JP2006011713A - Information processor, its control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor and its control method, and a program, for controlling the proper execution of printing based on status information including the shipping setting of a printing device or the type and connecting status of an extended function and the print setting information of print data to be outputted. <P>SOLUTION: The shipping information and extended function information are acquired in a printing device. The set print setting information is compared with the acquired shipping setting and extended function information. Then, the execution or stop of the output of print data to be outputted to the printing device is controlled based on the comparison result. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that is connected to a printing apparatus and controls the printing apparatus, a control method therefor, and a program.

  Conventionally, printers and printer drivers were developed one-on-one, and when there were multiple sales markets, each printer and printer driver customized to specifications suitable for the sales market was developed.

  However, in recent years, base printers that include functions required in all sales markets and printer drivers that can use all the functions of the base printers have been shipped to all sales markets.

  This method has an advantage that the cost is reduced as compared to developing a multi-week printer for each market from the beginning.

  An extension option for extending the function may be connected to the printer. However, when the extension option is used in the printer, the printer driver must include a function that can use the extension option. For this reason, the printer driver has been shipped including all the functions of the extended options.

Further, according to Patent Document 1, a technique for changing a device ID output by a device for each user or according to a connection status of an extension option is disclosed.
JP 11-334184 A

  However, the following problems occur in the above conventional example.

  In other words, in the past, all functions exist in the printer driver, and therefore there are functions that cannot be used in the region where they are used.

  For example, a postcard is not a medium that exists in all markets, but it also exists in products for the United States and Europe, allowing the user to select it.

  As for the expansion options, for example, when there is an expansion option that is shipped only in a specific area, the selection can be made even in an area where the expansion option does not exist.

  In this way, functions that could not be selected because they were conventionally customized for each region can be selected, and when such functions are used, there may be a problem that printing cannot be performed normally.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and executes appropriate printing based on status settings including shipment settings of a printing apparatus, types of extended functions, connection status, and print setting information of output print data. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus, a control method therefor, and a program.

In order to achieve the above object, a printing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
An information processing apparatus connected to and controlling the printing apparatus,
Obtaining means for obtaining from shipping settings and extended function information in the printing apparatus;
Output control means for controlling execution or cancellation of output of print data to be output to the printing apparatus using the set print setting information and the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition means. .

Preferably, the apparatus further includes setting means for performing print setting via a print setting screen in the printing apparatus,
The acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information when displaying the print setting screen.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises display control means for controlling display contents of the print setting screen,
The display control unit controls the display content of the print setting screen based on the shipment setting and the extended function information when the acquisition unit can acquire the shipment setting and the extended function information. When the shipment setting and extended function information cannot be acquired, the display content of the print setting screen is controlled based on the predetermined shipment setting and extended function information.

Preferably, a comparison unit that compares the set print setting information with the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit;
A change unit for changing the set print setting information;
The acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information when creating the print data to be output;
The comparison unit compares the set print setting information with the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit when creating the print data to be output.
The changing unit changes the set print setting information when the set print setting information does not match the shipment setting and the extended function information acquired by the acquiring unit as a result of the comparison by the comparing unit. .

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises display means for displaying warning information indicating that output of the print data to be output to the printing apparatus is to be stopped,
The acquisition unit acquires the shipping setting and extended function information when outputting the print data to be output to the printing apparatus,
The comparison unit compares the set print setting information with the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit when outputting the print data to be output to the printing apparatus;
When the output means print data to be output to the printing apparatus, the display means sets the print setting information as a result of the comparison by the comparison means, and the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition means. Is not matched, warning information indicating that output of the print data to be output to the printing apparatus is stopped is displayed.

  Preferably, the control unit prints the output target when the set print setting information does not match the shipment setting and the extended function information acquired by the acquiring unit as a result of the comparison by the comparing unit. When the output of the data to the printing apparatus is stopped, on the other hand, as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit, the set print setting information matches the shipment setting and the extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit, Output the print data to be output to the printing apparatus.

  Preferably, the acquisition unit stores the shipment setting and extended function information from the printing apparatus.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises storage means for storing shipment settings and extended function information in the printing apparatus,
The acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information from the storage unit.

  Preferably, the acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information at least when a control program that realizes the acquisition unit is stored in the information processing apparatus.

