updated and upgraded, but these update processes are also performed at different times. That is, the timing at which the host computer 101 acquires the print data generation software 202 and the timing at which the host computer 101 acquires the extension application 204 are different.

[0044] Also, the trigger for the print data generation software 202 to be acquired by the host computer 101 is different from the trigger for the extended application 204 to be acquired. When the extended application 204 is installed, the OS associates the extended application 204 with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102.

[0045] The extended application 204 described in this embodiment includes a print setting screen extension unit 205, a skip control unit 206, a print function extension unit 207, a print data editing unit 208, a notification unit 209, and a single startup screen display unit 211. The extended application 204 also includes shared information 210 that can be commonly accessed from each unit. The actual form of the shared information 210 is a file stored in the external storage device 114 or information stored on the RAM 113.

[0046] The extended application 204 can freely write and read information to and from the shared information 210 by using the API (Application Program Interface) provided by the OS. The shared information 210 is allocated as an area where information specific to the application can be stored, and it is also possible to store information other than the attribute data of the printing device 102. The shared information 210 is information different from the PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software 202 or the OS to specify the print functions available on the connected printing device 102.

[0047] Note that the extended application 204 may end its operation each time the processing of each unit is completed. In that case, the OS will start the extended application 204 each time a request to use each unit is received. Another form is also conceivable. For example, when the processing of the print setting screen extension unit 205 is completed, the OS ends the operation of the extended application 204, but when the processing of the skip control unit 206 is completed, the OS may keep the extended application 204 running.

[0048] Furthermore, during the processing of each unit, the extended application 204 may cancel the processing. If cancelled, the jobs being processed on the print queue are deleted by the OS.

[0049] When the drawing application 201 receives a print request from the user, it issues a print instruction to the OS. Even in this configuration, similar to the configuration of Fig. 2(a), the drawing application 201 can display a print settings screen. In this configuration, the print settings screen provided by the extended application 204 is displayed. Specifically, the print settings screen provided by the print settings screen extension unit 205 included in the extended application 204 is displayed.

[0050] Whether the print settings screen provided by the print settings screen extension unit 205 is displayed depends on the user's operation. For example, when the drawing application is a document creation application, by the user pressing a property setting button displayed on the print settings screen provided by the document creation application, the print settings screen provided by the print settings screen extension unit 205 is displayed.

[0051] Also, when the drawing application 201 receives a print request from the user and a print instruction is issued to the OS, the OS activates the skip control unit 206. The skip control unit 206 controls whether to skip the processing of the print data generation software 202. The skip control unit 206 cannot acquire intermediate data or print setting information.

[0052] After the skip control process of the skip control unit 206, the OS generates intermediate data based on the print instruction output from the drawing application 201, and the intermediate data is passed to the print data generation software 202. If the skip control is not performed by the skip control unit 206, the intermediate data is processed by the print data generation software 202 into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102, and passed to the print data editing unit 208. This makes it possible for the print data editing unit 208 to process the intermediate data.

[0053] On the other hand, when the print data generation software 202 is skipped, the intermediate data is not processed by the print data generation software 202 but is passed to the print data editing unit 208. This allows the print data editing unit 208 to process the intermediate data.

[0054] An example of when it is preferable to skip print data generation software 202 is when you want to perform scaling processing in print data editing unit 208. Intermediate data can be held in vector format, and degradation during scaling is minimal. Therefore, in a configuration in which print data generation software 202 outputs images in raster format, it is generally preferable to skip processing by print data generation software 202 and process the intermediate data in print data editing unit 208.

[0055] The print data editing unit 208 edits the intermediate data passed from the print data generation software 202 or the print data processed by the print data generation software 202. Taking layout printing as an example of the editing content, the print data editing unit 208 changes the layout of the intermediate data or print data based on the print setting information for layout printing received from the OS.

[0056] In addition, the print data editing unit 208 can display a UI screen on the display unit 119, and can display the layout result of intermediate data or print data as a preview screen. Note that in the print data editing unit 208, the print data is not transmitted to the printing device 102 while the UI screen is open, and the transmission process of the print data operates by closing the UI screen.

[0057] After the print data editing unit 208 edits the print data, the print data is passed to the printing device 102 via the OS. The printing device 102 performs printing on the paper surface based on the received print data. Note that when the print data generation software 202 is skipped by the skip control unit 206, the print data editing unit 208 may convert the received intermediate data into print data interpretable by the printing device 102. Also, the functions provided by the OS may be used to convert the intermediate data into print data.

[0058] In addition, the extended application 204 has a print function extension unit 207. The print function extension unit 207 can edit the PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software 202 or the OS. Thereby, the print function extension unit 207 can add functions provided by the extended application 204, add functions that the printing device 102 supports but the print data generation software 202 does not support, add exclusive relationships between the set values of the print functions, and so on.

[0059] The OS activates the print function extension unit 207 when the extended application 204 is first associated with the printing device 102 and the print data generation software 202. Furthermore, the OS may activate the print function extension unit 207 at other timings such as when the OS is started. By doing so, in a case where an optional device (for example, a finisher, etc.) is added to the printing device 102 later and the functions related to printing are extended, the print function extension unit 207 can detect the extended functions and add them to the PDC 203.

[0060] In addition, the extended application 204 has a notification unit 209. The notification unit 209 can display a notification to the user in response to an error occurring in the printing device 102. For example, when a paperless error occurs in the printing device 102, the print data software 202 detects it, and the OS uses a notification function called a toast notification, which is a function of the OS, to display a message on the display unit 119.

[0061] When the user presses (clicks) this toast notification, the notification unit 209 of the extended application 204 is called by the OS, and the UI screen of the notification unit 209 is displayed. On the UI screen of the notification unit 209, for example, a detailed message about the paperless error and a paper filling method can be displayed.

[0062] Note that once the extended application 204 sends print data to the printing device 102, it cannot display a screen such as a guide associated with the print data during the processing of each unit.

[0063] In addition, the extended application 204 has a stand-alone startup screen display unit 211. The extended application 204 operates in cooperation with the print data generation software 202, but it can also operate independently. When the user gives an instruction to start the extended application 204, the stand-alone startup screen display unit 211 of the extended application 204 is called, and the UI screen of the stand-alone startup screen display unit 211 is displayed.

[0064] Also, the configuration of the extended application 204 for realizing this embodiment is not limited to having all of the above-described functions (units), and it may have only a part of the functions or may have other functions. Also, the extended application 204 may sometimes be simply called print software.

[0065] <Status Notification According to Standard Printing Specifications> Next, we will explain how the status of the printing device 102 is notified to the user in the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). The IPP has a mechanism for notifying a computer of information about the status of a printing device as an attribute value expressed as a character string. For example, if the information indicates that the number of sheets of printing media (paper) stored in the printing device as a consumable item is running low, it is expressed as the character string "media-low-report."

[0066] The suffix "-report" indicates the severity of the status information that has occurred. Specifically, if the status information that has occurred is not serious enough to affect the print results, the string "-report" is added to the end.

[0067] If the status information indicates that the print results may be poor, the string "-warning" is added to the end. For example, if the ink supply used for printing is low, the string "marker-supply-low-warning" is used.

[0068] If the status information is such that printing cannot continue, the string "-error" is added to the end. For example, if the ink used for printing has completely run out, it is expressed as the string "marker-supply-empty-error".

[0069] The printing device can manage remaining ink amount information by distinguishing between, for example, status information indicating that the remaining amount of ink is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, status information indicating that ink remains but the remaining amount is less than a predetermined amount, and status information indicating that ink has run out.

[0070] On the host computer 102, the OS displays the status information on the display unit 119 according to the suffix of the notified status information. For example, when the suffix is "-error", the status information is displayed in a pop-up form on the display unit 119 (such as the lower right of the screen (Fig. 8)) to notify the user. Also, when the suffix is "-report" or "-warning", the status information is not notified to the display unit 119 and no notification is made to the user.

