JP5630163B2 - Printing device information display program, printing device information display method, and printing device information display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing device information display program, a printing device information display method, and a printing device information display device for displaying a list of information on printing devices existing on a network.

  In recent years, a printer driver common to a plurality of models has been proposed (see Non-Patent Document 1), which can handle a plurality of printer models with a single printer driver and can select an output destination printer each time printing is performed. According to this printer driver, the user can select one printer from a plurality of printers on the network and execute printing without installing a printer driver corresponding to each printer in a PC (Personal Computer). Can be directed.

  When selecting one printer from a plurality of printers on the network, a list of printers existing on the network is displayed on the display screen, and the user selects one printer from the list of printers displayed on the display screen. Select. Information on a plurality of printers on the network is displayed on the display screen side by side in the vertical direction.

  As a related technology, various information is acquired from a printer on the network from the viewpoint of improving user convenience when selecting a printer, and a list is displayed on the display screen based on the acquired information. A technique for rearranging printer information is known (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). According to this technique, when the user designates information as a sorting reference, printers that match the conditions desired by the user are preferentially displayed at the top of the list, and the user is displayed at the top of the list. It is possible to quickly select one printer from among the printers to be selected. The information acquired from the printer on the network includes information about the printer performance and information about the printer status.

  For example, when the printer printing speed information is acquired as the information related to the printer performance, the printer information is rearranged in order of increasing printing speed. The user can select one printer from the printers with high printing speed displayed at the top of the list.

  On the other hand, for example, when information indicating the presence or absence of an error is acquired as information related to the printer status, a printer in a printable state in which no error has occurred is displayed at the top of the list, and an error has occurred and printing is performed. The impossible printers are displayed at the bottom of the list. The user can select one printer from the printers in a printable state displayed at the top of the list.

  By the way, the state of the printer changes with time. Therefore, when the state of a specific printer changes from a non-printable state to a printable state while the display screen is displayed, the information of the specific printer is aligned with the information of other printers in the printable state. The display screen is preferably updated so that it is displayed at the top of the list. Newly printable printer information is displayed at the top of the list along with information about other printers that are ready to print. It becomes easy for the user to notice.

  However, in a general rearrangement process, since all printers are rearranged, the arrangement order of printer information displayed in a list on the display screen may change significantly. In this case, the user may not know the display position of the printer information that has been grasped before the display screen is updated, which is not preferable.

JP 2000-298540 A Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-284838

HP Universal Print Driver, [online], Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), Internet <http://h20338.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/cache/343033-0-0-225-121.html>

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. Therefore, the object of the present invention is to enable the user to know the display position of the information on the printing device that has been grasped before the update when updating the display screen in which the information on the printing device on the network is displayed in a list according to the state of the printing device. To provide a printing device information display program, a printing device information display method, and a printing device information display device that make it easy for a user to notice a printing device whose state has changed to a desired state while preventing it from disappearing.

  The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following means.

(1) from each of the plurality of printing devices on the network, the print device, the steps (a) to obtain the status information indicating whether the one of the states of a plurality of predetermined state, the procedure (a And (b) recognizing that the state of any one of the plurality of printing devices has changed to a predetermined state among the plurality of states based on the state information acquired in (1). in the procedure (b), in the case where the state of one of the printing devices of the plurality of printing apparatuses is changed to the predetermined state is recognized, the printer corresponding to each of the multiple printing devices the display screen information is listed in sorted based on the state, the for a given printing device from the state has changed to the other state of the plurality of states, said at list printer information For a printing device that has changed to the predetermined state without changing the arrangement order of the printer information, the arrangement order of the printer information in the list is displayed adjacent to the printer information of other printing devices in the predetermined state. And a printing device information display program for causing a computer to execute the procedure (c) for changing to be performed.

(2) the display screen, the printer information of the printing apparatus in a predetermined state is configured to be displayed at the top of the list, in the procedure (c), it was changed to the predetermined state printer information of the printing device, to be displayed at the top of the list next to the printer information of other printing devices in said predetermined state, order of printer information of the print device is changed to the predetermined state The printing device information display program according to (1) above, wherein:

(3) displayed in the procedure (c), the printer information of the print device is changed to the predetermined condition, the lowest among the printer information of the print apparatus is in said predetermined state which is displayed at the top of the list As described above, the printing device information display program according to (2), wherein the arrangement order of the printer information of the printing device changed to the predetermined state is changed.

(4) A different picture display is assigned to the state of the printing device according to the state, and a picture display corresponding to the state of the printing device is displayed on the display screen together with printer information of the printing device. The printing device information display program according to any one of (1) to (3) above, wherein:

(5) Before the procedure (a), the procedure (d) for obtaining information on the state of each printing device from a plurality of printing devices on the network and the information obtained in the procedure (d) are determined. (1) to (1), further causing the computer to execute a step (e) of displaying a list of printer information of the plurality of printing devices on the display screen in an arrangement order based on the state of the printing devices. 4) The printing device information display program according to any one of 4).

(6) The printing device information display program is a printer driver, and print jobs to one printing device corresponding to the printer information selected by the user from the printer information of the plurality of printing devices displayed on the display screen. The printing apparatus information display program according to any one of (1) to (5), further causing the computer to execute a procedure (f) for instructing execution of the printing apparatus.
(7) Any of the above (1) to (6), wherein the plurality of predetermined states include a Ready state, a Warning state, and an Error state, and the predetermined state is the Ready state The printing apparatus information display program according to one.

