JP2001216246A - Medium having installation program recorded thereon, installation device and installation method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve such problem that an operation considered as being extremely complicated or hard to understand by a user is required in order to install an appropriate driver to a peripheral equipment capable of selecting various connection ports. SOLUTION: At the time of acquiring and storing the control program of the peripheral equipment, a port to be connected is detected by urging the connection of the peripheral equipment or the like. It is assumed that the peripheral equipment for which acquisition and storage are to be performed is connected to the detected port and the execution environment of the control program is set. Thus, even when the user is not conscious of the connection port at all, the installation of the control program is automatically and appropriately completed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a medium recording an installation program for setting up a driver for controlling peripheral devices, an installation apparatus, and an installation method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Computer peripherals such as printers are:
Generally, the driver for the peripheral device is controlled, and the user needs to install the driver on the computer before using the peripheral device. One conventional technique uses an installation program recorded on a medium bundled with the peripheral device. In this installation program, the driver for the peripheral device is copied to the hard disk, and a predetermined setting such as a port to which the peripheral device is to be connected is automatically performed.

On the other hand, as a technique for reducing the complexity of setup when a new peripheral device is connected to a computer, a so-called plug and play has been adopted in recent OS. In the plug-and-play, when a new peripheral device is connected to a computer, the peripheral device is recognized as an unknown device and a driver installation program is started, and the installation program starts a predetermined user interface (UI). Installation is performed while obtaining necessary information from the user via the software. At this time, the user is caused to select a connection model, or to prepare a medium in which a driver is recorded and to select a storage location of the driver.

[0004]

The above-mentioned conventional installation program has the following problems. That is, there are various external interface standards in recent computers, and there are some peripheral devices that are connected to different ports even if they are the same. Therefore, the connection port cannot be determined in advance by the former installation program, and the driver installation cannot be completed automatically as described above. On the other hand, it is very complicated especially for a beginner to perform the above selection work even in plug and play like the latter, and depending on the model, once the installation is mistaken, the incorrect setting is retained. In the end, users who were not familiar with the system would have required a great deal of effort to reinstall.

In any case, at present, in order to install an appropriate driver for a peripheral device from which various connection ports can be selected, an operation that the user feels very complicated or difficult to understand is imposed. Was. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has a medium and an installation device in which an installation program capable of automatically and appropriately completing the installation of a driver without a user being conscious of a connection port is recorded. And installation method.

[0006]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medium recording an installation program for setting a predetermined peripheral device to be controllable by a computer. A control program data acquisition and storage function for acquiring and storing program data for controlling the peripheral device; a connection port detection function for detecting a port to which the peripheral device is connected; And a port setting function for setting the connection to the specified port.

[0007] In the invention according to claim 1 configured as described above, the control program automatically sets connection ports required when controlling the peripheral device to be controlled. That is, the connection port detection function detects the port to which the peripheral device is connected, and the port setting function sets that the control target is connected to the detected port. Therefore, the user does not need to enter any connection destination of the peripheral device when installing the control program, and does not need to be aware of the connection destination,
The control program settings are made easily.

Here, in order to install a driver, it is necessary to automatically set a connection port of a peripheral device, and usually to set an appropriate peripheral device name and a model name.
Therefore, as a preferable example in such a case, claim 2
According to the present invention, there is provided a medium recording the installation program according to claim 1, wherein the control program data acquisition / storage function temporarily sets information on a peripheral device to be controlled by the control program.

In the invention according to claim 2 configured as described above, information on peripheral devices to be controlled by the control program is provisionally set by the control program data acquisition and storage function. That is, the same process as the installation program as in the above-mentioned conventional example is executed to automatically install the driver in the temporarily set state, and then reconnect to the connection port detected by the port setting function. As a result, settings other than the port connection are automatically performed, and the user can execute the installation program according to the present invention only once, and thereafter can complete the installation work without any awareness.

