JP2009122745A - Printing instruction device, printing system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To instruct printing to a printer installed in a place relevant to a place where a printing instruction device is installed. <P>SOLUTION: A printing system is configured of a client PC 10 and an image forming apparatus 40. This image forming apparatus 40 is provided with: a self-device information storage part 43 for storing basic information of a self-device; a reception part 49 for receiving the request of the basic information; and a transmission part 48 for transmitting the basic information. The client PC 10 is provided with: a self-device information storage part 13 for storing the group information of a self-vehicle; a reception part 19 for receiving the basic information from each image forming apparatus 40; an another device information storage part 14 for storing the received basic information; and a transmitting part 18 for specifying the image forming apparatus 40 having the same group information as the group information stored in the self-device information storage part 13 on the basis of the basic information stored in the other device information storage part 14, and for transmitting a printing instruction to the image forming apparatus 40 selected from among the specified image forming apparatuses 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing instruction apparatus, a printing system, and a program.

Conventionally, when a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected to a printing instruction apparatus such as a PC (Personal Computer) that instructs printing, a technique for selecting a printing apparatus as a transmission destination of a printing instruction from the printing instruction apparatus has been proposed. (For example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In Patent Document 1, a printer device that has received print data checks the status of other printer devices in the network, and transfers the print data to a printer device that can print immediately, not in an energy saving state. As a result, the printer device in the energy saving state can reduce power consumption for returning from the energy saving state to the normal state, and can perform printing immediately.
In Patent Document 2, a printer device with the shortest startup time is automatically selected from a plurality of printer devices connected to a network, and if there is a printer device with the least power consumption, the printer device is automatically selected. is doing.

JP 2002-113925 A JP 2002-318664 A

Here, in general, when the print instruction apparatus instructs the printing apparatus to perform printing, the installation location of each apparatus has not been considered. Therefore, for example, there may be a problem that the automatically selected printing apparatus is installed at a location away from the printing instruction apparatus.
An object of the present invention is to instruct printing to a printing apparatus installed at a place related to a place where the printing instruction apparatus is installed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a generation unit that generates print information for instructing printing of an image, a first storage unit that stores first group information indicating a group according to the installation location of the device, Second storage means for storing second group information indicating a group corresponding to each installation location of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and a group indicated by the second group information associated in advance with the first group information Selection means for selecting a specific printing apparatus from at least one printing apparatus belonging to the group, and transmission for transmitting the print information generated by the generation means to the specific printing apparatus selected by the selection means And a printing instruction apparatus.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the selecting unit displays a printing device having a specific attribute among the at least one printing device as a candidate for the specific printing device, and according to a user's selection operation, The printing instruction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specific printing apparatus is selected.
The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the specific attribute is an attribute related to at least one of a speed at which the image is printed, a resolution of the image, and power consumption at the time of printing the image. The print instruction apparatus according to claim 2.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an inquiry unit that inquires whether installation of a printer driver corresponding to the specific printing apparatus is necessary, and the printer driver is installed in response to a user operation in response to the inquiry by the inquiry unit. The printing instruction apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an installation unit.
The invention according to claim 5 further comprises determination means for determining whether or not a printer driver corresponding to the specific printing apparatus has already been installed in the own apparatus, wherein the inquiry means is determined by the determination means. The print instruction apparatus according to claim 4, wherein an input based on the command is prompted.
The invention described in claim 6 includes a plurality of printing apparatuses that print images, and a print instruction apparatus that instructs the plurality of printing apparatuses to print the images, and the print instruction apparatus performs printing of the images. Generating means for generating instructed print information; first storage means for storing first group information indicating a group corresponding to the installation location of the own device; and corresponding to each installation location of the plurality of printing devices A second storage unit that stores second group information indicating a group, and at least one printing apparatus belonging to the group indicated by the second group information associated in advance with the first group information Selection means for selecting the printing apparatus, and transmission means for transmitting the print information generated by the generation means to the specific printing apparatus selected by the selection means. It is a printing system.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, each of the plurality of printing devices includes the location information indicating the installation location of the other printing device from a printing device other than the own device among the plurality of printing devices. A printing device side receiving unit that receives group information indicating a group to which another printing device belongs, and a location that is associated in advance with location information that indicates the installation location of the own device among the group information received by the printing device side receiving unit The printing system according to claim 6, further comprising: a printing apparatus side transmission unit configured to transmit the group information received together with the information as the second group information to the print instruction apparatus.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the print instructing device includes a group indicating a group to which each printing device belongs together with location information indicating the installation location of each printing device from each printing device of the plurality of printing devices. Receiving means for receiving information, wherein the first storage means receives the group information received together with the location information preliminarily associated with the location information indicating the installation location of the own device among the group information received by the receiving means; Is stored as the first group information. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein:
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the computer reads the first group information indicating the group corresponding to the installation location of the device from the first storage unit, and corresponds to the installation location of each of the plurality of printing devices. A function of reading second group information indicating the selected group from the second storage unit, and at least one printing apparatus belonging to the group indicated by the second group information previously associated with the first group information And a program for realizing a function of selecting a specific printing apparatus and a function of controlling an image to be printed by the selected specific printing apparatus.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to instruct printing to a printing apparatus installed at a place related to the place where the printing instruction apparatus is installed.
According to the invention of claim 2, a printing apparatus can be selected according to a specific attribute.
According to the invention of claim 3, the printing apparatus can be selected according to any of the attributes of printing speed, resolution, and power consumption.
According to the invention of claim 4, when a printing apparatus is selected, printing can be instructed even if a printer driver corresponding to the printing apparatus is not installed.
According to the invention of claim 5, when selecting a printing device, the user does not need to be aware of whether or not a printer driver corresponding to the printing device is installed.
According to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to instruct printing to a printing apparatus installed at a place related to the place where the printing instruction apparatus is installed.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the printing apparatus can efficiently perform group setting for selection based on the installation location, as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the print instruction apparatus can efficiently perform group setting for selection based on the installation location, as compared with the case where this configuration is not provided.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to instruct printing to a printing apparatus installed at a place related to the place where the printing instruction apparatus is installed.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of a printing system to which the present embodiment is applied.
As shown in the drawing, this configuration example is an example of a printing system constructed in a certain building. In the figure, a part of the first floor and the second floor of this building is shown.
Among them, there are Room 101 and Room 102 on the first floor. In the 101st room, the client PC 10 and the image forming apparatuses 40a, 40b, 40c, and 40d are installed. In the 102nd room, the image forming apparatus 40e is installed. These are connected to a branch line LAN 80a laid on the first floor.
On the second floor, there are rooms 201 and 202. In the room 201, image forming apparatuses 40f and 40g are installed, and in the room 202, an image forming apparatus 40h is installed. These are connected to a branch line LAN 80b laid on the second floor.
Further, the branch LANs 80a and 80b are connected to the backbone LAN 80c.