( 8 ) A computer-readable recording medium on which the printing device information display program according to any one of (1) to ( 7 ) is recorded.

(9) from each of the plurality of printing devices on the network, the print device, the step (a) of obtaining status information indicating whether the one of the states of a plurality of predetermined state, wherein step (a (B) recognizing that the state of any one of the plurality of printing devices has changed to a predetermined state among the plurality of states based on the state information acquired in step (b). , in the step (b), if the state of any of the printing device of the plurality of printing apparatuses is changed to the predetermined state is recognized, the printer corresponding to each of the multiple printing devices the display screen information is listed in sorted based on the state, for the printing device that has changed from the predetermined state to another state among the plurality of states, your list For a printing device that has changed to the predetermined state without changing the order of the printer information, the order of the printer information in the list is changed to the printer information of the other printing device in the predetermined state. And a step (c) of changing the display so as to be displayed adjacent to each other .

(10) the display screen, the printer information of the printing apparatus in a predetermined state is configured to be displayed at the top of the list, in the step (c), it was changed to the predetermined state printer information of the printing device, to be displayed at the top of the list next to the printer information of other printing devices in said predetermined state, order of printer information of the print device is changed to the predetermined state ( 9 ) The printing apparatus information display method as described in ( 9 ) above, wherein

(1 1) the step (c), the printer information of the print device is changed to the predetermined condition, the lowest among the printer information of the print apparatus is in said predetermined state which is displayed at the top of the list The printing device information display method according to ( 10 ), wherein the arrangement order of the printer information of the printing device changed to the predetermined state is changed so as to be displayed.

(1 2 ) A different picture display is assigned to the state of the printing device according to the state, and a picture display corresponding to the state of the printing device is displayed on the display screen together with printer information of the printing device. The printing apparatus information display method according to any one of ( 9 ) to (1 1 ), wherein the printing apparatus information display method is displayed.

(1 3 ) Before step (a), the step (d) of acquiring information on the status of each printing device from a plurality of printing devices on the network, and the information acquired in step (d) ( 9 ) to (1 2 ), further comprising a step (e) of displaying a list of printer information of the plurality of printing devices on the display screen in an arrangement order based on a determined state of the printing device. The printing apparatus information display method according to any one of the above.

(1 4 ) It further includes a step (f) of instructing execution of a print job to one printing device corresponding to the printer information selected by the user from among the printer information of the plurality of printing devices displayed on the display screen. The printing apparatus information display method according to any one of ( 9 ) to (1 3 ), wherein:
(15) Any one of (9) to (14), wherein the plurality of predetermined states include a Ready state, a Warning state, and an Error state, and the predetermined state is the Ready state. The printing apparatus information display method as described in one.

(1 6) from each of the plurality of printing devices on a network, acquires the print device, an acquisition unit for acquiring state information indicating whether is in one of states of a plurality of predetermined state, by the acquisition unit A recognition unit for recognizing that the state of one of the plurality of printing devices has changed to a predetermined state of the plurality of states based on the state information that has been generated, and the recognition unit , if the state of any of the printing device of the plurality of printing apparatuses is changed to the predetermined state is recognized, the arrangement printer information corresponding to each of the multiple printing devices based on the state in the display screen listed in the order, for the printing device that has changed to another state among the plurality of states from said predetermined state, changing the order of the printer information in the list Without, for printing equipment that has changed to the predetermined state, changing the order of the printer information in the list, to be displayed adjacent to the printer information of other printing devices in said predetermined state A printing device information display device comprising: a changing unit;

(1 7) the display screen, print printer information of the print apparatus is in said predetermined state is configured to be displayed at the top of the list, the changing unit, and changed to the predetermined state printer information of equipment, adjacent to the printer information of other printing devices in said predetermined state to appear at the top of the list, the order of printer information of the print device is changed to the predetermined state The printing device information display device according to ( 16 ), wherein the printing device information display device is changed.

(1 8) the changing unit, printer information of the printing apparatus is changed to the predetermined condition is displayed on the bottom of the printer information of the print apparatus is in said predetermined state which is displayed at the top of the list As described above, the printing device information display apparatus according to ( 17 ), wherein the arrangement order of the printer information of the printing device changed to the predetermined state is changed .

( 19 ) Different picture displays are assigned to the status of the printing device according to the status, and the picture display corresponding to the status of the printing device is displayed on the display screen together with printer information of the printing device. The printing apparatus information display device according to any one of (1 6 ) to (1 8 ), wherein the printing apparatus information display device is displayed.

( 20 ) The apparatus further includes an arrangement unit that displays a list of printer information of the plurality of printing devices on the display screen in an arrangement order based on the state of the printing device determined by the information acquired by the acquisition unit. The printing apparatus information display device according to any one of (1 6 ) to (1 9 ).

( 21 ) It further has an instruction unit for instructing execution of a print job to one printing device corresponding to the printer information selected by the user from the printer information of the plurality of printing devices displayed on the display screen. The printing equipment information display device according to any one of ( 16 ) to ( 20 ) above.
(22) Any of the above (16) to (21), wherein the plurality of predetermined states include a Ready state, a Warning state, and an Error state, and the predetermined state is the Ready state The printing apparatus information display device according to one.