[0071] In this way, according to the suffix string, the OS determines whether to notify the status information onto the display unit 119. That is to say, this suffix string can also be regarded as notification instruction information that instructs the notification or non-notification of the status information to the user in the standard printing specification.

[0072] As described above, the print data generation software 202 has a function of displaying (notifying) the status information of the printing device on the display unit according to its importance (hereinafter, in this embodiment, this function is called the toast notification function or toast notification). However, the conditions for performing the toast notification by the print data generation software 202 are determined in advance by the OS, and it was difficult for the user to control those conditions.

[0073] Therefore, in this embodiment, as described below, by the extended application 204, it becomes possible to appropriately control the conditions for notifying the user about the status of the printing device 102 even in printing using the standard printing specification.

[0074] <Registration of Notification Settings and Sequence of Status Information Notification> FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the printing process of this embodiment in which the user registers and controls the desired toast notification conditions as notification settings via the extended application 204.

[0075] First, in S301, the user instructs the OS to start the extended application 204. Next, in S302, the OS starts the extended application 204 in response to the start instruction from the user. In S303, the extended application 204 displays a registration screen for registering notification settings indicating the toast notification conditions desired by the user.

[0076] For example, the printing settings screen 401 described later may be displayed by the user pressing a property setting button displayed on the printing settings screen provided by the aforementioned document creation application.

[0077] Also, from the application list screen displayed by pressing a button to display all applications on the start menu displayed by the OS, by pressing the icon indicating the extended application 204, the single startup screens 404 and 408 described later may be displayed. Alternatively, by selecting the printer management screen from the startup settings screen that can be started from the start menu and starting the extended application 204 from the detailed settings screen of the printer associated with the extended application 204, the single startup screens 404 and 408 described later may be displayed.

[0078] With reference to FIG. 4, the screen displayed by the extended application 204 to allow the user to register notification settings will be described. The printing settings screen 401 in FIG. 4(a) is an example of the screen displayed by the printing settings screen extension unit 205.

[0079] The printing settings screen 401 displays a screen on which the user can specify the setting values of the printing functions that can be specified by the print data generation software 202 based on the PC that can be obtained from the OS. Examples of the setting values of the printing functions include a control 402 for setting the type of paper to be used for printing.

[0080] The printing function extension unit 205 may display the status notification setting 403 to the user as one of the set values of the printing function and allow the user to select the notification setting. The control 403 is a control item (an example of a reception means and a reception step) that can select a notification setting indicating the toast notification condition desired by the user. For example, items such as allowing notifications only during printing errors, allowing notifications during printing errors and warnings, not allowing notifications, and always allowing notifications can be set. The printing setting screen extension unit 205 stores the notification setting set by the control 403 in the shared information 210.

[0081] In this way, by making the notification setting selectable on the printing setting screen 401, the user can determine the notification setting for each job and perform control according to the situation at the time of each job execution. Also, the single-start screens 404 and 408 described later are not displayed when printing is executed, and while it is conceivable that the user may not recognize that the notification setting is selectable, the printing setting screen 401 has the advantage of being easily noticeable to the user.

[0082] The extended application 204 may allow the user's desired notification setting to be registered in a unit other than the printing setting screen extension unit 205. For example, the single-start screen 404 and the single-start screen 408 in FIGS. 4(b) and (c) are examples of the screens displayed by the single-start screen display unit 211. In this embodiment, since the extended application 204 is for the purpose of extending the function of the print data generation software 202, it is assumed that the single-start screen 404 and the single-start screen 408 displayed by the single-start screen display unit 211 have only the minimum necessary functions.

[0083] The control 405 on the single-start screen 404 shown in FIG. 4(b) is a control item that can switch the state of whether the user manages the notification setting by himself / herself between on and off, and the control 405 shows the state in which on is selected. The control 406 is a control item for setting the notification setting type, and for example, it is possible to set whether to manage the notification settings collectively or for each printing device as the notification setting type.

[0084] The single-start screen 404 is a screen when the control 406 indicating the notification setting type is set for batch management. The control 407 is a control item for setting the notification setting. For example, items such as permitting notifications only at the time of a print error, permitting notifications at the time of a print error and a warning, not permitting notifications, and always permitting notifications can be set as the notification setting.

[0085] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the display and non-display of the control 407 are switched according to the notification setting type set by the control 406. However, the screen may be configured in such a way that although the control itself is displayed according to the notification setting type of the control 406, it cannot be selected.

[0086] The single-start screen 408 shown in FIG. 4(c) is a screen when management is set for each printer as the notification setting type by the control 406. In this embodiment, management for each printer is assumed to be management for each printing device having the same product name, but it may also be management in units of the generated print queue.

[0087] The control 409 is a control item for setting the notification setting for each target printing device. In the control 409, for example, items such as permitting notifications only at the time of a print error, permitting notifications at the time of a print error and a warning, not permitting notifications, and always permitting notifications can be set. In this embodiment, it is assumed that only notifications at the time of a print error are permitted for printer A, notifications at the time of a print error and a warning are permitted for printer B, notifications are not permitted for printer C, and notifications are always permitted for printer D.

[0088] The single-start screen display unit 211 stores the notification setting set on the single-start screen 404 or the single-start screen 408 in the shared information 210.

[0089] Table 501 shown in FIG. 5 is a table showing an example of notification settings for each printing device stored in the shared information 210 by the single-start screen display unit 211. That is, as shown in row 502, the notification setting corresponding to the target printer A is "permission to notify at the time of a printing error". Similarly, row 503 indicates that the notification setting corresponding to printer B is "permission to notify at the time of a printing error and a warning". Also, as shown in row 504, the notification setting corresponding to printer C is "no notification is permitted". And, as shown in row 505, the notification setting corresponding to printer D is "always permit notification".

[0090] Note that in this embodiment, an example in which the user registers a notification setting on the screens (FIGS. 4(a), 4(b), and 4(c)) displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 and the single-start screen display unit 211 has been described. It may be provided with both a method of registering from the screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 and a method of registering from the screen displayed by the single-start screen expansion unit 211, or it may be provided with either one of them.

[0091] Also, the extended application 204 may cause the user to register a notification setting in another unit. That is, the notification setting may be registered from any one or a plurality of units among the skip control unit 206, the print function expansion unit 207, the print data editing unit 208, and the notification unit 209.

[0092] Returning to FIG. 3, the description will be continued. In S304, the user sets a desired notification setting via the above-described notification setting registration screen displayed by the extended application 204. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the notification settings shown in the table 501 of FIG. 5 are set for each printing device via the single-start screen 408 displayed by the single-start screen display unit 211.

[0093] Next, in S305, the extended application 204 stores the notification settings in the shared information 210. Storing the notification settings in the shared information 210 allows each unit included in the extended application 204 to register the notification settings in the OS by accessing the shared information 210 as needed and obtaining the notification settings. When the user registers the notification settings from the standalone startup screen display unit 211, the user can terminate the operation of the standalone startup screen display unit 211 by pressing the exit button 410 located in the upper right corner of the standalone startup screen.

[0094] Next, in S306, the user issues a print instruction to the drawing application 201, and in S307 the drawing application 201 issues a print instruction to the OS. Note that in the explanation of this figure, the processing of the print data generation software 202 is also considered to be included in the processing of the OS.

[0095] Next, in step S308, the OS starts the print data editing unit 208 of the extension application 204. The print data editing unit 208 edits the print data and sends it to the printing device 102 as a background process, and issues instructions to start a UI screen. Furthermore, upon receiving an instruction to start a UI, the foreground process of the print data editing unit 208 starts, and the print data editing unit 208 performs processing involving the UI screen.

[0096] In step S309, the print data editing unit 208 registers the notification setting information in the OS. The notification setting information will be described later.

[0097] The details of the processing of the extension application 204 in S309 will be described using the flowchart in Fig. 6. Note that in this embodiment, it is assumed that the print data editing unit 208 uses the notification settings registered in the shared information 210 by the stand-alone startup screen display unit 211 to register notification setting information in the OS.

