JP2006163880A - Printer host, printer state information display program and state information display method for printer in printer host - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve usefulness of displayed information, in a printer host displaying state information of a plurality of printers. <P>SOLUTION: This printer host connected with the plurality of printers has: a state information acquisition means provided correspondingly to the printer, acquiring the state information including at least abnormality occurrence information of the printer; and a state information management means managing the state information acquisition means and the acquired state information. The state information management means makes an icon displaying a state related to the printer be determined on the basis of each piece of the acquired state information related to the plurality of printers, and makes each of the plurality of printers display a message corresponding to each the piece of the state information about the plurality of connected printers on each of a plurality of state information screens corresponding to the plurality of printers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, and more particularly to a printer host that displays status information of a printing apparatus.

  A printer status display program (status monitor) is known as software for displaying the status of a printer in a host computer connected to the printer.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique that enables a plurality of printers to be managed simultaneously and a change in the status of each printer can be recognized when a plurality of printers are connected to a host computer.
JP 2000-293336 A

  However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to display a plurality of recognizable information on the status of each printer, and the user can easily detect the abnormal status of the printer at a glance without interrupting the current operation. The means and method for confirmation are not considered.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems in a printer host that displays status information of a plurality of printing apparatuses, and to provide means and a method that allow a user to easily check an abnormal status of a printer.

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention,
A printer host connected to a plurality of printing devices,
A plurality of state information acquisition means for acquiring state information associated with any of the printing apparatuses and including at least abnormality occurrence information of the associated printing apparatuses;
State information management means for controlling the state information acquisition means and managing the acquired state information;
The status information management unit can provide a printer host that determines an icon for displaying a status related to a printing device based on the acquired status information about the plurality of printing devices.

According to the second invention,
The printer host,
The status information management unit displays the icon as a representative icon that represents a plurality of normal / abnormal statuses of the plurality of printing apparatuses, and the status information management unit includes a status associated with each of the plurality of printing apparatuses. A table including data including priority information corresponding to the information, and a plurality of candidates in which the representative icon is set in advance based on the status information regarding the plurality of printing apparatuses and the priority information recorded in the table It is possible to provide a printer host that is characterized by being selected and displayed.

According to the third invention,
The printer host,
When the status information management means receives a predetermined instruction, the status information management means displays a message corresponding to each status information about the connected printing apparatuses on an independent status information screen corresponding to the plurality of printing apparatuses. A printer host characterized by display can be provided.

According to the fourth invention,
The printer host,
The status information management means can provide a printer host characterized by determining the display order of the independent status information screens based on the priority order information recorded in the table.

According to the fifth invention,
The printer host,
The predetermined instruction is a double-click on the representative icon, and the printer host can be provided.

According to the sixth invention,
The printer host,
The status information management means can provide a printer host characterized by acquiring status information of at least a printing device that is executing printing among the connected printing devices when the predetermined instruction is received.

According to the seventh invention,
The printer host,
The status information management means can provide a printer host characterized by displaying a message corresponding to status information of at least an abnormal printing device among the connected printing devices on the status information screen.

According to the eighth invention,
A printing device status information display program executed by a printer host connected to a plurality of printing devices,
The printer host is functioned as a status information acquisition unit that is provided for the printing device and acquires status information including at least abnormality information of the plurality of printing devices,
Further, the printer host is caused to function as a status information management unit that manages the status information acquisition unit and the acquired status information.
The status information management means determines an icon for displaying a status relating to the printing device based on the acquired status information relating to the plurality of printing devices,
When receiving a predetermined instruction, the status information management means sends a message corresponding to each status information about the connected printing apparatuses acquired via the status information acquisition means to the plurality of printing apparatuses. It is possible to provide a printing apparatus status information display program that is displayed on a corresponding independent status information screen.

According to the ninth invention,
A printing apparatus status information display method in a printer host connected to a plurality of printing apparatuses,
A state information obtaining unit obtaining state information of the printing apparatus;
A state information management unit that manages the status information acquisition unit and the acquired status information determines an icon for displaying a status related to the printing device based on the acquired status information about the plurality of printing devices. When,
When receiving a predetermined instruction, the status information management means sends a message corresponding to each status information about the connected printing apparatuses acquired via the status information acquisition means to the plurality of printing apparatuses. It is possible to provide a method for displaying status information of a printing apparatus in a printer host, characterized by comprising the steps of displaying on the corresponding independent status information screens.

