Print servers, information processing devices, methods for controlling them, printing systems, and programs

Abstract

Allow the OS to acquire applications that support logical printers. [Solution] The print server comprises a management unit that manages a comprehensive logical printer associated with each of a plurality of logical printers associated with a printing device; a setting unit that sets identification information usable by an information processing device for the comprehensive logical printer in order to obtain an application that provides extended print settings; a providing unit that provides the identification information set on the comprehensive logical printer to an information processing device; and an acquisition unit that acquires print jobs for the comprehensive logical printer from an information processing device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a printing server, an information processing apparatus, a control method thereof, a printing system, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, operating systems (OS) have been standardly equipped with a printing function. Such a printing function is called a standard printing function. In order to provide users with extended printing settings not supported by the standard printing function, the vendor of a printing device provides a print support application (PSA) that can be installed on the OS. Patent Document 1 proposes a technique in which the OS acquires a PSA that supports this printing device using the hardware ID of the printing device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Some printing servers provide logical printers associated with a plurality of printing devices. However, since such logical printers do not have a hardware ID, the OS cannot acquire a PSA that supports the logical printer by the conventional method. Some aspects of the present invention aim to enable the OS to acquire an application that supports a logical printer.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] According to some embodiments, a print server is provided, comprising: management means for managing a comprehensive logical printer associated with each of a plurality of logical printers associated with a printing device; setting means for setting identification information usable by an information processing device for obtaining an application that provides extended print settings for the comprehensive logical printer; providing means for providing the identification information set on the comprehensive logical printer to the information processing device; and acquisition means for obtaining print jobs for the comprehensive logical printer from the information processing device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to some embodiments, the OS can acquire applications that support logical printers. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] A schematic diagram illustrating an example configuration of the printing system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] A block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a computer according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] A block diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the print server in the first embodiment. [Figure 4] A block diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the information processing device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] A block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a printing apparatus according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] A block diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of a printing apparatus according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] A sequence diagram illustrating the overall process of cloud printing in the first embodiment. [Figure 8] A schematic diagram illustrating examples of a comprehensive logical printer and individual logical printers according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] A flowchart illustrating an example of operations related to the installation of the PSA in the first embodiment. [Figure 10]A schematic diagram illustrating an example of information stored by the print server of the first embodiment. [Figure 11] A schematic diagram illustrating an example of the settings screen for a comprehensive logical printer according to the first embodiment. [Figure 12] A schematic diagram illustrating examples of common PSA and vendor PSA in the second embodiment. [Figure 13] A schematic diagram illustrating an example of the settings screen for a comprehensive logical printer according to the second embodiment. [Figure 14] A schematic diagram illustrating an example of the settings screen for a comprehensive logical printer according to the third embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The embodiments will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention as defined in the claims. While the embodiments describe multiple features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any way. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, identical or similar configurations are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0009] <First Embodiment> [Example of a printing system configuration] Referring to Figure 1, an example configuration of a printing system according to one embodiment will be described. The printing system may consist of an information processing device 110 and a printing device 120. Alternatively, the printing system may consist of an information processing device 110, a printing device 120, and a print server 130. The printing system may consist of other combinations of the components shown in Figure 1, or may include components not shown in Figure 1.

[0010] The information processing device 110 and the printing device 120 are connected to the same local area network (LAN) 101. LAN 101 may be a wired LAN, a wireless LAN, or a combination of both. LAN 101 is connected to the Internet 103 through a firewall 102. The printing server 130 is also connected to the Internet 103. The Internet 103 may be a wide area network, a cellular network, a local area network, another network, or any combination of these networks. The information processing device 110 and the printing device 120 can communicate with each other within LAN 101 (i.e., without going through the Internet 103). The information processing device 110 and the printing device 120 can communicate with the printing server 130 through LAN 101, firewall 102, and the Internet 103.

[0011] The printing device 120 has a printing function that performs printing according to the print job. In addition to the printing function, the printing device 120 may also include at least one of a scanner function and a fax function. A printing device having multiple functions in this way may be called a multifunction peripheral (MFP). Alternatively, the printing device 120 may be a single-function peripheral (SFP) that has only a printing function. Printing may be printing on a sheet-like recording medium such as paper, or it may be forming a three-dimensional object (so-called 3D printing).

[0012] The print server 130 provides a print service that transmits a print job to any one of one or more printing devices registered in the print server 130 (e.g., the printing device 120) according to the print job generated by the information processing device 110. For example, the print server 130 provides a logical printer to the information processing device 110 and accepts a print job for the logical printer. A logical printer is a virtual printing device (e.g., a printer object) provided by the print server 130. A logical printer may also be called a cloud printer. The information processing device 110 can generate a print queue for the logical printer. In contrast to the logical printer, a physical printing device such as the printing device 120 may also be called a physical printer. In the following description, the logical printer and the physical printer are collectively referred to simply as a printer. A physical printer may also be called a local printer when it is connected to the same LAN as the information processing device that inputs the print job.

[0013] The print server 130 may be a server within an on-premises environment connected to the Internet 103, or may be a server within a cloud computing environment (hereinafter simply referred to as the cloud). The print service provided by the print server 130 within the cloud may be called a cloud print service. An example of a cloud print service is Universal Print (registered trademark) provided by Microsoft. In the following description, the case where the print server 130 is within the cloud will be described. However, the following description also applies similarly to the case where the print server 130 is within an on-premises environment.

[0014] The information processing device 110 provides a printing function to the user of the information processing device 110. The information processing device 110 may be a personal computer (PC), a smartphone, or other device. The information processing device 110 may specify a physical printer (e.g., the printing device 120) connected to the same LAN 101 as the output destination of the printed matter. Printing performed by directly inputting a print job to the physical printer (i.e., within the LAN) may also be called local printing or local print.

[0015] The information processing device 110 may specify a logical printer provided by the printing server 130 as the output destination of the printed matter. When the logical printer is specified as the output destination, the physical printer (e.g., the printing device 120) associated with the logical printer performs the printing. The information processing device 110 using the cloud print service may also be called a client or a client terminal. Printing performed by inputting a print job to the logical printer may also be called cloud printing, remote printing, or remote print. Printing performed by inputting a print job to the logical printer may be executed by the printing device 120 connected to the same LAN 101 as the information processing device 110, or may be executed by a printing device not connected to the LAN 101.

[0016] In the example of FIG. 1, the information processing device 110 is capable of performing both local printing and remote printing. Instead of this, the information processing device 110 may be capable of performing only one of local printing and remote printing.

[0017] The information processing device 110 may have a printing function that is included as standard in the operating system (OS). Such a printing function is called a standard printing function. A standard printing function may also be called an OS standard printing function or a native printing function. An information processing device 110 having a standard printing function does not require separate software (e.g., a driver) to use a printing device that supports the standard printing function. Examples of standard printing functions include AirPrint (registered trademark), which is included as standard in iOS (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), etc., and Mopria (registered trademark), which is included as standard in Windows (registered trademark), Android (registered trademark), etc.

[0018] The Internet 103 is also connected to the update management server 140 and the application provision server 150. The update management server 140 is a server that manages updates to the OS of the information processing device 110. For example, the update management server 140 provides updates to the information processing device 110 when an OS update is required. The update management server 140 is, for example, a Windows Update server and manages Windows updates.

[0019] The application provision server 150 is a server that provides applications usable by the information processing device 110. For example, the application provision server 150 is a Microsoft Store server and provides applications for Windows.

[0020] [Example of computer hardware configuration] Referring to Figure 2, an example of the hardware configuration of the computer 200 according to this embodiment will be described. The computer 200 may be used as any of the information processing device 110, print server 130, update management server 140, and application provision server 150. The computer 200 may include the components shown in Figure 2, may not include some of the components shown in Figure 2, or may include components not shown in Figure 2.

