JP2020038717A - Monitor program, information processing terminal, and monitor system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitor program capable of appropriately notifying the status of an image forming apparatus. SOLUTION: The program transmits formation instruction information for executing a formation operation to an image forming apparatus through a communication unit in response to receiving a formation instruction operation instructing execution of the formation operation (S44: print icon). Information processing among the formation instruction processing (S46), the status reception processing (S52: Yes) for receiving status information indicating the status of the image forming apparatus that executes the formation operation from the server, and the status information received in the status reception processing. The determination process (S53) for determining the target status information indicating the status to be notified to the terminal user, and the first display process for displaying the status screen including the status indicated by the target status information determined in the determination process on the display unit. (S47) is executed by the information processing terminal. [Selection diagram] Fig. 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitor program for monitoring a status of an image forming apparatus.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an image forming apparatus that generates an event message and transmits the event message to a push notification server, a push notification server that receives an event message from the image forming apparatus, and pushes the event message to a mobile terminal. A system including a mobile terminal that displays a notified event message is disclosed. Further, the event message may include, for example, status information indicating the status of the image forming apparatus.

JP 2014-29641 A

  The push notification server having the above configuration may accumulate status information received from the image forming apparatus. The push notification server accumulates the status information when, for example, it cannot communicate with the mobile terminal. Then, the push notification server pushes the stored status information to the mobile terminal according to the fact that communication with the mobile terminal has become possible.

  However, the status information stored in the push notification server for a long time may be information that is not necessary for the user of the mobile terminal. In addition, if the mobile terminal and the push notification server become able to communicate with each other in a state where a large amount of status information is stored, a large number of statuses will be continuously displayed on the mobile terminal, and the user of the mobile terminal will be required. Information may be buried.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a monitor program installed in an information processing terminal that receives status information generated by an image forming apparatus through a server. An object of the present invention is to provide a monitor program capable of appropriately notifying a status.

  A monitor program according to an embodiment of the present specification can be read by an information processing terminal including a communication unit, an operation unit, and a display unit. The communication unit is connected to an image forming apparatus that can execute a forming operation for forming an image, and a server that receives status information from the image forming apparatus. The monitor program includes a receiving process for receiving a user operation through the operation unit, and forming instruction information for executing the forming operation in response to receiving a forming instruction operation for instructing execution of the forming operation in the receiving process. A forming instruction process for transmitting to the image forming apparatus through the communication unit, the status information indicating a status of the image forming device performing the forming operation, a status receiving process for receiving from the server through the communication unit, Among the status information received in the status receiving process, a determining process of determining target status information indicating a status to be notified to the user of the information processing terminal, and a status indicated by the target status information determined in the determining process. A first display process for displaying a status screen including It is executed by the information processing terminal.

  According to the above configuration, of the status information received from the server, only the status to be notified to the user of the information processing terminal is selectively displayed on the status screen. That is, the status of the image forming apparatus can be appropriately notified to the user of the information processing terminal.

  A monitor program according to another embodiment of the present specification can be read by an information processing terminal including a communication unit, an operation unit, and a display unit. The communication unit is connected to an image forming apparatus that can execute a forming operation for forming an image, and a server that receives status information from the image forming apparatus. The monitor program includes a receiving process for receiving a user operation through the operation unit, and forming instruction information for executing the forming operation in response to receiving a forming instruction operation for instructing execution of the forming operation in the receiving process. The forming instruction process to be transmitted to the image forming apparatus through the communication unit, and the status information indicating the status of the image forming device performing the forming operation, the status receiving process of receiving from the server through the communication unit, Causes the information processing terminal to execute. The status information includes operation identification information for identifying the forming operation. The program determines, among the status information received in the status receiving process, target status information indicating a status to be notified to a user of the information processing terminal for each of the operation status information including the same operation identification information The information processing terminal causes the information processing terminal to execute a determination process to be performed and a first display process for displaying, on the display unit, a status screen including a status indicated by the target status information determined in the determination process.

  The information processing terminal described in this specification includes a communication unit, an operation unit, a display unit, and a control unit. The communication unit is connected to an image forming apparatus that can execute a forming operation for forming an image, and a server that receives status information from the image forming apparatus. The control unit is configured to execute a reception process for receiving a user operation through the operation unit, and formation instruction information for executing the formation operation in response to receiving a formation instruction operation for instructing execution of the formation operation in the reception process. A forming instruction process for transmitting to the image forming apparatus through the communication unit, the status information indicating a status of the image forming device performing the forming operation, a status receiving process for receiving from the server through the communication unit, Among the status information received in the status receiving process, a determining process of determining target status information indicating a status to be notified to the user of the information processing terminal, and a status indicated by the target status information determined in the determining process. And a first display process for displaying a status screen including the status screen on the display unit. .

  The monitor system described in this specification includes an information processing terminal and an image forming apparatus. The information processing terminal includes a first communication unit connected to the image forming apparatus and a server that receives status information from the image forming apparatus, an operation unit, a display unit, and a first control unit. The image forming apparatus includes a forming unit that performs a forming operation for forming an image, a second communication unit connected to the information processing terminal and the server, and a second control unit. A first control unit configured to execute a forming operation in response to a reception process of receiving a user operation through the operation unit and a formation instruction operation of instructing execution of the forming operation being received in the reception process; A formation instruction process for transmitting information to the image forming apparatus through the first communication unit, and the status information indicating a status of the image forming apparatus performing the formation operation are received from the server through the first communication unit. Status receiving processing, determining processing for determining target status information indicating a status to be notified to a user of the information processing terminal among the status information received in the status receiving processing, and the target status determined in the determining processing A first display process for displaying a status screen including a status indicated by information on the display unit; To run the door. The second control unit controls the forming unit to perform the forming operation in accordance with the instruction receiving process of receiving the formation instruction information from the information processing terminal through the second communication unit and the formation instruction information received in the instruction receiving process. And a status transmission process of transmitting the status information to the server via the second communication unit.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a monitor system 100 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2A is a block diagram of the MFP 10, and FIG. 2B is a block diagram of the portable terminal 50. FIG. 3 is an example of a status list stored in the data storage area 62B. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of operations of the multifunction peripheral 10A, the mobile terminal 50, and the server 110 when the multifunction peripheral 10A executes a print operation in accordance with an instruction from the mobile terminal 50. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the printing process. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the status determination process. FIG. 7 is a flowchart of background processing. FIG. 8 shows a display example of the display unit 53, in which (A) shows a data selection screen and (B) shows a preview screen. FIG. 9 is a display example of the display unit 53, in which (A) shows a device selection screen and (B) shows a status screen. FIG. 10 is an example of a status screen displayed on the display unit 53. FIG. 11 shows a display example of the display unit 53, in which (A) shows a status list screen and (B) shows a menu screen.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. The embodiment described below is merely an example of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the embodiment of the present invention can be appropriately changed without changing the gist of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a monitor system 100 according to the first embodiment. The monitor system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes multifunction peripherals 10A and 10B (hereinafter, these may be collectively referred to as “multifunction peripheral 10”) and a portable terminal 50. The monitor system 100 is a system that causes the portable terminal 50 to receive status information generated by the multifunction peripheral 10 via the server 110. The MFP 10, the mobile terminal 50, and the server 110 can communicate with each other via a communication network. A specific example of the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the communication network may be the Internet 101, a wired LAN (for Local Area Network), a wireless LAN 102, or a combination thereof.

