JP6263916B2 - Information processing apparatus, control program, and image processing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control program, and an image processing system, and more particularly to display of a UI corresponding to an input method.

  In recent years, there has been a tendency to digitize information, and image processing apparatuses such as printers and facsimiles used for outputting digitized information and scanners used for digitizing documents have become indispensable devices. Such an image processing apparatus is configured as an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) that can be used as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, and a copier by providing an imaging function, an image forming function, a communication function, and the like. Many.

  Then, image data is transmitted to such an image processing apparatus from a portable information processing terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a smartphone or a tablet terminal having an information processing function according to the PC, and at the time of image formation output. A mode of generating a preview image and outputting an image is known. In recent years, on an OS (Operating System) installed in such an information processing apparatus such as a PC, an operation is performed according to each of a plurality of input methods for inputting an operation command such as a mouse or a finger (stylus pen). A plurality of types of UI having an easy configuration are provided.

  For example, Windows 8 (registered trademark) provides a desktop UI and a modern UI. The desktop UI is suitable for an input method using a mouse. For example, a selection target area displayed for selecting an item from a plurality of items is wide enough to be selected with a minimum mouse cursor movement. It has a configuration that allows easy mouse operation. On the other hand, the modern UI is suitable for an input method by a touch operation using a finger, a stylus pen, etc., and the area to be selected is equal to or larger than the area of the finger (that is, wider than the area in the desktop UI). , It has a configuration that allows easy touch operation.

  Thus, in an information processing apparatus that provides a plurality of types of UIs corresponding to a plurality of input methods, the user can select a UI that is easy to operate according to the input method to be used. In addition, a method has been proposed in which setting items displayed on a UI for operating the information processing apparatus are enlarged and reduced according to a pointer instruction so that the setting items can be easily operated (for example, patents). Reference 1).

  However, in the information processing apparatus as described above, once the user selects any UI, if the user wants to operate using an input method different from the input method corresponding to the selected UI, the user performs the operation using the input method. In order to make it easier, it is necessary to select the corresponding UI again and switch the display, which takes time. The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 relates to UI operability, but is not intended for a plurality of types of UI corresponding to a plurality of input methods. Different.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and in an information processing apparatus that provides a plurality of types of UI corresponding to each of a plurality of input methods, according to the input method used by the user, The purpose is to switch to the corresponding UI without the user selecting.

In order to solve the above-described problem, one aspect of the present invention provides a plurality of pieces of screen configuration information that is information corresponding to each of a plurality of input methods and is information for configuring an input reception screen that receives an input by the input method. storage means for storing the input I information der instruction input for displaying a reception screen, the instruction information acquisition for acquiring instruction information including information about the type of input device used to input the instruction A screen configuration information acquisition unit that acquires the screen configuration information based on the command information acquired by the command information acquisition unit, and a screen that generates the input acceptance screen based on the acquired screen configuration information Generating information and image information generated based on output target information that is information on an image that is an object of image formation output by the image processing apparatus. Generates a preprocessed image data including the instruction information to the image information to be used during the pre-processing for the line, and preprocessed image data generating means for storing the serial憶媒body, the preprocessed image data And preprocessing means for performing the preprocessing for executing the image formation output, wherein the preprocessing means obtains the command information from the preprocessed image data stored in the storage medium. And acquiring the screen configuration information based on the acquired instruction information, and generating the input reception screen for receiving an input for performing the preprocessing based on the acquired screen configuration information. Features.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of screen configuration information, which is information corresponding to each of a plurality of input methods and is information for configuring an input reception screen for receiving an input by the input method. a control program for controlling an information processing apparatus having, I information der instruction input for displaying the input receiving screen includes information about the type of input device used to input the instruction command A step of acquiring information, a step of acquiring the screen configuration information based on the acquired command information, a step of generating the input acceptance screen based on the acquired screen configuration information, and an image processing device Preprocessing for executing image formation output, which is image information generated based on output target information, which is information of an image to be image formation output The front including instruction information processing image data to generate the image information used in the the steps of storing the serial憶媒body, using the preprocessed image data, for executing the image formation output Performing the preprocessing, and in the step of performing the preprocessing, acquiring the command information from the preprocessed image data stored in the storage medium, and based on the acquired command information Acquiring the screen configuration information, and causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of generating the input reception screen that receives an input for performing the preprocessing based on the acquired screen configuration information. To do.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a memory for storing a plurality of pieces of screen configuration information which is information corresponding to each of a plurality of input methods and is information for configuring an input reception screen for receiving an input by the input method. means, I information der instruction input for displaying the input window, the command information acquisition unit for acquiring instruction information including information about the type of input device used to input the instruction, the Screen configuration information acquisition means for acquiring the screen configuration information based on the command information acquired by the command information acquisition means; screen generation means for generating the input acceptance screen based on the acquired screen configuration information; Image information generated based on output target information, which is information on an image that is a target of image formation output by the image processing apparatus, for executing the image formation output Generates a preprocessed image data including the instruction information to the information of the image used in the pretreatment, the preprocessed image data generating means for storing the serial憶媒body, using the preprocessed image data, wherein Preprocessing means for performing the preprocessing for executing image formation output, wherein the preprocessing means acquires the command information from the preprocessed image data stored in the storage medium and is acquired. The screen configuration information is acquired based on the command information, and the input reception screen that receives an input for performing the preprocessing is generated based on the acquired screen configuration information.

