JP7324009B2 - Information processing device, printing device, control method thereof, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, a printing device, a control method thereof , and a program.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a printing apparatus that receives print data from an information processing apparatus via a network and forms an image on paper based on the received print data. It is also conventionally known that an information processing device uses a printer driver (or print application) designed for use with an individual printing device to generate print data to be sent to the printing device.

Also, in recent years, it has become known to generate print data without going through a printer driver (or print application) designed for use with an individual printing device. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200003 proposes a print client that performs printing based on a network protocol (IPP: Internet Printing Protocol) for causing a printing apparatus to perform printing. The print client implements print processing by having the printing apparatus and the information processing apparatus communicate with each other according to the IPP communication procedure.

JP 2017-113904 A

However, the conventional technology described above has the following problems. In the conventional technology described above, when an information processing apparatus generates print data using a general-purpose print service such as IPP, the information processing apparatus generates a print setting screen based on capability information of the printing apparatus. For example, in the case of a printing device that can print by selecting paper types such as plain paper, thin paper, and thick paper, the information processing device displays a setting screen for selecting the paper type according to the capability information of the printing device. displayed and made available for selection by the user.

On the other hand, the use case of printing includes not only the case of specifying the paper type and printing, but also the use case of printing with the paper supplied in advance to the printing apparatus without specifying the paper type. In the IPP paper type specification (media-type) used as capability information of the printing device, there is an attribute value "auto (automatic setting)" that does not specify the paper type and leaves the selection of the paper type to the printing device. When receiving a print job in which "auto" is specified in many printing apparatuses, printing is performed using the paper supplied to the paper feed unit regardless of the paper type. Also, in order to specify this "auto" in a print job, it is necessary to specify an option corresponding to "auto" (for example, "automatic") on the paper type selection screen in the print setting screen of the information processing apparatus. be.

However, there are printers that do not support "auto" in IPP capability information, that is, printers that cannot be set automatically, even if they support paper types. In that case, since the "automatic" option is not displayed on the print setting screen, there is no choice but to select some paper type such as "plain paper". In this case, if the printer is replenished with paper other than plain paper, a printing error may occur, which may be troublesome for the user.

The present invention is, for example, an information processing apparatus, and receiving means for receiving information indicating one or a plurality of paper types that can be used for printing by the printing apparatus and predetermined information indicating automatic selection of the paper type. , option corresponding to one or more paper types displayed based on the received information indicating one or more paper types, and paper type selection in the information processing apparatus displayed based on the received predetermined information Display means for displaying a print setting screen for selecting one option from options indicating that printing is to be performed on the paper type set by the printing device without designation, and selection via the displayed print setting screen generating means for generating print data including information corresponding to the selected option; and transmitting means for transmitting the generated print data to the printing apparatus, wherein the display means is configured so that the receiving means receives the predetermined The present invention is characterized in that, even when information has not been received, an option indicating that printing is to be performed with the paper type set by the printing device without designating the paper type in the information processing device is displayed . .
Further, the present invention is, for example, a printing apparatus in which , as information related to the paper type, first information for designating selection of the paper type by the function of automatic paper selection and second information for designating the specific paper type. to an information processing device; and based on the first information and the second information transmitted by the transmission device, settings are made via a print setting screen displayed by the information processing device. The printing apparatus further comprises receiving means for receiving print data including the first information, and setting means for setting a type of paper used for printing based on the print data received by the receiving means.

The present invention comprises, for example, an information processing apparatus, and an acquisition unit for acquiring capability information of a communicable printing device; display means for generating and displaying a print setting screen having selection items for selecting automatic setting regardless of whether automatic setting is possible in the corresponding printing apparatus; The printing apparatus is characterized by comprising generating means for generating print data of a print job reflecting setting contents, and transmitting means for transmitting the print data generated by the generating means to the corresponding printing apparatus.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suitably set predetermined print setting items and generate print data for a print job without depending on the capability of the printing apparatus.

1 is a configuration diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment; FIG. 1 is a hardware block diagram of a printing device according to one embodiment; FIG. 1 is a software block diagram of a printing device according to an embodiment; FIG. 1 is a hardware block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment; FIG. 1 is a software block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram from printing device search to printing according to an embodiment; , FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of notification of capability information and a print job according to one embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a print screen according to one embodiment; 4 is a flowchart of an information processing apparatus according to one embodiment; 4 is a flowchart of an information processing apparatus according to one embodiment; 4 is a flowchart of a printing device according to one embodiment; FIG. 10 is a correspondence table between paper type display items and IPPs according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a default paper type setting screen of the printing apparatus according to one embodiment; 4 is a flowchart of an information processing apparatus according to one embodiment; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a print screen according to one embodiment;

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the scope of claims. Although multiple features are described in the embodiments, not all of these multiple features are essential to the invention, and multiple features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same or similar configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

The printing apparatus of the present embodiment is an image forming apparatus that forms an image on a sheet by electrophotography, such as a printing apparatus (printer), a copier, a multifunction peripheral (MFP), and a facsimile apparatus, or an image processing apparatus. or as an information processing device. A multi-function device is a device having at least two or more of a plurality of types of functions including, for example, a printing function, a scanning function, a copying function, and a facsimile function. Here, a case where the printing apparatus is a multifunction peripheral (MFP) will be described. Further, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can be applied to devices such as personal computers (PCs), tablets, smartphones, etc. that can directly or indirectly communicate with the printing device.