[0098] Note that it may be other units included in the extension application 204 that register the notification setting information with the OS. Also, the timing at which each unit of the extension application 204 registers the notification setting information with the OS is not limited to this embodiment.

[0099] For example, each unit of the extension application 204 may register the notification setting information with the OS based on the notification settings set by the user. After the notification settings are set by the user, the registration of the notification setting information with the OS may be performed at the timing when other units are activated. Also, the registration of the notification setting information with the OS may be performed at the timing when a predetermined unit of the extension application 204 is called by the drawing application 201 executing the print instruction in response to a print instruction from the user.

[0100] In S601 of FIG. 6, the print data editing unit 208 of the extension application 204 determines whether the management of the notification settings is selected from the information stored in the shared information 210. If the management of the notification settings is selected (S601: Yes), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S602. If the management of the notification settings is not selected (S601: No), the print data editing unit 208 ends the process without registering the notification setting information with the OS.

[0101] Next, in S602, the print data editing unit 208 refers to the information stored in the shared information 210 and determines whether the notification setting type is a batch setting. If the notification setting type is a batch setting (S602: Yes), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S603.

[0102] Next, in S603, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the set notification settings from the shared information 210 and proceeds with the process to S604. In S604, the print data editing unit 208 registers notification setting information with the OS based on the notification settings. In the present embodiment, the print data editing unit 208 registers, with the OS as notification setting information, the types of suffixes of the status information for which the OS should issue notifications, based on the notification setting of "permit at print error and warning" which is the notification setting set on the single startup screen 404.

[0103] Using FIG. 16, the notification settings set by the user and the suffixes of the status information corresponding to the notification settings will be described in detail. FIG. 16 is a table 1601 associating the notification settings registered by the user and the notification setting information which is the suffix indicating the status information that the OS should display to the user.

[0104] For example, in row 1602 of table 1601, when the desired notification setting of the user is "permit notification at print error", the notification setting information is associated such that if the suffix of the status information issued by the printing device is "-error", the OS will issue a notification. Similarly, in row 1603, when "permit notification at print error and warning" is selected, the notification setting information is associated such that if the suffix of the status information issued by the printing device is "-error" or "-warning", the OS will issue a notification.

[0105] In row 1604, when "do not permit notification" is selected, it represents the notification setting information that there is no suffix of the corresponding status information. That is, even if the OS receives any type of status information from the printing device, it will not notify the user. In row 1605, when "always permit notification" is selected, the notification setting information is associated such that if it is "-error", "-warning", or "-report", the OS will issue a notification.

[0106] In this way, by registering the suffix of the status information associated with the notification setting desired by the user as notification setting information in the OS, the OS can subsequently display a toast notification on the display unit 119 based on the notification setting information. As described above, in S604, the print data editing unit 208 registers the notification setting information in the OS based on the notification setting desired by the user and ends the process.

[0107] When the notification setting type is "managed for each printer" (S602: No), the print data editing unit 208 advances the process to S605.

[0108] In S605, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the printer name selected as the print instruction target. As a method for acquiring the printer name, the print data editing unit 208 may issue an IPP Get-Printer-Attributes operation to the printing device 102 and acquire the printer name from the attribute information included in the obtainable response. Alternatively, the print data editing unit 208 may determine the printer name from the HWID (Hardware ID) of its associated print queue.

[0109] When the print data editing unit 208 acquires the printer name in S605, it advances the process to S606. Next, in S606, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification setting of the corresponding printer from the shared information 210.

[0110] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the notification setting corresponding to row 503 of table 501 is stored in the shared information 210. Therefore, the print data editing unit 208 acquires information from the shared information 210 that "notification is permitted at the time of print error and warning" is set as the notification setting for the selected printer B, and advances the process to S607.

[0111] In S607, the print data editing unit 208 registers the notification setting information in the OS in association with the printer specified as the print instruction target based on the notification setting desired by the user. Specifically, the print data editing unit 208 registers two types of information in the OS.

[0112] As the first piece of information, the print data editing unit 208 registers printer B specified as the print instruction target as the target printer for registering the notification setting information. As the second piece of information, the print data editing unit 208 registers the notification setting information indicating that if the suffix of the status information issued by the printing device is "-error" or "-warning" as shown in line 1603 of FIG. 16, the OS will issue a notification.

[0113] Note that the information of each print data editing unit may be registered in the OS simultaneously or at different timings. Also, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the print data editing unit 208 registers the notification setting information regarding the printing device selected as the print instruction target, that is, the printing device to which the print data is to be transmitted. However, the notification setting information of other printing devices may also be registered.

[0114] For example, even when the print data editing unit 208 is selected as the print instruction target and activated for printer A, it may register the notification setting information of printers other than printer A shown in table 501 of FIG. 5 stored in the shared information 210 in the OS. In S607, the print data editing unit 208 registers the target printer and the notification setting information in the OS and ends the process.

[0115] Returning to the description of FIG. 3. After ending the process S309 described in the flowchart of FIG. 6 above, the print data editing unit 208 then transmits the print data to the printing device 102 in S310 and ends the process.

[0116] Then, when the printing device 102 receives the print data, it forms the drawing data included in the received print data on the paper surface. Here, assume a case where when the printing device 102 performs a printing process based on the received print data, the ink set in the printing device 102 runs out and an out-of-ink error occurs.

[0117] In S311, the printing device 102 responds to the OS with "marker-supply-empty-error" indicating that an error has occurred in the OS. In this embodiment, it is described that the printing device 102 responds with status information to the OS. However, it is also conceivable that the OS periodically monitors the status of the printing device 102 to detect a change to an error state.

[0118] When the OS receives status information indicating that an error has occurred in the printing device 102 in S311, it determines whether it matches the notification setting information registered in the OS itself. If it matches, a toast notification is displayed on the display unit 119 as shown in S312.

[0119] In this embodiment, based on the notification setting "Allow notifications when there are printing errors and warnings" in row 503 of table 501, notification setting information indicating that a toast notification is to be sent for suffixes "-error" and "-warning" as shown in row 1603 of table 1601 is registered in the OS. Therefore, the OS determines that it is necessary to display a toast notification from the status information with the suffix "-error" added.

[0120] The toast 801 in FIG. 8 is an example of a toast notification displayed by the OS. The process of determining whether the OS displays a toast notification on the display unit 119 will be described later. Next, when the user clicks on the toast displayed on the display unit 119 in S313, in S314 the OS executes an instruction to start the extended application 204. When receiving the start instruction from the OS in S314, the notification unit 209 of the extended application 204 starts up.

[0121] The notification unit 209 makes a request to the printing device 102 to obtain status information in S315. In S316, the printing device 102 responds with status information as a response to the request from the notification unit 209 to obtain status information. In S317, the notification unit 209 generates a status notification screen based on the obtained status information. Then, in S318, the notification unit 209 displays the generated status notification screen on the display unit 119.

[0122] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a status notification screen displayed by the notification unit 209. The status notification screen 901 displayed by the notification unit 209 is a screen for notifying the user of the status of the printer and the print job based on the status information acquired from the printing apparatus 102.

[0123] The display area 902 is an area for displaying a message indicating the status of the printing apparatus 102 based on the status information acquired from the printing apparatus 102. For example, when status information indicating "marker-supply-empty-error" is acquired from the printing apparatus 102, a message indicating that the ink may have run out is displayed as shown in the display area 902.

[0124] The display area 903 is an area for displaying information on the print job that is the monitoring target of the status notification screen. In the example of FIG. 9, it is shown that the job of printing "document.txt" on printer A is the monitoring target.

[0125] The control item 904 is a print cancellation button, and pressing it cancels the printing of the print job shown in the display area 903. The display area 905 is an area for displaying the remaining amount information of consumables used in the printing apparatus 102, such as ink and maintenance cartridges.