  According to the present invention, the display position of the information on the printing device whose state has changed so as to meet the predetermined condition is selectively set so that the display position is adjacent to the information on the other printing device in the same state. Because the information is moved, when the display screen is updated, the order of the information of the printing devices displayed in the list does not change greatly, and the information of the printing devices whose state has changed to meet the predetermined condition is in the same state. It will be displayed next to other printing devices. In other words, when updating the display screen that lists printing device information on the network according to the status of the printing device, it prevents the user from knowing the display position of the printing device information that was known before the update. However, it becomes easier for the user to notice the printing device whose state has changed to a desired state.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of PC shown by FIG. It is a block diagram regarding a printer information display function of a printer driver. It is a figure which shows an example of the printer information list screen displayed on the display of PC. It is a figure for demonstrating the status information of a printer. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer illustrated in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing a procedure of printer information display processing executed by the PC shown in FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer information table. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the status information acquisition process shown by step S103 of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the printer information table after status information acquisition. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the printer information sort process shown by step S104 of FIG. FIG. 12A is a diagram illustrating an example of the printer information table after the printer information is completely sorted, and FIG. 12B illustrates a group index corresponding to the printer information table illustrated in FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer information table after a predetermined time has elapsed. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a judgment standard table. FIG. 15A is a diagram illustrating an example of the printer information table after the rearrangement of the printer information, and FIG. 15B corresponds to the printer information table illustrated in FIG. It is a figure which shows a group index. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a printer information list screen updated based on the printer information table shown in FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer information list screen in which printer information is not rearranged as a comparative example. FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of a judgment criteria table.

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

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The printing system of this embodiment includes a PC 10 as a printing device information display device and printers 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D, and 20E as printing devices. The PC 10 and the printers 20 </ b> A to 20 </ b> E are connected via a network 50 so that they can communicate with each other.

  The network 50 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) in which computers and network devices are connected according to standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), Token Ring, and FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface), or LANs are connected by a dedicated line. The network consists of various networks such as WAN (Wide Area Network). The type and number of devices connected to the network 50 are not limited to the example shown in FIG. Further, the printers 20A to 20E may include image forming apparatuses such as MFPs (Multi-Function Peripherals).

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the PC shown in FIG. The PC 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a hard disk 14, a display 15, an input device 16, and a communication interface 17, which exchange signals. Are connected to each other via a bus 18.

  The CPU 11 performs control of each unit and various arithmetic processes according to a program. The ROM 12 stores various programs and various data. The RAM 13 temporarily stores programs and data as a work area. The hard disk 14 stores various programs including an operating system (OS) and various data.

  The display 15 is a liquid crystal display, for example, and displays various types of information. The input device 16 includes a pointing device such as a mouse and a keyboard, and is used for performing various inputs. The communication interface 17 is an interface for communicating with other devices via the network 50, and standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), token ring, and FDDI are used.

  The hard disk 14 is installed with a document creation application for creating a document file and a printer driver 100 (see FIG. 3).

  The printer driver 100 is a program that is installed on the OS stored in the PC 10 and generates a print job. In the present embodiment, at the time of printing, the printer driver 100 displays a list of printer information (hereinafter referred to as printer information) on the network 50 on a printer information list screen 200 (see FIG. 4), which will be described later, and the printer information list screen. Based on the user's operation using 200, an output destination printer can be selected from a plurality of printers.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram relating to the printer information display function of the printer driver. In FIG. 3, functions other than the printer information display function are not shown.

  The printer driver 100 includes a network communication unit 110, a printing device data storage unit 120, a display content generation unit 130, a display data storage as components for realizing a function for displaying printer information of a plurality of printers on a network. Unit 140 and display control unit 150. The printer driver 100 is stored in the hard disk 14, read out onto the RAM 13 at the time of activation, and executed by the CPU 11. As a result, the functions of the above components of the printer driver 100 are exhibited.

  The network communication unit 110 acquires information such as information about the status of each printer (hereinafter referred to as status information) through communication via the network 50. The network communication unit 110 corresponds to SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), and acquires information from an MIB (Management Information Base) which is a database provided on the printer 20 side. As is well known, MIB is defined by RFC1213 (MIB-II), and companies can create MIB extended specifications for their own products.

  The printing device data storage unit 120 is an area for storing information received by the network communication unit 110 from the printers 20A to 20E. The printing device data storage unit 120 is allocated in the RAM 13.

  Based on the status information acquired from the printer, the display content generation unit 130 selects an icon that is a picture display indicating the status of the printer. The display content generation unit 130 refers to preset icon display conditions (not shown), selects an icon corresponding to the status information acquired from the printer, and displays data to be displayed on the display control unit 150. provide.

  The display data storage unit 140 is an area for storing icon graphics data and icon display conditions, and is allocated to the hard disk 14.

  The display control unit 150 displays information such as icons on the printer information list screen 200 based on the display data from the display content generation unit 130. The display control unit 150 instructs the OS of the PC 10 to display on the display 15.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a printer information list screen displayed on the PC display. The printer information list screen 200 displays a list of printer information of printers on the network 50. The printer information list screen 200 includes a device name display unit 210, a printing speed display unit 220, a port display unit 230, and a status display unit 240.

  The device name display unit 210 displays name information indicating the name of the printer on the network 50. The printing speed display unit 220 displays printing speed information indicating the printing speed of each printer. The port display unit 230 displays IP address information indicating the IP address of each printer.