<First embodiment>
<System configuration>
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below. First, a configuration example of a printing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

A printer 101 and an AP (access point) 102 are communicatively connected to each other on a LAN (Local Area Network) 100 . As an example of an information processing device, mobile terminals (information processing devices) 103 and 104 such as tablets and notebook computers are connected to the AP 102 so as to be able to communicate with each other. In the following description, the tablet 103 and notebook PC 104 are collectively referred to as information processing apparatuses. This information processing apparatus can communicate with the printing apparatus 101 on the LAN 100 via the AP 102 . In the present embodiment, the above configuration example will be described as an example of a printing system, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is sufficient if they are connected so as to be communicable. Also, the network may be wireless or wired.

<Hardware Configuration of Printer>
A hardware configuration of the printing apparatus 101 will be described with reference to FIG. The printing apparatus 101 has a printing function of printing an image on paper (recording medium), and executes print processing based on print data received via a network.

The printing apparatus 101 includes a control unit 210 , an operation unit 216 , a printing unit 218 and a paper processing unit 220 . The control unit 210 includes a CPU 211, a ROM 212, a RAM 213, a storage 214, an operation unit I/F (interface) 215, an image processing unit 222, a printing unit I/F 217, a paper processing unit I/F 219, and a communication unit I/F 221. .

A control unit 210 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 211 controls overall operations of the printing apparatus 101 . The CPU 211 expands a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 212 or storage 214 into a RAM 213 and executes it to control printing. The ROM 212 stores control programs, boot programs, and the like that can be executed by the CPU 211 . A RAM (Random Access Memory) 213 is the main memory of the CPU 211 and is used as a work area or a temporary storage area for developing various control programs. The storage 214 stores print data, image data, various programs, and various setting information. In this embodiment, an auxiliary storage device such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is assumed as the storage 214, but a non-volatile memory such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) may be used.

Note that in the printing apparatus 101 of the present embodiment, one CPU 211 uses one memory (RAM 213) to execute each process shown in a flow chart to be described later, but other modes may also be used. For example, a plurality of CPUs, RAMs, ROMs, and storages may cooperate to execute each process shown in a flowchart to be described later. Part of the processing may be executed using a hardware circuit such as ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array).

An operation unit I/F 215 is an interface that connects the operation unit 216 and the control unit 210 . An operation unit 216 includes a display unit having a touch panel function, various hardware keys, and the like, and functions as a display unit that displays information and a reception unit that receives user instructions. A printing unit I/F 217 connects a printing unit (printer engine) 218 and the control unit 210 . Image data generated by analyzing a print job received from the information processing apparatus is transferred from the control unit 210 to the printing unit 218 via the printing unit I/F 217 . A printing unit 218 receives a control command and a print job to be printed via the control unit 210, and prints an image on paper fed from a paper feed cassette based on the print job. The printing unit 218 according to this embodiment supports at least one or more paper types that can be fed from the paper feed cassette. Capability information of paper types that can be fed by the printing unit 218 is previously notified to the control unit 210 via the printing unit I/F 217 (for example, when the printing apparatus 101 is started) and stored in the storage 214 or the RAM 213. .

The printing method of the printing unit 218 may be an electrophotographic method or an inkjet method. Other printing methods such as a thermal transfer method can also be applied. Also, the control unit 210 is connected to the LAN 100 via the communication unit I/F 221 . A communication unit I/F 221 transmits image data and information to the information processing apparatuses on the LAN 100 and receives print jobs and information from the information processing apparatuses on the LAN 100 .

The image processing unit 222 has a RIP (Raster Image Processor) function that expands a print job received via the LAN 100 and generates image data used for printing. The image processing unit 222 can also perform resolution conversion and correction processing of image data obtained by developing a print job. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the image processing unit 222 is implemented by a hardware circuit (ASIC, FPGA, etc.), but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the printing apparatus 101 may further include a processor for image processing, and the processor may execute an image processing program to implement image processing and development processing to print data. In this case, it is assumed that this processor and the CPU 211 cooperate with each other to implement the flowcharts described later. Further, the CPU 211 may be configured to execute a program for performing image processing, and perform image processing and print data expansion processing. Also, image processing may be performed by any combination of these.

A sheet processing unit I/F 219 connects the control unit 210 and the sheet processing unit 220 . Paper processing unit 220 receives a control command from control unit 210 and performs post-processing on the paper printed by printing unit 218 according to the control command. For example, post-processing such as aligning a plurality of sheets, punching holes in sheets, and binding a plurality of sheets is executed.

<Software Configuration of Printing Device>
Next, the software configuration of the printing apparatus 101 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that each functional block shown in FIG. 3 is implemented by the CPU 211 executing a program developed in the RAM 213 in this embodiment.

