Information processing device, method for controlling the information processing device, and application installed on the information processing device.

Abstract

To provide an application allowing a user of an information processor to easily check status information of a printer.SOLUTION: An application according to the present application is an application installed in an information processor and involves: an acquisition step for acquiring a setting value of an object displayed on the information processor; and a provision step for providing status information obtained from a printer and selected in accordance with the setting value obtained in the acquisition step to an operating system of the information processor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method for an information processing apparatus, and an application installed in an information processing apparatus. [Background Art]

[0002] Conventionally, there exists a technique for transmitting print data to a printing apparatus to perform printing in mobile OSes. In some cases, a printing framework called a printing system is incorporated in a mobile OS, enabling printing vendors to implement printing functions.

[0003] For example, in an OS installed in a mobile terminal such as Android (registered trademark), there is a "printing system" that provides a common printing function for each application. Further, the printing system has a mechanism called "printing plug-in" that allows each printing apparatus vendor to add-in dependent processing for adapting to their own printing apparatuses in a plug-in format. A printing plug-in can be downloaded and installed from an application store that distributes applications.

[0004] By using the printing system, a user can search for a printing apparatus and perform printing from the UI of the printing system (Patent Document 1). By transmitting capability information of a printing apparatus from a printing plug-in to the printing system, it is possible to reflect the functions of the printing apparatus on a print setting screen of the printing system. For example, it is possible to display all paper sizes supported by the printing apparatus, and switch enabling / disabling of a duplex function. [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-27321 [Summary of the Invention] [Problem to be Solved by the Invention]

[0006] As described above, the printing system provided by the operating system of the information processing device has a limited set of displayable settings. Furthermore, the displayed items are limited to settings; for example, information regarding printer consumables or errors occurring in the printer is not displayed. In addition, status information tailored to the user's settings is not provided.

[0007] The present invention aims to enable users to easily check information regarding the status of a printing device in an information processing device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The application described in this application is an application installed on an information processing device, and the information processing device The operating system's printing system to twist Settings set for the displayed object And, information from multiple paper feed sections of the printing device, The acquisition process to obtain, Among the information of the aforementioned multiple paper feeding units The information selected based on the aforementioned setting value Printing system It is characterized by having a provisioning process that provides to [the product]. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, it becomes possible for a user to easily check information regarding the status of a printing device in an information processing device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of a printing system in the embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration of an information processing device and a printing device in an embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the software configuration of an information processing device and a printing device in an embodiment. [Figure 4]This figure shows an example of an application screen displayed on the display of the information processing device in the embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of a screen displayed by the printing system of the information processing device in the embodiment. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of a screen displayed by a print plugin installed in the information processing device in the embodiment. [Figure 7] This is a schematic diagram of the option information obtained from the printing device in the example. [Figure 8] This flowchart shows the process performed by the print plugin in Example 1. [Figure 9] This flowchart shows the process for displaying status information, which is performed by the print plugin in Example 1. [Figure 10] This is a table showing an example of status information obtained from the printing device in the embodiment. [Figure 11] This flowchart shows the process that the print plugin executes when it displays the extended settings screen in the embodiment. [Figure 12] This flowchart shows the printing process using the print plugin in the example. [Figure 13] This flowchart shows the process performed by the print plugin in Example 2. [Figure 14] This flowchart shows the process related to displaying the extended settings screen by the print plugin in Example 3. [Figure 15] This is a flowchart of the process that the print plugin performs to display status information in Example 3. [Figure 16] This flowchart shows the process performed by the print plugin in Example 4. [Figure 17] This flowchart shows the processes performed by the printing system and the printing plugin in the example. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0012] (Embodiment 1) First, the overall configuration of the system according to the present embodiment will be described.

[0013] FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of the system according to the present embodiment. In the present system, a network 100, an information processing apparatus 101, and a printing apparatus 102 are connected to each other. At this time, a plurality of information processing terminals and printing apparatuses may be provided on the network. The network 100 is a standard network connection, and may be in the form of either the Internet or an intranet. For example, connection methods include a method of forming a network via a Wi-Fi router, and a method of directly connecting the information processing terminal 110 and the printing apparatus 102 via Wi-Fi Direct. Any connection form is acceptable as long as the information processing apparatus 101 and the printing apparatus 102 are network-connected to each other, regardless of the specific method.

[0014] The information processing apparatus 101 is an apparatus such as a tablet terminal, a PC, or a smartphone, and is an apparatus in which software for generating print data to be transmitted to the printing apparatus 102 and a printer driver are installed.

[0015] The printing apparatus 102 is an apparatus that receives print data generated by the information processing apparatus 101 and performs printing on a recording medium such as paper or cloth. The printing method of the printing apparatus 102 may be an electrophotographic method using a laser beam, an inkjet method, or any other method.

[0016] Next, the configurations of the information processing apparatus 101 and the printing apparatus 102 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0017] The information processing device 101 is a mobile terminal (smartphone or tablet) or a personal computer. The operating system for the terminal, as well as programs that control calls and data communication, are running on the information processing device 101.

[0018] Furthermore, the information processing device 101 can connect to the network 100 using the network controller 205. The connection to the network by the network controller 205 may be wireless.

[0019] Each hardware component is connected to the system bus 201. Storage 202 is a non-volatile memory device that stores the OS of the information processing device 101, applications that control calls and data communication, various operating mode settings that need to be retained even after the information processing device 101 is restarted, and operation logs. Examples of applications that control data communication stored in storage 202 include mail software and web browsers. The information stored in storage 202 is loaded into RAM 203 (described later) and processed by CPU 204. In addition, the CPU 204 executes processing based on the programs loaded into RAM 203, thereby realizing the software configuration of the information processing device 101 shown in Figure 3 and the processing of each step in the flowchart described later.