Here, in the present invention, there may be a plurality of modes as the provisional setting information of the control program. In the present invention, the connection port is set to a USB (Universal) even for the same model.
(sal serial bus) or parallel port, so that the temporary setting is performed and the detected port is set again. For example, the setting for the most general-purpose port and the largest number of units are sold. It is preferable to make provisional settings in accordance with the specifications of the model that is considered to be performed. That is, as a result of the detection by the connection port detection function, there is no need to make a new setting unless it is necessary to change the setting. Therefore, this configuration can reduce the work time required by the largest number of users.

The connection port detection function only needs to detect a port to which a peripheral device is connected, and various methods are available. Therefore, as an example of a configuration for this purpose, the invention according to claim 3 is a computer-readable recording medium storing the installation program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the connection port detection function includes the connection of the peripheral device. It is configured to perform bidirectional communication with a peripheral device via a port that can be used.

[0012] In the invention according to claim 3 configured as described above, since bidirectional communication is performed with the peripheral device, it is possible to obtain, for example, a manufacturer name and a model name of the peripheral device. From these manufacturer name and model name, it can be determined which peripheral device is connected to a predetermined connection port. In addition, various modes are possible for the method of determining the port that can be connected. For example, since the model of the peripheral device to be installed is known at the time of the installation work, it may be possible to perform bidirectional communication with a connection port that can be used by the model. Of course, communication may be performed with all the physical ports provided in the computer, or communication may be preferentially performed from the physical port that is expected to be used by many users according to the type of peripheral device.

As described above, there are often a plurality of ports for connecting peripheral devices, and it is conceivable that a new port standard will be adopted as the technology advances in the future. Further, it is conceivable that a plurality of peripheral devices are connected in a bus type to a single port such as a so-called USB port or 1394 port. Therefore, as an example of a configuration for coping with such a case, in the invention according to claim 5, the connection port detection is performed on a medium in which the installation program according to claim 3 or 4 is recorded. The function is configured to determine an appropriate control target peripheral device from at least one or more peripheral devices connected to any of the plurality of physical ports based on the bidirectional communication.

In the invention according to claim 5 configured as described above, the control target is selected from among the plurality of peripheral devices by using the manufacturer name and model name of the peripheral device that can be obtained by the bidirectional communication. The peripheral device may be determined.
In other words, even if two or more manufacturers and models of peripheral devices are received by two-way communication, if the peripheral device to be installed is properly selected from among them, monitoring of multiple physical ports and single port The monitoring of a plurality of peripheral devices connected to is performed.

As described above, in the present invention, it is not necessary for the user to input a connection port at all, but it is necessary to physically connect a cable to the port. The invention according to claim 6 is an example of a configuration for more simply showing such a connection method.
The medium on which the installation program according to claim 5 is recorded, wherein the port setting function prompts a user to connect the peripheral device to a desired port.

In the invention according to claim 6 configured as described above, the port setting function prompts the user to connect the peripheral device to a desired port. here,
Prompting for connection can be performed using a UI or the like displayed on the display of the computer, or can output sound. In addition, it is possible to show images of connection cables and ports to users, and of course,
It is also possible to prompt the user to turn on the power of the peripheral device.

Further, the port setting function only needs to be able to set that the control target of the stored control program is connected to the detected port.
There are various approaches. As an example of such a configuration,
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medium on which the installation program according to the second to sixth aspects is recorded, wherein the port setting function corrects setting information of the peripheral device including the temporarily set information. This setting is made by temporarily evacuating from the storage position, updating the save setting information with the detected connection port information, and storing the updated information in the appropriate storage position.

In the invention according to claim 7 configured as described above, the setting information of the peripheral device to be installed is temporarily evacuated from an appropriate storage position before detecting the connection port. Therefore, it is possible to update the setting information with the connection port information at the time of a new main setting, and it is also possible to arrange unnecessary setting information. For example,
If the erroneous setting such as the plug and play has been performed before the installation, the erroneous setting information may be deleted. Further, when only the connection port is incorrectly set, the control program data acquisition / storage function does not need to be realized by a computer, and the connection port detection function and the port setting function are realized by a computer. I just want to be able. Therefore, it is possible to provide an installation program as a medium for realizing these two functions.

