JP2004192159A - Print control unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print control unit dispensing with a storage part for storing information unique to a printer. <P>SOLUTION: Unique information of each printer (printer A, B, C etc.) is collectively stored in an external database server 30. When a new printer is connected, a print control part 25 acquires the unique information of the printer concerned from the database server 30 according to an instruction from a user, and stores the acquired unique information in a printer unique information storage part 24. In printing, the stored unique information is read to generate a printing job to be inputted to the printer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a print control device that submits a print job to a printer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art A printing system that prints out a document or the like created in an information processing apparatus such as a PC (personal computer) from a printer has been widely used. In such a printing system, it is usually necessary to install a printer driver corresponding to the printer in the information processing apparatus in advance. Therefore, when the printer is replaced or a new printer is separately connected, the corresponding printer driver is required. An operation such as re-installing is required, which is troublesome for the user.
[0003]
Therefore, for example, the printer has its own unique information (model name, printable paper size).
, Available optional functions, etc.), the print control device provided in the information processing apparatus acquires the specific information from the printer, recognizes the specific performance of the printer from the acquired specific information, and A technique for generating a print job to be input to a printer has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1).
[0004]
By using this technique, the user does not need to perform an operation of installing a printer driver when replacing a printer or the like, which is convenient.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2000-35864
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in a configuration in which the unique information is stored in the printer as in the above-described conventional technique, it is necessary to insert a process of storing the unique information for all the printers at the time of manufacturing, which is troublesome. In addition, it is necessary to provide a storage unit for storing unique information in all manufactured printers. With the above configuration, the print control device only needs to acquire and store the unique information once, and the printer rarely provides the print control device with the unique information. Providing a dedicated storage unit for all printers manufactured for such rare processing is very disadvantageous in terms of cost. Furthermore, recent printers tend to be provided with many unique functions, and the content required as unique information is increasing, and the storage capacity to be secured must be increased accordingly.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a print control apparatus that does not require a storage unit for storing unique information in a printer.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a print control device according to the present invention is a print control device that submits a print job to an external printer, and transmits the unique information of the printer from a database server connected via a network. The unique information acquiring means for acquiring, and a print control means for generating a print job for causing the printer to perform printing based on the acquired unique information, and submitting the generated print job to the printer. Features.
[0009]
Further, the unique information obtaining means includes a receiving means for receiving a designation of a printer from a user, and obtains the unique information by requesting the database server to transmit unique information corresponding to the designated printer. It is characterized by doing.
The printer further includes identification information acquisition means for acquiring identification information for identifying the printer from the printer, wherein the unique information acquisition means specifies a printer from which to acquire unique information from the acquired identification information, and specifies the printer. By requesting the database to transmit the unique information corresponding to the printer, the unique information is obtained.
[0010]
Further, the printer-specific information is constituted by a text file.
Further, connected to a display, the printer-specific information includes information on the performance of the printer, and the print control unit performs printing on the printer from a user based on the acquired information on the performance of the printer. Generating a screen for receiving the input of the printing conditions at the time, displaying the generated screen on a display and receiving the input contents, and generating the print job based on the contents of the received printing conditions. It is characterized by doing.
[0011]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(1) Overall configuration
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a printing system (hereinafter, referred to as “system”) 1 according to the present embodiment.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 1, the system 1 is configured by connecting a client terminal 10, a printer A, a printer B, and a database server 30 via a network such as the Internet 3.
The client terminal 10 is composed of a personal computer, and has application software (hereinafter, referred to as “application”) for document creation installed therein. Further, the client terminal 10 includes a print control unit 25 (FIG. 2) as a print control device, generates a print job for printing a document or the like created by an application, and inputs the print job to the printer A or the like.
[0013]
Each of the printers A and B is a known image forming apparatus, and executes printing upon receiving a print job from the client terminal 10. A and B indicate the name of the printer, and include the usable paper size, the number of paper feed trays for feeding paper, the number of discharge trays for storing printed paper, the stapling, Different models differ in the configuration of various functions such as punching and available options.
