JP2009140228A - Information processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem that each status information cannot be displayed in an optimum aspect corresponding to the necessity of an individual user. <P>SOLUTION: An information processing program allows a computer to execute a display aspect setting function capable of receiving instructions for the display order and display condition of the status information of a plurality of sorts of a prescribed apparatus and setting a display order and a display condition on the basis of the received instructions, a status information acquisition function for collectively acquiring the status information of the plurality of sorts in the apparatus, and a status information display function for displaying the acquired status information on a prescribed screen according to the set display order and the display condition. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing program for displaying state information.

A computer as a management apparatus acquires status information (status information) of a printer to be managed and displays the acquired status information on a predetermined monitor screen.
Conventionally, status information (for example, consumables) having the highest priority among a plurality of types of status information indicating various states of the printer at the time (for example, consumables consumables, cover open states, etc.) is sent to the computer. In general, the printer is informed of the consumption state), and a warning display corresponding to the notified status information is generally displayed on the screen.

There is also known a printing system that acquires status information from a printer that is executing printing and displays printer information of the printer on a screen based on the status information (see Patent Document 1).
Also, status information is acquired from the printer, and one of the different icons is displayed on the screen according to the importance (priority: error, warning, normal) of the acquired information, and one status is displayed for each printer. A printing system that displays a message is known (see Patent Document 2).
A computer that displays information to a user in response to a change in printer status is known (see Patent Document 3).
JP 2006-133890 A JP 2006-163880 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-119936

In the conventional configuration in which only the status information with the highest priority among the various status information of the printer is notified to the computer and displayed on the screen, the amount of information that can be recognized by the user is small, and various types of information that are occurring in the printer at that time There was an inconvenience that the user could not recognize the unexpected situation. Also in each of the above documents, the status information presented to the user is only information on one type of states that can occur simultaneously in a plurality of types in one printer, and therefore the amount of information for the user is small.
Furthermore, it has been difficult to optimize how the various states that can occur in the printer are displayed according to the position and preference of each user.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing program capable of displaying the status information of a device to be managed in a mode optimized according to a user.

In order to achieve the above object, the information processing program of the present invention is capable of receiving instructions for display order and display conditions for a plurality of types of status information of a predetermined device, and for displaying the display order based on the received instructions. And a display mode setting function for setting display conditions, a state information acquisition function for acquiring a plurality of types of state information about the device collectively by communicating with the device, and the acquired state information, A state information display function for displaying on a predetermined screen according to the set display order and display conditions is executed by a computer.
According to the present invention, it is possible to display a plurality of types of status information collectively acquired from the above devices on a screen in a mode according to a display order and display conditions set according to a user's arbitrary instruction. it can.

  As another example of the present invention, the display mode setting function displays a state information table defining a display order and display conditions for each of the plurality of types of state information on the predetermined screen, and the state via the screen. The above setting may be performed by receiving an instruction to change the contents defined by the information table. That is, the state information table prepared in advance is displayed on the screen, and the contents defined by this table can be freely edited by the user. With this configuration, the user can easily specify the display order and display conditions for each of a plurality of types of state information.

  As another example of the present invention, the display mode setting function may be able to accept an instruction of a timing for pop-up display of the state information as an instruction of a display condition of the state information. With such a configuration, when the status information display function displays each status information in a pop-up, the pop-up display timing can be set to a mode desired by the user.

  In addition to or instead of the configuration for setting the timing of the pop-up display, the display mode setting function can accept an icon design instruction when displaying the state information as an icon as an instruction of the state information display condition. It is good. The icon design mentioned here can be said to be the type of icon, and not only the difference in the mark itself but also the difference in color is included in the difference in design. With such a configuration, when the state information display function displays the state information as an icon, the design of the icon to be displayed can be set to a mode desired by the user.

  As another example of the present invention, the state information display function may switch and display a plurality of types of state information in accordance with the set display order each time a predetermined switching instruction is received from the outside. With such a configuration, the timing of switching between the displays when displaying a plurality of types of state information in accordance with the set display order can be set as desired by the user.