[0126] Returning to FIG. 3, the description continues. In S319, the notification unit 209 of the extended application 204 periodically makes a request to acquire the status information of the printing apparatus 102. In S320, the printing apparatus 102 responds with the status information in response to the request to acquire the status information.

[0127] In this way, the notification unit 209 periodically requests the status information of the printing device 102, and by obtaining the status information from the printing device 102, it can determine whether an error of the printing device continues to occur or whether the error has been resolved and the printing job has ended. Further, the notification unit 209 may update the status notification screen 901 based on the obtained status information and display the information to the user. When the status information is obtained from the printing device 102 during the display of the status notification screen 901, only the display area 902 of the status notification screen 901 needs to be updated, and no toast notification needs to be performed.

[0128] For example, if the notification unit 209 determines that the status information obtained from the printing device 102 at S320 indicates that the processing of the printing job has ended, as shown at S321, the display of the status notification screen 901 is terminated.

[0129] Note that the notification unit 209 continues to request and obtain the status information of the printing device 102 and may continue to display the status notification screen 901 unless an explicit end instruction is received from the user. In this case, for example, when the user presses the cancel button 904 provided on the status notification screen 901 to cancel the job and an explicit end instruction is received, the notification unit 209 terminates the display of the status notification screen 901.

[0130] <Display determination of toast notification by OS> Next, with reference to FIG. 7(a), a flowchart will be described in which the OS determines whether to display a toast notification at S312 based on the registered notification setting information for the status response received at S311 in FIG. 3.

[0131] First, at S701, the OS obtains the status information returned by the printing device 102 and proceeds to S702 for processing.

[0132] In S702, the OS determines whether notification setting information is registered by the extended application 204. If the notification setting information is registered (S702: Yes), the OS proceeds with the process to S703. If the notification setting information is not registered (S702: No), the OS proceeds with the process to S711 described later.

[0133] In S703, the OS determines whether the notification setting information registered by the extended application 204 is a batch setting. The determination of whether the registered notification setting information is a batch setting is made based on whether the registration of the notification setting information is performed together with the registration of the printer name. Or, information indicating a batch setting may be registered instead of the printer name together with the notification setting information.

[0134] As an example, information indicating that the notification setting information is applied to all printers, such as ALL, or information indicating that there is no registration of the printer name, such as NULL, etc., may be registered to the OS instead of the printer name together with the notification setting information.

[0135] If the notification setting information is a batch setting (S703: Yes), the OS proceeds with the process to S704. In S704, the OS acquires the batch-set notification setting information. Then, the OS proceeds with the process to S707.

[0136] If the notification setting information is managed for each printer (S703: No), the OS proceeds with the process to S705 and acquires the printer name of the printing device 102. The printer name of the printing device 102 may be acquired from the attribute value in the response that can be obtained by issuing the IPP's Get-Printer-Attributes operation, or may be acquired from the HWID associated with the specified print queue.

[0137] In S705, the OS acquires the printer name and proceeds with the process to S706. In S706, the OS acquires the notification setting information corresponding to the printer name acquired in S705 and proceeds with the process to S707.

[0138] Next, at S707, the OS determines whether the suffix of the status information acquired from the printing device 102 is "-error", "-warning", or "-report", and proceeds with the processing to S708, S709, or S710 according to the type of the suffix. Specifically, when the suffix is "-error", the processing proceeds to S708; when the suffix is "-warning", the processing proceeds to S709; and when the suffix is "-report", the processing proceeds to S710.

[0139] Details of the processing in S708, S709, and S710 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7(b), (c), and (d), respectively.

[0140] Details of the processing in S708 are shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7(b). First, at S715, the OS determines whether the registered notification setting information acquired by the OS itself at S704 or S706 in FIG. 7(a) contains "-error". If the notification setting information contains "-error" (S715: Yes), the OS proceeds with the processing to S716.

[0141] At S716, since the notification setting information contains "-error", the OS determines that a toast notification needs to be displayed when the suffix of the status information is "-error". Then, at S717, the OS displays a toast notification.

[0142] On the other hand, if the notification setting information does not contain "-error" (S715: No), the OS ends the processing.

[0143] Next, details of the processing in S709 will be described with reference to FIG. 7(c). First, at S718, the OS determines whether the registered notification setting information contains "-warning". If the notification setting information contains "-warning" (S718: Yes), the OS determines that a toast notification does not need to be displayed and proceeds with the processing to S719.

[0144] In S719, since the "-warning" is included in the notification setting information, the OS determines that a toast notification needs to be displayed when the suffix of the status information is "-warning". Then in S720, the OS displays the toast notification. On the other hand, when the "-warning" is not included in the notification setting information (S718: No), the OS determines that a toast notification is not required and ends the process.

[0145] Finally, the details of the process in S710 will be described with reference to Fig. 7(d).

[0146] First, in S721, the OS determines whether the "-report" is included in the notification setting information registered with itself. When the "-report" is included in the notification setting information (S721: Yes), the OS proceeds with the process to S722. In S722, since the "-report" is included in the notification setting information, the OS determines that a toast notification needs to be displayed when the suffix of the status information is "-report". Then, in S723, the OS displays the toast notification. On the other hand, when the "-report" is not included in the notification setting information (S721: No), the OS determines that a toast notification is not required and ends the process.

[0147] The above is an example of the OS's process when notification setting information is set in the OS. On the other hand, returning to Fig. 7(a), the process when notification setting information is not registered in the OS will also be described. When it is determined that the notification setting information is not registered (S702: No), the OS proceeds with the process from S702 to S711. When it is determined that the notification setting information is not registered, the process is performed based on the OS's defined notification setting conditions.

[0148] In S711, it is checked whether the suffix of the status information acquired from the printing device 102 is "-error". If the suffix of the status information is "-error" (S711: Yes), the OS proceeds with the process to S712 and determines that it is necessary to display a toast notification. Then, in S713, the OS displays a toast notification. If the suffix of the status information is not "-error" (S711: No), since the condition of the default notification setting of the OS is only when the suffix of the status notification is "-error", it is determined that notification display is unnecessary, and the OS ends the process.

[0149] In printing using the standard printing specifications, usually, a toast notification regarding the state of the printing device 102 is displayed according to predetermined default notification conditions. However, according to the above-described embodiment, it becomes possible for the user to set the notification setting by themselves and control the notification conditions. As a result, when the user does not want a notification to be displayed during printing execution by the printing device 102, or when the user wants to receive a notification even during a warning that occurs during printing execution, the user can arbitrarily change the notification setting and receive the notification, so an improvement in convenience can be expected.

[0150] <<Embodiment 2>> In the above-described Embodiment 1, by registering notification setting information based on desired notification settings to the OS via the extended application 204 by the user, it was made possible to control the conditions under which a toast notification is displayed. However, in a company or organization, there may be a case where it is desired to manage the notification settings of users within the organization under uniform conditions. Also, in that case, it is desirable that the administrator of the company or organization can set the notification settings of users within the organization all at once.

[0151] In this embodiment, an example will be described in which an administrator of a company or organization registers notification setting information to the OS of each host computer within the company or organization using the extended application 204. Hereinafter, the extended application 204 may be described as the main body of each process, but actually, the corresponding functions will be realized by the CPU 111 executing the corresponding program.

[0152] First, using FIG. 10, the process flow from when an administrator of an enterprise or organization creates “custom notification settings” for the enterprise or organization, distributes them to users within the enterprise or organization, and until the extended application 204 is launched by the users will be described. The content of the notification settings configured in the custom notification settings is the same as the notification settings described in the aforementioned Embodiment 1 (for example, FIG. 5), but in this embodiment, it is referred to as “custom notification settings” in order to distinguish it from the notification settings set by the users themselves.

[0153] Since there are multiple ways to distribute custom notification settings to users by the administrator, in this embodiment, it will be described separately in FIGS. 10(a) to (c).

