JP2003015852A - Network printer system and print setting management program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network printer system and a print setting management program capable of performing setting check and setting change, etc., of printers of the respective users on a computer on a printer manager and reducing management costs. SOLUTION: The print setting information set by the user is stored in a storage part of a server 30 via a network. When the user releases the print setting information in which print setting is performed in a PC terminal 1 via the network 10 (S200), the printer manager can browse a picture of print setting information transmitted from the PC terminal 1. In the case that the printer manager refers to the picture of the print setting information of the user's PC terminal 1, when the print setting information is changed, the user's PC terminal 1 is informed of the changed contents (S201) as print setting change information. In the PC terminal 1 to receive the print setting change information, the setting contents are changed (S202) by reflecting the print setting change information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network printer system and a print setting management program for managing setting information of printer software such as a printer driver of a terminal device on a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the recent spread of networks, a plurality of terminal devices, printer devices, servers, etc. are connected to the network, and all data are transferred to the Internet.
LAN (Local Area Network),
It is designed to be distributed via a network such as WAN (Wide Area Network). Further, it has become possible to control data and software stored in a terminal device located at a remote place via the Internet. When a printer device is connected to such a network, printer software is used to control the printer device from other terminal devices or servers on the network.
The functions of this printer software have also become extremely sophisticated due to the evolution of the printer device itself and the improvement of the network environment.

[0003]

On the other hand, as printer software has become more sophisticated, in an office in a network environment where a plurality of terminal devices are connected, each user may use one printer device for business. is there. In such a case, since the print settings when using the printer device differ depending on each user, the number of inquiries from the user regarding the print setting of the printer device to the printer administrator in the network environment increases, and the printer management cost increases. It will increase. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the printer management cost by investigating the print settings and the like in the printer software on the terminal device of each user on the computer of the printer administrator and directly operating the printer administrator to change the settings. It is to provide a network printer system and a print setting management program that can be reduced.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network printer system for managing print settings of one or a plurality of terminal devices connected to a printer device via a network, wherein A storage unit that acquires print setting information for the printer device and stores it as print setting information; and a storage unit that stores the print setting information in the storage unit in response to a print setting information acquisition request from a terminal device other than the terminal device that acquired the print setting information. The above-mentioned object is achieved by providing the presenting means for presenting the print setting information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the changing means changes the content of the print setting information presented by the presenting means based on a predetermined setting condition, and the changing means changes the content. The above-mentioned object is achieved by further comprising notifying means for notifying the terminal device of the contents of the print setting information thus obtained. In the invention according to claim 3, in the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2, the print setting of the terminal device to which the content of the print setting information changed by the changing means is notified by the notifying means is the notified print The above-mentioned object is achieved by further comprising setting means for setting and revising according to the setting information.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a computer is provided for managing print settings of a printer device connected to one or more terminal devices via a network.
A print setting information acquisition unit that acquires print setting information of the printer device set by the terminal device, and a print setting information acquisition request from a terminal device different from the terminal device that acquires the print setting information by the print setting information acquisition unit. Accordingly, presenting means for presenting the print setting information stored in the print setting information acquiring means, changing means for changing the content of the print setting information presented by the presenting means based on a predetermined setting condition, the change Notifying means for notifying the terminal device corresponding to the print setting information changed by the means of the change of the print setting information, and the print setting information changed by the changing means for the print setting of the terminal device notified by the notifying means. By using a print setting management program to function as a setting unit that adjusts the settings according to
To achieve the above objectives.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. Figure 1
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a network printer system according to this embodiment. In the network printer system of the present embodiment, as an example, the PC terminals 1, ..., N used by the user, the printer device 20,
A server 30 used by an administrator to manage the print settings of the respective PC terminals 1, ..., N and the state of the printer device 20 is connected to each other via a network 10.
In the present embodiment, each PC terminal 1 connected via the printer device 20 or the network 10 ...
The server 30 used by the printer administrator will be described as a computer that provides a management service for the printer software on the. Also, each PC terminal 1, ..., N
, The printer software of the printer device 20 used by each user converts the character and image data received from the application software of the PC terminals 1, ..., N or the OS into data that the printer device 20 can interpret. Then, it will be described as software such as a printer driver that controls the printer device 20 by transmitting the software.

Although the network 10 is described as the Internet by way of example, the present invention is not limited to this, and the printers of the respective PC terminals 1, ..., N such as a captain system and other WAN (wide area network). The user can transmit a predetermined processing request such as a print setting information disclosure request or a print request to the server 30 on the print setting screen by software, and the server 3
0 may be a network capable of executing a predetermined process requested by each PC terminal 1, ..., N. Further, the network 10 may be a network in which the server 30 and the PC terminals 1, ..., N, and the printer device are connected by wire, wireless, or both, a communication network by a line via a dedicated line, a mobile phone. It may be either a wireless communication network using terminals or an information communication network using communication satellites. Also,
The printer administrator will be described assuming that the print setting information of each user in the network 10 is managed by the server 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the network administrator may not
, N may be used as a printer server.

