JP6079081B2 - Information processing apparatus, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus including a driver, a program for causing a computer to function as such an information processing apparatus, and a recording medium on which such a program is recorded.

In recent years, a type of driver called XPS (XML Paper Specification: registered trademark) has been proposed as a device driver used in an information processing apparatus. This XPS driver implements various functions by causing a plurality of filters to sequentially process input data using a filter pipeline manager.
Such an XPS driver is described in Patent Document 1, for example.

The above-described XPS driver is realized by a plurality of filters. Basically, even if one of the filters is taken out, the function provided by the corresponding filter can be used.
Therefore, it is possible to use a combination of filters provided by multiple drivers as appropriate, prepare a UI (user interface) that accepts settings related to each filter, and create an integrated driver that can use the functions of multiple drivers simultaneously. It is also possible to do.

  In this case, for this integrated driver, for example, filter configuration information that defines which filter is used in which order is prepared. However, when the integrated driver is installed in a place where there is no authority to change the filter configuration information, there is a problem that the filter configuration information cannot be changed after the installation.

  For example, in the case of a printer driver called a Version 4 driver supported in Windows (registered trademark) 8, since the driver operates in a folder with special authority called DriverStore, the filter configuration information is changed even with normal administrator authority. There was a problem that I could not.

For this reason, once the integrated driver is installed, it is difficult to change the combination of functions to be used thereafter.
Such a problem can occur not only in the specific environment described above but also in other environments.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and even in an environment where the configuration of the driver cannot be directly changed, a driver in which the functions of a plurality of drivers are combined is used with a high degree of freedom in changing the combination. The purpose is to be able to.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the first driver and the module used by the first driver are processed by the module indicated by the module information stored in the predetermined storage unit. A plurality of intermediary modules each having a function to execute the function, a function information acquisition unit that acquires function information indicating a function provided by the second driver from a plurality of second drivers, and the function information acquisition unit Based on the function information, a function to be used by the broker module is selected, and for each of the plurality of broker modules, module information indicating a module that provides the function to be used is associated with the broker module and the predetermined information and a module setting means for storing in the storage means is provided, the first driver, a predetermined order In, to operate the respective mediation modules of the plurality of mediation modules, which each of its mediation module, based on the module information corresponding to said intermediary module, and to request the processing module indicated by the module information It is.

  According to the above-described configuration, a driver combining a plurality of driver functions can be used with a high degree of freedom in changing the combination even in an environment where the configuration of the driver cannot be directly changed.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the information processing system containing PC which is embodiment of the information processing apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of PC shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the positioning of the printer driver in the PC. It is a figure which shows the structure of each part in connection with the printing procedure in the PC. It is a figure which shows the function structure of an integrated driver. It is a flowchart of the process corresponding to the function of the Nth mediation filter in an integrated driver. It is a figure which shows the example of the filter configuration file of an integrated driver. It is a figure which shows the structure of the function which concerns on the production | generation of the actual operation filter configuration file in PC shown in FIG. It is a flowchart of the production | generation process of the actual operation | movement filter structure file which CPU of PC shown in FIG. 1 performs. It is a figure for demonstrating the determination process in step S28 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the characteristic of the printer driver used as an example of a determination process. FIG. 12 is a diagram for describing determination processing related to the printer driver illustrated in FIG. 11. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a driver function list created in step S25 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the driver function list after completion | finish of step S28 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a setting reception screen. It is a figure which shows the example of the setting reception screen in a 1st modification. It is a figure which shows the example of the setting reception screen in a 2nd modification. It is a figure which shows the example of the other state. It is a figure which shows the example of the driver selection screen in a 3rd modification. It is a figure which shows the example of the setting reception screen in a 4th modification.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information processing system including a PC which is an embodiment of an information processing apparatus of the present invention.

  In this information processing system 1, a PC 10 and image processing apparatuses 20A and 20B are connected via a network 30. The network 30 may be a local area network (LAN), for example, but any system can be employed regardless of wired or wireless.

  The PC 10 is an embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention. As will be described in detail later, as drivers for controlling the image processing apparatuses 20A and 20B, one or a plurality of device drivers (second drivers) each having one or a plurality of functions realized by a filter, And an integrated driver (first driver) that can be used by integrating the functions of the drivers. The PC 10 also has a function that can provide a device driver that the PC 10 has, and a function that constructs a function of the integrated driver in accordance with an instruction from the user.

  Each of the image processing apparatuses 20A and 20B has a function of processing an image according to output data supplied from the outside. For the processing, processing, printing, accumulation, transmission by mail or facsimile, display by display means, projection onto a screen, and the like are conceivable. In the case of printing, it may be possible to perform processing on printed paper such as bookbinding and sorting.

The above processing instruction can be issued from a device driver provided in the PC 10 and corresponding to the image processing apparatuses 20A and 20B.
In the following description, it is assumed that the image processing apparatuses 20A and 20B are printers having a printing function, and device drivers corresponding to these are printer drivers. When there is no need to distinguish between individuals, the code of the image processing device 20 is used.