[0020] RAM203 is a work memory area for executing programs. It also serves as memory for temporarily storing image information generated by applications during printing. The network controller 205 is a chip for controlling network communication, and uses Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and public 3G / 4G networks for communication.

[0021] The display control unit 208 controls the information displayed on the display 209 of the information processing device 101. The input control unit 206 controls the information instructed by the user via the input unit 207, such as buttons or a touch panel, of the information processing device 101. Using these display control unit 208 and input control unit 206, applications on the information processing device 101 provide the user with network communication information and various information from the information processing terminal 110.

[0022] In the printing device 102, 224 is a network interface and is used to connect to the information processing device 101 via the network 100.

[0023] Each hardware block constituting the printing device 102 is connected via the system bus 220. 223 is the CPU, which outputs an image signal as output information to the printing device engine 225 connected to the system bus 220 based on the control program. The control program is stored in ROM 221. The printing device 102 is capable of communication processing with the information processing device 101 via the network I / F 224, and is configured to notify the information processing device 101 of information within the printing device 102. Furthermore, the CPU 223 executes processing based on application programs and the like stored in ROM 221. 222 is RAM, which functions as the main memory, work area, etc., of the CPU 223. RAM 222 is used for the output information expansion area, environment data storage area, NVRAM, etc. ROM 221 stores the control program of the CPU 223, font data used when generating the above output information, and information used on the printing device 102. 225 is the printing device engine, which outputs an image signal as output information. 220 is the system bus, which connects each device.

[0024] Figure 3 is a block diagram illustrating the software configuration of this embodiment.

[0025] First, the software configuration of the information processing device 101 is shown. Each module constituting the information processing device 101 is a program module that exists as a file stored in the storage 202. The program is then loaded into RAM 203 and executed by the OS or other modules that utilize that module at runtime. Furthermore, the processing described in this embodiment is realized by reading the application and the programs of each module (software) stored in storage 202 into RAM 203 as needed and executing them by the CPU 204.

[0026] 301 is a printing system that provides a common printing interface to various applications such as App-A302, App-B303, and App-C304. The printing system 301 is a system provided by the OS of the information processing device 101 and is a system for performing functions such as searching for a printer and displaying the print settings screen.

[0027] App-A302, App-B303, and App-C304 are general applications that run on the OS of the information processing device 101. Examples include web browsers, PDF viewers, Office viewers, image viewers, photo apps, and email apps. These applications implement the printing interface defined by the printing system.

[0028] Printing plugins such as Plugin-A305, Plugin-B306, and Plugin-C307 exist as services to provide functions in response to instructions from the printing system. The functions that printing plugins provide to the printing system 301 include network printer discovery, printing, print settings, and status notification. The information processing device 101 can install multiple printing plugins, as shown in Figure 3 for Plugin-A305, Plugin-B306, and Plugin-C307. Furthermore, printing plugins are applications provided by printer vendors and other vendors, and can be used by users by downloading them from application stores and installing them on the information processing device 101.

[0029] When a print plugin is installed on the information processing device 101, the information of the print plugin is registered in the print system 301. By registering the information of the print plugin in the print system 301, the print system 301 can call each function of the print plugin.

[0030] In this example, Plugin-A305 will be used for explanation. Plugin-B306 and Plugin-C307 have the same configuration as Plugin-A305.

[0031] The print job generation module 308 receives a command from the printing system 301 and generates a print job that can be printed by the printing device 102 from the information in the storage 202 and RAM 203. The format of the generated print job may be a format compatible with the printer vendor that distributes the print plugin, or a format conforming to a standard specification such as IPP (Internet Printing Protocol).

[0032] The UI display module 309 displays the extended settings screen specific to Plugin-A305. The printing system 301 calls the print plugin to display the extended settings screen. The extended settings screen allows for more settings than the basic settings that can be set on the print system 301. In this way, the print plugin can function as a print settings application.

[0033] The communication management module 310 is a module that controls communication between the print plugin Plugin-A305 and the printer 102, and manages the acquisition of the printer's capabilities and status, the printer's search function, and the transmission of print jobs.

[0034] The network module 311 is a module that connects Plugin-A305 to printing devices such as the printer 102, and provides the function of communicating with external devices using protocols such as HTTP and SNMP.

[0035] Next, the software configuration of the printing device 102 will be described.

[0036] The network module 321 is a module that facilitates communication between the printing device 102 and the information processing device 101, and provides the function of communicating with external devices using protocols such as HTTP and SNMP.

[0037] The printing processing module 322 is a module that creates image data and sends drawing data to the printing device engine 225 in order to perform printing.

[0038] In addition to the printing device 102, there may be many other printing devices (not shown) on the network.

[0039] Next, the procedure for starting the printing system 301 will be described. Figure 4 is an example of the UI when an application such as App-A302 uses the printing system to perform printing functions. Here, we will explain assuming that App-A302 is a photo display application. Area 403 is an area that displays the photo images stored in the information processing device 101. The menu button 401 is an object that displays a menu list for selecting an action to be taken on the photo displayed in area 403. When the user selects the menu button 401, the menu list is displayed. By selecting the print menu 402, the OS printing system screen shown in Figure 5(a) can be accessed.

[0040] Figure 5(a) shows the screen displayed by the printing system 301 provided by the OS. Area 506 in Figure 5(a) displays a list of printable devices that can be selected for use as a printing device. The printable devices displayed in area 506 are those found by each printing plugin searching the network 100. When multiple printable devices are available, each plugin searches for the corresponding printable device as shown in Figure 5(a).

