JP2007041808A - Print history display program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print history display program that allows confirming a print history and the content of its print settings through simple operations. <P>SOLUTION: The print history display program causes a computer with a display device to function as a display control device for controlling the display of a print history of document data stored in a predetermined storage device. The program has a print history display procedure for causing the display device to obtain a print history including print settings set in the document data from the predetermined storage device and to display the print history in the first display area of the display device; a print setting content display procedure for causing the content of the print settings related to the print history selected from within the print history displayed in the first display area to be displayed in the second display area of the display device, together with an icon showing at least the content of the print settings; and a preview display procedure for displaying in the third display area of the display device a preview image of the document data that reflects the content of the print settings. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print history display program, and more particularly to a print history display program that causes a computer having a display device to function as a display control device that controls display of print history of document data stored in a predetermined storage device.

When printing document data created by an application using a printer driver, data in the form of intermediate data is generated and saved with the print settings, or a preview image reflecting the so-called post-processing content is displayed. The technique of doing is known (for example, patent document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-232828

  However, conventionally, in order to change the print setting of already stored intermediate data, a screen different from the screen on which the list of intermediate data is displayed has to be displayed. Further, the preview image is also displayed on another screen, and there is a problem in that the user is forced to perform complicated work such as switching between the list of intermediate data and the setting screen.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a print history display program capable of confirming the print history and the contents of the print settings with a simple operation.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is a print history display program that causes a computer including a display device to function as a display control device that performs display control of a print history of document data stored in a predetermined storage device, A print history display procedure for causing the display device to acquire the print history including the print setting set in the document data from the predetermined storage device and to display the print history in a first display area of the display device; Print setting contents for displaying the contents of the print settings related to the print history selected in the print history displayed in the display area in the second display area of the display device together with at least an icon representing the contents of the print settings A display image and a preview image of document data reflecting the contents of the print settings are displayed in the third display area of the display device. And having a preview display step of causing shown.

  With such a print history display program, the print history and the contents of the print settings can be confirmed with a simple operation.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a print history display program capable of confirming the print history and the contents of the print setting with a simple operation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are diagrams showing an example of the system configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows an example in which a PC 10 and a printer 20 are directly connected by a cable 30 such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable or an RS232C cable. In FIG. 2, the PC 10 a and PC 10 b (hereinafter collectively referred to as “PC 10”) and the printer 20 are connected to a network 40 such as a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the Internet (whether wired or wireless). Not connected).

  The PC 10 is a general personal computer, and is installed with a program that realizes functions according to the present invention. The printer 20 is a general printer. The PC 10 may be a direct client for the printer 20 or a print server for receiving a print request from another PC or the like and causing the printer 20 to execute printing based on the print request.

  1 and 2, the PC 10 and the printer 20 are displayed as separate devices, but the present invention may be realized by an apparatus in which these are realized by a single casing.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the PC according to the embodiment of the present invention. The PC 10 according to the present embodiment includes a drive device 100, an auxiliary storage device 102, a memory device 103, an arithmetic processing device 104, an interface device 105, a display device 106, and a drive device 100 that are connected to each other via a bus B. An input device 107 and the like are included.

  A program for realizing the functions of the PC 10 is provided by a recording medium 101 such as a CD-ROM. When the recording medium 101 on which the program is recorded is set in the drive device 100, the program is installed from the recording medium 101 to the auxiliary storage device 102 via the drive device 100.

  The auxiliary storage device 102 stores the installed program and also stores necessary files and data. The memory device 103 reads the program from the auxiliary storage device 102 and stores it when there is an instruction to start the program. The arithmetic processing unit 104 executes functions related to the PC 10 in accordance with a program stored in the memory device 103. The interface device 105 is used as an interface for connecting to a network. The display device 106 displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like by a program. The input device 107 includes a keyboard and a mouse, and is used for inputting various operation instructions.

  When the PC 10 functions as a print server, the display device 106 and the input device 107 are not necessarily required.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram for explaining the printing process of the PC in the embodiment of the present invention.

  The application 11, the graphic engine 12, the printer driver 13, the spooler 14, and the port monitor 15 exist as files stored in the auxiliary storage device 102, and are loaded into the memory device 103 by an OS (Operating System) or the like when executed. Program module.

