JP2012150610A - Information processing device, information processing method, printer driver, and information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

An appropriate printer image can be displayed even in a situation where an OS controls display of a printer image.
In an information processing apparatus that displays an image of an image forming apparatus by referring to a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) that describes functions that can be used by the OS in the image forming apparatus, an option device mounting status and image correspondence table And an option device mounting status acquisition unit that acquires the current option device mounting status from the printer and an option device mounting status and image correspondence table to determine an image corresponding to the acquired current option device mounting status, An image download unit that downloads the corresponding image from the printer, and a PPD rewrite unit that rewrites the file path of the printer image referred to by the OS described in the PPD to the file path of the corresponding image.
[Selection] Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, a printer driver, and an information processing system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method for acquiring information on the mounting status of an optional device from a printer and reflecting the mounting status of the optional device on a display (image) relating to the printer based on this information is already known.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a peripheral device driver having a graphical user interface customizes the graphical user interface to reflect the current configuration and current capabilities of the peripheral device at a specific time. A configuration that provides a list of only valid job options for a user is disclosed.

  However, it is easy to display a desired printer image (icon) at a timing desired by the vendor, or to display an appropriate one dynamically according to conditions, as in the past. In a situation where the operating system) controls the display of the printer image, it is difficult to display the desired printer image at the timing desired by the vendor, or to dynamically display the appropriate printer image depending on conditions. There was a problem of being.

  For example, in the case of Mac OS X (registered trademark), a printer icon is displayed in a print queue designated as a print destination when printing from an application. This icon is included in the printer driver, and the installation destination of the icon is described in PPD (PostScript Printer Description) also included in the printer driver. Note that the PPD is a text file provided by the vendor to describe all the functions available in the PostScript printer.

  In this OS, the location (installation destination) of the icon to be displayed can be known from the PPD. In this PPD, there is no mechanism for switching the icon to be displayed depending on the installation status of the device option, and only one icon can be prepared for each printer model. Therefore, the difference in appearance depending on the presence or absence of an optional device cannot be reflected in the icon. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and can display a desired image at a timing desired by a vendor even in a situation where the OS controls the display of a printer image, and is dynamically appropriate depending on conditions. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program for displaying an image of a simple printer.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem and achieve the object, the present invention refers to a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) in which an operating system describes functions that can be used in an image forming apparatus, and displays an image of the image forming apparatus. In the information processing apparatus to be displayed, the correspondence table between the option device mounting status and the image, the option device mounting status acquisition unit for acquiring the current option device mounting status from the printer, and the option device mounting status and image correspondence table, Determine the image corresponding to the acquired mounting status of the current optional device, download the image from the printer, and the file path of the printer image referenced by the OS described in the PPD And a PPD rewriting unit for rewriting the file path of the image.

  The present invention also relates to an information processing method in an information processing apparatus in which an operating system refers to a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) describing functions usable in an image forming apparatus and displays an image of the image forming apparatus. The information processing apparatus has an option device mounting status and image correspondence table, an optional device mounting status acquisition unit acquires the current mounting status of an optional device from a printer, and an image download unit loads the optional device From the status and image correspondence table, the acquired image corresponding to the current installation status of the optional device is determined, the corresponding image is downloaded from the printer, and the PPD rewriting unit refers to the printer referred to by the OS described in the PPD No The file path of the image is rewritten to the file path of the corresponding image.

  The present invention also relates to a printer driver installed in an information processing apparatus that displays an image of an image forming apparatus by referring to a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) in which an operating system describes functions available in the image forming apparatus. Option device mounting status and image correspondence table, option device mounting status acquisition unit for acquiring the current option device mounting status from the printer, and current option acquired from the option device mounting status and image correspondence table The image download unit that determines the image corresponding to the device mounting status and downloads the corresponding image from the printer, and the file path of the printer image referred to by the OS described in the PPD And a PPD rewriting unit that rewrites the file path of the image.

  An information processing system according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that displays an image of an image forming apparatus by referring to a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) in which an operating system describes functions that can be used in the image forming apparatus. The option device mounting status and image correspondence table, the option device mounting status acquisition unit for acquiring the current option device mounting status from the printer, and the current option device acquired from the option device mounting status and image mapping table The image download unit that determines the image corresponding to the installation status of the printer and downloads the corresponding image from the printer, and the file path of the printer image referred to by the OS described in the PPD, the file of the corresponding image In response to a request from the information processing apparatus having a PPD rewriting unit for rewriting to a path and the option device mounting status acquisition unit, the current option device mounting status is inquired to each unit, and the acquired current option device mounting An image forming apparatus comprising: an optional device status acquisition unit that returns a status; and an image providing unit that provides a requested printer image to the information processing apparatus in response to a printer image request from the image download unit; It is provided with.