[0041] Here, as in 506, Plugin-A detects printer-A (IP address 192.168.10.112). Plugin-B also detects printer-B (IP address 192.168.10.210). Furthermore, Plugin-C detects printer-C (IP address 192.168.10.302). As a result, it is shown that three printers are available for use. The user can then select the desired printer from these found printers. In this embodiment, suppose printer-A, which was found by Plugin-A in area 506, is selected. Based on the selection of printer-A, the display changes as shown in Figure 5(b).

[0042] Figure 5(b) shows an example of a print settings screen displayed on the display unit by the OS-provided printing system 301. Area 501 displays information about the currently selected printer. When the user selects area 501, Figure 5(a) is displayed, and the printer can be changed. The print settings screen 502 is an area for changing print settings, and it is possible to change print settings for standard functions. Standard print functions are print functions that can be displayed using the print functions provided by the OS, and include settings for the number of copies to print, color mode during printing, settings for double-sided printing, paper size, and paper type.

[0043] Object 503 is an item for displaying extended settings. As mentioned above, in the screen shown in Figure 5(b), only settings that can be displayed using the OS-provided printing system 301 can be changed. Therefore, Plugin-A305 is used to extend the printing settings.

[0044] When object 503 is selected, the UI display module 309 of Plugin-A305 is activated, and an extended settings screen like the one shown in Figure 6(a) can be displayed. Figure 6(a) is an example of the extended settings screen for the print plugin, and it is a screen where settings that cannot be set on the print settings screen in Figure 5(b) can be configured. In addition to the items shown in Figure 6(a), it may also be possible to set printer vendor-specific settings, such as settings for stapleless binding where paper is bound by pressure.

[0045] The print button 504 is an object used by the user to instruct printing. When the print button 504 is selected, the printing system 301 sends a print command to Plugin-A305, which corresponds to the printing device selected in area 501. Based on the print command from the printing system 301, Plugin-A305 generates print data and sends it to the printing device 102.

[0046] Area 505 is an area that displays information about the selected printing device. Conventionally, it was not possible to check information about each printing device on the print settings screen provided by the OS's printing system 301. Therefore, in order to check the information of the printing device to be used, it was necessary to launch the printing plugin corresponding to the desired printing device and check the information. In this embodiment, the printing plugin provides the printing system 301 with printer information obtained from the printing device, so that the printing device information can be displayed on the print settings screen 502. Furthermore, in Embodiment 1, the printing device information is displayed according to the settings set when the print settings screen 502 is displayed. In this way, even if the amount of information that can be displayed is limited by the size of area 505, it is possible to display information according to the settings.

[0047] Hereafter, a flowchart will be used to explain the processes performed by the information processing device 101 in Example 1.

[0048] Figure 17 is a flowchart showing the process executed when the printing system 301 is called from App-A302. The process described in Figure 17 is implemented by the CPU 204 after the programs for the printing system 301 and the printing plug-in 305, which are stored in the storage 202 of the information processing device 101, are loaded into the RAM 203.

[0049] Figure 17 is initiated based on the selection of print menu 402 in Figure 4.

[0050] In step S1701, the printing system 301 displays area 506. At stage S1701, only the outline of area 506 is displayed; information about the printing device is not shown.

[0051] In step S1702, the printing system 301 requests the printing plugins registered with the printing system 301 to start detecting the printing device. In this embodiment, the printing plugins that send the request to search for the printing device are Plugin-A305, Plugin-B306, and Plugin-C307.

[0052] Step S1703 is the processing performed by the print plugin that received the search request. Here, Plugin-A305 will be used as an example. Plugin-A305 searches for a printing device connected to network 100. Plugin-A305 searches for a printing device using a vendor-specific search method provided by the plugin provider. Alternatively, Plugin-A305 may use the printing device search function provided by the OS of the information processing device 101 to search for a printing device. Details of the processing in S1703 will be explained with reference to Figure 8.

[0053] Figure 8 shows the process flow in which the print plugin searches for a printing device and notifies the printing system 301. The process described in Figure 8 is realized when the program provided by the print plugin is loaded into RAM 203 and executed by CPU 204.

[0054] In step S801, Plugin-A305 broadcasts to the network 100, to which the information processing device 101 participates, in accordance with the SNMP specification, to search for printing devices connected to the network. S801 is the process by which the information processing device 101 searches for printing devices connected to the network 100 via SNMP.

[0055] In step S802, Plugin-A305 determines whether a printer has been detected. If no printer is found in step S802 (NO in S802), in step S809, it notifies the printing system 301 that "there is no valid printer." If a broadcast SNMP response is received within a predetermined time after step S801 (for example, 1 second), Plugin-A305 executes the process described in step S803. The processes described in steps S804 to S807 are for printers that the print plugin can print to, among the network devices detected by the search conducted by Plugin-A305.

[0056] In step S803, Plugin-A305 queries the printer discovered in step S802 for basic information about the printer, specifically its capabilities, using SNMP communication. The information queried here is limited to general information such as whether it supports color printing and whether it can perform double-sided printing. In step S803, Plugin-A305 obtains information about the settings on the print settings screen and the settings that can be set for each setting.

[0057] In step S804, Plugin-A305 determines whether or not the acquisition of basic information has been completed.

[0058] If basic information is obtained (YES in S804), in step S805, Plugin-A305 is configured as a corresponding function to notify the printing system 301 of the obtained basic information.

