JP2000172461A - File print control method and program recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a file print control method which makes the operation easy when data files related to different application programs are printed together at a time. SOLUTION: The file print control method which has application programs run on an OS and data files printed by the application programs and makes the OS instruct the application programs to print the data files when instructing the OS to print displays a set picture for setting print conditions, etc., by a print control part (S1) before the data files are printed together at a time, sets print conditions, etc., by changing printer management information controlled by the OS according to instructed contents (S3 to S6), and prints the data files by the application programs related thereto according to an instruction made by the print control part (S7).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a personal computer or the like that includes a plurality of application programs executed on an operating system and a plurality of data files printable by each of the application programs and prints the data files. The present invention relates to a file print control method, and more particularly, to a file print control method that simplifies operations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an operating system (hereinafter referred to as an OS) such as a personal computer issues a print instruction of a data file using a screen controlled by the OS, and transmits the data file by an application program associated with the data file. A function called shell printing that automatically prints files is provided. An OL that includes an application program that runs on an operating system and a data file associated with the application program, and provides each application program with a part of the printing function of the OS.
A printing method called an E (Object Linking and Embedding) automation method is also provided. However, whether using the above-described shell printing method or the OLE automation method, there is a problem that the setting of a printer to be used and the setting of printing conditions such as a paper type, a paper direction, and the number of copies are complicated. The setting of printing conditions is generally left to a method using a user interface (setting screen) on the application program side. However, in the method of setting a printer and a printing condition to be used by using a user interface (setting screen) of the application program when printing by the above printing method, when printing a plurality of data files, It differs depending on the application program associated with the file, and there is the inconvenience that the printer and the printing conditions must be set many times each time a different data file of the application program is printed.

[0003]

As described above, in the prior art, regardless of the shell printing system or the OLE automation system, the printing method includes setting of a printer to be used, paper type, paper direction, and printing. There is a problem that setting of printing conditions such as the number of copies is complicated. Further, in the method of setting a printer and printing conditions using a user interface of the application program when performing printing by the above printing method, when printing a plurality of data files, the user interface differs depending on the application program. However, there is an inconvenience in that a printer and printing conditions must be set many times each time a different data file of an application program is printed. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the related art, and to provide a file print control method that simplifies the operation, particularly when printing a plurality of data files associated with different application programs at once. To provide.

