JP4612809B2 - Information processing apparatus, control method therefor, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates devices and an information processing apparatus and a control method thereof capable communication such as a printer having both a wired interface and a wireless interface, as well the flop Rogura arm.

  In recent years, devices having a wireless interface, such as printers and printer adapters, have been widely used because they can wirelessly configure a network configuration that has been conventionally performed by wire, and wiring is not necessary. As an example, there is the 802.11b standard standardized by IEEE, and wireless devices corresponding to this standard include, for example, a wireless LAN access point and a router.

As a device having such a wireless interface, a printer that can be connected to a wireless LAN does not require wiring or the like, and since the printer can be shared from a plurality of PCs, a plurality of printers can be used at home using a single printer. It is possible to meet needs such as printing from a PC (for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 07-013891 JP 2003-050677 A

  However, when using a wireless network, there is a problem that it is difficult to confirm whether or not the connection is correct unlike wired communication. In addition, there are a variety of items to be set, and there is a problem that general users cannot easily understand just the terms.

  In order to solve these problems, in order to realize a printer operation using a certain interface, a method of preparing (installing) the printer using an interface that is easier to prepare for operation can be considered. For example, in a printer having both a USB interface and a wireless network interface, in order to install a network, the printer is connected by USB and the OS is recognized and the network is installed.

  However, in this method, the USB port is installed in order to install the target network port, and a (USB) port instance other than the network port instance intended by the user is created. There is.

  That is, when a general plug-and-play operating system (OS) is used to recognize a connected device and establish a communication path (logical port), for each interface between the OS and the device. A port instance representing the logical port and a printer icon are generated. In other words, even if the printer is physically one printer device, for example, if the printer has a plurality of interfaces, when a device is detected via the different interfaces, a port is detected for each detected logical port. An instance and a printer icon representing it are created. If two printer icons representing two port instances including USB are displayed as a result of the installation of the network port, the user who only wanted to install the network port may be confused.

  The present invention has been made to eliminate at least one of the above-mentioned problems, and one aspect of the present invention is that after executing the second communication setting for enabling communication with a device, By deleting the first communication setting, an object is to enable even a user unfamiliar with the system to appropriately execute the system setting.

  Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present embodiment, it is possible to prevent an icon of a port instance that is not intended by the user from being displayed, and accordingly, when the second communication is set, the user can display an unnecessary icon. The aim is to be able to avoid confusion.

As one embodiment of the present invention, an information processing apparatus including a first communication port and a second communication port for communicating with one or a plurality of devices, via the first communication port A first communication setting execution unit configured to perform a first communication setting for enabling print data to be transmitted to a predetermined device; and after the first communication setting is performed by the first communication setting execution unit. A second communication setting for enabling communication with the predetermined device via the first communication port and transmission of print data to the predetermined device via the second communication port; When the second communication setting execution means to execute and the second communication setting by the second communication setting execution means are completed, the second communication setting execution means is set with the first communication setting performed by the first communication setting execution means. Setting information Confirmation means for confirming to the user whether or not it is necessary, and as a result of confirmation by the confirmation means, when the user instructs that the setting information set in the first communication setting is not necessary, the first Disclosed is an information processing apparatus, a control method applicable to the apparatus, and a program, characterized in that the information processing apparatus includes a deletion unit that deletes setting information set in communication settings.

  As described above in detail, according to one aspect of the present invention, by performing the second communication setting for enabling communication with the device, by deleting the first communication setting, There is an effect that even a user who is unfamiliar with the system can appropriately set the system.

  Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, for example, the invention according to claim 3 or 6, it is possible to prevent an icon of a port instance unintended by a user from being displayed, whereby the second communication is performed. At the time of setting, it is possible to avoid user confusion due to unnecessary icon display.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The notebook PC 11 in the figure is configured to use a USB cable 15 as a wired local interface and to attach a PCMCIA card type wireless LAN card 14 as a wireless interface. Similar to the PC 11, the printer 12 includes both a wired local interface and a wireless interface. The wired local interface is realized by connecting the PC 11 and the printer 12 with the USB cable 15. The wireless interface is realized by mounting a PCMCIA card type wireless LAN card 14. The access point 13 has a function of mediating between wireless devices at the access point of the wireless interface, and is configured to be able to mount a PCMCIA card type wireless LAN card 14. When each device with a built-in wireless LAN module is used, it is not necessary to install a PCMCIA card type wireless LAN card 14.

