Program, control method, information processing device, and storage medium

Abstract

To provide a system which prints a desired file group by a simpler operation.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus performs control to cause a display unit of the information processing apparatus to display an item selection screen including a first item indicating the completion of assignment, a second item indicating the completion of presentation, and a third item indicating the completion of scoring and performs control to cause the display unit to display a file selection screen for selecting files to be printed from among files corresponding to an item selected in the item selection screen and managed by a cloud service where a teacher and students share files, and performs control to, in response to a user operation on the file selection screen, cause the display unit to switch the file selection screen to display a print instruction screen including a print button for receiving a print instruction to cause a printer to print the files selected in the file selection screen.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 13

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a program, a control method, and an information processing device for acquiring and printing a file from a network. , storage medium Regarding. [Background technology]

[0002] In the field of education, a Learning Management System (hereinafter referred to as LMS) is known as a learning support system that can be used on the Web. In general, in many cases, a teacher at school assigns homework online, and students create submissions that the teacher can then grade (Non-Patent Document 1). In addition, an LMS can link with other Web-based storage services to generate shared files on the Internet, allowing homework and submissions to be exchanged over the network (Non-Patent Document 2).

[0003] In a school class environment, teachers (privileged users) can create homework as shared files for the class. Students (general users) have their files shared or copied to their own network storage by their teachers. There is a known LMS control method in which a homework file is created when a teacher assigns homework and the homework file is copied so that students can refer to it (Patent Document 1). In this way, it is desirable to change the permission settings for shared files stored in a storage service on the Internet depending on the user type (teacher and student). By adding access permission settings according to the user type to the homework, it is possible to ensure security by preventing users other than those intended by the teacher from accessing it without permission. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] US Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0118672 [Non-patent literature]

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] Google Classroom (trademark) [online], [Retrieved April 17, 2020], Internet URL: http: / / edu.google.com / intl / products / classroom / [Non-Patent Document 2] Google Drive (trademark) [online], [Retrieved April 17, 2020], Internet URL: https: / / www.google.com / drive / Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, in a system that acquires and prints homework submitted by students or students' work via an LMS, the set of shared files that can be printed in a batch differs depending on the user's account type (teacher, student, etc.). Even in such cases, a technology is needed that allows users to print the desired set of files with simpler operations.

[0007] The present invention relates to a program, a control method, and an information processing device for printing a desired group of files with simpler operations. , storage medium The purpose is to provide. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, a program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer of an information processing device to execute a control method, the control method comprising: a first display control step of controlling a display unit to display an item selection screen including a first item indicating that the item has been assigned, a second item indicating that the item has been submitted, and a third item indicating that the item has been graded; and a file corresponding to an item selected on the item selection screen, A file selection screen where you can select the files you want to print from the files managed by a cloud service for sharing files between teachers and students. The above The third control unit controls the display. two a display control step; and a print button for receiving a print instruction for causing a printer to print the file selected on the file selection screen. and a display element showing the paper size setting content set as the print setting are displayed. a control for switching the print instruction screen from the file selection screen to be displayed on the display unit in response to a user operation on the file selection screen; three and a display control step. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, a desired group of files can be printed with a simpler operation. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a printing system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a printer. [Diagram 3] 11 is a flowchart showing a process of user authentication among a plurality of services. [Figure 4] 13 is a flowchart showing an account type determination process. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 illustrates a service selection screen. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 illustrates a user authentication screen. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 illustrates a class selection screen. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 shows a homework selection screen for a teacher. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 shows a homework status selection screen. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 shows a teacher user selection screen. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 shows a homework selection screen for students. [Figure 12] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a print setting screen. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing a process up to printing execution. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a communication sequence between multiple servers. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described more specifically and in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiment does not limit the invention according to the claims. Although the embodiment describes a number of features, not all of these features are essential to the invention, and the features may be combined in any manner. Furthermore, in the attached drawings, the same reference numbers are used for the same or similar configurations, and duplicated descriptions are omitted.

[0012] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration for printing from an LMS (Learning Management System) via a network in this embodiment. A user who uses the printing system in Fig. 1 obtains a file on the network from a printer 105 at home or in a classroom at school via the Internet 104 and prints it. The LMS service, which is a form of Web service, can be used from the Internet 104.

[0013] The LMS service is a program executed by the LMS server 101. The LMS server 101 is a core server that realizes an e-learning system, and for example, manages learning materials including shared files and configuration information for each class in an integrated manner. The LMS server 101 has a user account management service and a user authentication service to register necessary users and enable them to use the service. Registered user information is stored in the LMS server 101. The LMS service realizes its functions in cooperation with a storage service for storing shared files generated in classes. Shared files are files that can be shared between teachers and students, and include, for example, "homework" given by teachers to students.

