JP2007025846A - Device identification system, device identification method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device identification system, a device identification method and a program, in which application software can efficiently identify each device in a system having a plurality of devices of the same model connected to a host computer through USB. <P>SOLUTION: The host computer comprises a communication port setting means 32 and a communication port management means 34. According to such a structure, in the system having a plurality of devices of the same model connected to the host computer, application software can efficiently identify each device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a device identification system, a device identification method, and a program that allow application software that controls one or more devices connected to a host computer to identify the device. In particular, the present invention relates to a device identification system, a device identification method, and a program capable of efficiently identifying each device by application software in a system in which a plurality of devices of the same model are connected to a host computer.

  In a system in which a plurality of devices are connected to a host computer, such as a POS terminal system, the devices are connected to the host computer via an interface such as serial, parallel, or USB. Hereinafter, a POS terminal system as a system and a printer as an example will be described.

  Further, in order to support various interfaces between the printer and the host computer, a technique of mounting an interface device that performs level conversion between the TTL voltage and the CMOS voltage and conversion of the interface standard on the printer is also used (Patent Document 1). reference). In this case, it is possible to cope with various command data and communication interfaces simply by exchanging the interface device. Therefore, even if a new communication interface standard appears, the printer main body can be used as it is. Here, a self-test function for printing setting contents to make the user recognize the information of the interface device mounted on the printer has also been proposed (see Patent Document 2).

  In a POS terminal system composed of a plurality of printers of the same model as the host computer, in the case of serial communication, a physical number such as COM1, COM2, etc. is attached to the connector on the host computer. The system application software can identify the printer by the number of the connector to which the printer is connected. In the case of USB, no physical number is assigned to the connector on the host computer. Therefore, the system application software identifies printers by logical numbers (hereinafter referred to as logical names) that are automatically assigned based on the order in which they are connected to the host computer, the order in which power is turned on, etc. It was. As a method of identification, a print command is requested for a desired logical name, and a printer that actually executes printing based on the request is associated with the requested logical name. Here, even if the printers are the same, different logical names are assigned when the interface device is replaced.

JP 2001-202322 A JP-A-6-227097

  As described above, in the case of USB, as a method for causing the application software to identify the printer, after a logical name is automatically assigned to the connected printer, a print command is requested for the logical name, and based on the request. Thus, the work of associating the printer that actually executed printing with the logical name with the request had to be executed for all logical names. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes time to set up the system.

  In addition, when the order of connection to the host computer, the order in which the power is turned on, etc. change, or when a new printer is added, the above-mentioned work must be performed. There was also a problem of reducing the efficiency of maintenance work.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. In a system in which a plurality of devices of the same model are connected to a host computer via a USB, each device can be efficiently applied. It is an object to provide a device identification system, a device identification method, and a program that can be identified by software.

  The following invention is provided to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems.

  A device identification system according to a first aspect of the present invention is a device identification system that causes application software that controls one or more devices connected to a host computer to identify the device, Communication port setting means for associating a device name for the application software to identify the device and a communication port of the device connected to the host computer based on identification information uniquely defined for each A communication port management means for managing a communication port of the device and a symbolic link name for identification by the OS of the host computer based on the identification information, and executing an instruction of an application software for the device And equipped with The features.

  With this configuration, the device identification system uses the communication port setting means to identify the device name for the application software to identify the device and the host computer based on the identification information uniquely defined for each device. The communication port of the connected device can be associated. Further, the communication port management means manages the communication port of the device and the symbolic link name for identification by the OS of the host computer based on the identification information, and executes the instruction of the application software for the device.

  Accordingly, in a system in which a plurality of devices of the same model are connected to the host computer, each device can be efficiently identified by the application software. Therefore, it is possible to improve the setup work efficiency of the system. It is also possible to improve the efficiency of maintenance work for adding or deleting devices in the system.

  In the device identification system according to another aspect of the present invention, the identification information input means for inputting the identification information for identifying the communication port of the device by the communication port setting means of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention described above. And device allocating means for allocating the identification information input by the identification information input means to the device name.

  With this configuration, the communication port setting unit of the device identification system causes the identification information input unit to input identification information for identifying the communication port of the device. Further, the identification information can be assigned to the device name by the device assigning means.

  As a result, each device can be identified by the application software based on the input identification information.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device identification system in which the communication port management unit of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention generates the symbolic link name based on the identification information. Means are provided.

  With such a configuration, the communication port management means of the device identification system causes the symbolic link name generation means to generate a symbolic link name based on the identification information.

