JP6608175B2 - Information processing apparatus, control method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) that can cause a printer to perform processing based on the job by transmitting the job to an external apparatus such as a printer is known. . A user using such a PC can know whether or not a job has been transmitted to a printer by browsing a graphical user interface of a job queue in Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation.

  However, at this time, even if the user can know that the job has been transmitted to the printer, the user cannot know whether the job has been processed by the printer. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, the job status can be monitored by holding a job in a spooler provided in the PC until job processing is completed by the printer (hereinafter, this processing is referred to as job holding processing). Technology is disclosed.

JP2007-011469

  However, if job holding processing is executed when a received job is queued in a job queue and the job is transmitted to a printer that processes the jobs in the queued order (a printer having a job queue), Such a problem occurs.

  A printer having a job queue can receive jobs from a plurality of PCs and process the jobs in the order received. Here, it is assumed that the PC 1 transmits job 1 and job 2 and the PC 2 transmits job 3 to the printer. If the PC 1 executes the job holding process when transmitting the job 1, the job 1 is held in the spooler, and therefore the job 2 cannot be transmitted until the processing of the job 1 is completed. In this state, when the PC 2 transmits the job 3 to the printer, the printer gives priority to the job 3 even though the PC 1 tried to transmit the job 2 earlier than the PC 2 transmitted the job 3. It will be processed. As described above, when a job holding process is executed when a job is transmitted to a printer having a job queue, there is a possibility that the job processing order may be overtaken.

Patent Document 1 does not consider whether a printer that is a job transmission destination includes a job queue when determining whether to perform job holding processing. For this reason, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the above-described problem cannot be avoided.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an information processing apparatus, a control method, and a program that can execute job holding processing when appropriate according to the capability of an external apparatus. .

Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the program of the present invention
An acquisition step of acquiring from the external device capability information including information indicating whether or not the external device has a job queue capable of managing the job processing order;
A reception step for receiving a job transmission instruction;
A storing step of storing the capability information acquired from the external device by the acquiring step executed before the receiving step as cache information;
A transmission step to manage the job, to transmit the job to the spooler to manage with recognizing management function whether or not the transmission of the jobs managed has been completed, to the external device after the receiving step,
Wherein when the processing of the job transmitted by the transmission step is not completed by the external device, wherein not transmitting the job to the job the spooler even though the transmission is completed to the external device is completed A processing step for executing a job holding process to be recognized as a program,
An instruction to send the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method in which the program cannot detect that the external apparatus is newly connected has been received in the receiving step. In the case, the acquisition step is executed even after the reception step,
In the acquisition step, an instruction to transmit the job to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is received in the reception step, and executed after the reception step. If the acquired capability information includes information indicating that the external apparatus includes the job queue, the information processing apparatus does not execute the job holding process and does not execute the job holding process. An instruction to transmit the job to the connected external device is accepted in the accepting step, and the external device adds the job to the capability information obtained in the obtaining step executed after the accepting step. If not include information indicating that you have provided the queue, it executes the job holding process,
An instruction to send the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method that allows the program to detect that the external apparatus is newly connected has been received in the receiving step. In this case, the acquisition step is not performed after the reception step,
An instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method is accepted in the accepting step, and the external apparatus includes the job queue in the cache information. The job holding process is not executed, and the job transmission instruction to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method is not included in the job holding process. accepted in accepting step, and the case where the external device to the cache information is not include information indicating that comprise the job queue, characterized and Turkey to perform the job retention process.

  According to the information processing apparatus, control method, and program of the present invention, job holding processing can be executed when appropriate according to the capability of an external apparatus.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the communication system comprised by the information processing apparatus and external device in this embodiment 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer driver included in an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment. The flowchart which shows the port initialization process which the information processing apparatus in this embodiment performs The flowchart which shows the acquisition process of the capability information which the information processing apparatus in this embodiment performs The flowchart which shows the process at the time of the transmission of the job which the information processing apparatus in this embodiment performs The flowchart which shows the process which judges whether the cache information which the information processing apparatus in this embodiment performs is effective or invalid The flowchart which shows the cache information reading process which the information processing apparatus in this embodiment performs The flowchart which shows the process which judges whether the job holding process which the information processing apparatus in this embodiment performs is performed The flowchart which shows the job holding process which the information processing apparatus in this embodiment performs Description example of capability information handled by information processing apparatus in this embodiment

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is also within the scope of the present invention, as long as it does not depart from the spirit of the present invention, and based on the ordinary knowledge of those skilled in the art, the embodiments described below are appropriately modified and improved. It should be understood to enter.

(First embodiment)
An information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied and an external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described. In this embodiment, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) is exemplified as the information processing apparatus. The information processing apparatus is not limited to a PC, and various apparatuses such as an image processing apparatus, a portable terminal, a smartphone, a notebook PC, a tablet terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), and a digital camera can be applied. Further, as an external device connected to the information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, an ink jet printer that can communicate with the information processing apparatus is illustrated. In addition, an image processing apparatus other than an inkjet printer, a PC, a portable terminal, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a PDA, a digital camera, a television, a scanner, or the like can be used as an external apparatus. The image processing apparatus other than the ink jet printer is, for example, an apparatus such as a full color laser beam printer, a monochrome printer, a copying machine, or a facsimile machine. Further, these devices may be multi-function or single function.

