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] A standard driver can be associated with an application for function extension (hereinafter also referred to as an "extension application"). The extension application can be provided by the vendor that supplies the printing device. By editing the print function information (Print Device Capabilities) generated by the standard driver, the extension application can provide functions (extension functions) that cannot be achieved by the standard driver alone. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that uses an extension application to extend functions such as layout printing. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-74906 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] When printing, various notifications are displayed about the status of the printing device, such as when ink or toner is low. There are times when it is undesirable to display notifications, such as during a meeting, but Patent Document 1 does not disclose a method for setting desired settings for notifications about the status of the printing device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The application program of the present invention is an application program that extends the functionality of software that generates print data that can be printed on printing devices provided by multiple vendors, and is characterized in that it causes a computer to accept notification settings regarding the status of the printing device to which the print data is output, acquire the status of the printing device, and, based on the notification settings, set whether or not to send a notification regarding the acquired status of the printing device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] The present invention allows a user to configure desired settings for notifications regarding the status of a printing device. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] Block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the printing system [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] A sequence diagram showing an example of printing processing [Figure 4] An example of the notification setting registration screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit and the standalone startup screen unit [Figure 5] Example of a table showing notification settings for each printing device [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of an extension application according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] Flowchart for determining the status of the OS issuing a toast notification [Figure 8] An example of a toast notification issued by the OS [Figure 9] An example of the status notification screen displayed by the notification unit [Figure 10] Sequence diagram of an administrator preparing and distributing custom notification settings [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of an extension application in the second embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of an extension application in the third embodiment. [Figure 13] An example of a guide screen displayed by the print data editing unit 208 [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of an extension application in the fourth embodiment. [Figure 15] An example of a toast notification displayed by the print data editing unit 208 [Figure 16] An example of a table showing the correspondence between notification settings and notification setting information DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the present invention. Identical components are designated by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0013] <<Embodiment 1>> <Printing system hardware configuration> 1A is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a printing system. In this diagram, a host computer 101 is an example of an information processing device, and includes 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 that controls data transfer between external devices via a network.

[0015] An initialization program is stored in the ROM 112. Application programs, an operating system (OS), print data generation software, and various other data are stored in the external storage device 114. The RAM 113 is used as a work memory when the various programs stored in the external storage device 114 are executed, and enables the various programs to run within the host computer 101.

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

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

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

[0019] <Software-based printing system configuration> 2 is a diagram that shows a schematic configuration of a software-based printing system. Here, the description is based on the premise that the printing system uses a host computer 101 that has Microsoft® Windows® 11 installed as its operating system. FIG. 2(a) shows a typical configuration when an extension application 204 is not associated with 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 word processing application or a spreadsheet application. When the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user, it issues a print instruction to the OS. The print instruction includes print setting information for instructing the operation 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] Note that if the PDC 203 is dynamically generated, the generated PDC 203 can be edited. The attribute data of the printing device acquired from the printing device 102 is a response acquired by issuing a Get-Printer-Attributes operation of the Internet Print Protocol (IPP) to the printing device 102. The response includes attribute information indicating functions (printing device capabilities) that can be specified on the printing device 102 and setting values related to that attribute information. This response is saved in the RAM 113.

[0026] By configuring it in this way, the print data generation software 202 can be configured so that the user can specify the print functions available on each printing device 102 according to the connected printing device 102. In other words, 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 on the connected printing device.

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

[0028] The IPP Class Driver and UP Class Driver are printer drivers that execute print processing in accordance with the specifications of a standard printing protocol called IPP, and are included in the OS package. The IPP Class Driver and UP Class Driver are not printer drivers specific to the model of printing device 102, but are standard class drivers that can be used by multiple printing devices.

[0029] The IPP Class Driver is a standard driver that performs local printing in accordance with the above specifications, while the UP Class Driver is a standard driver that performs cloud printing. Note that when cloud printing is performed using the UP Class Driver, the print data is not sent directly to the printing device, but is sent via a cloud printing-related service, and then printed by the printing device.

[0030] In addition, the IPP Class Driver and UP Class Driver acquire 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 a PDC 203 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] 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 a case where an 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, and then passes the converted XPS format data to the print data generation software 202 as intermediate data.

[0034] If the data output by the drawing application 201 is in XPS format, 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 about the picture to be formed on paper, and print setting information set by the user.

[0036] The print data generation software 202 converts the acquired intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102 and sends it to the printing device 102. The print data includes drawing data, which is information about the picture to be formed on paper, and print setting attribute information (attribute information that specifies print settings) generated based on print setting information set by the user. The print setting attribute information includes attribute information that indicates functions that can be specified by the printing device 102 (capabilities of the printing device) and setting values related to that attribute information.

[0037] The printing device 102 prints on 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 paper in accordance with the print setting attribute information included in the print data. The print setting attribute information includes attribute information and its setting values for specifying print quality (priority on image quality, priority on speed, etc.) and double-sided printing. For example, if the print setting attribute information includes attribute information specifying double-sided printing, the printing device 102 executes double-sided printing.

[0038] In this way, the print data generation software 202 and the OS provide the printing function of the host computer 101. Therefore, the print data generation software 202 and the OS are an example of software in the present invention that generates print data that can be printed on printing devices provided by multiple vendors.