[0014]
The database server 30 is a server that stores printer-specific information (described later), and upon receiving a printer-specific-information transmission request from the client terminal 10, provides (transmits) the requested specific information to the client terminal 10. ).
Here, the client terminal 10 and the printers A and B are connected via a LAN (Local Area Network) 2 in the same office, and the database server 30 is located outside (for example, a service base of a printer manufacturer). It is assumed that Also, various data can be exchanged with each other using TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol).
[0015]
(2) Configuration of client terminal 10
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the client terminal 10.
As shown in FIG. 1, the client terminal 10 includes a main body 11, a display 12, a keyboard 13, and a mouse 14 as main components.
The main unit 11 includes an interface (I / F) unit 21, an overall control unit 22, a printer-specific information storage unit 23, an address information storage unit 24, and a print control unit 25 as main components.
[0016]
The I / F unit 21 is an interface such as a LAN card and a LAN board for connecting to the LAN 2.
The overall control unit 22 includes a CPU and the like, executes functions such as applications stored in a storage unit (not shown), and performs overall control of overall processing in the client terminal 10.
[0017]
The printer-specific information storage unit 23 is composed of a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM, and stores, for each printer connected to the LAN 2, information relating to the performance of the printer (printer-specific information) indicating functions specific to the printer. I have. The printer unique information is acquired and stored from the database server 30 in a unique information acquisition process (described later) executed by the print control unit 25.
[0018]
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of printer-specific information. The printer-specific information is composed of a text file and includes information of each item such as “Default setting” and “GUI setting”. The printer-specific information is used in a job generation process (to be described later) executed by the print control unit 25, for example, for generating a screen for receiving a print condition setting input from a user. Note that the contents in parentheses in the figure are for explanation, and are not included in the actual file. FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example in which unique information of the printers A and B is stored.
[0019]
The address information storage unit 24 is composed of a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM, and stores information (address information) indicating a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the database server 30. This address information is input from an address information input screen (not shown) displayed on the display 12 by the user using the keyboard 13 or the like, and is stored.
[0020]
The print control unit 25 executes a print control process of generating a print job when a user issues a print instruction, for example, a print instruction from an application, and submitting the generated print job to a printer. When the printer unique information has not yet been acquired, for example, when a new printer is installed or replaced, a user-specific information acquisition instruction, for example, the printer unique information displayed on the display 12 is displayed. When an information acquisition icon (not shown) is clicked by operating the mouse 14, the unique information stored in the database server 30 is acquired from the database server 30, and the unique information is stored in the printer unique information storage unit 23. Execute information acquisition processing.
[0021]
(3) Configuration of the database server 30
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the database server 30.
As shown in the figure, the database server 30 includes an interface (I / F) unit 31, a control unit 32, a model list generation unit 33, and a printer unique information storage unit 34 as main components.
[0022]
The I / F unit 31 is an interface such as a LAN card and a LAN board for connecting to the LAN 2.
The printer-specific information storage unit 34 is composed of a hard disk or the like, and printer-specific information is stored in each file generated for each name.
The model list generation unit 33 generates a printer name list (model name list) of the unique information stored in the printer unique information storage unit 34 according to an instruction from the control unit 32. The model name list is a file including data of an identifier for identifying the printer, in this case, text data indicating the model names (PrinterA, PrinterB, PrinterC,...). Here, since the file name of each file is the model name, the names are listed by referring to the names of all the files stored in the printer-specific information storage unit 34.
[0023]
Further, for each file, a character string of "Printer..." (For example, "PrinterA" in the example of FIG. 3) described at the head of the unique information may be referred to and listed. .
When receiving the request for the model name list from the client terminal 10, the control unit 32 instructs the model list generation unit 33 to generate a list, and transmits the generated model list to the client terminal 10.
