JP2012137927A - Information processing apparatus, program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing apparatus, program and storage medium to prevent a user's forgetting to open a print setting window.SOLUTION: An OS opens a print setting window by a function calling a printer driver right before processing printing, stores setting onto an external storage (file, registry etc.), reads setting which is called by the OS and was stored at a printing start timing, and reflects the setting to description made by a printer description language to be sent to printing apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a user's forgetting to open a print setting window.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a program, and a storage medium.

  When printing from a PC (Personal Computer), it is already known to call the printer driver print screen from the application print screen and perform various print settings (double-sided printing, aggregation, stapling, etc.).

  However, with a normal printer driver, the user must explicitly open the print settings screen as described above, so you can forget to open the print settings and execute printing with insufficient settings, or print by application. There was a problem that the user could not open the print setting screen because the position of the button for opening the setting screen was different.

In order to solve such a problem, a proposal as in Patent Document 1 has been made.
In Patent Document 1, for the purpose of restricting the user's print settings, the contents set by the user are compared with a pre-defined print setting restriction file, and if it is different, a screen is displayed to that effect. A configuration for requesting the user to change the print setting is disclosed.

  However, the technique described in Patent Literature 1 cannot solve the problem of preventing forgetting to open the print setting screen.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, a program, and a storage medium that prevent a print setting screen from being forgotten to be opened.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 receives an OS event processing unit that receives a request for printing from an OS, displays a print setting screen on the screen, and receives a setting from a user A setting screen display unit, a print setting writing unit that writes the contents set in the print setting screen to an external storage unit, a print setting reading unit that reads out print settings stored in the external storage unit, and the OS A print data generation unit that converts drawing data into a language interpretable by a printer, and a print setting screen is displayed immediately before print processing.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, a print setting display determination unit that determines whether to display a print setting screen according to a condition is provided.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the print setting writing unit is characterized in that an external storage device for writing is a registry defined by the OS.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the print setting display determination unit determines whether the user has opened the print setting screen in advance as a determination condition. On the other hand, the print setting screen is not unnecessarily opened.

  According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the print setting display determination unit determines whether or not the user has changed the print setting from the standard setting of the printer driver in advance. The print setting screen is not unnecessarily opened to the user who has changed the setting.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the computer of the information processing apparatus, the OS event processing unit receives a request for printing from the OS and performs distribution, and the print setting screen display unit displays the print setting screen on the screen. A procedure for receiving settings from the user, a procedure for the print setting writing unit to write the contents set on the print setting screen to the external storage device, and a print setting reading unit for saving the print settings stored in the external storage device The print data generation unit converts the drawing data from the OS into a language interpretable by the printer, and the print setting screen display unit displays the print setting screen immediately before the printing process. It is a program to be made.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the print setting display determining unit executes, on the computer of the information processing apparatus, a procedure for determining whether to display a print setting screen according to a condition. It is characterized by making it.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the eleventh aspect, in the computer of the information processing apparatus, the print setting writing unit includes a registry in which the external storage device to be written is defined by the OS. .

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect of the present invention, the print setting display determination unit in the computer of the information processing apparatus determines whether a user has opened the print setting screen in advance according to the determination condition. And a procedure for not opening the print setting screen unnecessarily for the user once opened.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the computer of the information processing apparatus, the print setting display determination unit is configured so that the user sets a print condition in advance from a printer driver standard setting. It is determined whether or not the user has changed the setting, and a procedure for not opening the print setting screen unnecessarily is executed for the user who has changed the setting.

  The invention according to an eleventh aspect is a storage medium storing the program according to any one of the sixth to tenth aspects.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, provision of the information processing apparatus, the program, and the storage medium which prevented the forgetting to open the print setting screen is realizable.

It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating an example of the internal structure of the printer driver used for the information processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for describing an example of a sequence of an information processing apparatus using the printer driver illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a sequence for determining whether or not to display a print setting screen depending on conditions in the information processing apparatus using the printer driver shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen of the information processing apparatus using the printer driver illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an example of a conceptual diagram of a copier as an information processing apparatus using the printer driver shown in FIG. 1.