  Preferably, the storage means stores the shipping setting and extended function information when the acquiring means can acquire the shipping setting and extended function information, while the acquiring means stores the shipping setting and extended function information. If the information cannot be acquired, predetermined shipment settings and extended function information are stored.

Preferably, the acquisition unit acquires the shipping setting and extended function information after the control by the control unit is completed,
The storage unit updates its contents with the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit after the control by the control unit is completed. Preferably, the acquisition unit is configured to control the control unit by the control unit. After completion, get the shipping settings and extended function information,
Output of the print data to be output to the printing apparatus is stopped by the control unit, the shipment setting and extended function information cannot be acquired by the acquisition unit, and the shipment setting and extended function information is already stored in the storage unit Is stored, the storage means updates its contents with predetermined shipment settings and extended function information.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for controlling an information processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus connected to a printing apparatus and controlling the printing apparatus,
An acquisition step of acquiring from shipment settings and extended function information in the printing apparatus;
An output control step for controlling execution or cancellation of output of the print data to be output to the printing apparatus using the set print setting information and the shipment setting and extended function information acquired in the acquisition step. .

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to the present invention comprises the following arrangement. That is,
A program that is connected to a printing apparatus and realizes control of an information processing apparatus that controls the printing apparatus,
A program code of an acquisition process acquired from shipment settings and extended function information in the printing apparatus;
Program code of an output control step for controlling execution or cancellation of output of print data to be output to the printing apparatus using the set print setting information and the shipment setting and extended function information acquired in the acquisition step And.

  According to the present invention, an information processing apparatus capable of controlling execution of appropriate printing on the basis of status information including shipment settings of a printing apparatus, types of extended functions, connection status, and print setting information of output print data And its control method and program can be provided.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The printing system of FIG. 1 is configured by connecting a host computer 1 and a printer 2 (printing apparatus) to each other.

  The host computer 1 includes an input interface 11, a CPU 12, a ROM 13, a RAM 14, an external storage device 15, an output interface 16, a display unit 17, a keyboard 10, a mouse 18, and an input / output interface 19.

  The ROM 13 stores various control programs such as an initialization program. The RAM 14 has various storage areas such as a symbol information storage section 14a, a print data storage section 14b, and a program load area 14c, and controls each section according to various control programs stored in the external storage device 15.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the external storage device 15 includes various storage areas such as an application program group 30, an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) 40, a printer driver 50, and a data area 60 in which various data are stored. ing.

  The display unit 17 is composed of, for example, a CRT or LCD, and displays various UIs including a UI (user interface) provided by the OS 40 and the printer driver 50.

  The input / output interface 19 is assumed to be a serial interface USB, for example, but in addition to this, a serial interface such as IEEE 1394, Ethernet (registered trademark), IrDA, IEEE 802.11, or a power line may be assumed. it can. In addition to the serial interface, various interfaces such as Centronics and SCSI can be assumed as the parallel interface. In any case, any communication interface may be used regardless of wired / wireless as long as bidirectional communication is realized between the host computer 1 and the printer 2.

  The printer 2 includes an interface unit 21, a RAM 22, a ROM 23, a CPU 24, and a printer engine 25. The interface unit 21 is connected to the input / output interface 19 of the computer 1. Further, an expansion function (or expansion device) for expanding the functions of the printer 2 is connected to the input / output interface 19.

  This extended function includes, for example, a double-sided printing function, a direct print function, a borderless in-function, in addition to a physical expansion device such as a double-sided printing unit, a printer server device, a paper feed cassette, and a print controller. Various printing functions such as a DVD / CD direct printing function are included.

  The ROM 23 stores a control program, and the CPU 24 controls each unit of the printer 2 according to the control program stored in the ROM 23. The RAM 22 is used as a main memory and work memory for the CPU 24, and has a reception buffer for temporarily storing received data. The printer engine 25 performs printing based on the data stored in the RAM 22.

  As a printing method of the printer 2, various printing methods such as an ink jet method, a laser beam method, and a thermal transfer method can be assumed.

  In addition, the printer 2 has a switching function for switching the function of the printer 2 for the market to be shipped (shipping setting), a notification function for notifying the host computer 1 of shipping setting information upon request of the host computer 1, and its own function. In the case of having an extended function to be extended, it has an identification function for identifying the extended function and a notification function for notifying the computer 1 of the extended function information identified by the request of the host computer 1. These various functions are realized by various hardware such as a control program executed by the CPU 24 and sensors mounted on the printer 2.

