JP2011103066A - Driver generation program, recording medium, information processor, image forming device and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program or a device enabling automatic generation of a driver, even when apparatus information can not be acquired from an apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: An information processor such as a PC executes a driver generation program to function as a protocol decision part 103, an information acquisition part 104, and a driver generation part 105. The protocol decision part 103 detects a protocol used for communication with the apparatus, and decides whether or not the protocol is a designated protocol. The information acquisition part 104 acquires the apparatus information from the apparatus when it is decided that the protocol is the designated protocol, and acquires the apparatus information common to types from an information storage part when it is decided that the protocol is not the designated protocol. The driver generation part 105 generates the driver corresponding to the apparatus based on the acquired apparatus information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention determines whether or not the device information of the device can be acquired from the device, acquires the device information if it is possible, and uses the device information to hold the device information in advance if it is not possible A driver generation program for automatically generating a driver for operating the device, a recording medium on which the program is recorded, an information processing apparatus for executing the driver generation program, and a driver generated by the program. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that performs print processing of the print data, a printing system that includes the information processing apparatus, and the image forming apparatus.

  When a printer is connected to a PC for the first time and printing is to be performed, a printer driver for operating the printer must be installed on the PC. As a method for installing the printer driver, a method called Plug and Play has been adopted. This means that if there is a driver bundled with the OS installed on the PC, the driver corresponding to the printer is automatically installed when the printer is connected.

  However, it is difficult to bundle all drivers with the OS because the data size becomes large, and in order to cope with this, there is a mechanism that automatically generates a printer driver based on Capability information acquired from the printer. Proposed. Here, Capability information is function information that the printer has, and includes setting data that is used to add a value to a printer setting file that is created as a text file in which information related to the function of the printer is described.

  This mechanism employs a WSD (Web Service on Device) schema in windows (registered trademark) vista. In the WSD schema, a printer that supports WSD is automatically recognized when it is connected to the network. The printer uses the WSD protocol that defines the procedure for easily connecting and using various devices. Capability information can be acquired.

  If this mechanism is used, a printer driver can be automatically generated based on Capability information acquired in this way, but this mechanism is supported only for printers that support WSD, and other, for example, USB connections Since Plug and Play is not supported, the printer driver could not be generated automatically.

  Conventionally, as a system and method for automatically generating and installing a driver, a technique has been proposed in which function information specific to each model is acquired from a printer, a printer driver is generated based on the function information, and is automatically installed. (See Patent Document 1). In this technology, the system has device driver generation logic and device job processing logic, and the device driver generation logic receives first function description information, a general device driver file, and configuration data from a peripheral device. Based on these, a device driver is generated for the peripheral device and the OS, and a job ticket that describes a job to be executed by the peripheral device is generated based on the first function description information by the device job processing logic, and is formatted in a page description language. And transmitted to the peripheral device together with the job data.

  However, this technique also cannot automatically generate a driver when function information cannot be acquired from a printer.

  If the function information cannot be obtained, the user cannot use the device unless the user himself / herself installs the driver corresponding to the device. This is particularly troublesome for companies with a large number of devices installed. there were.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention determines whether or not a device is capable of acquiring device information including function information, and acquires device information from the device according to the determination, or stores information held by itself. Provided is a driver generation program that automatically determines a driver for operating a device based on information acquired from any one of them. Thus, even when the device information cannot be acquired from the printer, the driver can be automatically generated, and the generated driver can be installed and the device can be operated.

  Specifically, the driver generation program detects, in an information processing apparatus such as a PC, a protocol used for communication with a device, and determines whether the protocol is a designated protocol; If it is determined that the protocol is specified, device information is acquired from the device; if it is determined that the protocol is not specified, device information common to the model is acquired from the information storage unit; and the acquired device And generating a driver corresponding to the device based on the information.

  The driver generation program is executed by the information processing apparatus, detects a protocol used for communication with the device, and determines whether the protocol is a designated protocol. Information that acquires device information from the device if it is determined to be the specified protocol with the protocol determination unit, and device information that is common to the models from the information storage unit if it is determined that it is not the specified protocol Based on the acquisition unit and the acquired device information, it can function as a driver generation unit that generates a driver corresponding to the device. In the present invention, this information processing apparatus can also be provided.

  The above apparatus can be an image forming apparatus that executes printing, and the above information processing apparatus generates a driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus, executes the driver, and prints on the image forming apparatus. Is commanded. In this case, the information processing apparatus can include the information storage unit.

