JP6969185B2 - Client terminals, information processing methods and programs - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to client terminals, information processing methods and programs.

Conventionally, a print job is sent from a client PC (Personal Computer) to a print server, the print job is stored in the storage area of the print server, and the user prints from an operation terminal that operates an output device (image forming device, etc.). A pull print system is known in which a print job stored in a print server is sent to an output device according to an instruction, and the print job is executed by the output device.

Further, the client PC can be specified to store the print job in the storage area of the client PC instead of storing the print job in the print server. A client pull print system is also known in which an output device acquires a stored print job from a client PC and outputs it.

For example, in Patent Document 1, a user inputs information for identifying a client PC in which a print job is accumulated into a printing device, and the printing device converts the input information into an IP address and the IP. A configuration for not communicating with an unnecessary client PC by communicating only with the client PC specified by the address is disclosed.

However, in the prior art, when a user logs off from a client PC (a state in which the login state is not maintained), there is a problem that the print job of the user cannot be fetched from the client PC that accumulates print jobs for each user. ..

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and is a client terminal and an information processing method capable of taking out a print job accumulated by a user in a logged-in state even when the user's logged-in state is not maintained. And the purpose is to provide the program.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the present invention is a client terminal used by one or more users, and continues to operate during the startup of the client terminal regardless of the user's login state. The user process comprises a program including a service process, a user process prepared for each user, which is started in response to a corresponding user's login, and is terminated when the user logs off, and the user process identifies a logged-in user. The service process has a print job registration unit that requests the service process to store print jobs including possible information, and the service process stores print jobs in the storage unit according to a request from the user process. The print job request receiving unit that receives the print job request requesting the print job from the output device, and the print stored in the storage unit in response to the print job request received by the print job request receiving unit. It has a print job transmission unit that transmits a job to the output device.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a client terminal, an information processing method and a program capable of taking out a print job accumulated by a user in a logged-in state even when the user's logged-in state is not maintained.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the client terminal. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a function possessed by a client terminal. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of print job information. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of print job information. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the client terminal. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation procedure of the information processing system. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system of the modified example. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of associative information. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation procedure of the information processing system of the modified example.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a client terminal, an information processing method, and a program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system 100 includes a client terminal 10, a printer 20, an authentication server 30, and a print server 40, which are connected via a network 50 such as the Internet. These devices may be connected wirelessly or by wire. The information processing system 100 of the present embodiment is a system that at least realizes client pull printing in which print jobs are stored in the client terminal 10 and the print jobs stored in the client terminal 10 are output from the printer 20 according to a user's print instruction. It is assumed that there is. A pull print may be realized in which the print job from the client terminal 10 is stored in the print server 40 and the print job stored in the print server 40 is output by the printer 20. For example, when storing a print job on the client terminal 10, the user selects whether to store the print job on the client terminal 10 or the print server 40, or the client terminal 10 dynamically judges from the content of the print job. It may be a system that selects and accumulates in the selected one.

For convenience of explanation, FIG. 1 shows an example in which the number of each of the client terminal 10 and the printer 20 included in the information processing system 100 is one, but the present invention is not limited to this, and each of these is not limited to this. The number of devices can be changed arbitrarily. Further, for example, one server in which the authentication server 30 and the print server 40 are integrated may be provided.

The client terminal 10 is a terminal used by one or more users. For example, the user can use the client terminal 10 for his / her own work, task, or any other work. The client terminal 10 is composed of, for example, a PC (Personal Computer). There is a form in which one user exclusively uses the client terminal 10, and there is also a client terminal 10 which is assumed to be shared by a plurality of users. The specific configuration of the client terminal 10 will be described later.

The printer 20 is an example of an “output device” and is a device that outputs a print job stored in the client terminal 10 or the print server 40. Here, as an example of the output device, the printer 20 will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the type of the output device is arbitrary. For example, as an output device, an image forming device such as an MFP, a copier, a scanner, or an LP, or a device that outputs a display such as a projector may be used.