  Next, the configuration of the external storage device 15 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the external storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As described above, the external storage device 15 includes the application program group 30, the OS 40, and the printer driver 50. Among these, the application program group 30 includes various applications. For example, the application program group 30 includes a print application program 31 which is a program for instructing the user to create a drawing environment and start printing.

  The OS 40 has various service programs prepared by the OS. The OS 40 manages a print service program 41 that provides a printing environment and a physical I / O port, and actually writes / reads data through the input / output interface 19. There is an interface control program 42 to perform.

  The printer driver 50 includes various programs such as a UI display program 51, a print data generation program 52, and a data transmission / reception control program 53. The UI display program 51 is a program that notifies a user of print settings such as a printing method and a medium (recording medium), and provides a print setting change function by the user. The UI display program 51 notifies the print application program 31 of the print settings set by the user.

  The print data generation program 52 is activated by the print service program 41 when printing is executed from the print application program 31, and prints the symbol information drawn by the print application program 31 based on the print settings notified from the UI display program 51. Convert to command (print data).

  The data transmission / reception control program 53 is a program that performs bidirectional communication with the printer 2 via the interface control program 42, receives the print data created by the print data generation program 52 from the print service program 41, and receives the print data via the interface control program 42. To the printer 2. Furthermore, status information including shipment settings and extended function information of the printer 2 is acquired via the interface control program 42.

  This shipment setting and extended function information is composed of a shipment setting indicating the shipping destination (destination) of the printer 2 and information indicating the type of extension function in the printer 2 and the presence / absence of connection.

  The data area 60 includes data such as files used by various applications and OSs, and printer driver data 61 used by the printer driver 50.

  Here, as an example, the processing sharing of the host computer 1 is shown as described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this sharing mode, and other modes may be used.

  Next, the operation of the UI display program 51 of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the UI display program according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The UI display program 51 activated by the print application program 31 first acquires status information including shipment settings and extended function information from the printer 2 via the data transmission / reception control program 53 or the interface control program 42 (step S101). ).

  Here, when acquiring status information via the data transmission / reception control program 53, the data transmission / reception control program 53 acquires status information via the interface control program 42.

  Next, it is determined whether the acquisition of status information is successful (step S102). When acquisition of status information is successful (YES in step S102), the process proceeds to step S104. On the other hand, if the acquisition of status information has failed (NO in step S102), the shipment setting and extended function information of the printer 2 are set to predetermined default information (default shipment setting and extended function information) set in advance. (Step S103).

  Thereafter, a print setting table composed of print setting items is created according to the shipment setting and extended function information in the status information acquired at step S104 or the predetermined default information set at step S103 (step S104).

  For example, if the printer 2 is set for Japan in the shipment setting information, a postcard is added to the item of media type, or a postcard size is added to the media size. If the extended function information includes information that “the automatic duplex printing unit that automatically performs duplex printing is in a connected state”, “automatic duplex” is added to the printing method.

  Next, a print setting dialog 1000 (print setting screen) is displayed based on the created print setting table (step S105). That is, the UI display program 51 controls the display contents of the print setting dialog based on the print setting table.

  The print setting dialog 1000 is a user interface that provides a user with a print setting change function. The user can change the print setting items in the range of the print setting items created in step S104 as shown in the print setting dialog 2000. (Step S106).

  The UI display program 51 stands by in a settable state until the user presses the confirm button on the print setting dialog 1000, and when the user presses any confirm button or cancel button, the print setting dialog is displayed. Close (step S107 and step S108).

  If the pressed button is a confirmation button, the print setting information set in the print setting dialog 1000 is notified to the print application program 31 (step S110). On the other hand, when the cancel button is pressed, the processing is ended as it is.

  Next, the operation of the print data generation program 52 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print data generation program according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  When the print application program 31 instructs the print service program 41 to start printing, the print data generation program 52 uses the symbol information created by the print application program 31 by the print service program 41 and the print setting information set by the UI display program 51. To pass.

  The print data generation program 52 first acquires status information including shipment settings and extended function information from the printer 2 via the data transmission / reception control program 53 or the interface control program 42 (step S201).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the status information has been successfully acquired (step S202). If acquisition of status information has failed (NO in step S202), the process proceeds to step S205. On the other hand, if the status information acquisition is successful (YES in step S202), the print setting information (shipment setting and extended function information) obtained from the acquired status information and the print setting information passed from the print service program 41 are displayed. A comparison is made to determine whether the print settings of both are valid combinations (step S203).