  It is also possible to transmit print data between the PC 11 and the printer 12 using the USB cable 15, and it is also possible to transmit print data to the printer 12 via the access point 13 using the wireless LAN interface. It has become. Although only one PC 11 is shown in the figure, a plurality of PCs can be connected to one access point, and one printer can be shared by a plurality of PCs for printing.

  The wireless LAN has a mode that can be connected to a plurality of wireless LAN devices via an access point, and is called an infrastructure mode. In the infrastructure mode, a LAN can be configured from a plurality of wireless LAN devices via the access point by setting the same ID as the ID (SSID) set for the access point in the wireless LAN device. When using a printer as a wireless LAN, it is necessary to make settings so that the printer can connect to an access point. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the setting between the PC 11 and the access point 13 has already been made and communication with the access point is possible in the infrastructure mode. It is assumed that no ID is set in the infrastructure mode as an initial state.

  Some operating system (OS) is operating on the PC 11, and printing software (printer driver) needs to be installed in the PC 11 in order to perform printing in the OS environment. Further, when printing is performed using a wireless LAN, the wireless LAN in the printer 12 is set so that the printer 12 can be connected to the access point 13, and the PC 11 can print using the wireless LAN. Is installed on the PC 11. It is necessary to set software that enables printing via a wireless LAN to be suitable for the printer.

  Hereinafter, in order to clarify the contents of the present embodiment, printer driver installation will be described first, and then printer driver installation using USB and wireless LAN installation using USB will be described in the present embodiment.

<Installing the printer driver>
In order to enable printing by connecting a printer such as the printer 12 to a host computer such as the PC 11, a print command from the print application is understood on the OS of the host computer, and a print control command and printing based on the print command are performed. Software for transferring data to the printer and controlling the printer is required. The software for controlling the printer is the printer driver described above.

  As represented by a printer driver, all hardware connected to the host computer is controlled by a mechanism for receiving a control command from an application via a device driver. Since the device driver is not dedicated to a specific host application running on the operating system, it occupies a specific memory area as a kind of resident program while the device is connected to the host computer. .

  Recent OSs represented by Windows (registered trademark) have a plug-and-play function that automatically incorporates an appropriate device driver corresponding to a device when the device is connected to a host computer. In the case of plug and play processing when the device is first connected to the host computer, if there is no optimal device driver included in the OS, such as floppy disk or CD-ROM when purchasing the device It is necessary to incorporate a device driver attached with media into the OS. This device driver installation operation is referred to as driver installation operation.

  A device driver installation process in an OS compatible with plug and play will be described below.

  A typical plug-and-play wired interface is USB. Here, an explanation will be given by taking as an example the installation of a printer driver using USB. FIG. 2 shows a message screen displayed on the host computer, and FIG. 3 shows a sequence flow. Note that the sequence flow or message is only when plug and play is performed normally. Needless to say, there is a separate error sequence when plug and play fails.

  First, the user connects the printer to the host computer using USB, which is a plug and play compatible interface. The OS running on the host computer detects that the device is connected to the host computer via the USB interface (step S300 in FIG. 3). At this time, a screen such as 21 in FIG. 21 is displayed. The user presses the button 22 when he / she wants to install. On the other hand, if it is not desired to install the printer driver, the button 23 is pressed. Next, the OS reads a device descriptor, which is basic information of the USB device, from the printer by a predetermined method defined by USB (step S301). The device descriptor includes basic function information about the device such as device class information indicating the type of device. The OS reads and analyzes the device descriptor to determine whether the connected device is a device belonging to the printer class, that is, a printer (step S302). If the connected device is a printer, the process proceeds to step S303, and if it is a device other than the printer, the process proceeds to step S310. In step S310, other processing corresponding to the device is performed.

  The device driver configuration of a printer is generally composed of two levels of drivers. One is a port driver as a lower level driver that controls a protocol for performing data communication with the corresponding device on each interface connected to the printer. The second is an upper printer driver that is positioned above the port driver and converts actual print application data into print data and printer language suitable for each printer. The upper printer driver also acquires the printer operation status, that is, status information from the printer, and passes the status information to the printer status display application.

  When recognizing that the connected device is a printer, the OS installs an appropriate port driver using a predetermined method to make it usable (step S303). At this time, the OS displays a screen as shown in FIG. The user presses the button 25 to cancel the port driver installation. Further, under the control of the port driver, a port instance which is a logical connection for performing one-to-one data communication between a specific device detected on the interface and the host computer is prepared. In the case of a USB printer, after a port driver for USB printing is installed, a port instance is created as a logical communication path for performing communication between the printer and the host computer (step S304).