<Embodiment 1>
An embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The present invention has the following characteristics when printing a document using a printer driver.
In short, the print setting screen is opened by the function that the OS calls the printer driver immediately before the printing process, the setting contents are saved in the external memory (file, registry, etc.), and the setting contents saved at the start of printing separately called from the OS are read. This is reflected in the contents of the printer description language transmitted to the device.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of an internal configuration of a printer driver used in an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.
“OS event processing unit” 11 that receives and distributes various requests related to printing from the OS as components of the printer driver, displays a print setting screen on the screen, and accepts settings from the user “print setting screen display” Section "12," print data generation section "13 for converting drawing data from the OS into a language (PDL) interpretable by the printer," print setting "for writing the contents set in the print setting screen to an external storage device such as a file “Export unit” 14, “Print setting display determination unit” 15 that determines whether or not to display the print setting screen according to the condition, and “Print setting reading unit” 16 that reads the print settings stored in the external storage device It has.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a sequence of the information processing apparatus using the printer driver shown in FIG.
The user presses a print button from various applications, and the OS starts print processing (step S1).
The OS makes various calls to the printer driver, one of which is called at the timing immediately before starting the printing process (step S2).
The OS event processing unit 11 displays the print setting screen display unit 12 in response to a call from the OS (step S3).
The print setting screen display unit 12 displays a print setting screen and prompts the user for print settings (step S4).
The user performs print settings as necessary on the displayed print setting screen, and finally presses an “OK” button on the print setting screen (steps S5 and S6).
The print setting screen display unit 12 calls the print setting writing unit to save the contents set by the user (step S7).
The print setting writing unit 14 stores the contents set by the user in S5 in an external storage device such as an external file (step S8).
The OS calls the print data generation unit 13 of the printer driver to start the printing process (step S9).
The print data generation unit 13 calls the print setting reading unit 16 in order to acquire print settings (step S10).
The print setting reading unit 16 reads the content stored in S8 and notifies the print data generation unit 13 (step S11).
The print data generation unit 13 reflects the acquired print settings in the print data (PDL) transmitted to the printer (step S12).

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a sequence for determining whether or not to display the print setting screen according to conditions in the information processing apparatus using the printer driver shown in FIG.
Steps S11 and S12 are the same as in FIG.
The OS event processing unit 11 displays the print setting display determination unit 15 in response to a call from the OS (step S13).
The print setting display determination unit 15 determines whether or not to call the print setting display unit according to conditions (in the figure, whether the user has opened the print setting screen in advance). In the case of FIG. 3, when the user prints from the application and the print setting screen has not been opened, the print setting screen is automatically displayed in the same sequence as in FIG. Thinks that it has already been set on the print setting screen, and starts printing without displaying the print setting screen. As a result, the print setting screen is not unnecessarily displayed to the user (step S14).

In step S14, if the user has not displayed the print setting immediately before, the print setting screen display unit 12 displays the print setting screen and prompts the user to perform the print setting (step S15).
The user performs print settings as necessary on the displayed print setting screen, and finally presses an “OK” button on the print setting screen (steps S16 and S17).
The print setting screen display unit 12 calls the print setting writing unit to save the contents set by the user (step S18).
The print setting writing unit 14 stores the contents set by the user in S16 in an external storage device such as an external file (step S19).
The OS calls the print data generation unit 13 of the printer driver to start the printing process (step S20).
The print data generation unit 13 calls the print setting reading unit 16 to acquire the print setting (step S21).
The print setting reading unit 16 reads the contents stored in S19 and notifies the print data generation unit 13 (step S22).
The print data generation unit 13 reflects the acquired print settings in the print data (PDL) transmitted to the printer (step S23).

  If the user has displayed the print setting on the screen immediately before in step S14, the process proceeds to step S20, and the process proceeds to steps S21 to S23 in the same manner.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a print setting screen of the information processing apparatus using the printer driver shown in FIG.
It is a print setting screen displayed on the printer driver. This is a general display, and there is no special feature regarding the present invention.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, Embodiment 2 will be described.
FIG. 5 is an example of a conceptual diagram of a copying machine as an information processing apparatus using the printer driver shown in FIG.
A copier 100 shown in the figure includes an image reading apparatus 100a and an apparatus main body 100b. The copier 100 has a control circuit (not shown) and controls the copier 100 in an integrated manner. This control circuit is provided with the printer driver shown in FIG.