  According to the present invention, a desired image can be displayed at a timing desired by a vendor even when the OS controls the display of a printer image, and an appropriate printer image can be dynamically displayed depending on conditions. There is an effect that can be done.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a general usage pattern of a host computer. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a general internal configuration of the host computer 10. As a specific example, FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a mechanism in which a print queue of MAC OS X displays a printer icon when the OS is MAC OS X. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation between the printer driver of the host computer 10 and the printer 20. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the printer. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the printer driver according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence table between an option device mounting state and an image. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image (icon) of a printer corresponding to the presence or absence of a finisher. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer driver according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence table between an option device mounting state and an image. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a list of accessibility to option devices for each user. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image list for an optional device mounting status and accessibility. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image (icon) of a printer corresponding to the presence / absence of a finisher and the availability of the finisher. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer driver according to the third embodiment. FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of hardware of the host computer 10 according to the present embodiment.

(Overview)
In the configuration of the host computer of this embodiment, the OS displays the printer image, the printer driver acquires the installation status of the optional device, determines the appropriate printer image, acquires the printer image, and the OS refers to The printer image reference destination is rewritten to an appropriate printer image address (file path).

A host computer that is an embodiment of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(First embodiment)

  FIG. 1 shows a general usage pattern of the host computer of this embodiment. The host computer 10-1 and the host computer 10-2 are connected to the network 30 (hereinafter, these are representatively referred to as the host computer 10). The host computer 10 is also connected to a plurality of printers 20-1 and 20-2 via the network 30 (hereinafter, these are represented as printers 20). The printer 20 is not limited to a single-function printer, and may be an image forming apparatus such as a multifunction peripheral (MFP).

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a general internal configuration of the host computer 10. The host computer 10 includes hardware and software (in the figure, an OS, an application, a graphic engine, and a printer driver as an example of a driver). The hardware is controlled by the OS. The printer driver, graphic engine, and application operate via the OS. When printing is executed by an application, necessary data is exchanged among the application, the printer driver, and the graphic engine, and print data is generated. The generated print data is transmitted from the OS to the network via the hardware, and is printed by the printer 20.

  As a specific example, FIG. 3 illustrates a mechanism in which a print queue of MAC OS X displays a printer icon when the OS is MAC OS X (registered trademark).

  First, a printer driver corresponding to the printer 20 is installed from the installer. At this time, a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) holding information of the printer 20 and a printer icon are copied to the host computer 10 (FIG. 3 (1)). At this point, since there is no print queue, printing cannot be performed from the application yet.

  Next, when a print queue is created, one PPD is copied to this print queue (FIG. 3 (2)), and the configuration of the optional device and the default value for each function are reflected.

  Finally, since the file path of the icon to be displayed in the print queue is described in the PPD copied to the print queue, the printer icon file is referred to based on this file path ((3) in FIG. 3). ), The file is displayed as a print queue icon.

  Next, an operation between the printer driver of the host computer 10 and the printer 20 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation.

  Initially, the printer driver transmits a request for inquiring the optional device configuration of the printer 20 to the printer 20.

  In response to the inquiry from the printer driver, the printer 20 returns an option device configuration as the option device status of the printer 20.

  Next, the printer driver requests from the icons related to the printer 20 held by the printer 20.

  The printer 20 returns the icon requested from the printer driver.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the printer 20. As shown in FIG. 5, the printer 20 prints in accordance with a control unit 20 a that performs overall control of the entire printer 20, a storage unit 20 b that stores a control program, various setting information, and the like, and print data passed from the host computer 10. A printing unit 20 c that prints on a sheet and a communication unit 20 d for connecting to the network 30 are provided. This configuration is the same as that of a conventional network printer. In the present embodiment, in order to realize the operation between the printer driver of the host computer 10 and the printer 20, as shown in FIG. 5, the option device mounting status determination unit 20a-1 and the image providing unit 20a- 2 is provided.

  When there is an inquiry about the configuration of an optional device from the printer driver, the optional device mounting status determination unit 20a-1 acquires the current mounting status of the optional device and returns it to the printer driver.

  The image providing unit 20a-2 provides the requested image to the printer driver when there is a request for an image of the printer 20 from the printer driver.

  FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the printer driver necessary for realizing the operation between the printer driver of the host computer 10 and the printer 20 shown in FIG. 4 and the display of the printer image (icon) according to the option device mounting status. FIG. As shown in the figure, the printer driver includes an option device mounting status acquisition unit 61, an image download unit 62, a PPD rewrite unit 63, and an option device mounting status and image correspondence table 64. The other functions are omitted.

  The option device status acquisition unit 61 implements a function for inquiring the printer 20 of the current option device installation status.

  The image download unit 62 realizes a function of determining an appropriate image from the current option device mounting status, the option device mounting status and image correspondence table 64, and downloading the image from the printer 20.

  Here, FIG. 7 shows an example of a correspondence table between the option device mounting status and the image. This correspondence table is a correspondence table of image files (image file names) corresponding to combinations of the presence / absence of each optional device. The example in FIG. 7 is an example of a model in which only a finisher and a duplex unit exist as an optional device. When the finisher is “Yes” and the duplex unit is “Yes”, both the finisher and the duplex unit can be used. It can be determined that the icon 1 indicating this is an appropriate image.

  Returning to FIG. 6, the PPD rewriting unit 63 realizes a function of rewriting the file path of the printer image referred to by the OS described in the PPD to that of an appropriate icon. As a result, the print queue icon is replaced with an appropriate icon.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a printer image (icon) corresponding to the presence or absence of a finisher. The “not installed” icon 81 is an image of a printer without a finisher, and the “available” icon 82 is an image of a printer with a finisher attached. By using such an image, an image of the printer corresponding to the option device mounting state is displayed. That is, this image makes it possible to visually recognize the mounting status of the optional device.

(Second Embodiment)
The present embodiment is based on the first embodiment, and can reflect the availability of an optional device for each user. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 9, the printer driver further includes an option device access availability list 65 for each user, an option device mounting status, and an image list 66 for access availability.

  Also in this embodiment, the option device status acquisition unit 61 realizes a function of inquiring the current option device mounting status to the printer 20, and the image download unit 62 uses the current option device mounting status and image correspondence table 64 as appropriate. A function of determining a correct image and downloading a set of images from the printer 20 is realized.

  In this embodiment, the PPD rewriting unit 63 determines whether or not the current user can access the option device from the access device availability list 65 for each user, and matches the current installation status of the option device. Then, an appropriate image is determined from the image list 66 for the option device mounting status and accessibility, and the file path of the printer image referred to by the OS described in the PPD is rewritten with an appropriate icon. As a result, the print queue icon is replaced with an appropriate one.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the correspondence table 64 between the option device mounting status and the image. This correspondence table is a table in which combinations of presence / absence of optional devices are associated with image files corresponding to the combinations. This example is an example of a model in which only a finisher and a duplex unit exist as optional devices.

  In the example in the figure, when the finisher is “Yes” and the duplex unit is “Yes”, the icon A indicates that both the finisher and duplex unit are available, and the finisher is available and the duplex unit is restricted. An icon B indicating that the use of the finisher is restricted and the duplex unit can be used, and an icon D indicating that the use of both the finisher and the duplex unit is restricted. A set of image files to be provided.

  FIG. 11 is an example of a list 65 of whether to access the optional device for each user. In the example of the figure, for the user A, both the finisher and the duplex unit are set to “available”, for the user B, the finisher is set to “unavailable”, and the duplex unit is set to “available”. ing.

  FIG. 12 is an example of an image list 66 for the option device mounting status and accessibility. In the example shown in the figure, for example, when the user A can use both the finisher and the duplex unit, it can be determined that the icon A is appropriate for the user A.

  FIG. 13 is an example of a printer image (icon) corresponding to the presence / absence of the finisher and the availability of the finisher. The “not installed” icon 81 is an image of the printer without the finisher, and the “available” icon 82 is an image of the printer when the finisher is installed and available. Yes, an “Usage restriction” icon 83 is an image of the printer when the finisher is attached and the use is restricted. Thus, in addition to “not installed” and “available”, there is “use restriction” in which the finisher is attached but the use of the user is restricted. Using such an image, an image of the printer reflecting the mounting status of the optional device and the availability of the optional device for each user is displayed. That is, this image makes it possible to visually check whether or not the current user can use the option device in addition to the option device mounting status.