  The MFP 10 and the mobile terminal 50 belong to the wireless LAN 102. The wireless LAN 102 is connected to the Internet 101 through a router 102A. Further, the server 110 is connected to the Internet 101. Then, the MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 can communicate with the server 110 from the router 102A via the Internet 101. However, the MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 may belong to different communication networks.

  For communication between the multifunction peripheral 10 and the mobile terminal 50, instead of a wireless LAN, for example, NFC (abbreviation of Near Field Communication), TransferJet (registered trademark of the TransferJet Consortium), and Bluetooth (a trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.). (Registered trademark), Bluetooth LE (short for Low Energy), and the like. Further, the MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 may be connected by a USB cable. In this case, the multifunction peripheral 10 and the portable terminal 50 include a communication unit for performing communication conforming to the above-described standard or a connection unit to which a USB cable is connected, in addition to the communication units 25 and 55 described below.

[MFP 10]
As shown in FIG. 2A, the multifunction peripheral 10 includes a printer unit 11, a scanner unit 12, a display unit 23, an operation unit 24, a communication unit 25, a CPU 31, a storage unit 32, A bus 33 is mainly provided. The components constituting the multifunction peripheral 10 are mutually connected via a communication bus 33. The MFP 10 is an example of an image forming apparatus, the printer unit 11 and the scanner unit 12 are examples of a forming unit that forms an image, and the communication unit 25 is an example of a second communication unit.

[Printer 11, Scanner 12]
The printer unit 11 performs a printing operation for recording an image represented by image data on recording paper. The recording paper is an example of a sheet or a recording medium. As a recording method of the printer unit 11, a known method such as an ink jet method or an electrophotographic method can be adopted. The scanner unit 12 performs a scanning operation of reading an image recorded on a document and forming image data. The printer unit 11 is an example of a recording unit, and the scanner unit 12 is an example of a reading unit. The MFP 10 may further execute a facsimile operation for transmitting and receiving a facsimile, a copy operation for reading an image recorded on a recording sheet and recording the image on another recording sheet, and the like. The print operation, the scan operation, the FAX operation, and the copy operation are examples of a forming operation for forming an image.

[Display unit 23]
The display unit 23 includes a display screen for displaying various information. As the display unit 23, a liquid crystal display (abbreviation for Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL display (abbreviation for Organic Electro-Luminescence Display), or the like can be used.

[Operation unit 24]
The operation unit 24 receives a user operation of selecting an object displayed on the display screen of the display unit 23. Specifically, the operation unit 24 has a button, and outputs various operation signals associated with the pressed button to the CPU 31. Further, the operation unit 24 has a film-shaped touch sensor superimposed on the display screen of the display unit 23, and the display unit 23 may be configured as a touch panel display. The “object” refers to an image that can be selected by the user operating the operation unit 24. The object is, for example, a character string, an icon, a button, a link, or the like displayed on the display unit 23.

  The operation unit 24 implemented as a touch panel outputs a user operation of touching the display screen of the display unit 23 and position information indicating a position on the display screen touched by the user. The position information is output, for example, as coordinates (x, y) with the display screen on the xy plane. A well-known method such as an electrostatic capacitance method or a resistive film method can be used for the touch sensor.

  Note that “touch” in this specification includes all operations for bringing an input medium into contact with a display screen. In the present embodiment, a tap operation for separating a touched input medium from a display screen within a predetermined time will be described as an example of a touch, but a so-called long touch operation, a slide operation, a flick operation, a pinch-in operation, a pinch-out operation, and the like. You may. The approach of the input medium to a position where the distance between the input medium and the display screen is very small may be included in the concept of the “touch” described above. Further, the input medium may be a user's finger, a touch pen, or the like.

[Communication unit 25]
The communication unit 25 is an interface for communicating with an external device. Specifically, the communication unit 25 can communicate with the mobile terminal 50 and the server 110. The communication unit 25 performs communication according to a procedure based on, for example, the IEEE 802.11 standard and Wi-Fi (a registered trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance).

[CPU 31]
A CPU (abbreviation of Central Processing Unit) 31 controls the overall operation of the MFP 10. The CPU 31 acquires various programs described later from the storage unit 32 and executes the programs based on various information output from the operation unit 24 and various information acquired from an external device through the communication unit 25. That is, the CPU 31 and the storage unit 32 constitute an example of a second control unit.

[Storage unit 32]
The storage unit 32 has a program storage area 32A and a data storage area 32B. An OS (Operating System) 34 and an apparatus program 35 are stored in the program storage area 32A. The OS 34 and the device program 35 are programs built in a binary format. Note that the device program 35 may be a single program or an aggregate of a plurality of programs. The data storage area 32B stores data or information necessary for executing the device program 35.

  Note that “data” and “information” in this specification are common in that they are bits or bit strings that can be handled by a computer. “Data” refers to data that can be handled by a computer without considering the meaning of each bit. On the other hand, "information" indicates that the operation of the computer branches depending on the meaning of each bit. Further, the "instruction" is a control signal for prompting the destination device to perform the next operation, and may include information, or may have the property of information itself. There is also.

  Further, even if the format (for example, text format, binary format, flag format, etc.) is changed for each computer, "data" and "information" are the same as long as they are recognized as having the same meaning and content. Is treated as For example, information indicating “two” is stored as text information of ASCII code “0x32” in one computer, and is stored as binary information of “10” in binary notation in another computer. May be done.

  However, the distinction between “data” and “information” is not strict, and exceptional handling is allowed. For example, data may be temporarily handled as information, or information may be temporarily handled as data. Also, what is treated as data in one device may be treated as information in another device. Further, information may be extracted from data, or data may be extracted from information.

  The storage unit 32 includes, for example, RAM (abbreviation of Random Access Memory), ROM (abbreviation of Read Only Memory), EEPROM (abbreviation of Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), and HDD (abbreviation of Hard Disk, and HDD is 31 kD) A buffer or the like, or a combination thereof.

  Note that the storage unit 32 may be a computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium is a non-transitory medium. Non-transitory media include recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs in addition to the above examples. Further, a non-transitory medium is also a tangible medium. On the other hand, an electric signal that carries a program downloaded from a server or the like on the Internet is a computer-readable signal medium that is a kind of computer-readable medium, but is a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Not included in the medium.

  The programs stored in the program storage area 32A are executed by the CPU 31. However, in this specification, the operation of each program may be described with the CPU 31 omitted. That is, in the following description, a description to the effect that "the program A executes the process A" may indicate that "the CPU 31 executes the process A described in the program A".

  The program stored in the program storage area 32A determines an event and operates according to the determination result. However, in this specification, the operation of each program may be described without making a determination. That is, in the following description, the description to the effect that "the program executes the process A according to the condition A" is "determining whether or not the program satisfies the condition A. The program is affirmatively determined. Executing the process A in response to the

  The program stored in the program storage area 32A specifies, extracts, or selects data or the like. When the program specifies data or the like, for example, data that matches a condition is specified from a plurality of data or the like, and the data itself or information for identifying the data or the like is stored in a predetermined storage area. Refers to the process of storing. The information for identifying data or the like is, for example, identification information for identifying the data or the like, an index of an array in which the data or the like is stored, a pointer of a storage area in which the data or the like is stored, or the like. The same applies to a process in which a program extracts or selects data or the like.

