Abstract:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium has a program stored thereon and readable by a processor of an information processing apparatus configured to communicate with an image processing apparatus. The program, when executed by the processor, causes the information processing apparatus to perform: receiving a execution request to cause the image processing apparatus to perform the image processing, the execution request being corresponding to a job; acquiring status information indicating a status of the image processing apparatus; and notifying, during a notification time period, error information based on the status information when the status information is acquired during the notification time period, which starts at a time when the execution request is received.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-072371 filed on Mar. 29, 2013, the entire subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
       TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    This disclosure relates to a program and an information processing apparatus. More specifically, this disclosure relates to an error notification technology of notifying error information such as content of an error and a method of coping with the error. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In an image processing apparatus that performs an image processing operation such as printing and scanning, a variety of errors occur, and disable the image processing operation (to perform), such as paper jam, out-of-sheet, and colorant-deficiency, etc. There is a known technology of sending error information to an information processing apparatus communicating with the image processing apparatus. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    However, the above technology has the following problem. That is, the error information may be unnecessary for the information processing apparatus having received the error information. For example, the error information regarding printing function in the image processing apparatus, such as colorant deficiency and paper jam, is not useful to a user of the information processing apparatus, which has not sent a print job to the image processing apparatus. In this case, the user may be rather uncomfortable due to the error notification. 
         [0005]    In view of the above, this disclosure provides at least an error notification technology capable of appropriately notifying an error to each information processing apparatus communicating with an image processing apparatus. 
         [0006]    A non-transitory computer-readable medium of this disclosure has a program stored thereon and readable by a processor of an information processing apparatus configured to communicate with an image processing apparatus. The program, when executed by the processor, causes the information processing apparatus to perform: receiving a execution request to cause the image processing apparatus to perform the image processing, the execution request being corresponding to a job; acquiring status information indicating a status of the image processing apparatus; and notifying, during a notification time period, error information based on the status information when the status information is acquired during the notification time period, which starts at a time when the execution request is received. 
         [0007]    An information processing apparatus of this disclosure includes a communication unit that communicates with an image processing apparatus performing image processing, and a control unit. The control unit executes: receiving a execution request to cause the image processing apparatus to perform the image processing, the execution request being corresponding to a job; acquiring status information indicating a status of the image processing apparatus; and notifying, during a notification time period, error information based on the status information when the status information is acquired during the notification time period, which starts at a time when the execution request is received. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    The foregoing and additional features and characteristics of this disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed descriptions considered with the reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image processing system according to an illustrative embodiment; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a printing sequence of the image processing system according to the illustrative embodiment; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a sequence diagram illustrating a sequence of an error notification of an MFP of the image processing system according to the illustrative embodiment; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of managing processing of a status monitor according to the illustrative embodiment; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of notification-permission setting processing (a first mode) of the status monitor according to the illustrative embodiment; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of notification-permission setting processing (a second mode) of the status monitor according to the illustrative embodiment; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating a sequence of notification processing of the status monitor according to the illustrative embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    Hereinafter, an illustrative embodiment embodying an apparatus of this disclosure will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this illustrative embodiment, this disclosure is applied to an image processing system having a multi-functional peripheral (MFP) and a personal computer (PC) having a device driver for the MFP installed therein. 
         [0017]    [Configuration of Image Processing System] 
         [0018]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , an image processing system  100  of this illustrative embodiment has MFPs  20  (an example of the printing apparatus),  21 ,  22  and a PC  10  (an example of the information processing apparatus) that controls the MFPs. In the image processing system  100 , the PC  10  and the MFPs  20 ,  21  are connected to communicate with each other through a wired LAN cable, and the PC  10  and the MFP  22  are connected to communicate with each other through a USB cable. 
