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

Abstract

To further improve convenience of an application.SOLUTION: A first application program causes a computer of an information processing device to function as processing means. When a file which has accepted selection has an extension which cannot execute a prescribed process in the first application program, the processing means performs control for displaying a prescribed message, and for opening a file having accepted the selection in a second application program corresponding to the file which has accepted the selection.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, portal applications that run on information processing devices and are capable of outputting print commands to image processing devices such as printers have been known. The portal application can accept input of document data or image data stored on an information processing device such as a personal computer (PC), and perform print preview and printing of the accepted data. There are various data formats for data to be printed. For example, for document data, there are PDF format and DOCX format used in Microsoft Word (registered trademark), etc. For image data, there are JPEG format, PNG format, etc.

[0003] In order for a portal application to preview and print input data, it is necessary for the application to interpret the data structure (rendering process). In general, portal applications filter out (filter) files with data structures that the application cannot interpret before accepting file selection, so that such files are not selected. This prevents the user from selecting files with data structures that the application cannot interpret on the file selection screen.

[0004] A technology relating to file extensions and applications is disclosed in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that not only associates file extensions with applications but also associates directories with applications, thereby making it possible to change the application to be launched for each directory. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-49929 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] There is a demand for further improvements in the convenience of applications. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A program according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a first application program that causes a computer of an information processing device to function as an acquisition means that acquires the extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program, a display control means that controls the display of a selection screen from which a file corresponding to the extension acquired by the acquisition means can be selected, an acceptance means that accepts a file selection on the selection screen, and a processing means that performs a predetermined process on the file for which the selection has been accepted, wherein the processing means, if the file for which the selection has been accepted has an extension for which the predetermined process cannot be executed in the first application program, displays a predetermined message and controls the opening of the file for which the selection has been accepted in a second application program corresponding to the file for which the selection has been accepted. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to further improve the convenience of applications. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system configuration. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating file extension association data. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed when a portal application is started up. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing flow of a photo printing function. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an extension list displayed on a file selection screen. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a file selection screen. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a print setting screen. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process flow of a document printing function. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an extension list displayed on a file selection screen. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a file selection screen. [Figure 12] 10 is an example of a list that stores extensions and information on whether each extension can be processed in the application. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message displayed by a portal application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure 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 disclosure, and not all combinations of features described in the following embodiments are necessarily essential to the solutions of the present disclosure. Note that the same reference numerals are used to designate the same components.

[0011] <<First Embodiment>> <Summary> An overview of this embodiment will be described below. In this embodiment, an application program is referred to as an app or an application. As described above, in order for a portal application to preview and print input data, a process of interpreting the data structure (rendering process) is required within the portal application. In general, portal applications filter out (filter) files with data structures that the portal application cannot interpret before accepting a file selection, so that such files are not selected. In other words, general portal applications are configured so that a user cannot select a file with a data format that the portal application cannot process. A data format that cannot be processed by a portal application is sometimes referred to as a data format that the portal application does not support.

[0012] With this filtering, it is difficult for users to understand that a file that cannot be selected on the portal app's file selection screen is in a data format that is not supported by the portal app. Furthermore, if a user wants to print a file in a data format that is not supported by the portal app, the user cannot open the file in the portal app. Therefore, the user must leave the portal app and select the file by opening the folder containing the file using a separately launched filer, a function of the OS (Operating System). A filer is a type of application for managing files or folders. When a file selection operation is accepted in the filer, the OS launches the application associated with the file and opens it. In this way, the user must open the file using an application separate from the portal app and then issue a print command through that application. This requires the user to switch applications depending on the data format of the file they want to print, resulting in reduced usability.

[0013] As mentioned above, the file filtering performed by the portal application is performed, for example, by using the filer function of the OS. That is, the portal application opens a file list using the filer function of the OS. At this time, the portal application transmits information about the data format (e.g., file extension) of the file to be opened to the filer function of the OS, thereby performing filtering.

[0014] In the embodiment described below, a user can select a file in a data format that is incompatible with the portal app (hereinafter also referred to as an incompatible file) on the portal app. If the user selects an incompatible file, the user is notified that the file format cannot be processed within the portal app. This allows the user to easily understand that the file they selected is an incompatible file that cannot be processed within the portal app. In addition, in the embodiment described below, an example is described in which the user can launch an external application that is compatible with the incompatible file by operating the portal app. As a result, even an incompatible file that cannot be processed within the portal app can be seamlessly printed via an external application launched through the portal app. Therefore, even an incompatible file can be printed by starting a series of processes related to printing from the portal app, just like a file that can be processed within the portal app. In this way, the printing flow is unified, improving user convenience.

[0015] <Hardware configuration of information processing device> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device. In FIG. 1, a host computer 101 is an example of the information processing device. As shown in FIG. 1, the host computer 101 has an input interface 110, a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, an external storage device 114, an output interface 115, an input / output interface 116, and a NETIF 120. Input devices such as a keyboard 118 and a pointing device 117 are connected to the input interface 110. The input interface 110 is a reception unit that receives various instructions from a user. A display device such as a display unit 119 is connected to the output interface 115. The NETIF 120 is a network interface that controls data transfer between the host computer 101 and external devices via a network.

[0016] An initialization program is stored in the ROM 112. Application programs, an operating system (OS), a printer driver, 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.

