JPH10175353A - Output system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To set securely a printer to a regular state from a sleep state in printing. SOLUTION: Whether a screen (window) is opened or not is judged on a host computer 1 in a system. When it is opened, whether it is a printing screen (window) or not is judged. In the case the printing screen is not opened, no action is taken. In the case the printing screen is opened and a printing program is started, whether a printer is in the sleep mode (stand-by state) or not is judged. In the case of the sleep mode, a regular mode command for setting the printer 2 changing over from the sleep mode to the regular mode is obtained from a pattern power source command storage section 13. Successively the regular mode command is transferred to a printer driver 8. Then, a time data for changing over from the sleep state to the regular state is received and displayed to complete the process.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an interface between a host computer and an output device such as a printer connected to the host computer via a bidirectional interface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it is common practice to connect a host computer to an output device such as a printer via a bidirectional interface to form an output system. When the printer used as the output device does not operate for power saving, the printer enters a sleep mode (standby state) for power saving. During the sleep mode, for example, the supply of electricity to a portion that consumes a large amount of power, such as a heater, is limited, or the frequency of a CPU clock used for controlling the printer is reduced. Even during the sleep mode, data can be received from the host computer. In the output system having this configuration, for example, the timing at which the printer changes from the sleep mode to the normal mode is when the printer receives output data transmitted from the host.

Further, in a conventional printing system, information of a printer obtained by a user is stored in an LE of the printer body.
The user can recognize the status of the printer from the D display, the window display of the printer manager and the like, and the icons of the printer manager and the like displayed during operation.

In a computer system, when installing each system, a user often selects and installs a function or the like suitable for each system. The user often makes the selection by selecting an option on the screen on a selection screen displayed when the user installs the software. In that case, the total time required for the installation was unknown because the files required for the installation differ for each installation. Also, the total time required for installation differs depending on the performance of the system to be installed.

[0005]

However, in a conventional printing system using the above-described printer,
Since the sleep mode is released only after the printer receives the output data transmitted from the host, it takes some time until the printer is started after receiving the data and the printing is actually performed.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system which can start printing immediately when print data is transmitted from a host computer to a printer.

Further, in the conventional system, the user cannot grasp the status of the printer only by looking at the display on the host computer.

Another object of the present invention is to enable a user to easily grasp printer information from a screen.

In the conventional system, it is not possible to know beforehand how long the installation will take before the installation.

An object of the present invention is to enable a time required for installation to be displayed to a user before installation.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In an output system in which a host computer and an output device are connected by a bidirectional interface, the host computer
When the output-related screen is displayed on the computer, it is detected whether or not the output device is in a standby state.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the output system according to the second aspect, the output device notifies a time until the output device is ready to output, and the host computer displays the time.

[0013] The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the output system described above, the output device is a printing device, the output-related screen is a printing-related screen, and the output state is a printable state.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in an output device connected to a host computer, it is notified whether or not the output device is in a standby state according to a command from the host computer, and the output device is connected to a command from the host computer. ,
A state in which output is possible and a time until the state in which output is possible are notified.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the output device according to the fourth aspect, the output device is a printing device, and the output state is a printable state.

With such a configuration, before the host computer transmits output data to an output device, for example, a printing device, it is possible to change from the standby state to the normal state. For this reason, the starting time of the output device can be shortened, and the output device can be operated immediately after data transmission.

In addition, since the time from when the output device, for example, the printing device changes from the standby state to the normal state is displayed, the user can grasp the approximate time until the start.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the output system in which the host computer and the output device are connected by a bidirectional interface, the output device reports its own status to the host computer, and the host computer performs The status of the output device is displayed on the screen by changing the display of the icon representing the output device.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the output system according to the sixth aspect, the output device is a printing device,
The output system, wherein the icon is an icon representing a printing apparatus, and the displayed state is a state of the printing apparatus.

According to the present invention, the output device connected to the host computer notifies the host computer whenever the status of the output device changes, so that the output device has a status display device. No need to provide.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the output device according to the eighth aspect, the output device is a printing device, and the non-display state is a state of the printing device.

With such a configuration, the status of the output device, for example, the printing device can be recognized at a glance on the host computer side by icon display.