  A configuration of a communication system including the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment and the external apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. Further, in the present embodiment, the following configuration is described as an example, but the present embodiment is applicable to an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with an external device, and the function is particularly limited as shown in this figure. Not what you want.

  The PC 110 is an information processing apparatus in the present embodiment. The PC 110 includes an input I / F 111, a CPU 112, a ROM 113, an output I / F 114, an external storage device 115, a RAM 116, an input device 117, an output device 118, and an input / output I / F 119.

  The CPU 112 is a system control unit and controls the entire PC 110.

  The ROM 113 stores fixed data such as a control program executed by the CPU 112 and a data table.

  The external storage device 115 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS), a printer driver, and other various data and software. In this embodiment, it is assumed that Windows (registered trademark) is used for the OS as an example.

  The RAM 116 is constituted by an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) that requires a backup power source, and data is held by a primary battery for data backup (not shown). Note that the RAM 116 stores program control variables and the like that are difficult to erase data. The RAM 116 is used as a work memory by various programs stored in the ROM 113 and the external storage device 115.

  The input device 117 corresponds to an operation unit that receives an operation from the user, and includes a numeric input key, a mode setting key, a determination key, a cancel key, a power key, and the like. The input device 117 is connected to the input I / F 111. The input I / F 111 is an interface for accepting data input and operation instructions from the user via the input device 117. The output device 118 corresponds to a display unit that displays data and the state of the PC 110, and includes an LED (light emitting diode), an LCD (liquid crystal display), and the like. Note that the output device 118 is connected to the output I / F 114. The output I / F 114 is an interface that performs control for the output device 118 to perform data display and notification of the state of the PC 110. Note that the input device 117 and the output device 118 may have the same configuration by performing information display and operation reception using the same member.

  The input / output I / F 119 is connected to the input / output I / F 125 via the connection interface 130. By connecting the input / output I / F 119 and the input / output I / F 125, the PC 110 and the printer 120 can communicate with each other. The input / output I / F 119 corresponds to the port in this embodiment. The term “port” is used to enable communication between devices having ports by connecting the ports via the connection interface 130. Examples of the port type include a network port for connection via a network and a USB port for connection with a printer via USB. In connection via a network, the network port may be directly connected via a wireless connection, or may be connected via an access point installed on a wired network. The connection via the network is performed by, for example, a wired LAN or a wireless LAN. Examples of communication methods for connection include Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) and Bluetooth (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication; ISO / IEC IS 18092), and the like. Note that the network ports may be prepared individually according to each communication method and connection method. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the PC 110 is connected to the printer 120 using the port 1.

  The connection interface 130 is, for example, a USB or a LAN, but is not limited thereto. The communication may be performed directly by wireless communication or may be performed via an access point installed on a wired network. Examples of the communication method include Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth (registered trademark), NFC (Near Field Communication; ISO / IEC IS 18092), and the like.

  The printer 120 is an external device in the present embodiment. The printer 120 includes a RAM 121, a ROM 122, a print engine 123, a CPU 124, and an input / output I / F 125.

  The CPU 124 is a system control unit and controls the entire printer 120.

  The ROM 122 stores fixed data such as a control program executed by the CPU 124 and a data table.

  The RAM 121 is configured by an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) that requires a backup power source, and data is held by a primary battery for data backup (not shown). Note that the RAM 121 stores program control variables and the like that are difficult to delete data. The RAM 121 is used as a work memory for the CPU 124 and is also used as a temporary storage buffer for received data.

  Based on the data stored in the RAM 121 and the print job received from the PC 110, the print engine 123 forms an image on a recording medium such as paper using a recording agent such as ink, and outputs the printing result.

  The input / output I / F 125 is connected to the input / output I / F 119 via the connection interface 130.

  The configuration of software stored in the external storage device 115 will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. Of the configurations shown in FIG. 2, configurations 202, 204 to 206 are OS modules, and configurations 203, 207, and 208 are printer driver modules. Each configuration is either an OS or a printer driver module. It ’s okay. The processing executed by each configuration is realized by the CPU 112 reading a program corresponding to each configuration from the external storage device 115, loading it into the RAM 116, and executing the program. The application 201 is stored in the external storage device 115 and creates print data including drawing information including image information and character information such as paid content to be printed, print setting information such as paper size and layout, and the like. The print data created by the application 201 is added with print setting information returned from the UI module 203 via the OS print support function 202, and is temporarily stored in the job queue 205 of the spooler 204 as spool data 206. The spooler 204 has a job management function, and holds and manages the passed spool data 206 until it recognizes that the transmission of the print job corresponding to the spool data 206 is completed. Specifically, the spooler 204 manages, for example, the size and job name of a print job for each printer, and transmits the managed information to the status display application, so that the information is output to the output device 118 and the like. indicate. Further, in preparation for an error such as a paper jam, the job itself including the print data may be held until the end of the job. Note that information on the spool data 206 stored in the job queue 205 can be referred to using a predetermined interface function via the graphics driver 207, UI module 203, application 201, and the like. The spool data 206 is converted into a print command interpretable by the printer 120 by the graphics driver 207, and a print job is generated. The generated print job is transmitted from the spooler 204 to the language monitor 208. The language monitor 208 divides the print job into packets of a specific size and transmits the packets to the printer 120 via the input / output I / F 119 and the input / output I / F 125 one by one. At this time, the size of data to be transmitted at one time is instructed by the spooler 204. The spooler 204 executes the instruction when instructed by the application 201 or the UI module 203. As a function of the language monitor 208, there is a function of acquiring information on the status of the printer 120 or a job input to the printer 120. The job is, for example, a print job, a scan job, a maintenance job, or the like. The PC 110 transmits a job to the printer 120 to execute processing such as printing, scanning, and maintenance according to the job.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the port initialization process in this embodiment. The port initialization process is a process in which the PC 110 acquires capability information and Device ID of a printer connected to a port included in the PC 110, and stores the acquired information in association with a port to be initialized.