The authentication server 30 is a server for authenticating the user and the printer 20. More specifically, the authentication server 30 executes an authentication process (user authentication process) for determining whether or not the user has the authority to use the printer 20. In this example, the authentication server 30 holds in advance user authentication information that is a source for authenticating the user for each user who has the authority to use the printer 20. In this example, this user authentication information is a user ID uniquely assigned to each user, but is not limited to this. For example, the user authentication information may be a combination of a user name and a password. Further, the authentication server 30 executes an authentication process (device authentication process) for determining whether or not the printer 20 is a device permitted to be used in the information processing system 100. In this example, the authentication server 30 holds in advance the device authentication information that is the basis for authenticating the device for each device that is permitted to be used in the information processing system 100. In this example, the device authentication information is a device ID that identifies the device, but is not limited thereto.

The print server 40 manages information (referred to as "location information" in the following description) indicating which user's print job is stored in which client terminal 10. Further, the print server 40 may have a function of accumulating print jobs transmitted from the client terminal 10. The print server 40 manages print jobs and information related to print jobs transmitted from a plurality of client terminals 10. Since the print job includes information for identifying the user such as the user ID, the print server 40 can manage the user who can execute the print job by associating the print job with the user ID. The specific operation contents of the print server 40 in this embodiment will be described later. Although this embodiment is a system that can be realized even if pull print and client pull print coexist, it will be described based on an example in which client pull print is used.

Next, a specific configuration of the client terminal 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the client terminal 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the client terminal 10 includes a CPU 11, a ROM 12, an HDD 13, a RAM 14, an input unit 15, a display unit 16, and a communication I / F 17. The printer 20, the authentication server 30, and the print server 40 also have equivalent hardware.

The CPU 11 is an arithmetic unit that realizes control of the entire client terminal 10 and various functions by reading programs and data from a storage device such as the ROM 12 and the HDD 13 onto the RAM 14 and executing processing.

The ROM 12 is an example of a non-volatile semiconductor memory (storage device) that can hold programs and data even when the power is turned off (even if the power supply to the client terminal 10 is cut off). The ROM 12 stores programs and data such as BIOS, OS settings, and network settings that are executed when the client terminal 10 is started.

The HDD 13 is an example of a non-volatile storage device for storing programs and data. The HDD 13 includes an OS which is basic software that controls the entire client terminal 10 and application software (hereinafter, simply referred to as “application”) that provides various functions on the OS. The client terminal 10 may use a drive device (for example, a solid state drive: SSD) that uses a flash memory as a storage medium instead of the HDD 13.

The RAM 14 is an example of a volatile storage device that temporarily stores programs and data, and functions as a work area (work area) for processing executed by the CPU 11.

The input unit 15 is a device used by the user to input various operation signals, and may be composed of, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, or the like. The display unit 16 is a device that displays various types of information (for example, the result of processing by the client terminal 10), and may be configured as, for example, a liquid crystal display device. It should be noted that the input unit 15 and the display unit 16 may be integrally configured, for example, such as a touch panel. Further, the input unit 15 and the display unit 16 may be connected and used when necessary.

The communication I / F 17 is an interface for connecting the client terminal 10 to the network 50.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a function possessed by the client terminal 10. In this example, as a program running on the operating system (OS) of the client terminal 10, it is common to the system regardless of the user's login status (regardless of the existence of the authenticated and logged-in user). There is a one-to-one correspondence between the service process 101 that operates as a service (continues to start while the client terminal 10 is running) and the accounts of multiple users who have the authority to use the client terminal 10, and each operates in the user's session. There are at least a plurality of user processes 102. The account is information for using the client terminal 10 (information for logging in), and may be composed of the above-mentioned user ID or a combination of a user name (account name) and a password. good. Each user process 102 is started at the timing when the corresponding user is authenticated and logged in, and ends when the user logs off. That is, the user process 102 operates only while the user is logged in, and ends (does not operate) when the user logs off. The "login" is a state in which the existence of the user account is confirmed (authenticated) and the use of the client terminal 10 is permitted, and the "log off" is a state in which the user has finished using the client terminal 10. (A state in which the authority to use the client terminal 10 is abandoned, that is, a state in which the login state is not maintained). The login / log-off of the user is managed by the OS, and the user process 102 is started / terminated according to the command of the OS.