  The image reading apparatus 100a includes a contact glass 101 on which a document 105 is mounted, a sheet-through reading window 102, a reference white plate 103 for white level adjustment and shading correction data generation, a light source 107 that irradiates the document 105, and a first mirror 108. A first carriage 109, a second mirror 110, a second carriage 112 on which the third mirror 111 is mounted, a home position sensor (hereinafter referred to as HPS) 117 provided for detecting the carriage position, a CCD image sensor (Hereinafter referred to as CCD) Lens unit 113 for reducing and forming an image on 114, image reading circuit 115 equipped with CCD 114 as a photoelectric conversion element, image processing circuit 116, first carriage 109, scanner for driving second carriage 112 From drive motor and document sensor Made (e.g., see JP 2005-77520.).

  In the above configuration, when the document 105 is mounted on the contact glass 101, the light source 107 is turned on, and the first carriage 109 and the second carriage 112 are rotated by a control signal from a control unit (not shown). By moving the light source 107, the light source 107 is turned on while the first carriage 109 and the second carriage 112 are stopped. A method of reading the document image information by irradiating the other document 106 conveyed by the document conveying device 104 via 102 can be selected.

  When scanning the first carriage 109 and reading the document 105, the data of the reference white plate 103 is acquired and the shading correction data is generated and stored in the memory before reading the document 105, and the shading correction data is stored. Thus, by normalizing the image data of the document 105, the light distribution unevenness and the CCD sensitivity unevenness in the image reading device are corrected, and the image information of the document 105 is read with high quality.

The image data subjected to the shading correction process is output to an image processing unit (not shown).
In the case of sheet-through reading in which the original 105 is conveyed and the original image data is read while the first carriage 109 is stopped, the first carriage 109 is first placed under the reference white plate 103 prior to reading the original 105. It is moved to generate shading correction data, and after returning to the sheet-through reading position, the conveyance of the document is started and the document reading operation is started.

  In the apparatus main body 100b of the copying machine 100 shown in the same figure, a static eliminating device L, a cleaning device 202, a charging device 203, and a developing device are disposed on the outer periphery of a photosensitive member 201 that is rotatably supported and rotates in the direction of the arrow. 205 is arranged.

Between the charging device 203 and the developing device 205 on the outer periphery of the photoconductor 201, a space for allowing light information emitted from the exposure device 204 to enter is secured.
In the configuration shown in FIG. 5, there are four photoconductors 201 (201a, 201b, 201c, 201d), but only the color of the color material (toner) handled by the developing device 205 is different, and the images provided on the respective outer peripheral portions. The component configuration described above for forming is the same.

  The photoconductor 201 is configured by providing an organic semiconductor layer, which is a photoconductive substance, on an aluminum cylindrical surface having a diameter of about 30 mm to 100 mm, and a part of the photoconductor 201 is an intermediate transfer belt (first visible image carrying means) 210. Is in contact with

  The intermediate transfer belt 210 is supported by rotating rollers 211, 212, 213, and 214, and is stretched so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow in FIG. On the back side of the intermediate transfer belt 210 (inside the loop), a roller 212 as a first transfer unit is provided in the vicinity of the photoconductor 201 to transfer a visible image on the photoconductor 201 to the intermediate transfer belt 210.

  On the outside of the belt loop of the intermediate transfer belt 210, the intermediate transfer belt cleaning is performed downstream of the position at which the developed image is transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 210 to the recording medium or the intermediate transfer belt for the rear surface (second developed image carrying means) 200. A device 250 is provided. The brush of the cleaning device 250 wipes off unnecessary toner remaining on the surface of the belt after another visible image is transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 210.

