JP2011090596A - Program installing method, portable recording medium for implementing the method, information processing apparatus, image formation system, and server apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To adapt OEM to a plurality OEM destinations only by preparing one portable storage medium for installing a program of utilizing an image forming apparatus such as a printer driver by a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: An OEM destination apparatus ID (model name) in each model of an OEM source apparatus and installation guide display data in each OEM destination are previously described in an XML file and recorded in a computer readable medium. Respective apparatus IDs are obtained from the image forming apparatus through NIC (S0), a list of OEM destination apparatus IDs included in the XML file is displayed on a display device (S1), a user selects one OEM destination apparatus ID from the list through an input device (S2), installation guide display data of the OEM destination corresponding to the selected OEM destination apparatus ID are read out from the XML file (S4), and the read data are displayed on the display device (S4). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for installing a printer driver, a utility program, and the like when there are a plurality of OEM destinations, and a portable recording medium, an information processing apparatus, an image forming system, and a server apparatus for carrying out this method.

  When a setup program such as a printer driver recorded on the CD-ROM is started, an image forming apparatus coupled to the computer is detected. For example, in the case of an OEM destination setup program, among the detected image forming apparatuses, only the image forming apparatuses with the vendor model name are displayed in a list, and when the user selects a model name from among them, the driver with the selected model name is displayed. And utility installation.

  When an image forming apparatus manufacturer (OEM source) sells an image forming apparatus via a plurality of OEM destinations, the OEM name is different from the OEM name because the company name and the model name of the image forming apparatus are different for each OEM destination. It is necessary to prepare a master CD-ROM for installation for each OEM destination.

JP 2008-052322 A

  In view of such problems, the object of the present invention is to provide only one type of portable storage medium for installing an image forming apparatus utilization program such as a printer driver with a simple configuration even when there are a plurality of OEM destinations. It is an object of the present invention to provide a program installation method capable of being created, and a portable recording medium, an information processing apparatus, an image forming system, and a server apparatus for carrying out this method.

In one aspect of the computer-readable portable recording medium according to the present invention, a program and data are recorded,
The data includes OEM destination device identification information for each OEM source device model, and installation guide display data for each OEM destination,
The program includes an installation guide program common to each model of the OEM original apparatus, an image forming apparatus program and an installer for each model of the OEM original apparatus,
The installation guide program causes the processor to (a) acquire the apparatus identification information from the image forming apparatus coupled to the communication means, and (b) identify the OEM destination apparatus included in the data among the acquired apparatus identification information. (C) display installation guide display data of the OEM destination corresponding to the device identification information selected from the list displayed through the input unit on the display unit; and (d) ) Based on the information selected via the input means, the corresponding image forming apparatus program is acquired from the outside and installed in the storage means via the corresponding installer.

  According to the configuration of the above aspect, the OEM destination device identification information for each OEM source device model and the installation guide display data for each OEM destination are recorded on the recording medium as data, and are communicated from the image forming device via the communication unit. Among the acquired device identification information, OEM destination device identification information included in the data is displayed as a list on the display means, and OEM destination installation guide display data corresponding to the one selected through the input means is displayed on the display means. Since it is displayed, even if there are a plurality of OEM destinations, it is sufficient to create only one type of portable storage medium for installation with a simple configuration, and this contributes to reducing the manufacturing cost of the portable recording medium for installation. large.

  Other objects, configurations and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

It is a schematic flowchart which shows the setup program process sequence which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the installation guide display data expressed with the XML file. It is explanatory drawing of step S1 of FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing one dialog in the printer driver installation wizard. (A) and (B) show an image forming system to which the first embodiment of the present invention is applied, and (A) shows a case where an image forming apparatus is locally coupled to a host computer via a communication medium. (B) is a system schematic diagram showing a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to a host computer via a network. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the host computer in FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an image forming system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

  FIGS. 5A and 5B show an image forming system to which the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 5A shows the host computer 10 in which the image forming apparatus 20 is locally connected via the communication medium 30. FIG. 5B illustrates a configuration in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses 20 to 22 are coupled to the host computer 10 via the network 31.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the host computer 10.

  In the host computer 10, the CPU 11 is coupled to the PROM 13, DRAM 14, hard disk drive 15, network interface 16, conversational input / output device 17, and media drive 18 via the interface 12.

  In FIG. 6, a plurality of types of interfaces are represented by one block 12 for simplification. The interface 12 also includes a media drive interface 120 for the media drive 18. The media drive interface 120 and the media drive 18 constitute data reading means.