Further, as other programs running on the OS, there are a print application 103, a printer driver 104, a spooler 105, a spooler monitoring unit 106, and the like. In this example, the print application 103 has a function of creating original data (data that is the source of a print job) such as document data, a function of displaying a print setting screen, and original data from the print setting screen according to a user operation. It has a function to accept print instructions. In this example, when instructing the user to print the original data from the print setting screen, in addition to specifying the target original data, the user has set the printer icon (registered in the client terminal 10) for pull printing. Printer) is specified. That is, the print instruction includes at least the designation of the original data to be printed and the designation of the printer icon. A plurality of printer icons for designating a print destination are created (registered) in the client terminal 10, and a printer driver 104 and a port to be used as the setting values are also set. In this example, the printer driver 104 exists for each printer icon, and when the print application 103 receives a print instruction from the print setting screen, the printer driver 104 corresponds to the printer icon specified by the received print instruction. , A print request including the original data specified by the print instruction and requesting printing of the original data is transmitted.

The printer driver 104 provides a function of generating a print job. When the print request is passed from the print application 103, the printer driver 104 generates a print job based on the print request and passes the print job to the spooler 105. The spooler 105 provides a function for temporarily storing the print jobs generated by the printer driver 104 and executing them in sequence. The spooler monitoring unit 106 monitors the accumulation of print jobs in the spooler 105. In this example, the spooler monitoring unit 106 sees the print job parameters (set ports) stored in the spooler 105, and the output destination of the print job is used by the client pull print system (information processing system 100). By determining whether or not the printer 20 is printed, it is possible to determine whether or not the print job is a job of the pull print system. If it is determined that the print job is a job of the pull print system, the spooler monitoring unit 106 takes out the print job from the spooler 105 and passes it to the user process 102.

As shown in FIG. 3, the service process 101 includes a communication unit 111, a print job management unit 112, a print job request reception unit 113, a first authentication control unit 114, and a second authentication control unit 115. The print job transmission unit 116 and the like are included. In this example, only the functions related to the present embodiment are mainly exemplified, but the functions of the service process 101 are not limited to these.

The communication unit 111 performs data communication with the outside. The print job management unit 112 manages the print jobs stored in the storage unit 130 of the client terminal 10. In this example, the print job management unit 112 stores print jobs in the storage unit 130 in accordance with a request from the user process 102 described later. Further, in this example, the print job management unit 112 also has a function of generating and transmitting (transmitting to the printer 20) the print job list described later. The storage unit 130 can store print jobs for each one or more users who have the authority to use the client terminal 10. For example, the storage unit 130 may be in a form in which one or more print jobs are associated and stored for each user information (for example, a user ID or the like) indicating the user.

The print job request receiving unit 113 receives a print job request requesting a print job from the printer 20. As will be described in detail later, the print job request includes first information used for user authentication and second information used for printer 20 authentication. The first information is information in which user information indicating a user (user ID in this example) is encrypted with a predetermined encryption key, and may be referred to as a "user token" below. Further, the second information is information in which the device ID (an example of "output device information") that identifies the printer is encrypted with a predetermined encryption key, and is hereinafter referred to as "token for device". There is.

When the print job request receiving unit 113 receives the print job request from the printer 20, the print job request receiving unit 113 passes the first information included in the received print job request to the first authentication control unit 114, which will be described later, to authenticate the user. To ask. Further, the print job request receiving unit 113 passes the second information included in the received print job request to the second authentication control unit 115, which will be described later, to request the printer 20 to be authenticated.

The first authentication control unit 114 controls to authenticate the user by using the first information included in the print job request received by the print job request reception unit 113. In the present embodiment, the first authentication control unit 114 includes the first information passed from the print job request reception unit 113, and transmits the first authentication request requesting the user's authentication to the authentication server 30. Then, as a response to the first authentication request, the user's authentication result is received from the authentication server 30. The first authentication control unit 114 passes the authentication result received from the authentication server 30 to the print job request reception unit 113. The authentication server 30 decodes the first information (token for the user) included in the first authentication request to acquire the user ID, and holds the above-mentioned user authentication information (for authenticating the user) in advance. A user authentication process for determining whether or not the decrypted user ID is included in the original information) is executed, and the authentication result is returned to the client terminal 10 (first authentication control unit 114). The authentication server 30 manages an encryption key for generating a token for a user.

