WO2023181988A1

WO2023181988A1 - Support program

Info

Publication number: WO2023181988A1
Application number: PCT/JP2023/009281
Authority: WO
Inventors: 建樹成田; 仁人細溝
Original assignee: ブラザー工業株式会社
Priority date: 2022-03-24
Filing date: 2023-03-10
Publication date: 2023-09-28
Also published as: JP2023141759A

Abstract

Provided is a technology for enabling various applications for using a printer to be managed easily with an information processing device in which an OS-standard general-purpose printing program has been installed.　An auxiliary program 42 is requested to execute processing by a general-purpose printing program 41 in response to output of a printing command from an editing application 43 or the like. Further, the auxiliary program 42 is requested to execute processing by the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to an OS 21 receiving an activation command with a printer 2 selected. When the auxiliary program 42 is requested to execute processing in response to the OS 21 receiving an activation command, the auxiliary program 42 causes a CPU 11 of a PC 1 to acquire capability information indicating the capability of the printer 2 via the general-purpose printing program 41, display a list of information indicating an application using the capability indicated by the acquired capability information among a plurality of managed applications, and receive a command to execute one of the displayed applications.

Description

support program

The technical field disclosed herein relates to a support program that supports printer control.

In recent years, technology has been put into practical use that controls printers using a general-purpose printing program that is built into an operating system (OS) as standard, without using the printer driver described above. With this technology, when the OS detects a printer, it associates it with an OS-standard general-purpose printing program, and from then on, when it receives a print instruction for that printer, it prints using the OS-standard general-purpose printing program without using a printer driver. becomes possible.

Additionally, various application programs (apps) that can use printers are known, and even apps that manage multiple apps are also known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing apparatus that includes an application management section that manages applications and a printer management section that manages printers, and that displays the current status of the printer that corresponds to the selected application. Disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-88109

As mentioned above, there is a known technology for managing printers and applications by associating them with each other. Even in an environment where an OS-standard general-purpose printing program is used, it is desirable to be able to manage various applications that can use a printer, but the OS-standard general-purpose printing program does not have an interface for application management. Therefore, there is room for improvement.

A support program designed to solve the above problems is executable by a computer of an information processing device, supports a specific printer, and supports a general-purpose printing program pre-installed in the operating system of the information processing device. The operating system is a support program, and the operating system is capable of accepting a startup instruction for a program corresponding to the selected printer, and the general-purpose printing program includes a program that requests processing in response to the startup instruction for the printer. The support program manages a plurality of application programs, and the support program has information indicating the ability to use for each of the application programs to be managed. , the print instruction is output from an application program incorporated in the information processing device, and the print instruction causes the general-purpose printing program to print an image on the specific printer. When a process is requested from a general-purpose printing program, acquiring image data representing the image from the general-purpose printing program and executing a process for transmitting a print command to the specific printer based on the image data; Further, when a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program by the operating system receiving the activation instruction with the specific printer selected in the computer, the general-purpose printing program an acquisition process for acquiring capability information indicating the capabilities of the specific printer; and an application program that utilizes the capability indicated by the capability information acquired in the acquisition process among the plurality of application programs to be managed. The computer is configured to execute a management process for displaying a list of information indicating a specific application program and accepting an execution instruction for the displayed specific application program.

The support program disclosed in this specification is requested to process when the OS receives a boot instruction, in addition to a print instruction from an application program. When processing is requested by a startup instruction from the OS, the support program acquires the capability information of a specific printer, displays a list of the specific apps that use the acquired capabilities among the managed apps, and displays the information. Receive instructions to run a specific app. This is highly convenient because the user can grasp a specific app based on the operation of inputting a startup instruction at a timing other than printing, and can also execute the specific app.

An information processing device incorporating the support program, a computer-readable storage medium storing the support program, a control method for realizing the functions of the support program, and a printing system including the support program and printer are also new. It is useful in

According to the technology disclosed in this specification, a technology that can easily manage various applications that can use a printer is realized in an information processing device in which an OS standard general-purpose printing program is installed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the electrical configuration of a PC. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure by an auxiliary program. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen that accepts device management instructions. It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a detailed management screen. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for application information display processing. It is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a list display screen. FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the electrical configuration of a PC. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a printing procedure.