  The status display unit 240 displays status information of each printer. In the present embodiment, four states are set as the printer state information, and the state display unit 240 displays one state selected from the four states as the printer state information. The status display unit 240 displays an icon corresponding to the status of the printer.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining printer status information. In the present embodiment, four states of “print ready”, “warning”, “error”, and “unknown” are preset as the printer status information. Yes. The four states are assigned icons that allow the user to visually recognize each state.

  “Ready” means that the printer is in an idling state, a printing state, or a warm-up state, and there is no particular warning. That is, “Ready” means that the printer can execute printing without any trouble.

  “Warning” means that the printer is idling, printing, or warming up, and there is some warning. The warning is, for example, a warning that the remaining amount of toner or paper is below a predetermined value and that toner or paper may run out during printing. That is, “Warning” means that the printer is in a printable state, but a problem may occur during printing.

  “Error” means that the printer main body has a problem such as paper jam or toner / out of paper, and the printer cannot execute printing.

  “Unknown” means that acquisition of status information has failed and the status of the printer is unknown.

  In the printer information list screen 200 of this embodiment, a plurality of printer information is displayed in a list for each of the four states. In other words, a plurality of printers on the network are classified into four groups according to the state, and are displayed as a list by group. In the present embodiment, a plurality of printer information items are displayed in a list from the top to the bottom in order of “Ready”, “Warning”, “Error”, and “Unknown”.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the printer shown in FIG. Since the printers 20A to 20E have the same configuration, the printer 20A will be described below as a representative.

  The printer 20A includes a CPU 21, a ROM 22, a RAM 23, a hard disk 24, an operation panel 25, a printing unit 26, and a communication interface 27, which are connected to each other via a bus 28 for exchanging signals. Of the parts of the printer 20A, those parts having the same functions as those of the parts of the PC 10 are not described in order to avoid duplication.

  The operation panel 25 is used for displaying various information and inputting various instructions. The printing unit 26 prints an image based on the bitmap image data on a recording medium such as paper using a known image forming process such as an electrophotographic process.

  A print job storage unit for storing a print job is allocated to the storage unit such as the RAM 23 and the hard disk 24.

  In addition, the hard disk 24 has respective areas for storing programs corresponding to the network communication unit and the control unit.

  The network communication unit provides information such as status information in response to a request from the PC 10. For this reason, the network communication unit is provided with an MIB. The network communication unit receives a print job from a PC on the network 50.

  The control unit controls the provision of a print job to the printing unit 26. The control unit reads the print job from the print job storage unit and transmits the print job to the printing unit 26 if the printing unit 26 is not performing the printing process, and stores the print job in the print job storage unit if the printing process is being performed. The functions of the network communication unit and the control unit are exhibited by the CPU 21 executing corresponding programs.

  Note that the PC 10 and the printers 20A to 20E may include components other than the above-described components, or may not include some of the above-described components.

  In the printing system of the present embodiment configured as described above, when the user of the PC 10 instructs the printer on the network 50 to execute printing, the printer status information is displayed in a list on the printer information list screen 200 together with other printer information. Is done. The user can select one printer having a good state from a plurality of printers by referring to the state information displayed on the printer information list screen 200. The operation of the PC 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of printer information display processing executed by the PC shown in FIG. Note that the algorithm shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is stored as a program in the hard disk 14 of the PC 10 and is executed by the CPU 11.

  In the printer information display process, first, the printer driver is activated (step S101). For example, when the printer driver 100 is selected on the print screen of the document creation application by a user operation, the printer driver 100 is activated.

  Next, the printer is searched (step S102). In the present embodiment, a printer that exists on the network 50 is searched. By searching for a printer, IP address information and name information of the printer are acquired. Based on the acquired information, a printer information table is generated.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the printer information table. The printer information table 300 includes index number information, IP address information, name information, and printing speed information.

  The index number information is information indicating index numbers sequentially assigned to printers found on the network. The IP address information, name information, and printing speed information are information indicating the IP address, name, and printing speed of each printer. The printer information table 300 is temporarily stored in a storage unit such as the RAM 13.

  Next, status information acquisition processing is executed (step S103). In the present embodiment, status information is acquired from each printer assigned an index number in the process shown in step S102.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the status information acquisition process shown in step S103 of FIG.

  In the state information acquisition process, first, the index number is set to “1” (step S201). In this embodiment, the index number is set to “1” in order to sequentially obtain status information from each printer whose information is stored in the printer information table 300.

  Next, status information is acquired (step S202). In the present embodiment, status information is acquired from the printer corresponding to the current index number. Specifically, the printer information table 300 is referred to, and the status information from the printer is attempted to be acquired by connecting to the corresponding printer IP address via the network. Note that an IP address input by a user operation can be used as the IP address used when connecting to the printer. In the present embodiment, numerical information corresponding to any one of the three states “Ready”, “Warning”, and “Error” described above is acquired as state information.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the status information has been successfully acquired (step S203). When it is determined that the acquisition of the state information is not successful (step S203: NO), the process proceeds to step S206.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the acquisition of the status information is successful (step S203: YES), it is determined whether the status information is a normal value (step S204). In the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the numerical value indicated by the numerical information acquired as status information from the printer is a normal value.