  According to the present invention, in the printer host that displays the status information of the plurality of printing apparatuses, the abnormal state related to the plurality of printing apparatuses is represented and displayed by the representative icon, so that the user does not interrupt the current operation. It is possible to easily check the occurrence of printer abnormality at a glance.

  Further, according to the present invention, the status information of the plurality of printing devices is displayed on the plurality of status information screens respectively corresponding to the plurality of printing devices according to a predetermined instruction, so that the user can display the details of the status of the printing device. It can be confirmed accurately and dealt with.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an outline of a hardware configuration of a printing system to which the present invention is applied.

  As shown in the figure, the printing system includes a plurality of printers 10 (10A, 10B) that are provided with a computer 30 for realizing various types of processing using application software, printing processing using a printer driver, and a user interface via an input / output device. 10C,...).

  In the present embodiment, the computer 30 is connected to each printer 10 by the computer network 60, but may be locally connected by a plurality of ports. Further, a display device 21 such as a color display and an input device 22 such as a mouse and a keyboard are connected to the computer 30 main body. The configuration of the printing system is not limited to this.

  In this embodiment, the computer 30 functions as a printer host that generates print data, transmits the print data to the printer 10, manages the status of the printer 10, and displays status information (status).

  A printer driver program and a status monitor program, which are computer programs for causing the computer 30 to function as a printer host, are generally developed for the printer 10 by the manufacturer of the printer 10, recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, and distributed. Or distributed through a computer network such as the Internet. However, the status monitor program can be developed by being included in the printer driver program. These programs are installed in the computer 30 and executed to realize functions to be described later.

  As the computer 30, for example, a general-purpose information processing device such as a personal computer can be used. In this embodiment, the computer 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes various programs, a RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores data and programs, various data and various programs for controlling the computer 30, and the like. In order to connect to the computer network 60, the control unit 310 configured with a ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like in which nonvolatile memory is stored in advance, the input / output interface 320 for connecting to the display device 21, the input device 22, and the like Network interface 330, a media drive device 340 for accessing a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, and an auxiliary storage device 350 such as a hard disk. Of course, the configuration of the computer 30 is not limited to this.

  The printer 10 can be, for example, a page printer provided with a laser type printing mechanism. A laser-type page printer includes a toner cartridge containing toner in a housing, and performs printing by transferring the toner to a printing medium such as printing paper. The printer 10 may be either a color laser printer or a monochrome laser printer. For example, an ink jet printer may be used instead of the laser method.

  The printer 10 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and includes a control unit 110 that controls various processes in the printer 10, a network interface 120 for connection to the computer network 60, a toner cartridge, a photosensitive drum, a laser light irradiation mechanism, and the like. A printing mechanism 130 including a printing mechanism, a paper supply / discharge mechanism, and the like is provided. Of course, the configuration of the printer 10 is not limited to this.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the computer 30 to which the present invention is applied. In this figure, the functional configuration of a computer 30 connected to three printers 10 (10A, 10B, 10C) via a network is shown.

  As shown in the figure, the computer 30 includes an operating system unit 31, a plurality of sets of printer driver units 41 (41a, 41b, 41c1, 41c2), a status monitor unit 42 (42a, 42b, 42c1, 42c2), a status monitor. And a management unit 43.

  The printer driver unit 41 and the status monitor unit 42 are installed in the computer 30 as a set corresponding to the printer 10 connected to the computer 30. Also, a plurality of printer driver units 41 (C printer driver 41c1, C (2) printer driver 41c2) and status monitor unit 42 (C) having different basic settings for one printer 10 (printer 10C in this example). The status monitor 42c1 for C and the status monitor 42c2 for C (2) can be installed together.

  The user can execute printing on the corresponding printer 10 by designating one of the printer driver units 41 at the time of printing. At this time, the corresponding status monitor unit 42 is activated by the printer driver unit 41.

  The operating system unit 31 is so-called basic software that controls the basic user interface and file management of the computer 30. The printer driver unit 41, status monitor unit 42, and status monitor management unit 43 are functional units that operate on the operating system unit 31.

  The printer driver unit 41 performs processing for causing the printer 10 to print a document created by application software (not shown).

  The status monitor unit 42 has a printer status information acquisition function, communicates with the corresponding printer 10, and acquires information regarding the status of the printer 10 (hereinafter also referred to as status information regarding the printing apparatus). The information regarding the status of the printer 10 acquired by the status monitor unit 42 can include a consumable state, an error occurrence state, a print job reception state, and the like.

