Print control program product, print control device, and printing method

Abstract

The invention provides a printing control program product, a printing control device, and a printing method capable of notifying a sufficient state in a printing process using a general-purpose printer driver. A print control program product according to one embodiment of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute a first acquisition process, a second acquisition process, and a notification process. The first acquisition process acquires, from the general-purpose printer driver (16), a first state relating to a print job of a printer together with an instruction to display the state. The second acquisition process acquires, from the printer, a second state with respect to the print job thereof, which is different from the first state, without via the general-purpose printer driver (16). The notification process notifies the user of the state of the print job of the printer based on the first state and the second state.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a printing control program, a printing control device, and a printing method. Background Art

[0002] In Patent Document 1, the following technology is disclosed. That is, even in an environment where a printer driver compliant with the OS (Operating System) standard is installed, it is possible to reduce the labor and time of the user required for downloading and installing a printer vendor-specific driver.

[0003] Since a general-purpose printer driver such as an OS-standard printer driver does not correspond to all states that can be notified using a printer vendor-specific driver, it is not possible to sufficiently notify the states. Therefore, it is desired to develop a technology that can sufficiently notify states in printing processing using a general-purpose printer driver.

[0004] In addition, the technology described in Patent Document 1 is a technology for installing a printer vendor-specific driver that has been installed in order to perform printing without using an OS-standard printer driver, and thus is not a technology that can solve the above problems.

[0005] Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2021-43547 Summary of the Invention

[0006] A printing control program product according to one aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute the following processing: a first acquisition process of acquiring, from a general-purpose printer driver, a first state of a printing task of a printer together with an instruction for state display; a second acquisition process of acquiring, under a condition of not passing through the general-purpose printer driver, a second state of the printing task different from the first state from the printer; and a notification process of notifying a user of a state of the printing task of the printer based on the first state and the second state.

[0007] A printing control device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a general-purpose printer driver; a first acquisition processing unit that acquires, from the general-purpose printer driver, a first state of a printing task of a printer together with an instruction for state display; a second acquisition processing unit that acquires, under a condition of not passing through the general-purpose printer driver, a second state of the printing task different from the first state from the printer; and a notification processing unit that notifies a user of a state of the printing task of the printer based on the first state and the second state.

[0008] A printing method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a first acquisition process of acquiring, from a general printer driver, a first state of a printing task of a printer and an instruction for status display together; a second acquisition process of acquiring, under a condition of not passing through the general printer driver, a second state of the printing task different from the first state from the printer; and a notification process of notifying a user of a state of the printing task of the printer based on the first state and the second state. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Figure 1 A block diagram showing a structural example of a printing system according to an embodiment.

[0010] Figure 2 For Figure 1 A sequence diagram for explaining a first example of printing processing in a printing system.

[0011] Figure 3 For showing Figure 2 An example of a user interface image displayed in the printing process.

[0012] Figure 4 For showing Figure 2 Another example of a user interface image displayed in the printing process.

[0013] Figure 5 For Figure 2 A flowchart for explaining an example of processing in a vendor assistance application in the printing process.

[0014] Figure 6 For showing Figure 1 An example of a support status database used in a printing system.

[0015] Figure 7 For Figure 1 A sequence diagram for explaining a second example of printing processing in a printing system.

[0016] Figure 8 For showing Figure 7 An example of a user interface image displayed in the printing process.

[0017] Figure 9 A diagram showing an example of the hardware structure of a device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, each drawing is merely an illustration for explaining the embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, not all of the structural elements described in the embodiments of the present invention are essential structural elements of the present invention.

[0019] Structure of the system

[0020] Use Figure 1 to illustrate a structural example of the printing system according to this embodiment. Figure 1 It is a block diagram showing a structural example of the printing system according to this embodiment.

[0021] As Figure 1 shown, the printing system 100 according to this embodiment can include a terminal device 10, a printer A (31), a printer B (32), and a printer C (33).

[0022] The terminal device 10 is an information processing device with a communication function such as a PC (Personal Computer), a smart phone, or a tablet terminal, and can be used by a user who wishes to perform printing. The terminal device 10 is connected to the printer A (31), the printer B (32), and the printer C (33) via the network N for processing such as sending a printing request. Since the terminal device 10 controls printing, it can be called a printing control device. Although not shown, a plurality of terminal devices 10 can be included in the printing system 100.