  According to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus that provides a plurality of types of UI corresponding to each of a plurality of input methods, switching to a corresponding UI without being selected by the user can be performed according to the input method used by the user. it can.

It is a figure which shows the operation | use form of the image processing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows typically the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the UI part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the printing control screen which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows UI information table which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows UI corresponding to the input format which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows UI information acquisition processing which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 6 is a diagram illustrating a UI of a print control screen and a print setting screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a UI of a print control screen and a print setting screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the intermediate data which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the preview application 280 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an operation for an image processing apparatus that is input by a certain input method on a display screen of an information processing apparatus that can provide a plurality of types of UIs that can be easily operated according to each of a plurality of input formats. An image processing system that executes image formation output in response to a command will be described as an example.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation mode of the image processing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the image processing system according to the present embodiment is configured by connecting an image processing apparatus 1 and an information processing apparatus 2 via a network such as the Internet or a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The image processing apparatus 1 is an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) that can be used as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, and a copier by providing an imaging function, an image forming function, a communication function, and the like. The information processing apparatus 2 is an information processing terminal such as a general PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and print output via the image processing apparatus 1 is sent to the information processing apparatus 2. It is executed via the installed printer driver.

  Next, hardware configurations of the image processing apparatus 1 and the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment, but the image processing apparatus 1 also has a substantially similar configuration. As shown in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes the same configuration as that of a general server or PC.

  That is, the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 40, and an I / F 50. 80 is connected. Further, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 60 and an operation unit 70 are connected to the I / F 50. In addition, the image processing apparatus 1 includes an engine that executes image formation output and scanning.

  The CPU 10 is a calculation means and controls the operation of the information processing apparatus 2 as a whole. The RAM 20 is a volatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information at high speed, and is used as a work area when the CPU 10 processes information. The ROM 30 is a read-only nonvolatile storage medium and stores a program such as firmware. The HDD 40 is a non-volatile storage medium that can read and write information, and stores an OS (Operating System), various control programs, application programs, and the like.

  The I / F 50 connects and controls the bus 80 and various hardware and networks. The LCD 60 is a visual user interface for the user to check the state of the information processing apparatus 2. The operation unit 70 is a user interface for a user to input information to the information processing apparatus 2 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  In such a hardware configuration, a program stored in a storage medium such as the ROM 30, the HDD 40, or an optical disk (not shown) is read into the RAM 20, and the software control unit is configured by the CPU 10 performing calculations according to those programs. . A combination of the software control unit configured in this way and hardware constitutes a functional block that realizes the function of each device configuring the image processing apparatus 1 and the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment.

  The image processing apparatus 1 operates as a printer by receiving a print job from the information processing apparatus 2. The print job transmitted to the image processing apparatus 1 is generated in a format that can be read by the image processing apparatus 1 by a printer driver that is a software program constructed corresponding to the image processing apparatus 1.

  Next, the functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment includes a controller 200 and a network I / F 210 in addition to the LCD 60 and the operation unit 70 described in FIG. 2. The controller 200 includes a network control unit 201, a display control unit 202, an operation control unit 203, an application 204, and a printer driver 220. The printer driver 220 includes a graphic unit 221 and a UI unit 230.