Next, FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the PC 10.
The PC 10 can appropriately employ a known computer as hardware. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the CPU 11, the ROM 12, the RAM 13, the communication I / F 14, the HDD (hard disk drive) 15, and the UI (user interface) unit 16 may be connected via a system bus 17.

The CPU 11 executes programs stored in the ROM 12 or the HDD 15 using the RAM 13 as a work area, thereby controlling the overall operation of the PC 10 and realizing various functions including control of an integrated driver described later. .
The HDD 15 functions as a storage unit that stores a filter configuration file that defines a filter used by the integrated driver.
The communication I / F 14 is an interface for communicating with an external apparatus such as the image processing apparatus 20 via a network such as a LAN (local area network).

The UI unit 16 is an operation receiving unit including an operation unit for receiving a user operation and a display unit for presenting information to the user. Of course, an external operation unit or display unit may be used.
The user's operation may be received by receiving data indicating the operation content from the external device. In addition, the presentation of information to the user may be performed by transmitting data indicating the display content of the screen or data to be displayed on the screen to an external device.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the position of the printer driver in the PC 10.
This PC 10 employs Microsoft Windows (registered trademark) as basic software (OS), and other software operates on this OS.
The application 111 is a software module that realizes functions used by a user to edit data such as a document, such as document creation, image creation, image editing, image processing, and spreadsheet.

  The spooler 112 is a software module that manages the printing function of the OS. Various printer drivers 120 a to 120 c that are device drivers for controlling the image processing apparatus 20 operate as a part of the spooler 112. Regarding the integrated driver 150, the handling on the OS is in parallel with other printer drivers 120a to 120c (hereinafter, “120” is used when it is not necessary to distinguish the individual).

  The driver selection unit 113 is a software module having a function of selecting a driver to be used for printing from the printer driver 120 and the integrated driver 150 provided in the spooler 112. This selection may be performed automatically or according to a user operation. If the printer driver 120 is associated with the image processing apparatus 20, the driver can be selected according to the selection of the image processing apparatus 20 used for printing.

A parallel I / F 131, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) I / F 132, and a network I / F 133 are specific examples of the communication I / F 14 illustrated in FIG. Of these, the parallel I / F 131 is an IEEE (Institute).
of Electrical and Electronic Engineers). The USB_I / F 132 is an input / output interface based on USB1.0 or USB2.0 specifications. The network I / F 133 is an input / output interface for performing network communication such as Ethernet (registered trademark).

When printing a document or the like created by the application 111 on the PC 10 having the above-described units, the outline is as follows. That is, when the application 111 receives a print instruction from the user, the application 111 first passes the document data to the driver selected by the driver selection unit 113 in the spooler 112. Then, the driver converts the received data into a format that can be handled by the image processing apparatus 20 used for printing, and the I / F that can communicate with the image processing apparatus 20 transfers the converted data to the image processing apparatus 20. Send data.
Upon receiving this, the image processing apparatus 20 executes printing based on the received data.

Next, FIG. 4 shows the configuration of each part related to the printing procedure in more detail. Note that printer drivers that can be used in Windows are roughly divided into GDI (Graphic).
(Device Interface) driver and XPS driver. FIG. 4 shows an example of using the XPS driver.
As shown in FIG. 4, the PC 10 includes a UI control unit 141, an API (Application Program Interface) 142, and a spool file storage unit 143 in addition to the application 111 and the printer driver 120 as a configuration that operates when printing is performed.

  Among these, the UI control unit 141 has a function of controlling a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for receiving settings related to functions available in the printer driver 120 used for printing in response to an instruction from the application 111. Since the printer driver 120 has data related to the GUI configuration, the GUI is controlled with reference to the data. The contents of the settings received through this GUI are passed to the application 111 for holding.

  The API 142 has a function of receiving data from the application 111 and converting data such as a document to be printed into a spool file format that can be processed by the printer driver 120. At this time, the application 111 passes the data indicating the print setting passed from the UI control unit 141 to the API 142 together with data such as a document to be printed, and the API 142 creates a spool file reflecting the setting.

  The spool file storage unit 143 has a function of creating a spool folder in a location set by the OS of the storage unit such as the HDD 15 and storing the spool file. The spool file created by the API 142 can be stored and stored in the spool file storage unit 143 before being passed to the printer driver 120.

The printer driver 120 is the same as that shown in FIG. 3, but more specifically includes a filter pipeline manager 121, a plurality of filters 122-1 to n, and a filter configuration file 123.
The printer driver 120 uses the function of the filter pipeline manager 121 provided by the OS to cause the filters 122-1 to 122 n to sequentially process the spool file passed from the API 142 so that the image processing apparatus 20 can handle the format. Convert to At this time, processing for processing the image such as enlargement / reduction, aggregation, watermark insertion, and the like can be performed together. Such an operation is called rendering.

