JP4130201B2 - Server, printer device information setting method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for reflecting printer device information on a printer driver on a server in an environment (for example, a metaframe environment) in which an application program is introduced only on the server.

  In order to solve the problems of the conventional client / server system, there is a system in which an application program is installed only on a server and is not operated on a client. As such a method, for example, there is a method called a metaframe.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a metaframe environment. The application program is run on the metaframe server 1 shown in the figure, and the client 2 displays only the execution result of the application program running on the metaframe server 1.

  When the printer 3 is used in a metaframe environment, for example, a printer driver is installed in the metaframe server 1 in advance, and the logic of the printer 3 is logged when the client 2 using the printer 3 logs in to the metaframe server 1. The printer is automatically created (AutoCreate) using the printer driver. When printing is executed from the client 2, print data is generated by the metaframe server 1, transmitted to the printer 3 via the client 2, and printed by the printer 3.

Further, as a conventional technique for configuring a printer system in a metaframe environment, for example, there is a technique described in US Publication No. US2002 / 0018234A1. US Publication No. US2002 / 0018234A1 describes a universal printer driver that can be used in a metaframe environment.
US Publication US2002 / 0018234A1

  However, in the printer system using the metaframe environment as described above, there is a problem that the setting is not reflected on the logical printer in the metaframe server even though the option setting is made on the client side.

  In other words, the option setting in the logical printer remains in the default state, and for example, the setting value on the logical printer is “no duplex” even though there is a duplex tray. In addition, the setting of the paper size and paper type of the tray becomes unclear. Such a problem occurs for the following reason.

  In the normal configuration including the client 2 and the printer 3 as shown in FIG. 2, the option information such as the double-sided tray in the printer driver of the printer 3 in the client 2 is normally transmitted bidirectionally by the client 2 to the printer 3. By doing so, the client 2 acquires. Bidirectional communication is performed, for example, with the configuration shown in FIG. In this configuration, the network communication module 6 acquires information instructed from the bidirectional communication module 5 that is a part of the printer driver 4 from the printer 3 via a network using a protocol such as SNMP.

  However, since bidirectional communication as described above cannot be performed between the metaframe server and the printer, option information cannot be reflected on the logical printer. Therefore, the above problem occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points. In an environment in which an application program is introduced only on a server (for example, a metaframe environment), a technique for reflecting printer device information on a printer driver is provided. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for efficiently holding device information of a printer used by a server.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

The invention according to claim 1 includes a client, a printer, and a server having a printer driver for the printer and having a function of generating a logical printer corresponding to the printer in response to login from the client , The server used in the image printing system in which device information of the printer cannot be obtained by bidirectional communication by the server, and all users or clients logging in to the server are common to the same printer model Based on the storage means for storing the first device information used in the server and the second device information used only by a specific user or client, and information notified from the client when logging in from the client to the server, Which of the first device information and the second device information is used And a device information setting unit that reads the first or second device information determined by the determination unit from the storage unit and reflects the read device information on the generated logical printer. And a server characterized by comprising:

  According to the present invention, even in an environment where bi-directional communication cannot be performed between the meta-frame server and the printer, such as a meta-frame environment, and device information cannot be acquired by bi-directional communication, the device information is reflected in the printer driver. It becomes possible to make it. In particular, since a plurality of pieces of information are stored for each condition in which device information is used, the amount of device information can be reduced, and device information data can be easily managed.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the second device information is stored in the storage unit in association with user identification information or client identification information.

  According to the present invention, for example, when the user A uses a specific printer from the client B, device information adapted to these is reflected in the printer driver.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the determination unit uses the first device information when there is no second device information corresponding to the logged-in user or client. It is characterized by deciding to do.

The present invention relates to a device information creation device for creating device information of a printer to be set in a logical printer generated on the server in response to login from the client to the server, in which the driver is installed. Means for acquiring the device information, and storage means for storing the device information in the server, wherein the storage means associates the device information with information indicating a user or a client using the device information. It can also be configured as a printer device information creating apparatus characterized by storing the information .