In FIG. 1, only one client PC 10 is provided as the client PC in the 101st room. This is because the following explanation is based on the assumption that the 101st room instructs printing. Normally, a plurality of client PCs are installed in each room, but the client PCs installed in each room are omitted here. In the present embodiment, a client PC 10 is provided as an example of a print instruction apparatus.
In the figure, each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses is described with a different reference numeral. However, in the following description, when an explanation is given focusing on any one of these, “image forming apparatus 40” is used. It shall be written. In the present embodiment, an image forming apparatus 40 is provided as an example of a printing apparatus.
In addition, the LAN is divided into a branch LAN and a basic LAN, and each is given a different symbol depending on the location where it is laid. However, when it is described regardless of the location where it is laid, it is simply expressed as “LAN80”. Shall.

Here, basic information defined for each image forming apparatus 40 in FIG. 1 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of such basic information.
The figure shows basic information of the image forming apparatuses 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e, 40f, 40g, and 40h in order from the top.
The basic information includes the following information (1) to (12). Here, (N) corresponds to information in the Nth column from the left in the table of FIG.
(1) Floor information Floor information is information indicating the floor on which the image forming apparatus 40 is installed.
(2) Room information Room information is information indicating a room in which the image forming apparatus 40 is installed.
(3) Group information Group information is information relating to grouping settings determined from the information of (1) and (2).

(4) Printer / MF information The printer / MF information indicates whether the image forming apparatus 40 is a printer machine or a so-called multifunction machine having a scanner function and a facsimile function in addition to a printer function. Information. In the figure, the printer is indicated by “P”, and the so-called multifunction machine is indicated by “MF”.
(5) Monochrome / Color Information Monochrome / color information is information indicating whether the image forming apparatus 40 is a monochrome machine or a color machine.
(6) Speed Performance Speed performance is information indicating how fast the image forming apparatus 40 can perform printing. In the figure, ppm (page per minute), which is an index indicating how many A4-size sheets can be printed per minute, is shown.
(7) Resolution The resolution is a resolution indicating the density of pixels in an image printed by the image forming apparatus 40, and is indicated by dpi (dot per inch).