[0021] The central processing unit (CPU) 201 is a general-purpose processing circuit that controls the overall operation of the computer 200. The random access memory (RAM) 202 is a volatile memory circuit and is used as a temporary storage area such as a work area for processing by the CPU 201. The read-only memory (ROM) 203 is a non-volatile memory circuit that stores programs and data used in the processing of the CPU 201. The storage device 204 is a non-volatile storage device that stores programs and data used in the processing of the CPU 201. The storage device 204 may be, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD). The storage device 204 may also be called a secondary storage device. The operation of the computer 200 may be realized by the CPU 201 executing a program read from the storage device 204 into the RAM 202.

[0022] The input interface (I / F) 205 is an I / F for exchanging signals with the input device 210. The input device 210 is a device that receives input from the user of the computer 200. The input device 210 may be, for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, a microphone, a mouse, or any combination thereof. The output I / F 206 is an I / F for exchanging signals with the output device 220. The output device 220 is a device that provides information to the user of the computer 200. The output device 220 may be, for example, a display, a speaker, or any combination thereof. The network I / F 207 is an I / F for communicating with devices outside the computer 200. The CPU 201, RAM 202, ROM 203, storage device 204, input I / F 205, output I / F 206, and network I / F 207 are each connected to the system bus 208. In the example in Figure 2, the input device 210 and output device 220 are shown as separate devices from the computer 200. Alternatively, the computer 200 may include an input device 210 and an output device 220.

[0023] [Example of print server functional configuration] Referring to Figure 3, an example of the functional configuration of the print server 130 will be described. The print server 130 may include the components shown in Figure 3, may not include some of the components shown in Figure 3, or may include components not shown in Figure 3. Each component in Figure 3 may be implemented by the CPU 201 executing a program read into RAM 202. Alternatively, some or all of the components in Figure 3 may be implemented by a dedicated processing circuit such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0024] The registration control unit 301 performs processing to register a logical printer. For example, in response to a registration start request from the printing device 120, the registration control unit 301 generates a logical printer associated with a physical printer and registers it in the printer information 311. A logical printer registered in the printer information 311 is recognized as a printer by the information processing device 110. A physical printer associated with a logical printer may be a physical printer that performs printing according to a print job submitted to the logical printer. A logical printer may be associated with only one physical printer. A physical printer may be associated with only one logical printer, or it may be associated with multiple logical printers.

[0025] The print control unit 302 performs processing related to print jobs for logical printers. For example, the print control unit 302 receives print jobs for logical printers from the information processing device 110 and, based on this, sends print jobs to the physical printer associated with the logical printer. The print control unit 302 may also control events related to print jobs. Events related to print jobs may include, for example, the receipt of a print job. The print control unit 302 may respond with events related to the physical printer in response to receiving an event request from the physical printer.

[0026] The printer management unit 303 manages information about logical printers registered with the print server 130 as printer information 311. Printer information 311 includes the hardware ID of the physical printer associated with the logical printer, capability information of the physical printer associated with the logical printer, a cloud printer ID uniquely assigned to the logical printer, and information about the print queue where print jobs are spooled. The hardware ID of the physical printer (printing device 120) is identification information used to identify the model (also called the type) of the printing device 120. The hardware ID is uniquely assigned to the model of the printing device 120 by the vendor of the printing device 120. In the following description, the vendor of the printing device 120 may be simply referred to as the vendor.

[0027] The job management unit 304 manages information about print jobs received from the information processing device 110 as job information 312. The job information 312 includes information and status of the print job, as well as print data specified in the print job.

[0028] The memory control unit 310 stores information in the RAM 202 and the storage device 204, and reads information from the RAM 202 and the storage device 204, according to instructions from other components. In some embodiments, the memory control unit 310 stores printer information 311 and job information 312. The storage device 204 further stores virtual hardware ID information 313. Details of the virtual hardware ID information 313 will be described later.

[0029] [Example of information processing device function configuration] Referring to Figure 4, an example of the functional configuration of the information processing device 110 will be described. The information processing device 110 may include the components shown in Figure 4, may not include some of the components shown in Figure 4, or may include components not shown in Figure 4. Each component in Figure 4 may be implemented by the CPU 201 executing a program read into the RAM 202. Alternatively, some or all of the components in Figure 4 may be implemented by a dedicated processing circuit such as an ASIC.

[0030] The input acquisition unit 401 acquires input from the user of the information processing device 110 using the input interface 205. The information output unit 402 outputs information to the user of the information processing device 110 using the output interface 206.

[0031] The registration control unit 403 performs processing to register the logical printer with the print server 130. The print control unit 404 performs processing related to printing by the printer. For example, the print control unit 404 may send a print job to the logical printer registered with the print server 130 in accordance with a print instruction from the user of the information processing device 110. The print control unit 404 may also send a print job directly to a physical printer (i.e., within the same LAN) in accordance with a print instruction from the user of the information processing device 110.

[0032] The printer management unit 405 manages information about printers that the information processing device 110 can submit print jobs to as printer information 411. Printer information 411 includes printer capability information, etc. The printer management unit 405 may also search for printers that the information processing device 110 can submit print jobs to.

[0033] The memory control unit 410 stores information in the RAM 202 and storage device 204, and reads information from the RAM 202 and storage device 204, according to instructions from other components. According to some embodiments, the memory control unit 410 stores printer information 411 and an operating system (OS) 412. The OS 412 is installed as standard in the information processing device 110 (i.e., at the time of shipment of the information processing device 110). The OS 412 may be updated. The OS 412 has functions for basic management and control of the information processing device 110. The OS 412 includes standard printing functions 414.

[0034] The memory control unit 410 may further store a print support application (PSA) 413. A PSA 413 is an application (plugin) that provides extended print settings to the information processing device 110. The PSA 413 is installed on the OS 412. The PSA 413 is provided by the vendor. The PSA 413 enables users of the information processing device 110 to use print settings not supported by the standard print function 414.

[0035] [Example of printing device hardware configuration] Referring to Figure 5, an example of the hardware configuration of a printing device 120 according to one embodiment will be described. The printing device 120 may include the components shown in Figure 5, may not include some of the components shown in Figure 5, or may include components not shown in Figure 5. Since the printing device 120 is a physical printing device, it can also be called a physical printer.

[0036] The CPU 501 is a general-purpose processing circuit that controls the overall operation of the printing device 120. The RAM 502 is a volatile memory circuit used as a temporary storage area such as a work area for processing by the CPU 501. The ROM 503 is a non-volatile memory circuit that stores programs and data used in the processing of the CPU 501. The storage device 504 is a non-volatile storage device that stores programs and data used in the processing of the CPU 501 (e.g., print jobs, image data, configuration information, hardware ID). The storage device 504 may be, for example, an HDD or an SSD. The storage device 504 may also be called a secondary storage device. The operation of the printing device 120 may be realized by the CPU 501 executing a program read from the storage device 504 into the RAM 502.

[0037] The printer interface 505 is an interface for exchanging signals with the printer engine 520. The printer engine 520 performs printing based on signals (e.g., image signals and print commands) supplied from the control unit 510 through the printer interface 505. Printing may be electrophotographic printing, which transfers and fixes toner onto paper; inkjet printing, which prints by ejecting ink onto paper; or 3D printing.

[0038] The scanner I / F 506 is an interface for exchanging signals with the scanner engine 530. The scanner engine 530 supplies signals obtained by scanning a document (e.g., image signals) to the control unit 510 through the scanner I / F 506. The CPU 501 may process the image signals supplied from the scanner engine 530 and supply the resulting recorded image signals to the printer engine 520. Alternatively, the CPU 501 may generate image data based on the image signals supplied from the scanner engine 530 and transmit it to an external device.

[0039] The control unit I / F 507 is an interface for exchanging signals with the control unit 540. The control unit 540 is a device that receives input from the user of the printing device 120 and provides information to the user of the printing device 120. The control unit 540 may consist of, for example, a display panel (e.g., a liquid crystal display), a speaker, a touch panel, a keyboard, buttons, a touchscreen, or any combination thereof.

[0040] The network interface 508 is an interface for communicating with external devices of the printing device 120. The control unit 510 is composed of the CPU 501, RAM 502, ROM 503, storage device 504, printer interface 505, scanner interface 506, operation unit interface 507, and network interface 508. Each component included in the control unit 510 is connected to the system bus 509.