  The capability information is information indicating the printer setting status and capability. The capability information includes, for example, static information about the printer such as a printer serial number, printer setting information, information on functions supported by the printer, and the like, and is described by XML data as shown in FIG. . In the XML data of FIG. 10, the status tag returns a response result to the inquiry, and in this example, the inquiry is successful. The device tag represents basic information of the printer. For example, the model tag represents the model name of the printer, and the serial number tag represents the printer identification number. Further, the silentmode tag indicates whether the printer supports the silent mode, and the queue tag indicates whether the printer has a job queue. A job queue is a configuration for queuing and holding jobs, and a printer equipped with a job queue can queue received jobs in the job queue and process the jobs in the queued order. it can. Further, the print quality tag represents the print quality level supported by the printer, and the papersize tag represents the size of the recording medium supported by the printer. Further, the option hdd tag indicates whether the option is supported. An option is a device that can be attached to and detached from the printer 120. By attaching the option to the printer 120, a function corresponding to the optional device can be added to the printer 120 or a conventional function can be expanded. Options for the printer 120 include, for example, an additional memory, a paper feed unit, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) unit, and the like. Further, functions that can be added / expanded to the printer 120 include, for example, the type and number of recording media that can be held, Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication, and a job queuing function.

  In addition, the capability information includes information on whether color printing, monochrome printing, double-sided printing, borderless printing, scanning function, etc. are supported, and information on the print data format supported by the printer. Etc. may be expressed. Further, these pieces of information may be expressed by a description method other than XML.

  The device ID is information unique to the printer for identifying the printer, such as a serial number.

  The port initialization process is executed, for example, when the OS is started, when a printer driver is installed, or when a printer connected to the PC 110 is reconnected. In addition, it is executed when a job is transmitted to the printer, when a printer driver UI is opened, when a request for acquiring capability information of the printer is made from the application 201, or the like. The port for which the port initialization process is performed is determined by the execution factor of the port initialization process. For example, when the port initialization process is executed when the OS is started, the port initialization process is executed for all ports to which the printer is connected. When the printer connected to the PC 110 is reconnected or when the port initialization process is executed when a job is transmitted to the printer, the port initialization process is performed when the printer to be processed is connected. It is executed for the specified port.

  In the following description, the processing performed by the language monitor 208 is actually realized by the CPU 112 executing a program corresponding to the language monitor 208 stored in the external storage device 115. In the following description, it is assumed that port initialization processing is performed for port 1.

  First, in step S <b> 301, the language monitor 208 executes a capability information acquisition process for the printer (printer 120) connected to the port 1. Details of the processing of S301 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Subsequently, in S302, the language monitor 208 acquires the device ID of the printer 120, and stores it in the external storage device 115 in a nonvolatile manner in association with the capability information acquired in S301 and the port 1. The device ID can be acquired by, for example, transmitting a command for the device monitor 208 to acquire the device ID to the printer 120.

  Next, details of the capability information acquisition process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing details of the capability information acquisition process. In the following description, the processing performed by the language monitor 208 is actually realized by the CPU 112 executing a program corresponding to the language monitor 208 stored in the external storage device 115. The printer that is the target of the capability information acquisition process is determined by the execution factor of the capability information acquisition process. When executed during the port initialization process, the capability information acquisition process is executed for the printer connected to the port to be initialized. When executed at the time of job transmission as will be described later, the capability information acquisition process is executed for the printer to which the job is sent. In the following description, it is assumed that the capability information acquisition process is executed for the printer 120.

  First, in step S <b> 401, the language monitor 208 acquires capability information of the printer 120. In the present embodiment, the language monitor 208 transmits a unicast including XML data according to the capability information acquisition protocol to the printer 120, and then transmits and receives the XML data via TCP communication. Information shall be obtained. At this time, the language monitor 208 also reads the capability information of the printer 120.