Then, the printer driver 120 passes the data processed by the last filter to an appropriate I / F and transmits it to the image processing apparatus 20.
The filter configuration file 123 is a file that defines the location (name) of a filter to be processed by the filter pipeline manager 121 by passing the spool file, and the order in which each filter performs processing. However, even if the filter configuration file 123 is viewed, it is not known what function corresponds to each filter.

  The functions that can be provided by the printer driver 120 are listed in PrintCapabilities. In PrintCapabilities, each function that can be provided and a list of setting items and setting values that can be set for the function are described as keywords, and terminology information for each setting item is also included.

  Further, the setting contents for each function that can be provided by the printer driver 120 can be described as PrintTicket. This PrintTicket is data described in an XML (Extensible Markup Language) format, and means a list of print setting values currently set in the printer driver. From the information of PrintCapabilities, it is possible to know the value to be written in the PrintTicket when each setting value that can be selected in each setting item is selected.

The PrintTicket is also included in the XPS data, and each of the filters 122-1 to 12-n of the XPS driver determines the setting value of each setting item currently applied to the XPS data from the information of the PrintTicket included in the XPS data. Know and perform actions accordingly.
By the way, the configuration of the printer driver 120 described above is basically the same for the integrated driver 150. However, there are some differences, so this point will be described next.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the integrated driver 150.
As shown in FIG. 5, the integrated driver 150 includes a filter pipeline manager 151, a plurality of mediation filters 152-1 to 152-1, and a filter configuration file 153.
These have the same functions as the filter pipeline manager 121, the filters 122-1 to 122-n, and the filter configuration file 123 in the printer driver 120.

  That is, the integrated driver 150 can handle the image processing apparatus 20 by causing the intermediary filters 152-1 to 152-n to sequentially process the spool file passed from the API by the function of the filter pipeline manager 151 provided by the OS. Convert to format.

  However, the mediation filters 152-1 to 152 -N are not filters that perform substantial processing, but refer to the actual operation filter configuration file 170 stored at a predetermined position, and are received for the filters described therein. Request processing related to data. Then, the result is returned to the filter pipeline manager 151. Alternatively, the processing result may be temporarily returned to the mediation filter 152 (use this code when the individual is not distinguished), and the mediation filter 152 may return it to the filter pipeline manager 151.

The actual operation filter configuration file 170 is a file that prescribes the location (name) of a filter that actually performs the process related to the function provided by the integrated driver 150 and the order in which each filter executes the process.
Then, the first mediation filter 152-1 requests the filter indicated by the first information in the actual operation filter configuration file 170 to perform processing related to the received data. The second mediation filter 152-2 requests the filter indicated by the second information in the actual operation filter configuration file 170 to perform processing related to the received data. Similarly, the n-th mediation filter 152-n requests the filter indicated by the n-th information in the actual operation filter configuration file 170 to perform processing related to the received data.

  When there is no description of the filter corresponding to the mediation filter 152 in the actual operation filter configuration file 170, the mediation filter 152 may return the received data to the filter pipeline manager 151 without performing any processing.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of processing corresponding to the function of the Nth mediation filter.
When the CPU 11 of the PC 10 detects that the Nth mediation filter 152 -N has received the data to be processed and the processing request from the filter pipeline manager 151, the CPU 11 starts the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6.

First, the actual operation filter configuration file 170 is referred to (S11). The mediation filter 152 can grasp the path to this file in advance.
Next, it is determined whether the filter information of the Nth filter is included in the actual operation filter configuration file 170 (S12).

  If included, the received data is passed to the filter indicated by the filter information for processing, the result is returned to the filter pipeline manager 151 (S13), and the processing is terminated. On the other hand, if it is not included, the received data is returned as it is to the filter pipeline manager 151 (S14), and the process is terminated.

  In the example of FIG. 5, information of three filters “scaling_filter.dll”, “watermark_filter.dll”, and “nup_filter.dll” is described in the actual operation filter configuration file 170. Correspondingly, the mediation filters 152-1 to 152-1 request the first to third reference filters 171 to 173 to process data, respectively. The fourth and subsequent mediation filters 152 return the received data to the filter pipeline manager 151 without performing any processing.

  Here, the first to third reference filters 171 to 173 do not need to be filters provided by the integrated driver 150 (however, the integrated driver 150 is not prevented from providing them). Filter information for realizing the functions provided by other printer drivers 120 is appropriately selected and described in the actual operation filter configuration file 170, thereby combining the functions provided by those filters with the integrated driver 150. Functions can be realized.

  As for the filter for which the filter pipeline manager 151 requests data processing, the filter configuration file 153 describes information on the mediation filters 152-1 to 152-1 in this order as shown in FIG. If the contents of the filter configuration file 153 cannot be changed, neither the number nor the function of the mediation filter 152 can be changed.

