JP3740453B2 - Resource processing method and information processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a resource that can be downloaded to a device having a print function. Against At least it relates to the technology to add and delete.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Traditionally, downloaders that download printer fonts, forms, color profiles, and other resources to the printer have the purpose of downloading the same resources to multiple devices, and register with those downloaders. The downloaded resource is downloaded to all devices.
[0003]
If a resource that has not been registered by the downloader is registered in the device, the resource in the device is deleted.
[0004]
Furthermore, when a plurality of users use the downloader from their personal computers, the resources downloaded by other users are not registered in the resource list of their own downloaders and are deleted.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the above conventional example has the following problems.
(1) Resources used by all printer users, such as fonts and forms, regardless of the state of the personal computer, must be deleted if they are unnecessary even if they are already saved in the printer at the time of download. Cause garbled characters and layout disruption.
(2) On the other hand, the resources for matching with a personal computer such as a color profile require different resources for each user, and resources already stored in the printer do not affect individual users. Although it is not, other users cannot use it normally by deleting it.
[0006]
As described above, there is a problem that it is difficult to handle two or more different types of resources that need not be deleted at once.
[0007]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is a resource downloaded to a device. Type of In response to the Adaptively Processing change For the purpose.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a resource that can be downloaded to a device having a print function. Against A resource processing method to be added and deleted at least, and a resource to be downloaded to the device Accepting font or color profile as type Process, and If the selected resource is a font, the resource is added to and deleted from the device according to a user instruction. If the selected resource is a color profile, the resource is added to the device according to a user instruction. Processing to add resources And a process.
The present invention also provides a resource that can be downloaded to a device having a print function. Against A resource to be downloaded to a device that is at least an information processing device to be added or deleted Accepting font or color profile as type Means and said If the selected resource is a font, the resource is added to and deleted from the device according to a user instruction. If the selected resource is a color profile, the resource is added to the device according to a user instruction. Processing to add resources Means.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0010]
FIG. 1 is a diagram that best represents the characteristics of a printing system that uses a downloader according to the present embodiment. The configuration of the printing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
[0011]
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a network such as a local area network (LAN), which connects a personal computer (PC), a printer, and the like. Reference numeral 102 denotes a user PC, which is used when the user instructs a download process for downloading printer resources, which will be described in detail later, to the printer. Reference numeral 103 denotes a printer capable of monochrome printing. The printer has a storage device such as a hard disk and a flash memory, and fonts and forms used for printing are downloaded from the user PC 102. The In the present embodiment, sending data from a computer to a device such as a printer is defined as “download”.
[0012]
A printer 104 capable of color printing has a storage device such as a hard disk and flash memory in the printer, and not only fonts (Font) and forms used for printing but also printing. A color profile corresponding to a color matching table used for color matching is also downloaded from the user PC 102.
[0013]
In the example shown in FIG. 1, one user PC 102 can download resources to a printer connected to the network 101, but a plurality of PCs may be connected and downloaded from each PC. Alternatively, it may be downloaded to a printer connected to another network via a router or gateway.
[0014]
Next, a resource downloader (Resource Downloader) that downloads resources such as fonts, forms, and color profiles from the user PC 102 to the printer 103 (104) according to user instructions will be described.
[0015]
FIG. 2 is a view showing one screen of the resource downloader in the present embodiment. This screen is a user interface screen for downloading fonts and forms (macro: Macro). By clicking the download button 201, the fonts and forms in the printer are indicated on the screen 202 shown in FIG. Add and delete fonts and forms to get the exact settings. That is, if there are any fonts or forms that are not instructed on the screen 202 in the printer, they are deleted. If there are instructed fonts or forms in the printer, they are left as they are. If they are not in the printer, download them. Note that the form is executed as a macro command of the print command, and in the present embodiment, the macro and the form are treated as synonymous.
[0016]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing one screen of the resource downloader in the present embodiment. This screen is a user interface screen for downloading a color profile. By clicking an additional download button 301, the color profile data indicated on the screen 302 shown in FIG. 3 is added. That is, regardless of this instruction, if the color profile data is in the printer, it is left as it is. If the color profile data instructed here is not in the printer, it is downloaded. The color profile is displayed as “Profile”, “PROFILE” or the like on the screen, but the meaning is the same.
[0017]
The difference in processing between FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 is due to the difference in how the printer resources are used. In other words, in a network environment in which print data is sent from various PCs to various printers, fonts and forms that differ between printers may be garbled, data errors, print defects, etc. May cause. On the other hand, the color profile data is necessary for color matching. Color matching cannot be performed if the color profile data of the display (monitor) used in any PC is not in the printer, but it is extra data. There is no problem. That is, when viewed from an arbitrary user, the color profile data only needs to include the color profile data for the user in the printer used by the user. At least all printers used by all users sharing the same document must be the same.
