JP7614799B2 - COMMUNICATION DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR COMMUNICATION DEVICE - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a communication device that makes it easy to switch print settings, a control method for the communication device, and a program.

In recent years, with the widespread use of communication devices such as smartphones, printing from the communication devices has become more common. Patent Literature 1 describes a method for easily performing pull printing using a smartphone. According to this technology, the communication device obtains server information for pull printing via an image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "MFP"), and it becomes possible to transmit print data from the communication device to a server for pull printing.
Conventionally, pull print systems were generally provided as on-premise services. In recent years, with the spread of cloud computing, pull print systems are increasingly being provided as cloud services. Cloud services have the concept of tenants, and different tenants can be used depending on the purpose. For example, users of cloud services often use different tenants depending on where they work, such as the head office, branch office, or satellite office, and manage accounts and printing costs for each tenant.

JP 2019-174999 A

When using pull print of a cloud service from a communication device, it is necessary to send print data to the tenant of the cloud service to which the user is logged in. For example, when printing from an MFP installed in a branch office, it is necessary to log in to the tenant for the branch office from the communication device and send print data to the tenant for the branch office. On the other hand, when printing from an MFP installed in a satellite office, it is necessary to log in to the tenant for the satellite office from the communication device and send print data to the tenant for the satellite office. In other words, the user must switch the tenant to be used depending on the location of the MFP to be used.
A more specific explanation will be given below. When a user desires to print from an MFP installed in a satellite office using a communication device, the user must log in to a tenant for the satellite office using the communication device and transmit print data to the tenant. For example, when the communication device is logged in to a tenant for a branch office, the user can print from the desired MFP by switching the communication device to log in to a tenant for the satellite office. However, when the communication device is logged in to a tenant for the branch office, if the user transmits print data without switching the communication device to log in to a tenant for the satellite office, the print data will be transmitted to the tenant for the branch office.
In this way, if a user forgets to switch the tenant connected from a communication device and sends print data, the print data may be sent to an unintended tenant. Even if the user is aware of the tenant switch, the task of consciously operating the communication device to switch the connected tenant is cumbersome.
The present invention has been made in consideration of at least one of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for suitably switching a printing environment used from a communication device without reducing user convenience.

The present invention is a communication device comprising: an acquisition means for acquiring, from the image forming device, information identifying a tenant of a cloud system with which the image forming device is linked; a setting change means for setting, when a tenant set as a connection destination in the communication device is different from a tenant identified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means, the tenant identified based on the information as the connection destination; a storage means for storing information on the tenant set as the connection destination and information on tenants that are candidate connection destinations; and a connection means for connecting to the tenant set as the connection destination stored in the storage means , wherein, when a tenant identified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means is stored in the storage means as information on candidate connection destinations, the connection means connects to the identified tenant and executes a login process, and, when a tenant identified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means is not stored in the storage means as information on candidate connection destinations, the connection means connects to the identified tenant and displays a web page in a non-login state .

The printing environment used from the communication device can be conveniently switched without compromising user convenience.

Overall configuration of the printing system Hardware configuration diagram of communication device Server hardware configuration diagram MFP hardware configuration diagram Software configuration diagram of the entire printing system Tenant information list diagram Flowchart showing the process of an application of a communication device A diagram showing the app screen of a communication device Flowchart showing the process of an application of a communication device A diagram showing the app screen of a communication device

The following describes the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention as claimed, and not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[System configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a system according to the present embodiment. The printing system includes a communication device 110, a server 120, and an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 130, which is an image forming device. The communication device 110 and the MFP 130 are communicatively connected to a server that provides various services on the Internet via a wireless LAN such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or a WAN. Here, LAN is an abbreviation for Local Area Network, and WAN is an abbreviation for Wide Area Network. The communication device 110 and the MFP 130 are communicatively connected to each other via a wireless LAN. The communication device 110 can receive a signal transmitted by the MFP 130 based on the Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication standard. The communication device 110 is not limited to a small information processing device such as a smartphone, a tablet PC, or a notebook computer.
The communication device 110 is a mobile terminal having multiple functions such as a telephone, an email, a web browser, and a camera, and is a smartphone or a tablet. The communication device 110 is an example of an information processing device, and may be a PC (personal computer) or the like. The server 120 is an example of a server having a function of saving files of various formats such as HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language), JavaScript (registered trademark), images, and text that constitute web pages. The server 120 provides web pages and various information in response to requests from external terminals such as the communication device 100. The MFP 130 is a multifunction device having multiple functions such as a scanner and a printer, and is an example of an image processing device. In this embodiment, the MFP will be described as a multifunction device, but it may be a home printer.
The printing system of this embodiment is configured to include a communication device 110, a server 120, and an MFP 130, but is not limited to this.

