JP4458884B2 - Device configuration information acquisition method and information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for acquiring information from a device to be managed by a computer, and is particularly suitable for device management software such as device management utility software and printer driver.

  Currently, printers, facsimiles (FAX), scanners, multifunction peripheral devices (MFPs), and the like are widely used as devices that can be used from a personal computer (PC). The PC is installed with software such as a driver for using these devices, a port monitor, and device management utility software for managing the devices. Such software often has a function of communicating with a device to be managed and acquiring device configuration information, option information, job information, user information, status information, and the like.

  For example, in a printer driver, there is a printer driver that acquires an optional configuration of a printer device via a network device management system of the system and reflects it in a driver user interface (driver UI) (for example, Patent Document 1).

However, such a printer driver is realized by a dedicated printer driver provided by a printer manufacturer, that is, a so-called monolithic driver. Therefore, conventionally, in the universal driver installed in the Windows (registered trademark) OS of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, there is no function for acquiring the optional configuration of the printer device and reflecting it in the driver UI.
JP 2004-21400 A

  And in the next Windows version of the code name called Longhorn, MS has a function that automatically configures a printer device by a universal driver (also called a common device driver) installed in the OS through communication between the driver UI and the device. This will be announced at the 2004 Japan Print Driver Seminar. This automatic configuration function uses a new device-dependent information file that expands the device-dependent information file called GPD (Generic Printer Description: Generic printer description syntax definition). It seems to be realized by defining a schema (summary).

Further, a Bidi interface (abbreviation of Bi-directional interface) is supported from a version of Microsoft (hereinafter referred to as MS) Windows (registered trademark) XP or later. The Bidi interface is an interface in the Windows spooler, and is an interface for bidirectionally passing information acquired from the port monitor to an OS (operation system) or a common device driver that is a higher-level module.
By using these specifications, the universal driver (common device driver) uses the interface (Bidi interface) published by the network device management system to acquire the device option installation status from the printer device itself, and acquire it. It is expected that the device configuration information of the universal driver can be updated according to the result.

  Here, SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is generally used as a protocol for the PC to acquire information from the device, but a protocol uniquely defined by the device vendor may be used. When information is acquired by SNMP, MIB (Management Information Base) information mounted on the printer can be acquired.

  In the above automatic configuration function, the function information acquired from the device to the function expressed on the driver UI by generating the device configuration information by acquiring the function information of the device by communication between the driver UI and the device A driver UI is constructed by mapping. When the above function is realized using SNMP for communication between the PC and the device, if one MIB information and one function of the UI of the printer driver are associated with each other, the printer driver can query / response in the device dependent information. The printer configuration information can be easily reflected in the UI by referring to the business schema. That is, when each device supports the automatic configuration function, a query / response schema should be described in the device-dependent information.

  In general, printer manufacturers have a wide variety of printers to meet a wide range of customers. Different models require different printer drivers, which increases management man-hours. Therefore, in the printer driver, a driver common unit that does not depend on the model is provided, and the model-dependent function is referred to the model-dependent information to reduce the management man-hours. In particular, in the driver UI, if a model-dependent interface is constructed with reference to model-dependent information based on a non-model-dependent interface, the development cost can be reduced. In this case, the configuration state of the printer is acquired from the model-dependent information and the MIB, and the driver UI is constructed based on the acquired content.

  However, depending on the definition of the MIB data, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, there is a configuration in which a plurality of values are acquired as a list by one inquiry. In order to map the model-dependent information of the printer driver and the list information acquired by the MIB to the function of the driver UI, it is necessary to extract a part of the list information (necessary items). In addition, the number of values included in this list may vary depending on the option mounting state even with MIB data having the same definition. For example, in the list of FIG. 7, when FaxBoard is not installed, the index numbers after Finisher A2 are incremented one by one. Therefore, it cannot be determined at which position in the list array the value to be mapped is included. Further, when mapping the extracted data to one option of a driver function having a plurality of options, it is necessary to inform the inquired printer driver which value corresponds to which option from the device.