The IPP print service control unit 301 acquires capability information of the printing apparatus from the engine control unit 305 via the print control unit 311 . In this embodiment, the engine control unit 305 acquires the capability information of paper types that can be fed from the paper feed cassette of the printing apparatus 101 . Therefore, it is desirable that the engine control unit 305 holds the performance information in advance at the time of product shipment. Note that the capability information may be updated after the connection of the optional device, software update, or the like. Details of the capability information will be described later.

Next, processing when a print job is received from an external device will be described. When the IPP print service control unit 301 receives a print job based on the IPP standard from the information processing apparatus (the tablet 103 or the notebook PC 104 ) via the network, the IPP print service control unit 301 passes the print job to the print job generation unit 302 .

The print job generation unit 302 receives a print job received from the information processing apparatus via the IPP print service control unit 301, writes it to the data reception control unit 303, registers it as a new job in the job control unit 306, and initiates print processing. Request to start. Subsequently, the print job generation unit 302 passes print setting information to be applied to the print job to the job attribute storage unit 307 .

The data reception control unit 303 is a buffer area for print jobs received by the print job generation unit 302, and temporarily stores each print job in the storage 214. FIG. When the job control unit 306 instructs the PDL analysis unit 304 to perform PDL analysis processing of the print job, the PDL analysis unit 304 requests the data reception control unit 303 for the print job. As a result, the data reception control unit 303 passes the print job data to the PDL analysis unit 304 . The PDL analysis unit 304 generates intermediate rendering data and page attributes according to the PDL language specifications, and stores the processing results in the page storage unit 309 and page attribute storage unit 310 . The page data created by the PDL analysis unit 304 is stored in the page storage unit 309 and the page attribute storage unit 310 for each page.

The attributes saved in the job attribute saving unit 307 include "paper type", "number of copies", "Nup (combination printing)", "printing side (single-sided/double-sided) setting", " color/monochrome mode”, and “finishing settings”. All of these are managed in association with the job ID by the job attribute storage unit 307 .

A page control unit 308 controls page analysis processing by the PDL analysis unit 304 , RIP processing by the RIP control unit 312 , and print control processing by the print control unit 311 . The print control unit 311 acquires RIP-completed image data from the page storage unit 309 , performs color separation into CMYK, and transfers the data to the engine control unit 305 . The engine control unit 305 receives image data for each CMYK page by page from the print control unit 311 and controls the printing unit 218 to execute print processing for each page.

<Hardware Configuration of Information Processing Device>
Next, the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus (tablet 103 or notebook PC 104) according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The information processing apparatus according to this embodiment includes a control unit 400 , a mouse/keyboard 409 , and a touch panel 408 . The control unit 400 includes a CPU 401 , ROM 402 , RAM 403 , storage 404 , Bluetooth (registered trademark) 405 , network I/F 406 and operation unit I/F 407 .

A control unit 400 including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 401 controls overall operations of the information processing apparatus. The CPU 401 expands a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 402 or storage 404 to a RAM 403 and executes it to perform arithmetic processing. The ROM 402 stores control programs, boot programs, and the like that can be executed by the CPU 401 . A RAM (Random Access Memory) 403 is the main memory of the CPU 401 and is used as a work area or a temporary storage area for developing various control programs. A storage 404 stores application data, print data, various programs, and various setting information. In this embodiment, an SSD (Solid State Drive) is assumed as the storage 404, but an HDD or the like may be used.

The Bluetooth 405 is for connecting and using a mouse/keyboard 409, and the network I/F 406 is for connecting to a wireless LAN or the like. A touch panel 408 connected via the operation unit I/F 407 performs drawing on the liquid crystal screen and detects user touch input. Note that in the information processing apparatuses 103 and 104 of the present embodiment, one CPU 401 uses one memory (RAM 403) to execute each process shown in a flowchart to be described later. do not have. For example, a plurality of CPUs, RAMs, ROMs, and storages may cooperate to execute each process shown in a flowchart to be described later. An operation unit I/F 407 connects the touch panel 408 and the control unit 400 . The touch panel 408 includes a display unit having a touch function, and functions as a display unit that displays information and a reception unit that receives user instructions. Also, the control unit 400 connects to the AP 102 via the network I/F 406 .

<Software Configuration of Information Processing Device>
Next, the software configuration of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. It is assumed that each functional block shown in FIG. 5 is implemented by the CPU 401 executing a program developed in the RAM 403. FIG.

A print application 501 is an application that operates on the information processing apparatus, and provides the user with general application functions such as word processing and spreadsheets. Each application not only draws a GUI for user operation but also generates data for printing through an OS drawing engine 514 provided by an operating system on the information processing apparatus.

When the user calls the print function on the application, the application calls the print screen control unit 511 . The print application 501 generates page data for printing through the OS drawing engine 514, and each page data generated by the OS drawing engine 514 is passed to the preview display unit 513 before starting printing, and to the page generating unit 507 after starting printing. be A print screen control unit 511 includes a print setting management unit 512 and a preview display unit 513 . A print setting management unit 512 acquires the capability information of each printing device from the printer information management unit 515, and generates a UI screen for print settings according to the capability of each printing device. The capability information acquired here also includes capability information about the types of paper that can be fed by the printing apparatus 101 . When the printing apparatus 101 supports the paper type in the print settings, the UI screen for paper type setting is displayed (8200, 8300, 8400).