[Hardware configuration of communication device]
FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the communication device 110. The communication device 110 is composed of a control unit 210, an operation unit 220, a Bluetooth unit 221, and an NFC unit 222. The control unit 210 is composed of the following units 211 to 216, and controls the operation of the entire communication device 110. The CPU 211 reads out a control program stored in the ROM 212 or the like, and executes and controls various functions of the communication device 110, such as camera/communication. The RAM 213 is used as a temporary storage area such as the main memory and work area of the CPU 211. In this embodiment, one CPU 211 executes each process shown in the flowchart described below using one memory (RAM 213 or SSD 214), but is not limited to this. For example, each process may be executed by cooperating multiple CPUs or multiple RAMs or SSDs. The SSD (Solid State Drive) 214 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores HTML files, JavaScript files, image data, text data, various programs, etc. The operation unit I/F 215 is an interface that connects the operation unit 220 and the control unit 210. The operation unit 220 is provided with a touch panel display, buttons, etc., and receives operations/inputs/instructions by the user and outputs a screen to be displayed to the user. The network I/F 216 is an interface that connects the control unit 210 (communication device 110) to a network such as a wireless LAN or WAN. The communication device 110 uses the network I/F 216 to transmit and receive various information such as images and text to each service on the Internet. The Bluetooth unit 221 is a communication unit that communicates with an external device according to the Bluetooth standard. The NFC unit 222 is a communication unit that performs short-distance wireless communication with an external device in accordance with the NFC standard. In this embodiment, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone is assumed as an example of the communication device 110, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the communication device may be a tablet terminal, a notebook PC (Personal Computer), or the like.

[Server hardware configuration]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the server 120.
The server 120 is composed of a CPU 311, a ROM 312, a RAM 313, a HDD 314, and a network I/F 315. The CPU 311 reads out a control program stored in the ROM 312 and executes various processes to control the overall operation. The RAM 313 is used as a temporary storage area such as a main memory and a work area for the CPU 311. The HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 314 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores HTML files, JavaScript files, image data, text data, various programs, and the like. The network I/F 315 is an interface that connects the server 120 to the Internet. The server 120 uses the network I/F 315 to receive processing requests from other devices (such as the communication device 110 and the MFP 130) via the network and transmits and receives various information. The server 120 is a cloud server that provides a cloud print service that receives a print job from the communication device 110 and transfers the print job to an MFP via the cloud. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the server 120 provides a cloud print function to users belonging to Tenant A and Tenant B. The cloud print function is also called a system for pull printing. The server 120 can provide a cloud print service to multiple different tenants by using containerization and virtualization technology. In this embodiment, it is assumed that a multi-tenant architecture service is provided in which the application layer module is executed by a common module and the database that manages user-specific data is managed separately for each tenant. For this reason, the printer information, job information, and user information of each tenant stored in the database are configured to be accessible only by users belonging to each tenant. Therefore, a user belonging to Tenant A can perform cloud printing to a printer managed by Tenant A, and a user belonging to Tenant B can perform cloud printing to a printer managed by Tenant B.

