JP2003280841A - Printer driver starting system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily carry out a print setting by a simple operation even when the number of functions of a printer driver is large, and the number of screens to be displayed at the setting time is increased. <P>SOLUTION: A 'new registration' button is depressed on an initial screen displayed at the displayed device of a computer to enter a sub-screen (a step 1), and the full setting of print functions and processing functions necessary for a user is executed on the sub-screen (a step 2). Then, an 'end' button is depressed on the sub-screen to return to an initial picture (a step 3), and a registered object is added with a registration name (a step 4), and the print set-up work of the first pattern is ended. The similar operations are carried out by the necessary number of setting patterns, and a plurality of print settings is registered. Thus, it is possible to start a necessary printer driver only by selecting one arbitrary object from the plurality of print setting. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer driver start-up system, and more particularly to a printer driver start-up system in which print settings can be easily specified for a user who has a standard printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today's printer systems have many functions such as printing functions for enlarging, reducing, and consolidating, and processing functions such as stapling, punching, and collating, and their functions are being improved. In addition, as personal computers (personal computers) have improved the functions of such printers,
Printer software (printer driver) that can set various functions to be used in a print job requested to the printer has come to be equipped, and the setting method on the printer driver side becomes complicated accordingly. It has become to.

[0003]

As described above, when the printer is used, the functions normally used by the user are not so diverse, and even if post-processing such as stapling, punching, and collating is performed, it is almost the same. It comes down to a fixed usage. However, the conventional setting of the printer driver requires a user interface, that is, a plurality of screens to be specified in order to execute printing (paper size, resolution, etc.), and steps must be taken each time printing is performed. It was not easy to operate. Therefore, claim 1
In view of the usage mode of the printer by the user, the invention of claim 1 has a plurality of print settings required by the user as one object and registers them in the user interface, so that the printer driver has An object of the present invention is to provide a printer driver start-up system capable of easily performing print setting by a simple operation even if the number of screens displayed during setting increases as the number of functions increases.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even if an object is registered once, depending on the function held by the object, it greatly depends on the device condition on the printer side, and printing may fail due to the change. An object of the present invention is to reduce the frequency of print failures without being aware of the fact that the user resets the object as the state changes.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the setting to be normally used is decided, another effect is temporarily given. Therefore, when the setting is changed, all the items on the user interface are reset. In view of the need and annoyance,
The purpose is to facilitate the operation by using an existing object and changing some of it to enable printing.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the invention of claim 1 is based on a bidirectional communication with a printer connected to a computer. A printer driver activation system capable of exchanging information, wherein a plurality of all required settings are registered as one object on a user interface, and one object required is selected on the user interface, It is characterized in that settings are made for executing printing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printer driver starting system according to the first aspect, the object is periodically optimized by bidirectional communication with the printer.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printer driver starting system according to the first or second aspect, one of the objects is selected on the user interface and a part of the function is temporarily changed to newly create the object. The feature is that printing is executed without registering.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to flowcharts showing the operation of the embodiments shown in FIGS. (Explanation of Claim 1) In the printer driver starting system of the present invention, a computer (personal computer) and a printer are LAN.
Etc. are connected and configured via a network. A display device is attached to the computer as a user interface. In a computer, a printer software system is constructed by application software operating on an operating system (OS), and has a printer driver as a system element thereof. The printer driver accepts a user's input operation from the input operation screen displayed on the display device of the computer.

The application software running on the operating system (OS) of the computer can request the printer to print the data input through the operating system according to a user's instruction. When making a print request, the printer driver receives a print request from the application software through the operating system and creates a print job that can be interpreted by the printer. Further, the printer driver sets print conditions by instructing various functions of the printer from the input operation screen of the user interface together with generation of print data, and reflects them in the print job.