[0024]
When a request for unique information is received from the client terminal 10, the unique information corresponding to the printer having the designated printer name is read from the printer unique information storage unit 34 and transmitted to the client terminal 10. It is assumed that the database server 30 stores information unique to all printers manufactured and sold.
(4) Configuration of print control unit 25
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the print control unit 25.
[0025]
As shown in the figure, the print control unit 25 includes, as main components, a user interface 251, a unique information acquisition unit 252, a unique information processing unit 253, an inter-model common processing unit 254, and a print processing unit 255. . It should be noted that the configuration of the printer-specific information storage unit 24 and the like are also shown to make it easier to understand the flow of processing such as obtaining printer-specific information.
[0026]
When receiving an instruction to acquire unique information from a user, the user interface 251 executes a unique information acquisition process in cooperation with the unique information acquisition unit 252. That is, the user interface 251 and the unique information acquisition unit 252 function as a means for acquiring printer unique information.
Further, when a print instruction is received from the user, the print control process is executed in cooperation with the unique information processing unit 253, the common model processing unit 254, and the print processing unit 255. That is, the user interface 251, the unique information processing unit 253, the common processing unit 254, and the print processing unit 255 function as a print control unit. Hereinafter, the content executed by each unit in each process will be specifically described.
[0027]
In the unique information acquisition process, the user interface 251 instructs the unique information acquisition unit 252 to acquire a model name list.
Upon receiving the instruction from the user interface 251, the unique information acquisition unit 252 requests the database server 30 to transmit a model name list. The access to the database server 30 is performed by reading the address information stored in the address information storage unit 24, and here, HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) is used. Of course, a configuration using another protocol such as FTP (file transfer protocol) may be used. When the model name list is received (acquired), the acquired model name list is transmitted to the user interface 51.
[0028]
The user interface 251 generates a model name list screen from the received model name list, and causes the display 12 to display the screen.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of the model name list screen 61.
As shown in the figure, on the model name list screen 61, a button indicating the name of each printer written in the acquired model name list is displayed in the model name column 62, and the user acquires the unique information. You can select the printer you want.
[0029]
When one of the buttons is selected (clicked) by the user and the OK button 63 is clicked, the user interface 251 instructs the unique information acquisition unit 252 to acquire unique information for the selected printer name. In this sense, the user interface 251 has a function as a receiving unit that receives designation from a user of a printer from which to acquire unique information. In this case, the method of specifying the printer is not limited to the printer name as described above, and may be specified using a number or the like as long as it specifies the printer.
[0030]
When receiving the instruction to acquire the unique information from the user interface 251, the unique information acquisition unit 252 requests the database server 30 to transmit the unique information corresponding to the printer with the printer name selected by the user.
Specifically, information indicating the printer name is transmitted, and unique information corresponding to the printer name is transmitted. When the unique information is received (acquired) from the database server 30, the received unique information is stored in the printer unique information storage unit 24. For example, when the printer C (the broken line in FIG. 5) is newly connected to the LAN 2 and the user selects the printer C on the model name list screen 61, the printer C unique information is acquired and the printer unique information is acquired. The information is newly stored in the information storage unit 24. Here, the name of the printer and the storage destination (address) of the unique information of the printer are stored in association with a table of an internal memory (not shown) in the print control unit 25. By referring to the table, it is possible to determine which printer specific information is stored and at which address in the printer specific information storage unit 24.
[0031]
On the other hand, in the print control process, the user interface 251 generates a printer selection screen for receiving a selection input of a printer to be used from the user, and causes the display 12 to display the screen.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of the printer selection screen 71.
As shown in the figure, on the printer selection screen 71, a button indicating the printer name of the unique information currently stored in the printer unique information storage unit 24 is displayed in the model name column 72. You can select the printer you want to use for printing. Note that which printer unique information is stored in the printer unique information storage unit 24 is determined by referring to the above table.
