JP7423680B2 - Method, application program, and information processing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method, an application program, and an information processing device .

A mobile terminal equipped with a wireless LAN function connects to an access point and searches for a printing device via the access point. The mobile terminal then transmits the print job to a printing device designated by the user from among the search results. The printing device that receives the print job performs print processing on the sheet based on the received print job. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a mobile terminal sequentially connects to a plurality of access points and searches for a printing device via each of the plurality of access points.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-11671

Suppose that a user wants to send a print job from a mobile terminal to a printing device in front of the user. At this time, in order to discover this printing device through the search performed by the mobile terminal, this printing device must also participate in the wireless LAN network in which the mobile terminal is participating. However, this printing device does not necessarily participate in the wireless LAN network in which the mobile terminal participates, and this printing device may not be connected to an access point in the first place. In this case, the printing device cannot be found by a search performed by the mobile terminal.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the possibility of finding a desired printing device that has not been found through a search.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a method provided by the present invention is a method performed by executing an application of an information processing device, the method causes the information processing device to search for a printing device, and by the search, displaying identification information of the at least one found printing device on the information processing device, and printing at least one piece of identification information of the at least one printing device found by the search that corresponds to the specified identification information; causes the information processing device to send print data to the information processing device, causes the information processing device to obtain the SSID of the access point to which the information processing device is connected, and prints the information processing device and other printing devices not found by the search. display of a guide for wireless settings to enable wireless communication with the information processing device, including the acquired SSID, the SSID being the SSID of the access point to which the information processing device is connected; The present invention is characterized in that the information processing device displays the guide so that it can be understood .

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the possibility of finding a desired printing device that has not been found through a search .

1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a mobile terminal 100. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a software configuration of a mobile terminal 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the mobile terminal 100. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a screen displayed by the mobile terminal 100. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the mobile terminal 100. FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the claimed invention, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the solution of the invention.

(Embodiment)
First, the hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 100 will be explained using FIG. 1. Although the mobile terminal 100 of this embodiment is assumed to be a smartphone, it may be any other device such as a digital camera, a digital game console, or a notebook PC as long as it has a wireless LAN function.

The CPU 101 reads a control program stored in the flash memory 103 and executes various processes for controlling the operation of the mobile terminal 100. The RAM 102 is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory and a work area of the CPU 101. The flash memory 103 is a nonvolatile storage medium that stores control programs for the mobile terminal 100 and various data such as photographs and electronic documents.

Note that in the mobile terminal 100 of this embodiment, one CPU 101 executes each process shown in a flowchart described later, but other aspects may be used. For example, a plurality of CPUs may cooperate to execute each process shown in a flowchart described later. Further, a part of the processing in the flowchart described later may be executed using a hardware circuit such as an ASIC.

The operation panel 104 has a touch panel function that can detect a user's touch operation, and displays various screens. The user can input desired instructions to the mobile terminal 100 by inputting a touch operation to the operation panel 104. Note that the mobile terminal 100 includes a hardware key (not shown), and the user can also input operation instructions to the mobile terminal 100 using this hardware key.

The speaker 106 and microphone 107 are used when the user makes a call to another mobile terminal or landline phone. The camera 108 captures an image according to a user's instruction to capture an image. A photograph taken by the camera 108 is stored in a predetermined area of the flash memory 103.

The Bluetooth (registered trademark) I/F 109 performs wireless communication using Bluetooth (registered trademark). Further, the NFC I/F 110 performs close proximity wireless communication using NFC (Near field radio communication).

The wireless LAN I/F 105 performs wireless LAN communication such as IEEE802.11a/b/g/n/ac. By connecting to an external access point, the wireless LAN I/F 105 participates in a wireless LAN network formed by the access point.

Next, the software configuration of the mobile terminal 100 will be explained using FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram that is realized when the CPU 101 executes a control program stored in the flash memory 103.

The OS 201 is software that controls the operation of the mobile terminal 100. Various applications can be installed on the mobile terminal 100, including a print application 202, which will be described later. The OS 201 controls the operation of the mobile terminal 100 in accordance with instructions received from each application and user operation instructions input via the operation panel 104.

The print application 202 is an application that provides a print function to the user. The print application 202 instructs the OS 201 to search for a printing device, generate a print job, send the generated print job, and the like. Although various applications other than the print application 202 are installed on the mobile terminal 100, explanations of the other applications will be omitted.

Next, the user's operation procedure and the screen displayed by the mobile terminal 100 will be explained using FIGS. 3 and 4.