[0004]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a plurality of application programs executed on an operating system and a plurality of printable programs by each of the application programs are provided. A data file, and the application program and the data file are associated with each other by the operating system. When the operating system is instructed to print the data file, the operating system instructs the application program. In the file print control method for printing the data file,
When printing a plurality of data files at once, prior to printing, the print control program changes the printer management information managed by the operating system to set the printer to be used, or the printing conditions, or the printer and printing conditions, Subsequently, according to an instruction of the print control program, a method is adopted in which the plurality of data files are printed by application programs associated with the data files. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided a plurality of application programs executed on an operating system, a plurality of data files printable by each of the application programs, and the application programs are associated with the data files. In the file print control method for instructing the application program to print the data file and print the data file, when printing a plurality of data files at once,
Prior to printing, the print control program changes the printer management information managed by the operating system, thereby setting the printer to be used, or the print conditions, or the printer and the print conditions, and then, according to the instruction of the print control program, The method is such that the plurality of data files are printed by an application program associated with each of the plurality of data files. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the printer to be used, the printing conditions, or the printer and the printing conditions are changed by changing the printer management information managed by the operating system after printing is completed. Changed the printing conditions to the settings before printing. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first, second, or third aspect of the invention, different settings are made depending on a printer to be used or a print file depending on a data file to be printed. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying a setting screen for setting a printer or a printing condition or a printer and a printing condition prior to printing. did. Further, in the invention according to claim 6, a program in which the file print control method according to claims 1 to 5 is programmed is stored in a recording medium.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when printing a plurality of data files at a time, the print control program changes the printer management information managed by the operating system prior to printing. By doing so, the printer to be used and / or the printing conditions are set, and subsequently, in accordance with the instruction of the printing control program, the plurality of data files are printed by application programs associated with the respective data files, for example, using different shell printing methods. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when printing a plurality of data files at once, prior to printing, the print control program changes the printer management information managed by the operating system, so that the printer to be used or the printing conditions, or A printer and printing conditions are set, and subsequently, in accordance with an instruction of the printing control program, the plurality of data files are printed by a different application program of, for example, an OLE automation system associated with each of the plurality of data files. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the printer to be used or the printing conditions, or the printer and the printing conditions are changed by changing the printer management information managed by the operating system after printing. Is returned to the setting before printing. Claim 4
According to the invention described in claim 1, in the invention according to claim 1, when printing a plurality of data files at once, different printers or printing conditions are used depending on the data file to be printed. Can be.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, a setting screen for setting a printer, printing conditions, or printer and printing conditions is displayed prior to printing. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a program in which the file print control method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects is programmed is stored in a recording medium.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing system according to each embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the printing system of this embodiment includes a personal computer 1 and a plurality of printers 2 and the like. In the personal computer 1, individual names (A,
B...) And a print setting user interface (U) for displaying a user interface (setting screen) for setting printing conditions such as paper type, paper direction, and number of copies.
I) A control unit 3, a print control unit (print control program) 4 including the print setting user interface control unit 3 for performing print control, and a plurality of application programs 5 executed on the OS (these application programs are shell printing). Or the OLE automation method), for example, a plurality of data files 6 managed by the OS and associated with the plurality of application programs 5, and names (A, B,...) That can individually select the printer 2 to be used. ) And a printer information management unit 7 (belonging to the OS) for setting printing conditions and the like. In the present embodiment, the print setting using the printer A is set as a default value. The operations of the print control unit 4, the plurality of application programs 5, the printer information management unit 7, and the like are executed by, for example, one common CPU (not shown).

FIG. 2 shows an operation flow of the first embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, a user displays a list of data files associated with a plurality of application programs 5 and designates a data file to be printed (for example, a plurality of data files) from the list. Further, a print instruction button (icon) displayed on the screen is designated by the operating system. Then, the operating system activates the print control unit 4, and the activated print control unit 4 causes the print setting user interface control unit 3 to display a user interface (setting screen) for instructing print conditions and the like. (See FIG. 3) (S1). This user interface (setting screen) does not depend on the application program 5 (a plurality of application programs 5
Format), and each time a print instruction is issued,
It is a feature of the present invention that this user interface (setting screen) is displayed.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a user interface (setting screen) according to the first embodiment.
On the setting screen of this example, selection of a printer name (printer A, printer B), selection of paper type (A4, B4, A3),
The user can select the paper direction (vertical, horizontal), input the number of copies, select the pages to be printed (all, specified pages), and input (instruct) the page when the specified page is selected. "Printer B", "A4" as the paper type, "Vertical" as the paper direction, "1" as the number of copies, and "All" as the print target page are shown. When the user specifies printing conditions such as the printer name and paper type to be used, the print control unit 3 acquires the specified content and stores the specified content in the RAM.
(Not shown) in a predetermined area (S
2). If the designated printer name is different from the printer name stored in the storage unit managed by the printer information management unit 7 (for example, a default printer name), the printer name stored up to that point is stored in the RAM. (In the example of FIG. 2, printer B is stored in a predetermined area)
(S3) The content set in the storage unit managed by the printer information management unit 7 is changed to the designated printer name (for example, printer A) (S4). If the designated printing condition includes a portion different from the printing condition stored in the storage unit managed by the printer information management unit 7, the different portion stored so far is stored in a predetermined area in the RAM. (S5) The print condition set in the storage unit managed by the printer information management unit 7 is changed to the designated print condition (S6).