[0017] In this embodiment, the CPU 111 executes processing according to the procedures of a program stored in the ROM 112, thereby realizing functions and processing according to flowcharts described below in the host computer 101. The printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101 via an input / output interface 116.

[0018] In this embodiment, the host computer 101 is used as an example of an information processing device, but the information processing device is not limited to this configuration. For example, the information processing device may be a smartphone or a tablet.

[0019] <System configuration of information processing device> 2 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of an information processing device according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, an OS 202, as well as a portal application 201, a data editing application 203, and device drivers such as a printer driver 204 that run on the OS 202, are installed in a host computer 101. Furthermore, part of the data used by the OS 202 includes file extension association data 205. In this specification, a program that executes an application may be referred to as an application or simply as an app. The app, OS, and data shown in FIG. 2 are stored in the ROM 112, the external storage device 114, or the like.

[0020] In this embodiment, an example will be described in which a host computer 101 equipped with Microsoft's Windows® OS is used.

[0021] The portal application 201 is a portal application that provides various functions related to the printing device 102. The various functions include, for example, a printing function corresponding to a printer driver 204 installed in the OS 202. In addition to the printing function, the various functions may include, for example, a scan function that executes a scan on the printing device and a maintenance function that performs maintenance on the printing device. However, in this embodiment, the description will focus on the printing function. When the portal application 201 is started, the portal application 201 displays a main screen (see FIG. 4; details will be described later) showing a list of various functions on the display unit 119. When the user selects an item (for example, a button icon) corresponding to a function on the main screen, processing corresponding to the selected function is performed.

[0022] When a user selects a print function in the portal application 201, the portal application 201 displays a print data selection screen on the display unit 119. When a user selects manuscript data that the user wants to print on the print data selection screen, the portal application 201 displays a print setting screen used for the selected manuscript data. The user can specify basic print settings and a print start instruction on the print setting screen. When the portal application 201 receives a print start instruction from the user, it generates print data based on the manuscript data and print settings selected by the user. Then, the portal application 201 uses the printer driver 204 to output a print command so that the generated print data is printed on the printing device 102. In response to the print command, the printing device 102 performs printing using the print data.

[0023] The data editing application 203 has a function to create and edit data in a specific data format. The data editing application 203 can also output the created data as a file to the external storage device 114, etc. An example of the data editing application 203 is a text editor. The text editor has a function to create and edit text data, and can output the created text to the external storage device 114 in a file format with an extension name of ".txt", for example.

[0024] The printer driver 204 is software for controlling the printing device 102, and, for example, converts print data into a data format that can be interpreted by the printing device 102, and receives information indicating the status of the printing device 102 from the printing device 102.

[0025] The file extension association data 205 is data that stores the association between a file extension (called a file extension) and an application, and is data that is used in the filer 206 of the OS 202, etc.

[0026] Filer 206 is a program that controls the filer function that is included as standard in OS 202. Filer 206 can identify the application that corresponds to a file extension by referencing information in file extension association data 205. Filer 206 can operate as a standalone application, or can operate by being referenced by another application (e.g., portal application 201). First, an example in which filer 206 operates as a standalone application will be described.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a table for explaining data stored in the file extension association data 205. The table in FIG. 3 stores file extensions and information about applications corresponding to those file extensions. For example, item 301 indicates that the extension ".txt" is associated with a text editor application. The file extension association data 205 may be added or changed when the data editing application 203 is installed. The user can also change the application associated with a file extension in the file extension association data 205 from a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for setting up the OS 202.

[0028] The filer 206 can identify an application corresponding to a file extension by referencing the information in the file extension association data 205. Furthermore, when the filer 206 accepts a file selection by the user, the filer 206 sends an instruction to the OS 202 to launch the identified application and open the selected file. In response to this instruction, the OS 202 launches the corresponding application, and the file selected by the user is opened in the launched application. In this manner, the OS 202 (and the filer 206) can launch an application corresponding to the file extension by referencing the file extension association data 205. Note that, although an example has been described in which the filer 206 sends an instruction to launch the identified application to the OS 202, the application may also be identified in the OS 202. That is, the filer 206 may send information about the selected file to the OS 202, and the OS 202 may then identify and launch the application corresponding to the extension by referencing the file extension association data 205.

[0029] For example, if a user wants to open a file with the ".txt" extension, the user launches the filer 206 and inputs an instruction to open the file. When the OS 202 receives the instruction to open the file, it references item 301 in the file extension association data 205 and obtains information about a text editor app that corresponds to the ".txt" extension. The OS 202 then launches the text editor app based on the obtained information about the text editor app and instructs the launched text editor app to open the file. As a result of this series of processes, the user can launch and open the file with the ".txt" extension that the user instructed to open on the filer 206 using the text editor app. This mechanism of the OS 202 allows the user to open files with the appropriate application corresponding to each extension, without having to manually select and launch an application corresponding to each extension.

[0030] Item 302 indicates that the ".doc" extension corresponds to a document editing application, and is referenced when the OS 202 receives an instruction to open a file with the ".doc" extension. When a user issues an instruction to open a file with the ".doc" extension using the filer 206, the OS 202 references item 302 and opens the file with the ".doc" extension using a document editing application. Similarly, item 303 indicates that the ".docx" extension corresponds to a document editing application. Items 304 and 305 indicate that the ".ppt" and ".pptx" extensions correspond to presentation applications. Items 306 and 307 indicate that the ".xls" and ".xlsx" extensions correspond to spreadsheet applications. Note that the correspondence shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example and is not limited to this example.