FIG. 5 shows a state where the brush roller is separated from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 200 for the back surface. This brush roller is provided so as to be swingable about a fulcrum 250A, and is configured to be able to contact and separate from the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 200 for the back surface.
Before the toner image transferred from the intermediate transfer belt 210 is transferred to the recording medium P, that is, when the intermediate transfer belt for back surface 200 carries the toner image, the toner image is separated and transferred to the recording medium P. When cleaning becomes necessary, the brush roller is swung counterclockwise in FIG.
The removed unnecessary toner is collected in the toner storage unit 250B.

  The exposure device 204 uses a known laser system, and irradiates light information corresponding to full-color image formation onto the surface of the uniformly charged photoconductor 201 as a latent image. As the exposure device 204, an exposure device including an LED array and an image forming unit may be used.

  As described above, the photosensitive member 201, the cleaning device 202, the charging device 203, the exposure device 204, the developing device 205, the charge eliminating device L, and the first transfer unit 212 are added to the intermediate transfer belt 210. It functions as image forming means for generating a visible image (image with toner) to be transferred.

The intermediate transfer belt 210 is a belt based on a resin film or rubber having a base thickness of 50 μm to 600 μm, and has a resistance value that enables transfer of toner from the photoreceptor 211.
On the right side of FIG. 12 with respect to this intermediate transfer belt 210, a belt-like back surface intermediate transfer belt (second visible image carrying means) 200 is disposed. The back surface intermediate transfer belt 200 is supported by rotating rollers 216, 217, 218, and 219, and is stretched so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5. On the back side (inside the loop), the second transfer belt 200 is provided. Means 220 are provided. Outside the belt loop formed by the back surface intermediate transfer belt 200, the back surface intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 250, the charger CH, and the like are disposed.

  The intermediate transfer belt 210 and the back surface intermediate transfer belt 200 are brought into contact with each other by the second transfer means 219, rollers 218 and 219, and the roller 214 that supports the intermediate transfer belt 210, and a predetermined transfer nip. Form.

  The intermediate transfer belt for back surface 200 is a belt having a base of a resin film or rubber having a base thickness of 50 μm to 600 μm, and has a resistance value that enables transfer of toner from the intermediate transfer belt 210.

The recording medium (paper) P is stored in paper feeding devices (paper feeding cassettes) 226-1 and 226-2 in the lower part of the drawing, and the uppermost paper is fed by a paper feed roller 227 one by one, and a plurality of guides 229. Then, it is conveyed to the registration roller pair 228.
Further downstream of the recording medium P being conveyed, a fixing heating unit 230, a paper discharge guide pair 231, a paper discharge roller pair 232, and a paper discharge stack unit 240 are disposed.

  A storage unit TS that can store replenishment toner is provided above the intermediate transfer belt 210 and below the paper discharge stack unit 240 in FIG. There are four toner colors, magenta, cyan, yellow, and black, which are in the form of a cartridge TC. From the cartridge TC, the corresponding color developing device is appropriately supplied by a powder pump or the like.

  The frame 251 that is a part of the apparatus main body has a structure that can be rotated and opened around the opening / closing support shaft 251A. For this reason, the user can open the recording medium conveying path by opening the frame 251 to facilitate the processing of the recording medium (paper) when a jam occurs.

  In addition, an image reading device 100a is connected to the upper portion of the apparatus main body that performs image formation on the recording medium P described above via a support 266, and the apparatus main body records image data read by the image reading apparatus. By printing on the medium P, the copying operation is enabled.

An operation / display unit (display means and input means) is provided on the outer periphery of the image reading apparatus. This operation / display unit includes various buttons such as a touch panel and numeric keys for notifying the user of various types of operation information by display and receiving operation inputs.
The user performs various operations such as one-side / double-side switching of a copy, start of a copy operation, setting of the number of copies, and switching between a copy function and a printer function by using the operation / input unit.

<Program>
The information processing apparatus according to the present invention described above is realized by a program that causes a computer to execute processing. Examples of the computer include general-purpose computers such as personal computers and workstations, but the present invention is not limited to this. Therefore, as an example, a case where the present invention is realized by a program will be described below.

