JP7017173B2 - program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a program of a mobile terminal, which causes an image processing device to execute an image processing operation by using another program installed in the same mobile terminal.

For example, in Patent Document 1, another program installed on the same mobile terminal (hereinafter referred to as "external program") is started, and an image processing operation is performed on the image processing device according to an instruction from the started external program. The program to be executed is disclosed. As an example, the program can cause an image processing apparatus to execute an output operation for outputting image data specified by an external program. As another example, the program can have an external program edit the image data generated by the input operation executed by the image processing device.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-203742

However, even if the external program is started in a state where an appropriate image processing device is not connected, the processing using the external program cannot be completed. That is, the user needs to select an appropriate image processing device and then instruct to start the external program. With the diversification of image processing devices and external programs, the burden on users who operate the programs in such a procedure also increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image processing device suitable for an external program to be started in a program for causing an image processing device to execute an image processing operation by using an external program. The purpose is to provide a technology that makes it easy to select.

Various disclosures are made herein. The program, which is one of the disclosure examples, can be read by a mobile terminal including a memory, an input interface, and a communication interface. The memory stores a plurality of external programs that can be started by the program. The external program is a program that instructs an image processing apparatus capable of executing at least one of a plurality of image processing operations to perform the image processing operation through the program. The program stores in the memory a first reception process for receiving a user operation for designating a designated program, which is one of the plurality of external programs, through the input interface, and designated device information including an operation ID of the designated operation. The mobile terminal is made to execute the first determination process for determining whether or not the interface is used. The designated operation is the image processing operation that the designated program can instruct the image processing device. The designated device information includes the operation ID that identifies the image processing operation that can be executed by the designated device that is the image processing device designated by the user. The program determines that the image processing device capable of executing the designated operation among the plurality of image processing devices capable of communicating through the communication interface in response to the determination that the program is not stored in the first determination process. The first search process for searching, the second reception process for accepting the user operation for designating the designated device, which is one of the discovered image processing devices, through the input interface, and the second reception process designated by the second reception process. The designated program is started in a state where the first storage process for storing the designated device information of the designated device in the memory and the designated device information including the operation ID of the designated operation are stored in the memory. The mobile terminal is made to execute an activation process, an acquisition process of acquiring the operation ID of the designated operation from the designated program, and a first instruction process of transmitting the first instruction information to the designated device through the communication interface. The first instruction information is information for executing the designated operation identified by the operation ID acquired in the acquisition process.

According to the above configuration, at the specified timing of the external program to be started, the user is made to specify a desired image processing device from the image processing devices capable of executing the specified operation that the external program can instruct. Can be done. This makes it possible to easily select an image processing device suitable for the external program to be started.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system 100 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2A is a block diagram of the MFP 10, and FIG. 2B is a block diagram of the mobile terminal 50. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a program list stored in the memory 62. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the main process. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the main screen generation process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the device selection process. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of PI activation processing. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of label PI processing. FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the instruction acceptance process. 10A and 10B are display examples of the display 53, in which FIG. 10A shows a menu screen of OS64 and FIG. 10B shows a main screen. 11A and 11B are display examples of the display 53, in which FIG. 11A shows a device selection screen and FIG. 11B shows a confirmation screen. 12A and 12B are display examples of the display 53, in which FIG. 12A shows a menu screen of the label program 66, and FIG. 12B shows a label editing screen.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. It is needless to say that the embodiments described below are merely examples of the present invention, and the embodiments of the present invention can be appropriately changed without changing the gist of the present invention. For example, the execution order of each process described later can be appropriately changed without changing the gist of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system 100 according to the present embodiment. The system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is composed of MFPs 10A and 10B (hereinafter, these may be collectively referred to as “MFP10”) and a mobile terminal 50. The MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 are configured to be communicable through the communication network 101. The communication network 101 may be, for example, a wired LAN, a wireless LAN, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 may be connected by a USB cable or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the MFP 10 (abbreviation of Multi-Function Peripheral) includes a printer 11, a scanner 12, a display 23, an input I / F 24, a communication I / F 25, a CPU 31, and a memory. 32 and a communication bus 33 are mainly provided. The components constituting the MFP 10 are connected to each other through the communication bus 33. The MFP 10 is an example of an image processing device.

The printer 11 is hardware that executes a printing operation of recording an image represented by image data on a sheet. As the recording method of the printer 11, a known method such as an inkjet method or an electrophotographic method can be adopted. The scanner 12 is hardware that executes a scanning operation that reads an image recorded on a document and generates image data (hereinafter, referred to as “scan data”). The MFPs 10A and 10B may be used as long as they can execute at least one operation. Further, the operations that the MFPs 10A and 10B can perform may be different.

The print operation is an example of an output operation that outputs image data acquired from the mobile terminal 50. The scanning operation is an example of an input operation for generating image data to be input to the mobile terminal 50. The print operation and the scan operation are examples of image processing operations. However, specific examples of image processing operations are not limited to these. Another example of the output operation is a fax transmission operation in which image data is faxed to an external device according to the FAX protocol. Another example of the input operation is a download operation of receiving image data from a server (not shown).

The display 23 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, and includes a display screen for displaying various information.

The input I / F 24 is a user interface that accepts an input operation by the user. Specifically, the input I / F 24 has a button, and outputs various operation signals associated with the pressed button to the CPU 31. Further, the input I / F 24 may have a film-like touch sensor superimposed on the display screen of the display 23. The operation of designating an object displayed on the display screen of the display 23 and the operation of inputting a character string or a number string are examples of user operations. The "object" is, for example, a character string, an icon, a button, a link, a radio button, a check box, a pull-down menu, or the like displayed on the display 23.

The input I / F 24 realized as a touch sensor outputs position information indicating a position on the display screen touched by the user. The term "touch" in the present specification includes all operations of bringing the input medium into contact with the display screen. Further, even if the input medium does not touch the display screen, the "hover" or "floating touch" that brings the input medium close to the position where the distance from the display screen is very small is used as the above-mentioned concept of "touch". May be included. Further, the input medium may be a user's finger, a stylus, or the like. The user operation of tapping the position of the object displayed on the display 23 is an example of the user operation of designating the object.