[0023] The printer A (31), the printer B (32), and the printer C (33) are all examples of printers, and can perform printing on a medium when receiving printing data. Each printer produces a printed matter by performing such printing. In addition, although for the sake of convenience of explanation, the printing system 10 is described on the premise of including three printers in this way, it is sufficient if it includes at least one printer. In addition, although each printer only needs to be a device with a communication function and a printing function, it can also be a multifunction machine with other functions such as a scanning function, a copying function, and a facsimile transmission function. In addition, each printer can also be called a printing device or an image forming device. In addition, the printing method in each printer is not limited. For example, various printing methods such as an inkjet printing method and a laser printing method can be applied.

[0024] The printing system 100 performs printing by a printer selected from the printer A (31), the printer B (32), and the printer C (33) through a user operation from the terminal device 10. Hereinafter, a structural example of the terminal device 10 will be described in detail. In addition, the description of the structure of each printer is omitted.

[0025] Structure of the terminal device 10

[0026] As Figure 1 shown, the terminal device 10 may include a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication unit 13, an operation unit 14, and a display unit 15.

[0027] The control unit 11 controls the entire terminal device 10. The control unit 11 may be configured, for example, to include an arithmetic processing device, a working memory, and a storage device that stores control programs, parameters, etc. The above arithmetic processing device may be a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), etc. The control unit 11 can also be configured as an SoC (System on a Chip). As can be seen from these examples, the control unit 11 can be configured to store the control program in an executable state. However, the control unit 11 can also be configured to store a part of the control program as a circuit structure like an FPGA (field-programmable gate array), or can be configured as a dedicated circuit.

[0028] The above control program may include a program for causing the arithmetic processing device to execute printing-related processing while cooperating with the storage unit 12, the communication unit 13, the operation unit 14, and the display unit 15. The above control program may include an OS. In addition, since the OS is the OS installed on the terminal device 10, it becomes an OS of a type corresponding to the model of the terminal device 10, etc. The above control program may include a web browser inside or outside the OS. Although in the following, an example in which at least a part of the control program is stored in the storage unit 12 separately provided from the control unit 11 is described, the storage unit 12 may also be a part of the storage device within the control unit 11. That is, the storage unit 12 can also be understood as a part of the control unit 11.

[0029] The storage unit 12 is a storage device implemented by, for example, a hard disk drive, a solid state drive, or other memory. In the storage unit 12, a general printer driver 16 and a vendor assistance application 17, which will be described later, are stored in a state that can be executed by the control unit 11 as part of the control program. Hereinafter, the vendor assistance application will be simply referred to as the vendor assistance App for explanation. In addition, the storage unit 12 can store various data such as a support status database (DB) 18 or a file to be printed. The support status DB 18 may also be included in the vendor assistance App 17. The support status DB 18 will be described later together with an example of the printing process.

[0030] The communication unit 13 is a part that communicates with external devices such as a printer A (31), a printer B (32), and a printer C (33) wirelessly or wiredly via a network N according to various mobile communication standards, Wi-Fi (registered trademark. The same applies hereinafter.) standards, and other predetermined communication standards. The communication unit 13 may be composed of one or more communication interfaces capable of performing the above communication.

[0031] The operation unit 14 is a part that receives operations performed by the user of the terminal device 10 and can also be referred to as an operation reception unit. The operation unit 14 can be implemented by, for example, any one or more of physical buttons, a touch panel mounted on the display unit 15, a pointing device, and a keyboard. In a configuration where the operation unit 14 includes a touch panel, the display unit 15 and the touch panel may be included and referred to as the operation panel of the terminal device 10.

[0032] The display unit 15 is a part for displaying a user interface (UI) image for operating the terminal device 10 and is composed of, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence display. In addition, the display unit 15 may be configured to include a display and a drive circuit for driving the display.

[0033] The general printer driver 16 will be described. The general printer driver 16 is a printer driver conforming to the OS standard included in the control program or attached to the OS. The general printer driver 16 can be a program capable of controlling various printers to perform printing. In addition, the general printer driver 16 can also be referred to as an OS general printing program or a general printing program.

[0034] The general printer driver 16 is a driver that uses a general protocol for searching and printing on a printer. For example, the general printer driver 16 uses mDNS / DNS-SD to search for a printer and uses IPP to perform printing using the printer. Here, DNS is the abbreviation of Domain Name System. mDNS is the abbreviation of multicast DNS. DNS-SD is the abbreviation of DNS Service Discovery. IPP is the abbreviation of Internet Print Protocol.