For example,
In the computer of the information processing device,
A procedure in which the OS event processing unit receives a request for printing from the OS and performs distribution;
The print setting screen display section displays the print setting screen on the screen and accepts settings from the user.
The procedure for the print setting export unit to write the contents set on the print setting screen to the external storage device,
A procedure for the print setting reading unit to read the print settings stored in the external storage device,
A procedure in which the print data generation unit converts drawing data from the OS into a language interpretable by the printer;
The procedure for the print setting screen display section to display the print setting screen immediately before the printing process,
A program that executes

Thus, the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be realized anywhere as long as there is a computer environment capable of executing the program.
Such a program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

<Storage medium>
Here, examples of the storage medium include a computer-readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), and a CD-R (CD Recordable), a flash memory, and a RAM (Random). Examples include semiconductor memories such as Access Memory (ROM), Read Only Memory (ROM), and FeRAM (ferroelectric memory), and HDD (Hard Disc Drive).

<Effect>
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the print setting screen is opened by a function for the OS to call the printer driver immediately before the printing process, the setting contents are stored in the external storage (file, registry, etc.), and printing that is separately called from the OS. Since the setting contents saved at the start are read and reflected in the contents of the printer description language transmitted to the device, it is possible to prevent forgetting to open the print setting screen.

  That is, according to this embodiment, when the user executes printing, the user automatically opens the print setting screen, forgets to open the print setting and executes printing with insufficient settings, Since the position of the button for opening the print setting screen differs depending on the user, the problem that the user cannot open the print setting screen can be solved.

  The above-described embodiment shows an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. is there.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 OS event process part 12 Print setting screen display part 13 Print data generation part 14 Print setting write-out part 15 Print setting display judgment part 16 Print setting reading part 100 Copy machine (image processing apparatus)
100a Image reading device 100b Device main body

JP 2009-211132 A

Claims (11)

An OS event processing unit that receives a request for printing from the OS and performs distribution;
A print setting screen display section that displays a print setting screen on the screen and accepts settings from the user;
A print setting writing unit for writing the contents set in the print setting screen to an external storage unit;
A print setting reading unit for reading the print settings stored in the external storage unit;
A print data generation unit that converts drawing data from the OS into a language interpretable by a printer,
An information processing apparatus characterized in that a print setting screen is displayed immediately before print processing.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a print setting display determination unit that determines whether to display a print setting screen according to a condition.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print setting writing unit includes a registry defined by the OS as an external storage device for writing.   3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the print setting display determination unit determines whether the user has opened the print setting screen in advance as a determination condition, and prints unnecessarily for the user who has opened the print setting screen. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the setting screen is not opened.   3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the print setting display determination unit determines whether or not the user has changed the print setting from the standard setting of the printer driver in advance as a determination condition, and notifies the user who has changed the setting. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the print setting screen is not unnecessarily opened. In the computer of the information processing device,
A procedure in which the OS event processing unit receives a request for printing from the OS and performs distribution;
The print setting screen display section displays the print setting screen on the screen and accepts settings from the user.
A procedure in which the print setting writing unit writes the contents set on the print setting screen to an external storage device;
A procedure in which the print setting reading unit reads the print settings stored in the external storage device;
A procedure in which the print data generation unit converts the drawing data from the OS into a language interpretable by the printer;
The procedure for the print setting screen display section to display the print setting screen immediately before the printing process,
A program characterized by having executed. The program according to claim 11, wherein
In the computer of the information processing apparatus,
A program that causes a print setting display determination unit to execute a procedure of determining whether to display a print setting screen according to a condition. The program according to claim 11, wherein
In the computer of the information processing apparatus,
The print setting writing unit is a program characterized in that an external storage device to be written is a registry defined by the OS. The program according to claim 7, wherein
In the computer of the information processing apparatus,
The print setting display determination unit determines whether or not the user has opened the print setting screen in advance as a determination condition, and a procedure for unnecessarily opening the print setting screen for the user who has opened the screen.
A program characterized by having executed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein
In the computer of the information processing apparatus,
The print setting display determination unit determines whether the user has changed the print setting from the printer driver standard setting in advance, and opens the print setting screen unnecessarily for the user who has changed the setting. No steps,
A program characterized by having executed.   A storage medium storing the program according to any one of claims 6 to 10.

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