  The program stored in the program storage area 32A acquires data and the like. Acquiring data or the like by a program may refer to, for example, a process of reading data from a storage area in which data is stored. Acquiring data or the like by a program may refer to, for example, a process of receiving data transmitted from an external device. Acquiring data or the like by a program may refer to, for example, a process of requesting an external device to return data and receiving data returned from the external device. Acquiring data or the like by a program may refer to, for example, a process of receiving data output by another program such as an OS. Acquiring data or the like by a program may refer to, for example, a process of requesting another program to output data and receiving data output from the other program.

  The OS 34 provides an API (abbreviation for Application Programming Interface) for controlling the printer unit 11, the scanner unit 12, the display unit 23, the operation unit 24, the communication unit 25, and the like, which are hardware constituting the multifunction peripheral 10. This is a basic program. That is, each of the above-described programs controls each hardware by calling an API provided by the OS 34. However, in this specification, the operation of each program may be described with the OS 34 omitted. That is, in the following description, a description to the effect that “the program B controls the hardware C” may indicate that “the program B controls the hardware C through the API of the OS 34”.

  The description of the basic operation of the program described above can be applied not only to the program stored in the program storage area 32A but also to each program stored in the program storage area 62A of the portable terminal 50 described later. .

[Mobile terminal 50]
The portable terminal 50 mainly includes a display unit 53, an operation unit 54, a communication unit 55, a CPU 61, a storage unit 62, and a communication bus 63, as shown in FIG. The display unit 53, the operation unit 54, the communication unit 55, the CPU 61, the storage unit 62, and the communication bus 63 included in the mobile terminal 50 include the display unit 23, the operation unit 24, the communication unit 25, the CPU 31, Since the format is basically common to the storage unit 32 and the communication bus 33, the description will not be repeated.

  The mobile terminal 50 is an example of an information processing terminal. The information processing terminal may be, for example, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a PC (Personal Computer), or the like. The communication unit 55 is an example of a communication unit and a first communication unit, and the CPU 61 and the storage unit 62 form an example of a first control unit.

  The program storage area 62A stores an OS 64 and a terminal program 65 which is an example of a monitor program. 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, or the like. The OS 64 can execute a plurality of programs installed in the mobile terminal 50 in parallel. The plurality of programs are executed virtually in parallel by, for example, a time division multiplex method.

  In addition, the OS 64 executes one of a plurality of programs executed in parallel in the foreground, and executes other programs in the background. The foreground is, for example, a state in which a program screen based on the execution of the program is displayed on the display unit 53. The background is, for example, a state in which a program screen based on execution of a program different from the program is displayed on the display unit 53. That is, the mobile terminal 50 can cause the display unit 53 to display only the program screen based on the execution of the program executed in the foreground among the plurality of programs executed in parallel.

  The terminal program 65 has a user interface for allowing the user to specify execution conditions of the forming operation (for example, designation of image data to be subjected to a printing operation, reading resolution of a scanning operation, and the like), and in accordance with an instruction received through the user interface. The forming operation can be performed by the multifunction peripheral 10. In the present embodiment, a description will be given of a process in which the user designates image data to be subjected to a print operation, and causes the multifunction peripheral 10A to execute a print operation for the designated image data. Further, the terminal program 65 can receive status information from the server 110 and notify the user of the status of the multifunction peripheral 10 indicated by the status information. In the present embodiment, a process for displaying the status of the multifunction peripheral 10A that executes the print operation on the display unit 53 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the data storage area 62B can store a device ID, a job ID, date and time information, importance information, and a status ID in association with each other. Hereinafter, the information illustrated in FIG. 3 may be collectively referred to as a “status list”, and each record illustrated in FIG. 3 may be referred to as a “status record”. The status list can include multiple status records. The status record is added to the status list by the terminal program 65, and is deleted from the status list by the terminal program 65. Various information included in the status record is included in the status information received from the server 110.

  The device ID is an example of device identification information for identifying the MFP 10. In this specification, the MFP 10A is identified by “MFP-A”, and the MFP 10B is identified by “MFP-B”. The job ID is an example of operation identification information for identifying an operation to be executed by the MFP 10. That is, the job ID is issued by the portable terminal 50 when transmitting the formation instruction information described later. The date and time information indicates the date and time when the status information is generated by the multifunction peripheral 10, the date and time when the server 110 receives the status information from the multifunction peripheral 10, or the date and time when the server 110 transmits the status information to the portable terminal 50.

  The importance information indicates the importance of the status indicated by the status information. The importance information may be associated in advance with the status ID. The importance information according to the first embodiment indicates “Info” or “Warning” having a higher importance than “Info”. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that importance information “Warning” is added to stop status information to be described later, and importance information “Info” is added to other status information. However, a specific example of the importance information is not limited to this, and may be “Caution”, “Alert”, or the like. The status ID is information indicating the status of the MFP 10. In FIG. 3, character strings such as "printing (1/2)" and "paper jam" are shown, but any information may be used as long as the information corresponds to the character string.

  Although not shown, the data storage area 62B can store a designated device ID. The designated device ID is one device ID of the MFPs 10A and 10B with which the mobile terminal 50 can communicate. Hereinafter, the MFP 10 identified by the designated device ID is referred to as a “designated device”. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the designated device ID “MFP-A” is stored in the data storage area 62B.

  Although not shown, the data storage area 62B stores a terminal ID “abc” for identifying the mobile terminal 50. The terminal ID is an example of terminal identification information for the server 110 to identify the mobile terminal 50. Further, a data folder may be provided in the data storage area 62B. The data folder may store, for example, photo data, document data, presentation data, spreadsheet data, and the like.

[Server 110]
The server 110 receives the status information from the multifunction peripheral 10 and transmits the status information to the mobile terminal 50. The server 110 is a push notification server that pushes status information to the mobile terminal 50.

[Operation of monitor system 100]
The operation of the monitor system 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the monitor system 100 according to the first embodiment, the MFP 10 executes the print operation according to the instruction of the mobile terminal 50, and the mobile terminal 50 receives the status information of the MFP 10 executing the print operation via the server 110, and The mobile terminal 50 performs a process of displaying the status indicated by the status information on the display unit 53.

  The OS 64 of the portable terminal 50 activates the terminal program 65 in response to the designation of the program icon 155 through the operation unit 54 on the menu screen shown in FIG. Run with The terminal program 65 executes the print processing shown in FIG. 5 in response to the execution in the foreground by the OS 64. First, the terminal program 65 displays a data selection screen on the display unit 53 (S41). FIG. 8A is an example of a data selection screen. The data selection screen shown in FIG. 8A includes a plurality of data icons 121, 122, and 123. The data icons 121 to 123 correspond to, for example, various data stored in the data folder.

  Next, the terminal program 65 receives designation of an icon included in the data selection screen through the operation unit 54 (S42). The terminal program 65 keeps the data selection screen displayed on the display unit 53 until one of the data icons 121 to 123 is designated (S42: No). Then, in response to, for example, receiving the designation of the data icon 121 through the operation unit 54 (S42: Yes), the terminal program 65 determines the data “photograph.JPEG” corresponding to the data icon 121 as the designated data. The process in step S42 is an example of a reception process.