Further, it is not necessary to provide a status display on the output device, for example, the printing device.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a computer
An installation system in the system, having means for storing a required installation time for each file, determining the performance of a computer system to be installed, determining files to be selected and installed, and determining the installed files The required installation time is extracted from the storage means, the installation time for the determined performance of the computer system is determined, and the total time required for the installation is calculated.
indicate.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the installation system according to the tenth aspect, each time the file to be installed is selected, a time required for installation of the selected file is displayed.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the installation system according to the tenth or eleventh aspect, every time the file to be installed is selected, the total installation time of the selected file is displayed. .

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, a computer
On the recording medium storing the installation program in the system, the installation program determines the performance of the computer system to be installed, determines the file to be selected and installed,
Extracting the required installation time of the determined file to be installed, obtaining the installation time for the determined performance of the computer system, and calculating and displaying the total time required for the installation.

With this configuration, the user can grasp the time required for the installation before the installation.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the overall structure of a printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This printing system generally includes a host computer 1 and a printer 2, and the host computer 1 is further provided with an external storage device 3 and a display device 4.

In the first embodiment, the printing system in which the host computer and the printer shown in FIG. 1 are directly connected is described as an example. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to any device, a system including a plurality of devices, and a system in which processing is performed via a network such as a LAN.

The configuration of the printing system will be described in detail. 1 is a host computer, 2 is a printer, and both are connected by a bidirectional cable 23. The host computer 1 has, as its internal functions, an application 5 and an application interface 6, a print monitor 7 and a printer driver 8, a printer interface 9, a CRT control unit 10, and a screen monitoring unit 1.
1, power command control unit 12 and power command storage unit 13
And the like.

The printer 2 has, as its internal functions, a printer monitor 15, a printer command processing unit 16, a printing mechanism interface 17, a printing mechanism 18, a power control unit 19, and a power control interface 2.
0, a power supply device 21, a power control data storage unit 22, and the like.

Next, the hardware configuration of the above-described host computer 1 and printer 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The host computer 1 has a CPU 24 and a RAM 2
5 and a ROM 26, an input device 27, a printing device interface 30, an external storage device 29, a display device 28, and the like. The printer 2 includes a CPU 32,
It comprises a RAM 33, a ROM 34, an input device 37, a printing device interface 35, a printing mechanism 40, a printing mechanism interface 38, a display device 36, an input device 37, a power supply control section 39, a power supply 41, a bidirectional cable 23, and the like. I have.

The configuration of the host computer 1 will be described in detail. The CPU 24 executes document processing in which, for example, graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed based on a program stored in the RAM 25. Then, each device connected via the system bus 31 is controlled overall. The RAM 25 is a main memory of the CPU 24, stores programs to be executed, and is used as a work area or the like. The application 5 to the print monitor 7 in FIG.
25. The ROM 26 is a program memory and stores, for example, a program for controlling basic I / O. The input device 27 controls input from a keyboard or a pointing device (not shown). The printing device interface 30 executes a communication control process with the printer 2 via a predetermined bidirectional cable 23. As described above, the external storage device 29 is, for example,
Is used as an external storage unit. The display device 28 is composed of, for example, a CRT display, and displays figures, images, characters, tables, and the like in the above-described document processing.

The configuration of the printer 2 will be described in detail.
2 performs communication processing with the host computer 1 via the printing device interface 35. RAM 33 is a CPU
The 32 main memories function as a work area or the like. RO
M34 is a program memory.
The command processing unit 16 is stored. The input device 37 controls a command such as pressing a button attached to the printer 2. The printing device interface 35 is connected to the host computer 1 via a predetermined bidirectional cable 23, and executes a communication control process.

Reference numeral 39 denotes a power supply control unit which controls a power supply command from the host which is notified via the printing device interface 35. Reference numeral 41 denotes a power supply, and the power supply 41
Control the power supply to the

The function shown in FIG. 1 operates on the hardware configuration shown in FIG. The operation of the function of FIG. 2 will be described.
The print data generated from the application 5 operating in the host computer 1
It is passed to the interface 6. The application interface 6 converts the print data passed from the application 5 into a print command and passes it to the print monitor 7. The print monitor 7 returns the print command group of a predetermined unit passed to the external storage device 3 to the print monitor 7 based on the end of the job output from the application interface 6, and further passes it to the printer driver 8.