[0039] 2(b) is a diagram showing a configuration when the extension application 204 is associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. Note that configurations and processes not specifically mentioned below 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] Furthermore, the trigger for the host computer 101 to acquire the print data generation software 202 is different from the trigger for the host computer 101 to acquire the extended application 204. 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 extension 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 standalone startup screen display unit 211. The extension application 204 also includes shared information 210 that can be commonly accessed by each unit. The shared information 210 is actually a file saved in the external storage device 114 or information stored in the RAM 113.

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

[0047] The extension application 204 may terminate operation each time the processing of each unit is completed. In this case, the OS will launch the extension application 204 each time a request to use each unit is received. Another possible configuration is also possible. For example, the OS may terminate the operation of the extension application 204 when the processing of the print setting screen extension unit 205 is completed, but the OS may keep the extension application 204 running even after the processing of the skip control unit 206 is completed.

[0048] Furthermore, the extension application 204 may cancel the processing of each unit during its processing. If the processing is canceled, the job being processed in the print queue is deleted by the OS.

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

[0050] Whether or not the print setting screen provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205 is displayed depends on the user's operation. For example, if the drawing application is a document creation application, the print setting screen provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205 is displayed when the user presses a property setting button displayed on the print setting screen provided by the document creation application.

[0051] Furthermore, when the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user and issues a print instruction to the OS, the OS activates the skip control unit 206. The skip control unit 206 controls whether or not 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] Furthermore, the print data editing unit 208 can display a UI screen on the display unit 119, and can display the intermediate data or the layout result of the print data as a preview screen. Note that in the print data editing unit 208, if the UI screen is left open, the print data is not sent to the printing device 102, and the print data sending process is started 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 prints on paper based on the received print data. Note that if the skip control unit 206 skips the print data generation software 202, the print data editing unit 208 may convert the received intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102. Alternatively, a function provided by the OS may be used to convert the intermediate data into print data.

[0058] The extension application 204 also 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. This allows the print function extension unit 207 to add functions provided by the extension application 204, add functions that are supported by the printing device 102 but not by the print data generation software 202, add exclusive relationships between setting values of print functions, and so on.

[0059] The OS starts the print function extension unit 207 when the extension application 204 is first associated with the printing device 102 and the print data generation software 202. Furthermore, the OS may start the print function extension unit 207 at other times, such as when the OS starts up. In this way, in cases where an optional device (e.g., a finisher) is added to the printing device 102 later and printing-related functions are extended, the print function extension unit 207 can detect the extended function and add it to the PDC 203.

[0060] The extension application 204 also 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 an out-of-paper error occurs in the printing device 102, the print data software 202 detects this, and the OS uses a notification function called a toast notification, which is an OS function, to display a message on the display unit 119.

[0061] When the user presses (clicks) this toast notification, the OS calls the notification unit 209 of the extension application 204, and the UI screen of the notification unit 209 is displayed. The UI screen of the notification unit 209 can display, for example, a detailed message about an out-of-paper error and instructions on how to refill paper.

[0062] Once the extension application 204 has sent print data to the printing device 102, it is no longer possible to display on the screen a guide or other information associated with the print data while each unit is processing the data.

[0063] The extended application 204 also has a standalone startup screen display unit 211. The extended application 204 operates in conjunction with the print data generation software 202, but can also operate independently. When the user issues an instruction to start the extended application 204, the standalone startup screen display unit 211 of the extended application 204 is called, and the UI screen of the standalone startup screen display unit 211 is displayed.

[0064] Furthermore, the configuration of the extension application 204 for realizing this embodiment is not limited to one having all of the above-mentioned functions (units), but may be one having only some of the functions or one having other functions. Also, the extension application 204 may simply be called printing software.

[0065] <Status notification by 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] In 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, if the suffix is "-error," the status information is displayed in the form of a pop-up on the display unit 119 (such as the bottom right of the screen (FIG. 8)) to notify the user. On the other hand, if the suffix is "-report" or "-warning," the status information is not notified to the display unit 119, and the user is not notified.

[0071] In this way, depending on the suffix character string, the OS determines whether or not to notify the status information on the display unit 119. In other words, in the standard printing specification, the suffix character string can also be considered notification instruction information that instructs whether or not to notify the user of the status information.

[0072] As described above, the print data generation software 202 has a function to display (notify) the status information of the printing device on the display unit according to its importance (hereinafter, in this embodiment, this function will be referred to as a toast notification function or toast notification.) However, the conditions under which the print data generation software 202 issues a toast notification are predetermined by the OS, and it has been difficult for the user to control these conditions.

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

[0074] <Sequence of notification setting registration and status information notification> FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a printing process according to this embodiment in which the toast notification conditions desired by the user are registered as notification settings via the extension application 204 and controlled.

[0075] First, in S301, the user instructs the OS to launch the extended application 204. Next, in S302, the OS launches the extended application 204 in response to the launch 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, a print setting screen 401 (described later) may be displayed by the user pressing a property setting button displayed on the print setting screen provided by the document creation application.