  If the print setting is a valid combination (YES in step S203), the process proceeds to step S205. On the other hand, if the print setting is not a valid combination (NO in step S203), the print setting information passed from the print service program 41 is changed to any print setting information valid in the status information acquired in step S201 (step S201). S204).

  In this process, there is a time lag between when the printing is set by the UI display program 51 and when printing is started, so the printer 2 is changed to a different model or the extended function is changed during the time lag. This is to prevent the print settings set in the UI display program 51 from being invalidated and being unable to print normally.

  Thereafter, according to the print setting information passed from the print service program 41 or the print setting information changed in step S204, the symbol information is converted to create a printer command (print data) (step S205). The print service program 41 is notified of the completion of print data creation (step S206), and the process ends.

  Next, the operation of the data transmission / reception control program 53 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data transmission / reception control program according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The print service program 41 passes the print data generated by the print data generation program 52 to the data transmission / reception control program 53. Thereafter, the data transmission / reception control program 53 first acquires status information including shipment settings and extended function information from the printer 2 via the interface control program 42 (step S301).

  Next, it is determined whether the acquisition of status information is successful (step S302). If acquisition of status information has failed (NO in step S302), the process proceeds to step S306. On the other hand, if the acquisition of status information is successful (YES in step S302), the print data delivered from the print service program 41 is analyzed, and the print setting information obtained from the print setting information of the print data and the acquired status information ( The shipping setting and the extended function information) are compared, and it is determined whether the print setting of the print data is a valid combination (step S303).

  If the print setting is a valid combination (YES in step S303), the process proceeds to step S306. On the other hand, if the print settings are not a valid combination (NO in step S303), a warning screen indicating that the print settings of the print data and the print settings obtained from the status information do not match is displayed (step S304). Further, the print service program 41 is notified of the failure to transfer the print data (step S305), and the process is terminated. At this time, a notification screen indicating a transfer failure notification may be displayed.

  In this process, since there is a time lag between the stage generated by the print data generation program 52 and the time when the print data is passed to the data transmission / reception control program 53, the printer 2 is changed during the time lag, or an expansion option is set. This is to prevent the print setting of the generated print data from being invalidated and being unable to print normally when it is changed.

  On the other hand, if the acquisition of status information fails in step S302, or if the print setting is a valid combination in step S303, the print data is transferred to the printer 2 via the interface control program 42 (step S306).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the transfer of all print data has been completed (step S307). If the transfer has not been completed (NO in step S307), the process returns to step S306. On the other hand, when the transfer is completed (YES in step S306), the print service program 41 is notified of the completion of transfer of the print data (step S308), and the process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the host computer 1 determines the consistency between the shipment settings and extended function information of the printer 2 and the print settings set on the host computer 1, and the determination is made. An appropriate printing operation can be executed by controlling the output of the print data based on the result.

  In addition, if the shipment settings and extended function information of the printer 2 and the print settings set on the host computer 1 cannot be matched, the user can be notified of this, so a wasteful printing operation can be performed. It can prevent or alert that an invalid printing operation has occurred.

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the UI display program 51 and the print data generation program 52 can acquire the status information of the printer 2 via the data transmission / reception control program 53 and the interface control program 42 at the timing when each operates. . However, since the data transmission / reception control program 53 and the interface control program 43 operate in a portion close to the device, normally, there are many cases where restrictions are imposed so that the OS cannot be easily accessed, and status information cannot be acquired. There is.

  Therefore, even if the UI display program 51 or the print data generation program 52 can access the data transmission / reception control program 53 or the interface control program 42, if the printer 2 is not turned off or connected. Unable to get status information.

  For this reason, in the configuration of the first embodiment, the UI display program 51 and the print data generation program 52 cannot acquire the status information of the printer 2 and there is a possibility that correct print settings and print data are not generated.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, a configuration for avoiding the problem that the status information of the printer 2 cannot be acquired and printing cannot be performed normally at the timing when the UI display program 51 or the print data generation program 52 operates will be described.

  Here, since the printer driver 50 is usually installed by connecting the host computer 1 and the printer 2 in many cases, there is a high possibility that the host computer 1 and the printer 2 are connected at the time of installation.