[0059] If basic information cannot be obtained (NO in S804), in step S810, Plugin-A305 is configured as a corresponding function to notify the printing system 301 of the pre-configured basic information.

[0060] Next, in step S806, Plugin-A305 performs processing related to narrowing down the additional display information for the printing device. Figure 9 shows the flow of the processing performed by Plugin-A305 in S806. The processing described in Figure 9 is achieved by loading the Plugin-A305 program into RAM203 and having the CPU204 execute the program. Note that the processing described in Figure 9 is performed for all printers that were detected in the search in S801 and that are compatible with Plugin-A305.

[0061] When the filtering of additional display information for the printer begins, in step S901, Plugin-A305 queries the printer 102 for information about the paper feed section. The query in S901 is performed using SNMP communication. Figure 10 is a table showing an example of the paper feed section information obtained in S901. The "Paper Feed Section" column is the name of the paper feed section of the printer 102. Figure 10 shows that the printer 102 has "Manual Feed," "Cassette 1," "Cassette 2," "Cassette 3," and "Cassette 4." "Paper Size" shows the paper size registered in the printer 102 in association with each paper feed section. Figure 10 shows that the paper size "A4" is registered in association with "Cassette 1." Note that in Figure 10, the paper size corresponding to the "Manual Feed" paper feed section is "Unknown." This indicates that the paper size corresponding to the "Manual Feed" paper feed section is not registered in the printer 102. The "Feed Direction" column shows the paper feed direction set in association with each cassette. "Horizontal feed" indicates that the paper is transported with the longer side of the quadrilateral paper leading, and "Vertical feed" indicates that the paper is transported with the shorter side of the quadrilateral paper leading. The "Paper type" column shows information about the paper type registered in the printer 102, associated with each paper feed unit. "Unknown" in "Paper type" indicates that a specific paper type is not registered for that paper feed unit. The "Paper amount remaining" column shows information about the amount of paper remaining as detected by the sensor in each paper feed unit. "None" indicates that there is no paper in that paper feed unit. For example, the "Manual feed" paper feed unit indicates that the paper size, feed direction, and paper type are all unknown, and that there is no paper in it. On the other hand, cassette 1 is set to hold A4 size plain paper in the horizontal feed direction, and it is indicated that cassette 1 contains the amount of paper that fits in cassette 1's capacity.

[0062] In step S902, Plugin-A305 selects the default paper feed unit when a printer is selected. The default paper feed unit may be one that is pre-configured in Plugin-A305, or it may be one that is selected based on a response from the printer 102 after querying the printer 102. In Example 1, it is assumed that cassette 1 is the default paper feed unit of the printer 102.

[0063] Then, in S903, Plugin-A305 selects the default cassette 1 information from the information in Figure 10, which is: paper size A4, feed information landscape, paper type plain paper, and paper remaining at 100%.

[0064] In step S904, Plugin-A305 sets the status information selected in S902 as additional display information, and finishes narrowing down the additional display information for the printer.

[0065] Then, in step S807, Plugin-A305 notifies the printing system 301 of the information of the printing device detected by the search. Furthermore, Plugin-A305 notifies the printing system 301 of the basic information obtained in S803 and additional display information in S805. The additional display information returned to the printing system may be a string, a bitmap, or an image. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the printing device information, basic information of the printing device, and additional display information are notified to the printing system 301 using a single API. However, the printing device information, basic information of the printing device, and additional display information may be notified to the printing system 301 using different APIs.

[0066] Returning to S1704 in Figure 17, the printing system 301 displays the printing system screen. The printing system 301 displays Figure 5(a) on the display unit.

[0067] When the user selects printer-A102, which was found by Plugin-A307, from among 506 in Figure 5(a), the print settings screen shown in Figure 5(b) is displayed. Here, a menu for changing the print settings is displayed on the print settings screen 502. In this embodiment, area 505 displays the information obtained in S903: Cassette 1 / A4 / Landscape feed / Plain paper / 100%.

[0068] Figure 11 shows a flowchart illustrating the process when a user selects additional options for object 503 from the printing system screen of the printing system 301 shown in Figure 5(b). The process described in Figure 11 is implemented when the Plugin-A305 program is loaded into RAM203 and executed by CPU204. The process described in Figure 11 is executed in accordance with the selection of object 503 in Figure 5(b).

[0069] The information processing device 101 displays the extended settings screen shown in Figure 6(a). Each vendor implements different functions in their own extended settings screen, and the print plugin can add its own unique functions through this screen.

[0070] In step S1102, Plugin-A305 determines whether the configuration information of the printer selected in area 501 is stored in the print plugin.

[0071] Figure 701 is a schematic diagram of the data structure of the configuration information. The configuration information consists of information 702 indicating the model name of the printing device, information 703 regarding the staple position, and information 704 regarding the duplex printing unit. 705 is an example of the details of the data actually notified as configuration information. "ProductName" corresponds to the information 702 indicating the model name. "StapleSetting" corresponds to the information 703 regarding the staple unit. In this example, it is set to "id_top_left," indicating that it is possible to staple one staple to the upper left of the paper. Note that if the printing device cannot perform stapling, "StapleSetting" will be "None." "DuplexUnit" corresponds to the information 704 regarding the duplex printing unit. In this example, it is set to "None," which indicates that the duplex printing unit is not attached to the printing device and duplex printing is not possible.

[0072] The configuration information retrieval process allows for the acquisition of information about the optional functions supported by the printer, such as what options and finishers the printer has installed. Furthermore, the configuration information is linked to the printer's MAC address and stored in Plugin-A305. In other words, Plugin-A305 stores one set of configuration information associated with each printer.

