JP2024089342A - Printing system, installation method for installing print setting extension application for cooperation with cloud print service on information processor, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To solve a problem that a print setting extension application that cooperates with cloud print service is not linked to model identification information of a specific printer, and therefore there is no means to link it to a local printer driver or a cloud print driver to install it.SOLUTION: In a printing system where an image formation device and an information processor that controls the image formation device using a printer driver are connected via a predetermined communication medium, the image formation device determines whether the image formation device is registered with a cloud print service, and selects, when determining that the image formation device is registered with the cloud print service, model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service. The information processor acquires the selected model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service, and installs a print setting extension application for cooperation with the cloud print service of the image formation device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a printing system, an installation method for installing a print setting extension app for linking with a cloud print service on an information processing device, and a program.

In recent years, generic printer drivers (local printer drivers) that communicate directly with image forming devices using industry standard protocols such as IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) have been developed. Local printer drivers can communicate with printers from multiple printer vendors. Therefore, by using a local printer driver, users can send print jobs to image forming devices without having to install a vendor-specific printer driver.

Furthermore, printing using a cloud print service is being considered. With a cloud print service, a printer driver for the cloud print service (cloud printer driver) is installed on an information processing device. With the cloud print service, the information processing device uses the cloud printer driver to send a print job to the cloud print service, and the cloud print service sends the print job to an image forming device, thereby performing printing.

JP 2021-124791 A JP 2005-258661 A

Since these local printer drivers and cloud printer drivers handle print jobs printed by image forming devices from various vendors, there are limitations on the items and functions that can be set as print settings. As such, as in Patent Document 1, it is considered to use the printer's identification information to install a print setting expansion app and expand the print queue linked to the printer driver. This makes it possible to realize a vendor-specific print setting UI and print job editing function.

In recent years, unlike the cloud print services described above that aim to provide a function for sending print jobs to a printer, there are also cloud print services that aim to provide print management functions. Print management functions provide various functions related to printing, such as compiling reports of print results and forcing all users in an organization to use print settings set by the administrator. In such services, the administrator first registers an image forming device to the tenant of the cloud print service to which the administrator belongs. The administrator then sets which users belonging to that tenant are allowed to use the image forming device. Here, a tenant refers to a service system deployed on the cloud, and has a storage area with restricted access for exclusive use by users.

For example, the Company A tenant of a cloud print service used by a certain Company A registers employees working at Company A as users and registers and uses Company A's image forming devices. This allows users at Company A to freely print from any image forming device registered by Company A by executing printing from an internal terminal.

Some printing services that use cloud print services provide functions by communicating with the tenant when printing. One example is a selection function for selecting the cost-bearing source. When printing, a budget management function is provided by obtaining a "list of cost-bearing sources" preset for the tenant and having the user select from a pop-up. This makes it possible to allocate and manage budgets to projects or departments for each print. Such functions are realized by the printer driver provided by the vendor, or an application that functions in conjunction with it.

It is being considered to incorporate the above-mentioned functions that require communication with cloud print service tenants into print setting extension apps developed for linking with cloud print services. This will make it possible to provide print management functions linked with cloud print services even in local printer drivers and cloud print drivers.

Local printer drivers and cloud print drivers are not originally capable of communicating with tenants of cloud print services and providing print management functions. For this reason, a configuration is envisioned in which a print setting extension app for cloud print services communicates with tenants to provide print management functions. However, with the current means of installing print setting extension apps, it is not possible to install the print setting extension app for the above cloud print service. This is because print setting extension apps are installed in association with model identification information obtained from the printer, including the HWID assigned to each printer model.

The steps for installing the print settings extension app are explained below.

When a printer search is performed in the information processing device and the discovered printer is added, the model identification information of the printer is acquired. Based on the acquired model identification information, the information processing device downloads an extended setup information file from an online support service and references it to complete the installation and configuration of the printer driver.

After the printer driver is installed, a print setting extension app that is linked to the printer whose model identification information has been obtained is searched for. At this time, an application ID is extracted from the extended setup information file. The information processing device searches for a print setting extension app that matches the application ID from the application management service and installs it. The only method provided for installing a print setting extension app is from an application ID extracted from the HWID, which is the printer model identification information. For this reason, it is not possible to install a print setting extension app for a cloud print service that is not linked to specific model identification information.

As a means of installing a print setting extension app for the cloud print service, when the printer is queried for model identification information, it is possible to return an HWID dedicated to linking with the cloud print service, which is different from the printer's model-specific HWID. The application ID for searching for the print setting extension app from the application management service is information that corresponds one-to-one with the HWID, which is model identification information.