         [0019]    In the meantime, the image processing apparatus and the information processing apparatus configuring the image processing system  100  are not limited to the shown apparatuses. Also, the connection between the PC  10  and the MFP  20  and the like is not limited to the wired LAN cable and the USB cable and may be made through a serial communication cable, a parallel communication cable and wireless communication such as wireless LAN. 
         [0020]    The PC  10  has a controller  30  (an example of the control unit) having a CPU  11  (an example of the control unit) that executes a variety of processing, a ROM  12  that stores therein a startup processing program (BIOS), which is executed by the CPU  11  upon startup of the PC  10 , and the like, a RAM  13  that is used as a temporary storage area when the CPU  11  executes the variety of processing and a hard disk drive (HDD)  14  that stores therein a variety of programs and data. 
         [0021]    Also, the PC  10  has an operation unit  15  such as a keyboard, a mouse and the like, a display unit  16  such as a liquid crystal monitor and the like, a USB interface  17  (an example of the communication unit) and a network interface  18  (an example of the communication unit), which are electrically connected to the controller  30  and are controlled by the controller  30 . 
         [0022]    The PC  10  stores therein an operating system (OS), application programs (document processing software, drawing software, spreadsheet software, photograph data editing software and the like), device drivers for controlling the MFPs  20 ,  21 ,  22  and a status monitor (an example of the program) that monitors a status of each MFP  20 . In the meantime, the various programs may be installed by using a recording medium having the programs recorded therein, such as CD-ROM, or may be downloaded and installed from a server on a network. 
         [0023]    The MFP  20  has a function of forming an image on a sheet and an electrophotographic method, an inkjet method and the other general image forming methods may be adopted as the image forming method. Also, the MFP may form a color image and a monochrome image or may form only a monochrome image. In addition, the MFP  20  has image reading, FAX transmission and FAX reception functions. The configurations of the MFPs  21 ,  22  are similarly to the MFP  20 . 
         [0024]    [Operations of PC] 
         [0025]    Subsequently, operations of the PC  10 , which are performed when the MFP  20  is enabled to perform a printing operation in the image processing system  100  of this illustrative embodiment, are described with reference to a block diagram of  FIG. 2 . In the meantime, a graphic engine  51  and a spooler  52  of  FIG. 2  are provided as parts of the OS. 
         [0026]    In  FIG. 2 , a device driver  40  is a printer driver for the MFP  20  and performs data processing of image data, which is a printing target, and generation processing of print data based on the processed image data. The data processing includes synthesis of a watermark, a header, a footer and the like, magnification change such as enlargement and reduction, image rotation and aggregation such as 2in1, 4in1 and the like. 
         [0027]    Also, a status monitor  41  periodically acquires status information of all the MFPs (in this illustrative embodiment, the MFPs  20 ,  21 ,  22 ) that are connected to communicate with the PC  10  and displays the acquired status information so that a user can see the same. Specifically, the status monitor  41  acquires, as the status information, operating statuses (under execution, standby status, or sleep status and the like) and a type of an error when the error occurs in the MFP. In this illustrative embodiment, the status monitor  41  is provided from a device maker. However, the status monitor  41  may be provided as a part of the OS. An operating sequence of the status monitor  41  will be described later. 
         [0028]    The graphic engine  51  is a module that controls the device driver  40 . The graphic engine  51  receives a command from an application program  61  and transmits the command to the device driver  40 . 
         [0029]    The spooler  52  is a module having functions of temporarily storing the print data generated by the device driver  40  and sequentially outputting the print data to the designated MFP. In the specification, the description that ‘the device driver  40  transmits the print data to the MFP  20 ’ means that ‘the device driver  40  stores the print data in the spooler  52 ’ and does not mean that the print data is actually transmitted to the MFP  20  by the spooler  52 . 
         [0030]    When the PC  10  causes the MFP  20  to execute the printing, the application program  61  installed in the PC  10  first receives a printing instruction from the user and outputs a printing start notice, as shown in  FIG. 2 . Then, the graphic engine  51  that is a part of the OS receives the printing start notice and starts to acquire image data, which is a printing target, from the application program  61 . 