[0032]
When one of the buttons is selected (clicked) by the user and the OK button 73 is clicked, the user interface 251 instructs the unique information processing unit 253 to read the unique information for the selected printer.
When receiving the instruction from the user interface 251, the unique information processing unit 253 reads the unique information for the designated printer from the printer unique information storage unit 24 with reference to the table, and transmits the read information to the user interface 251.
[0033]
The user interface 251 generates a reception screen (hereinafter, referred to as a “print setting screen”) for receiving a print condition setting input from the user based on the received unique information, and causes the display 12 to display the screen.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the print setting screen 81.
As shown in the drawing, the print setting screen 81 is provided with tabs 82 for selecting items of “paper”, “paper feeding method”, “print quality”, and “discharge setting”. When a tab of each item is selected (clicked), a screen for setting the item is opened. FIG. 9 shows an example of a screen when “discharge setting” is selected.
[0034]
“Paper” is an item for selecting a paper size to be used for printing, and “Paper feeding method” is an item for selecting a paper feed tray (paper feed tray) to be used. The “print quality” is an item for adjusting resolution and the like at the time of printing, and the “discharge setting” is for selecting a discharge destination (discharge tray) of printed paper and setting a staple function and the like. Items.
[0035]
The user interface 251 refers to the read unique information, and sets the print setting screen 81 as items required as printing conditions in advance, in this case, selection of a paper size, selection of a paper feed tray, and discharge. Tray selection, printing resolution selection, font selection, image quality adjustment, density adjustment, image processing methods such as dithering, setting of sorting method when various functions such as sorting, stapling, punching are used, on paper Out of the settings such as the staple position, staple type, punch position, number of punches, etc., which are not required for the selected printer, by deleting (non-displaying) or performing gray-out processing. I do.
[0036]
Specifically, for example, in the case of the unique information of the printer A shown in FIG. 3, it can be seen from the “GUI setting for a specific model” column that the printer A is a device having a staple function but not having a punch function. As shown in FIG. 8, in the item of “discharge setting”, the content column 84 related to the staple function is displayed, but the content column 85 related to the punch function is grayed out.
[0037]
Also, from the “Paper Options for Specific Model” column, it can be seen that A4, A3, and B4 size papers can be used. On the “Paper” item screen in FIG. 8, only these papers can be selected. Information on other papers such as B5 size is not selected as display prohibited (not displayed here). In this sense, it can be said that the unique information includes information on functions prohibited in the printer.
[0038]
Further, as contents automatically selected when the print setting screen 81 is first opened from the “Default for a specific model” column, the paper, the paper feed tray, and the discharge tray are set to “A4” and “paper feed tray 1”, respectively. This is referred to as “discharge tray 1” (column 83 in FIG. 8). As described above, the user interface 251 refers to the contents of each column of the unique information and causes the print setting screen for the printer to display the setting items of the printing conditions suitable for the printer. The user can select each item as necessary and input printing conditions such as the paper size at the time of printing.
[0039]
When the user clicks the OK button 86 on the print setting screen 81, the user interface 251 determines that the input has been completed, and transmits information indicating the input content to the common model processing unit 254 and the print processing unit 255. In this sense, the user interface 251 has a function as a display control unit that controls display of the print setting screen 81 and reception of input.
[0040]
The inter-model common processing unit 254, based on the contents of the printing conditions transmitted from the user interface 251, converts the data to be printed (data such as a document created by the application) into a PDL (page) that can be interpreted by the printer. The data is converted into data in a description language (description language) format, and the converted data is transmitted to the print processing unit 255. During data conversion, for example, adjust the data size so that printing can be performed on the selected paper size, or if a margin is specified, adjust the size so that the image does not cover the margin I do. Further, conversion into data of the designated resolution is performed.
