JP2002287924A - Printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the control, reduce the load of control of a printer driver itself, and to realize affinity with OS. SOLUTION: A host computer 100 (OS) comprises an application 1, the printer driver A20, and a driver addition function 22, and these components are under the control of the OS 40. The printer driver 20 comprises a print setting unit 4 for acquiring printing format information to be printed by a printer device 30, a driver addition unit 6a for operating the driver addition function 22 present in the OS 40 and additionally installing the driver, a setting storing unit 6 having a set content designating unit 6b for setting the present set content to the additionally installed driver, a setting reading unit 7 for reading set information already stored in the printer drivers 21 and 23, and a printing data generation unit 10 for generating the printing data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printer driver, and more particularly, to a printer driver for simplifying an installation operation by adding a printer driver in a print dialog of an application.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printing system of this kind, a printer driver which is a program forming part of an operating system (hereinafter referred to as an OS) is used in order for an application program to create a document in a host computer and print the document. Start The printer driver responds to the user's instruction and prints (e.g., paper direction, paper size, paper type, resolution, color / black and white, color conversion table, halftoning processing such as error diffusion and dither, print density, After determining a set value specifying dot gain, color balance, lightness, saturation, etc.), a document from the application is converted into data in a format that can be printed by the printer according to the set value, and sent to the printer. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a print system in a conventional example. As shown, the host computer 10
0 (OS) includes an application 1 and a printer driver (A) 20, which are under the control of the OS. Further, the printer driver 20 includes the printer device 30.
A print setting unit 4 for obtaining print format information of the content to be printed, a setting storage unit 6 for storing the print format information group 9 in a file or a registry, and a setting reading unit 7 for reading the already stored setting information. The print data generating unit 10 generates print data, which is a group of commands that can be interpreted by the printer device 30. When the printer driver (A) 20 is selected from the application 1, information of the driver itself is read into the current setting value 5 as an initial setting value of the driver, and then the user opens a user interface (UI) screen of the driver. Then, the print setting unit 4, which also serves as a display of the setting contents, performs a display according to the current setting value 5 in a form that the user can understand. A setting saving function provided by a conventional printer driver saves a current setting value 5 through a setting saving unit 6 in the form of a setting saving information group 9 in the form of a file or information in a registry, and reuses it. In this case, the user opens the driver UI, and reads the setting
Necessary setting storage information (A
To C) and read them (thick dotted line). But,
The OS 100 can print within the setting conditions of the currently installed printer driver (A), but other functions cannot be performed unless another driver of the same type is installed. Therefore, as a function provided by the OS 100, a plurality of drivers of the same type can be installed. Therefore, it is necessary for the user to install the driver through the driver addition function 22 of the OS 100. This operation is independent of the same kind of printer driver (A) 20 already installed.

In the example shown in the figure, a printer driver (A) 20
This is an example of additionally installing a driver of the same type as “NX800 double-sided 2in1”. After the installation, the user also needs to directly open the printer driver (B) 21, change the setting to be used, and store the initial setting value of the printer driver (B) 21. With such means, it is possible to install a plurality of drivers of the same type with different settings, but the user has to take the trouble of installing the same number of drivers. In other words, when installing, the software stored on the CD or the FD is set in each reading device, and the operation is performed according to the setting of the OS. However, once a plurality of drivers have been installed with different settings, a list of available drivers is displayed when the print dialog 2 is opened from the application 1, so that only the necessary driver is selected from the list. The point that printing can be performed by setting is the same as before.

[0004]

When printing from a PC via an application, there is usually a print dialog box that the application outputs to the screen, and the user further performs printing by pressing a button for starting printing. If the user wants to use various functions of the printer driver, the user presses a property (or detailed custom setting) button in the print dialog box to display a UI screen of the printer driver. On this UI screen, functions relating to printing can be finely set, and a printed material desired by the user can be set freely within an allowable range. In the conventional example of FIG. 4, there is known a function of registering the setting contents as an icon on a UI screen of the driver and using the icon. The driver setting information is stored in a file or registry created by the driver itself.