[0031] An example in which the filer 206 is referenced from an external application (for example, the portal application 201) will be explained in the next section, "Overview of Portal Application Operation."

[0032] <Portal app operation overview> FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed when the portal application 201 is launched. An outline of the operation of the portal application 201 will be described below with reference to FIG. 4. When the portal application 201 is launched, the portal application 201 displays a screen 400 on the display unit 119. The screen 400 has a printer information area 401 and a function button area 402. The printer information area 401 displays the printer name and printer image icon of the target printing device 102 from which printing will be performed. The function button area 402 displays buttons for functions that can be executed on the target printing device 102. A photo printing function button 403 is one of the buttons displayed in the function button area 402, and is a function button for causing the portal application 201 to print photo data on the target printing device 102 via the printer driver 204. A document printing function button 404 is a function button for causing the portal application 201 to print document data on the target printing device 102 via the printer driver 204. The portal application 201 is configured to accept the selection of photo data in the photo printing function, and to accept the selection of document data in the document printing function.

[0033] When the portal application 201 receives an instruction from the user to press the photo printing function button 403, it starts executing the photo printing function. First, an outline of the operation of a general portal application 201 will be described below, taking the execution of the photo printing function as an example. Then, an outline of the operation of a portal application 201 with improved convenience will be described, taking the execution of the document printing function as an example.

[0034] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow of the photo printing function of the portal application 201. The processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 is realized by the CPU 111 loading a portal application program stored in the ROM 112 or the external storage device 114, etc., into the RAM 113 and executing it. Note that some or all of the functions of the steps in FIG. 2 may be realized by hardware such as an ASIC or electronic circuit. The symbol "S" in the description of each process indicates a step in the flowchart. The same applies to the processing of the flowcharts described hereinafter in this specification. Note that the processing of various steps is processing executed by the CPU 111 functioning as the portal application 201, but for simplicity of explanation, the portal application 201 will be described as the main operating entity. Similarly, processing executed by the OS 202 is processing executed by the CPU 111 functioning as the OS 202, but for simplicity of explanation, the OS 202 will be described as the main operating entity. The same applies to processing executed by the filer 206 and the data editing application 203.

[0035] The process in FIG. 5 starts when the user presses the photo print function button 403 and the portal application 201 receives an instruction to execute the photo print function.

[0036] In S501, the portal application 201 acquires information about the extensions of the files to be displayed. For example, the portal application 201 acquires, from a storage area used by the portal application 201, a list of extensions for filtering files to be displayed on a file selection screen.

[0037] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a list of file extensions to be displayed on the file selection screen for the photo printing function (referred to as an extension list corresponding to the photo printing function). The extension list shown in FIG. 6 is stored in a storage area used by the portal application 201, such as the external storage device 114. As shown in FIG. 6, it is assumed that the extension list acquired in S501 stores ".jpg", ".png", and ".bmp". It is also assumed that these extensions are files in data formats that can be processed (interpreted) by the portal application 201.

[0038] In S502, the portal application 201 performs processing to display a file selection screen filtered by the extensions to be displayed. For example, the portal application 201 notifies the OS 202 of the extensions included in the extension list acquired in S501, and instructs the OS 202 to display a file selection screen. When the OS 202 receives the instruction to display the file selection screen, it uses the filer function to display the file selection screen on the display unit 119 based on the information in the notified extension list. That is, the file selection screen is displayed by the filer 206. Note that this processing controls the file selection screen so that, of the files held by the host computer 101, files with extensions included in the extension list acquired in S501 are displayed. Then, the file selection screen is controlled so that, of the files held by the host computer 101, files with extensions other than those included in the extension list acquired in S501 are not displayed.

[0039] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a file selection screen 700 displayed by the OS 202 using the photo printing function. FIG. 7 is an example of a screen displayed by the OS 202 using the filer function. The file selection area 701 in FIG. 7 is an area where a list of files stored in the external storage device 114 or the like is displayed. As described above, only files with extensions included in the extension list notified in S502 are displayed in the file selection area 701, and files with extensions not included in the extension list are hidden. That is, in this example, only files with extensions of ".jpg," ".png," and ".bmp" are displayed in the file selection area 701.

[0040] In this embodiment, the extensions included in the extension list acquired by the portal application 201 in S501 are ".jpg," ".png," and ".bmp," but other extensions may also be included. In this case, files with other extensions will also be displayed in the file selection area 701.

[0041] Furthermore, the files that the portal application 201 displays in the file selection area 701 may be files other than those stored in the external storage device 114, and may display files stored in, for example, an external server (not shown).

[0042] The filter extension selection control 703 is a control that allows the user to select the file extension to be displayed in the file selection area 701. Only extensions included in the extension list notified in S502 can be selected in the filter extension selection control 703. Specifically, in this example, only the extensions ".jpg", ".png", and ".bmp" can be selected. In other words, the filter extension selection control 703 does not control the selection of "all" extensions, but controls the selection of only specific extensions. For example, if the user selects the ".jpg" extension in the filter extension selection control 703, only files with the ".jpg" extension will be displayed in the file selection area 701.