[0041] [Example of printing device function configuration] Referring to Figure 6, an example of the functional configuration of the printing device 120 will be described. The printing device 120 may include the components shown in Figure 6, may not include some of the components shown in Figure 6, or may include components not shown in Figure 6. Each component in Figure 6 may be implemented by the CPU 501 executing a program read from the RAM 502. Alternatively, some or all of the components in Figure 6 may be implemented by a dedicated processing circuit such as an ASIC.

[0042] The input acquisition unit 601 acquires input from the user of the printing device 120 using the operation unit I / F 507. The information output unit 602 outputs information to the user of the printing device 120 using the operation unit I / F 507. For example, the information output unit 602 displays an operation menu on the operation unit 540. The input acquisition unit 601 acquires input for the operation menu and notifies other components of the input instructions. The information output unit 602 displays the results obtained from the other components on the operation unit 540.

[0043] The image processing unit 603 renders the print job into image data for printing. The print processing unit 604 prints the image data rendered by the image processing unit 603.

[0044] The registration control unit 605 performs processing to register the logical printer associated with the printing device 120 with the print server 130. The printer management unit 606 manages information about the printing device 120 as printer information 621. Printer information 621 may include, for example, the status of the printing device 120, the capability information of the printing device 120, the hardware ID of the printing device 120, and a cloud printer ID uniquely assigned by the print server 130 to the logical printer associated with the printing device 120. Printer information 621 may also include a local printer ID for the information processing device 110 to identify printing devices within the same LAN 101. Capability information of the printing device 120 refers to information about the capabilities of the printing device 120, and may include, for example, that the printing device 120 has a specific function.

[0045] The Cloud Print (CP) control unit 607 performs processing related to Cloud Print. For example, the CP control unit 607 may execute printing according to the print job sent from the print server 130 by transferring the print data included in the print job received from the print server 130 to the image processing unit 603. Alternatively, the CP control unit 607 may send an event request to the print server 130.

[0046] The local print (LP) control unit 608 performs processing related to local printing. For example, the LP control unit 608 may respond to a printer search from the information processing device 110. Alternatively, the LP control unit 608 may execute printing according to the print job sent from the information processing device 110 by transferring the print data contained in the print job received directly from the information processing device 110 to the image processing unit 603. The job management unit 609 manages information related to print jobs as job information 622. The job information 622 may include the processing status and processing results of the print job.

[0047] The IPP processing unit 610 performs processing related to IPP. For example, the IPP processing unit 610 receives an IPP-compliant message from an external device (information processing device 110 or print server 130), interprets the message, and executes the processing specified in the message. The IPP processing unit 610 may also have server functionality. For example, the IPP processing unit 610 may be assigned a specific port number, and a message specifying this port number may be passed to the IPP processing unit 610.

[0048] The CPCA processing unit 611 performs processing related to CPCA. For example, the CPCA processing unit 611 receives a CPCA-compliant message from an external device (information processing device 110 or print server 130), interprets the message, and executes the processing specified in the message. The CPCA processing unit 611 may also have server functionality. For example, the CPCA processing unit 611 may be assigned a specific port number, and a message specifying this port number may be passed to the CPCA processing unit 611. Messages to the CPCA processing unit 611 may be passed via local loopback from other components of the printing device 120 (e.g., IPP processing unit 610). The CPCA processing unit 611 may also provide an application programming interface (API) and obtain instructions from other components (e.g., IPP processing unit 610) through the API.

[0049] The memory control unit 620 stores information in the RAM 502 or storage device 504, or reads information from the RAM 502 or storage device 504, according to instructions from other components. According to some embodiments, the memory control unit 620 stores printer information 621 and job information 622. The memory control unit 620 may manage data as a file system. The memory control unit 620 may allocate the storage destination of each data to the storage device 504, which is a non-volatile area, and the RAM 502, which is a volatile area. For example, the memory control unit 620 may store the printer information 621 and job information 622 in the non-volatile area.

[0050] [Overall processing sequence for cloud printing] Referring to Figure 7, the overall processing sequence for performing cloud printing is described. The example in Figure 7 deals with the case where the information processing device 110 registers the printer 120 with the print server 130 and submits a print job to the logical printer associated with the printer 120. Registering the printer 120 with the print server 130 may also mean registering the logical printer associated with the printer 120 with the print server 130. In the following example, it is assumed that the printer 120 supports a web user interface (UI) function for operating the printer 120 from the information processing device 110. It is also assumed that the information processing device 110 supports a web UI client function. Communication between the information processing device 110, the printer 120, and the print server 130 may be performed using the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP).

[0051] In S701, the registration control unit 403 of the information processing device 110 sends a registration start request to the printing device 120 in accordance with instructions from the user of the information processing device 110. The registration start request may also be a request to start the process of registering the printing device 120 with the print server 130. The registration start request may also be sent using the web UI client function of the information processing device 110.

[0052] In S702, the registration control unit 605 of the printing device 120 sends a registration start request to the printing server 130 in response to receiving a registration start request from the information processing device 110. The registration start request may also be a request to start the process of registering the printing device 120 with the printing server 130.

[0053] In S703, the registration control unit 301 of the print server 130 sends a registration start response to the print device 120 in response to receiving a registration start request from the print device 120. The registration start response includes a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) for a web page where the user of the information processing device 110 can enter information to register the print device 120 with the print server 130.

[0054] In step S704, the registration control unit 605 of the printing device 120 transmits registration information to the information processing device 110 in response to receiving a registration start response from the print server 130. The registration information includes the URL contained in the registration start response. The information output unit 402 of the information processing device 110 displays the web page to the user in response to receiving the registration information from the printing device 120.

[0055] In step S705, the registration control unit 403 of the information processing device 110 sends a registration approval request to the print server 130 in response to the user of the information processing device 110 accessing the URL and entering the necessary registration information. The registration approval request includes the cloud account of the user of the information processing device 110. A cloud account is an account that allows a user to use a cloud tenant that includes the print server 130.

[0056] In S706, the registration control unit 301 of the print server 130 verifies whether the cloud account included in the registration approval request belongs to a user who has the authority to register the printing device 120 with the print server 130. If the user has the authority, the registration control unit 301 of the print server 130 sends a registration approval response to the information processing device 110. The registration approval response may be a message notifying the information processing device 110 of the verification result that the user has the authority to register the printing device 120.

[0057] In S707, the printer management unit 606 of the printing device 120 sends a registration confirmation request to the printing server 130 in response to receiving a registration start response from the printing server 130. The registration confirmation request is a request for registering the printing device 120 with the printing server 130, and may specifically be a request to register the printing device 120 with the printing server 130.

[0058] In step S708, the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130, upon receiving a registration confirmation request from the printing device 120, generates a new logical printer and adds it to the printer information 311 in association with the printing device 120. This registers the printing device 120 with the print server 130, enabling the information processing device 110 to perform cloud printing using the logical printer. The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 also assigns a unique cloud printer ID to the generated logical printer and adds this cloud printer ID to the printer information 311 in association with the logical printer. Subsequently, the registration control unit 301 of the print server 130 sends a registration confirmation response to the printing device 120. The registration confirmation response includes the cloud printer ID of the printing device 120.

[0059] In S709, the printer management unit 606 of the printing device 120 sends an information update request to the printing server 130 in response to the completion of registration of the printing device 120 with the printing server 130. The information update request may also be a request to update information related to the printing device 120. The information update request includes the hardware ID of the printing device 120 and the capability information of the printing device 120. The information update request may also be sent in an Update-Output-Device-Attributes request message as defined in IPP.

[0060] In S710, the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 updates the information of the printing device 120 contained in the printer information 311 based on the hardware ID and capability information contained in the received information update request, and sends an information update response to the printing device 120. The information update response may also be a message notifying that the update of the information of the printing device 120 has been successfully completed. The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 sets the hardware ID of the printing device 120 as the hardware ID of the logical printer associated with this printing device 120.

