Support program and printing system

Abstract

To provide a technology for reducing unintended printing by a user based in terms of usage of a sheet in an information processing device in which an OS-standard general-use printing program is implemented.SOLUTION: An auxiliary program 42 causes a CPU 11 of a personal computer 1 to display a setting screen for receiving an input operation of print settings on a user IF 13, and on the basis of display of a setting screen, acquire sheet information representing information, which is information on a sheet to be used for printing from a printer 2. Further, when there is a print instruction output from an editing application 43 and instructing a general-use printing program 41 implemented in advance in an OS 21, to perform printing of an image by the printer 2, the CPU 11 acquires sheet information included in the print settings for the print instruction and determining suitability of a sheet by comparing the sheet information acquired from the printer 2 with the sheet information of the print settings. The CPU 11 displays a warning message by means of the user IF 13 when it is determined that the sheet is unsuitable.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to a support program that supports control of a printer and a printing system. [Background technology]

[0002] As a technique for controlling a printer from an information processing device such as a personal computer, a configuration in which print settings are acquired by a printer driver and print data is generated based on the acquired print settings is widely known. As a printer driver technique, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for comparing a paper size detected by a printer with a paper size set by an application and detecting a mismatch in paper size. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-11946 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In recent years, a technology has been put into practical use that controls a printer using a print program built into the operating system (OS) as standard, without using the printer driver mentioned above. With this technology, the OS associates the printer with the OS's standard print program, and after that, when a print instruction is received for that printer, printing can be performed using the OS's standard print program, without using a printer driver.

[0005] When using the above-mentioned OS-standard general-purpose printing program for printing, a conventional printer driver cannot be used for printing. As a result, some of the functions provided by the printer driver are no longer supported. For example, the OS-standard general-purpose printing program does not support the function for detecting whether the paper information on the information processing device side and the paper information on the printer side are appropriate, as described above, making it difficult to perform appropriate processing for mismatches in paper information. As a result, users may find that the print result is not what they intended after printing, such as the image going off the edge of the paper.

[0006] This specification discloses a technique for reducing paper-based printing that is not intended by a user in an information processing apparatus in which an OS-standard general-purpose printing program is installed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A support program made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems is executable by a computer of an information processing device, and is a support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing device, and causes the computer to execute a setting screen display process for displaying a setting screen that accepts input operations for print settings using a user interface of the information processing device, and a first acquisition process for acquiring first paper information, which is information on the paper to be used for printing, from the printer in conjunction with displaying the setting screen by the setting screen display process, and further causes the computer to execute a second acquisition process for acquiring second paper information, which is information on the paper included in the print settings for a print instruction output from an application program incorporated in the information processing device, when the print instruction causes the printer to print an image using a general-purpose print program pre-integrated in the operating system of the information processing device, a determination process for determining whether the paper is suitable by comparing the first paper information acquired in the first acquisition process with the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process, and a warning process for performing a process to issue a warning using the user interface if the determination process determines that the paper is unsuitable.

[0008] According to the support program disclosed in this specification, the information processing device acquires first paper information, which is information about paper that the printer has, from the printer in conjunction with the display of a setting screen that can be displayed before a print instruction is given. Then, when a print instruction is given for the general-purpose print program, the information processing device compares the first paper information with second paper information, which is information about paper included in the print settings for the print instruction, to determine suitability. Furthermore, if the information processing device determines that the paper is unsuitable, it issues a warning before sending the print data. This is expected to encourage the user to make an input to avoid printing the print data, and as a result, it is more likely that printing unintended by the user can be avoided.

[0009] An information processing device incorporating the above-mentioned 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 a printer are also novel and useful. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the technology disclosed in this specification, a technology is realized that reduces printing on paper that is not intended by a user in an information processing device in which an OS-standard general-purpose printing program is installed. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the electrical configuration of a PC. [Diagram 2] 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a procedure of a printing operation by each program. FIG. [Diagram 3] 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure for a paper sheet determination process. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a warning message. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a warning message. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] A personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as "PC") using the support program of the present embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. This specification discloses a printing system including a printer having a printing function and a support program executed by a PC connected to the printer.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 100 of the present embodiment includes a PC 1 and a printer 2. The PC 1 is an example of an information processing device. The printer 2 is a device having a printing function. The PC 1 and the printer 2 are connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other. The printer 2 of the present embodiment receives print data from the PC 1 or the like, for example, and executes printing based on the received print data.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 1, the PC 1 of this embodiment includes a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. 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 collective term for hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware actually present in the PC 1.