[0043] In the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the portal application 201 displays the file selection screen 700 using the filer function of the OS 202 in S502 (i.e., an example in which the filer 206 displays the file selection screen 700), but other configurations are also possible. For example, the portal application 201 acquires a list of files stored in the external storage device 114 via the OS 202. The portal application 201 may then generate a file selection screen and display the acquired file list on the generated file selection screen. In this case, the portal application 201 performs file display control on the file selection screen to be displayed so as to display only files having extensions included in the extension list acquired in S501.

[0044] The user can specify the file they want to print by selecting a file in the file selection area 701 and pressing the open button 702. When the user specifies and selects a file, the portal application 201 identifies which file has been specified and selected, and proceeds to step S503. Note that in a mode in which the file selection screen 700 is displayed by the filer 206, the filer 206 notifies the portal application 201 of which file has been selected by the user on the file selection screen 700. This allows the portal application 201 to identify which file has been specified and selected.

[0045] In S503, the portal application 201 displays a print setting screen within the application. That is, the portal application 201 displays a print setting screen for displaying a print image of a file selected by the user. Note that in this embodiment, all extensions included in the extension list corresponding to the photo printing function are extensions that can be processed by the portal application 201. That is, in this embodiment, an external application is not launched or a process for opening the file in an external application is not executed based on a file being selected on the file selection screen of the photo printing function. However, this is not limited to this. For example, the extension list corresponding to the photo printing function may include an extension that cannot be processed by the portal application 201. Then, when a file with that extension is selected on the file selection screen of the photo printing function, a process for launching an external application or opening the file in the external application may be executed.

[0046] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a print setting screen 800 displayed by the portal application 201. The print setting screen 800 includes a preview area 801 and a print setting area 802. When displaying the print setting screen 800, the portal application 201 renders the file specified by the user and generates a preview screen. The portal application 201 also acquires print settings from the printer driver 204 corresponding to the target printing device 102 and reflects them in the print setting area 802. The user can check the print image of the selected file by checking the preview area 801. The user can also change the print settings to desired settings by operating the print setting area 802. The portal application 201 may update the print image in the preview area 801 according to the changed print settings. When the user presses the print button 803, the portal application 201 starts printing the file selected by the user using the specified print settings and sends a print job to the printer driver 204. This concludes the overview of the operation of the portal application 201 in the photo printing function.

[0047] Next, an outline of the operation of the portal application 201 in the document printing function will be described. When the portal application 201 receives an instruction from the user to press the document printing function button 404, it starts executing the document printing function.

[0048] Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow of the document printing function in the portal application 201. The processing shown in Fig. 9 starts when the user presses the document printing function button 404 and the portal application 201 receives an instruction to execute the document printing function.

[0049] In step S901, the portal application 201 obtains an extension list for filtering files to be displayed on the file selection screen from a storage area used by the portal application 201.

[0050] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a list of extensions to be displayed on the file selection screen for the document printing function (referred to as an extension list corresponding to the document printing function). The extension list shown in FIG. 10 is stored in a storage area used by the portal application 201, such as the external storage device 114. The extension list acquired in S901 is assumed to be the one shown in FIG. 10. The list in FIG. 10 stores ".pdf", ".doc", ".docx", ".ppt", ".pptx", ".xls", and ".xlsx". In this embodiment, the extensions included in the extension list corresponding to the document printing function are assumed to be different from the extensions included in the extension list corresponding to the photo printing function.

[0051] Here, the portal application 201 in this embodiment is capable of interpreting and processing files with the extension ".pdf" within the application. On the other hand, it is assumed that the portal application 201 cannot interpret and process other extensions, such as ".doc," ".docx," ".ppt," ".pptx," ".xls," and ".xlsx." In other words, in this embodiment, the portal application 201 is configured to display files with data formats that it cannot interpret and process on its own on the file selection screen.

[0052] In S902, the portal application 201 performs processing to display a file selection screen filtered by the extensions to be displayed. For example, the portal application 201 notifies the OS 202 of the extensions included in the extension list acquired in S901, and instructs the OS 202 to display a file selection screen. Upon receiving the instruction to display the file selection screen, the OS 202 uses the filer function to display the file selection screen on the display unit 119 based on the information in the notified extension list. That is, the file selection screen is displayed by the filer 206. This processing controls the file selection screen so that, of the files held by the host computer 101, files with extensions included in the extension list acquired in S901 are displayed. Then, the file selection screen is controlled so that, of the files held by the host computer 101, files with extensions other than those included in the extension list acquired in S901 are not displayed.

[0053] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a file selection screen 1110 displayed by the OS 202 using the document printing function. The file selection area 1111 in FIG. 11 is an area where a list of files stored in the external storage device 114 or the like is displayed. As described above, only files with extensions included in the extension list notified in S902 are displayed on the file selection screen 1110, and files with extensions not included in the extension list are hidden. That is, in this example, only files with the extensions ".pdf," ".doc," ".docx," ".ppt," ".pptx," ".xls," and ".xlsx" are displayed in the file selection area 1111. Note that the extension list acquired by the portal application 201 in S901 may include other extensions. Furthermore, the files displayed by the portal application 201 in the file selection area 1111 may be files other than those stored in the external storage device 114; for example, files stored in an external server (not shown) may be displayed.