[0073] If the configuration information for the printer 102 is stored in Plugin-A305 (YES in S1102), Plugin-A305 executes the process described in S1102.

[0074] In step S1102, Plugin-A305 displays an extended settings screen on the information processing device based on the configuration information stored in Plugin-A305. The settings that can be set on the extended settings screen, including the setting value and range for each setting item, are determined by the configuration information corresponding to the printing device selected in area 501.

[0075] If the configuration information for the printer is not saved in Plugin-A305 in step S1101 (NO in S1101), Plugin-A305 performs the configuration information acquisition process in step S1104.

[0076] In step S1103, Plugin-A305 obtains configuration information for the printing device corresponding to the information of the printing device selected in area 501 from the printing device. The process of obtaining configuration information is performed by communicating directly with the printing device using a dedicated information acquisition protocol. Alternatively, configuration information may be obtained using a standard protocol such as the Internet Printing Protocol.

[0077] In step S1104, Plugin-A305 associates the acquired configuration information with information that can uniquely identify the device, such as the MAC address of the printing device, and stores it in a memory area referenced by Plugin-A305. The memory area is stored in non-volatile storage 202 so that even if the information processing device 101 is restarted, it is not necessary to reacquire the information.

[0078] In step S1105, Plugin-A305 generates an extended settings screen as shown in Figure 6(a) from 601 to 605, according to the configuration information acquired in step S1104. The extended settings screen generated by Plugin-A305 in S1105 is displayed on the display unit of the information processing device 101.

[0079] In this embodiment, configuration information is acquired in S1103 and stored in the memory area referenced by Plugin-A305. Alternatively, in S803 of Figure 8, configuration information may be acquired from the printing device detected by the search and stored in the area referenced by Plugin-A305.

[0080] When the user selects the print button 504 as shown in Figure 5(b), the printing system 301 identifies the print plugin corresponding to the information of the printing device selected in area 501. The printing system 301 issues a print command to the identified print plugin 305. The print plugin 305 performs the processing shown in the flowchart in Figure 12 according to the command. The processing described in Figure 12 is realized when the program of Plugin-A305 is stored in RAM 203 and the CPU 204 executes the program.

[0081] In step S1201, Plugin-A305 determines whether the configuration information for the printer corresponding to the information of the printer selected in area 501 has already been obtained. Plugin-A305 determines whether the configuration information for the printer is stored in a memory area accessible to the plugin.

[0082] If the configuration information of the printing device to be printed has already been obtained (YES in S1201), Plugin-A305 performs the printing process in step S1202. During the printing process, Plugin-A305 receives image data and print settings from the printing system 301. Plugin-A305 converts the image data received from the printing system 301 into print data in a format that the printing device can interpret and sends it to the printing device.

[0083] If, as determined in step S1201, configuration information corresponding to the printing device to be printed has not been obtained (NO in S1201), the process proceeds to step S1203 to obtain the configuration information of the printing device. The method for obtaining the configuration information of the printing device is the same as in step S1103.

[0084] In step S1204, Plugin-A305 determines, based on the printer configuration information acquired in step S1203, whether the print settings received from the print system 301 contain any combinations of prohibited setting values.

[0085] If the received print settings do not contain any prohibited combinations of setting values ​​(YES in S1204), Plugin-A305 executes the process in step S1202.

[0086] If it is determined in step S1204 that the received print settings contain a combination of prohibited setting values ​​(NO in S1204), Plugin-A305 executes the process described in step S1205.

[0087] In step S1205, Plugin-A305 displays a notification on the information processing device 101 to ask the user whether to continue the printing process. In the case of Android OS, for example, the notification can be displayed in the notification bar using an API to allow the user to choose whether to continue the printing process.

[0088] In step S1206, if the user instructs to continue printing (YES in S1206), Plugin-A305 sends the print job to the printer 102 with the currently set information. In step S1206, if the user does not instruct to continue printing (NO in S1206), in step S1207, Plugin-A305 performs a print interruption process, cancels the print, and terminates the process. In addition, after performing the print interruption process in S1207, the printing system 301 may display the screen shown in Figure 5(b) on the information processing device 101, which reflects the print settings immediately before the print interruption.

[0089] Through the above process, even when the display area is small and cannot display a lot of information, it is possible to display status information by narrowing down the information to be displayed from all the information, such as the information for the paper cassette feed section of a printer. Furthermore, by narrowing down the information to be displayed from all the information, only the information for the currently selected default paper feed section is displayed, making it easier for the user to identify the necessary status information and improving usability.

[0090] <Example 2> In Example 1, the information from the cassette paper feed section of the printing device is filtered to display only the information that needs to be displayed, and an example of displaying the status on the print settings screen 502 of the screens displayed by the printing system 301 is shown. In Example 2, a method is described for changing the status information displayed by the printing system 301 in conjunction with changes in the print settings values ​​made by the user. In this way, status information corresponding to the changed settings can be displayed on the print settings screen 502.

[0091] In Figure 5(b), when the user changes the paper size from ISO A4 to ISO B4, the menu change interface provided by Plugin-A305 is called from the printing system 301 at the moment the user changes the menu. When Plugin-A305 executes this process, the display of the print settings screen 502 becomes as shown in Figure 5(c).

[0092] Figure 13 is a flowchart showing the process that Plugin-A305 executes when a menu change occurs in the printing system 301. The process described in Figure 13 is achieved by loading the Plugin-A305 program into RAM 203 and having the CPU 204 execute the program.

[0093] When the display status update begins, in step S1301, Plugin-A305 acquires the status of all paper feed sections. The process in S1301 is the same as the process in S901 in Figure 9.