[0154] FIG. 10(a) is a diagram showing a sequence when the custom notification settings are included in the extended application 204 itself. In the case of FIG. 10(a), in order to correspond to the custom notification settings to be set in the target enterprise or organization, the extended application 204 needs to be specially modified and provided to the administrator of the enterprise or organization.

[0155] First, in S1001, the administrator of the enterprise or organization that has received the specially configured extended application 204 notifies the users of the distribution of the extended application 204. Specifically, it is conceivable to post a notice of the distribution of the extended application 204 on the company's internal homepage, or to notify the users of the distribution of the extended application 204 verbally, by email, or through other communication tools.

[0156] Note that when distributing the specially configured extended application 204, the distribution of the extended application 204 involves the distribution of setup information for associating the extended application 204 with the print data generation software. In this embodiment, the setup information refers to a file in the.inf format with the extension of an extended INF file, but other file formats are also acceptable.

[0157] Next, at S1002, the administrator issues a distribution instruction for the extended application 204 to the administrator PC. At S1003, the administrator PC distributes the extended application 204 to the host computers within the enterprise or organization.

[0158] Here, as a method of distributing the extended application 204 from the administrator PC, it may be distributed by email from the administrator PC to the user's host computer. Also, the administrator may access from the administrator PC to a server shared within the enterprise or organization, place it, and the user PC may obtain it from the server. Similarly, distribution may be performed using a cloud storage service or the like shared within the enterprise or organization. Using the client PC management tool, the administrator may distribute the extended application 204 to the host computers managed within the enterprise or organization through the administrator PC.

[0159] Here, the configuration of the printing system using the client PC management tool will be described with reference to FIG. 1(b).

[0160] FIG. 1(b) is a schematic diagram of a printing system in an enterprise or organization where the client PC management tool is introduced. In this system, a management server 121 for performing client management, an administrator PC 122, a client PC (A) 123, and a client PC (B) 124 are communicably connected via a network. Note that the client PC (A) 123 and the client PC (B) 124 are computers having the same hardware configuration as the host computer 101.

[0161] The administrator using the administrator PC 122 can perform configuration management, software management, distribution, etc. of the client PC (A) 123 and the client PC (B) 124. Also in this embodiment, the client PC (A) 123 and the client PC (B) 124 have the client PC management tool introduced, and it is assumed that the extended application 204 and a file describing custom notification settings can be distributed from the administrator.

[0162] Return to the description of FIG. 10(a). As described above, in S1003, the administrator distributes the extended application 204 including the custom notification setting to the user, and the process proceeds to S1004.

[0163] In S1004, users of enterprises and organizations issue an instruction to install the extended application on their host computers.

[0164] In S1005, the host computer installs the extended application 204. At this time, the host computer also installs the extended INF, which is the setup information of the extended application, at the same time. After the installation is completed, in S1006, the host computer displays the completion of the installation on the display unit 119 and notifies the user.

[0165] Next, in S1007, users of enterprises and organizations instruct the host computer to generate a print queue. In response to the user's instruction, in S1008, the host computer generates a print queue. At this time, the host computer associates the extended application 204 installed in S1005 with the print queue.

[0166] Then, in S1009, the generated print queue is displayed to the user via the display unit 119. Next, in S1010, users of enterprises and organizations instruct the host computer to start the extended application 204 installed on the host computer. In S1011, the host computer starts the extended application 204.

[0167] Then, in S1012, the host computer displays the UI screen of the extended application 204 on the display unit 119. After the extended application 204 is started in S1011 and before the extended application 204 displays the UI screen on the display unit 119 in S1012, the print function extension unit 207 checks the presence or absence of the custom notification setting and registers the notification setting information with the OS. The details of the process will be described later.

[0168] Next, FIG. 10B is a diagram showing a sequence in the case where the custom notification setting is not included in the extension application 204, but the extension application 204 is separately placed in an accessible area.

[0169] In Figure 10(b), the extended application 204 itself does not contain information, so the custom notification settings can be changed relatively easily compared to Figure 10(a). Since it is anticipated that there will be cases where an administrator of a company or organization will want to change the custom notification settings that were registered once after operation has begun, Figure 10(b) is considered more preferable than Figure 10(a) in that it allows for more flexible operation. Furthermore, in this case, the extended application 204 does not need to be an application that has been modified in advance for the company or organization.

[0170] First, in S1013, the administrator notifies the users that custom notification settings will be distributed. Specifically, the same method as in S1001 can be considered. That is, the organization's administrator can post a notice on the company's internal homepage that custom notification settings will be distributed, or can inform the users verbally, by email, or through other communication tools that custom notification settings will be distributed.

[0171] The administrator creates a custom notification setting. The information to be entered in the custom notification setting is the notification setting type and notification setting mentioned above, but the format in which this information is entered does not matter. Specifically, any format is acceptable, such as ini, XML, JSON, YAML, TOML, PLIST, or by editing the registry of the host computer.

[0172] Next, in S1014, the administrator instructs the administrator PC to distribute the custom notification settings. In S1015, the administrator PC distributes the custom notification settings to host computers within the company or organization.

[0173] As a method of providing custom notification settings, as described above, the administrator may distribute them by email from the administrator's PC to the user's host computer. Alternatively, the administrator may place them on a server shared within a company or organization, and the user may obtain them from the server. Similarly, distribution may be performed using a cloud storage service or the like shared within a company or organization. Or, the administrator may distribute the custom notification settings from the administrator's PC to the host computers managed within a company or organization using an endpoint management tool.

[0174] Next, in S1016, a user of a company or organization issues an instruction to install the extension application 204 to the host computer. In S1017, the host computer requests the application download service provided by Microsoft (hereinafter referred to as the application store) to obtain the extension application 204 and downloads it. In this embodiment, the extension application 204 is obtained from the service provided by Microsoft, but it may be obtained from other application download services or other websites.

[0175] In S1018, the host computer installs the extension application 204 obtained from the application store. In S1019, the host computer notifies the user that the installation of the extension application 204 has been completed.

[0176] Next, in S1020, the user places the distributed custom notification settings in a predetermined information storage area of the host computer. The predetermined information storage area is an area generated by the OS when the extension application 204 is installed on the host computer.

[0177] In the present embodiment, a method of placing custom notification settings distributed in advance by the user in a predetermined information storage area has been described. However, the placement of the custom notification settings may be performed by an administrator instead of the user. Specifically, methods such as the administrator accessing the above-described endpoint management tool from the administrator PC and distributing the custom notification settings to a predetermined storage area of the host computer to be managed can be considered. It can be said that it is more desirable for the custom notification settings to be distributed by the administrator because the reflection of the custom notification settings is not left to the operations of each user.

[0178] Next, in S1021, a user of a company or organization instructs the host computer to generate a print queue. In response to the user's instruction, in S1022, the host computer generates a print queue. At this time, the host computer associates the extended application 204 installed in S1018 with the print queue. Then, in S1023, the generated print queue is displayed to the user via the display unit 119.

[0179] Note that in the present embodiment, it is assumed that after placing the custom notification settings in the predetermined information storage area in S1020, the print queue generation process from S1021 to S1023 is performed. However, the placement of the custom notification settings in the predetermined information storage area may be performed later. That is, it can be said that the placement of the custom notification settings in the predetermined information storage area in S1020 may be performed at an arbitrary timing after the completion of the installation of the extended application 204 in S1019 and until the start instruction of the extended application 204 in S1024.

[0180] Next, in S1024, the user gives an instruction to the host computer to start the extended application 204. In S1025, the host computer starts the extended application 204, and in S1026, the host computer displays the UI screen of the extended application 204 on the display unit 119. Note that after the extended application 204 is started in S1025 and until the extended application 204 displays the UI screen on the display unit 119 in S1026, the printing function extension unit 207 checks for the presence or absence of custom notification settings and registers the notification setting information with the OS. The details of the process will be described later.

[0181] Finally, FIG. 10(c) is a diagram showing a sequence when the administrator does not directly distribute the custom notification settings to each user within the enterprise or organization but places them on an externally prepared server.