  The status monitor management unit 43 has a state information management function for managing the status monitor 42 and managing the status information of the printer 10 acquired by the status monitor unit 42. Display as appropriate.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the status monitor management unit 43 includes a status information data table 431 including priority information corresponding to status information related to the printing apparatus, and normal / abnormal status information related to the printing apparatus. An icon data unit 432 having corresponding icon data, a status information management unit 433 that determines a method and procedure for displaying status information data related to the printing device on the display device 21 in FIG. 1, and a printing device based on the determined procedure. And a display data control unit 434 that transfers the state information data to the display device 21 via the input / output interface 320 of FIG.

  Here, the status information data table can also have priority information based on the importance of the status and a message (for example, an error message or a warning message) corresponding to the status information.

  FIG. 4 exemplifies one of the data configurations of the state information data table 431. The status information data table 431 includes one record of status information 431a regarding the status of the printer 10 acquired by the status monitor unit 42, priority information 431b based on the importance of the status information regarding the status, and a message corresponding to the status. Configured as

  In the present embodiment, the priority information 431b is defined as [A: high priority = error, B: average priority = warning, C: low priority = normal state]. In this example, the priority information is divided into three ranks. However, the priority information rank is not limited to three levels, and may be more or less than that.

  Here, “error” refers to a state in which printing cannot be continued unless the state is improved, and “warning” refers to a state in which printing will be hindered if the state continues. Specifically, the content is as exemplified in the message 431c of FIG. 4, and in the present embodiment, the priority information A, B, and C as described above are set based on the importance of this state.

  FIG. 5 illustrates icon data corresponding to normal / abnormal state information stored in the icon data unit 432. The icon 432A is an icon corresponding to the priority information A of the state information data table 431, the icon 432B is an icon corresponding to the priority information B of the state information data table 431, and the icon 432C is a priority of the state information data table 431. It is an icon corresponding to information C.

  In the present embodiment, the icon design is changed according to the priority order information, but in addition to this, the icon color may be changed, or only the icon color may be changed alone.

  The status monitor management unit 43 is constructed on the computer 30 by the status monitor program in the same manner as the status monitor unit 42, and is installed at the same time when the status monitor program is first installed, and basically resides in the operating system unit 31. It can be set as a functional unit.

  In the present embodiment, the status information data table 431 has a message corresponding to the status information together with the priority information, but each may have a separate table.

  Here, the processing of the present embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to other drawings based on the flow of FIG.

  In the trigger waiting step (S101) of FIG. 6, the status monitor management unit 43 sends a predetermined printer status acquisition trigger (for example, a status change notification when at least one of a plurality of printers 10 generates a warning or an error, or The occurrence of a predetermined interval from the internal timing device or the occurrence of a user double-clicking icon is monitored.

  Here, the printer status acquisition trigger is a trigger signal that defines the timing at which the status monitor management unit 43 starts acquiring information related to the status of at least one of the plurality of printers 10 via the status monitor unit 42. . The predetermined printer status acquisition trigger is not limited to the above example.

  When a predetermined printer status acquisition trigger is entered, the process proceeds to the printer status acquisition and priority determination step (S102), and the status monitor management unit 43 relates to the status of at least one of the plurality of printers 10 via the status monitor unit 42. Get information. Then, the status information management unit 433 assigns priorities according to the importance of the printer status based on the acquired information on the status of at least one printer 10 and the priority information of the status information data table 431.

  Next, in the icon selection / display step (S103), icons (432A, 432B, 432C,...) Corresponding to the priority order of the printer status are selected from the icon data unit 432 and displayed in the display data control unit 434. Send.

  As a result, the icon (432B in the present embodiment) corresponding to the printer status selected by the status information management unit 433 is displayed by the operating system unit 31 like the icon 510 in the display screen 500 shown in FIG. The displayed program display area 501 to be provided (for example, in the task tray of the task bar in Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation) is always displayed.

  Here, when a plurality of printers 10 are connected as in the embodiment, it is conceivable that the plurality of printers simultaneously have different statuses. In this case, the status information management unit 433 selects one representative icon corresponding to the printer status with the highest priority (first priority) from the icon data unit 432 based on the determined priority, and displays the display data. The information is transmitted to the control unit 434 and displayed in the program execution area 501 in the display screen 500.

  As a result, the user can always check the current printer status with the icon 510, can quickly know the normal / abnormal status of the printer, and can quickly respond when an abnormality occurs.

  In addition, the location where the icon is displayed is in the task tray of the task bar and is different from the work area in which the user is working. Therefore, the user can easily check the occurrence of a printer abnormality at a glance without interrupting the current work. be able to.