When the printer determines that a print setting extension app for the cloud print service should be used, it sends the HWID dedicated to linking with the cloud print service as model identification information. The print setting extension app for the cloud print service is uploaded to the application management service in association with the application ID extracted from the HWID dedicated to linking. This makes it possible to install a print setting extension app for the cloud print service that is not linked to any specific model identification information.

Patent Document 2 solves the problem of installing the correct printer driver corresponding to the changed drawing process when the drawing process is changed by attaching a PDL extender to the printer. Here, when an information processing device inquires about the printer's model identification information, the printer checks whether a PDL extender is attached. If it is attached, the printer returns model identification information that allows the installation of a printer driver corresponding to the drawing process of the PDL extender, instead of the printer's own model-specific model identification information.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, the decision as to whether to change the model identification information returned by the printer to an information processing device to information different from that specific to the model depends on whether a PDL extender is installed in the printer, i.e., on the hardware configuration of the printer. However, whether to apply a print setting extension app for the cloud print service to a local printer driver or a cloud print driver does not depend on the hardware configuration of the printer itself. In this case, the criterion for judgment is whether the printer has already been registered with the cloud print service. Therefore, with the configuration of Patent Document 2, it is impossible for the department to determine whether the printer should return an HWID for the cloud print service or an HWID specific to the model. Therefore, with the above configuration, it is impossible to install a print setting extension app for the cloud print service.

The object of the present invention is to solve at least one of the problems of the above-mentioned conventional technology.

The object of the present invention is to provide a technology that allows a print setting extension app for a cloud print service to be installed in association with a local printer driver or a cloud print driver.

In order to achieve the above object, a printing system according to one aspect of the present invention has the following configuration:
A printing system in which an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus that controls the image forming apparatus using a printer driver are connected via a predetermined communication medium,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A determination unit that determines whether the image forming apparatus is registered with a cloud print service;
a selection unit that selects model identification information for linking with the cloud print service when the determination unit determines that the device is registered with the cloud print service,
The information processing device is characterized in that it installs a print setting extension application for cooperation with the cloud print service of the image forming device by acquiring model identification information for cooperation with the selected cloud print service.

According to the present invention, it becomes possible to install a print setting extension app that can work with a cloud print service. This makes it possible to provide functions that can be realized in cooperation with a cloud print service by using the print setting extension app in a local printer driver or a cloud print driver.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which the same or similar components are designated by the same reference numerals.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a printing system for cloud printing according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of each device included in the printing system according to the first embodiment. 6 is a diagram for explaining a sequence until a print setting extension application is installed in a client terminal when a cloud printer driver is used in the printing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of a printing system using a local printer driver according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of each device in the printing system according to the first embodiment according to the second embodiment. 13 is a diagram for explaining a sequence until a print setting expansion application is installed in a client terminal when a local printer driver is used in a printing system according to a second embodiment. 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining an example of a user procedure and a sequence between each piece of software and a print service in a printing system according to a third embodiment.

Below, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although the embodiments describe multiple features, not all of these multiple features are necessarily essential to the invention, and multiple 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 duplicate explanations will be omitted.

[Embodiment 1]
In the first embodiment, a configuration will be described in which a print setting extension app is installed in association with a cloud printer driver.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a printing system for cloud printing according to the first embodiment.

This printing system has a client terminal 101, a cloud print server 102, an application management server 103, a cloud print compatible printer 104, an online support server 105, and a second cloud print server 106. These terminals, printers, and servers are connected via a network 107 (communication medium). Note that, although FIG. 1 shows one client terminal 101 and one cloud print compatible printer 104, there may be multiple client terminals 101 and multiple cloud print compatible printers 104. In addition, the cloud print server 102, the application management server 103, the online support server 105, and the second cloud print server 107 may be server systems made up of multiple information processing devices. By making each server a server system made up of multiple information processing devices, load balancing can be realized among multiple information processing devices.

The cloud print server 102, application management server 103, online support server 105, and second cloud print server 107 may be virtually configured within a single physical information processing device. Although the network 107 assumes a WAN such as the Internet for connection to cloud services, it may also be a closed environment such as an in-house LAN.

The client terminal 101 is an information processing device such as a PC, tablet, or smartphone, and is a terminal that is directly operated by a user. Any application software can be executed on the client terminal 101. A cloud printer driver 311, a print setting extension app 312, and a local printer driver 313 run on the client terminal 101.