Of course, the recording medium described above may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium to be developed in the future. Also, the duplication stages of the primary duplicated product, the secondary duplicated product, and the like are equivalent without any question. Although different from the above-described medium, if the supply method is performed using a communication line, the communication line is used as a transmission medium and the present invention is used. Further, even when a part is implemented by software and a part is implemented by hardware, the concept of the present invention is not completely different, and a part is stored on a recording medium and appropriately It may be in a form that can be read.

As described above, the method of detecting the port to which the peripheral device is connected at the time of installing the driver and setting the detected port to be used is realized by a substantial computer. It can be easily understood that the present invention is also applicable as an apparatus including such a computer. Therefore, claims 8 to 14 are provided.
In the invention according to the present invention, the same operation is basically obtained. Needless to say, such an apparatus may be implemented alone, or may be implemented together with another method while being incorporated in a certain device. And can be changed as appropriate.

When such an installation program proceeds in accordance with such control, it is natural that the invention exists in its procedure, and it is easily applicable as a method. Can understand. Therefore, the invention according to claims 15 to 21 has basically the same operation. In other words, there is no difference that the method is not necessarily limited to a tangible medium or the like and is effective as a method.

[0022]

As described above, according to the first, eighth, and fifteenth aspects of the present invention, the user does not need to input any connection destination of the peripheral device, and is conscious of the connection destination. The setting of the control program is easily performed without the need to perform the setting. According to the second, ninth, and sixteenth aspects of the present invention, the user can execute the installation program according to the present invention only once, and thereafter can complete the installation work without any consideration. . Furthermore, according to the third, tenth, and seventeenth aspects of the invention, a peripheral device connected to a predetermined port can be easily detected.

Further, claim 4, claim 11, and claim 1
According to the eighth aspect, a port to be detected can be easily specified. Further, claim 5 and claim 1
2. According to the invention of claim 19, an appropriate peripheral device to be installed can be easily detected. Further, according to the inventions according to the sixth, thirteenth, and twentieth aspects, the installation procedure can be more clearly shown to the user. Furthermore, according to the invention according to claims 7, 14 and 21, the setting information of the peripheral device can be updated as an appropriate connection port.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic hardware configuration in a state where a printing apparatus is connected to a computer as a peripheral device. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram in a case where the present invention is realized as an installation program including a plurality of modules in the computer. Is shown.

First, the schematic hardware configuration shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The computer 10 has a CPU 11 which is a center of arithmetic processing. The CPU 11 is connected to a ROM 1 such as a BIOS via a system bus 12.
3 and the RAM 14 are accessible. A hard disk drive 15 as an external storage device, a floppy disk drive 16 and a C
A D-ROM drive 17 is connected, and an OS 20 and an application program (not shown) stored in the hard disk drive 15 are transferred to the RAM 14, and the CPU 11 accesses the ROM 13 and the RAM 14 as appropriate to execute software. That is, the RAM 14
Is executed as a temporary work area.

An input device for operating a keyboard 41 and a mouse 42 is connected to the serial communication I / O 19a, and the display 18 for display is connected via a video board (not shown).
Is also connected. Further, the printer 50 is connected to the I / O 19b for parallel communication, the I / O 19c for USB, and the 1394.
It can be connected via the user I / O 19d. Here, the 1394 I / O 19d is an I / O for realizing a high-speed serial connection conforming to the IEEE 1394 standard. Further, the parallel communication I / O 19b has three physical ports LPT1 to LPT3 and a USB port.
The I / O 19c for use has two physical ports USB1 and 2 on the main body of the computer 10, and the I / O 19d for 1394 has one physical port.

Although the configuration of the computer 10 has been described in a simplified manner, a personal computer having a general configuration can be employed. Of course, the computer to which the present invention is applied is not limited to a personal computer. This embodiment is a so-called desktop computer, but may be a notebook computer or a mobile computer. Also,
The connection interface between the computer 10 and the printing device 50 is also the I / O 19b for parallel communication and the I / O for USB.
It is not necessary to limit to the I / O 19d for 19c and 1394, and various connection modes can be adopted, and the same applies to any connection mode developed in the future.