[0035] As can be seen from this example, the general printer driver 16 can be set as an IPP Class driver, for example. IPP is an example of a standard protocol for controlling the management and printing of a printer. IPP uses the POST request and response of HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) to obtain and control the information of the printer. In IPP, the setting of the printer and the acquisition of the printer status can be implemented. Here, by using HTTPS (HTTP Secure) instead of HTTP, secure communication can be implemented.

[0036] The vendor-assisted App 17 will be described. The vendor-assisted App 17 is an application that assists the general printer driver 16 and is used to expand the functions of the general printer driver 16. Therefore, the general printer driver 16 can have the functions of starting the vendor-assisted App 17 and sending a printing task to the vendor-assisted App 17. The vendor-assisted App 17 can be set as Print Support Application (PSA), for example.

[0037] The vendor-assisted App 17 can be set to assist the general printer driver 16 to enable the computer to perform printing control suitable for the performance of the target printer, that is, to support the unique functions of the printer. The computer mentioned here refers to the terminal device 10 or the control unit 11. When the vendor-assisted App 17 obtains a printing task from the general printer driver 16, it can convert the printing task so that printing using the unique functions of the specified printer can be performed by the printer.

[0038] The Supplier-Assisted App 17 is an application provided for suppliers of printers, etc. The Supplier-Assisted App 17 can be provided to the user of the terminal device 10, for example, by being publicly available in an app store, etc., which is the source of the OS. Alternatively, the Supplier-Assisted App 17 can be provided to the user in a manner included in or attached to the OS.

[0039] Moreover, the Supplier-Assisted App 17 includes a printing control program to be described next. That is to say, this printing control program can also be installed as PSA, for example. Stated schematically, this printing control program is used to cause the display unit 15 to display the status of the printer, such as Printer A (31), etc., which performs printing, as the task status of the printing task of this printer. In addition, the status of the printing task of the printer can include the status of this printer. In particular, even if the status cannot be provided by the general printer driver 16, as long as it is a status that can be provided by this printer, it is set to enable the display unit 15 to display it.

[0040] Specifically, this printing control program is a program that causes a computer to execute a first acquisition process, a second acquisition process, and a notification process to be described next. The computer mentioned here also refers to the terminal device 10 or the control unit 11. Although in the following, an example of a case where a printing request is made from the terminal device 10 to Printer A (31) is given for description, the same setting is applied to other printers.

[0041] The first acquisition process acquires, from the general printer driver 16, the first status of the printing task regarding Printer A (31) and an instruction for status display together. The first acquisition process can acquire the first status through inter-process communication between the general printer driver 16 and the printing control program. As can be seen from the acquisition from the general printer driver 16, the first status becomes a status that can be acquired using the general printer driver 16. Specifically, the general printer driver 16 can acquire the status of the printing task from Printer A (31) using a general protocol such as IPP.

[0042] The second acquisition process acquires, without going through the general printer driver 16, a second state of the printing task regarding the printer A (31), which is different from the first state. The second acquisition process can communicate with the printer A (31) via the communication unit 13 to acquire the second state. Here, since the second state is different from the first state, it is at least a state not corresponding to the general printer driver 16. For example, the second state can be set to any one of all the states that can be provided by the driver unique to the printer vendor, excluding the first state. That is to say, the second state that can be acquired can be set to all the states that can be provided by the driver unique to the printer vendor, excluding the first state. However, it is okay if a part of the first state and the second state is common.

[0043] The notification process notifies the user of the terminal device 10 of the state of the printing task regarding the printer A (31) based on the first state and the second state. The notification process can be performed by causing the display unit 15 to display the state. The notification process can also be accompanied by a process of outputting a notification sound from a speaker (not shown).

[0044] In other words, in the present embodiment, a printing method including the above-described first acquisition process, second acquisition process, and notification process can be provided.

[0045] Furthermore, in other words, the terminal device 10 includes a general printer driver 16, a first acquisition processing unit, a second acquisition processing unit, and a notification processing unit as described below.

[0046] The first acquisition processing unit acquires, from the general printer driver 16, the first state of the printing task regarding the printer A (31) and an instruction for state display together. Since the first acquisition processing unit acquires the first state through communication with the general printer driver 16, it can also be called a driver processing unit. The second acquisition processing unit acquires, without going through the general printer driver 16, a second state of the printing task regarding the printer A (31), which is different from the first state. Since the second acquisition processing unit acquires the second state through communication with the printer, it can also be called a printer processing unit. The notification processing unit notifies the user of the state of the printing task regarding the printer A (31) based on the first state and the second state.