The cloud print-compatible printer 104 is a device that actually prints on a recording medium such as paper, and is an image forming device (printing device) that converts print data received via the network 107 into image data and prints it. This cloud print-compatible printer 104 can receive print data from the client terminal 101 via the cloud print server 102, and can also receive print data directly from the client terminal 101 without going through the cloud print server 102. The cloud print-compatible printer 104 also receives print data generated by the cloud printer driver 311 of the client terminal 101 via the cloud print server 102. The cloud print-compatible printer 104 also receives print data generated by the local printer driver 314 of the client terminal 101 without going through the cloud print server 102.

The cloud print server 102 accepts print instructions and print data from an external source. The cloud print server 102 then transmits the received print data to a specified cloud print-compatible printer 104. A cloud print service 321 exists on the cloud print server 102.

The application management server 103 holds and manages various applications. When the application management server 103 receives application identification information and a download request from the client terminal 101, it transmits to the client terminal 101 the application identified based on the received identification information. At this time, the application management service 331 on the application management server 103 distributes the application to the client terminal 101.

The online support server 105 is a server device that provides an online support service 351. The online support service 351 is a server device that provides the client terminal 101 with a file that describes information for expanding the functions of the client terminal 101.

The second cloud print server 106 communicates with the client terminal 101 using the print setting extension app 312 and the network 107, and provides the user with a print management function when printing. A cloud print service 361 exists on the second cloud print server 106. A printer management service 362 registers the cloud print-compatible printer 104.

Next, the hardware configuration of each device included in the printing system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

Figure 2 (A) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the client terminal 101 according to the first embodiment.

The client terminal 101 includes a display unit 216, an operation unit 217, a storage unit 214, a control unit 211, and a network communication unit 215. The storage unit 214 refers to a non-volatile storage device such as a hard disk or SSD, and is capable of storing and rewriting digital data. The control unit 211 has a CPU 212 and a memory 213, and controls the overall operation of the client terminal 101. The CPU 212 loads a program stored in the storage unit 214 into the memory 213 and executes it. The memory 213 is the main storage memory of the CPU 212, and is used as a work area and a temporary storage area for loading various programs. The network communication unit 215 is a device that communicates with the external network 107, and inputs and outputs digital data to and from external servers, client terminals, etc. via the network 107.

The display unit 216 is a device such as a liquid crystal display for displaying visual information to the user in real time. The operation unit 217 includes a keyboard, pointing device, etc., and is a device for receiving input from the user. A device having the functions of both the display unit 216 and the operation unit 217, such as a touch panel, may also be used.

Figure 2 (B) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the cloud print server 102 according to the first embodiment.

The cloud print server 102 includes a storage unit 224, a control unit 221, and a network communication unit 225. The control unit 221 has a CPU 222 and a memory 223, and controls the overall operation of the cloud print server 102. The CPU 222 expands the program stored in the storage unit 224 into the memory 213 and executes it. The memory 223 is the main memory of the CPU 222, and is used as a work area and a temporary storage area for expanding various programs. The explanation of the network communication unit 225 is omitted because it is the same as the network communication unit 215 of the client terminal 101. Note that the cloud print server 102 is described as being configured with one information processing device having the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2 (B), but the cloud print server 102 may be configured with multiple information processing devices as shown in FIG. 2 (B).

Figure 2 (C) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the application management server 103 according to the first embodiment.

The application management server 103 includes a display unit 236, an operation unit 237, a memory unit 234, a control unit 231, and a network communication unit 235. The control unit 231 differs from the control unit 211 of the client terminal 101 described above in that it includes a CPU 232 and memory 233, but the explanations of the display unit 236, operation unit 237, memory unit 234, control unit 231, and network communication unit 235 are omitted because they are the same as those of the client terminal 101. Note that the application management server 103 will be described as being configured from one information processing device having the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2(C), but the application management server 103 may be configured from multiple information processing devices.

Figure 2 (D) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 according to the first embodiment.

The cloud print-compatible printer 104 includes a display unit 246, an operation unit 247, a memory unit 244, a control unit 241, a network communication unit 245, and a printing unit 248. The display unit 246 is a device for displaying information to the user in real time, such as a touch panel or LEDs provided on the cloud print-compatible printer 104. The operation unit 247 is a device for receiving input from the user, and may include hard keys such as a numeric keypad in addition to a touch panel. The control unit 241 differs from the control unit 211 of the client terminal 101 described above in that it includes a CPU 242 and a memory 243, but the operations of the memory unit 244 and the control unit 241 are the same as those of the client terminal 101, and therefore will not be described here.

