JP2023038380A - Information processing device, control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent reduction in user operability regarding information on a printer not compatible with the OS standard print function.

SOLUTION: When a printer that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format is removed from control targets, a print conversion utility performs a process for excluding information on the printer that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format from management targets of the OS standard print software.

SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

COPYRIGHT: (C)2023,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, control method, and program.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a printing environment in which a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC) and a printer are connected. In this printing environment, printing is performed using standard printing functions provided by the operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) (hereinafter referred to as OS standard printing functions) without requiring printer-specific software provided by the printer vendor. A technique for doing so is disclosed in Patent Document 1. Printer-specific software is sometimes called a printer driver.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2015-508921

However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-200002 does not consider a method of managing information when a printer that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format for OS standard printing is connected to a PC. Therefore, there is a possibility that the user's operability for information related to printers that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format for OS standard printing may be degraded.

In order to solve the above problems, an information processing apparatus of the present application manages information about a printing apparatus that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format, and generates print data in a predetermined format. An information processing apparatus capable of executing software, and managing means for managing a printing apparatus incapable of interpreting print data in a predetermined format as a management target, and printing using the printing apparatus incapable of interpreting print data in a predetermined format. is instructed to execute, a receiving means for receiving the first print data via the OS standard print software; generating means for generating based on the print data; transmitting means for transmitting the second print data to a printing device that cannot interpret the print data in the predetermined format; and a printing device that cannot interpret the print data in the predetermined format. It is characterized by having control means for executing a process for excluding information about a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the format from the management target of the OS standard printing software when removed from the management target.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the operability of printing operations using a printer that does not support OS standard printing functions.

1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment; FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a print conversion utility screen; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of the OS printing system; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a print setting screen of the OS print system; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of start-up processing of the print conversion utility; FIG. 4 shows an introductory dialog provided by the print conversion utility; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of start-up processing of the print conversion utility; FIG. 4 shows an introductory dialog provided by the print conversion utility; FIG. 4 shows an introductory dialog provided by the print conversion utility; FIG. 4 shows an introductory dialog provided by the print conversion utility; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of start-up processing of the print conversion utility; FIG. 4 shows an introductory dialog provided by the print conversion utility; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of start-up processing of the print conversion utility; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the flow of uninstaller startup processing; 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an information processing apparatus; FIG.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the attached images. In addition, the following embodiments do not limit the present invention according to the claims, and all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not essential to the solution of the present invention. Not exclusively.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a printing system according to this embodiment. The PC 01 and the printers 20, 30, and 40 are connected via the network 12 and can communicate with each other. In this embodiment, the network is assumed to be a LAN (Local Area Network), but it may be a WAN (Wide Area Network). Also, the form of network connection may be wired or wireless, or may be mixed. PC 01 controls printers 20 to 40 connected via network 12 .

Although not shown in FIG. 1, the PC01 incorporates an operating system (OS), and each block in the PC01 is managed by the OS. Here, the PC01 has a hardware configuration (FIG. 15) provided in a general information processing apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the PC (information processing device) 01. As shown in FIG. A CPU 301 is a central processing unit for controlling the following units. The disk device 302 stores an application program 312 read by the CPU 301, a database 313, an OS, and various files. The external disk reading device 303 is a device for reading information such as files stored in an external storage medium such as an SD card. A memory 304 is configured by a RAM or the like, and the CPU 301 performs temporary storage and buffering of data as necessary. A display unit 305 is configured by, for example, an LCD, and displays various information. An operation unit 306 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like for the user to perform various input operations. A network communication unit 307 is connected to a network such as the Internet via a network connection unit 308 and performs various communications. A network communication unit 307 is compatible with a wired LAN or a wireless LAN, a network connection unit 308 in the case of compatibility with a wired LAN is a connector for connecting a cable of the wired LAN, and a network connection unit 308 in the case of compatibility with a wireless LAN is an antenna. becomes. Note that the network connection unit 308 may have both wired LAN and wireless LAN functions. The USB communication unit 310 is connected to various peripheral devices via a USB connection unit 311 and performs various communications. The above units are interconnected by a bus 309 . In this embodiment, macOS (registered trademark) is assumed as the OS installed in the PC01.