         [0031]    When the graphic engine  51  starts to acquire the image data, the graphic engine  51  issues a drawing command to the device driver  40 . When the device driver  40  receives the drawing command, the device driver  40  generates a bitmap image (a BMP image) based on the drawing command and generates print data of a PDL format based on the BMP image. 
         [0032]    After generating the print data, the device driver  40  stores the print data in the spooler  52 . When the print data is stored in the spooler  52 , the spooler  52  transmits the stored print data to the MFP  20 . The MFP  20  having received the print data performs a printing operation on the basis of the print data. 
         [0033]    Subsequently, operations of the PC  10 , which are performed when the error information of the MFP  20  is notified to the status monitor  41  in the image processing system  100  of this illustrative embodiment, are described with reference to a sequence diagram of  FIG. 3 . Meanwhile, in  FIG. 3 , the status monitor  41  is divided into a managing unit  41 A that monitors a status of the MFP  20  and a notifying unit  41 B that notifies the error information of the MFP  20 . In the meantime, the managing unit  41 A and the notifying unit  41 B may be separate modules or the same modules. 
         [0034]    In the image processing system  100  of this illustrative embodiment, when notifying the error information of the MFP  20  to the PC  10 , the managing unit  41 A first acquires driver information, which is information of the device driver that is a monitoring target, from the OS  50  upon the startup of the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41 . The driver information is stored in a setting storage area of the OS  50 , such as registry. The driver information includes a type of the driver and a type of the connection interface, for example. The driver information is stored in the setting storage area by an installer upon the installation or by the device driver upon the startup of the device driver. 
         [0035]    Also, when there is a printer driver, the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  is set to notice that a job is registered when the job using the printer driver, which is a monitoring target, has been registered, to the OS  50 . The notification is hereinafter referred to as ‘job registration notice’. Since the error notification is performed for each device driver, the notification setting is made for each printer driver. For example, when a printer driver for the MFP  20  is installed in the PC  10 , the managing unit  41 A is set to issue the notification if a job using the printer driver for the MFP  20  has been registered. When the notification setting is performed, the OS  50  outputs the job registration notice at the time that a printing job is stored in the spooler  52 . 
         [0036]    Meanwhile, for a scanner driver, the scanner driver secures a storage area for storing read data and stores a reading situation in the storage area. The managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  acquires the reading situation from the storage area of the scanner driver and detects starting and ending of a scanning job. In the meantime, the job registration notice may be output from the scanner driver to the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  when a scanning job is input. The descriptions of the operations of the scanning job are omitted. 
         [0037]    After the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  makes the notification setting for the OS  50 , the managing unit  41 A periodically inquires of all devices, which are monitoring targets, about a status. That is, the managing unit  41 A starts to monitor the status of the MFP  20 . In the meantime, although the status monitor  41  starts to monitor the status of the MFP  20  by the managing unit  41 A, the error information is not notified by the notifying unit  41 B until the managing unit  41 A permits the notification. The notification of the error information is not permitted at an initial state. 
         [0038]    After that, when a printing job using the device driver of a monitoring target is registered in the PC  10 , the job registration notice is output from the OS  50  to the status monitor  41 . When the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  receives the job registration notice, the managing unit  41 A permits the notifying unit  41 B to notify the error information until a predetermined time period elapses after the notification is received. 
         [0039]    When the notification is permitted by the managing unit  41 A, the notifying unit  41 B of the status monitor  41  notifies the error information based on the latest status information of the MFP  20 , which is acquired by the managing unit  41 A. Whenever the managing unit  41 A acquires the status information of the MFP  20 , the notifying unit  41 B notifies the latest error information. In the meantime, the aspect of notifying the error information by the notifying unit  41  B is a popup display on the display unit  16 , for example. In addition to this, a warning sound may be output. Also, for example, a dialogue box may be blinked. 