[0047] Effects of the present embodiment

[0048] Before describing a more specific example of the printing process in the present embodiment, the effects achieved by the present embodiment will be described.

[0049] As described above, in the printing system 100, the printing control program can notify the state obtained based on the second state. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, in the printing process using the general printer driver, even the state that the general printer driver cannot handle can be notified. Thus, it can be said that sufficient states can be notified.

[0050] To supplement the description of the above effects, the printing systems according to the present embodiment and the comparative example are compared. In the printing system according to the comparative example, instead of using the printer driver of the vendor, a general printer driver that is standardized and incorporated into the Windows (registered trademark. The same applies hereinafter.) operating system is used to control the printer. In the general printer driver in this comparative example, a general protocol is also used in the search and printing of the printer. The general printer driver obtains the status of the printing task through IPP, which is a general protocol, and uses the notification function of the operating system for display. In the case of using Windows, the status is displayed as a desktop notification (Toast Notification).

[0051] Moreover, in the general printer driver in the comparative example, the vendor auxiliary application associated with the printer is also started, and a structure for providing customized printing settings or customizing the IPP communication during printing is provided. Regarding the notification, the following structure is provided, that is, when the user selects the UI image of the desktop notification displayed through the notification function of the operating system, the operating system starts the general printer driver and passes the successfully obtained status of the printing task to the vendor auxiliary application. Thus, in the vendor auxiliary application, independent messages can be displayed according to the status. Of course, the vendor auxiliary application and the general printer driver according to the comparative example do not include the above printing control program.

[0052] However, since only general states are defined in IPP, in the structure according to the comparative example, the general printer driver cannot obtain states that do not exist in the detailed error definitions. Therefore, in the structure according to the comparative example, the vendor auxiliary application cannot notify the states not defined in IPP either. As a result, for example, the method for eliminating the detailed error corresponding to the state cannot be guided to the user.

[0053] Thus, in the comparative example involved, since the general printer driver does not correspond to all states, in the printing process using the general printer driver, it is impossible to notify the user of a sufficient state. On the other hand, as described above, according to the present embodiment, a structure is introduced in which detailed states and the like, which are not defined in the general printer driver, are additionally acquired as the second state. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it can be said that even in the printing process using the general printer driver 16, it is possible to notify the user of a sufficient state as compared with the comparative example.

[0054] First example of printing process

[0055] Use Figures 2 to 6 to illustrate the first example of the printing process according to the present embodiment. Figure 2 For use in Figure 1 the sequence diagram for illustrating the first example of the printing process in the printing system 100. Figure 3 For showing in Figure 2 an example of the UI image displayed in the printing process. Figure 4 For showing in Figure 2 another example of the UI image displayed in the printing process. Hereinafter, an example in which the vendor assist App 17 is installed with the printing control program that implements the above-described first acquisition process, second acquisition process, and notification process will also be described.

[0056] The first example is an example in which the vendor assist App 17 displays the state to be notified on its own UI image.

[0057] First, the user U starts an application program for starting or editing a print target file such as a document file. Then, the user U performs an operation of selecting the printer A (31) in the print settings of the print target file from the operation unit 14, etc., so that the general printer driver 16 receives an instruction to start printing (step S1).

[0058] The general printer driver 16 converts the print target file into print data in a printable form and sends a print job including the print data to the printer A (31) (step S2). Before this conversion, the user U can also give an instruction for print settings using the extended function in the vendor assist App 17 as the print settings for the printer A (31). In this case, the general printer driver 16 only needs to perform the following processing, that is, start the vendor assist App 17, and the vendor assist App 17 receives an operation of print settings using the extended function from the user U and performs conversion to print data based on the print settings and generation of a print job.

[0059] After the processing in step S2, the general printer driver 16 periodically makes a request to obtain the job status (JS) as the status of the printing job for printer A (31) (step S3), and receives the first status as the JS in response (step S4). The JS received here is the first status. For the communication in steps S3 and S4, IPP communication can be used. As general statuses that can be obtained through IPP, for example, Printing (printing), Offline (offline), PaperOut (out of paper), Error (error), UserIntervention (user intervention required), etc. can be cited.