  As a result, a process for associating identification information with a symbolic link name (for example, a process for associating a logical name with a symbolic link name and storing it in the registry), and a process for searching for a symbolic link name based on the identification information (for example, Windows) In the (registered trademark) OS, there is no need to execute a process of searching a symbolic link name associated with a logical name from a registry, and a more versatile system can be constructed.

  In the device identification system according to another aspect of the present invention, the symbolic link name generation unit of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention described above is based on the identification information and a predetermined rule based on the identification information. The symbolic link name is generated.

  As a result, it is not necessary to execute a process for associating identification information with a symbolic link name and a process for searching for a symbolic link name based on the identification information, and a more versatile system can be constructed.

  In the device identification system according to another aspect of the present invention, when the interface between the host computer and the device is USB, the identification information of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention described above is the device. Is connected to the host computer via an interface device, the serial number is uniquely defined in advance for each interface device, and the device is connected to the host computer without going through the interface device. The serial number is uniquely defined in advance for each device.

  As a result, in a system in which a plurality of devices of the same model are connected to the host computer via the USB, each device can be efficiently identified by the application software.

  A device identification method according to a first aspect of the present invention is a device identification method for causing an application software that controls one or more devices connected to a host computer to identify the device, the device identifying method A communication port setting step for associating a device name for the application software to identify the device and a communication port of the device connected to the host computer based on identification information uniquely defined for each A communication port management step of managing a communication port of the device and a symbolic link name for identification by the OS of the host computer based on the identification information, and executing an application software instruction for the device; With the features of That.

  Thereby, an effect equivalent to that of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention described above can be obtained.

  A device identification method according to another aspect of the present invention is the identification information input step in which the communication port setting step of the device identification method according to the aspect of the present invention described above inputs the identification information for identifying the communication port of the device. And a device allocating step of allocating the identification information input in the identification information input step to the device name.

  Thereby, an effect equivalent to that of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention described above can be obtained.

  A device identification method according to another aspect of the present invention is a symbolic link name generation in which the communication port management step of the device identification method according to the aspect of the present invention described above generates the symbolic link name based on the identification information. It has the process, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  Thereby, an effect equivalent to that of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention described above can be obtained.

  In the device identification method according to another aspect of the present invention, the symbolic link name generation step of the device identification method according to the aspect of the present invention described above is based on the identification information and a predetermined rule based on the identification information. The symbolic link name is generated.

  Thereby, an effect equivalent to that of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention described above can be obtained.

  In the device identification method according to another aspect of the present invention, when the interface between the host computer and the device is USB, the identification information of the device identification method according to the aspect of the present invention described above is the interface of the device. When connected to the host computer via a device, the serial number is uniquely defined in advance for each interface device, and the device is connected to the host computer without going through the interface device. Is a serial number uniquely defined in advance for each device.

  Thereby, an effect equivalent to that of the device identification system according to the aspect of the present invention described above can be obtained.

  A program according to a first aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to execute a process for causing an application software that controls one or more devices connected to a host computer to identify the device. The computer is caused to execute processing for realizing each means of the device identification system according to the above-described aspect of the present invention.

  If it is such a structure, when a computer reads a program and a computer performs a process with the read program, the effect | action and effect equivalent to the device identification system concerning the aspect of this invention mentioned above will be acquired.

  According to the present invention, in a system in which a plurality of devices of the same model are connected to a host computer, each device can be efficiently identified by application software. Therefore, it is possible to improve the setup work efficiency of the system. It is also possible to improve the efficiency of maintenance work for adding or deleting devices in the system.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the embodiment described below is for explanation, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, those skilled in the art can employ embodiments in which each or all of these elements are replaced by equivalents thereof, and these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a POS terminal system. As shown in FIG. 1, the POS terminal system 10 includes a host computer 12, printers 14a to 14c, and interface devices 16a to 16c. FIG. 1 mainly illustrates a host computer 12 and printers 14a to 14c. In an actual POS terminal system, a keyboard, a barcode scanner, a cash drawer, a display, a magnetic card reader, etc. (not shown) are also included. Is provided. The printers 14a to 14c are provided for different application software such as a receipt, a journal, a coupon, and a label.