         [0040]    When the printing job is over, the OS  50  outputs a job ending notice to the status monitor  41 . In the meantime, the ending of the printing job means that the print data of a final page is output from the spooler  52 . For this reason, there is a time lug after the job ending notice is output until the printing of a final page is completed in the MFP  20 . Meanwhile, for the scanning job, the ending means that reception of scan data is completed. Therefore, the reading in the MFP  20  has been completed upon detection of the job ending. 
         [0041]    Therefore, when the job ending notice of the printing job is received, the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  prohibits a notice of the status after a predetermined time period elapses from the reception of the job ending notice, considering the time lug until the printing is completed. That is, a summed time period of a time period A (first time period) after the job registration notice is received until the job ending notice is received and a time period B (second time period) after the job ending notice is received until a predetermined time period elapses is a notification time period during which the notification of the error information is permitted. In the meantime, upon the ending detection of the scanning job, the reading and reception of the read data in the MFP  20  have been completed, and an error occurring after the ending detection of the scanning job has a low relativity to a job that is requested by the PC  10 . For this reason, the time period B is set to be 0 second and only the time period B becomes the notification time period. When the notification is prohibited, the notifying unit  41 B does not notify the error information. 
         [0042]    That is, when an error occurs in the image processing apparatus that is a monitoring target after the PC  10  registers a job, the error highly influences the job. For this reason, the error information has a high utility value for the user who uses the PC  10 . On the other hand, the information of an error, which occurs while the PC  10  is not registering a job, does not have always a high utility value for the user who uses the PC  10 . For this reason, the notifying unit  41 B of the status monitor  41  notifies the error information, which is obtained from the MFP  20  during the notification time period corresponding to the time period for which the MFP  20  is executing a job after the job is registered, and does not notify the error information during the other time period even when an error occurs in the MFP  20 . 
         [0043]    In the meantime, the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  periodically acquires the status of the image processing apparatus that is a monitoring target, regardless of whether a job is registered. Thereby, contrary to the notification of the error information by the notifying unit  41 B, it is possible to always display the latest status of the image processing apparatus in accordance with a request from the user. 
         [0044]    [Operations of Status Monitor] 
         [0045]    [Managing Processing] 
         [0046]    Subsequently, managing processing that is executed by the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  so as to realize the error notifying sequence is described with reference to a flowchart of  FIG. 4 . The managing processing is executed by the CPU  11  when the status monitor  41  starts up. 
         [0047]    In the managing processing, the CPU first initializes and activates a monitoring timer for periodically inquiring a status of a device that is a monitoring target (S 101 ). Then, the CPU acquires the driver information of the device driver from the setting storage area of the OS  50  (S 102 ). 
         [0048]    Then, based on the driver information acquired in S 102 , the CPU determines whether the connection interface is one-to-one connection (S 103 ). In this illustrative embodiment, the one-to-one connection corresponds to the USB interface  17 . In addition to this, a one-to-one connection through a serial cable or dedicated line is also included. When the connection interface is not one-to-one connection (S 103 : NO), for example, when the connection interface is network connection such as Ethernet (registered trademark), the CPU sets the status monitor  41  to output the job registration notice to the OS  50  when a job using the device driver becoming a monitoring target is registered (S 111 ). 
         [0049]    The CPU repeats the processing of S 103  and S 111  and performs the processing for all the device drivers that are stored in the driver information acquired in S 102 . For example, when the printer driver of the MFP  20  and the printer driver of the MFP  22  are monitoring targets, since the MFP  20  is connected by the network interface  18  and the MFP  22  is connected by the USB interface  17 , the job registration notice is performed for the status monitor  41  upon the registration of the job using the printer driver of the MFP  20 . 
         [0050]    After the notification setting for the respective device drivers, the CPU determines whether the driver information is updated (S 104 ). That is, after starting the managing processing, the CPU determines whether the device driver becoming a monitoring target is added or deleted. When the driver information is updated (S 104 : YES), the CPU proceeds to S 102  and again performs the notification setting. 