The OS print framework 502 is composed of an IPP client control unit 503 and a print spooler 509 . The IPP client control unit 503 includes a print job generation unit 504 that generates print data of a print job according to an instruction from the print screen control unit 511, and a printer information management unit 515 that holds capability information of the printing apparatus 101 acquired from the printing apparatus 101. Consists of The print spooler 509 sequentially transfers the print jobs generated by the IPP client control unit 503 to the printing apparatus 101 via the data communication control unit 510 . A printer information management unit 515 acquires printer capability information from the printing apparatus 101 through the data communication control unit. Also, the acquired information is provided to the print screen control unit 511 and the standard method conversion unit 505 .

The job attribute generation unit 506 and the page generation unit 507 receive a print data generation instruction from the print screen control unit 511 and start processing. A job attribute generation unit 506 generates job setting information for an IPP job according to an instruction from the print setting management unit 512 . A page generation unit 507 acquires page data generated by the OS rendering engine 514 in page order, converts the data into a PDL language that can be processed by the printing apparatus 101 in cooperation with the PDL generation unit 508 , and transmits the data. A PDL format that the printing apparatus 101 can understand is obtained from the printer information management unit 515 .

<Print sequence>
Next, referring to FIG. 6, a print sequence from search/registration of the information processing apparatus and the printing apparatus 101 to completion of printing in the present embodiment will be described. As described above, the processing of the information processing apparatus described below may be performed by either the tablet 103 or the notebook PC 104, or may be performed by another information processing apparatus.

In step S601, the information processing apparatus searches for the printing apparatus 101 and inquires about the capability (capability information) of the printing apparatus. Subsequently, in step S602, the printing apparatus 101 confirms the types of paper that can be fed, and in step S603, notifies capability information including information about the paper type. Note that in the present embodiment, control of "paper type" as a predetermined print item will be mainly described. However, the control described below may be applied to other print items without intending to limit the invention.

Next, in step S<b>604 , the information processing apparatus receives the notified capability information of the printing apparatus 101 and stores it in the printer information management unit 515 . Subsequently, in step S<b>605 , when the user calls the print function from the application on the information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus displays the print screen of the selected printing apparatus 101 . Note that when information about a plurality of printers is acquired, the printer may be selected from among the plurality of printers. Here, if the printing apparatus 101 supports the paper type, the information processing apparatus displays a screen for selecting the paper type. In step S<b>606 , the information processing apparatus receives print settings from the user, and when the print button is selected, the process advances to step S<b>607 , where the IPP client control unit 503 generates print data and print job attributes, and sends the print data to the printing apparatus 101 . to send. In S608, the printing apparatus 101 analyzes the print data, and executes print processing in S609.

<Capability requirements and print jobs>
Next, a capability request to the printing apparatus 101 and a print job by the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. Reference numeral 700 denotes an example of a capability request issued from the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus 101 in S601. On the other hand, 710 shows an example of the capability information from the printing apparatus 101 to the information processing apparatus in S603. Reference numeral 720 denotes an example of the job ticket of the print job in step S607 generated by the information processing apparatus based on the capability notification from the printing apparatus 101 . In this embodiment, a message according to the IPP protocol is described as an example, but another protocol may be used.

The capability information 710 of the printing apparatus 101 includes “media-type-supported” information, which is an example of IPP paper type support information. 711 to 714 describe supported paper types for each case. Case 1 (711) is an example in which the supported paper types of the printing apparatus 101 are "auto (automatic setting)", "stationery", "stationery-lightweight", and "stationery-heavyweight". Case 2 (712) is an example in which the supported paper types of the printing apparatus 101 are "stationery", "stationery-lightweight", and "stationery-heavyweight". Case 3 (713) is an example in which the only paper type supported by the printing apparatus 101 is "auto". Case 4 (714) is an example in which the printing apparatus 101 does not support the paper type, and "media-type-supported" itself is not included. Reference numeral 715 denotes information on paper sheets supplied to the paper feed cassette of the printing apparatus 101 . It can be seen that the paper replenished in the paper feed cassette “tray-1” has a paper size of 210 mm×297 mm and a paper type of “stationery-lightweight” (thin paper). If the printing apparatus has a plurality of paper feed cassettes, information for each tray (each paper feed cassette) is included.

In 721 to 723 of the job ticket 720, the job ticket of the print job generated by the information processing apparatus based on the capability notification from the printing apparatus 101 is described for each case. Case A (721) shows an example in which "stationery" is specified as the paper type in the job ticket. Case B (722) shows an example in which "auto" is specified as the paper type in the job ticket. Case C of G.723 is an example in which the job ticket of the print job does not include designation of the paper type. A method of using the capability information and the operation of the printing apparatus 101 will be described later.