[0014] The storage service is a program executed by the storage server 102. In the storage server 102, information on homework files and submissions, which are the deliverables of classes, generated by the LMS server 101 through user operations, is registered in the network storage. The files themselves that are generated by teachers or edited by students and saved in the network storage become the files to be printed. Examples of printable file formats include document files (Word (trademark), PDF, etc.), slide files (PowerPoint (trademark), etc.), image files, and text files, but the file formats are not limited.

[0015] User authentication for the LMS service and storage service may be managed collectively by the LMS service, or may be managed separately for each service. As long as sufficient user authentication and authorization for each LMS or shared file service function used by the user is performed via the screen operation of the printer 105 or client device 106, the form of security management for each service is not limited.

[0016] The cloud management server 103 mediates communication between the LMS server 101 and the storage server 102 and the printer 105 and the client device 106, and provides the LMS print service as a cloud management service. The LMS print service is a program executed on the cloud management server 103. The cloud management server 103 allows the printer 105 to communicate with external services via the Internet 104 via the cloud management server 103, without directly communicating with the LMS server 101 and the storage server 102.

[0017] The printer 105 and the client device 106 are connected to the Internet 104, for example, by an access point. The printer 105 and the client device 106 are equipped with a Web browser, and can provide an LMS print service to a user by displaying Web services equipped in the cloud management server 103 on the browser screen. The client device 106 is, for example, a PC or a mobile terminal, and has the configuration of a typical information processing device such as these devices.

[0018] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the printer 105. The printer 105 in Fig. 2 is, for example, a multifunctional printer, and includes a printer device and a scanner device. In this embodiment, it is sufficient to include at least a printer device, and the printer 105 may include a facsimile device as a device that realizes other functions, or the printer 105 may be a single-function printer.

[0019] The various components of the printer 105 are connected to one another via a bus 205 arranged on an electric board (controller) 201, which performs overall control of the printer 105. The printer 105 is controlled by a CPU 202, which is a central processing unit, and the operation of the printer 105 in this embodiment is realized, for example, by a program stored in a ROM 204 being expanded into a RAM 203 and executed. The program includes an application for controlling printing, a control program for accessing an external server, and the like.

[0020] The printer 105 has a network interface (I / F) 210 and a USB interface 209, for example, to receive print data from an external source and to transmit scanned image data to an external source. The network interface 210 has a configuration compatible with a network medium, such as a wired LAN or a wireless LAN, and can connect the electric board 201 to the Internet 104 via the network interface 210. The electric board 201 is connected to a power supply board 211, and supplies power to the printer 105 from an external source.

[0021] The electric board 201 and the printer unit 212 are connected by an engine interface 206. The printer unit 212 has a configuration corresponding to a recording method such as an inkjet recording method or an electrophotographic method, and records an image on a recording medium such as printing paper. The electric board 201 and the scanner unit 213 are connected by a scanner interface 207. The electric board 201 and a UI (user interface) unit 214 are connected by an operation unit interface 208. The UI unit 214 is configured to include, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). The UI unit 214 may be configured to accept user operations by a touch panel or a button operation method independent of the LCD. The UI unit 214 may also be equipped with an LED to indicate the operating state, error state, and various setting states of the printer device or scanner device.

[0022] In this embodiment, the printer 105 will be described as a terminal of a user who uses the printing system of Fig. 1. However, the operations of the printer 105 in this embodiment other than the operation of recording on a recording medium may be applied to the client device 106.

[0023] Hereinafter, with reference to Figs. 3 to 7, a description will be given of screen display control that is performed in common by teachers and students who use the printing system.

[0024] Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the user authentication and authorization process for enabling a plurality of services to operate in cooperation with each other. The process in Fig. 3 is an example of the process for first performing user authentication and authorization when both the Web services of the LMS service and the cloud management service cooperate to realize a print function. The cloud management service includes various services such as a photo print service and an SNS print service, but hereinafter it will be described as the LMS print service. The process in Fig. 3 is performed among the printer 105, the cloud management server 103, and the LMS server 101.

[0025] The cloud management server 103 performs a service-to-service usage registration in advance for the LMS service. By registering the LMS print service for the LMS service, the LMS service and the LMS print service can cooperate with each other.

[0026] When the LMS print service is started by a user operation on the UI unit 214 of the printer 105, in S301, the printer 105 receives a login authentication screen for the LMS service via the Internet 104 and displays it on the UI unit 214. In S302, the printer 105 accepts input of a user account on the login authentication screen.

[0027] In S303, user authentication and authorization of the LMS service is performed for the input account. For user authorization and authentication, the cloud management server 103 redirects the printer 105 or the client device 105 to a login authentication screen of the LMS service. Here, for example, OAuth authentication is used. In OAuth authentication, the cloud management server 103 acts as a client, and the LMS server 101 acts as a resource server. In S303, user authentication is used to confirm that the user who has logged in to the printer 105 or the client device 106 has been registered in the LMS service in advance and is not misrepresenting himself / herself. Also, in S303, prior user authorization is obtained so that the LMS print service can use functions provided by the LMS service within the scope of the logged-in user's authority.