  The host computer 12 includes application software that realizes various functions of the POS terminal system 10. The host computer 12 is connected to printers 14a to 14c for printing receipts, journals, and the like via interface devices 16a to 16c. The host computer 12 is connected to the interface devices 16a to 16c via the communication line 20. The communication line 20 can employ communication protocols provided by various communication forms such as a serial cable, a parallel cable, a network cable, and a USB (Universal Serial Bus). Hereinafter, the USB will be described as an example.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a block diagram of the device identification system of the present invention. Each function will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the host computer 12 includes a main control unit 30, a communication port setting unit 32, and a communication port management unit 34. Further, the communication port setting unit 32 includes an identification information input unit 40 and a device allocation unit 42, and the communication port management unit 34 includes a symbolic link name generation unit 44.

  The communication port setting unit 32 includes a device name for the application software to identify the printers 14a to 14c based on identification information uniquely defined for each of the printers 14a to 14c, for example, a USB serial number, and the printer 14a. Correlate with the communication ports of ~ c. Since the interface devices 16a to 16c are attached to the printers 14a to 14c, the USB serial numbers of the printers 14a to 14c are the serial numbers of the interface devices 16a to 16c.

  The identification information input means 40 inputs identification information for identifying the communication ports of the printers 14a to 14c, for example, serial numbers of the interface devices 15a to 15c. The serial numbers of the interface devices 16a to 16c can be printed by the self-test function of the printers 14a to 14c. The user can be made aware of the serial number of the printed interface devices 15a to 15c.

  The device allocation unit 42 allocates the identification information input by the identification information input unit 40 to a device name for the application software to identify the printers 14a to 14c, and stores the allocated information in a predetermined storage unit.

  Based on the identification information, the communication port management means 34 manages the communication ports of the printers 14a to 14c and the symbolic link names that are identified by the OS of the host computer 12, and executes instructions for the printers 14a to 14c. .

  The symbolic link name generation unit 44 generates a symbolic link name based on the identification information. For example, the symbolic link name of the OS of Windows (registered trademark) is “symbolic link name” = “company name” + “serial number” + “driver number”. Since the company name and driver number are known information, a symbolic link name can be generated from the serial number.

  The main control unit 30 controls the communication port setting unit 32 and the communication port management unit 34 in association with each other.

  FIG. 3 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure for identifying a printer.

  First, identification information of the printers 14a to 14c is acquired (S102). Here, the identification information is a USB serial number. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1 described above, since the printers 14a to 14c are equipped with the interface devices 16a to 16c, the identification information is a serial number of the interface devices 16a to 16c. The serial numbers of the interface devices 16a to 16c can be printed by a self test function built in the printers 14a to 14c.

  Next, the acquired identification information of the printers 14a to 14c, that is, the serial numbers of the interface devices 16a to 16c are set as communication ports of the printers 14a to 14c connected to the host computer 12, and the application software sets the printers. It associates with the device name for identifying 14a-c (S104).

  Finally, a symbolic link name for identification by the OS is managed based on the serial number, and a print command to the printer by the application software is executed (S106).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining management of communication ports when application software requests a print command to the printer.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the application software passes the serial number associated with the printer that requests the print command to the printer driver ((1) in the figure). The printer driver generates a symbolic link name for identification by the OS from the received serial number ((2) in the figure). For example, the symbolic link name of the OS of Windows (registered trademark) is “symbolic link name” = “company name” + “serial number” + “driver number”. Since the company name and driver number are information that the printer driver knows, the printer driver can generate a symbolic link name if the serial number is known. The printer driver passes the generated symbolic link name to the OS ((3) in the figure). In this way, a print command to the printer by the application software is executed while managing the communication port.

  Next, details of step S104 described above will be described.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a communication port setting procedure, and FIG. 6 is an example of a dialog for setting a USB serial number.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the communication port is set by first using the serial numbers of the interface devices 16a to 16c attached to the printers 14a to 14c as the communication ports of the printers 14a to 14c connected to the host computer 12. Input (S202). As shown in FIG. 6, the serial number is input by selecting the serial number as the type of the identification name in the type input area 50 and inputting the serial number in the identification name input area 52.

  Returning to FIG. 5, using the input serial number as a communication port, the application software associates it with a device name for identifying the printers 14a to 14c, and stores it in a predetermined storage unit (S204).

  In the above description, as shown in FIG. 1, since the printers 14a to 14c are equipped with the interface devices 16a to 16c, the identification information acquires and uses the unique serial number of the interface devices 16a to 16c. . However, when the printers 14a to 14c do not include the interface devices 16a to 16c (when the printers 14a to 14c have the interface device function), the unique serial numbers of the printers 14a to 14c may be used. Good.