  Further, in the present application, an invention of an information processing apparatus having a configuration corresponding to each function of each information processing program described above, and an invention of an information processing method comprising processing steps corresponding to each function of each information processing program described above are also included. Needless to say, each can be grasped.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order with reference to the drawings.
(1) Schematic configuration of printing system (2) Status information display mode setting (3) Status information display (4) Summary

(1) Schematic Configuration of Printing System FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining an overview of a hardware configuration of a printing system in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a printing system includes a host computer (simply called a computer) 30 for realizing various processes using application software, printing processes using a printer driver, a user interface via an input / output device, and the like. Connected and configured. 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 the present 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 information) of the printer 10. . The printer 10 corresponds to an example of a predetermined device described in the claims. Hereinafter, in this embodiment, the case where the computer 30 acquires and displays the status information of the printer 10 will be described as an example. However, the device for which the status information is displayed using the present invention is not limited to the printer.

  For the computer 30, for example, a general-purpose information processing device such as a PC can be used. In the present embodiment, the computer 30 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes various programs, a RAM (Random Access Memory) that temporarily stores data, programs, and the like, various data for controlling the computer 30, and various programs. And the like, a control unit 310 composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory) or the like in which data is stored in advance in a nonvolatile manner, an input / output interface 320 for connecting to the display device 21, the input device 22, the printer 10, etc., a CD-ROM, etc. A media drive device 330 for accessing the recording medium and an auxiliary storage device 340 such as a hard disk. Of course, the configuration of the computer 30 is not limited to this.

  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 by the manufacturer of the printer 10 corresponding to the model of the printer 10 and recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM. 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. The status monitor program corresponds to an example of the information processing program of the present invention.

  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. Further, 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, an input / output interface 120 for connection to a communication line 60 connected to the computer 30, a toner cartridge, a photosensitive drum, A printing mechanism 130 including a printing mechanism such as a laser beam irradiation 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 illustrating a functional configuration of the computer 30. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the computer 30 includes an operating system unit 40, a printer driver unit 41, and a status monitor unit 42. 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. The printer driver unit 41 is realized by a printer driver program, and the status monitor unit 42 is realized by a status monitor program.

  The operating system unit 40 is so-called basic software that controls the basic user interface and file management of the computer 30. The printer driver unit 41 and the status monitor unit 42 are functional units that operate on the operating system unit 40. 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 communicates with the printer 10 at a predetermined timing, acquires the status information of the printer 10, and causes the display device 21 to display the status information.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the status monitor unit 42. The status monitor unit 42 generally outlines a communication module 42a that performs bidirectional communication with the printer 10 in order to obtain status information, and status analysis that extracts status information obtained by analyzing the status information obtained by the communication module 42a. A display for collating the status information table (state information table) 42d with the information extracted from the module 42b and the status information, and displaying the state of the printer 10 on the display device 21 by a pop-up window or an icon based on the collation result. And a processing module 42c.

In the present embodiment, the display processing module 42c includes the status information table 42d. The status information table 42d is data defining a display order and display conditions for each of a plurality of types of status information.
The display processing module 42c can also display the contents of the status information table 42d on the display device 21.

(2) Setting of Status Information Display Mode Next, processing for setting the status information display mode based on a user input operation will be described. In this embodiment, when the status monitor program is installed in the computer 30, a running program display area 521 provided by the operating system unit 40 (for example, Microsoft Windows) is displayed as shown in the display screen 520 of the display device 21 shown in FIG. In (Registered Trademark), an icon 530 corresponding to the status monitor unit 42 is displayed in the task tray of the task bar.

  The status monitor unit 42 displays a predetermined menu list on the display screen 520 when the icon 530 receives a predetermined operation from the user, for example, a right click of the mouse as the input device 22. Then, the status monitor unit 42 (display processing module 42c), when a predetermined menu is selected from the menu list by operating the input device 22, etc. A part) is displayed on the display screen 520 as a graphical user interface (GUI) 42e.

  5A shows the status information table 42d, and FIG. 5B shows the GUI 42e displayed on the display screen 520. The status information table 42d means, for example, “toner replacement time” which means that the time for replacing the toner cartridge is near, “paper jam” which means paper jam, and a state where the cover of the printer 10 is open. Display status of each status information corresponding to various states that can occur in the printer 10, such as “cover open” to be performed and “service call” meaning a state in which contact with a service company that repairs the printer is recommended In addition, it defines the pop-up display method (timing) and the icon display type (design). Such pop-up display timing, icon display design, and the like correspond to the display conditions of the status information.