The invention according to claim 4 includes a client, a printer, and a server having a printer driver for the printer and having a function of generating a logical printer corresponding to the printer in response to login from the client. the device information of the printer the server that is used in the can be no image printing system to get through the bidirectional communication, a printer device information setting method for setting device information of the printer to a logical printer by the The server stores, for the same printer model, first device information commonly used by all users or clients who log in to the server and second device information used only by a specific user or client. comprising means, the determining means provided in said server, said client Based on the information notified from the client to log in to the server from preparative, said first device information and the determination step and the device information provided to the server to determine whether to use the second device information A setting unit that reads out the first or second device information determined in the determining step from the storage unit and reflects the read device information in the generated logical printer; This is a printer device information setting method.

The invention according to claim 5, in the description of claim 4, Oite said determining step, said determining means, if the second device information corresponding to the user or client logged does not exist, the first The device information is determined to be used.

The present invention is a printer device information creation method for creating device information of a printer to be set in a logical printer generated on the server in response to a login from the client to the server, in which a driver is installed. An acquisition step of acquiring printer device information; and a storage step of storing the device information in the server, wherein the storage step includes information indicating a user or a client using the device information. It can also be configured as a printer device information creation method characterized by having a step of storing in association with each other.

The invention described in claim 6 includes a client, a printer, and a server having a printer driver of the printer and having a function of generating a logical printer corresponding to the printer in response to login from the client , the device information of the printer by the server to the server for use in an image printing system that can not be obtained using the two-way communication, a program for realizing the function of setting the device information of the printer to the logical printer The server includes, for the same printer model, first device information that is commonly used by all users or clients who log in to the server, and second device information that is used only by a specific user or client. Storage means for storing the server, the server as the client A determination unit that determines which of the first device information and the second device information to use based on information notified from the client at the time of logging in to the server, the first or the second determined by the determination unit; It is a program for reading second device information from the storage unit and causing it to function as device information setting unit for reflecting the read device information to the generated logical printer.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect , the determination unit uses the first device information when the second device information corresponding to the logged-in user or client does not exist. It is characterized by determining.

The present invention is a program for causing a computer to realize a function of creating device information of the printer to be set in a logical printer generated on the server in response to login from the client to the server. Is a program for functioning as a means for acquiring device information of a printer in which a driver is installed and a storage means for storing the device information in the server, and the storage means stores the device information in the device You may comprise as a program characterized by matching with the information which shows the user or client who uses information, and preserve | saving.

The invention according to claim 8 is a computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 6 or 7 is recorded.

  According to the present invention, even in an environment where bi-directional communication cannot be performed between the meta-frame server and the printer, such as a meta-frame environment, and device information cannot be acquired by bi-directional communication, the device information is reflected in the printer driver. It becomes possible to make it. In particular, since a plurality of pieces of information are stored for each condition in which device information is used, the amount of device information can be reduced, and device information data can be easily managed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

(Configuration overview)
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a network configuration in the embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, in a network environment as shown in FIG. 4, device information such as tray information of each printer that cannot be obtained from a metaframe server by bidirectional communication (hereinafter, device information such as tray information is referred to as configuration data). (This may also be called pseudo two-way communication data) from any client terminal or metaframe server using the configuration data acquisition tool, and the data is installed (saved) in the metaframe server .

  By accessing this data in the metaframe server, the printer driver can acquire the device information and reflect it in the option settings of the logical printer that is automatically created.

  In a network configuration having a plurality of clients and printers as shown in FIG. 4, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, configuration data is stored in the metaframe server for each client and each printer model (printer driver). By doing so, it is possible to reduce the amount of data to be stored and to reduce the load of data management work as compared with the case of storing data in units of logical printers that are automatically created. This configuration will be described in detail later.

  FIG. 5 shows a module configuration of software according to the present invention in the metaframe server (a diagram in a solid line). For comparison, the configuration in the prior art is shown within a dotted line.

  As shown in the figure, in the present invention, the normally used network communication module 6 is not used, but the pseudo network communication module 7 is used. As a result, the printer driver 4 acquires device information from the pseudo bidirectional communication data 8 (configuration data) stored in advance via the pseudo network communication module 7.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration for determining which file to select from among a plurality of configuration data files.