[0054] The filter extension selection control 1113 is a control that allows the user to select the file extensions to be displayed in the file selection area 1111. Only extensions included in the extension list notified in S902 are selectable in the filter extension selection control 1113. Specifically, in this example, only the extensions ".pdf," ".doc," ".docx," ".ppt," ".pptx," ".xls," and ".xlsx" are selectable. In other words, the filter extension selection control 1113 does not control the selection of "all" extensions, but controls the selection of only specific extensions. For example, if the user selects the ".pdf" extension in the filter extension selection control 1113, only files with the ".pdf" extension are displayed in the file selection area 1111. As described above, even if a file has a format that the portal application 201 itself cannot process (interpret), it can be displayed without filtering as long as the file has an extension included in the extension list acquired in S901.

[0055] In this example, the portal application 201 displays the file selection screen 1110 using the filer function of the OS 202 in step S902 (i.e., the filer 206 displays the file selection screen 1110). However, similar to the example described for the photo printing function, the portal application 201 may generate and display the file selection screen.

[0056] The user can specify the file they want to print by selecting a file in the file selection area 1111 and pressing the open button 1112. When the user specifies and selects a file, the portal application 201 identifies which file has been specified and selected, and proceeds to step S903. Note that in a mode in which the file selection screen 700 is displayed by the filer 206, the filer 206 notifies the portal application 201 of which file has been selected by the user on the file selection screen 700. This allows the portal application 201 to identify which file has been specified and selected.

[0057] In S903, the portal application 201 determines whether the file selected in the file selection area 1111 has an extension that can be processed by the portal application 201. If it is determined that the file selected in the file selection area 1111 has an extension that can be processed by the portal application 201, the CPU 111 proceeds to S904. If it is determined that the file selected in the file selection area 1111 does not have an extension that can be processed by the portal application 201, the CPU 111 proceeds to S905. Note that in the case where the process proceeds to S905, the process of launching the external application (the process of S907, which will be described later) is not executed. As a method of the determination in S903, for example, the portal application 201 may store a list of extensions that it can process in its own storage area and determine whether the extension of the selected file corresponds to an extension in the extension list. Note that, as will be described later, whether to launch the external application is controlled based on the result of this determination; in other words, this determination is a determination of whether to launch the external application. In the above description, the specific determination made in this process is a determination as to whether or not the file selected in the file selection area 1111 has an extension that can be processed by the portal application 201. However, this is not limiting. For example, the specific determination made in this process may be a determination as to whether or not the file selected in the file selection area 1111 has an extension that the portal application 201 does not intend to print using the photo printing function. That is, for example, even if the file selected in the file selection area 1111 has an extension that can be processed by the portal application 201 using a function other than the photo printing function, the determination may be NO in this process.

[0058] FIG. 12 shows an example of a list used in the determination of S903, which stores the extensions displayed on the file selection screen and information on whether each extension can be processed in the application. As described above, files with the ".pdf" extension can be processed by the portal application 201. On the other hand, files with the ".doc," ".docx," ".ppt," ".pptx," ".xls," and ".xlsx" extensions cannot be processed by the portal application 201 (or cannot be processed or printed by the photo printing function of the portal application 201). This list is stored in the memory area of ​​the application. Note that the list shown in FIG. 12 may be stored independently, as in this example, or may be stored as an additional item to the list of extensions displayed on the file selection screen, as shown in FIG. 10.

[0059] For example, suppose the user selects a file with the extension ".pdf" on the file selection screen. In this case, the portal application 201 refers to item 1201 in the list in Fig. 12, determines that the selected file can be processed by the portal application 201, and proceeds to step S904.

[0060] In S904, the portal application 201 displays a print setting screen for displaying a print image of the file selected by the user. The configuration of the print setting screen is the same as the configuration of the print setting screen for the photo printing function described in Fig. 8, so a description thereof will be omitted. When the user presses the print button 803 in Fig. 8, the portal application 201 starts printing the file selected by the user and sends a print job to the printer driver 204.

[0061] In this way, the portal application 201 is configured to display a print preview and perform printing within the portal application when a file with a processable file extension is selected.

[0062] On the other hand, suppose that the user selects a file with the extension ".doc" on the file selection screen displayed in S902. In this case, the portal application 201 refers to item 1202 in the list in Fig. 12, determines that the selected file cannot be processed by the portal application 201, and proceeds to S905.

[0063] In S905, the portal application 201 displays an external application information message. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a message displayed by the portal application 201. FIG. 13(a) shows a display example of an external application information message. The external application information message displays a information message 1301 asking whether or not to open the selected file in the external application, an Agree button 1302, and an Disagree button 1303. When the portal application 201 receives a press operation of either the Agree button 1302 or the Disagree button 1303 from the user, the portal application 201 advances the processing to S906. Note that the message displayed here is, in other words, a message for notifying the user that the file selected by the user is a file that cannot be printed by the portal application 201. In other words, the message displayed here is a message for urging the user to open the file selected by the user in an external application in order to print the file.

[0064] In S906, the portal application 201 determines whether there is consent to opening in an external application. That is, the portal application 201 determines whether the user has pressed the Agree button 1302. If it is detected that the user has pressed the Agree button 1302, the portal application 201 proceeds to S907. On the other hand, if it is detected that the user has pressed the Disagree button 1303, the portal application 201 returns the process to S902 and displays the file selection screen again.