[MFP Hardware Configuration]
FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the MFP 130. The MFP 130 is composed of a control unit 410, an operation unit 420, a printer unit 421, a scanner unit 422, a modem 423, a Bluetooth unit 424, and an NFC unit 425. The control unit 410 is composed of the following units 411 to 419, and controls the operation of the entire MFP 130. The CPU 411 reads out a control program stored in the ROM 412, and executes and controls various functions of the MFP 130, such as reading, printing, and communication. The RAM 413 is used as a temporary storage area such as the main memory and work area of the CPU 411. In this embodiment, one CPU 411 executes each process shown in the flowchart described later using one memory (RAM 413 or HDD 414), but is not limited to this. For example, each process may be executed by cooperating multiple CPUs and multiple RAMs or HDDs. The HDD 414 is a large-capacity storage unit that stores image data and various programs. The operation unit I/F 415 is an interface that connects the operation unit 440 and the control unit 410. The operation unit 420 is equipped with a touch panel, a keyboard, and the like, and accepts operations/inputs/instructions by a user. The printer I/F 416 is an interface that connects the printer unit 421 and the control unit 410. Image data for printing is transferred from the control unit 410 to the printer unit 421 via the printer I/F 416 and printed on a recording medium. The scanner I/F 417 is an interface that connects the scanner unit 422 and the control unit 410. The scanner unit 422 reads an original set on an original table or an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) (not shown), generates image data, and inputs the image data to the control unit 410 via the scanner I/F 417. The MFP 130 can print (copy) image data generated by the scanner unit 422 from the printer unit 421, and can also transmit files or emails. The modem I/F 418 is an interface that connects the modem 423 and the control unit 410. The modem 423 communicates image data by facsimile between a facsimile device on the PSTN. The network I/F 419 is an interface that connects the control unit 410 (MFP 130) to a LAN, a Bluetooth unit 424, and an NFC unit 425. The MFP 130 transmits image data and information to each service on the Internet via the network using the network I/F 419, and receives various information. The Bluetooth unit 424 is a communication unit that communicates with an external device according to the Bluetooth standard. The NFC unit 425 is a communication unit that performs short-distance wireless communication with an external device according to the NFC standard.

[System-wide software configuration]
5 is a software configuration diagram of the license display system according to the present embodiment. Each functional unit is realized by the CPU 211 reading and executing a control program stored in the ROM 212 or the SSD 214, or by the CPU 311 reading and executing a control program stored in the ROM 312 or the HDD 314.
The mobile application 500 is an application (hereinafter referred to as “application”) installed in the communication device 110. The mobile application 500 includes a communication unit 510, a control unit 511, a data management unit 512, a screen display unit 513, an MFP search unit 514, and an information acquisition unit 515.
The communication unit 510 requests various processes from the server 120. For example, in order to access a cloud system for pull printing managed by the server 120, the communication unit 510 transmits a login request to the cloud system to the server 120. In addition, the communication unit 510 receives a request from the mobile application 500 and transmits a request to the server 120 for screen configuration information (such as an HTML file or a JavaScript file) required for screen display. Protocols such as REST and SOAP are used for communication with the server 120, but other communication means may also be used.
The control unit 511 performs general control processing such as communication instructions, screen display instructions, and data management instructions in the mobile application 500. For example, when the mobile application 500 is started, the control unit 511 obtains screen configuration information from the server 120 via the communication unit 510, and issues screen display instructions to the screen display unit 513 based on the screen configuration information.
The data management unit 512 manages information related to the mobile application 500 in general, such as the setting values of the mobile application 500, and a tenant information list 600. The tenant information list 600 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The screen display unit 513 displays a UI screen for receiving operations by a user on a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function of the operation unit 220 of the communication device 110. Here, the UI screen is a screen provided by the server 120 or a screen stored in advance in the mobile application 500.