[0077] Alternatively, the individual startup screens 404 and 408 described below may be displayed by pressing an icon representing the extended application 204 from an application list screen that is displayed by pressing a button to display all applications on a start menu displayed by the OS. Alternatively, the individual startup screens 404 and 408 described below may be displayed by selecting a printer management screen from a setting screen that can be launched from the start menu and launching the extended application 204 from a detailed setting screen for the printer associated with the extended application 204.

[0078] 4A to 4C, a screen displayed by the extension application 204 to allow the user to register notification settings will be described. A print setting screen 401 in FIG. 4A is an example of a screen displayed by the print setting screen extension unit 205.

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

[0080] The print function expansion unit 205 may display a status notification setting 403 to the user as one of the setting values of the print function, and allow the user to select a notification setting. The control 403 is a control item that allows the user to select a notification setting that indicates the toast notification conditions desired by the user (an example of a reception means or reception process). For example, it is possible to set items such as allowing notifications only when there is a print error, allowing notifications when there is a print error or warning, not allowing notifications, or always allowing notifications. The print setting screen expansion unit 205 stores the notification setting set by the control 403 in the shared information 210.

[0081] In this way, by making it possible to select notification settings on print setting screen 401, the user can determine notification settings for each job, enabling control according to the situation when each job is executed. Also, while single startup screens 404 and 408, which will be described later, are not displayed when printing is executed, and it is conceivable that the user will not be aware that notification settings are selectable, print setting screen 401 has the advantage of being easily noticeable to the user.

[0082] The extension application 204 may register the user's desired notification settings in a unit other than the print setting screen extension unit 205. For example, the single startup screen 404 and the single startup screen 408 in Figures 4(b) and 4(c) are examples of screens displayed by the single startup screen display unit 211. Note that in this embodiment, the extension application 204 aims to extend the functionality of the print data generation software 202, and therefore the single startup screen 404 and the single startup screen 408 displayed by the single startup screen display unit 211 are assumed to have only the minimum necessary functions.

[0083] 4(b) is a control item that allows the user to switch between an on and off state to determine whether or not the user manages notification settings themselves, and the control 405 shows that the on state is selected. The control 406 is a control item that allows the type of notification settings to be set, and for example, it is possible to set the type of notification settings to whether notification settings are managed collectively or for each printing device.

[0084] The single startup screen 404 is a screen when bulk management is set using a control 406 that indicates the notification setting type. A control 407 is a control item that can set notification settings, and it is possible to set items such as allowing notifications only when there is a print error, allowing notifications when there is a print error and a warning, not allowing notifications, and always allowing notifications.

[0085] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the control 407 switches between display and non-display depending on the notification setting type set in the control 406. However, the screen may be configured in such a way that the control itself is displayed but cannot be selected depending on the notification setting type of the control 406.

[0086] 4(c) is a screen displayed when management by printer is set as the notification setting type in the control 406. In this embodiment, management by printer is assumed to be management for each printing device with the same product name, but management may also be performed for each generated print queue.

[0087] Control 409 is a control item that can set notification settings for each target printing device. For example, control 409 can set notification settings such as allowing notifications only when there is a print error, allowing notifications when there is a print error or warning, not allowing notifications, or always allowing notifications. In this embodiment, it is assumed that settings are set such that printer A allows notifications only when there is a print error, printer B allows notifications when there is a print error or warning, printer C does not allow notifications, and printer D always allows notifications.

[0088] The single startup screen display unit 211 stores the notification settings set on the single startup screen 404 or the single startup 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 standalone startup screen display unit 211. That is, as shown in row 502, the notification setting for target printer A is "Allow notifications when a printing error occurs." Similarly, row 503 indicates that the notification setting for printer B is "Allow notifications when a printing error or warning occurs." Furthermore, as shown in row 504, the notification setting for printer C is "Do not allow notifications." And, as shown in row 505, the notification setting for printer D is "Always allow notifications."

[0090] In this embodiment, an example has been described in which the user registers notification settings on the screens (FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b), (c)) displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 and the standalone startup screen display unit 211. Both a method of registration from the screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 and a method of registration from the screen displayed by the standalone startup screen expansion unit 211 may be provided, or either one may be provided.

[0091] The extension application 204 may also allow the user to register notification settings in other units, such as the skip control unit 206, the print function extension unit 207, the print data editing unit 208, and the notification unit 209, or any combination thereof.

[0092] 3 to continue the explanation. In S304, the user sets the desired notification settings via the notification setting registration screen displayed by the extension application 204. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the notification settings shown in table 501 in FIG. 5 are set for each printing device via the standalone startup screen 408 displayed by the standalone startup 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] The notification setting information may be registered in the OS by another unit included in the extension application 204. The timing at which each unit of the extension application 204 registers the notification setting information in the OS is not limited to that described in this embodiment.

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

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

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

[0102] Next, in S603, the print data editing unit 208 obtains the set notification settings from the shared information 210 and proceeds to S604. In S604, the print data editing unit 208 registers notification setting information with the OS based on the notification settings. In this embodiment, the print data editing unit 208 registers the type of suffix for status information for which the OS should issue a notification as notification setting information with the OS based on the notification setting set on the standalone startup screen 404, which is "Allow when there is a print error or warning."