Hereinafter, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC") that uses the auxiliary program of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. This specification discloses an auxiliary program that is executed on a PC.

As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 of this embodiment includes a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. PC1 is an example of an information processing device. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The PC 1 also includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as “user IF”) 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as “communication IF”) 14, which are electrically connected to the controller 10. . Note that the controller 10 in FIG. 1 is a general term for hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.

The CPU 11 executes various processes according to the program read from the memory 12 and based on user operations. The memory 12 stores various programs and various data. The memory 12 is also used as a work area when various processes are executed. The buffer included in the CPU 11 is also an example of memory. Note that an example of the memory 12 is not limited to a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built into the PC 1, but also a storage medium readable and writable by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM. Also good.

The user IF 13 includes hardware that displays a screen to notify the user of information and hardware that accepts operations by the user. Note that the user IF 13 may be a combination of a display capable of displaying information and a mouse, keyboard, etc. that has an input reception function, or may be a touch panel that has a display function and an input reception function.

The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with external devices such as the printer 2. The communication standard of the communication IF 14 is Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), USB, etc. The PC 1 may be connectable to the Internet via the communication IF 14. Further, the PC 1 may include a plurality of communication IFs 14 corresponding to a plurality of communication standards. The PC 1 of this embodiment is connected to the printer 2 via the communication IF 14, as shown in FIG. The printer 2 is a device that has at least a printing function and a communication function. Printer 2 is an example of a specific printer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 21 including a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "OS") such as an editing application 43. , "app") are stored. The OS 21 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark). The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program.

The general-purpose printing program 41 is an OS standard program provided together with the OS 21, and has a function for causing the printer 2 and the like to execute printing. The general-purpose printing program 41 of this embodiment is a program that includes a function of generating intermediate image data based on image data to be printed. The general-purpose printing program 41 supports functions that can be commonly used by multiple types of printer models provided by various printer vendors. Unlike printer drivers specific to various printers, the general-purpose printing program 41 does not support all of the functions unique to various printers, and only supports general-purpose functions.

The auxiliary program 42 is a program or a group of programs that supports control of target hardware. The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1. For example, when receiving an instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing using the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1. It is started from the print program 41. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, a print support application (abbreviation: PSA) or a hardware support application (abbreviation: HSA).

Note that the auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of a plurality of programs, each of which accepts an execution command, or may be a single program that can execute different processes depending on the command. Further, the auxiliary program may be a program prepared for each type of printer by the printer vendor. For example, an auxiliary program for an inkjet printer and an auxiliary program for a laser printer may be prepared. There may be an auxiliary program prepared not only for each printer type but also for each printer model or printer model series.

For example, when a new printer is connected to the PC 1, the OS 21 of the PC 1 can download an appropriate auxiliary program from a server or the like and incorporate it into the PC 1, depending on the type and model of the connected printer. The OS 21 stores the identification information of the installed auxiliary program in association with the printer information of the newly connected printer in the memory 12, and generates a printer queue for each printer.

The editing application 43 is, for example, an application for creating and editing image data and document data. The editing application 43 may be, for example, Word (registered trademark) or PowerPoint (registered trademark) manufactured by Microsoft (registered trademark), or it may be an application provided by the vendor of the printer 2. The editing application 43 can receive, for example, a print execution instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing via the user IF 13.

Next, the procedure of processing by the OS 21 and the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. 2. This procedure is executed while the printer 2 is connected to the PC 1 and the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is stored in the memory 12.

Note that each processing step in this embodiment basically indicates processing by the CPU 11 according to instructions written in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, the detailed description of the OS 21 will be omitted and the operation of each program will be explained. Furthermore, "acquisition" is used as a concept that does not require a request.

