JP4973763B2 - Interface device, control method therefor, and information recording medium - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, an interface apparatus, a control method thereof, and an information recording medium.

  In particular, a printing apparatus and interface capable of appropriately returning error information to the host apparatus even when the printing apparatus does not have device information associated with the parameter specified in the information acquisition command transmitted from the host apparatus. The present invention relates to an apparatus, a control method thereof, and a computer-readable information recording medium in which a program for realizing these is recorded.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been provided a printing apparatus that transmits device information (model identification number, version number, manufacturer name, model name, firmware version number, etc.) to a host apparatus in response to an information acquisition command from the host apparatus.

  Also, the printing device has a nonvolatile memory such as a flash EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and various information is written from the host device to the nonvolatile memory, or the device information stored in a nonvolatile manner by an information acquisition command is stored. There is provided a printing apparatus capable of reading.

  In general, when reading the device information of the printing device, the host device specifies which device information is required by a parameter included in the information acquisition command, and the printing device transmits the device information specified by the parameter to the host device. is doing.

  However, in the conventional printing apparatus, no information is returned to the host apparatus when it does not correspond to the parameter specified by the information acquisition command.

  For this reason, the host apparatus is in a state of waiting for information reception from the printing apparatus, and it has not been understood that the printing apparatus does not support the parameter until a communication timeout occurs.

  As a result, there are cases where the processing cannot be performed quickly, and there is a problem that a timeout process is required in the host device.

  Therefore, even in such a case, there is a great demand for promptly knowing that the printing apparatus is not compatible with the time-out process.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem. A printing apparatus and an interface apparatus that can quickly return error information to the host apparatus even when the host apparatus does not have the requested apparatus information. It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer-readable information recording medium in which these control methods and programs for realizing them are recorded.

  In order to achieve the above object, the following invention is disclosed in accordance with the principle of the present invention.

  A printing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is connected to a host device, and includes a communication unit, a reception unit, a printing unit, an acquisition unit, a device information transmission unit, and an error information transmission unit. Constitute.

  Here, the communication unit communicates with the host device.

  On the other hand, the receiving unit receives command data transmitted from the host device via the communication unit.

  Further, when the received command data is a print command, the printing unit prints a character or a graphic designated by the print command.

  Then, when the received command data is an information acquisition command, the acquisition unit acquires a parameter specified in the information acquisition command.

  On the other hand, when there is device information of a printing apparatus associated in advance with the acquired parameter, the device information transmission unit transmits the device information to the host device via the communication unit.

  Further, the error information transmission unit transmits predetermined error information to the host device via the communication unit when there is no information about the printing device associated with the parameter in advance.

  In the printing apparatus of the present invention, any error information that can be transmitted by the error information transmission unit can be configured so as not to match any of the device information that can be transmitted by the device information transmission unit.

  In addition, the printing apparatus of the present invention further includes a nonvolatile storage unit and can be configured as follows.

  That is, the non-volatile storage unit stores information in a non-volatile manner.

  On the other hand, part or all of the information stored in a nonvolatile manner is device information of the printing apparatus associated in advance with the acquired parameter.

  The printing apparatus of the present invention can be configured to further include an update unit.

  Here, when the received command data is an information storage command, the update unit stores and updates the information specified in the information storage command in the nonvolatile storage unit.

  In addition, the printing apparatus of the present invention can be configured to further include a dividing unit and a divided information transmission unit.

  Here, when the device information of the printing apparatus previously associated with the acquired parameter exists and the size of the device information exceeds a predetermined size, the dividing unit sets the device information to a plurality of the predetermined size or less. Is divided into divided information.

  On the other hand, in the divided information transmission, a plurality of pieces of divided information divided by the dividing unit are sequentially transmitted to the host device via the communication unit instead of the transmission of the device information by the device information transmitting unit.

  Further, in the printing apparatus of the present invention, each of the pieces of divided information that can be sequentially transmitted by the divided information transmission unit is configured not to match any of the device information transmitted by the device information transmission unit. it can.

  An interface device according to a second aspect of the present invention is connected to a printing device and a host device, and includes a host-side interface unit, a printing device-side interface unit, a host-side receiving unit, an error information reporting unit, The printing apparatus side transmission unit, the printing apparatus side reception unit, and the host apparatus side transmission unit are configured.