<Screen example>
Next, an example of a print setting screen of the information processing apparatus 103 (tablet) according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Other information processing apparatuses such as the notebook PC 104 are not intended to be limited to the screen examples described below, and the screen examples described below can be suitably changed and applied according to the display area of the display. .

When the print application 501 calls the print function, the OS displays a print setting screen 8000 . For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the print setting screen 8000 includes selection items for the printing device, selection items for the number of copies, selection items for option settings, and a preview screen. The user can select a portion indicated by 8001 in the selection items of the printing device, transition to a screen 8100, and select a printing device to be used for printing. When the screen 8100 is displayed, the information processing apparatus searches the network for printing apparatuses, and only printing apparatuses that have responded are displayed in the list 8100 . Here, the printing device 101 (“Printer (1)”) selected by the user is displayed in the selection item column of the printing device. At this time, the information processing apparatus inquires of the printing apparatus 101 about the capability information of the printing apparatus 101 selected by the user, and generates the setting screen 8200 of the print option 8002 according to the capability information that the printing apparatus 101 has responded. Note that the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, when displaying the print setting screen 8000, capability information may be received from one or more communicable printing apparatuses. As a result, setting screens for each selection item can be generated in advance, and a user-friendly operation system can be realized.

When the print option 8002 is selected by the user, the information processing apparatus displays a setting screen 8200. FIG. The setting screen 8200 displays print setting items corresponding to the capability information of the printing apparatus 101 and current setting values. A color mode setting item 8301 is set to color, and a paper type setting item 8302 is set to "automatic". The setting values displayed in 8200 can be changed, and in order to change the setting values of the paper type 8302, a setting change button 8303 is selected to display a paper type selection screen 8300. FIG.

On the selection screen 8300, the user can change the paper type setting by selecting one of the displayed paper type check boxes. Another paper type selection screen 8400 is an example screen for the printing apparatus 101 that does not support thin paper and thick paper. FIG. 12 shows the mapping between the paper type support information notified by the capability information 710 of the printing apparatus 101 and the corresponding paper type names displayed on the paper type selection screens 8300 and 8400 . 1201 is a value listed in the paper type capability information "media-type-supported" notified in the capability information 710, and 1202 is a paper type displayed on the paper type selection screen 8300 according to the notified capability information. is the name. Specifically, the information processing apparatus displays "automatic" on the paper type selection screen 8300 when "auto" is notified as the capability information, and displays "normal" on the selection screen 8300 when "stationery" is notified. paper”. When "stationery-lightweight" is notified, "thin paper" is displayed on the selection screen 8300, and when "stationery-heavyweight" is notified, "thick paper" is displayed on the selection screen 8300.

<Processing procedure of information processing device>
Next, the processing procedure of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This flowchart shows the processing from when the information processing apparatus displays the print setting screen 8000 to when the print job is transmitted. Note that although the change in the print setting items described in this flowchart is limited to the paper type, there may actually be other print setting items. The processing described below is realized, for example, by the CPU 401 of the information processing apparatus reading a control program stored in the ROM 402 or the storage 404 to the RAM 403 and executing it.

In S901, the CPU 401 of the information processing apparatus determines whether or not the portion 8001 for selecting a printing apparatus has been selected. If selected, proceed to S902; otherwise, proceed to S907. In step S<b>902 , the CPU 401 inquires about the capabilities of the printing device 101 selected by the user via the screen 8100 for selecting a printing device. The capability inquiry is performed by the IPP "Get-Printer-Attributes" Request command shown in 700 in FIG. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus receives capability information from the printing apparatus 101 as a response to the inquiry in S902. Specifically, it is the response command of the IPP "Get-Printer-Attributes" shown in 710 in FIG. After that, the process proceeds to S903.

In S<b>903 , the CPU 401 analyzes the received capability information of the printing apparatus 101 . Subsequently, in step S<b>904 , the CPU 401 determines whether the printing apparatus 101 supports the paper type based on the analyzed capability information. Here, whether or not the paper type is supported is determined by whether or not the capability information of the printing apparatus 101 includes “media-type-supported”. Since "media-type-supported" is included when Case 1 (711) to Case 3 (713) shown in FIG. 7 are received, it can be determined that the target printing apparatus 101 supports the paper type. On the other hand, since "media-type-supported" is not included when Case 4 (714) is received, it can be determined that the target printing apparatus 101 does not support the paper type. If it is determined in S904 that the printing apparatus 101 supports the paper type, the process advances to S905; otherwise, the process advances to S907.

In S905, the CPU 401 additionally displays a paper type setting item 3802 on the setting screen 8200, and proceeds to S906. In S906, the CPU 401 generates a paper type list for paper type selection screens (8300 and 8400) to be displayed when the paper type setting change button 8303 is selected, and proceeds to S907. The display items of the paper type list change according to the capability information of the printing apparatus 101 . Here, the detailed processing of S906 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The processing described below is realized, for example, by the CPU 401 of the information processing apparatus reading a control program stored in the ROM 402 or the storage 404 to the RAM 403 and executing it.