[0015] The CPU 11 executes various processes according to the programs read from the memory 12 and based on the user's operation. The memory 12 stores various programs including various application programs (hereinafter, referred to as "apps") and various data. The memory 12 is also used as a work area when various processes are executed. The buffer provided in the CPU 11 is also an example of a memory. Note that an example of the memory 12 is not limited to a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built into the PC 1, but may be a storage medium that can be read and written by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

[0016] The user IF 13 includes hardware for displaying a screen for notifying the user of information and hardware for accepting operations by the user. The user IF 13 may be a combination of a display capable of displaying information and a mouse or keyboard having an input acceptance function, or may be a touch panel having a display function and an input acceptance function.

[0017] The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as the printer 2. The communication standards of the communication IF 14 include Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), USB, etc. The PC 1 may be provided with a plurality of communication IFs 14 compatible with a plurality of communication standards.

[0018] 1, an operating system (hereinafter, referred to as "OS") 21 including a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and an editing application 43 are stored in the memory 12 of the PC 1. The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program. The editing application 43 is an example of an application program. The OS 21 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark).

[0019] The general-purpose printing program 41 is an OS standard program for causing various printers, such as the printer 2, to execute printing based on a user instruction. The general-purpose printing program 41 in this embodiment is a program that includes a function for generating intermediate image data based on image data to be printed.

[0020] The generic print program 41 supports functions that can be used in common by multiple models of printers provided by various printer vendors. The generic print program 41 does not support all of the unique functions of various printers, and the functions it supports are limited to generic ones.

[0021] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or a group of programs that executes processing based on instructions from the OS 21 in conjunction with the processing of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is an application that supports the control of the target hardware. The auxiliary program 42 in this embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1, and is started from the general-purpose printing program 41 when, for example, an instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing using the general-purpose printing program 41 is received. The auxiliary program 42 is called, for example, a hardware support application (abbreviated as HSA).

[0022] The auxiliary program 42 can receive a variety of commands from the general-purpose printing program 41 and executes various processes based on the received commands. The auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of a number of programs each of which receives an execution command, or may be a single program that can execute different processes according to commands.

[0023] The auxiliary program may be a program prepared by the printer vendor for each type of printer. For example, an auxiliary program for an inkjet printer and an auxiliary program for a laser printer may be prepared. For example, when a new printer is connected to the PC1, the OS21 of the PC1 downloads an appropriate auxiliary program from a server or the like according to the type of the connected printer and incorporates it into its own device. Then, the OS21 associates the identification information of the incorporated auxiliary program with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in the memory 12. Note that there may be auxiliary programs prepared not only for each type of printer, but also for each model of printer or each series of printer models.

[0024] 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, Microsoft (registered trademark) Word or PowerPoint, or may be an application provided by the vendor of the printer 2. The editing application 43 accepts user operations including instructions to cause the printer 2 to perform a predetermined operation. Specifically, the editing application 43 accepts, for example, a print execution instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing via the user IF 13.

[0025] Next, a printing procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows the operation when a print execution instruction is received from an application that receives a print instruction, such as the editing application 43, to cause the printer 2 to print using the general-purpose print program 41, and when the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is incorporated in the PC 1.

[0026] Note that the processes and each processing step of the flowchart in this embodiment basically indicate the processes of the CPU 11 according to the instructions written in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. The processes by the CPU 11 also include hardware control using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, the operation of each program will be explained without a detailed description of the OS 21. Also, "obtain" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

[0027] The editing application 43 accepts creation and editing of text, charts, etc. based on user instructions. When the editing application 43 accepts an instruction to print selected text, etc. (A01), it displays a print screen for accepting instructions from the user on the user IF 13 (A02). On the print screen, the editing application 43 accepts, for example, an instruction to execute printing, an instruction for basic print settings, and an instruction to start accepting detailed print settings.

[0028] When the editing application 43 receives an instruction to start accepting detailed print settings while the printer 2 is selected on the displayed print screen (A03), it passes information about the received detailed setting instruction to the OS 21. When the OS 21 receives an instruction for detailed settings related to printing using the general-purpose printing program 41, it executes the general-purpose printing program 41 and passes an instruction to start accepting detailed print settings to the general-purpose printing program 41 (A04). When the general-purpose printing program 41 receives the instruction to start accepting detailed print settings, it passes an instruction to execute accepting detailed print settings to the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2, which is the selected printer (A05).

