JP2007065894A - Method for installing printer driver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an installation system that achieves application to carry out setting work such as installation of a printer driver by including installation of the printer driver in a print processing instruction and achieving efficient use of computer resources by including uninstallation of the printer driver. <P>SOLUTION: A computer 1 lists and displays printers, for which no printer driver is installed, among printers 2 searched on a network, acquires a printer driver for a printer 2 selected by a user, installs the printer drive, and makes the printer 2 carry out print processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printer driver installation method.

In order for a computer to perform print processing with a printer on a network, it is necessary to install a printer driver for the printer and make settings including the network. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for searching for a printer on a network, acquiring a printer driver for the printer, and installing the printer driver.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-197044

  However, in the above conventional installation method, the installation of the printer driver cannot be included in the print instruction, and thus the user needs to be aware of the installation of the printer driver as one work. For example, when a new printer is installed on the network, the user does not suddenly instruct the printer to print, but before that, the user must install the printer driver himself and perform initial printer settings. there were. Further, since the printer driver is not deleted even after the printing process is completed, a plurality of printer drivers may be accumulated, which may waste computer resources.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, an installation method that enables a user to execute image processing without being aware of installation of a printer driver, and realizes efficient use of computer resources, and One of its purposes is to provide a program.

  The present invention for solving the problems of the above-described conventional example is a print control apparatus that can be connected to a printing apparatus via a network, including a search unit that searches for a printing apparatus on the network, and a driver program for the searched printing apparatus. Determination means for determining presence / absence of installation, display means for displaying a list of printing apparatuses determined to have no driver program installed by the determination means, and a print instruction by one of the displayed printing apparatuses Accordingly, an acquisition unit that acquires the driver program of the printing apparatus and an installation unit that installs the acquired driver program in the print control apparatus, and the printing process is executed by the printing apparatus. And

  Here, the print control apparatus may further include a condition attaching unit that attaches a condition relating to the deletion of the driver program to a print processing instruction. The print control apparatus may further include a determination unit that determines whether or not the printing apparatus in which the driver program is installed can communicate.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for installing a driver program for a printing apparatus searches for a printing apparatus on a network, determines whether or not the driver program for the searched printing apparatus is installed, and the driver program installs. A list of printing apparatuses determined not to be displayed is displayed, and a driver program of the printing apparatus is acquired in accordance with a print processing instruction by one of the displayed printing apparatuses, and the acquired driver program Is installed in the printing control apparatus, and the printing process is executed by the printing apparatus.

  Furthermore, a program according to another aspect of the present invention includes a search procedure for searching for a printing device on a network in a print control device that can be connected to the printing device via a network, and whether a driver program for the searched printing device is installed. In accordance with a determination procedure for determining, a display procedure for displaying a list of printing apparatuses determined to have no driver program installed by the determination procedure, and a print processing instruction by one of the displayed printing apparatuses An acquisition procedure for acquiring a driver program for the printing apparatus, an installation procedure for installing the acquired driver program in the print control apparatus, and a procedure for executing a printing process in the printing apparatus. It is said.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the installation system according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a computer 1 as a print control apparatus and a printer 2 as a printing apparatus.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the computer 1 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a hard disk 13, a display unit 14, an operation unit 15, and an interface 16.

  Here, the control unit 11 operates in accordance with a program stored in the storage unit 12 or the hard disk 13 and is represented as a functional block diagram of FIG. For example, the printer search unit 11a searches for all printers 2 on the network, and the installation control unit 11b extracts and displays a list of all printers 2 for which no printer driver has been installed from all the searched printers 2. Further, the printer search unit 11 a acquires printer setting information including the printer model name, IP address, printer driver storage location, and printer 2 installation location of the searched printer 2. The communication determination unit 11c determines whether a printer in which a printer driver is installed in the computer 1 can communicate. In addition, there are a condition assigning unit 11d, a driver acquisition unit 11e, an installation execution unit 11f, a driver deletion execution unit 11g, and a print execution unit 11h. Specific details will be described later.

  The storage unit 12 includes a storage element such as a RAM. A program executed by the control unit 11 is read from the hard disk 13 and held. The storage unit 12 also operates as a work memory that holds information generated by the control unit 11.

  The hard disk 13 is a computer-readable storage medium that stores a program executed by the control unit 11. The display unit 14 is a display, for example, and presents information to the user in accordance with an instruction input from the control unit 11. The operation unit 15 is a keyboard or a mouse, for example, and outputs the user operation content to the control unit 11. The interface 16 is a network interface and communicates with devices on the network via the network.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the printer 2 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, an interface 23, and an image forming unit 24. The control unit 21 operates according to a program stored in the storage unit 22, receives data to be printed from the computer 1, sends the data to the image forming unit 24, and executes printing. In addition, details of specific processing by the control unit 21 will be described later.