The second authentication control unit 115 controls to authenticate the printer 20 by using the second information included in the print job request received by the print job request reception unit 113. In the present embodiment, the second authentication control unit 115 includes the second information passed from the print job request reception unit 113, and sends a second authentication request for authentication of the printer 20 to the authentication server 30. In response to the second authentication request, the authentication result of the printer 20 is received from the authentication server 30. The authentication server 30 decodes the second information (token for the device) included in the second authentication request to acquire the device ID, and holds the above-mentioned device authentication information (for authenticating the device) in advance. The device authentication process for determining whether or not the decrypted device ID is included in the original information) is executed, and the authentication result is returned to the client terminal 10 (second authentication control unit 115). The second authentication control unit 115 passes the authentication result received from the authentication server 30 to the print job request reception unit 113. The authentication server 30 manages an encryption key for generating a token for a device.

The print job request receiving unit 113 receives an authentication result indicating that the user has been authenticated from the first authentication control unit 114, and indicates that the printer 20 has been authenticated from the second authentication control unit 115. When the authentication result is received, the print job request received from the printer 20 is passed to the print job management unit 112. The print job management unit 112 takes out the print jobs stored in the storage unit 130 according to the print job request passed from the print job request reception unit 113, and requests the print job transmission unit 116 to send the taken out print job. .. Upon receiving this request, the print job transmission unit 116 transmits the print job passed from the print job management unit 112 to the printer 20.

That is, in the present embodiment, the print job transmission unit 116 requests a print job only when the user is authenticated by the first authentication control unit 114 and the printer 20 is authenticated by the second authentication control unit 115. Send the print job according to.

Next, the function of the user process 102 will be described. Here, the function of the one user process 102 will be described by focusing on one user process 102, but the other user process 102 also has the same function.

As shown in FIG. 3, the user process 102 includes a communication unit 121, a display control unit 122, a print job reception unit 123, a print job registration unit 124, and a print job information transmission unit 125. In this example, only the functions related to the present embodiment are mainly exemplified, but the functions possessed by the user process 102 are not limited to these.

The communication unit 121 performs data communication with the outside. The display control unit 122 controls to display various information about the client terminal 10 on the display unit 16. In this example, when the user process 102 is activated, the display control unit 122 can control the display unit 16 to display a screen (screen after login) reflecting the personal settings of the user.

The print job reception unit 123 is called by the spooler monitoring unit 106 and receives a print job from the spooler monitoring unit 106. The print job reception unit 123 passes the print job received from the spooler monitoring unit 106 to the print job registration unit 124.

The print job registration unit 124 adds bibliographic information including print setting information such as the number of copies in addition to user information and other job names to the print job received by the print job reception unit 123, and provides a service process 101 (print job management unit). 112) is requested to register the information. The print job management unit 112 registers (stores) information including the print job (information in which bibliographic information is added to the print job) in the storage unit 130 in accordance with the request from the print job registration unit 124. Further, the print job registration unit 124 passes information including the print job to be registered (information in which bibliographic information is added to the print job) to the print job information transmission unit 125. That is, the user process 102 requests the service process 101 to accumulate print jobs, and by receiving the result, the accumulation of print jobs can be known.

The print job information transmission unit 125 generates print job information indicating information about the print job based on the information passed from the print job registration unit 124, and transmits the generated print job information to the print server 40. As shown in FIG. 4, the print job information includes user information (user ID in this example) indicating a user who has accumulated a print job and terminal information (this example) indicating a client terminal 10 in which a print job is accumulated. Then, the information includes at least the host name and the IP address, etc.), but is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 5, for example, the print data among the user information, the terminal information, and the information included in the print job. It may be in a form including bibliographic information other than (image data to be printed). The print server 40 manages the print job information received from the client terminal 10 as location information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the client terminal 10 from the generation of the print job to the accumulation. As a premise, when the user first inputs his / her own account and logs in to the client terminal 10, the user process 102 operating in the user's session is started. As a screen after login, a screen reflecting the personal settings of the user is displayed, and the user starts the print application 103 to create original data of the print job. Then, the printing of the created original data is instructed. As described above, when instructing the user to print the original data, in addition to specifying the target original data, the user specifies the printer icon for which the port for pull printing (for the client pull printing system) is set. do.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the print application 103 receives a print instruction from the user (step S1), the print instruction is given to the printer driver 104 corresponding to the printer icon specified by the received print instruction. A print request containing the specified original data and requesting printing of the original data is transmitted. Next, the printer driver 104 generates a print job based on the print request passed from the print application 103 (step S2), and passes the generated print job to the spooler 105. The spooler 105 stores (temporarily saves) the print job received from the printer driver 104 (step S3).