In S1001, the CPU 401 adds "automatic" to the selection screen 8300 for selecting the paper type, and advances to S1002. In step S<b>1002 , the CPU 401 determines whether “media-type-supported” included in the capability information 710 of the printing apparatus 101 includes “stationery”. If it is included, the process proceeds to S1003; otherwise, the process proceeds to S1004. In S1003, the CPU 401 adds "plain paper" to the selection screen 8300, and proceeds to S1004.

In S<b>1004 , the CPU 401 determines whether “stationary-lightweight” is included in “media-type-supported” included in the capability information 710 of the printing apparatus 101 . If it is included, the process proceeds to S1005; otherwise, the process proceeds to S1006. In S1005, the CPU 401 adds "thin paper" to the selection screen 8300, and proceeds to S1006.

In S<b>1006 , the CPU 401 determines whether “stationary-heavyweight” is included in “media-type-supported” included in the capability information 710 of the printing apparatus 101 . If it is included, the process proceeds to S1007; otherwise, the process ends. In S1007, the CPU 401 adds "thick paper" to the selection screen 8300, and ends the process.

In this manner, the selection screen 8300 lists the paper types supported by the capability information of the printing apparatus 101, and always lists "automatic" as a selection item. That is, regardless of whether or not information indicating "automatic" is included in the capability information, the "automatic" selection item is set by default. For example, the capability information 711 (Case 1) and 712 (Case 2) of the printing apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 7A is the difference between whether or not auto is included. However, the paper type selection items displayed on the information processing apparatus when receiving the capability information are both 8300 including automatic. Further, when the capability information 713 (Case 3) of the printing apparatus 101 is received, the paper type selection items displayed on the information processing apparatus are 8400 indicating automatic and plain paper. In Case 4 (714), since there is no "media-type-supported", the paper type setting item 8302 itself is not displayed. After interpreting the capability information of the printing apparatus 101 and displaying the print setting screen, the process returns to step S907.

Returning to the description of FIG. In S907, the CPU 401 determines whether a print setting item has been selected. If selected, proceed to S908; otherwise, proceed to S909. In step S908, the CPU 401 displays a setting change screen based on the selected print setting items (for example, 8301 and 8302), changes the setting items to the input setting items, and proceeds to step S909.

In S909, the CPU 401 determines whether the print button 8004 has been selected. If not selected, proceed to S917; if selected, proceed to S910. In S910, the CPU 401 determines whether the paper type setting item 8302 is supported in the print settings. If the printing apparatus 101 does not support the paper type, the process advances to step S915 without displaying the paper type setting item 8302 . If paper type setting is supported, the process advances to step S911.

In S911, the CPU 401 determines whether the set paper type is "automatic". If it is automatic, the process proceeds to S912; otherwise, the process proceeds to S914. In S914, the CPU 401 sets a paper type command corresponding to the selected paper type in the job ticket, and proceeds to S915. The mapping between paper types and commands is as shown in FIG. 12 described above. For example, when "plain paper" is selected, "stationery" is set in the job ticket as in Case A (721) in FIG. 7B.

On the other hand, in step S912, the CPU 401 checks whether the printing apparatus 101 supports "media-type-supported" and "auto". If "auto" is supported, proceed to S913; otherwise, proceed to S915. In S913, the CPU 401 designates "auto" in the job ticket (Case B (722)), and proceeds to S915. If "auto" is not supported, the job ticket does not specify the paper type (Case C (723)), and the process proceeds to S915.

Thus, in this embodiment, regardless of whether the printing apparatus 101 supports "auto" in "media-type-supported", "Auto" is always displayed on the paper type selection screen. As a result, even the printing apparatus 101 that does not support "auto" can generate a job that does not specify the paper type.

Next, in step S<b>915 , the CPU 401 reflects settings other than the corresponding paper type in the job ticket. Subsequently, in S916, the CPU 401 transmits the print job to the printing apparatus 101, and ends the process. On the other hand, in S917, the CPU 401 checks whether or not the cancel button 8003 has been selected.

<Processing procedure of printing device>
Next, the processing procedure of the printing apparatus 101 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This flowchart shows processing when the printing apparatus 101 receives a print job. Note that the print settings in this flowchart are limited to the paper type, but may actually include other processes. The processing described below is realized, for example, by the CPU 211 of the printing apparatus 101 reading a control program stored in the ROM 212 or the storage 214 into the RAM 213 and executing it.

In S1101, the CPU 211 of the printing apparatus 101 determines whether a print job has been received from an external apparatus. If received, the process advances to S1102. In S1102, the CPU 211 analyzes the received print data. Subsequently, in S1103, the CPU 211 checks whether there is a paper type setting. If there is, proceed to S1104; otherwise, proceed to S1107.

In S1104, the CPU 211 determines whether the paper type set in the job ticket is "auto". If not "auto", the CPU 211 advances to S1105, determines to print with the designated paper type, and advances to S1108. For example, as shown in Case A (721) in FIG. 7B, if "stationery" is specified, printing is performed on plain paper. On the other hand, in S1104, for example, as shown in Case A (722) of FIG. 7B, if "auto" is specified, the process proceeds to S1106, and the CPU 211 prints with the paper replenished in the cassette regardless of the paper type. is determined, and the process proceeds to S1108.