The MFP search unit 514 searches for the nearby MFP 130 via the Bluetooth unit 221. If the MFP search unit 514 can receive a Bluetooth signal transmitted by the MFP 130, it determines that the MFP 130 is present near the communication device 110. On the other hand, if the MFP search unit 514 cannot receive a Bluetooth signal transmitted by the MFP 130, it determines that the MFP 130 is not present near the communication device 110. Note that in this embodiment, the MFP 130 periodically transmits a Bluetooth Low Energy (registered trademark) advertising packet to notify the surroundings of its presence. The advertising packet includes information identifying the MFP 130 as a printing device.
The information acquisition unit 515 acquires the setting information of the MFP 130 via the Bluetooth unit 221. For example, the setting information includes the URL of the cloud system to which the MFP 130 is connected and the installation location of the MFP (for example, a branch office, a satellite office, etc.). The setting information is acquired using a scan request of Bluetooth Low Energy. The information acquisition unit 515 transmits a scan request requesting additional information to the device that has transmitted the advertising packet. The MFP 130 that has received the scan request responds with a URL including tenant information of the cloud system in which the MFP 130 participates and installation location information as a response to the scan request. Note that, in this embodiment, a case where the setting information is acquired by a scan request is illustrated as an example, but is not limited to this. For example, the URL and installation location information may be configured to be responded to using the advertising extension (EXTENDED ADVERTISING) of Bluetooth 5. The information acquiring unit 515 may be configured to include information for identifying a tenant in the data area of the advertising packet. Furthermore, the information acquiring unit 515 may be configured to establish a connection with the MFP 130 and acquire a URL including information for identifying a tenant and information on the location of the MFP using GATT communication.
The server 120 includes a request control unit 531 and a data management unit 532. In this embodiment, it is assumed that a pull print cloud system has been installed on the server 120 by an installer (not shown).
The request control unit 531 waits in a state in which it can receive a request from an external device. Upon receiving a processing request, it instructs the data management unit 532 and the account management unit 533 to perform the processing as appropriate according to the request.
The data management unit 532 stores and manages screen configuration information of the cloud system, print data received from the mobile application 500, and the like.
The account management unit 533 stores and manages account information of the cloud system.
The data management unit 532 and the account management unit 533 receive requests from applications running on other terminals such as the communication device 110 and the MFP 130 connected via the Internet, and return responses according to the requests. In this embodiment, for example, the responses returned include screen configuration information, print data, and token information required for screen display, but the responses are not limited to these.
The MFP 130 receives a request from the Bluetooth unit 221 of the mobile application 500 and returns a response according to the request.
A method of cooperation between the systems in this embodiment will be described. By sending print data from the mobile app 500 to a pull print cloud system, the print data is stored in the cloud system of the server 120. In addition, the MFP 130 can connect to the cloud system of the server 120, refer to the print data stored in the cloud system, and print.

[Tenant Information List]
6 is a diagram relating to a tenant information list according to this embodiment. The tenant information list 600 is managed by the data management unit 512 of the mobile application 500, and includes a URL 601, token information 602, and a status 603 of a cloud system. Note that the data included in the tenant information list 600 is not limited to this. The tenant information list 600 also centrally manages information on multiple tenants, such as Tenant A and Tenant B.
The cloud system URL 601 is the URL of the cloud system of the server 120 .
The token information 602 is a token issued by the account management unit 533 of the server 120. When the mobile app 500 accesses the URL 601 of the cloud system and successfully logs in to the cloud system, the token is returned from the server 120. The mobile app 500 stores this token in the data management unit 512 as token information 602 in a form corresponding to the URL 601 of the cloud system. For example, when the URL 601 (example: https://tenant-a.app.com/) of the cloud system of tenant A is accessed and the login to the cloud system is successful, a token (example: 3ci5qk89y88t33h2) is returned. This token is stored as token information 602 in a form corresponding to the URL 601 of the cloud system of tenant A. Note that if the mobile app 500 does not successfully log in to the URL 601 of the cloud system, the token information 602 is not set.
The status 603 is a setting value for determining which setting is enabled as a connection destination in the mobile app 500. For example, in Fig. 6, the status of tenant A is "active" and the status of tenant B is "passive." In other words, it can be determined that the setting currently enabled in the mobile app 500 is tenant A.
In this embodiment, the URL 601 and the status 603 of the cloud system are set via a UI (not shown) of the mobile application 500. The mobile application 500 accesses the cloud system of the server 120 by using the URL 601 of the cloud system of the tenant whose status 603 is enabled.