  When the port driver is loaded and is ready for operation through the initialization process, the OS acquires a class descriptor as detailed information of the printer connected by a predetermined method (step S305). In the case of a USB printer, this is performed by issuing a device ID read command (GET_CAPABILITIES) defined in the USB printer class standard to a printer device via a port driver. The device ID returned by the printer as a response includes information unique to the printer model such as printer manufacturer information, model name, and supported printer language information.

  The OS obtains detailed information of the connected USB printer, and searches for an optimal upper printer driver based on the detailed information (step S306). If the corresponding upper printer driver exists within the standard search range of the OS, the upper printer driver found within the standard search range is incorporated. If the corresponding upper printer driver does not exist within the standard search range of the OS, a message or the like for inquiring the storage destination of the driver is displayed to the user. In such a case, the user designates a device such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or CD-ROM that is bundled at the time of device purchase, or a device driver downloaded from a manufacturer's file server via the Internet. The upper driver is incorporated into the OS, and when the upper driver is installed, the upper printer driver is copied to a predetermined location (directory) on the host computer according to a predetermined procedure (step S307).

  Next, an item (entry) related to the device currently installed is added to the database provided as a standard in the OS (step S308). This database stores information such as control setting parameters for each device, driver / device configuration, information on lower-level port drivers associated with device instances, port instance information, and user setting information. In an OS such as Windows (registered trademark) 2000 and Windows (registered trademark) XP, this standard database is generally referred to as a registry. An example of the registry displayed in a form that can be recognized by the user is shown in FIG.

  This entry is created for each device that communicates via a port instance created by the OS, that is, for each logical device. In other words, an entry is prepared for each logical connection between the OS and the device, and the corresponding port instance information is stored and associated with each other. For example, when a printer having a plurality of connection interfaces is connected to a host computer via each interface, a port instance is created for each interface. Although the upper printer driver used in the same printer is common, an entry is created on the registry for each interface or logical connection.

  As described above, when the preparation for starting the printer driver is completed, a message indicating that the installation is completed is displayed as indicated by 26 in FIG. 2 (screen 26 in FIG. 2, step S309).

  In a printer list screen of a general OS provided with a GUI, a port instance for a certain printer is visually displayed in the form of a printer icon. An example of this is shown in FIG. That is, when a plurality of port instances are created for a certain printer via a plurality of interfaces, a printer icon is displayed for each instance. Since the information regarding the association between the printer icon and the port instance is also described in the entry created for each port instance, information such as which printer icon each port instance is visually represented by is also managed.

  The general device driver installation process in the OS compatible with Plug and Play has been described above by taking the USB printer as an example. Of course, the device driver may be installed by a different method depending on the type of the OS, but the plug-and-play device is installed in a sequence similar to the generally described procedure.

<Printer driver installation of this embodiment>
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed in the printer driver installation process using the USB according to the present embodiment. This screen example is displayed on the screen of the PC 11 when the printer driver is installed in the PC 11 for printing with the printer 12 of FIG.

  A screen 61 is displayed as the first screen. This screen 61 is a printer driver / installation process start screen, and is displayed when the user starts the installation software. On the screen 61, there are selection icons 62 and 63 for selecting "execute" and "cancel", respectively, which can be selected with a mouse or the like. When “execute” 62 is selected, installation is started and the next screen 64 is displayed. If “Cancel” 63 is selected, the printer driver is not installed and the process ends.

  On the screen 64, an instruction to connect the USB interface is displayed to the user, and the user connects the USB cable 15 to the USB interface of the printer 12 according to the instruction. When the printer 12 is not turned on, the user turns on the printer 12. Also on the screen 64, installation can be canceled by “cancel” 65.

  When the USB cable 15 is connected and the printer 12 is turned on, installation of the printer driver and internal settings of the printer 12 are completed by plug and play. Installation of the printer driver by plug and play is performed according to the procedure described in <Installation of Printer Driver>.

  When the installation is successful, a screen 66 is displayed and the installation is completed. By selecting “OK” 67, the software is terminated. If installation of the printer driver fails for some reason, a screen 68 is displayed to inform the user that the installation has failed. As with the screen 66, the software ends with “OK” 69.

  As described above, by operating according to the instructions of screen 61 → screen 64 → screen 66, the installation of the printer driver using the USB is completed, and the print data can be transmitted via the USB interface.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the PC 11, and is a flowchart showing printer driver installation processing of the present embodiment in which the screen shown in FIG. 6 is displayed.

