JP2003256167A - Information processing device, program and information transmitting/receiving method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To support exchange of information relating to printer-adaptable software between user and developer. <P>SOLUTION: A print information control part 160 of a computer 10 obtains information relating to print processing of a printer driver 120, a two-way communication module 140 and a port driver 150. When a print result according to a demand can not be obtained, the control part accesses a server computer 30 of a printer maker to obtain and display points in the latest version changed from the current version of the installed software. When the print result according to the demand can not be obtained even by the latest version, the information relating to the print processing obtained from the printer driver 120 and the like is transmitted to the server computer 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for supporting exchange of information between a user and a printer maker regarding various kinds of software for performing print processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a printer host that generates print data for printing a document in operation based on a print instruction from a user and outputs the print data to a printer, various software such as a printer driver cooperate with each other. Processing necessary for printing.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a software configuration in the printer host.

As shown in the figure, a printer host 80 having an operating system 800 as basic software
Is an application 810 and a printer driver 82.
0, the spooler 830, the bidirectional communication module 840, and the port driver 850 cooperate to perform print processing, and output print data to the printer 90.

The printer driver 820 receives the drawing command of the document being processed by the application 810 and converts it into print data based on the print settings received from the user. Here, the drawing command is a drawing function in a format defined by the operating system 800, and the print data is data expressed in a format interpretable by the printer 90 for controlling the print processing of the printer 90. The spooler 830 performs processing for temporarily storing the print data output by the printer driver 820 in the storage device. Two-way communication module 8
The control unit 40 obtains the status of the printer 90 and performs control for transmitting print data to the printer 90 according to the status of the printer. The port driver 850 controls the port that communicates with the printer 90.

Generally, the printer driver 820, the spooler 830, the bidirectional communication module 840, and the port driver 850 perform processing according to the model of the printer 90, and therefore software developed by the printer manufacturer (hereinafter referred to as "printer compatible software"). It is called).

The printer-compatible software developed by the printer manufacturer needs to be compatible with various applications and hardware in general, and these applications and hardware have a huge variety of products.
Development speed is fast, and version upgrades and model changes are frequently performed.

Therefore, the printer compatible software is
It is often used in combinations, states, etc. that were not assumed at the time of development, and it is possible that the processing cannot be performed as scheduled and the printing result that the user desires cannot be obtained. It may also be desirable to change some specifications.

In order to cope with such a situation, the printer maker revises the software in the form of version upgrade even after the printer compatible software has been distributed to the market.

In the printer compatible software, each software performs different processing. Therefore, when the desired print result cannot be obtained, it is necessary to identify which software has the cause. Then, if necessary, the causative software is changed to the latest version so that the desired print result can be obtained.

If the desired print result cannot be obtained even with the latest version, the printer maker is notified of that fact and a request is made to support the next version.

[0012]

However, it is difficult for a general user to specify the cause, and there is a problem that it takes time to obtain the latest version of software. Therefore, if the user can obtain information about which software should be upgraded to obtain the desired print result, the software can be immediately obtained from the developer, which is convenient.

Further, as user support, if it is possible to obtain information regarding printer compatible software when the print result desired by the user is not obtained,
It is convenient because it can be used as materials such as version upgrades.

An object of the present invention is to support the exchange of information regarding printer compatible software between a user and a developer.

[0015]

In order to solve the above problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing device storing software for performing print processing, the print processing being performed by the software. Print information acquisition means for acquiring information about the information, means for connecting to a predetermined server computer on a computer network, and print information transmission means for transmitting the information acquired by the information acquisition means to the server computer. An information processing device is provided.

The software stored in the server computer may be further provided with a software acquisition means for acquiring a newer version of the software stored in the information processing apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a program executable by an information processing apparatus that stores software for performing a printing process, and the printing performed by the software is performed. Information including print information acquisition means for acquiring information regarding processing, means for connecting to a predetermined server computer on a computer network, and print information transmission means for transmitting the information acquired by the information acquisition means to the server computer There is provided a program characterized by being constructed by a processing device.

It is to be noted that the information processing apparatus may further be configured to have software acquisition means for acquiring the software stored in the server computer and having a newer version than the software stored in the information processing apparatus. can do.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to a third aspect of the present invention, information is provided between an information processing device storing software for performing print processing and a server computer of a developer of the software. A transmitting / receiving method, the information processing apparatus accessing the server computer, and software stored in the server computer, the software having a newer version than the software stored in the information processing apparatus. A step of displaying, on the information processing device, information about a difference from the software stored in the information processing device that is executing the program,
A step of transmitting to the server computer information relating to a printing process performed by software stored in the information processing device; and software stored in the server computer, the software stored in the information processing device. An information transmitting / receiving method is provided, further comprising any one of the steps of transmitting a newer version of software to the information processing device.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the outline of the configuration of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the present invention is
The computer 10 to which the printer 20 is connected is connected to a server computer 30 managed by user support via a computer network 40.