  In order to solve these cases, in addition to the above-mentioned model-dependent information, it is possible to cope by acquiring device configuration information by processing unique to each vendor using a communication protocol such as SNMP. There is a problem that management man-hours increase because the number of dependent implementations increases.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can automatically acquire configuration information based on information described in model-dependent information from information whose values are defined as a list. The purpose is to do.

  In addition, the present invention automatically maps information whose value is defined as a list to the function of a printer driver having a function having a plurality of options, based on information described in the model-dependent information. The object is to enable acquisition of configuration information.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for acquiring device configuration information according to the present invention includes:
A method for acquiring device configuration information by an information processing apparatus incorporating a device driver that controls devices that are communicably connected,
A specifying step of specifying a keyword for acquiring state information indicating a mounting state of the mountable configuration with reference to a description file storing a description related to the configuration that can be mounted on the device;
Status information indicating a configuration in which the acquisition unit acquires access information to the device based on the keyword specified in the specifying step, accesses the device using the access information, and is attached to the device An acquisition process for acquiring
When the state information acquired in the acquisition step includes information on a plurality of configurations, and the description includes a plurality of options related to the keyword, the plurality of state information acquired in the acquisition step includes An extraction step of extracting a configuration corresponding to each of the plurality of options from the configuration of
And an update unit that updates device configuration information of the device based on the configuration extracted in the extraction step.

An information processing apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
An information processing apparatus incorporating a device driver that controls devices connected to be communicable,
A specifying means for specifying a keyword for acquiring state information indicating a mounting state of the mountable configuration with reference to a description file storing a description of the configuration mountable on the device;
Obtaining access information to the device based on the keyword specified by the specifying means, accessing the device using the access information, and acquiring status information indicating a configuration attached to the device Means,
When the status information acquired by the acquisition unit includes information on a plurality of configurations, and the description includes a plurality of options related to the keyword, from among a plurality of configurations included in the status information acquired by the acquisition unit an extraction means for extracting information of a configuration corresponding to each of the plurality of options,
Updating means for updating device configuration information of the device based on the configuration information extracted by the extraction means.

  According to the present invention, configuration information is automatically acquired from information (for example, MIB information) whose values are defined as a list, based on information described in model-dependent information (description about a mountable configuration). It becomes possible to do.

  In addition, according to the present invention, even when information whose value is defined as a list is mapped to a function of a printer driver having a function having a plurality of choices, it is automatically performed based on information described in model-dependent information. Therefore, it is possible to acquire configuration information.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network in the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, client PCs 101, 102, 103 and a printer 104 are connected via a network 105 so that they can communicate with each other. In the present embodiment, a LAN (Local Area Network) is assumed as the network 105.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the client PC 101. The configuration of the client PCs 102 and 103 is the same. The client PC 101 includes a CPU 201, ROM 202, external memory 203, keyboard 204, communication unit 205, RAM 206, hard disk (HD) 207, display 208, and system bus 209.

  The CPU 201 is a central processing unit that comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 209. The CPU 201 executes application programs, printer management utility software, printer drivers, port monitors, OSs, network printer control programs, communication programs, and the like stored in the HD 207, and stores information and files necessary for executing the programs in the RAM 206. Control to store temporarily. The ROM 202 stores programs such as basic I / O programs. The external memory 203 includes a flexible disk (FD), a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD, an HD, a flash memory, a nonvolatile memory card, a magnetic tape, and the like. Can be loaded into the computer system.

  The keyboard 204 instructs the user to input to the client PC, and the display 208 performs input from the keyboard 204 and display of a graphic user interface (GUI) of the application program. The printer driver has a GUI for setting printing conditions and the like. As a result, for example, when printing using the printer 104, the user can open a window related to print settings and set the print processing method for the printer driver, including printer settings and print mode selection. ing. The communication unit 205 includes a NIC and communicates with other client PCs 102 and 103 and the printer 104 via the network 105.