[0061] In S711, the CP control unit 607 of the printing device 120 sends an event request to the printing server 130 in response to receiving a registration confirmation response from the printing server 130. The event request may also be a request to notify the printing device 120 when an event related to the printing device 120 occurs. The event request may also be for an event that a print job has been submitted to the logical printer associated with the printing device 120.

[0062] In S712, the printer management unit 405 of the information processing device 110 sends an information request to the print server 130 in accordance with instructions from the user of the information processing device 110. The information request may be a request for information about a logical printer available to the user of the information processing device 110. The information request includes the cloud account of the user of the information processing device 110. The information request may also be sent as a Get-Printer-Attributes Request message as defined in IPP.

[0063] In S713, the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 sends an information response to the information processing device 110 in response to receiving an information request from the information processing device 110. The information response includes a cloud printer ID, a hardware ID, and capability information for each of the one or more logical printers available to the user of the information processing device 110. The printer management unit 405 of the information processing device 110 updates the printer information 411 based on the information response. This registers the discovered logical printers with the standard printing function 414 of the information processing device 110. The information response may also be sent as a Get-Printer-Attributes Response message as defined in IPP.

[0064] In S714, the printer management unit 405 of the information processing device 110 sends a print request to the print server 130 in accordance with instructions from the user of the information processing device 110. The print request includes a cloud printer ID, a print job, and the cloud account of the user of the information processing device 110. The print job may also include print data and print settings. The print request may also be a request to print the print data included in the print request to a logical printer having the cloud printer ID included in the print request. The information processing device 110 may also instruct a logical printer registered in the standard print function 414 to print.

[0065] In S715, the print control unit 302 of the print server 130 sends an event response to the printing device 120 associated with the logical printer in response to receiving a print request from the information processing device 110. The event response is a response to the event request received in S711. The event response is a response to notify that an event of the type specified in the event request has occurred.

[0066] In S716, the CP control unit 607 of the printing device 120 sends a print job request to the print server 130 in response to receiving an event response from the print server 130. The print job request may be a request for a print job that the printing device 120 should execute.

[0067] In S717, the print control unit 302 of the print server 130 sends a print job response to the print device 120 in response to receiving a print job request from the print device 120. The print job response includes the cloud account and the print job. The print job response received by the print device 120 from the print server 130 may be an IPP Fetch-Job Response message. In S718, the print device 120 prints according to the print job in response to receiving the print job response from the print server 130.

[0068] In the explanation of Figure 7, the registration of the printing device 120 in S701 to S706 and the cloud printing in S712 to S718 may be performed by the same user or by different users.

[0069] [Comprehensive logical printers and individual logical printers] The comprehensive logical printer and individual logical printers provided by the print server 130 will now be described. In this embodiment, the print server 130 may provide both a comprehensive logical printer and individual logical printers. As described above, a logical printer is a virtual printing device (e.g., a printer object) provided by the print server 130. An individual logical printer is a logical printer associated with a specific physical printer. A print job submitted to an individual logical printer can be printed by the physical printer associated with that individual logical printer. A comprehensive logical printer is a logical printer that is not directly associated with a specific physical printer but is associated with one or more individual logical printers. Typically, a comprehensive logical printer is associated with multiple individual logical printers. A print job submitted to a comprehensive logical printer is moved to one of the individual logical printers associated with that comprehensive logical printer, according to instructions from the user. In other words, a print job submitted to a comprehensive logical printer is submitted to one of the individual logical printers. The print job can then be printed by the physical printer associated with this individual logical printer.

[0070] The registration control unit 301 of the print server 130 may register comprehensive logical printers and individual logical printers to the print server 130 in accordance with instructions from, for example, a user of the print server 130 (e.g., a user of the printing device 120 or an administrator of the printing system). For example, as described above, in S708 of Figure 7, the registration control unit 301 of the print server 130 registers a logical printer. This logical printer is registered as an individual logical printer because it is associated with a specific physical printer. Also, if a comprehensive logical printer is already registered in the cloud tenant to which the user who registered the physical printer belongs, the registration control unit 301 of the print server 130 may associate the newly registered individual logical printer with the comprehensive logical printer.

[0071] Referring to Figure 8, an example of a comprehensive logical printer and individual logical printers provided by the print server 130 will be described. The print server 130 has one comprehensive logical printer 801 and three individual logical printers 802a to 802c registered, and the print server 130 provides these four logical printers. The three individual logical printers 802a to 802c are all associated with the comprehensive logical printer 801. In addition, the three individual logical printers 802a to 802c are each individually associated with three physical printers 803a to 803c. For example, individual logical printer 802a is associated only with physical printer 803a of the three physical printers 803a to 803c. The physical printers 803a to 803c may have a configuration similar to that of the printing device 120. The physical printers 803a to 803c may be connected to the same LAN 101 as the information processing device 110, like the printing device 120. Alternatively, at least one of the physical printers 803a to 803c does not need to be connected to the same LAN 101 as the information processing device 110.

[0072] Referring to Figure 8, the printing process flow by submitting a print job to the comprehensive logical printer 801 will be explained. In S811, the print control unit 404 of the information processing device 110 submits a print job 804 to the comprehensive logical printer 801. At this stage, the user of the information processing device 110 does not need to specify which physical printer to use for printing.

[0073] In S812, the user who submitted print job 804, or another user, instructs the print server 130 to move print job 804, which was submitted to the comprehensive logical printer 801, to the individual logical printer 802a in order to print it on the physical printer 803a. This instruction may be made using the mobile communication device 800 or using the physical printer 803a. This instruction includes the identification information of the job to be moved (job ID) and the cloud printer ID of the destination individual logical printer 802a.

[0074] In step S813, the job management unit 304 of the print server 130 moves the print job 804 from the general logical printer 801 to the individual logical printer 802a. As a result, the print job 804 is associated with the individual logical printer 802a, making it possible to print the print job 804 using the physical printer 803a.

[0075] In S814, the CP control unit 607 of the physical printer 803a sends a print job request to the individual logical printer 802a (S814 in Figure 8). In S815, the print control unit 302 of the print server 130 sends a print job response to the physical printer 803a in response to receiving the print job request from the physical printer 803a (S715 in Figure 7). This print job response includes print job 804. Subsequently, the print processing unit 604 of the physical printer 803a performs printing based on print job 804.

[0076] In the example above, the user instructed the printer to move print job 804 from the general logical printer 801 to the individual logical printer 802a, but the user may also instruct it to move to the individual logical printer 802b or 802c. In this case, printing will be performed by the physical printer 803b or 803c. Thus, the user can also have print job 804 printed to any of the physical printers 803a to 803c after it has been submitted to the print server 130. This type of printing method may also be called pull printing.

[0077] [PSA Installation] Referring to Figure 9, a method for installing the PSA413 in the information processing device 110 will be described. The method described below is implemented, for example, by the CPU 201 of the information processing device 110 reading the program stored in the ROM 203 into the RAM 202 and executing it. The method in Figure 9 may also be initiated according to instructions from the user of the information processing device 110.

[0078] In S901, the printer management unit 405 of the information processing device 110 uses the functions of OS412 to search for logical printers provided by the print server 130 and registers the discovered logical printers with OS412. S901 corresponds to S712 and S713 in Figure 7. In addition to searching for logical printers, the printer management unit 405 may also search for physical printers connected to the same LAN 101 as the information processing device 110.

[0079] The steps in S901 are described in detail. First, the printer management unit 405 obtains the printer name and hardware ID (represented as HWID in Figure 9) of the logical printer from the print server 130. This logical printer may be an individual logical printer or a comprehensive logical printer. The hardware ID is used by the OS 412 to match the printer with the printer driver package in the processing described later.

[0080] Next, the printer management unit 405 uses the functions of OS412 to obtain the configuration information of the discovered printer. The configuration information includes the printer's capabilities. Once the configuration information is obtained, OS412 edits the PDC (Printer Device Function) in the information processing device 110 to generate a print queue for the added printer.