  Next, the terminal program 65 displays a preview screen on the display unit 53 (S43). FIG. 8B is an example of a preview screen. The preview screen shown in FIG. 8B includes a preview image 125, a device icon 126, and a print icon 127. Further, the terminal program 65 receives a user operation for specifying an icon included in the preview screen through the operation unit 54 (S44). The process in step S44 is an example of a reception process.

  The preview image 125 is an image indicating a result of causing the designated device to execute a print operation for designated data. A preview image 125 according to the first embodiment is an image in which an image represented by data “photograph. JPEG” is recorded on a recording sheet by the multifunction peripheral 10A. The device icon 126 corresponds to an instruction to switch the designated device. The device icon 126 describes the designated device ID “MFP-A” currently stored in the data storage area 62B. The print icon 127 corresponds to an instruction to cause the designated device to execute a print operation for designated data.

  Next, in response to the designation of the device icon 126 being received via the operation unit 54 (S44: device icon), the terminal program 65 causes the display unit 53 to display a device selection screen (S54). FIG. 9A is an example of a device selection screen. The device selection screen shown in FIG. 9A includes device icons 131 and 132. Then, the terminal program 65 receives a user operation for specifying an icon included in the device selection screen through the operation unit 54 (S55). The process in step S55 is an example of a reception process.

  The device icons 131 and 132 correspond to the MFP 10 with which the mobile terminal 50 can communicate. That is, the terminal program 65 searches for the MFP 10 that can communicate through the communication unit 55 using, for example, SNMP (abbreviation for Simple Network Management Protocol). Then, the terminal program 65 causes the display unit 53 to display a device selection screen including the device icons 131 and 132 corresponding to each of the found MFPs 10. In the device icons 131 and 132, the device ID of the corresponding MFP 10 is described. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the multifunction peripherals 10A and 10B have been discovered.

  Next, for example, in response to receiving the designation of the device icon 132 through the operation unit 54 (S55: Yes), the terminal program 65 sets the device ID “MFP-B” corresponding to the device icon 132 as the designated device ID. The data is stored in the data storage area 62B (S56). If the specified device ID is already stored in the data storage area 62B, it is overwritten with the new specified device ID. Then, the terminal program 65 executes the processing after step S43 again. In the first embodiment, the following description is continued assuming that the designated device ID has not been changed.

  Further, the terminal program 65 adds a status record to the status list in response to the designation of the print icon 127 received through the operation unit 54 (S44: print icon) (S45). More specifically, the terminal program 65 issues the job ID “001”. The terminal program 65 then specifies the designated device ID “MFP-A”, the issued job ID “001”, date and time information “2015.9.0.06 10:20:42” indicating the current date and time, importance information “Info”, A status record including the status ID “transmitting” is added to the status list. The process of issuing a job ID is an example of an issuance process, and the process of adding a status record is an example of a second storage process.

  Next, the terminal program 65 transmits the print instruction information to the multifunction peripheral 10A as the designated device via the communication unit 55 (S46). The print instruction information is information for executing a print operation on the designated data. The print instruction information includes, for example, designated data “photo.JPEG”, a job ID “001”, and a terminal ID “abc”. Further, the print instruction information may further include print setting information such as a sheet size (for example, L size) and the number of copies (for example, two copies). The process in step S46 is an example of a formation instruction process. The print instruction information is an example of the formation instruction information for executing the formation operation. Further, the user operation of designating the print icon 127 is an example of a formation instruction operation for instructing execution of a formation operation.

  Further, the terminal program 65 causes the display unit 53 to display a status screen (S47). FIG. 9B is an example of a status screen. The status screen shown in FIG. 9B includes an apparatus status display area 135 and an operation status display area 136. The device status display area 135 is an area where the device status indicated by the device status information described later is displayed. The operation status display area 136 is an area where an operation status indicated by operation status information described later is displayed. The process in step S47 is an example of a first display process.

  In step S47 executed first in the printing process, the terminal program 65 causes the operation status display area 136 to display the status indicated by the status record added in step S45. Note that the job ID “001” and the status “transmitting” are displayed in the operation status display area 136 shown in FIG. 9B, but the information displayed in the operation status display area 136 is this. Not limited.

  On the other hand, although not shown, the device program 35 of the multifunction peripheral 10A receives the print instruction information from the mobile terminal 50 through the communication unit 25. Then, the device program 35 causes the printer unit 11 to execute a printing operation according to the received print instruction information. That is, the printer unit 11 records a photo indicated by data “photo.JPEG” included in the print instruction information on each of the two L-size recording sheets. Further, the device program 35 temporarily stores the job ID “001” and the terminal ID “abc” included in the print instruction information in the data storage area 32B. Further, the device program 35 generates status information at a predetermined timing during the printing operation, and transmits the generated status information to the server 110 via the communication unit 25. The status information generated by the MFP 10 includes operation status information and device status information.

  The operation status information is information indicating the operation status of the forming operation performed according to the forming instruction information received from the mobile terminal 50. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the operation status of the print operation is “printing (１ ／)” indicating that an image is being recorded on the first page of all two pages, and "Printing (2/2)" indicating that an image is being recorded on the second page, "Print interrupted" indicating that the printing operation has been interrupted, and indicating that the interrupted printing operation has been resumed. There are "print restart (2/2)", "print end" indicating that the printing operation has been completed, "waiting" indicating that the printing operation is waiting until the previous printing operation is completed, and the like.

  The device status information is information indicating the device status of the MFP 10. The apparatus status does not correspond one-to-one with each forming operation, for example, and is a status common to a plurality of forming operations being executed in the MFP 10. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the apparatus status includes "paper jam" indicating that recording paper is jammed on the transport path, "paper jam clearing" indicating that the recording paper jammed on the transport path has been removed, and the like. is there.

  Although not shown, the apparatus status indicates “no paper” indicating that the recording paper set in the MFP 10 has run out, and indicates that the ink in the ink cartridge mounted on the printer unit 11 has run out. “No ink” may be used. Since a method of detecting the state indicated by the device status is already known, a description thereof will be omitted. Further, the device status information may not include the job ID, or may be set to a value that is not used as the job ID (for example, −1).

  Of the status information described above, the status information including the status IDs “print interrupted” and “paper jam” is an example of stop status information indicating that the forming operation has stopped. Status information including the status IDs “print restart (2/2)” and “paper jam clearance” is restart status information indicating that the forming operation has been restarted. Further, stop status information including the status ID “print suspension” and resume status information including the status ID “print resume (2/2)” are associated with each other. Similarly, the stop status information including the status ID “paper jam” is associated with the restart status information including the status ID “paper jam cleared”. Then, the restart status information may further include information for specifying the corresponding stop status information.

  Next, the terminal program 65 of the mobile terminal 50 will be described later [! It is determined whether or not the designation of the icon 141 has been received through the operation unit 54 (S48). The processing in step S48 will be described later with reference to FIG. Next, the terminal program 65 selects [! ] Icon 141 is not displayed on the status screen, or [! In response to the icon 141 not being specified (S48: No), it is determined whether or not the operation status "print completed" is displayed on the status screen (S49). Then, in response to determining that the operation status “print completed” is displayed (S49: Yes), the terminal program 65 displays a status record including the operation ID “001” from the status list after a predetermined display time has elapsed. Delete (S50) and end the print processing. The process in step S50 is an example of a deletion process.