  The network I / F 210 is an interface for the information processing apparatus 2 to communicate with other devices via the network, and an interface such as Ethernet (registered trademark) is used. The network I / F 210 is realized by the I / F 50 shown in FIG. The controller 200 is configured by a combination of software and hardware. The controller 200 is a control unit that controls the entire information processing apparatus 2.

  The network control unit 201 acquires information input via the network I / F 210 and transmits information to other devices via the network I / F 210. The operation control unit 203 acquires an operation signal indicating the content of an operation performed by the user on the operation unit 70 and inputs the operation signal to a module operating in the information processing apparatus 2 such as the application 204 or the printer driver 220. The display control unit 202 causes the LCD 60 to display the status of the information processing apparatus 2 such as a GUI (Graphical User Interface) of the application 204 and a GUI of the printer driver 220.

  The application 204 is a software module configured by installing a corresponding software program in the information processing apparatus 2, and is general application software such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, image editing software, and the like. The application 204 calls the printer driver 220 in accordance with a user operation. In addition, when the UI unit 230 of the called printer driver 220 is activated by an activation command input from the application 204 or the operation control unit 203, the application 204 prints output set via the activated UI unit 230. Get the setting information.

  When a print execution command is input to the application 204 or the activated UI unit 230 by a user operation, the application 204 activates a drawing engine that is generally incorporated in an OS that is basic software, and performs a UI operation. The setting information of the print output set via the unit 230 and the information of the image to be output are transferred. The drawing engine activates the graphic unit 221 of the printer driver 220 via a DDI (Device Driver Interface), and transfers the processing.

  The graphic unit 221 of the printer driver 220 has a format (for example, a PDL (Page Description Language) format) that can be processed by the image processing apparatus 1 that is to execute print output on the image data output as an internal command of the OS by the drawing engine. ) And setting data for causing the image processing apparatus 1 to execute print output are generated based on the setting information set via the UI unit 230 to generate a print job.

  In such a system configuration, when the UI unit 230 of the printer driver 220 called by the application 204 is activated, a screen (for example, print output setting information) displayed with a UI corresponding to the input format used by the user is used. It is a gist according to the present embodiment to generate a setting screen for setting the image and display it on the LCD 60 which is a display unit of the information processing apparatus 2. Hereinafter, as a configuration according to the present embodiment, a functional configuration centering on the UI unit of the printer driver 220 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration centering on the UI unit 230 of the printer driver 220 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the printer driver 220 includes an operation monitoring unit 231, and the UI unit 230 includes a UI information DB 232, a UI information acquisition unit 233, and a screen generation unit 234.

  When the printer driver 220 is called by an operation via the operation unit 70, the operation monitoring unit 231 monitors an operation performed on the operation unit 70 and acquires command information. Specifically, the printer driver 220 creates a list of printer names by an operation for displaying a screen relating to printing as shown in FIG. 5 (hereinafter referred to as “printing control screen”) via the operation unit 70. When called, the operation monitoring unit 231 monitors subsequent operations, and instructs the operation unit 70 to perform a UI activation command operation of the printer driver 220 performed by the user (for example, on the print control screen shown in FIG. 5). (Pressing operation of “print setting” button included) is detected.

  Then, the operation monitoring unit 231 acquires information including the operation content indicating the detected command operation and the type of the input interface (input device) on which the operation is performed as command information. Since the operation control unit 203 is provided for each operation unit 70, that is, for each input interface such as a mouse or a keyboard, the operation monitoring unit 231 performs operation control by the user performing an operation on the screen illustrated in FIG. Command information is generated and acquired based on the operation signal acquired by the unit 203 and the type information of the input interface corresponding to the operation control unit 203. That is, the operation control unit 203 functions as a command information acquisition unit that acquires command information.

  In other words, according to the type of input interface included in the command information acquired by the operation monitoring unit 231, it is possible to determine which input method (mouse, touch operation, etc.) the user has used to activate the UI unit 230. For example, in order to cause the image processing apparatus 1 to execute print output, the user activates the screen illustrated in FIG. 5 and clicks the “print setting” button displayed on the screen illustrated in FIG. 5 with the mouse. In other words, the operation monitoring unit 231 detects an operation signal indicating a print setting screen start command from the operation control unit 203 corresponding to the operation unit 70 of the mouse.

  Then, the operation monitoring unit 231 generates and acquires command information based on the operation signal detected from the operation control unit 203 and information indicating that the operation unit 70 corresponding to the operation control unit 203 is a mouse. Therefore, it is possible to specify from the command information that the user has performed an operation using an input method using a mouse.