Although not shown, the server 30 includes a control unit, and an input / output unit, a communication control unit, a storage unit, and other devices are connected to each other via a bus line such as a data bus. And The control unit includes various devices according to a program, a CPU (central processing unit) that controls and calculates each unit, a ROM (read only memory) that stores programs and data for the CPU to perform various controls and calculations, and a working CPU. RA used as memory
It has M (random access memory) and the like.
Hereinafter, in the present embodiment, the print setting of the printer software on the PC terminal 1 will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of PC terminals 2, ...
, N can be installed, and the control unit can simultaneously and individually respond to processing requests from a plurality of PC terminal devices ,.

The input / output unit inputs / outputs a predetermined processing request for each of print settings and print requests by the printer software on the PC terminal 1 connected via the network 10 and each data to / from the storage unit. The communication control unit is connected to the network 10 through a general telephone line, an ISDN (Integrated Digital Communication Network) line, and a wireless telephone line (cell phone, PHS, etc.), and together with the control unit that controls the communication control unit,
It plays the role of a response function to a processing request. A hard disk, which is a large-capacity storage device, is mainly used as the storage unit, and stores a program and data for the CPU of the control unit to perform various controls and calculations, and serves as a program of the network printer system of the present embodiment. A functional program section and a database for storing predetermined data such as print setting information and print request information from the PC terminal 1 are provided.

In the program section of the storage section, a data update program for updating a data table of print setting information, print request information, etc. in the printer software on the PC terminal 1 stored in the database, the PC terminal 1 to the network. A request reception processing program for receiving a processing request from a user for a predetermined processing (for example, a data transmission processing such as transmission of print data desired to be printed by the printer device 20) via the request reception processing program. A request processing execution program for executing the processing (data transmission processing) requested in the processing request, and a storage program for storing print setting information in the PC terminal 1 according to each data transmitted by the request processing execution program are stored. Has been done.

In the program section, a program for acquiring information on the print setting screen of the printer software on the PC terminal 1 and presenting it to the printer administrator (a program executed by web browsing software), a printer administrator A notification program for notifying the PC terminal 1 of the change content of the print setting information relating to the print data, the print setting information changed by the printer administrator is reflected in the printer software on the PC terminal 1 (the setting itself on the printer software is A program for executing the reflection of the print setting information by modifying it to the one changed by the printer administrator, a program for transmitting a print execution command from the user to the printer device 20 and instructing the print execution,
Stored are a program for changing the setting items and layouts of the printer software setting screen of the user by the printer administrator, and various other programs. The database stores print setting information for each PC terminal 1, ..., N, print setting screen information, change information when the printer administrator changes print settings, and other information.

Next, the operation of the network printer system according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for viewing and operating print setting information by the printer administrator. First, the user selects the printer device 2 in the printer software of the PC terminal 1.
When print settings such as the resolution and image quality of print data desired to be printed are set to 0, the print setting information set by the user is stored in the storage unit of the server 30 via the network.
When the print setting information previously set by the user in the PC terminal 1 is changed, information indicating that the print setting by the user is changed is also stored in the storage unit of the server 30.

When the user publishes the print setting information set in the PC terminal 1 via the network 10 (step 200), that is, the print setting information set by the user is transmitted to the server 30 and stored in the storage unit of the server 30. When stored, the printer administrator can view a screen (for example, a printer driver property screen) of the print setting information transmitted from the PC terminal 1 on a display screen (not shown) of the server 30. Also,
The control unit of the server 30 responds to the information provision request from the other PC terminals 2, ..., N by the operation of the printer administrator, and the print setting information stored in the storage unit of the server 30 is always used by another user. It can be sent to.

On the display screen of the server 30, the printer administrator uses the web browsing software to let the printer administrator manage the user's PC terminal 1.
When the screen of the print setting information is displayed and referred to, if the print setting information is changed, the control unit of the server 30 uses the changed content of the print setting information as the print setting change information of the user's PC terminal. No. 1 is sent to notify (step 201). Upon receiving the print setting change information from the server 30, the PC terminal 1 changes the setting contents by reflecting the print setting change information from the web browsing software in the printer software (step 202). And
When the printer device 20 receives the print execution instruction of the user after the setting change from the printer software, the printer device 20 performs printing.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for changing / reflecting print setting information by the printer administrator. When the user opens the print setting screen in which the print setting is performed on the PC terminal 1 via the network 10 (step 300), that is, the print setting screen displaying the print setting information set by the user is transmitted to the server 30. When it is stored in the storage unit of the server 30, the printer administrator displays P on the display screen (not shown) of the server 30.
It is possible to refer to the print setting screen (for example, the printer driver property screen) transmitted from the C terminal 1. Further, the control unit of the server 30 responds to the information provision request from other PC terminals 2, ..., N by the operation of the printer administrator, as in the case of FIG.
The print setting information stored in the 0 storage unit can be transmitted to other users at any time.