[0103] The notification settings set by the user and the suffixes of the status information corresponding to the notification settings will be described in detail using Fig. 16. Fig. 16 shows a table 1601 that associates the notification settings registered by the user with notification setting information, which is a suffix indicating the status information for which the OS should display a notification to the user.

[0104] For example, row 1602 of table 1601 has notification setting information that indicates that if the user's desired notification setting is "Allow notifications when a print error occurs," the OS will issue a notification if the suffix of the status information issued by the printing device is "-error." Similarly, row 1603 has notification setting information that indicates that if the user's desired notification setting is "Allow notifications when a print error or warning occurs," the OS will issue a notification if the suffix of the status information issued by the printing device is "-error" or "-warning."

[0105] Line 1604 indicates notification setting information that, if "Do not allow notifications" is selected, there is no corresponding status information suffix. In other words, the OS will not notify the user of any type of status information received from the printing device. Line 1605 indicates notification setting information that, if "Always allow notifications" is selected, the OS will notify if the suffix is "-error," "-warning," or "-report."

[0106] In this way, by registering the suffix of the status information corresponding to the notification setting desired by the user in the OS as notification setting information, the OS can subsequently display toast notifications 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 then ends the processing.

[0107] If 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 obtains the name of the printer selected as the target of the print instruction. To obtain the printer name, the print data editing unit 208 may issue an IPP Get-Printer-Attributes operation to the printing device 102 and obtain the printer name from the attribute information included in the obtained response. Alternatively, the print data editing unit 208 may determine the printer name from the HWID (hardware ID) of the print queue associated with itself.

[0109] When the print data editing unit 208 acquires the printer name in S605, the process proceeds to S606. Next, in S606, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification settings 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 saved in the shared information 210. Therefore, the print data editing unit 208 obtains information from the shared information 210 that the notification setting for the selected printer B is set to "Allow notifications when a print error or warning occurs," and proceeds to step S607.

[0111] In step S607, the print data editing unit 208 associates the notification setting information with the printer designated as the target of the print instruction based on the user's desired notification setting and registers it in the OS. Specifically, the print data editing unit 208 registers two types of information with the OS.

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

[0113] Note that the information for each print data editing unit may be registered in the OS at the same time, or may be registered at different times. In this embodiment, the print data editing unit 208 is assumed to register notification setting information for the printing device selected as the target of a print instruction, i.e., the printing device to which print data is to be sent, but it may also register notification setting information for other printing devices.

[0114] For example, even when printer A is selected as the target of a print instruction and started up, the print data editing unit 208 may register, in the OS, notification setting information of a printer other than printer A shown in table 501 in Fig. 5 stored in the shared information 210. 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 explanation of Fig. 3, after completing the process S309 described above in the flowchart of Fig. 6, the print data editing unit 208 continues to send the print data to the printing device 102 in S310, and the process ends.

[0116] When the printing device 102 receives the print data, it forms the drawing data included in the received print data on paper. Now, let us consider a case where the ink set in the printing device 102 runs out and an out-of-ink error occurs when the printing device 102 performs printing processing based on the received print data.

[0117] In S311, the printing device 102 responds to the OS with "marker-supply-empty-error," indicating that an error has occurred. Note that, although this embodiment describes the printing device 102 responding with status information to the OS, it is also possible for the OS to periodically monitor the status of the printing device 102 and detect that the state has changed to an error state.

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

[0119] In this embodiment, notification setting information that displays toast notifications for the suffixes "-error" and "-warning" as shown in row 1603 of table 1601 is registered in the OS based on the notification setting "Allow notifications for print errors and warnings" in row 503 of table 501. Therefore, the OS determines that a toast notification needs to be displayed based on the status information with the suffix "-error" added.

[0120] 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, the OS executes an instruction to launch the extended application 204 in S314. When the launch instruction from the OS is received in S314, the notification unit 209 of the extended application 204 launches.

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

[0122] 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 that notifies the user of the status of the printer and print jobs based on status information acquired from the printing device 102.

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

[0124] A display area 903 is an area for displaying information about print jobs that are being monitored on the status notification screen. In the example of Fig. 9, it is shown that a job to print "document.txt" on printer A is being monitored.

[0125] A control item 904 is a print cancel button, which, when pressed, cancels printing of the print job displayed in the display area 903. A display area 905 is an area that displays remaining amount information of consumables used in the printing device 102, such as ink and maintenance cartridges.

[0126] 3, the description continues. In S319, the notification unit 209 of the extension application 204 periodically requests the printer 102 to acquire status information. In S320, the printer 102 responds with status information in response to the request to acquire status information.

[0127] In this way, the notification unit 209 periodically requests the status information of the printing device 102 and obtains the status information from the printing device 102, so as to determine whether an error of the printing device continues to occur or whether the error is 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 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 in S321, the notification unit 209 ends the display of the status notification screen 901.

[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 ends the display of the status notification screen 901.

[0130] [[ID=E11]] <Determination of Display of Toast Notification by OS> Next, with reference to FIG. 7(a), a flowchart for the OS to determine whether to display a toast notification in S312 based on the registered notification setting information for the status response received in S311 of FIG. 3 will be described.

[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 or not notification setting information has been registered by the extended application 204. If notification setting information has been registered (S702: Yes), the OS proceeds to S703. If notification setting information has not been registered (S702: No), the OS proceeds to S711, which will be described later.