  The printer 104 has a network management protocol SNMP and a database MIB. The client PC 101 can acquire various information by accessing the MIB of the printer 104 by communicating with the printer 104 via SNMP. As shown in FIG. 3, a printer information acquisition service (resident program) 304 for acquiring information from the printer 104 and a printer driver 300 for controlling the printer 104 are installed in the client PC 101. The printer driver 300 accesses the MIB 306 of the printer 104 using the printer information acquisition service 304 and acquires information related to the configuration of the printer 104.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration for acquiring printer configuration information by the printer driver. The printer driver 300 is controlled by the driver common unit 301 that does not depend on the printer model, the model-dependent information file 303 that stores the model-dependent information of the printer, and the driver common unit 301, and realizes printer model-dependent processing. A model-dependent module 302 is included.

For example, the driver common unit 301 displays a user interface (UI) 400 as illustrated in FIG. 4A on the display 208. When displaying the UI 400, the driver common unit 301 analyzes the contents of the model-dependent information file 303 and reads the data into the RAM 206. When the “device setting 1” tab is selected on the UI 400, a device setting screen 401 is displayed. Here, the device name 402 and the external view 403 of the printer are obtained by analyzing the model-dependent information file 303 .

When the configuration information acquisition button 405 is clicked on the UI 400 as shown in FIG. 4A, the UI 420 shown in FIG. 4B is displayed. That is, the driver common unit 301 refers to the model-dependent information read into the RAM 206 and displays a UI as shown in FIG. 4B on the display monitor 208 on the client PC 101. A UI 420 shown in FIG. 4B is a display example when the driver common unit 301 reads a model-dependent information file including configuration information as shown in FIG.

  Here, the configuration information shown in FIG. * Feature in FIG. 6A indicates the UI control of the function. In the example 601 in FIG. 6A, the “OutputOptions” control corresponds to the control 421 in the UI 420 in FIG. 4B. Reference numeral 603 denotes a “PaperDeck” control, which corresponds to the control 422 in the UI 420 in FIG. 4B. Each * Option described in * Feature defines the option of the * Feature, and constitutes a UI control element associated with * Feature. This * Option is mutually exclusive, and * Feature always has any one * Option as a setting. * Name indicates a character string displayed on the UI. In the model-dependent information file 303, printer configuration information as shown in FIG. 6B can be described. When the configuration information is described, controls corresponding to the printer configuration information are displayed on the UI. Will be. Other descriptions shown in FIG. 6 will be described later.

  The driver common unit 301 can acquire configuration information from a printer associated with the printer driver 300 by acquiring the printer information acquisition interface 304a disclosed from the printer information acquisition service 304 shown in FIG. Assume that the printer information acquisition service 304 is provided in the operating system (OS). When acquiring printer configuration information using the printer information acquisition interface 304a, a keyword associated with the printer MIB described in the conversion information file 305 in XML format stored in a specific folder of the OS is designated. . The conversion information file includes common conversion information regardless of the vendor and non-common conversion information depending on the vendor. The common conversion information is provided from the OS, and the non-common part is provided from the vendor. To.

The driver common unit 301 makes an inquiry about the printer configuration information to the printer information acquisition service 304 by using the QueryKeyword described in the configuration information (FIG. 6A) of the model-dependent information file 303 described above. When a printer driver 300 (driver common unit 301) receives a configuration information acquisition query from the printer driver 300 (driver common unit 301) via the interface 304a, the printer information acquisition service 304 refers to the conversion information file 305 specified by QueryKeyword, and the associated printer MIB. The printer 306 inquires about the status and returns the acquired result to the printer driver 300. The printer driver 300 that has acquired the result changes the configuration information according to the result and reflects it in the UI.

Next, automatic configuration information acquisition processing of the printer driver 300 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, a case where the printer driver 300 having the model-dependent file 303 including the configuration information illustrated in FIG. 6A acquires the configuration information of the printer 104 will be described as an example. As shown in FIG. 4B, in the initial state of the flow chart, the Output Options, it is assumed that "Not Installed" is set.