         [0051]    When the driver information is not updated (S 104 : NO), the CPU executes notification-permission setting processing for setting notification-permission of the error information (S 105 ). Here, the notification-permission setting processing of S 105  is described with reference to a flowchart of  FIG. 5 . 
         [0052]    In the notification-permission setting processing, the CPU first determines whether there is the job registration notice (S 151 ). When there is the job registration notice (S 151 : YES), the CPU permits the notification of the error information (S 161 ). Thereby, the notification of the error information by the notifying unit  41 B is permitted. The information indicating whether there is the notification-permission is stored in a storage means that can be commonly used by the managing unit  41 A and the notifying unit  41 B, for example, a registry or file. When the notification of the error information is permitted, the notifying unit  41 B notifies the error information, based on the status information of the device. The processing of the notifying unit  41 B will be described later. On the other hand, when there is no job registration notice (S 151 : NO), the notification of the error information is not permitted. 
         [0053]    After S 161  or when there is no job registration notice (S 151 : NO), the CPU determines whether there is the job ending notice (S 152 ). When there is the job ending notice (S 152 : YES), the CPU acquires a type of the job that is a notice target (S 171 ). Then, based on the type of the job, the CPU determines ending time of the notification time period (S 172 ). That is, the CPU determines the time period B of  FIG. 3 . Regarding a method of determining the ending time of the notification time period in S 172 , when a job is the printing job, the CPU sets time that is prescribed considering the time lug until the printing is completed, for example. On the other hand, when a job is the scanning job, the CPU sets the time B to be zero (0) because the scan is completed at the time that the reception of the read data is completed. After S 172 , the CPU initializes and activates a notification timer that is a timer for notification time period (S 173 ). 
         [0054]    After S 173  or when there is no job ending notice (S 152 : NO), the CPU determines whether the notification time period has elapsed (S 153 ). Specifically, in S 153 , the CPU determines that the time period B has elapsed i.e., the notification time period has elapsed when the notification timer activated in S 173  reaches the ending time or longer determined in S 172 . On the other hand, when the notification timer activated in S 173  does not exceed the ending time or the notification time period is not set, i.e., while the notification of the error information is prohibited, the CPU determines in S 153  that the notification time period has not elapsed. 
         [0055]    When the notification time period has elapsed (S 153 : YES), the CPU prohibits the notification of the error information (S 181 ). Then, the CPU stops the notification timer (S 182 ). After S 182  or when the notification time period has not elapsed (S 153 : NO), the CPU ends the notification-permission setting processing. In the meantime, the descriptions of the notification-permission setting processing relate to the notification-permission setting of the printer driver. For the scanner driver, the CPU determines in S 151  whether the start of the scanning job is detected and determines in S 152  whether the ending of the scanning job is detected. 
         [0056]    Meanwhile, in the notification-permission setting processing (a first mode) shown in  FIG. 5 , when the job ending notice is received, the CPU determines the notification time period by determining the time period B. That is, in  FIG. 3 , the sum of the time period A and the time period B is the notification time period. However, the notification time period may be determined when the job registration notice is received, i.e., when the notification of the error information is permitted. The notification-permission setting processing (a second mode) of this case is shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0057]    In the notification-permission setting processing shown in  FIG. 6 , when there is the job registration notice (S 151 : YES), the CPU acquires setting information of the device driver that is used by the corresponding job (S 271 ) and determines an ending time of the notification time period on the basis of the setting information of the device driver (S 272 ). Regarding a method of determining the ending time of the notification time period in S 272 , the notification time period is set to be longer in proportion to the number of sheets to be printed “n”. Also, for a color printing, the notification time period is set to be longer than a monochrome printing. Alternatively, when the number of sheets to be color-printed is a threshold or larger, the CPU adds time of position deviation correction to the notification time period. Also, for a duplex printing, the notification time period is set to be longer than one-side printing. That is, in S 272 , the CPU determines the notification time period, based on an attribute of the job obtained from the setting information of the device driver. 