The network communication unit 245 is a device that communicates with the external network 107, and is mainly responsible for receiving print data and sending information about the status of the cloud print-compatible printer 104, such as errors, to an external server, etc. The printing unit 248 is a device that performs print processing by carrying out a series of operations, such as feeding, printing, and discharging, on paper (recording media) stored in a cassette or tray. The printing method used here is not limited to electrophotographic or inkjet printing. Finishing devices such as a duplex unit, stapler, and puncher used when discharging paper are also included in the printing unit 248.

In the first embodiment, a single-function printer that performs only a printing function is described as an example of the cloud print-compatible printer 104, but a multifunction printer (multifunction device) that also has a scanner function and a fax function may also be used.

Figure 2 (E) is a block diagram explaining the hardware configuration of the online support server 105 according to the first embodiment. Note that in the first embodiment, the online support server 105 is explained as being configured with one information processing device, but may be configured with multiple information processing devices.

The online support server 105 has a display unit 256, an operation unit 257, a storage unit 254, a control unit 251, and a network communication unit 255. The display unit 256 and the operation unit 257 are similar to the display unit 216 and the operation unit 217 of the client terminal 101, and therefore will not be described. The storage unit 254 is a memory device such as an HDD or SSD. The storage unit 254 stores a file that describes information for expanding the functions provided by the client terminal 101. The control unit 251 includes a CPU 252 and a memory 253. The CPU 252 controls the entire online support server 105. The memory 253 is used for processing executed by the CPU 252. The network communication unit 255 is an interface for the online support server 105 to communicate with the client terminal 101. When the online support server 105 receives a request to acquire a file stored in the storage unit 254 via the network communication unit 255, the online support server 105 transmits the corresponding file to the client terminal 101.

Figure 2 (F) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the second cloud print server 106 according to the first embodiment.

The second cloud print server 106 includes a storage unit 264, a control unit 261, and a network communication unit 265. The control unit 261 differs from the control unit 211 of the client terminal 101 described above in that it includes a CPU 262 and a memory 263, but the description of the storage unit 264, the control unit 261, and the network communication unit 265 is omitted because they are the same as those of the client terminal 101. Note that the second cloud print server 106 is described as being configured with one information processing device having the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2(F), but the second cloud print server 106 may be configured with multiple information processing devices as shown in FIG. 2(F).

Next, an example of the user's procedure and the sequence between each software and print service in embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the sequence until the print setting extension app is installed on the client terminal 101 when a cloud printer driver is used in the printing system according to the first embodiment.

First, the cloud print-compatible printer 104 is registered by the user to the second cloud print server 106 by the printer management service 362. At this time, in S3001, the printer management service 362 transmits to the printer 104 a collaboration HWID for installing a printer driver extension app for cloud print service collaboration. The printer 104 may also be configured to install a cloud service collaboration application in order to communicate with a tenant of the second cloud print server 106 and provide a print management function.

Next, in S3002, the cloud print-compatible printer 104 determines whether the printer 104 is registered with the second cloud print server 106. For example, this determination is made by using whether a cloud service cooperation application, which is to be installed in order to use a service provided by the second cloud print server 106, is installed on the printer 104.

Depending on the result of the printer registration status determination in the second cloud print server 106 in S3002, the HWID to be transmitted when a registration request for the cloud print-compatible printer 104 is received from the information processing device is set. If the printer 104 has already been registered in the second cloud print server 106, in S3003, the HWID for cloud print service cooperation is set as the model identification information instead of the model-specific HWID. On the other hand, if the printer 104 has not been registered in the second cloud print server 106, in S3004, the model-specific HWID is set.

The cloud print-compatible printer 104 then accepts a printer registration operation from the user to register the cloud print-compatible printer 104 with the cloud print service 321. As a result, in S3005, the printer transmits a printer registration request to the cloud print service 321 together with the HWID, which is device identification information of the printer 104. Upon receiving this registration request, the cloud print service 321 transmits the URL of the cloud print service 321 for printer registration to the cloud print-compatible printer 104.

The user then accesses the URL from the cloud print-compatible printer 104 or information processing device, inputs a user ID and password for using the cloud print service 321, and logs in to the cloud print service 321. If the user's login is successful, the cloud print service 321 sends a request to the cloud print-compatible printer 104 to obtain information required for printer registration. In response to the request, the cloud print-compatible printer 104 sends printer information to the cloud print service 321.

Next, the cloud print service 321 that has received the printer registration request registers information about the cloud print-compatible printer 104 and generates a print queue for the cloud print-compatible printer 104. At this time, capability information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 is obtained and linked to the generated print queue. Capability information is information that indicates the functions installed in the printer 104, and refers to information necessary for the user to set as print settings when printing, such as double-sided printing capability information, color printing capability information, and stapling capability information. Through these processes, preparations are complete for printing to the cloud print-compatible printer 104 using the cloud print service 321.