The printer driver 8 transfers the print command passed from the print monitor 7 to the printer interface 9 and acquires information from the printer interface 9. The printer interface 9 transmits a print command passed from the printer driver 8 via the bidirectional interface 23 to the printer
Transfer to monitor 15. The printer interface 9 is connected to the printer interface via the bidirectional interface 23.
The information of the monitor 15 is obtained. Further, the printer interface 9 passes information obtained from the printer monitor 15 to the printer status display 10. CRT control unit 10
Obtains printer information from the printer interface 9, executes analysis, and passes appropriate printer information from the analysis result to the display device 4.

The external storage device 3 has an area for storing a print command group passed from the print monitor 7 of the host computer 1.

The display device 4 is composed of, for example, a CRT, acquires printer information passed from the CRT control unit 10 of the host computer 1, and displays the acquired information.

The printer monitor 15 of the printer 2 is connected to the printer interface 9 of the host computer 1.
Is passed to the printer command processing section 16 and information from the printer command processing section 16 is passed to the printer interface 9. The printer / command processing unit 16 includes a printer monitor 15
Is passed to the print mechanism interface 17 and information is acquired from the sleep mode release time storage unit 22. The print mechanism interface 17 executes the print command passed from the printer / command processing unit 16.

The bidirectional cable 23 transmits a print command between the printer interface 9 of the host computer 1 and the printer monitor 15 of the printer 2. The sleep mode release time storage unit 22 passes the sleep mode release time to the printer command processing unit 16.

Next, the processing of the printing system of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

First, the processing on the host computer side will be described focusing on the flowchart of FIG. It is determined whether a screen (window) is open on the host computer 1 (S301). When opened, it is determined whether the screen is a print-related screen (window) (S302). If the print-related screen is not open, nothing is performed for the processing related to the present embodiment. When the printing-related screen is opened, a printing program is started, so that it is determined whether or not the printer 2 is currently in the sleep mode (standby state) (S303). Nothing is done in the normal mode. In the case of the sleep mode, a normal mode command for setting the printer from the sleep mode to the normal mode is acquired from the power command storage unit 13 (S304). Subsequently, a normal mode command is sent to the printer driver 8 (S305).
The time data from the sleep state to the normal state is received and displayed (S306). Then, the process ends.

The processing on the printer side will be described mainly with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The printer / command processing unit 16 determines whether there is data received from the host (S401). If there is data, it is determined whether the received data is a normal mode command (S40).
2). If the command is the normal mode command, the command is transmitted to the power control unit (S403), and the mode release time data is obtained from the storage unit and notified (S404).

If the command is other than the normal mode,
For example, it is determined whether the request is a mode request (S40).
5). If the request is a mode request, the mode (sleep state) of the printer is notified to the host computer (S406). If it is not a mode request, another process is performed (S407) and the process ends.

When it is not necessary to display the time from the sleep state to the normal state, the processing can be omitted.

[Second Embodiment] In the second embodiment, the status of the output device can be grasped only by looking at the display using icons. This will be described with reference to FIGS.

The functions and system configuration of the printing system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are the same as those of the second embodiment. In such a system, icons are displayed so that the status of the printer can be immediately understood.

First, examples of icons to be displayed will be described with reference to FIG.

FIGS. 5A to 5F show icons indicating the status of the printer.

FIG. 5A shows a state in which the printer is "on-line", that is, bidirectional communication between the host computer and the printer is established and printing is possible.

FIG. 5B shows a state in which the printer is "off-line", that is, no bidirectional communication is established between the host computer and the printer, and printing is not possible.

FIG. 5C shows that "data exists on the printer side", that is, that print data exists on the printer side and that the data is being printed.

FIG. 5D shows "no data on the printer side", indicating that printing was being performed by the printer, but the printing was completed.