Here, the printing conditions include enlargement, reduction,
There are printing functions such as merging, and processing functions such as stapling, punching, and collating as described above, but the functions normally used by users are not so diverse, and printing functions such as enlarging, reducing, and merging Post-processing functions such as stapling, punching and collating are used in some generally fixed patterns. Therefore, in the present invention, all the settings of the printing function and the processing function required by the user are registered as one object on the user interface. Then, this object can be registered as many times as the number of patterns required by the user. Therefore, when instructing the printer to print from the computer, the user selects one required object on the user interface, activates the required print settings, and executes the printing. Further, in the present invention, the computer and the printer can be bidirectionally communicated via a network, and the computer can receive information about the printer when necessary.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing an operation for registering an object on a user interface in a printer driver starting system according to an embodiment of the present invention. By pressing the "New registration" button on the initial screen displayed on the display device of the computer, the sub screen is entered (step 1), and all the print and processing functions required by the user are set on the sub screen ( Step 2). By pressing the "End" button on the sub screen, the screen returns to the initial screen (step 3), the registered name is given to the registered object (step 4), and the print setting operation for the first pattern is completed. The same operation is performed for the required number of setting patterns, and a plurality of types of print settings are registered.
After that, the printer driver equivalent to the one in which all the settings are specified can be activated by simply selecting an arbitrary object from the plurality of types of print settings.

(Explanation of Claim 2) FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a general bidirectional communication operation of the printer driver. Start the printer driver from the computer's printer folder or application (step 1
1), it is checked whether the bidirectional communication setting on the operating system (OS) side is bidirectional "Yes", and if the bidirectional communication is set (step 1)
2-YES), open the printer port (step 1
3) If the printer port is opened normally (step 1)
4-YES), and it is checked whether the printer model names match (step 15). If the printer model names match in step 15, the printer information is acquired (step 16), it is checked whether the printer information has been successfully acquired (step 17), and if the acquisition is successful (step 17-YES). The model configuration information in the registry is updated with the acquired information (step 18), the printer port is closed (step 19), the printer driver screen reflecting the latest registry information is displayed (step 20), and the process is terminated. If the setting for bidirectional communication is not set in step 12 (step 12-NO),
A one-way communication operation is performed (step 22), and the process ends. If the printer port is not normally opened in step 14, the printer model name does not match in step 15, and the printer information is not successfully acquired in step 17, the printer port is closed ( In step 21), one-way communication operation is performed (step 2).
2), the process ends.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of updating the registered object based on the printer information acquired by bidirectional communication. On the screen where the list of objects is displayed, the setting items held by each object are compared by the information obtained by the two-way communication (step 21). According to the comparison result here, "items whose functions should be deleted" and "items whose functions should be changed" are divided into levels (step 22), and if necessary, items are deleted or changed for the object. (Step 2
3), the process ends.

(Explanation of Claim 3) FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a process in the case of transiting to print execution without newly registering the selected object. The user presses the "change" button on the initial screen to enter the sub screen, and initializes the initial value when entering the sub screen with the object holding information (step 31). Next, after the object holding information is copied for backup (step 32), the function is changed and the object is updated (step 33). Next, waiting for an input as to whether or not to register the icon on the display screen (step 34), if the user does not register the icon (step 34-NO), printing is executed with the retained information of the copied object. (Step 35), the object is again updated with the saved backup information, and the process is terminated. If it is selected to register the icon in step 34 (step 34-YES), the icon is registered and the screen returns to the initial screen (step 37), and the process ends.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention has the following effects. (Effect of Claim 1) For a user whose printer is normally used as a standard setting, the print setting can be designated only by selecting a desired object from a plurality of objects stored in advance. , A very light user interface can be provided.

(Effect of Claim 2) It is possible for the user to reduce the frequency of printing failure because it is not necessary for the user to be aware of resetting the object in accordance with the change in the state on the printer side.

(Effect of claim 3) By using an existing object and making a partial change to it so that printing can be executed, normal operation is performed temporarily while maintaining light operating steps. Since special printing can be performed, there are few mistakes and operations are easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an operation for registering an object on a user interface.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a general bidirectional communication operation of a printer driver.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of updating an object with information obtained by bidirectional communication.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process for transitioning to print execution without newly registering the selected object.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printer driver starting system capable of exchanging information of the printer by bidirectional communication with a printer connected to a computer, wherein all necessary settings are plural as one object on a user interface. A printer driver starting system characterized by performing type registration, selecting one object required on the user interface, and making settings for executing printing. 2. The printer driver activation system according to claim 1, wherein the optimization of the object is periodically performed by bidirectional communication with the printer. 3. The printer driver starting system according to claim 1, wherein one of the objects is selected on the user interface and a part of the functions is temporarily changed without newly registering the object. A printer driver start-up system characterized by executing printing on.