[0029] The auxiliary program 42 starts operation based on an execution instruction from the general-purpose printing program 41, and displays a setting screen for receiving input operations of detailed print settings on the user IF 13 (A06). A06 is an example of a setting screen display process. The auxiliary program 42 displays a screen for receiving compatible detailed settings based on, for example, the model information of the printer 2, and receives operations from the user.

[0030] Furthermore, after starting to display the setting screen in A06, the auxiliary program 42 sends an acquisition request to the printer 2 via the communication IF 14 to request capability information (A11). When the printer 2 receives an acquisition request for capability information from the PC 1 or the like, it acquires capability information indicating the capabilities of its own device (A12) and responds with the acquired capability information to the device that sent the request (A13). The capability information sent from the printer 2 includes, for example, status information, remaining amount information of consumables, information on the installed trays, paper information for the paper set for each tray, and information on the available print resolution.

[0031] The printer 2 receives, for example, via an operation panel, paper information about the paper contained in a paper feed tray of the printer 2, and stores the received paper information in the memory of the printer 2. At A12, the printer 2 reads the paper information from the memory of the printer 2. The paper information read from the memory of the printer 2 includes, for example, paper size information and paper type information. The printer 2 may be capable of mounting multiple paper feed trays, and if the printer 2 is equipped with multiple paper feed trays, the printer 2 stores paper information for each tray in association with information indicating the tray. If the printer 2 has a sensor or the like that detects the paper stored in the tray, the printer 2 may obtain the paper information based on an output signal from the sensor or the like.

[0032] The printer 2 may also have a function of performing image processing based on the received print job and printing based on the data after the image processing, for example, a function of performing aggregate printing such as Nin1, composite printing such as watermark, and economical printing that saves on coloring agents. If the printer 2 has an image processing function that can be executed by the printer 2, the printer 2 may pass information on the function to the auxiliary program 42 as capability information.

[0033] Through A13, the auxiliary program 42 acquires the capability information of the printer 2. The capability information acquired by the auxiliary program 42 includes paper information of the printer 2. A13 is an example of a first acquisition process, and the paper information included in the capability information of the printer 2 is an example of first paper information. As an example, the paper information includes paper size information and paper type information.

[0034] The communication between the auxiliary program 42 and the printer 2 may be performed by the auxiliary program 42 directly communicating with the printer 2 using, for example, MIB (short for Management Information Base), or may be performed via the OS 21. When performing communication via the OS 21, the auxiliary program 42 and the printer 2 communicate according to a communication protocol of the OS 21, such as IPP (short for internet printing protocol).

[0035] The auxiliary program 42 stores the paper information of the paper set for each tray in an available area in the memory 12 that can be used by the auxiliary program 42, based on the capability information acquired from the printer 2 (A14). If the paper size information included in the paper information acquired from the printer 2 indicates a standard size such as A4, the auxiliary program 42 may convert it into numerical values ​​indicating the paper length and paper width and store the converted information.

[0036] The auxiliary program 42 also receives instructions from the user on the setting screen for receiving detailed settings displayed in A06 (A22). The auxiliary program 42 may determine acceptable detailed setting items and the like based on the capability information acquired from the printer 2. When the auxiliary program 42 receives the instruction to end the detailed settings, it closes the setting screen displayed in A06 and sends a completion notification to the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 sends a completion notification to the editing application 43.

[0037] When the editing application 43 receives a print execution instruction from the user on the print screen (A31), it passes the print instruction to the general-purpose print program 41 (A32). The general-purpose print program 41 obtains, from the print instruction, information indicating the image data to be printed and information indicating print settings. The print settings include paper information. The paper information included in the print settings also includes information on the paper size and paper type.

[0038] 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 (A33), and generates a print job including the intermediate image data. Image data included in 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 suitable for generating print data, the generation of the intermediate image data may be omitted and the image data may be used as is as intermediate image data. The intermediate image data is, for example, XPS data.

[0039] The general-purpose printing program 41 further outputs an execution instruction to the auxiliary program 42 (A34), causing the auxiliary program 42 to operate. In the execution instruction, the generated intermediate image data and print setting information are passed to the auxiliary program 42. The print settings passed to the auxiliary program 42 include paper information. The paper information included in the print settings also includes paper size information and paper type information. Note that the general-purpose printing program 41 may pass some or all of this paper information to the auxiliary program 42 by including it in the intermediate image data.