Subsequently, the print control unit 4 issues a shell print command to the OS, and sends the data file 6 to the application program 5 (associated with a table or the like) associated with the first data file 6. Or if the application program 5 associated with the first data file 6 can be controlled by OLE automation, a print command for the data file 6 is issued directly to the application program. . Then, the application program 5 that has received the print command reads the data file 6, and further, prints the data file 6.
Printer information such as printer name and printing conditions from
Printing is performed according to the printer information (S7). When there are a plurality of data files to be printed instructed by the user, the print control unit 4 similarly proceeds to the next data file 6
Of the data file 6 to the application program 5 associated with. Hereinafter, the printing of all data files specified by the user is repeated in the same manner according to the initially set printer information. When the printing of all the data files is completed, the print control unit 4 returns the printing conditions before printing saved in the predetermined area of the RAM to the storage unit in the printer information management unit 7 (S8). The printer name before printing is returned to the storage unit in the printer information management unit 7 (S9).

Thus, according to this embodiment, when printing a plurality of data files associated with a plurality of different application programs 5 at a time, the printer information is set only once by using a user interface independent of the application programs 5. The desired printing can be performed by the simple operation of performing the printing. In the above description, it has been described that the application program 5 can be adapted to either the OLE automation method or the shell printing method. However, the application program 5 may be adapted to only one of them. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the printer information such as the printer to be used and the printing conditions are returned to the settings before printing after the printing is completed. However, a configuration in which the printer information is kept changed is also possible. Note that, in the above-described embodiment in which the settings are returned to the settings before printing, for example, the settings before printing are changed to a printer that is used as a standard printer.
By standardizing the paper type to A4, the printing direction to vertical, the number of copies to be printed to 1, and the printing target to all, printing can be performed in many cases without resetting the printer information. Operation becomes even easier.

In a second embodiment of the present invention, a printing system having the same configuration as the first embodiment shown in FIG.
The printer used or the printing conditions can be set differently depending on the data file to be printed. In the present embodiment, after a plurality of data files to be printed are specified by the user, the print control unit 4 started by the operating system uses the print setting user interface control unit 3 therein as shown in FIG. The user interface (setting screen). FIG.
It is a figure showing an example of a user interface (setting screen) in an embodiment. In the setting screen of this example, as shown in the figure, the user interface displays the data file names (file 1, file 2, file 3) of the print target acquired by the print control section 4, and The printer name and each printing condition are set in association with the data file name. Therefore, in this example, each file (each file 1, file 2, and file 3)
Next, selection of printer name (printer A, printer B), selection of paper type (A4, B4, A3), paper direction (vertical,
Side), the number of copies to be printed, the pages to be printed (all, specified pages) and the page input (instruction) when the specified page is selected can be performed. For each file, the printer name, This shows a state in which a paper type, a paper direction, the number of copies, and a print target page are selected or input. The print setting user interface control unit 3 first displays default values (setting contents in the printer information management unit 7 before printing) in association with all data files displayed on the user interface shown in FIG. ,
When the user clicks the changed portion using a mouse or the like, the setting is changed to, for example, the setting content shown in FIG.