(8) Power consumption during single-sheet printing The power consumption during single-sheet printing indicates the power consumed for printing one sheet by the image forming apparatus 40 (relationship between print volume and power consumption).
(9) Standby Power Consumption Standby power consumption is power consumed when the image forming apparatus 40 is in a standby state (standby state).
(10) Power Consumption during Power Saving The power consumption during power saving is the power consumed when the image forming apparatus 40 is in the power saving mode. If the power saving mode is provided in a plurality of stages such as the low power mode and the sleep mode, for example, the power consumption may be defined for each of them.
(11) Power consumption at return The power consumption at return is power consumed when the image forming apparatus 40 returns from the power saving mode.
(12) Power saving transition time The power saving transition time indicates the time until the image forming apparatus 40 shifts to the power saving mode. For each image forming apparatus 40, the time from the completion of printing to the transition to the power saving mode is determined. The time obtained by subtracting the elapsed time after the completion of printing from this time is the power saving transition time. It becomes.

By the way, in the present embodiment, each image forming apparatus 40 holds basic information defined for its own apparatus.
However, the group information (3) is not set when the image forming apparatus 40 is installed, and is set by exchanging information with another image forming apparatus 40 thereafter. That is, it is set by grouping the image forming apparatuses 40 based on the floor information (1) and the room information (2). In this case, the image forming apparatuses 40 having the same floor information (1) may be grouped, or the image forming apparatuses 40 having the same room information (2) may be grouped. Alternatively, both of them may be grouped. In the present embodiment, both groups are performed.
In that case, the following can be considered as a grouping method. That is, first, the image forming apparatus 40 having the same room information in (2) is found and the group name is shared with each other. Next, the same processing is performed for the image forming apparatus 40 having the same floor information (1). Since numbers are assigned in the order in which the power is turned on, numbers from G1 to G6 are assigned as shown in FIG.
Note that these group settings may be individually modified by the user.

  Further, the power saving transition time of (12) is defined here as a value that changes with the passage of time, but the information that the image forming apparatus 40 actually holds has been printed by the image forming apparatus 40. The time from the start to the power saving mode (a value that does not change over time). In this case, this value is copied to the client PC 10 and then subtracted in the client PC 10.

Hereinafter, a printing system including the client PC 10 and the image forming apparatus 40 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail. 1 shows the image forming apparatuses 40a, 40b, 40c,..., An arbitrary one selected from these is referred to as the image forming apparatus 40.
First, the functional configuration of such a printing system will be described.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the printing system according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the printing system according to the present embodiment includes a client PC 10 and an image forming apparatus 40. Among these, the client PC 10 includes a control unit 11, a UI unit 12, a local device information storage unit 13, another device information storage unit 14, a PDL generation unit 15, a transmission unit 18, and a reception unit 19. ing. The image forming apparatus 40 includes a control unit 41, a UI unit 42, a self-device information storage unit 43, an image forming unit 44, a transmission unit 48, and a reception unit 49.

First, the configuration within the client PC 10 will be described.
The control unit 11 controls the overall operation of the client PC 10. In this embodiment, as an example of a selection unit that selects a specific printing apparatus and an example of an installation unit that installs a printer driver, it is further determined whether or not the printer driver is already installed in the apparatus. The control part 11 is provided as an example of the determination means.
The UI unit 12 functions as a user interface with the user of the client PC 10. That is, information is presented to the user or an operation from the user is accepted. In the present embodiment, the UI unit 12 is provided as an example of inquiry means for inquiring whether it is necessary to install a printer driver corresponding to a specific printing apparatus.

The own device information storage unit 13 stores information on a place (floor or room) where the client PC 10 is installed and group information of the client PC 10. In the present embodiment, the own apparatus information storage unit 13 is provided as an example of a first storage unit that stores first group information indicating a group corresponding to the installation location of the own apparatus.
The other apparatus information storage unit 14 stores a copy of basic information (see FIG. 2) held by the image forming apparatus 40. In the present exemplary embodiment, the other apparatus information storage unit 14 is provided as an example of a second storage unit that stores second group information indicating a group corresponding to each installation location of a plurality of printing apparatuses.