  Subsequently, in S402, the language monitor 208 determines whether or not the process of S401 has succeeded and capability information has been acquired. If it is determined that the capability information has been acquired, the language monitor 208 associates the acquired capability information as cache information with the port (port 1) to which the printer 120 is connected in step S403 and associates it with the external storage device 115. Is stored in a nonvolatile manner, and then the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the capability information has not been acquired, such as when data communication has failed, the language monitor 208 determines the capability of the printer 120 from the cache information stored in association with port 1 in S404. Read information. Thereafter, the language monitor 208 ends the process. At this time, the language monitor 208 also ends the processing in a state where the reading of the cache information has failed even when the reading of the cache information fails.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing at the time of job transmission. In the following description, the processing performed by the language monitor 208 is actually realized by the CPU 112 executing a program corresponding to the language monitor 208 stored in the external storage device 115. In the following description, it is assumed that the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is performed when a job is transmitted to the printer 120.

  First, in step S <b> 501, the language monitor 208 acquires the device ID of the printer 120 and associates the device ID of the printer 120 with the port (port 1) to which the printer 120 is connected in a nonvolatile manner in the external storage device 115. To do. At this time, the Device ID previously stored in association with the port 1 is stored without being deleted because it is used in the processing of S502.

  In step S <b> 502, the language monitor 208 executes processing for determining whether or not the cache information of capability information stored in the external storage device 115 in a nonvolatile manner in association with the port 1 is valid. Details of the process for determining whether the cache information is valid or invalid will be described later with reference to FIG.

In step S503, the language monitor 208 determines whether the cache information is determined to be valid as a result of the processing in step S501. In S501, if the cache information is determined to be invalid, the language monitor 208, so should not be caching information, at S50 4 deletes the cached information, S50 5 in the capability information of the printer 120 Execute the acquisition process. S50 acquisition processing capability information 5 will be omitted since it is similar to the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. If it is determined in S501 that the cache information is valid, the language monitor 208 determines in S509 whether the capability information of the printer 120 has been read. For example, if the capability information of the printer 120 has already been read at the time of port initialization processing of the port 1, the language monitor 208 determines that the capability information of the printer 120 has been read, and the processing of S506 I do. On the other hand, if the capability information reading of the printer 120 has failed in the port initialization processing of the port 1, it is determined that the capability information of the printer 120 has not been read, and the cache information reading processing in S510 is performed. Execute. Details of the cache information reading process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  Subsequently, in S506, the language monitor 208 executes a process for determining whether or not to execute the job holding process. The job holding process is a process of leaving a job in the job queue 205 by notifying the spooler 204 that the job transmission is not completed even if the job transmission is actually completed. . By executing the job holding process, the language monitor 208 can monitor the status of the job until the printer 120 completes the job processing by the function of the language monitor 208. Specifically, the language monitor 208 can monitor the presence / absence of an error in job processing and whether or not job processing has been completed as the job status. Details of the process for determining whether or not to execute the job holding process will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S507, the language monitor 208 performs job transmission and job holding processing according to the processing result in step S506. Details of job transmission and job holding processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S <b> 508, the language monitor 208 stores the device ID of the printer 120 in a nonvolatile manner in the external storage device 115 in association with the port to which the printer 120 is connected, and ends the process.

  In recent years, printers that can arbitrarily customize capabilities by attaching / detaching options have been known. The capability information of a printer that supports such an option may change depending on the attachment / detachment of the option. Therefore, when the currently connected printer is a printer that supports the option, there is a possibility that the capability information stored as the cache information and the current capability information of the printer are different from each other. , Cache information should not be used.

  Further, when the printer connected to the PC 110 is switched, the capability information stored in association with the port to which the printer is connected needs to be updated to the capability information of the newly connected printer. is there. However, a port connected to an external device by a predetermined connection method cannot detect that the printer to be connected has been switched. For such a port, even when the connected printer is changed, the port initialization process is not executed, and the capability information associated with the port is not updated. Therefore, if the currently connected printer is a printer connected to a port that cannot detect that the connected printer has been switched, the capability information saved as cache information in advance and the current capability information of the printer are There may be a divergence. Therefore, the language monitor 208 should not use cache information. Therefore, in this embodiment, when performing processing using the cache information of capability information, first, processing for determining whether the cache information is valid or invalid is executed, and when it is determined that the cache information is invalid, acquisition of capability information is performed again. Execute the process.

  Details of processing for determining whether the cache information is valid or invalid will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the processing performed by the language monitor 208 is actually realized by the CPU 112 executing a program corresponding to the language monitor 208 stored in the external storage device 115. In the following description, it is assumed that the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is performed when a job is transmitted to the printer 120.

  First, in step S601, the language monitor 208 determines whether the printer 120 supports the option from the cache information of the stored capability information. If it is determined in step S601 that the option is supported, the cache information should not be used even if the capability information used for the determination is the capability information of the printer 120. Therefore, the language monitor 208 determines in step S606. Cache information is invalid. If it is determined in S601 that the option is not supported, the language monitor 208 performs the process of S602.