  When a change occurs in the configuration of the printer 104 due to attachment / detachment of an option in the printer 104, an event is notified from the printer information acquisition service 304 to the printer driver 300. As a configuration change detection method in the printer 104, the printer 104 may notify the printer information acquisition service 304 of the occurrence of the configuration change, or the printer information acquisition service 304 may notify the printer at a predetermined time interval. The configuration may be inquired of 104, and a change in the configuration may be detected. In FIG. 5, the configuration information acquisition process is started by using the event notification as a trigger. However, the start timing of the configuration information acquisition process is not limited to the event notification, and the configuration information acquisition is performed when the printer driver 300 is installed or started. The configuration information acquisition process is executed when the button 405 is clicked.

  In step S501, when the driver common unit 301 receives an event notification from the printer information acquisition service 304, the driver common unit 301 proceeds to step S502, and acquires the printer information acquisition interface 304a from the printer information acquisition service 304. In step S <b> 503, the driver common unit 301 refers to the model-dependent information file 303 and acquires model-dependent information. In the model-dependent information acquired here, information for acquiring configuration information of each function as shown in FIG. 6A is described.

  In FIG. 6A, in the * ConfigQuery entry in the * Feature entry defined for each function, the driver common unit 301 uses the printer information acquisition interface 304a (printer configuration information acquisition service 304) to configure the configuration information of the printer 104. The information for acquiring is described. * QueryKeyword in the * ConfigQuery entry is an entry that specifies a keyword corresponding to the configuration information to be acquired. For example, when inquiring about a configuration related to OutputOptions using the printer information acquisition interface 304a from the printer driver 300, this keyword (Finishing.OutputOptions) is specified. The conversion information file 305 in the XML format held by the printer information acquisition service 304 describes the correspondence between the keyword and the printer MIB. Therefore, when an inquiry by the keyword is received from the printer driver, the printer information acquisition service 304 can acquire the status of the printer MIB mapped to the designated keyword. Note that * PickupOption is an entry for describing in the LIST the Option name to be inquired about whether or not it is attached. The * Value entry in the * Option entry is used to evaluate the value returned from the printer information acquisition service 304 when inquiring about the installation of each Option.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 5, the driver common unit 301 acquires the model-dependent information as described above, and then proceeds to step S504 to describe * QueryKeyword for the printer configuration information acquisition interface 304a acquired in step S502. Specify the specified keyword and execute the configuration information query.

  The configuration information acquisition process executed by the printer information acquisition service 304 that has received an inquiry about the configuration information from the driver common unit 301 will be described below with reference to the example of the conversion information file in FIG. 8 and the flowchart in FIG.

  Upon receiving the inquiry in step S504, the printer information acquisition service 304 acquires the object ID (oid) of the printer MIB mapped to the specified keyword, and uses the acquired oid to configure the configuration information from the printer 104 using the SNMP protocol. To get. That is, a description location corresponding to the keyword described in QueryKeyword is searched from the conversion information file 305 (step S601). Then, MIB information is acquired from the printer 104 with the oid specified in the retrieved description part (step S602).

FIG. 8 shows an example of the conversion information file 305 in the XML format that is referred to by the printer information acquisition service 304. The location of the conversion information shown in FIG. 8 is specified by the keyword “Finishing.OutputOptions” specified in step S504, and the oid (= 1.3.6.1...) Of the printer MIB is associated with “Finishing.OutputOptions”. . Here, it is assumed that an option unit management table as shown in FIG. 7 is mounted on the printer 104 as MIB data corresponding to “Finishing.OutputOptions”. The option unit management table is a list including a plurality of items such as FaxBoard and PaperFoldingUnit in addition to items related to “Finishing.OutputOptions”. When a specific name is extracted from a plurality of items in this option unit management table and a finisher name is acquired, “true” is specified in the pickup attribute as described in FIG. 8 and <OutputOptions> The character string to be picked up is described as PickupValue in the tag.