On the other hand, if the job ticket does not specify the paper type in S1103, the process advances to S1107, the CPU 211 determines to feed paper using the default paper type, and the process advances to S1108. The default paper type is a value that is referred to when there is no paper type setting in the job ticket, and is set in the printing apparatus 101 in advance. The default paper type can be set by user input via the operation unit 216 of the printing apparatus 101, and an example of the screen is shown in FIG. On the default paper type setting screen 1300, auto 1301, plain paper 1302, thin paper 1303, and thick paper 1304 can be designated as default values for paper type setting. In the example of FIG. 13, "automatic" is set as the default paper type, so printing is performed with paper replenished in the paper cassette in the same manner as when "auto" is specified in the job ticket.

In S1108, the CPU 211 executes print processing on the fed paper, and ends this flowchart.

As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment acquires capability information of print apparatuses with which communication is possible. After that, based on the acquired capability information, the information processing apparatus selects whether automatic setting can be selected for predetermined print items related to the corresponding printing apparatus, regardless of whether automatic setting is possible in the corresponding printing apparatus. Generate and display a print setting screen with items. Further, the information processing apparatus generates print data of a print job that reflects the setting contents set via the print setting screen, and transmits the generated print data to the corresponding printing apparatus. As described above, according to the present embodiment, the information processing apparatus always displays “automatic (automatic setting)” as the paper type selection item regardless of the capability information of the printing apparatus 101 . When "automatic" is selected, if the printing apparatus 101 supports "auto", "auto" is specified in the job ticket and the paper supplied to the printing apparatus 101 is used for printing. On the other hand, even in the case of the printing apparatus 101 that does not support "auto (automatic setting)", printing can be performed with the default paper size of the printing apparatus by not designating the paper type in the job ticket. Therefore, by designating the default paper setting to "auto" in advance, printing can be performed with the paper supplied to the printing apparatus 101 .

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, control related to the paper type has been described as an item of print settings. However, the present invention can be applied to various setting items, including automatic setting, as long as they are print setting items. For example, it can be applied to various print setting items such as "paper size", "combined printing", "print orientation", "discharge destination", "print quality", and "finishing process". These applications are the same for the second embodiment described later.

<Second embodiment>
Below, the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is described. In the first embodiment, the selection screen 8300 for selecting the paper type always displays the option of "automatic" that does not specify the paper type, and regardless of whether the printing apparatus 101 supports "auto", The control for printing with paper replenished in the printing apparatus 101 has been described.

If the printer 101 does not support “auto (automatic setting)” and “automatic” is selected for printing, the default paper type set in the printer 101 is used for printing. However, if a default paper type other than "auto" is set, a printing error may occur due to a mismatch with the paper type replenished in the cassette. For example, the default paper type is "plain paper", but the paper type replenished in the cassette is "thin paper". In the present embodiment, in order to deal with such a problem, a process of switching the default values of settings according to the type of paper replenished to the printing apparatus 101 in the process of generating a paper selection screen by the information processing apparatus will be described.

<Generate paper selection screen>
With reference to FIG. 14, additional processing of the paper selection screen generation processing by the information processing apparatus shown in S906 of FIG. 9 according to the present embodiment will be described. This flowchart is executed after the flowchart shown in FIG. Note that the processing according to the present embodiment is the same as the processing described in the first embodiment except for S906, so the description thereof will be omitted. The processing described below is realized, for example, by the CPU 401 of the information processing apparatus reading a control program stored in the ROM 402 or the storage 404 to the RAM 403 and executing it.

In S1401, the CPU 401 of the information processing apparatus determines whether the printing apparatus 101 supports "auto". If "auto" is supported, the process proceeds to step S1402, the CPU 401 sets the default value of the screen for selecting the paper type to "auto", and ends the process. A paper type selection screen in this case is shown in 1501 in FIG. You can see that the default value is "Automatic".

On the other hand, if it is determined in S1401 that "auto" is not supported, the process advances to S1403. In S1403, the CPU 401 checks whether the type of paper supplied to the printing apparatus 101 can be acquired. The checking method is to determine whether or not the printing apparatus supports "media-col-ready" which is capacity information of the paper feed cassette in IPP. If so, the CPU 401 advances to S1404, checks the paper type replenished in the paper feed cassette, sets the paper type to the default value, and terminates the process. "media-col-ready" indicated by 715 in FIG. 7A indicates that "stationery-lightweight" (thin paper) is supplied to the paper feed cassette, so the default value of the paper type selection screen is set to thin paper. do. A paper type selection screen in this case is shown in 1502 in FIG.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S1403 that the paper type supplied to the printing apparatus 101 cannot be obtained, the process advances to S1405. In step S<b>1405 , the CPU 401 sets the paper type listed at the beginning of “media-type-supported” received in the capability information of the printing apparatus 101 as the default on the paper type selection screen. When the capability information of Case 1 (711) in FIG. 7A is received, the top of the list is "auto", so the default value is set to automatic (1501 in FIG. 15). On the other hand, when the capability information of Case 2 (712) in FIG. 7A is received, the default value is set to plain paper (1503 in FIG. 15) because the head of the list is "stationery".