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

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

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

[0136] If the notification setting information is managed for each printer (S703: No), the OS proceeds to S705 and acquires the printer name of the printing device 102. The printer name of the printing device 102 may be acquired from an attribute value in a response that can be acquired by issuing an IPP 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 advances the process to S706. In S706, the OS acquires notification setting information corresponding to the printer name acquired in S705 and advances the process to S707.

[0138] Next, in S707, the OS determines whether the suffix of the status information acquired from the printing device 102 is "-error," "-warning," or "-report," and proceeds to S708, S709, or S710 depending on the type of suffix. Specifically, if the suffix is "-error," the process proceeds to S708; if the suffix is "-warning," the process proceeds to S709; and if the suffix is "-report," the process proceeds to S710.

[0139] The details of the processes in S708, S709, and S710 will be explained using FIGS. 7(b), (c), and (d), respectively.

[0140] The details of the processing of S708 are shown in the flowchart of Figure 7(b). First, in S715, the OS determines whether the notification setting information registered to itself, which was acquired in S704 or S706 of Figure 7(a), includes "-error." If the notification setting information includes "-error" (S715: Yes), the OS proceeds to the processing of S716.

[0141] In S716, the OS determines that the notification setting information includes "-error," and therefore that a toast notification needs to be displayed when the suffix of the status information is "-error." Then, in S717, the OS displays a toast notification.

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

[0143] Next, the details of the process of S709 will be explained using Figure 7 (c). First, in S718, the OS determines whether the notification setting information registered to itself includes "-warning." If the notification setting information includes "-warning" (S718: Yes), the OS determines that a toast notification does not need to be displayed, and proceeds to S719.

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

[0145] Finally, the details of the process of S710 will be explained using FIG.

[0146] First, in S721, the OS determines whether the notification setting information registered with itself includes "-report." If the notification setting information includes "-report" (S721: Yes), the OS proceeds to S722. In S722, the OS determines that the notification setting information includes "-report," and therefore that a toast notification needs to be displayed if the status information has a suffix of "-report." Then, in S723, the OS displays a toast notification. On the other hand, if the notification setting information does not include "-report" (S721: No), the OS determines that a toast notification does not need to be issued and terminates processing.

[0147] The above is an example of the processing of the OS when notification setting information is set in the OS. Meanwhile, returning to Fig. 7(a), the processing when notification setting information is not registered in the OS will also be explained. If it is determined that notification setting information is not registered (S702: No), the OS proceeds from S702 to S711. If it is determined that notification setting information is not registered, processing is performed based on the notification setting conditions specified by the OS.

[0148] In S711, it is confirmed 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 to S712 and determines that a toast notification needs to be displayed. Then, in S713, the OS displays a toast notification. If the suffix of the status information is not "-error" (S711: No), the OS's default notification setting condition is that the status notification suffix is "-error", so it determines that a notification display is not necessary and ends processing.

[0149] In printing using the standard printing standard, toast notifications about the status of the printing device 102 are usually displayed according to predetermined notification conditions, but according to the above-described embodiment, the user can set the notification settings themselves and control the notification conditions. This allows the user to change the notification settings at will and receive notifications if they do not want notifications to be displayed when printing is performed on the printing device 102 or if they want to receive notifications even when warnings occur during printing, which is expected to improve convenience.

[0150] <<Embodiment 2>> In the first embodiment described above, the user can control the conditions under which toast notifications are displayed by registering notification setting information based on desired notification settings in the OS via the extension application 204. However, there may be cases in which a company or organization wants to manage the notification settings of users within the organization under uniform conditions. In such cases, it is desirable for the administrator of the company or organization to be able to set the notification settings of all users within the organization in a single batch.

[0151] In this embodiment, an example will be described in which an administrator of a company or organization registers notification setting information in 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 subject of each process, but in reality, the corresponding function is realized by the CPU 111 executing the corresponding program.

[0152] First, using Fig. 10, the process flow will be described in which an administrator of a company or organization creates "custom notification settings" for the company or organization, distributes them to users within the company or organization, and the user launches the extended application 204. The content of the notification settings set in the custom notification settings is the same as the notification settings (e.g., Fig. 5) described in the first embodiment, but in this embodiment, it will be called "custom notification settings" to distinguish them from the notification settings set by the user himself.

[0153] Since there are multiple possible methods for an administrator to distribute custom notification settings to users, in this embodiment, the methods will be explained separately using FIGS. 10(a) to 10(c).

[0154] Fig. 10(a) is a diagram showing a sequence when custom notification settings are included in the extended application 204. In the case of Fig. 10(a), in order to support the custom notification settings desired by the target company or organization, the extended application 204 needs to be specially modified and provided to the administrator of the company or organization.

[0155] First, in S1001, an administrator of a company or organization that has received the specially configured extended application 204 notifies users that they will be distributing the extended application 204. Specifically, the administrator may post a notice on an internal company homepage announcing that the extended application 204 will be distributed, or may inform users verbally, by email, or through other communication tools, etc., that the extended application 204 will be distributed.