Computer network 40 may typically be the Internet. In the present embodiment, the case where the Internet is used will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this.

The computer 10 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) for executing various programs and a RAM (Random Acc) for temporarily storing data and programs.
ROM (Read Only Memo) in which nonvolatile memory (essMemory), various data, and various programs are stored in advance.
ry), a general information processing apparatus including an interface for controlling data transmission / reception with a connected peripheral device such as the printer 20, for example, a personal computer can be used.

Further, the computer 10 is provided with a communication control device inside or outside so that information can be exchanged via the computer network 40.

Further, the computer 10 includes a display device such as a color display, an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard, a media reading device for reading data from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, and an internal or external auxiliary storage device. It is connected.

In this embodiment, the computer 10 is
The CPU executes the printer control program (printer driver) and the like read in the RAM and performs a predetermined process, thereby functioning as a printer host.

The printer 20 prints based on the print data sent from the computer 10.

Like the computer 10, the server computer 30 can use a general information processing apparatus,
The communication control device can exchange information via the computer network 40.

In this embodiment, the server computer 3
In the case of 0, the CPU executes the program or the like read in the RAM and performs a predetermined process to function as a Web server.

Next, a functional configuration realized by the computer 10 used by the user in this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

As shown in the figure, on the computer 10, an operating system 100, an application 110, a printer driver 120, and a spooler 1
30, the bidirectional communication module 140, the port driver 150, the print information control unit 160, the Web browser unit 170, and the communication control unit 180 are built.

These functional units are built on the computer 10 by the CPU executing a predetermined program read by the RAM. The program for this is
For example, it can be distributed by recording it on a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM. Then, the program can be installed in the computer 10 by reading the recording medium with a medium reading device. It can also be installed via the computer network 40.

The operating system 100 is basic software for controlling the computer 10.

The application 110 causes the computer 10 to execute predetermined processing such as graphic processing and word processing. Application 110
When receiving the print command from the user, the printer transmits a document drawing command related to the print command to the printer driver 120 via the operating system 100. Here, the drawing command is a drawing command of a graphic defined in the specifications of the operating system 100.
It is composed of drawing commands for character strings.

The printer driver 120 includes a print condition setting unit 120a, a print data generating unit 120b, and a print information generating unit 120c.

The print condition setting unit 120a receives print condition settings relating to paper settings, resolution settings, etc. from the user. The print data generation unit 120b receives a drawing command and converts the print command into print data for controlling the printer 20 based on the setting of the print condition. The print information generation unit 120c performs a process of generating information necessary for analyzing the print data generation process of the printer driver 120.
Here, the information necessary for the analysis of the print data generation process of the printer driver 120 includes, for example, the generated print data, the data size, the data format, the setting information of the print condition,
It can be the received drawing command or the like.

The spooler 130 is the printer driver 12
A process for temporarily storing the print data output by 0 in the auxiliary storage device is performed.

The bidirectional communication module 140 includes a bidirectional communication processing section 140a and a bidirectional communication information processing section 140b.

The bidirectional communication processing section 140a is provided in the printer 2
The status of the printer 20 is acquired by performing bidirectional communication with the printer 0, and control is performed for transmitting print data to the printer 20 according to the status of the printer 20. The bidirectional communication processing unit 140a also performs processing for displaying the acquired information based on the status of the printer 20 on a display device or the like. Two-way communication information generation unit 14
0b performs a process of generating information necessary for analyzing the bidirectional communication process of the bidirectional communication processing unit 140a. Here, the information necessary for analyzing the bidirectional communication processing of the bidirectional communication processing unit 140a is, for example, the device ID information of the printer 20,
The status information of the printer 20, which is periodically acquired, and the acquisition time of the status information can be used.

The port driver 150 includes the port controller 1
It has a port 50a and a port information generator 150b.

The port controller 150a controls a port for communicating with the printer 20. The port information generation unit 150b performs a process of generating information necessary for analyzing the port control process of the port control unit 150a. Here, the information necessary for analyzing the port control processing of the port control unit 150a can be, for example, a data transfer mode, transmission data and transmission time, reception data and reception time, and the like.