[Tenant switching process]
7 is a flowchart showing details of the process for switching the MFP to be used in the mobile application 500. The CPU 211 reads and executes a control program stored in the ROM 212 or SSD 214 to execute each process in the flowchart. The details will be described below.
This process starts when the mobile application 500 is launched.
In S1001, the MFP search unit 514 of the mobile application 500 determines whether or not a Bluetooth signal of the MFP 130 has been detected via the Bluetooth unit 221. If it has been detected (Yes in S1001), the process proceeds to S1002, and if it has not been detected (No in S1001), the process waits in S1001. In the present embodiment, the following description will be given using a Bluetooth signal to confirm the presence of the MFP 130, but the method of confirming the presence of the MFP 130 is not limited to this.
In S1002, the information acquisition unit 515 of the mobile application 500 determines whether or not server (tenant) information has been acquired from the MFP 130 via the Bluetooth unit 221. The server information is, for example, a URL related to a pull print cloud system to which the MFP 130 is connected, and includes a character string that uniquely identifies a tenant. If the server information has been acquired (Yes in S1002), the process proceeds to S1003, and if the server information has not been acquired (No in S1002), the process ends.
In S1003, the control unit 511 of the mobile app 500 determines whether the server information acquired in S1002 is different from the server information set in the mobile app 500. Here, the server information set in the app of the communication device refers to the URL 601 of the cloud system included in the information of Tenant A, which is currently "active" in Fig. 6. If the server information is different (Yes in S1003), the process proceeds to S1004, and if the server information is the same (No in S1003), the process ends since there is no need to switch the server.
In S1004, the control unit 511 of the mobile app 500 determines whether the server information (URL of the cloud system) acquired in S1002 is included as a connection destination candidate in the tenant information list 600 managed by the mobile app 500. If the server information is not included in the tenant information list 600, it can be determined that the server information set in the MFP 130 is a server (tenant) that is not registered in the mobile app 500. The result of the determination in S1004 is used in S1005, S1006, and S1010.
In S1005, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 judges whether the automatic switching setting (813 or 814 in FIG. 8B) is ON. Here, the value set in the automatic switching setting 813 becomes effective when it is judged in S1004 that the server is registered as a candidate for the connection destination. On the other hand, the value set in the automatic switching setting 814 becomes effective when it is judged in S1004 that the server is not registered as a candidate for the connection destination. If the automatic switching settings 813 and 814 are ON (Yes in S1005), the status 603 related to the acquired server information is changed to "active" to change the setting of the connection destination server, and the process proceeds to S1009. Also, if the automatic switching settings 813 and 814 are not ON (No in S1005), the process proceeds to S1006. If it is determined in S1004 that the server is registered as a candidate for the connection destination, the automatic switching setting 813 may be automatically set to ON for the convenience of the user.

In S1006, the control unit 511 of the mobile app 500 determines whether the notification setting (811 or 812 in FIG. 8B) is ON. Here, the value set in notification setting 811 becomes valid when it is determined in S1004 that the server is registered as a candidate for connection. On the other hand, the value set in notification setting 812 becomes valid when it is determined in S1004 that the server is an unregistered server. If notification setting 811, 812 is ON (Yes in S1006), proceed to S1007; if not ON (No in S1006), end this process without changing the connection destination server.
In S1007, the screen display unit 513 of the mobile app 500 displays the message 801 in Fig. 8A. The content of the message 801 indicates that an MFP 130 that holds server information different from the server information set in the mobile app 500 is present near the current location. If it is determined in S1004 that the server is an unregistered server, the message may further display a message indicating that new server information not managed by the mobile app 500 has been found.
In S1008, the screen display unit 513 of the mobile app 500 determines whether the [Change Settings] button has been pressed in response to the inquiry about the different server (tenant) information in the message 801. If the [Change Settings] button, which instructs a change of the connection destination server, has been pressed in response to the user's response (Yes in S1008), the process proceeds to S1009, and if the [Cancel] button has been pressed (No in S1008), the process ends. Also, if the [Change Settings] button has been pressed, the status 603 related to the server information specified in the message is changed to "active" to change the server to be connected.
In S1009, the communication unit 510 of the mobile application 500 accesses the server (the URL 601 of the cloud system) of the tenant whose status in the tenant information list 600 is "active."
In S1010, the control unit 511 of the mobile app 500 determines, based on the result of the determination in S1004, whether the server to be accessed is registered as a connection candidate in the mobile app 500. If the server is registered as a connection candidate (Yes in S1010), the process proceeds to S1011, and if the server is not registered as a connection candidate (No in S1010), the process proceeds to S1012.
In S1011, the network unit 510 of the mobile app 500 connects to the server 120, transmits token information, and executes login processing. The screen display unit 513 displays a web page in a state where the user is logged in to the tenant corresponding to the token information of the server 120, and ends the processing. For example, when the MFP 130 transmits a Bluetooth signal including specific information of the tenant B, a web page in a state where the user is logged in to the tenant B is displayed. When the login is completed, the mobile app 500 can perform so-called cloud printing, in which print data is transmitted via a server to a printing device under the umbrella of the tenant B. When the mobile app 500 receives a print operation (not shown), the mobile app 500 generates print data corresponding to a file selected based on a user operation, and transmits the print data to the server 120 together with the token information.
The server 120, which has received the data including the print data and the token information, identifies a tenant based on the token information. If the token information corresponding to Tenant B is included, the server 120 temporarily stores the print data in a virtual printer queue of Tenant B. The stored print data is printed in response to a user logging in to a printing device participating in Tenant B. For example, when a user logs in to the MFP 130, the MFP 130 inquires of Tenant B of the server about a job of the user who logged in to the MFP 130. If there is a job of the logged-in user, the MFP 130 acquires and prints it. In addition, when the login process is completed, the mobile app 500 becomes able to acquire information managed by Tenant B. For example, the mobile app 500 becomes able to acquire information of the user of Tenant B from the server and display the print history and print results of the user.
In S1012, the network unit 510 of the mobile application 500 connects the screen display unit 513 to the server 120, displays a web page for a non-logged-in state, and ends the process.
The above flowchart has described a method for switching to a suitable setting depending on the location where the mobile application 500 is used. This makes it possible to easily change the server of the tenant being used when multiple tenants are used from the mobile application 500.