[0060] In addition, the general printer driver 16 periodically makes a display request for the JS to the internal general status UI image 16a (step S5). In response, the general status UI image 16a displays and notifies the JS obtained based on the first status received in step S4. Although the general status UI image 16a only needs to display the received first status itself as the JS, it can also display the JS that has been processed, etc. based on the first status. The general status UI image 16a, for example, like Figure 3 the UI image 50 shown, may include text 51 indicating the meaning that the printer needs to be confirmed. Thus, the user U can confirm the first status using the display unit 15. In Figure 3 it, an example is shown where the status received in step S4, which indicates that the user's operation is required to correct the error status, is shown as the first status.

[0061] Next, the general status UI image 16a that has displayed the first status, such as the UI image 50, accepts a selection operation implemented by the user U using the operation unit 14 (step S6). In addition, the general status UI image 16a includes a button for starting the vendor assistance App 17 or a button for obtaining a more detailed or accurate status. In step S6, a selection operation for selecting this button can also be accepted.

[0062] The general status UI image 16a that has received the selection operation in step S6 starts the vendor assistance App 17 with the first status received in step S4 as the independent variable (step S7). The vendor assistance App 17 determines whether the JS to be notified is insufficient in information based on the first status transmitted from the general printer driver 16 (step S8). Whether the JS to be notified is insufficient in information can mean whether there is information that can be additionally provided or can be provided more accurately, and in the transmitted JS, it means whether the JS is insufficient.

[0063] The supplier assistance App 17 performs the process based on the determination result in step S8 (step S9). When the JS to be notified is not insufficient in information, the supplier assistance App 17 does not perform the process in step S9.

[0064] On the other hand, in step S9, when the JS to be notified is insufficient in information, the supplier assistance App 17 requests, based on the first state, the insufficient state, that is, the state of the type of insufficiency, from the printer A (31) (step S10). In this way, the second acquisition process can include the process of requesting the state of the type corresponding to the received first state from the printer A (31) as the second state. Then, the supplier assistance App 17 receives, as a response, the second state as the insufficient state from the printer A (31) (step S11). In this way, the supplier assistance App 17 can additionally acquire the state obtained based on the first state as the independent variable as the second state.

[0065] The communication in steps S10 and S11 can be executed according to a protocol with vendor extensions to IPP, or other SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), or a vendor-specific protocol.

[0066] Although the availability of support for each type of the second state depends on the printer, the following states can be listed, for example. That is, the second state can be listed as, for example, no ink remaining for each color, no waste ink cartridge remaining, cover open (main, waste ink cartridge), web paper detection failure, paper jam, etc. Here, the waste ink cartridge is a cartridge for discarding the ink used in maintenance such as nozzle cleaning. Cover open indicates the state where the cover is open. As the cover, for example, various parts of the cover such as the main cover of the printer and the cover of the waste ink cartridge can be listed. Depending on the printer, there are cases where it is supported as a common state and cases where it is supported as the state of each part. In addition, the state of paper jam can include information indicating the position where the paper is jammed.

[0067] Next, the supplier assistance App 17 notifies the user U of the guidance for error elimination by displaying the state obtained based on the second state acquired on its own UI image and displaying the detailed error elimination method corresponding to the state (step S12). Specific processing examples of steps S8 to S12 will be described later.

[0068] The supplier assistance App 17 can, for example, by Figure 4The UI image 60 shown is displayed to give such guidance. The UI image 60 is a UI image for notifying JS etc. regarding the printer A (31), and may include the image 61 of the printer A (31) and the text 62 for guiding the coping method such as the detailed error elimination method corresponding to the second state as the additional state. In addition, the UI image 60 may include a button 63 for closing the UI image 60.

[0069] Figure 4 The example shown is an example of taking the state where paper jams occurred at a total of two parts, namely the manual insertion tray and the G part, in step S11 as the second state. In addition, the G part refers to the part of the printer A (31) to which "G" is attached using a seal etc. Therefore, the text 62 may include this state and the text indicating the meaning that it can be confirmed with the help of the operation panel as its coping method. In addition, the image 61 may overlappedly include arrow marks indicating these two parts on the illustration of the printer (A) 31. Of course, although an example of being able to confirm with the help of the operation panel is listed here as the coping method, in a simpler example, the coping method may also be specifically described in advance in the text 62.