The spooler monitoring unit 106 constantly monitors the registration of a print job on the spooler 105, and when the print job of the client pull print is registered, the spooler monitoring unit 106 acquires the print job from the spooler 105 (step S4) and is in operation. To the user process 102 (print job reception unit 123) of. As described above, the spooler monitoring unit 106 sees the print job parameters (ports) stored in the spooler 105, and the output destination of the print job is used in the client pull print system (information processing system 100). By determining whether or not the printer 20 is used, it is possible to determine whether or not the print job is a print job of the pull print system.

The print job reception unit 123 receives a print job from the spooler monitoring unit 106 (step S5). The print job reception unit 123 passes the print job received in step S5 to the print job registration unit 124, and the print job registration unit 124 receives user information and other jobs for the print job passed from the print job reception unit 123. In addition to the name, bibliographic information including print setting information such as the number of copies is added, and the service process 101 (print job management unit 112) is requested to register the information. The print job management unit 112 assigns an ID for identifying the print job to the print job (print job to which the journal information is added) passed from the print job registration unit 124, and registers (stores) it in the storage unit 130 (accumulation). Step S6). The storage can be performed as a file or a database (DB) can be used.

Then, the print job management unit 112 passes the accumulation result of step S6 to the running user process 102 (print job information transmission unit 125). That is, here, the user process 102 requests the service process 101 to accumulate print jobs, and by receiving the result, it is possible to know the completion of the accumulation of print jobs. When the accumulation of print jobs is completed, the running user process 102 (print job information transmission unit 125) generates the above-mentioned print job information and transmits the generated print job information to the print server 40 (step S7). .. The specific contents of the print job information are as described above. The print server 40 stores the print job information received from the client terminal 10.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of an operation procedure of the information processing system 100 when the printer 20 takes a print job from the client terminal 10 and outputs the print job. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the printer 20 has been authenticated by the authentication server 30 and the token for the device has been acquired from the authentication server 30.

First, the user who has completed the operation of accumulating the print job in the client terminal 10 inputs the user ID into the printer 20 in order to authenticate himself / herself (to log in) to the printer 20 (step S11). At this time, the user may be logged off from the client terminal 10 (that is, the user process 102 corresponding to the user is in the terminated state), or another user may be logged in to the client terminal 10. The method of inputting the user ID is arbitrary, for example, it may be input by operating a keyboard or the like, it may be input by reading an IC card in which the user ID is recorded, or biometric authentication is used. It may be an input.

The printer 20 that has received the input of the user ID transmits the user authentication request that includes the accepted user ID and requests the execution of the user authentication process to the authentication server 30 (step S12). The authentication server 30 that has received the user authentication request executes the user authentication process (step S13). More specifically, the authentication server 30 determines whether or not the user authentication information matching the user ID included in the user authentication request exists in the user authentication information held in advance. For convenience of explanation, in the following, the result of the user authentication process in step S13 is affirmative (the user authentication information that matches the user ID included in the user authentication request exists in the user authentication information held in advance). It will be explained on the premise of that. In this case, the authentication server 30 encrypts the user ID included in the user authentication request with a predetermined encryption key, issues a token for the user, and returns the issued token for the user to the printer 20 (step). S14).

Next, the printer 20 acquires the print job list. Here, the case where the print server 40 manages the print job information (information not including the bibliographic information) shown in FIG. 4 will be described as an example. In this case, the printer 20 transmits a terminal information request including the user ID of the logged-in user and requesting the above-mentioned terminal information to the print server 40 (step S15). Upon receiving the terminal information request, the print server 40 refers to the print job information shown in FIG. 4 and selects the terminal information (host name and IP address in this example) corresponding to the user ID included in the terminal information request. The selected terminal information is returned to the printer 20 (step S16).