[0156] When distributing a specially configured extended application 204, the distribution of the extended application 204 is accompanied by the distribution of setup information for associating the extended application 204 with print data generation software. In this embodiment, the setup information refers to a file with the extension .inf, known as an extended INF file, but other file formats are also acceptable.

[0157] Next, in S1002, the administrator instructs the administrator PC to distribute the extension application 204. In S1003, the administrator PC distributes the extension application 204 to host computers within the company or organization.

[0158] The extended application 204 may be distributed from the administrator PC to the user's host computer by email. Alternatively, the administrator may access a server shared within the company or organization from the administrator PC and place the application on the server, and the user PC may obtain the application from the server. Similarly, the application may be distributed via a cloud storage service shared within the company or organization. The administrator may use a client PC management tool to distribute the extended application 204 to the host computers managed within the company or organization via the administrator PC.

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

[0160] 1(b) is a schematic diagram of a printing system in a company or organization that has introduced a client PC management tool. In this system, a management server 121 for 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 client PC (A) 123 and client PC (B) 124 are computers with the same hardware configuration as the host computer 101.

[0161] An administrator who uses the administrator PC 122 can manage the configuration of the client PC (A) 123 and the client PC (B) 124, as well as manage and distribute software. In this embodiment, a client PC management tool is also installed in the client PC (A) 123 and the client PC (B) 124, and the administrator can distribute an extension application 204 and a file containing custom notification settings.

[0162] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 10(a), as described above, in S1003 the administrator distributes the extension application 204 including the custom notification settings to the user, and the process proceeds to S1004.

[0163] In S1004, a user of a company or organization issues an instruction to install the extension application on his or her host computer.

[0164] In S1005, the host computer installs the extension application 204. At this time, the host computer also installs the extension INF, which is setup information for the extension application. After the installation is complete, in S1006, the host computer displays the completion of installation on the display unit 119 to notify the user.

[0165] Next, in S1007, the user of the company or organization instructs the host computer to create a print queue. In response to the user's instruction, the host computer creates a print queue in S1008. At this time, the host computer associates the extension 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, the user of the company or organization instructs the host computer to launch the installed extension application 204. In S1011, the host computer launches the extension application 204.

[0167] Then, in S1012, the host computer displays the UI screen of the extension application 204 on the display unit 119. After the extension application 204 is launched in S1011, and before the extension application 204 displays the UI screen on the display unit 119 in S1012, the print function extension unit 207 checks whether or not custom notification settings are made, and registers the notification setting information in the OS. Details of this processing 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 for providing custom notification settings, as mentioned above, they may be distributed by email from the administrator's PC to the user's host computer. Alternatively, the administrator may place them on a server shared within the company or organization and users may download them from the server, or they may be distributed via a cloud storage service shared within the company or organization. Alternatively, the administrator may use an endpoint management tool to distribute custom notification settings to host computers managed within the company or organization via the administrator's PC.

[0174] Next, in S1016, the user of the company or organization instructs the host computer to install the extension application 204. In S1017, the host computer requests acquisition of the extension application 204 from an application download service (hereinafter referred to as the application store) provided by Microsoft, and downloads the extension application 204. Note that, although the extension application 204 is acquired from the service provided by Microsoft in this embodiment, it may also be acquired from other application download services or other websites.

[0175] In S1018, the host computer installs the extension application 204 acquired 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 step 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 created by the OS when the extension application 204 is installed on the host computer.

[0177] In this embodiment, a method has been described in which a user places pre-distributed custom notification settings in a predetermined information storage area, but the placement of custom notification settings may also be performed by an administrator rather than by the user. Specifically, one possible method is for the administrator to access the endpoint management tool described above from the administrator PC and distribute custom notification settings to a predetermined storage area of the host computer they manage. It is preferable for custom notification settings to be distributed by an administrator, because the reflection of the custom notification settings is not left to the operation of each user.

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

[0179] In this embodiment, it is assumed that the print queue generation process from S1021 to S1023 is performed after the custom notification settings are placed in the predetermined information storage area in S1020, but the custom notification settings may be placed in the predetermined information storage area later. In other words, the placement of the custom notification settings in the predetermined information storage area in S1020 may be performed at any timing between the completion of installation of the extension application 204 in S1019 and the instruction to start the extension application 204 in S1024.

[0180] Next, in S1024, the user instructs the host computer to launch the extension application 204. In S1025, the host computer launches the extension application 204, and in S1026, the host computer displays the UI screen of the extension application 204 on the display unit 119. After the extension application 204 is launched in S1025, and before the extension application 204 displays the UI screen on the display unit 119 in S1026, the print function extension unit 207 checks whether custom notification settings are made and registers the notification setting information in the OS. Details of this processing will be described later.

[0181] Finally, Figure 10(c) shows the sequence in which the administrator places the custom notification settings on a separately prepared external server, rather than distributing them directly to each user within the company or organization.

[0182] In this case, information about the server to be accessed for each target company or organization must be stored in advance in the extended application 204. Therefore, the extended application 204 is modified to an application dedicated to the company or organization to be used, and is provided to the administrator of the company or organization.

[0183] 10(a) in that the extended application 204 is modified specifically for a company or organization, but in the case of Fig. 10(c), the extended application 204 itself does not have custom notification settings, but the custom notification settings are placed on the server. Therefore, if you want to change the custom notification settings, you only need to change the information on the server, and there is no need to modify the extended application 204.