In this embodiment, the installation program 30 and the printer driver (PRTDR) according to the present invention are used.
V) The data of 21 is recorded on the CD-ROM 17a, but the recording medium is not limited to this.
For example, it may be the floppy disk 16a or the hard disk drive 15. CD-ROM1
7a is installed on a CD-ROM.
The data is read by the computer 10 via the ROM drive 17 and transferred to the RAM 14. In this situation, the installation program 30 in the RAM 14
The program is executed by U11, and the PRTDRV 21 is installed in the hard disk drive 15 by the program.

The recording medium is not limited to this, but may be a magneto-optical disk or the like. Furthermore, a nonvolatile memory such as a flash card can be used as a semiconductor device, and the communication line is used as a transmission medium when downloading by accessing an external file server via a modem or a communication line. The present invention is utilized. The printing device 50 includes a CPU, firmware, and the like (not shown), and receives print data transmitted from the computer 10 via a predetermined I / O according to a program described in the firmware. And
The printing device 50 performs printing based on the data while driving a head and a printing paper transport mechanism with a predetermined motor.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Then, after executing this installation program 30, PRTD
The RV 21 is installed on the OS 20 and the printing device 50
Is created, and an appropriate port to which the printing apparatus 50 is connected is set in the registry 22. Here, the printer queue is a logical printer that can be used by the user for printing, and even if only one printing device 50 is physically connected, printing is performed with a plurality of settings for one printing device. In order to realize the above, it is conceivable to install a plurality of printer queues.

The installation program 30 comprises a driver acquisition and storage module 31 and a port switching module 32. The driver acquisition and storage module 31 transfers the data of the PRTDRV 21 corresponding to the peripheral device to be installed from the CD-ROM 17a to the hard disk drive 15. I do. Further, a printer queue is created with provisional settings for the printing apparatus 50 to be installed, necessary parameters are acquired, and the port switching module 32 is started.

The port switching module 32 is started while a predetermined parameter is added, detects a port to which the printing apparatus 50 is connected using the parameter, and determines that the port is connected to an appropriate port.
Etc. are reset. More specifically, the port switching module 32 includes a port setting unit 32a and a connection port detection unit 32b, and a printer driver name (/ DRV) is obtained from the driver acquisition storage module 31.
And printer queue name (/ DEV) and manufacturing company name (/ MF
G), model name (/ MDL), and port name (/ PORT)
It is invoked with the name specified as a mandatory parameter.

Here, the port name designates an object for detecting whether or not a peripheral device is connected.
The connection port detection unit 32b attempts bidirectional communication via all the designated ports. Of course, a plurality of the same port names can be specified, and in this embodiment, the serial communication I / O 19a and the parallel communication I / O 19a are used.
/ O19b, USB I / O19c and 1394 I / O
Either or a combination with 19d can be specified.

Further, the name of the manufacturer and the name of the model are
It is used to determine whether the peripheral device detected to be connected to / O is an appropriate peripheral device. That is, the connection port detecting unit 32b acquires the information of the communication partner as a result of the bidirectional communication, and compares the manufacturer name and model name of the communication partner with those given as the parameters, thereby obtaining the printing device 50. To discover. Therefore, the port to which the printing device 50 to be installed is connected is determined. The port setting unit 32a is a module for executing the setting of the registry 22 and the creation of a printer queue assuming that the same connection port is used. The printer driver name and the printer queue name are reset and the printer queue is recreated. Sometimes used.

Here, the form of the parameters used in the present invention is not limited to those described above, and various other forms can be adopted. For example, a device ID can be used to specify a printing apparatus, or a port can be monitored. You can also specify a time-out time interval for doing so. As described above, in the present embodiment, the driver acquisition and storage module 31 configures the control program data acquisition and storage function, the connection port detection unit 32b configures the connection port detection function, and the port setting unit 32a configures the port setting function. Is configured.