  In the above description, the host computer 12 and the printers 14a to 14c are mainly described as shown in FIG. 1, but a plurality of types of devices other than one or a plurality of printers, a keyboard, a barcode scanner, a cash drawer. In the case of a display, a magnetic card reader, a memory device, or the like. Also, a combination of a plurality of types of devices may be used. Also in this case, each device may be provided with a unique serial number, whether or not each device has an interface device.

  Further, as described above, the host computer 12 is provided with the communication port setting means 32 and the communication port management means 34, so that a system in which a plurality of devices of the same model are connected to the host computer can be efficiently used. Each device can be identified by application software. Therefore, it is possible to improve the setup work efficiency of the system. It is also possible to improve the efficiency of maintenance work for adding or deleting devices in the system.

  Further, the case where the control program stored in advance in the ROM of the host computer 12 is executed when the processing shown in steps S104 and S106 in FIG. 3 and the processing shown in the flowchart in FIG. 5 are executed has been described. However, the program may be read from the information recording medium on which the program for executing each of these steps is recorded and executed.

  Here, the information recording medium is a semiconductor recording medium such as RAM or ROM, a magnetic storage type recording medium such as FD or HD, an optical reading type recording medium such as CD, CDV, LD, or DVD, or a magnetic storage such as MO. Any type / optical reading type recording medium, including any information recording medium that can be read by a computer, regardless of electronic, magnetic, optical, or other reading methods. The program may be downloaded and executed via a network.

It is a figure which shows an example of the system configuration | structure of a POS terminal system. It is an example of the block diagram of the device identification system of this invention. FIG. 3 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure for identifying a printer. It is a figure for demonstrating management of a communication port when application software requests | requires a printing command with respect to a printer. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the setting procedure of a communication port. It is a figure which shows an example of the dialog which sets the serial number of USB.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 POS terminal system 12 Host computer 14a-c Printer 16a-c Interface apparatus 20 Communication line 30 Main control means 32 Communication port setting means 34 Communication port management means 40 Identification information input means 42 Device allocation means 44 Symbolic link name generation means

Claims (11)

A device identification system that causes application software that controls one or more devices connected to a host computer to identify the device,
Communication port setting for associating a device name for the application software to identify the device and a communication port of the device connected to the host computer based on identification information uniquely defined for each device Means,
The communication port management means for managing a communication port of the device and a symbolic link name for identification by the OS of the host computer based on the identification information, and executing an instruction of an application software for the device; ,
A device identification system comprising: The communication port setting means includes
Identification information input means for inputting the identification information for identifying the communication port of the device;
Device assignment means for assigning the identification information input by the identification information input means to the device name;
The device identification system according to claim 1, comprising: The communication port management means includes
The device identification system according to claim 1, further comprising: a symbolic link name generation unit configured to generate the symbolic link name based on the identification information. The symbolic link name generation means includes:
The device identification system according to claim 3, wherein the symbolic link name is generated based on the identification information and a predetermined rule based on the identification information.   When the interface between the host computer and the device is USB, the identification information is unique for each interface device when the device is connected to the host computer via the interface device. When the device is connected to the host computer without going through an interface device, the serial number is uniquely defined in advance for each device. The device identification system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A device identification method for causing an application software that controls one or more devices connected to a host computer to identify the device,
Communication port setting for associating a device name for the application software to identify the device and a communication port of the device connected to the host computer based on identification information uniquely defined for each device Process,
A communication port management step of managing a communication port of the device and a symbolic link name for identification by the OS of the host computer based on the identification information, and executing an instruction of application software for the device;
A device identification method comprising: The communication port setting step includes:
An identification information input step for inputting the identification information for identifying a communication port of the device;
A device assignment step for assigning the identification information input by the identification information input step to the device name;
The device identification method according to claim 6, further comprising: The communication port management process includes:
8. The device identification method according to claim 6, further comprising a symbolic link name generation step for generating the symbolic link name based on the identification information. The symbolic link name generation step includes
The device identification method according to claim 8, wherein the symbolic link name is generated based on the identification information and a predetermined rule based on the identification information.   When the interface between the host computer and the device is USB, the identification information is unique for each interface device when the device is connected to the host computer via the interface device. When the device is connected to the host computer without going through an interface device, the serial number is uniquely defined in advance for each device. The device identification method according to any one of claims 6 to 9. A program that causes a computer to execute a process of identifying application devices that control one or more devices connected to a host computer.
The program which makes the said computer perform the process which implement | achieves each means of the device identification system of any one of Claim 1 to 5.

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