  Here, the host-side interface unit communicates with the host device.

  On the other hand, the printing apparatus side interface unit communicates with the printing apparatus.

  Further, the host side receiving unit receives command data transmitted from the host device via the host side interface unit.

  When the received command data is an information acquisition command and designates a predetermined parameter, the error information reporting unit sends the predetermined error information to the host device via the host side interface unit. Send to.

  On the other hand, if not, the printing apparatus side transmission unit transmits the received command data to the printing apparatus via the printing apparatus side interface unit.

  Further, the printing device side receiving unit receives information transmitted from the printing device via the printing device side interface unit.

  Then, the host device side transmission unit transmits the received information to the host device via the host device side interface unit.

  Moreover, the interface apparatus of this invention is further provided with the parameter memory | storage part, and can be comprised as follows.

  That is, the parameter storage unit stores parameters.

  On the other hand, the error information reporting unit determines that a predetermined parameter is designated when the parameter is stored in the parameter storage unit.

  A printing apparatus control method according to a third aspect of the present invention controls a printing apparatus connected to a host apparatus, and includes a reception process, a printing process, an acquisition process, an apparatus information transmission process, and an error information transmission process. It comprises so that.

  Here, in the receiving step, command data transmitted from the host device is received.

  On the other hand, in the printing process, when the received command data is a print command, a character or a graphic designated by the print command is printed.

  Furthermore, in the acquisition step, when the received command data is an information acquisition command, the parameter specified in the information acquisition command is acquired.

  Then, in the device information transmission step, when there is device information of the printing apparatus associated with the acquired parameter in advance, the device information is transmitted to the host device.

  On the other hand, in the error information transmission step, when there is no information about the printing apparatus associated with the parameter in advance, predetermined error information is transmitted to the host apparatus.

  In the control method of the present invention, any error information that can be transmitted in the error information transmission step can be configured not to match any of the device information that can be transmitted in the device information transmission step.

  In addition, the control method of the present invention further controls a printing apparatus that further includes a nonvolatile storage unit that stores information in a nonvolatile manner, and part or all of the information stored in the nonvolatile manner is associated with the acquired parameters in advance. It can be configured to be device information of a printing apparatus.

  In addition, the control method of the present invention can be configured to further include an update process.

  Here, in the update step, when the received command data is an information storage command, the information specified in the information storage command is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit and updated.

  In addition, the control method of the present invention can be configured to further include a division step and a divided information transmission step.

  Here, in the dividing step, when there is device information of the printing apparatus associated in advance with the acquired parameter and the size of the device information exceeds a predetermined size, the device information is a plurality of the predetermined size or less. Is divided into divided information.

  On the other hand, in the divided information transmission step, instead of transmitting the device information in the device information transmission step, a plurality of pieces of divided information divided in the division step are sequentially transmitted to the host device.

  In the control method of the present invention, each of the pieces of divided information that can be sequentially transmitted in the divided information transmission step is configured not to match any of the device information transmitted in the device information transmission step. be able to.

  An interface device control method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention controls an interface device connected to a printing device and a host device, and receives a host side reception step, an error information reporting step, and a printing device side transmission. A process, a printing apparatus side reception process, and a host apparatus side transmission process.

  Here, in the host-side receiving step, command data transmitted from the host device is received.

  On the other hand, in the error information reporting step, when the command data received in the host-side receiving step is an information acquisition command and designates a predetermined parameter, the predetermined error information is sent to the host device. Send.

Furthermore, in the printing apparatus side transmission step, if not, the received command data is transmitted to the printing apparatus.
The printing apparatus side receiving process and information transmitted from the printing apparatus are received.

  In the host device side transmission step, the information received in the printing device side reception step is transmitted to the host device.

  In the interface device control method of the present invention, in the error information reporting step, the parameter specified in the information acquisition command is a parameter stored in the parameter storage unit included in the interface device and storing the parameter. In some cases, it can be configured to determine that a predetermined parameter is designated.

  A computer-readable information recording medium according to a fifth aspect of the present invention causes a computer to function as the printing apparatus or the interface apparatus, or causes the computer to execute a control method for the printing apparatus or the interface apparatus. Configure to record the program.