Next, the printer 20 requests the client terminal 10 specified by the terminal information received from the print server 40 for a print job list including the user ID of the logged-in user and showing a list of print jobs. The print job list request is transmitted (step S17). The service process 101 (print job management unit 112) of the client terminal 10 that has received the print job list request is a list of one or more print jobs corresponding to the user ID included in the print job list request (in this example, the print job). A print job list showing a list of bibliographic information) is generated, and the generated print job list is returned to the printer 20 (step S18). The printer 20 displays a print job list received from the client terminal 10 (step S19).

Unlike the above, for example, when the print server 40 manages the print job information (information including the journal information) shown in FIG. 5, the printer 20 transmits the above-mentioned print job list request to the print server 40. Then, as a response, the print job list can be received from the print server 40. At this time, the print server 40 transmits the terminal information of the client terminal 10 accumulating one or more print jobs indicated in the print job list together with the print job list.

Next, the user performs an operation of selecting a print job to be output (more specifically, selecting the bibliographic information of the print job) from the print job list displayed on the printer 20 (step S20). ), The printer 20 that has received this operation includes the token for the device acquired from the authentication server 30 and the token for the user acquired in step S14, and requests the print job selected in step S20. (More specifically, the print job request corresponding to the print data selected in step S20 is requested) is transmitted to the client terminal 10 accumulating the print job (step S21).

The service process 101 (print job request receiving unit 113) of the client terminal 10 receives the print job request. Then, the service process 101 (first authentication control unit 114) includes the token for the user included in the received print job request, and also issues the above-mentioned first authentication request requesting the user's authentication to the authentication server. It is transmitted to 30 (step S22). The authentication server 30 that has received the first authentication request decrypts the token for the user included in the first authentication request, acquires the user ID, and authenticates the above-mentioned user authentication information (authenticates the user) held in advance. (Step S23), a user authentication process for determining whether or not the decrypted user ID is included in the original information for the purpose is executed (step S23). Then, the authentication result is returned to the service process 101 (first authentication control unit 114) of the client terminal 10 (step S24). For convenience of explanation, the following will be described by taking as an example that the authentication result in step S23 is affirmative.

Further, the service process 101 (second authentication control unit 115) of the client terminal 10 includes the token for the device included in the received print job request, and the above-mentioned second authentication requesting the authentication of the printer 20. The request is transmitted to the authentication server 30 (step S25). The authentication server 30 that has received the second authentication request decodes the token for the device included in the second authentication request to acquire the device ID, and authenticates the above-mentioned device authentication information (authentication printer 20) held in advance. The device authentication process for determining whether or not the decrypted user ID is included in the original information) is executed (step S26). Then, the authentication result is returned to the service process 101 (second authentication control unit 115) of the client terminal 10 (step S27). For convenience of explanation, the following description will be given by exemplifying that the authentication result in step S26 is affirmative.

Next, the service process 101 (print job transmission unit 116) of the client terminal 10 takes out the print job data (print data) stored in the storage unit 130 according to the print job request received in step S21, and takes out the print job data (print data). The print data is transmitted to the printer 20 (step S28). Here, it is assumed that this "sending of print data" is included in the concept of "sending a print job". Then, the printer 20 performs print output based on the print data received from the client terminal 10 (step S29).

If the authentication result in step S23 or the authentication result in step S26 is negative, the service process 101 of the client terminal 10 receives a print job (print data) as a response to the print job request received from the printer 20. Does not return, but returns a response indicating that it is an authentication error. As a response to the print job request, the printer 20 that has received a response indicating that it is an authentication error can display an error screen indicating that printing cannot be executed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the service process 101, which continues to operate while the client terminal 10 is running, receives the above-mentioned print job request from the printer 20 regardless of the user's login status (print job request). A function of transmitting the print job stored in the reception unit 113) and the storage unit 130 for storing the print job to the printer 20 in response to the received print job request (print job management unit 112, print job transmission unit 116). Therefore, even if the logged-in state of the user who operates the printer 20 is not maintained (log-off) and the user process 102 is not started, the client terminal 10 is in the logged-in state. You can retrieve the print jobs stored in.

Although the embodiments according to the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and at the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied within a range that does not deviate from the gist thereof. In addition, various inventions can be formed by an appropriate combination of the plurality of components disclosed in the above-described embodiment. For example, some components may be removed from all the components shown in the embodiments.