  In addition, device information common to all models can be stored in an external storage device other than the information processing device. In this case, the information processing device can access, read, and use the external storage device.

  When the device information can be acquired from the device, the information acquisition unit acquires only device information unique to the device from the device, acquires device information common to the model from the information storage unit, and the driver The generation unit can also generate a driver corresponding to the device by combining the device information.

  Further, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that performs print processing of print data transmitted from an information processing apparatus that executes a driver generated by the driver generation program, and the image forming apparatus includes the driver generation program. And a program transmission unit for transmitting the driver generation program to the information processing apparatus.

  The present invention can also provide a printing system including an image forming apparatus as a device and an information processing apparatus that executes a driver generation program that automatically generates a driver for operating the image forming apparatus.

  The driver generation program can be held not only by the information processing apparatus but also by the image forming apparatus and provided when communicating with the information processing apparatus. The image forming apparatus transmits the program to the information processing apparatus. Then, the information processing apparatus can execute this program to generate a driver, install the driver, and operate the image forming apparatus from the information processing apparatus.

1 is a schematic diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an image forming apparatus and an information processing apparatus provided in the printing system. The flowchart figure which showed the flow of the process which produces | generates a driver automatically. The figure which illustrated the apparatus information acquired from the image forming apparatus. The figure which illustrated the equipment information common to a model. The figure which illustrated apparatus information peculiar to a model.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a printing system including an image forming apparatus as an apparatus and an information processing apparatus that executes a driver generation program that automatically generates a driver for operating the image forming apparatus. In the printing system shown in FIG. 1, one information processing apparatus 100 and three image forming apparatuses 200, 210, and 220 are connected to a network 300, and the information processing apparatus 100 and one image forming apparatus 230 are connected. Are directly connected and can communicate with each other.

  The information processing apparatus 100 generates an OS as basic software, an application for realizing each function, and a driver for operating the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230 so that the OS can control the OS. It can be a portable terminal such as a PC, workstation, server or other type of host computer, PDA, etc., comprising a memory or HDD for storing programs, core drivers, various data, and a CPU for reading and processing them. The information processing apparatus 100 has an OS such as a windows (registered trademark) series, UNIX (registered trademark), LINUX (registered trademark), or MAC OS (registered trademark), and generates an application and a driver under the management of the OS. Execute programs, core drivers, generated drivers, etc.

  The network 300 is the Internet or a LAN, and performs data communication between the information processing apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, and 220 using protocols such as TCP / IP, WSD (Web Service on Device), and UDP. It is possible. In addition, the image forming apparatus 230 that is directly connected to the information processing apparatus 100 via a communication cable enables data communication using a protocol such as USB or RS-232C.

  Similar to the information processing apparatus 100, the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230 can include a memory, an HDD, and a CPU. The image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230 can be printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, multifunction peripherals (MFPs) having these functions, and the like. And a printing device for printing and outputting.

  The reading apparatus includes a light source that irradiates light on a document, a mirror that directs reflected light in a predetermined direction, and a CCD that receives the reflected light and outputs it as an electrical signal. The printing apparatus accepts image data drawn by the printer driver and performs print output based on the image data.

  When the printing apparatus is an electrophotographic printer, the printing apparatus receives image data, receives a controller that instructs the exposure apparatus based on the image data, and receives an instruction from the controller and exposes the photosensitive drum with writing light. The apparatus, the photosensitive drum on which the writing light is irradiated and a latent image is formed, the charging unit for charging the photosensitive drum, and the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum are developed by attaching toner. A developing unit, a paper feeding unit for feeding paper, a transfer unit for transferring a toner image formed by development onto the paper, and applying pressure and heat to the toner image transferred to the paper to fix the toner on the paper Remove the toner remaining on the fixing unit, the paper discharge unit that discharges the printed paper, and the photosensitive drum and transfer unit. Configured to include a leaning unit.

  As described above, the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230 include a printing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus 100 uses a printer driver as a driver in order to control and use the printing apparatus. Therefore, a driver generated by executing the driver generation program will be described below as a printer driver.