  On the other hand, the terminal program 65 waits until new status information is received from the server 110 in response to determining that the operation status “print end” is not displayed (S49: No) (S52). More specifically, the terminal program 65 transmits the transmission request information to the server 110 via the communication unit 55. The transmission request information is information for requesting the server 110 to transmit status information. The transmission request information includes the terminal ID “abc” of the mobile terminal 50.

  Next, the terminal program 65 receives the status information from the server 110 via the communication unit 55 as a response to the transmission request information that was transmitted most recently (S52: Yes). Further, the terminal program 65 transmits the transmission request information to the server 110 again through the communication unit 55 in response to receiving the status information or in response to elapse of a predetermined time after transmitting the transmission request information. . The process in step S52 is an example of a status receiving process.

  Next, the terminal program 65 adds a status record indicating the received status information to the status list. Then, the terminal program 65 executes a status determination process (S53). The status determination process is a process of determining target status information indicating a status to be notified to the user of the mobile terminal 50, out of the status information received from the server 110. The process in step S53 is an example of a determination process. Details of the status determination processing will be described later. Here, it is assumed that the status information received most recently is determined as the target status information.

  Next, the terminal program 65 causes the display unit 53 to display a status screen including the status indicated by the target status information determined in the status determination process (S47). Then, the terminal program 65 repeatedly executes the processing of steps S47 to S53 until receiving the operation status information including the status ID “print completed” from the server. That is, the terminal program 65 continues to display the status screen while updating the displayed status until the printing operation according to the print instruction information transmitted to the MFP 10 in step S46 ends.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, operations of the MFP 10A, the portable terminal 50, and the server 110 when the MFP 10A executes a print operation in accordance with the above-described print instruction information will be described. FIG. 4 shows that the portable terminal 50 instructs the MFP 10A to execute a print operation for recording an image on each of two recording sheets, and a paper jam occurs when an image is recorded on the second recording sheet. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow from the time when the paper jam is resolved to the time when image recording on a second recording sheet ends normally.

  First, as described above, the terminal program 65 of the mobile terminal 50 transmits print instruction information to the multifunction peripheral 10A through the communication unit 55 in response to receiving designation of the print icon 127 through the operation unit 54 (S11). (S12). Note that the print instruction information in the example of FIG. 4 includes designated data “photograph. JPEG”, a job ID “001”, a paper size “L”, and the number of copies “2”. Further, the terminal program 65 causes the display unit 53 to display the status screen shown in FIG. 9B (S13).

  In response to receiving the print instruction information from the portable terminal 50 through the communication unit 25 (S12), the device program 35 of the MFP 10A causes the printer unit 11 to execute a print operation according to the print instruction information. First, the printer unit 11 starts a print operation for recording an image represented by the designated data “photograph.JPEG” on the first L-size sheet (S14). Further, the device program 35 generates operation status information including the status ID “printing (1/2)”, and transmits the generated operation status information to the server 110 via the communication unit 25 (S15). The operation status information includes the device ID “MFP-A” of the MFP 10A, the job ID “001” and the terminal ID “abc” included in the print instruction information, date and time information indicating the date and time when the operation status information was generated, The information further includes importance information “Info” corresponding to the status ID. The same applies to the operation status information described later.

  Next, the server 110 receives the status information from the multifunction peripheral 10A, and stores the received status information in the storage unit. Further, in response to receiving the transmission request information from mobile terminal 50, server 110 determines whether or not status information including terminal ID “abc” included in the received transmission request information is stored in the storage unit. I do. Then, upon determining that the status information including the terminal ID “abc” is stored, the server 110 transmits the status information to the portable terminal 50 as a response to the transmission request information (S16).

  In addition, the server 110 determines that the plurality of status information including the same terminal ID is stored, and transmits the status information with the oldest date and time indicated by the date and time information among the plurality of status information. It may be transmitted to the terminal 50. The server 110 returns the status information having the earliest date and time indicated by the date and time information in response to the transmission request information repeatedly received from the mobile terminal 50, thereby arranging the status information accumulated in the storage unit in chronological order. Can be transmitted to the portable terminal 50. Further, the server 110 may return a plurality of status information stored in the storage unit in response to one piece of transmission request information received from the mobile terminal 50.

  Next, the terminal program 65 of the mobile terminal 50 receives status information from the server 110 via the communication unit 55 as a response to the transmission request information (S16). Then, the terminal program 65 updates the status screen with the operation status "printing (1/2)" indicated by the received status information (S17). That is, the terminal program 65 causes the display unit 53 to display the status screen shown in FIG. 10A instead of the status screen shown in FIG. 9B.

  Hereinafter, processing for the operation status information including the status ID “printing (2/2)” (S18 to S21), processing for the operation status information including the status ID “print interrupted” (S22 to S25), and status ID “print restart” (2/2) "(S26 to S29) and the operation status information including the status ID" print completed "(S30 to S33) are executed in the same manner as steps S14 to S17. . The mobile terminal 50 according to the first embodiment receives status information from the server 110 in the order of the status records shown in FIG.

  In addition, in response to the occurrence of a paper jam (S22), the device program 35 of the multi-function device 10 sets the device status information including the status ID “paper jam” in addition to the operation status information including the status ID “print interrupted”. May be generated. Similarly, in response to the clearing of the paper jam (S26), the device program 35 includes the status ID "paper jam clearing" in addition to the operation status information including the status ID "print resume (2/2)". Device status information may be generated. Further, before the print operation identified by the job ID “001” ends, the device program 35 receives print instruction information including the job ID “002” from the mobile terminal 50 through the communication unit 25, Operation status information including the status ID “waiting” may be generated.

  Next, a process performed when the terminal program 65 cannot receive status information from the server 110 during steps S14 to S24 in FIG. 4 will be described. When the terminal program 65 cannot receive the status information from the server 110, for example, when the power of the portable terminal 50 is turned off, when the terminal program 65 is shut down, the communication between the communication unit 55 and the router 102A is performed. A case where the communication is disconnected, a case where the communication between the router 102A and the Internet 101 is disconnected, and the like are considered. When the communication between the portable terminal 50 and the server 110 is restored, the server 110 returns the status ID “printing (1/2)”, “printing (2/2)”, “paper jam”, “printing jam”. It is assumed that status information including “suspended” and “waiting” is accumulated.

  First, the terminal program 65 of the mobile terminal 50 transmits transmission request information to the server 110 via the communication unit 55, and receives status information from the server 110 via the communication unit (S52: Yes). However, the terminal program 65 does not execute the status determination process immediately after receiving the status information, but transmits the transmission request information to the server 110 again through the communication unit 55. That is, in step S52 during which the status screen is being displayed, the terminal program 65 executes the status determination process until a predetermined period elapses in a state where the status information can be further received in response to the reception of the status information from the server 110. Wait without doing.

  More specifically, the terminal program 65 may transmit the transmission request information again without executing the status determination processing in response to receiving the status information within the waiting period after transmitting the transmission request information. On the other hand, the terminal program 65 may execute the status determination processing in response to not receiving the status information within the waiting period after transmitting the transmission request information. That is, the above-mentioned predetermined period may be a period that varies depending on the number of status information stored in the server 110. Thus, the terminal program 65 can sequentially receive all the status information received stored in the server 110. This process may be executed each time in step S52, or may be executed only in step S52 immediately after the communication with the server 110 is restored.