  As described above, in the present invention, configuration data can be stored in the metaframe server in units such as for each user, for each connected client, for each printer model, for each icon name, and the like. is there. Information on which data file to use among the stored data files is stored in the related information files 9 and 10.

  In such a configuration, the pseudo network communication module 7 first refers to the related information file based on the request received via the bidirectional module, and acquires information on which file is used (step 1). Based on the information, an appropriate configuration data file is accessed to acquire device information (step 2), and the acquired device information is returned to the bidirectional module 5 (step 3).

  In the example shown in FIG. 6, a related information file is provided for each user and one that is commonly used by all users. This is because some users may not be able to access the directory on the metaframe server side, and some users may want to prevent setting values from being accessed by others. In order to ensure access, the related information file is divided into a user unit and a case common to all users.

(Process flow)
Next, the flow of processing in the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7A is a diagram for explaining acquisition of configuration data. As shown in the figure, a client that is running a configuration data acquisition tool acquires configuration data.

  In this case, for example, by selecting a printer driver installed in the client on the screen as shown in FIG. 8 on the client side, a printer from which device information is acquired is designated. Then, the client acquires data from the designated printer and saves the acquired data. The mechanism for acquiring configuration data by the configuration data acquisition tool is the same as that for acquiring printer information using a printer driver (bidirectional communication module) and a network communication module as shown in FIG. is there.

  Note that the entity that acquires configuration data using the configuration data acquisition tool may be a PC or a server, as long as a printer driver for the target printer is installed, regardless of the type of computer. In addition, each client may obtain configuration data for printers connected to its own network, or a specific client or metaframe server may obtain configuration data for all target printers at once. You may make it do.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, configuration data and a pseudo network communication module are installed in the metaframe server. For example, the installation is performed by copying the configuration data and the pseudo network communication module to a predetermined folder. The pseudo network communication module may be installed in advance.

  The flow of processing for reflecting device information (option information) in the printer driver using the configuration of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  This processing may be performed when a logical printer is automatically created in a metaframe environment, or may be performed when a client-side user opens a printer driver property screen after creating a logical printer. May be.

  In FIG. 9, first, the printer driver outputs an option information acquisition request to the bidirectional communication module 5. The option information acquisition request is information including an instruction on which device information to acquire, such as tray information (step 11). Next, the bidirectional communication module 5 checks whether or not the pseudo network communication module 7 exists (step 12).

  If the pseudo network communication module 7 does not exist (No in step 13), the bidirectional module 5 is notified that the process has failed (step 14), and the process is terminated. If the pseudo network communication module 7 exists (Yes in step 13), the pseudo network communication module 7 is called, and information suitable for the option information acquisition request is stored from the pre-stored pseudo bidirectional communication data file 8. Obtain (step 15) and output the read data to the bidirectional module 5 (step 16). The data is reflected in the printer driver settings (step 17).

(Details of configuration data file selection processing)
In step 15 described above, an appropriate configuration data file is selected from a plurality of configuration data files, and device information is acquired from the selected configuration data file, and details thereof are shown in FIG. Note that the process shown in FIG. 10 is based on the assumption that a related information file is stored for each user.

  In FIG. 10, first, necessary information (client name, printer model name, etc.) including a user name is acquired in the pseudo network communication module 7 based on information from the bidirectional communication module (step 151). Based on the acquired user name, the related information file for the user is searched (step 152). A configuration data file that matches the information acquired in step 151 is searched from the related information file to be searched (step 153). If no matching configuration data file is found (No in step 154), the process ends. If a matching configuration data file is found (Yes in step 154), device information included in the configuration data file Is acquired (step 155).

(Detailed configuration of pseudo network communication module and related information file)
Next, the configuration of the pseudo network communication module and the configuration of the related information file will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 11A is a diagram showing a configuration of a network communication module that has been conventionally used, and FIG. 11B is a diagram showing a configuration of a pseudo network communication module according to the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 11A, a conventional network communication module mainly includes an API (application program interface) 61 that interfaces with an application program that specifies information to be acquired, information specified by an application, and a printer. It has a conversion unit 62 that performs conversion with MIB information, an MIB acquisition / analysis unit 63 that acquires and analyzes MIB in the printer, and a protocol implementation unit 64 (such as SNMP). With such a configuration, it is possible to acquire printer device information composed of MIB information by bidirectional communication.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11B, the pseudo network communication module according to the present invention determines which information in the configuration data file from the API 71 having an interface with the conventional network communication module and the information specified by the API. It has a file search / information acquisition unit 72 for determining whether to acquire, searching the file, and acquiring the information, and a file access unit 73 for performing processing for actually accessing the file. . Further, the file search / information acquisition unit 72 searches the related information file corresponding to the user based on the user name acquired from the bidirectional communication module, and accesses which configuration data file from the related information file. It has a function to determine whether.