However, as a function of the intermediary filter 152, by providing a function of referring to the contents of the actual operation filter configuration file 170 in a place where the contents can be changed and requesting processing to the filter indicated by the contents, This restriction can be removed.
This is because even if the content of the filter configuration file 153 itself cannot be changed, the operation of the integrated driver 150 can be substantially changed by changing the content of the actual operation filter configuration file 170.

In this case, the mediation filter 152 is a module used by the integrated driver 150 and has a function of causing the module indicated by the actual operation filter configuration file 170, which is module information stored in a predetermined storage unit, to execute processing. Applicable to modules.
The actual operation filter configuration file 170 corresponds to module information indicating a module that provides a function to be used by the mediation module.

  If the number of mediation filters 152 is too small, the integrated driver 150 cannot use a sufficient number of filters. If the number is too large, unnecessary exchange of data occurs between the filter pipeline manager 151 and the mediation filter 152. Will do. An appropriate number may be determined in consideration of these.

Next, functions and processing relating to generation of the actual operation filter configuration file 170 will be described.
First, FIG. 8 shows a configuration of functions related to generation of an actual operation filter configuration file in the PC 10.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the PC 10 has a driver capability acquisition unit 161, a driver capability analysis unit 162, a driver capability integration unit 163, a driver type determination unit 164, and an integrated function screen display as functions related to generation of the actual operation filter configuration file. Unit 165, function realization location determination unit 166, and actual operation filter configuration file creation unit 167.

Among these, the driver capability acquisition unit 161 uses the PrintCapabilities of each printer driver 120 installed in the PC 10 to acquire a list of print functions, print settings, and UI term information supported by each printer driver 120. Is provided.
The driver capability analysis unit 162 analyzes the information of PrintCapabilities acquired by the driver capability acquisition unit 161, and what functions and setting values each printer driver 120 supports, and for each function, setting item, and setting value Get term information.

  The driver capability integration unit 163 has a function of handling the common functions as one function based on the capabilities of the printer drivers 120 analyzed by the driver capability analysis unit 162 and totaling the processing capabilities covering all the functions. Whether or not they are common functions can be determined based on whether or not the keywords of the respective functions described in PrintCapabilities are the same.

  The driver type determination unit 164 determines whether the printer driver from which the driver capability acquisition unit 161 has acquired the capability is an XPS driver or a GDI driver. This is because the functions available from the integrated driver 150 are functions provided by the XPS driver, and the functions provided by the GDI driver cannot be used. Therefore, the driver capability analysis unit 162 and the driver capability integration unit 163 do not need to process the GDI driver.

  The integrated function screen display unit 165 has a function of generating and displaying a user interface so that settings relating to each function collected by the driver capability integration unit 163 can be received from the user. The user interface also has a function of setting accepting means for accepting settings necessary for the operation of the integrated driver 150.

  The function realization location determination unit 166 has a function of an identification unit that determines whether each function acquired from each printer driver 120 is realized on the printer driver 120 side or on the image processing apparatus 20 side. . Such a determination can be made by using the function realized on the printer driver 120 side in any image processing apparatus, but the function realized on the image processing apparatus 20 side can be printed by the image processing apparatus. This is because it can only be used when doing so.

  The actual operation filter configuration file creation unit 167 creates an actual operation filter configuration file 170 that describes information on the filter that the integrated driver 150 has used as a result of processing by other units, and stores it in a predetermined location. It has the function of module setting means.

Next, FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of processing for generating the actual operation filter configuration file 170 executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 10.
When detecting that the actual operation filter configuration file 170 should be generated, the CPU 11 starts the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. Possible timings include a case where an instruction to generate the actual operation filter configuration file 170 is detected, and a case where the integrated driver 150 is first installed in the PC 10.

In this process, the CPU 11 first obtains a list of printer drivers 120 installed in the PC 10 (S21). This list is provided by the OS.
Next, one of the printer drivers 120 on the list acquired in step S21 is set as a processing target (S22).

Then, it is determined whether or not the processing target driver is an XPS driver (S23). This process corresponds to the function of the driver type determination unit 164.
If the CPU 11 is an XPS driver in step S23, the CPU 11 acquires PrintCapabilities indicating information on the function provided by the driver to be processed (S24). Further, information on the function of the processing target driver obtained by analyzing the PrintCapabilities is added to a driver function list which is a list of functions provided in the printer driver installed in the PC 10 (S25).

  The processing in step S24 is processing corresponding to the function of the driver capability acquisition unit 161, and the processing in step S25 is processing corresponding to the functions of the driver capability analysis unit 162 and the driver capability integration unit 163. The driver function list created in step S25 is created as an integrated function list that covers the functions. Further, if there is the same PrintCapabilities keyword between the drivers, it is determined that the functions are the same, and if the keywords are different, it is determined that the functions are different. However, it may be registered in the driver function list that a plurality of drivers have the same function.