[0070] In order to give the guidance in step S12, the vendor assistance App17 is configured to be able to obtain information such as the text 62 indicating its coping method according to the type of the second state and incorporate it into the UI image 60. For example, although not shown, the vendor assistance App17 can obtain the coping method corresponding to the second state and incorporate it into the UI image 60 by pre-saving a DB recording its coping method for each second state. In addition, by pre-recording the coping method corresponding to each state in the support state DB18, for example, the incorporation of the coping method into the UI image 60 can also be performed. That is to say, the relationship between the second state and the coping method can be included in the vendor assistance App17 itself in advance, or can be saved in a table etc. that can be referred to from the vendor assistance App17.

[0071] In this way, the user U can make Figure 3 the UI image 50 etc. of the general state UI image be selected, so that Figure 4 the UI image 60 is displayed and receive guidance including coping methods such as the error elimination method. In addition, although the situation where an error has occurred is taken as a premise for the description here, when no error has occurred, the UI image 60 will include information indicating the current status of the printer A.

[0072] In addition, when it is determined in step S8 that the status is sufficient, in step S12, the supplier assistance App 17 displays the status obtained only based on the first status acquired on its own UI image. When information on a countermeasure method such as an error elimination method corresponding to this status has been obtained from the general printer driver 16, the supplier assistance App 17 can notify the user U of the guidance by displaying a UI image including the countermeasure method.

[0073] However, regardless of whether information on a countermeasure method corresponding to this status has been obtained from the general printer driver 16, as long as the supplier assistance App 17 displays a countermeasure method corresponding to the first status, the user U will be likely to perform countermeasures such as error elimination. Therefore, as long as the supplier assistance App 17 obtains information on a countermeasure method corresponding to the first status and incorporates it into the UI image. The relationship between the first status and the countermeasure method, similar to the relationship between the second status and the countermeasure method, can be included in the supplier assistance App 17 itself in advance, or can be stored in a table or the like that can be referred to from the supplier assistance App 17 in advance.

[0074] As judged in step S8 whether there is a state of insufficient information, that is, whether additional or more accurate information can be provided, the second acquisition process can include a determination process for determining whether a second status is required. And, as illustrated in steps S9 to S11, the following method can be adopted, that is, the second acquisition process acquires the second status when it is determined that the second status is required, and does not acquire the second status when it is determined that the second status is not required. Also, as illustrated in step S12, the notification process can notify the user of the status of the printer A (31) based on the first status when it is determined in the determination process that the second status is not required. Similarly, as illustrated in step S12, the notification process can acquire the second status when it is determined in the determination process that the second status is required, and notify the user of the status of the printer A (31) based on the second status.

[0075] In this way, the notified status becomes the status obtained based on the second status when there is a second status corresponding to the first status, and becomes the status obtained based on the first status when there is no second status corresponding to the first status. Therefore, the same type of status is not repeatedly included in the notified status, and the user U will not be confused.

[0076] Next, use Figures 4 to 6 to illustrate a specific processing example of steps S8 to S12 including the determination of the insufficient status and the notification of the guidance of the countermeasure method.Figure 5 A flowchart for explaining a processing example in the supplier assistance App17 in the printing process for Figure 2 . Figure 6 A diagram showing an example of the support status DB18 used in the printing system 100 of Figure 1 .

[0077] First, as described above, the general printer driver 16 starts the supplier assistance App17 with the first state as an independent variable. Next, the supplier assistance App17 determines whether the support status DB18 exists in the storage unit 12 (step S21).

[0078] If the result in step S21 is "Yes", the supplier assistance App17 determines whether there is a state of insufficient information based on the first state and referring to the support status DB18 (step S22). The support status DB18, for example, as Figure 6 illustrated, can include information on whether each type of state is supported for each printer that can be connected. In Figure 6 , an example is given where it is recorded as "Valid" when supported and "Null" when not supported.

[0079] Then, the supplier assistance App17 refers to the support status DB18. If the printer A (31) that performs printing for the same type of state as the first state is supported, it is determined in step S22 that the state is sufficient. For example, when the first state is "paperless error", the supplier assistance App17 retrieves information on the printer A (31) of "paperless" of the same type as the state "paperless error" from the support status DB18. In this case, the information of the supplier assistance App17 becomes "Valid". Therefore, the supplier assistance App17 determines that it is a state where the printer A (31) is supported and no additional information needs to be provided, that is, it is determined that the state is not insufficient. In this way, when there is no state that can provide more accurate or detailed information compared to the information provided in the first state for the printer A (31) and the first state is sufficient, the supplier assistance App17 determines in step S22 that the state is not insufficient.