         [0058]    After S 272 , the CPU permits the notification of the error information (S 161 ) and initializes and activates the notification timer (S 173 ). After S 173  or when there is no job registration notice (S 151 : NO), the CPU determines whether the notification time period has elapsed (S 153 ). When the notification time period has elapsed (S 153 : YES), the CPU prohibits the notification of the error information (S 181 ) and stops the notification timer (S 182 ). 
         [0059]    That is, in the notification-permission setting processing of the second mode shown in  FIG. 6 , the notification time period is set irrespective of the job ending notice. For this reason, the output of the job ending notice is not required and the processing becomes simpler than the notification-permission setting processing of the first mode shown in  FIG. 5 . On the other hand, in the second mode, since the ending time of the notification time period is determined irrespective of the job ending notice, there is a risk that the notification time period will expire before the job is over. For this reason, the first mode can more certainly secure the notification time period until the job is completed. 
         [0060]    Meanwhile, in the first mode, the notification time period is varied depending on the type of the job. However, the notification time period may be fixed. Also, the time period B may not be included in the notification time period and the notification time period may expire when the job ending notice is received, i.e., only the time period A may be set as the notification time period. Also, like the second mode, the time period B may be varied depending on the setting of the device driver. Also, in the second mode, the notification time period is varied depending on the setting of the device driver. However, the notification time period may be fixed. Also, like the first mode, the notification time period may be varied depending on the type of the job. 
         [0061]    Returning to  FIG. 4 , after the notification-permission setting processing in S 105 , the CPU determines whether there is an ending notice of ending the status monitor  41  (S 106 ). When there is the ending notice (S 106 : YES), the CPU ends the managing processing. 
         [0062]    When there is no ending notice (S 106 : NO), the CPU determines whether an inquiry interval of the status of the device being a monitoring target has elapsed (S 107 ). Specifically, in S 107 , when the monitoring timer activated in S 101  reaches predetermined time or longer, the CPU determines that the inquiry interval has elapsed. When the inquiry interval has not elapsed (S 107 : NO), the CPU proceeds to S 104  and repeats the determination after S 104 . 
         [0063]    When the inquiry interval has elapsed (S 107 : YES), the CPU resets the monitoring timer to an initial value and reactivates the same (S 121 ). Also, the CPU inquires of the device being a monitoring target about a status thereof and acquires the status information of each device (S 122 ). After that, the CPU outputs a notification notice to the notifying unit  41 B of the status monitor  41  (S 123 ). After S 123 , the CPU proceeds to S 104  and waits for the inquiry interval to elapse. Whenever the inquiry interval has elapsed, the CPU repeats the processing after S 121 . 
         [0064]    [Notification Processing] 
         [0065]    Subsequently, notification processing that is executed by the notifying unit  41 B of the status monitor  41  so as to implement the error notifying sequence is described with reference to a flowchart of  FIG. 7 . The notification processing is executed by the CPU  11  when the notification notice (refer to S 123  in the managing processing of  FIG. 4 ) is output from the managing unit  41 A. 
         [0066]    In the notification processing, the CPU acquires the latest status information acquired by the managing unit  41 A (S 201 ). Then, the CPU determines whether the error information included in the status information includes an error to be notified (S 202 ). For example, in S 202 , the status information irrelevant to the error, such as standby status, slip status and the like, is not included to the error to be notified. Also, for example, when the printer driver of the MFP  20  is a monitoring target, the error information relating to the scanner and FAX communication has a low utility value even though the error information is the error information of the MFP  20 . That is, the CPU determines that the error information irrelevant to the job for which the job registration notice is issued is not a target to be notified. Also, when the printer drivers of the MFP  20  and the MFP  22  are monitoring targets and a printing job is issued for the MFP  20 , the error information of the MFP  22  has a low utility value. That is, when a plurality of devices is monitoring targets, the CPU determines that the error information of a device, except for a device that is used by a job for which the job registration notice is issued, is not a target to be notified. When it is determined that there is no error to be notified (S 202 : NO), the CPU ends the notification processing without notifying the error information. 