After the above step S25, it is determined whether there is a printer driver 120 that is not yet processed in the list acquired in step S21 (S26). If there is, the next driver is processed (S27), and the process goes to step S23. Repeat the return process.
If the driver is not an XPS driver in step S23, steps S24 and S25 are skipped and the process proceeds to step S26.

  If NO in step S26, for each function registered in the driver function list, whether the function is realized on the printer driver 120 side or on the image processing apparatus 20 side controlled by the driver. Is determined (S28). This process is a process corresponding to the function of the function realization location determination unit 166. The determination method will be described later in detail.

  Next, the CPU 11 generates and stores screen data for accepting settings for the function determined to be realized on the printer driver 120 side in step S28 (S29). This screen can be created based on the information about the corresponding function of PrintCapabilities acquired from each printer driver. This is because PrintCapabilities includes information on setting items that should be accepted for each function and setting values that can be set in the setting items. Further, the process of step S29 is a process corresponding to the function of the integrated function screen display unit 165.

  Further, the CPU 11 generates an actual operation filter configuration file 170 for calling the function determined to be realized on the printer driver 120 side in step S28, stores it in a predetermined location (S30), and ends the process. The processing in step S30 is processing corresponding to the function of the actual operation filter configuration file creation unit 167.

As shown in FIG. 5, the actual operation filter configuration file 170 generated in step S30 is information in which information specifying the filter provided for each printer driver 120 to provide the corresponding function is arranged in an appropriate order. It is. Information about each filter can be obtained by referring to the filter configuration file 123 of each printer driver 120.
In addition, the arrangement order of the filters is arbitrary if the processing order does not need to be considered, but if it is clear that the processing should be performed first, the information on the filter related to the processing should be given first. It is good to arrange in.

In steps S29 and S30, when the same function is provided by a plurality of printer drivers 120 and both are realized on the printer driver 120 side, settings can be accepted and a filter can be called for one of them. do it.
With the above processing, it is possible to configure the integrated driver 150 that can use all the XPS driver functions (implemented on the driver side) installed in the PC 10.

Next, an example of the determination process in step S28 will be described.
FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the determination processing technique.
As described above, the functions provided by the printer driver 120 are known from PrintCapabilites, and the filters used by the printer driver 120 on the PC 10 side are known from the filter configuration file 123. However, the correspondence between filters and functions is unknown. Therefore, in step S28, it is determined whether each function is realized on the printer driver 120 side or the image processing apparatus 20 side by grasping this correspondence.

Here, the filter included in the XPS driver originally has a mechanism that makes it easy to add and delete functions. For this reason, it is possible to realize the function correctly regardless of what filters exist before and after it, and to operate correctly even if the processed data is sent to various image processing devices that support the XPS format. It is common to do.
This is because each filter executes processing based on the PrintTicket information included in the XPS data to be processed, but each filter changes its own processed PrintTicket information so that it does not affect subsequent filters or the printer itself It means to do.

In other words, when a PrintTicket indicating a setting value that needs to be changed is added to the data to be processed, and input to the filter in charge of the changing process, the filter processes the input data according to the setting value of the PrintTicket. The setting value of PrintTicket is changed to a setting value indicating that processing is no longer necessary. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the subsequent filter from performing the process according to a certain set value in duplicate.
For example, when “2 in 1” is set for the aggregation function, a filter that performs processing for allocating two pages to one page indicates that further aggregation is no longer necessary.
in 1 ”and so on.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, for each printer driver 120, each filter described in the filter configuration file 123 is to be investigated, and it is necessary to make some changes to all the setting items for the filter. Process the sample data with PrintTicket1 with the set value set. And in PrintTicket2 attached to the processed data, the setting value for the setting item corresponding to the processing performed by the filter to be investigated should be changed to a value indicating that processing is no longer necessary .

Therefore, it can be seen that the function related to the changed setting item is a function provided by the filter to be investigated.
It can also be seen that the functions provided by the printer driver 120 that do not provide any filter are functions realized on the image processing apparatus 20 side.

An example of this determination is shown by taking the printer drivers A and B having the characteristics shown in FIG. 11 as an example.
It is assumed that the printer driver A provides the three functions shown in FIG. 11 from the PrintCapabilities information, and has the filter configuration information shown in FIG.
Similarly, it is assumed that the printer driver B provides the two functions shown in FIG. 11, and has the filter configuration information shown in FIG.

When examining the printer driver A among these, the PrintTicket 1 having a setting value that needs to be changed for each of the three functions provided by the printer driver A is prepared.
For example, as shown in FIG. 12, PrintTicket 1 in which “valid” is set for the watermark function, “2 in 1” is set for the aggregation function, and “left binding” is set for the staple function may be prepared. Then, the sample data with the PrintTicket1 is processed by two filters known from the filter configuration information, and the contents of PrintTicket2 included in the processing result are analyzed.