  Next, details of the status determination processing will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the terminal program 65 performs a status determination process for each piece of status information including the same device ID and the same job ID. That is, in the first embodiment, the operation status information including the device ID “MFP-A” and the job ID “001”, the operation status information including the device ID “MFP-A” and the job ID “002”, and the device ID “MFP Status determination processing is individually executed for each piece of device status information including -A ".

  First, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not a plurality of status information has been received in step S52 (S61). Next, in response to determining that a plurality of status information has been received (S61: Yes), the terminal program 65 writes status information including importance information “Warning” (in FIG. 6, described as “Warning information”). ), That is, determine whether or not stop status information has been received (S62). Next, in response to determining that the stop status information has been received (S62: Yes), the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the status indicated by the stop status information has already been canceled (S63).

  More specifically, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the restart status information corresponding to the stop status information has already been received. Then, the terminal program 65 determines that the status indicated by the stop status information has been canceled in response to the fact that the restart status information corresponding to the stop status information has already been received (S63: Yes). On the other hand, in response to the fact that the restart status information corresponding to the stop status information has not been received yet, it is determined that the status indicated by the stop status information has not been resolved (S63: No).

  Then, in response to determining that the status indicated by the stop status information has not been resolved (S63: No), the terminal program 65 determines the status information as the target status information (S64). On the other hand, in response to the determination that the status indicated by the stop status information has been resolved (S63: Yes), the terminal program 65 excludes the status information from the candidates for the target status information (S65), and proceeds to step S62 and thereafter. Is performed again. That is, in response to determining that the status indicated by the stop status information has been resolved (S63: Yes), the terminal program 65 determines status information different from the status information as target status information.

  In addition, in response to determining that status information including importance information “Warning” has not been received (S62: No), the terminal program 65 returns status information including importance information “Info” (in FIG. 6, Of the “Info information”, the status information with the latest date and time indicated by the date and time information is specified (S66). Next, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the specified status information is within the validity period (S67). The expiration date may be included in the status information, or may be stored in the terminal program 65 in advance in association with the status ID or the importance information.

  Then, upon determining that the status information specified in step S67 is within the validity period (S67: Yes), the terminal program 65 determines the status information as target status information (S68). On the other hand, in response to determining that the status information specified in step S67 has passed the expiration date (S67: No), the terminal program 65 excludes the status information from the target status information candidates (S67). S69), the processing after step S66 is executed again. That is, the terminal program 65 determines status information that is different from the status information whose expiration date has passed as target status information.

  Further, in response to determining that only one piece of status information has been received in step S52 (S61: No), the terminal program 65 determines the status information as target status information (S70). That is, in the status determination process (S53) when only one status information is received in one status reception process (S52), the status information is determined as the target status information.

  In the status determination process according to the first embodiment, the operation status information including the device ID “MFP-A”, the job ID “001”, and the status ID “print suspended”, the device ID “MFP-A”, and the job ID “002” And operation status information including the status ID "standby" and device status information including the device ID "MFP-A" and the status ID "paper jam" are determined as the target status information. Then, the terminal program 65 causes the display unit 53 to display a status screen including the status indicated by the target status information, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 10B (S47).

  On the status screen shown in FIG. 10B, the status “paper jam” is displayed in the device status display area 135, and the job ID “001”, the status “print interrupted”, and the job ID “ 002 "and the status" standby ". Further, the terminal program 65 associates [!] With the status “print interrupted” of the job ID “001” in which one of the plurality of status information is determined as the target status information. ] Icon 141 on the status screen. [! ] Icon 141 is an example of a list object corresponding to an instruction to display a list of statuses indicated by a plurality of pieces of status information including the job ID “001”.

  Then, the terminal program 65 [! In response to the designation of the icon 141 being received through the operation unit 54 (S48: Yes), a status list screen is displayed on the display unit 53 (S51). On the status list screen, [! ] Is a screen displaying a list of the statuses indicated by the status information that is the candidate for the target status information in the latest step S53 among the status information including the job ID corresponding to the icon 141. The process of step S48 is an example of a reception process, and the process of step S51 is an example of a second display process. Also,[! The user operation of designating the icon 141 is an example of the designation operation.

  FIG. 11A is an example of a status list screen. The status list screen shown in FIG. 11A includes the statuses “printing (1/2)”, “printing (2/2)”, “print interrupted”, and a “return” icon 142. In the status list screen shown in FIG. 11A, the date and time indicated by the date and time information and the importance indicated by the importance information are displayed in association with the status, but the display items are not limited to these. . Then, in response to receiving the designation of the [Return] icon 142 through the operation unit 54, the terminal program 65 causes the display unit 53 to display the status screen again (S47).

[Operation and Effect of First Embodiment]
According to the status determination process according to the first embodiment, among the plurality of status information received in one status reception process, the stopped status information that has already been canceled and the status information whose validity period has passed are the target status information. Excluded from candidates. If there is unresolved stop status information, the stop status information is determined as the target status information. On the other hand, if there is no status information of the importance information “Warning”, the latest status information of the importance information “Info” is determined as the target status information.

  As described above, the status information indicating the status useful for the user of the mobile terminal 50 is determined as the target status. Then, of the status information received from the server 110, only the status to be notified to the user of the mobile terminal 50 is selectively displayed on the status screen. That is, it is possible to appropriately notify the user of the portable terminal 50 of the status of the multifunction peripheral 10. However, the method for determining the target status information in the status determination processing is not limited to the example of FIG.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the status indicated by the operation status information and the device status information can be individually notified, and the operation status indicated by the operation status information can be notified for each job ID. As a result, it is possible to appropriately notify the progress of the forming operation for each job ID and the status of the multifunction peripheral 10 common to a plurality of jobs.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the status determination process is not immediately executed in response to receiving one status information in the status reception process. Thereby, for example, at a timing when the communication is changed from a state in which communication with the server 110 is not possible to a state in which communication with the server 110 is possible, a plurality of status information stored in the server 110 is collectively received, and a portable communication is performed from among the plurality of status information. Only a status useful for the user of the terminal 50 can be notified. That is, it is possible to suppress the troublesomeness of the status screen being updated rapidly.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, when the target status information is determined from the plurality of status information, the [!] Is associated with the status indicated by the target status information. ] Icon 141 is included in the status screen. And [! In response to the designation of the icon 141, a list of statuses indicated by the plurality of status information candidates corresponding to the target status information is displayed. This allows the user of the portable terminal 50 to recognize the circumstances leading to the status displayed on the status screen.

  In the first embodiment, an example has been described in which the status record indicating the status information received in step S52 is added to the status list, and the status information indicated by one of the plurality of status lists is determined as the target status information. . However, the timing of the processing in steps S52 and S53 is not limited to this. For example, the terminal program 65 may execute the status determination process every time status information is received in step S52. Then, the terminal program 65 may add only the status record indicating the target status information to the status list among the plurality of pieces of status information that are candidates for the target status information. That is, in the status determination process, the status list may be overwritten.

  In the device selection screen displayed in step S54, the display mode of the device icons 131 and 132 may change based on the device status information included in the status list. For example, the terminal program 65 may determine whether or not there is a status record including a status ID that cannot perform the forming operation among the status records including the device IDs of the discovered multifunction peripherals 10A and 10B. The status ID in which the forming operation cannot be executed indicates, for example, “paper jam”, “paper out”, “ink out”, and the like.