The PDL generation unit 15 generates a PDL (Page Description Language) description, which is an example of print data (print information) that instructs the image forming apparatus 40 to perform printing, based on application data to be printed. In this embodiment, a PDL generation unit 15 is provided as an example of a generation unit that generates print information.
The transmission unit 18 transmits request data requesting basic information, print data instructing printing, and the like to the image forming apparatus 40. In the present embodiment, a transmission unit 18 is provided as an example of a transmission unit that transmits print information to a specific printing apparatus.
The receiving unit 19 receives response data including basic information from the image forming apparatus 40. In the present embodiment, a receiving unit 19 is provided as an example of a receiving unit that receives group information indicating a group to which each printing apparatus belongs.

Next, the configuration inside the image forming apparatus 40 will be described.
The control unit 41 controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 40.
The UI unit 42 functions as a user interface with the user of the image forming apparatus 40. That is, information is presented to the user or an operation from the user is accepted.
The own apparatus information storage unit 43 stores basic information (see FIG. 2) of the image forming apparatus 40 and the like.
The image forming unit 44 forms an image on a medium such as paper based on the print data sent from the client PC 10.

The transmitting unit 48 transmits response data including basic information to the client PC 10, and transmits request data requesting basic information, response data including basic information, and the like to other image forming apparatuses. . In the present embodiment, a transmission unit 48 is provided as an example of a printing apparatus side transmission unit that transmits group information to the print instruction apparatus as second group information.
The receiving unit 49 receives request data for requesting basic information, print data for instructing printing, and the like from the client PC 10 and response data including request data for requesting basic information and basic information from other image forming apparatuses. Etc. In the present embodiment, a receiving unit 49 is provided as an example of a printing apparatus side receiving unit that receives group information indicating a group to which another printing apparatus belongs.

Next, the operation of the printing system in the present embodiment will be described.
First, an operation for setting group information by exchanging information between image forming apparatuses will be described.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 40 when setting group information by exchanging information with another image forming apparatus. For example, assume that the image forming apparatus 40 is newly installed in an environment including an existing image forming apparatus in which group information is set. The operation of the newly installed image forming apparatus 40 in this case is shown. In the newly installed image forming apparatus 40, group information is not set.

  In the image forming apparatus 40, first, the UI unit 42 determines whether or not there is an operation for requesting setting of group information (step 401). This operation may be an operation on a touch panel display, for example. Alternatively, it may be recognized as this operation that the image forming apparatus 40 is turned on.

If there is no operation for requesting group information setting, step 401 is repeated to wait for the operation.
On the other hand, if there is an operation requesting setting of group information, the UI unit 42 transmits the operation content to the control unit 41, and the control unit 41 transmits request data for requesting floor information, room information, and group information. The transmission unit 48 is instructed. Then, the transmission unit 48 transmits request data for requesting floor information, room information, and group information on the LAN 80 (step 402).

In this way, the other image forming apparatus that has received the request data sent on the LAN 80 returns response data including floor information, room information, and group information by an operation described later with reference to FIG. Thereby, the receiving unit 49 receives the response data, and passes the floor information, room information, and group information to the control unit 41 (step 403). Then, the control part 41 reads the floor information and room information of an own apparatus from the own apparatus information storage part 43 (step 404). Then, it is determined whether or not there is information including a combination of the floor information and room information in the received information (step 405).
As a result, if the received information includes information including the floor information and room information of the own device, the group information included in the information is stored in the own device information storage unit 43 as the group information of the own device. (Step 406).
On the other hand, if there is no information including the floor information and room information of the own device in the received information, new group information not included in the received information is generated, and this is used as the group information of the own device. It is stored in its own device information storage unit 43 (step 407).

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the image forming apparatus 40 that provides necessary information when another image forming apparatus sets group information. For example, it is assumed that another image forming apparatus is newly installed in an environment including the existing image forming apparatus 40 in which group information is set. The operation of the existing image forming apparatus 40 in this case is shown. In FIG. 4, the image forming apparatus 40 requests other image forming apparatuses for information necessary for setting group information. Here, since the request is made, not only other image forming apparatuses but also the client PC 10 are included as a request source of necessary information.

In the image forming apparatus 40, first, the receiving unit 49 determines whether request data requesting a predetermined item of basic information has been received from the LAN 80 (step 421).
Here, if the request data has not been received, step 421 is repeated to wait for reception of the request data.
On the other hand, if the request data is received, the receiving unit 49 passes the request data to the control unit 41, and the control unit 41 analyzes the request data (step 422). Then, it is determined whether the request data requests floor information, room information, group information or all information items among the basic information stored in the own device information storage unit 43 (step 423). ). When the newly installed image forming apparatus 40 sets group information, the former request data is sent to the LAN 80 as described with reference to FIG. When the newly installed client PC 10 sets group information, the latter request data is sent to the LAN 80 as will be described later with reference to FIG. 6 or FIG. Therefore, in this step, it is determined which request data has been received.