[0065] As described above, in this embodiment, the portal application 201 is configured to perform filtering on the file selection screen. The portal application 201 then displays some of the files (incompatible files) that cannot be processed by the portal application 201 as selectable files on the file selection screen. When the user selects an incompatible file, the portal application 201 displays an external application information message. This allows the user to understand that the file selected by the user cannot be printed by the portal application 201 and must be printed from an external application. In this embodiment, the external application information message is displayed to prompt the user to press the accept button 1302 or the reject button 1303 to confirm whether or not to open the file in an external application. This allows the user to cancel the process if they do not want to launch the external application. This is not limited to this configuration, and the external application information message may not be displayed. In this configuration, for example, after a NO determination is made in step S903, steps S905 and S906 are omitted, and step S907 is immediately executed.

[0066] In S907, the portal application 201 launches an external application corresponding to the extension of the selected file and opens the file in the external application. For example, the portal application 201 launches the external application corresponding to the file extension via the OS 202. More specifically, the portal application 201 sends an instruction to the OS 202 to open the selected file in an application (program) corresponding to the file extension of the file. In accordance with this instruction, the OS 202 identifies the application associated with the file extension by referring to the file extension association data 205 in FIG. 3. The OS 202 then launches the identified application and opens the selected file in the launched application. In this way, the execution entity of the process of opening the external application is the OS 202, but it is the portal application 201 that sends the instruction to the OS 202. Therefore, the portal application 201 performs a control process of launching the external application corresponding to the selected file extension and opening the file in the external application. In this embodiment, the external application has a function (print function) for printing a file opened in the external application. In the printing function, for example, an external application launches a printer driver and passes a file opened by the external application to the printer driver. The printer driver receives the file, generates print data for printing the file, and sends the print data to the printing device. This prints the file opened by the external application. Therefore, after a file is opened by the external application, the user can print the file by performing an operation on the external application to execute the external application's print function.

[0067] As an example, if the user selects a file with the ".doc" extension in S902, the OS 202 references item 302 in the file extension association data 205 in FIG. 3. The OS 202 then launches a document editing application corresponding to the ".doc" extension and causes the file selected by the user to open in the document editing application. The user can then print the selected file with the ".doc" extension by using the print function of the launched document editing application. Similarly, if the user selects a file with an extension other than ".doc" that cannot be processed in the application in S902, an external application corresponding to the respective file extension is launched, and the user can print the file with the respective extension from the external application.

[0068] As described above, in this embodiment, the file selection screen displays files with extensions that the portal application 201 cannot process (or that the photo printing function of the portal application 201 does not process or print) so that they can be selected. Even when a file with an extension that the portal application 201 cannot process is selected on the file selection screen, the portal application 201 controls the file to be opened in an external application that corresponds to the extension. As a result, the user can print the file via the external application. That is, files that the portal application 201 cannot process can also be guided to printing from the document print function button 404 of the portal application 201, just like files that the portal application 201 can process. Therefore, in this embodiment, the flow leading to printing is unified, so that the user does not need to switch the application to be launched first depending on the file extension. That is, the user can use the same flow to print various files via the portal application 201, thereby improving user convenience.

[0069] Even in the case where the file selection screen is created by the portal application 201, the portal application 201 causes the OS 202 to start an external application corresponding to the selected file extension and opens the file in the external application.

[0070] Returning to the description of the flowchart in Fig. 9, when the process of S907 ends, the portal application 201 proceeds to the process of S908.

[0071] In S908, the portal application 201 obtains from the OS 202 a determination as to whether or not the external application was successfully launched in S906. If the launch was successful, the portal application 201 ends the processing of the flowchart shown in Fig. 9. If the launch was unsuccessful, the portal application 201 proceeds to S909.

[0072] Here, whether or not the OS 202 succeeds in launching the application in S907 is determined based on whether information about the application corresponding to the file extension selected in S902 is stored in the file extension association data 205. If information about the application corresponding to the file extension selected in S902 is stored in the file extension association data 205, the OS 202 succeeds in launching the application in S907. On the other hand, if information about the application corresponding to the file extension selected in S902 is not stored in the file extension association data 205, the OS 202 fails to launch the application in S906. An example of a case in which information about the application corresponding to the file extension is not stored in the file extension association data 205 is when an application corresponding to the file extension is not installed on the host computer 101.

[0073] In S909, the portal application 201 displays an error message notifying the user that an application for opening the file could not be found. Message 1311 in FIG. 13(b) is a diagram showing an example of an error message displayed when the portal application 201 notifies the user that an application has failed to start. By displaying an error message in this way when an application corresponding to the file extension cannot be found, the user can understand that no application corresponding to the selected file exists. After displaying the error message in S909, the portal application 201 ends the processing of the flowchart in FIG. 9.

[0074] As described above, according to this embodiment, the convenience of applications such as the portal application 201 can be further improved. That is, according to this embodiment, the user can easily understand that the selected file is in a file format that cannot be processed within the portal application. Furthermore, the user can launch an external application that is compatible with the file through the portal application 201, and even a file that is not compatible with the portal application 201 can be seamlessly printed via the external application. As a result, it becomes possible to start printing processing from the portal application for files that cannot be processed by the portal application in the same way as for files that can be processed by the portal application, and the unification of the printing flow improves user convenience.

[0075] <<Other embodiments>> In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which, in the document printing function, even if the portal application 201 cannot process a file of a specific type, the file is displayed on the file selection screen. Then, an example has been described in which, in the document printing function, a process is performed in which an external application guide message is displayed or an external application is launched to open the file. However, these processes may be performed in other functions. For example, the photo printing function may also be configured to perform the processes described in the document printing function. Furthermore, these processes may be performed in both the document printing function and the photo printing function, or in only one of the functions.