In the web browsing software of the server 30, when the print setting screen of the user is displayed, the printer administrator can specify not to display unnecessary setting items according to the print setting information set by the user. it can. For example, when the resolution is set to 1200 dpi, the printer administrator changes the resolution on the print setting screen of the user in order to prevent printing because data transmission takes time. The printer administrator can also change the layout set by the user here. After the contents of the print setting items are changed by the printer administrator, the control unit of the server 30 sends the changed print setting screen to the user's PC terminal 1 and notifies the printer software (step 301). Upon receiving the print setting screen in which the print setting items are changed from the server 30, the PC terminal 1 changes the setting contents by reflecting the print setting screen from the web browsing software in the printer software (step 302).

As described above, in the network printer system according to the present embodiment, the printer administrator can check the print settings of each user at the terminal on the printer administrator side and directly operate the printer administrator, so that the network can be efficiently used. Environmental printer setting information can be managed, and printer management costs can be reduced. Further, the print setting screen can be changed according to the user's printing knowledge, and convenience can be provided according to the user.

[0019]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the storage means for acquiring the print setting for the printer device in the terminal device and storing it as the print setting information and the terminal device different from the terminal device which has acquired the print setting information are used. The present invention is provided with a presenting means for presenting the print setting information stored in the storing means in response to the print setting information acquisition request of Therefore, the management cost of the printer can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the changing means for changing the content of the print setting information presented by the presenting means based on a predetermined setting condition, and the content of the print setting information changed by the changing means for the terminal device. Further, since the printer administrator investigates the print settings of the user on the computer and directly operates them, the print setting screen can be changed according to the user's printing knowledge. It is possible to provide convenience according to.

According to the third aspect of the invention, there is provided a setting means for reconfiguring the print setting of the terminal device notified of the content of the print setting information changed by the changing means by the notifying means in correspondence with the notified print setting information. Further, since the printer device is provided, the management cost of the printer device can be reduced, and the print setting screen can be changed according to the user's printing knowledge, and the convenience according to the user can be provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a computer is provided for managing print settings of a printer device connected to one or more terminal devices via a network.
In response to a print setting information acquisition unit that acquires print setting information of the printer set by the terminal device, and a print setting information acquisition request from a terminal device different from the terminal device that acquires the print setting information by the print setting information acquisition unit. A presenting means for presenting the print setting information stored in the print setting information acquiring means, a changing means for changing the content of the print setting information presented by the presenting means based on a predetermined setting condition, and a changing means Notifying means for notifying the terminal device corresponding to the print setting information that the print setting information has been changed, and setting for reconfiguring the print setting of the terminal device notified by the notifying means in correspondence with the print setting information changed by the changing means. Since it functions as a means, the management cost of the printer device can be reduced, and the printing can be performed according to the user's printing knowledge. Can change the constant screen, it is possible to provide convenience in response to the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a network printer system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for viewing and operating print setting information by a printer administrator.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for changing / reflecting print setting information by a printer administrator.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, ..., n PC terminal 10 network 20 Printer device 30 servers

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A network printer system for managing print settings in a terminal device or a plurality of terminal devices connected to a printer device via a network, wherein print setting information for the printer device in the terminal device is acquired, and print setting information is acquired. And a presenting means for presenting the print setting information stored in the storing means in response to a print setting information acquisition request from a terminal device different from the terminal device that has acquired the print setting information. A network printer system comprising: 2. A changing unit for changing the content of the print setting information presented by the presenting unit based on a predetermined setting condition, and notifying the terminal device of the content of the print setting information changed by the changing unit. The network printer system according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit. 3. The setting means for reconfiguring the print settings of the terminal device notified of the contents of the print setting information changed by the changing means by the notifying means in association with the notified print setting information. Claim 1 characterized by the above.
Alternatively, the network printer system according to claim 2. 4. A print setting for acquiring print setting information of a printer device set in the terminal device by a computer for managing print settings of a printer device connected to one or more terminal devices via a network. Information acquisition unit, print setting information stored in the print setting information acquisition unit in response to a print setting information acquisition request from a terminal device different from the terminal device that acquired the print setting information by the print setting information acquisition unit Presenting means for presenting, a changing means for changing the content of the print setting information presented by the presenting means based on a predetermined setting condition, and a print setting for the terminal device corresponding to the print setting information changed by the changing means. Notifying means for notifying that the information has been changed, and the print setting of the terminal device notified by the notifying means is changed by the changing means. Has been set means for re specifications set corresponding to the print setting information, the print setting management program for functioning as a.