A search screen 300 in FIG. 3A is a screen displayed by the operation panel 104 in response to an instruction from the printing application 202, and is a screen for the user to instruct to start searching for a printing device. When the user selects (touches on a touch panel) the search start button 301, the mobile terminal 100 starts searching for a printing device. This search for a printing device is realized by the wireless LAN I/F 105 transmitting a search packet via the access point to which the mobile terminal 100 is connected. When a search for a printing device is started, the mobile terminal 100 displays a search screen 310 shown in FIG. 3(B).

A search screen 310 in FIG. 3B is a screen displayed by the operation panel 104 in response to an instruction from the print application 202. On the searching screen 310, a message 312 indicating that a printing device is being searched for is displayed. Further, when the user selects the guide screen display button 311, the mobile terminal 100 finishes searching for a printing device and displays the guide screen 400 in FIG. 4(A) or the error screen 410 in FIG. 4(B). The guide screen 400 and error screen 410 will be explained later. When a printing device is found through the search, the mobile terminal 100 displays a search result screen 320 shown in FIG. 3(C). On the other hand, if no printing device is found through the search, the mobile terminal 100 displays a search result screen 330 shown in FIG. 3(D).

A search result screen 320 in FIG. 3C is a screen displayed by the operation panel 104 in response to an instruction from the print application 202. The search result screen 320 displays a list of identification information (for example, model name and IP address) of printing devices found through the search. When the user selects a desired printing device and selects the OK button 322, the printing application 202 specifies the printing device selected by the user as the destination of the print job. Further, when the user selects the guide screen display button 321, the mobile terminal 100 displays the guide screen 400 in FIG. 4(A) or the error screen 410 in FIG. 4(B). The guide screen 400 and error screen 410 will be explained later.

A search result screen 330 in FIG. 3D is a screen displayed by the operation panel 104 in response to an instruction from the print application 202. A message 332 indicating that no printing device was found is displayed on the search result screen 330. Further, when the user selects the guide screen display button 331, the mobile terminal 100 displays the guide screen 400 in FIG. 4(A) or the error screen 410 in FIG. 4(B). The guide screen 400 and error screen 410 will be explained later.

A guide screen 400 in FIG. 4A is a screen displayed by the operation panel 104 in response to instructions from the print application 202. Guide screen 400 is a screen that is displayed when one of guide screen display buttons 311, 321, and 331 is selected by the user and mobile terminal 100 is connected to an access point. If the desired printing device cannot be found through the search, there is a high possibility that the printing device does not exist in the wireless LAN network in which the mobile terminal 100 participates. The guide screen 400 displays the SSID 401 of the access point to which the mobile terminal 100 is connected, and further displays a message 402 prompting the user to connect the printing device to the SSID 401. By checking this guide screen 400, the user can cause a desired printing device to participate in the wireless LAN network in which the mobile terminal 100 is participating. The guide screen 400 also displays a manual confirmation button 403. When the user selects the manual confirmation button 403, the mobile terminal 100 displays a manual showing the operating procedure for configuring the wireless LAN settings of the printing device.

An error screen 410 in FIG. 4B is a screen displayed by the operation panel 104 in response to an instruction from the print application 202. The error screen 410 is a screen that is displayed when one of the guide screen display buttons 311, 321, and 331 is selected by the user and the mobile terminal 100 is not connected to an access point. The error screen 410 displays a message 411 prompting the user to connect the mobile terminal 100 to the access point.

Next, the process executed by the mobile terminal 100 will be explained using FIG. 5. Each step shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is processed by the CPU 101 loading a control program stored in the flash memory 103 into the RAM 102 and executing it. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is executed when one of the guide screen display buttons 311, 321, and 331 is selected by the user.

In step S501, the printing application 202 determines whether or not a printing device is being searched. If a printing device is being searched, the process advances to step S502. On the other hand, if a printing device is not being searched, the process advances to step S503.

Step S502 will be explained. In step S502, the printing application 202 ends the search for a printing device.

Step S503 will be explained. In step S503, the print application 202 determines whether the mobile terminal 100 is currently connected to the access point. The print application 202 inquires of the OS 201 whether or not it is currently connected to an access point. When the print application 202 confirms the response from the OS 201 to this inquiry, the process of step S503 is realized. If the mobile terminal 100 is currently connected to the access point, the process advances to step S504. On the other hand, if the mobile terminal 100 is not connected to the access point, the process advances to step S505.

Next, step S504 will be explained. In step S504, the print application 202 instructs the OS 201 to display the guide screen 400. Under the control of the OS 201, the operation panel 104 displays a guide screen 400. The print application 202 acquires the SSID of the access point to which the mobile terminal 100 is connected from the OS 201. The guide screen 400 displays the SSID obtained from this OS 201. By checking this guide screen 400, the user can easily specify which access point the printing device should be connected to in order to perform wireless LAN communication between the mobile terminal 100 and the printing device.