As a result of the determination, if the request data requests floor information, room information, and group information, the control unit 41 reads out the information from the own device information storage unit 43 and passes it to the transmission unit 48, and transmits it to the transmission unit. 48 transmits response data including these pieces of information to the requesting image forming apparatus (step 424).
On the other hand, if the request data requests all information items, the control unit 41 reads all the information items from its own device information storage unit 43 and passes them to the transmission unit 48. The transmission unit 48 transmits these information items. The included response data is transmitted to the requesting client PC 10 (step 425).

When group information is set for each image forming apparatus 40 in this way, in this embodiment, the client PC 10 selects the image forming apparatus 40 that is the transmission destination of the print data (the image forming apparatus 40 that is the output destination). Here, as the client PC 10, two types of client PCs 10 are assumed when attention is paid to its usage. One is a client PC 10 that is fixedly installed in Room 101 and always selects one of the image forming apparatuses 40 in this environment as an output destination. The other is a client PC 10 that is temporarily brought into and connected to Room 101 and temporarily outputs to the image forming apparatus 40 in this environment. Due to the difference in these types, the operation when selecting the output image forming apparatus 40 also differs.
Therefore, the case of using the former client PC 10 will be described in detail as a first embodiment, and the case of using the latter client PC 10 will be described in detail as a second embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, the client PC 10 is a PC fixedly installed in the 101st room as described above.
In this case, the group setting for the client PC 10 is performed as follows.
That is, first, when installing the client PC 10, the floor information (1) and the room information (2) are set in advance. As a result, in the client PC 10, the printer driver inquires the group information (3) to each image forming apparatus 40 via the LAN 80, and holds it as a set value. Specifically, information such as “(1) 1F, (2) Room 101, (3) G1, G3” is held.
In the client PC 10, when a print request is made, the printer driver displays a print screen for selecting the output destination image forming apparatus 40 on the display.

First, an operation when the client PC 10 sets group information in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the client PC 10 at this time. For example, assume that a new client PC 10 is installed in an environment including an existing image forming apparatus 40 in which group information is set. The operation of the newly installed client PC 10 in this case is shown.

  In the client PC 10, first, the UI unit 12 determines whether or not an operation for requesting setting of group information has been performed (step 101). This operation may be an operation on a display, for example. Alternatively, it may be recognized as this operation that the power of the client PC 10 is turned on.

If there is no operation for requesting group information setting, step 101 is repeated to wait for the operation.
On the other hand, if there is an operation for requesting the setting of group information, the UI unit 12 transmits the details of the operation to the control unit 11, and the control unit 11 transmits transmission of request data for requesting all information items to the transmission unit 18. Instruct. Then, the transmission unit 18 transmits request data for requesting all information items on the LAN 80 (step 102). In this case, it is sufficient to request the floor information, the room information, and the group information only for setting the group information. However, the image forming apparatus 40 can be selected later using other detailed information. Here, all information items of basic information are requested.

  In this way, the image forming apparatus 40 that has received the request data transmitted on the LAN 80 returns response data including all information items by the operation described with reference to FIG. Thereby, the receiving part 19 receives response data, and delivers the information contained in this to the control part 11 (step 103). Then, the control part 11 memorize | stores this information in the other apparatus information storage part 14 (step 104).

Next, an operation when the client PC 10 displays a print screen for selecting the output image forming apparatus 40 in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the client PC 10 at this time.
In the client PC 10, first, the UI unit 12 determines whether or not there has been an operation for requesting printing (step 121). This operation may be a printing operation on a display, for example.

If there is no operation for requesting printing, step 121 is repeated to wait for the printing request.
On the other hand, if there is an operation for requesting printing, the control unit 11 performs processing for presenting candidates for the image forming apparatus 40 that is the output destination.
Specifically, first, the control unit 11 collates the information stored in the own device information storage unit 13 and the other device information storage unit 14, and the same group information as the group information set in the own device is set. The image forming apparatus 40 is selected (step 122). Here, the same group information is used, but the group information is not necessarily the same, and it is only necessary to select the image forming apparatus 40 in which group information previously associated with the group information set in the own apparatus is set. Next, for each predetermined reference from the selected image forming apparatuses 40, candidates for the image forming apparatus 40 that is an output destination when the reference is emphasized are determined (step 123). Here, as the predetermined standard, a standard regarding power consumption, speed performance, resolution, and the like can be considered. Further, the control unit 11 is not limited to the image forming apparatus 40 selected in step 122 with respect to a predetermined special reference, and the output destination when the reference is emphasized from all the image forming apparatuses 40. A candidate for the image forming apparatus 40 is determined (step 124). Here, as a special criterion determined in advance, a criterion relating to resolution or the like can be considered. Thereafter, a print screen including the image forming apparatus 40 determined in step 123 and step 124 as an output destination candidate is displayed (step 125).