The communication I / F 25 is an interface capable of communicating with an external device through the communication network 101. That is, the MFP 10 transmits various information to the external device through the communication I / F25, and receives various information from the external device through the communication I / F25. The specific communication procedure of the communication I / F25 is not particularly limited, but for example, Wi-Fi (registered trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance) can be adopted. Further, when the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 are connected by a USB cable, the communication I / F 25 may be a USB interface to which the USB cable can be attached and detached.

The CPU 31 controls the overall operation of the MFP 10. The CPU 31 acquires and executes various programs described later from the memory 32 based on various information output from the input I / F 24, various information received from the external device through the communication I / F 25, and the like. The CPU 31 and the memory 32 form an example of a controller.

The memory 32 stores the OS 34 and the device program 35. The device program 35 may be a single program or a collection of a plurality of programs. Further, the memory 32 stores data or information necessary for executing the device program 35. The memory 32 is composed of, for example, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, an HDD, a portable storage medium such as a USB memory attached to and detached from the MFP 10, a buffer included in the CPU 31, or a combination thereof.

The memory 32 may be a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium is a non-transitional medium. In addition to the above examples, the non-transitory medium also includes recording media such as a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM. The non-transitory medium is also a tangible medium. On the other hand, an electric signal that carries a program downloaded from a server on the Internet is a signal medium that can be read by a computer, which is a kind of medium that can be read by a computer, but is a storage that can be read by a non-transitory computer. Not included in the medium. The same applies to the memory 62 of the mobile terminal 50 described later.

The MIB (abbreviation of Management Information Base) of the memory 32 stores the device information shown in FIG. The device information includes a device ID that identifies the MFP 10 and an operation ID that identifies an image processing operation that the MFP 10 can perform. The "device ID" may be in any format such as a text format or a binary format as long as the MFPs 10A and 10B can be uniquely identified on the communication network 101. The same applies to the operation ID, the program ID described later, the data ID described later, and the like.

That is, the MFP 10A can execute the image processing operation identified by the device ID "MFP-A" and identified by the operation IDs "sheet print" and "label print". On the other hand, the MFP 10B can execute an image processing operation identified by the device ID "MFP-B" and identified by the operation IDs "sheet print", "label print", "sheet scan", and "label scan".

The operation ID "sheet print" identifies a print operation (hereinafter, referred to as "sheet print operation") for recording an image on a recording paper which is an example of a recording medium. The operation ID "label print" is a print operation for recording an image on the surface of a label (for example, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.) which is an example of a recording medium (hereinafter, referred to as "label print operation"). To identify. That is, the printers 11 of the MFPs 10A and 10B are provided with hardware for transporting not only the recording paper but also the label at the recording position where the image is recorded on the recording medium.

The operation ID "sheet scan" identifies a scan operation (hereinafter, referred to as "sheet scan operation") that reads an image recorded on a recording sheet and generates scan data. The operation ID "label scan" identifies a scan operation (hereinafter, referred to as "label scan operation") that reads an image recorded on the label and generates scan data. That is, the MFP 10A is a so-called printer single-purpose machine that does not include the scanner 12. On the other hand, the MFP 10B has an image processing function for specifying the center position of the label on the image indicated by the scan data.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the mobile terminal 50 mainly includes a display 53, an input I / F 54, a communication I / F 55, a CPU 61, a memory 62, and a communication bus 63. The display 53, the input I / F 54, the communication I / F 55, the CPU 61, the memory 62, and the communication bus 63 included in the mobile terminal 50 are the display 23, the input I / F 24, the communication I / F 25, the CPU 31, and the memory included in the MFP 10. Since the configuration is the same as that of 32 and the communication bus 33, the description thereof will be omitted. The CPU 61 and the memory 62 are examples of the controller.

The mobile terminal 50 is, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or the like. More specifically, the display 53 of the mobile terminal 50 preferably has a display screen size of 12 inches or less, more preferably 8 inches or less. Further, it is desirable that the input I / F 54 of the mobile terminal 50 is a touch sensor superimposed on the display screen of the display 53. The memory 62 stores the OS 64, the terminal program 65, the label program 66, and the map program 67.

The OS 64 may be, for example, Android (registered trademark of Google inc.) OS, iOS (registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc.), Windows Phone (registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation) Operating System, and the like. The OS 64 can execute a plurality of programs installed in the mobile terminal 50 in parallel. A plurality of programs are virtually executed in parallel by a time division multiplexing method, for example. Further, the OS 64 executes one of a plurality of programs executed in parallel in the foreground, and executes the other programs in the background.

The foreground is, for example, a state in which a screen depending on the execution of the program is displayed in most of the display area of the display 53. The background is, for example, a state in which a screen due to execution of a program different from the program is displayed in most of the display area of the display 53. That is, the mobile terminal 50 can display only the screen depending on the execution of the program executed in the foreground on the display 53 among the plurality of programs executed in parallel.

The terminal program 65 is a program that causes the MFP 10 connected through the communication I / F 55 to execute an image processing operation. The image processing operation to be executed by the MFP 10 may be specified by the terminal program 65 to the user through the input I / F 54, or may be specified by another program installed in the mobile terminal 50. That is, the terminal program 65 is different from the so-called device driver that causes the MFP 10 to execute an image processing operation according to an instruction from another program.

The label program 66 has a function of acquiring scan data generated by the label scan operation from the MFP 10 through the terminal program 65 and generating label image data indicating an image to be recorded on the label from the acquired scan data. Further, the label program has a function of generating label image data according to a user operation through the input I / F 54 and causing the MFP 10 to execute a label print operation targeting the generated label image data through the terminal program 65.

The map program 67 extracts a part of the map image data acquired from a server (not shown) according to the user operation through the input I / F 54, and outputs a sheet print operation for the extracted map image data to the MFP 10 through the terminal program 65. It has a function to execute. Although not shown, the business card program acquires scan data generated by the sheet scan operation from the MFP 10 through the terminal program 65, and a character string included in the acquired scan data (for example, name, company name, telephone number, mail). It has a function to extract (address, etc.) as text data.