[0076] In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which, if the selected file cannot be processed within the application, the portal application 201 displays an external application notification message and, if consent is obtained, launches the external application. Here, a configuration in which the external application notification message is not displayed may be adopted. That is, if the selected file cannot be processed within the application, the portal application 201 may perform control to launch the corresponding external application without asking the user for confirmation. Even in such a configuration, the effect of unifying the printing flow using the portal application 201 can be obtained, thereby improving usability.

[0077] On the other hand, if the selected file cannot be processed within the application, the portal application 201 may display an external application guide message but not control the launch of the external application. In this case, the external application guide message displays a message guiding the user to launch the external application and open the file. Even in this form, the user can recognize that the file is in a file format that cannot be processed by the portal application 201, thereby improving usability.

[0078] In this way, the portal application 201 can improve usability by either displaying an external application information message or launching an external application. However, as described in the above embodiment, it is preferable for the portal application 201 to execute both displaying an external application information message and launching an external application, as this can further improve usability.

[0079] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which one file is selected on the file selection screen, but multiple files may be selected on the file selection screen. In this case, if even one file in a format that the portal application 201 cannot process is included, the portal application 201 can display an external application information message or launch an external application. On the other hand, for files in a format that the portal application 201 can process, the portal application 201 can simply display a print setting screen as described above. That is, the display of the print setting screen of the portal application 201 and the launch of the external application may be performed in parallel.

[0080] In the above-described embodiment, the predetermined process performed in the portal application 201 is a print process and related processes (for example, a print setting process), but the predetermined process is not limited to this example. For example, the predetermined process may be an editing process or a data transmission process.

[0081] The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

[0082] The disclosure of the present embodiment includes configurations typified by the following information processing device example, information processing device control method example, and program example.

[0083] <Configuration 1> a first application program, The computer of the information processing device, an acquisition means for acquiring an extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program; a display control means for controlling display of a selection screen on which a file corresponding to the extension acquired by the acquisition means can be selected; a receiving means for receiving a file selection on the selection screen; a processing means for executing a predetermined process on the file for which the selection has been accepted; It functions as If the selected file has an extension that does not allow the predetermined process to be executed in the first application program, Display a predetermined message, and a program for controlling opening of the selected file in a second application program corresponding to the selected file;

[0084] <Configuration 2> 2. The program according to configuration 1, wherein the predetermined message includes a message indicating that the first application program does not support the extension of the file whose selection has been accepted.

[0085] <Configuration 3> The program described in configuration 1 or 2, characterized in that the specified message is configured to be able to accept consent to launching a second application program corresponding to the extension of the file whose selection has been accepted.

[0086] <Configuration 4> The program described in configuration 3, characterized in that when the processing means receives consent to launching the second application program in the specified message, it controls the opening of the file for which the selection was accepted in the second application program corresponding to the file for which the selection was accepted.

[0087] <Configuration 5> The program described in configuration 3, characterized in that the processing means controls the display control means to display the selection screen if consent to launching the second application program is not accepted in the specified message.

[0088] <Configuration 6> The program described in any one of configurations 1 to 5, characterized in that the processing means displays a message indicating an error if a second application program corresponding to the file for which the selection has been accepted cannot be found in the information processing device.

[0089] <Configuration 7> 7. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 6, wherein the processing means starts the second application program using an OS (Operating System) running on the information processing device.

[0090] <Configuration 8> The program described in configuration 7, characterized in that the processing means causes the OS to identify a second application program corresponding to the file for which the selection has been accepted, and causes the OS to launch the identified second application program.

[0091] <Configuration 9> 9. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 8, wherein the display control means controls display of the selection screen using an OS (Operating System) running on the information processing device.

[0092] <Configuration 10> 9. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 8, wherein the display control means generates and displays the selection screen.

[0093] <Configuration 11> 11. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 10, wherein the display control means controls so that files other than files corresponding to the extension acquired by the acquisition means are not displayed on the selection screen.

[0094] <Configuration 12> The program described in any one of configurations 1 to 11, characterized in that the extensions acquired by the acquisition means include extensions that can perform the specified processing in the first application program and extensions that cannot perform the specified processing in the first application program.

[0095] <Configuration 13> The program described in any one of configurations 1 to 12, characterized in that the display control means displays a control on the selection screen that allows the user to specify the extension to be displayed on the selection screen from among the extensions acquired by the acquisition means.

[0096] <Configuration 14> 14. The program according to claim 13, wherein the control is configured so that it is not possible to specify that all extensions be displayed.

[0097] <Configuration 15> 15. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 14, wherein the acquisition means performs processing to acquire the extension in response to receiving an instruction to execute the function of the predetermined processing.

[0098] <Configuration 16> 16. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 15, wherein the first application program is an application program for performing printing, and the predetermined process is a print process.

[0099] <Configuration 17> 17. The program according to any one of configurations 1 to 16, wherein the second application program is an application program for editing a document.