Next, a print screen displayed by such an operation will be described.
FIG. 8A shows an example of such a print screen.
First, the “recommended print” button at the top on the left side will be described. The “recommended print” button displays the image forming apparatus 40 that belongs to the same group as the client PC 10 and that consumes the least power when requested printing is performed. The display in the “recommended print” button is an example of a display of a printing apparatus having an attribute relating to power consumption when printing an image.
Next, the “speed priority print” button at the center of the left side will be described. The “speed priority print” button displays the image forming apparatus 40 belonging to the same group as the client PC 10 that can perform the requested printing at the highest speed. The display in the “speed priority print” button is an example of a display of a printing apparatus having an attribute relating to the speed at which an image is printed.
Next, the “energy saving print” button at the bottom left side will be described. The “energy saving print” button displays the image forming apparatus 40 belonging to the same group as the client PC 10 that consumes the least amount of power when requested printing is performed. In other words, the “Recommended Print” button has a restriction that it is in standby, but the “Energy Saving Print” button does not have such a restriction. That is, the image forming apparatus 40 currently in use and the image forming apparatus 40 currently in the power saving mode can be selected. The display in the “energy saving print” button is an example of a display of a printing apparatus having an attribute related to power consumption when printing an image.

The “high resolution print” button at the top right will be described. The “high resolution print” button displays the image forming apparatus 40 belonging to the same group as the client PC 10 that can perform the requested printing at the highest resolution. The display in the “high resolution print” button is an example of a display of a printing apparatus having an attribute relating to the resolution of the image.
Further, the “high resolution print” button at the center on the right side will be described. The “high resolution print” button displays not only the same group as the client PC 10 but also the image forming apparatus 40 connected to the LAN 80 that can perform the requested printing at the highest resolution. The display in the “high resolution print” button is an example of a display of a printing apparatus having an attribute relating to the resolution of the image.
Furthermore, the “user selected print” button at the bottom right will be described. The “user selection print” button is provided so that the user can individually select the image forming apparatus 40 desired by pressing this button.

FIG. 8B shows an example of a user selection print screen displayed when the “user selection print” button is pressed on the print screen of FIG. The client PC 10 refers to the group information in the basic information stored in the other device information storage unit 14 and displays the image forming apparatuses 40 in groups.
FIG. 8C shows an example of a user selection print screen displayed when the “Group 1” button is pressed on the user selection print screen of FIG. 8B. The client PC 10 refers to the group information in the basic information stored in the other device information storage unit 14 and displays information about each image forming device 40.
In the figure, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H represent the image forming apparatuses 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e, 40f, 40g, and 40h in FIG. 1, respectively. .

Here, the user selects a desired image forming apparatus 40 from any of these screens. As a result, in the client PC 10, the transmission unit 18 transmits print data to the selected image forming apparatus 40.
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus 40a is selected by pressing the “recommended print” button in FIG. Then, the client PC 10 transmits print data to the image forming apparatus 40a, and the image forming apparatus 40a performs printing based on the print data. Then, information indicating that printing has been completed is transmitted from the image forming apparatus 40a to the client PC 10, and in the client PC 10, the UI unit 12 displays a message indicating that printing has been performed by the image forming apparatus 40a.
FIG. 9 is an example of such a print completion message.

[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, as described above, the client PC 10 is, for example, a notebook PC temporarily brought into the room 101.
In that case, the client PC 10 operates as follows.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the client PC 10 at this time.
In the client PC 10, first, the UI unit 12 determines whether or not there has been an operation for requesting printing (step 151). This operation may be a printing operation on a display, for example.

If there is no operation for requesting printing, step 151 is repeated to wait for the printing request.
On the other hand, if there is an operation for requesting printing, the UI unit 12 displays a room number input screen for inputting the room number brought in by the client PC 10 (step 152). In this case, the room numbers included in the room number input screen may be prepared as follows. That is, first, the client PC 10 sends request data for requesting all information items of the basic information to the LAN 80. On the other hand, since the image forming apparatus 40 returns response data including all information items, the client PC 10 receives the response data and stores the information included therein in the other apparatus information storage unit 14. Of the stored information, a room number is prepared based on the room information. In this case, it is sufficient to request room information and group information only for the input of the room number and the display of the output destination selection screen in step 154. However, the image forming apparatus is used by using other detailed information later. All information items of the basic information are requested here so that 40 can be selected.