Further, the terminal program 65 can start the label program 66 and the map program 67 installed in the mobile terminal 50 as so-called plug-ins. Similarly, the label program 66 and the map program 67 can start the terminal program 65 installed in the mobile terminal 50 as a so-called plug-in. A plug-in is an example of an external program. The external program is a program that is separate from the startup program and can be executed independently, and is different from the subroutine of the startup program. Further, the external program is a program that operates on the same mobile terminal 50 as the program of the activation source.

The external program is started by, for example, an API provided by OS64 (hereinafter, referred to as "startup API"). The start-up source program executes the start-up API by, for example, specifying the program ID of the external program as an argument. The OS 64 starts an external program identified by the specified program ID according to the execution of the start API. Then, the external program executes a predetermined operation, and passes the execution result of the operation to the program of the activation source as the return value of the activation API. The external program may be started by the sharing function provided by OS64.

The memory 62 can store a program list, for example, as shown in FIG. The program list contains one or more program records. The program record is stored in the memory 62, for example, when the terminal program 65 is installed. The program record corresponds to one of a plurality of programs that can be started by the terminal program 65. The program record includes a program ID, an installation flag, a PI function list, and content information.

The program ID identifies a program that can be started by the terminal program 65. That is, the label program 66 is identified by the program ID "label", the map program 67 is identified by the program ID "map", and the business card program is identified by the program ID "business card". The installation flag indicates whether or not the program identified by the corresponding program ID is installed in the mobile terminal 50. The installation flag is set to the first value "YES" corresponding to the fact that it has already been installed, or the second value "NO" corresponding to the fact that it has not been installed yet.

The PI function list is information indicating a designated operation that the program identified by the corresponding program ID can instruct the MFP 10 through the terminal program 65. That is, the label program 66, the map program 67, and the business card program can instruct the MFP 10 to execute one or more designated operations through the terminal program 65. The PI function list shows the operation ID of the designated operation (hereinafter, referred to as "designated operation ID"). More specifically, in the PI function list, the third value "ON" corresponding to the designated operation or the fourth value "OFF" corresponding to the non-designated operation is associated with each of the plurality of operation IDs. include.

As an example, the PI function list may be defined in a so-called manifest file managed by the Android OS. As another example, the terminal program 65 may acquire the PI function list from the external program as the return value of the function by executing the function provided by the external program.

The content information includes an operation ID and a URI (abbreviation of Uniform Resource Identifier) acquired as a return value of the activation API from the program identified by the corresponding program ID. The operation ID is information for identifying the image processing operation to be executed by the MFP 10. The URI is an example of a data ID that identifies image data that is the target of an image processing operation identified by the corresponding operation ID. The content information is registered in the program record by the terminal program 65 in the instruction receiving process described later. The program record may or may not include a plurality of content information.

Although not shown, the memory 62 can store the designated device information. The designated device information is device information stored in the MIB of the MFP 10 (hereinafter, referred to as “designated device”) designated in the device selection process described later. On the other hand, when the MFP 10 is not specified, the designated device information is not stored in the memory 62.

[Operation of system 100]
The operation of the system 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9. At the time of starting the main process of FIG. 4, it is assumed that the device information of the MFP 10A is stored as the designated device information in the memory 62.

The flowchart of the present specification basically shows the processing of the CPUs 31 and 61 according to the instructions described in the program. That is, the processes such as "determination", "extraction", "selection", "calculation", "determination", "specification", and "control" in the following description represent the processes of the CPUs 31 and 61. The processing by the CPUs 31 and 61 also includes hardware control via the OS 34 and 64. Further, the "data" in the present specification is represented by a computer-readable bit string. Data having the same substantial meaning and different formats are treated as the same data. The same applies to "information" in the present specification.

The OS 64 of the mobile terminal 50 causes the display 53 to display the menu screen shown in FIG. 10 (A). The menu screen includes a plurality of program icons 111, 112, 113, 114. The program icons 111 to 114 correspond to the programs installed in the mobile terminal 50. For example, the program icon 111 corresponds to the terminal program 65, the program icon 112 corresponds to the label program 66, and the program icon 113 corresponds to the map program 67. Then, the OS 64 accepts a user operation for designating one of the program icons 111 to 114 through the input I / F 54.

As an example, the OS 64 activates the label program 66 and executes the program in the foreground in response to receiving the designation of the program icon 112 through the input I / F 54. The label program 66 started here executes the label PI process described later. As another example, the OS 64 starts the terminal program 65 and executes the program in the foreground in response to receiving the designation of the program icon 111 through the input I / F 54. Hereinafter, the processing when the program icon 111 is specified will be described.

The terminal program 65 of the mobile terminal 50 executes the main screen generation process in response to being started by the OS 64 (S11). The main screen generation process is a process for generating the main screen shown in FIG. 10 (B). More specifically, the main screen generation process is a process of determining whether or not to include the icon corresponding to the external program installed in the mobile terminal 50 in the main screen shown in FIG. 10 (B). The details of the main screen generation process will be described with reference to FIG.

The terminal program 65 executes the processes of S31 to S36 for each of all the program records included in the program list (S37: No). More specifically, the terminal program 65 determines the set value of the installation flag of the program record (S31). Further, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the program record includes the content information (S32). Further, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the designated device information stored in the memory 62 includes the operation ID of the content information (S33). Then, the terminal program 65 determines the icon of the external program corresponding to the program record according to the determination results of S31 to S33.

That is, the terminal program 65 determines that the first value "YES" is set in the installation flag for the program record in the first line of FIG. 3 (S31: Yes) and does not include the content information. (S32: No), as shown in FIG. 10B, it is determined that the PI icon 123 corresponding to the label program 66 is included in the main screen (S36).

The PI icon 123 is an example of a first object corresponding to an external program to which content information is not associated. An image showing the label program 66 is used for the PI icon 123. More specifically, the PI icon 123 may be an icon corresponding to the label program 66, such as the name, abbreviation, logo mark, etc. of the label program 66, as long as it can be recognized by the user of the mobile terminal 50.