  The information recording medium of the present invention can be configured to be a compact disk, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a digital video disk, a magnetic tape, or a semiconductor memory.

  In addition, the information recording medium of the present invention is mounted on a WWW (World Wide Web) server computer, the program is downloaded as appropriate from this, stored in the computer, the program is updated, and the updated program is stored in the computer (typically Specifically, the printing apparatus of the present invention can be realized by causing a printing apparatus or a CPU (Central Processing Unit) included in the interface apparatus to execute.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of normal processing executed in the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the interface apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In addition, embodiment described below is for description and does not limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, those skilled in the art can employ embodiments in which each or all of these elements are replaced with equivalent ones, and these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

(First embodiment: printing apparatus)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  The printing apparatus 101 is controlled by the CPU 102. Command data transmitted from the host device is received by the interface 109 and stored in the reception buffer 111 prepared in the RAM 104. These processes are performed as a reception interrupt process for the CPU 102.

  On the other hand, the CPU 102 sequentially reads and interprets the command data stored in the reception buffer 111, and if necessary, refers to a ROM (Read Only Memory) 103 in which the character font 121 is stored and prepares a print image in the RAM 104. The line buffer 112 is expanded.

  Further, the CPU 102 drives the print head 105 according to the print image stored in the line buffer 112 at an appropriate timing (for example, when a line feed command is received or when the development of the print image for one line is completed). Then, print characters and figures on the paper.

  If the command data is an information acquisition command, information such as the identification number, manufacturing number, and firmware version number of the printing apparatus 101 stored in the ROM 103, various information stored in the flash EEPROM 106, etc. 109 to the host device.

here,
The interface 109 serves as a communication unit
The CPU 102 cooperates with the interface 109 and the reception buffer 111 of the RAM 104 as a reception unit.
The print head 105 is a printing unit
CPU 102 as an acquisition unit
The CPU 102 and the interface 109 and the ROM 103, the flash EEPROM 106, or a mechanism (not shown) for storing device information in a nonvolatile manner such as a dip switch cooperates as a device information transmission unit.
The CPU 102 cooperates with the interface 109 as an error information transmission unit.
A mechanism for storing device information in a nonvolatile manner such as ROM 103, flash EEPROM 106, or DIP switch is a storage unit.
CPU 102 as an update unit
Each functions.

  These processes are called normal processes for the above reception interrupt process. A flowchart of this normal processing is shown in FIG.

  The CPU 102 checks whether command data is stored in the reception buffer 111 (step S201).

  If command data is not stored in the reception buffer 111 (step S201; No), the process waits (step S202) and returns to step S201. While waiting in step S202, other processing can be executed. In addition, the reception interrupt process described above may be activated during standby, and command data may be added to the reception buffer 111.

  On the other hand, when the command data is stored in the reception buffer 111 (step S201; Yes), the top command data is acquired (step S203), and the type of the command data is examined (step S204). The reception buffer 111 functions as a so-called FIFO (First In First Out) buffer or queue, command data is added by reception interrupt processing, and command data is extracted in step S203.

  When the command data is a print command for designating a character or graphic (step S204; printing), the font definition of the designated character or graphic is read from the ROM 103 (step S205), and the font definition is expanded in the line buffer 112. (Step S206).

  Further, it is checked whether or not the line buffer 112 is full (step S207). If the line buffer 112 is full (step S207; Yes), the print head 105 is driven according to the print image developed in the line buffer 112. Then, characters and figures are printed on paper (step S208), the line buffer is cleared (step S209), and the process returns to step S201.

  If it is not full (step S207; No), the process returns to step S201.

  On the other hand, if the command data is a line feed command (step S204; line feed), the process proceeds to step S208, and the print image developed in the line buffer 112 so far is printed on paper.

  On the other hand, when the command data is an information acquisition command (step S204; information acquisition), the parameter included in the information acquisition command is acquired (step S210), and the device information specified by the parameter can be acquired from the printing apparatus 101. Whether or not (step S211).

  If the device information corresponding to the parameter of the information acquisition command can be acquired from the printing apparatus 101 (step S211; Yes), the device information associated with the parameter is acquired from the ROM 103 or the flash EEPROM 106 (step S212), and the interface 109 is used. To the host device (step S213), and the process returns to step S201.