[0028] The LMS print service obtains authorization from the LMS server 101 and storage server 102 for the functions to be used in the LMS service and storage service to be used. For example, the UI unit 214 of the printer 105 displays a screen to the user to confirm whether each function is permitted or denied (user authorization). When the user is authorized, the cloud management server 103 specifies in advance the scope of access authority of the user who wishes to use the LMS service. For example, class information, one's own homework, class roster, profile icon, shared files in the storage server 102, etc. are specified as the scope of access authority.

[0029] The LMS service manages authorized items for the LMS print service on a per-user basis. If an item outside the access authority is executed after user authentication has been performed, an authorization screen for authorizing the item is displayed on the UI unit 214 of the printer 105. In either case, the cloud management server 103 redirects the printer 105 or the client device 106 to the authorization screen of the LMS service as necessary. The user selects authorization or denial according to the displayed authorization screen. If an authentication format of the LMS service that is not supported by the printer 105 is encountered, a QR code may be displayed on the UI unit 214 of the printer 105, and authentication may be performed on a smartphone browser, for example.

[0030] User authentication is performed, and the process proceeds to the next stage only if the user authorization is permitted. If the request is rejected, the process of FIG. 3 is terminated, or the service is restricted so that only the rejected functions are unavailable. That is, the LMS print service operates within the authorized range. If all the authorizations requested from the user via the UI unit 214 are not obtained, the process of FIG. 3 may be terminated. In addition, in S303, user authentication and authorization for using the storage service are also performed. In this embodiment, the LMS service collectively manages user authentication and authorization for the storage service. In addition, the user authentication and authorization for using the LMS service and the user authentication and authorization for using the storage service may be performed separately.

[0031] When the user authentication and authorization for using the LMS service is completed in S303, the cloud management server 103 acquires an access token in S304. By using the acquired access token, the cloud management server 103 can use the services linked with the LMS server 101 and the storage server 102 thereafter.

[0032] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for determining the user account type of the LMS service according to the class to which the user belongs in the printing system. For example, if a user is registered in multiple classes, the teacher / student account type may change depending on the class. Therefore, in this embodiment, when printing is performed with the printer 105, it is determined whether the user's account type for the LMS printing service is "teacher" or "student."

[0033] First, in S401, the cloud management server 103 obtains a registered class list from the LMS server 101. Here, only the list of permitted classes is obtained based on the access rights set for the logged-in user account. For example, if a student only attends three classes, mathematics, Japanese, and science, information on those classes is obtained. Note that for certain classes (e.g., English class), viewing of shared files may not be permitted for security reasons.

[0034] The registered class list contains information that constitutes each class. For example, the information that constitutes each class is the class name, teacher name, student name, shared files, and their attribute information. The attribute information of shared files includes status information such as "question", "submitted", and "graded", URL information for obtaining the shared file, submission deadline, etc.

[0035] After acquiring the registered class list, in S402, the cloud management server 103 displays a class selection screen on the UI unit 214 of the printer 105. On the class selection screen, the selection of a class to be printed is accepted according to the acquired registered class list.

[0036] In S403, the cloud management server 103 determines whether the account type of the logged-in user is "teacher" or "student" based on the registered teacher list and registered student list included in the registered class list. Here, depending on the LMS service, there may be cases where the registered class list does not include a registered teacher list or registered student list. In such cases, the account type of the logged-in user may be determined by acquiring these lists from the LMS server 101. Alternatively, if the cloud management server 103 or the printer 105 has information on the account type of the logged-in user, that information may be used.

[0037] 5 to 11 are diagrams showing examples of user operation screens displayed on the UI unit 214 of the printer 105 or the screen of the display unit of the client device 106. FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 9 are screens displayed commonly to teachers and students for narrowing down and determining files to be printed. FIGS. 8 and 10 are screens displayed to the teacher, and FIG. 11 is a screen displayed to the students. FIG. 12 is a print setting screen. The web browsers built into the printer 105 and the client device 106 display the above screens based on the screen contents transmitted from the cloud management server 103.

[0038] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a service selection screen for the LMS print service. Items 501 to 504 are buttons for receiving an instruction to start each service, and Fig. 5 shows that item 501 representing the LMS print service has been selected. In Figs. 5 to 12, button displays are shown as UI displays for receiving user operations such as selection, but other forms of UI displays may also be used. When item 501 for starting the LMS print service is selected, the LMS print service is executed. After the "Next" button in Fig. 5 is pressed, the screen in Fig. 6 is displayed.

[0039] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a user authentication screen for an LMS service. When a login (user) name and password preregistered in the LMS service are entered in areas 601 and 602, user authentication is performed and login to the LMS service is performed. The display of the screen in Fig. 6 and the processing related to the input of the login name and password correspond to S301 to S303 in Fig. 3. After the "Next" button in Fig. 6 is pressed, the screen in Fig. 7 is displayed.