  First, the screen 61 shown in FIG. 6 is displayed (step S700). If "execute" 62 is selected on the screen 61, the process advances to step S701 to copy the printer driver execution file to the system. That is, generally, the location in the system where the printer driver execution file and the information file are arranged is determined by the OS, and the printer driver execution file is copied in accordance with the location. As described above in <Installation of Printer Driver>, the OS searches for a suitable printer driver from a predetermined storage location of the printer driver information file, and performs registration and setting work so that it can be used. This process is to copy a file related to the printer driver to a specified location in order to perform this operation correctly.

  Next, the screen 64 shown in FIG. 6 is displayed (step S702). After this screen is displayed, it is checked whether a predetermined time has passed (step S703). If the predetermined time has not elapsed, that is, no timeout has occurred, it is checked whether the printer recognition is completed (step S704). This is to confirm whether or not the printer 12 is correctly found by plug and play, and it is assumed that the printer recognition is completed when the installation of the printer driver is completed. Details are described in <Installation of Printer Driver> described above.

  If it is determined in step S703 that a timeout has occurred, the fact that installation has failed is displayed on the screen 68 (step S707). If the recognition of the printer 12 is completed in step S704, the process advances to step S705 to set printer information. In step S706, a screen 66 indicating that the installation has been completed normally is displayed. In step S706, a screen 66 is displayed instead of the screen 26 of FIG. If “OK” 67 is selected on the screen 66, the printer driver installation process using the USB is completed.

  Since the printer 12 of the present embodiment has both a USB interface and a wireless LAN interface, it is assumed that the wireless LAN setting (wireless network installation) is to be continued after the installation of the printer driver is completed. Displays an icon 70 for selecting “network installation”.

<Wireless network installation of this embodiment>
I. When there are a plurality of access points and printers FIGS. 8A to 8C and FIGS. 9D and 9E are examples of screens displayed in the wireless network installation process using the USB according to this embodiment. FIG. This screen example is displayed on the screen of the PC 11 when the wireless LAN is continuously set after the installation of the printer driver described in FIGS. 6 and 7 is completed.

  When “OK” 67 is selected on the screen 66 in FIG. 8A, the wireless LAN setting is not performed. However, when “Network installation” 70 is selected, the wireless network installation process starts. First, an operation screen 84 (FIG. 8B) for selecting an access point for connection to the access point is displayed.

  This screen 84 displays an access point search command from the PC 11 via the USB cable 15 in order to display a list of access points to which the printer 12 can be connected using the wireless LAN card 14 attached to the printer 12. The access point information obtained as a result is acquired via the USB cable 15, and a list is displayed on the screen based on the acquired content. When the printer 12 receives an access point search command from the PC 11 via the USB cable 15, the printer 12 searches for an access point using the wireless LAN card 14.

  A display area 85 in the screen 84 displays a list of access points discovered from the printer 12 side by the access point search. In this example, three access points A, B, and C are found from the printer 12 side. It is shown that. In addition, since all the access points operating within the radio wave reach range are displayed in the display area 85, only the ones used by the user are not necessarily displayed. Therefore, an access point can be selected by moving the highlighted row in the display area 85 so that a desired access point can be selected from a plurality of access points.

  If the selected access point is encrypted, an encryption key for decrypting the encryption can be input to the input area 86, and the encrypted access point can also be handled. In general, a wireless LAN employs an encryption technique to prevent wiretapping and data leakage. A typical example is WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). This is an algorithm in which information called an encryption key is used for encryption and decryption, and by setting this key, data concealment from other devices is realized. When a wireless LAN is used in an encrypted environment, the same encryption key needs to be set for the printer 12 as well.

  Selecting “Return” 87 in the screen 84 returns to the previous screen 66 and selecting “Next” 88 advances to the next screen with the access point selected in the area 85 being designated. “Cancel” 89 cancels the installation.

  In this way, on the screen 84, the user can select and designate the access point that he / she is currently using, so that when printing data is transmitted to the printer 12, it is possible to prevent accidental connection to another access point. it can. When the user selects an access point on the screen 84, the access point to be used is set by the printer 12, and the printer 12 can be recognized from the access point 13. The PC 11 searches for a printer via a wireless LAN in order to check whether the printer 12 is correctly connected.

  The next screen 810 (FIG. 8C) is a screen that displays a list of printers discovered via the access point. This list of printers is acquired and displayed by the PC 11 sending a printer search command via the access point 13 using the wireless LAN interface, and the printer receiving the printer search command returns its response. Done. In other words, this search command is broadcasted to all devices on the network, and a device that can receive the search command and understand this command (in this case, a specific printer or printer adapter) sends the command to the host computer. Returns predetermined information corresponding to the command. This information includes the name, ID, address, etc. of the printer, and the printer to be connected is specified based on these information.