[0041]
The print processing unit 255 generates data for designating paper to be used for printing, a paper feed tray, and the like to the printer based on the contents of the printing conditions transmitted from the user interface 251, and a header including the data. A print job is generated by adding a copy to the PDL format data transmitted from the inter-model common processing unit 254. Then, when there is a print start instruction from the user (when a print start button (not shown) is pressed), the generated print job is input to the selected printer. The address of each connected printer is registered in advance, and a print job is submitted with the address corresponding to the selected printer as a destination.
[0042]
When the printer receives the print job from the print control unit 25, it determines the paper to be used, the paper feed tray, etc. based on the information on the paper to be used, etc. included in the header part, and performs printing based on the data in the PDL format. Execute the process.
(5) Control flow executed by print control unit 25
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the content of the unique information acquisition process.
[0043]
As shown in the drawing, the print control unit 25 first obtains a model name list from the database server 30 (step S11). Then, a model name list screen 61 (FIG. 6) is generated from the obtained model name list and displayed (step S12). When a printer is selected by the user from the model name list screen 61 ("YES" in step S13), unique information corresponding to the selected printer is obtained from the database server 30 (step S14). Then, the acquired unique information is stored in the printer unique information storage unit 24 (step S15), and the process is terminated.
[0044]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the contents of the print control process.
As shown in the figure, the print control unit 25 generates and displays a printer selection screen 71 (FIG. 7) (step S51). When the user selects a printer on the printer selection screen 71 ("YES" in step S52), the unique information corresponding to the selected printer is read from the printer unique information storage unit 24, and the print setting screen 81 (FIG. 8). Is generated and displayed (steps S53 and S54).
[0045]
Then, when it is determined that the input by the user has been completed on the print setting screen 81 ("YES" in step S55), the data to be printed is converted into data for forming the PDL, and based on the contents of the printing condition input by the user. A print job is generated (step S56), input to the selected printer (step S57), and the process ends.
[0046]
(6) Control flow executed in the database server 30
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the control contents executed in the database server 30.
As shown in the figure, the database server 30 determines whether or not a request for transmission of a model name list has been made from the print control unit 25 of the client terminal 10 (step S21). When it is determined that there is a request ("YES" in step S21), a model name list is generated, and data indicating the generated model name list is transmitted to the client terminal 10 (steps S22 and S23), and the process proceeds to step S24. Move on. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S21 that the request has not been received, the process proceeds to step S24.
[0047]
In step S24, it is determined whether there is a request for transmission of unique information from the print control unit 25 of the client terminal 10. When it is determined that the request has been made, the unique information corresponding to the designated printer is read from the printer unique information storage unit 34, transmitted to the client terminal 10 (step S25), and the process returns to step S21. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S24 that the request has not been received, the process returns to step S21.
[0048]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the unique information of the printer is stored in the external database server 30, so that the unique information can be stored in all the printers because it is stored in the printer as in the related art. There is no need to provide a dedicated storage unit having a capacity of, which is very advantageous in terms of cost.
Further, it is possible to omit a step of storing unique information in all printers at the time of manufacturing. Since only the unique information is acquired from the database server 30, the user does not need to perform any troublesome work such as installing a printer driver when a new printer is connected or replaced.
[0049]
Further, conventionally, only printers having a configuration capable of bidirectional communication can be applied. However, the present invention can be applied even if the printer is not bidirectional, and can also be applied to a printer that does not have existing unique information. This has a great effect.
Further, since the configuration is such that the unique information of all the printers is collectively stored in the database server 30, for example, when updating the content of the existing unique information, only the information stored in the database server 30 (that is, the source) needs to be updated. Good. Conventionally, the updating work has to be performed for all the printers in order to store the information in each printer, which is troublesome.
