Image forming system and method in which client apparatuses are notified via print server of event generated in image forming apparatus

摘要

An image forming system includes a client apparatus, a print server, and an image forming apparatus, each of which are coupled via a network to one another. The client apparatus provides a job ID together with an IP address of the client apparatus to the print server, and transmits print job data to the image forming apparatus via the print server. The print server registers the job ID and the IP address in a job address table, receives content of an event transmitted from the image forming apparatus, reads an IP address associated with a job ID included in the content of the event from the job address table when the event is a change in job status, and transmits the content of the event to a client having the read IP address.

主权项

1. An image forming system comprising:
a client apparatus that is coupled to a network; a print server that is coupled to the network; and an image forming apparatus that is coupled to the network, wherein the client apparatus includes:
a status monitor configured to display a content of an event in the image forming apparatus;a printer driver configured to i) convert document data into print job data, ii) generate a job ID of the print job data, iii) provide the job ID to a client-side notification service of the client apparatus, and iv) transmit the print job data to the image forming apparatus via the print server; andthe client-side notification service configured to i) transmit the provided job ID together with an IP address of the client apparatus to a server-side notification service of the print server via the network and ii) cause the content of the event received from the server-side notification service to be displayed on the status monitor, wherein the print server includes:
a job address table including a field in which the IP address of the client apparatus is associated with the job ID, wherein the IP address of the client apparatus and the job ID comprise a single record, and wherein the job address table includes a plurality of registered IP addresses corresponding to a plurality of registered client-side notification services; andthe server-side notification service configured to i) register the job ID and the IP address received from the client-side notification service in the job address table, ii) receive the content of the event transmitted from the image forming apparatus via the network, wherein the content of the event includes a status code and the job ID if the status code indicates a job status of “Start”, “Stop”, “Pause”, “Resume”, or “Completed”, iii) read the IP address associated with the job ID included in the content of the event from the job address table if the status code indicates the job status, iv) transmit the content of the event to the client-side notification service of the client apparatus having the read IP address, and v) transmit the content of the event to the plurality of registered client-side notification services corresponding to the plurality of registered IP addresses if the status code indicates an image forming apparatus status of “Ready”, “Printing”, or “Out of Toner”.