[0081] In S902, the printer management unit 405 searches for a PSA corresponding to the hardware ID obtained in S901. The following describes how to search for a PSA when OS412 is Windows. First, the printer management unit 405 obtains the extended INF corresponding to the hardware ID from the update management server 140. Then, the printer management unit 405 searches whether a PSA with the application ID included in the extended INF is provided by the application provision server 150.

[0082] Each vendor provides its own PSA. Furthermore, some vendors provide a separate PSA for each model of the printing device 120. Therefore, the information processing device 110 retrieves the PSA corresponding to the hardware ID that identifies the printer model and uses it for that printer. The hardware ID and PSA may be associated on a one-to-one basis, or one PSA may be associated with multiple hardware IDs.

[0083] In S903, the printer management unit 405 determines whether a PSA corresponding to the hardware ID has been found. If the CPU 201 does not find a PSA corresponding to the hardware ID (NO in S903), it terminates the process. If the CPU 201 finds a PSA corresponding to the hardware ID (YES in S903), it proceeds to S904.

[0084] In S904, the printer management unit 405 determines whether the PSA corresponding to the hardware ID is already installed in the information processing unit 110. If the CPU 201 does not have the PSA installed in the information processing unit 110 (NO in S904), it proceeds to S905 and downloads and installs the PSA corresponding to the hardware ID. The downloaded and installed PSA is stored in the storage control unit 410. If the PSA corresponding to the hardware ID is already installed in the information processing unit 110 (YES in S904), the printer management unit 405 does not execute S905. In S906, the printer management unit 405 adds the extended print menu provided by the PSA to the added printer.

[0085] As described above, the information processing device 110 can add a logical printer, download and install the PSA413 corresponding to the added logical printer. After the PSA413 is installed, vendor extension attributes are added to the standard printing function 414 of the OS412, allowing the user to use the extended printing settings defined by the vendor extension attributes. Specifically, when the information processing device 110 adds a printer in this way, a print queue is generated to store print jobs corresponding to the printer.

[0086] [Specific examples of printer and job information on a print server] Referring to Figure 10(a), a specific example of printer information 311 managed by the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 will be described. In this example, the printer information 311 is stored in a table format. Each record of the printer information 311 represents a logical printer. A logical printer may be a general-purpose logical printer or an individual logical printer. Record 1011 represents, for example, the general-purpose logical printer 801 in Figure 8. Records 1012 to 1014 represent, for example, the individual logical printers 802a to 802c in Figure 8, respectively. In addition to the information described below, the printer information 311 may also include, for example, information about the print queue.

[0087] Column 1001 represents the name of the logical printer. Column 1002 represents the cloud printer ID uniquely assigned to the logical printer by the print server 130. Since one individual logical printer is associated with one physical printer, the cloud printer ID of an individual logical printer also uniquely identifies the physical printer.

[0088] Column 1004 represents the hardware ID set for the logical printer. The print server 130 provides the information processing device 110 with the hardware ID set in column 1004, associated with the logical printer (for example, along with the printer name of the logical printer) in S713 in Figure 7 and S901 in Figure 9. As explained with reference to Figure 9, the hardware ID is available to the information processing device 110 to obtain the PSA413.

[0089] In the example shown in Figure 10(a), the hardware ID has a data format consisting of two four-digit numbers linked by a hyphen. The four digits before the hyphen represent an identifier uniquely assigned to the vendor, and the four digits after the hyphen represent an identifier uniquely assigned to the model of the printing device 120 for each vendor. The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 sets the hardware ID of the physical printer (printing device 120) associated with the individual logical printer as the hardware ID of the individual logical printer. In the following description, the hardware ID of the physical printer will be referred to as the actual hardware ID. For example, in record 1012, since the actual hardware ID of physical printer A is "1083-0001", the printer management unit 303 sets the hardware ID of individual logical printer A to "1083-0001". As described above, the actual hardware ID may also be sent from the printing device 120 to the print server 130 in S709 in Figure 7. The printer management unit 303 may set the hardware ID of a new individual logical printer when registering it with the print server 130.

[0090] The printer management unit 303 may set the hardware ID of any of the printing devices 120 as the hardware ID of the comprehensive logical printer, or it may set a virtual hardware ID. A virtual hardware ID is a virtual hardware ID that is not set for any physical printer (printing device 120). The virtual hardware ID has a value different from any of the actual hardware IDs. In the example in Figure 10(a), the comprehensive logical printer 801 shown in record 1011 is set to the virtual hardware ID "1083-9999". The virtual hardware ID has the same data format as the actual hardware ID. The printer management unit 303 may set the hardware ID of a new comprehensive logical printer when registering it with the print server 130, or it may not set it at this time. Details on how to set the hardware ID of a comprehensive logical printer will be described later.

[0091] Column 1004 represents the type of logical printer. The type of logical printer may be either "General" (indicating a general-purpose logical printer) or "Individual" (indicating an individual logical printer). Column 1005 represents the status of the logical printer.

[0092] Column 1006 represents the printer capabilities of a logical printer. When a logical printer is an individual logical printer, the printer capabilities of the individual logical printer may also be the printer capabilities of the physical printer associated with the individual logical printer. Printer capabilities may include, for example, having color printing capabilities or sorting capabilities. The printer capabilities of a comprehensive logical printer may be the logical OR of the printer capabilities of one or more individual logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer. For example, if some individual logical printers associated with a comprehensive logical printer have sorting capabilities, and the remaining individual logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer do not, the comprehensive logical printer may be managed as having sorting capabilities.

[0093] Column 1007 represents the printer associated with a logical printer. If the logical printer is a comprehensive logical printer, the printer associated with the logical printer refers to one or more individual logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer. If the logical printer is an individual logical printer, the printer associated with the logical printer refers to one physical printer associated with the individual logical printer.

[0094] Referring to Figure 10(b), a specific example of job information 312 managed by the job management unit 304 of the print server 130 will be described. In this example, the job information 312 is stored in a table format. Each record in the job information 312 represents a print job submitted to the print server 130.

[0095] Column 1021 represents the job ID uniquely assigned to the print job by the print server 130. Column 1022 represents the logical printer associated with the print job. When a print job is submitted to a specific logical printer, the print job is associated with that specific logical printer. The logical printer associated with a print job may be changed to a different logical printer at the user's instruction, as described above using Figure 8.

[0096] Column 1023 represents the user who submitted the print job. Column 1024 represents the status of the print job. Column 1025 represents the print data to be printed by the print job. Column 1026 represents the settings for printing the print job.

[0097] Referring to Figure 10(c), a specific example of the virtual hardware ID information 313 stored in the storage device 204 of the print server 130 will be described. In this example, the virtual hardware ID information 313 is stored in a table format. Each record of the virtual hardware ID information 313 represents a virtual hardware ID that can be set for a comprehensive logical printer. The records of the virtual hardware ID information 313 may be stored in the print server 130 by the administrator of the printing system. Alternatively, or in addition to this, the print server 130 may obtain information to be included in the records of the virtual hardware ID information 313 from an external server.

[0098] The PSA413 may differ from vendor to vendor. Therefore, the virtual hardware ID information 313 may have a record for each vendor. Column 1031 represents the name of the vendor that provides the PSA413 corresponding to the virtual hardware ID. Column 1032 represents the virtual hardware IDs that can be used by the information processing device 110 to retrieve the PSA413 provided by each vendor.

[0099] The print server 130 provides the information processing device 110 with a virtual hardware ID associated with the comprehensive logical printer. The information processing device 110 installs and uses a PSA413 corresponding to the virtual hardware ID in order to extend the print settings for print jobs to the comprehensive logical printer. For example, if the print server 130 sets the virtual hardware ID "1083-9999" for the comprehensive logical printer, the information processing device 110 installs and uses a PSA413 provided by vendor "CCC".