  The application 11 is a general-purpose application or a dedicated application as long as it runs on an OS (not shown) such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, or document management software and can output drawing information to the graphic engine 12 described later. It doesn't matter if it is. When printing is performed from the application 11 to the printer 20, drawing data is output using the graphic engine 12.

  The graphic engine 12, which is a drawing means provided by the OS, is generally called GDI (Graphic Device Interface). The application 11 outputs drawing data related to document data by calling a GDI function of the graphic engine 12. The graphic engine 12 loads the printer driver 13 prepared for each printer 20 from the auxiliary storage device 102 to the memory device 103, and outputs drawing data to the printer driver 13 in response to a function call from the application 11.

  The printer driver 13 generates print control data that can be recognized or interpreted by a printer represented by PDL (Page Description Language) based on the drawing data received from the graphic engine 12. The print control data that can be recognized by the printer is output to the printer 20 via the port monitor 15 via the spooler 14 loaded in the memory device 103 by the OS. The port monitor 15 functions as a transmission port of print control data to the printer 20 and also has a function of monitoring the completion of transmission of print control data to the printer 20 when generating a preview image to be described later.

  The printer driver 13 will be described in more detail. The printer driver 13 of the PC 10 according to the present embodiment not only generates print control data, but also does not depend on data before the conversion of drawing data from the graphic engine 12 into print control data, that is, application, and printing. It has a function of converting into intermediate data, which is data in a format independent of the device, and saving it as a print intermediate file in units of pages.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the printer driver according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the printer driver 13 includes a control unit 131, a print data generation unit 132, an intermediate data generation unit 133, an intermediate data management unit 134, a print setting history management unit 135, a preview image generation unit 136, a screen display unit 137, and the like. Is done.

  The print data generation unit 132 converts drawing data from the graphic engine 12 into print control data. The print control data is transmitted to the printer 20 via the port monitor 15. The intermediate data generation unit 133 generates intermediate data based on the drawing data independently of the processing of the print data generation unit 132, and stores the generated intermediate data in the intermediate data management unit 134.

  The generation of the intermediate data may be performed in parallel with the processing by the print data generation unit 132, but it is preferable that the intermediate data is generated after the print control data is transmitted to the printer 20 in consideration of the print processing speed at the time of printing. In this case, the port monitor 15 monitors the completion of transmission of the print control data to the printer 20 by the monitoring function. As a transmission completion monitoring method, a polling command for obtaining a print completion notification is inquired to the printer 20 at regular intervals, a determination is made based on the return value, and the print control data is generated from the printer 20 when print control data is generated. A method of adding a command for notifying the completion of reception to the print data generation unit 132 (adding the command to the header portion of the print control data using PJL (Printer Job Language)) is conceivable. Further, a mechanism may be provided for causing the printer 20 to automatically notify the PC 10 of the completion of reception of the print control data.

  The intermediate data management unit 134 stores the intermediate data generated by the intermediate data generation unit 133 for each page. However, the intermediate data does not necessarily have to be stored for all pages, and an upper limit may be set in advance on the system or may be arbitrarily set by the user.

  Each time a print instruction is given to the document data that is the operation target in the application 11, the print setting history management unit 135 prints the print setting that is set for the document data that is instructed to print and the document name ( For example, a history of file name) (hereinafter referred to as “print setting information”) is saved. The history of print setting information is managed by a print setting history management table as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the print setting history management table. The print setting history management table 1351 in FIG. 6 is an example of managing the history of print setting information of document data with document names “Document 1” and “Document 4”. The number of copies, the setting contents of aggregation, the presence / absence of double-sided printing designation, the presence / absence of staple setting, and the like are managed in association with the document name of the document data. However, items to be managed as print setting information are not limited to those shown in the example of FIG. For example, the setting location of punch holes, presence / absence of copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing, and the like may be provided as management items of the print setting history management table 1351. Only items designated by the user may be management items of the print setting history management table 1351.

  The preview image generation unit 136 is an intermediate data management unit 134 for document data related to a print history selected by a user from a list of print histories displayed on a screen displayed on a display device such as the display device 106. Intermediate data and the number of pages are obtained from the data, and preview drawing data for the number of pages is generated based on the obtained information.

  The screen display unit 137 displays the preview drawing data generated by the preview image generation unit 136 as a visible image on a display device such as the display device 106.

  The control unit 131 performs display control of a print history dialog, which will be described later, with respect to the display device 106 by the processing of each unit.

  Hereinafter, a processing procedure of the PC 10 in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a basic processing procedure of the PC when a print instruction is received.