  On the other hand, when the device information corresponding to the parameter of the information acquisition command cannot be acquired from the printing apparatus 101 (step S211; No), error information is transmitted to the host apparatus (step S214), and the process returns to step S201.

  On the other hand, if the command data is an update command for the flash EEPROM 106 (step S204; update), the data string designated by the command is designated by the command or the flash EEPROM 106 previously associated with the command. The address is stored and updated (step S215), and the process returns to step S201.

  On the other hand, when the command data is another command (step S204; other), processing corresponding to the command data is executed (step S216), and the process returns to step S201.

(Information acquisition command)
Next, an embodiment of the information acquisition command will be described. In the following description, 0x is used as a prefix representing a hexadecimal number. In addition, description will be made using an ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) code corresponding to a hexadecimal number as appropriate. In order to express the ASCII code of the character, the character is enclosed in single quotation marks.

  The ASCII code 0x20 to 0x7e corresponds to a character or figure print command, and the ASCII code 0x0a or 0x0d corresponds to a line feed command.

  In the present embodiment, the following 3-byte data is used as the information acquisition command.

GS 'I' n
0x1d 0x49 n
What is shown at the top is ASCII code notation, and what is at the bottom is hexadecimal notation. Note that n means a designated parameter, and 256 patterns from 0x00 to 0xff can be designated.

  Various device information of the printing apparatus 101 can be obtained by appropriately specifying the value of n. The value of parameter n, the type of device information corresponding to the parameter n, and the format for transmitting device information from the printing apparatus 101 to the host device are shown below.

  (1) When n = 0x01 or n = 0x31, the identifier of the model of the printing apparatus 101 is returned. As the model identifier, one-byte data of 0x01 to 0xff is used. This data is returned to the host device as device information. All existing printers support this information acquisition command.

  (2) When n = 0x41 to 0x45 or n = 0x70 to 0x71, printer information corresponding to each is returned. On the other hand, device information (printer information) is returned to the host device in the following format.

    0x5f Byte string of printer information 0x00 Note that 0x00 is not included in the byte string of printer information. Some of these information acquisition commands are not compatible with existing printers.

  The printer information here includes the following information, each of which is assigned to one of the above ranges of the parameter n.

・ Version number ・ Manufacturer name ・ Model name On the other hand, when a value other than the above value of n is specified, or when there is no device information corresponding to the specified value of n (that is, the printing apparatus 101 acquires the information) When the command does not correspond to the command), the printing apparatus 101 transmits error information to the host apparatus. The format of error information is as follows.

  (1) If n = 0x01 or 0x31 is specified, all existing printers will respond to this command and will not send error information. 0x00 may be returned as error information.

  (2) When n other than the above is designated, and the printing apparatus is not compatible with the information acquisition command, it is notified that the information is not supported in the following format.

0x3d n 0x00
In this way, the host device can distinguish between device information and error information.

(Handling large equipment information)
In the above embodiment, the device information and error information returned from the printing apparatus 101 to the host apparatus are both 80 bytes or less. In general, this size is completely within the reception buffer of the host device, so that there is no possibility of reception failure in the host device.

  However, when obtaining information stored in the flash EEPROM 106 provided in the printing apparatus 101, data exceeding 80 bytes may have to be returned from the printing apparatus 101 to the host apparatus.

  When returning such long data, the long data may be divided and transmitted in order. At that time, the divided data must be distinguished from the data when returning the data of 80 bytes or less as described above. An example of a division format when dividing long data will be described below.

  When data stored in the flash EEPROM 106 included in the printing apparatus 101 is to be acquired as device information by the host device, the following command data is transmitted as an information acquisition command.

GS '(''C' a nl nh
This specifies that information of nl + nh × 256 bytes stored in the address range a to a + (nl + nh × 256) −1 of the flash EEPROM 106 is acquired as device information.

  In response to this, the printing apparatus 101 reads out the byte string of the data at the location specified by the parameter of the information acquisition command from the flash EEPROM 106. Assume that this byte sequence is as follows.

c [1] c [2]… c [nl + nh × 256]
When nl + nh × 256 is 80 bytes or less, it is returned using the following format.