  On the screen 810, a list of discovered printers is displayed in the display area 811. In this example, three printers are discovered. Similar to the selection of the access point, the printer indicated by highlight in the area 811 is selected. Selecting “Return” 812 on the screen 810 returns to the previous screen 84, and selecting “Cancel” 814 stops the installation.

  Further, by selecting “Next” 813 on the screen 810, the printer selected in the display area 811 is determined as the connection partner, and the screen 815 (FIG. 9D) for inputting the port name is displayed next. Is displayed. An input area 816 in the screen 815 is an area for entering a port name to be input. When a plurality of printers connected to one PC have the same function (for example, wireless LAN), the port name is used to distinguish these printers, and WLAN01 is set as an initial value, for example. “WLAN” is an identification name for indicating a printer of a wireless LAN, “01” represents a final number registered in the system, and is sequentially numbered to distinguish and handle a plurality of printers having the same function. Add. In the printer driver, the printer is specified by this port name.

  When “Return” 817 is selected on the screen 815, the screen returns to the previous screen 810, and by selecting “Next” 818, the name input in the input area 816 is determined as the port name. In addition, installation is canceled by selecting “Cancel” 819. When “Next” 818 is selected on the screen 815, a screen 820 (FIG. 9E) indicating the completion of network installation is displayed.

  The screen 820 includes two radio buttons 821 and 822. When the user creates only a wireless LAN printer icon, the user selects the radio button 821, selects the wireless LAN printer icon, and the USB printer icon. When creating both icons, the radio button 822 is selected. When the user selects “OK” 823, if the radio button 821 is selected, a printer icon as shown in FIG. 10 is created. When the radio button 822 is selected, a printer icon as shown in FIG. 11 is created. This printer icon is used by the user to confirm or distinguish a registered printer, or to identify a printer that can be currently prepared, and this icon is selected for printing from an application. For example, when the icon “BJOOXXUSB001” is selected in FIG. 11, the print data is transmitted via the USB cable 15. On the other hand, when the “BJXXX (copy 2) WLAN01” icon is selected, the print data is transmitted via the wireless LAN.

  The creation of the printer icon upon completion of the wireless network installation may be performed by deleting the corresponding printer icon representing the USB port instance and then newly creating a printer icon corresponding to the created wireless LAN port instance, or a USB port This is realized by several methods such as a method of assigning a wireless LAN port instance by changing the setting of a printer icon representing an instance. In either case, as described in <Printer Driver Installation>, information on the corresponding printer icon is described in the entry related to the wireless LAN port instance in the registry provided in the OS, and the USB port instance is related. The icon information of the entry describes information indicating disappearance or unused. Further, depending on the installation procedure, the entry related to the USB port instance may be deleted, and the USB port instance itself may be deleted.

  When the user selects creation of both port instances via wireless LAN and USB, the printer icon representing the USB port instance already created in the setup process is not deleted or changed as it is. In addition, when creating a printer icon upon completion of wireless network installation, a new port instance for wireless LAN and a printer icon representing it are created (see the screen of FIG. 11). Also in this case, as described in <Installation of Printer Driver>, information about a newly created printer icon is described in an entry relating to a port instance for a wireless LAN in a registry provided in the OS.

  When only the wireless LAN port setup is selected according to the user's selection by the radio button on the network installation completion screen in the above method, only the printer icon representing the wireless LAN port instance is set up with the wireless LAN port and the USB port setup. If selected, two printer icons representing both instances of the wireless LAN port and the USB port are created.

II. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a second screen example displayed in the wireless network installation process using the USB interface according to the present embodiment. This screen example is the screen described in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 when only one access point and printer are found by the access point search and printer search during the wireless network installation process using the USB interface described above. Instead of the example, it is displayed on the screen of the PC 11.

  The display screen of this example is a display of only the screen 66 and the screen 94 corresponding to the screen 820 without the screens 84, 810, and 815 being omitted in the display screen described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. When the port name may be automatically created in an environment where there is only one printer with one access point, the user selects the “network installation” 70 on the screen 66 shown in FIG. The installation of the wireless network is completed simply by giving two instructions “OK” 97.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing executed by the PC 11, and is a flowchart showing the wireless network installation processing of the present embodiment in which the screens shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 12 are displayed.