  When a user issues a print instruction for document data or the like created in the application 11, the application 11 displays a general print dialog (not shown) on the display device 106 by calling the printer driver 13 (S101).

  The user performs print settings for the document data on the displayed print dialog (S102). After the print setting, when the user gives a print instruction based on the setting contents on the print dialog, the document data from the application 11 is converted into drawing data by the graphic engine 12, and the drawing data is output to the printer driver 13. (S103). The print data generation unit 132 of the printer driver 13 generates print control data based on the drawing data output from the graphic engine 12 (S104). At this time, the setting contents in the print dialog are set in the print control data. The generated print control data is transmitted to the printer 20 via the port monitor 15 (S105). The port monitor 15 monitors the completion of transmission of the print control data to the printer 20 by the method as described above (S106).

  When the port monitor 13 detects the completion of transmission of print control data (Yes in S106), the intermediate data generation unit 133 is instructed to generate intermediate data. The intermediate data generation unit 133 generates intermediate data for each page based on the drawing data (S107). The generated intermediate data is stored in the intermediate data management unit 134 as an intermediate file in page units (S108).

  Further, for the print setting history management table 1351 in the print setting history management unit 135, the document name of the document data subjected to the printing process, the printer name of the printing destination, the printing date and time, the number of copies, the setting of aggregation, both sides Print settings, staple settings, and the like are added as new records (print history). Note that the addition of the print history to the print setting history management table 1351 may be performed separately from the intermediate data storage process. For example, the printing control data may be transmitted to the printer 20.

  Incidentally, in step S101 in FIG. 7, it has been described that a general print dialog is displayed in response to a print instruction. However, the printer driver 13 according to the present embodiment is performed at the time of a preset setting or a print instruction. In response to the operation, a print history dialog instead of a general print dialog is displayed. Here, for example, the setting made in advance may be set such that a print history dialog instead of a general print dialog is displayed from another application to the printer driver 13 as an example. Further, as an operation performed when a print instruction is given, a print history dialog display instruction or the like by tab switching or the like performed on the print dialog can be cited as an example.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a print history dialog according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the print history dialog 150 has a print history display area 151, a print setting display area 152, and a preview display area 153 as independent areas in one dialog. Hereinafter, the display control process of the print history dialog 150 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the display control process of the print history dialog. When the print instruction is given, the process shown in FIG. 9 is executed when the print history dialog 150 is displayed in accordance with the setting made in advance or the operation performed at the time of the print instruction.

  First, in response to an instruction from the control unit 131, the screen display unit 137 refers to the print setting history management table 1351 of the print setting history management unit 135 and confirms whether there is a print history managed by the print setting history management unit 135. (S201).

  When there is a print history in the print setting history management table 1351 (Yes in S201), the screen display unit 137 acquires part or all of the print history registered in the print setting history management table 1351 (S202). Subsequently, the screen display unit 137 displays and outputs the acquired contents of the print history in the print history display area 151 (S203). If there is no print history (No in S201), the screen display unit 137 causes the print history display area 151 to be blank or displays a character string such as “no history”.

  When the user selects a desired document name (print history) from the print history displayed in the print history display area 151 using the input device 107 such as a mouse or a keyboard (S204), the screen display unit 137 is transferred from the control unit 131. The print setting content set in the selected print history is displayed in the print setting display area 152 which is a display area independent of the print history display area 151 (S205).

  As a display mode of the print setting displayed here, as shown in FIG. 8, the setting contents at the time of printing of the selected print history such as the original paper size, the print size, the number of copies, and the like are not simply displayed. In other words, the setting contents at the time of printing can be selected or changed with a pull-down or check button, and the post-processing format can be operated by operating an icon or a check button for post-processing settings such as aggregation settings and staple settings. Is displayed and output in the print setting display area 152 as being selectable or changeable.

  In the print setting display area 152, each item related to print settings is selected or changed so that the print settings for reprinting the intermediate data managed by the intermediate data management unit 134 can be displayed on another screen. Instead, the user can make a change while confirming the preview on the same screen (print history dialog 150), and can issue a print instruction with the contents related to the change.

  The reason why the document name is selected as the selection item in the print history displayed in the print history display area 151 is that the print setting is normally set for the document data. It does not preclude selection by other than.