  In step S602, the language monitor 208 determines whether the printer 120 is connected to a port on which port initialization processing is executed when the printer is connected. As described above, depending on the type of port, there is a case where it cannot be detected that the connected printer has been switched. For such a port, even when the connected printer is changed, the port initialization process is not executed, and the capability information associated with the port is not updated. The port that can detect that the printer to be connected has been switched and the port initialization process is started when the printer is connected is, for example, a USB port. On the other hand, the port that cannot detect that the printer to be connected has been switched and the port initialization process is not started when the printer is connected is, for example, a network port. When the printer 120 is connected to a port where the port initialization process is activated when the printer is connected, the port initialization process is performed when the printer is connected, and the cache information is updated. Further, it is confirmed by the determination in S601 that the capability information of the printer does not change due to the attachment / detachment of the option after the port initialization process is performed. Therefore, if the language monitor 208 determines in S601 that it is connected to the port on which the port initialization process is executed, it determines that the cache information is valid in S605. On the other hand, if the language monitor 208 determines in S601 that it is not connected to the port on which the port initialization process is executed, it performs the process of S603. The determination in S601 is, for example, whether the port connected to the printer 120 (port 1) is a USB port after identifying the type of port connected to the printer 120 from the port name or the module name of the port monitor. This is done by determining whether or not. Alternatively, it may be performed by identifying which port the cache information is stored in association with and determining whether the port is a USB port.

  If the printer 120 is not connected to a port on which port initialization processing is executed when the printer is connected, the capability information stored as cache information is updated even though the printer is replaced. There is a possibility that it is not. In step S603, the language monitor 208 determines whether the printer 120 is the same as the printer that provides the capability information stored as cache information. If it is determined that the printers are not identical, the capability information stored as the cache information has not been updated, and it is necessary to acquire new capability information. Is considered invalid. On the other hand, if it is determined that the printers are the same, the language monitor 208 determines that the cache information is valid in S605. This determination is performed, for example, by the language monitor 208 comparing the Device ID acquired immediately before in S501 with the Device ID stored before acquiring in S501. The Device ID acquired immediately before in S <b> 501 corresponds to the Device ID of the printer 120. Further, the Device ID stored before acquisition in S501 corresponds to the Device ID of the printer that is the provider of capability information stored as cache information. Note that this determination may be performed by the language monitor 208 comparing the identification information uniquely indicating the printer, such as a printer serial number, or the model name of the printer. The information such as the serial number and the model name may be information included in the device ID.

  A configuration in which the process of S603 is not performed may be employed. In this case, the accuracy of determining whether the cache information is valid or not decreases, but it is not necessary to execute the process of S501, and the load on the PC 110 can be reduced.

  In this embodiment, the language monitor 208 determines whether the cache information is valid or invalid by determining whether or not the capability information of the printer that is the job transmission destination changes. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the language monitor 208 determines whether or not the cache information is valid by determining whether or not the printer that is the job transmission destination and the printer that provides the capability information stored as the cache information are the same. Determine whether it is invalid. By adopting such a form, the language monitor 208 can avoid using invalid information that deviates from the current information. Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in S504 and S505, when it is determined that the cache information is invalid in the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, a capability information acquisition process is executed. By adopting such a form, even when the cache information is invalid, valid information can be acquired again. Further, in the present embodiment, when the cache information is determined to be valid in the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the ability information acquisition process is not executed. Capability information acquisition processing places a burden on both the PC 110 and the printer that provides the capability information. However, in this embodiment, when the cache information is valid and the capability information acquisition process is not required, the capability information acquisition process is not executed. In this embodiment, the load on the PC 110 and the printer is reduced. be able to.

  The process for determining whether the cache information is valid or invalid applies not only to the information processing apparatus that transmits the job, but also to the information processing apparatus that executes various processes that use the cache information related to the connected external device. It is possible. Examples of processing using cache information include processing for notifying the user of the state of an external device connected to the information processing device.

  Details of the cache information reading process will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the processing performed by the language monitor 208 is actually realized by the CPU 112 executing a program corresponding to the language monitor 208 stored in the external storage device 115. In the following description, it is assumed that the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is performed when a job is transmitted to the printer 120.

  First, in step S <b> 701, the language monitor 208 reads the cache information stored in association with the port (port 1) connected to the printer 120, which is stored in the capability information acquisition process. At this time, reading of the cache information fails, for example, when the cache information is intentionally deleted by the user, or when generation of the cache information has never been successful due to insufficient free space in the external storage device 115 or the like. There is a case. Therefore, the language monitor 208 determines whether or not the cache information has been successfully read in S702. When the cache information is successfully read, the language monitor 208 ends the cache information reading process. On the other hand, if the cache information has not been successfully read, the language monitor 208 acquires capability information from the printer 120 in the same manner as described above in S703. Thereafter, the language monitor 208 stores the acquired capability information in a nonvolatile manner in association with the port 1 as the cache information in S704.

  Details of the process for determining whether to execute the job holding process will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the processing performed by the language monitor 208 is actually realized by the CPU 112 executing a program corresponding to the language monitor 208 stored in the external storage device 115. In the following description, it is assumed that the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8 is performed when a job is transmitted to the printer 120.