[0182] In this case, it is necessary to previously store the information of the server to be accessed for each target enterprise or organization in the extended application 204. Therefore, the extended application 204 is modified into an application dedicated to the enterprise or organization using it and provided to the administrator of the enterprise or organization.

[0183] The point of modifying the extended application 204 for each enterprise or organization is the same as in FIG. 10(a). However, in the case of FIG. 10(c), the extended application 204 itself does not have custom notification settings, and the custom notification settings are placed on the server. Therefore, when it is desired to change the custom notification settings, it is only necessary to change the information on the server, and it is not necessary to modify the extended application 204.

[0184] Also, for FIG. 10(b), since it is not necessary to distribute to each user when the custom notification settings are changed, it can be expected that the occurrence of unintended problems due to distribution omission or distribution mistakes can be suppressed.

[0185] In FIG. 10(c), first in S1027, the administrator instructs the administrator PC to place the created custom notification settings on a predetermined server.

[0186] Next, in S1028, the administrator PC arranges the custom notification settings to a predetermined server and proceeds with the process to S1029. In S1029, the administrator notifies users within the enterprise or organization that they will distribute the extended application 204 containing information for accessing the server. Similar to S1001, specifically, the administrator of the organization may post a notice on the company's internal homepage indicating the distribution of the extended application 204. Also, methods such as communicating verbally, via email, or other communication tools to inform users of the distribution of the extended application 204 are acceptable.

[0187] Then, in S1030, the administrator instructs the administrator PC to distribute the extended application 204. The administrator PC that has received the instruction to distribute the extended application 204 by the administrator distributes the extended application 204 to the user's host computer in S1031. The distribution method is the same as the distribution method of the extended application 204 in Fig. 10(a).

[0188] Next, in S1032, users within the enterprise or organization give an instruction to install the extended application to their host computer. In S1033, the host computer installs the extended application 204. At this time, the host computer also installs the extended INF, which is the setup information of the extended application, simultaneously. After the installation is completed, in S1034, the host computer displays the completion of the installation on the display unit 119 and notifies the user.

[0189] In S1035, users of the enterprise or organization instruct the host computer to generate a print queue. Upon receiving the user's instruction, in S1036, the host computer generates a print queue. At this time, the host computer associates the extended application 204 installed in S1033 with the print queue. Then, in S1037, the generated print queue is displayed to the user via the display unit 119.

[0190] Next, in S1038, a user of an enterprise or organization instructs the start of the extended application 204 installed on their host computer. In S1039, the host computer starts the extended application 204. Then, in S1040, the host computer displays the UI screen of the extended application 204 on the display unit 119.

[0191] Note that after the extended application 204 is started in S1039 and before the extended application 204 displays the UI screen on the display unit 119 in S1040, the printing function extension unit 207 checks for the presence or absence of custom notification settings and registers the notification setting information with the OS. Details of the process will be described later.

[0192] Note that in FIGS. 10(a) to (c) described in this embodiment, it is assumed that the user actively obtains the extended application 204 from the application store, but the extended application 204 may be automatically installed on the host computer.

[0193] For example, at the timing when the host computer is connected to the printing device 102, that is, simultaneously with the instruction to generate a print queue, the extended application 204 may be automatically downloaded and installed from the application store to the host computer. Alternatively, the administrator may use the above-described endpoint management tool to distribute the extended application 204 to the host computer for automatic installation.

[0194] Also, when the extended application 204 is automatically installed in FIG. 10(b), the administrator may use the above-described endpoint management tool to distribute custom notification settings after the installation of the extended application 204. In this case, the instruction by the user in S1020 to place the custom notification settings in the predetermined information storage area is unnecessary. Also, it can be said that the user can use the functions of the extended application 204 without using the application store by connecting the host computer and the printing device 102, which is more convenient.

[0195] The above is the sequence when an administrator of a company or organization creates custom notification settings and distributes them to users within the company or organization.

[0196] After the extension application 204 is installed and launched as shown in Figures 10(a), (b), and (c) above, the print function extension unit 207 checks whether custom notification settings exist and registers the notification setting information in the OS. Details of the process are explained using Figure 11.

[0197] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the notification setting information is registered based on the custom notification settings at the same time that the print function extension unit 207 edits the print function information 203 after the extension application 204 is installed. However, the registration of the notification setting information may be a process performed by another unit. Alternatively, when the extension application 204 is installed, the OS may start one of the units of the extension application 204, and that unit may register the notification setting information.

[0198] In step S1101 of Fig. 11, the print function extension unit 207 first checks the custom notification settings. In Fig. 10(a), the print function extension unit 207 checks the custom notification settings pre-registered in the extension application 204 itself. In Fig. 10(b), the print function extension unit 207 checks the custom notification settings stored in a predetermined information storage area of the host computer. In Fig. 10(c), the print function extension unit 207 checks the custom notification settings stored on the server by an administrator of the company or organization.

[0199] Next, in S1102, the print function extension unit 207 determines whether or not a custom notification setting exists. If a custom notification setting exists (S1102: Yes), the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to S1103. If it is determined that a custom notification setting does not exist (S1102: No), the print function extension unit 207 ends the processing of FIG. 11.

[0200] Next, in S1103, the printing function extension unit 207 determines whether the notification setting type is a batch setting or a notification setting for each printer from the content of the custom notification setting. If the notification setting type is a batch setting (S1103: Yes), the process proceeds to S1104. The process in the case where the notification setting type is a notification setting for each printer (S1103: No) will be described later.

[0201] In S1104, the printing function extension unit 207 acquires the custom notification setting. If the printing function extension unit 207 has previously included the custom notification setting in the extension application 204, it acquires the included custom notification setting. If the custom notification setting is arranged in a predetermined information storage area or server, the printing function extension unit 207 acquires the arranged custom notification setting.

[0202] After acquiring the custom notification setting, the printing function extension unit 207 proceeds to S1105, and in S1105, it registers notification setting information in the OS based on the custom notification setting. Since the details of the process in which the printing function extension unit 207 registers the notification setting information in the OS based on the custom notification setting are the same as the process described in FIG. 7 of Embodiment 1, the description is omitted.

[0203] If the notification setting type is a notification setting for each printer (S1103: No), the printing function extension unit 207 proceeds to S1106. After S1106, the printing function extension unit 207 performs the processes of S1106 and S1107 for each printer specified in the custom notification setting.

[0204] Specifically, in S1106, the printing function extension unit 207 acquires the custom notification setting for each printer. The notification setting for each printer is information corresponding to the table described above with reference to FIG. 5.

[0205] Next, in S1107, the printing function extension unit 207 associates the notification setting information based on the custom notification setting with the printer and registers it in the OS. Since the process of S1107 is also the same as the process described in FIG. 7 of Embodiment 1, the description is omitted.

[0206] According to the above-described Embodiment 2, an administrator of an enterprise or organization can set arbitrary custom notification settings for a user and uniformly control the notification conditions of users within the organization.

[0207] <<Embodiment 3>> In Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, a method has been described in which a user or an administrator of an enterprise or organization registers notification setting information based on a desired notification setting with the OS via the extended application 204 and controls the display conditions of the toast notification of the OS. When the notification setting is "Do not permit notifications", even if an error occurs to such an extent that printing cannot be executed by the printing device 102 and status information is sent to the host computer 101, a toast notification is not displayed on the host computer 101.

[0208] When the printing device 102 is at a physically close distance to the user, the user can also notice the error occurring in the printing device 102. However, when the printing device 102 is physically far from the user, it is assumed that a toast notification is not displayed on the host computer 101 and the user will take time to deal with the error occurring in the printing device 102. In this case, there is also a concern that the usability of the user, enterprise, or organization administrator may be deteriorated even as a desired notification setting registered by them.

[0209] In this embodiment, after a notification setting of "Do not permit notifications" is set and the extended application 204 registers notification setting information with the OS based on the notification setting, means are provided to display a guide to the user and change the notification setting when printing is executed a predetermined number of times. Thereby, it becomes possible for the user to change the notification setting.