Next, the software configuration of the PC01 will be explained. The PC 01 includes an application 02, an OS printing system 03, a network (NW) communication control unit 06, a print conversion utility 08, and an uninstaller 11 for the print conversion utility 08, and can execute these. Note that the uninstaller 11 may be incorporated in the print conversion utility 08 . Note that the OS print system 03 including the OS standard print control unit 04 is a standard module of the OS. In other words, the user does not need to install the OS printing system 03 and the OS standard printing control unit 04 separately, and the OS printing system 03 and the OS standard printing control unit 04 are installed together with the OS installation. Therefore, the OS printing system 03 including the OS standard printing control unit 04 is sometimes called OS standard printing software. The print queue 05 and OS standard print control unit 04 of the printer 30 are managed by the OS print system 03 . A print conversion utility 08 including a vendor driver 09 is used for printing with a printer that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format conforming to the OS standard print function, and is installed in the PC 01 according to a user's instruction. The OS printing system 03 sequentially processes print requests from the application 02 as jobs. When a user requests printing of application data created by the application 02, the request is submitted to the OS printing system 03 as a print job. When the OS print system 03 receives a print job, the OS standard print control unit 04 generates print data in a format conforming to the OS standard print function. When a printer capable of interpreting print data in a format conforming to the OS standard print function is selected at the time of a print request from the application 02, the OS print system 03 transmits print data generated by the OS standard print control unit 04 to the printer. do. Therefore, for example, the PC01 can operate without an installation process according to a user's instruction. Note that, in the present embodiment, the OS standard print function is also called a predetermined print function. Note that in this embodiment, a printer that cannot interpret print data in a format conforming to the OS standard print function is sometimes referred to as a non-support printer. A printer that can interpret print data in a format conforming to the OS standard print function is sometimes called a support printer.

Next, a description will be given of processing when the printer selected at the time of the print request from the application is an unsupported printer. The OS printing system 03 sends the print data to the print conversion utility 08 after the print data in the format conforming to the OS standard print function is generated by the OS standard print control unit 04 . Then, the print conversion utility 08 converts the print data into vendor-specific format print data, and then transmits the print data to the printer via the NW communication control unit 06 . That is, the print data generated by the OS standard print control unit 04 and the print data generated by the print conversion utility 08 are different.

Separately from the above, the print conversion utility 08 converts the image data 07 specified using the file print screen 70 described later in FIG. It is also possible to send to

The printer 20 , the printer 30 , and the printer 40 are configured by a NW communication control section 21 , a print control section 22 , and a printing section 23 . The print control unit 22 receives print data from the PC 01 via the NW communication control unit 21, controls the print unit 23 based on the print data, and executes printing. In this embodiment, it is assumed that printing is performed by an inkjet method, but other methods such as an electrophotographic method may be used.

If a supported printer is selected, the user can easily print without using the print conversion utility 08 . On the other hand, when an unsupported printer is selected, print processing is realized using the print conversion utility 08 .

In order to use the print conversion utility 08 from the application 02, it is necessary to register two print queues, the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function for receiving the print request from the application 02 and the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility. There is If these two print queues are not registered, printing cannot be performed using the print conversion utility 08 from the application 02 .

The print conversion utility 08 can also generate print data of the image data 07 specified using the file print screen 70 of FIG. To print image data specified using the file print screen 70, registration in the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility is required, but the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function is not required.

When installing the print conversion utility 08, the uninstaller 11 of the print conversion utility is installed at the same time. When the print conversion utility 08 is to be uninstalled, the uninstaller 11 is activated to perform the uninstallation process.

In this embodiment, the printer 20 is a supported printer, and the printers 30 and 40 are non-supported printers. In other words, the printer 20 can interpret print data generated by the OS standard print control unit 04 . Therefore, when printing from the application 02 to the printer 30, both the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function and the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility must be registered. That is, when the application 02 is used to instruct the printer 30 to print, print data is sent to the printer 30 via the OS printing system 03 and the print conversion utility 08 . That is, printers 30 and 40 can interpret the print data generated by print conversion utility 08 .