For example, the print server 40 may request the print job list from the client terminal 10 and pass the print job list from the print server 40 to the printer 20. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system 200 of this modification. As shown in FIG. 8, the information processing system 200 differs from the above-described embodiment in that it includes a management server 60.

The management server 60 is a server that manages a plurality of print servers 40 and is also a server that performs the above-mentioned authentication. Further, the management server 60 holds (manages) the associated information in which the above-mentioned terminal information and the user ID are associated with each other. FIG. 9 is an example of associative information. The associated information in this example is information in which a user ID and an authority transferor ID are associated with each terminal information composed of a combination of a host name and an IP address. The authority transferor ID is information that identifies a user who has the authority to instruct execution of a print job (stored print job) of the user identified by the user ID associated with the authority transferor ID. The form of the association information is arbitrary and is not limited to the example of FIG. For example, it may be in a form that does not include the authority transferor ID. In short, the linked information may be information that is at least linked to the terminal information and the user ID. Further, the management server 60 holds in advance the above-mentioned user authentication information that is the basis for authenticating the user for each user who has the authority to use the printer 20.

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation procedure of the information processing system 200 until the printer 20 acquires and displays the print job list. First, the user inputs the user ID into the printer 20 (step S31) in order to have the printer 20 authenticate itself (to log in). The printer 20 that has received the input of the user ID transmits the user authentication request that includes the accepted user ID and requests the execution of the user authentication process to the management server 60 (step S32).

The management server 60 that has received the user authentication request executes the user authentication process (step S33). More specifically, the management server 60 determines whether or not the user authentication information matching the user ID included in the user authentication request exists in the user authentication information held in advance. For convenience of explanation, the following description is based on the premise that the result of the user authentication process in step S33 is affirmative. In this case, the management server 60 transmits an authentication result indicating that the user has been authenticated to the printer 20 (step S34). Similar to the above-mentioned authentication server 30, the management server 60 can issue a token for the user by encrypting the user ID included in the user authentication request with a predetermined encryption key. The token for the issued user may be included in the above authentication result.

After step S34, the logged-in user performs an operation for requesting a print job list from the printer 20 authorized to use (step S35). The printer 20 that has received this operation transmits to the print server 40 a print job list request that includes a logged-in user ID and requests a print job list (step S36).

Upon receiving the print job list request from the printer 20, the print server 40 transmits to the management server 60 a terminal information request including the user ID included in the print job list request and requesting the above-mentioned terminal information. (Step S37). Upon receiving the terminal information request, the management server 60 selects one or more terminal information (host name and IP address in this example) corresponding to the user ID included in the terminal information request with reference to the association information shown in FIG. Then, the selected terminal information of one or more is returned to the print server 40 (step S38). For example, it is assumed that the association information is in the mode shown in FIG. 9 and the user ID included in the terminal information request is "User1". In this case, the terminal information represented by the combination of the two terminal information (host name "xyz" and IP address "165.96.1.30") associated with "User1", the host name "EFG" and the IP address. (Terminal information represented in combination with "165.96.11.10") is selected and transmitted to the print server 40.

Next, the print server 40 requests the client terminal 10 specified by the terminal information received from the management server 60 for a print job list including the user ID of the logged-in user and showing a list of print jobs. The print job list request to be printed is transmitted (step S39). The service process 101 (print job management unit 112) of the client terminal 10 that has received the print job list request is a list of one or more print jobs corresponding to the user ID included in the print job list request (in this example, the print job). A print job list showing a list of bibliographic information) is generated, and the generated print job list is returned to the print server 40 (step S40). In this way, the print server 40 can acquire the corresponding print job list for each one or more terminal information received from the management server 60, and merges them (step S41). Further, for example, the print server 40 can sort the bibliographic information of the print job in descending order or ascending order according to a sort key such as a date order or a print job name order. This sort key may be included in, for example, the print job list request issued in step S36 described above.

The print server 40 transmits the print job list obtained by merging in step S41 to the printer 20 as a response to the print job list request received in step S36 above (step S42). The printer 20 that has received the print job list from the print server 40 displays the received print job list (step S43). When any print job is selected from the print job list, the printer 20 acquires output data from the client terminal 10 corresponding to the selected print job.

In this modification, the management server 60 performs authentication, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, an authentication server 30 is provided as in the above-described embodiment, and the authentication server 30 is allowed to perform the authentication process. It doesn't matter if there is one.