  The language monitor 208 cannot monitor the job status when it cannot communicate with the printer 120. Therefore, the language monitor 208 first determines whether or not bidirectional communication with the printer 120 is possible in S801. The determination in step S801 is performed, for example, by determining whether the language monitor 208 is set to communicate with the printer 120 using the one-way communication. Note that the determination in S801 may be performed by the language monitor 208 determining whether the port (port 1) to which the printer 120 is connected is a port supported by the language monitor 208. . At this time, for example, the language monitor 208 determines whether or not the port name of the port 1 includes a predetermined character string indicating a port supported by the language monitor 208. The determination in S801 may be performed by determining whether the language monitor 208 has acquired all the expected information from the printer 120. The information expected by the language monitor 208 includes, for example, remaining ink information of the printer 120 and destination information. If the language monitor 208 determines that bidirectional communication is possible, the language monitor 208 performs the process of S802. If the language monitor 208 determines that bidirectional communication is not possible, the language monitor 208 determines that the job holding process is not executed in S804.

When job holding processing is executed when a job is sent to a printer that queues received jobs to the job queue and the jobs are processed in the queued order (a printer having a job queue), the job processing order There is a possibility that overtaking will occur. Therefore, the language monitor 208 should not execute job holding processing when the printer 120 has a job queue. Therefore, whether the language monitor 208, at S802, by referring to the capability information of the read printer 120 at S50 5 or S5 10, the printer 120 supports the job queue (holding the function of the job can be queued) Determine whether or not. If the language monitor 208 determines that the printer 120 has a queue, the language monitor 208 determines in step S804 that the job holding process is not executed. On the other hand, if the language monitor 208 determines that the printer 120 does not include a queue, the language monitor 208 determines to execute job holding processing in step S803. At this time, whether or not the printer 120 has a queue, such as when the capability information cannot be acquired from the printer 120 due to a network trouble or when the capability information does not include information about whether or not the queue has a queue. May not be determined. In this case, the language monitor 208 determines in step S805 that the job holding process is not executed.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the language monitor 208 switches whether or not to execute the job holding process depending on whether or not the job transmission destination printer has a job queue. Further, in the present embodiment, the language monitor 208 does not execute the job holding process when it is unknown whether the job destination printer has a job queue. By adopting such a form, the language monitor 208 can avoid problems that may occur when job holding processing is executed when sending a job to a printer having a job queue, and when appropriate, Job retention processing can be executed. If the process of S502 is not executed, the process of determining whether to execute the job holding process may be performed by referring to the cache information, or the capability information acquisition process is performed immediately before, It may be performed by referring to the acquired ability information.

  Details of job transmission processing and job holding processing will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, the processing performed by the spooler 204 or the language monitor 208 is actually realized by the CPU 112 executing a program corresponding to the spooler 204 or the language monitor 208 stored in the external storage device 115. Shall. In the following description, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 is performed when a command indicating an instruction to start sending a job to the printer 120 is output from the spooler 204 and the language monitor 208 receives the output. Shall be done. After that, data such as actual print data and maintenance commands are output to the language monitor 208. In addition, the language monitor 208 transmits the data of the size instructed from the spooler 204 to the printer 120 while dividing the job.

  First, in step S <b> 901, the language monitor 208 determines whether it is the last data transmission for transmitting a job to the printer 120. This process can be determined by analyzing the command received by the language monitor 208 from the spooler 204 to instruct data transmission.

  If it is determined that it is not the last data transmission, it is not necessary to execute the job holding process yet. Therefore, in S902, the language monitor 208 transmits the instructed size data to the printer 120, and the process of S901 is performed again. Do.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the last data transmission is performed by repeating the processing of S901 to S902, the language monitor 208 determines in S903 whether all data of the job has been transmitted. When the determination of S903 is performed first, since the last data transmission has not been completed, the language monitor 208 transmits data of the instructed size to the printer 120 in S904.

  Thereafter, the language monitor 208 determines in step S905 whether or not the job holding process is determined to be executed in the process of step S506. If it is not determined in step S506 to execute the job holding process, the language monitor 208 notifies the spooler 204 that the job transmission is completed in step S910. Upon receiving the notification from the language monitor 208, the spooler 204 removes the target job from management. Specifically, the spooler 204 deletes / invalidates the target job itself or job information from the job queue 205. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S506 that the job holding process is to be executed, the language monitor 208 acquires job status information from the printer 120 in step S906. Thereafter, in S907, the language monitor 208 writes the information acquired in S906 to a predetermined storage area in order to transmit the information acquired in S906 to the status display application. The status display application may be the print request source application 201, an application different from the print request source application 201, or the UI module 203. The status display application displays the information acquired in S906, displays the information on the output device 118, and notifies the user of job status information.

  Subsequently, the language monitor 208 determines in step S908 whether the printer 120 has completed the job processing. This determination is performed, for example, by acquiring a status indicating the page number of data being printed, acquired from the printer 120. Since this status does not have a value (for example, zero) while printing is not being performed, it can be determined whether or not job processing has been completed. If it is determined that the job processing has not been completed, the language monitor 208 notifies the spooler 204 that the job transmission has not been completed in S909. This process is performed by, for example, returning a byte value less than the specified size to the spooler 204 as a return value for the command for the language monitor 208 to instruct data transmission. Usually, the language monitor 208 returns the exact number of bytes transmitted to the printer 120 as a return value. In this way, the spooler 204 can recognize that the job has been transmitted correctly. However, here, the language monitor 208 returns a value of bytes less than the specified size to the spooler 204 as a return value, thereby causing the spooler 204 to recognize that the job has not been transmitted correctly. Since the spooler 204 recognizes that the data transmission has not been completed, the spooler 204 outputs the data transmission instruction for the unoutput bytes again. However, since all the data has already been transmitted (Yes in S903), the language monitor 208 can acquire the job status again without performing the actual data transmission to the printer 120 (S906). With this configuration, the language monitor 208 can notify the user of job status information while the job holding process is being executed.