  In the present embodiment, the operation monitoring unit 231 generates command information based on the operation signal detected from the operation control unit 203 and the type information of the input interface corresponding to the operation control unit 203 that has input the operation signal. As an example. That is, in this case, since the operation signal generated by the operation control unit 203 indicates only the content of the operation without specifying the type of the input interface, the operation monitoring unit 231 specifies the operation unit 70 corresponding to the operation control unit 203. Therefore, it is necessary to acquire the type information of the input interface. However, when the operation signal itself generated by the operation control unit 203 includes input interface type information, the operation monitoring unit 231 may acquire the operation signal detected from the operation control unit 203 as command information. .

  The UI information DB 232 is a storage medium (storage means) that stores a UI information table. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a UI information table stored in the UI information DB 232. In the UI information table, an input method determined by command information and information for displaying a UI corresponding to each input method (hereinafter referred to as “UI information”) are stored in association with each other. The UI information corresponding to the input method, for example, defines what resources are arranged at what positions and sizes to construct the UI in order to make the configuration easy to operate according to the input method. This is screen configuration information for configuring an input reception screen that receives information, that is, input information according to the input method. In this embodiment, the UI information DB 232 is included in the UI unit 230 as an example. However, the UI information DB 232 may be provided in an external server or the like, and the UI information acquisition unit 233 The UI information table stored in the UI information DB 232 may be acquired by accessing the server via

  FIG. 7A illustrates a UI (hereinafter referred to as “desktop UI”) corresponding to an input method using a mouse. The UI shown in FIG. 7A is a screen for selecting one of the setting values A to D, and the user points the area where the setting value to be selected is displayed with the mouse. By clicking, either setting value is selected. Since the mouse pointer operates in units of one dot, each area in which each set value is displayed needs only to be wide enough to be selected with a minimum mouse cursor movement as shown in FIG. If it is too wide, the mouse cursor moves too much and is not suitable for mouse operation.

  FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a UI (hereinafter referred to as “touch UI”) corresponding to an input method by a touch operation. The UI shown in FIG. 7B is a screen for selecting any one of the setting value A to the setting value D, like the UI shown in FIG. 7A, and the setting value to be selected is displayed. One of the set values is selected when the user touches the area with a finger or the like.

  By the way, a selection operation by touching an area with a finger or the like is more likely to indicate a wider range than a selection operation using a mouse pointer. Therefore, if the area suitable for the mouse operation as shown in FIG. 7A remains the same, for example, the user may have touched the setting value A area to select the setting value A. The finger may also touch the region B, and the setting value B may be selected, which is not suitable for the touch operation. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7B, in the touch UI, the area to be selected is made larger than in the case of the desktop UI, and the area is set such that other areas are not touched together.

  The UI information acquisition unit 233 acquires UI information stored in the UI information DB 232 based on the command information input from the operation monitoring unit 231. That is, the UI information acquisition unit 233 functions as a screen configuration information acquisition unit that acquires screen configuration information that is UI information. Hereinafter, specific UI information acquisition processing by the UI information acquisition unit 233 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating UI information acquisition processing by the UI information acquisition unit 233. Here, a case where the information processing apparatus 2 provides a desktop UI and a touch UI will be described as an example.

  As illustrated in FIG. 8, the UI information acquisition unit 233 identifies the input method used when the user performs an operation based on the command information input from the operation monitoring unit 231 (S900). The UI information acquisition unit 233 that specified the input method refers to the UI information table shown in FIG. 6 stored in the UI information DB 232 when the specified input method is an input method using a mouse (S801 / YES). The desktop UI information associated with the input method using the mouse is acquired (S802). On the other hand, when the specified input method is not the input method using the mouse, that is, the input method using the touch operation (S801 / NO), the UI information acquisition unit 233 refers to the UI information table shown in FIG. The touch UI information associated with the input method by operation is acquired (S803).