[0040] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a class selection screen of the LMS print service. The display of the screen in Fig. 7 corresponds to S402 in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 shows an example in which an item 701 representing a math class, an item 702 representing an English class, and an item 703 representing a science class are displayed based on the account and registered class list of the logged-in user. The user can select the class related to the file to be printed on the screen in Fig. 7. Fig. 7 shows that the item 702 representing the English class has been selected.

[0041] The registered class list of S401 in Fig. 4 may be obtained each time just before the screen of Fig. 7 is displayed, or if the same list has already been obtained in the past, it may be stored in the cloud management server 103 and the list may be used to display the screen of Fig. 7. Item 704 in Fig. 7 is a button that accepts an instruction to print a list of all classes to which the user belongs. After the "Next" button in Fig. 7 is pressed, the account type is determined in S403 in Fig. 4.

[0042] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a homework selection screen that is displayed when the account type of the logged-in user is "teacher." Fig. 8 shows an example in which the teacher himself has already set items 801 to 804 representing homework in an English class that the teacher is in charge of.

[0043] Fig. 8 shows that item 801 indicating Homework 2 has been selected. The selected item 801 is displayed as a folder icon. This is because multiple students are registered in a class, and so at the time the screen in Fig. 8 is displayed, the results have not yet been narrowed down to students, and print files for multiple students exist as targets for narrowing down. After the "Next" button in Fig. 8 is pressed, the screen in Fig. 9 is displayed.

[0044] 9 is a diagram showing an example of a status selection screen for narrowing down files to be printed by attribute information of shared files. The attribute information of a shared file includes status information such as "allocated", "submitted", and "graded", URL information for acquiring the shared file, and a submission deadline. FIG. 9 shows that an item 901 representing the attribute information "allocated", an item 902 representing the attribute information "submitted", and an item 903 representing the attribute information "graded" are displayed, and that item 903 is selected. FIG. 9 shows an example of status information as an example, but other attribute information may be displayed as a selection item.

[0045] In this manner, in this embodiment, the display of the screen is controlled so that the user selects a class on the screen in FIG. 7 at the beginning of the screen operation flow. If the account type of the logged-in user is "student," a "skip" button may be provided on the class selection screen in FIG. 7 after the registered class list is acquired in S401 in FIG. 4, on the assumption that the user will attend multiple classes. This is effective, for example, in cases where a student is attending multiple classes. In that case, on the screen in FIG. 9, only attribute information (status information, submission deadline, etc.) of the shared file may be used to narrow down the files to be printed from all classes in which the user participates. After the "Next" button in FIG. 9 is pressed, the screen in FIG. 10 or FIG. 11 is displayed depending on the account type.

[0046] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a user selection screen displayed when the account type of the logged-in user is "teacher". As shown in FIG. 10, based on the fact that the files to be printed have been narrowed down by the attribute information "graded" according to the screen operation flow of the user up to this point, it is displayed in the text display 1001 that "English class / graded" has been selected. Furthermore, on the screen of FIG. 10, an item 1002 for accepting an instruction to print all students at once, and items 1003, 1004, and 1005 for accepting an instruction to print shared files for individual students at once are displayed as options. In this way, according to this embodiment, a teacher user can select whether to print all students at once or to print shared files for individual students at once.

[0047] Also, the number of files to be printed may be displayed together with each batch printing button. With such a configuration, for example, even if there are many students registered in the class and the buttons for each student do not fit on one screen, the user can easily recognize the number of files to be printed in batch. Also, the user can easily recognize the number of files corresponding to each batch printing button. Also, file types that cannot be printed by the printer 105 may be obtained in advance, and printing availability may be determined based on the extension of the file to be printed, and the number excluded from the count of the number of files to be printed in batch may be displayed. After the "Next" button in FIG. 10 is pressed, the screen in FIG. 12 is displayed.

[0048] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a homework file selection screen displayed when the account type of the logged-in user is "student". As shown in FIG. 11, based on the fact that the files to be printed have been narrowed down by the attribute information "assigned" according to the screen operation flow of the user up to now, a text display 1101 indicates that "English class / assigned" has been selected. Furthermore, on the screen of FIG. 11, an item 1102 for accepting an instruction to print all homework at once, and items 1103, 1104, and 1105 for accepting an instruction to print shared files for individual homework are displayed as options. In this way, according to this embodiment, a user who is a student can select whether to print all homework at once or to print shared files for individual homework at once. In addition, the number of files to be printed may be displayed together with each button for printing at once. With such a configuration, even if there are many homeworks and the display of the buttons for the individual homeworks does not fit within one screen, the number of files to be printed at once can be easily recognized by the user. In addition, the number of files corresponding to each button for printing at once can be easily recognized by the user. Also, file types that cannot be printed by the printer 105 may be obtained in advance, printing availability may be determined based on the extension of the file to be printed, and the number of files excluded from the count of the number of files to be printed in a batch may be displayed. After the "Next" button in Fig. 11 is pressed, the screen in Fig. 12 is displayed.