If the watermark setting is changed from “valid” to “invalid” as a result of processing by watermark_filter.dll, it is understood that watermark_filter.dll is a filter that provides the watermark function.
Also, if the aggregation setting is changed from “2 in 1” to “1 in 1” as a result of processing by nup_filter.dll, it is understood that nup_filter.dll is a filter that provides an aggregation function.

  These two functions are provided on the printer driver 120 side, and it can be seen that the staple function not provided by any filter is provided on the image processing apparatus 20 side. Accordingly, the staple setting remains “Left Binding” regardless of which filter is used for processing.

Similarly, when investigating the printer driver B, PrintTicket1 in which “2 in 1” is set for the aggregation function and “200%” is set for the enlargement / reduction function may be prepared. Then, the sample data with the PrintTicket1 is processed by one filter that can be understood from the filter configuration information.
As a result of processing by scaling_filter.dll, if the scaling setting is changed from “200%” to “100%”, it is understood that scaling_filter.dll is a filter that provides a scaling function.

This function is provided on the printer driver 120 side, and it is understood that an aggregation function that is not provided by any filter is provided on the image processing apparatus 20 side. Therefore, the aggregation setting remains “2 in 1” regardless of which filter is used for processing.
The correspondence relationship between the filter and the function obtained by the above determination can also be used when the actual operation filter configuration information 170 of the integrated driver 150 is generated.

In addition, the processing related to the function realized on the driver side is performed prior to the processing related to the function realized on the image processing apparatus side. It can also be seen that the processing should be executed before the processing related to.
Therefore, when configuring the integrated driver 150 that integrates the functions of the printer driver A and the printer driver B, the process related to the enlargement / reduction function of the printer driver B is performed by the filter that executes the process related to the aggregation function of the printer driver A. It can be said that the filter to be executed should be placed first.

Next, a specific example of generation of the actual operation filter configuration file 170 by the processing of FIG. 9 will be described. Here, consider a case in which the printer driver A and the printer driver B having the functions shown in FIG.
In this case, the driver function list created in step S25 of FIG. 9 is as shown in FIG. That is, the functions provided by each driver are simply listed. At this stage, since it is unclear whether these functions are realized on the driver side or the image processing apparatus side, the item of the realization location describing this is blank.

Thereafter, in step S28, the realization location is determined for each function. If the result is as shown in FIG. 12, the realization location item in the driver function list can be filled as shown in FIG.
From this result, it is understood that the functions that can be used from the integrated driver 150 are Watermark, aggregation (provided by the printer driver A), and enlargement / reduction.
In step S29, screen data for accepting settings related to these functions is generated.

FIG. 15 shows an example of the screen.
A setting reception screen 200 illustrated in FIG. 15 is used to receive, in the setting reception unit 210, an operation unit 211 for receiving settings regarding the watermark function, an operation unit 212 for receiving settings regarding the aggregation function, and settings regarding the enlargement / reduction function. The operation unit 213 is provided.

In relation to these functions, it can be determined by referring to the filter configuration file 123 of the printer driver 120 that provides the function which selection item should be accepted for selection. Note that there is not always one setting item for one function, and the format of the operation unit is not limited to the radio button as shown in FIG. Any format, such as a pull-down menu, text box, or check box, can be used.
The setting reception screen 200 also includes an OK button 221 for confirming the setting and a cancel button 222 for returning to the original screen without confirming the setting.

Further, in step S30 in FIG. 9, an actual operation filter configuration file 170 as shown in FIG. 5 is generated, which describes information about the filter that provides the above-described watermark, aggregation, and enlargement / reduction functions.
Information about these filters can also be acquired from PrintCapabilities possessed by the printer driver that provides the function.

As described above, the integrated driver 150 that can use the watermark, aggregation, and enlargement / reduction functions can be configured.
When the user performs printing using the integrated driver 150, the setting reception screen 200 shown in FIG. 15 is displayed, and necessary settings can be performed on the screen. Further, PrintTicket indicating the data of the document to be printed and the content of the setting is transferred from the application 111 shown in FIG. 4 to the integrated driver 150 via the API 142.

In the integrated driver 150, as described with reference to FIG. 5, each mediation filter 152-1 to 152-1 to n refers to the contents of the actual operation filter configuration file 170 and prints the filters registered therein. Request the processing of the data of the document that should be.
When the processing up to the final stage is completed, the processed data is transmitted to the image processing apparatus 20 associated with the integrated driver 150, and printing according to the data is executed.
The association between the integrated driver 150 and the image processing apparatus 20 may be arbitrarily performed by the user, but a modified method described below may be employed.

Hereinafter, some modified examples of the above-described embodiment will be described.
First, as a first modification, the image processing apparatus 20 to be controlled by the integrated driver 150, that is, the image processing apparatus 20 that performs printing based on the data processed by the integrated driver 150 is controlled by the other printer driver 120. It may be possible to select and set the target.

