JP2013122688A - Control method for host device, program and host device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to easily grasp the operational mode of individual processing devices.SOLUTION: In a control method for a host computer 3 for controlling a publisher 2 having a plurality of processing devices 13, 14 and 15 capable of operating independently, the host computer 3 executes: a mode determination step of determining, on the basis of path information on a data transfer path to the publisher 2 including a communication interface 23, a transfer mode of data transfer in the data transfer path; and a mode indicating step of indicating, on the basis of the transfer mode determined and correspondence information of each of the plurality of processing devices 13, 14 and 15 to each transfer mode, an operational mode of each of the processing devices 13, 14 and 15 operating in response to the transfer mode.

Description

  The present invention relates to a control method, a program, and a host device for a host device that controls a composite electronic apparatus having a plurality of independently operable processing devices such as a publisher.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a media processing system, a media processing device (publisher) that reads / writes data from / to a disk-shaped medium such as a CD or DVD and prints on the label side of the media is connected to the media processing device A host computer (host device) is known (see Patent Document 1). This media processing apparatus includes two media drives for writing data to the media, a label printer for printing on the label surface of the media, and a media transport mechanism capable of gripping and transporting the media. The operations of the media drive, the label printer, and the media transport mechanism can be controlled by the host computer.

JP 2009-76142 A

By the way, in this type of media processing system, there is known one to which a media processing device compatible with USB 3.0 (Universal Serial Bus 3.0) is applied. This media processing apparatus compatible with USB 3.0 is configured such that some of the processing devices (for example, media drives) can operate in an operation mode compatible with USB 3.0, and data is transferred in the transfer mode of USB 3.0. When receiving the transfer, some of the processing devices operate in the USB 3.0 operation mode.
However, in such a configuration, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to grasp whether or not each processing device is operating in the USB 3.0 operation mode. That is, first, since the operation mode is determined according to the transfer mode of data transfer, even a processing device that can operate in the USB 3.0 operation mode operates in the USB 3.0 operation mode. Not necessarily. For example, if a user accidentally uses a host computer or communication cable that does not support USB 3.0, data transfer is performed in the USB 2.0 transfer mode, and the USB 2.0 operation mode is performed. It is difficult for the user to grasp this. Second, it is complicated for the user to grasp which processing device can operate in the USB 3.0 operation mode. Thus, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to easily grasp the operation mode of each processing device. If the operation mode of each processing device cannot be grasped, it is not known whether the performance (processing speed) of each processing device is in the operation mode or not. I can't figure it out.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a host apparatus control method, a program, and a host apparatus that allow a user to easily grasp an operation mode for each processing device.

  The host device control method of the present invention is a host device control method for controlling a composite electronic apparatus having a plurality of independently operable processing devices, wherein the host apparatus includes an electronic apparatus including a communication interface. On the basis of the path information of the data transfer path, based on the mode determination step for determining the transfer mode of the data transfer in the data transfer path, the determined transfer mode, and the correspondence information to each transfer mode of each processing device And a mode notification step of notifying an operation mode for each processing device operating in accordance with the transfer mode.

  In this case, the transfer mode preferably has a different data transfer rate for each transfer mode.

  In this case, the transfer mode is preferably a transfer mode for each USB standard.

  Moreover, it is preferable that a host device controls an electronic device via a single communication cable.

  A host apparatus of the present invention is a host apparatus that controls a composite electronic apparatus having a plurality of independently operable processing devices via a single communication cable, and data with the electronic apparatus including a communication interface Based on the path information of the transfer path, based on the mode determination unit that determines the transfer mode of the data transfer in the data transfer path, the determined transfer mode, and the correspondence information to each transfer mode of each processing device, And a mode notification unit that notifies the operation mode of each processing device that operates according to the transfer mode.

  According to these configurations, the host device recognizes the operation mode of each processing device based on the data transfer transfer mode and the transfer mode correspondence information of each processing device, and notifies the user of this. Thereby, the user can grasp | ascertain easily the operation mode for every processing device. Therefore, it can be determined whether or not the cause of the poor performance is in the operation mode, and the problem can be quickly grasped at the support center or the like.

  In the above host device control method, the path information includes information corresponding to each transfer mode in the communication interface on the host device side, and the transfer information to each transfer mode in at least one of the driver software and communication cable on the host device side. It is preferable to include correspondence information.