Further, in the terminal program 65, the first value "YES" is set in the installation flag for the program record in the second line of FIG. 3 (S31: Yes), the content information is included (S32: Yes), and the designated device. Depending on the determination that the information includes the operation ID "sheet print" (S33: Yes), as shown in FIG. 10B, the content icon 124 corresponding to the map program 67 can be specified in a specifiable manner. It is decided to include it in the main screen (S34).

The content icon 124 may be a so-called thumbnail image obtained by processing the image data shown by the URI, for example, as shown in FIG. 10 (B). The “processing” may be, for example, trimming a part of the image data indicated by the URI, or reducing the resolution of the image indicated by the image data. Alternatively, the content icon 124 may be a badge image representing the number of content information contained in the program record. The badge image may be placed around the PI icon of the corresponding external program (eg, top right).

On the other hand, although not shown, in the terminal program 65, the first value "YES" is set in the installation flag (S31: Yes), the content information is included (S32: Yes), and the designated device information is the operation ID "sheet". In response to the determination that "print" is not included (S33: No), it is determined that the content icon 124 corresponding to the map program 67 is included in the main screen in an unspecified manner (S35). The mode that cannot be specified may be, for example, grayout or the like.

Further, the terminal program 65 corresponds to the business card program according to the determination that the second value “NO” is set in the installation flag for the program record in the third line of FIG. 3 (S31: No). Do not include the icon on the main screen. Then, the terminal program 65 ends the main screen generation process in response to the execution of the processes S31 to S36 for all the program records (S37: Yes).

Next, returning to FIG. 4, the terminal program 65 causes the display 53 to display the main screen shown in FIG. 10 (B) (S12). The main screen is an example of a first screen including operation icons 121 and 122, PI icons 123, content icons 124 in a specifiable manner, and switching icons 125. Then, the terminal program 65 accepts the user operation for the main screen through the input I / F 54 (S13 to S16). The process of S12 is an example of the first display process, and the process of S13 to S16 is an example of the first reception process.

The operation icon 121 corresponds to an execution instruction of the sheet print operation. The operation icon 122 corresponds to an execution instruction of the sheet scan operation. The PI icon 123 and the content icon 124 are icons determined to be included in the main screen in the main screen generation process. The switching icon 125 corresponds to a switching instruction of the designated device. The device ID "MFP-A" included in the designated device information is described in the switching icon 125. On the other hand, when the designated device information is not stored in the memory 62, the switching icon 125 describes a character string of "unselected" indicating that the designated device is not selected.

Next, the terminal program 65 executes the device selection process (S17) in response to the reception of the designation of the switching icon 125 through the input I / F 54 (S13: Yes), for example. The search condition for the device selection process executed in S17 is "all MFPs capable of communicating through the communication network 101". The details of the device selection process will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the terminal program 65 uses, for example, SNMP (abbreviation of Simple Network Management Protocol) to search for a plurality of MFPs 10 capable of communicating through the communication I / F55 (S41). Specifically, the terminal program 65 broadcasts transmission request information to the communication network 101 through the communication I / F 55. Next, the terminal program 65 receives the device information transmitted by the MFPs 10A and 10B as a response to the transmission request information through the communication I / F55. That is, the terminal program 65 specifies the MFPs 10A and 10B, which are the sources of device information, as the MFPs 10 capable of communicating. The method of searching for a communicable MFP 10 may be another well-known method.

Next, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the MFP 10 that matches the search condition is found in S41 (S42). Next, the terminal program 65 causes the display 53 to display the device selection screen shown in FIG. 11A in response to the determination that the MFPs 10A and 10B have been found (S42: Yes) (S43). Then, the terminal program 65 accepts the user operation for the device selection screen through the input I / F 54 (S44). The process of S43 is an example of the second display process, and the process of S44 is an example of the second reception process.

The device selection screen includes device icons 131 and 132. The device icons 131 and 132 correspond to the MFPs 10A and 10B found in step S41. Further, the device IDs of the corresponding MFPs 10A and 10B are described in the device icons 131 and 132. On the other hand, in the device selection process executed in S17, character strings such as "label print" and "label scan" may not be described in the device icons 131 and 132.

Next, the terminal program 65 receives the device information received from the MFP 10B corresponding to the device icon 131 as the designated device information in response to the reception of the designation of the device icon 131 through the input I / F 54 (S44: Yes). It is stored in the memory 62 (S45). If the designated device information is already stored in the memory 62, the terminal program 65 overwrites the designated device information with the new designated device information. The processing of S45 is an example of the first storage processing. On the other hand, the terminal program 65 skips the processes of S43 to S45 and ends the device selection process in response to the determination that the MFP 10 was not found in S41 (S42: No).

Next, returning to FIG. 4, the terminal program 65 causes the main screen to be displayed on the display 53 (S12). On the main screen after the device icon 131 is designated, the designated device ID "MFP-B" is described in the switching icon 125. Next, the terminal program 65 executes the PI activation process (S18) in response to the reception of the designation of the PI icon 123, for example, through the input I / F 54 (S14: Yes). The PI activation process is a process of activating the label program 66 (hereinafter, referred to as “designated program”) corresponding to the designated PI icon 123. The details of the PI activation process will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

First, the terminal program 65 reads the PI function list of the program record corresponding to the PI icon 123 from the program list (S51). Next, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the designated device supports the designated operation indicated by the read PI function list (S52). In other words, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the designated device information including the designated operation ID shown in the PI function list is stored in the memory 62 (S52). The process of S52 is an example of the first determination process.

The terminal program 65 skips the processing of S53 to S55 according to the determination that the designated device supports at least a part of the designated operation (S52: Yes), and a plurality of designated operation IDs “label print”. , "Label scan", the operation ID included in the designated device information is extracted (S56). Then, the terminal program 65 calls the activation API by designating the program ID of the label program 66 and the support function list as arguments (S57, S59). The process of S56 is an example of an extraction process, and the processes of S57, S59 and S60 described later are an example of an activation process.

The support function list is a list of operation IDs extracted in S56. As an example, when the MFP10A is a designated device, the terminal program 65 extracts only a part of the designated operation ID "label print" and displays a support function list indicating the extracted operation ID "label print" as an argument of the activation API. (S56: No → S59). As another example, when the MFP 10B is a designated device, the terminal program 65 extracts all the designated operation IDs "label print" and "label scan", and activates a support function list showing all the designated operation IDs. It is specified as an argument of (S56: Yes → S57).