  When installing the printer driver 120 on the PC 10, the image processing apparatus 20 to be controlled by the printer driver 120 is normally specified and installed. For the image processing apparatus 20 normally used by the user of the PC 10, it is considered that the corresponding printer driver 120 is already installed.

  Accordingly, if the user selects one of the installed printer drivers 120 and the image processing apparatus 20 to be controlled by the printer driver 120 is also to be controlled by the integrated driver 150, the PC 10 It is considered that any image processing apparatus 20 that is normally used by a user can be easily set as a control target.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a setting reception screen in the first modification.
The setting reception screen 201 is different from the screen in FIG. 15 in that an output destination selection unit 214 is provided. The output destination selection unit 214 displays a list of printer drivers 120 installed in the PC 10, and allows the user to select one of them. Then, the image processing apparatus 20 that is the control target of the selected printer driver 120 is set as the control target of the integrated driver 150. The designation of the image processing apparatus 20 can be performed by an IP address, an output port, or the like.
Since the image processing apparatus 20 needs to be controllable by the XPS driver, the options displayed on the output destination selection unit 214 may be limited to the XPS driver.

  Next, as a second modification, it is conceivable that settings related to functions provided on the image processing apparatus side by the image processing apparatus 20 set as a control target of the integrated driver 150 on the setting reception screen may be accepted.

This is because if the image processing apparatus 20 to be controlled is determined, the functions provided by the image processing apparatus 20 can be grasped from the driver function list as shown in FIG. 14 and can be used for implementation. Therefore, by accepting the setting related to this function together, the function provided by the image processing apparatus 20 can be used from the integrated driver 150 as well.
In addition, it can be seen from the PrintCapabilities of the printer driver 120 selected by the output destination selection unit 214 what kind of setting item and selection should be accepted for the function.

FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 show examples of setting reception screens in this second modification. FIG. 17 shows an example when the printer driver A is selected by the output destination selection unit 214, and FIG. 18 shows an example when the printer driver B is selected.
First, in the setting reception screen 202 shown in FIG. 17, an operation unit 215 that receives settings related to the stapling function provided on the image processing apparatus 20 side among the functions provided by the printer driver A is added.

  However, in the setting reception screen 202 illustrated in FIG. 18, an operation unit that receives settings related to the aggregation function provided on the image processing apparatus 20 side among the functions provided by the printer driver B is not added. This is because the printer driver A provides the aggregation function on the driver side, and the operation unit 212 that accepts the setting has already been prepared.

In this case, since the functions overlap, there is no need to use the aggregation function provided on the image processing apparatus 20 side. Such duplication can be determined from the keyword of each function described in PrintCapabilities as described above.
As can be seen from the comparison between FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, in this modified example, even if the configuration of the integrated driver 150 does not change, the configuration of the setting reception screen 202 depends on the selection by the output destination selection unit 214. Will change.

  Next, as a third modification, it is conceivable that the user can select which printer driver function is available from the integrated driver 150 in step S28 or S29 in FIG.

FIG. 19 shows an example of a driver selection screen used in the third modification.
The driver selection screen 230 is a screen for accepting selection of which printer driver function is available from the integrated driver 150. The driver selection unit 231 accepts the selection. The options may be all drivers on the driver function list. Or it is good also as all the drivers with the function provided by the driver side among the drivers on the driver function list.

The user can select a driver in any combination from these options. Then, in steps S29 and S30 of FIG. 9, the setting reception screen and the actual operation filter configuration file 170 are generated so that only the function provided by the selected driver can be received and called from the user.
The function for controlling the driver selection screen 230 corresponds to the function of the designation means.

The OK button 232 is a button for confirming selection, and the cancel button 233 is a button for canceling the configuration of the integrated driver 150, that is, for canceling the processing of FIG.
If there are too many functions available, the setting becomes complicated and the processing load increases. Therefore, it is preferable that the user can select the range of functions to be used in this way. Further, in addition to such a driver unit selection, a function unit may be selected.

Next, as a fourth modification, it may be possible to instruct reconfiguration of the integrated driver 150 on the setting reception screen generated in step S29 of FIG.
FIG. 20 shows an example of a setting reception screen in the fourth modification.
The setting reception screen 203 is different from the screen in FIG. 15 in that a reset button 223 is provided. By operating the reset button 223, the user can instruct the PC 10 to re-execute the processing in FIG. 9 at an arbitrary timing.

In the process of FIG. 9 relating to the re-execution, the integrated driver 150 is reconfigured based on the information of the printer driver 120 installed in the PC 10 at the time of the process. That is, the setting reception screen is reconfigured and the actual operation filter configuration file 170 is regenerated.
Therefore, the integrated driver 150 reflecting the latest driver configuration can be configured.

  When a new printer driver 120 is installed in the PC 10, it is preferable to automatically re-execute the processing of FIG. 9 or ask the user to confirm re-execution. This is because the functions available from the integrated driver 150 may increase due to the installation of a new driver.