  According to this configuration, since the path information includes the transfer mode correspondence information in each part of the data transfer path, the mode determination step determines the transfer mode based on the correspondence information. As described above, by determining the transfer mode based on the correspondence information of each part of the data transfer path, the transfer mode determination processing can be performed with high accuracy and easily compared to the determination based on the transfer speed, for example. it can.

  On the other hand, the host device preferably includes a display unit, and in the mode notification step, the display unit preferably displays the operation mode for each processing device.

  According to this configuration, since the user can visually recognize the operation mode for each processing device, the operation mode for each processing device can be grasped more easily.

  The electronic device is a publisher that processes a disk medium, and the plurality of processing devices include a disk printer that performs a printing process on a label surface of the disk medium, a disk drive that performs a writing process on the disk medium, and a disk medium And an autoloader that performs the transfer process.

  According to this configuration, the publisher can easily grasp the operation mode for each processing device.

  A program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute each step in the above-described host device control method.

  According to this configuration, each step in the above-described host device control method can be executed simply by installing this program.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a media processing system according to an embodiment. FIG. It is the figure which showed the management screen of a publisher. It is the flowchart which showed the display operation of the device display area.

  A host device control method, program, and host device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the present embodiment, a media processing system to which a host device control method is applied is exemplified. This media processing system is a processing system for processing a disk medium which is an optical recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a BD (Blu-ray Disc). In the media processing system, the operation mode of each processing device is an operation mode compatible with USB 3.0 (hereinafter referred to as USB 3.0 operation mode) or an operation mode compatible with USB 2.0 (hereinafter referred to as USB 3.0 operation mode). It has a function of displaying whether it is called a USB 2.0 operation mode.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a media processing system 1 includes a publisher (composite electronic device) 2 that performs writing processing and label surface printing processing on a disk medium, and a host computer 3 that controls the publisher 2. It is configured. Further, the publisher 2 and the host computer 3 are connected via a single USB cable (communication cable) 4, and a transfer mode corresponding to USB 2.0 (hereinafter referred to as USB 2.0 transfer mode) or USB 3 Data communication is performed in a transfer mode corresponding to .0 (hereinafter referred to as a USB 3.0 transfer mode). Note that USB 2.0 is a USB standard in which a high speed mode (480 Mbps) is added to the conventional USB 1.1, and the USB 2.0 transfer mode in the present invention refers to this high speed mode. USB 3.0 is a USB standard in which a super speed mode (5.0 Gbps) is added to USB 2.0, and the USB 3.0 transfer mode in the present invention indicates this super speed mode.

  The publisher 2 sequentially processes the set sheet media in accordance with the data transferred from the host computer 3 (image file, print data, and conveyance control data). Specifically, the publisher 2 writes data to the recording surface of the disk medium, the communication interface 11 that communicates with the host computer 3, the four stackers 12 that accommodate dozens of disk media in a stacked state, and the like. Two disk drives 13 that perform processing, a disk printer 14 that performs printing processing on the label surface of the disk medium, an autoloader 15 that performs disk medium transport processing, and received data for each processing device (two units) And a data relay / distribution unit 16 that distributes the data to the disk drive 13, the disk printer 14, and the autoloader 15). The plurality of processing devices can operate independently, and individually operate according to the data distributed from the data relay / distribution unit 16.

  Publisher 2 is a USB device compatible with USB 3.0. Strictly speaking, the two disk drives 13 correspond to the USB 2.0 transfer mode and the USB 3.0 transfer mode. That is, it can operate in the USB 2.0 operation mode and the USB 3.0 operation mode. On the other hand, the disk printer 14 and the autoloader 15 support the USB 2.0 transfer mode and do not support the USB 3.0 transfer mode. In other words, it can operate in the USB 2.0 operation mode and cannot operate in the USB 3.0 operation mode.

  The data relay / distribution unit 16 outputs (distributes) the data transferred from the host computer 3 to each processing device. That is, the data relay / distribution unit 16 sequentially outputs the received image file to each disk drive 13. The received print data is sequentially output to the disk printer 14. Further, the received transport control data is sequentially output to the autoloader 15.

  The host computer 3 can use a general personal computer or the like, and has a communication interface that communicates with the input mechanism 21 having a keyboard and a mouse, a display mechanism (display unit) 22 having a display and the like, and the publisher 2. 23 and a control mechanism 24 for controlling each part. The control mechanism 24 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk, and the like. Then, by installing the management application 31 and the driver software 32 for the publisher 2 in the control mechanism 24, the host computer 3 functions as a control device for the publisher 2.