[0184] In addition, with regard to Figure 10(b), when custom notification settings are changed, there is no need to distribute them to each user, which is expected to prevent unintended problems caused by missed or incorrect distribution.

[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 places the custom notification settings on a predetermined server, and the process proceeds to S1029. In S1029, the administrator notifies users within the company or organization that an extended application 204 containing information for accessing the server will be distributed. As in S1001, specifically, the administrator of the organization may post a notice on an internal company homepage that the extended application 204 will be distributed. Alternatively, the administrator may notify users verbally, by email, or through other communication tools, etc., that the extended application 204 will be distributed.

[0187] Then, in S1030, the administrator instructs the administrator PC to distribute the extended application 204. Upon receiving the administrator's instruction to distribute the extended application 204, the administrator PC distributes the extended application 204 to the user's host computer in S1031. The distribution method is the same as the distribution method for the extended application 204 in FIG. 10(a).

[0188] Next, in S1032, a user within a company or organization instructs their own host computer to install the extension application. In S1033, the host computer installs the extension application 204. At this time, the host computer also installs the extension INF, which is setup information for the extension application. After the installation is complete, in S1034, the host computer displays a message on the display unit 119 indicating that the installation is complete, and notifies the user.

[0189] In S1035, a user of a company or organization instructs the host computer to create a print queue. In response to the user's instruction, the host computer creates a print queue in S1036. At this time, the host computer associates the extension application 204 installed in S1033 with the print queue. Then, in S1037, the created print queue is displayed to the user via the display unit 119.

[0190] Next, in S1038, the user of the company or organization instructs the host computer of the user to launch the installed extended application 204. In S1039, the host computer launches 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] After the extension application 204 is started in step S1039, the print function extension unit 207 checks whether or not a custom notification setting is made and registers the notification setting information in the OS before the extension application 204 displays the UI screen on the display unit 119 in step S1040. Details of the processing will be described later.

[0192] In the description of this embodiment, in Figures 10(a) to (c), it is assumed that the user actively obtains the extended application 204 from an application store, but the extended application 204 may also be automatically installed on the host computer.

[0193] For example, the extension application 204 may be automatically downloaded and installed on the host computer from an application store when the host computer is connected to the printing device 102, i.e., at the same time as an instruction to create a print queue is issued. Alternatively, the extension application 204 may be automatically installed by an administrator distributing it to the host computer using the endpoint management tool described above.

[0194] 10(b), if the extension application 204 is automatically installed, the administrator may use the endpoint management tool described above to distribute custom notification settings after installing the extension application 204. In this case, the user's instruction to place the custom notification settings in a predetermined information storage area in step S1020 is not required. Furthermore, by connecting the host computer and the printing device 102, the user can use the functions of the extension application 204 without using an application store, which can be considered 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 print function extension unit 207 determines whether the notification setting type is a batch setting or a notification setting for each printer based on the contents of the custom notification setting. If the notification setting type is a batch setting (S1103: Yes), the process proceeds to S1104. If the notification setting type is a notification setting for each printer (S1103: No), the process will be described later.

[0201] In step S1104, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the custom notification settings. If the custom notification settings are included in the extension application 204 in advance, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the included custom notification settings. If the custom notification settings are stored in a predetermined information storage area or on a server, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the stored custom notification settings.

[0202] When the custom notification settings are acquired, the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to step S1105, where it registers notification setting information based on the custom notification settings with the OS. Details of the process by which the print function extension unit 207 registers notification setting information based on the custom notification settings with the OS are the same as the process described in FIG. 7 of the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described again.

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

[0204] Specifically, in step S1106, the print function extension unit 207 acquires custom notification settings for each printer. The notification settings for each printer are information corresponding to the table described above with reference to FIG.

[0205] Next, in step S1107, the print function extension unit 207 associates the notification setting information based on the custom notification setting with the printer and registers it in the OS. The processing in step S1107 is also the same as the processing described in FIG. 7 of the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0206] According to the second embodiment described above, an administrator of a company or organization can set any custom notification settings for users and uniformly control the notification conditions for all users within the organization.

[0207] <<Embodiment 3>> In the first and second embodiments, a method has been described in which a user or an administrator of a company or organization registers notification setting information based on desired notification settings in the OS via the extension application 204, and controls the display conditions for toast notifications on the OS. If the notification setting is "not allow notifications," a toast notification will not be displayed on the host computer 101 even if an error occurs in the printing device 102 to the extent that printing cannot be performed and status information is sent to the host computer 101.

[0208] If the printing device 102 is physically close to the user, the user can notice an error occurring on the printing device 102. However, if the printing device 102 is physically far from the user, a toast notification may not be displayed on the host computer 101, and it may take the user time to deal with an error that has occurred on the printing device 102. In this case, there is a concern that usability may be impaired, even if the desired notification settings are registered by the user or an administrator of the company or organization.

[0209] In this embodiment, the notification setting is set to "not allow notifications," and the extension application 204 registers notification setting information in the OS based on the notification setting. After printing has been executed a predetermined number of times, a guide is displayed to the user and a means for changing the notification setting is provided. This allows the user to change the notification setting.