The print information control unit 160 communicates with the user support server computer 30 on the basis of a predetermined URL to check the latest version of the printer compatible software and print information generated by the printer driver 120. , Bidirectional communication information generated by the bidirectional communication module 140, the port driver 15
A process of acquiring information necessary for analyzing the printing process in the computer 10 including the port information generated by 0 (hereinafter collectively referred to as “print information”) and transmitting the information to the server computer 30 is performed.

The web browser section 170 accesses the web server and performs processing relating to the display of web pages. The web browser unit 170 can be configured using general-purpose web browser software.

The communication control unit 180 performs a process of converting various data in the computer 10 into a protocol used in the computer network 40 and outputting the data, and vice versa.

The printer compatible software of the printer driver 120, the spooler 130, the bidirectional communication module 140, and the port driver 150 has information about the version of each program and the development date, and the print information control unit 160. Can be referred to from. Note that the spooler 130 is provided by the operating system 100 and may be removed from the reference target of the print information control unit 160 when the printer maker cannot change it. At this time, the spooler 130 is also excluded from the processing target in the processing described later.

Next, a functional configuration realized by the server computer 30 managed by the user support in this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

As shown in the figure, the server computer 3
0, the communication control unit 310 and the Web front unit 32.
0, the backend control unit 330, the file revision database 350, the latest file database 360, and the print information database 370 are constructed.

Communication control section 310, Web front section 32
0, the back-end control unit 330 is constructed on the server computer 30 by the CPU executing a predetermined program read by the RAM. In addition, the file revision database 350 and the latest file database 36
0, the print information database 370 can be constructed on an auxiliary storage device, for example.

The communication control unit 310 performs a process of converting various data in the server computer 30 into a protocol used in the computer network 40 and outputting the protocol and vice versa.

The Web front unit 320 performs processing for causing the server computer 30 to function as a Web server. Further, the web front unit 320 includes a file for generating a web page, and controls web page transition, data transmission / reception, etc. according to a predetermined rule in accordance with a user's instruction on the web page. Do.

The back-end control section 330 receives the print information control section 160 of the computer 10 via the Web page.
To obtain information about the printer compatible software installed in the computer 10 and to obtain information necessary for analyzing the printing process in the computer 10.

The file revision database 350 is a database for storing information on printer compatible software developed by user support in the past. That is, the file revision database 350 manages a history of information regarding printer compatible software. The file revision database 350 is, for example, file name 3
50a, version 350b, development date 350c, and change information 350d are managed as one record.

The file name 350a is information for specifying the type of printer compatible software, and can be, for example, a printer driver or a spooler. The version 350b is information indicating the version of the file (software). The development date 350c is information indicating the development date of the file. The change information 350d manages the contents changed in the latest version from the file. For example, the fact that it corresponds to a new application,
The new specifications correspond to the new functions and the changed specifications.

In order to manage such information, the backend control unit 330 has the file revision database 350.
With reference to, it is possible to acquire the contents changed in the latest version of the software inquired by the user.

The latest file database 360 is a database for storing the latest version of printer compatible software. Latest file database 36
0 manages the file name 360a, the version 360b, the development date 360c, and the file body 360d as one record.

The file name 360a is information for specifying the type of printer compatible software. The version 360b is information indicating the version of the latest file (software). The development date 360c is information indicating the development date of the latest file. File body 360
d is the body (program) of the latest file.

The print information database 370 is a database for storing print information received from the user's computer 10. Print information database 370
Is, for example, reception date and time 370a, user information 370b,
The print information 370c is managed as one record.

The acceptance date and time 370a indicates the date and time when the information regarding printing was accepted from the user. User information 370b
Is information about the user who sent the information about printing, and can include, for example, an e-mail address, a telephone number, and the like. The print information 370c stores print information acquired by the print information control unit 160 of the user's computer 10. The analyst of the user support is the print information 37
The information recorded in 0c can be analyzed, and the analysis result can be notified to the user specified by the user information 370b.

Next, the operation processing of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation processing of the computer 10 in this embodiment. The user
When printing is performed from the printer 20 and the desired print result is not obtained, this processing is performed.

When the print condition setting unit 120a of the printer driver 120 receives a print instruction from the user while the application 110 is being executed, the print condition setting unit 120a displays a print setting screen as shown in FIG. Prompt setting of conditions (S101).

In FIG. 5, the print setting screen 500 includes a tab portion 500a for selecting the type of setting item, a basic setting screen 500d displayed in the initial state, an OK button 500b, and a cancel button 500c. ing.

The user can select the type of setting item on the tab portion 500a, display the setting screen, and set various items included in the setting screen. For example, in the basic setting screen 500d displayed in the initial state,
Settings such as paper type, ink type, print mode, and the remaining ink amount can be confirmed. Other types of setting items include, for example, paper settings, color management, layout,
It can be a survey page connection, etc.