The mobile app 500 may be operated at a location away from the MFP 130 to print on the MFP 130. In this case, if a plurality of tenants are managed in the tenant information list 600 of the mobile app 500, the user needs to correctly set the tenant to be used. However, in such a case, the mobile app 500 is far from the MFP 130 and cannot detect the Bluetooth signal transmitted by the MFP 130. In other words, the tenant switching method described in the first embodiment is not executed, and there is a possibility that switching to the tenant desired by the user is not performed.
Therefore, in the second embodiment, when the MFP signal cannot be detected, a message is displayed on the display screen of the communication device to ask the user whether the tenant to which the print data is to be sent is correct, thereby ensuring that the user can switch to the desired tenant.
[Tenant switching process]
9 is a flowchart showing details of the notification process in the mobile application 500 in this embodiment. The CPU 211 reads and executes a control program stored in the ROM 212 or SSD 214 to execute each process in the flowchart. A detailed description will be given below.
This process starts upon detecting that the mobile app 500 is running.
In S1101, the control unit 511 of the mobile application 500 determines whether print data has been sent to the tenant. If the print data has been sent (Yes in S1101), the process proceeds to S1102. If the print data has not been sent (No in S1101), the process waits in S1101.
In S1102, the MFP search unit 514 of the mobile application 500 determines whether or not a Bluetooth signal from the MFP 130 has been detected via the Bluetooth unit 221. If a Bluetooth signal has been detected (Yes in S1002), the process ends, and if a Bluetooth signal has not been detected (No in S1002), the process proceeds to S1103.
In S1103, the control unit 511 of the mobile app 500 determines whether multiple tenants are included in the tenant information list 600. If multiple tenants are included (Yes in S1003), the process proceeds to S1004, and if multiple tenants are not included (No in S1003), the process ends. This is because, when the tenant information list 600 includes two or more (multiple) tenants (servers), it is necessary to confirm with the user whether the destination tenant (server) to which the print data is to be sent is correct.
In S1104, the screen display unit 513 of the mobile app 500 displays the message 1001 in Fig. 10. The contents of the message 1001 include, in addition to the information of the message 801, specific information that can easily identify the MFP 130 and the tenant (server) that uses it. For example, this specific information is the installation location (e.g., a branch office, a satellite office, etc.) and characteristics of the MFP 130. This information may be obtained from the server 120 or the MFP 130, or information set in a UI (not shown) of the app of the communication device may be displayed.

The above describes a method for displaying a message related to the tenant of the destination of print data in the mobile application 500. This makes it easy for the user to identify the tenant to be used when printing, even if multiple tenants are managed by the mobile application 500.
(Modification)
In the first and second embodiments, the mobile application 500 acquires information identifying a tenant of a printing system in which the MFP 130 participates from the MFP 130 using Bluetooth communication, but the present invention is not limited to this. The mobile application 500 may be configured to acquire information identifying a tenant using a communication method such as UWB (Ultra Wide Band).
Furthermore, the MFP 130 may be configured to transmit information identifying a tenant of a printing system in which the MFP 130 participates, using a two-dimensional code such as a QR code (registered trademark). In this case, the following process may be executed instead of the detection process of S1001. First, the MFP 130 displays a two-dimensional code storing information identifying a tenant (such as a URL of the tenant) on the operation unit 420. This two-dimensional code is displayed, for example, on a standby screen or a mobile link screen of the MFP 130. In addition, the mobile app 540 displays a tenant switching button on a setting screen (not shown) or a home screen (not shown) of the application. When the mobile app 500 detects a user operation of pressing the tenant switching button, the mobile app 500 cooperates with the camera provided in the communication device 110 to display a screen for reading the two-dimensional code. Then, when the mobile app 5400 detects that the two-dimensional code displayed on the operation unit 420 has been read, it analyzes the two-dimensional code and attempts to obtain information. After that, the same process as that from S1002 onward may be executed.
This process allows a user to access the tenant to which the MFP belongs by an intuitive operation such as reading a QR code displayed on the MFP that he or she wishes to use, and to log in to that tenant.
Therefore, the tenant can be switched by an intuitive operation, and various functions provided by the switched tenant (such as a cloud print function and a report function of history and results) can be used via the mobile app 500.