         [0067]    When it is determined that there is an error to be notified (S 202 : YES), the CPU determines whether the connection interface to the device in which the error to be notified occurs is one-to-one connection (S 203 ). When the connection interface is one-to-one connection (S 203 : YES), there is a high possibility that the occurring error is a job input from another PC  10 . For this reason, the CPU notifies the error information, irrespective of whether there is the notification-permission (S 205 ). 
         [0068]    On the other hand, when the connection interface is not one-to-one connection (S 203 : NO), the CPU determines whether the error notification is permitted in the managing unit  41 A (S 204 ). Specifically, the CPU reads out the information indicating whether there is the notification-permission, which is stored in S 161  or S 181  of the managing processing of the managing unit  41 A. When the notification is permitted (S 204 : YES), the CPU notifies the error information (S 205 ) and ends the notification processing. On the other hand, when the notification is not permitted (S 204 : NO), the CPU ends the notification processing without notifying the error information. 
         [0069]    As specifically described above, there is a high possibility that an error, which occurs in the device being a monitoring target within the predetermined time period after the PC  10  receives the execution request of the job, is an error relating to the job requested by the PC  10 . On the other hand, there is a high possibility that an error, which occurs in the device being a monitoring target for a time period other than the predetermined time period, is an error irrelevant to the PC  10 . For this reason, the status monitor  41  of this illustrative embodiment notifies the error information if the error occurs in the predetermined time period (in the notification time period). Thereby, it is possible to expect the error notification having a high utility value. 
         [0070]    In the meantime, the above illustrative embodiment is just exemplary and is not construed to limit this disclosure. Accordingly, this disclosure can be variously improved and modified without departing from the scope of this disclosure. For example, regarding the MFP, any device having an image processing function is possible and a printer, a scanner, a copier and a FAX apparatus can be also applied. Also, regarding the PC, any apparatus that inputs an image processing job to the image processing apparatus is possible and a smart phone and a PDA can be also applied. 
         [0071]    Also, in the above illustrative embodiment, the managing unit  41 A of the status monitor  41  periodically acquires the status information of the MFP  20 , irrespective of the notification time period. However, the managing unit  41 A may acquire the status information only during the notification time period. 
         [0072]    Also, in the above illustrative embodiment, the error information irrelevant to the type of the job for which the job registration notice is issued and the error information of the device other than the device that is used by the job for which the job registration notice is issued are not determined as an error that is to be notified in S 202  and thus are not notified, but it may be notified. In this case, the error information that is determined as an error not to be notified has a lower utility value, compared to the error information that is determined as an error to be notified. Therefore, the error information that is determined as an error not to be notified may be set to have a lower degree for notifying, compared to the error information that is determined as an error to be notified, and may be notified in distinction from the error to be notified. The level of the degree of the notification may be implemented by whether or not a popup display, whether or not a blink display, whether or not a warning sound and a size of a message box. 
         [0073]    Also, in the above illustrative embodiment, the notifying unit  41 B of the status monitor  41  is enabled to notify the error. However, this disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, a mail may be transmitted. Also, the other applications having a display function (for example, a browser, a status monitor that is managed by the OS, and the like) may display the error, for example. 
         [0074]    Also, the processing disclosed in the above illustrative embodiment may be executed by hardware such as a single CPU, a plurality of CPUs, an ASIC and the like or a combination thereof. Also, the processing disclosed in the above illustrative embodiment may be implemented by a variety of aspects such as a recording medium having a program for executing the processing recorded therein, a method and the like.