  If such a designation exists in the conversion information file, the printer information acquisition service 304 acquires MIB information (table shown in FIG. 7 in this example) specified by oid from the printer, and each item of the acquired table and PickupValue Are compared (steps S603 and S604). If there is a match in the option unit management table of FIG. 7 as a result of the comparison, the character string is returned to the driver common unit 301 as the inquiry source (steps S605 and S608). In this example, “Finisher-A2” of PickupValue shown in FIG. 8 matches “Finisher-A2” in Index2 in the option unit management table of FIG. Therefore, the matched character string “Finisher-A2” is returned to the driver common unit 301. If there is no matching character string, “FALSE” is returned to the driver common unit 301 (steps S605 and S606).

  If “true” is not specified in the pickup attribute, the process advances from step S603 to step S607, and the MIB information acquired in step S602 is assumed to be information related to only the requested function, and the driver common unit 301 is used as it is. Return to. Further, information on other items in the list shown in FIG. 7 is acquired when a search is performed in accordance with information on the function corresponding to each item. For example, when information acquisition is executed with reference to 602 in FIG. 6A, the StapleUnit in FIG. 7 is extracted and notified to the driver common unit 301.

  Returning to FIG. 5, as described above, when the driver common unit 301 acquires the result from the printer information acquisition service 304 in step S505, the acquired value is listed in * PickupOption in the model-dependent information in step S506. Compares and evaluates the contents of * Value associated with the Option. If there is a matched option, the driver management unit updates the configuration information (step S507). Here, since “Finisher-A2” is returned from the printer information acquisition service 304, as shown in FIG. 6B, the state of * Feature: OutputOption in the configuration information is set to Finisher-A2. On the other hand, if “FALSE” is returned from the printer information acquisition service 304 or if there is no matching character string in the model-dependent information, the value for which FALSE is specified is set in * Value. In the example of FIG. 6A, the NotInstalled option is set. In addition, if there is no option for which FALSE is specified for * Value, the default option described in * DefaultOption is set.

  Next, in step S508, it is determined whether or not the above processing has been completed for all the configuration information in the model-dependent information. If the processing has been completed for all the configuration information, this processing is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S508 that there is unprocessed configuration information, the process returns to step S503 and the above process is repeated.

  As a result of this series of automatic configuration information acquisition processing, the UI of the printer driver changes from the state of FIG. 4B to the state shown in FIG. 9, and the current printer configuration information is reflected in the printer driver UI ( In FIG. 9, 421 in FIG. 4B is Finisher-A2.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the driver common unit 301 can obtain from the device configuration information acquired as a list only by describing information on options to be picked up from the list in the model-dependent information file 303. Arbitrary information can be identified and acquired. That is, even when the configuration information is acquired as a list, automatic update of the configuration information of the printer driver can be realized while maintaining the commonality of the drivers. In the conversion information shown in FIG. 8, the number of PickupValues corresponds to the number of configuration options. For example, if there is only one option, only one PickupValue is described. For items for which only information related to the configuration to be acquired is obtained as a result of accessing the MIB, the pickup value in the conversion information shown in FIG. 8 is set to “false”.

<Other embodiments>
In the above embodiment, a printer is assumed as a device. However, the other devices are the same in all devices such as a FAX, a copier, a multifunction peripheral, and a router, and are not limited thereto.

  The device management system of the above embodiment assumes one service (resident process) and a plurality of clients (printer driver, printer management application), but the device management system is realized by a plurality of processes. Alternatively, it may be realized by a single process. Similarly, the device management system may be composed of a plurality of terminals (PC) or may be composed of a single terminal. In this embodiment, SNMP is assumed as a protocol for acquiring information from a printer, but the same applies to all connection forms and communication protocols, and the present invention is not limited to this.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the information acquisition service 304 acquires the MIB information of the printer, and when the acquired MIB information is a list including a plurality of configuration information, the configuration information corresponding to QueryKeyword is extracted from the list and extracted. The configuration information is notified to the driver common unit 301. However, the driver common unit 301 receives the configuration information from the information acquisition service 304 in the form of a list, and the required configuration is obtained by comparing * Value shown in FIG. 6A and information (character string) in the list. Information may be extracted.