The printing condition setting section 120a includes a tab section 500.
When the survey page connection 501 is selected in a, a survey page connection screen 500e, an example of which is shown in FIG. 6, is displayed on the display device (S102).

As shown in this figure, the survey page connection screen 5
00e is "Connect to the survey page in case of trouble" button 5
It is equipped with 02. Upon accepting the click of the "connect to survey page when in trouble" button 502 on the screen 500e, the printing condition setting unit 120a displays a screen 520 notifying that the survey page is connected as shown in FIG. Display on the display device.

When the click of the "OK" button 520a is accepted on this screen 520, the print information control section 160 displays the W
Using the eb browser unit 170, the latest software survey page opened by the user support server computer 30 is accessed according to a predetermined URL (S103).

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of the latest software survey page. On this screen, the user can select the software to be investigated, enter the version, and click the "send" button 540c. Further, by clicking “automatic detection” 540d, printer compatible software installed in the computer 10 can be automatically investigated.

When the back end control section 330 of the server computer 30 receives the click of the "send" button 540c, it acquires the software and version selected by the user via the Web front section 320 (S1).
04).

When the click of "automatic detection" 540d is accepted, the print information control unit 16 of the computer 10
0 is issued, and the versions of all printer compatible software installed in the computer 10 are acquired (S104).

Then, with respect to the acquired software and version, referring to the file revision database 350, the corresponding change information 350d is extracted and displayed (S105).

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of the latest software survey result display page displaying the extracted change information 350d. As shown in the figure, the latest software survey result display page 560 shows the survey target software, the latest version of the software, and the changes made to the latest version of the software from the version of the software installed on the user's computer 10. Is displayed. In addition, in FIG. 8, when the click of “automatic detection” 540d is accepted and a plurality of software is the subject of the investigation, the click of “other software” 560d is accepted to display the investigation result regarding the other software. .

The user can click "Apply latest software" 560e when the desired print result can be obtained by the change point 560c displayed on the screen 560.

When the back-end control section 330 receives the click of "Apply latest software" 560e, it extracts the file body 360d of the corresponding software from the latest file database 360 and sends it to the user's computer 10. This file on computer 1
0 receives and installs. (S106).

As a result, the user can update the printer-compatible software to the latest version,
The desired print result can be obtained.

If the software is composed of finer modules, the unit of transmission to the user's computer 10 may be module units.

On the other hand, when the user cannot obtain the desired print result even by the change point 560c displayed on the screen 560, "software not supported" 560
You can click f.

When the Web front part 320 receives a click on "Software not supported" 560f, it displays a print information transmission page 580 as an example shown in FIG. 10 (S107).

On the print information transmission page 580, the user
You can enter an email address, a phone number, and a comment about printing that does not produce the desired result, and click "Preparing to send print information" 580d.

Then, after "Print information transmission preparation" 580d is clicked, printing is executed and "Print end" 580e
By clicking, the print information can be sent to the user support server computer 30.

That is, the back end control section 330
When the click of “preparation for printing information transmission” 580d is accepted, the printing information control unit 160 of the user's computer 10
Send a print information collection instruction to. Print information control unit 160
When the computer 10 performs printing, the print information generated by the print information generation unit 120c of the printer driver 120, the bidirectional communication information generated by the bidirectional communication information generation unit 140b of the bidirectional communication module 140, Each piece of information generated by the port information generator 150b of the port driver 150 is acquired (S108).

Then, when the user clicks the "print end" 580e, the collected information is sent to the electronic mail address, telephone number,
The comment is sent to the server computer 30 (S109). It should be noted that after each piece of information is acquired, the user may separately perform the transmission processing of the acquired information.

The back-end control section 330 of the server computer 30 receives the received information (including comments),
The e-mail address and the telephone number are recorded in the print information database 370.

The administrator of the user support analyzes the print processing based on the print information recorded in the print information database 370. The print information recorded in the print information database 370 includes not only the information on the processing of the printer driver 120 but also the information on the processing of the bidirectional communication module and the port driver. Can be done.

Then, the analysis result is used as the user information 370.
Send to the email address recorded in b. When the software is revised as a result of the analysis, a new version of the software is registered in the latest file database 360, and the changes are registered in the file revision database 350. Further, the fact is transmitted to the e-mail address address recorded in the user information 370b.

As a result, the user can obtain the analysis result by the user support and obtain the desired print result.

Further, the printer maker can easily obtain the information about the printer compatible software after distribution, and can use it as a material for version upgrade and the like.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to support the exchange of information regarding printer compatible software between a user and a developer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a functional configuration realized by a computer 10 used by a user.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a functional configuration realized by a server computer 30 managed by user support.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining operation processing of the computer 10 in the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen 500.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of a survey page connection screen 500e.