[0050]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described print control device, but can be applied to the above-described method of acquiring unique information and generating a print job, and a program for realizing the method by a computer, for example, a printer driver. The program may be, for example, a program that operates in a print control apparatus that submits a print job to an external printer, and acquires unique information of the printer from a database server connected via a network. Causing the print control device to execute a process and a print control process of generating a print job for causing the printer to perform printing based on the acquired unique information and submitting the generated print job to the printer. A program characterized by the following. "
[0051]
The program may be a magnetic disk such as a magnetic tape or a flexible disk, an optical recording medium such as a DVD, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, an MO, a PD, or a flash memory recording medium such as a Smart Media (registered trademark). Can be recorded on various computer-readable recording media, and may be produced or transferred in the form of the recording medium, or may be various types of wired or wireless networks including the Internet in the form of programs, and broadcasts. May be transmitted and supplied via an electric communication line, satellite communication, or the like.
[0052]
In addition, the program does not need to include all the modules for causing the computer to execute the above-described processing, and may be separately installed in the information processing apparatus, such as a communication program or a program included in an operating system (OS). The various processes of the present invention may be executed by a computer by using various general-purpose programs that can be used. Therefore, it is not always necessary to record all the modules in the above-described recording medium, and it is not necessary to transmit all the modules.
[0053]
The specific embodiments described above also include inventions having the following configurations.
In other words, the printer-specific information includes information on a function prohibited by the printer, and a message indicating that the content of the prohibited function is not displayed or cannot be input on the reception screen. And a display control means for performing the following.
[0054]
(7) Modification
As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the following modified examples can be considered.
(7-1) In the above embodiment, the user instructs to acquire the unique information. However, for example, a configuration in which this is performed automatically (without the user's hand) can be adopted.
[0055]
Specifically, the printer stores an identification ID for identifying the printer, for example, information indicating the name (data of about several bytes). On the print control unit side, for example, when the printer is newly connected and the address of the printer is registered, or when the connection of the printer is detected, the print control unit requests the printer to transmit an identification ID. The printer receives the identification ID transmitted from the printer (acquires the identification ID), specifies the printer name from the received identification ID, and acquires the unique information corresponding to the printer having the specified name from the database server. is there.
[0056]
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the content of the unique information acquisition process in the case of the configuration of the present modified example.
As shown in the figure, the print control unit obtains an identification ID from a newly connected (replaced) printer (step S71), specifies the name of the printer, and identifies the unique name of the specified printer. It is determined whether the information has already been stored in the printer-specific information storage unit 24. Here, if it is determined that the data has been saved ("YES" in step S72), the process ends because there is no need to acquire the data again. On the other hand, when it is determined that the printer is not stored ("NO" in step S72), the printer unique information is acquired from the database server (step S73) and stored in the printer unique information storage unit 24 (step S74). The process ends.
[0057]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of the control processing in the database server.
As shown in the figure, when there is a transmission request of printer specific information from the print control unit of the client terminal ("YES" in step S81), the database server reads the specific information corresponding to the designated printer. To the client terminal (step S82), and returns to step S81.
[0058]
According to the configuration of this modified example, the user does not have to perform an operation of selecting the printer model name from the model name list screen 61 when acquiring the unique information, and the operability is greatly improved. is there. In the case of this configuration, it is necessary to secure an area for storing the identification ID in each printer. However, since the identification ID itself is about several bytes, it is necessary to save the identification ID in a free area of the existing memory. In many cases, data for identification is already incorporated in an ordinary printer. In that case, the data can be used, so that there is no cost burden. Even if a new storage area is provided, the cost burden can be extremely reduced as compared with a configuration in which a dedicated storage unit is separately provided.
[0059]
The method of acquiring the identification ID from the printer is not limited to the above method. For example, when the print control unit 25 periodically sends a ping command and detects that a new printer is connected, A method of requesting an identification ID can also be used.
(7-2) In the above embodiment, the user is allowed to select a printer whose unique information is to be acquired. However, for example, when the print control unit 25 receives an instruction to acquire unique information, the print control unit 25 changes the unique information of all printers. It may be configured to acquire from the database server 30. In this case, the user only has to perform the above acquisition instruction (for example, click a button for instruction), and there is no need to perform an operation of selecting a printer, thereby improving operability.