  The user can change the display order number, the pop-up display timing, and the icon display design for each status information by operating the GUI 42e with the input device 22. For example, when the display column 42e3 regarding the timing of pop-up display defined for each status information is clicked, a pull-down menu 42e31 (chain line) listing a plurality of pop-up display timings is displayed. The user can arbitrarily select (instruct) the timing of pop-up display from the pull-down menu 42e31, and the status monitor unit 42 displays the pop-up display for each status information based on the instruction received via the pull-down menu 42e31. Set the timing. The pop-up display timing is, for example, “always” that continues to be displayed as long as the corresponding status continues, or the timing at which the first print job is executed when a plurality of print jobs are continuously executed. For example, a display of “once at the start” that is displayed only once, a “every job” display that is displayed every time a print job is executed, and the like can be considered.

  The number of the display order and the design of the icon display are also instructed by the user via the GUI 42e by selection from the pull-down menu as described above or other input methods, and the status monitor unit 42 receives the instruction. The display order for each status information and the icon display design can be set. Further, when an arbitrary line on the GUI 42e is double-clicked or the like, the status monitor unit 42 displays a dialog box for receiving a display mode instruction for the status information corresponding to the line on the display screen 520. An input may be accepted via the dialog box, and a pop-up display method or icon display type may be set. By using such a dialog box, for example, the pop-up display timing can be set more finely, the phrases displayed in the pop-up window can be edited, the icon design can be further customized, etc. Can be set to reflect. The status monitor 42 asks the user in advance what kind of dialog box is to be displayed (what kind of dialog box is to be displayed) for the dialog box to be displayed by double clicking or the like as described above. The dialog box selected in advance may be displayed when the above double click or the like is received.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the status information table 42d includes a display data portion 42d1 and a non-display data portion 42d2, and the status monitor unit 42 displays as the GUI 42e corresponding to the display data portion 42d1. Information. The non-display data portion 42d2 is composed of a set of codes (status numbers) having a predetermined number of digits such as “1 ***”, which uniquely indicate various status information. The status number is not disclosed on the display screen 520 and is used internally by the status monitor unit 42. The status monitor unit 42 has a display mode setting function in that the contents of the status information table 42d can be displayed on the screen in this way, and the display order and display conditions of various status information can be set based on instructions received via the screen. It can be said that it has.

(3) Status Information Display Next, status information display processing will be described. The display process described here is basically performed in parallel with the printing process by the printer 10. The user operates a UI screen (not shown) corresponding to the printer driver 41 to start up the printer driver 41 and cause the printer 10 to print a desired print job. At this time, the status monitor unit 42 is activated by the printer driver 41, and the status monitor unit 42 executes the following display processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing status information display processing executed by the status monitor unit 42. This flowchart is basically repeated with the execution of one print job as a unit.
In step S (hereinafter, step notation is omitted) 100, the status monitor unit 42 (communication module 42a) requests the printer 10 to transmit the status information ST and is transmitted from the printer 10 in response to the request. Status information ST is acquired.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration of the status information ST. The status information ST acquired from the printer 10 by the status monitor unit 42 is a collection of information indicating the status of the printer 10 at that time over a plurality of items. Hereinafter, the status information ST acquired by the status monitor unit 42 from the printer 10 is referred to as a status information group ST for convenience. As shown in FIG. 7, the status information group ST is divided into, for example, a status number data area STA1 in which the status number STN is recorded and an area STA2 other than that.
In the present embodiment, in the status number data area STA1, a plurality of status numbers STN corresponding to all statuses occurring in the printer 10 at that time are recorded.

  For example, when the “toner replacement time” state, the “paper jam” state, and the “cover open” state occur at the same time in the printer 10, the status number data area STA1 has these three types of states. Three types of status numbers STN that are uniquely shown are recorded. Therefore, the status monitor unit 42 can collectively acquire a plurality of types of status information (status number STN) generated in the printer 10.