[0040] The auxiliary program 42 executes paper determination processing based on the execution instruction received from the general-purpose printing program 41 (A35). The paper determination processing is a process that determines whether the paper is suitable by comparing the paper information received from the general-purpose printing program 41 in A34 with the paper information acquired from the printer 2 in A13, and decides whether to execute or cancel printing based on the determination result. The procedure of the paper determination processing will be described later.

[0041] If the editing application 43 does not receive an instruction to start accepting detailed print settings before receiving an instruction to execute printing from A31, the auxiliary program 42 does not execute A11 to A14 because it has not received an instruction to execute A05 from the general-purpose printing program 41. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 may execute A11 to A14 before executing A35. Alternatively, if the paper information is not stored in the memory of the auxiliary program 42 when an execution instruction is received from A34, the auxiliary program 42 may execute A11 to A14 before executing A35.

[0042] If the auxiliary program 42 determines in the paper determination process of A35 that printing is to be performed (alt:[Print]), it performs rasterization based on the intermediate image data received in A34, and generates print data indicating the image to be printed (A41). The print data generated in A41 is data in a format that can be used for printing by the printer 2, for example, PDL data dedicated to the model of the printer 2.

[0043] Rasterizing with the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 provides greater freedom than rasterizing with the general-purpose print program 41, and there is a high possibility that print data suitable for printing on the printer 2 will be generated. Note that the print data generated by the auxiliary program 42 may be data in a format that can be used for printing on printers other than the printer 2 model.

[0044] Instead of the auxiliary program 42 generating the print data, the general-purpose printing program 41 may generate the print data. In other words, when the auxiliary program 42 determines to execute printing, it may pass information on execution of printing to the general-purpose printing program 41. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 rasterizes the intermediate image data generated by A33 to generate print data. Then, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes the generated print data to the auxiliary program 42.

[0045] The print data generated by the general-purpose print program 41 is print data in a format that can be used for printing by various printers, such as PWGRaster data or PDF data. If the data is rasterized by the general-purpose print program 41, the processing of the auxiliary program 42 is reduced, which is expected to prevent an increase in processing time and reduce the program size of the auxiliary program 42.

[0046] Furthermore, the general-purpose printing program 41 may receive the result of the paper determination process from the auxiliary program 42 without passing the intermediate image data to the auxiliary program 42. Then, when it is determined that printing is to be executed, the general-purpose printing program 41 may generate print data.

[0047] After generating print data in A41, the auxiliary program 42 sends the generated print data to the printer 2 together with a print command that instructs execution of printing (A42). Furthermore, when the auxiliary program 42 receives print data from the general-purpose printing program 41, it sends the print data received from the general-purpose printing program 41 to the printer 2 together with the print command that instructs execution of printing. Having received the print data and the print command, the printer 2 prints an image of the print data based on the received print command (A43). This results in the generation of a printed matter. The auxiliary program 42 further notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 that transmission of the print data has been completed.

[0048] The general-purpose printing program 41 may transmit the print data to the printer 2. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the generated print data to the general-purpose printing program 41 so that the data is transmitted from the PC 1 to the printer 2 as the transmission destination. The general-purpose printing program 41 transmits the print data received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2.

[0049] On the other hand, if it is determined in the paper determination process of A35 that printing should be canceled (alt:[cancel]), the auxiliary program 42 passes information to cancel the print job to the general-purpose printing program 41 (A44). A44 is an example of a cancellation process. As a result, the general-purpose printing program 41 cancels the print job based on the print instruction received in A32, and ends the printing process.

[0050] Next, the paper type determination process by the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 3. The paper type determination process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 in A35 of Fig. 2.

[0051] In the paper determination process, the CPU 11 reads out the paper information stored in A14 of Fig. 2 (S101). The information read out in S101 is information included in the capability information acquired from the printer 2 in A13 of Fig. 2, and is information about the paper set in each tray of the printer 2.

[0052] Then, the CPU 11 judges whether the paper information is a target for judgment based on the read information (S102). If all the papers set in the printer 2 are, for example, plain paper or recycled paper, and the paper size is a standard size such as A4, the loss to the user is likely to be small even if paper is wasted by printing at an incompatible size. When inexpensive paper is used, overflow of the image and reprinting are likely to be tolerated, so it is preferable to complete printing early and output the print results.