  In the present embodiment, the icon displayed in the running program display area 501 in the display screen 500 is a representative icon corresponding to the highest priority printer status, but corresponds to the status of a plurality of connected printers 10. The icon to be displayed may be repeatedly displayed by switching over time.

  Further, the status information acquisition for icon display performed by the status monitor management unit 43 does not have to be performed for all connected printers, and may be at least a printer that is currently printing.

  Next, the process proceeds to a confirmation step (S104) as to whether or not the printer status acquisition trigger is a user icon double-click on the icon 510, and the status monitor management unit 43 displays it in the running program display area 501 in the display screen 500. It is confirmed whether or not the icon 510 to be double-clicked by the user.

  When the icon 510 is not double-clicked, the process returns to the trigger wait step (S101) and waits for the next trigger.

  If the icon 510 is double-clicked, the process proceeds to step S105 in which a message corresponding to the status of the plurality of connected printers 10 is displayed.

  In step S105, based on the determined priority order, the state information management unit 433 displays status messages 431c stored in the state information data table 431 so as to display corresponding status messages in order from the first priority order in the display screen 500. Then, the status message 431c corresponding to each status information is transmitted to the display data control unit 434, and displayed as the status information screen 540 (540a, 540b, 540c,...) In FIG.

  At this time, the status information management unit 433 may sequentially transmit the corresponding status messages from the first priority to the display data control unit 434, or all the display data to be displayed is integrated by the status information management unit 433. Then, the integrated data may be transmitted to the display data control unit 434 all at once.

  Here, when there are a plurality of status messages displayed in the display screen 500, the display data control unit 434 displays the status message with the highest priority at the top as illustrated in FIG. Perform display control.

  As a result, the user can see the printer status with the highest importance first, and by dealing with the message displayed at the highest level, it becomes possible to sequentially deal with the issues from the more important issues.

  However, as another embodiment, a plurality of status messages may be switched over in time and displayed repeatedly.

  As described above, the user can easily confirm detailed information of each printer status by a simple and most common and easy-to-understand computer screen operation of double-clicking the icon 510 representing the current printer status. Become.

  Here, in the present embodiment, as one of the printer status acquisition triggers, a user icon double-click on the icon 510 is set, and when the icon double-click is detected, the status regarding at least one of the plurality of printers 10 is related. Step S102 for acquiring information is performed, but when an icon double-click is detected, information on the status of the printer 10 is not acquired, and a status message display is performed based on the status information acquired immediately before. Step S105 to be performed may be performed.

  In the present embodiment, the predetermined instruction for displaying a message corresponding to the status of the connected printer 10 has been described as the user double-clicking on the icon 510, but the predetermined instruction means is limited to this. It is not a thing.

  Further, when a plurality of printers 10 are connected as in the embodiment, it is conceivable that a plurality of printers simultaneously have the same status. In this case, the status information management unit 433 determines the priority order between printers having the same status based on the order of receiving the status change information and a predetermined printer order (for example, name order, registration order, etc.). May be.

  Alternatively, the priority order may be determined according to the amount of print data to be printed.

  Alternatively, a predetermined order may be set in advance within the priority information of the same rank that the status information data table 431 has, and further, the user can arbitrarily set the priority. good.

  The status message display need not be performed for all connected printers, but may be at least a printer that is operating, at least a printer that is printing, or a printer that is at least in a warning or error state. This makes it easier for the user to obtain highly important printing apparatus information.

  The present invention is effective for error notification and warning notification in printer driver software, particularly when the printer status message display is set not to automatically pop up.

The present invention is also effective when the user once erases the printer status message display that pops up automatically.

1 is a block diagram for explaining a hardware configuration of a printing system to which the present invention is applied. The block diagram which shows the function structure of the computer in this invention. The block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the status monitor management part in this invention. The figure which shows an example of a data structure of the status information data table in this invention. The figure which shows an example of the icon memorize | stored in the icon data part in this invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a printing system to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating icons that display status information of the printing system according to the present invention. The figure which shows the status information screen which displays the status information of the printing system in this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer, 110 ... Control part, 120 ... Network interface, 130 ... Printing mechanism, 21 ... Display apparatus, 22 ... Input device, 30 ... Computer, 31 ... Operating system part, 310 ... Control part, 320 ... I / O interface, 330 ... Network interface, 340 ... Media drive device, 350 ... Auxiliary storage device 41 ... Printer driver unit, 42 ... Status monitor unit, 43 ... Status monitor management unit, 431 ... Status information data table, 432 ... Icon data unit, 433 ... Status information management unit, 434 ... display data control unit, 510 ... representative icon corresponding to printer status, 540 ... status information screen corresponding to printer status, 60 ... computer network