[0049] Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a print setting screen. Fig. 12 shows an example of a print setting screen that is displayed when the account type of the logged-in user is "Student" and the files to be printed are narrowed down to "English Class / Assigned / Homework 1" according to the previous screen operation flow of the user. Text display 1201 shows that the files to be printed have been narrowed down to "English Class / Assigned / Homework 1".

[0050] 12, the number of copies 1201, paper size 1203, and paper type 1204 are displayed, and the user can change the settings. When a print button 1205 is pressed, print setting parameters reflecting the settings on the screen and print data are sent from the cloud management server 103 to the printer 105. The items that the user can change the settings of are not limited to those mentioned above, and may be other items.

[0051] In this embodiment, since shared files included in the conditions narrowed down by the user are printed in a batch, the file formats of the shared files may be of multiple types. For example, slide format files and document format files. Therefore, the number of file formats may be obtained in advance and automatically counted without user operation, so that multiple print settings can be set. For example, the print setting screen in FIG. 12 may be displayed and set the same number of times as the number of file formats. In that case, the extension and format name may be displayed on the print setting screen so that the user can recognize them.

[0052] Also, the cloud management server 103 may determine, based on the extension, shared files that include a format that cannot be used for print data processing and skip them from print data processing. In this case, after printing of all printable files is completed, an error message may be displayed on the UI unit 214 of the printer 105 for files that cannot be printed because they are not supported.

[0053] Furthermore, if the print data includes a format that cannot be processed, the cloud management server 103 may request the print data to be processed by another server that can process the print data. For example, the cloud management server 103 sends a format conversion request to another server that can process the print data, and sends the shared file that has been converted into a file format that the printer 105 can interpret (e.g., JPEG or PDF format) to the printer 105.

[0054] Fig. 13 is a flow chart showing the process up to printing execution in the printing system of this embodiment. The process of Fig. 13 is realized, for example, by the CPU 202 reading a program stored in the ROM 204 into the RAM 203 and executing it. In this embodiment, the user performs selection to narrow down the files to be printed by operating the operation screen of the printer 105 or the client device 106 (Figs. 7 to 11), sets print settings (Fig. 12), and executes printing. At the time when the process of Fig. 13 is started, the processes related to the screens of Figs. 5 and 6 have been completed.

[0055] In S1301, CPU 202 displays the class selection screen of Fig. 7 on UI unit 214 and accepts the selection of the class to be printed. In S1302, CPU 202 determines whether the account type of the logged-in user in the selected class is "teacher" or "student" based on the process of Fig. 4. If it is determined in S1302 that the account type of the logged-in user is "teacher", the process proceeds to S1303.

[0056] In S1303, the CPU 202 displays the homework selection screen of Fig. 8 on the UI unit 214, and accepts the selection of a homework folder for the selected class. At the time of displaying the screen of Fig. 8, multiple students are assigned to one homework set by the teacher, so a folder icon is displayed for each item.

[0057] In S1304, the CPU 202 displays the homework status selection screen of FIG. 9 on the UI unit 214, and accepts the selection of the homework status in addition to the selected class and selected homework folder.

[0058] In S1305, the CPU 202 judges whether the attribute information "assigned" is selected on the screen of Fig. 9. If it is judged that the attribute information "assigned" is selected, S1306 is skipped and the process proceeds to S1307. This is because the homework in which the logged-in user's account type is "teacher" and the status is "assigned" is the homework set by the user who is the teacher himself, and there is no need to select individual / all users in S1306 described later. On the other hand, if it is judged that the attribute information "assigned" is not selected, in S1306, the CPU 202 displays the user selection screen of Fig. 10 on the UI unit 214, and accepts the selection of whether to print the homework of an individual student or to print all students at once, in addition to the selected class and the selected status (for example, the "graded" status).

[0059] If it is determined in S1302 that the account type of the logged-in user is "student," the process proceeds to S1311.

[0060] 9 on the UI unit 214, and accepts the selection of the homework status in addition to the selected class. If the account type of the logged-in user is "student", the process of S1303 is unnecessary and is not performed.

[0061] In S1312, the CPU 202 displays the user selection screen of Fig. 11 on the UI unit 214, and accepts the selection of whether to print one homework shared file from the individual candidate homeworks in a batch or to print all homeworks in a batch, in addition to the selected state of the homework (for example, the "allocated" state). Note that the batch print setting by the students may be disabled by default, and may be enabled by changing the settings. Also, the batch print setting function by the students may not be provided.

[0062] As described above, when the account type is "teacher", the homework is selected on the screen of FIG. 8 in S1303, and then the homework status is selected on the screen of FIG. 9 in S1304. On the other hand, when the account type is "student", the homework status is selected on the screen of FIG. 9 in S1311, and then the homework is selected on the screen of FIG. 11 in S1312. That is, the display order of the homework status selection screen and the homework file selection screen is reversed for "teacher" and "student". Generally, the relationship between teacher and student in a class is one to many, and the teacher gives the homework. Based on such a tendency, in this embodiment, the user operation order is made different between "teacher" and "student" as described above, so that it is easier to narrow down the files to be printed.