Next, we will explain the installation of the print setting extension app 312 that is performed when the user performs setup operations on the client terminal 101 to print with the cloud print-compatible printer 104.

The OS 313 of the client terminal 101 accepts setup operations of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 by the user. Setup operations of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 include, for example, the following operations.

In S3006, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 accepts an instruction to add a printer from the user. At this time, the instruction to add a printer is input to the OS 313 by the user on the client terminal 101. The OS 313 that has accepted the instruction to add a printer determines whether or not it holds a token for the cloud print service 321. If it does not hold a token, in S3007 the OS 313 displays a screen for inputting user information (login name, password). The user information input via the screen is sent to the cloud print service 321, and a request for user authentication and an access token is made.

In S3008, the cloud print service 321 performs authentication processing using the user information received from the client terminal 101. When the cloud print service 321 completes the authentication processing, it notifies the client terminal 101 of the result of the authentication processing. If the user authentication is successful, the OS 313 obtains an access token from the cloud print service 321 in S3009. On the other hand, if the user authentication fails in S3008, the cloud print service 321 notifies the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 of an authentication error in S3010. As a result, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 stops processing based on the received authentication error information in S3011, and the OS 313 ends the processing described in FIG. 3.

On the other hand, if the access token is already held or if a token was acquired in S3009, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 advances the process to S3012 and performs a printer search. The OS 313 of the client terminal 101 then transmits a request to obtain printer information registered in the cloud print service 321 for the printer discovered in the search. At this time, the OS 313 transmits the printer information obtainment request with the access token attached to the cloud print service 321.

The cloud print service 321 identifies the tenant ID to which the user belongs, as identified by the access token attached to the acquisition request, and prepares a list of printers linked to the tenant ID to which the user belongs for the client terminal 101. Then, in S3013, the OS 313 of the client terminal 101 acquires the list of printers prepared by the cloud print service 321 and the device identification information of each printer.

The OS 313 displays a list of printers on the client terminal 101 based on the printer information acquired from the cloud print service 321 and the printer information detected by searching the network 107. This list display shows a list of the printer information received from the cloud print service 321.

Next, the user selects the printer information of the printer they wish to register in the client terminal 101 from the displayed printer list. As a result, in S3014, the OS 313 queries the cloud print service 321 for the capability information of the selected cloud print-compatible printer 104. At this time, the querying side, i.e., the OS 313, decides which attribute to query, as in the above-mentioned mechanism.

As a result, in S3015, the cloud print service 321 responds to the OS 313 with the capability information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104. The capability information of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 may be capability information acquired when the printer was registered, or the latest capability information may be acquired from the cloud print-compatible printer 104 when queried by the OS 313. Note that if the cloud print service 321 does not store a response to the attributes queried by the OS 313 of the client terminal 101, it does not respond to the OS 313.

Next, OS 313 starts installing cloud printer driver 311 based on the device identification information and printer name of the printer selected by the user. Then, in S3016, OS 313 generates a print queue for cloud printer driver 311 that has basic device capability information included with OS 313. Device capability information refers to definition information required to generate print setting capability information of the printer driver, for example, written in XML such as PrintDeviceCapabilities. After that, OS 313 updates the device capability information that constitutes cloud printer driver 311 using the capability information obtained from cloud print service 321. With this, installation of cloud print driver 311 is completed.

Next, OS313 starts the process of installing an application that is linked to the printer and extends the cloud print driver.

First, OS 313 performs a process of adding additional identification information to the device identification information. This process is necessary when obtaining an extended setup information file from the online support server 105, and the character string needs to be different from normal device identification information. In S3017, OS 313 transmits the device identification information with additional information and requests the online support service 351 to search for an extended setup information file that contains the target device identification information with additional information.

If additional identification information is not added, the original device identification information will be used as is, and the vendor's printer driver will be installed. Furthermore, if additional identification information is not added, the target file cannot be identified in a search of the extended setup information file, which will be explained later, and the application ID cannot be extracted. On the other hand, if additional identification information is added, the target file can be identified in a search of the extended setup information file, and the application ID can be extracted.

If the online support service 351 has an extended setup information file that includes the target device identification information, in S3018, the extended setup information file is returned to the OS 313. At this time, the contents of the extended setup information file are written to the registry.

Next, in S3019, the OS 313 causes the client terminal 101 to obtain an extended setup information file from the online support service 351 and install the extended setup information. Next, in S3020, the OS 313 extracts the application ID from the installed extended setup information. If the online support service 351 does not have an extended setup information file containing the target device identification information, in S3021 the OS 313 stops the application installation process while leaving the installation of the cloud print driver complete.