Further, the program executed by the device (client terminal 10, printer 20, authentication server 30, print server 40) included in the above-mentioned information processing system 100 is a CD-ROM in an installable format or an executable format file. , Flexible disk (FD), CD-R, DVD (Digital Versaille Disk), USB (Universal Serial Bus), etc. may be configured to be recorded and provided on a computer-readable recording medium, the Internet, etc. It may be configured to be provided or distributed over the network of. Further, various programs may be configured to be provided by incorporating them into a ROM or the like in advance.

10 Client terminal 20 Printer 30 Authentication server 40 Print server 50 Network 60 Management server 100 Information processing system 101 Service process 102 User process 103 Print application 104 Printer driver 105 Spooler 106 Spooler monitoring unit 111 Communication unit 112 Print job management unit 113 Print job request Reception unit 114 First authentication control unit 115 Second authentication control unit 116 Print job transmission unit 121 Communication unit 122 Display control unit 123 Print job reception unit 124 Print job registration unit 125 Print job information transmission unit

Japanese Patent No. 5677047

Claims (7)

A client terminal used by one or more users
A service process that continues to operate while the client terminal is running regardless of the user's login status, and a user process that is prepared for each user and starts according to the login of the corresponding user and ends when the user logs off. , With programs including
The user process
It has a print job registration unit that requests the service process to accumulate print jobs containing information that can identify the logged-in user.
The service process
A print job management unit that stores print jobs in the storage unit according to the request from the user process,
A print job request receiving unit that receives a print job request requesting the print job from the output device, and a print job request receiving unit.
It has a print job transmission unit that transmits the print job stored in the storage unit to the output device in response to the print job request received by the print job request reception unit.
Client terminal. The print job request includes first information used for user authentication and second information used for authentication of the output device.
The service process
A first authentication control unit that controls for authenticating a user by using the first information included in the print job request received by the print job request reception unit.
It has a second authentication control unit that controls for authenticating the output device by using the second information included in the print job request received by the print job request reception unit.
The print job transmission unit
When the user is authenticated by the first authentication control unit and the output device is authenticated by the second authentication control unit, the print job is transmitted in response to the print job request.
The client terminal according to claim 1. The first authentication control unit controls the authentication server that authenticates the user and the output device to authenticate the user.
The second authentication control unit controls the authentication server to authenticate the output device.
The client terminal according to claim 2. The first authentication control unit transmits the first authentication request including the first information and requesting the user's authentication to the authentication server, and as a response to the first authentication request, the user's Receive the authentication result from the authentication server and
The second authentication control unit transmits a second authentication request including the second information and requesting authentication of the output device to the authentication server, and as a response to the second authentication request, The authentication result of the output device is received from the authentication server.
The client terminal according to claim 3. The first information is information obtained by encrypting user information indicating a user with a predetermined encryption key.
The second information is information obtained by encrypting the output device information that identifies the output device with a predetermined encryption key.
The client terminal according to any one of claims 2 to 4. It is an information processing method by a client terminal used by one or more users.
A service process that continues to operate while the client terminal is running regardless of the user's login status, and a user process that is prepared for each user and starts according to the login of the corresponding user and ends when the user logs off. In,
The user process
Includes a print job registration step that requires the service process to accumulate print jobs that contain information that can identify the logged-in user.
The service process
A print job management step for accumulating print jobs in the storage unit according to the request of the user process,
A print job request acceptance step that accepts a print job request that requests a print job from an output device,
A print job transmission step of transmitting the print job stored in the storage unit to the output device in response to the print job request received in the print job request reception step is included.
Information processing method. On the computer
A service process that continues to operate while the client terminal is running, regardless of the user's login status, and a user process that is prepared for each user and starts according to the login of the corresponding user and ends when the user logs off. To execute,
As a function with the user process
The print job registration step that requests the service process to accumulate print jobs containing information that can identify the logged-in user is executed.
As a function of the service process
A print job management step that stores print jobs in the storage unit according to the request from the user process, and
A print job request acceptance step that accepts a print job request that requests a print job from an output device,
A program for executing a print job transmission step of transmitting the print job stored in the storage unit to the output device in response to the print job request received in the print job request reception step.

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