  When it is determined that the state information is a normal value (step S204: YES), the state information is stored (step S205). In the present embodiment, status information corresponding to the numerical information acquired in the process shown in step S202 is stored in the printer information table 300.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the state information is not a normal value (step S204: NO), or when it is determined that the acquisition of the state information is not successful in the process shown in step S203 (step S203: NO), The state information “unknown” is stored (step S206).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the index number is equal to or greater than the number of printers (step S207). In this embodiment, it is determined whether or not the index number is equal to or greater than the number of printers found on the network (for example, 11).

  If it is determined that the index number is not equal to or greater than the number of printers (step S207: NO), the index number is incremented by “1” (step S208), and the process returns to step S202. By repeating the processing from step S202 onward, status information is acquired from all printers.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the index number is equal to or greater than the number of printers (step S207: YES), the process is terminated.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the printer information table 300 after the status information is acquired. Status information selected from “Ready”, “Warning”, “Error”, and “Unknown” is added to the printer information table 300 after acquiring the status information.

  Next, a printer information sorting process is executed (step S104). In the present embodiment, the printer information in the printer information table 300 is rearranged based on the status information of each printer acquired in the process shown in step S103. Specifically, when the printer driver 100 is started immediately, all the printer information in the printer information table 300 is rearranged so that a plurality of printer information is displayed in a list on the printer information list screen 200 according to the printer status. Is done. On the other hand, when a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) has elapsed since the start of the printer driver 100, only the display position in the printer information list screen 200 of the printer information of the printer whose state has improved is recognized. The printer information is rearranged in the printer information table 300 so as to be changed. Details of the printer information sorting process shown in step S104 will be described later.

  Next, an icon is selected (step S105). In this embodiment, an icon (see FIG. 5) displayed together with the printer information on the printer information list screen 200 is selected based on the status information of the printer.

  Next, the printer information list screen 200 is updated (step S106). In the present embodiment, the printer information list screen 200 displayed on the display 15 of the PC 10 is updated according to the order of the printer information in the printer information table 300. As described above, immediately after the printer driver 100 is started, the printer information list screen 200 is updated so that a plurality of pieces of printer information are displayed in a list according to the printer status. On the other hand, when a predetermined time has elapsed after the activation of the printer driver 100, the printer information list screen 200 is updated so that only the display position of the printer information of the printer for which the change in the state is recognized is changed. The

  Next, it is determined whether to close the printer information list screen 200 (step S107). For example, when one printer information is selected on the printer information list screen 200 and the OK button is pressed, it is determined that the printer information list screen 200 is closed.

  When it is determined that the printer information list screen 200 is not closed (step S107: NO), it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed (step S108). For example, it is determined whether or not 10 seconds have elapsed since the process shown in step S106 was executed.

  If it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed (step S108: NO), the process waits until the predetermined time elapses. On the other hand, when it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed (step S108: YES), the processing returns to step S103. By repeating the processes in and after step S103, status information is repeatedly acquired from the printer on the network, and the printer information list screen 200 is repeatedly updated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in the process shown in step S107 that the printer information list screen 200 is to be closed (step S107: YES), the process ends.

  As described above, according to the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, first, a printer on the network is searched, and status information is acquired from the printer. Next, a list of printer information of printers on the network is displayed on the printer information list screen 200 by printer status. Then, processing for obtaining status information from the printer is repeatedly performed at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 10 seconds), and the printer information list screen 200 is repeatedly updated.

  Next, details of the printer information sorting process shown in step S104 of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the printer information sorting process shown in step S104 of FIG.

  In the printer information sorting process, first, it is determined whether or not it is immediately after the printer search (step S301). In the present embodiment, it is determined whether it is immediately after the processing shown in step S102 of FIG. 7 (that is, immediately after activation of the printer driver 100) or after a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) has elapsed.

  When it is determined that it is not immediately after the printer search (step S301: NO), the process proceeds to step S305.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that it is immediately after the printer search (step S301: YES), all the printer information is sorted (step S302). In this embodiment, the arrangement order of the printer information in the printer information table 300 is changed based on the printer status information. Specifically, the index number of each printer is changed so that a plurality of pieces of printer information are arranged for each printer state. At this time, a group index is generated.

  Then, the printer information table and the group index are stored (steps S303 and S304).

  FIG. 12A is a diagram illustrating an example of the printer information table after the printer information is completely sorted, and FIG. 12B illustrates a group index corresponding to the printer information table illustrated in FIG. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 12A, in the printer information table 300 after all the printer information is sorted, a plurality of printer information is arranged for each printer state. Specifically, printers D, J, H, and K having a status of “Ready”, printers I, B, G, E, and F having a status of “Warning”, and printers A and B having a status of “Error”. Index numbers 1 to 4, 5 to 9, and 10, 11 are assigned to C, respectively.

  The group index 400 indicates the maximum index number among the index numbers of printers in the same state. As shown in FIG. 12B, in the group index 400, “4” is set for “Ready” and “9” is set for “Warning”. For “Error” and “Unknown”, “11” is set.

  As described above, according to the processing shown in steps S301 to S304 in FIG. 11, the printer information in the printer information table 300 is rearranged based on the status information acquired from the printers existing on the network. As a result, according to the index number of the printer information table 300, a printer information list screen 200 as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 4, on the printer information list screen 200 displayed immediately after the printer driver 100 is started, printer information of a plurality of printers on the network is displayed in a list according to the status of the printer. At the top of the list, printer information of printers D, J, H, and K whose status is “Ready” is displayed, and below that, printers I, B, G, E, and F whose status is “Warning” are displayed. Printer information is displayed. Below the list, printer information of printers A and C whose status is “Error” is displayed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in the processing shown in step S301 that the printer search is not immediately after (step S301: NO), the index number is set to “1” (step S305).