Other Examples
The present invention can also be realized by a process in which a program for implementing one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device read and execute the program. The present invention can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that implements one or more of the functions.

110 Communication device 120 Server 130 MFP
221 Bluetooth section 532 Data management section

Claims (10)

1. A communication device, comprising:
an acquisition unit that acquires information for identifying a tenant of a cloud system with which an image forming apparatus is linked from the image forming apparatus;
a setting change means for, when a tenant set as a connection destination in the communication device is different from a tenant identified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means, setting the tenant identified based on the information as the connection destination;
A storage means for storing information on the tenant set as the connection destination and information on tenants that are candidates for the connection destination;
a connection means for connecting to a tenant set as a connection destination stored in the storage means;
having
The connection means is
When a tenant identified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means is stored in the storage means as information on a candidate connection destination, the tenant is connected to the identified tenant, and a login process is performed;
A communication device characterized in that, when a tenant identified based on the information acquired by the acquisition means is not stored in the storage means as information on a candidate connection destination, the communication device connects to the identified tenant and displays a web page in a non-logged-in state. The communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that the acquisition means acquires information identifying a tenant of a cloud system with which the image forming device is linked from the image forming device using wireless communication conforming to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard. The device further includes a receiving means for receiving an advertising packet of Bluetooth Low Energy (registered trademark),
The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the acquiring unit acquires information identifying a tenant of a cloud system with which an image forming device identified based on the advertising packet received by the receiving unit is linked. The communication device according to claim 3, characterized in that the information identifying the tenant of the cloud system with which the identified image forming device is linked is included in an advertising packet transmitted by the identified image forming device. The communication device according to claim 3, characterized in that the acquisition means establishes GATT communication with the image forming device identified based on the advertising packet received by the receiving means, and acquires information identifying the tenant from the identified image forming device via the GATT communication. The communication device according to claim 1, characterized in that the acquisition means reads a two-dimensional code displayed on an operation unit of the image forming device, analyzes the two-dimensional code, and acquires, as a result of the analysis, information that identifies a tenant of a cloud system with which the image forming device is linked. The communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the cloud system is a system that provides a cloud print service, and the communication device further has a transmission means for transmitting print data to a tenant set as the connection destination. The communication device further includes an inquiry unit that inquires about changing a tenant setting when a tenant set as a connection destination of the communication device is different from a tenant specified based on the information acquired by the acquisition unit,
The communication device according to claim 1 , wherein the setting change unit changes the settings of the destination tenant when a response to the inquiry from the user to change the tenant is received. A method for controlling a communication device, comprising:
an acquisition step of acquiring information for identifying a tenant of a cloud system with which an image forming apparatus is linked from the image forming apparatus;
a setting change step of setting, when a tenant set as a connection destination in the communication device is different from a tenant identified based on the information acquired in the acquisition step , the tenant identified based on the information as the connection destination;
a storage step of storing information on the tenant set as the connection destination and information on the tenants that are candidates for the connection destination in a storage means;
a connection step of connecting to a tenant set as a connection destination stored in the storage means,
The connecting step includes:
When a tenant identified based on the information acquired in the acquiring step is stored in the storage means as information on a candidate connection destination, the tenant is connected to the identified tenant, and a login process is executed;
A control method for a communication device, characterized in that if a tenant identified based on the information acquired in the acquisition step is not stored in the storage means as information on a candidate connection destination, the control method connects to the identified tenant and displays a web page in a non-logged-in state. A program for causing a computer to execute the communication device control method according to claim 9.

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