  Various status information regarding the printer 10 is also recorded in the area STA2. As an example, in FIG. 7, “remaining consumables” information on various consumables such as “toner cartridge” and “photosensitive unit”, information on the capacity of each “paper cassette”, and mounting status of “duplex printing unit” Information on (presence / absence) is recorded. In addition to this information, all information relating to the printer 10 such as information relating to the print job acceptance status in the printer 10 is recorded together in the status information group ST. Thus, it can be said that the status monitor unit 42 has a state information acquisition function in that the status information group ST for the printer 10 can be acquired.

  In S101, the status monitor unit 42 (status analysis module 42b) extracts all the status numbers STN recorded in the area STA1 from the status number data area STA1 of the acquired status information group ST, and the status monitor. The unit 42 (display processing module 42c) collates the extracted status number STN with the information of the non-display data portion 42d2 of the status information table 42d. As described above, the status information table 42d used in the flowchart is a table in which the display order and display conditions of each status information are set by a user input operation.

  In S102, the status monitor unit 42 branches the process depending on whether or not each of the extracted status numbers STN is information recorded in the non-display data portion 42d2 of the status information table 42d. If each extracted status number STN is recorded in the non-display data portion 42d2 (Yes), the process proceeds to S103, and if not recorded (No), the process proceeds to S106.

  In S103, the status monitor unit 42 identifies the status information with the earliest display order defined in the status information table 42d among the status information corresponding to the extracted status number STN. Specifically, the status monitor unit 42 changes the display order for each status information whose status number matches one of the extracted status numbers STN among the status information defined in the status information table 42d. And determining based on the status information table 42d, and specifying the status information with the earliest display order among them.

  For example, in the status number data area STA1, three status numbers STN corresponding to the status information “toner replacement time”, “paper jam”, and “cover open” are recorded, while each status in the status information table 42d is recorded. When the display order of information is changed by the user such as “1” for “toner replacement time”, “4” for “paper jam”, “3” for “cover open”, status information is displayed in step S103. “Toner replacement time” is specified.

In S104, the status monitor unit 42 specifies display conditions (pop-up display timing and icon design) for the status information with the earliest display order specified in S103 based on the status information table 42d.
In S105, the status information specified in S103 is displayed on the display screen 520 in accordance with the display conditions specified in S104. For example, if the status information identified in S103 is “toner replacement time”, a pop-up window for “toner replacement time” is displayed in S105.

  FIG. 8 illustrates a pop-up window 540 for status information “toner replacement time”. Further, in parallel with the display of the pop-up window 540, the status monitor unit 42 displays, for example, the status information set in the status information table 42d by displaying the icon 530 in the program execution area 521 shown in FIG. Change to the icon corresponding to “Toner replacement time”. Further, the status monitor unit 42 may switch the icon in the display area 521 based on the status information prior to displaying the corresponding pop-up window.

  Here, the status information to be targeted for pop-up display and icon display need not be limited to the status information specified in S103. Referring to the example of the display order described above, status information corresponding to the status number STN recorded in the status information group ST, and status information “paper” other than the status information “toner replacement time” identified in S103 above. “Clogging” and “cover open” can also be displayed.

  In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 9A, the status monitor unit 42 displays a pop-up window 540 in which a “next” button 540a is formed, and when this button 540a accepts a user click, Next, the display is switched to the display of the pop-up window 550 for the status information with the earlier display order (in the above example, “cover open” in which the display order is “3”) (see FIG. 9B). Similarly, in the pop-up window 550, a “next” button 550a is formed, and when the button 550a accepts a user click, status information with the next fastest display order (in the above example, the display order). Is switched to the display of the pop-up window 560 (see FIG. 9C). The status monitor unit 42 can switch the icon display in association with the switching of the pop-up window. Further, the pop-up window switching according to the display order may be automatically switched in units of a fixed time instead of being performed according to the user's operation as described above. When switching automatically as described above, the status monitor unit 42 may switch the display of icons prior to the timing of switching the pop-up window.

  As described above, the flowchart of FIG. 6 is repeatedly executed in units of one print job. Therefore, even when the status information corresponding to the status number STN transmitted from the printer 10 is displayed in consideration of the display order defined in the status information table 42d, the pop-up display timing is “once at the beginning of the start. As for status information set as “,” pop-up display may not be performed (skip). For example, in the status information table 42d, if the timing for popping up the status information “toner replacement time” is set to “once at the beginning of the start”, it is repeated while a plurality of print jobs are continuously executed. Even if the status number STN corresponding to the “toner replacement time” is obtained from the printer 10, the pop-up display for the “toner replacement time” is executed only in response to the first print job.