  The storage unit 22 includes a memory element such as a nonvolatile memory or a RAM, and holds a program executed by the control unit 21. In some embodiments, printer setting information and a printer driver may be stored. The storage unit 22 also operates as a work memory that records data generated when the control unit 21 is executed.

  The interface 23 is a network interface and communicates with devices on the network via the network. The image forming unit 24 is an image forming unit used in general printer equipment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  Next, processing in the control unit 11 of the computer 1 and the control unit 21 of the printer 2 will be described with specific examples.

  As the user issues a print instruction on the computer 1, the control unit 11 displays a user interface such as a window 41 in FIG. 5 on the display unit 14. The installation control unit 11b of the control unit 11 checks whether or not a printer driver is installed in the computer 1. If the printer driver is installed, the printer name of the printer 2 corresponding to the printer driver is displayed in the window 41 in FIG. Are displayed in a list (Printer A and Printer B in FIG. 5). In addition, the control unit 11 confirms whether the printer A and the printer B can communicate with each other by the communication determination unit 11c. For example, if the printer A can communicate, “printing is possible”, and if the printer B cannot communicate, “not connected”. Or the like may be added to the printer name and displayed (Printer A and Printer B in FIG. 5). Further, the control unit 11 adds “Printer Search” to the list in the display field 42 and displays it.

  When the user moves the cursor 43 with the operation unit 15 and selects Printer A, the print execution unit 11h instructs printing, and the control unit 21 of the Printer A receives the instruction and executes print processing.

  When the user selects Printer B, the control unit 11 asks the user for consent to delete the Printer B printer driver, and the driver deletion execution unit 11 g executes the deletion of the Printer B printer driver after the user consent. Or, if consent is not obtained, the process is terminated without deleting.

  When the user selects “Printer Search”, the printer search unit 11a searches all printers 2 on the network and acquires printer setting information of the searched printers 2 (printer search process). Here, the printer setting information may be stored in the storage unit 22 of the printer 2 or may be stored in a server on the network.

  The printer search process will be specifically described. In the printer search process, the printer search unit 11a transmits a message for inquiring the printer model name to the printer 2 on the network, and the control unit 21 of each printer 2 that has received the message uses the printer model name as the message transmission source. Reply to a certain computer 1. Here, when the storage unit 22 of the printer 2 holds the printer setting information, the control unit 11 not only includes the printer model name of the printer 2 but also the printer settings including the IP address, the storage location of the printer driver, and the installation location. Information may be obtained by inquiring. When the printer setting information of each printer 2 is held in the server on the network as shown in FIG. 10, the control unit 11 acquires the printer model name from the printer 2 and sets the printer setting corresponding to the printer model name. Information may be obtained from the server.

  After the printer search process, the installation control unit 11b compares the acquired printer model name with the printer model name of the printer in which the printer driver is installed, and among the searched printers 2, the printer in which the printer driver is not installed. 2 is specified. Although the printer model names are compared here, IP addresses may be compared.

  When the printer 2 in which the printer driver is not installed (Printer 1, Printer 2, Printer 3 in FIG. 6) is specified, the installation control unit 11b displays them on the display unit 14. FIG. 6 shows an example of a list of printers 2 in which no printer driver is installed. In FIG. 6, a list of printers 2 in which no printer driver is installed is displayed in the display field 52 of the window 51. In this list display, not only the printer model name but also a part of printer setting information such as an IP address and an installation location may be added and displayed.

  The driver acquisition unit 11e receives a selection (in this case, Printer1) by the user and acquires the printer driver of Printer1 according to the storage location information of the printer driver included in the printer setting information. Run the installation. Here, the storage location of the printer driver is provided as a URL or a file path. The printer driver may be stored in the printer 1 storage unit 22 or a printer driver server on the network.

  When the installation of the printer driver is completed, the print execution unit 11h sends a print instruction on the Printer 1 to perform print processing.

  In the window 51 of FIG. 6, the condition assigning unit 11d performs, for example, a printer after executing printing such as “delete printer driver after printing”, “delete when restarting OS”, and “do not delete printer driver”. A condition selection field 53 relating to driver deletion may be further displayed. In this case, for example, when the user selects “delete printer driver after printing” using the operation unit 15, the driver deletion execution unit 11 g executes the printer driver deletion after executing printing in response to the user's selection.

  The installation system according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration and operates as shown in FIGS. That is, in a system in which a large number of printers 2 are connected, when a user tries to print data to be printed on the computer 1, the application performs an operation as shown in FIG. A window 41 is displayed for selection (window display processing).

  That is, the installation control unit 11b confirms whether the printer driver is installed in the computer (S001). If the printer driver is not installed, only the “Printer Search” is displayed in the window 41 (S11). If the printer driver is installed, the communication determination unit 11c further checks whether all the printers 2 corresponding to the printer driver can communicate (S002). If all the printers can communicate, “Printer Search” is printed. Two types of printers 2 of possible printer model names are displayed (S21). On the other hand, when at least one printer 2 cannot communicate, three types of printers 2 of “Printer Search”, a printer model name that can be printed, and a printer model name that cannot communicate are displayed (S31). This is the end of the window display process shown in FIG.