On the other hand, the terminal program 65 causes the display 53 to display the confirmation screen shown in FIG. 11B in response to the determination that the designated device does not support the designated operation at all (S52: No) (S53). .. In addition, "the designated device does not support the designated operation at all" means that the designated device information stored in the memory 62 does not include any designated operation ID, or the designated device information is stored in the memory 62. Refers to not.

The confirmation screen includes the message "The designated device does not support the designated operation. Do you want to select the designated device?", The [YES] icon 141, and the [NO] icon 142. Then, the terminal program 65 accepts the user operation for the confirmation screen through the input I / F 54 (S54). The process of S54 is an example of the third reception process.

Next, the terminal program 65 executes the device selection process in response to the reception of the designation of the [YES] icon 141 through the input I / F 54 (S54: YES) (S55). Then, the terminal program 65 executes the processing after S56 by using the designated device information newly stored in the memory 62 in the device selection processing. That is, the terminal program 65 executes the processing after S56 in a state where the designated device information including the designated operation ID is stored in the memory 62. The designation of the [YES] icon 141 is an example of the first instruction operation.

The search condition for the device selection process executed in S55 is "an MFP capable of executing at least one of the designated operations among the MFPs that can communicate through the communication network 101". Hereinafter, the detailed description of the common points with the device selection process described in S17 will be omitted, and the differences will be mainly described.

As an example, when the terminal program 65 receives the device information from the MFPs 10A and 10B in S41, the terminal program 65 may extract the MFP whose device information includes at least one of the designated operation IDs from the MFPs 10A and 10B. As another example, the terminal program 65 may broadcast the transmission request information including the designated device ID in S41. Then, the MFPs 10A and 10B may transmit to the mobile terminal 50 through the communication I / F 25 only when the device information stored in the memory 32 includes the designated device ID. That is, the terminal program 65 receives only the device information including at least one of the designated operation IDs. These processes are an example of the first search process.

Next, in S43, the terminal program 65 uses the device icon 131 corresponding to the MFP 10B capable of executing all the designated operations as shown in FIG. 11A, and the MFP 10A capable of executing only a part of the designated operations. It is displayed with priority over the device icon 132 corresponding to. Further, the terminal program 65 notifies the designated operation that the MFPs 10A and 10B can execute through the corresponding device icons 131 and 132.

As an example, "priority display" may refer to arranging the device icon 131 in front of the device icon 132 in the arrangement order (for example, in the vertical direction). As another example, "priority display" means that only the device icon 131 is displayed when the MFP10B capable of executing all the specified operations is found, and the MFP10B capable of executing all the specified operations is not found. You may point to displaying the device icon 132 in some cases. Further, "notifying the designated operation through the device icons 131 and 132" means, for example, information indicating the designated operation that can be executed by the corresponding MFPs 10A and 10B (for example, the text of the operation name or the operation ID, the image representing the operation). May be described in the device icons 131 and 132.

On the other hand, in response to the reception of the designation of the [NO] icon 142 through the input I / F 54 (S54: NO), the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the PI function list acquired in S51 includes the operation ID of the output operation. Is determined (S58). That is, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the label program 66, which is a designated program, can execute the output operation. The designation of the [NO] icon 142 is an example of the second instruction operation. The process of S58 is an example of the second determination process.

Next, the terminal program 65 is a support function list indicating the operation ID "label print" of the output operation according to the determination that the label program 66 can execute the output operation "label print operation" (S58: with output). Is specified as an argument of the start API, and the label program 66 is started (S59). On the other hand, the terminal program 65 specifies a guidance flag as an argument of the activation API instead of the support function list in response to the determination that the designated program cannot execute the output operation (S58: input only), and sets the designated program. Start (S60). The guidance flag is information indicating that a designated device capable of executing the designated operation has not been designated.

The OS 64 starts the label program 66 in response to the execution of the boot API (S57, S59, S60), and executes the label program 66 in the foreground. Further, the OS 64 switches the terminal program 65 executed in the foreground to the background. The label program 66 started by the start API executes the label PI process. The details of the label PI processing will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the label program 66 displays a guidance screen (not shown) on the display 53 in response to the acquisition of the guidance flag as an argument of the activation API (S71: guidance flag) (S72), and ends the label PI process. The guidance screen is, for example, a screen for notifying that the subsequent processing cannot be continued because the designated device cannot execute the designated operation. As a result, the OS 64 executes the background terminal program 65 in the foreground. Then, the terminal program 65 switched to the foreground executes, for example, the processing after S11.

Further, does the label program 66 skip the processes of S73 to S74 according to the acquisition of the support function list as an argument of the startup API (S71: support function list), and whether the designated device supports the designated operation? It is determined whether or not (S75). In other words, the label program 66 determines whether or not the support function list acquired in S71 includes the designated device IDs "label print" and "label scan" (S75).

Next, the label program 66 causes the menu screen shown in FIG. 12A to be displayed on the display 53 (S77, S78). The menu screen includes operation icons 151 and 152. The operation icons 151 and 152 are examples of operation objects corresponding to the "label print operation" and "label scan operation" which are the designated operations of the label program 66. Then, the label program 66 accepts the user operation for the menu screen through the input I / F 54 (S79).

When it is determined that the support function list includes all the designated device IDs (S75: ALL), the label program 66 displays all the operation icons 151 and 152 on the menu screen in a specifiable manner (S77). .. On the other hand, when it is determined that the support function list includes only a part of the designated operation ID "label print" (S75: part), the label program 66 displays the operation icon 151 corresponding to the label print operation supported by the designated device. The operation icon 152 corresponding to the label scan operation not supported by the designated device is displayed on the menu screen in a non-designable manner (S78).

Next, the label program 66 displays the label editing screen shown in FIG. 12B in response to the reception of the designation of the operation icon 151 in the specifiable mode through the input I / F 54 (S79: print) (S79: print). Is displayed in (S80). The label edit screen includes a label image 161, edit icons 162, 163, 164, and a [print] icon 165. Then, the label program 66 accepts a user operation for the label edit screen through the input I / F 54 (S81).