  Here, when the OS installed in the information processing apparatus 100 is windows (registered trademark) vista, a WSD protocol that is a protocol related to connection of peripheral devices for printing and scanning is provided, and using this WSD protocol, It is possible to search for printers, scanners, projectors and the like corresponding to the WSD connected to the network 300, recognize them, and acquire function information and the like from them. In this embodiment, the WSD protocol of windows (registered trademark) vista will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this WSD protocol.

  WSD-compatible devices are configured to send messages to network devices when connected to the network, and return responses to requests for discovery and data exchange from other WSD-compatible devices while connected. Has been.

  When a device is actually discovered, a discovery request packet is transmitted by designating the type of device to be discovered to a dedicated address used for exchanging control information such as routing and name resolution from a WSD-compatible device. If the specified type of device is connected to the network, it responds to the discovery request packet by unicast. For example, if a printer is designated as a discovery target device, all printers on the network respond to the discovery request packet.

  Vista uses a protocol for searching and discovering UPnP devices on the network called SSDP in addition to the WSD protocol to search for and discover devices connected to the network. Do not notify. Therefore, information is exchanged only when another device enters the waiting state and comes to search. Therefore, when the system is started, the port used by the search protocol is opened and waits. When a WSD-compatible device is connected to a network and the device comes to search, information such as a device name, a network address, a manufacturer name, and a model name can be exchanged using the opened port. Note that this search is periodically performed, thereby periodically confirming the presence or absence of connection.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus and the image forming apparatus provided in the printing system. The information processing apparatus 100 includes an installation processing unit 101, an I / F control unit 102, a protocol determination unit 103, an information acquisition unit 104, a driver generation unit 105, a driver storage unit 106, and an information storage unit 107. I have. In addition, the image forming apparatus 200 includes a host I / F 201, an information providing unit 202, and an information storage unit 203. Here, the configuration example of the image forming apparatus 200 is shown, but the image forming apparatuses 210, 220, and 230 have the same configuration.

  The installation processing unit 101 of the information processing apparatus 100 connected to the network 300 automatically selects a printer driver when the image forming apparatus 200 is connected to the network 300 and the information processing apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatus 200 are connected. Start the installation and proceed normally. Installation of the printer driver is not limited to installation by the installation processing unit 101, and installation using an API function of the OS is also possible.

  When communicating between the information processing apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatus 200, the I / F control unit 102 sends information to the image forming apparatus 200 according to the connection form between the information processing apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatus 200. Send or receive a response. Connection forms include network connection, USB connection, RS-232C connection, and the like, and can be determined from the protocol used for communication in these connections.

  When the CPU of the information processing apparatus 100 executes the driver generation program, the CPU functions as a protocol determination unit 103, an information acquisition unit 104, and a driver generation unit 105. First, the protocol determination unit 103 is connected to the information processing apparatus 100 and an image. It is determined whether or not the protocol used for communication with the forming apparatus 200 is a designated protocol. For example, when the designated protocol is the WSD protocol, it is determined whether or not it is the WSD protocol.

  The WSD protocol can acquire device information from the WSD schema, so it can acquire device information from the device. Other USB protocols, etc. cannot acquire device information from the device, and many It is difficult to exchange information.

  In the case of the designated protocol, the protocol determination unit 103 notifies the information acquisition unit 104 to that effect, and the information acquisition unit 104 sends a device information acquisition request to the image forming apparatus 200 via the I / F control unit 102. Device information is acquired from the image forming apparatus 200. Here, the device information includes information necessary for generating the printer driver. Specifically, in addition to information unique to the device such as a punch function and a staple function, the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230 are included. Information including a settable paper size, printing direction, selectable paper feeding device, quality, number of copies, enlargement / reduction, duplex printing function, and the like.

  The information storage unit 107 stores device information as described above that is common to all of the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, and 220 connected to the network 300 and the image forming apparatus 230 that is directly connected thereto. The driver storage unit 106 stores a core driver independent of the model as a driver that is absolutely necessary when using the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230, and also includes a printer driver generated by the driver generation unit 105. Store. These drivers are stored in association with driver names to identify each other.

  In FIG. 2, the information storage unit 107 is configured to be included in the information processing apparatus 100, but may be an external storage device such as an external hard disk other than the information processing apparatus 100. In this case, the information processing apparatus 100 can access the external storage device and read and use device information common to all the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230.

  The core driver is called from an OS management module that requests installation of a printer driver, and in response to the call, transmits a device information acquisition request to the image forming apparatus 200 and acquires device information from the image forming apparatus 200. . Therefore, this core driver is executed by the CPU and functions as the information acquisition unit 104, and constitutes a part of the driver generation program.