An example of processing for the user to register the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility 08 will now be described.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen provided by the print conversion utility 08. As shown in FIG. The printer list screen 50 displays a printer name 51 registered in the print conversion utility 08, a "file print" button 52 for directly printing the image data 07, and a "set" button 53 for setting the printer. be done. The printer list screen 50 also displays an "Add" button 54 for registering a printer and a "Delete" button 55 for deleting a printer. When the user presses the "file print" button 52, a file print screen 70 is displayed. The user presses the "reference" button 71 and designates the image data 07 to be printed. Then, when the user presses the “print” button 73 , the print conversion utility 08 converts the image data 07 into print data in a vendor-specific format, and transmits the print data to the printer 30 . When the "cancel" button 72 is pressed, the file print screen 70 is closed without printing.

When the “setting” button 53 on the printer list screen 50 is pressed, the print conversion utility 08 opens the printer setting screen 80 . When the "Add" button 54 is pressed, the print conversion utility 08 displays a printer registration screen 60. FIG.

The printer registration screen 60 has a printer list 61, and displays in the printer list 61 information about non-supported printers connected to the PC01. In this embodiment, printers 30 and 40 are displayed. The print conversion utility 08 holds printer information of non-supported printers in advance. Among the printers included in the printer information, non-supported printers connected to the PC01 are displayed in the printer list 61 . Also, the print conversion utility 08 may acquire capability information of printers connected to the PC 01 and determine non-supported printers from the capability information.

When the user presses the "Register" button 63, the selected printer is registered in the print conversion utility 08. FIG. In this embodiment, the printer 30 is already registered with the print conversion utility 08 . When a printer is registered in the print conversion utility 08, the print conversion utility 08 acquires capability information from the printer to be operated. Then, when the OS printing system 03 transmits a capability information acquisition request to the print conversion utility 08, the print conversion utility 08 receives the capability information acquisition request. Therefore, the print conversion utility 08 adds support information (support information) for the OS standard print function internally generated based on the capability information acquired from the printer to the capability information to be responded to the OS printing system 03, and performs OS printing. Respond to system 03. At this point, the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility 08 is registered.

The print conversion utility 08 can also register the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function in the OS printing system, but in this embodiment the print conversion utility 08 does not register the print queue 05 in the OS printing system 03. . The OS print system 03 registers the print queue 05 . A detailed description will be given later. When the “delete” button 55 is pressed, the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility of the selected printer is deleted from the print conversion utility 08 . Also, the name of the printer is deleted from the printer list.

Next, processing for registering the print queue 05 by the OS print system 03 will be described. FIG. 3 shows a printer list screen 90 provided by the OS printing system 03. As shown in FIG. The OS printing system 03 has a printer list 91 for adding/deleting printable printers. The OS printing system 03 displays all printers that can be selected at the time of printing in the printer list 91 . When the user selects a printer in the printer list 91 and presses the "delete" button 93, the OS printing system 03 deletes the print queue of the selected printer and also deletes the name of the selected printer from the printer list 91. . When the user presses the “Add” button 92 , the OS printing system 03 displays a printer registration screen 95 . The OS printing system 03 displays supported printers connected to the PC 01 via the network in the registered printer list 96 . The OS printing system 03 acquires capability information including the printer name and correspondence information to the OS standard printing function from the connected printers 20 to 40 or the print conversion utility 08 . The OS printing system 03 then displays the names and connection methods of the supported printers in the registered printer list 96 . In this embodiment, the printer 30 is an operation target of the print conversion utility 08, and the print conversion utility 08 responds to the OS printing system 03 with capability information obtained by adding "print conversion utility" to the name acquired from the printer 30. Note that although the identification information to be added is described as "print conversion utility" in this embodiment, other information may be added. Here, the print conversion utility 08 responds with the capability information of the printer 30, which is an unsupported printer, so that the OS printing system 03 identifies the printer 30 as a display target of the registered printer list 96, which will be described later.

Based on the capability information acquired from the print conversion utility 08, the OS printing system 03 displays "printer 30 (print conversion utility 08)" as the name of the printer 30 and "Network" as the connection method in the registered printer list 96. FIG. When the user selects a printer from the registered printer list 96 and presses a "Register" button 98, the OS printing system 03 creates and registers the print queue 05 of the OS standard printing function of the selected printer. The OS printing system 03 then displays the selected printer in the printer list 91 and closes the printer registration screen 95 . When the user presses the "Cancel" button 97, the OS printing system 03 closes the printer registration screen 95 without registering the printer. In this embodiment, the print queue of the support printer 20 and the print queue 05 of the printer 30 to which print data is transmitted via the print conversion utility 08 are registered in the OS print system 03 .

FIG. 4 shows a print setting screen of the OS print system 03. As shown in FIG. The OS print system 03 has a print setting screen 100 used when printing application data created by the application 02 . A user can set a printer for printing using a printer selection menu 101 . The OS printing system 03 displays printable printers added to the printer list screen 90 of FIG. 3 as selectable printers. In this embodiment, the printer 20, which is a support printer, and the printer 30 to which print data is transmitted via the print conversion utility 08 are registered as printable printers, and these are displayed as selection candidates in the printer selection menu 101. . The user can set the number of copies to be printed in the number of copies setting field 102 . The user can set the page to be printed using the page setting radio button 103 and the page designation field 104 . The user can set the paper size to be used for printing on the paper size setting menu 105 . The user can set any one of A4, A5, L size, and postcard paper sizes that can be used by the printer selected in the printer selection menu 101 . When the user presses the print button 107, a print job based on the settings on this screen is input to the OS printing system 03, and this screen is closed. When the user presses the cancel button 106 , the screen is closed without submitting the print job to the OS printing system 03 .

Subsequently, when the print queue 05 registered in the OS printing system 03 for the printer 30 to which the print data is transmitted via the print conversion utility 08 is deleted by the user, the user is instructed to register the print queue again. The notification processing will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of execution processing of the print conversion utility 08. As shown in FIG. Note that the flowcharts described in the present application are implemented by the CPU 301 reading and executing a program related to the flowcharts from the memory 304 . The flowchart in FIG. 5 is started when the user activates the print conversion utility 08 . Further, when the user operates the icon of the print conversion utility 08 on the screen of the PC 01, the print conversion utility 08 is activated.

The print conversion utility 08 acquires the total number (A) of printers registered in the print conversion utility 08 (S01). In S02, the print conversion utility 08 initializes the index number (n=1), and starts a loop for the total number of printers in S03.

In S04, the print conversion utility 08 determines whether the DeviceURI of the n-th printer is registered in the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function. For example, the print conversion utility 08 acquires DeviceURIs of all print queues registered in the OS printing system 03 from the OS printing system 03 . Then, S04 is realized by determining whether the DeviceURI of the n-th printer is included in the DeviceURI acquired from the OS printing system 03 or not. If it is determined that the DeviceURI of the n-th printer is not included in the DeviceURI acquired from the OS printing system 03, the print conversion utility 08 determines that the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function is not registered. Go to S05. Although DeviceURI is described as information to be used, other identification information may be used. For example, UUID may be used.

The print conversion utility 08 checks that the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function is not registered, that only the image data 07 specified using the file print screen 70 in FIG. 2 can be printed, and that the print queue of the OS standard print function 05 registration procedure (S05). Specifically, the print conversion utility 08 displays the guide dialog 110 of FIG. It should be noted that the information guided in S05 does not have to be all of these pieces of information. For example, at least an operation procedure for registering the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function should be guided. Also, only the registration of the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function may be guided.

When the print conversion utility 08 recognizes that the OK button has been pressed on the screen of FIG. 6 (S06), it increments the index number (S07) and returns the process from S08 to S03.

Note that the registration of the print queue 05 may be notified to the user by executing the process of FIG. 5 when the print queue 05 is not registered in the OS printing system 03 in the first place.

As described above, in this embodiment, the print conversion utility 08 determines whether the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the printer managed by the print conversion utility 08 is registered. When it is determined that the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the printer managed by the print conversion utility 08 is not registered, the print conversion utility 08 registers the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function. guide the user through the procedure for In other words, when a non-supported printer (for example, the printer 30) managed by the print conversion utility 08 is not displayed as a selection candidate in the selection menu 101 of the print setting screen 100 displayed by an instruction from the application 02, S07 is executed. executed. The user can easily register the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function by operating according to this guidance. As a result, both the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility 08 and the print queue 05 of the OS printing system are registered, and the user can print using the printer 30 .