This is the end of the description of the embodiment and the first to fourth modifications. In the present invention, the specific configuration of each device, the specific processing procedure, the data format, and the like are limited to those described above. I can't.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the printer driver that controls the image processing apparatus is described as an example of the driver. However, a similar integrated driver can be constructed for drivers that control other apparatuses. Of course, the function realized by each driver may not be related to image processing.

Each driver may provide a function by a module other than the filter.
The present invention is applicable not only to Windows (registered trademark) but also to information processing apparatuses using other OSs.

Further, the functions of the PC 10 described above as an embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, particularly the functions related to the integrated driver 150 and its construction, can be realized by a device configuration different from the above-described embodiment. For example, the functions of the PC 10 may be realized by cooperation of a plurality of devices.
For example, a module such as a filter used by the integrated driver 150 via the mediation filter 152 may be provided in a device external to the information processing apparatus that constructs the integrated driver 150. The storage means for storing the actual operation filter configuration file 170 may also be provided in a device external to the information processing device. Further, the control target by the integrated driver 150 may be a module of software or hardware inside the information processing apparatus.

The embodiment of the program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the PC 10 described above.
Such a program may be stored in a storage means such as a ROM provided in the computer from the beginning, but a non-volatile recording medium (such as a CD-ROM or flexible disk, SRAM, EEPROM, or memory card) that is a recording medium. It can also be recorded and provided in a memory.

Furthermore, it is also possible to download and execute an external device that is connected to a network and includes a recording medium that records the program, or an external device that stores the program in the storage unit.
In addition, it is needless to say that the configurations of the embodiments and modifications described above can be arbitrarily combined and implemented as long as they do not contradict each other.

1: Information processing system, 10: PC, 11: CPU, 12: ROM, 13: RAM, 14: Communication I / F, 15: HDD, 16: UI unit, 20A, 20B: Image processing device, 30: Network, 111: Application, 112: Spooler, 113: Driver selection unit, 120: Printer driver, 121, 151: Filter pipeline manager, 122, 171-173: Filter, 123, 153: Filter configuration file, 131: Parallel I / F 132: USB_I / F, 133: Network I / F, 141: UI control unit, 142: API, 143: Spool file storage unit, 150: Integrated driver, 152: Mediation filter, 161: Driver capability acquisition unit, 162: Driver capability analysis unit, 163: Driver capability integration unit, 164: Driver type determination unit, 165: integrated function screen display unit, 166: function realization location determination unit, 167: actual operation filter configuration file creation unit, 170: actual operation filter configuration file, 200 to 203: setting reception screen, 210: setting Reception unit, 211 to 213, 215: operation unit, 214: output destination selection unit, 221, 232: OK button, 222, 233: cancel button, 223: reset button, 230: driver selection screen, 231: driver selection unit

JP 2011-25539 A

Claims (8)

A first driver;
A plurality of intermediary modules each of which is a module used by the first driver and has a function of causing a module indicated by module information stored in a predetermined storage unit to execute processing;
Function information acquisition means for acquiring function information indicating a function provided by the second driver from a plurality of second drivers;
Based on the function information, wherein the function information acquisition unit acquires, and select the function to be used by the mediation module, for each of the plurality of mediation modules, the module information indicating a module for providing a function of the use, the mediation Module setting means associated with the module and stored in the predetermined storage means ,
The first driver operates each mediation module of the plurality of mediation modules in a predetermined order, and each mediation module is configured to generate the module information based on the module information corresponding to the mediation module. An information processing apparatus that requests the module indicated by The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
Each of the second drivers is a device driver for controlling an external device,
The module setting means includes
An identification means for identifying a function that can be provided only by a module included in the second driver among functions provided by each of the second drivers and a function provided by using hardware of the external device. ,
An information processing apparatus, wherein a function that can be provided only by a module included in the second driver is selected as a function to be used by the mediation module. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
Each of the second drivers is a device driver that controls an associated external device.
The first driver is also a device driver,
An information processing apparatus comprising: a control target setting unit that determines a control target of the first driver as an external device that is a control target of one second driver selected from the plurality of second drivers. . The information processing apparatus according to claim 3,
A setting accepting unit for accepting a setting related to a function selected as a function to be used by the mediation module by the module setting unit;
The setting accepting unit not only provides the function selected by the module setting unit as a function to be used by the mediation module, but also the hardware of the external device as the function provided by the selected second driver. An information processing apparatus that accepts settings for functions provided by use. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
An information processing apparatus comprising: designation means for designating which module setting means selects a function provided by which second driver as a function to be used by the mediation module. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
When a new driver is installed in the information processing apparatus, the newly installed driver is also handled as the second driver, the function information acquisition unit acquires the function information, and the module setting unit An information processing apparatus for selecting the function and storing the module information.   The program for functioning a computer as an information processing apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 6.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 7 is recorded.

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