[0100] <Configuration 18> An information processing device that launches a first application program, an acquisition means for acquiring an extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program; a display control means for displaying a selection screen on which a file corresponding to the extension acquired by the acquisition means can be selected; a receiving means for receiving a file selection on the selection screen; a processing means for executing a predetermined process on the file for which the selection has been accepted; and If the selected file has an extension that does not allow the predetermined process to be executed in the first application program, Display a predetermined message, and an information processing apparatus that starts a second application program corresponding to the file whose selection has been accepted, and opens the file whose selection has been accepted in the second application program;

[0101] <Configuration 19> An information processing device that launches a first application program, an acquisition means for acquiring an extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program; a display control means for controlling display of a selection screen on which a file corresponding to the extension acquired by the acquisition means can be selected; a receiving means for receiving a file selection on the selection screen; a processing means for executing a predetermined process on the file for which the selection has been accepted; and If the selected file has an extension that does not allow the predetermined process to be executed in the first application program, Display a predetermined message, and An information processing apparatus characterized by performing control to open the file whose selection has been accepted in a second application program corresponding to the file whose selection has been accepted.

[0102] <Configuration 20> A method for controlling an information processing device that launches a first application program, comprising: obtaining an extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program; a step of controlling to display a selection screen on which a file corresponding to the acquired extension can be selected; accepting a file selection on the selection screen; performing a predetermined process on the file for which the selection was accepted; and In the step of executing the predetermined process, if the file for which the selection has been accepted has an extension that does not allow the predetermined process to be executed in the first application program, Display a predetermined message, and A control method for an information processing device, comprising controlling opening of the selected file in a second application program corresponding to the selected file. [Explanation of symbols]

[0103] 101 host computer 111 CPU 201 Portal App 202 OS 203 Data Editing App

Claims

1. a first application program, The computer of the information processing device, an acquisition means for acquiring an extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program; a display control means for controlling display of a selection screen on which a file corresponding to the extension acquired by the acquisition means can be selected; a receiving means for receiving a file selection on the selection screen; a processing means for executing a predetermined process on the file for which the selection has been accepted; It functions as If the selected file has an extension that does not allow the predetermined process to be executed in the first application program, Display a predetermined message, and a program for controlling opening of the selected file in a second application program corresponding to the selected file;

2. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined message includes a message indicating that the first application program does not support the extension of the file whose selection has been accepted.

3. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined message is configured to be capable of accepting consent to launching a second application program corresponding to the extension of the file whose selection has been accepted.

4. The program according to claim 3, characterized in that, when the processing means receives consent to launching the second application program in the specified message, it controls the opening of the file for which the selection was accepted in the second application program corresponding to the file for which the selection was accepted.

5. The program according to claim 3, characterized in that the processing means controls the display control means to display the selection screen if consent to launching the second application program is not accepted in the specified message.

6. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein said processing means displays a message indicating an error when a second application program corresponding to the selected file cannot be found in said information processing apparatus.

7. 7. The program according to claim 1, wherein the processing means starts the second application program using an operating system (OS) running on the information processing device.

8. 8. The program according to claim 7, wherein the processing means causes the OS to identify a second application program corresponding to the file for which the selection has been accepted, and causes the OS to start the identified second application program.

9. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the display control means controls the display of the selection screen using an OS (Operating System) running on the information processing device.

10. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the display control means generates and displays the selection screen.

11. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the display control means controls so that files other than the files corresponding to the extensions acquired by the acquisition means are not displayed on the selection screen.

12. The program according to claim 1, characterized in that the extensions acquired by the acquisition means include extensions that can perform the specified processing in the first application program and extensions that cannot perform the specified processing in the first application program.

13. The program according to claim 1, characterized in that the display control means displays a control on the selection screen that allows the user to specify the extension to be displayed on the selection screen from among the extensions acquired by the acquisition means.

14. 14. The program according to claim 13, wherein the control is configured so that it is not possible to specify that all extensions be displayed.

15. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition means acquires the extension in response to receiving an instruction to execute the function of the predetermined process.

16. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the first application program is an application program for performing printing, and the predetermined process is a printing process.

17. 2. The program according to claim 1, wherein the second application program is an application program for editing a document.

18. An information processing device that launches a first application program, an acquisition means for acquiring an extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program; a display control means for displaying a selection screen on which a file corresponding to the extension acquired by the acquisition means can be selected; a receiving means for receiving a file selection on the selection screen; a processing means for executing a predetermined process on the file for which the selection has been accepted; and If the selected file has an extension that does not allow the predetermined process to be executed in the first application program, Display a predetermined message, and an information processing apparatus that starts a second application program corresponding to the file whose selection has been accepted, and opens the file whose selection has been accepted in the second application program;

19. An information processing device that launches a first application program, an acquisition means for acquiring an extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program; a display control means for controlling display of a selection screen on which a file corresponding to the extension acquired by the acquisition means can be selected; a receiving means for receiving a file selection on the selection screen; a processing means for executing a predetermined process on the file for which the selection has been accepted; and If the selected file has an extension that does not allow the predetermined process to be executed in the first application program, Display a predetermined message, and An information processing apparatus, characterized in that it controls opening of the selected file in a second application program corresponding to the selected file.

20. A method for controlling an information processing device that launches a first application program, comprising: obtaining an extension of a file to be displayed in the first application program; a step of controlling to display a selection screen on which a file corresponding to the acquired extension can be selected; accepting a file selection on the selection screen; performing a predetermined process on the file for which the selection was accepted; and In the step of executing the predetermined process, if the selected file has an extension that does not allow the first application program to execute the predetermined process, Display a predetermined message, and A control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: controlling to open the selected file in a second application program corresponding to the selected file.

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