[0063] After S1306 and S1312, in S1307, the CPU 202 displays the print setting screen of Fig. 12 on the UI unit 214, and accepts a change in the print setting or a print instruction. The print setting specified here is applied to all files to be printed. For example, if the number of copies is set to two, two copies of each file to be printed are printed. For example, if the files to be printed include a document file and a presentation file as a result of being narrowed down by the user through the screen operations of Figs. 7 to 11, two copies of each file format are printed.

[0064] When the print button 1205 is pressed on the print setting screen in FIG. 12, the CPU 202 executes printing in S1308.

[0065] In S1309, the CPU 202 displays a user interface screen on the UI unit 214 to prompt the user to end or continue the LMS print service after printing is completed, and determines whether to end or continue the LMS print service based on the selection result. If it is determined that the LMS print service is to be ended, the process in Fig. 13 ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the LMS print service is to be continued, the process proceeds to S1310.

[0066] In S1310, CPU 202 uses the account type information acquired in S1302 to determine whether the logged-in user is a teacher or a student in the selected class. If it is determined that the logged-in user is a teacher, the process from S1301 is repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the logged-in user is a student, the process from S1312 is repeated. Note that if a student belongs to multiple classes, the process of FIG. 13 is temporarily terminated and the process of FIG. 13 is performed for the other classes.

[0067] Processing other than the flow shown in FIG. 13 may be performed. For example, if the logged-in user is determined to be a teacher, the processing from S1303 may be repeated, and if the logged-in user is determined to be a student, the processing from S1301 may be repeated. In this case, if a teacher belongs to multiple classes, the processing from FIG. 13 is temporarily terminated and the processing from FIG. 13 is performed for the other classes. Also, if the same user is a "teacher" in one class and a "student" in another class, the processing from the class selection in S1301 may be repeated. Also, the return destination of the processing when continuing printing in S1309 and S1310 may be changed depending on the number of registered classes by obtaining the number of classes in which the logged-in user is registered from the registered class list information. For example, if the logged-in user is registered in multiple classes, the processing from S1301 may be repeated.

[0068] Fig. 14 is a diagram showing a communication sequence between multiple servers in the printing system of Fig. 1. In S1401, the printer 105 transmits a service information acquisition request to the cloud management server 103. In S1402, the cloud management server 103 transmits service information to the printer 105. In S1402, for example, service information represented by items 501 to 504 in Fig. 5 is transmitted. In S1403, the printer 105 accepts the selection of an LMS print service, and then transmits the selection information to the cloud management server 103. This corresponds to the case where, for example, the LMS print service of item 501 on the screen of Fig. 5 is selected.

[0069] In S1404, the cloud management server 103 notifies the printer 105 of an access request to the authentication URL of the LMS service by redirecting the printer 105. In S1405, the printer 105 executes an authentication request for the LMS service to the LMS server 101. In S1406, the printer 105 receives the authentication screen sent from the LMS server 101 and displays it on the UI unit 214. This corresponds to the display of the screen in FIG. 6, for example. In S1407, the printer 105 transmits authentication information such as a user name and a password to the LMS server 101. In S1408, the LMS server 101 transmits a completion notification of the OAuth authentication to the cloud management server 103.

[0070] In S1409, the cloud management server 103 sends a class information acquisition request to the LMS server 101. In S1410, the LMS server 101 sends a shared file information acquisition request to the cooperating storage server 102, and acquires the shared file information from the storage server 102. In S1411, the LMS server 101 sends the class information and shared file information to the cloud management server 103. Here, the class information includes information such as a registered class list and the URL of the shared file.

[0071] In S1412, the printer 105 transmits a screen display request to the cloud management server 103. In S1413, the cloud management server 103 transmits operation screen data for the LMS print service. The processes of S1412 and S1413 are performed a necessary number of times according to the selection results of the teacher and student in order to execute the screen operations required to narrow down the files to be printed. For example, the processes are performed a number of times corresponding to the number of times required to obtain the screens of Figs. 7 to 11. Note that the screen display request of S1412 includes, for example, information on pressing the "Next" button on each screen.

[0072] In S1414, when the user presses print button 1205 in Fig. 12, printer 105 sends a print execution request to cloud management server 103. In S1415, cloud management server 103 specifies the URL included in the shared file information acquired in S1411 as the destination, sends a shared file acquisition request to storage server 102, and acquires the shared file (file to be printed). Then, in S1416, cloud management server 103 sends the acquired shared file to printer 105, and printer 105 prints the received shared file according to the print settings specified on the screen in Fig. 12. Here, if there are multiple shared files narrowed down by the user's screen operation, S1415 to S1416 are executed repeatedly.