[0100] [How to submit a print job with extended print settings to a comprehensive logical printer] Referring again to parts of Figures 7 and 9 above, a method for submitting a print job with extended print settings to a comprehensive logical printer will be described. In S712, the information processing device 110 searches for a logical printer provided by the print server 130. In S713 (corresponding to S901), the print server 130 responds to the information processing device 110 with information on one or more logical printers registered with the print server 130 for which the information processing device 110 has usage rights. Specifically, the information processing device 110 provides the information processing device 110 with the printer name of the logical printer for which the information processing device 110 has usage rights and the hardware ID set for the logical printer (column 1003 in Figure 10(a)). In the following description, it is assumed that information on a comprehensive logical printer is provided to the information processing device 110. In this case, the hardware ID provided to the information processing device 110 may be a real hardware ID or a virtual hardware ID. In the following description, it is assumed that the virtual hardware ID "1083-9999" is provided.

[0101] In steps S903 to S905, the information processing device 110 obtains and installs PSA413 using the virtual hardware ID "1083-9999". This PSA413 is provided by vendor "CCC", and it can use the extended print settings of the printing device 120 provided by vendor "CCC".

[0102] In S906, the information processing device 110 adds the extended print menu provided by the PSA413 to the comprehensive logical printer. This makes it possible to include extended print settings in print jobs submitted to the comprehensive logical printer. In S714, the information processing device 110 generates a print job including the extended print settings provided by the PSA413 in response to instructions from the user, and submits this print job to the comprehensive logical printer. The print server 130 retrieves this print job from the information processing device 110. Subsequent processing is the same as described above for Figure 7.

[0103] As described above, according to this embodiment, a hardware ID is set for the comprehensive logical printer. Therefore, the information processing device 110 can obtain a PSA413 for submitting a print job with extended print settings to the comprehensive logical printer using the hardware ID set for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0104] The above example described the case where information about a comprehensive logical printer is provided to the information processing device 110. The same process is performed when information about individual logical printers is provided to the information processing device 110. For example, the print server 130 provides the information processing device 110 with the printer name of the individual logical printer and the hardware ID set for the individual logical printer (specifically, the actual hardware ID of the printing device 120 registered with the print server 130 in association with the individual logical printer).

[0105] [How to set a hardware ID for a comprehensive logical printer] This section describes how to set a hardware ID for a comprehensive logical printer. The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may determine the hardware ID to set for the comprehensive logical printer based on one or more (typically more) logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer, and set this hardware ID for the comprehensive logical printer. Alternatively, or in addition to this, the printer management unit 303 may set a hardware ID specified by the user of the print server 130 for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0106] First, determine how to determine the hardware ID based on one or more individual logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer. For example, the printer management unit 303 may determine the hardware ID to set for a new comprehensive logical printer when it is registered. Specifically, the printer management unit 303 may set the hardware ID (which is equal to the hardware ID of the physical printer) of one or more individual logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer to the comprehensive logical printer if they are common. This can occur if the physical printers associated with one or more individual logical printers are all the same model. In this case, the virtual hardware ID of the vendor of these physical printers may be set for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0107] The printer management unit 303 may set the virtual hardware ID of the vendor for the comprehensive logical printer if the physical printers associated with the multiple individual logical printers to which the comprehensive logical printer is associated are printers provided by the same vendor. The printer management unit 303 does not need to set a hardware ID for the comprehensive logical printer if the physical printers associated with the multiple individual logical printers to which the comprehensive logical printer is associated are printers provided by two or more vendors.

[0108] Next, a method for setting a hardware ID specified by a user of the print server 130 to a comprehensive logical printer will be described. For example, the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may obtain the hardware ID specification from the user through the setting screen 1100 shown in Figure 11. The setting screen 1100 is a screen for users to manage the comprehensive logical printer. The setting screen 1100 may be displayed on the output device 220 of the print server 130, or it may be displayed on the user terminal accessing the print server 130. The overview button 1101 is an object for obtaining instructions from the user to display information about the comprehensive logical printer. The management button 1102 is an object for obtaining instructions from the user to display a submenu for managing the comprehensive logical printer. The job button 1103 is an object for obtaining instructions from the user to display jobs submitted to the print queue of the comprehensive logical printer. The member button 1104 is an object for obtaining instructions from the user to display a list of individual logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer. The properties button 1105 is an object that receives instructions from the user to display the properties of the comprehensive logical printer. Figure 11 shows the settings screen 1100 when the overview button 1101 is pressed.

[0109] The pull-down list 1106 is an object used to obtain the hardware ID to be set for the comprehensive logical printer from the user. The pull-down list 1106 displays information representing the hardware ID set for the comprehensive logical printer. "Not set" indicates that no hardware ID has been set for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0110] The pull-down list 1106a indicates that the pull-down list 1106 is open. Each of the multiple options displayed in the pull-down list 1106a represents information that indicates a virtual hardware ID that can be configured for the comprehensive logical printer. In the example in Figure 11, the options in the pull-down list 1106a represent the names of vendors associated with the virtual hardware IDs that can be configured for the comprehensive logical printer. These vendor names are managed in column 1031 of the virtual hardware ID information 313.

[0111] The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 sets the hardware ID specified by the user from among the multiple candidates in the pull-down list 1106a as the comprehensive logical printer. For example, if the user selects candidate "CCC" from the pull-down list 1106a, the virtual hardware ID information 313 sets "1083-9999" associated with "CCC" as the comprehensive logical printer. At the same time, the printer management unit 303 switches the display of the pull-down list 1106 to information representing the changed hardware ID (for example, the vendor name). In this way, the setting screen 1100 presents the information representing the hardware ID set for the comprehensive logical printer to the user of the print server 130, associating it with the comprehensive logical printer.

[0112] The multiple candidates (multiple vendor names) displayed in the pull-down list 1106a represent multiple hardware IDs corresponding to different vendors. Therefore, a user of the print server 130 can specify the vendor that provides the PSA413 used by the information processing device 110 to generate print jobs to be submitted to the comprehensive logical printer by specifying the hardware ID to be set for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0113] In the example above, the hardware ID is selected from the candidates in the pull-down list 1106. Alternatively, the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may obtain the hardware ID (string) to be set as the comprehensive logical printer from the user.

[0114] [Behavior when changing the member configuration of a comprehensive logical printer] This section describes the operation of the print server 130 when it receives instructions from a user to change the individual logical printer associated with a comprehensive logical printer. For example, the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may receive instructions from a user to unassociate an individual logical printer from an existing comprehensive logical printer or to associate a new individual logical printer, through the settings screen 1100 with the member button 1104 selected.

[0115] When the printer management unit 303 receives an instruction from a user of the print server 130 to change the individual logical printer associated with the comprehensive logical printer, it may perform a predetermined operation related to setting the hardware ID of the comprehensive logical printer. In the following description, this predetermined operation will be referred to as the reset operation.

[0116] The reset operation may include resetting the hardware ID set for the comprehensive logical printer to its default value. The default value for the hardware ID may be a value indicating that no hardware IDs are set (i.e., "Not set").

[0117] The reconfiguration operation may include setting a hardware ID on the comprehensive logical printer that is determined based on the modified individual logical printer associated with the comprehensive logical printer. For example, if the hardware ID before the change is an ID for vendor "CCC" and the individual logical printer to be added is also a printer from vendor "CCC", the printer management unit 303 may maintain the existing hardware ID. If the hardware ID before the change is an ID for vendor "CCC" and the individual logical printer to be added is a printer from vendor "BBB", the printer management unit 303 may change the hardware ID to "Not Set". If the hardware ID before the change is "Not Set", and as a result of deleting the individual logical printer, all individual logical printers are printers from vendor "CCC", the printer management unit 303 may change the hardware ID to the hardware ID of vendor "CCC".

[0118] The reconfiguration operation may include postponing the change of the logical printer associated with the comprehensive logical printer. For example, if the hardware ID before the change is an ID for vendor "CCC" and the individual logical printer to be added is a printer from vendor "BBB", the printer management unit 303 may postpone the change of the logical printer associated with the comprehensive logical printer.

[0119] The reset operation may include notifying the user of the print server 130 about the hardware ID setting. This notification may be combined with the specific examples of the reset operation described above. For example, the printer management unit 303 may notify the user that the hardware ID has been reset to its initial value. The printer management unit 303 may notify the user that the hardware ID has been changed. Before automatically changing the hardware ID, the printer management unit 303 may postpone the change, ask the user if it is OK to make the change, and make the change if the user gives permission. The reset operation may be any combination of one or more of the specific examples described above.