  Next, the current printer information table is compared with the previous printer information table (step S306). In the present embodiment, for the printer corresponding to the current index number, the status information in the current printer information table is compared with the status information in the previous printer information table. Specifically, for example, the status information in the printer information table when the printer driver 100 is activated is compared with the status information in the printer information table 10 seconds after the printer driver 100 is activated.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the printer information table after a predetermined time has elapsed. In the printer information table 300 shown in FIG. 13, the status of the printer J has changed from “Ready” to “Warning”, and the status of the printer C has changed from “Error” to “Ready”. In the process shown in step S306, for example, the status information in the printer information table 300 shown in FIG. 13 and the status information in the printer information table 300 shown in FIG.

  Next, it is determined whether or not there has been a change that improves the state (step S307). In the present embodiment, based on a determination criterion table set in advance, it is determined from the comparison result of the printer information table in the process of step S306 whether or not there has been a change that improves the printer state.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the determination criterion table. In the determination criterion table 500, a state change indicated by a circle is determined to be a change that improves the state. Specifically, in the determination criterion table 500 of the present embodiment, it is determined that there has been a change in the state when the state of the printer changes from other than “Ready” to “Ready”. On the other hand, it is determined that other changes are not changes that improve the state.

  For example, when the printer information table 300 shown in FIG. 12A and the printer information table 300 shown in FIG. 13 are compared, it is determined that there has been a change in the printer C for the printer C. On the other hand, for the printer J, it is not determined that there has been a change that improves the printer state.

  In the process shown in step S307, when it is not determined that the state has changed (step S307: NO), the process proceeds to step S310.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that there has been a change that improves the state (step S307: YES), the insertion position of the printer is changed (step S308). In this embodiment, printer information of a specific printer whose status change from “Ready” to “Ready” is recognized along with printer information of other printers belonging to “Ready” on the printer information list screen 200. The position of the printer information of a specific printer in the printer information table 300 is changed so as to be displayed at the top of the list. Specifically, the index number of a specific printer is changed to an index number obtained by adding “1” to the index number (4 in FIG. 12) set for the “Ready” printer in the group index 400. The

  Next, the group index is updated (step S309). In the present embodiment, the group index 400 is updated according to the result of the process shown in step S308.

  Then, it is determined whether or not the index number is equal to or greater than the number of printers (step S310). If it is determined that the index number is not equal to or greater than the number of printers (step S310: NO), the index number is incremented by “1” (step S311), and the process returns to step S306. By repeating the processes in and after step S306, it is determined whether or not there has been a change in the state of all the printers, and the position of the printer information in the printer information table 300 is determined for the printer in which the change in the state has been recognized. Be changed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the index number is greater than or equal to the number of printers (step S310: YES), the process is terminated.

  As described above, according to the processing shown in steps S305 to S311 in FIG. 11, it is determined whether there has been a change in the state of the printer on the network, and the printer information of the printer in which the change in the state has been recognized is recognized. However, the arrangement order of the printer information in the printer information table 300 is changed so that it is displayed adjacent to the printer information of other printers in the same state.

  FIG. 15A is a diagram illustrating an example of the printer information table after the rearrangement of the printer information, and FIG. 15B corresponds to the printer information table illustrated in FIG. It is a figure which shows a group index.

  As shown in FIG. 15A, in this embodiment, the printer information of the printer C whose status has changed from “Error” to “Ready” is at the bottom of the printer information of a plurality of printers belonging to “Ready”. The array has been changed to be located. More specifically, the position of the printer C is changed to the position of the index number “5” among the printers whose index numbers 1 to 5 are “Ready”. Note that the printer information of the printer J is maintained at the original position.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a printer information list screen updated based on the printer information table shown in FIG. The printer information list screen 200 shown in FIG. 16 is an update of the printer information list screen 200 shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 16, on the printer information list screen 200, the printer information of the printer C displayed at the bottom of the list on the printer information list screen 200 shown in FIG. 4 is displayed fifth from the top. The display position has been changed. On the other hand, the display position of the printer information of the printer J is maintained without being changed. That is, only the printer information of the printer C newly belonging to “Ready” is changed in the display position on the printer information list screen 200.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer information list screen in which printer information is not rearranged as a comparative example.

  As shown in FIG. 17, in the comparative example, the printer information of the printer C whose state has changed favorably remains displayed at the bottom of the list. Therefore, the user may not notice that the state of the printer C has changed to a good state. In particular, if the user cannot confirm the printer information of the printer C without moving the scroll bar, the user is likely not to notice that the state of the printer C has changed to a good state.

  On the other hand, as described above, according to the present embodiment, the display position of the printer information of the printer C is changed so that the printer information of the printer C whose state has changed favorably is displayed at the top of the list. The user is likely to notice that the state of the printer C has changed to a good state. Furthermore, since the order of the printer information is changed so that only the printer information of the printer whose state has changed favorably is changed, it is moved in the printer information list screen 200 as compared with the general rearrangement process. Even when the number of pieces of printer information is small and the printer information list screen 200 is automatically updated at predetermined time intervals, the user loses sight of printer information of a specific printer or prints out printer information of an undesired printer. There is no mistaken selection.