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described. In the first embodiment, when the print queue 05 of the printer to which the print data is sent via the print conversion utility is not registered in the OS print system 03, the user manually registers the print data in the OS print system 03 according to the procedure shown in FIG. It was necessary to register the print queue 05. Considering this point, in the second embodiment, processing for registering the print queue 05 without manual operation by the user will be described.

In this embodiment, points different from the first embodiment will be described. Also, in this embodiment, the print queue 05 for the OS printing system 03 of the printer registered using the printer registration screen of the print conversion utility 08 in FIG. and

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the activation processing flow of the print conversion utility 08 in this embodiment. Note that S22 to S25 and S35 to S36 are the same as S01 to S04 and S07 to S08 in FIG. 5, so description thereof will be omitted.

If the print conversion utility 08 determines in S25 that the DeviceURI of the n-th printer is not registered in the OS printing system 03, the process proceeds to S26. Then, the print conversion utility 08 asks whether the print queue 05 of the standard print function of the OS is not registered and whether the print queue 05 should be registered in the OS print system. Specifically, the print conversion utility 08 displays the guide dialog 120 of FIG.

The print conversion utility 08 accepts the user's selection in the guidance dialog 120 of FIG. 8 (S27), and determines whether or not the "OK" button 122 has been pressed (S28). When the "OK" button 122 is pressed, the print conversion utility 08 registers the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function of the target printer in the OS print system (S29). Specifically, the print conversion utility 08 notifies the OS printing system 03 of the DeviceURI of the n-th printer and instructs the print queue registration process of the n-th printer. Through this processing, the print queue of the n-th printer (for example, print queue 05) is registered in the OS print system 03. FIG. That is, the print conversion utility 08 displays a screen for confirming registration of the n-th printer in the OS printing system 03 . If the user instructs to register on this confirmation screen, an instruction to register the print queue of the n-th printer in the OS printing system 03 is issued to the OS printing system 03 .

On the other hand, if it is determined in S28 that the cancel button 121 has been pressed (S28-No), the print conversion utility 08 asks in S30 whether to delete the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility of the target printer. Specifically, the print conversion utility 08 displays the guide dialog 130 of FIG.

The print conversion utility 08 accepts the user's selection in the guide dialog 130 of FIG. 9 (S31), and determines whether or not the "OK" button 122 has been pressed (S32). If it is determined that the "OK" button 132 has been pressed, in S33 the print conversion utility 08 deletes the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility of the n-th printer. That is, the print conversion utility 08 excludes the n-th printer managed as a management target from the management target.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S32 that the "Cancel" button 131 has been pressed, the print conversion utility 08 informs in S34 that only the image data 07 specified using the file print screen 70 in FIG. 2 can be printed. . Specifically, the print conversion utility 08 displays the guide dialog 140 of FIG. When the user presses the "OK" button 141 in the guide dialog 140, the process proceeds to S35. Note that a cancel button may be displayed in FIG. If the cancel button is pressed here, the print conversion utility 08 may execute the process from S26 again. After the end of S35, the processing of FIG. 7 returns from S36 to S24, and the above-described processing is performed for the next target printer.

As described above, when the print queue 05 of the non-supported printer managed by the print conversion utility 08 is not registered in the OS printing system 03 , the print conversion utility automatically registers the print queue 05 in the OS printing system 03 . Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to improve the convenience of the registration operation of the print queue 05 in the OS print system 03 . Also, if the user does not select to register the print queue 05, the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility 08 is deleted. If the file is not deleted, it is informed that only the image data specified using the file print screen 70 of FIG. 2 can be printed. By these processes, the user's operation load on the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility 08 can be reduced.