  First, in step S900, it is determined whether or not “network installation” 70 has been selected on the screen of FIG. If it is selected, the process proceeds to step S1000, and an access point search command is transmitted to the printer 12 via the USB cable 15 (step S1000). The printer 12 searches for an access point, and returns information on the found access point to the PC 11 via the USB cable 15.

  Here, three commands are prepared as USB commands for wireless network installation which the PC 11 transmits to the printer 12 via the USB cable 15 as shown in FIG. By sending an access point search command among them to the printer 12, the printer 12 uses the wireless LAN module such as the wireless LAN card 14 to make settings for searching for an access point in the wireless LAN module. The wireless LAN module for which the access point search is set transmits an access point search signal. Upon receiving this signal, the access point returns its access point information (ID, radio wave status, address, channel, etc.) to the other party that sent the search signal. The wireless LAN module receives the information sent back from the access point, and the printer 12 returns the received information to the PC 11. At this time, the printer 12 returns information of all the found access points to the PC 11.

  In the next step S1001, the number of access points found from the access point information returned from the printer 12 is checked. If one or more access points are found, the process advances to step S1002 to display the access point list screen 84 to allow the user to select an access point. If only one access point is found, step S1002 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S1003.

  In step S1003, an access point used for the wireless LAN is set. This is performed by sending an information setting command for designating the access point selected by the user or the only found access point to the printer via the USB cable 15 based on the information of the access point found in step S1000. The printer 12 can be connected to a specific access point by setting information necessary for using the access point, such as an address of the access point and an encryption key, using an information setting command.

  In the subsequent step S1004, a printer search is performed using a network command. As shown in FIG. 15, two network installation commands, a printer search command (broadcast) and a printer search command (address designation), are prepared as network commands. Both are commands for printer search, where the printer search command (broadcast) does not specify a partner, and the printer search command (address specification) specifies a specific partner.

  Here, the PC 11 transmits a broadcast printer search command. This is transmitted on the wireless LAN, and the printer that has received this command from the wireless LAN returns printer information (ID, name, address, model name, etc.) via the wireless LAN to the PC 11 that sent the command. Thereby, the connection confirmation between the PC 11 and the printer can be performed via the wireless LAN. Since this command is transmitted by broadcast, all printers that can understand this command may send a reply to the PC that transmitted the command. The PC 11 needs to select the model that it is trying to install from the information sent back from the printer.

  The PC 11 checks whether there is one connectable printer from the information sent back from the printer (step S1005). If two or more connectable printers are found, the process advances to step S1006 to display the printer list on the screen 810 and allow the user to select a printer. If one printer is found, step S1006 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S1007.

  In step S1007, it is checked whether or not the display of the port name is necessary. If necessary, the process proceeds to step S1008 to display the port name input screen 815 for the user to input. If it is not necessary to input a port name, step S1008 is skipped and the process proceeds to step S1009. Whether or not to allow the user to input a port name is determined by whether or not the installation software is configured depending on the necessity, and can be omitted when realizing a simpler installation with fewer screens.

  In step S1009, the PC 11 performs setting of network information and registration of a port instance for the wireless LAN in the PC 11, so that print data can be transmitted to the printer 12 via the wireless LAN interface. The network information indicates information necessary for printing such as a printer address and name. In the next step S1010, a network installation completion screen shown in FIG. 9E is displayed.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a USB command sent to the printer via the USB cable 15, and three commands are prepared in this embodiment. In addition to the USB commands, there are commands for sending print data, commands for setting various printers, etc., but only the install commands directly related to the present invention are listed. One is a command for searching for an access point, which has been described in step S1000 in FIG. The second is an information acquisition command, which is used to acquire information related to the wireless LAN set in the printer from the printer. The third is an information setting command, which is a command for setting information related to the wireless LAN (for example, access point address, mode, channel, etc.), and is used for specifying an access point in step S1003 of FIG.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network command transmitted to a printer via a wireless LAN. In this embodiment, a broadcast printer received by all printers as a command used for installation of network commands. Two commands are prepared: a search command and an address designation printer search command received by a specific printer. Other network commands include a command for sending print data and a command for setting various printers, but only an install command directly related to the present invention is listed.

  By using this command, it is possible to determine whether a printer on the network has been found correctly and whether it has been set correctly, that is, to confirm connection with the printer via the wireless LAN. These commands are transferred and returned via a general protocol such as TCP / IP or UDP on the network.

III. Network Installation on Second PC FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed in the wireless network installation process executed on the second PC.