[0210] The processing of this embodiment starts when the print data editing unit 208 of the extended application 204 is launched by the OS after the notification settings have already been set once by the user, enterprise, or administrator of the organization and the notification setting information has been registered in the OS. Note that since the setting of the notification settings by the user, enterprise, or administrator of the organization and the registration of the notification setting information of the extended application 204 are the processes described in the previous embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.

[0211] The processing performed by the print data editing unit 208 will be described with reference to FIG. 12.

[0212] First, in S1201, the print data editing unit 208 is launched by the OS and receives a print instruction. Next, in S1202, the print data editing unit 208 checks whether the management of the notification settings is selected by referring to the information stored in the shared information 210. If the management of the notification settings is selected (S1202: Yes), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1203. If the management of the notification settings is not selected (S1202: No), the print data editing unit 208 sends the print data to the printing device 102 (S1211) and ends the processing.

[0213] In S1203, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification settings from the shared information 210 and proceeds to S1204. Note that when the notification setting type is batch setting, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the batch-set notification settings. When the notification setting type is managed for each printer, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification settings related to the target printer (the printer selected as the print destination) that has been launched in association with itself.

[0214] The target printer information may be obtained from the attribute values obtained from the response obtained by issuing the Get-Printer-Attributes operation of the IPP (Internet Print Protocol). Alternatively, the printer name may be determined from the HWID of the print queue launched in association with itself.

[0215] The print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification setting and proceeds to S1204. In S1204, the print data editing unit 208 determines whether the notification setting is "notification not permitted." If the notification setting is "notification not permitted" (S1204: Yes), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1205. If the notification setting is not "notification not permitted" (S1204: No), the print data editing unit 208 sends the print data to the printing device 102 (S1211) and ends the process.

[0216] In S1205, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the number of prints that have been performed after the notification setting was set to "do not allow notifications" from the shared information 210. In this embodiment, if the notification setting is set to "do not manage notifications," the print data editing unit 208 of the extension application 204 counts the number of prints that have been performed when printing is performed after the notification setting was set.

[0217] The print data editing unit 208 obtains the number of print executions after the notification setting was set from the shared information 210, and proceeds to step S1206. In step S1206, the print data editing unit 208 determines whether the number of print executions after the notification setting was set exceeds the predetermined threshold value n of the number of print executions.

[0218] In this embodiment, the threshold value of n print executions is stored in advance by the extension application 204 in the shared information 210. The threshold value of n print executions can be changed arbitrarily by the user, and may be directly specified by the user via the print setting screen 401 or the standalone startup screen 404 shown in 401 in Fig. 4. Alternatively, information defined in advance in a custom setting notification created by an administrator of a company or organization may be used.

[0219] If the number of times printing has been performed after the notification setting has been set is n or more (S1206: Yes), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1207. If the number of times printing has been performed after the notification setting has been set is less than n (S1206: No), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1212, which will be described later.

[0220] In S1207, the print data editing unit 208 activates the foreground process, displays a UI screen on the display unit 119, and displays a notification setting change guide shown in FIG. 13 to the user.

[0221] The guide screens displayed by the print data editing unit 208 in FIGS. 13(a) and (b) will be described. The print data editing unit 208 displays the following to the user on the notification setting change guide 1301. That is, after selecting the notification setting "Do not allow notifications", a message indicating that printing has been executed a certain number of times and that even if an error occurs during printing on the printing device 102 with the set notification setting, no notification will be given is displayed. In addition, an option for the user to change the notification setting or not is provided.

[0222] The control 1302 is a control to be pressed when changing the notification setting. On the other hand, the control 1303 is a control to be pressed when executing printing as it is without changing the notification setting.

[0223] FIG. 13(b) is a dialog 1304 displayed when the control 1302 of the notification setting guide 1301 is selected.

[0224] The control 1305 of the dialog 1304 is a control item that allows the user to select the desired notification setting. Similar to the options provided by the print setting screen expansion unit 205, for example, items such as "Allow notifications only when printing errors occur", "Allow notifications when printing errors and warnings occur", "Do not allow notifications", "Always allow notifications", etc. can be set. Note that the already selected "Do not allow notifications" may be excluded from the settable selection items.

[0225] Control 1306 is a control that the user presses to reflect the setting change after the notification setting change in dialog 1304. On the other hand, control 1307 is a control that the user presses when discarding the notification setting change or canceling the notification setting change.

[0226] Return to the description of FIG. 12. In S1207, the print data editing unit 208 displays the notification setting change guide shown in FIG. 13 to the user and advances the process to S1208.

[0227] When the notification setting change is selected (S1208: Yes), the print data editing unit 208 advances the process to S1209 and registers the notification setting information based on the changed notification setting to the OS. Since the process of registering the notification setting information to the OS is the same as the above-described content, it is omitted. Further, the print data editing unit 208 changes the number of print executions after the notification setting to 0 (S1210).

[0228] Then, the print data editing unit 208 transmits the print data to the printing device 102 (S1211) and ends the process.

[0229] When the notification setting change is not selected (S1208: No), the print data editing unit 208 advances the process to S1214 and changes the number of print executions after the notification setting to 0. By initializing the number of print executions, the print data editing unit 208 will no longer continue to display the notification setting change guide after the next time. Also, it becomes possible to display the notification setting change guide to the user again when a predetermined print is executed again.

[0230] After executing the process of S1214, the print data editing unit 208 transmits the print data to the printing device 102 (S1211) and ends the process.

[0231] If the number of print executions after the notification setting is set is less than n times (S1206: No), the print data editing unit 208 acquires the number of print executions after the notification setting from the shared information 210 and increments the acquired number of print executions (S1212).

[0232] After incrementing the number of print executions, the print data editing unit 208 stores the incremented number of print executions in the shared information 210 again (S1213). Then, the print data editing unit 208 transmits the print data to the printing device 102 (S1211) and ends the process.

[0233] As described above, according to Embodiment 3, even when a user, company, or organization administrator selects "Do not permit notifications" as the notification setting, it is possible to display a notification setting change guide to the user at the timing when a predetermined number of print executions is reached. As a result, for the user, company, or organization administrator, an opportunity to review the notification setting according to the usage situation after the notification setting is made is provided, and an improvement in convenience can be expected.

[0234] <<Embodiment 4>> In Embodiment 3, when "Do not permit notifications" is selected as the notification setting, the process in which the extended application 204 displays a notification setting change guide, accepts the user's notification setting change, and re-registers the notification setting information in the OS was described. On the other hand, even when the user's notification setting is other than "Do not permit notifications", if the notification setting can be changed, for the user, it becomes possible to review the notification setting according to the display frequency of the toast notification, and an improvement in the usability can be expected.

[0235] In this embodiment, a method will be described in which the extended application 204 displays a toast notification according to the content of the notification setting instead of the toast notification displayed by the OS, thereby enabling the user to change the notification setting.

[0236] This embodiment assumes that notification settings have already been configured by a user or a company or organizational administrator and registered as notification setting information in the OS. The processing of this embodiment begins when the OS receives status information issued by the printing device 102 and launches the print data editing unit 208 of the extension application 204 (S314). Note that the configuration of notification settings by a user or a company or organizational administrator and the registration of notification setting information in the OS by the extension application 204 are processes described in the previous embodiment, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0237] The process performed by the print data editing unit 208 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0238] First, in S1401, the print data editing unit 208 references the shared information 210 and determines whether or not management of notification settings has been selected. If management of notification settings has been selected (S1401: Yes), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1402. If management of notification settings has not been selected (S1401: No), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1406, which will be described later.

[0239] In S1402, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification settings from the shared information 210. If the notification setting type is batch setting, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification settings registered by batch setting. If the notification setting type is management per printer, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification settings related to the target printer that the print data editing unit 208 is associated with and started up.