<Embodiment 3>
Next, a third embodiment of the invention will be described. In this embodiment, processing for not leaving the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function after deleting the print queue 10 from the print conversion utility 08 will be described. Specifically, the print conversion utility 08 guides the user to delete the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function. In this embodiment, points different from the above-described embodiment will be described.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the activation processing flow of the print conversion utility 08 in this embodiment. In S41, the print conversion utility 08 displays the printers currently registered in the print conversion utility 08 on the printer list screen 50. FIG. When the print conversion utility 08 detects in S42 that the user has pressed the "delete" button 55 of the printer selected on the printer list screen 50, it displays the guide dialog 130 in FIG. 9 in S43. When the print conversion utility 08 determines that the user has pressed the "OK" button 132 in the guide dialog 130 (S43-Yes), the print conversion utility 08 deletes the print queue 10 of the printer selected on the printer list screen 50. and proceed to S45. In S45, the print conversion utility 08 determines whether the OS print system 03 has a print queue 05 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the printer deleted in S44. For example, the print conversion utility 08 acquires DeviceURIs of all print queues registered in the OS printing system 03 from the OS printing system 03 . Then, S45 is realized by determining whether or not the DeviceURI of the printer selected to be deleted is included in the DeviceURI acquired from the OS printing system 03 .

If the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function exists in the OS print system 03, the print conversion utility 08 guides the user to delete the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function in S46. Specifically, the print conversion utility 08 displays the guide dialog 150 of the OS standard print function in FIG. When the user presses the OK button 151 of the guide dialog 150 , the print conversion utility 08 closes the guide dialog 150 . In other words, when the print queue 10 of an unsupported printer is deleted (excluded from management), the print conversion utility 08 performs processing for excluding the information (print queue 05) about that printer from the OS printing system 03. to run.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the user deletes the print queue 10 registered in the print conversion utility 08, the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the printer to be deleted is deleted. guide you to remove the . Therefore, the user can easily delete the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function.

<Embodiment 4>
Next, a fourth embodiment of the invention will be described. In the third embodiment, when the print queue 10 is deleted from the print conversion utility, guidance is given to delete the print queue 10 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the deleted print queue 10 . In this embodiment, when the print queue 10 of the print conversion utility 08 is deleted, the print conversion utility 08 automatically deletes the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the deleted print queue 10 . In other words, deletion of the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function is not guided. In this embodiment, points different from the above-described embodiment will be described.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the activation processing flow of the print conversion utility 08 in this embodiment. Since S50 to S55 and S57 are the same as S40 to S45 and S47 in FIG. 11, description thereof is omitted.

If the print conversion utility 08 determines in S55 that the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the deleted print queue 10 exists, the process proceeds to S56. In S56, the print conversion utility 08 deletes the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the deleted print queue 10. FIG. Specifically, the print conversion utility 08 transmits the printer name of the printer to be deleted and an instruction to delete the print queue 05 of the printer to be deleted to the printing system. Through this process, the print queue 05 of the printer to be deleted is deleted from the OS print system 03 . In this embodiment, the process of deleting the print queue 05 has been described, but the print queue 05 may be removed from the management target of the OS printing unit 13 . Therefore, the print conversion utility 08 may instruct the OS print system 03 to remove the print queue 05 from the management target. In other words, when the print queue 10 of an unsupported printer is deleted (excluded from management), the print conversion utility 08 performs processing for excluding the information (print queue 05) about that printer from the OS printing system 03. to run.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the print queue 10 registered in the print conversion utility is deleted by the user, the print queue of the OS standard print function corresponding to the deleted print queue 10 is created. 05 is automatically deleted. Therefore, the user operation for deleting the print queue 05 is reduced.

<Embodiment 5>
A fifth embodiment of the present invention will now be described. In this embodiment, when the print conversion utility 08 is uninstalled, the print queue 10 of the OS standard print function to which the print data is transmitted via the print conversion utility 08 is deleted. In this embodiment, points different from the above-described embodiment will be described.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the activation processing flow of the uninstaller 11 of the print conversion utility 08 in this embodiment. When the user activates the uninstaller 11 of the print conversion utility 08, the process advances to S60 to start activation processing.

In S61, the uninstaller 11 acquires the total number (A) of printers registered in the print conversion utility 08, and in S62 starts a loop corresponding to the total number of printers. In S63, the uninstaller 11 determines whether the DeviceURI of the n-th printer is registered in the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function. For example, the print conversion utility 08 acquires DeviceURIs of all print queues registered in the OS printing system 03 from the OS printing system 03 . Then, S63 is realized by determining whether or not the DeviceURI of the nth printer is included in the DeviceURI acquired from the OS printing system 03 .