The label image 161 is an image edited by using the edit icons 162 to 164. The edit icon 162 corresponds to an instruction to add a character string to the label image 161. The edit icon 163 corresponds to an instruction to add a color to the label image 161. The edit icon 164 corresponds to an instruction to add a photo to the label image 161. The [print] icon 165 corresponds to an execution instruction of the label print operation.

Then, the label program 66 edits the label image 161 according to the user operation for the edit icons 162 to 164, and stores the label image data indicating the edited label image 161 in the memory 62. The execution conditions of the label print operation are, for example, the image data targeted for the label print operation, the image quality of the label print operation (for example, fine, normal, etc.), and the color of the image recorded on the label (for example, color, monochrome, etc.). And so on.

Next, the label program 66 performs an operation instruction process for instructing the designated device to execute the label print operation in response to the reception of the designation of the [print] icon 165 through the input I / F 54 (S81: Yes). Instruct program 65 (S82). More specifically, the label program 66 executes the operation instruction function provided by the terminal program 65 by designating the operation ID "label print" and the URI of the label image data as arguments.

On the other hand, the label program 66 specifies the operation ID "label scan" as an argument in response to the reception of the designation of the operation icon 152 in the specifiable mode through the input I / F 54 (S79: scan), and instructs the operation. Execute the function (S83). Next, the label program 66 acquires the scan data generated by the designated device through the terminal program 65 (S84). The label program 66 may acquire scan data as a return value of an operation instruction function, for example.

Then, the label program 66 outputs the scan data acquired in S84 (S85). As an example, the label program 66 may display a label editing screen including a scanned image indicated by the acquired scan data on the display 53. As another example, the label program 66 may store the acquired scan data in the memory 62.

Further, the label program 66 also executes the label PI process when it is started in response to the designation of the program icon 112 shown in FIG. 10 (A). However, the label program 66 in this case does not acquire information as an argument (S71: None). Then, the label program 66 executes an operation instruction function by designating the list notification flag and the designated operation IDs "label print" and "label scan" as arguments (S73). The list notification flag is information for instructing the terminal program 65 to notify the support function list.

Next, the label program 66 acquires a support function list from the terminal program 65 as a return value of the operation instruction function executed in S73 (S74: Yes). Next, the label program 66 executes the processing after S75 by using the support function list acquired in S74.

The label program 66 designates the device selection flag and the designated operation IDs "label print" and "label scan" as arguments in response to the determination that the designated device does not support the designated operation (S75: 0). Then, the operation instruction function is executed (S76). The device selection flag is information for instructing the terminal program 65 to execute the device selection process.

Next, the label program 66 acquires a new support function list from the terminal program 65 as the return value of the operation instruction function executed in S76 (S74: Yes). Then, the label program 66 executes the processing after S75 by using the support function list acquired in S74. That is, the label program 66 executes the processing after S77 in a state where the designated device information including the designated device ID is stored in the memory 62. Since the processing after S77 has already been described, the description thereof will be omitted.

The OS 64 executes the terminal program 65 in the foreground and switches the label program 66 executed in the foreground to the background in response to the execution of the operation instruction function. Then, the terminal program 65 executes the instruction acceptance process according to the execution of the operation instruction function. The details of the instruction receiving process will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the terminal program 65 acquires the information specified as an argument of the operation instruction function (S91, S95, S101). The processes of S91, S95, and S101 are examples of acquisition processes. The terminal program 65 transmits the label scan instruction information to the designated device through the communication I / F55 in response to the acquisition of the operation ID “label scan” as an argument of the operation instruction function (S91: Yes), for example (S92). .. The label scan instruction information is an example of the first instruction information for executing the label scan operation. The label scan instruction information includes, for example, the operation ID "label scan". The process of S92 is an example of the first instruction process.

On the other hand, although not shown, the device program 35 of the MFP 10 receives the label scan instruction information from the mobile terminal 50 through the communication I / F 25. Then, the apparatus program 35 causes the scanner 12 to execute a label scan operation according to the received label scan instruction information. Then, the device program 35 transmits the scan data generated by the scanner 12 to the mobile terminal 50 through the communication I / F 25.

Next, the terminal program 65 receives scan data from the MFP 10 through the communication I / F 55 as a response to the label scan instruction information (S93: Yes). Then, the terminal program 65 designates the scan data received in S93 as a return value of the operation instruction function and delivers it to the label program 66 (S94). As a result, the OS 64 executes the label program 66 in the foreground and switches the terminal program 65 executed in the foreground to the background.

Further, in the terminal program 65, whether or not a designated device capable of executing the label print operation is designated according to the acquisition of the operation ID "label print" and the URI as the argument of the operation instruction function (S95: Yes). Is determined (S96). That is, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the designated device information including the operation ID “label print” is stored in the memory 62. The process of S96 is an example of the third determination process.

Next, the terminal program 65 executes the device selection process (S97) in response to the determination that the designated device capable of executing the label print operation is not designated (S96: No). The search condition for the device selection process executed in S97 is "the MFP capable of executing the label print operation among the MFPs capable of communicating through the communication network 101". Since the processing of S97 is the same as that of S55 except that the search conditions are different, the description thereof will be omitted. The process of S41 executed in S97 is an example of the second search process.

Next, the terminal program 65 again determines whether or not a designated device capable of executing the label print operation has been designated after the processing of S97 (S98). Then, the terminal program 65 is designated through the communication I / F55 in response to the determination that the designated device capable of executing the label print operation is designated on the other side of S96 and S98 (S96: Yes / S98: Yes). The label print instruction information is transmitted to the device (S100). The label print instruction information is an example of the first instruction information for executing the label print operation. The label print instruction information includes, for example, an operation ID "label scan" and label image data. The processing of S100 is an example of the first instruction processing.

On the other hand, although not shown, the device program 35 of the MFP 10 receives the label print instruction information from the mobile terminal 50 through the communication I / F 25. Then, the device program 35 causes the printer 11 to execute a label print operation according to the received label print instruction information.