[0080] On the other hand, when there is no status of the same type as the first status in the reference support status DB18, the supplier assistance App17 determines that the status is insufficient in step S22. In addition, even when there is a status of the same type as the first status, but the information of the printer A (31) where printing is to be performed by the supplier assistance App17 is "Null" and does not support this status, it is also determined that the status is insufficient in step S22. For example, when the first status is "user operation is required to correct the error status", this status does not exist in the Figure 6 supported status DB18 exemplified. Therefore, the supplier assistance App17 will determine that it is a status that printer A (31) does not support and for which information can be additionally provided, that is, it determines that the status is insufficient.

[0081] In this way, the above determination process can also refer to a database such as the support status DB18 that indicates whether the second status is required according to the type of status, to determine whether the second status is required.

[0082] When the determination in step S22 is "Yes", the supplier assistance App17 obtains the second status as the additional status from the printer A (31) (step S23). Then, the supplier assistance App17 incorporates the status obtained based on the acquired second status into the UI image 60 for display (step S24), and ends the process. When the determination in step S22 is "No", the supplier assistance App17 enters step S24 without going through step S23, incorporates the status obtained based on the first status into the UI image in the same manner as the UI image 60 for display, and ends the process. In step S24, as described above, the supplier assistance App17 can cause the UI image to be displayed in such a way that the response method is included in the UI image based on the relationship between the second status or the first status and the response method.

[0083] On the other hand, when the determination in step S21 is "No", the supplier assistance App17 obtains the support status as a list of supported task statuses from the printer A (31) (step S25). Next, the supplier assistance App17 generates the support status DB18 (step S26).

[0084] In step S26, for example, the supplier assistance App17 can statically save the list of supported task statuses obtained by communicating with the printer A (31) in the user environment such as the storage unit 12. After the processing in step S26, the supplier assistance App17 only needs to enter the processing in step S22.

[0085] Alternatively, the generation process of the support status DB18 in step S26 can also be executed as follows. For example, the supplier assistance App17 pre-saves a list of task statuses supported for each model as static information in a user environment such as the storage unit 12. Then, the supplier assistance App17 reads this information at least for the printer A (31) currently performing printing, thereby generating the support status DB18.

[0086] In the first example of the printing process, in this way, based on the status of the printing task obtained and displayed by the general printer driver 16 standardized by the OS using IPP, the supplier assistance App17 can additionally obtain the insufficient information from the printer A (31) and display it. Thus, in the supplier assistance App17, it is also possible to guide the user U to corresponding countermeasures such as detailed error elimination methods corresponding to the additional status.

[0087] That is to say, in the first example, not only can the insufficient status be obtained using IPP and the user be guided to detailed error elimination methods, but by additionally obtaining and displaying only the insufficient part, it is also possible to avoid duplication with the general errors displayed by the OS, thus avoiding user confusion.

[0088] Second example of the printing process

[0089] Use Figure 7 And Figure 8 to illustrate the second example of the printing process according to the present embodiment. Figure 7 For use in Figure 1 Sequence diagram for illustrating the second example of the printing process in the printing system 100. Figure 8 For showing Figure 7 An example of the UI image displayed in the printing process.

[0090] The second example is different from the first example in that it is an example in which the status to be notified is displayed on the UI image for general status notification of the OS. That is to say, the notification process in the second example is a process of notifying the status of the printer A (31) via the general printer driver 16. Therefore, in the second example, the processing of steps S1 to S11 of the first example can also be applied.

[0091] In the second example, instead of step S12, the supplier assistance App17 feeds back the additional information to the general status UI image 16b of the OS. In addition, the general status UI image 16b is a UI image configured in such a way that the fed-back additional information is embedded in the general status UI image 16a.

[0092] The additional information can be, for example, Figure 4The UI image 60 itself can also be just text information or the like, as long as it contains the state obtained based on the second state, or information indicating the state and the corresponding method therefor.

[0093] When the additional information is the UI image 60, the general state UI image 16b can be set to be a UI image such as the UI image 60 which includes, in addition to the text 51, in the Figure 3 UI image 50. That is to say, in this case, the general state UI image 16b can be set to be the Figure 8 UI image 70 shown. Of course, the general state UI image 16b can also be set to be an image obtained by removing the text 51 from the Figure 8 UI image 70.

[0094] Since in the second example, in addition to the effects achieved by the first example, additional information is also displayed on the general state UI image of the OS, it is possible to achieve an effect of unifying the display of the state and the corresponding method for the state to a certain extent without depending on the vendor support App 17.