FIG. 3 shows a flow of processing executed by the driver acquisition and storage module 31 in such a configuration. In the figure, in step S100, the CD-
The data of the PRTDRV 21 recorded in the ROM 17a is copied to the hard disk drive 15 so as to be stored in a predetermined storage location managed by the OS 20, and the components of the PRTDRV 21 are registered. In step S110, a printer queue of the printing device 50 to be installed is created. Step S1
10 is a so-called WINDOWS (WIN
DOWS corresponds to setting the printing apparatus 50 as an available printer in a printer folder in a Microsoft (registered trademark) -based OS.

In order to create a printer queue, it is actually necessary to set a connection port, a device ID, a data format, a driver to be used, and the like in the printer queue. In step S120, it is determined that the created printer queue is for the printing apparatus 50. PRTDRV2 copied
A predetermined association such as the use of
Is temporarily set. In the present embodiment, the settings other than the connection port are known at the time of installing the printing apparatus 50. Therefore, if it is not determined whether the connection port is appropriate or not, the above-described conventional installation will be performed. Step S1 using a program or the like
The processing from 00 to S120 can be executed.

In this embodiment, the CD-ROM 1
It is assumed that an installation program dedicated to the printing device 50 is recorded in the CD-ROM 7a.
It is also possible to install a driver for a plurality of models at 17a. In this case, a UI or the like may be displayed before step S100 to allow the user to select a desired model. Also, even if the connection by plug and play is attempted before the installation program is started and the setting is incorrect, the installation program sets the printer queue created in step S110. The setting information does not hinder the installation.

In step S130, parameters required for starting the port switching module are acquired. Here, the essential parameters are the driver name, printer queue name, manufacturing company name, model name, and port name as described above. The driver name is the name of the driver copied in step S100, and the printer queue name is the name in step S1.
10 is the name of the printer queue created. The manufacturer name and the model name can be determined in advance from the fact that the printing apparatus 50 is installed, and the port names are all the I / Os 19a to 19d usable by the printing apparatus 50.
Is specified. When necessary parameters are obtained in step S130, the port switching module 32 is activated while giving these parameters.

FIG. 4 shows a flow of processing performed by the port switching module 32. In FIG.
At 200, the UI 18a is displayed on the display 18 as shown in FIG. In the UI 18a, a caption indicates that the installation of the printer is being executed, and the user is prompted to wait for a predetermined time. At this time, the printing device 50 has already been set to the predetermined I / Os 19a to 19a.
If the user is connected to d, the user automatically completes the installation operation without performing any operation such as input operation using the keyboard 41 or processing of the connection cable.

In step S205, the driver acquisition / storage module 31 acquires setting information relating to the printer queue name given at the time of startup, and stores the information in the RAM 14. The information stored here is the printing device 50 set as the printer queue name.
Installation information, and all the information needed to update the printer queue later using the appropriate connection port. In step S210, the setting information of the printer queue name is deleted. Therefore,
All information provisionally set in step S120 is R
Saved in AM14.

Thus, steps S205, S21
0, the setting for the printer queue name is saved for later resetting. In step S215, bidirectional communication is attempted via one of the given I / Os of the given port names, and the port The presence or absence of a communication partner in is determined. If it is determined in step S215 that a communication partner exists at the port, the process proceeds to step S215.
At 220, it is compared whether or not the given manufacturer name and model name match the manufacturer name and model name of the communication partner found at step S215.

If it is determined in step S220 that the two match, the communication partner is the printing device 50 that is currently being installed, and the installation of the printing device 50 is performed according to the appropriate setting information in the flow shown in FIG. Execute. That is, step S225
In the information stored in the RAM 14 in step S205, the connection port is set to the connection port in step S215.
The printer is updated to the port where the printer 50 is found, and the information is stored in an appropriate position of the hard disk drive 15 to create a printer queue. Then, in step S230, the UI 18e shown in FIG. 10E is displayed to notify the user that the installation has been normally completed, and the program ends.