0x3d 0x20 nl c [1] c [2]… c [nl + nh × 256] 0x00
Here, 0x3d 0x20 means that this data string is sent in a batch.

  Since the total length of this is at most 84 bytes, it fits in the reception buffer of the host device. Since nh = 0 holds, when transmitting the length of the data byte string, only nl needs to be transmitted for confirmation.

  On the other hand, if nl + nh × 256 exceeds 80 bytes, the printing apparatus divides the byte string into 80 bytes and adds header information and footer information to each of them. The divided data string has the following format in the present embodiment.

0x3d 0x70 mp Divided data string 0x00
Here, 0x3d 0x70 means that this data string is divided.

  m means the order number of the entire data string. For example, when all data is divided into 6, m = 5 is the first divided data string, m = 4 is the next divided data string, and m = 0 is the last divided data string. .

  p represents the length of this data string. In this embodiment, in general, p = 80, but p = 1-80 in the last data string to be transmitted.

  The printing apparatus first transmits the first divided data string to the host apparatus.

  After receiving the data string, the host device transmits ACK / NAK / CAN to instruct the printing device to perform the next operation.

ACK: Command to send the next divided data string
NAK: Re-send the current divided data string
CAN: Command to discard unsent divided data string and stop data transmission The printing apparatus sequentially transmits the divided data string to the host apparatus in accordance with an ACK / NAK / CAN command from the host apparatus.

In this embodiment,
CPU 102 is a dividing unit
The CPU 102 cooperates with the RAM 104 and the interface 109 as a divided information transmission unit.
Each functions further.

  Since each of these divided data strings is different from any of the data strings representing the device information that does not need to be divided, the data string transmitted from the printing apparatus 101 is a single data string in the host device. It is easy to know whether it represents information or whether it is a divided data string and a plurality of pieces represent device information.

(Second Embodiment: Interface Device)
In the above embodiment, when a GSI command specifying an unsupported parameter is received, the printing apparatus 101 transmits error information to the host apparatus. However, there are many existing printing apparatuses that do not return any information when receiving GSI commands that specify unsupported parameters.

  In such a case, in order for the host device to know that the printing apparatus 101 does not support the parameter specified by the GSI command, it has to wait until a reception timeout occurs.

  In this embodiment, an existing printing apparatus and an interface apparatus are connected, and the interface apparatus is configured such that these perform the same function as the printing apparatus 101 according to the first embodiment as a whole.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of the interface apparatus according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  The interface device 301 includes a host-side IF (Inter Face) 302, a printing device-side IF 303, a host-side receiving unit 304, an error information reporting unit 305, a printing device-side transmitting unit 306, and a printing device-side receiving unit 307. A host-side transmission unit 308 and a parameter storage unit 309.

  The host IF 302 connects the interface device 301 and the host device, and performs communication between the interface device 301 and the host device. For example, a connector such as RS-232 standard or USB (Universal Serial Bus) standard is used.

  The printing apparatus side IF 303 connects the interface apparatus 301 and the printing apparatus, and performs communication between the interface apparatus 301 and the printing apparatus.

  The entire interface device 301 is preferably configured to fit in an expansion slot of an existing printing device. In this case, the connector for connecting with the connector of the expansion slot of the existing printing apparatus functions as the printing apparatus side IF 303. An RS-232 standard connector can be used for this connector.

  The host side receiving unit 304 receives command data transmitted from the host device via the host side IF 302.

Next, the interface device 301 checks whether or not the following condition is satisfied using a CPU or the like provided therein.
・ The received command data is an information acquisition command, and
The parameter specified in the information acquisition command is a parameter stored in the parameter storage unit 309.
The parameter storage unit 309 stores parameters not supported by the printing apparatus.
As the parameter storage unit 309, for example, a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM can be used. In addition, a flash EEPROM, a DIP switch, and a jumper can be used. In this case, the type of the unsupported parameter can be changed.

  When the above conditions are satisfied, even if the information acquisition command is transmitted to the printing apparatus, the printing apparatus does not return any device information in response thereto. Therefore, the interface device 301 causes the error information report unit 305 to transmit error information to the host device via the host-side IF 302. In this case, the same error information as that in the first embodiment can be used.