The language monitor 208, S901 to repeat the processing of S 907, (YES at S908) the printer 120 in response to the completion of the processing of the job is notified that the transmission of the job is completed to the spooler 204. Specifically, the language monitor 208 returns an accurate value as a return value to the spooler 204. By adopting such a form, the job transmission completion time managed by the spooler 204 and the actual job processing completion time by the printer 120 can be substantially matched, and the user can complete the job processing. Time can be notified.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, whether to execute the job holding process is switched depending on whether the destination printer has a job queue. By adopting such a configuration, the PC 110 can execute job holding processing when appropriate, and can improve user convenience.

<Other embodiments>
In the above-described embodiment, the form in which the software modules installed in the PC 110 cooperate as shown in FIG. 2 has been described, but a form in which this is applied is also assumed. For example, the language monitor 208 may be installed in another PC. In this case, the language monitor 208 and the spooler 204 perform inter-process communication, so that the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained.

  In the above-described embodiment, the software modules of the language monitor 208 and the spooler 204 are shown separately. However, for example, the same effect as in the above-described embodiment can be obtained by one software module executed in one process. I can do it.

  In the above-described embodiment, the mode using the Version 3 printer driver has been described. In recent years, Windows (registered trademark) 8 has adopted a printer driver configuration called a Version 4 printer driver, which is different from the Version 3 printer driver. Language modules are not included in the modules that make up the new printer driver. Therefore, in the Version 4 printer driver, the same function as the language monitor may be realized by a configuration called a filter.

  In determining whether or not to execute the job holding process according to the above-described embodiment, the type of job to be transmitted may be referred to. For example, when transmitting a maintenance job for causing the printer 120 to execute power supply control processing for instructing power ON / OFF of the printer 120, operation mode setting processing of the printer 120 such as an operation sound mode, job holding processing is performed. You may judge not to perform.

  As long as the effects of the above-described embodiment can be realized, the processing order of the flowcharts of the above-described embodiment may be changed, all of the processing may not be executed, or the processing content may be changed. For example, the language monitor 208 may execute the same process as S506 in the process of S905 without executing the process of S506.

  The above-described embodiment supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or apparatus execute the program This process can be realized. The above-described embodiments can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

110 PC
120 Printer 204 Spooler 208 Language Monitor

Claims (14)