  Then, the terminal program 65 may display a device icon in a selectable mode through the operation unit 54 in response to determining that there is no status record including a status ID that cannot perform the forming operation. On the other hand, if the terminal program 65 displays a device icon in an unselectable (for example, grayed out) mode through the operation unit 54 in response to determining that there is a status record including a status ID that cannot execute the forming operation, Good.

  Further, the forming operation that the terminal program 65 causes the MFP 10 to execute is not limited to the printing operation, but may be a scanning operation, a facsimile operation, a copying operation, or the like. The operation status of the scan operation is, for example, “scanning (x-th sheet)” indicating that the x-th document is being read, and indicates that the document is jammed in an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) (not shown). "Paper jam" as shown in FIG. The operation status of the FAX operation includes, for example, “dialing” indicating that a call is being made to an external device, and “transmitting (xth)” indicating that the x-th image data is being transmitted. And "receiving" indicating that image data is being received. The operation status of the copy operation may be the same as the operation status of the scan operation and the print operation, for example.

[Embodiment 2]
The determination of the target status in the status determination processing is not limited to the case where the mobile terminal 50 and the server 110 cannot communicate with each other. The operation of the monitor system 100 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Note that a detailed description of common points with the first embodiment will be omitted, and differences will be mainly described. The process illustrated in FIG. 7 is executed by the terminal program 65 in the background.

  It is assumed that the OS 64 of the mobile terminal 50 executes the terminal program 65 in the background and displays a menu screen on the display unit 53. FIG. 11B is an example of a menu screen. The menu screen shown in FIG. 11B includes a plurality of program icons 151, 152, 153, 154, 155. The program icons 151 to 155 correspond to programs installed on the mobile terminal 50. For example, the program icon 155 corresponds to the terminal program 65. Then, the OS 64 executes the program corresponding to the program icon in the foreground in response to receiving one designation of the program icons 151 to 155 through the operation unit 54. At this point, it is assumed that the pop-up icon 156 has not been displayed yet.

  On the other hand, the terminal program 65 running in the background monitors receiving status information from the server 110 via the communication unit 55 (S71). That is, the terminal program 65 repeatedly transmits the transmission request information to the server 110 via the communication unit 55 at predetermined time intervals even when the terminal program 65 is being executed in the background. Then, in response to receiving the status information from the server 110 via the communication unit 55 (S71: Yes), the terminal program 65 adds a status record indicating the received status information to the status list (S72). The process of step S71 is an example of a status receiving process, and the process of step S72 is an example of a first storage process.

  Next, the terminal program 65 determines whether or not the status information received in step S71 is generated by the MFP 10 that is executing the forming operation instructed from the mobile terminal 50 (S73). More specifically, the terminal program 65 specifies the device ID included in the status information received in step S71, and determines whether a status record including the specified device ID is included in the status list (S73). . The process in step S73 is an example of a determination process.

  Then, in response to determining that the status record including the specified device ID is included in the status list (S73: Yes), the terminal program 65 displays a pop-up icon, for example, as shown in FIG. 156 is displayed on the main screen (S74). In the pop-up icon 156, a message such as "three new messages from MFP-A" is described. The pop-up icon 156 is an example of a notification object that notifies that status information has been received. The pop-up icon 156 corresponds to an instruction to display a status screen. The process in step S74 is an example of a third display process.

  The pop-up icon 156 may be displayed as, for example, a so-called pop-up message in which a message appears upward from the lower end of the display area of the display unit 53, or a message appears downward from the upper end of the display area of the display unit 53. The message may be displayed as a so-called head-up message, or may be displayed as a so-called toast message in which a message appears in the center of the display area of the display unit 53 and the message is automatically hidden after a predetermined time has elapsed. Alternatively, an icon for accepting a user operation indicating that the message has been confirmed may appear together with the message, and may be displayed as a so-called dialog message in which the message is hidden by selecting the icon. These are all examples of the pop-up display.

  Next, in response to the designation of the pop-up icon 156 being received through the operation unit 54 (S75: Yes), the terminal program 65 executes a status determination process (S76) and displays a status screen in the foreground on the display unit 53. It is displayed (S77). The user operation of designating the pop-up icon 156 is an example of a display instruction operation for displaying a status screen. The process in step S75 is an example of a reception process. Further, the processing of step S76 may be the same as the processing of step S53, and the processing of step S77 may be the same as step S47. In the status determination process of step S76, the target status information is determined from the status information received from the server 110 while the terminal program 65 is being executed in the background.

  Hereinafter, the terminal program 65 executed in the foreground executes the processing after step S48 in FIG. On the other hand, when the terminal program 65 determines that the status record including the specified device ID is not included in the status list (S73: No) or displays the pop-up icon 156, the predetermined notification time Until the passage, the designation of the pop-up icon 156 is not received through the operation unit 54 (S75: No), and the reception of the status information is monitored again (S71).

[Operation and Effect of Second Embodiment]
According to the second embodiment, for example, from among the plurality of status information received while the terminal program 65 is being executed in the background, only the status useful for the user of the mobile terminal 50 can be notified. Further, the reception of the status information is notified by the pop-up icon 156, and the status screen is displayed by the designation of the pop-up icon 156. This facilitates access to the status indicated by the received status information.

  In the second embodiment, the pop-up icon 156 is displayed only when the status information generated by the multifunction peripheral 10A that is executing the forming operation instructed by the mobile terminal 50 is received. That is, for example, even if the apparatus status information including the status ID “out of ink” is received from the multifunction peripheral 10B that has not transmitted the formation instruction information, the pop-up icon 156 is not displayed. As described above, by not notifying the reception of the status information having low urgency to the user of the mobile terminal 50, it is possible to suppress the operation of the user of the mobile terminal 50 from being disturbed.

  Note that the processing illustrated in FIG. 7 is not limited to the case where the terminal program 65 is being executed in the background. For example, even when the terminal program 65 executed in the foreground displays a screen other than the status screen such as a data selection screen or a preview screen, the processing illustrated in FIG. 7 may be executed in parallel. .

  Further, in the MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 of each embodiment, the various programs stored in the program storage areas 32A and 62A of the storage units 32 and 62 are executed by the CPUs 31 and 61, so that the control unit of the present invention is realized. The example in which each processing to be executed is realized has been described. However, the configuration of the control unit is not limited to this, and a part or all of the control unit may be implemented by hardware such as an integrated circuit (also referred to as an integrated circuit (IC)).