  Based on the UI information acquired by the UI information acquisition unit 233, the screen generation unit (screen generation unit) 234 generates a UI screen corresponding to the input method used when the user performs an operation. This is transmitted to the application 204 or the display control unit 202. As a result, a UI screen corresponding to the input method used when the user performs an operation is displayed on the LCD 60 of the information processing apparatus 2.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus 2 of the present embodiment when displaying a UI corresponding to the input method used by the user will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. Here, a case will be described as an example where a UI printout setting screen (hereinafter referred to as a “print setting screen”) corresponding to the input method used by the user is displayed. For example, when a “print” button included in the GUI of the application 204 is pressed, the display control unit 202 displays the print control screen shown in FIG. 5 on the LCD 60 of the information processing apparatus 2 as shown in FIG. (S900). As a result, the printer driver 220 is called.

  The printer driver 220 called when the print control screen is displayed starts monitoring the subsequent operation (S901). During operation monitoring by the printer driver 220, the operation control unit 203 acquires an operation signal generated by a user operation performed on the print control screen displayed by the display control unit 202 (S902). For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10A, when the user points and clicks the “print setting” button displayed on the print control screen with a mouse, the operation control unit 203 displays a UI activation command. Is generated.

  When detecting that the operation control unit 203 has acquired the operation signal, the printer driver 220 that monitors the operation generates and acquires command information based on the detected operation signal and the like (S903). The printer driver 220 that has acquired the command information specifies the input method used by the user from the acquired command information (S904). For example, as shown in FIG. 10A, when the user performs a start operation by pointing and clicking the “print setting” button with the mouse, the printer driver 220 uses the mouse for the input method used by the user. Identifies the input method.

  The printer driver 220 that has specified the input method acquires UI information corresponding to the input method, generates a UI print setting screen corresponding to the input method, and transmits the UI print setting screen to the display control unit 202 (S905). For example, if the specified input method is a mouse input method, the printer driver 220 generates a print setting screen as shown in FIG. The print setting screen shown in FIG. 10B includes a desktop UI having a setting value selection area as shown in FIG. The display control unit 202 to which the print setting screen is transmitted displays the transmitted print setting screen on the LCD 60 of the information processing apparatus 2 (S906).

  As shown in FIG. 11A, when the user touches the “print setting” button displayed on the print control screen with a finger, the operation process shown in FIG. ) Is displayed on the LCD 60 of the information processing apparatus 2. The print setting screen shown in FIG. 11B includes a touch UI having a setting value selection area as shown in FIG. For example, when the “color mode” button on the left side of the print setting screen shown in FIG. 11B is selected by touching with a finger, a selection area for setting values of the color mode is displayed on the right side. When “black and white” in the color mode selection area is touched with a finger, “black and white” is selected.

  As described above, when the user performs an operation for starting the UI of the printer driver 220 (for example, an operation of pressing the “print setting” button displayed on the print control screen), the input method used for the operation is used. A UI (for example, a print setting screen) of the printer driver 220 corresponding to is displayed.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the input method used for the operation is specified from the command information generated by the operation for starting the printer driver UI, and the UI information corresponding to the specified input method is acquired. Then, the UI of the printer driver is displayed based on the acquired UI information. As a result, when the user wants to operate the UI with an input method different from the input method corresponding to the UI selected first, the user performs the starting operation with the input method to be used when starting the UI to be operated. As a result, the UI corresponding to the used input method can be switched, so that the user can switch to the corresponding UI without reselecting the UI corresponding to the input method desired to be used.

  Next, an embodiment in which a UI suitable for performing operations on intermediate data generated by a virtual printer driver is displayed will be described. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 2 that realizes such an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the information processing apparatus 2 includes a virtual printer driver 240, an intermediate data storage unit 270, and a preview application 280 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. The virtual printer driver 240 includes a graphic unit 250 and a UI unit 260. The graphic unit 250 includes a command information adding unit 251.

  The virtual printer driver 240 has a function conforming to the printer driver 220, and generates information in a format conforming to a print job such as EMF (Enhanced MetaFile) as intermediate data. The intermediate data is generated from output target information (image data) that is an image to be printed before actual print output is performed, and preview processing and simple document editing and page before print output are performed. 2 shows a preprocessed image that is an image used in preprocessing such as editing processing such as replacement. Thereafter, a print job is generated by the printer driver 220 based on the intermediate data.

  More specifically, the graphic unit 250 of the virtual printer driver 240 receives data from the application 204 in the same manner as the graphic unit 221 of the printer driver 220. The graphic unit 250 converts the received data into information in a format that conforms to the print job and can be previewed and edited, and performs the same processing as the UI unit 230 of the printer driver 220. The print setting information set through the UI unit 260 is held and stored in the intermediate data storage unit 270.