[0073] If the shared file contains a format that cannot be printed, cloud management server 103 makes a determination based on the extension, and skips that file in the repeated processing of S1415 to S1416. Note that this determination processing may be performed by printer 105. After printing of all printable files has been completed, an error message may be displayed on UI unit 214 of printer 105 in S1416 for files that cannot be printed because they are not supported.

[0074] 14 in this embodiment may be performed by the client device 106. In that case, the process is the same as that of the printer 105, except that the printer 105 is the destination of the print data reception in S1416.

[0075] As described above, according to this embodiment, in a system that prints via a cloud system, it is possible to easily narrow down shared files from among a group of shared files across multiple users or multiple classes, and print them all at once. For example, a teacher can print all the submitted files of students in the class he or she is in charge of at once using the screen in Fig. 10. Also, for example, a student can print all the submitted files of the classes he or she is taking at once using the screen in Fig. 11.

[0076] The effects of this embodiment are described below. When printing from an LMS, multiple files to be printed that exist on network storage must be printed individually. Generally, in an LMS, applications are often executed from a Web browser. For this reason, it was necessary to call up and use a default print system built into the Web browser, or to save the file once in PDF (Portable Document Format) and then call up a PDF viewer application to print it. Specifically, when printing is executed from an LMS Web application, the Web application converts the file to be printed, which is an application document, into a single file in the general-purpose PDF format. The converted file is then passed to the print driver set as the default in the operation system.

[0077] Depending on the web application, you can select file formats other than PDF, such as text and CSV, to output files. However, you need to start a separate viewer application that supports the file format, open the file to be printed, and then print, which makes the operations required for printing even more complicated. In particular, if you print multiple files to be printed at once, you need to repeat the print operation for each file, which makes the operations complicated.

[0078] In other words, when a teacher uses a printing service, there is a problem that the teacher cannot print files submitted by multiple students in the class he or she is in charge of at the same time. On the other hand, according to this embodiment, it becomes easy to print files submitted by multiple students at the same time.

[0079] In addition, when a student uses a printing service, there is a problem that the homework files of the multiple classes that the student attends cannot be printed at the same time. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, it becomes easy to print the homework files of the classes that the student attends at the same time. In addition, it becomes easy to print the homework files of the multiple classes that the student attends at the same time.

[0080] Furthermore, in cases where an LMS is used in a training institution within a company, it is assumed that the same user may participate as a lecturer (teacher) in one class and as a student in another class. When the teacher and the student are the same person, there is a problem that printing cannot be performed with a simple operation according to the type of account of the logged-in user. On the other hand, according to this embodiment, even when the teacher and the student are the same person, it is possible to determine the class type of the account of the logged-in user and print with a simple operation flow according to the user's account type.

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

[0082] The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the following claims are appended to apprise the public of the scope of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 101 LMS server: 102 Storage server: 103 Cloud management server: 105 Printer: 106 Client device: 202 CPU: 203 RAM: 204 ROM

Claims

1. A program for causing a computer of an information processing device to execute a control method, The control method includes: a first display control step of controlling a display unit to display an item selection screen including a first item indicating that the item has been assigned, a second item indicating that the item has been submitted, and a third item indicating that the item has been graded; a second display control step of controlling the display of a file selection screen on the display unit for selecting a file to be printed from among files corresponding to the item selected on the item selection screen and managed by a cloud service for sharing files between teachers and students; and a third display control step of controlling the display unit to switch from the file selection screen to a print instruction screen on which a print button for receiving a print instruction to cause a printer to print a file selected on the file selection screen and a display element showing the setting contents of a paper size set as a print setting are displayed in response to a user operation on the file selection screen; and A program comprising:

2. The program described in Claim 1, characterized in that the paper size settings displayed on the print instruction screen can be changed in response to user operation.

3. The program described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in response to a user operation on the print button displayed on the print instruction screen, print setting parameters reflecting the paper size setting contents displayed on the print instruction screen and print data for the file selected on the file selection screen are sent to a printer.

4. A program described in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the print instruction screen further displays at least one of the settings for the number of copies and the paper type set as print settings.

5. A program for causing a computer of an information processing device to execute a control method, The control method includes: a first display control step of controlling a display unit to display an item selection screen including a first item indicating that the item has been assigned, a second item indicating that the item has been submitted, and a third item indicating that the item has been graded; a second display control step of controlling the display of a file selection screen on the display unit for selecting a file to be printed from among files corresponding to the item selected on the item selection screen and managed by a cloud service for sharing files between teachers and students; and a third display control step of controlling the display unit to switch from the file selection screen to a print instruction screen on which a print button for receiving a print instruction to cause a printer to print a file selected on the file selection screen is displayed in response to a user operation on the file selection screen; and a step of controlling the printing of the file selected on the file selection screen to be transmitted to a printer in response to a user operation on the print button displayed on the print instruction screen; A program comprising:

6. The control method further includes a fourth display control step of controlling the display unit to display a login screen for logging in to the cloud service; 6. The program according to claim 1, wherein the file selection screen is a screen corresponding to a user who has logged in to the cloud service.

7. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the control method further includes a fifth display control step of controlling the display unit to display a class selection screen for selecting a class to which the user belongs by accessing the cloud service.

8. 8. The program according to claim 7, wherein the file selection screen is displayed according to a class selected on the class selection screen.

9. The program described in any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the control method further includes a sixth display control step of controlling the display unit to display a service selection screen for selecting a service to be executed from a plurality of services including the cloud service.

10. 10. The program according to claim 1, wherein the control method further comprises a step of controlling the display unit to display a button for printing a plurality of files at once.

11. The program described in any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the control method includes accessing the cloud service to display a class selection screen for selecting a class to which the user belongs, and when a class is selected on the class selection screen, displaying the item selection screen for narrowing down target files based on file attributes, displaying the file selection screen for displaying a list of files with attributes selected on the item selection screen, and issuing a print instruction for a file selected from the listed files.

12. 12. The program according to claim 11, wherein the file attributes are status information indicating each of assigned, submitted, and graded.

13. The program described in claim 11 or 12, characterized in that when the first item is selected, a file selection screen is displayed for selecting a file to print from among files with an assigned status, and information on the class and status selected by the user is displayed on the file selection screen.

14. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the second display control step performs control to display the file selection screen on the display unit by acquiring information from the cloud service.

15. 15. The program according to claim 1, wherein a file having a status corresponding to an item selected on the item selection screen is displayed on the file selection screen.

16. 16. The program according to claim 1, wherein the print instruction screen further displays information about a file selected on the file selection screen.

17. A program as described in any one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that in response to a user operation selecting one of the display items included in the file selection screen, a second display control process switches the display from the file selection screen to the print instruction screen.

18. 18. The program according to claim 1, wherein a print instruction is sent in response to a user operation on the print button, and the printer executes printing based on the print instruction.

19. A program described in any one of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that the string "Print" is displayed on the print button.

20. A control method executed by an information processing device, comprising: a first display control step of controlling a display unit to display an item selection screen including a first item indicating that the item has been assigned, a second item indicating that the item has been submitted, and a third item indicating that the item has been graded; a second display control step of controlling the display of a file selection screen on the display unit for selecting a file to be printed from among files corresponding to the item selected on the item selection screen and managed by a cloud service for sharing files between teachers and students; and a third display control step of controlling the display unit to switch from the file selection screen to a print instruction screen on which a print button for receiving a print instruction to cause a printer to print a file selected on the file selection screen and a display element showing the setting contents of a paper size set as a print setting are displayed in response to a user operation on the file selection screen; and A control method comprising the steps of:

21. An information processing device, a first display control means for controlling a display unit to display an item selection screen including a first item indicating that the item has been assigned, a second item indicating that the item has been submitted, and a third item indicating that the item has been graded; a second display control means for controlling displaying on the display unit a file selection screen for selecting a file to be printed from among files corresponding to the item selected on the item selection screen and managed by a cloud service for sharing files between teachers and students; and a third display control means for controlling the display unit to switch from the file selection screen to a print instruction screen on which a print button for receiving a print instruction to cause a printer to print a file selected on the file selection screen and a display element showing the setting contents of a paper size set as a print setting are displayed in response to a user operation on the file selection screen; and 13. An information processing device comprising:

22. A control method executed by an information processing device, comprising: a first display control step of controlling a display unit to display an item selection screen including a first item indicating that the item has been assigned, a second item indicating that the item has been submitted, and a third item indicating that the item has been graded; a second display control step of controlling the display of a file selection screen on the display unit for selecting a file to be printed from among files corresponding to the item selected on the item selection screen and managed by a cloud service for sharing files between teachers and students; and a third display control step of controlling the display unit to switch from the file selection screen to a print instruction screen on which a print button for receiving a print instruction to cause a printer to print a file selected on the file selection screen is displayed in response to a user operation on the file selection screen; and a step of controlling the printing of the file selected on the file selection screen to be transmitted to a printer in response to a user operation on the print button displayed on the print instruction screen; A control method comprising the steps of:

23. An information processing device, a first display control means for controlling a display unit to display an item selection screen including a first item indicating that the item has been assigned, a second item indicating that the item has been submitted, and a third item indicating that the item has been graded; a second display control means for controlling displaying on the display unit a file selection screen for selecting a file to be printed from among files corresponding to the item selected on the item selection screen and managed by a cloud service for sharing files between teachers and students; and a third display control means for controlling the display unit to switch from the file selection screen to a print instruction screen on which a print button for receiving a print instruction to cause a printer to print a file selected on the file selection screen is displayed in response to a user operation on the file selection screen; and a control means for controlling the transmission of print data of a file selected on the file selection screen to a printer in response to a user operation on the print button displayed on the print instruction screen; 13. An information processing device comprising:

24. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program described in any one of claims 1 to 19.

Images