[0120] <Second Embodiment> A second embodiment is described below. The following description will explain the differences from the first embodiment, and will omit redundant explanations. The first embodiment described a case where separate PSA413s are provided for each vendor. The second embodiment describes a case where a PSA is provided that provides extended print settings common to multiple vendors. Such a PSA is referred to as a common PSA (or a common application). On the other hand, a PSA that provides extended print settings specific to a particular vendor, as described in the first embodiment, is referred to as a vendor PSA (or a specific application).

[0121] Referring to Figure 12, the common PSA1202 and vendor PSA1203 are described. The standard IPP print driver 1201 is a driver provided by the standard printing function 414 of OS412. The standard IPP print driver 1201 provides standard print settings 1204 that can be used with the printing device 120 that supports IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). Standard print settings 1204 include settings such as "number of copies," "color settings," and "duplex." The attribute names and attribute values ​​of standard print settings 1204 are defined by IPP.

[0122] The common PSA 1202 provides a common extended print setting 1205 that is common to multiple vendors. A vendor's printing device 120 that supports the common extended print setting 1205 can execute print jobs according to the common extended print setting 1205. The common PSA 1202 may provide only the common extended print setting 1205 that is common to multiple vendors, and may not provide an extended print setting specific to one particular vendor. The attribute names and attribute values ​​of the common extended print setting 1205 may be defined in the IPP, or they may be defined independently by multiple vendors that support the common extended print setting 1205.

[0123] The vendor PSA 1203 provides vendor-specific vendor-extended print settings 1206. A vendor's printer 120 that supports the vendor-extended print settings 1206 can execute print jobs according to the vendor-extended print settings 1206. In addition to the vendor-extended print settings 1206, the vendor PSA 1203 may also provide common extended print settings 1205. The attribute names and attribute values ​​of the vendor-extended print settings 1206 may be defined independently by the vendors that support the vendor-extended print settings 1206.

[0124] The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 can set a virtual hardware ID usable by the information processing device 110 to the comprehensive logical printer in order to obtain the common PSA 1202. In the following description, the virtual hardware ID usable by the information processing device 110 in order to obtain the common PSA 1202 will be referred to as the common hardware ID (common identification information). On the other hand, the virtual hardware ID usable by the information processing device 110 in order to obtain the vendor PSA 1203 will be referred to as the unique hardware ID (unique identification information). The common hardware ID may have a value such as "9999-9999" and may be managed by the virtual hardware ID information 313. The common hardware ID is different from any unique hardware ID.

[0125] [How to set a hardware ID for a comprehensive logical printer] This section describes how to set a common hardware ID for a comprehensive logical printer. The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may decide to set a common hardware ID for the comprehensive logical printer based on one or more (typically multiple) logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer. Alternatively, or in addition to this, the printer management unit 303 may set a common hardware ID for the comprehensive logical printer if a common hardware ID is specified by a user of the print server 130.

[0126] Similar to the first embodiment, the printer management unit 303 may determine the hardware ID to be set for a new comprehensive logical printer when registering the comprehensive logical printer. The printer management unit 303 may set a common hardware ID for the comprehensive logical printer if all physical printers associated with the multiple individual logical printers to which the comprehensive logical printer is associated support the vendor extended print settings 1206. The printer management unit 303 may not set a hardware ID for the comprehensive logical printer if any of the physical printers associated with the multiple individual logical printers to which the comprehensive logical printer is associated do not support the vendor extended print settings 1206, or it may set a common hardware ID anyway.

[0127] For example, the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may obtain the hardware ID from the user through the settings screen 1300 shown in Figure 13. The settings screen 1300 differs from the settings screen 1100 in that it has a pull-down list 1306 instead of the pull-down list 1106. Pull-down list 1306a indicates that the pull-down list 1306 is open. The candidates displayed in pull-down list 1306a represent information that represents the virtual hardware ID. In the example in Figure 13, the information that represents the virtual hardware ID is the string "Common PSA". This information is managed in column 1031 of the virtual hardware ID information 313.

[0128] The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 sets the common hardware ID to the comprehensive logical printer when "Common PSA" is selected by the user from the candidates in the pull-down list 1106a. At the same time, the printer management unit 303 switches the display in the pull-down list 1106 to information representing the changed common hardware ID (for example, "Common PSA").

[0129] In the example above, the common hardware ID is selected from the candidates in the pull-down list 1306. Alternatively, the printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may obtain the common hardware ID (string) from the user as the hardware ID to be set for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0130] [Behavior when changing the member configuration of a comprehensive logical printer] The operation of the print server 130 when it receives instructions from a user of the print server 130 to change the individual logical printer associated with the comprehensive logical printer will be described. In addition to or instead of the specific example of the reset operation in the first embodiment, the reset operation may also include changing the hardware ID set for the comprehensive logical printer to a common hardware ID. For example, if the hardware ID before the change was "not set", and as a result of deleting the individual logical printers, all individual logical printers support the common extended print setting 1205, the printer management unit 303 may change the hardware ID to a common hardware ID. Also, the initial value of the hardware ID set for the comprehensive logical printer may be a common hardware ID.

[0131] <Third Embodiment> A third embodiment is described below. The following description will explain the differences from the first and second embodiments, and will omit redundant explanations. In the first embodiment, the print server 130 can be configured with a unique hardware ID specific to one particular vendor for the comprehensive logical printer. In the second embodiment, the print server 130 can be configured with a common hardware ID common to multiple vendors for the comprehensive logical printer. In the third embodiment, the print server 130 can be configured with both a unique hardware ID and a common hardware ID for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0132] [How to set a hardware ID for a comprehensive logical printer] This section describes how to set a hardware ID for a comprehensive logical printer. The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may determine the hardware ID to set for the comprehensive logical printer based on one or more (typically more) logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer, and set this hardware ID for the comprehensive logical printer. Alternatively, or in addition to this, the printer management unit 303 may set a hardware ID specified by the user of the print server 130 for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0133] First, determine how to determine the hardware ID based on one or more individual logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer. For example, the printer management unit 303 may determine the hardware ID to set for a new comprehensive logical printer when it is registered. Specifically, the printer management unit 303 may set the hardware ID (which is equal to the hardware ID of the physical printer) of one or more individual logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer to the comprehensive logical printer if they are common. This can occur if the physical printers associated with one or more individual logical printers are all the same model. In this case, the virtual hardware ID of the vendor of these physical printers may be set for the comprehensive logical printer.

[0134] The printer management unit 303 may set the vendor's unique hardware ID to the comprehensive logical printer if the physical printers associated with the multiple individual logical printers to which the comprehensive logical printer is associated are printers provided by the same vendor. The printer management unit 303 may also set the common hardware ID to the comprehensive logical printer if the physical printers associated with the multiple individual logical printers to which the comprehensive logical printer is associated are printers provided by two or more vendors.

[0135] The printer management unit 303 of the print server 130 may obtain the hardware ID from the user through the setting screen 1400 shown in Figure 14. The setting screen 1400 differs from the setting screen 1100 in that it has a pull-down list 1406 instead of the pull-down list 1106. Pull-down list 1406a indicates that the pull-down list 1406 is open. The candidates displayed in pull-down list 1406a represent information indicating a unique hardware ID and information representing a virtual hardware ID. The information indicating a unique hardware ID may be the same as in the first embodiment, and the information representing a virtual hardware ID may be the same as in the second embodiment.

[0136] [Behavior when changing the member configuration of a comprehensive logical printer] When the print server 130 receives an instruction from a user to change the individual logical printer associated with the comprehensive logical printer, the print server 130 may perform the reset operation of the first embodiment, the reset operation of the second embodiment, or a combination of these operations.