  In the process of installing the printer driver 50 in the host computer 1, the printer driver 50 receives a command from the OS 40 to initialize the printer driver 50 itself or a logical printer on the OS 40. For example, in a Windows (registered trademark) system typified by Microsoft Windows (registered trademark), when the printer driver 50 is installed, an initialization command is called from the OS 40 to the UI display program 51 when the installation is completed.

  For these reasons, it is highly possible that the status information of the printer 2 can be acquired. At the timing of installing the printer driver 50, the status information of the printer 2 is acquired and stored in the host computer 1. The problem in the case where the above status information cannot be acquired and printing cannot be performed normally is solved.

  Here, the operation of the UI display program 51 of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. This operation is performed when an initialization command is received from the OS 40 when the printer driver 50 is installed.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the UI display program when installing the printer driver according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  At the time of installation, the UI display program 51 called from the OS 40 first performs the initialization process of the printer 2 and the printer driver 50, which is the original process (step S401). Thereafter, status information including destination settings, types of extension options, and presence / absence of connection is acquired from the printer 2 via the data transmission / reception control program 53 or the interface control program 42 (step S402).

  In step S 402, when acquiring status information via the data transmission / reception control program 53, the data transmission / reception control program 53 acquires status information via the interface control program 42.

  Next, it is determined whether the acquisition of status information is successful (step S403). If acquisition of the status information has failed (NO in step S403), the process proceeds to step S404, in which the shipment setting and extended function information of the printer 2 are set to predetermined default information (default shipment setting and extended function information). ) (Step S404). On the other hand, if acquisition of status information has succeeded (YES in step S404), the process proceeds to step S405.

  Thereafter, the print setting information obtained from the status information acquired in step S402 or the predetermined default information set in step S404 is stored as printer driver data 61 on the external storage device 15 of the host computer 1 (step S405). End the process.

  Next, the operation of the UI display program 51 that controls the display by referring to the printer driver data 61 on the external storage device 15 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the UI display program according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 7, the same steps as those in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment are denoted by the same step numbers, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the difference between the first embodiment and FIG. 3 is that steps S501 and S502 are executed instead of steps S101 to S104 in FIG.

  That is, in FIG. 7, first, the printer driver data 61 is referred to, and the shipment setting and extended function information of the printer 2 are acquired (step S501). Next, in accordance with the acquired shipment setting and extended function information, a print setting table including items that can be set for printing is created (step S502). Thereafter, the processing after step S105 is executed according to the created print setting table.

  Next, the operation of the print data generation program 52 after the print start command is issued from the print application program 31 to the print service program 41 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print data generation program according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 8, the same steps as those in FIG. 4 of the first embodiment are denoted by the same step numbers, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the difference from FIG. 4 of the first embodiment is that step S601 is executed instead of step S201 and step S202 of FIG.

  That is, in FIG. 8, first, the printer driver data 61 is referred to, and the shipment setting and extended function information are acquired from the printer 2 (step S601). Thereafter, the processing after step S203 is executed according to the acquired shipment setting and extended function information.

  Next, the operation of the data transmission / reception control program 53 when the generated print data is delivered from the print service program 41 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data transmission / reception control program according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 9, the same step numbers are added to the same steps as those in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the difference between the first embodiment and FIG. 5 is that step S701 is executed instead of step S301 and step S302 in FIG.

  In other words, in FIG. 9, first, referring to the printer driver data 61, shipment settings and extended function information are acquired from the printer 2 (step S701). Thereafter, the processing after step S303 is executed according to the acquired shipment setting and function expansion information.

  Since the data transmission / reception control program 53 is a program that provides bidirectional communication with the printer 2, if necessary, status information information is acquired from the printer 2 in the same manner as in FIG. The print setting information obtained from the status information may be compared with the print setting information of the print data, and transfer of the print data may be controlled or a warning display may be executed based on the comparison result.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects described in the first embodiment, the status information of the printer 2 at the time of installing the printer driver 50 or the like can be acquired at a high timing. By acquiring the status information of the printer 2 prior to the generation of the print data, it is possible to determine the consistency between the print setting and the print setting of the actual print data from the status information.

  Thereby, even when the status information of the printer 2 cannot be acquired at the time of generating the print data, it is possible to determine the minimum consistency of the print setting.