  The driver generation unit 105 acquires device information of the image forming apparatus 200 to be operated from the image forming apparatus 200 or the information acquisition unit 104 according to a protocol, and based on the acquired device information, a printer driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus 200 Is generated.

  The printer driver includes a printer setting file created as a text file in which information related to the function of the printer is described. The printer setting file can be implemented as a GPD (Generic Printer Description) file. The GPD file is a DLL (Dynamic Link Library) that is used when performing printing using the Universal Printer Driver, which is a general-purpose printer driver that comes standard with the OS in the Windows (registered trademark) series. ) Implemented as a file.

  In the GPD file, information for setting DEVMODE, which is a data structure that functions as printer setting information, is registered in the information processing apparatus 100 by the image forming apparatus 200. Used to customize the printer driver and execute the printing process. DEVMODE is a data structure used in a Windows (registered trademark) OS and is registered in the registry of the information processing apparatus 100.

  In UNIX (registered trademark) and LINUX (registered trademark), printerinfo.txt or the like can be used as printer setting information. Therefore, when these are employed as the OS, information for setting priterinfo.txt can be registered in the image forming apparatus 200.

  The device information is acquired as a text file described in HTML, HXTML, and XML languages, and the driver generation unit 105 generates the GPD file by describing the acquired device information in the GPD file template. The GPD file template is a template in which information that is not changed among the information described in the GPD file is described in advance, and is stored in advance in a nonvolatile storage device such as an HDD or NVRAM of the information processing apparatus 100. The driver generation unit 105 registers the GPD file generated in this way and a program and other files used by a printer driver previously installed as firmware or the like as a set as necessary to generate a printer driver. Then, the driver generation unit 105 stores the driver name in association with the driver name in the driver storage unit 106 as a driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus 200.

  The installation processing unit 101 receives a notification from the driver generation unit 105 that a printer driver has been generated and stored in the driver storage unit 106, and based on the driver name notified at that time, the installation processing unit 101 receives a printer from the driver storage unit 106. Read the driver and install the printer driver.

  When the installation is completed in this manner, the image forming apparatus 200 can be operated from the information processing apparatus 100, and all the functions of the image forming apparatus 200 can be used.

  On the other hand, when the device connected to the network 300 is not a WSD-compatible device, communication cannot be performed using the WSD protocol, and communication is performed using another protocol. When connected with a USB local cable, communication is performed using the USB protocol. However, it is difficult to exchange a large amount of information in the USB protocol, and the protocol determination unit 103 uses the specified protocol WSD. Judge that it is not a protocol.

  For this reason, the protocol determination unit 103 notifies the information acquisition unit 104 to that effect, and the information acquisition unit 104 reads out and acquires device information common to all models from the information storage unit 107, and sends the information to the driver generation unit 105. send.

  The driver generation unit 105 describes the acquired device information in a GPD file template to generate a GPD file, and generates a printer driver. Similarly to the above, the driver generation unit 105 stores the generated printer driver in the driver storage unit 106 in association with the driver name. Subsequent processing is the same as described above.

  The host I / F 201 included in the image forming apparatus 200 communicates with the I / F control unit 102 included in the information processing apparatus 100, receives a request from the information processing apparatus 100, and responds to the information processing apparatus 100. Process to return. The information storage unit 203 stores functional information related to the function of the image forming apparatus 200, metadata describing attributes, and the like as device information. When a device information acquisition request is transmitted via the host I / F 201, the information providing unit 202 reads the device information from the information storage unit 203 and provides the device information to the information processing apparatus 100.

  The function of each unit included in each device has been described so far. Next, a process for automatically generating a driver will be described in detail with reference to FIG. When the information processing apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatus 200 are connected, installation of the printer driver is automatically started by two methods.

  One is a case where they are directly connected to each other by a USB cable or the like, and the other is a case where they are connected to a network for communication using the WSD protocol. In the former case, a printer driver is generated based on information held by the information processing apparatus 100 using a technology called Plug and Play, and is installed. In the latter case, device information is acquired from the image forming apparatus 200 by a technology called PnP-X, which is a new Plug and Play mechanism that does not make the user aware of the distinction between local and network, and a printer driver is generated using it. Install.