  On the other hand, when the above condition is not satisfied, the printing apparatus side transmission unit 306 transmits the received command data to the printing apparatus via the printing apparatus side IF 303. As a result, various command data such as a print command, a line feed command, and an information acquisition command corresponding to the print command are transmitted to the printing apparatus.

  Further, when an information acquisition command is transmitted to the printing apparatus, device information is returned from the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus side receiving unit 307 receives information (including device information) transmitted from the printing apparatus via the printing apparatus side IF 303.

  Then, the host device side transmission unit 308 transmits the information received by the printing device side reception unit 307 to the host device via the host side IF 302.

  As described above, the interface device 301 relays the command data given to the existing printing device, and when command data not supported by the existing printing device is received, the interface device 301 immediately returns an error command to the host device. work. Therefore, the host device can know that the printing device does not support the information acquisition command without waiting for a reception timeout.

  The interface device 301 can perform the same function as the printing device 101 of the first embodiment as a whole by combining with the existing printing device. Further, it is not necessary to repair and modify the existing printing apparatus itself, and it is only necessary to use an expansion slot provided in the printing apparatus.

(The invention's effect)
As described above, according to the present invention, even when the printing apparatus does not have the device information associated with the parameter specified in the information acquisition command transmitted from the host device, the error information is appropriately hosted. It is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can be returned to the apparatus, an interface apparatus, a control method thereof, and a computer-readable information recording medium in which a program that realizes these is recorded.

  101 printing device, 102 CPU, 103 ROM, 104 RAM, 105 print head, 106 flash EEPROM, 109 interface, 111 reception buffer, 112 line buffer, 301 interface device, 302 host side IF, 303 printing device side IF, 304 host side Receiving unit, 305 error information reporting unit, 306 printing apparatus side transmitting unit, 307 printing apparatus side receiving unit, 308 host side transmitting unit, 309 parameter storage unit.

Claims (7)

An interface device connected to a printing device and a host device,
A host-side interface unit that communicates with the host device;
A printing apparatus side interface unit communicating with the printing apparatus;
A host-side receiving unit that receives command data transmitted from the host device via a host-side interface unit;
A parameter storage unit for storing parameters;
When the received command data is an information acquisition command, and the parameter specified in the information acquisition command is a parameter stored in the parameter storage unit , predetermined error information is stored in the host side interface. An error information report part to be sent to the host device via a part;
Otherwise, a printing apparatus side transmission unit that transmits the received command data to the printing apparatus via the printing apparatus side interface unit;
A printing device-side receiving unit that receives information transmitted from the printing device via the printing device-side interface unit;
An interface device comprising: a host device-side transmission unit that transmits the received information to the host device via the host device-side interface unit. When the information received by the printing apparatus side receiving unit exceeds a predetermined size, the information processing unit includes a dividing unit that divides the information into a plurality of pieces of divided information having the predetermined size or less,
The host device sending unit interface of claim 1, wherein a plurality of split completion information divided by the dividing unit, and transmits through the host device interface part in order to the host device apparatus. A printing apparatus, a control method of controlling an interface device connected to the host device, in,
A host-side receiving process for receiving command data transmitted from the host device;
When the command data received in the host-side receiving step is an information acquisition command, and the parameter specified in the information acquisition command is a parameter stored in a parameter storage unit included in the interface device , Error information reporting step for transmitting the determined error information to the host device;
Otherwise, a printing device side transmission step of transmitting the received command data to the printing device,
A printing device side receiving step for receiving information transmitted from the printing device;
Control method characterized by comprising the information received by the printing apparatus side receiving step, and a host device transmitting step of transmitting to the host device. When the information received in the printing device side receiving step exceeds a predetermined size, the information processing method includes a dividing step of dividing the information into a plurality of pieces of divided information having the predetermined size or less,
The control method according to claim 3 , wherein the host device side transmission step sequentially transmits a plurality of pieces of divided information divided by the division step to the host device. A computer-readable information recording medium on which a program is recorded, which causes a computer to function as the interface device according to claim 1 . A computer-readable information recording medium having a program recorded thereon, which causes a computer to execute the control method for an interface device according to claim 3 or 4 . The information recording medium according to claim 5 or 6 , wherein the information recording medium is a compact disk, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a digital video disk, a magnetic tape, or a semiconductor memory. Medium.

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