In S3022, the OS 313 requests the application management service 331 for an application whose extracted application ID matches. If the application management service 331 holds a print setting extension app whose application ID matches the requested application ID, the application management service 331 returns the print setting extension app 312 whose application ID matches the requested application ID in S3023. As a result, in S3024, the OS 313 installs the acquired print setting extension app 312 in association with the print queue on the client side. Specifically, the application ID is stored in the registry of the OS 313 as information about the print queue, and when the generated print queue is called, the OS 313 starts the print setting extension app 312 installed using this information. On the other hand, if the application management service 331 does not hold a print setting extension app whose application ID matches the requested application ID, the OS 313 stops the application installation process in S3025 while leaving the installation of the cloud print driver complete.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, a printer registered with the cloud print service sets model information for cloud print service integration as model identification information instead of model-specific model identification information. As a result, when a client terminal inquires about the printer model information, the model information for cloud print service integration is notified. As a result, the client terminal can obtain an extended setup information file using the model information for cloud print service integration, install an extended app corresponding to the printer, and control the printing process by the printer.

[Embodiment 2]
In the second embodiment, a configuration will be described in which a print setting extension application is installed in association with a local printer driver.

Figure 4 shows the configuration of a printing system using a local printer driver according to the second embodiment.

In this printing system, a client terminal 401, a cloud print server 402, an application management server 403, a printer 404, and an online support server 405 are connected via a network 407. Hereinafter, the client terminal 401, the cloud print server 402, the application management server 403, the printer 404, and the online support server 405 are equivalent to the client terminal 101, the second cloud print server 106, the application management server 103, the cloud print-compatible printer 104, and the online support server 105 of the first embodiment, respectively. Therefore, the cloud printer driver 611, the print setting extension app 612, the local printer driver 613, the cloud print service 621, the printer management service 622, the application management service 631, and the online support service 651 are the same as the corresponding ones in FIG. 1.

Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of each device in the printing system according to embodiment 1 in embodiment 2.

Figure 5 (A) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of a client terminal 401 according to the second embodiment.

The client terminal 401 includes a display unit 516, an operation unit 517, a storage unit 514, a control unit 511, and a network communication unit 515. The control unit 511 includes a CPU 512 and a memory 513. The operations of these components are similar to those of the client terminal 101 described above, and therefore will not be described here.

Figure 5 (B) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the cloud print server 402 according to the first embodiment.

The cloud print server 402 includes a storage unit 524, a control unit 521, and a network communication unit 525. The control unit 521 includes a CPU 522 and a memory 523. The operations of these units are similar to those of the cloud print server 102 described above, and therefore will not be described here.

Figure 5 (C) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the application management server 403 according to the second embodiment.

The application management server 403 includes a display unit 536, an operation unit 537, a memory unit 534, a control unit 531, and a network communication unit 535. The control unit 531 includes a CPU 532 and a memory 533. The operations of these components are similar to those of the application management server 103 described above, and therefore will not be described here.

Figure 5 (D) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the printer 404 according to the second embodiment.

The printer 404 includes a display unit 546, an operation unit 547, a memory unit 544, a control unit 541, a network communication unit 545, and a printing unit 548. The control unit 541 includes a CPU 542 and a memory 543. The operations of these units are similar to those of the cloud print-compatible printer 104 described above, and therefore will not be described here.

Figure 5 (E) is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the online support server 405 according to the second embodiment.

The online support server 405 has a display unit 556, an operation unit 557, a memory unit 554, a control unit 551, and a network communication unit 555. The control unit 551 has a CPU 552 and a memory 553. The operation of these is similar to that of the online support server 105 described above, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, an example of the user's procedure and the sequence between each software and print service in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the sequence until a print setting extension app is installed on the client terminal 101 when a local printer driver is used in a printing system according to embodiment 2.

First, in S6001, the printer 404 is registered by the user to the cloud print service 402 by the printer management service 622. At this time, the printer management service 622 transmits to the printer 404 a collaboration HWID for installing a printer driver extension app for collaboration with the cloud print service. The printer 404 may also be configured to install a cloud service collaboration application in order to communicate with a tenant of the cloud print service and provide a print management function.

In S6002, OS 413 of client terminal 401 accepts a search operation for connectable printers from the user, and if printer 404 is found, sends a printer addition request.

As a result, in S6003, the printer 404 determines whether the printer 404 is registered with the cloud print service 402. This determination method is the same as in the first embodiment. Then, depending on the result of this determination, in S6004 or S6005, the HWID is set.