If it is not determined in step S215 that there is a communication partner at the port where the two-way communication has been attempted, it is determined in step S235 whether a search for a communication partner has been performed for all the given port names. Step S2 until all ports have been searched.
The processing of 15 or less is repeated. If it is determined in step S235 that a search for a communication partner has been performed for all of the given port names, and in step S22 described above.
If it is not determined at 0 that the communication partner of the predetermined port is the printing device 50, then at step S240 FIG.
Is displayed. The UI 18b confirms the connection between the printer and the computer, prompts the user to turn on the power, and visually and clearly displays the position of the power supply in the printing apparatus 50 and the like. Also, a cancel button is displayed for a user who wants to interrupt the installation on the way.

In step S245, step S24 is performed.
It is determined whether or not the cancel button displayed at 0 is selected by operating the mouse 42 or the like.
If it is determined in step 245 that the cancel button has been selected, the process proceeds to step S1 in the flow shown in FIG.
At 20, the state where the temporary setting has been performed is restored. That is,
At step S290, the information stored in the RAM 14 is restored as it is. Then, in step S295, a message indicating that the port has not been set is displayed as shown in FIG. Here, since the settings other than the connection port are executed at the end of the program, a user familiar with the system can switch the port setting by himself using the function of the OS 20.

If it is not determined in step S245 that the cancel button has been selected, the process proceeds to step S2.
At 50, it is determined whether or not a timeout has occurred. In the present embodiment, it is determined that a timeout has occurred when 180 seconds have elapsed from the start of communication in step S215. If the number of seconds has not elapsed, the process returns to step S215 and repeats the processing. When it is determined in step S250 that the timeout has occurred, an appropriate instruction is given to the user in accordance with various situations in the processing shown in FIG.

In the figure, in a step S255, it is determined whether or not all the given port names including those existing at the same port such as the LPTs 1 to 3 are usable. If it is determined in step S255 that all ports are available, it is determined in step S275 whether the timeout in step S250 is the first time-out. That is, in the present embodiment, at the time of the first time-out, an inquiry is made to the user as to whether or not a retry is to be performed. UI18 shown in (d)
Display d.

In other words, in this situation, two-way communication can be performed at the port given above, but the one corresponding to the printing device 50 cannot be found as a communication partner. On the other hand, it indicates that there is a possibility that the printing device 50 is not connected or another printing device is connected. Also, this U
At I18d, a retry button and a cancel button are displayed to allow the user to select whether to continue the installation work. Then, in step S285, it is determined whether or not the retry button has been selected. When the retry button has been selected, the process returns to step S215 to repeat a series of processes.

When it is not determined in step S275 that the initial timeout has occurred, and when it is not determined in step S285 that the retry button has been selected, the processing shown in FIG. 7 is executed, and the printer queue is restored in step S290. Then, the UI 18f is displayed and the program is terminated. If it is not determined in step S255 that all ports are available, it is determined in step S260 whether the timeout in step S250 is the first time-out. Same step S
If it is determined at 260 that the time is the first time-out, at step S265 the UI 18c shown in FIG.
Is displayed.

That is, since the situation is a situation where any of the ports given as parameters are unusable, the user is notified that the port cannot be confirmed on the same UI 18c. Also, this UI1
8c also displays a retry button and a cancel button to allow the user to select whether to continue the installation work. Then, in step S270, it is determined whether or not the retry button has been selected. When the retry button has been selected, the process returns to step S215 to repeat a series of processes.

If it is not determined in step S260 that the initial timeout has occurred, the processing shown in FIG.
In step S290, the printer queue is restored, and FIG.
The UI 18g shown at 0 (g) is displayed, and the program ends. Note that the UI 18g clearly indicates that the port could not be confirmed, and indicates to the user to refer to the manual and deal with the trouble. If it is not determined in step S270 that the retry button has been selected, the process shown in FIG. 7 is executed, and the printer queue is restored in step S290.
The UI 18f is displayed and the program ends.

In the present embodiment, the driver acquisition / storage module 31 and the port switching module 32 follow the above-described flow, so that the user can execute the installation program and connect the cable of the printing apparatus 50 without any awareness of the connection port. The printer 50 can be installed in the computer 10 simply by connecting the printer 50 to any one of the I / Os 19a to 19d. Hereinafter, an installation operation performed when the printing apparatus 50 is not connected to the computer 10 will be specifically described.