<Embodiment 3>
In the second embodiment, the shipping setting and extended function information of the printer 2 are stored in the external storage device 15 on the host computer 1 when the printer driver 50 is installed. With this configuration, even if the status information cannot be acquired from the printer 2 at the timing when the UI display program 51 or the print data generation program 52 operates, the print data suitable for the printer 2 can be created.

  However, in the configuration of the second embodiment, there are few problems with print settings relating to shipment settings that are not changed so much, but those that are likely to be changed frequently, such as extended functions, are always the printer 2. It is more desirable that the latest status information can be obtained and consistency with the print setting of the print data can be determined.

  Therefore, in the third embodiment, a configuration will be described in which the latest status information is acquired in a state in which the shipment setting of the printer and the extended function information cannot be acquired at the timing when the UI display program 51 and the print data generation program 52 operate.

  Note that the operations of the UI display program 51 and the print data generation program 52 are the same as those in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 of the second embodiment, and are therefore omitted here.

  Next, the operation of the data transmission / reception control program 53 when print data is delivered from the print service program 41 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the data transmission / reception control program according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the data transmission / reception control program 53 acquires the shipment setting and extended function information of the printer 2 from the printer driver data 61 (step S701). Next, the print data delivered from the print service program 41 is analyzed, print setting information (shipment settings and extended function information) obtained from the status information of the printer 2 acquired in step S701, print setting information of the print data, Are compared to determine whether the print settings of both are valid combinations (step S702).

  If the print setting is a valid combination (YES in step S702), the print data is transferred to the printer 2 via the interface control program 42 (step S703).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the transfer of all print data has been completed (step S704). If the transfer has not been completed (NO in step S704), the process returns to step S703. On the other hand, when the transfer is completed (YES in step S704), status information including shipment settings and extended function information is acquired from the printer 2 via the interface control program 42 (step S705).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the status information has been successfully acquired (step S706). If acquisition of status information has failed (NO in step S706), the print service program 41 is notified of the completion of transfer of print data (step S708), and the process ends. On the other hand, if the status information has been successfully acquired (YES in step S706), the acquired status information is updated as printer driver data 61 (step S707). Thereafter, the print service program 41 is notified of the completion of transfer of the print data (step S708), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the print setting is not a valid combination in step S702 (NO in step S702), a warning is displayed to the user (step S709). Thereafter, status information including shipment settings and extended function information is acquired from the printer 2 via the interface control program 42 (step S710).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the status information has been successfully acquired (step S711). If acquisition of status information is successful (YES in step S711), the acquired status information is updated as printer driver data 61 (step S712). Thereafter, the print service program 41 is notified of the failure to transfer the print data (step S715), and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if acquisition of status information has failed (NO in step S711), it is determined whether or not shipment settings and extended function information are already stored in the printer driver data 61 (step S713). If not stored (NO in step 713), the printer driver data 61 is updated with predetermined default information (default shipment settings and extended function information) set in advance (step S714). Thereafter, the print service program 41 is notified of the failure to transfer the print data (step S715), and the process ends.

  On the other hand, if shipment settings and extended function information have already been stored in step S713 (YES in step S713), the print service program 41 is notified of a print data transfer failure as it is (step S715), and the process is terminated. To do.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, in addition to the effects described in the second embodiment, when the latest status information of the printer 2 can be acquired, the status information is updated as the printer driver data 61. In the next and subsequent printing operations, the latest status information of the printer 2 can be referred to to control the transfer of print data and to display a warning.

  Although the embodiments have been described in detail above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, an apparatus, a method, a program, or a storage medium, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system that is configured, or may be applied to an apparatus that includes a single device.

  In the present invention, a software program (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in the figure) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment is directly or remotely supplied to the system or apparatus, and the computer of the system or apparatus Is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, or the like.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program, for example, floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R) and the like.

  As another program supply method, a client computer browser is used to connect to an Internet homepage, and the computer program of the present invention itself or a compressed file including an automatic installation function is downloaded from the homepage to a recording medium such as a hard disk. Can also be supplied. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition to the functions of the above-described embodiments being realized by the computer executing the read program, the OS running on the computer based on an instruction of the program is a part of the actual processing. Alternatively, the functions of the above-described embodiment can be realized by performing all of them and performing the processing.