  Therefore, in the process of automatically generating the driver, starting from step 300, first, in step 305, the OS management module requests installation of the printer driver by Plug and Play, reads the core driver from the driver storage unit 106, Install the core driver. By installing the core driver, a function as the information acquisition unit 104 is realized, and the information acquisition unit 104 can perform an apparatus information acquisition process.

  Before the information acquisition unit 104 transmits the device information acquisition request, in step 310, the protocol used by the protocol determination unit 103 in communication between the information processing apparatus 100 and the image forming apparatus 200 is the WSD protocol. It is determined whether or not. To determine whether or not the WSD protocol is used, when communicating using the WSD protocol, the port name of the port opened for communication is marked with "WSD", so check the port name. It can be determined by doing. Note that this determination method is merely an example, and the determination can be performed by other methods such as checking the registry.

  If it is determined in step 310 that the protocol is the WSD protocol, the process proceeds to step 315, where the protocol determination unit 103 notifies the information acquisition unit 104 to that effect, and when the information acquisition unit 104 receives it, the image forming apparatus 200 is notified of the device. Send information acquisition request. In step 320, the information acquisition unit 104 receives and acquires device information from the image forming apparatus 200. When performing communication using the WSD protocol, the information processing apparatus 100 sends a discovery request packet to the network 300 by multicast, and acquires information such as a network address included in a response sent by unicast to the packet. The information acquisition unit 104 sends a device information acquisition request to the image forming apparatus 200 using information such as the network address. In response to this, the image forming apparatus 200 collects and acquires the device information held by the image forming apparatus 200 and sends the device information to the information processing apparatus 100. Thereby, the information acquisition unit 104 receives the device information.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 310 that the protocol is not the WSD protocol, the process advances to step 325 to read out and acquire device information common to the model of the image forming apparatus stored in the information storage unit 107.

  In step 330, using the device information acquired in this way, describe necessary information in the template of the GPD file, register the program and other files used by the printer driver, and the described GPD file as a set, Create a printer driver. The generated printer driver is stored in the driver storage unit 106 in association with the driver name.

  Finally, in step 335, the installation processing unit 101 receives a notification that the printer driver has been generated from the driver generation unit 105, reads out from the driver storage unit 106 based on the driver name included in the notification, and installs the printer driver. To do. In step 340, the process ends when the installation is completed.

  In the above example, when communication is performed using the WSD protocol, all the device information is acquired from the image forming apparatus 200. However, not all the information but only device information specific to the model of the image forming apparatus 200 is acquired. In addition, it is also possible to acquire device information common to the models stored in the information storage unit 107 and combine them to generate a printer driver. Incidentally, the device information specific to the model is the information regarding the punch function and the staple function described above, the configuration information of the finisher, and the like, and the device information common to the model is the above-described settable paper size, print direction, and selectable feed. Information such as paper device, quality, number of copies, enlargement / reduction, and duplex printing function.

  In this manner, regardless of whether or not device information can be acquired from the image forming apparatus 200, a printer driver is automatically generated during plug and play even if the information processing apparatus 100 does not include a printer driver. And can be installed. Since the device has been described as the image forming apparatus 200 so far, the generated driver is the printer driver, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  Here, an example of the device information acquired from the image forming apparatus 200 is shown in FIG. The device information can be a text file described in the xml format. The xml is described using various tags defined by an appropriate name space, and tags for setting each information are arranged between the start tag and the end tag. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the device information related to the punch function, the paper direction, and duplex printing is shown.

  Among the device information, a description part surrounded by “rodp: HolePunch” and “/ rodp: HolePunch” is information regarding the punch function. The description portion surrounded by “rodp: Orientation” and “/ rodp: Orientation” is information relating to the paper orientation. Further, a description part surrounded by “rodp: Sides” and “/ rodp: Sides” is information regarding the duplex printing function.

  The information on the punch function includes information on turning off this function, information on two holes on the left, two on the top, and two on the right. Information on the paper direction includes the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. The information regarding the double-sided printing function includes information that single-sided printing is not performed, information that the long side of the paper is reversed, and information that the short side is reversed.

  An example of device information common to the models stored in the information storage unit 107 is shown in FIG. In this example, it is shown that only the information related to the paper orientation common to all models and the duplex printing function is described in the device information that can be acquired from the image forming apparatus 200.

  An example of device information specific to the model stored in the information storage unit 203 of the image forming apparatus 200 is shown in FIG. In this example, only the information regarding the punch function excluding the device information common to the models shown in FIG. 5 from the device information shown in FIG. 4 is shown.