[0018]
Here, processing of the resource downloader for downloading the above-described printer resources to the printer will be described.
[0019]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the resource downloader. In step S401, a device group is created. The device group is a group of a plurality of printers and a composite function peripheral device (multifunction peripheral (MFP)), and is a unit for downloading resources. A plurality of device groups can be created for each type of printer resource. That is, devices that download the same font and form at once are collected into one group, and if there are devices that download other fonts and forms, another group is formed. The same applies to the color profile data.
[0020]
Next, in step S402, the device is registered in the device group. This downloader program assumes that each device is connected by TCP / IP, and device registration is normally performed by specifying an IP address. Depending on the form of the program, it is possible to select from the device list, but the gist of the invention does not change depending on the operation. In addition, the gist of the invention remains the same regardless of the connection type, for example, whether it is network-connected or non-network-connected such as USB or RS-232C.
[0021]
Depending on the resource type, the printers that can be registered may be limited. That is, when a color profile is selected as the resource type, a monochrome printer cannot be registered.
[0022]
Next, in step S403, resource data to be downloaded to this device group is selected. The selectable resource type is a resource instructed when the device group is created, and may be further limited depending on the type of printer. For example, even if the printer can download color profile data, there are printers that can download only RGB data, and there are printers that can download both RGB and CMYK.
[0023]
When the selection of the resource data is completed, which resource is downloaded to which printer is set. In step S404, a resource download process is executed in accordance with a user instruction, and a download / delete process is performed. At this time, if the type of the selected resource is a font or a form, a screen for addition / deletion as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed, and both the addition and deletion of resources are performed by clicking the button 201. If the resource type is a color profile, a screen for performing addition only as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed, and only a resource is added by clicking a button 301.
[0024]
FIG. 5 is a screen of the device group creation process (S401) shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes a screen that displays resource types in accordance with a resource type table to be described later. Reference numeral 502 denotes an area for inputting a device group name. Then, a resource type is selected from the display screen 501, a group name is entered in the area 502, and then “OK” in 503 is clicked to create a device group.
[0025]
FIG. 6 is a screen of the device group registration process (S402) shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 601 denotes a list display screen of devices on the same subnet, from which one or more target printers are selected. The printers listed here can download the resources specified when the device group is created. In this embodiment, registration is also possible by inputting the IP address 602.
[0026]
Next, device information files that are created by collecting device information from each device when the system configuration changes such as when the system is started up or when a new device is connected will be described.
[0027]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of the device information file in the present embodiment. The device information file shown in FIG. 7 manages the correspondence between device names, downloadable resources, and PDL (page description language) used by the printer.
[0028]
In the example shown in FIG. 7, “fonts, forms, and color profiles” are registered as resources that can be downloaded to a printer whose number of devices to be managed is “3” and the device name is “LBP2260”, and “LIPS” is registered as the PDL. In addition, “color profile” is registered as a resource that can be downloaded to a printer having a device name “LBP2360PS”, “PS” is registered as a PDL, and resources that can be downloaded to a printer having a device name “LBP1000” are “ “Font and Form” is registered, and “PCL” is registered as the PDL.
[0029]
Here, based on the device information file described above, a method of creating a resource type table that stores the types of resources displayed on the display screen 501 shown in FIG. 5 during the device group creation process (S401) will be described.
[0030]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining the type of resource to be displayed when a device group is created. First, in step S801, the above-described device information file is opened. In step S802, the counter variable N is initialized to zero. In step S803, the device name is extracted from the device information file based on the counter variable N, and is substituted into the device name parameter Dev. In step S804, the type of resource that can be downloaded to the device whose device name is the parameter Dev is substituted for the parameter X. Here, the parameter X can be substituted even if there are a plurality of resource types.
[0031]
Next, in step S805, it is determined whether or not the resource type assigned to the parameter X is in the resource type table. If the resource type is not in the resource type table, the process advances to step S806 to add the resource type assigned to the parameter X to the resource type table. When a plurality of resource types are assigned to the parameter X, the processes in steps S805 and S806 are repeated for each resource type.
[0032]
Here, if the addition processing to the resource type table in step S806 is completed, and if the resource type is in the resource type table in step S805, the process proceeds to step S807, and the counter variable N is incremented. In step S808, it is determined whether the counter variable N is equal to the number of models. If the number of models is not processed, the process returns to step S803, and the above-described processing is repeated. If all models have been processed, the process advances to step S809 to display the resource type stored in the resource type table. This display is a display screen 501 shown in FIG. That is, the resource type that is not the display target here is not the download target.
[0033]
Next, there is a type of color profile that can be downloaded for each PDL, and by identifying the PDL of the printer, when the user downloads the color profile with the resource downloader, the type of color profile that can be downloaded to the printer is displayed in the user interface. The operation displayed on the screen will be described.