Further, the terminal program 65 uses the operation ID and URI acquired in S95 as the program ID "label" in response to the determination that the designated device capable of executing the label print operation is not specified (S98: No). Register as content information in the program record (S99). The case where it is determined in S98 that the designated device capable of executing the label print operation is not specified is, for example, the case where the MFP 10 capable of executing the label print operation is not found in S41. The process of S99 is an example of a second storage process in which the operation ID and the data ID acquired in S95 are stored in the memory 62 in association with the external program of the acquisition source.

Further, the terminal program 65 executes the device selection process in response to the acquisition of the device selection flag and the designated operation ID as the arguments of the operation instruction function (S101: device selection) (S102). The search condition for the device selection process executed in S102 is "the MFP capable of executing the specified operation among the MFPs capable of communicating through the communication network 101". Since the processing of S102 is the same as that of S55, the description thereof will be omitted.

Then, the terminal program 65 designates a support function list indicating the operation ID included in the designated device information stored in the memory 62 in S102 among the designated operation IDs acquired in S101 as the return value of the operation instruction function. , Handed over to the label program 66 (S103). As a result, the OS 64 executes the label program 66 in the foreground and switches the terminal program 65 executed in the foreground to the background.

Further, the terminal program 65 is stored in the memory 62 among the designated operation IDs acquired in S101 in response to the acquisition of the list notification flag and the designated operation ID as the argument of the operation instruction function (S101: list notification). The support function list indicating the operation ID included in the designated device information is specified as the return value of the operation instruction function and passed to the label program 66 (S103). As a result, the OS 64 executes the label program 66 in the foreground and switches the terminal program 65 executed in the foreground to the background.

Further, returning to FIG. 4, the terminal program 65 receives the designation of the content icon 124 in the specifiable mode through the input I / F 54 (S15: Yes), and receives the content information corresponding to the content icon 124. Read from memory 62. Then, the terminal program 65 transmits the sheet print instruction information to the designated device through the communication I / F 55 (S19). On the other hand, although not shown, the terminal program 65 does not execute the process of S19 even if the designation of the content icon in an unspecified mode is accepted through the input I / F 54. The process of S19 is an example of the second instruction process.

The sheet print instruction information is for executing the sheet print operation identified by the operation ID "sheet print" of the read content information for the image data "map 01.PEG" indicated by the URI of the read content information. Information. The sheet print instruction information includes, for example, the image data “map 01.JPEG” indicated by the read URI and the read operation ID “sheet print”. The sheet print instruction information in S19 is an example of the second instruction information. On the other hand, although not shown, the apparatus program 35 of the MFP 10 receives the sheet print instruction information from the mobile terminal 50 through the communication I / F 25. Then, the apparatus program 35 causes the printer 11 to execute a sheet printing operation according to the received sheet printing instruction information.

Further, the terminal program 65 transmits the sheet print instruction information to the designated device through the communication I / F 55 in response to the reception of the designation of the operation icon 121 through the input I / F 54 (S16: Yes) (S20). The sheet print instruction information in S20 includes, for example, image data designated by the user through the input I / F 54. Further, the terminal program 65 transmits the sheet scan instruction information to the designated device through the communication I / F 55 in response to the reception of the designation of the operation icon 122 through the input I / F 54 (S16: Yes) (S20). The sheet scan instruction information is information for executing the sheet scan operation. The sheet scan instruction information includes, for example, the operation ID "sheet scan".

On the other hand, although not shown, the apparatus program 35 of the MFP 10 receives the sheet scan instruction process from the mobile terminal 50 through the communication I / F 25. Then, the apparatus program 35 causes the scanner 12 to execute a sheet scanning operation according to the received sheet scanning instruction information. Further, the device program 35 transmits the scan data generated by the scanner 12 in the sheet scanning operation to the mobile terminal 50 through the communication I / F 25. Then, the terminal program 65 stores, for example, the scan data received from the MFP 10 through the communication I / F 55 in the memory 62.

[Action and effect of this embodiment]
According to the above embodiment, when the designated device does not support the designated operation that can be instructed by the label program 66 (S52: No), the designation is performed prior to starting the label program 66 (S57 / S59). It is possible to have the user specify a desired MFP 10 from among the MFPs 10 capable of executing the operation (S55). This makes it possible to easily select the MFP 10 suitable for the label program 66 to be started. In the above embodiment, an example in which the label program 66 is used as the designated program has been described, but the same applies when the map program 67 or the business card program is used as the designated program.

Further, according to the above embodiment, in S57 and S59, the operation ID of the designated operation supported by the designated device is notified to the label program 66 as an argument of the activation API. Then, the label program 66 makes it possible to specify an operation icon corresponding to the designated operation supported by the designated device on the menu screen shown in FIG. 12A, and corresponds to the designated operation not supported by the designated device. Make the operation icon unspecified. In this way, the label program 66 can notify the user of the functions available using the current designated device by acquiring the support function list.

The label program 66 may execute the processes of S77 to S79 only when there are a plurality of designated operations supported by the designated device. On the other hand, when the designated device supports only the label print operation, the label program 66 may skip the processes of S77 to S79 and execute the processes of S80 to S82. Similarly, when the designated device supports only the label scan operation, the label program 66 may skip the processes of S77 to S79 and execute the processes of S83 to S85.

That is, when the designated device supports only one designated operation, the label program 66 may execute the processing after S80 assuming that the designated operation is designated in S79. As a result, when the designated device supports only one designated operation, the processes of S77 to S79 are skipped, so that the user operation for the label program 66 can be further reduced.

Further, in the label program 66, the process of causing the user to specify the label image data to be the target of the label print operation can be executed even if the designated device does not support the label print operation. That is, it may not be necessary to specify the designated device at the timing of starting the label program 66. Therefore, as in the above embodiment, the process of designating the designated device is executed at an appropriate timing by allowing the user to select whether or not to specify the designated device before starting the label program 66 through the confirmation screen. Can be done.

Further, according to the above embodiment, when the label program 66 is started without designating the designated device (S58: with output → S59), and the label print operation is instructed by the label program 66 (S95 :). Yes & S96: No), the device selection process is executed (S97). Thereby, at the timing when the label print operation is instructed, the user can specify the desired MFP 10 from the MFP 10 capable of executing the label print operation.