This icon is transient and displays "Data exists on the printer" (FIG. 5C) while the printer is printing, and "No data exists on the printer" when printing is completed (FIG. 5D). ), And then “online” (Fig. 5
(A)) is displayed.

FIG. 5E shows that "there is an error on the printer side" is displayed by flashing the same icon as in FIG. 5C.

FIG. 5F shows that "no error on the printer side" is displayed with the same icon as in FIG. 5C. In this case, the icons shown in FIGS. 5A and 5D may blink. If the print icon is blinking, an error is displayed.

An example of the format of printer status data sent from the printer 2 to the host computer 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6A is a format example of a printer status notification command. The format is composed of four bytes, one byte for the header, one byte for the type, and two bytes for the printer status data. The header stores an ESC code indicating that the command is a printer status notification command. The type can indicate two types: a printer status and a printing status. The description of the printing state is omitted here. Then, as shown in FIG. 6D, the printer status data can be notified corresponding to the status shown in FIG.

The printer status notification command is transmitted to the host computer every time the status of the printer changes. Of course, it is also notified by a request from the host computer.

In FIG. 6D, x is indicated by
This means that whatever the value is, it does not affect the state.

The operation of the printer interface 9 and the CRT controller 10 in FIG. 1 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows the processing of the printer interface 9. 1 and 7, the printer interface 9 receives data from the printer driver 8 and the printer 2 (S701). If the data is not data from the printer (S702), the data is transmitted from the printer driver 8 to the printer 2, so that transmission processing (S705) is performed.

If the data is from the printer 2 (S7
02) checks whether the command is the printer status notification command shown in FIG. 6 (S703). If it is not a printer status notification command, another process is performed (S708). If the command is a printer status notification command, it is checked whether the command is in the printer status (S704). If it is in the printing state,
The information is passed to the printer driver 8 that uses the state information (S706). The description of this process is omitted.

If the printer is in the printer state, the information is passed to the CRT controller 10 (S707). In the CRT control unit 10, the printer status is displayed by the icons shown in FIG. This processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 8, this flowchart shows C
The RT control unit 10 starts when the printer status information is received. Receiving printer information (S80)
1), the printer information is analyzed and determined (S802).
As a result, the icon based on the judgment is read out (S
803) and display it (S804).

In this way, the printer status can be displayed by the icon.

Also, by adopting such a configuration,
It is also possible to omit the display device for displaying the status of the printer on the printer side and to only display the status on the host computer.

[Third Embodiment] FIGS. 9 and 10 show a third embodiment capable of displaying the total installation time.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The system configuration to be installed is the same as the system configuration shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the entire installation process. In this flowchart, first, the system performance of the installation destination is determined (S901), and the system performance is classified into classes (S903).
In the example of the third embodiment, the performance of the system is classified into three. The classified class X is stored. Then, a user selection screen for installation is displayed (S9).
05), the user selects a file to be installed from the displayed options. In this case, if not selected, a default file is selected (S908). The selected installation file is accessed (S909), and the estimated required time corresponding to the class X is extracted (S911).

Here, the storage configuration of the installation time will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, there is a storage location where the estimated required time of the file according to the performance of the system is stored. In the example of the third embodiment, since the performance of the system is classified into three classes, three required times are stored. In step S911, the estimated required time for each class stored in the storage location is read.

The storage location of the required installation time of each installation file may be in each installation file.

The estimated required time of the extracted installation file is stored in the storage unit (S913).
When all the options have been selected (S915),
By calculating the sum of the data in the storage unit (S917), the sum of the installation time can be calculated.
This is passed to the CRT display unit (S919) and displayed at a predetermined display position (S921). Thereafter, the installation is performed on the selected file (S923).

Thus, it is possible to display an estimate of the total installation time before the installation.

In the above embodiment, the estimated required installation time for each file is classified and stored for each class. However, only the required estimated installation time of a predetermined system performance is stored, and the determined system performance and the predetermined required system performance are stored. The estimated required installation time may be calculated based on the ratio of the system performance to that of the system.

Further, the installation time of each selected file can be displayed. This can be realized by extracting the required time from the file in the flowchart of FIG. 9 (S911) and inserting a step of displaying the extracted required time.