[0034]
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a resource management table and a mapping table. (A) shown in FIG. 9 is a PDL resource management table, which is a table for classifying color profiles according to their use and associating them with PDL. As shown in the figure, the types of color profiles that can be downloaded are determined for each PDL. That is, in LIPS, a source color profile can be used. In PS, a source color profile and a destination color profile can be used. A color profile cannot be downloaded for a printer whose PDL is PCL and an image.
[0035]
FIG. 9B is a mapping table of color profiles and color spaces. As shown in the figure, the color space of the color profile that can be the source is expressed in RGB. Similarly, the destination and simulation color profiles are CMYK. Usually, RGB is used as a source such as a CRT monitor or a liquid crystal monitor, and CMYK such as ink or toner is used for a destination or a simulation in a printing machine such as a printer.
[0036]
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a screen of the resource downloader when a color profile is downloaded to the LIPS printer. As shown in FIG. 10, a color profile is set as a resource type in 1001. A LIPS printer is registered on the screen 1002. In this case, as is clear from FIG. 9, only the color profile and the color space of RGB can be downloaded as the source color profile. In the screen 1003, only the source (SRC) is registered as the downloadable color profile type (Class).
[0037]
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a resource downloader screen when a color profile is downloaded to the PS printer. As shown in FIG. 11, a color profile is set as a resource type in 1101. A PS printer is registered on the screen shown in 1102. In this case, as is apparent from FIG. 9, the color profile can be downloaded as the source color profile, and the color profile with the RGB color space can be downloaded as the source color profile, and the color profile with the CMYK color space can be downloaded as the destination color profile. Downloadable. In the screen shown in 1103, two types of source (SRC) and destination (DST) are registered as types of downloadable color profiles (Class).
[0038]
FIG. 12 is a screen showing details of the color profile file. As shown in FIG. 12, in the color profile, a file name (File Name), a profile name (Profile Name), a color space (Color Space), a copyright notation (Copyright), and a manufacturer (Vender) are displayed. . These pieces of information are stored in the color profile data except for the file name, and are used to determine the type of color profile data.
[0039]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for determining whether or not a color profile can be downloaded. First, in step S1301, the information of the download destination device is extracted from the device information file, and in step S1302, the PDL and the type of color profile of the PDL are extracted from the PDL resource management table shown in FIG. Next, in step S1303, color space information (one or more) is obtained from the color profile and color space mapping table shown in FIG. 9B based on the type of color profile extracted in step S1302. Extracted and stored in variable L1. In step S1304, a download target file is selected. One or more files may be selected here, and a plurality of files may be selected.
[0040]
In step S1305, color space information is extracted from one of the selected download target files and is substituted into a variable C. In step S1306, it is determined whether or not the color space information stored in the variable C is included in the variable L1. Here, if it is included in the variable L1, the process proceeds to step S1307, where it is determined that download is possible, and it is added to the download list. If not included in the variable L1, the process advances to step S1308 to determine whether or not all files have been processed. Here, if not completed, the process returns to step S1305 to repeat the above-described processing, but if completed, the processing is terminated.
[0041]
Next, when downloading the font to the printer, if the font is a normal character code, the font data is downloaded as it is. If it is a special character code such as an external character, a character code conversion table is added and the font data is added. The operation of downloading the will be described.
[0042]
FIG. 14 is a screen showing details of the font file. As shown in FIG. 14, as a font file, display of a file name, setting of a typeface name by the user, and setting of Graphic Set (mapping of character code and character pattern. ASCII, Latin1, JISX0208, etc.) are possible. It is.
[0043]
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a conversion table of printer character codes and font data internal codes. (A) shown in FIG. 15 is a standard mapping, and this mapping is held inside the printer. And (B) is an external character mapping, and this mapping is not held in the printer. The printer codes (A) and (B) shown in FIG. 15 conform to the JIS hexadecimal notation, and each code is 2 bytes, and both the upper byte and the lower byte are 0x21 to 0x7E (0x is a hexadecimal number) Represents the range). The internal code of the font data is Unicode and is represented by UCS2 (2 bytes for each character). The printer character code and the internal code have all the characters to be printed. The standard mapping is 8836 characters, and the external character mapping is 1880 characters (shift JIS external character area) at maximum, although it differs depending on the font.
[0044]
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an operation of detailed font setting. First, in step S1601, a font file for performing detailed settings is selected from the font files displayed on the screen. Here, the detail screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed. In step S1602, a graphic set of the font instructed to be selected is selected from the list. In step S1603, a typeface name (Type Face name) is input, and the process ends.
[0045]
FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a font download operation. First, in step S1701, the font is converted into a downloadable format (a format depending on the type of printer). Next, in step S1702, it is determined whether the Graphic Set selected in step S1602 is an external character. If it is an external character, the process advances to step S1703 to add an external character mapping conversion table to the converted font converted in step S1701. If it is determined in step S1702 that the character is not an external character, the process advances to step S1704 to download the converted font.