[0094] Next, in step S1302, Plugin-A305 determines whether or not processes S1303 and S1304 have been performed for all paper feed units. If there are any paper feed units that have not been processed (NO in S1302), in step S1303, Plugin-A305 selects one paper feed unit that has not undergone process S1304.

[0095] Then, in step S1304, Plugin-A305 determines whether the paper size set in association with the selected paper feed unit matches the paper size after it has been changed by the user.

[0096] If the paper size matches (YES in S1304), in step S1305, Plugin-A305 obtains only the status information of the selected paper feed unit.

[0097] In step S1306, Plugin-A305 notifies the printing system 301 of the selected information as additional information. If the paper size associated with the selected paper feed unit does not match the paper size selected on the print settings screen (NO in S1304), Plugin-A305 returns to step S1302.

[0098] If there are no more unprocessed paper feeds in step S1302 (YES in S1302), Plugin-A305 executes the process described in S1307. In step S1307, Plugin-A305 notifies the printing system 301 of "No paper feeds" as additional display information.

[0099] For example, consider a user using printer-A102 via Plugin-A305 who changes the paper size from ISO A4 to ISO B4. If the information in Figure 10 is obtained during step S1301, the paper size matches that of cassette 3. Therefore, the information for cassette 3, Cassette 3 / B4 / Portrait Feed / Plain Paper / None, is displayed, resulting in Figure 5(c).

[0100] Through the above process, even when the display area is small and cannot display a lot of information, it is possible to display status information by narrowing down the information to be displayed from all the information, such as the information from the paper cassette feed section of a printer, in conjunction with the user's settings. Furthermore, by narrowing down the information to be displayed from all the information, only the paper feed section information linked to the current user settings is displayed, making it easier for the user to identify the necessary status information and improving usability.

[0101] <Example 3> Examples 1 and 2 demonstrate how to display the status in a narrow display area of ​​the printing system 301 by narrowing down the information displayed from all the information in the cassette paper feed section of the printing device. This example describes how to display the status within Plugin-A305.

[0102] Figure 6(b) is an example of an extended settings screen displayed by Plugin-A305. Figure 6(b) is an example of a screen displayed when Plugin-A305 executes the process described in Figure 11, in accordance with the selection of object 503 in Figure 5(b).

[0103] In Example 1, the extended settings screen does not display status information as shown in Figure 6(a), but in this example, an area for displaying status information is provided as shown in area 616 of Figure 6(b). The displayed status information is rewritten by the print plugin according to the selected tab and the value of the menu selected by the user. In this example, the extended settings screen consists of the basic settings tab 617, the paper feed tab 618, and the finishing tab 619.

[0104] In Example 3, the processes described in S1101 to S1104 in Figure 11 of Example 1 are the same as in Example 1, but the process described in S1105 is different.

[0105] Figure 14 shows the processing flow for updating the display of the extended settings screen when the extended settings screen is generated (step S1105 in Figure 11 of Example 1). The processing described in Figure 14 is achieved by loading the Plugin-A305 program into RAM203 and having the CPU204 execute the program.

[0106] When the display update of the extended settings screen begins, in step S1401, Plugin-A305 displays status information corresponding to the selected tab. In Example 3, it is assumed that the default "Basic Settings" tab is selected when the extended settings screen is called from the printing system 301.

[0107] The process in S1401 will be described later using Figure 15. By executing the process described in S1401, the screen shown in Figure 6(b) is displayed on the display unit of the information processing device 101.

[0108] In step S1402, Plugin-A305 waits for an event indicating that user input has been received from the OS of the information processing device 101. User input includes changing the setting values ​​of each setting item, switching tabs, and issuing an instruction to exit the display of the extended settings screen.

[0109] In step S1403, Plugin-A305 checks whether the notified event is an event that ends the display of the extended settings screen.

[0110] If the display of the extended settings screen has ended (YES in S1403), Plugin-A305 terminates the display of the extended settings screen and finishes the process shown in Figure 14. If the display of the extended settings screen has not ended, i.e., if it is user input (NO in S1403), Plugin-A305 executes the process described in step S1404.

[0111] In step S1404, Plugin-A305 determines whether the notified event is an event related to a change in the print setting value. If it is an event related to a change in the print setting value, in step S1405, Plugin-A305 changes the value of the setting displayed on the extended settings screen. If in S1404 the event is not an event related to a change in the print setting value, the event is a tab change. Plugin-A305, notified of a tab change, executes the process described in step S1406.

[0112] In step S1406, Plugin-A305 stores the information of the tab selected by the user. Then, Plugin-A305 returns to S1401 to display the status information corresponding to the selected tab.

[0113] Figure 15 shows the processing flow for updating the display of status information for the selected tab in the tab configuration of this embodiment, such as the basic settings tab 617, paper feed tab 618, and finishing tab 619. The processing described in Figure 15 is achieved by loading the Plugin-A305 program into RAM 203 and having the CPU 204 execute the program.

[0114] Figure 15 shows the process performed in step S1401.

[0115] In step S1501, Plugin-A305 retrieves information about the currently selected tab. The tab information retrieved in S1501 is "Basic Settings" if the extended settings screen was called from the printing system 301. Otherwise, information indicating the tab selected by the user is retrieved.

[0116] In step S1502, Plugin-A305 checks if the selected tab is the "Basic Settings" tab. If the "Basic Settings" tab is selected (YES in S1502), it executes the process described in step S1503.

[0117] In step S1503, Plugin-A305 obtains staple information, such as the remaining amount of staples, from the device.