Further, according to the above embodiment, when the MFP 10 capable of executing the label print operation instructed by the label program 66 does not exist (S98: No), the operation ID and the URI acquired from the label program 66 are stored in the memory 62. Is done (S99). Then, the terminal program 65 causes the designated device to execute an output operation according to the content information stored in the memory 62 in response to the designation of the content icon on the main screen (S15: Yes) (S19). As a result, for example, it is possible to prevent the user's operation on the label program 66 from being wasted in order to edit the label image 161.

The content icon 124 is displayed in a mode that can be specified when the designated device information includes the operation ID of the content information, and is displayed in a mode that cannot be specified when the designated device information does not include the operation ID of the content information. .. Further, as the content icon 124, a thumbnail image or the like processed from the image data indicated by the URI is used. As a result, it is possible to notify the user that the content information is stored in the memory 62 and urge the user to execute the output operation according to the content information.

Further, according to the above embodiment, on the device selection screen shown in FIG. 11A, the device icon 131 corresponding to the MFP 10B capable of executing all the designated operations can execute only a part of the designated operations. It is displayed with priority over the device icon 132 corresponding to the MFP 10A. Further, the designated operation that can be executed by the MFPs 10A and 10B found in S41 is notified through the corresponding device icons 131 and 132. As a result, the user can easily specify the MFP 10 suitable for the label program 66.

Further, the label program 66 according to the above embodiment determines whether or not the designated device supports the designated operation at the timing when it is started (S75). Then, the label program 66 causes the terminal program 65 to execute a process of causing the user to specify the designated device from among the MFPs 10 capable of executing the designated operation when the designated device does not support the designated operation (S76 → S102). ). This makes it possible to easily select an appropriate designated device before the label program 66 executes S82 / S83.

Further, in the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 of the above embodiment, an example in which each process executed by the controller of the present invention is realized by executing various programs stored in the memories 32 and 62 by the CPUs 31 and 61. explained. However, the configuration of the controller is not limited to this, and a part or all of the controller may be realized by hardware such as an integrated circuit.

Further, the present invention can be realized not only as the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50, but also as a program for causing the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 to execute processing. Then, the program may be recorded and provided on a non-transitory recording medium. The non-transitory recording medium may include a storage unit mounted on a server that can be connected to the MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 through the communication network 101, in addition to a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, and the like. Then, the program stored in the storage unit of the server may be distributed through a communication network 101 such as the Internet as information or a signal indicating the program.

10 ... MFP
11 ... Printer 12 ... Scanner 23, 53 ... Display 24, 54 ... Input I / F
25, 55 ... Communication I / F
31,61 ... CPU
32, 62 ... Memory 35 ... Device program 50 ... Mobile terminal 65 ... Terminal program 66 ... Label program 67 ... Map program

Claims (6)

A program that can be read by a mobile terminal having a memory, an input interface, and a communication interface.
The memory stores a plurality of external programs that can be started by the program, and the external program instructs an image processing apparatus capable of executing at least one of the plurality of image processing operations to perform the image processing operation. It is a program to do
The program
A first reception process for accepting a user operation for designating a designated program, which is one of the plurality of external programs, through the input interface.
The mobile terminal is made to execute a first determination process for determining whether or not the designated device information including the operation ID of the designated operation is stored in the memory, and the designated operation is performed by the image processing device by the designated program. The image processing operation that can be instructed, and the designated device information includes the operation ID that identifies the image processing operation that can be executed by the designated device that is the image processing device designated by the user.
The program
The first image processing device that can execute the designated operation is searched among the plurality of image processing devices that can communicate through the communication interface in response to the determination that the image processing device is not stored in the first determination process. Search processing and
A second reception process for accepting a user operation for designating the designated device, which is one of the discovered image processing devices, through the input interface, and
The first storage process for storing the designated device information of the designated device designated in the second reception process in the memory, and
A program for causing the mobile terminal to execute a start-up process for starting the designated program while the designated device information including the operation ID of the designated operation is stored in the memory. The designated program can instruct the image processing device of a plurality of the designated operations.
The program
The mobile terminal is made to execute an extraction process for extracting the operation ID included in the designated device information from the operation IDs of each of the plurality of designated operations.
The program according to claim 1, wherein in the activation process, the operation ID extracted in the extraction process is designated as an argument to activate the designated program. The program
In response to the determination that it is not stored in the first determination process, the first instruction operation corresponding to the instruction to specify the designated device or the second instruction operation corresponding to the instruction not to specify the designated device is performed. The mobile terminal is made to execute the third reception process of receiving through the input interface.
The program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mobile terminal executes the first search process in response to the reception of the first instruction operation in the third reception process. The image processing operation is an output operation for outputting image data acquired from the external program, or an input operation for generating image data to be input to the external program.
The program
A second determination process for determining whether or not the designated operation includes the output operation in response to the acceptance of the second instruction operation in the third reception process.
In the start processing when it is determined in the second determination process that the output operation is included, the operation ID of the output operation is specified as an argument to start the designated program.
3. Claim 3 for starting the designated program by designating as an argument information indicating that the designated device is not specified in the startup process when it is determined in the second determination process that the output operation is not included. The program described in. The mobile terminal is equipped with a display.
The designated program can instruct the image processing device of a plurality of the designated operations.
The program
In the first search process, among the plurality of image processing devices capable of communicating through the communication interface, the image processing device capable of executing at least one of the plurality of designated operations is searched for.
The mobile terminal is made to execute the second display process of displaying the second screen including the plurality of device objects corresponding to the plurality of discovered image processing devices on the display prior to the second reception process, and all of them are displayed. The device object corresponding to the image processing device capable of executing the designated operation is displayed in preference to the device object corresponding to the image processing device capable of executing only a part of the designated operations.
The program according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the program accepts a user operation for designating one of the plurality of device objects in the second reception process through the input interface. The program according to claim 5 , wherein in the second display process, the designated operation that can be executed by the image processing device is notified through the corresponding device object.

Images