When the uninstaller 11 determines that the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function corresponding to the n-th printer is registered (S63-Yes), it deletes the print queue 05 of the OS standard print function of the printer (n). (S64). After S64 is executed, or if it is determined as No in S63, the process of FIG. 14 proceeds to S65.

The above processing is repeated for the total number of acquired printers. When loop 1 ends, the process proceeds to S67, and the uninstaller 11 uninstalls the print conversion utility 08. FIG.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when uninstalling the print conversion utility 08, the uninstaller 11 performs printing using the OS standard print function corresponding to the printer to which print data is sent via the print conversion utility. Delete queue 05. By this process, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the print queue 05 of unnecessary OS standard print functions remains.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention can also be implemented by supplying software (programs) that implement the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and by reading and executing the programs by the computer of the system or device. be done. In this case, the program and the storage medium storing the program constitute the present invention. The computer of the system or apparatus is, for example, CPU or MPU.

03 OS printing system 08 Print conversion utility

Claims (9)

An information processing device capable of executing operating system (OS) standard print software for managing information about a printing device that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format and generating print data in the predetermined format,
a management means for managing a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format as a management target;
receiving means for receiving first print data via the OS standard print software when execution of printing using a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format is instructed;
generating means for generating, based on the first print data, second print data that can be interpreted by a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format;
sending means for sending the second print data to a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format;
when the printing device that cannot interpret the print data in the predetermined format is removed from the management target, the information about the printing device that cannot interpret the print data in the format is excluded from the management target of the OS standard printing software. An information processing apparatus comprising control means for executing. The control means, as a process for excluding information about a printing device that cannot interpret print data of the predetermined format from a target of management of the OS standard printing software, performs printing of the printing device that cannot interpret print data of the predetermined format. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user is notified that the queue is to be deleted by the OS standard print software. The control means, as a process for excluding information about a printing device that cannot interpret print data of the predetermined format from a target of management of the OS standard printing software, performs printing of the printing device that cannot interpret print data of the predetermined format. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a queue deletion instruction is notified to said OS standard print software. 4. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising transmission means for adding predetermined identification information to the name of the printing apparatus that cannot interpret the print data in the predetermined format and transmitting the name to the OS standard printing software. The information processing device according to . A control method executed in an information processing device capable of executing standard print software of an operating system (OS) that manages information about a printing device that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format and generates print data in a predetermined format. and
a management step of managing a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format as a management target;
a receiving step of receiving first print data via the OS standard print software when execution of printing using a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format is instructed;
a generation step of generating second print data that can be interpreted by a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format based on the first print data;
a transmission step of transmitting the second print data to a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format;
when the printing device that cannot interpret the print data in the predetermined format is removed from the management target, the information about the printing device that cannot interpret the print data in the format is excluded from the management target of the OS standard printing software. A control method, comprising a control step to be executed. A computer of an information processing device capable of executing standard printing software of an operating system (OS) that manages information about a printing device that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format and generates print data in the predetermined format,
a management means for managing a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format as a management target;
receiving means for receiving first print data via the OS standard print software when execution of printing using a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format is instructed;
generating means for generating, based on the first print data, second print data that can be interpreted by a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format;
sending means for sending the second print data to a printing device that cannot interpret print data in the predetermined format;
when the printing device that cannot interpret the print data in the predetermined format is removed from the management target, the information about the printing device that cannot interpret the print data in the format is excluded from the management target of the OS standard printing software. The computer readable program for functioning as a control means to be executed. As a process for excluding information about a printing device that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format from a target of management by the OS standard printing software, a print queue of a printing device that cannot interpret print data in a predetermined format is processed according to the OS standard. 7. The program according to claim 6, wherein the user is notified that the printing software is to be deleted. As a process for excluding information about a printing device that cannot interpret print data of the predetermined format from the management target of the OS standard printing software, an instruction to delete the print queue of the printing device that cannot interpret the print data of the predetermined format is provided. 7. The program according to claim 6, wherein the OS standard printing software is notified. the computer,
9. The apparatus according to any one of claims 6 to 8, further functioning as transmission means for adding predetermined identification information to the name of the printing apparatus that cannot interpret the print data in the predetermined format and transmitting the name to the OS standard printing software. program as described.

Images