Subsequently, the printer information such as the printer name stored in the printer information management unit 7 is stored in the RAM.
And changes the contents set in the storage unit managed by the printer information management unit 7 to the printer information associated with the data file to be printed first. Further, the print control unit 4 issues a shell print command to the OS, and instructs the application program 5 (associated with a table or the like) associated with the first data file 6 to print the data file 6. Or if the application program 5 associated with the first data file 6 is OLE automation-controllable, it issues a print command directly to the application program. Then, the application program 5 receiving the print instruction
Reads the data file 6, obtains printer information such as a printer name and printing conditions from the printer information management unit 7, and performs printing in accordance with the printer information. Next, the print control unit 4 changes the contents set in the storage unit managed by the printer information management unit 7 to printer information (this information is stored in, for example, a RAM) associated with the next data file. Then, a print command for instructing printing of the data file 6 is issued to the application program 5 associated with the data file 6. Hereinafter, the same process is repeated until printing of all data files specified by the user is completed. Then, when printing of all data files is completed, the print control unit 4 returns the printer information before printing saved in a predetermined area of the RAM to the storage unit in the printer information management unit 7. Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to print each data file with different printers and different printing conditions only once by setting the printer information, despite printing a plurality of data files at once. Can be. It is also possible to store a program in which the above-described file print control method is programmed in a recording medium, load the program into a personal computer or the like via the recording medium, and execute the operation according to the present invention in the personal computer. It is.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention,
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when printing a plurality of data files at once, the printing control program changes the printer management information managed by the operating system prior to printing, so that the printer to be used or the printing conditions, or A printer and printing conditions are set, and subsequently, according to the instruction of the printing control program, the plurality of data files are printed by application programs associated with each other, for example, different shell printing methods. The operation becomes extremely simple, for example, when printing a plurality of data files associated with the application program at one time. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when printing a plurality of data files at once, prior to printing, the print control program changes the printer management information managed by the operating system so that the printer to be used or the printing conditions can be changed. Or a printer and printing conditions are set, and subsequently, the plurality of data files are printed by application programs of different OLE automation systems associated with each other according to an instruction of the printing control program. For example, when printing a plurality of data files associated with different application programs at once, the operation becomes extremely simple. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the printer to be used, the printing conditions, or the printer and the printing conditions are changed by changing the printer management information managed by the operating system after printing is completed. Since the printing conditions are returned to the settings before printing, for example, the setting before printing is set to a printer used as a standard printer, the paper type is A4, the printing direction is vertical, the number of copies is 1 copy, and the printing target is all. In many cases, printing can be performed without resetting the printer information, and thus the operation is further simplified. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first, second or third aspect of the present invention, when printing a plurality of data files at once, a printer or a printing condition to be used differs depending on the data file to be printed. Can be set to
Despite printing multiple data files at once,
By setting printer information only once, each data file can be printed under different printers and under different printing conditions. In the invention according to claim 5,
According to the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, prior to printing, a printer or a print condition or a setting screen for setting the printer and the print condition is displayed. Conditions, or printer and printing conditions can be easily set. According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a program in which the file print control method according to any one of the first to fifth aspects is programmed is stored in a recording medium, so that the program is loaded into a personal computer or the like via the recording medium. Accordingly, the operation according to the present invention can be executed in the personal computer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a screen view of a printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a screen view of a printing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... personal computer, 2 ... printer,
3 ... Print setting user interface, 4 ... Print control unit, 5 ... Application program, 6 ...
・ Data file, 7 ・ ・ ・ Printer information management unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a plurality of application programs executed on an operating system; and a plurality of data files printable by each of the application programs, wherein the application programs and the data files are associated by the operating system. And when the operating system instructs the operating system to print the data file, the operating system instructs the application program to print the data file. In the file print control method, a plurality of data files are printed at once. Prior to printing, the print control program changes the printer management information managed by the operating system before printing, so that the printer to be used, the printing conditions, Sets the printer and printing conditions, followed by an instruction of the print control program, file print control method, which comprises printing by the application program associated with the plurality of data files, respectively. And a plurality of data files printable by each of the application programs. The application programs are associated with the data files. In a file print control method in which an application program is instructed to print the data file and the data file is printed, when printing a plurality of data files at once, the print control program manages an operating system prior to printing. By changing the printer management information to be used, the printer to be used, the printing conditions, or the printer and the printing conditions are set, and then the plurality of data files are copied according to the instruction of the printing control program. File print control method, which comprises printing by the application program associated with, respectively. 3. The file printing control method according to claim 1, wherein after printing is completed, printer management information managed by the operating system is changed to change a printer to be used, printing conditions, or printer and printing conditions. A file print control method characterized by restoring settings before printing. 4. A file printing control method according to claim 1, wherein different settings are made according to a printer to be used or printing conditions according to a data file to be printed. 5. A file printing control method according to claim 1, wherein a setting screen for setting a printer, printing conditions, or printer and printing conditions is displayed prior to printing. File printing control method. 6. A program storage medium storing a program in which the file print control method according to claim 1 is programmed.