  The PROM 13 is a flash memory, for example, and stores a BIOS. The DRAM 14 is used as a main storage device. The hard disk drive 15 stores a virtual storage system OS (operating system). The network interface 16 is coupled to the communication medium 30 or the network 31. The interactive input / output device 17 includes, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, and a display device.

  A media 19 is detachably attached to the media drive 18. The medium 19 is, for example, a CD-ROM or DVD-R, in which a setup program as an installation guide program, an installer, a printer driver and utility program installed by the installer, and data are recorded.

  This data includes the OEM destination device ID as the location identification information for each model of the OEM source device, and the installation guide display data for each OEM destination. Here, the device ID (device ID) is a set (model name) of a manufacturer or vendor name and a device model name.

  In this embodiment, the data is expressed by an XML file 190 shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, for example,
<device model = "KM-0925">
<oem vendor = "V1" model = "M10"></oem>
<oem vendor = "V2" model = "M20"></oem>
・
・
・
</ device>
Means the following: That is, the OEM original image forming apparatus having the model name KM-0925 is sold under the OEM destination vendors V1, V2,... As model names M10, M20,. The printer driver and utility program are common to these model names M10, M20,.

In FIG. 2, for example,
<oem vender = "V1">
<guide code = "00"><! [CDATA [...]]></guide>
<guide code = "01"><! [CDATA [...]]></guide>
・
・
・
</ oem>
Means the following: That is, when installing a printer driver and utility program of any model of vendor V1, CDATA of <guide code = "00"><! [CDATA [...]]></guide> as display code 00 data The data in the section is used, and the data in the CDATA section of <guide code = "01"><! [CDATA [...]]></guide> is used as the display code 01 data Yes.

  Here, the display code is common to all OEM destinations and is described in the installation guide program, and the display data corresponding to the display code exists for each OEM destination.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart showing the processing procedure of the setup program.

  In response to the operation of the interactive input / output device 17 by the user, the OS causes the CPU 11 to read the setup program in the medium 19 onto the DRAM 14 via the media drive 18 and the media drive interface 120. It starts by transferring control to the program. In the following, the step identification codes in FIG. 1 are shown in parentheses.

  (S0) A device ID is acquired from each of a plurality of image forming apparatuses coupled to the network 31. In the case of FIG. 5B, this acquisition is performed using the SNMP protocol or the SOAP protocol. The IP address of each image forming apparatus is acquired from a management server (not shown) or a directory server.

  (S1) Among the acquired device IDs, those included in the XML file 190 are displayed in a list on the display device of the interactive input / output device 17 as shown in FIG. 3, for example. If there is one OEM destination in the OEM destination country, the vendor names included in the model name of the dialog 170 are usually the same.

  (S2) The user operates the interactive input / output device 17 to select a model name. For example, the vendor logo included in the model name may be displayed as a logo 192 in FIG.

  (S3) OEM installation guide display data included in the selected model name is read from the XML file 190.

  The processing of the following steps S4 to S7 is the same as the conventional one except that this display data is used. For each of the printer driver and the utility program, the installation guide display (S4), selection (S5), and Dialog display data (installation guide display data) selection or installation processing (S7) is performed.

  In this installation guide display, the display data in step S3 is used.

  FIG. 4 shows one dialog 171 in the printer driver installation wizard, which is displayed in step S4. The display data in this dialog is display data corresponding to a certain display code. The dialog 171 includes a model name 191 and a vendor logo 192.

  If the cancel key in the dialog 171 is clicked in step S5, the process in FIG. 1 is terminated, and if the “Next” button is clicked, the process proceeds from step S6 to step S7.

  According to the first embodiment, the OEM destination device ID for each OEM source device model and the installation guide display data for each OEM destination are described in the XML file and recorded in the computer-readable medium 19. Among the device IDs acquired from the image forming apparatuses 20 to 22 via the NIC 16, the OEM destination device IDs included in the XML file are displayed in a list on the display device, and the OEM destination corresponding to the one selected via the input device from among them Since the installation guide display data is displayed on the display device, even if there are a plurality of OEM destinations, it is sufficient to create only one type of installation medium 19 with a simple configuration.

  If the language used is the same even if the OEM destination is different, the same display data other than the model name 191 and the logo 192 in FIG. 4 may be used. That is, the model name 191 and the logo 192 can be different variables for each OEM destination, and other display data can be used in common. In this case, avoid repeated description of data using references. Further, when the background image of the dialog 171 is used, the file name may be a variable different for each OEM destination. These points are the same for other dialogs.