  In the configuration of FIG. 11B, the API 71 and the API 61 have the same interface with the bidirectional communication module, so that the pseudo network communication module and the network communication module have the same configuration when viewed from the bidirectional communication module. Looks like. Therefore, in the present invention, the conventional printer driver can be used as it is.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of the related information file. In this embodiment, since a related information file is created for each user, cases (1) and (2) and cases (3) to (5) in the figure are stored in separate related information files. It is also possible to use a related information file having contents as shown in FIG.

  In the example shown in FIG. 12, the storage location of the configuration data file can be managed for each user, for each connected client terminal, for each printer driver (printer model), and for each icon name. The pseudo network communication module compares the user identification information acquired from the bidirectional communication module, the connected client terminal identification information, the printer driver (printer model) identification information, the icon identification information, and the information in the related information file. The matching configuration data file will be accessed. The user name can be identified by, for example, a login ID, the client terminal can be identified by, for example, an IP address, and the printer driver name and icon name are transmitted to the server side when the user selects a printer. It can be recognized on the server side.

  In FIG. 12, * (wild card) means that the data item may have any value, but if another specific value is set, the specific value is set. If it matches the value, it takes precedence. For example, in the case of the User item, when the actual data is User A, the cases (1) and (2) are given priority regarding the User item.

  In FIG. 12, when User A prints using Client: C printer and printer icon name: Printer 1 from Client B, it corresponds to Case (2), so the pseudo network communication module is C: \ Data \ C printer-1. Access dat to obtain device information from this file.

  Also, Case (2) does not apply when User A prints from Client B using Driver: A printer and printer icon name: Printer1. However, since Case (1) is applicable, C: \ Data \ A printer. Use dat.

  Furthermore, when User A prints from Client B using a Driver: B printer, Case (5) applies, so C: ¥ Data ¥ B printer-1. Use dat.

  Since each data file depends on the printer model, the driver name (model name) is essential information. For example, data for the A printer cannot be used by the B printer. For other items, it is possible to use wild cards as in the above example.

(Relationship between pseudo network communication module and configuration data acquisition method)
Next, the relationship between the pseudo network communication module and the configuration data acquisition method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  As described above, acquisition of configuration data is performed using a conventional software configuration for bidirectional communication. That is, as shown in the configuration on the client side in FIG. 13, configuration data is acquired by SNMP via the API in the network communication module 6. Since configuration data is acquired using a conventional API, configuration data can be acquired in API units. Then, a data file in which configuration data is recorded in API units is stored in the metaframe server as a configuration data file.

  In the configuration data acquisition, the configuration data acquisition tool calls all APIs for acquiring device information (step 21), and stores the device information (parameters) acquired from the printer via the API as it is (in API units). (Step 22). Such processing is performed for each printer, for example, and configuration data is acquired.

  By storing the configuration data in such a format, the pseudo network communication module 7 using the same API as that of the conventional API allows the API unit information (parameter) requested from the bidirectional module to be received as the configuration data. It can be read from the file and returned to the bidirectional module (step 23).

  Note that, regarding a plurality of configuration data files acquired from each printer, which configuration data file is stored in which location (folder) of the metaframe server is determined so as to be consistent with the related information file.

(Embodiment for acquiring configuration data in a batch)
As shown in FIG. 14, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which configuration data is acquired from a single client or server in a batch. In the configuration of FIG. 14, first, the configuration data of the printer searched or addressed by the batch configuration data acquisition tool is acquired in a batch (step 31). Then, each configuration data is stored in an appropriate location (folder) in the metaframe server with matching with the related information file (step 32). Then, the pseudo network communication module 7 accesses appropriate configuration data by the method described so far, and returns the stored device information to the bidirectional communication module (step 33).