  After the printer driver installation and wireless network installation processing of the PC described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 15 is executed and the wireless LAN setting of the printer is completed, another PC (both the printer driver and the network are not installed) When the printer driver installation and the wireless network installation are executed in step (1), since the wireless LAN setting on the printer side has already been completed, only the setting on the PC side is performed.

  The installation of the printer driver is the same as that described with reference to FIGS. When the screen 131 after completion of printer driver installation is displayed and network installation is to be performed, “network installation” 133 is selected. If the network installation is normally completed after selection, the same network installation completion screen 134 as the above-described screen 94 is displayed. If the printer connected for some reason cannot be found on the wireless LAN, the network installation failure screen 137 is displayed. Is displayed.

  FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 are flowcharts showing processing executed by the PC, and are flowcharts showing processing at the time of network installation explained in FIG. This flowchart includes a wireless LAN and printer setting executed on the first PC, as well as a wireless LAN and printer setting executed on the second and subsequent PCs.

  First, in step S1400, setting information of the printer 12 is acquired. This is executed by sending the information acquisition command shown in FIG. 14 from the PC to the printer 12 via the USB cable, and the printer 12 returns the set information to the PC via the USB cable. The information set in the printer 12 includes information on the wireless LAN, and includes information on whether or not an access point is set.

  The access point setting information is set in the network installation process executed after the printer driver installation in the first PC (step S1003 in FIG. 13). If an access point has already been set, it is not necessary to set the access point again, and the already set information is used.

  In step S1401, it is checked based on information from the printer 12 whether an access point has been set. The case where the access point is not set means that this PC is the first PC. In this case, it is necessary to start from the access point setting, as shown in FIGS. It is necessary to perform processing.

  Steps S1402 to S1412 are the same as steps S1000 to S1010 in FIG. 13 and will not be described. However, in steps S1402 to S1412, the access point setting of the printer 12 and the network setting on the PC side are performed. .

  If it is determined in step S1401 that an access point has been set, the process proceeds to step S1413 in FIG. 18 to perform a search process for a specific printer. The information obtained from the printer in step S1400 includes the printer address and ID already set. Based on this information, the printer search command (address designation) shown in FIG. Send to. Since this second PC has also completed setting with the access point, a command can be issued on the wireless LAN. Since this printer search command (address designation) is a search command that designates an address, the command can be sent only to a printer that is currently connected with a USB cable and in which a printer driver is installed.

  The printer that has received this command returns printer information via the wireless LAN to the PC that sent the command. The PC side checks that a reply from the printer has arrived and that the arrived information is correct (step S1414). When the information returned from the printer via the wireless LAN is compared with the information obtained via the USB, the desired printer is found correctly when they match. As a result, the connection between the PC and the printer can be confirmed via the wireless LAN.

  If the information from the printer does not return for some reason, or if the information does not match, the process advances to step S1419 to display the network installation failure screen 137. If the printer is found correctly in step S1414, the process proceeds to step S1415. The processing from step S1415 to step S1418 is the same as that from step S1409 to step S1412 and will not be described. However, the processing from step S1415 to step S1418 completes the wireless LAN installation of the second PC, and the wireless communication is performed. Printing on the LAN can be performed.

<Advantages of this embodiment>
This embodiment has the following advantages.

  (1) Since the installation of the printer driver via the USB interface is used and the network installation of the wireless LAN is executed as a continuation thereof, the setting of the wireless LAN can be realized more easily.

  (2) Since the installation is completed after actually confirming the connection of the wireless LAN and confirming that the connection has been made correctly, it is possible to avoid the problem that the installation is completed while the connection has actually failed. .

  (3) Similar to the first PC, the settings related to the wireless LAN in the second and subsequent PCs that have been installed by performing complicated operations by the conventional user are more easily executed using the USB interface. be able to. That is, since the second PC can set the wireless LAN in the same procedure as the first PC, it is possible to unify user operations and reduce erroneous operations during setting.

  In the above embodiment, on the network installation completion screen (820 in FIG. 9 (e), 94 in FIG. 12, 134 in FIG. 16), the user selects the printer icon created upon completion of the installation with the radio button, and the user selects The icon is created / deleted according to the above, but this may be performed at different timings.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 19, in the wireless network installation process using the USB interface, radio buttons 175 and 176 for selecting a printer icon created when installation is completed are displayed at the start of network setting. After the user makes a selection, network installation processing is executed, and a completion screen 178 is displayed when the network installation is completed.

  It is also possible to delete the icon representing the USB port when the USB port becomes unnecessary in the installation operation without waiting for the completion of the installation.

  The above control method is realized by storing and operating the program according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3, 7, 13, 17, and 18 in the storage device in the host device such as the PC 11. It becomes possible.