[Fig. 7] is a screen 5 for notifying that the survey page is connected.
It is a figure for explaining an example of 20.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of a latest software survey page.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of the latest software survey result display page displaying the extracted change information 350d.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of a print information transmission page 580.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a software configuration in a conventional printer host.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Computer 20 ... Printer 30 ... Server computer 40 ... Computer network 80 ... Printer host 90 ... Printer 100 ... Operating system 110 ... Application 120 ... Printer driver 130 ... Spooler 140 ... Two-way communication module 150 ... Port driver 160 ... Print information control unit 170 ... Browser section 180 ... Communication control unit 310 ... Communication control unit 320 ... Front part 330 ... Back-end control unit 350 ... File revision database 360 ... Latest file database 370 ... Print information database 800 ... Operating system 810 ... Application 820 ... Printer driver 830 ... Spooler 840 ... Two-way communication module 850 ... Port driver

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus storing software for performing print processing, comprising: print information obtaining means for obtaining information about print processing performed by the software; and a predetermined server computer on a computer network. An information processing apparatus comprising: a connecting unit; and a print information transmitting unit that transmits the information acquired by the information acquiring unit to the server computer. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the software stored in the connected server computer is a newer version of the software stored in the information processing apparatus. An information processing device, further comprising: 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing by the software acquisition means and the processing by the print information transmission means are selectively performed based on a user's instruction. Information processing device. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the software stored in the server computer is a newer version of the software stored in the information processing apparatus. An information processing apparatus, further comprising means for acquiring information about a difference from software stored in the information processing apparatus from the server computer and displaying the information. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the software for performing the print processing is at least one of a printer driver, a spooler, a bidirectional communication module, and a port driver. An information processing device comprising: 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information related to the print processing performed by the software is the generated print if the software for performing the print processing includes a printer driver. At least one of data, data size, data format, print condition setting information, and accepted drawing command is included, and if the software for performing the print processing includes a bidirectional communication module, If at least one of the device ID information and status information of the printer to be communicated is included and the software for performing the printing process includes the port driver, at least one of the data transfer mode, the transmission data, and the reception data is included. An information processing device characterized by being included. 7. A program that is executable by an information processing apparatus that stores software for performing print processing, the print information obtaining means obtaining information about print processing performed by the software, and a predetermined program on a computer network. A program for causing an information processing apparatus to construct a unit for connecting to the server computer and a print information transmitting unit for transmitting the information acquired by the information acquiring unit to the server computer. 8. The program according to claim 7, wherein the software stored in the connected server computer is a newer version of the software stored in the information processing apparatus. A program characterized by further causing software processing means to be constructed in an information processing device. 9. The program according to claim 8, wherein the processing by the software acquisition means and the processing by the print information transmission means are selectively performed based on a user's instruction. program. 10. The program according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the software stored in the server computer is a newer version of the software stored in the information processing apparatus, and the program. A program for causing the information processing apparatus to further construct means for acquiring information about a difference from the software stored in the information processing apparatus that is executing the above from the server computer. 11. The program according to claim 7, wherein the software for performing the printing process includes at least one of a printer driver, a spooler, a bidirectional communication module, and a port driver. A program characterized by including. 12. A recording medium readable by an information processing device, which records the program according to any one of claims 7 to 11. 13. A method of transmitting and receiving information between an information processing device storing software for performing print processing and a server computer of a developer of the software, the information processing device accessing the server computer. And a software stored in the server computer, the software having a newer version than the software stored in the information processing apparatus, and the software stored in the information processing apparatus executing the program. Displaying information on the difference on the information processing device, transmitting information on a printing process performed by software stored in the information processing device to the server computer, and storing the information on the server computer. Software There, the information transmitting and receiving method characterized by further comprising one of the steps of the step, of transmitting the new version of the software than the software the information processing apparatus is stored in the information processing apparatus. 14. An information processing apparatus storing software for performing print processing, a server computer managed by a developer of the software, the server computer storing a latest version of the software.
A network system configured to include the means for accessing the server computer and software stored in the server computer, the software being stored in the information processing apparatus. Also obtains information about the difference between the new version of the software and the software stored in the information processing device from the server computer and displays the information, and the printing process performed by the software stored in the information processing device. For transmitting information about the information to the server computer, and a process for acquiring from the server computer software stored in the server computer, the software having a newer version than the software stored in the information processing apparatus. ,of Network system, characterized in that it comprises a means for processing the Zureka.