[0053] If it is determined that the current printing is not a target for execution of the judgment (S102: NO), the CPU 11 judges it as "printing" (S109) and ends the paper judgment process. If the paper type of the paper set in the printer 2 is plain paper or recycled paper and the paper size is a standard size such as A4 or B5, the CPU 11 judges it as NO in S102. If it is not a target for judgment, it can output the print result early by judging it as "printing" without performing the processes from S103 onwards.

[0054] On the other hand, if the printer 2 is set with paper that is likely to be high-priced, it is undesirable to waste paper by printing with an incompatible size. For example, if the paper type is thick paper, postcard, sticker paper, overhead projector paper, cloth, etc., or if the paper size is postcard, envelope, etc., the paper is likely to be high-priced compared to regular paper or recycled paper of standard sizes. Paper sizes indicating postcards or envelopes are examples of predetermined sizes indicating high value. Moreover, the paper types indicating cardboard, postcard, sticker paper, OHP paper, and cloth are examples of the predetermined types indicating high value. If the paper information of the paper set in the printer 2 includes at least one paper whose paper type is neither plain paper nor recycled paper, or whose paper size is neither A4, A5, B4, nor B5, the CPU 11 determines YES in S102.

[0055] If it is determined that the paper information is the subject of the judgment (S102: YES), the CPU 11 acquires the paper information included in the print settings from the execution instruction received from the general-purpose printing program 41 in A34 of FIG. 2 (S103). S103 is an example of a second acquisition process, and the paper information acquired in S103 is an example of second paper information. The paper information includes, for example, paper size information and paper type information. The print settings acquired in S103 are, for example, information on the settings specified by the user in A22 of FIG. 2.

[0056] Furthermore, based on the information acquired in S103, the CPU 11 determines whether or not a paper feed tray is explicitly specified in the print settings (S104). If it is determined that a paper feed tray is specified (S104: YES), the CPU 11 extracts paper information stored in association with the specified paper feed tray from the paper information read in S101. Then, the CPU 11 determines whether the extracted paper information matches the paper information acquired in S103 (S105). S105 is an example of a determination process. Note that if the printer 2 is equipped with only one paper feed tray, the CPU 11 determines YES in S104 and executes the determination of S105 for that tray.

[0057] For example, CPU 11 determines whether the paper size is appropriate by comparing the paper size included in the paper information read in S101 with the paper size included in the paper information acquired in S103. For example, if the paper size included in the paper information acquired in S103 is a standard size that is a predefined size and does not match the paper size included in the paper information read in S101, CPU 11 determines in S105 that it is inappropriate.

[0058] If the paper size is different, the image may overflow, increasing the possibility of printing unintended by the user. In this embodiment, the suitability of the paper size is determined, so there is a high possibility that printing unintended by the user can be avoided. Incidentally, a match in paper size means a match in both the vertical and horizontal sizes of the paper. Also, if the difference in paper size is within a predetermined range in both the vertical and horizontal directions, for example, between A4 size and letter size, the CPU 11 may determine that they are compatible.

[0059] Furthermore, if the paper size included in the paper information acquired in S103 is not a standard size defined in advance but a user-defined size defined by the user, the CPU 11 compares the paper information based on the numerical value of the defined size. Also, if the paper size included in the paper information read in S101 is expressed as a numerical value, the CPU 11 compares the paper information based on the numerical value. For example, if the difference between the numerical value indicating the length and width corresponding to the paper size included in the paper information acquired in S103 and the numerical value indicating the length and width corresponding to the paper size included in the paper information read in S101 is outside a predetermined range for at least one of the length and width, the CPU 11 determines that the paper size is inappropriate. Note that, if the paper type is roll paper, the CPU 11 only needs to determine the suitability of the horizontal size (also called the paper width) of the paper size.

[0060] Furthermore, CPU 11 may determine whether the paper type is appropriate by comparing the paper type included in the paper information read in S101 with the paper type included in the paper information acquired in S103. For example, if the paper types in both pieces of paper information do not match, CPU 11 determines that the paper type is inappropriate in S105.

[0061] If it is determined that the paper information of the printer 2 and the paper information of the print settings do not match (S105: NO), the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display a warning message (S106). S106 is an example of a warning process. The process of displaying a warning message is an example of a process for issuing a warning.

[0062] 4, the CPU 11 displays a warning message 50 to inform the user that paper suitable for the paper size selected in the print settings is not loaded in the printer 2. The warning message 50 includes a print button 51 to accept an instruction to print as is, and a cancel button 52 to accept an instruction to cancel printing. The warning message 50 may also display information about the tray and paper size selected in the print settings.