[0046]
As described above, it is possible to automatically handle fonts, forms, and color profiles with the same downloader using the optimum processing method by switching the processing at the time of download according to the type of resource. Further, even if the resources required for the download process are different, it is possible to perform an optimal processing method in the same operation according to the type of the resource.
[0047]
Even if the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), it is applied to an apparatus (for example, a copier, a facsimile machine, etc.) composed of a single device. It may be applied.
[0048]
Another object of the present invention is to supply a recording medium recording software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and store the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus in the recording medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the programmed program code.
[0049]
In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.
[0050]
As a recording medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like is used. be able to.
[0051]
Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) operating on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the case where the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.
[0052]
Further, after the program code read from the recording medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
[0053]
Examples of embodiments of the present invention are listed below.
[Embodiment 1] A resource processing method for adding and deleting at least resources downloadable to a device having a print function,
A determination step for determining processing of resources that can be downloaded to the device according to resources to be downloaded to the device;
And a switching step of switching processing of the resource based on the determination result.
[Embodiment 2] The resource processing method according to Embodiment 1, wherein the resource is at least one of a font, a form, and a color profile.
[Embodiment 3] The resource processing method according to Embodiment 2, wherein when the resource is a font or a form, the processing of the resource is switched to addition and deletion processing in the switching step.
[Embodiment 4] The resource processing method according to Embodiment 2, wherein when the resource is a color profile, the processing of the resource is switched to an additional processing in the switching step.
[Embodiment 5] The resource processing method according to Embodiment 3 or 4, wherein in the switching step, the processing of the resource is switched by switching an interface screen provided to a user.
[Embodiment 6] An information processing apparatus for adding and deleting at least resources downloadable to a device having a print function,
A determination unit that determines processing of a resource that can be downloaded to the device according to a resource to be downloaded to the device;
An information processing apparatus comprising: switching means for switching processing of the resource based on the determination result.
[Embodiment 7] A program for causing a computer to execute the resource processing method according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 5.
[Embodiment 8] A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to Embodiment 7 is recorded.
[0054]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, resources to be downloaded to a device Type of In response to the Adaptively Processing change This makes it possible to perform optimal processing according to the resource.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing one screen of a resource downloader in the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing one screen of a resource downloader in the present embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a resource downloader.
5 is a screen of device group creation processing (S401) shown in FIG.
6 is a screen of device group registration processing (S402) shown in FIG.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a device information file in the present embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure for determining a resource type to be displayed when a device group is created.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a resource management table and a mapping table.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a screen of a resource downloader when a color profile is downloaded to a LIPS printer.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen of a resource downloader when a color profile is downloaded to a PS printer.
FIG. 12 is a screen showing details of a color profile file.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for determining whether or not a color profile can be downloaded.
FIG. 14 is a screen showing details of a font file.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a conversion table of printer character codes and internal codes of font data.
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an operation of detailed font setting.
FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a font download operation.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 network
102 Personal computer
103 Printer
104 Printer

Claims (8)

A resource processing method for adding and deleting at least resources that can be downloaded to a device having a print function,
An accepting step of selecting a font or color profile as the type of resource to be downloaded to the device;
When the selected resource is a font, the resource is added to and deleted from the device according to a user instruction. When the selected resource is a color profile, the resource is added to the device according to a user instruction. And a processing step of performing resource addition processing . A resource processing method for adding and deleting at least resources that can be downloaded to a device having a print function,
An acceptance process for selecting a form or color profile as the type of resource to be downloaded to the device;
When the selected resource is a form, the resource is added to and deleted from the device according to a user instruction. When the selected resource is a color profile, the resource is added to the device according to a user instruction. And a processing step of performing resource addition processing.   3. The resource processing method according to claim 1, wherein the device is connected to a plurality of computers via a network, and the resource is downloaded from the computer.   4. The resource processing method according to claim 1, wherein the user instruction is an instruction to download the resource. An information processing apparatus that adds and deletes at least resources that can be downloaded to a device having a print function,
Accepting means for selecting a font or color profile as the type of resource to be downloaded to the device;
When the selected resource is a font, the resource is added to and deleted from the device according to a user instruction. When the selected resource is a color profile, the resource is added to the device according to a user instruction. And a processing means for performing resource addition processing . An information processing apparatus that adds and deletes at least resources that can be downloaded to a device having a print function,
Accepting means for selecting a form or color profile as the type of resource to be downloaded to the device;
When the selected resource is a form, the resource is added to and deleted from the device according to a user instruction. When the selected resource is a color profile, the resource is added to the device according to a user instruction. And a processing means for performing resource addition processing. A program for causing a computer to execute each procedure of the resource processing method according to claim 1 or 2 . A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 7 is recorded.

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