  In the first embodiment, the case where the media 19 is loaded in the media drive 18 of the host computer 10 has been described. However, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. Store it in. The host computer 10 reads the program and data from the server 40 via the network 31 as in the case of the media 19 and the media drive 18 in the first embodiment.

  Other points are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  In the above, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, the present invention includes various modifications, and other combinations of the components described in the above-described embodiments, and functions of the components. Those using other configurations for realizing the above, and other configurations that would be conceived by those skilled in the art from these configurations or functions are also included in the present invention.

  For example, in the first exemplary embodiment, the OEM printer driver and the utility program may be installed in the same manner using the medium 19. This also applies to the second embodiment.

  Further, the installable portable recording medium may be a removable memory such as a USB memory. In this case, a media drive is not necessary as the data reading means, and a memory interface may be provided.

10 Host computer 11 CPU
12 interface 120 media drive interface 13 PROM
14 DRAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Hard disk drive 16 Network interface 17 Interactive input / output device 170,171 Dialog 18 Media interface 19 Media 190 XML file 191 Model name 192 Logo 20-22 Image forming apparatus 30 Communication medium 31 Network 40 Server

Claims (7)

A computer storing data including OEM destination device identification information for each OEM source device model and installation guide display data for each OEM destination in the storage means,
(A) obtaining the device identification information from the image forming device;
(B) The OEM unit identification information included in the data among the acquired apparatus identification information is displayed in a list on the display means,
(C) causing the display means to display the installation guide display data of the OEM destination corresponding to the device identification information displayed on the list, which is selected via the input means,
(D) Based on the information selected through the input unit, the corresponding image forming apparatus program is acquired from the outside and installed in the storage unit.
The program installation method characterized by the above-mentioned. Program and data are recorded,
The data includes OEM destination device identification information for each OEM source device model, and installation guide display data for each OEM destination,
The program includes an installation guide program common to each model of the OEM original apparatus, an image forming apparatus program and an installer for each model of the OEM original apparatus,
The installation guide program causes the processor to (a) acquire the apparatus identification information from the image forming apparatus coupled to the communication means, and (b) identify the OEM destination apparatus included in the data among the acquired apparatus identification information. (C) display OEM display installation guide display data corresponding to the device identification information selected from the list displayed through the input unit on the display unit, and (d) ) Based on the information selected via the input means, the corresponding image forming apparatus program is acquired from the outside and installed in the storage means via the corresponding installer.
A computer-readable portable recording medium characterized by the above. In an information processing apparatus comprising a processor, storage means, data reading means, input means, communication means, and display means, a program and data are recorded on a computer-readable portable recording medium,
The data includes OEM destination device identification information for each OEM source device model, and installation guide display data for each OEM destination,
The program includes an installation guide program common to each model of the OEM original apparatus, an image forming apparatus program and an installer for each model of the OEM original apparatus,
The installation guide program read from the portable recording medium into the storage means via the data reading means acquires (a) device identification information from the image forming apparatus coupled to the communication means to the processor. (B) display the OEM destination device identification information included in the data among the acquired device identification information in a list on the display means, and (c) select the device identification information displayed in the list via the input means. Display the OEM installation guide display data corresponding to the received information on the display means, and (d) based on the information selected via the input means, the corresponding image forming apparatus program and the corresponding installer Via the storage means,
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The communication means is coupled to a network in which a plurality of image forming apparatuses are coupled,
The installation guide program sends the processor to the processor in step (a):
Causing each of the plurality of image forming apparatuses to request apparatus identification information via the communication unit, thereby acquiring the apparatus identification information;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of image forming apparatus programs include a printer driver and a utility program.   6. An image forming system, wherein the information processing apparatus according to claim 3 and the image forming apparatus are coupled via a communication medium. In a server device comprising a processor, storage means for storing data and programs, and communication means,
The data includes OEM destination device identification information for each OEM source device model, and installation guide display data for each OEM destination,
The program includes an installation guide program common to each model of the OEM original apparatus, an image forming apparatus program and an installer for each model of the OEM original apparatus,
In response to a request via the communication means, the server device transmits the data, the installation guide program, and the installer to a request source,
The installation guide program causes the requesting processor to (a) acquire the apparatus identification information from the image forming apparatus coupled to the requesting communication means, and (b) the acquired apparatus identification information OEM display device identification information included in the data is displayed in a list on the request source display means, and (c) an OEM corresponding to the device identification information displayed on the list selected via the request source input means Display the previous installation guide display data on the display means, and (d) install the corresponding image forming apparatus program in the storage means via the corresponding installer based on the information selected via the input means. For,
The server apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.