Abstract: In a device monitor system of the invention including multiple devices, a monitor apparatus, and a terminal that are mutually connected via a network, a serial number (first identifier of physically identifying the device) and a private address of the device are sent from the terminal to the monitor apparatus by e-mail. The monitor apparatus generates an installation ID (second identifier of logically identifying the device) correlated to the received serial number (first identifier), creates a document of a link for an HTTP request including the generated installation ID, a URL of the monitor apparatus, and the received private address of the device, and sends back the document to the terminal by e-mail. The user operates the terminal to click the link for the HTTP request and send the HTTP request to the device. The device receives and analyzes the HTTP request and stores the installation ID in a preset storage location.

Abstract: A printer acquires a relative distance between the printer and another printer and holds the relative distance in an alternative printer list table. When selecting a printer to which a request for alternative printing is made, the printer searches relative distances in the alternative printer list table and selects a printer with the shortest relative distance as an alternative printer. Consequently, the printer to which the request for alternative printing is made or the like can be efficiently selected.

Abstract: A mediation server 200 mediates a print demand from a client device 100 to a printing device 300. In order to elude a firewall F/W set between the mediation server 200 and the printing device 300, the printing device 300 first sends an HTTP request to the mediation server 200. The mediation server 200 sends back an HTTP response including a print demand to the printing device 300. Encrypted communication may be established between the client device 100 and the printing device 300 according to the following procedure. The mediation server 200 decrypts cipher data, which is encrypted with a public key by the client device, with a private key, re-encrypts the decrypted data with another private key, and mediates the encrypted data to the printing device 300. The printing device 300 decrypts the encrypted data with the public key and carries out printing. This arrangement enables the printing device to carry out printing in response to a demand from the client device via respective secure network environments.

Abstract: A server computer acquires printer information containing printer position information from a printer and stores the printer information in a printer information table. When the printer information is request by a print client, the printer information is provided after authentication as required. The print client generates print transmitting data by adding the printer position information to print data and transmits the print transmitting data to the printer. The printer which has received the print transmitting data acquires printer position information at this point in time, and when the printer position information at this point in time coincides with the printer position information contained in the print transmitting data, the print data is printed by the printer.

Abstract: The respective ones of a plurality of print job data (jobs) thrown in the printer are independently managed according to job identifying information. The job management signifies, for example, to grasp the progressive states of the jobs and present them to a user or give a predetermined command (cancel command, etc) to a particular job. In the printer connected to an exclusive interface, such as a serial interface, a parallel interface or a USB interface, print job data is extracted, on a job-unit basis, from among a series of reception data received from the host machine. Job identifying information is assigned to the extracted print job data. Also, in the printer connected to a network, job identifying information is assigned to the reception data received from the host machine and logically distinguished as print job data.

Abstract: The invention provides a technique improving the reliability of acquisition of management information from a network device.

Abstract: A printing device configured to print on the basis of a given print job includes an error detector configured to detect an error indicating the possibility that printing of the print job will not be completed under a printing condition that is set for the print job and a printing condition changing section configured to change the printing condition of the print job for completing the printing in a case where the error detector detects an error, wherein the printing condition changing section changes the printing condition of the print job on the basis of the type of the error detected by the error detector and a substitutive printing condition set for the print job corresponding to the type of the error for dealing with the error.

Abstract: In a printer management system of the invention, multiple printers are connected via a network to a management server, which performs exchange of setting information inherent to each of the multiple printers. Each of the multiple printers sends management information representing at least part of a service status of the printer. The management server acquires the management information sent from each printer and selects at least two exchange object printers to exchange their pieces of the setting information among the multiple printers, based on the acquired management information. The printer management system of the invention selects the exchange object printers according to their use frequencies shown by the management information. The locations of the selected exchange object printers are exchanged. This arrangement desirably equalizes the use frequencies of the respective printers and reduces the demand for replacement of various long-term parts in the respective printers.

Abstract: An image can be smoothly generated without delaying the release of a host by dynamically changing the priority of a task for writing to a hard disk for the priority of another task. The dynamic varying of the priorities of the different types of tasks is dependent upon predetermined events or triggers, which thereby prevents the release delay of a host, so that successive images can be smoothly generated.

Abstract: An image can be smoothly generated without delaying the release of a host by dynamically changing the priority of a task for writing to a hard disk for the priority of another task. The dynamic varying of the priorities of the different types of tasks is dependent upon predetermined events or triggers, which thereby prevents the release delay of a host, so that successive images can be smoothly generated.