(Third embodiment)
In the present embodiment, the administrator can edit the availability of the optional device for each user based on the second embodiment. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 14, an option device access permission / inhibition editing section 67 for each user is added to edit the option device access permission / inhibition list 65 for each user. The administrator may rewrite or add the contents of the option device access permission / inhibition list 65 (FIG. 11) for each user at any time via the option device access permission / inhibition editing section 67 for each user. become able to.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the host computer 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of hardware of the host computer 10.

  The host computer 10 communicates with a control device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 151 and a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) 152 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 153 via a network. F154, an external storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and a CD (Compact Disc) drive device (not shown), a display device such as a display device, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and a bus 155 for connecting each part It has a hardware configuration using a normal computer.

  The printer driver executed on the host computer 10 is an installable or executable file in a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Compact Disk Recordable), It is recorded on a computer-readable storage medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) and provided as a computer program product.

  The printer driver may be stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and provided or distributed by being downloaded via the network, or may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like. You may comprise.

  The printer drivers of the above-described embodiments realize the functions of the respective units of the above-described printer driver when the CPU 151 loads and executes the above-mentioned storage medium on the main storage device.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment for implementing invention was described, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above. Modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

10, 10-1, 10-2 Host computer 20, 20-1, 20-2 Printer 20 a Control unit 20 a-1 Option device mounting status determination unit 20 a-2 Image providing unit 20 b Storage unit 20 c Printing unit 20 d Communication unit 61 Option Device installation status acquisition unit 62 Image download unit 63 PPD rewrite unit 64 Correspondence table between option device installation status and image 65 Access device availability list for each user 66 Option device installation status and image availability table for access availability 67 For each user To access or not access optional devices

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-26867

Claims (6)

In an information processing apparatus in which an operating system refers to a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) describing functions available in an image forming apparatus and displays an image of the image forming apparatus.
Option device installation status and image correspondence table,
An optional device mounting status acquisition unit for acquiring the current optional device mounting status from the printer;
An image download unit that determines an image corresponding to the acquired mounting status of the current optional device from the option device mounting status and image correspondence table, and downloads the corresponding image from the printer;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a PPD rewriting unit that rewrites a file path of a printer image referred to by an OS described in a PPD to a file path of the corresponding image. A first list for determining whether or not each user can access the device;
A second list that defines an image of the optional device mounting status and accessibility, and
The image download unit determines an image corresponding to the acquired mounting status of the current optional device and accessibility to the original user from the correspondence table, the first list, and the second list, and a printer The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the corresponding image is downloaded from.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an editing unit for editing the first list. An information processing method in an information processing apparatus in which an operating system refers to a PPD (Post Script Printer Description) describing functions usable in an image forming apparatus and displays an image of the image forming apparatus,
The information processing apparatus has an optional device mounting status and image correspondence table,
The option device mounting status acquisition unit acquires the current option device mounting status from the printer,
The image download unit determines an image corresponding to the acquired current option device mounting status from the option device mounting status and image correspondence table, downloads the corresponding image from the printer,
An information processing method, wherein the PPD rewriting unit rewrites the file path of the printer image referred to by the OS described in the PPD to the file path of the corresponding image. A printer driver installed in an information processing apparatus that displays an image of an image forming apparatus with reference to a PPD (Post Script Printer Description) in which an operating system describes functions available in the image forming apparatus.
Option device installation status and image correspondence table,
An optional device mounting status acquisition unit for acquiring the current optional device mounting status from the printer;
An image download unit that determines an image corresponding to the acquired mounting status of the current optional device from the option device mounting status and image correspondence table, and downloads the corresponding image from the printer;
A printer driver comprising: a PPD rewriting unit that rewrites a file path of a printer image referred to by an OS described in a PPD to a file path of the corresponding image. An operating system refers to a PPD (PostScript Printer Description) describing functions that can be used in an image forming apparatus, and displays an image of the image forming apparatus.
Option device installation status and image correspondence table,
An optional device mounting status acquisition unit for acquiring the current optional device mounting status from the printer;
An image download unit that determines an image corresponding to the acquired mounting status of the current optional device from the option device mounting status and image correspondence table, and downloads the corresponding image from the printer;
An information processing apparatus having a PPD rewriting unit for rewriting a file path of a printer image referred to by the OS described in the PPD to a file path of the corresponding image;
In response to a request from the option device mounting status acquisition unit, an option device status acquisition unit that queries each unit of the current option device mounting status and returns the acquired current option device mounting status;
An information processing system comprising: an image providing unit that provides an image providing unit that provides a requested printer image to the information processing device in response to a printer image request from the image download unit .

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