[0118] In step S1504, Plugin-A305 clears the display area for displaying status information. In step S1505, Plugin-A305 displays the staple information obtained in S1503 in the status display area. For example, as shown in Figure 6(b), the basic settings tab 617 is selected, and the staple information is displayed as status information in area 616. In Figure 6(b), it is shown that there are no staples. Then, the update of the status information display for the selected tab is finished.

[0119] If the tab information obtained in S1502 is not "Basic Settings", in step S1506, Plugin-A305 determines whether the obtained tab information indicates the "Paper Feed" tab.

[0120] If the "Paper Feed" tab is selected, in step S1507, Plugin-A305 obtains status information for all paper feed sections from the printer 102. The information obtained here is the same as that in S901 in Figure 9.

[0121] Then, in step S1508, Plugin-A305 obtains the setting value set in the setting item related to the paper feed unit.

[0122] Next, in step S1509, Plugin-A305 selects the status information of the paper feed unit that matches the paper feed unit obtained in S1508 from the status information of all paper feed units obtained in S1507. The process described in S1509 is the same as the process in S1305 in Figure 13.

[0123] Subsequently, in step S1510, Plugin-A305 clears the display area for displaying status information. In step S1511, Plugin-A305 displays paper feed unit information in the status display area from the information extracted in S1509.

[0124] For example, consider the case where the user selects the paper feed tab 618 as shown in Figure 6(c). Suppose the user selects cassette 3 in the paper feed unit at 632. If the same information as in Figure 10 is obtained at S1507, then at S1508, cassette 3 is acquired, and the information for cassette 3 from the information in Figure 10, namely cassette 3 / B4 / portrait feed / plain paper / none, is displayed, as shown at 636 in Figure 6(c).

[0125] Next, in S1506, if the acquired tab information is not the "Paper Feed" tab information (NO in S1506), it means that the finishing tab is selected.

[0126] In step S1512, Plugin-A305 obtains connection unit information from the device. Connection unit information includes information such as the type of post-processing device such as a finisher connected to the printing device 102, the number of output trays, and whether or not paper is placed in the output trays.

[0127] In step S1513, Plugin-A305 clears the display area for status information. In step S1514, Plugin-A305 displays the connection unit information obtained in S1512 in the status display area. If the finishing tab 619 is selected in the extended settings screen display, it will look like Figure 6(d). Figure 6(d) shows an example display where a saddle stitch finisher is attached to the printer as the paper output unit and there are three paper output trays.

[0128] In this embodiment, Plugin-A305 pre-stores which status information to display for each tab. Based on the stored information, Plugin-A305 retrieves and displays the status information corresponding to the selected tab from the printer 102.

[0129] For each tab, users may be able to configure which status information is displayed.

[0130] As described above, when displaying the status within the print plugin, even if the display area is small and cannot show much information, the display content of the status information will be changed in conjunction with the tab information and configured menu settings within the print plugin. This type of display makes it easier for users to identify the necessary status information, thereby improving usability.

[0131] In Example 3, when a tab is switched, status information corresponding to the displayed tab is obtained from the printer 102 and displayed on the extended settings screen. Alternatively, status information may be obtained from the printer corresponding to the selected printer information when the display of the extended settings screen is instructed, or when printer information is selected on the print settings screen displayed by the printing system 301.

[0132] <Example 4> Examples 1 and 2 demonstrate how to display information within the narrow display area of ​​the printing system 301 by narrowing down the information to be displayed from all available information and then displaying all of that narrowed information. Example 3 demonstrates how to display information within the display area of ​​the extended settings screen displayed by the printing plugin by narrowing down the information to be displayed from all available information and then displaying all of that narrowed information.

[0133] Example 4 describes a method for controlling the display in the display area of ​​the print settings screen displayed by the printing system 301 using predetermined conditions. For example, the print plug-in notifies the user using area 505 in Figure 5(b) when the amount of paper remaining in the paper feed unit is low or the amount of toner remaining in the toner cartridge is low.

[0134] Let's consider the case where the paper remaining amount in the paper feed unit is set to 50% or less. If the information for the paper feed unit is as shown in Figure 10, when cassette 2 of the paper feed unit is selected, the display in area 505 of Figure 5(b) will be "Cassette 2 / A4 / Landscape feed / Coated paper / 50%". Also, when cassette 3 of the paper feed unit is selected, the display in area 505 of Figure 5(b) will be "Cassette 3 / A4 / Landscape feed / Coated paper / No paper".

[0135] The difference from Example 1 lies in the processing shown in Figure 9, which is performed in step S806 of Figure 8. When the filtering of additional display information for the printing device begins in step S806 of Figure 8, the processing flow for filtering additional display information shown in Figure 16 is performed. The processing described in Figure 16 is achieved by loading the Plugin-A305 program into RAM203 and having the CPU204 execute the program.

[0136] In step S1601, Plugin-A305 queries the printer discovered in step S802 using SNMP communication to obtain information about the paper feed section of the printer 102, similar to Example 1. Plugin-A305 then obtains the status of all paper feed sections. For example, if information about printer-A102 is obtained, information similar to that in Example 1, such as that shown in Figure 10, can be obtained.

[0137] Here, in step S1602, Plugin-A305 selects the default paper feed for the selected printer. This can be the default of the print plugin, or it can query the printer.

[0138] Then, in step S1603, Plugin-A305 retrieves only the status information for the default paper feed unit and narrows down the information from the status of all paper feed units.

[0139] Furthermore, in step S1604, Plugin-A305 checks whether the remaining paper amount is below a predetermined threshold value held within the storage program.