Also, for status information for which the pop-up display timing is set to “always”, once the pop-up display is made, until the state that the status information means is resolved, for example, by a user switching instruction Even when the status information is popped up later in the display order, it is displayed continuously without disappearing.
As described above, the status monitor unit 42 performs the process of displaying the status information acquired from the printer 10 on the display screen 520 in accordance with the display order and display conditions for each status information set in the status information table 42d. It can be said that it has a display function.

  In the above description, both the pop-up display and the icon display are described as the status information display, but either one may be displayed. This is because, when the status monitor unit 42 receives a change in the contents of the status information table 42d by the user via the GUI 42e, the status monitor unit 42 selects either a pop-up display or an icon display as a kind of display condition. Can be realized.

  In S106, since the status number STN not defined in the non-display data portion 42d2 of the status information table 42d is obtained from the printer 10, the status monitor unit 42 cannot appropriately display the status information as it is. . Accordingly, the status monitor unit 42 performs a predetermined display on the display screen 520 informing the user that status information undefined (unknown) for itself has been notified from the printer 10. In this case, since the version of the status monitor program is old and there is a possibility that it does not support the handling of the status information group ST generated and transmitted by the printer 10, for example, the status monitor unit 42 may include the version of the status monitor program. It is also possible to perform a display prompting the user to up.

(4) Summary As described above, according to the present embodiment, the status monitor unit 42 displays the prepared status information table 42d on the screen as the GUI 42e, and displays various status information items according to the user's instructions received via the GUI 42e. The display order and display conditions are set, and at the time of printing processing, a plurality of types of status information (status number STN) generated in the printer 10 are acquired at once, and the status information corresponding to the plurality of status numbers STN is displayed. Is performed according to the display order and display conditions set in the status information table 42d. Therefore, it is possible to notify the user of various states that can occur in the printer 10 on the screen according to the order, the display timing in relation to the print job, and the design that are optimal for the position and preference of each user.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a hardware configuration of a printing system. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a computer. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of a status monitor part. It is a figure which shows the icon corresponding to a status monitor part. It is a figure which shows the structural example of a status information table, and the example of a display on a screen. It is a flowchart which shows the display process of status information. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a status information group transmitted from a printer. It is the figure which showed an example of the pop-up window. It is the figure which showed a mode that a pop-up window was switched and displayed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Printer, 21 ... Display device, 22 ... Input device, 30 ... Computer, 40 ... Operating system part, 41 ... Printer driver part, 42 ... Status monitor part, 42a ... Communication module, 42b ... Status analysis module, 42c ... Display Processing module, 42d ... status information table, 42d1 ... display data part, 42d2 ... non-display data part, 42e ... GUI, 42e3 ... display column, 42e31 ... pull-down menu, 110 ... control unit, 120 ... input / output interface, 130 ... print Mechanism 310 ... Control unit 320 ... Input / output interface 520 ... Display screen 530 ... Icon 540, 550, 560 ... Pop-up window, 540a, 550a ... Button

Claims (5)

A display mode setting function capable of accepting instructions for display order and display conditions for a plurality of types of status information of a predetermined device, and setting the display order and display conditions based on the accepted instructions;
A status information acquisition function for acquiring a plurality of types of status information about the device collectively by communicating with the device;
A status information display function for displaying the acquired status information on a predetermined screen according to the set display order and display conditions;
An information processing program for causing a computer to execute.   The display mode setting function displays a status information table that defines a display order and display conditions for each of the plurality of types of status information on the predetermined screen, and changes contents defined by the status information table via the screen. The information processing program according to claim 1, wherein the setting is performed by receiving an instruction.   3. The information processing according to claim 1, wherein the display mode setting function is capable of receiving an instruction of timing for popping up the state information as an instruction of a display condition of the state information. program.   4. The display mode setting function according to claim 1, wherein the display mode setting function is capable of receiving an icon design instruction when the state information is displayed as an icon as an instruction of the display condition of the state information. Information processing program described in 1.   5. The status information display function according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a plurality of types of status information are switched according to the set display order each time a predetermined switching instruction is received from the outside. Information processing program described in 1.

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