  The driver software 32 for the publisher 2 includes an overall control unit 41, an image file generation unit 42, a print data generation unit 43, two drive control units 44, a printer control unit 45, and a loader control unit 46. I have. The image file generation unit 42 converts the input content data and generates an image file writable by the disk drive 13. The print data generation unit 43 converts the input image file and generates print data (for example, a PRN file) that can be printed by the disk printer 14.

  The overall control unit 41 stores management information and processing settings of each unit in the media processing system 1, schedules a series of processes for the disk medium, and controls the operation procedure of each unit of the publisher 2. With this control, the overall control unit 41 allows the two disk drives 13, the disk printer 14, and the autoloader 15 to execute processing efficiently without interfering with each other.

  Each drive control unit 44 sequentially outputs an image file to each disk drive 13 of the publisher 2 according to the scheduling of the overall control unit 41 to control the writing process of each disk drive 13. The printer control unit 45 sequentially outputs print data to the disk printer 14 of the publisher 2 according to the scheduling of the overall control unit 41 and controls the printing process of the disk printer 14. The loader control unit 46 generates transport control data according to the scheduling of the overall control unit 41 and sequentially outputs the data to the autoloader 15 of the publisher 2 to control the transport process of the autoloader 15.

  The management application 31 for the publisher 2 is an application that displays the management screen S of the publisher 2 on the display mechanism 22. Specifically, the management application 31 includes a management information acquisition unit 51, a transfer mode determination unit (mode determination unit) 52, and a management screen display unit 53. The mode notification unit includes a display mechanism 22 and a management screen display unit 53.

  The management information acquisition unit 51 acquires information used for displaying the management screen S from the driver software 32. Specifically, the management information acquisition unit 51 acquires schedule information, ink remaining amount information of the disk printer 14, management information of each stacker 12, and operation information of each processing device from the driver software 32. . The schedule information is schedule information scheduled by the overall control unit 41. The ink remaining amount information of the disk printer 14 is information on the remaining amount of ink of each color (cyan, light cyan, light magenta, magenta, yellow, and black) in the disk printer 14. The management information of each stacker 12 includes information on the load amount and type of the disk medium set / accommodated in each stacker 12, and the role set in each stacker 12 ("supply source", "discharge destination", etc.) ) Information. The operation information of each processing device is information on the current operation state (“operating”, “standby”, “stopped”, etc.) of each processing device.

  Further, the management information acquisition unit 51 acquires from the driver software 32 the path information of the data transfer path between the host computer 3 and the publisher 2 and the corresponding information to each transfer mode of each processing device. The route information of the data transfer route includes information corresponding to each transfer mode in the driver software 32, the communication interface 23, and the USB cable 4. As described above, the media processing system 1 has a transfer mode for each USB standard having different data transfer rates. Specifically, data transfer is performed in one of the USB 2.0 transfer mode and the USB 3.0 transfer mode. Therefore, the correspondence information for each transfer mode includes information on whether or not the USB 2.0 transfer mode is supported and information on whether or not the USB 3.0 transfer mode is supported. In the media processing system 1, since each unit corresponds to at least the USB 2.0 transfer mode, the information regarding whether or not it corresponds to the USB 2.0 transfer mode may be omitted.

  The transfer mode determination unit 52 determines the transfer mode in the data transfer path based on the path information of the data transfer path. Specifically, reference is made to information corresponding to each transfer mode of the driver software 32, the communication interface 23, and the USB cable 4, and when all of these support the USB 3.0 transfer mode, the transfer mode of the data transfer Is determined to be in the USB 3.0 transfer mode. On the other hand, if any one does not support the USB 3.0 transfer mode, it is determined that the data transfer mode is the USB 2.0 transfer mode.

  The management screen display unit 53 displays the management screen S of the publisher 2 by the display mechanism 22 based on the acquisition information of the management information acquisition unit 51 and the determination result of the transfer mode determination unit 52. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the management screen S. As shown in FIG. 2A, the management screen S includes a schedule management area 61, a publisher status display area 62, a remaining ink display area 63, a device display area 64 for each processing device, and a stacker status display area. 65. FIG. 2 shows a management screen of publisher 2 including two disk drives 2 (drive 1, drive 2) and one disk printer 14 (printer).