  The present invention is not limited to the apparatus of the above-described embodiment, and may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. A storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads and executes the program codes stored in the storage medium. Needless to say, it will be completed by doing.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM is used. Can do. Further, by executing the program code read out by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the OS running on the computer performs the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the processing is also included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is expanded based on the instruction of the next program code. It goes without saying that the functions of the above-described embodiments may be realized by performing some or all of the actual processing by the CPU or the like provided on the expansion board or the expansion unit.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the information processing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a general installation screen of a printer driver using USB. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a general installation procedure of a printer driver using USB. It is the figure which showed an example of the standard setting database in OS. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer list screen in the OS. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed in a printer driver installation process using USB. 6 is a flowchart illustrating printer driver installation processing executed by the PC. It is a figure which shows the example of the 1st screen displayed by the wireless network installation process using USB. FIG. 9 is a continuation of FIG. 8. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a printer list screen when a user selects only wireless LAN port setup. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a printer list screen when a user selects setup of a USB port together with a wireless LAN port. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of a screen displayed by the wireless network installation process using a USB interface based on embodiment. 6 is a flowchart showing a wireless network installation process executed by the PC 11. It is the figure which showed the USB command. It is the figure which showed the network command. It is the figure which showed the installation screen in 2nd PC of the wireless network using USB. It is a flowchart which shows the installation procedure in 2nd PC of the wireless network using USB. FIG. 18 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 17. It is the figure which showed the installation screen of the wireless network using USB which concerns on the modification of embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

11 Notebook PC
12 Printer 13 Access point 14 Wireless LAN card 15 USB cable

Claims (7)

An information processing apparatus having a first communication port and a second communication port for communicating with one or more devices,
First communication setting execution means for performing a first communication setting for enabling print data to be transmitted to a predetermined device via the first communication port;
After the first communication setting is performed by the first communication setting execution unit, the first communication port communicates with the predetermined device, and the second communication port transmits the predetermined device. Second communication setting execution means for executing a second communication setting for enabling printing data to be transmitted to
Whether the setting information set by the first communication setting performed by the first communication setting execution unit is necessary when the second communication setting by the second communication setting execution unit is completed Confirmation means for confirming with the user,
Deletion means for deleting the setting information set in the first communication setting when the user indicates that the setting information set in the first communication setting is not necessary as a result of the confirmation by the checking means; An information processing apparatus comprising the information processing apparatus.   Display means for displaying a display screen for confirming whether or not to execute the second communication setting by the second communication setting execution means when the first communication setting by the first communication setting execution means is completed. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the deletion unit deletes an icon corresponding to the first communication setting. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus including a first communication port and a second communication port for communicating with one or a plurality of devices,
A first communication setting execution step for performing a first communication setting for enabling print data to be transmitted to a predetermined device via the first communication port;
After the first communication setting is performed in the first communication setting execution step, the predetermined device communicates with the predetermined device via the first communication port, and the predetermined device via the second communication port. A second communication setting execution step for executing a second communication setting for enabling print data to be transmitted to
Whether the setting information set in the first communication setting performed in the first communication setting execution step is necessary when the second communication setting in the second communication setting execution step is completed A confirmation process for confirming to the user,
A deletion step of deleting the setting contents set in the first communication setting when the user indicates that the setting information set in the first communication setting is not necessary as a result of the confirmation in the confirmation step; An information processing apparatus control method comprising:   A display step of displaying a display screen for confirming whether or not to execute the second communication setting in the second communication setting executing step when the first communication setting in the first communication setting executing step is completed; 5. The method of controlling an information processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising:   The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein, in the deletion step, an icon corresponding to the first communication setting is deleted. A program for executing a control method of an information processing apparatus including a first communication port and a second communication port for communicating with one or a plurality of devices,
The control method of the information processing apparatus includes:
A first communication setting execution step for performing a first communication setting for enabling print data to be transmitted to a predetermined device via the first communication port;
After the first communication setting is performed in the first communication setting execution step, the predetermined device communicates with the predetermined device via the first communication port, and the predetermined device via the second communication port. A second communication setting execution step for executing a second communication setting for enabling print data to be transmitted to
Whether the setting information set in the first communication setting performed in the first communication setting execution step is necessary when the second communication setting in the second communication setting execution step is completed A confirmation process for confirming to the user,
A deletion step of deleting the setting contents set in the first communication setting when the user indicates that the setting information set in the first communication setting is not necessary as a result of the confirmation in the confirmation step; A program comprising:

Images