  An object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus stores the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It is the schematic of the network structure in this embodiment. It is a block diagram showing the structure of the client PC in this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a relationship between a printer driver, a printer configuration information acquisition service, and a printer in the present embodiment. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UI by a printer driver according to the present embodiment. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a driver UI before acquisition of configuration information of a printer driver in the present embodiment. FIG. It is a flowchart showing the operation | movement of automatic configuration information acquisition in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of the model dependence information file in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the finisher option table which can be acquired from the printer in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of the XML file for acquiring the finisher option information in this embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a driver UI after acquisition of configuration information of a printer driver in the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating configuration information acquisition processing by a printer information acquisition service.

Claims (10)

A method for acquiring device configuration information by an information processing apparatus incorporating a device driver that controls devices that are communicably connected,
A specifying step of specifying a keyword for acquiring state information indicating a mounting state of the mountable configuration with reference to a description file storing a description related to the configuration that can be mounted on the device;
Status information indicating a configuration in which the acquisition unit acquires access information to the device based on the keyword specified in the specifying step, accesses the device using the access information, and is attached to the device An acquisition process for acquiring
When the state information acquired in the acquisition step includes information on a plurality of configurations, and the description includes a plurality of options related to the keyword, the plurality of state information acquired in the acquisition step includes An extraction step of extracting a configuration corresponding to each of the plurality of options from the configuration of
An update means comprising: an update step of updating device configuration information of the device based on the configuration extracted in the extraction step. The device driver includes a common processing unit common to a plurality of types of devices, and model-dependent information that provides model-dependent information for the common processing unit to implement processing according to the model. Includes a description associating a configuration that can be mounted on the device with a function of the device driver,
2. The device configuration information acquisition method according to claim 1, wherein in the specifying step, the common processing unit is executed by referring to the model-dependent information.   An access processing unit is provided between the device and the common processing unit to execute access for information acquisition to the device, and the acquisition step and the extraction step are executed by the access processing unit. The method for acquiring device configuration information according to claim 2.   The device configuration information according to claim 3, further comprising conversion information for converting a description corresponding to a configuration into access information, wherein the access processing unit acquires the access information with reference to the conversion information. Acquisition method.   In the conversion information, a value to be extracted with respect to the description corresponding to the configuration is registered. In the extraction step, the access processing unit uses the value to be extracted from the state information acquired in the acquisition step. 5. The device configuration information acquisition method according to claim 4, wherein status information of the specified configuration is extracted and notified to the common processing unit.   6. The device configuration information acquisition method according to claim 3, wherein the access processing unit is provided by an operating system incorporated in the information processing apparatus. A detection step of detecting the occurrence of a configuration change in the device;
2. The device configuration information acquisition method according to claim 1, wherein the specifying step is started in response to detection of occurrence of a change in configuration in the detection step. An information processing apparatus incorporating a device driver that controls devices connected to be communicable,
A specifying means for specifying a keyword for acquiring state information indicating a mounting state of the mountable configuration with reference to a description file storing a description of the configuration mountable on the device;
Obtaining access information to the device based on the keyword specified by the specifying means, accessing the device using the access information, and acquiring status information indicating a configuration attached to the device Means,
When the status information acquired by the acquisition unit includes information on a plurality of configurations, and the description includes a plurality of options related to the keyword, from among a plurality of configurations included in the status information acquired by the acquisition unit an extraction means for extracting information of a configuration corresponding to each of the plurality of options,
An information processing apparatus comprising: update means for updating device configuration information of the device based on configuration information extracted by the extraction means.   A control program for executing the device configuration information acquisition method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 by a computer.   A storage medium storing a control program for executing the device configuration information acquisition method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 by a computer.

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