Then, in S6006, the printer 404 sends the printer name and HWID to the OS 413. The subsequent processing shown in S6006 to S6018 is similar to S3013 to S3025 in FIG. 3 of the above-mentioned first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, even if the printer is not registered with the cloud print service, when a client terminal inquires about the printer's model information, the printer can notify the client terminal of model information for cloud print service collaboration. This allows the client terminal to obtain an extended setup information file using the model information for cloud print service collaboration, install an extended app corresponding to the printer, and control the printing process by the printer.

[Embodiment 3]
In the third embodiment, a case will be described in which a tenant has a setting value that determines whether or not to use a print setting extension app dedicated to cooperation in a printer registered in a cloud print service that provides a print management function.

A user who uses a cloud print service may wish to use a model-specific app rather than a print setting extension app for collaboration. The user or administrator sets in advance which print setting extension app to install on the tenant of the cloud print service. When installing the print setting extension app, the setting value is referenced to determine whether or not to change the HWID.

The printing system and hardware configuration according to the third embodiment are the same as those of the first or second embodiment. The third embodiment will be described based on the second embodiment, which uses a local printer driver, but a printing system and hardware configuration using a cloud printer driver is also possible.

The configuration diagram of a printing system using a local printer driver in the third embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 4 in the second embodiment. The hardware configuration of the system according to the third embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 5 in the second embodiment.

Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user procedure and a sequence between each software and print service in a printing system according to embodiment 3.

Steps S7001 to S7003 in Figure 7 are the same as steps S6001 to S6003 in embodiment 2.

If the printer 404 is registered with the cloud print service 402, the printer 404 inquires of the printer management service 622 in S7004 about a setting value that determines whether to install a print setting extension app for collaboration on the printer. As a result, the printer management service 622 returns to the printer 404 in S7005 a setting value that determines whether to install a print setting extension app for collaboration owned by the tenant of the cloud print service 402. In this way, if the printer 404 is registered with the cloud print service 402 and the setting value received in S7005 is for installing a print setting extension app, the printer 404 sets the HWID to be sent to the one for collaboration in S7006. On the other hand, if the printer 404 is not registered with the cloud print service 402 or the setting value received in S7005 is not for installing a print setting extension app, a model-specific HWID is set. The subsequent processing steps S7008 to S7020 are similar to steps S6006 to S6018 in FIG. 6 of the second embodiment described above, so their explanation will be omitted.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, in addition to the effects of the previous embodiments, a user who uses the cloud print service can use either a print setting extension app for collaboration or a model-specific app.

Other Embodiments
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.

This specification and drawings disclose the following printing system, installation method, and program.

[Item 1]
A printing system in which an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus that controls the image forming apparatus using a printer driver are connected via a predetermined communication medium,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A determination unit that determines whether the image forming apparatus is registered with a cloud print service;
a selection unit that selects model identification information for linking with the cloud print service when the determination unit determines that the device is registered with the cloud print service,
The printing system is characterized in that the information processing device installs a print setting extension app for linking to the cloud print service of the image forming device by acquiring model identification information for linking to the selected cloud print service.

[Item 2]
The printing system described in item 1, characterized in that the determination means makes a determination based on whether a cloud service integration application to be installed in order to use services provided by the cloud print service is installed on the image forming device.

[Item 3]
The printing system according to item 1 or 2, characterized in that the selection unit selects model identification information unique to the image forming device when the determination unit determines that the image forming device is not registered with the cloud print service.

[Item 4]
The printing system according to any one of items 1 to 3, wherein when the image forming apparatus is registered with the cloud print service, the image forming apparatus acquires model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service from the cloud print service.

[Item 5]
The printing system described in any one of items 1 to 4, characterized in that the information processing device obtains model identification information for the cloud print service integration selected in the image forming device discovered in the search for the image forming device, obtains an extended setup information file using the model identification information for the cloud print service integration, extracts an application ID from the extended setup information file, and installs a print setting extension app for the image forming device that matches the application ID.

[Item 6]
a setting unit configured to set whether to install a print setting extension application for cooperation with the cloud print service to the cloud print service when the image forming apparatus is registered with the cloud print service,
The printing system described in any one of items 1 to 5, characterized in that the selection means selects model identification information for the cloud print service integration when the setting by the setting means is a setting to install a print setting extension app for the cloud print service integration.

[Item 7]
7. The printing system according to item 6, wherein the setting unit is set on a tenant of the cloud print service.