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

10 Multifunction machine 11 Printer section 12 Scanner sections 31 and 61 CPU
23, 53 ... display units 24, 54 ... operation units 25, 55 ... communication units 32, 62 ... storage units 35 ... device programs 50 ... information processing terminals 65 ... terminals Program 110: Server

Claims (16)

A monitor program readable by an information processing terminal comprising a communication unit, an operation unit, and a display unit, wherein the communication unit is an image forming apparatus capable of executing a forming operation for forming an image, and the status information is Connected to a server that receives from the image forming device,
The monitor program is
A reception process for receiving a user operation through the operation unit;
A forming instruction process of transmitting formation instruction information for executing the forming operation to the image forming apparatus through the communication unit in response to receiving a forming instruction operation for instructing execution of the forming operation in the receiving process;
The status information indicating the status of the image forming apparatus performing the forming operation, a status receiving process of receiving from the server through the communication unit,
Among the status information received in the status receiving process, a determining process of determining target status information indicating a status to be notified to a user of the information processing terminal,
A monitor program for causing the information processing terminal to execute a first display process of displaying a status screen including a status indicated by the target status information determined in the determination process on the display unit. The status information includes date and time information,
2. The monitor program according to claim 1, wherein, in the determining process, among the plurality of status information received in the status receiving process, the status information having the latest date and time indicated by the date and time information is determined as the target status information. Monitor program described in 1. The status information includes importance information indicating the importance of the status,
The monitor program, in the determining process, among the plurality of status information received in the status receiving process, determines the status information having the highest importance indicated by the importance information as the target status information. Item 3. The monitor program according to item 1 or 2. The status information includes:
Stop status information indicating that the forming operation has stopped,
Including restart status information indicating that the forming operation has been restarted,
The monitor program, in the determination processing, when the resume status information corresponding to the stop status information has already been received, determines the status information different from the stop status information as the target status information. 4. The monitor program according to any one of 1 to 3. An expiration date is set in the status information,
The monitor program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the monitor program determines the status information different from the status information whose expiration date has passed in the determination process, as the target status information. The monitor program is
In response to receiving the status information in the status reception process while displaying the status screen, waits without executing the determination process until a predetermined period elapses in a state in which the status information can be further received,
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein in the determination processing after the predetermined period has elapsed, one of the plurality of status information received within the predetermined period is determined as the target status information. Monitor program. The information processing terminal includes a storage unit,
The monitor program is
In response to receiving the status information in the status receiving process when the status screen is not displayed, causing the information processing terminal to execute a first storage process of storing the status information in the storage unit,
7. The information processing terminal according to claim 1, wherein, in response to a display instruction operation for displaying the status screen being received in the reception process, the information processing terminal executes the determination process on the status information stored in the storage unit. 8. The monitor program described in crab. The monitor program is
In the first display process when one of the plurality of status information is determined as the target status information in the determination process, the status screen further including a list object corresponding to a status list display is displayed on the display unit. Display,
The information processing terminal executes a second display process for displaying a list of statuses indicated by the plurality of status information on the display unit in response to the specification operation for specifying the list object being received in the reception process. The monitor program according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which causes the monitor program to execute. The status information includes operation status information indicating a status of the forming operation, and the operation status information includes:
Operation identification information for identifying the forming operation;
Device identification information for identifying the image forming apparatus performing the forming operation,
The monitor program according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the monitor program causes the information processing terminal to execute the determination process for each piece of the operation status information including the same operation identification information and the same device identification information. . The status information includes device status information indicating a status of the image forming apparatus,
The device status information includes the device identification information for identifying the image forming device,
The monitor program according to claim 9, wherein the monitor program causes the information processing terminal to execute the determination process for each of the device status information including the same device identification information. The information processing terminal includes a storage unit,
The monitor program is
In response to receiving the formation instruction operation in the reception process,
Issuing processing for issuing the operation identification information;
A second storage process for storing, in the storage unit, a status record including the operation identification information issued in the issuance process and the device identification information for identifying the image forming device to which the formation instruction information is transmitted. Let the information processing terminal execute
In the formation instruction processing, the formation instruction information including the operation identification information issued in the issuance processing is transmitted to the image forming apparatus through the communication unit,
In response to receiving the operation status information indicating the end of the forming operation in the status receiving process, the status record including the operation identification information and the device identification information included in the operation status information is stored in the storage unit. 11. The monitor program according to claim 9, wherein the monitor program causes the information processing terminal to execute a deletion process for deleting from a terminal. The information processing terminal can execute one of a plurality of programs in a foreground and another program in a background in parallel, and the foreground displays a screen based on the execution of the program on the display unit. Is in a state where the background is a state where a screen based on the execution of the program different from the program is displayed on the display unit,
The monitor program executed in the background includes:
In response to receiving the device status information in the status receiving process, a determination process of determining whether the status record including the device identification information included in the status information is stored in the storage unit,
And performing a third display process of popping up a notification object for notifying that the status information has been received on the display unit in response to the determination in the determination process that the status record is stored. The monitor program according to claim 11, which is executed by a terminal.   The monitor program executed in the background executes the determination process and the first display process in the foreground in response to a designation operation for designating the notification object being received in the reception process. The monitor program according to claim 12, which is executed by a terminal. A monitor program readable by an information processing terminal comprising a communication unit, an operation unit, and a display unit, wherein the communication unit is an image forming apparatus capable of executing a forming operation for forming an image, and the status information is Connected to a server that receives from the image forming device,
The monitor program is
A reception process for receiving a user operation through the operation unit;
A forming instruction process of transmitting formation instruction information for executing the forming operation to the image forming apparatus through the communication unit in response to receiving a forming instruction operation for instructing execution of the forming operation in the receiving process;
Causing the information processing terminal to execute the status information indicating the status of the image forming apparatus that performs the forming operation, and a status receiving process of receiving from the server via the communication unit; Contains operation identification information to identify,
The program is
A determination process of determining, for each of the operation status information including the same operation identification information, target status information indicating a status to be notified to a user of the information processing terminal, among the status information received in the status reception process; ,
A monitor program for causing the information processing terminal to execute a first display process of displaying a status screen including a status indicated by the target status information determined in the determination process on the display unit. A communication unit;
An operation unit,
A display unit,
An information processing terminal comprising a control unit,
The communication unit,
An image forming apparatus capable of executing a forming operation for forming an image,
It is connected to a server that receives status information from the image forming apparatus,
The control unit includes:
A reception process for receiving a user operation through the operation unit;
A forming instruction process of transmitting formation instruction information for executing the forming operation to the image forming apparatus through the communication unit in response to receiving a forming instruction operation for instructing execution of the forming operation in the receiving process;
The status information indicating the status of the image forming apparatus performing the forming operation, a status receiving process of receiving from the server through the communication unit,
Among the status information received in the status receiving process, a determining process of determining target status information indicating a status to be notified to a user of the information processing terminal,
An information processing terminal that executes a first display process of displaying a status screen including a status indicated by the target status information determined in the determination process on the display unit. A monitor system including an information processing terminal and an image forming apparatus,
The information processing terminal,
A first communication unit connected to the image forming apparatus, and a server that receives status information from the image forming apparatus;
An operation unit,
A display unit,
And a first control unit,
The image forming apparatus includes:
A forming unit that performs a forming operation for forming an image;
A second communication unit connected to the information processing terminal and the server;
A second control unit,
The first control unit includes:
A reception process for receiving a user operation through the operation unit;
A forming instruction process of transmitting formation instruction information for executing the forming operation to the image forming apparatus through the first communication unit in response to receiving a forming instruction operation for instructing execution of the forming operation in the receiving process; ,
A status receiving process of receiving the status information indicating the status of the image forming apparatus performing the forming operation from the server via the first communication unit;
Among the status information received in the status receiving process, a determining process of determining target status information indicating a status to be notified to a user of the information processing terminal,
Performing a first display process of displaying a status screen including a status indicated by the target status information determined in the determination process on the display unit;
The second control unit includes:
An instruction receiving process of receiving the formation instruction information from the information processing terminal through the second communication unit;
An operation control process for causing the forming unit to execute the forming operation according to the formation instruction information received in the instruction receiving process;
And a status transmission process for transmitting the status information to the server via the second communication unit.

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