[0137] <Other Embodiments> The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the computer of that system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

[0138] <Summary of Embodiments> (Item 1) It is a print server, A management means for managing the comprehensive logical printer associated with each of the multiple logical printers associated with the printing device, A setting means for setting identification information usable by an information processing device to the comprehensive logical printer in order to obtain an application that provides extended print settings, A means for providing the identification information set in the comprehensive logical printer to the information processing device, A print server comprising: acquisition means for acquiring print jobs for the comprehensive logical printer from the information processing device. (Item 2) The setting means is a print server according to item 1, which sets the identification information specified by the user of the print server to the comprehensive logical printer. (Item 3) The printing server according to item 2, wherein the setting means presents the user with a plurality of candidates representing a plurality of identification information corresponding to different vendors, and sets the identification information specified by the user from the plurality of candidates to the comprehensive logical printer. (Item 4) The setting means is a print server according to any one of items 1 to 3, which determines identification information to be set for the comprehensive logical printer based on the plurality of logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer. (Item 5) The print server according to any one of items 1 to 4, further comprising presentation means for presenting information representing the identification information set in the comprehensive logical printer to the user of the print server in association with the comprehensive logical printer. (Item 6) The print job for the comprehensive logical printer is a print server according to any one of items 1 to 5, including the extended print settings provided by the application. (Item 7) The setting means is a print server according to any one of items 1 to 6, which performs a predetermined operation relating to the setting of the identification information when it receives an instruction from a user of the print server to change the logical printer associated with the comprehensive logical printer. (Item 8) The aforementioned predetermined operation is, The identification information set in the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer is reset to its initial value, Setting the identification information determined based on the modified logical printer associated with the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer to the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer, The change to the logical printer associated with the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer is to be postponed, A print server according to item 7, comprising at least one of the following: notifying the user regarding the setting of the aforementioned identification information. (Item 9) The aforementioned identification information is a print server as described in any one of items 1 to 8, having the same data format as the hardware ID of the printing device. (Item 10) The printing server according to any one of items 1 to 9, wherein the providing means further provides the information processing device with the hardware ID of the printing device registered in the printing server. (Item 11) A program to cause a computer to function as one of the means of a print server as described in any one of items 1 through 10. (Item 12) A method for controlling a print server that manages a comprehensive logical printer associated with each of several logical printers associated with a printing device, The setting means includes the step of setting identification information usable by the information processing device to the comprehensive logical printer in order to obtain an application that provides extended print settings, The means of providing includes the step of providing the identification information set in the comprehensive logical printer to the information processing device, A control method comprising the steps of acquiring a print job for the comprehensive logical printer from the information processing device. (Item 13) An information processing device, A first acquisition means for obtaining identification information set for the comprehensive logical printer associated with each of the multiple logical printers associated with the printing device from the print server, A second acquisition means for acquiring an application that provides extended print settings using the identification information of the comprehensive logical printer, A generation means for generating a print job that includes extended print settings provided by the aforementioned application, An information processing device comprising a feeding means for feeding the print job into the comprehensive logical printer. (Item 14) A method for controlling an information processing device, The first acquisition means includes the step of acquiring identification information set for the comprehensive logical printer associated with each of the multiple logical printers associated with the printing device from the print server, The second acquisition means includes the step of acquiring an application that provides extended print settings using the identification information of the comprehensive logical printer, The generation means includes the step of generating a print job that includes extended print settings provided by the application, A control method comprising a feeding step of feeding the print job into the comprehensive logical printer. (Item 15) A program to cause a computer to function as one of the means of the information processing device described in item 13. (Item 16) A printing system comprising a print server, an information processing device, and a printing device, The aforementioned print server, A management means for managing the comprehensive logical printer associated with each of the multiple logical printers associated with the printing device, The system includes setting means for setting identification information usable by the information processing device to the comprehensive logical printer in order to obtain an application that provides extended print settings, The aforementioned information processing device is A first acquisition means for acquiring the identification information set in the comprehensive logical printer from the print server, A second acquisition means for acquiring an application that provides extended print settings using the identification information of the comprehensive logical printer, A generation means for generating a print job that includes extended print settings provided by the aforementioned application, A printing system comprising a feeding means for feeding the print job into the comprehensive logical printer.

[0139] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, claims are attached to disclose the scope of the invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0140] 110 Information processing equipment, 120 Printing equipment, 130 Printing servers

Claims

1. It is a print server, A management means for managing the comprehensive logical printer associated with each of the multiple logical printers associated with the printing device, A setting means for setting identification information usable by an information processing device to the comprehensive logical printer in order to obtain an application that provides extended print settings, A means for providing the identification information set in the comprehensive logical printer to the information processing device, A print server comprising: acquisition means for acquiring print jobs for the comprehensive logical printer from the information processing device.

2. The print server according to claim 1, wherein the setting means sets the identification information specified by the user of the print server to the comprehensive logical printer.

3. The printing server according to claim 2, wherein the setting means presents the user with a plurality of candidates representing a plurality of identification information corresponding to different vendors, and sets the identification information specified by the user from the plurality of candidates to the comprehensive logical printer.

4. The printing server according to claim 1, wherein the setting means determines identification information to be set for the comprehensive logical printer based on the plurality of logical printers associated with the comprehensive logical printer.

5. The print server according to claim 1, further comprising presentation means for presenting information representing the identification information set in the comprehensive logical printer to the user of the print server in association with the comprehensive logical printer.

6. The print server according to claim 1, wherein the print job for the comprehensive logical printer includes extended print settings provided by the application.

7. The print server according to claim 1, wherein the setting means performs a predetermined operation relating to the setting of the identification information when it receives an instruction from the user of the print server to change the logical printer associated with the comprehensive logical printer.

8. The aforementioned predetermined operation is, The identification information set in the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer is reset to its initial value, Setting the identification information determined based on the modified logical printer associated with the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer to the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer, The change to the logical printer associated with the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer is to be postponed, The print server according to claim 7, comprising at least one of the following: notifying the user regarding the setting of the aforementioned identification information.

9. The printing server according to claim 1, wherein the identification information has the same data format as the hardware ID of the printing device.

10. The printing server according to claim 1, wherein the providing means further provides the information processing device with the hardware ID of the printing device registered in the printing server.

11. A program for causing a computer to function as one of the means of a print server according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A method for controlling a print server that manages a comprehensive logical printer associated with each of several logical printers associated with a printing device, The setting means includes the step of setting identification information usable by the information processing device to the comprehensive logical printer in order to obtain an application that provides extended print settings, The means of providing includes the step of providing the identification information set in the comprehensive logical printer to the information processing device, A control method comprising the steps of acquiring a print job for the comprehensive logical printer from the information processing device.

13. An information processing device, A first acquisition means for obtaining identification information set for the comprehensive logical printer associated with each of the multiple logical printers associated with the printing device from the print server, A second acquisition means for acquiring an application that provides extended print settings using the identification information of the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer, A generation means for generating a print job that includes extended print settings provided by the aforementioned application, An information processing device comprising a feeding means for feeding the print job into the comprehensive logical printer.

14. A method for controlling an information processing device, The first acquisition means includes the step of acquiring identification information set for the comprehensive logical printer associated with each of the multiple logical printers associated with the printing device from the print server, The second acquisition means includes the step of acquiring an application that provides extended print settings using the identification information of the comprehensive logical printer, The generation means includes the step of generating a print job that includes extended print settings provided by the application, A control method comprising a feeding step of feeding the print job into the comprehensive logical printer.

15. A program for causing a computer to function as each of the means of the information processing apparatus described in claim 13.

16. A printing system comprising a print server, an information processing device, and a printing device, The aforementioned print server, A management means for managing the comprehensive logical printer associated with each of the multiple logical printers associated with the printing device, The system includes setting means for setting identification information usable by the information processing device to the comprehensive logical printer in order to obtain an application that provides extended print settings, The aforementioned information processing device is A first acquisition means for acquiring the identification information set in the comprehensive logical printer from the print server, A second acquisition means for acquiring an application that provides extended print settings using the identification information of the aforementioned comprehensive logical printer, A generation means for generating a print job that includes extended print settings provided by the aforementioned application, A printing system comprising a feeding means for feeding the print job into the comprehensive logical printer.

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