The OS 21 can accept setting instructions for each part from the user, and on the screen that accepts setting instructions, accepts device management instructions including instructions to display information and change settings for various devices connected to the PC 1. It is possible. For example, when the OS 21 receives a setting instruction and a device management instruction (A01), the OS 21 can further accept a selection of a device, as shown in FIG. 3, for example. For example, when the OS 21 receives an operation on the "printer and scanner" button 512 on the device setting screen 51 (FIG. 3A) that is displayed when the operation on the "device" button 511 is received, For example, a device management screen 52 as shown in FIG. 3(B) is displayed (A02).

The device management screen 52 is a screen that includes a list of various devices connected to the PC 1 that can perform image processing, such as printers and scanners. The user can select a device to be managed from the list displayed on the device management screen 52 (A03). For example, when the OS 21 receives an operation on the button 521 for specifying the printer 2 on the device management screen 52, the OS 21 displays the detailed management screen 53 as shown in FIG. 4 (A04).

The detailed management screen 53 displays an "open printer queue" button 531, an "app launch" button 532, a "print test page" button 533, and the like. The "Open Printer Queue" button 531 is a button that accepts an instruction to check the status of the printer queue corresponding to the selected printer. The “app launch” button 532 is a button that accepts an instruction to launch a program corresponding to the selected printer. The "print test page" button 533 is a button that accepts an instruction to send a test image from the OS 21 to the selected printer. On the detailed management screen 53, the OS 21 can accept user operations on

buttons

531, 532, 533, and the like.

When a program startup instruction is received by operating the "app launch" button 532 on the detailed management screen 53 displayed when printer 2 is selected (A11), the OS 21 selects printer 2, which is the selected printer. information and an instruction to start a program corresponding to the printer are passed to the general-purpose printing program 41. When the general-purpose printing program 41 receives this instruction from the OS 21, it starts a program associated with the printer information of the printer 2. In this embodiment, since the identification information of the auxiliary program 42 is stored in association with the printer information of the printer 2, the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 (A12).

The auxiliary program 42 acquires main body information of the printer 2 via the OS 21 when activated from the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to a user's activation instruction. The auxiliary program 42 first requests connection information of the printer 2 from the OS 21 (A21), and acquires the connection information from the OS 21 (A22). The connection information is, for example, an IP address.

The auxiliary program 42 uses the connection information obtained in A22 to request main body information including capability information from the printer 2 (A23), and acquires the main body information including capability information from the printer 2 (A24). The capability information is information indicating the capabilities of the printer 2, that is, information indicating functions executable by the printer 2 and information on parameters that can be set as print settings. A24 is an example of acquisition processing, and is an example of main body acquisition processing.

In addition to capacity information, the main unit information includes information indicating the status of the main unit of the printer 2, such as status information, remaining amount information of consumables, information indicating attached accessories such as optional trays, and information set for each tray. The information may include information on paper size and paper type, information on main unit settings such as the language used, network settings, firmware version information, printing history information, and the number of waiting print jobs.

Note that the printer 2 of this embodiment includes an operation panel. The operation panel of the printer 2 includes a display that displays information and operation buttons that accept input operations from the user. The operation panel may include a touch panel. The printer 2 is capable of displaying information regarding the printer 2 on the operation panel, and is also capable of receiving various instructions through input operations on the operation panel. Note that the printer 2 can accept instructions via the operation panel, such as instructions to set paper size and paper type for each tray, and instructions to change main body settings and network settings. The printer 2 may pass information indicating various settings received via the operation panel to the auxiliary program 42 as main body information.

The printer 2 also has a function of performing image processing based on the received print job and printing based on the data after image processing, such as aggregate printing such as Nin1, composite printing such as watermark, and saving coloring agent. It may also have a function to perform economical printing. If the printer 2 has an executable image processing function, the printer 2 may pass information about the function to the auxiliary program 42 as main body information.

The auxiliary program 42 can obtain information that is not understood by the OS 21 by directly obtaining information from the printer 2 using, for example, MIB (abbreviation for Management Information Base). The auxiliary program 42 temporarily stores the information acquired from the printer 2 in the memory 12 (A25).