Next, the UI unit 12 determines whether a room number is input from the room number input screen (step 153).
If no room number has been input, step 153 is repeated to wait for the room number to be input.
On the other hand, if the room number has been input, the UI unit 12 displays an output destination selection screen including the image forming apparatus 40 installed near the room of the input room number (step 154). In this case, the image forming apparatus 40 included in the output destination selection screen may be determined as follows. That is, first, the correspondence between the room information and the group information stored in the other device information storage unit 14 is referred to, the group information corresponding to the input room information is specified, and the image forming apparatus 40 belonging to the group is output to the output destination. As a candidate.

Next, the UI unit 12 determines whether or not the output destination image forming apparatus 40 is selected on the output destination selection screen (step 155).
If the output destination image forming apparatus 40 is not selected, step 155 is repeated to wait for the output destination to be selected.
On the other hand, if the output image forming apparatus 40 is selected, the UI unit 12 displays a printer driver screen (screen for requesting installation of the printer driver) (step 156). In this printer driver screen, if the printer driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus 40 selected as the output destination has been installed, the option “Installed” is checked. On the other hand, if such a printer driver has not been installed, the option of “simplified installation” for installing a simplified printer driver sufficient to temporarily use the selected image forming apparatus 40 is checked. Has been made. It should be noted that there are various methods for determining whether or not the printer driver corresponding to the selected image forming apparatus 40 has been installed, such as the control unit 11 searching for the program name of the printer driver.

Further, the UI unit 12 determines whether or not “simple version installation” is selected on the printer driver screen (step 157).
Here, if “installation of simplified version” is selected, a simplified version of the printer driver corresponding to the selected image forming apparatus 40 is installed (step 158). Specifically, the transmission unit 18 of the client PC 10 transmits request data for requesting a printer driver to the selected image forming apparatus 40. Then, the receiving unit 49 of the image forming apparatus 40 receives the request data, and the transmitting unit 48 returns the simplified printer driver stored in the own apparatus information storage unit 43 to the client PC 10. As a result, the receiving unit 19 of the client PC 10 receives the simplified printer driver and passes it to the control unit 11, and the control unit 11 stores the simplified printer driver in the other device information storage unit 14. Then, the client PC 10 activates the simplified printer driver and issues a normal print instruction. In this case, as in the first embodiment, the screen shown in FIG. 8 may be displayed with reference to the reference stored in the other device information storage unit 14.
On the other hand, if “simple installation” is not selected, that is, if “installed” is selected, the printer driver is not installed. Then, the installed printer driver is activated to give a normal print instruction. In this case as well, as in the first embodiment, the screen shown in FIG. 8 may be displayed with reference to the reference stored in the other device information storage unit 14.

Next, a screen displayed by such an operation will be described.
FIG. 11A shows an example of a room number input screen (pop-up window) displayed in step 152.
In the present embodiment, since four rooms of room 101, room 102, room 201, and room 202 are assumed as the rooms, the room numbers of these rooms are displayed. Also, an “other” field is provided in which room numbers other than these rooms can be freely input.

FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating an example of an output destination selection screen displayed in step 154. In the figure, models A, B, C, D, and E represent the image forming apparatuses 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, and 40e in FIG. 1, respectively.
In the present embodiment, room 101 is selected on the room number input screen of (a). Group information corresponding to room 101 is G1 and G3. Therefore, in addition to the image forming apparatuses 40a, 40b, 40c, and 40d installed in the 101st room, an image forming apparatus 40e installed in the 102th room is included in the options.

Further, FIG. 11C is a diagram showing an example of a printer driver screen displayed in step 156.
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the image forming apparatus 40a is selected on the output destination selection screen of (b). In this case, if the printer driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus 40a is installed, “Installed” is checked and a screen is displayed as shown in the figure. However, it is not always necessary to automatically check “installed”. In that case, if the user knows that the printer driver is not installed, if the user knows that the printer driver is out of date, or if it is unclear whether the printer driver is installed, then the user "Simple installation" will be selected.