Next, step S505 will be explained. In step S505, the print application 202 instructs the OS 201 to display an error screen 410. Under the control of the OS 201, the operation panel 104 displays an error screen 410.

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

100 Mobile terminal 101 CPU
104 Operation panel 105 Wireless LAN I/F
201 OS
202 Printing application

Claims (25)

A method performed by executing an application on an information processing device, the method comprising:
causing the information processing device to search for a printing device;
displaying identification information of at least one printing device found by the search on the information processing device;
causing the information processing device to transmit print data to at least one printing device that is identification information of the at least one printing device found by the search and that corresponds to the specified identification information;
causing the information processing device to acquire an SSID of an access point to which the information processing device is connected;
Display of a guide for wireless settings for enabling wireless communication between the information processing device and another printing device not found by the search, the information processing device including the acquired SSID; A method characterized by causing the information processing device to display the guide so that it can be seen that it is the SSID of the access point to which the information processing device is connected . The method of claim 1, wherein the search is performed by selecting a search object. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising causing a user to select identification information of a printing device from among the at least one printing device found by the search as a destination to which the print data is to be sent. 4. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 , characterized in that a message is displayed with the SSID, prompting the user to select the SSID on the printing device. If the printing device is not found, displaying information indicating that the printing device was not found on the information processing device;
5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an object for displaying the SSID on the information processing device is displayed together with the information. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein an object for displaying manual information regarding the configuration of a wireless network of the printing device is displayed together with the SSID. 7. An error message is displayed if the information processing device is not connected to an access point when the information processing device receives an operation for displaying the SSID on the information processing device. Method described. 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the SSID of the access point to which the information processing device is connected is obtained from an OS of the information processing device. An application program,
cause the information processing device to search for a printing device;
displaying identification information of at least one printing device found by the search on the information processing device;
causing the information processing device to transmit print data to at least one printing device that is identification information of the at least one printing device found by the search and that corresponds to the specified identification information;
causing the information processing device to acquire an SSID of an access point to which the information processing device is connected;
Display of a guide for wireless settings for enabling wireless communication between the information processing device and another printing device not found by the search, the information processing device including the acquired SSID; An application program that causes a computer to execute a process of causing the information processing device to display the guide so that the information processing device can identify the SSID of the access point to which the information processing device is connected . The application program according to claim 9 , wherein the search is performed by selecting a search object. 11. The application program according to claim 9, wherein the application program causes a user to select identification information of a printing device from among the at least one printing device found by the search as a destination to which the print data is to be sent. 12. The application program according to claim 9, wherein a message prompting the user to select the SSID on the printing device is displayed together with the SSID. If the printing device is not found, displaying information indicating that the printing device was not found on the information processing device;
13. The application program according to claim 9, wherein an object for displaying the SSID on the information processing device is displayed together with the information. 14. The application program according to claim 9, wherein an object for displaying manual information regarding wireless network settings of the printing device is displayed together with the SSID. 15. An error message is displayed if the information processing device is not connected to an access point when receiving an operation for displaying the SSID on the information processing device. Application program listed. 16. The application program according to claim 9, wherein the SSID of the access point to which the information processing device is connected is obtained from an OS of the information processing device. A computer - readable storage medium storing the application program according to claim 9 . An information processing device with an application installed,
a search means for performing a search for a printing device;
Display means for displaying identification information of at least one printing device found by the search;
a transmission unit that transmits print data to at least one printing device that is identification information of the printing device found by the search and that corresponds to the specified identification information;
acquisition means for acquiring an SSID of an access point to which the information processing device is connected;
Display of a guide for wireless settings for enabling wireless communication between the information processing apparatus and another printing apparatus not found by the search, the display including the SSID acquired by the acquisition means, An information processing device comprising: display control means for causing a display unit to display the guide so that it can be seen that the SSID is the SSID of the access point to which the information processing device is connected . The information processing apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein the search is performed by selecting a search object. 20. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the information processing apparatus allows a user to select identification information of a destination printing apparatus to which the print data is to be transmitted from among the at least one printing apparatus found by the search. 21. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein a message prompting the user to select the SSID on the printing device is displayed together with the SSID. further comprising display means for displaying information indicating that the printing device was not found when the printing device was not found;
22. The information processing device according to claim 18 , wherein an object for displaying the SSID on the information processing device is displayed together with the information. 23. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein an object for displaying manual information regarding wireless network settings of the printing apparatus is displayed together with the SSID. 24. An error is displayed if the information processing device is not connected to an access point when an operation for displaying the SSID on the information processing device is received. The information processing device described in . 25. The information processing apparatus according to claim 18 , wherein the SSID of the access point to which the information processing apparatus is connected is obtained from an OS of the information processing apparatus.

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