It is something that the driver remembers. For example, it is displayed as an icon on the driver's UI screen, and the user can delete or newly create the registered icon, but the information is managed only in the driver and cannot be used from outside. . Further, a data structure for the management and a program for resource management are complicated, and the load of modification when the function of the driver is expanded also increases. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a plurality of printer driver settings are registered and managed.
The effective use of the print setting contents storage function of the printer driver provided by the OS itself facilitates its management, and also reduces the management burden on the printer driver itself and enhances compatibility with the OS. Aim.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a computer-readable storage medium for storing an application as a means for realizing a specific purpose in a computer. Operating system (OS) for controlling the computer, the operating system providing an operating environment for the application
A printer setting unit that controls a printer device that is an output terminal, wherein the printer control unit obtains print format information of contents to be printed by the printer device, A driver addition unit that operates a driver addition function existing in the OS and additionally installs a driver; and a setting storage unit that includes a setting content designation unit that sets current setting content for the additionally installed driver. A setting reading unit that reads setting information from a stored printer driver; and a print data generating unit that fetches the print format information and generates print data that is a group of commands that can be interpreted by the printer device. And According to this invention, unlike the additional installation work provided by the OS, such as a printer addition wizard, the driver of the same model can be additionally installed by a simple operation without specifying the maker, model, model, and the like.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the driver adding section has means for additionally installing a current driver installed in the OS, and adds an additional name to the additionally installed driver at that time. Registration on the print dialog of the application is also an effective means of the present invention. The invention of claim 3 is an effective means of the present invention, wherein the setting content specifying unit specifies the same content as the current setting content as an initial setting for the additionally installed driver. According to the technical means of the second and third aspects, the setting contents can be saved by utilizing the structure of the OS, so that there is no need to display or manage the setting contents in the driver UI screen, and the driver program can be more easily executed. It will be simple and easy to understand. Also,
The driver corresponding to the setting information can be called directly from the print dialog of the application.

The invention of claim 4 is an effective means of the present invention in that the setting contents can be combined by selecting one or a plurality of properties from properties displayed by the print setting unit. According to such technical means, an arbitrary operation can be realized by variously combining a plurality of different setting contents. Therefore, the individual independent operation and the combination operation thereof can be freely selected, and the variation of the printer driver is widened. The invention of claim 5 is also an effective means of the present invention, in which the additionally installed driver can be selected from a print dialog of the application, and printing is performed based on the setting conditions of the selected driver. According to this technical means, the control of the printer icon of the OS can be used for managing a plurality of pieces of print setting storage information.
The affinity with the OS is improved.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. However, the components, types, combinations, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like described in this embodiment are not merely intended to limit the scope of the present invention but are merely illustrative examples unless otherwise specified. . FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a print system according to the present invention. In the figure, 100 is a computer, and 30 is a printer. As illustrated, the computer 100 runs on an OS 4
0, an application 1 running on the OS 40 to create and edit the document 42, and a printer driver 20. The document 42 includes print parameters (not shown) indicating the contents of print information set for the document 42. OS40
Manages the printer driver management unit 41 and the setting storage information group 9 of the document 42 being used. However,
In the following description, the description of the printer driver management unit 41 is omitted, and when the printer driver 20 is operated from the OS 40, the printer driver management unit 41 controls the printer driver 20.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the print system of the present invention. As shown, the host computer 100
The (OS) includes an application 1, a printer driver (A) 20, and a driver addition function 22, which are under the control of the OS 40 in FIG. Further, the printer driver 20 includes a print setting unit 4 for acquiring print format information of contents to be printed by the printer device 30, a driver addition unit 6a for operating a driver addition function 22 existing in the OS 40 to additionally install a driver, and A setting storage unit 6 having a setting content designating unit 6b for setting the current setting content for the additionally installed driver
And a setting reading unit 7 that reads the setting information of the printer drivers 21 and 23 that have already been stored, and a print data generating unit 10 that generates print data that is a group of commands that can be interpreted by the printer device 30.