  The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to those described above, and it goes without saying that various applications can be considered within the scope of the claims.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a logical printer is automatically created on a server in a centralized system configuration (for example, a metaframe environment) in which an application program is installed on a server instead of a client, or automatically After creation, the printer option information such as tray information and duplex unit information is reflected in the printer driver, and options can be set. In particular, in an environment in which a plurality of devices as shown in FIG. 4 are connected, having configuration data for each logical printer that is automatically created increases the amount of data and increases the burden of management work. By using the related information file as shown in FIG. 12, it is necessary to store only necessary configuration data, so that the data amount and management cost can be reduced.

It is a figure which shows an example of a meta-frame environment. 2 is a diagram illustrating a normal configuration including a client 2 and a printer 3. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the bidirectional | two-way communication in a prior art. It is a figure which shows the structure of the network in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure (figure in a solid line) which shows the module structure of the software of this invention in the meta-frame server. It is a figure which shows the structure for determining which file should be selected among several configuration data files. It is a figure for demonstrating acquisition and utilization of configuration data. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen display of a configuration data acquisition tool. 6 is a flowchart of processing for reflecting device information on a printer driver. It is a figure which shows the process of step 15 in FIG. 9 in detail. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of a pseudo network communication module. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of a related information file It is a figure for demonstrating the relationship between a pseudo network communication module and a configuration data acquisition method. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure which acquires configuration data collectively.

Explanation of symbols

1 Metaframe Server 2 Client 3 Printer 4 Printer Driver 5 Bidirectional Communication Module 6 Network Communication Module 7 Pseudo Network Communication Module 8 Data for Pseudo Bidirectional Communication (Configuration Data)
9, 10 Related information files

Claims (8)

A client, a printer, and a server having a printer driver for the printer and having a function of generating a logical printer corresponding to the printer in response to a login from the client. The server used in an image printing system that cannot be acquired using two-way communication ,
Storage means for storing, for the same printer model, first device information shared by all users or clients who log in to the server and second device information used only by a specific user or client;
Determining means for deciding whether to use the first device information or the second device information based on information notified from the client when logging in to the server from the client;
And a device information setting unit that reads the first or second device information determined by the determination unit from the storage unit and reflects the read device information on the generated logical printer. Server.   The server according to claim 1, wherein the second device information is stored in the storage unit in association with user identification information or client identification information.   The server according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines to use the first device information when there is no second device information corresponding to the logged-in user or client. A client, a printer, and a server having a printer driver for the printer and having a function of generating a logical printer corresponding to the printer in response to a login from the client. the server used in an image printing system that can not be obtained using the direction communication, a printer device information setting method for setting device information of the printer to the logical printer,
The server stores, for the same printer model, first device information shared by all users or clients who log in to the server and second device information used only by a specific user or client. A storage means,
The determination means provided in the server determines whether to use the first device information or the second device information based on information notified from the client when the client logs in to the server. Steps,
The device information setting unit provided in the server reads the first or second device information determined in the determining step from the storage unit, and reflects the read device information on the generated logical printer. A printer device information setting method comprising: a reflecting step. Oite said determining step, said determining means, if the second device information corresponding to the user or client logged does not exist, the claims and determines to use the first device information 4. The printer device information setting method according to 4. A client, a printer, and a server having a printer driver for the printer and having a function of generating a logical printer corresponding to the printer in response to a login from the client. the server used in an image printing system that can not be obtained using the counter communication, a program for realizing the function of setting the device information of the printer to the logical printer,
The server stores, for the same printer model, first device information shared by all users or clients who log in to the server and second device information used only by a specific user or client. A storage means,
The server,
Determining means for deciding whether to use the first device information or the second device information based on information notified from the client when logging in to the server from the client;
A device information setting unit that reads the first or second device information determined by the determination unit from the storage unit and reflects the read device information on the generated logical printer;
Program to function as. 7. The program according to claim 6 , wherein the determination unit determines to use the first device information when there is no second device information corresponding to the logged-in user or client. A computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 6 or 7 is recorded.

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