  When the user selects “Printer Search”, the operation is as shown in FIG. In other words, the printer search unit 11a receives the selection, searches for the printer 2 on the network, acquires printer setting information of the printer 2 (S101), and the installation control unit 11b receives the printer in which the printer driver is installed. The model name is compared with the printer model name of the printer setting information, the printer 2 in which the printer driver is not installed is specified (S102), and the list is displayed in the display column 52 of the window 51 (S103). When the user selects the desired printer 2 from the printers 2 displayed in the list in S103 by the operation unit 15, the driver acquisition unit 11e acquires a printer driver according to the information regarding the driver storage location included in the printer setting information of the printer 2. (S104) The installation execution unit 11f installs the printer driver (S105), and the print execution unit 11h executes printing (S106). When the condition regarding the printer driver deletion is specified in the condition selection column 53 of the window 51 (S003), the driver deletion execution unit 11g deletes the driver according to the condition (S107), and the process is terminated. If the condition is not specified, the process ends without going through S107.

  If the user selects one of the printers 2 that cannot communicate, the operation is as shown in FIG. That is, the control unit 11 displays an inquiry as to whether or not to delete the printer driver of the selected printer 2 on the display unit 14 (S004), and when the user inputs an instruction to delete from the operation unit 15, the driver The deletion execution unit 11g deletes the printer driver from the computer (S201). If the user inputs an instruction not to delete the printer driver (S004), the process ends without deleting the printer driver.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the user can select a desired printer and execute print processing without being aware of whether or not the printer driver has been installed in the computer. In other words, operations such as printer driver installation and printer setting are executed by the application, which facilitates operations performed on the user side. In addition, it is possible to temporarily install a printer driver at the time of printing execution, so that it is not necessary to install printer drivers for all printers, and computer resources can be efficiently utilized. Furthermore, the fact that a printer is excluded from the network can be detected and the printer driver of the printer can be deleted, which contributes to efficient use of computer resources.

It is a block diagram showing the example of the installation system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. And FIG. 11 is a configuration block diagram illustrating an example of a computer according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of the control part 11 of FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram illustrating an example of a printer as a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a user interface window of a printer driver. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a user interface window of a printer driver. It is a flowchart figure showing the example of the window display processing in the case of performing printing. It is a flowchart figure showing the example of the process at the time of selecting PrinterSearch. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing when a printer that cannot communicate is selected. It is a table showing an example of the holding | maintenance form of the printer setting information of each printer.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Computer, 2 Printer, 11, 21 Control part, 12, 22 Storage part, 13 Hard disk, 14 Display part, 15 Operation part, 16, 23 Interface, 24 Image formation part, 41, 51 Window, 42, 52 Display column, 43 Cursor, 53 Condition selection field.

Claims (5)

A printing control device that can be connected to a printing device via a network,
Search means for searching for printing devices on the network;
A determination means for determining whether or not the driver program of the searched printing apparatus is installed;
Display means for displaying a list of printing apparatuses determined to have no driver program installed by the determination means;
Acquiring means for acquiring a driver program of the printing apparatus in accordance with a printing instruction by one of the listed printing apparatuses;
Installation means for installing the acquired driver program in the print control apparatus;
And
A printing control apparatus that executes printing processing in the printing apparatus. The print control apparatus according to claim 1,
Condition attaching means for attaching a condition relating to the deletion of the driver program to a print processing instruction;
The printing control apparatus further comprising: The print control apparatus according to claim 2,
Determining means for determining whether the printing apparatus in which the driver program is installed can communicate;
The printing control apparatus further comprising: An installation method for installing a driver program for a printing apparatus on a printing control apparatus that can be connected to the printing apparatus via a network,
Search for printers on the network,
Determine whether the driver program for the found printing device is installed,
Display a list of printing devices that are determined not to have the driver program installed,
Acquiring a print processing instruction by one of the listed printing apparatuses, obtaining a driver program for the printing apparatus,
Install the acquired driver program on the print control device,
A method for installing a driver program, wherein printing processing is executed by the printing apparatus. To a print control device that can be connected to the printer via a network,
A search procedure for searching for printers on the network;
A determination procedure for determining whether or not the driver program of the found printing device is installed;
A display procedure for displaying a list of printing apparatuses determined to have no driver program installed by the determination procedure;
An acquisition procedure for acquiring a driver program for the printing device in accordance with an instruction for printing processing by one of the listed printing devices;
An installation procedure for installing the acquired driver program in the print control device;
A procedure for executing a printing process in the printing apparatus;
A program characterized by having executed.

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