Note that, instead of A21, the auxiliary program 42 may output to the OS 21 an acquisition request requesting main body information including capability information of the printer 2. In that case, the OS 21 acquires information from the printer 2 through communication according to IPP (abbreviation for internet printing protocol), and passes the acquired information to the auxiliary program 42 . The auxiliary program 42 may both request the OS 21 to obtain information and obtain main body information through direct communication.

Next, the auxiliary program 42 executes application information display processing (A31). The procedure of application information display processing will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5. The application information display process is a process of classifying and displaying various applications corresponding to the printer 2 according to their states. The application information display process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 based on the description of the auxiliary program 42.

The CPU 11 obtains a list of apps applicable to the printer 2 (S101). In S101, the CPU 11 creates a list of applications that utilize the capabilities of the printer 2, for example, based on the capability information of the printer 2. The apps listed in S101 are examples of specific application programs. Capabilities that can be supported by each app and capabilities shown in the capability information include printer functions such as printing, scanning, and fax transmission, as well as printing on postcards, disc label printing, label printing, etc. This may include special printing capabilities and configurations. Note that the CPU 11 may list up the applications based on the model information of the printer 2.

The auxiliary program 42 manages various applications that can be applied to various printers corresponding to the auxiliary program 42. For example, if the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to a plurality of models of printers is executable on at least one of the corresponding plurality of models, that application is to be managed. Applications to be managed include, for example, printing applications, scanning applications, and fax transmission applications. Examples of printing applications include a disc label printing application, a New Year's card printing application, and a label printing application.

For each application to be managed, the auxiliary program 42 provides application information such as the name of the application, information on the capabilities and configuration of the printer required to execute the application, information indicating whether the application has been installed on the PC 1, It is possible to obtain version information of installed applications, information indicating the storage location of installed applications, etc.

The auxiliary program 42 may obtain information about each application to be managed by reading out the correspondence information between the model information and the application built into the auxiliary program 42, or may obtain information from a server provided by the vendor of the printer 2, etc. You can obtain it by contacting . Further, the auxiliary program 42 may be capable of receiving information settings for each application to be managed by an administrator of the PC 1 or the like.

The CPU 11 sequentially classifies each application included in the list obtained in S101. Specifically, the CPU 11 classifies each of the listed applications into three categories: an executable list, a warning list, and an uninstalled list. The executable list is a list of applications that can be executed by the current printer 2. The warning list is a list of applications that have warning information. The uninstalled list is a list of applications that are compatible with the printer 2 and are not installed in the PC 1. Note that at the start of the application information display process, the executable list, warning list, and uninstalled list are all empty lists.

The CPU 11 determines whether the application to be classified has been installed on the PC 1 (S102). If it is determined that the application has not been installed (S102: NO), the CPU 11 adds the application to the uninstalled list (S103).

If it is determined that the application has been installed (S102: YES), the CPU 11 determines whether an optional configuration such as an option tray is required when executing the application to be classified (S105). For example, in order to run an application that prints on disc labels such as CDs, it is necessary to install an optional disc tray. Further, for example, in order to appropriately print on cloth such as T-shirts, it is necessary to use cloth ink.

If it is determined that the optional configuration is necessary (S105: YES), the CPU 11 determines whether the necessary optional configuration is installed in the printer 2 based on the main body information (S106). If it is determined that the optional configuration is not necessary (S105: NO), or if it is determined that the necessary optional configuration is installed (S106: YES), the CPU 11 determines that the settings of the main unit are compatible with the application to be classified. It is determined whether or not (S107).

For example, when printing using a New Year's card printing app, it is necessary to set postcard-sized paper. If a postcard size paper size is set in at least one of the trays of the printer 2, the CPU 11 determines that the paper size is suitable in S107. If it is determined that the application is compatible (S107: YES), the CPU 11 adds the application to be classified to the executable list (S111).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the necessary optional configuration is not installed (S106: NO), or if it is determined that the settings of the main unit are not compatible with the application to be classified (S107: NO), the CPU 11 The target application is added to the warning list (S112). The applications added to the warning list are those that have been installed but cannot be executed in the current state of the printer 2.