By the way, the selection of the image forming apparatus 40 as the output destination has been performed in the client PC 10 so far, but the present embodiment is not limited to this. For example, the selection of the output destination image forming apparatus 40 may be realized in a print server that processes print requests to a plurality of image forming apparatuses 40. Therefore, the hardware configuration will be described on the assumption that the selection of the image forming apparatus 40 as the output destination is realized by the general-purpose computer 90.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the computer 90.
As shown in the figure, the computer 90 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 91 as a calculation means, a main memory 92 as a storage means, and a magnetic disk device (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) 93. Here, the CPU 91 executes various types of software such as an OS (Operating System) and applications to realize the above-described functions. The main memory 92 is a storage area for storing various software and data used for execution thereof, and the magnetic disk device 93 is a storage area for storing input data for various software, output data from various software, and the like. .
Further, the computer 90 includes a communication I / F 94 for performing communication with the outside, a display mechanism 95 including a video memory and a display, and an input device 96 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  It should be noted that the program for realizing the present embodiment may be provided by being stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, as well as provided by communication means.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printing system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of basic information defined for each image forming apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the image forming apparatus in the embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of the image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of client PC in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of client PC in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the screen displayed on client PC in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the screen displayed on client PC in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of client PC in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the screen displayed on client PC in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a hardware block diagram of the computer which can apply embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Client PC, 11 ... Control part, 12 ... UI part, 13 ... Own apparatus information storage part, 14 ... Other apparatus information storage part, 15 ... PDL production | generation part, 18 ... Transmission part, 19 ... Reception part, 40 ... Image Forming device, 41 ... control unit, 42 ... UI unit, 43 ... Self-device information storage unit, 44 ... Image forming unit, 48 ... Transmitting unit, 49 ... Receiving unit

Claims (9)

Generating means for generating print information for instructing printing of an image;
First storage means for storing first group information indicating a group corresponding to the installation location of the device;
Second storage means for storing second group information indicating a group corresponding to each installation location of the plurality of printing apparatuses;
Selecting means for selecting a specific printing device from at least one printing device belonging to the group indicated by the second group information associated in advance with the first group information;
A printing instruction apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit the print information generated by the generation unit to the specific printing apparatus selected by the selection unit.   The selection unit displays a printing device having a specific attribute among the at least one printing device as a candidate for the specific printing device, and selects the specific printing device according to a user's selection operation. The print instruction apparatus according to claim 1.   The print instruction apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the specific attribute is an attribute relating to at least one of a speed at which the image is printed, a resolution of the image, and power consumption when the image is printed. . Inquiry means for inquiring whether it is necessary to install a printer driver corresponding to the specific printing device;
The print instruction apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an installation unit that installs the printer driver in response to a user operation in response to an inquiry by the inquiry unit. A determination unit that determines whether a printer driver corresponding to the specific printing apparatus has been installed in the apparatus;
5. The print instruction apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the inquiry unit prompts input based on a determination result by the determination unit. A plurality of printing devices for printing images;
A print instruction device that instructs the plurality of printing devices to print the image;
The printing instruction device
Generating means for generating print information for instructing printing of the image;
First storage means for storing first group information indicating a group corresponding to the installation location of the device;
Second storage means for storing second group information indicating a group corresponding to an installation location of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses;
Selecting means for selecting a specific printing device from at least one printing device belonging to the group indicated by the second group information associated in advance with the first group information;
A printing system comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit the print information generated by the generation unit to the specific printing apparatus selected by the selection unit. Each of the plurality of printing devices includes:
Printing device side reception for receiving group information indicating a group to which the other printing device belongs together with location information indicating the installation location of the other printing device from a printing device other than the own device among the plurality of printing devices. Means,
Of the group information received by the printing device side receiving means, the group information received together with the location information preliminarily associated with the location information indicating the installation location of the own device is transmitted to the print instruction device as the second group information. The printing system according to claim 6, further comprising: a printing apparatus side transmission unit configured to perform printing. The printing instruction device
Receiving means for receiving, from each printing device of the plurality of printing devices, group information indicating a group to which each printing device belongs together with location information indicating the installation location of each printing device;
The first storage unit stores, as the first group information, the group information received together with the location information preliminarily associated with the location information indicating the installation location of the device among the group information received by the receiving unit. The printing system according to claim 6. On the computer,
A function of reading first group information indicating a group corresponding to the installation location of the own device from the first storage means;
A function of reading second group information indicating a group corresponding to each installation location of the plurality of printing apparatuses from the second storage unit;
A function of selecting a specific printing device from at least one printing device belonging to the group indicated by the second group information associated in advance with the first group information;
A program for realizing a function of controlling an image to be printed by the selected specific printing apparatus.

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