Abstract: The invention proposes a scheme in which even in the case where a lot of print sites each of which provides a printing service by secure network communication are constructed on a network the print sites can be managed easily, as well as a system as an implementation of such a scheme. A printing method is provided which uses a server computer for a relay between client computers and printers that are connected to each other via a network. The server computer establishes sessions in response to secure communication session establishment requests from a client computer and a printer, respectively. The server computer connects the two sessions, and the client computer sends a print job to the printer via the server computer and causes the printer to perform a printing operation.

Abstract: A transmitted information verification device of the invention includes: a transmitted information capture module that captures encrypted transmission object information transferred on a network, as encrypted transmitted information; a comparative information generation module that encrypts transmission object information, which is included in an encryption record created by a managed device, with a cipher key used for encryption of the transmission object information in the managed device to generate comparative information; and a transmitted information verification module that compares the encrypted transmitted information with the generated comparative information for verification.

Abstract: The invention proposes a scheme in which even in the case where a lot of print sites each of which provides a printing service by secure network communication are constructed on a network the print sites can be managed easily, as well as a system as an implementation of such a scheme. A printing method is provided which uses a server computer for a relay between client computers and printers that are connected to each other via a network. The server computer establishes sessions in response to secure communication session establishment requests from a client computer and a printer, respectively. The server computer connects the two sessions, and the client computer sends a print job to the printer via the server computer and causes the printer to perform a printing operation.

Abstract: The invention proposes a scheme in which even in the case where a lot of print sites each of which provides a printing service by secure network communication are constructed on a network the print sites can be managed easily, as well as a system as an implementation of such a scheme. A printing method is provided which uses a server computer for a relay between client computers and printers that are connected to each other via a network. The server computer establishes sessions in response to secure communication session establishment requests from a client computer and a printer, respectively. The server computer connects the two sessions, and the client computer sends a print job to the printer via the server computer and causes the printer to perform a printing operation.

Abstract: A device management system for managing a device based on management information is presented. The system includes a device monitoring unit for obtaining management information from a device, a relay server coupled to the device monitoring unit over a network, and a management server, coupled to the relay server over a network, configured to manage the device based on the management information. The device monitoring unit obtains the management information from the device and transmits the obtained management information without encryption. Upon receiving the management information, the relay server encrypts and transmits to the management server the received management information.

Abstract: To provide a technology for, if a first distribution destination printing device cannot continue printing according to a print job, causing a second distribution destination printing device to execute an unexecuted print job without using a server. The first distribution destination printing device, used for a printing system, includes a print job processing module that acquires a distributed print job supplied from a distribution source device and gives the distributed print job to a printing execution module. The print job processing module acquires, from the distribution source device, device identification information for identifying the second distribution destination printing device among a plurality of distribution destination printing devices, the second distribution destination printing device belonging to the same group as the first distribution destination printing device.

Abstract: The printing controller is connectable to multiple printing apparatuses and distributes a print job to multiple destination printing apparatuses among the connected multiple printing apparatuses. The printing controller comprises a receiving module that receives the print job, an evaluation module, a selection module, and a distribution module. The evaluation module evaluates the amount of time required for printing requested by the received print job for multiple distribution methods. The selection module selects a distribution method having shortest time required for printing from among the multiple distribution methods based on the evaluation results. The distribution module distributes the received print job using the selected distribution method.

Abstract: A printing controller is incorporated in at least one of a plurality of printing apparatuses connected to a network. the printing controller comprises a receiving module, a distribution destination specification module, a page assignment module, a sending module. The receiving module receives a first print job requesting a plurality of pages of printing. The distribution destination specification module specifies, from among the plurality of printing apparatuses, a plurality of destination printing apparatuses as distribution destinations for the plurality of pages of printing requested by the first print job. The page assignment module that assigns a page to each of the plurality of destination printing apparatuses by dividing the plurality of pages of printing requested by the first print job into a same number of groups as a number of the plurality of destination printing apparatuses.

Abstract: This invention provides a control method for a distributed printing system equipped with a display which is capable of distributing print jobs to a plurality of printing apparatuses connected to a network. The control method includes: a candidate destination display control step of displaying candidate destinations selected from the plurality of printing apparatuses as candidates of destination of the distribution of the print jobs. The candidate destination display control step includes the step of displaying a status regarding availability for use for each of the candidate destinations.

Abstract: To achieve a smooth distributed printing process, the printer includes a communication module, a job receiving module and a print executing module. The communication module maintains connections to perform communication using a connection-type protocol. The job receiving module receives print jobs through the connections. The number of the print jobs that can be received in parallel is M. The M is a natural number. The print executing module executes printing processes in parallel for the received print jobs. The number of connections that can be maintained simultaneously by the communication module is set to be less than the M.