Further, the CPU 11 adds warning information as information about the application added to the warning list (S113). The warning information includes, for example, information on optional configurations that are necessary but not installed, and information on settings that are not compatible. The warning information is an example of application information, and S113 is an example of application acquisition processing.

After S111 or S113, the CPU 11 determines whether there is an update for the app to be classified (S115). For example, the CPU 11 can determine whether the application is the latest version by comparing version information of the application to be classified with information about the latest version of the application. The auxiliary program 42 can obtain information on the latest version of each application from, for example, a server provided by a vendor.

If it is determined that the version is not the latest, that is, there is an update (S115: YES), the CPU 11 adds update information to the app (S116). The update information is information indicating that update is possible. The update information is an example of application information, and S116 is an example of application acquisition processing.

After S103, after S116, or when it is determined that there is no update (S115: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether there are any unclassified apps among the apps included in the list created in S101. A judgment is made (S121). If it is determined that there is a next application to be classified (S121: YES), the CPU 11 returns to S102 and similarly classifies the next application.

If it is determined that classification has been completed for all apps included in the list acquired in S101 (S121: NO), the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display a list based on each classified list (S122). ), the application information display process is ended and the process returns to the procedure of FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display a list display screen 54. The list display screen 54 is an example of a list screen, and S122 is an example of management processing.

The list display screen 54 distinguishes icons of each application included in the executable list added in S111, the warning list added in S113, and the uninstalled list added in S103. This is the screen for Specifically, the list display screen 54 includes an executable area 541 that includes icons for each app included in the executable list, a warning area 542 that includes icons for each app included in the warning list, and an executable area 542 that includes icons for each app included in the warning list. and an uninstalled area 543 containing icons of each application to be installed.

The list display screen 54 may further include an end button 544 that accepts an instruction to end the display, and information indicating the status of the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 displays, for example, the status of the printer 2, remaining amount information of consumables, setting information of each tray, etc. on the list display screen 54 based on the main body information acquired in A24 of FIG. Also good.

Each icon included in the executable area 541 is an icon that can accept an instruction to execute the application. When receiving an operation on an icon included in the executable area 541, the auxiliary program 42 outputs an execution instruction to the application indicated by the operated icon. Note that since the execution instruction in this case is input with the printer queue corresponding to the printer 2 selected, the executed application executes the process using the printer 2.

Note that on the list display screen 54, for apps to which update information or warning information has been added, an icon with a badge indicating additional information is displayed. For example, FIG. 6 shows an example where there is update information for "app C" included in the executable area 541, and a badge 71 indicating an update is displayed on the icon of "app C". S122 in which the badge 71 indicating an update is displayed is an example of update display processing. By displaying information based on app update information and warning information as a badge on the app icon, users can be notified that additional information regarding the app is available.

When accepting an operation on an icon included in the executable area 541 and to which update information is added, the auxiliary program 42 may selectively accept an execution instruction and an update instruction. Further, the auxiliary program 42 may simply notify that an update is possible as update information, or may display a link to a download site for the application. If there is a specific app that can be updated, by displaying the update information as well, it is expected that the user will perform an update operation for the specific app that can be updated.

On the other hand, each icon included in the warning area 542 and the uninstalled area 543 is an icon that restricts acceptance of execution instructions. When receiving an operation on an icon included in the warning area 542, the auxiliary program 42 does not execute the application, but displays details of the warning information, for example. Further, when receiving an operation on an icon included in the uninstalled area 543, the auxiliary program 42 does not execute the application, but displays installation information indicating installation of the program.

For example, FIG. 6 shows an example where "application D" included in the warning area 542 is an application that prints on a disc label, and the printer 2 is not equipped with an optional disc tray. Therefore, a badge 72 indicating warning information is displayed on the "application D" icon. For example, when receiving an operation on the "application D" icon in FIG. 6, the auxiliary program 42 may display information indicating that a necessary optional configuration is not installed.

Furthermore, even if the necessary optional configuration is installed, if the main unit settings are not compatible with the application, the auxiliary program 42 adds the application to the warning list and places the application icon in the warning area 542. indicate. In this case, when receiving an operation on the icon, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to accept an instruction to change the settings of the main body to suit the application, for example. Then, when the settings are changed to match the application, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to accept instructions to execute the application.