[0140] If the remaining paper amount indicated in the status information is below the standard value (YES in S1604), in step 1605, Plugin-A305 sets the extracted status information as additional display information and terminates the process described in this flowchart.

[0141] If the remaining paper amount indicated in the status information exceeds the standard value (NO in S1604), in step S1606, Plugin-A305 sets the additional display information to "no display". This way, for example, if there is enough paper loaded in the paper feed and it is highly likely that the user will not need to replenish it, the notification will not be sent. On the other hand, if the remaining paper amount in the paper feed is low, a notification will be sent using area 505, allowing the user to prepare paper or select a paper feed that has enough paper loaded.

[0142] For example, if the baseline value is set to 50%, and the paper feed information in Figure 10 is obtained, if the default paper feed is Cassette 1 or Cassette 4, the result in step S1604 will be NO, so step S1606 will be executed, and "No Display" will be set in the additional display information. If the default paper feed is Cassette 2 or Cassette 3, the result in step S1604 will be YES, and the additional display information will be set to the status information for Cassette 2, with the paper size being A4, the feed information being landscape, the paper type being coated paper, and the remaining paper amount being 50%. Then, "Cassette 2 / A4 / Landscape / Coated Paper / 50%" will be displayed in area 505 of Figure 5(b). If it is Cassette 3, the status information will be set to the paper size being B4, the feed information being portrait, the paper type being plain paper, and the remaining paper amount being none. Then, "Cassette 3 / A4 / Landscape / Coated Paper / No Paper" will be displayed in area 505 of Figure 5(b).

[0143] Then, when step S806 is completed, Plugin-A305 returns the basic information obtained in S803 and the corresponding function and additional display information obtained in S805 to the printing system 301 in step S807. If "no display" is set in S1606, the printing system 301 will not display anything in area 505.

[0144] As described above, by controlling the display using a reference value when displaying information in the display area of ​​the printing system 301, it is possible to further reduce unnecessary information for the user. Furthermore, even when the display area is small and cannot display a lot of information, it is possible to display other status information instead by not displaying status information that does not need to be displayed. This makes it easier for the user to identify only the necessary status information, thereby improving convenience.

[0145] <Other examples> The status information used for display is not limited to the above; it may be any information related to consumables attached to the paper feed unit or printing device. For example, it may be the open / closed status of the paper feed unit's cassette or various covers, or errors or end-of-life warnings for the drum unit or intermediate transfer unit. Furthermore, it may also be information such as toner cartridge connection warnings, fuser warnings and errors, paper name mismatch errors, waste toner bottle warnings and errors, and data registration restriction indications and errors for the printing device.

[0146] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, only the paper feed information was displayed if the status information was from the paper feed unit, or only the staple information if the status information was from the staples unit. However, it is also possible to display a combination of two or more pieces of information.

[0147] The present invention can also be realized by performing the following process: supplying software (programs) that realize the functions of the embodiments described above to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and having the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of that system or device read and execute the program code. In this case, the computer program and the storage medium storing the computer program constitute the present invention.

Claims

1. An application installed on an information processing device, An acquisition step of acquiring setting values ​​set in an object displayed by the printing system of the operating system of the information processing device, and information of multiple paper feed units of the printing device. An application characterized by comprising a provisioning step of providing to the printing system information selected from among the information of the plurality of paper feeding units based on the set value.

2. The application according to claim 1, characterized in that the provisioning step provides the information displayed on the display unit of the information processing device to the printing system.

3. The application according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition step is characterized by acquiring the information from the printing device.

4. The application according to claim 1, characterized in that the aforementioned information is displayed by an application that provides image data to be printed, unlike the aforementioned application.

5. The application according to claim 1, characterized in that the information is information on at least one of the paper size, feeding direction, paper type, and remaining paper quantity, which is registered in association with each of the plurality of paper feeding units.

6. The application according to claim 1, further comprising another provisioning step of providing information to the printing system based on the changed setting value, based on the fact that the setting value set in the object has been changed.

7. The application according to claim 1, wherein the provisioning step provides the printing system with information selected based on the setting value when the status information identified based on the setting value set in the object satisfies predetermined conditions.

8. The application according to claim 1, characterized in that the application is an application that displays a print settings screen.

9. A method for controlling an information processing device on which an application is installed, An acquisition step of acquiring setting values ​​set in an object displayed by the printing system of the operating system of the information processing device, and information of multiple paper feed units of the printing device. A control method characterized by comprising a provision step of providing to the printing system information selected from the information of the plurality of paper feeding units based on the set value.

10. The control method according to claim 9, characterized in that the provision step provides the information displayed on the display unit of the information processing device to the printing system.

11. The control method according to claim 9, characterized in that the acquisition step involves acquiring the information from the printing device.

12. The control method according to claim 9, characterized in that the aforementioned information is displayed by an application that provides image data to be printed, unlike the aforementioned application.

13. The control method according to claim 9, characterized in that the information is information on at least one of the paper size, feeding direction, paper type, and remaining paper amount, which is registered in association with each of the plurality of paper feeding units.

14. The control method according to claim 9, further comprising another provisioning step of providing status information to the printing system based on the changed setting value, based on the fact that the setting value set in the object has been changed.

15. The control method according to claim 9, characterized in that the provision step provides the status information selected based on the setting value to the printing system when the status information identified based on the setting value set in the object satisfies predetermined conditions.

16. An information processing device on which a print settings application is installed, An acquisition means for acquiring setting values ​​set in an object displayed on the information processing device and information on multiple paper feed units of a printing device, A display means for displaying information selected from the information of the plurality of paper feed units based on the set value, An information processing device characterized by having the following features.

Images