[0210] The processing of this embodiment begins when the print data editing unit 208 of the extended application 204 is started by the OS after the notification settings have already been set by a user or an administrator of a company or organization and the notification setting information has been registered in the OS. Note that the setting of the notification settings by a user or an administrator of a company or organization and the registration of the notification setting information of the extended application 204 are processes described in the above-mentioned embodiments, and therefore will not be described here.

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

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

[0213] In S1203, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification settings from the shared information 210 and proceeds to S1204. If the notification setting type is batch setting, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the batch-set notification settings. If the notification setting type is management per printer, the print data editing unit 208 acquires the notification settings related to the target printer (the printer selected as the print destination) that is associated with the print data editing unit 208 and has been started.

[0214] The target printer information can 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 can be determined from the HWID of the print queue that is associated with the printer itself and started.

[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 starts a foreground process, displays a UI screen on the display unit 119, and displays the notification setting change guide shown in FIG. 13 to the user.

[0221] The guide screen displayed by the print data editing unit 208 in Figures 13(a) and 13(b) will be described. The print data editing unit 208 displays the following to the user in the notification setting change guide 1301. That is, it displays a message that a certain number of printings have been performed after the notification setting "Do not allow notifications" was selected, and that with the configured notification settings, no notification will be sent even if an error occurs during printing on the printing device 102. In addition, the user is given the option of whether or not to change the notification settings.

[0222] Control 1302 is a control that is pressed when changing the notification settings, while control 1303 is a control that is pressed when executing printing without changing the notification settings.

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

[0224] Control 1305 in dialog 1304 is a control item that allows the user to select the notification settings they desire. Similar to the options provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205, options such as "Allow notifications only when there is a print error," "Allow notifications when there is a print error or warning," "Do not allow notifications," and "Always allow notifications" can be set. Note that the already selected "Do not allow notifications" may be excluded from the options that can be set.

[0225] Control 1306 is a control that the user presses to reflect the change in notification settings after changing them in dialog 1304. On the other hand, control 1307 is a control that the user presses to discard or cancel the change in notification settings.

[0226] Returning 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 the process proceeds to S1208.

[0227] If changing the notification settings is selected (S1208: Yes), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1209 and registers notification setting information based on the changed notification settings with the OS. The process for registering notification setting information with the OS is the same as described above, so it will not be described here. Furthermore, the print data editing unit 208 changes the number of print executions after the notification settings are changed to 0 (S1210).

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

[0229] If changing the notification settings is not selected (S1208: No), the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1214 and changes the number of print executions after 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 from the next time onwards. Furthermore, it will be possible to display the notification setting change guide to the user again when the specified 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 the process ends.

[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 is set from the shared information 210 and counts up the acquired number of print executions (S1212).

[0232] After counting up the number of print executions, the print data editing unit 208 stores the counted-up number of print executions again in the shared information 210 (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 the third embodiment, even if a user or an administrator of a company or organization selects "Do not allow notifications" as the notification setting, it is possible to display a notification setting change guide to the user when a predetermined number of prints have been executed. This provides the user or administrator of a company or organization with an opportunity to review the notification settings depending on the usage situation after the notification settings have been configured, which is expected to improve convenience.

[0234] <<Embodiment 4>> In the third embodiment, when "Do not allow notifications" is selected as the notification setting, the extension 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. On the other hand, even if the user's notification setting is other than "Do not allow notifications," if the notification setting can be changed, the user can review the notification setting depending on the display frequency of toast notifications, which is expected to improve usability.

[0235] In this embodiment, a method will be described in which the extension application 204 displays a toast notification according to the content of the notification setting instead of a toast notification displayed by the OS, thereby allowing 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 setting. In S1403, if the notification setting is "Allow notifications when a print error or warning occurs" or "Always allow notifications," the process proceeds to S1404. In S1404, the print data editing unit 208 generates a toast message with a notification setting change guide.

[0242] An example of a toast generated by the print data editing unit 208 when the notification setting has been changed will be described with reference to FIG.

[0243] 15 displays the notification conditions set in the notification settings to the user, and also provides the user with the option of whether to change the notification settings. Control 1502 of toast 1501 is a control item that allows the user to select the notification settings they desire. In control 1502, similar to the options provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205, items such as "Allow notifications only when there is a print error," "Allow notifications when there is a print error or warning," "Do not allow notifications," and "Always allow notifications" can be set.

[0244] Control 1503 is a control that the user presses to reflect the setting changes, while control 1504 is a control that the user presses to discard or cancel the notification setting changes.

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

[0246] If the notification setting selection is not managed (S1401: No), or if it is determined in S1403 that "Allow only when a print error occurs" is selected, the print data editing unit 208 proceeds to S1406. In S1406, the print data editing unit 208 generates a toast without changing the notification setting, i.e., a toast with the same display content as 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 when there is a print error" 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

[Claim 1] An application program that extends the functionality of software that generates print data that can be printed on printing devices provided by multiple vendors, On the computer, Accept notification settings regarding the status of the printing device that is the output destination of the print data, acquiring the status of the printing device; An application program that allows a user to set whether or not to notify the user of the acquired status of the printing device based on the notification setting.

Images