[0060]
(7-3) In the above embodiment, the print setting screen is generated based on the unique information, and the print job is generated based on the print conditions input on the print setting screen. However, for example, the print conditions are fixed. Printer (a printer that can use only one size of paper, has only one paper feed tray and one output tray, and does not have a function such as stapling), it is necessary to generate a print setting screen. Absent. In such a case, after the data is converted to the PDL format based on the unique information without generating the print setting screen, a print job to the printer is generated (in the print control process of FIG. 10 described above). , Steps S51, S52, S56, and S57 are sequentially performed).
[0061]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the print control apparatus according to the present invention acquires printer specific information from a database server connected via a network, and causes the printer to perform printing based on the acquired specific information. Since the configuration is such that a print job is generated and the generated print job is input to the printer, there is no need to provide a dedicated storage unit having a capacity enough to store unique information in all printers as in the related art, This is advantageous in cost. In addition, it is possible to omit a process of storing unique information in all printers at the time of manufacturing. Since only the unique information is acquired from the database server, the user does not need to perform a troublesome operation such as installing a dedicated printer driver every time a new printer is connected or replaced.
[0062]
In addition, if a printer specification is received from a user and the database server is requested to transmit specific information corresponding to the specified printer to obtain the specific information, there are many different types of printers. In this case, the user can acquire only the information desired by the user.
Also, acquiring identification information for identifying the printer from the printer, specifying a printer from which the unique information is to be acquired from the acquired identification information, and requesting the database to transmit the unique information corresponding to the identified printer. Accordingly, if the specific information is acquired, the user does not need to perform any operation such as giving an instruction when acquiring the specific information, and the operability is improved.
[0063]
Further, if the printer-specific information is configured as a text file, the text-data can be used to update and create the unique information, thereby facilitating the creation and other processes.
Further, based on the acquired information on the performance of the printer, a screen for receiving an input of printing conditions from the user when printing with the printer is generated, and the generated screen is displayed on a display and the input content is received. If a print job is generated based on the content of the accepted printing condition, the user can specify a desired condition as the printing condition, which is convenient.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system 1 according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a client terminal 10.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of printer-specific information.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a database server 30.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a print control unit 25.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a model name list screen 61.
7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a printer selection screen 71. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a print setting screen 81.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the content of a unique information acquisition process.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the contents of a print control process.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing control contents executed in the database server 30.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the content of a unique information acquisition process in a modified example.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the contents of a control process executed by a database server in a modified example.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 print control system
2 LAN
3 Internet
10 Client terminal
23, 34 Printer-specific information storage unit
24 Address information storage
25 Print control unit
30 Database server
33 Model list generator
61, 71 selection screen
81 Print setting screen
251 User Interface
252 unique information acquisition unit
253 Unique information processing unit
254 common processing unit between models
255 print processing unit

Claims (5)

A print control device for submitting a print job to an external printer,
Unique information acquisition means for acquiring the unique information of the printer from a database server connected via a network;
Print control means for generating a print job for causing the printer to perform printing based on the acquired unique information, and submitting the generated print job to the printer;
A print control device comprising: The unique information acquisition means,
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving unit that receives a designation of a printer from a user, wherein the requesting unit requests the database server to transmit unique information corresponding to the designated printer, thereby acquiring the unique information. 3. The print control device according to claim 1. An identification information acquisition unit that acquires identification information for identifying the printer from the printer,
The unique information acquiring unit identifies a printer from which the unique information is to be acquired from the acquired identification information, and acquires the unique information by requesting the database to transmit the unique information corresponding to the identified printer. The print control device according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printer-specific information is configured by a text file. Connected to the display,
The printer-specific information includes information on the performance of the printer,
The print control unit includes:
Based on the obtained information on the performance of the printer, a screen for receiving an input of printing conditions from the user when printing on the printer is generated, and the generated screen is displayed on a display and a display for receiving the input content is generated. Equipped with control means,
The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print job is generated based on contents of the received print condition.

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