  Furthermore, after the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion board or The CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the printing system of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the external storage device of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of UI display program of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the print data generation program of Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the data transmission / reception control program of Embodiment 1 of this invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a UI display program when installing a printer driver according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of UI display program of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the print data generation program of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the data transmission / reception control program of Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the data transmission / reception control program of Embodiment 3 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Computer 10 Keyboard 11 Input Interface 12 CPU
13 ROM
14 RAM
14a Symbol information storage unit 14b Print data storage unit 14c Program load area 15 External storage device 16 Output interface 17 Display unit 18 Mouse 19 Input / output interface 2 Printer 21 Interface unit 22 RAM
23 ROM
24 CPU
25 Printer Engine 30 Application Program Group 31 Print Application Program 40 Operation System 41 Print Service Program 42 Interface Control Program 50 Printer Driver 51 UI Display Program 52 Print Data Generation Program 53 Data Transmission / Reception Control Program

Claims (14)

An information processing apparatus connected to and controlling the printing apparatus,
Obtaining means for obtaining from shipping settings and extended function information in the printing apparatus;
Output control means for controlling execution or cancellation of output of print data to be output to the printing apparatus using the set print setting information and the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition means. An information processing apparatus characterized by that. Further comprising setting means for performing print settings via a print setting screen in the printing apparatus;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information when displaying the print setting screen. Further comprising display control means for controlling display contents of the print setting screen;
The display control unit controls the display content of the print setting screen based on the shipment setting and the extended function information when the acquisition unit can acquire the shipment setting and the extended function information. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein when the shipment setting and the extended function information cannot be acquired, the display content of the print setting screen is controlled based on predetermined shipment setting and extended function information. A comparison unit that compares the set print setting information with the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit;
Changing means for changing the set print setting information;
The acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information when creating the print data to be output;
The comparison unit compares the set print setting information with the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit when creating the print data to be output.
The changing unit changes the set print setting information when the set print setting information does not match the shipment setting and the extended function information acquired by the acquiring unit as a result of the comparison by the comparing unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. Further comprising display means for displaying warning information indicating that output of the print data to be output to the printing apparatus is stopped,
The acquisition unit acquires the shipping setting and extended function information when outputting the print data to be output to the printing apparatus,
The comparison unit compares the set print setting information with the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit when outputting the print data to be output to the printing apparatus;
When the output means print data to be output to the printing apparatus, the display means sets the print setting information as a result of the comparison by the comparison means, and the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition means. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein warning information indicating that output of the print data to be output to the printing apparatus is to be stopped is displayed when the data does not match. The control unit, as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit, if the set print setting information does not match the shipment setting and the extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit, the printing device for the print data to be output On the other hand, if the set print setting information matches the shipment setting and the extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit as a result of the comparison by the comparison unit, the print data to be output The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein output to the printing apparatus is executed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit stores the shipment setting and extended function information from the printing apparatus. Storage means for storing shipment settings and extended function information in the printing apparatus;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information from the storage unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information when at least a control program that realizes the acquisition unit is stored in the information processing apparatus. . The storage means stores the shipping setting and extended function information when the acquiring means can acquire the shipping setting and extended function information, while the acquiring means cannot acquire the shipping setting and extended function information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a predetermined shipment setting and extended function information are stored. The acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information after the control by the control unit is completed,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the storage unit updates its content with the shipment setting and extended function information acquired by the acquisition unit after the control by the control unit is completed. The acquisition unit acquires the shipment setting and extended function information after the control by the control unit is completed,
Output of the print data to be output to the printing apparatus is stopped by the control unit, the shipment setting and extended function information cannot be acquired by the acquisition unit, and the shipment setting and extended function information is already stored in the storage unit The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the storage unit updates its content with predetermined shipment settings and extended function information. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus connected to a printing apparatus and controlling the printing apparatus,
An acquisition step of acquiring from shipment settings and extended function information in the printing apparatus;
An output control step for controlling execution or cancellation of output of the print data to be output to the printing apparatus using the set print setting information and the shipment setting and extended function information acquired in the acquisition step. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus. A program that is connected to a printing apparatus and realizes control of an information processing apparatus that controls the printing apparatus,
A program code of an acquisition process acquired from shipment settings and extended function information in the printing apparatus;
Program code of an output control step for controlling execution or cancellation of output of print data to be output to the printing apparatus using the set print setting information and the shipment setting and extended function information acquired in the acquisition step A program comprising: and.

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