  The command information adding unit (command information adding unit) 251 of the graphic unit 250 is one of the configurations that realize the gist according to the present embodiment described below, and details thereof will be described later. The preview application 280 performs preview processing based on the intermediate data stored in the intermediate data storage unit 270, performs editing processing on the intermediate data, and passes the processed intermediate data to the printer driver 220. That is, the preview application 280 functions as a preprocessing unit that performs preprocessing for causing the intermediate data to be printed out.

  In such a system configuration, when an operation is performed on the intermediate data, a screen (for example, a preview display screen and an edit screen) displayed with a UI suitable for the operating user is generated and the LCD 60 of the information processing apparatus 2 is displayed. It is the gist according to the present embodiment to be displayed. Hereinafter, functional configurations of the command information adding unit 251 and the preview application 280 of the graphic unit 250 according to the present embodiment will be described as configurations according to the present embodiment.

  The command information adding unit 251 of the graphic unit 250 acquires the command information generated by the UI unit 260 in the same manner as the UI unit 230 in the above-described embodiment, adds the command information to the generated intermediate data, and stores it in the intermediate data storage unit 270. Remember. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of intermediate data generated by the virtual printer driver 240. As shown in FIG. 13, the intermediate data is composed of generated EMF format data and command information given to the head of the EMF format data.

  In the intermediate data shown in FIG. 13, the instruction information is given at the beginning of the data, but it may be given at the end of the data or stored in another file associated with the intermediate data. Alternatively, it may be given as format information of EMF data. In addition to the EMF format described above, the format conforming to the print job may be a known format such as XPS (XML Paper Specification), PDF (Portable Document Format), or an original format.

  Next, the functional configuration of the preview application 280 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the preview application 280. As illustrated in FIG. 14, the preview application 280 includes an intermediate data acquisition unit 281, a preview generation unit 282, a UI unit 283, and a preview editing unit 284.

  The intermediate data acquisition unit 281 acquires the intermediate data stored in the intermediate data storage unit 270 in response to a preview request from the user, and outputs the intermediate data to the preview generation unit 282, UI unit 283, and preview editing unit 284. The preview generation unit 282 generates a preview image (an output result confirmation image for confirming the output result of the print output) based on the intermediate data input from the intermediate data acquisition unit 281, and outputs the preview image to the UI unit 283. To do.

  The UI unit 283 is configured by removing the operation monitoring unit 231 from the functional configuration of the UI unit 230 of the printer driver 220 illustrated in FIG. 4. That is, the UI unit 283 includes a UI information DB 232, a UI information acquisition unit 233, and a screen generation unit 234. The UI information acquisition unit 233 acquires the command information attached to the intermediate data input from the intermediate data acquisition unit 281 and, as described in the functional configuration of the UI unit 230 of the printer driver 220, from the acquired command information. UI information corresponding to the specified input method is acquired.

  Based on the UI information input from the UI information acquisition unit 233 and the preview image input from the preview generation unit 282, the screen generation unit 234 uses the input used in the operation performed by the user for generating intermediate data. A UI preview display editing screen corresponding to the method is generated and transmitted to the display control unit 202. As a result, a UI preview display editing screen corresponding to the input method used in the operation performed by the user for generating the intermediate data is displayed on the LCD 60 of the information processing apparatus 2.

  Note that the preview display editing screen displays the preview image generated by the preview generation unit 282 and performs editing processing such as document editing and page replacement based on the displayed preview image as necessary. This is a screen that can be performed. The preview display screen and the edit screen do not need to be displayed on the same screen. For example, the edit screen may be displayed by pressing an “edit” button on the preview display screen. The preview editing unit 284 receives the editing process performed on the preview display editing screen and executes the received editing process.

  In addition, the configuration according to the present embodiment of the UI unit 230 and the UI unit 260 in the above embodiment is the same configuration, that is, the configuration illustrated in FIG. 4. Therefore, the configuration according to the present embodiment of each UI unit can be provided as a highly portable configuration such as an import library file format (.lib) and a DLL (Dynamic Link Library) file format. However, it is not limited to these formats, and may be provided in the EXE file format.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information processing apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment that displays a UI suitable for performing operations on intermediate data generated by the virtual printer driver will be described with reference to the sequence diagram shown in FIG. Here, as shown in FIG. 10A, a case where the user performs a start operation by pointing and clicking the “print setting” button displayed on the print control screen with a mouse will be described as an example. .