In the computer of the information processing device connected to the external device,
An acquisition step of acquiring from the external device capability information including information indicating whether or not the external device has a job queue capable of managing the job processing order;
A reception step for receiving a job transmission instruction;
A storing step of storing the capability information acquired from the external device by the acquiring step executed before the receiving step as cache information;
Transmitting the job managed by a spooler having a management function for recognizing whether or not transmission of the managed job is completed, and transmitting the job to the external device after the receiving step;
When the processing of the job transmitted in the transmission step is not completed by the external device, the transmission of the job to the spooler is completed despite the completion of the transmission of the job to the external device. A processing step for executing a job holding process to be recognized as a program,
An instruction to send the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method in which the program cannot detect that the external apparatus is newly connected has been received in the receiving step. In the case, the acquisition step is executed even after the reception step,
In the acquisition step, an instruction to transmit the job to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is received in the reception step, and executed after the reception step. If the acquired capability information includes information indicating that the external device includes the job queue, the job holding process is not executed,
In the acquisition step, an instruction to transmit the job to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is received in the reception step, and executed after the reception step. If the acquired capability information does not include information indicating that the external device includes the job queue, the job holding process is executed,
An instruction to send the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method that allows the program to detect that the external apparatus is newly connected has been received in the receiving step. In this case, the acquisition step is not performed after the reception step,
An instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method is accepted in the accepting step, and the external apparatus includes the job queue in the cache information. The job holding process is not executed, and the job transmission instruction to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method is not included in the job holding process. The program, which is received in the receiving step and executes the job holding process when the cache information does not include information indicating that the external device includes the job queue. The transmission instruction of the job to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is received in the reception step, and the capability information provider corresponding to the cache information If the external device is different from the external device to which the information processing device is connected via the first connection method, the acquisition step is executed after the receiving step,
The transmission instruction of the job to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is received in the reception step, and the capability information provider corresponding to the cache information The acquisition step is not executed after the accepting step when the external device is not different from the external device to which the information processing apparatus is connected via the first connection method. The program described. An instruction to send the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is accepted in the accepting step, and the external of the provider of capability information corresponding to the cache information Information indicating that the external device includes the job queue is not included in the cache information and the external device to which the information processing device is connected via the first connection method is not different. The job holding process is not executed,
An instruction to send the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is accepted in the accepting step, and the external of the provider of capability information corresponding to the cache information The cache information includes information indicating that the external device is not different from the external device connected to the information processing device via the first connection method, and the cache information includes the job queue. 3. The program according to claim 2, wherein when there is no job, the job holding process is executed.   The acquisition step is executed after the reception step when an instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus whose capability may change due to attachment / detachment of an option is received in the reception step. The program according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The transmission instruction of the job to the external device whose capability may change due to the attachment / detachment of the option is received in the reception step, and acquired in the acquisition step executed after the reception step When the capability information includes information indicating that the external device includes the job queue, the job holding process is not executed,
The transmission instruction of the job to the external device whose capability may change due to the attachment / detachment of the option is received in the reception step, and acquired in the acquisition step executed after the reception step 5. The program according to claim 4, wherein if the capability information does not include information indicating that the external apparatus includes the job queue, the job holding process is executed.   The job holding process is not executed when an instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus that cannot perform bidirectional communication with the information processing apparatus is received in the receiving step. 6. The program according to any one of 5.   The program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first connection method is a connection method for connecting to the external device via a network.   The program according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the second connection method is a connection method for connecting to the external device via a USB.   2. The print job for causing the external apparatus to execute a print process for printing an image on a recording medium included in the external apparatus using a recording agent included in the external apparatus. The program as described in any one of thru | or 8 thru | or 8.   The program according to claim 1, wherein the program is a printer driver.   The program according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the program is a language monitor. An information processing apparatus connected to an external device and having a predetermined program ,
Acquisition means for acquiring from the external device capability information including information indicating whether or not the external device has a job queue capable of managing the job processing order;
Receiving means for receiving a job transmission instruction;
Storage means for storing the capability information acquired from the external device by the acquisition means as cache information before the transmission instruction of the job is received by the reception means;
The job managed by the spooler having a management function for recognizing whether or not the transmission of the managed job is completed is managed after the job transmission instruction is received by the receiving unit. A transmission means for transmitting to an external device;
When the processing of the job transmitted by the transmission unit is not completed by the external device, transmission of the job to the spooler is not completed even though transmission of the job to the external device is completed Processing means for executing job holding processing to be recognized as,
An instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method in which the predetermined program cannot detect that the external apparatus is newly connected is received by the receiving unit. When the job transmission instruction is received by the receiving unit, the capability information is acquired by the acquiring unit,
After an instruction to send the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is accepted by the accepting means, and an instruction to send the job is accepted by the accepting means When the capability information acquired by the acquisition unit includes information indicating that the external device includes the job queue, the job holding process is not executed, and the first connection method is used to execute the job holding process. The capability acquired by the acquisition unit after an instruction to transmit the job to the external device to which the information processing apparatus is connected is received by the reception unit, and the transmission instruction of the job is received by the reception unit If the information does not include information indicating that the external device has the job queue, Run the job holding process,
An instruction to transmit the job to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus is received by the receiving unit via the second connection method in which the predetermined program can detect that the external apparatus is newly connected. If the transmission instruction of the job is received by the receiving unit, the capability information is not acquired by the acquiring unit,
An instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method is received by the receiving unit, and the external apparatus includes the job queue in the cache information. The job holding process is not executed, and the job transmission instruction to the external device connected to the information processing device via the second connection method is not accepted. An information processing apparatus that executes the job holding process when the cache information does not include information indicating that the external apparatus includes the job queue.   13. The print job for causing the external apparatus to execute a print process for printing an image on a recording medium included in the external apparatus using a recording agent included in the external apparatus. The information processing apparatus described in 1. A control method connected to an external device and executed in an information processing apparatus having a predetermined program ,
An acquisition step of acquiring from the external device capability information including information indicating whether or not the external device has a job queue capable of managing the job processing order;
A reception step for receiving a job transmission instruction;
A storing step of storing the capability information acquired from the external device by the acquiring step executed before the receiving step as cache information;
Transmitting the job managed by a spooler having a management function for recognizing whether or not transmission of the managed job is completed, and transmitting the job to the external device after the receiving step;
When the processing of the job transmitted in the transmission step is not completed by the external device, the transmission of the job to the spooler is completed despite the completion of the transmission of the job to the external device. And a processing step for executing a job holding process to be recognized as
An instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method in which the predetermined program cannot detect that the external apparatus is newly connected is received in the reception step. If so, the acquisition step is executed after the reception step,
In the acquisition step, an instruction to transmit the job to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is received in the reception step, and executed after the reception step. If the acquired capability information includes information indicating that the external device includes the job queue, the job holding process is not executed,
In the acquisition step, an instruction to transmit the job to the external device connected to the information processing apparatus via the first connection method is received in the reception step, and executed after the reception step. If the acquired capability information does not include information indicating that the external device includes the job queue, the job holding process is executed,
An instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method that allows the predetermined program to detect that the external apparatus is newly connected is received in the reception step. If it is, do not execute the acquisition step after the acceptance step,
An instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method is accepted in the accepting step, and the external apparatus includes the job queue in the cache information. If the job information is included, the job holding process is not executed,
An instruction to transmit the job to the external apparatus connected to the information processing apparatus via the second connection method is accepted in the accepting step, and the external apparatus includes the job queue in the cache information. When the information indicating that the job is stored is not included, the job holding process is executed.

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