The installation program according to the present invention is recorded on the CD-ROM 17a as described above,
The installation program is executed, for example, by W-clicking while instructing the mouse on the display 18. When the execution of the installation program is started, the driver acquisition / storage module 31 is activated, and the PRTDRV 21 recorded on the CD-ROM 17a in step S100 is stored in the hard disk drive 1.
5 and a printer queue is created in step S110 and the association is provisionally set in step S120.

Next, the driver acquisition / storage module 31 starts the port switching module 31 with parameters. The port switching module 31 determines in step S200
In step S205 and step S210, the temporary setting information is saved while displaying the UI 18a to indicate to the user that the process is being executed. Here, since the printing device 50 has not been connected to the computer 10 yet, step S21
The UI 18b is displayed after the determination at 5, S235. Therefore, the user can use the printing device 50 and the computer 10
It is understood that it is necessary to connect a cable to the I / Os 19a to 19d.

At this time, a so-called plug and play may be activated depending on the type of the OS 20. However, when the work according to the present invention is properly completed, the processing is completed in a very short time and proper installation is performed. Plug and play ends immediately and the user is almost unaware. If the user connects the printing device 50 to the computer 10 via the cable before the timeout as described above, bidirectional communication with the printing device 50 starts in step S215, and
At 20, the name of the manufacturer and model of the printing device 50 is compared with the parameters given above.

Here, since the printing apparatus 50 was to be installed, the communication partner is determined to be an appropriate printing apparatus by the above comparison. Thereafter, in step S225, the connection port in the temporary setting information is determined to be appropriate. The installation is normally completed in step S230. Therefore, after this, the user can use the printing device 50 as a peripheral device of the computer 10, and the user does not need to perform any input via the keyboard 41 before completing the installation. . Simply connect the cable of the printing device 50 to the computer 10 and turn on the power.

The UIs 18a, 18b,
18e is also concise, only the UI 18b allows the user to perform some action, and the only work performed by the user is shown very simply. Further, if the printing apparatus 50 is connected to the computer 10 via a cable from the beginning, step 240
Therefore, the installation operation is completed without displaying the UI 18b. In addition, even if the installation is not performed normally, a countermeasure is clearly presented to the user by the UI.

As described above, in the present invention, when the control program for the peripheral device is acquired and stored, the port to be connected is detected by prompting the user to connect the peripheral device. Then, the execution environment of the control program is set assuming that the peripheral device to be acquired and stored is connected to the detected port. Therefore, even if the user is completely unaware of the connection port, the installation of the control program can be automatically and appropriately completed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic hardware configuration diagram in a state where a printing device is connected as a peripheral device to a computer.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of modules of an installation program.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process executed by a driver acquisition and storage module.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process executed by a port switching module.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process executed by a port switching module.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process upon normal termination.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing at the time of abnormal termination.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UI displayed during installation.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a UI displayed during installation.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a UI displayed during installation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Computer 11 ... CPU 12 ... System bus 13 ... ROM 14 ... RAM 15 ... Hard disk drive 16 ... Floppy disk drive 16a ... Floppy disk 17 ... CD-ROM drive 17a ... CD-ROM 18 ... Display 18a-g ... UI 19a ... Serial communication I / O 19b Parallel communication I / O 19c USB I / O 19d 1394 I / O 20 OS 21 PRTDRV 22 Registry 30 Installation program 31 Driver acquisition and storage module 32 Port Switch module 32a Port setting unit 32b Connection port detection unit 41 Keyboard 42 Mouse 50 Printing device