  Further, the control unit 131 outputs a preview image generation instruction for the document data related to the selected print history to the preview image generation unit 136 in response to a print history selection operation by the user. Upon receiving this instruction, the preview image generation unit 136 generates preview drawing data based on the intermediate data acquired from the intermediate data management unit 134 and the number of pages (S206). The generated drawing data for preview is displayed in a preview image display area 153 which is a display area independent of the print history display area 151 and the print setting display area 152 (S207).

  In this way, the print history, print settings, and preview image are displayed on the same screen on the display device 106. In general, it takes time to display all pages of the preview image at once. Therefore, in FIG. 8, the first page is displayed, and the page switching buttons 1531 and 1532 enable switching of the next page. However, the preview image of each page may be displayed in a list format, or the user may be allowed to select settings for these display modes.

  Next, processing when a print instruction is issued from the print history dialog 150 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the processing procedure of the PC when a print instruction is issued from the print history dialog.

  Here, a print history dialog 150 is displayed in response to a print instruction for arbitrary document data (hereinafter “current document data”), and the user selects a print history or instructs to change print setting contents (for example, the number of copies) in the print history dialog 150. Is changed from 10 copies to 5 copies, or a change instruction such as setting punch holes instead of staples) is performed by pull-down, check box, or icon designation. However, it is not always necessary to change the print setting content, and the print setting relating to the selected print history may be used as it is for printing the current document data.

  When a print history is selected, a print setting is changed in the print history dialog 150, and the print button 154 is clicked (S301), the current document data is converted into drawing data by the graphic engine 12, and the drawing data is displayed. The data is output to the printer driver 13 (S302).

  The print data generation unit 132 of the printer driver 13 generates print control data based on the drawing data output from the graphic engine 12 (S303). At this time, the setting contents in the print history dialog 150 are set in the print control data. The generated print control data is transmitted to the printer 20 via the port monitor 15 (S304). The subsequent processing (S305 to S308) is the same as the processing (S106 to S109) described in FIG. 7, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

  As described above, according to the program installed in the PC 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the print history, the contents of the print setting, and the preview image can be displayed on one dialog such as the print history dialog 150. Therefore, the user can confirm these pieces of information without requiring complicated work.

  Further, based on this effect, it is possible to reduce work mistakes in a work for changing the contents of print settings related to the print history.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited to the specific embodiment which concerns, In the range of the summary of this invention described in the claim, various deformation | transformation * It can be changed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration example of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration example of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of PC in embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the printing process of PC in embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of a printer driver according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a print setting history management table. FIG. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the basic process sequence of PC at the time of receiving a printing instruction. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the printing log | history dialog in embodiment of this invention. 10 is a flowchart for explaining display control processing of a print history dialog. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure of a PC when a print instruction is issued from a print history dialog.

Explanation of symbols

10, 10a, 10b PC
11 Application 12 Graphic Engine 13 Printer Driver 14 Spooler 15 Port Monitor 20 Printer 30 Cable 40 Network 100 Drive Device 101 Recording Medium 102 Auxiliary Storage Device 103 Memory Device 104 Arithmetic Processing Device 105 Interface Device 106 Display Device 107 Input Device 131 Control Unit 132 Printing Data generation unit 133 Intermediate data generation unit 134 Intermediate data management unit 135 Print setting history management unit 136 Preview image generation unit 137 Screen display unit 150 Print history dialog B bus

Claims (5)

A print history display program that causes a computer including a display device to function as a display control device that performs display control of a print history of document data stored in a predetermined storage device,
The display device;
A print history display procedure for acquiring the print history including the print setting set in the document data from the predetermined storage device and displaying the print history in a first display area of the display device;
The content of the print setting related to the print history selected in the print history displayed in the first display area is displayed in the second display area of the display device together with at least an icon representing the content of the print setting. Print settings display procedure,
A print history display program comprising: a preview display procedure for displaying a preview image of document data reflecting the contents of the print setting in a third display area of the display device. 2. The print history display program according to claim 1, wherein the print setting relating to the selected print history can be changed by the icon displayed in the second display area. The print history display program according to claim 2, wherein a preview image reflecting the print setting related to the change is generated in accordance with the change of the print setting by the icon in the second display area. 4. The preview image of the document data related to the selected print history is selected as the preview image according to the selection of the print history in the first display area. Print history display program. 5. The print history display program according to claim 1, wherein display control is performed so that the first, second, and third display areas are independent display areas in one dialog. .

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