  The schedule management area 61 displays schedule information and has various operation buttons such as a pause button 71, a resume button 72, and a cancel button 73. In other words, the schedule of the overall control unit 41 can be operated by the schedule management area 61.

  In the publisher status display area 62, the status of the publisher 2 is displayed by managing the ink remaining amount information of the disk printer 14, the management information of each stacker 12, and the operation information of each processing device. In the remaining ink display area 63, remaining ink information of the disk printer 14 is displayed. In the stacker state display area 65, management information of each stacker 12 is displayed.

  In the device display area 64 for each processing device, operation information of each processing device is displayed. In each device display area 64, the operation mode for each processing device is displayed in such a manner that the background color is color-coded. That is, when the operation mode of the corresponding processing device is the USB 2.0 operation mode, the background color is white (no coloring), and when the operation mode of the corresponding processing device is the USB 3.0 operation mode, For example, the background color is colored light blue (see FIG. 2B). In FIG. 2, the colored portion is shown by hatching.

  The display of the operation mode for each processing device is performed based on the correspondence information of each processing device to each transfer mode and the determination result of the transfer mode determination unit 52. The processing device (two disk drives 13) operable in the USB 3.0 operation mode operates by switching between the USB 3.0 operation mode and the USB 2.0 operation mode in accordance with the data transfer mode. On the other hand, the management screen display unit 53 grasps the operation mode of each processing device from the correspondence information to each transfer mode of each processing device and the transfer mode of data transfer, and stores this in each device display area 64. To reflect.

  Here, the display operation of the device display area 64 by the management application 31 will be described with reference to FIG. This operation is performed periodically while the management screen S is displayed by the management application 31, and the display of each device display area 64 is periodically updated.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the management application 31 first acquires the route information of the data transfer route and the correspondence information to each transfer mode of each processing device from the driver software 32 by the management information acquisition unit 51 ( S1). Strictly speaking, a request signal for requesting such information is output to the driver software 32, the information is received from the driver software 32, and the information is acquired.

  When the above information is acquired, the transfer mode determination unit 52 refers to the route information of the data transfer path to determine the data transfer transfer mode (S2 to S4: mode determination step). Specifically, the correspondence information of the driver software 32, the communication interface 23, and the USB cable 4 with respect to each transfer mode is referred to, and it is determined whether or not all of these correspond to the USB 3.0 transfer mode (S2). . When all of these are compatible with the USB 3.0 transfer mode (S2: Yes), it is determined that the data transfer mode is the USB 3.0 transfer mode (S3). On the other hand, if any one of the USB 3.0 transfer modes is not supported, it is determined that the data transfer mode is the USB 2.0 transfer mode (S4).

  After determining the transfer mode, the management screen display unit 53 displays the transfer mode for each processing device on the device display area 64 based on the determination result and the correspondence information of each processing device to each transfer mode. (S5, S6: mode notification step). Specifically, if it is determined that the transfer mode is the USB 3.0 transfer mode (S3), the processing device corresponding to the USB 3.0 transfer mode is referred to by referring to the information corresponding to each transfer mode of each processing device. The background of the device display area 64 of each disk drive 13 is displayed in color. In addition, the background of the device display area 64 of the disk printer 14 and the autoloader 15 which are processing devices not compatible with the USB 3.0 transfer mode is displayed as white (S5: see FIG. 2B).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the transfer mode is the USB 2.0 transfer mode (S4), the background color of all the device display areas 64 of the processing devices is set to white (S6: refer to FIG. 2A). As a result, the operation mode for each processing device is displayed, and this operation ends.

  According to the above configuration, the host computer 3 recognizes the operation mode of each processing device based on the data transfer transfer mode and the transfer mode correspondence information of each processing device, and notifies the user of this. The user can easily grasp the operation mode for each processing device. Therefore, it can be determined whether or not the cause of the poor performance is in the operation mode, and the problem can be quickly grasped at the support center or the like.

  Further, by determining the transfer mode based on the correspondence information of each processing device to the transfer mode, for example, the transfer mode determination process can be performed with high accuracy and easily as compared with the determination based on the transfer speed. it can.

  Furthermore, in order to notify the operation mode for each processing device, since the display mechanism 22 displays and notifies the user, the user can visually recognize the operation mode for each processing device. It can be easily grasped.