The auxiliary program 42 displays warning information based on the main body information. By displaying the main body information in association with the application, the user can also grasp the main body information necessary for using the application on the list display screen 54.

Further, for example, the icon displayed in the uninstalled area 543 is an icon indicating an application that can be installed and applied to the printer 2. When receiving an operation on the icon in the uninstalled area 543, the auxiliary program 42 provides installation information such as information indicating the content of the application, information for executing a program that accepts installation of the application, and information on the download site of the application. Display information indicating the link. The process of displaying the list display screen 54 including application installation information is an example of an installation display process.

If there is an application that is applicable to the printer 2 but has not been installed, it is displayed as an icon in the uninstalled area 543 so that the user can understand that the application is not installed, and the user can install it. We can expect that. To distinguish apps on the uninstalled list from installed apps, you can display them in a separate area, hide them, use icons of different sizes and shapes, or use different fonts. It may be displayed including this, or it may be displayed grayed out.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2. After the application information display process (A31) ends, the auxiliary program 42 can accept operations on the list display screen 54 that is currently being displayed. In other words, the user can operate each icon displayed on the list display screen 54. For example, when a user operation on an icon included in the executable area 541 is received (A41), the auxiliary program 42 determines that an instruction to execute the application has been received, and executes the application (A42). A41, which receives an application execution instruction, is an example of management processing. The auxiliary program 42 may output execution instructions to the application via the OS 21.

After displaying the list display screen 54, the auxiliary program 42 can receive instructions for executing each app, as well as instructions to change settings for the app, and instructions to install, update, and uninstall the app. It's okay. Further, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to receive instructions to change settings for the printer 2.

Note that the PC 1 may be one in which an integrated program 44 for managing printers and applications is incorporated, as shown in FIG. 7, for example. The integration program 44 is, for example, a program for managing various printers provided by the vendor of the printer 2 and various applications compatible with the various printers. The integrated program 44 has information on various applicable applications based on, for example, model information of each printer.

In the PC 1 in which the integrated program 44 is installed, the auxiliary program 42 may start the integrated program 44 and cause the integrated program 44 to display the information of the application instead of executing the application information display process by itself. For example, the auxiliary program 42 can cause the integrated program 44 to execute the application information display process by passing the main body information of the printer 2 to the integrated program 44.

If applications are managed by the integrated program 44, the processing of the auxiliary program 42 becomes simple, and the man-hours of the auxiliary program 42 can be reduced. On the other hand, if the application is managed by the auxiliary program 42, there is no need to incorporate the integrated program 44.

Next, the printing procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. 8. The auxiliary program 42 is also executed when the general-purpose printing program 41 receives a user's instruction to cause the printer 2 to print. The user can use the editing application 43 or the like to select an image to be printed, specify a printer to perform printing, and issue an instruction to perform printing. FIG. 8 shows the operations of each program when the editing application 43 receives a user's instruction to cause the printer 2 to print. Note that the user's instruction to execute printing may be directly input to the general-purpose printing program 41.

When the editing application 43 receives a print execution instruction for the general-purpose printing program 41 to cause the printer 2 to print the selected image (B01), the editing application 43 passes the print instruction to the general-purpose printing program 41 via the OS 21. (B02). The general-purpose printing program 41 acquires information indicating image data of an image to be printed and information indicating print settings in response to a print instruction.

The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate image data by converting the format of the image data included in the received print instruction into the format of intermediate image data (B03), and generates a print job including the intermediate image data. The image data passed from the editing application 43 is of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the received image data into intermediate image data suitable for generating print data. Note that if the image data included in the print instruction is data suitable for generating print data, generation of intermediate image data may be omitted and the intermediate image data may be used as is. The intermediate image data is, for example, XPS data.

The general-purpose printing program 41 further outputs an execution instruction to the auxiliary program 42, which is a program corresponding to the printer 2 (B04), and requests the auxiliary program 42 to perform processing. In the execution instruction, the intermediate image data generated in B03 and information indicating print settings are passed to the auxiliary program 42.