  As shown in FIG. 15, the virtual printer driver 240 that is called when the print control screen is displayed and monitors the operation is clicked with the mouse on the “print setting” button, and the operation control unit 203 outputs an operation signal. When the acquisition is detected, command information is generated and acquired based on the detected operation signal or the like (S1500). The virtual printer driver 240 that has acquired the command information identifies the input method used by the user as the input method using the mouse from the acquired command information, and generates a print setting screen of the desktop UI corresponding to the input method (S1501). ). Further, the virtual printer driver 240 generates intermediate data based on the setting information set via the generated print setting screen, and adds the acquired command information to the intermediate data (S1502).

  The intermediate data storage unit 270 stores the intermediate data to which the command information generated by the virtual printer driver 240 is added (S1503). In response to the user's preview request, the preview application 280 acquires the intermediate data stored in the intermediate data storage unit 270, and acquires command information from the intermediate data (S1504).

  The preview application 280 that has acquired the instruction information from the intermediate data specifies that the input method is an input method using a mouse from the instruction information, and generates a desktop UI preview display editing screen corresponding to the input method (S1505). Data editing of the print output target is accepted via the generated preview display editing screen, and when editing is completed, the edited data is transmitted to the printer driver 220. (S1506). Upon receiving the edited data, the printer driver 220 generates a print job based on the edited data (S1507).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, intermediate data to which command information generated by an operation for starting the UI unit of the virtual printer driver 240 is generated is generated. A UI corresponding to the input method specified from the assigned command information is displayed. As a result, it is possible to display a UI suitable for the operating user without selecting the UI for further operating the data generated via the UI corresponding to the input method used by the user. .

  In the above-described embodiment, the operation monitoring unit 231 of the printer driver 220 detects an operation signal indicating a UI activation command input to the operation control unit 203, and the command information is based on the detected operation signal or the like. The case of generating is described as an example. In addition, instead of the operation monitoring unit 231 of the printer driver 220, a monitoring application 205 is added to the configuration of the information processing apparatus 2 as illustrated in FIG. 16, and the monitoring application 205 receives an operation signal input to the operation control unit 203. When monitoring is performed and an operation signal indicating a UI activation command by the UI unit 230 of the printer driver 220 is detected, command information may be generated based on the detected operation signal or the like. That is, the monitoring application 205 functions as a command information acquisition unit that acquires command information. In this case, the UI information acquisition unit 233 of the UI unit 230 acquires the command information generated by the monitoring application 205, and specifies the input method used when the user performs an operation.

  The application 204 may generate command information based on the operation signal input from the operation control unit 203 and the type information of the input interface corresponding to the operation control unit 203 that has input the operation signal. The operation monitoring unit 231 and the monitoring application 205 of the driver 220 are not necessary. In this case, the application 204 also functions as a command information acquisition unit that acquires command information. For the virtual printer driver 240 in the above embodiment, the command information may be generated by the monitoring application 205 or the application 204 instead of the operation monitoring unit 231.

  In the above-described embodiment, the input method using the mouse and the input method using the touch operation are described as examples of the input method. However, the input method is not limited to this. Any method may be used as long as command information for specifying an input method is generated, such as an input method for inputting data obtained by scanning an operation and converting the signal as an operation command, and an input method using an acceleration sensor.

  In the above embodiment, in the configuration in which the printer driver and the virtual printer driver that control the image processing apparatus 1 functioning as a printer are installed in the information processing apparatus 2, a UI corresponding to the input method that the user wants to use is displayed. The case has been described as an example. However, a driver to which the present embodiment is applied is not limited to a printer driver, and a setting screen or an edit such as a scanner driver that controls the image processing apparatus 1 that functions as a scanner and a projector driver that controls the image processing apparatus 1 that functions as a projector. Any driver may be used as long as it performs control for starting up a UI such as a screen.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image processing apparatus 2 Information processing terminal 10 CPU
20 RAM
30 ROM
40 HDD
50 I / F
60 LCD
70 Operation Unit 80 Bus 200 Controller 201 Network Control Unit 202 Display Control Unit 203 Operation Control Unit 204 Application 205 Monitoring Application 210 Network I / F
220 Printer Driver 221 Graphic Unit 230 UI Unit 231 Operation Monitoring Unit 232 UI Information DB
233 UI information acquisition unit 234 Screen generation unit 240 Virtual printer driver 250 Graphic unit 251 Command information addition unit 260 UI unit 270 Intermediate data storage unit 280 Preview application 281 Intermediate data acquisition unit 282 Preview generation unit 283 UI unit 284 Preview editing unit