  In this embodiment, the route information includes correspondence information for each transfer mode in all of the driver software 32, the communication interface 23, and the USB cable 4, and the transfer mode is determined based on this information. If the information includes a configuration including correspondence information for each transfer mode in at least one of the driver software 32, the communication interface 23, and the USB cable 4, and if the configuration determines the transfer mode based on this, It is not limited to. For example, the path information may be information corresponding to each transfer mode in only the communication interface 23, and the transfer mode may be determined based on this information.

  In this embodiment, the data transfer is performed in the USB 2.0 transfer mode or the USB 3.0 transfer mode as the transfer mode for each USB standard. However, the data transfer is performed in the transfer mode for each USB standard. For example, in addition to the above transfer mode, the data transfer may be performed in a transfer mode compatible with USB 1.1. In such a case, the transfer mode determination unit 52 determines whether the transfer mode is compatible with USB 1.1, the USB 2.0 transfer mode, or the USB 3.0 transfer mode based on the information corresponding to each USB standard in each unit. Determine if it exists. Also, the operation mode may be displayed in different colors including the operation mode corresponding to USB 1.1.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the transfer mode to be discriminated is the transfer mode for each USB standard, but if the transfer mode has a different data transfer rate for each transfer mode, This is not a limitation.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, to display the operation mode for each processing device, the background of each device display area 64 is displayed in different colors. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A configuration may be used in which icons in the display area 64 are displayed in different colors, or a message indicating an operation mode may be displayed in each device display area 64. That is, each device display area 64 may be displayed in a different display form or different information may be displayed in each device display area 64 according to the operation mode.

  In the present embodiment, the description is omitted, but the two disk drives 13 may be the same type of disk medium as a writing target or different types of disk media as a writing target. Also good. For example, the two disk drives 13 may both be DVD drives, one may be a DVD drive, and the other may be a BD drive.

  In the present embodiment, the operation mode for each processing device is displayed on the host computer 3. However, the publisher 2 has a display unit, and the operation mode for each processing device is displayed on the publisher 2. The structure to display may be sufficient.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the publisher 2 is exemplified as the electronic device, but a composite electronic device other than the publisher 2 may be controlled. For example, the present invention may be applied to a multifunction device (a so-called printer multifunction device) in which a printer, a copier, and a scanner are integrated.

  2: Publisher, 3: Host computer, 4: USB cable, 13: Disk drive, 14: Disk printer, 15: Autoloader, 22: Display mechanism, 23: Communication interface, 32: Driver software, 52: Transfer mode discriminator 53: Management screen display section

Claims (9)

A control method of a host apparatus for controlling a composite electronic apparatus having a plurality of processing devices that can operate independently,
The host device is
A mode determination step of determining a transfer mode of data transfer in the data transfer path based on path information of a data transfer path with the electronic device including the communication interface;
Based on the determined transfer mode and the correspondence information of each processing device to each transfer mode, a mode notification step for notifying the operation mode for each processing device operating according to the transfer mode is executed. A method for controlling a host device.   2. The host device control method according to claim 1, wherein the transfer mode has a different data transfer rate for each transfer mode.   The host device control method according to claim 2, wherein the transfer mode is a transfer mode for each USB standard. The route information is
The information including correspondence information to each transfer mode in the communication interface on the host device side, and information corresponding to each transfer mode in at least one of the driver software and the communication cable on the host device side is included. Item 4. The host device control method according to any one of Items 1 to 3. The host device has a display unit,
5. The host device control method according to claim 1, wherein in the mode notification step, the display unit displays the operation mode for each processing device. 6. The electronic device is a publisher for processing a disk medium,
The plurality of processing devices are:
A disk printer for performing printing on the label surface of the disk medium;
A disk drive for performing write processing on the disk medium;
The host device control method according to claim 1, comprising: an autoloader configured to carry the disk medium.   The host device control method according to claim 1, wherein the host device controls the electronic device via a single communication cable.   The program for making a computer perform each step in the control method of the host apparatus of any one of Claim 1 thru | or 7. A host apparatus that controls a composite electronic apparatus having a plurality of processing devices that can operate independently via a single communication cable,
A mode discriminating unit that discriminates a transfer mode of data transfer in the data transfer path based on path information of a data transfer path with the electronic device including the communication interface;
A mode notification unit that notifies the operation mode of each processing device that operates in accordance with the transfer mode, based on the determined transfer mode and the correspondence information to each transfer mode of each processing device; A host device characterized by that.

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