  The device information is not limited to the punch function, the paper orientation, and the duplex printing function, but can include other functions, and can describe various settings set by other appropriate tags. it can.

  The printer driver can register information that uniquely identifies the display character string displayed on the GUI in the printer setting file. The display character string can be extracted from the device information using a language table, and the language table can be implemented as a database or the like.

  A driver generation program including a module for causing the CPU to function as the protocol determination unit 103 and the driver generation unit 105 and a core driver is stored in the information processing apparatus 100 and is executed by the information processing apparatus 100. The driver generation program can be recorded on a recording medium such as an SD card or a CD-ROM and provided as a recording medium.

  The driver generation program is stored in an HDD or the like included in the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230, and can be transmitted to the information processing apparatus 100 when searching for a WSD-compatible device. In this case, when the information processing apparatus 100 receives a driver generation program from any one of the image forming apparatuses 200, 210, 220, and 230, the core driver included in the driver generation program is installed, and as described above, the device An information acquisition request can be transmitted to acquire device information, and a printer driver can be generated based on the device information.

  The driver generation program can be provided together with the device information instead of being provided separately from the device information.

  The present invention has been described with the above-described embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and those skilled in the art will conceive other embodiments, additions, changes, deletions, and the like. It can be changed within the range that can be performed, and any embodiment is included in the scope of the present invention as long as the operation and effect of the present invention are exhibited. Therefore, the device information necessary for generating the driver is not limited to the information described above, and other information can be included as necessary.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Information processing apparatus 101 ... Installation processing part 102 ... I / F control part 103 ... Protocol determination part 104 ... Information acquisition part 105 ... Driver generation part 106 ... Driver storage part 107 ... Information storage part 200, 210, 220, 230 ... image forming apparatus, 201 ... host I / F, 202 ... information providing unit, 203 ... information storage unit, 300 ... network

JP 2009-59365 A

Claims (11)

A driver generation program that causes an information processing device to execute processing for generating a driver for operating a device, wherein the driver generation program includes:
Detecting a protocol used for communication with the device and determining whether the protocol is a designated protocol;
Acquiring device information from the device if determined to be the specified protocol, and acquiring device information common to models from the information storage unit if determined not to be the specified protocol;
A driver generation program that causes the information processing apparatus to execute a step of generating a driver corresponding to the device based on the acquired device information.   When it is determined that the specified protocol is the specified protocol, the acquiring step acquires only device information unique to the device from the device, acquires device information common to the model from the information storage unit, and generates the generated information. The driver generating program according to claim 1, wherein the step of generating generates a driver corresponding to the device by combining the unique device information and the device information common to the models.   A recording medium on which the program according to claim 1 is recorded. An information processing apparatus that automatically generates a driver for operating a device,
A protocol determination unit that detects a protocol used for communication with the device and determines whether the protocol is a designated protocol;
An information acquisition unit that acquires device information from the device when determined to be the specified protocol, and acquires device information common to models from an information storage unit when determined not to be the specified protocol; ,
An information processing apparatus comprising: a driver generation unit configured to generate a driver corresponding to the device based on the acquired device information.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the information processing apparatus includes the information storage unit that stores device information common to the models.   5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the device information common to the models is stored in an external storage device serving as the information storage unit capable of communicating with the information processing device, and is acquired from the external storage device.   When the device information can be acquired from the device, the information acquisition unit acquires only device information unique to the device from the device, and acquires device information common to the model from the information storage unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the driver generation unit generates a driver corresponding to the device by combining the unique device information and the device information common to the models.   The device is an image forming apparatus that executes printing, and the information processing apparatus generates a printer driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus, executes the printer driver, and instructs the image forming apparatus to perform printing. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 7.   An image forming apparatus that performs print processing of print data transmitted from an information processing apparatus that executes a driver generated by the driver generation program according to claim 1.   An image forming apparatus comprising: a program storage unit that stores the driver generation program according to claim 1; and a program transmission unit that transmits the driver generation program to an information processing apparatus.   A printing system including an image forming apparatus for storing the driver generation program according to claim 1 and an information processing apparatus, wherein the information is received from the image forming apparatus during communication between the image forming apparatus and the information processing apparatus. A printing system that provides the program to a processing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus executes the program to generate a driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus.