JPH10222375A - Printer and method for changing its control program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer by which the printer control program which is not suitable for a printer mainbody is prevented from being mounted on the printer and to provide a method for changing its control program. SOLUTION: The control program transmitted from a host computer 1 is received in a control program receiving part 3 and, after that, transmitted to a control program storing part 4. The control program storing part 4 compares configuration information stored in a printer configuration information storage part 6 with data corresponding to configuration information stored in the transmitted control program so as to execute reference so as to judge the consistency of the printer 2 with the control program. When it is judged that consistency does not exist between the printer 2 and the control program, the control program storing part 4 displays an error in a display part 7 without storing the control program in the control program storage part 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printer controlled by a control program and a method of changing the control program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a control method of a printer connected to a host computer and used, a CP
A system in which a U and a ROM are mounted and the printer itself performs program control is employed in many cases. The reason for this configuration is to enable complicated processing.

[0003] Further, a magnetic disk or the like is already used, but this is mainly used for storing print data such as font data and a program for generating print data. Is not suitable for real-time control of the printer, and the control program is usually stored in the ROM.

In such a case, a mask ROM is most often used as a ROM for storing a control program in terms of cost. In addition, a one-time ROM, an EPROM, or the like is used, though the quantity is small. One-time ROMs and EPROMs are more expensive than mask ROMs, but are employed because they can be written easily.

However, mask ROMs and one-time ROMs
It is impossible to change the written contents.
EPROMs are capable of erasing and rewriting the contents, but erasing and rewriting require UV irradiation and a higher voltage power supply different from the operating voltage. It is very difficult to mount such special functions on a printer from the viewpoint of cost, mounting, and the like.

Under these circumstances, it has been practically impossible to change the contents of the ROM mounted on the printer.

However, with the advent of flash ROMs in recent years, it is possible to change the contents of the ROM while the ROM is mounted on the printer. The advantages of changing the contents of the ROM mounted on the printer include improved performance and improved functions. That is, when a better control method is developed, the control program can be replaced, and the performance can be improved. Also,
New functions can be added by changing the control program.

The cycle of performance improvement and function improvement of printers has been remarkably accelerated, and their obsolescence has also been accelerated. If you want a printer with higher performance and higher functionality, you need to replace the printer one after another, but that is too costly. Therefore,
If the performance can be improved or the functions can be added simply by changing the contents of the ROM mounted on the printer, the printer can be prevented from becoming obsolete at a relatively low cost, and the investment of the printer buyer can be protected.

In order to take advantage of these advantages, it is necessary to easily perform the process of replacing the contents of the ROM mounted on the printer. The above-mentioned mask ROM, one-time R
In the case of OM or EPROM or the like, it is necessary to first remove the cover, then remove and replace the ROM using a special tool, and the process is not easy. On the other hand, in the case of a flash ROM, there is no need to remove the ROM from the printer, and no special power supply is required for erasing and writing.

The contents of the ROM can be exchanged (changed) by sending a new control program or the like from a host computer or the like connected to the printer. For this process, a floppy disk storing a new program is distributed from a printer manufacturer or the like.
By supplying, the printer user can easily upgrade the printer. In particular, in recent years, with the development of the Internet, personal computer communication, and the like, the host computer itself has been easily connected to a network, and the distribution and supply of a new program has become easy.

Such replacement of the contents of the ROM is not limited to the case of a printer, and is beginning to be performed in various computer peripheral devices.

The replacement of the contents of the ROM may be performed by the manufacturer, performed by the user, or performed by a third party specializing in the replacement. In the case where the work is performed by a third party, the carry-in cost is higher than when the work is performed on the user side because the carry-in operation is mostly performed from the user side.

In the field of printers, distribution and supply of programs via a floppy disk or a network have been performed in recent years for printer drivers operating on the host computer.

[0014]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printer, the printer control program is distributed and supplied separately from the printer main body, and the printer user, not the printer maker, exchanges the printer control program. There were serious problems.

That is, the printer driver does not directly control the printer main body, but indirectly controls the printer main body by issuing a command to a control program of the printer main body. Even if the performance and functions could not be demonstrated due to the mismatch, there was relatively little risk that the printer would break down due to protection by the control program.
If the printer control program is not suitable for the printer main body, there is a problem that not only the original performance and function are not exhibited but also the printer main body is likely to be broken.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a printer and a method of changing the control program, which can prevent a printer control program that is not suitable for the printer main body from being installed in the printer. The purpose is to do.

[0017]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer controlled by a control program, comprising: a rewritable storage medium for storing the control program; Configuration information storage means for storing information, reception means for receiving a control program sent from a host device, and control program received by the reception means based on the configuration information stored by the configuration information storage means And a storage unit for storing the control program received by the receiving unit in the storage medium based on a result of the determination by the determination unit. Features.

A printer according to a second aspect of the present invention is the printer according to the first aspect, wherein the storage means determines that the control program received by the reception means is not compatible with the printer by the determination means. Is characterized in that the control program received by the receiving means is not stored in the storage medium.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printer according to the first or second aspect, the determination unit is stored in the configuration information storage unit and the corresponding configuration information added to the received control program. It is characterized in that it is configured to compare with configuration information and determine that there is no consistency if there is information that does not match.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the above-described printer.
The printer according to any one of the above, further comprising a display unit for displaying that there is no matching when the determining unit determines that there is no matching.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method for changing a control program of a printer controlled by a control program, the configuration information of the printer is stored and a control program sent from a host device is received. A storage medium capable of determining whether the received control program is compatible with the printer based on the stored configuration information and rewriting the received control program based on a result of the determination; Is stored.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the control program changing method according to the fifth aspect.
If it is determined that the received control program is not compatible with the printer, the received control program is not stored in the storage medium.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the control program changing method according to the fifth or sixth aspect.
The stored configuration information is compared with the corresponding configuration information added to the received control program, and when there is information that does not match, it is determined that there is no consistency.

According to a eighth aspect of the present invention, in the control program changing method according to any one of the fifth to seventh aspects, when it is determined that there is no consistency, it is displayed that there is no consistency. It is characterized by.

[0025]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that best illustrates the features of the printer according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, a printer 2 is connected to a control program receiving unit 3 as a receiving means for receiving a control program sent from a host computer 1 connected to the outside. A control program storage unit 4 as storage means for storing the control program received by the control program reception unit 3 in a control program storage unit 5 as a storage medium, and a printer as configuration information storage means for storing configuration information of the printer It mainly comprises a configuration information storage unit 6 and a display unit 7 as a display unit for displaying the operation of the printer 2.

In the above configuration, when the control program of the printer 2 is improved to improve the performance and functions,
First, the user stores the control program distributed and supplied via a network such as a floppy disk or the Internet in a storage device (not shown) of the host computer 1. Next, the user sends the control program on the host computer 1 to the printer 2 via a communication line such as a printer port of the host computer 1.

On the printer 2 side, a control program is received by the control program receiving section 3. The control program receiving unit 3 sends the received control program to the control program storage unit 4.

When the control program is transmitted, the control program storage unit 4 stores the configuration information stored in the printer configuration information storage unit 6 and the configuration information included in the transmitted control program. By comparing and referring to the data, the consistency between the printer 2 and the sent control program is determined. As a result of this determination, when it is determined that there is consistency, the control program storage unit 4 stores the control program in the control program storage unit 5.

If it is determined that there is no consistency between the printer 2 and the control program, the control program storage unit 4 does not store the control program in the control program storage unit 5. , And outputs an error signal ERR to the display unit 7. When receiving the error signal ERR, the display unit 7 performs a display indicating that there is no consistency between the printer 2 and the control program as an error display corresponding to the signal.

The above-described control program storage unit 4
Is a writable memory specifically used as a program memory. Further, the determination of the consistency between the printer 2 and the control program as described above is realized by a control unit such as a CPU (not shown) executing a program stored in a memory (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a data format of a control program sent from the host computer 1 to the printer 2.

In FIG. 1, the transmitted control program 11 is composed of a control program main body 12 and headers 13 and 14 added to the head of the control program main body 12. The header 13 is communication protocol information. The communication protocol information 13 includes information for a generally used communication protocol, such as a control program storage start command, data length, parity information, and communication information.
The header 14 is composed of printer configuration correspondence information. The printer configuration correspondence information is information corresponding to the printer configuration information stored in the printer configuration information storage unit 6 in the printer 2.

When receiving the control program 11, the control program storage section 4 starts operation according to the control program storage start command at the beginning of the header 13, and after the processing of the header 13, performs the processing of the header 14.

Here, the control program storage section 4 refers to the printer configuration information stored in the printer configuration information storage section 6 and compares the printer configuration information with the printer configuration correspondence information of the header 14 one by one. As a result of the comparison, if all the information is compatible, it is determined that there is consistency. In the determination, it is not necessary to determine that there is consistency only when all pieces of information match, and it is determined that there is consistency if the degree of matching of information is within a predetermined allowable range. You may comprise. When determining that there is consistency, the control program storage unit 4 stores the control program main body 12 sent after the header 14 in the control program storage unit 5.

On the other hand, as a result of the determination, when it is determined that there is uncorresponding information or that the uncorresponding information is beyond the allowable range and the consistency is not ensured, the control program storage unit 4 stores the information at that time. The control program storage operation is determined to be stopped, and the remaining control programs sent after the determination are discarded. The suspension of the control program storage operation is determined during the processing of the header 14, and the control program is discarded at that time. Therefore, the control program in the control program storage unit 5 is not rewritten at all, and the control program starts processing. It remains as before.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the configuration correspondence information in the control program 11 and the printer 2
By comparing the configuration information stored in advance in the printer configuration information storage unit 6 with the configuration information, the consistency between the control program and the printer is determined. If there is no consistency, the control program is not rewritten. In addition, it is possible to prevent a control program that is not suitable for the printer from being installed. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem that the original performance / function of the printer is not exhibited or the printer may be broken.

By providing a display unit 7 for displaying that there is no consistency between the printer 2 and the control program, the user can visually confirm that there is no consistency between the control program and the printer main body. Can be recognized. Therefore, the user can quickly respond to the mismatch.

[0040]

As described above, according to the printer of the first aspect or the control program changing method of the fifth aspect, the configuration information of the printer is stored, and the control program transmitted from the host device is received. Then, the presence or absence of consistency between the received control program and the printer based on the stored configuration information is determined, and based on the result of the determination,
Since the received control program is stored in the rewritable storage medium, an effect is obtained that a printer control program that is not suitable for the printer main body can be prevented from being installed in the printer.

According to the printer control method of the present invention, if it is determined that the received control program and the printer are not compatible, the received control program is stored in a storage medium. Since the data is not stored, if there is no consistency between the received control program and the printer, the control program is not changed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a printer control program that is not suitable for the printer main body from being mounted on the printer.

According to the printer of the fourth aspect or the control program changing method of the eighth aspect, when it is determined that there is no consistency, the fact that there is no consistency is displayed. The user can visually recognize that there is no consistency between the control program and the printer main body, and an effect is obtained that the inconsistency can be promptly dealt with.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a data format of a control program.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Printer 3 Control program receiving unit 4 Control program storage unit 5 Control program storage unit 6 Printer configuration information storage unit 7 Display unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A printer controlled by a control program, comprising: a rewritable storage medium for storing the control program; configuration information storage means for storing configuration information of the printer; and a control program sent from a host device. Receiving means for receiving the control program; determining means for determining whether the control program received by the receiving means is compatible with the printer based on the configuration information stored by the configuration information storing means; Storage means for storing the control program received by the receiving means in the storage medium based on the result of the determination by the printer. 2. The storage means, when it is determined by the determination means that the control program received by the reception means and the printer do not match, the control program received by the reception means is stored in the storage means. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer is configured not to be stored in a storage medium. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit compares the corresponding configuration information added to the received control program with configuration information stored in the configuration information storage unit. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the printer is configured to determine that there is no consistency. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: display means for displaying the inconsistency when said inconsistency is determined by said determination means. Printer. 5. A method for changing a control program of a printer controlled by a control program, comprising: storing configuration information of the printer; receiving a control program sent from a host device; And determining whether the received control program is compatible with the printer based on the control program, and storing the received control program in a rewritable storage medium based on a result of the determination. How to change the control program. 6. The storage medium according to claim 5, wherein when it is determined that the received control program is not compatible with the printer, the received control program is not stored in the storage medium. How to change the control program. 7. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the corresponding configuration information added to the received control program is compared with the stored configuration information, and when there is information that does not match, it is determined that there is no consistency. 7. The control program changing method according to claim 5, wherein: 8. The control program changing method according to claim 5, wherein when it is determined that there is no consistency, the fact that there is no consistency is displayed.