JP 2004-030166 A

Claims (9)

Storage means for storing a plurality of screen configuration information which is information corresponding to each of a plurality of input methods and is information for configuring an input reception screen for receiving an input by the input method;
What information der instruction input for displaying the input window, the command information acquisition unit for acquiring instruction information including information about the type of input device used to input the instruction,
Screen configuration information acquisition means for acquiring the screen configuration information based on the command information acquired by the command information acquisition means;
Screen generation means for generating the input reception screen based on the acquired screen configuration information;
Information on an image generated based on output target information, which is information on an image that is an object of image formation output by the image processing apparatus, and information on an image that is used in preprocessing for executing the image formation output and preprocessed image data generating means said front including the instruction information processing image data to generate and stored in the serial憶媒body,
Preprocessing means for performing the preprocessing for causing the image formation output to be executed using the preprocessed image data;
Including
The preprocessing means includes
Obtaining the command information from the preprocessed image data stored in the storage medium;
Obtaining the screen configuration information based on the obtained instruction information;
Based on the acquired screen configuration information, generating the input reception screen that receives an input for performing the pre-processing,
An information processing apparatus characterized by that. The command information acquisition unit detects an operation signal generated by performing an operation on the input device of the information processing apparatus, and the detected operation signal is input to display the input reception screen. If it is a command signal, command information is generated based on the detected operation signal.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The type information indicates a type of the input device on which an operation corresponding to the detected operation signal is performed.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The preprocessing means includes
Generating an output result confirmation image for confirming the output result of the output target information based on the preprocessed image data;
Generating the input acceptance screen including the generated output result confirmation image;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3. The preprocessing unit edits the preprocessed image data based on information input via the input reception screen including the generated output result confirmation image;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 4. The screen generation unit generates the input reception screen that receives an input for setting setting information used in image formation output by the image processing apparatus.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus. A control program for controlling an information processing apparatus having storage means for storing a plurality of screen configuration information, which is information corresponding to each of a plurality of input methods and for configuring an input reception screen for receiving an input by the input method Because
What information der instruction input for displaying the input receiving screen, acquiring instruction information including information about the type of input device used to input the instruction,
Acquiring the screen configuration information based on the acquired command information;
Generating the input acceptance screen based on the acquired screen configuration information;
Information on an image generated based on output target information, which is information on an image that is an object of image formation output by the image processing apparatus, and information on an image that is used in preprocessing for executing the image formation output a step of said generating a preprocessed image data including the command information, is stored in the serial憶媒body,
Performing the preprocessing for executing the image formation output using the preprocessed image data;
Including
In the step of performing the preprocessing,
Obtaining the command information from the preprocessed image data stored in the storage medium;
Acquiring the screen configuration information based on the acquired command information;
Causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of generating the input reception screen that receives an input for performing the preprocessing based on the acquired screen configuration information;
A control program characterized by that. The step of generating the input reception screen generates the input reception screen for receiving an input for setting setting information used at the time of image formation output by the image processing apparatus.
The control program according to claim 7. Storage means for storing a plurality of screen configuration information which is information corresponding to each of a plurality of input methods and is information for configuring an input reception screen for receiving an input by the input method;
What information der instruction input for displaying the input window, the command information acquisition unit for acquiring instruction information including information about the type of input device used to input the instruction,
Screen configuration information acquisition means for acquiring the screen configuration information based on the command information acquired by the command information acquisition means;
Screen generation means for generating the input reception screen based on the acquired screen configuration information;
Information on an image generated based on output target information, which is information on an image that is an object of image formation output by the image processing apparatus, and information on an image that is used in preprocessing for executing the image formation output and preprocessed image data generating means said front including the instruction information processing image data to generate and stored in the serial憶媒body,
Preprocessing means for performing the preprocessing for causing the image formation output to be executed using the preprocessed image data;
Including
The preprocessing means includes
Obtaining the command information from the preprocessed image data stored in the storage medium;
Obtaining the screen configuration information based on the obtained instruction information;
Based on the acquired screen configuration information, generating the input reception screen that receives an input for performing the pre-processing,
An image processing system characterized by that.