Claims (13)

A printer host connected to a plurality of printing devices,
A plurality of state information acquisition means for acquiring state information associated with any of the printing apparatuses and including at least abnormality occurrence information of the associated printing apparatuses;
State information management means for controlling the state information acquisition means and managing the acquired state information;
The printer host characterized in that the status information management means determines an icon for displaying a status relating to a printing device based on the acquired status information relating to the plurality of printing devices. The printer host according to claim 1,
The state information management means is a representative icon that displays a plurality of normal / abnormal states of the plurality of printing apparatuses,
The status information management means includes a table including data including priority information corresponding to the status information regarding the plurality of printing apparatuses,
A printer host, wherein the representative icon is selected from a plurality of preset candidates and displayed on the basis of status information regarding the plurality of printing apparatuses and priority information recorded in the table. The printer host according to claim 1, wherein:
When the status information management means receives a predetermined instruction, the status information management means displays a message corresponding to each status information about the connected printing apparatuses on an independent status information screen corresponding to the plurality of printing apparatuses. A printer host characterized by display. A printer host according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The printer host characterized in that the status information management means determines a display order of the independent status information screens based on priority order information recorded in the table. The printer host according to claim 3, wherein
The printer host according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined instruction is a double-click on the representative icon. The printer host according to claim 3, wherein
The status information management unit acquires status information of at least a printing device that is executing printing among the connected printing devices when the predetermined instruction is received. The printer host according to claim 3, wherein
The printer host according to claim 1, wherein the status information management means displays a message corresponding to status information of at least an abnormal printing device among the connected printing devices on the status information screen. A printing device status information display program executed by a printer host connected to a plurality of printing devices,
The printer host is functioned as a status information acquisition unit that is provided for the printing device and acquires status information including at least abnormality information of the plurality of printing devices,
Further, the printer host is caused to function as a status information management unit that manages the status information acquisition unit and the acquired status information.
The status information management means determines an icon for displaying a status relating to the printing device based on the acquired status information relating to the plurality of printing devices,
When receiving a predetermined instruction, the status information management means sends a message corresponding to each status information about the connected printing apparatuses acquired via the status information acquisition means to the plurality of printing apparatuses. A printing apparatus status information display program which is displayed on a corresponding independent status information screen. A printing apparatus status information display method in a printer host connected to a plurality of printing apparatuses,
A state information obtaining unit obtaining state information of the printing apparatus;
A state information management unit that manages the status information acquisition unit and the acquired status information determines an icon for displaying a status related to the printing device based on the acquired status information about the plurality of printing devices. When,
When receiving a predetermined instruction, the status information management means sends a message corresponding to each status information about the connected printing apparatuses acquired via the status information acquisition means to the plurality of printing apparatuses. A method for displaying status information of a printing apparatus in a printer host, comprising the steps of: displaying on corresponding status information screens. A printer host connected to a plurality of printing devices,
Status information acquisition means provided for the printing device and for acquiring status information of the printing device;
Status information management means for managing the status information acquisition means;
Display means for constantly displaying an icon corresponding to the state information management means,
The display unit changes a display mode of the icon when the status information acquired by the status information acquisition unit indicates that an abnormality has occurred in any of the printing apparatuses. host. The printer host according to claim 10, comprising:
The status information of the printing device indicates that the printing device is in a normal state, an abnormality that allows printing execution has occurred (hereinafter, “warning state”), and an abnormality that prevents printing execution has occurred. (Hereinafter referred to as “error status”),
The status information management means, when the status information indicates that an abnormality has occurred in any of the printing apparatuses, includes the icon when the error status is included and when the error status is not included. A printer host characterized by different display modes. The printer host according to claim 11, comprising:
When the status information management unit receives a predetermined instruction, the status information management unit displays a message corresponding to the status information acquired by the status information acquisition unit on each independent status information screen corresponding to the plurality of printing apparatuses. Features printer host. A printer host according to claim 12, comprising:
The state information management means causes the display means to display a screen including a message corresponding to state information classified into an error state in front of a screen including a message corresponding to state information classified into a warning state, A printer host that displays a screen including a message corresponding to state information classified into a normal state on a rear side of a screen including a message corresponding to state information classified into a warning state.

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