[0095] Other modification examples

[0096] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist. For example, the system configuration of the printing system, the configurations of the respective devices constituting the system, the configurations of the respective programs included in the respective devices, the processing order of the respective devices, etc. are not limited to the illustrated contents.

[0097] In addition, each device included in the printing system according to the above-described embodiment can have a hardware configuration as follows, for example. Here, if examples of each device are Figure 1 listed, a terminal device and each printer can be listed. Figure 9 A diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the device.

[0098] Figure 9 The device 1000 shown can include a processor 1001, a memory 1002, and an interface 1003. The interface 1003 can include interfaces such as a communication interface and an input / output device as required according to the state of the device.

[0099] The processor 1001 can also be, for example, a CPU, a GPU, an MPU (Micro Processor Unit) also known as a microprocessor, etc. The processor 1001 can also include multiple processors. The memory 1002 is constituted, for example, by a combination of a volatile memory and a non-volatile memory. The functions in each device are implemented by the processor 1001 reading a program stored in the memory 1002 and executing the program while exchanging necessary information via the interface 1003.

[0100] In addition, the above-mentioned program includes a set of commands (or software code) that, when read by a computer, cause the computer to execute one or more of the functions described in the embodiments. The program can also be stored in a non-temporary computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. As a non-limiting example, the computer-readable medium or the tangible storage medium includes a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory, a solid-state drive (SSD), or other memory technologies. In addition, as a non-limiting example, the computer-readable medium or the tangible storage medium includes a CD-ROM, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disc, or other optical disc storage devices, a magnetic cassette, a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk storage device, or other magnetic storage devices. The program can also be transmitted on a temporary computer-readable medium or a communication medium. As a non-limiting example, the temporary computer-readable medium or the communication medium includes electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

[0101] Although the present invention has been described above according to the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the structures of the above embodiments, and obviously also includes various deformations, corrections, and combinations that those skilled in the art can make within the scope of the invention claimed in the claims of this application.

[0102] Reference Signs

[0103] 10…Terminal device; 11…Control unit; 12…Storage unit; 13…Communication unit; 14…Operation unit; 15…Display unit; 16…General printer driver; 16a…General status UI image; 16b…General status UI image; 17…Vendor assistance App; 18…Support status DB; 31…Printer A; 32…Printer B; 33…Printer C; 50…UI image; 51…Text; 60…UI image; 61…Image; 62…Text; 63…Button; 70…UI image; 100…Printing system; 1000…Device; 1001…Processor; 1002…Memory; 1003…Interface; N…Network; U…User.

Claims

1. A printing control program product that causes a computer to perform the following processes: A first acquisition process of acquiring, from a general printer driver, a first state of a printing task of a printer together with an instruction for state display; A second acquisition process of acquiring, without going through the general printer driver, a second state of the printing task that is different from the first state from the printer; A notification process of notifying a user of the state of the printing task of the printer based on the first state and the second state.

2. The printing control program product according to claim 1, wherein the printing control program is a print support application program.

3. The printing control program product according to claim 1, wherein the second acquisition process includes a process of requesting, from the printer, a state of a type corresponding to the first state as the second state.

4. The printing control program product according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second acquisition process includes a determination process of determining whether the second state is required, and acquiring the second state when it is determined in the determination process that the second state is required, and not acquiring the second state when it is determined in the determination process that the second state is not required, and the notification process notifies the user of the state of the printer based on the first state when it is determined in the determination process that the second state is not required.

5. The printing control program product according to claim 4, wherein the determination process refers to a database that shows whether the second state is required for each type of the state of the printing task to determine whether the second state is required.

6. The printing control program product according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the notification process notifies the state of the printer through the general printer driver.

7. A printing control device comprising: A general printer driver; A first acquisition processing unit that acquires, from the general printer driver, a first state of a printing task of a printer together with an instruction for state display; A second acquisition processing unit that acquires, without going through the general printer driver, a second state of the printing task that is different from the first state from the printer; A notification processing unit that notifies a user of the state of the printing task of the printer based on the first state and the second state.

8. A printing method including: A first acquisition process of acquiring, from a general printer driver, a first state of a printing task of a printer together with an instruction for state display; A second acquisition process of acquiring, without going through the general printer driver, a second state of the printing task that is different from the first state from the printer; A notification process of notifying a user of the state of the printing task of the printer based on the first state and the second state.

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