Next, the operation of the printing system of the present invention will be described. This operation is roughly divided into three operations.
First, the default setting operation of the printer driver (A) 20 installed from the beginning, the operation of setting the driver selection unit 2a in the print dialog 2, and the driver is selected from the set driver selection unit 2a. This is an operation to be selected and executed. 1) Default operation: To print a document created by the application 1, when a print dialog 2 is opened, a driver selection unit 2a is displayed therein. When "NX800 default setting" 2a-1 is selected,
The print setting unit 4 is called, and properties (not shown) are displayed. The printing condition specified by the property displays the contents of the initial setting value 8 of the driver. When the printing conditions are set and an “OK button” (not shown) is pressed, the data of the current setting value 5 goes to the print data generation unit 10 according to the conditions, and the print data is generated and the printer device 30 is generated.
Is printed. 2) Setting operation of the driver selection unit: In addition to the default setting conditions, for example, two-in-one printing on both sides (reducing two pages and printing on one page), stapling the upper left of the document, or the like. There is a demand for stapling the upper left corner of a double-sided printed document in combination. In order to fulfill those requests, in the present invention, when the print dialog 2 is opened, the driver selection section 2a is displayed therein. "NX800 default setting" is displayed therein. When "NX800 default setting" is selected, the print setting unit 4 is called, and properties are displayed. There are indications such as upper left staple, double-sided, 2in1 and so on. If you want to print 2in1 on both sides, select both sides and 2in1 and press the setting save button (not shown). Name designation section 6a-1 in addition section 6a
Displays the message "Please specify a name." Then, when the name of “NX800 both sides 2in1” is input and the OK button is pressed, the contents of the printer driver (A) 20 are installed as they are using the driver addition function 22 in the OS 40. However, the name is "NX8
The printer driver (B) of “00 double-sided 2in1” is stored, and “NX800 double-sided 2in1” is displayed in the driver selecting section 2a.
2a-2 is added. In addition, if the user wants to staple the upper left corner of the double-sided print document, the user can select both sides and the upper left staple in the same manner.
00 double-sided upper left staple "2a-3" is further added.
Thus, by combining the properties of the print setting unit 4, it is possible to install a printer driver having various functions. 3) Driver selection execution operation: With the above setting operation, in this example, printer drivers of three different operations are installed in the driver selection unit 2a. For example, to execute the operation of “NX800 double-sided upper-left staple”, open the print dialog 2 and select “NX800 double-sided upper-left staple” from the driver selection section 2a, and press the OK button. 7 indicates the current setting value of the printer driver (C) 23
And print data is converted into print data by the print data generation unit 10 according to the data, and an operation of stapling the upper left corner of the document printed on both sides by the printer device 30 is executed. As described above, when saving the initial setting contents of the selected driver with other settings, it is the same as the related art that the user changes the setting through the print setting unit 4 and then instructs the setting saving unit 6 to save the setting. It is. The difference is that the conventional setting storage unit 6 stores the current setting value 5 as it is in the form of data such as a file. However, in the present invention, the printer driver 21 or 23 is added, and the setting for the added driver is set. The point is to indicate the value.

In the present invention, the added drivers (“NX800 double-sided 2in1” 2a-1 and “NX800”) are selected from the driver selection unit 2a in the print dialog 2 of the application 1.