  That is, when updating the printer information list screen 200 in which printer information of printers existing on the network is displayed in a list according to the printer status, the user is prevented from knowing the display position of the printer information ascertained before the update. However, it becomes easier for the user to notice the printer whose state has changed to a desired state.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the printer information of the printer C whose state has changed from “Error” to “Ready” is displayed at the bottom of the printer information of the printers belonging to “Ready”. Since the information arrangement order is changed, the display position of the printer information of other printers belonging to “Ready” is not changed. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the user from knowing the display position of the printer information that has been grasped before the update.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the icon is displayed together with a character string such as “Ready”, so that the user can sensibly recognize the printer state from the icon without reading the character string. .

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the display position of the printer information is changed for a printer in which a change in state from “Ready” to “Ready” is recognized. However, for example, as shown in FIG. 18, when the priority order is set for each state, and the printer state changes to a higher priority state, the display position of the printer information may be changed. In FIG. 18, for example, when a state change from “Error” to “Warning” is recognized for a specific printer, the printer information of the specific printer is adjacent to the printer information of other printers belonging to “Warning”. Moved to position.

  In the above embodiment, the printers are displayed in a list according to the four states of “Ready”, “Warning”, “Error”, and “Unknown”. However, the information regarding the status of the printer is not limited to these, information regarding the degree of congestion (waiting time) of each printer, and remaining amount information indicating the remaining amount of paper and toner installed in the printer, etc. Various information that changes with the passage of time is included.

  When acquiring information about the degree of congestion from a printer on the network, for example, the state where the number of print jobs being executed and waiting in the printer is “0” is set to the first state, and the number of print jobs is set to “1-5”. Is a second state, and a state in which the number of print jobs is 6 or more is a third state. Then, for a specific printer whose state change from the first state to the first state is recognized, the printer information of the specific printer is listed adjacent to the printer information of the other printers in the first state. The display position of the printer information is changed so that it is displayed at the top. The information regarding the degree of congestion includes the number of print copies and the number of print pages in addition to the number of print jobs.

  In addition, when acquiring remaining paper information from a printer on the network, the printer's remaining paper information is compared with the number of printed pages of the print job that the printer driver is instructing to execute, and an error may occur. The non-specific printer may be displayed at the top of the list.

  Further, the printer information may be rearranged by combining a plurality of states. Specifically, among a plurality of printer information belonging to “Ready” displayed at the top of the list, printer information of a printer whose number of print jobs being executed and waiting in the printer is “0” is further included. Displayed at the top.

  In the above embodiment, the printer information is rearranged at predetermined time intervals. However, the above process is not limited to the case where the process is executed at predetermined time intervals. For example, when the user instructs to update the printer information list screen, the printer information may be rearranged. Good.

  The means and method for performing various processes in the printing apparatus information display apparatus according to the present embodiment can be realized by either a dedicated hardware circuit or a programmed computer. The program may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disk and a CD-ROM, or may be provided online via a network such as the Internet. In this case, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is normally transferred to and stored in a storage unit such as a hard disk. The program may be provided as a single application software, or may be incorporated in the software of the device as one function of the printing device information display device.

10 PC,
11, 21 CPU,
12,22 ROM,
13,23 RAM,
14, 24 hard disk,
15 display,
16 input devices,
17, 27 Communication interface,
18, 28 bus,
20A-20E printer,
25 Operation panel,
26 printing department,
50 network,
100 printer driver,
200 Printer information list screen,
300 Printer information table,
400 group index,
500 Judgment criteria table.

Claims (22)