[0240] The print data editing unit 208 may obtain the target printer information from attribute values that can be obtained from a response to the Get-Printer-Attributes operation of the IPP (Internet Print Protocol). Alternatively, the print data editing unit 208 may determine the printer name from the HWID of the associated print queue.

[0241] Next, in S1403, the print data editing unit 208 determines the notification settings. In S1403, if the notification setting is "Allow notifications at print error and warning" or "Always allow notifications", the process proceeds to S1404. In S1404, the print data editing unit 208 generates a toast with a notification setting change notice.

[0242] Using FIG. 15, an example of a toast in the case where the print data editing unit 208 generates a notification setting change will be described.

[0243] The toast 1501 with a notification setting change in FIG. 15 displays the notification conditions set in the notification settings to the user and provides an option to change the notification settings or not. The control 1502 of the toast 1501 is a control item that can select the desired notification settings by the user. In the control 1502, similar to the options provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205, for example, items such as "Allow notifications only at print error", "Allow notifications at print error and warning", "Do not allow notifications", "Always allow notifications" can be set.

[0244] The control 1503 is a control for the user to press to reflect the setting change. On the other hand, the control 1504 is a control for the user to press when the user abandons the notification setting change or cancels the notification setting change.

[0245] In S1404, the print data editing unit 208 generates the toast with a notification setting change notice shown in FIG. 15 and proceeds the process to S1405.

[0246] When the selection of the notification settings is not managed (S1401: No), or when it is determined in S1403 that "Allow only at print error" is selected, the print data editing unit 208 proceeds the process to S1406. In S1406, the print data editing unit 208 generates a toast with no notification setting change, that is, a toast with a display content equivalent to the toast that the OS notifies the user.

[0247] If the user does not manage the notification settings (S1401: No), the toast notification is displayed according to the OS's default notification conditions. On the other hand, if "Allow notifications only for print errors" is selected, the toast notification is displayed according to the OS's default notification conditions.

[0248] In either case, if an error occurs in the printing device 102 and status information with the suffix "-error" is acquired, a toast notification is displayed, so the minimum necessary information is that the notification conditions for notifying the user have been set. For this reason, although this embodiment does not generate a notification change notification notification, the print data editing unit 208 may generate a toast with notification setting change notification notification information for the user.

[0249] In S1405, the print data editing unit 208 displays the generated toast notification on the display unit 119.

[0250] According to embodiment 4, a user, company, or organizational administrator sets notification setting information, and after the notification setting information is registered in the OS, it becomes possible to change the notification settings from a toast notification displayed on display unit 119.

[0251] As described above, according to the above-described embodiments, users and administrators of companies and organizations can appropriately manage the notification frequency of status information from the printing device 102 by controlling the toast notification settings via the extended application 204. Users and administrators of companies and organizations can expect to see improved value in using a printing system that uses OS standard printing and the extended application 204. [Explanation of symbols]

[0252] 101 host computer 102 Printing device 202 Printing data generation software 204 Extended Applications 209 Notification Unit 210 Shared Information 404 Single Startup Screen 501 Notification Settings Table 801 Toast notification issued by the OS 1301 Guide display for extended applications 1501 Toast notifications displayed by extension applications 1601 A table showing the correspondence between notification settings and notification setting information

Claims

1. An application program that extends the functions of software for generating print data printable by printing devices provided by multiple vendors, causing a computer to receive a notification setting regarding the state of a printing device that is the output destination of the print data, acquire the state of the printing device, and causing the computer to set whether to issue a notification regarding the acquired state of the printing device based on the notification setting. An application program characterized by this.

2. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the notification is performed by the software.

3. An application program that causes the computer to register the received notification setting as notification setting information with the software, wherein the notification setting information is information of a character string representing the magnitude of the influence on printing by the printing device among character strings representing information regarding the state of the printing device. The application program according to claim 1, characterized by this.

4. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the computer is caused to display a screen on which the notification setting can be set, and to receive the notification setting from a user of the computer.

5. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the notification setting includes a setting to issue a notification only when the printing device is in a state where printing cannot be continued.

6. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the notification setting includes a setting to issue a notification when the printing device is in a state where defects may occur in the printing result and when the printing device is in a state where printing cannot be continued.

7. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the notification setting includes a setting to issue a notification even when the printing device is in a state where the printing result is not affected.

8. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the notification setting includes a setting not to issue a notification always.

9. The application program according to claim 8, wherein when the number of print times after setting the notification setting to a setting not to issue a notification always exceeds a predetermined number of times, a screen on which the notification setting can be changed is displayed.

10. The application program is activated in response to a click by a user of the computer on the notification of the state of the printing device by the software, The application program according to claim 2, characterized in that when the state of the printing device is acquired in a state where the application program is activated, a screen on which the notification setting can be changed is displayed on the computer.

11. The application program is activated in response to a click by a user of the computer on the notification of the state of the printing device by the software, The application program according to claim 2, characterized in that when activated, a screen for displaying the state of the printing device is displayed on the computer.

12. The application program according to claim 11, characterized in that when another state of the printing device is acquired, the state of the printing device displayed on the screen is updated on the computer.

13. The application program according to claim 1, characterized in that the notification is a toast notification.

14. The application program according to claim 1, characterized in that the application program is provided by a vendor of a printing device that is an output destination of print data.

15. A control method for an information processing apparatus including software for generating print data printable by printing devices provided by a plurality of vendors and an application program for extending the functions of the software, A receiving step of receiving a notification setting regarding the state of a printing device that is an output destination of print data, An acquiring step of acquiring the state of the printing device, A setting step of setting whether to perform a notification regarding the acquired state of the printing device based on the notification setting.

16. The control method according to claim 15, characterized in that the notification is performed by the software.

17. Having a registration step of registering the received notification setting as notification setting information in the software, The control method according to claim 15, characterized in that the notification setting information is information of a character string representing the magnitude of the influence on printing by the printing device among character strings representing information regarding the state of the printing device.

18. The control method according to claim 15, wherein in the reception step, a screen on which the notification setting can be set is displayed, and the notification setting is received from a user of the information processing apparatus.

19. The control method according to claim 15, wherein the notification setting includes a setting for performing notification only when the printing apparatus is in a state where printing cannot be continued.

20. The control method according to claim 15, wherein the notification setting includes a setting for performing notification when there is a possibility that a defect occurs in a printing result by the printing apparatus and when the printing apparatus is in a state where printing cannot be continued.

21. The control method according to claim 15, wherein the notification setting includes a setting for performing notification even when the state of the printing apparatus is not affected by the printing result by the printing apparatus.

22. The control method according to claim 15, wherein the notification setting includes a setting for not performing notification always.

23. The control method according to claim 22, wherein a screen on which the notification setting can be changed is displayed when the number of printing times after setting the notification setting to a setting for not performing notification always exceeds a predetermined number of times.

24. The application program is activated in response to a user of the information processing apparatus clicking on a notification of a state of the printing apparatus by the software, The control method according to claim 16, wherein when the state of the printing apparatus is acquired in a state where the application program is activated, a screen on which the notification setting can be changed is displayed.

25. The application program is activated in response to a user of the information processing apparatus clicking on a notification of a state of the printing apparatus by the software, The control method according to claim 16, wherein when activated, a screen for displaying the state of the printing apparatus is displayed.

26. The control method according to claim 25, wherein when another state of the printing apparatus is acquired, the state of the printing apparatus displayed on the screen is updated.

27. The control method according to claim 15, wherein the notification is a toast notification.

28. The control method according to claim 15, wherein the application program is provided by a vendor of a printing apparatus that is an output destination of print data.

29. An information processing apparatus comprising software for generating print data printable by printing apparatuses provided by a plurality of vendors, and an application program for extending the functions of the software, a reception unit that receives a notification setting regarding the state of a printing apparatus that is an output destination of the print data, an acquisition unit that acquires the state of the printing apparatus, and a setting unit that sets whether to perform a notification regarding the state of the acquired printing apparatus based on the notification setting. The information processing apparatus is characterized by comprising these units.

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