Only by selecting the 800 double-sided upper left staple "2a-3), it is possible to print from the driver of the required setting, so that the setting reading unit 7 is not required. The job of the setting reading unit 7 is to read the initial settings from the same type of driver as the already added printer driver (A) 20 and reflect the initial settings in the current setting values. Further, when the driver is selected from the application 1, the print setting unit 4 which reads the information held by the driver as the initial setting value 8 of the driver into the current setting value 5 and displays the setting contents is provided by the user. Although this is displayed in an understandable manner, this portion is the same as that of the conventional driver. Without opening a, since it specifies by simply selecting the driver from the driver selection portion 2a of the print dialog 2 applications 1, there is an effect capable of providing a meaningful operation to the user.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a computer according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the hardware configuration of the computer includes C
PU 100, main storage device 101, external storage device 104 as a hard disk device, other external storage device 105,
Input device 1 such as keyboard or pointing device
02, an output device 103 such as a display device, and the like, and a general computer hardware configuration connected by a bus 108 can be used. In this case, the OS 40, the application 1, the printer driver 20, and the like illustrated in FIG. 1 are realized as processes embodied on a computer by the CPU 100 executing the program loaded in the main storage device 101. The program loaded into the main storage device 101 and executed by the CPU 100 is stored in the external storage device 104 in advance, loaded into the main storage device 101 as necessary, and
Performed by U100. Alternatively, a portable storage medium 106, for example, via an external storage device 105 that handles a CD-ROM, as necessary,
6 is loaded into the main storage device 101 and executed by the CPU 100. Alternatively, the external storage device 1 such as a hard disk device is temporarily transferred from the portable storage medium 106 via the external storage device 105 that handles the portable storage medium.
After being installed on the server 04, it is loaded into the main storage device 101 as needed, and executed by the CPU 100.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, unlike the additional installation work provided by the OS, such as the printer addition wizard, according to the present invention, the manufacturer, model,
The driver of the same model can be additionally installed by a simple operation without specifying the model. According to the second and third aspects, since the setting contents can be saved using the structure of the OS, there is no need to display and manage the setting contents in the UI screen of the driver, and the driver program is made simpler and easier to understand. Become. The driver corresponding to the setting information can be called directly from the print dialog of the application. According to the fourth aspect, an arbitrary operation can be realized by variously combining a plurality of different setting contents. Therefore, the individual independent operation and the combination operation thereof can be freely selected, and the variation of the printer driver is widened. According to the fifth aspect, since the control of the printer icon of the OS can be used to manage the plurality of print setting storage information, the user can easily understand the information and improve the affinity with the OS.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a print system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a print system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a computer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a print system in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 application, 2 print dialogs, 2a driver selection section, 3 user interface, 4 print setting section, 5 current setting values, 6 setting storage section, 6a driver addition section, 6b setting content specifying section, 7 setting reading section, 8 driver 10, print data generation unit, 20 printer driver A, 21 printer driver B, 22 driver addition function, 23 printer driver C, 30 printer device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An application stored in a storage device of a computer as means for realizing a specific purpose of the computer, an operating system for controlling the computer and providing an operating environment of the application, A print control unit that controls a printer device that is an output terminal, wherein the printer control unit includes: a print setting unit that acquires print format information of contents to be printed by the printer device; A driver adding unit that operates a driver adding function existing in the system to additionally install a driver, and a setting saving unit that includes a setting content designating unit that sets current setting content for the additionally installed driver, and has already been saved. From the printer driver A setting reading unit for reading the information, it takes in the print format information, print system, characterized in that it and a print data generating unit that generates print data said printer device is capable of commands interpreted. 2. The driver adding section includes means for additionally installing a current driver installed in the operating system. At this time, the driver adding section adds an additional name to the additionally installed driver, and The print system according to claim 1, wherein the additional name is registered on a print dialog. 3. The print system according to claim 1, wherein the setting content specification unit specifies the same content as the current setting content as an initial setting for the additionally installed driver. 4. The print system according to claim 3, wherein one or more of the setting contents can be selected and combined from properties displayed by the print setting unit. 5. The print according to claim 2, wherein the driver additionally installed can be selected from a print dialog of the application, and printing is performed based on a setting condition of the selected driver. system.