From each of the plurality of printing devices on the network, the print device, the steps (a) to obtain the status information indicating whether the one of the states of a plurality of predetermined state,
A procedure for recognizing that the state of one of the plurality of printing devices has changed to a predetermined state among the plurality of states based on the state information acquired in step (a). (B) and
In the above procedure (b), in the case where the state of one of the printing devices of the plurality of printing apparatuses is changed to the predetermined state is recognized, the printer information corresponding to each of the multiple printing devices change but the display screen listed in sorted based on the state, the printing apparatus has changed to another state among the plurality of states from the predetermined state, the order of the printer information in the list Without changing the order of the printer information in the list so that it is displayed adjacent to the printer information of other printing devices in the predetermined state. Step (c) to perform,
Printer information display program for causing a computer to execute It said display screen, printer information of the printing apparatus is in said predetermined state is configured to be displayed at the top of the list,
In the above procedure (c), as the printer information of the print device is changed to the predetermined condition is displayed at the top of the list next to the printer information of other printing devices in said predetermined state, said The printing device information display program according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement order of the printer information of the printing device changed to a predetermined state is changed. In the above procedure (c), so that the printer information of the print device is changed to a predetermined state is displayed on the bottom of the printer information of the print apparatus is in said predetermined state which is displayed at the top of the list The printing device information display program according to claim 2, wherein the arrangement order of the printer information of the printing device changed to the predetermined state is changed. A different picture display is assigned to the state of the printing device according to the state,
The printing device information display program according to claim 1, wherein a picture display corresponding to a state of the printing device is displayed on the display screen together with printer information of the printing device. . Prior to step (a),
A procedure (d) of acquiring information on the status of each printing device from a plurality of printing devices on the network;
A step (e) of displaying a list of printer information of the plurality of printing devices on the display screen in a sequence based on the state of the printing device determined by the information acquired in the step (d) is further executed on the computer. The printing apparatus information display program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the printing apparatus information display program is executed. The printing device information display program is a printer driver,
Causing the computer to further execute a procedure (f) for instructing one printing device corresponding to the printer information selected by the user from the printer information of the plurality of printing devices displayed on the display screen to execute the print job. The printing apparatus information display program according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The printing according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of predetermined states include a Ready state, a Warning state, and an Error state, and the predetermined state is the Ready state. Device information display program. A computer-readable recording medium printing apparatus information display program according to any one of claims 1-7. From each of the plurality of printing devices on the network, the print device, the step (a) of obtaining status information indicating whether the one of the states of a plurality of predetermined state,
Recognizing that the state of any printing device of the plurality of printing devices has changed to a predetermined state of the plurality of states based on the state information acquired in step (a). (B) and
In the step (b), if the state of any of the printing device of the plurality of printing apparatuses is changed to the predetermined state is recognized, the printer information corresponding to each of the multiple printing devices change but the display screen listed in sorted based on the state, the printing apparatus has changed to another state among the plurality of states from the predetermined state, the order of the printer information in the list Without changing the order of the printer information in the list so that it is displayed adjacent to the printer information of other printing devices in the predetermined state. Performing step (c);
A printing apparatus information display method characterized by comprising: It said display screen, printer information of the printing apparatus is in said predetermined state is configured to be displayed at the top of the list,
In step (c), as the printer information of the print device is changed to the predetermined condition is displayed at the top of the list next to the printer information of other printing devices in said predetermined state, said The printing device information display method according to claim 9 , wherein the arrangement order of the printer information of the printing device changed to a predetermined state is changed. In step (c), so that the printer information of the print device is changed to a predetermined state is displayed on the bottom of the printer information of the print apparatus is in said predetermined state which is displayed at the top of the list 11. The printing apparatus information display method according to claim 10 , wherein the order of arrangement of the printer information of the printing apparatus that has changed to the predetermined state is changed. A different picture display is assigned to the state of the printing device according to the state,
The printing device information display according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein a picture display corresponding to a state of the printing device is displayed on the display screen together with printer information of the printing device. Method. Before step (a),
Obtaining information relating to the status of each printing device from a plurality of printing devices on the network;
And (e) displaying a list of printer information of the plurality of printing devices on the display screen in an arrangement order based on the state of the printing device determined by the information acquired in the step (d). The printing apparatus information display method according to any one of claims 9 to 12 . The method further includes a step (f) of instructing execution of a print job to one printing device corresponding to the printer information selected by the user from the printer information of the plurality of printing devices displayed on the display screen. printing device information display method according to any one of claims 9-1 3. The printing according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of predetermined states include a Ready state, a Warning state, and an Error state, and the predetermined state is the Ready state. Device information display method. From each of the plurality of printing devices on the network, the print device, an acquisition unit for acquiring state information indicating whether is in one of states of a plurality of predetermined state,
A recognition unit for recognizing that the state of any of the plurality of printing devices has changed to a predetermined state of the plurality of states based on the state information acquired by the acquisition unit; ,
By the recognition unit, when said plurality of states of one of the printing devices of the printing device is recognized that changes in the predetermined state, the printer information corresponding to each of the multiple printing devices wherein On the display screen that is displayed in a list in the order of arrangement based on the state , the order of the printer information in the list is not changed for a printing device that has changed from the predetermined state to another state of the plurality of states In addition, for the printing device that has changed to the predetermined state, the change is made so that the arrangement order of the printer information in the list is displayed adjacent to the printer information of the other printing device in the predetermined state. And
A printing apparatus information display device comprising: It said display screen, printer information of the printing apparatus is in said predetermined state is configured to be displayed at the top of the list,
The changing unit, printer information of the printing device that has changed in the predetermined state, to appear at the top of the list next to the printer information of other printing devices in said predetermined state, said predetermined The printing apparatus information display device according to claim 16 , wherein the arrangement order of the printer information of the printing apparatus changed to a state is changed . The changing unit, as the printer information of the print device is changed to the predetermined condition is displayed on the bottom of the printer information of the print apparatus is in said predetermined state which is displayed at the top of the list, The printing apparatus information display apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the arrangement order of the printer information of the printing apparatus that has changed to the predetermined state is changed . A different picture display is assigned to the state of the printing device according to the state,
Wherein the display screen, printing device information according to any one of claims 1 6 to 1 8 to picture display corresponding to the state of the printing device is characterized in that it is displayed with the printer information of the printing device Display device. In the alignment sequence based on the status of the printing apparatus determined by the information obtained by the obtaining unit, according to claim 1 6, characterized in that it further comprises a sequence portion that lists the printer information of the plurality of printing devices on the display screen The printing apparatus information display device according to any one of? 19 . The printer further includes an instruction unit that instructs execution of a print job to one printing device corresponding to the printer information selected by the user from among the printer information of the plurality of printing devices displayed on the display screen. printing device information display apparatus according to any one of claim 1 6-20. The printing according to any one of claims 16 to 21, wherein the plurality of predetermined states include a Ready state, a Warning state, and an Error state, and the predetermined state is the Ready state. Device information display device.

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