The auxiliary program 42 executes rasterization based on the received intermediate image data and print settings, and generates print data (B05). The print data generated at B05 is data in a format that can be used for printing by the printer 2, and is, for example, PDL data dedicated to the model of the printer 2. Note that the auxiliary program 42 may execute B05 using the main body information acquired in A24. Further, the auxiliary program 42 may acquire main body information etc. from the printer 2 again before B05.

The auxiliary program 42 sends the generated print data and a print command instructing execution of printing to the printer 2 (B06). The printer 2 that has received the print data and print command prints the image of the print data based on the received print command (B11). As a result, printed matter is generated.

By rasterizing using the auxiliary program 42 compatible with the printer 2, there is a greater degree of freedom than when rasterizing using the general-purpose printing program 41, and there is a possibility that print data suitable for printing on the printer 2 will be generated. expensive. Note that the print data generated by the auxiliary program 42 may be in a format that can be used for printing with a printer other than the printer model 2.

Furthermore, instead of the auxiliary program 42 generating the print data, the general-purpose printing program 41 may generate the print data. That is, the auxiliary program 42 may pass intermediate image data, print setting information, and print execution information to the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 may generate print data based on the intermediate image data and print settings received from the auxiliary program 42, and may pass the generated print data to the auxiliary program 42. When the auxiliary program 42 receives print data from the general-purpose printing program 41, it transmits the print data received from the general-purpose printing program 41 to the printer 2 together with a print command instructing execution of printing.

The print data generated by the general-purpose printing program 41 is print data in a format that can be used for printing with various printers, and is, for example, PWGRaster data or PDF data. If the print data is generated by the general-purpose printing program 41, the amount of processing by the auxiliary program 42 is reduced, an increase in processing time can be expected to be avoided, and the program size of the auxiliary program 42 can be suppressed.

Additionally, the general-purpose printing program 41 may send print data and the like to the printer 2. That is, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the generated print data and the like to the general-purpose printing program 41 so that it is transmitted from the PC 1 with the printer 2 as the destination. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 sends the print data etc. received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2 via the OS 21.

Additionally, the printer 2 may have a function of rasterizing intermediate image data. If the printer 2 has a rasterization function, the auxiliary program 42 generates a print command that includes intermediate image data and print settings for the image to be printed, without generating print data for the image to be printed. It may also be sent to printer 2.

When the transmission of the print data is completed, the auxiliary program 42 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 of the end of the process (B21). Thereby, the general-purpose printing program 41 ends the processing of the print instruction received at B02. The general-purpose printing program 41 may notify the editing application 43 of the end of the process.

As described above in detail, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment is activated by the general-purpose program when the OS 21 receives a startup instruction by operating the "app launch" button 532, in addition to a print instruction from the editing application 43 or the like. The print program 41 requests processing. When processing is requested by a startup instruction from the OS 21, the capability information of printer 2, which is the corresponding printer, is acquired, and among the managed applications, apps that use the acquired capabilities are displayed in a list. Receive instructions to run the application. As a result, the user can grasp the application corresponding to the printer 2 based on the operation of inputting the startup instruction at a timing other than printing, and can further execute the application, which is highly convenient.

Note that the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely illustrative and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the technology disclosed in this specification is naturally capable of various improvements and modifications without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the device connected to the PC 1 is not limited to a printer, but may be any device that has a printing function, such as a multifunction device, a copier, or a fax machine. Further, the number of printers connected to the PC 1 is not limited to the illustrated example, and may be two or more.

Further, for example, the list display screen 54 shown in FIG. 6 is an example, and is not limited to the illustrated example. For example, the shape, arrangement, background, etc. of the words and icons displayed on the screen may be of any kind. Further, for example, the auxiliary program 42 may display only executable applications.

Further, for example, in this embodiment, update information and warning information are displayed as badges, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may display an application to which information is added by changing the color or shape of the icon, or may provide a column for displaying information separately from each icon.