As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment switches and displays the default values of predetermined print items on the print setting screen according to the capability information acquired from the printing apparatus. In this manner, the information processing apparatus switches the default value of the paper selection screen according to the capability information of the printing apparatus, thereby reducing the possibility that the print job and the type of paper replenished in the paper feed cassette do not match. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately set predetermined print setting items and generate print data for a print job without depending on the capability of the printing apparatus.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention supplies a program that implements one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by processing to It can also be implemented by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that implements one or more functions.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the claims are appended to make public the scope of the invention.

100: LAN, 101: Printer, 102: AP, 103: Information processing device (tablet), 104: Information processing device (notebook PC), 211: CPU, 221: Communication unit I/F

Claims (20)

An information processing device,
receiving means for receiving information indicating one or more types of paper that can be used for printing by the printer and predetermined information indicating automatic selection of the type of paper ;
Options corresponding to one or more paper types displayed based on the received information indicating one or more paper types, and specification of paper types in the information processing device displayed based on the received predetermined information display means for displaying a print setting screen for selecting one option from options indicating that printing is to be performed on the paper type set by the printing apparatus without
generating means for generating print data including information corresponding to options selected via the displayed print setting screen;
transmitting means for transmitting the generated print data to the printing device;
The display means prints with the paper type set by the printing device without designating the paper type in the information processing device even when the receiving means has not received the predetermined information. An information processing apparatus characterized by displaying an option indicating that. When an option indicating that printing is to be performed using a paper type set by the printing device without specifying a paper type in the information processing device is selected via the print setting screen, the generating means 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print data including the information of is generated. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the print data transmitted by the transmitting means includes the predetermined information, the printing apparatus automatically designates the type of paper to be used for printing. information processing equipment. When one of options corresponding to one or more paper types displayed based on the received information indicating one or more paper types is selected via the print setting screen, the generating means 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein print data including information indicating the type of paper is generated. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more paper types include at least one of plain paper, thick paper, and thin paper. The displayed print setting screen is a print setting screen in which an option indicating that printing is performed using the paper type set by the printing device without specifying the paper type in the information processing device is selected as a default value. 6. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the generated print data is transmitted according to Internet Printing Protocol. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined information is "Auto". A printing device,
a transmission means for transmitting first information specifying selection of a paper type by an automatic paper selection function and second information specifying a specific paper type as information relating to the paper type to the information processing apparatus;
receiving means for receiving print data including the first information set via a print setting screen displayed by the information processing apparatus based on the first information and the second information transmitted by the transmitting means; ,
setting means for setting a paper type of paper to be used for printing based on the print data received by the receiving means;
A printing device comprising: further comprising another receiving means for receiving a request for information on the paper type from the information processing apparatus;
10. The printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said transmitting means transmits said first information and said second information to said information processing apparatus as a response to said request received by said other receiving means. . 11. The printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the first information is information corresponding to options for automatically setting the paper type by the printing apparatus. 12. The apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein when print data including said second information is received, print processing is executed based on paper type information corresponding to said second information. printing device. 13. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein the print processing of the received print data is executed based on the paper type information set by the setting unit. 14. The printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said transmitting means transmits said first information and said second information to said information processing apparatus according to Internet Printing Protocol. 15. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the first information is information indicated by a character string "Auto". wherein, when print data including the first information is received, the setting means sets the type of paper supplied to a paper feed unit of the printing device when the print data is received. Item 16. The printing apparatus according to any one of Items 9 to 15. A control method for an information processing device,
a receiving step of receiving information indicating one or more paper types that the printing device can use for printing;
a displaying step of displaying a print setting screen displaying options corresponding to one or more paper types displayed based on the received information indicating one or more paper types;
a generation step of generating print data including information corresponding to an option selected via the displayed print setting screen;
a sending step of sending the print data generated in the generating step to the printing device;
In the displaying step, when predetermined information indicating automatic selection of a paper type is received in the receiving step, printing is performed using the paper type set by the printing device without designating the paper type in the information processing device. to display on the print setting screen an option indicating that, even if the predetermined information has not been received in the receiving step, the printing device can be operated without designating the paper type in the information processing device. A control method for an information processing apparatus, comprising: displaying an option indicating that printing is to be performed with a set paper type. A computer program that causes a computer to execute the control method for the information processing apparatus according to claim 17 . A control method for a printing device, comprising:
a transmitting step of transmitting first information designating selection of a paper type by an automatic paper type selection function and second information designating a specific paper type as information related to the paper type to the information processing apparatus;
a receiving step of receiving print data including the first information set via a print setting screen displayed by the information processing apparatus based on the first information and the second information transmitted in the transmitting step; ,
and a setting step of setting a paper type of paper to be used for printing based on the print data received in the receiving step. A computer program for causing a computer to execute the method of controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 19 .

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