[Item 8]
A printing system in which an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus that controls the image forming apparatus using a printer driver are connected via a predetermined communication medium,
The image forming apparatus includes:
an acquisition unit that acquires model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service in response to the image forming apparatus being registered with the cloud print service;
The printing system is characterized in that the information processing device installs a print setting extension app for linking to the cloud print service of the image forming device by obtaining model identification information for linking to the cloud print service from the image forming device.

[Item 9]
The printing system described in item 8 is characterized in that the information processing device obtains an extended setup information file using model identification information for the cloud print service integration, extracts an application ID from the extended setup information file, and installs a print setting extension app for the image forming device that matches the application ID.

[Item 10]
1. An installation method for installing a print setting extension application for cooperation with a cloud print service in an information processing device, comprising:
A step of registering a printer in a cloud print service and selecting model identification information of the printer as model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service;
acquiring model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service in response to an inquiry from the information processing device in response to a request to register the printer;
The information processing device installs a print setting extension app for the printer based on the model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service;
13. An installation method comprising:

[Item 11]
The method further includes a setting step of setting whether or not to install a print setting extension application for cooperation with the cloud print service for the cloud print service,
The installation method described in item 10, characterized in that the selection process selects model identification information for the cloud print service integration when the setting by the setting process is a setting to install a print setting extension app for the cloud print service integration.

[Item 12]
12. A program for causing a processor to execute the installation method according to item 10 or 11.

The present 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 present invention. Therefore, in order to publicize the scope of the present invention, the following claims are appended.

101...client terminal, 102...cloud print server, 103...application management server, 104...cloud print compatible printer, 105...online support server, 106...second cloud print server, 311...cloud printer driver, 312...print setting extension app, 313...local printer driver, 321...cloud print service,

Claims (12)

A printing system in which an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus that controls the image forming apparatus using a printer driver are connected via a predetermined communication medium,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A determination unit that determines whether the image forming apparatus is registered with a cloud print service;
a selection unit that selects model identification information for linking with the cloud print service when the determination unit determines that the device is registered with the cloud print service,
The printing system is characterized in that the information processing device installs a print setting extension app for linking to the cloud print service of the image forming device by acquiring model identification information for linking to the selected cloud print service. The printing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the determination means makes a determination based on whether a cloud service cooperation application to be installed in order to use a service provided by the cloud print service is installed on the image forming device. The printing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the selection means selects model identification information unique to the image forming device when the determination means determines that the image forming device is not registered with the cloud print service. The printing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the image forming device is registered with the cloud print service, the image forming device acquires model identification information for linking with the cloud print service from the cloud print service. The printing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the information processing device acquires model identification information for the cloud print service linkage selected by the image forming device found in the image forming device search, acquires an extended setup information file using the model identification information for the cloud print service linkage, extracts an application ID from the extended setup information file, and installs a print setting extension app for the image forming device that matches the application ID. a setting unit configured to set whether to install a print setting extension application for cooperation with the cloud print service to the cloud print service when the image forming apparatus is registered with the cloud print service,
The printing system according to claim 1, characterized in that the selection means selects model identification information for the cloud print service integration when the setting by the setting means is a setting to install a print setting extension app for the cloud print service integration. The printing system according to claim 6, characterized in that the setting means is set on a tenant of the cloud print service. A printing system in which an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus that controls the image forming apparatus using a printer driver are connected via a predetermined communication medium,
The image forming apparatus includes:
an acquisition unit that acquires model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service in response to the image forming apparatus being registered with the cloud print service;
The printing system is characterized in that the information processing device installs a print setting extension app for linking to the cloud print service of the image forming device by obtaining model identification information for linking to the cloud print service from the image forming device. The printing system according to claim 8, characterized in that the information processing device acquires an extended setup information file using the model identification information for the cloud print service collaboration, extracts an application ID from the extended setup information file, and installs a print setting extension app for the image forming device that matches the application ID. 1. An installation method for installing a print setting extension application for cooperation with a cloud print service in an information processing device, comprising:
A step of registering a printer in a cloud print service and selecting model identification information of the printer as model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service;
acquiring model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service in response to an inquiry from the information processing device in response to a request to register the printer;
The information processing device installs a print setting extension app for the printer based on the model identification information for cooperation with the cloud print service;
13. An installation method comprising: The method further includes a setting step of setting whether or not to install a print setting extension application for cooperation with the cloud print service for the cloud print service,
The installation method according to claim 10, characterized in that the selection step selects model identification information for the cloud print service integration when the setting by the setting step is a setting to install a print setting extension app for the cloud print service integration. A program for causing a processor to execute the installation method according to claim 10 or 11.

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