Furthermore, in the embodiment, only the display operation and printing operation of application information are described in detail as the operations of the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles. Further, the program that executes the process of this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, and may be any program that receives instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose printing program 41 when printing using the general-purpose printing program 41. For example, it may be a print workflow application (Print workflow) whose specifications have been published by Microsoft.

Furthermore, the execution timing of the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to the example of the embodiment. For example, the program may be executed by receiving a direct execution instruction from the OS 21, or may be a resident auxiliary program 42. When the auxiliary program 42 is resident, the auxiliary program 42 may perform the operations described above upon receiving an execution command.

Furthermore, in any flowchart disclosed in the embodiment, the execution order of the plurality of processes in any plurality of steps can be arbitrarily changed or executed in parallel within the range where there is no inconsistency in the processing contents.

Further, the processing disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, multiple CPUs, hardware such as ASIC, or a combination thereof. Further, the processes disclosed in the embodiments can be realized in various forms such as a recording medium recording a program for executing the processes, or a method.

1 PC
2 Printer 11 CPU

Claims

A support program that is executable by a computer of an information processing device, supports a general-purpose printing program that is compatible with a specific printer, and that is pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, the operating system It is possible to receive a startup instruction for a program corresponding to a printer, and the general-purpose printing program has a program associated with the printer that requests processing in response to the startup instruction, and the support program is capable of accepting multiple applications. The support program has a program as a management target, and the support program has information indicating the ability to use for each of the application programs to be managed,
to the computer;
The print instruction outputted from an application program built into the information processing device causes the general-purpose printing program to cause the specific printer to print an image. When processing is requested by the print program,
acquiring image data representing the image from the general-purpose printing program, and executing processing for transmitting a print command to the specific printer based on the image data;
Furthermore, the computer
When a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program as a result of the operating system accepting the startup instruction while the specific printer is selected,
an acquisition process of acquiring capability information indicating capabilities of the specific printer via the general-purpose printing program;
Among the plurality of application programs to be managed, displaying a list of information indicating a specific application program that is an application program that utilizes the ability indicated in the ability information acquired in the acquisition process; and management processing for accepting execution instructions for the specific application program;
to execute,
Support program configured as follows.
In the support program according to claim 1,
In the management process,
displaying a list screen that displays a list of information indicating the specific application program, and receiving the execution instruction for the displayed specific application program through an operation on the list screen;
Support program configured as follows.
In the support program according to claim 1,
The information processing device may include an integrated program having a function of receiving the execution instruction regarding the application program to be managed;
In the management process,
activating the integrated program, causing the integrated program to display a list of information indicating the specific application program, and causing the integrated program to accept the execution instruction for the displayed specific application program;
Support program configured as follows.
In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
to the computer;
When a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program as a result of the operating system accepting the startup instruction while the specific printer is selected,
executing an update display process for displaying update information indicating an update of the program when there is the specific application program that can be updated;
Support program configured as follows.
In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
to the computer;
When a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program as a result of the operating system accepting the startup instruction while the specific printer is selected,
executing an installation display process for displaying installation information indicating installation of the program when the specific application program is not installed in the information processing device;
Support program configured as follows.
In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
In the management process,
Displaying the specific application program that is not installed in the information processing device separately from the specific application program that is installed in the information processing device, and displaying the specific application program that is not installed in the information processing device. restricting acceptance of said execution instructions for;
Support program configured as follows.
In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
to the computer;
When a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program as a result of the operating system accepting the startup instruction while the specific printer is selected,
executing a body acquisition process for acquiring body information from the specific printer via the general-purpose printing program;
In the management process,
displaying a list of information indicating the specific application program, displaying information based on the main body information acquired in the main body acquisition process, and receiving the execution instruction for the displayed specific application program;
Support program configured as follows.
In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
to the computer;
When a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program as a result of the operating system accepting the startup instruction while the specific printer is selected,
causing an application acquisition process to acquire application information regarding the specific application program;
In the management process,
displaying a list of icons corresponding to each application program as information indicating the specific application program, and displaying a badge in association with information based on the application information acquired in the application acquisition process with the icon;
Support program configured as follows.