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A medium for recording an installation program for setting a predetermined peripheral device to be controllable by a computer, the control program data acquisition storage function for acquiring and storing program data for controlling the peripheral device. A connection port detection function for detecting a port to which the peripheral device is connected, and a port setting function for setting that the control target of the stored control program is connected to the detected port. A medium recording an installation program characterized by being realized. 2. A medium on which the installation program according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein the control program data acquisition and storage function temporarily sets information on peripheral devices to be controlled by the control program. A medium recording an installation program to be used. 3. A medium in which the installation program according to claim 1 or 2 is recorded, wherein the connection port detecting function bidirectionally communicates with a peripheral device via a port to which the peripheral device can be connected. A medium on which an installation program characterized by performing communication is recorded. 4. The medium in which the installation program according to claim 3 is recorded, wherein the connection port detection function acquires a detection target port previously assigned to the predetermined peripheral device, and A medium on which an installation program is recorded, wherein the two-way communication is performed using a port. 5. A medium in which the installation program according to claim 3 or 4 is recorded, wherein the connection port detection function connects to any one of a plurality of physical ports based on the bidirectional communication. A medium storing an installation program, wherein an appropriate control target peripheral device is determined from at least one or more peripheral devices to be controlled. 6. The medium in which the installation program according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein the port setting function prompts a user to connect the peripheral device to a desired port. A medium having recorded thereon an installation program. 7. A medium in which the installation program according to claim 2 is recorded, wherein the port setting function stores setting information of the peripheral device including the temporarily set information in an appropriate storage location. A medium on which an installation program is recorded, wherein the installation program is temporarily saved, the saving setting information is updated with the detected connection port information, and the updated setting information is stored in an appropriate storage location. 8. An installation device for setting a predetermined peripheral device to be controllable by a computer, comprising: control program data acquisition and storage means for acquiring and storing program data for controlling the peripheral device; Connection port detection means for detecting a port to which a device is connected; and port setting means for setting that the control target of the stored control program is connected to the detected port. Installation equipment to do. 9. The installation apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the control program data acquisition and storage means temporarily sets information on peripheral devices to be controlled by the control program. . 10. The installation apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the connection port detection means performs bidirectional communication with a peripheral device via a port to which the peripheral device can be connected. An installation device, characterized in that: 11. The installation device according to claim 10, wherein the connection port detection means acquires a detection target port assigned to the predetermined peripheral device in advance and uses the detection target port. An installation apparatus for performing the above two-way communication. 12. The installation device according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the connection port detection means is connected to at least one of a plurality of physical ports based on the bidirectional communication. An installation device for determining an appropriate peripheral device to be controlled from peripheral devices. 13. The installation apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the port setting means prompts a user to connect the peripheral device to a desired port. Installation equipment to do. 14. The installation apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said port setting means temporarily saves setting information of said peripheral device including said temporarily set information from an appropriate storage position. An installation apparatus for performing the main setting by updating the save setting information with the detected connection port information and storing the updated information in an appropriate storage location. 15. An installation method for setting a predetermined peripheral device to be controllable by a computer, comprising: a control program data acquisition and storage step of acquiring and storing program data for controlling the peripheral device; A connection port detection step of detecting a port to which a device is connected; and a port setting step of setting that a control target of the stored control program is connected to the detected port. How to install. 16. The installation method according to claim 15, wherein in the control program data acquisition / storage step, information on peripheral devices to be controlled by the control program is provisionally set. . 17. The installation method according to claim 15, wherein in the connection port detecting step, bidirectional communication is performed with a peripheral device via a port to which the peripheral device can be connected. Installation method characterized by the following. 18. The installation method according to claim 17, wherein in the connection port detecting step, a port to be detected which is given in advance to the predetermined peripheral device is obtained, and the port to be detected is used. And performing the above two-way communication. 19. The installation method according to claim 17 or claim 18, wherein in the connection port detecting step, at least one or more physical ports connected to any of a plurality of physical ports based on the bidirectional communication are provided. An installation method characterized by determining an appropriate control target peripheral device from the peripheral devices. 20. The installation method according to claim 15, wherein the port setting step prompts a user to connect the peripheral device to a desired port. How to install. 21. The installation method according to claim 16, wherein in the port setting step, setting information of the peripheral device including the temporarily set information is temporarily evacuated from an appropriate storage position. An installation method, wherein the setting is performed by updating the save setting information with the detected connection port information and storing the updated information in an appropriate storage location.