In addition, each time a file is selected, the total installation time of the file selected so far can be displayed. This can be achieved by calculating and displaying the total installation time of the previously stored file each time it is selected.

In the first to third embodiments, the case where the CRT is used as the display means is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the CRT, and an LCD, a plasma display, or the like can be used.

Although an example has been described in which a cable is used as the connecting means between the host computer and the printer, the present invention is not limited to the cable, and other connecting means such as wireless may be used.

Further, with respect to the part executing the function in the programs of the above-described first to third embodiments, it can be implemented by storing it on a recording medium and reading it out by a computer system. The recording medium includes a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a ROM cassette, and the like.

[0083]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Saves the startup time required when the user starts printing when the printer is in sleep mode, and the printer is always in normal mode when the user starts printing, and the printer starts up immediately It has the effect of being able to.

Further, since the host can display the various user times from when the printer enters the sleep mode to the normal mode, the user can understand the approximate time until the printer is started.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the status of an output device such as a printer can be easily recognized on a display of a connected host computer.

In addition, according to another invention, it is possible to grasp the installation time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an icon displayed in the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a format example of a printer status notification command used in the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of data stored in a file according to a third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 host computer 2 printer 3 external storage 4 display device 5 application 6 application I / F 7 print monitor 8 printer driver 9 printer I / F 10 CRT display unit 11 screen monitor unit 12 power command control unit 13 power command storage unit 14 Spool file 15 Printer monitor 16 Printer command processing unit 17 Printing mechanism I / F 18 Printing mechanism 19 Power supply control unit 20 Power supply control I / F 21 Power supply unit 22 Power supply control data storage unit 23 Bidirectional cable 24 CPU 25 RAM 26 ROM 27 input device 28 display device 29 external storage device 30 printing device I / F 31 system bus 32 CPU 33 RAM 34 ROM 35 printing device I / F 36 display device 37 input device 38 printing mechanism I / F 39 Source device controller 40 print mechanism 41 power supply

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An output system in which a host computer and an output device are connected by a bidirectional interface. When an output-related screen is displayed on the host computer, it is detected whether the output device is in a standby state, An output system, wherein the output device is set in a state capable of outputting when not in a standby state. 2. The output system according to claim 1, wherein the output device notifies a time until the output device becomes ready for output, and the host computer displays the time. . 3. The output system according to claim 1, wherein the output device is a printing device, the output-related screen is a printing-related screen, and the output-capable state is a print-enabled state. Output system. 4. An output device connected to a host computer, which notifies whether the output device is in a standby state according to a command from the host computer, and sets an output state according to a command from the host computer. An output device for notifying the time until the output becomes possible. 5. The output device according to claim 4, wherein said output device is a printing device, and said output state is a printable state. 6. In an output system in which a host computer and an output device are connected by a bidirectional interface, the output device reports its own status to the host computer, and the host computer reports the status of the output device. An output system, wherein an icon representing an output device is displayed on a screen by changing the display. 7. The output system according to claim 6, wherein
The output system, wherein the output device is a printing device, the icon is an icon representing the printing device, and the displayed state is a state of the printing device. 8. An output device connected to a host computer, wherein the output device notifies the host computer every time its status changes, and the output device has no status display device. 9. The output device according to claim 8, wherein the output device is a printing device, and the non-display state is a printing device state. 10. An installation system in a computer system, comprising means for storing a required installation time for each file, determining a performance of the computer system to be installed, and determining a file to be selected and installed. Extracting the determined installation time of the file to be installed from the storage unit, obtaining the installation time for the determined performance of the computer system, and calculating / displaying the total time required for the installation. Installation system. 11. The installation system according to claim 10, wherein each time the file to be installed is selected,
An installation system for displaying a time required for installation of a selected file. 12. The installation system according to claim 10, wherein each time the file to be installed is selected,
An installation system displaying a total installation time of files selected so far. 13. On a recording medium storing an installation program in a computer system, the installation program determines the performance of the computer system to be installed, determines a file to be selected and installed, and determines the determined installation. Extracting the time required for installation of the file to be installed, obtaining the installation time for the determined performance of the computer system, and calculating and displaying the total time required for installation. Medium.