[0063] Then, the CPU 11 determines whether or not an operation to the print button 51 has been accepted (S107). If it is determined that an operation to the print button 51 has not been accepted (S107: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether or not an operation to the cancel button 52 has been accepted (S108). If it is determined that an operation to the cancel button 52 has not been accepted (S108: NO), the CPU 11 waits until an operation to either the print button 51 or the cancel button 52 is accepted.

[0064] If it is determined that an operation of the print button 51 has been accepted (S107: YES), the CPU 11 determines that printing is to be performed (S109) and ends the paper determination process. On the other hand, if it is determined that an operation of the cancel button 52 has been accepted (S108: YES), the CPU 11 determines that cancellation is to be performed (S110) and ends the paper determination process. After the paper determination process is completed, the process proceeds to A41 or A44 based on the determination result, as shown in FIG.

[0065] If the paper determination process determines that the print job should be canceled, the print job is canceled in A44 in Fig. 2. By being able to cancel the print job when a warning is issued, it is possible to reliably prevent printing on the printer that is not intended by the user.

[0066] Note that if the paper size included in the paper information acquired in S103 is a user-defined size, CPU 11 may determine YES in S105 regardless of the paper size. The paper sizes that can be set on printer 2 may not include user-defined sizes. In that case, the user will set a size close to the user-defined size on printer 2, making it difficult to accurately determine whether they match. If the paper size in the print settings is a user-defined size, CPU 11 avoids user confusion by determining that it is compatible and not issuing a warning.

[0067] On the other hand, if it is determined that the paper feed tray has not been specified (S104: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether or not there is a tray that matches the paper information in the print settings among the paper information of the printer 2 read in S101 (S121). If the printer 2 has multiple paper feed trays and the automatic tray is selected in the print settings, the CPU 11 determines in S104 that the paper feed tray has not been specified.

[0068] When a print command including print settings in which an automatic tray is selected is received, the printer 2 automatically determines which of the installed paper feed trays to use based on the paper size and other settings in the print settings. The auxiliary program 42 acquires paper information for each tray of the printer 2, and can compare all acquired paper information with the paper information in the print settings to determine whether the paper is appropriate. Note that when the printer 2 receives a print command in which an automatic tray is selected, if there is no tray set with paper that matches the paper information included in the print settings, it may determine this as an error and not execute printing.

[0069] When it is determined that there is no tray that matches the paper information (S121: NO), the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display a warning message (S122). S122 is an example of a warning process. The process of displaying a warning message is an example of a process for issuing a warning.

[0070] At S122, the CPU 11 displays a warning message 60 notifying the user that there is no tray in which paper that matches the paper size selected in the print settings is set, as shown in Fig. 5. The warning message 60 includes an OK button 61 for accepting an instruction to print after changing the settings of the printer 2, and a Cancel button 62 for accepting an instruction to cancel printing. The warning message 60 may also display information about the paper size set in the print settings.

[0071] Then, the CPU 11 judges whether or not an operation to the OK button 61 has been accepted (S123). If it is judged that an operation to the OK button 61 has not been accepted (S123: NO), the CPU 11 judges whether or not an operation to the cancel button 62 has been accepted (S124). If it is judged that an operation to the cancel button 62 has not been accepted (S124: NO), the CPU 11 waits until an operation to either the OK button 61 or the cancel button 62 is accepted.

[0072] If it is determined that a tray with a compatible size is available (S121: YES), or if it is determined that operation of the OK button 61 has been accepted (S123: YES), the CPU 11 determines that printing is to be performed (S109) and ends the paper determination process. On the other hand, if it is determined that operation of the cancel button 62 has been accepted (S124: YES), the CPU 11 determines that cancellation is to be performed (S110) and ends the paper determination process. After the paper determination process is completed, the process proceeds to A41 or A44 based on the determination result, as shown in FIG. 2.

[0073] In this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 obtains the paper information set for each tray as the capability information of the printer 2, so that even if the automatic tray is set as the print setting, an appropriate warning can be issued. Also, by executing a paper determination process before generating print data and issuing a warning according to the result, it is possible to cancel the print job before the print data is generated, and to avoid the waste of generating print data.

[0074] In addition, in S106 or S122, the auxiliary program 42 may pass warning information to the OS 21 or the general-purpose printing program 41 instead of displaying the warning messages 50, 60 by itself, and instruct the OS 21 or the general-purpose printing program 41 to issue a warning. In this case, the process of passing the warning information is an example of a process for issuing a warning. Note that the warning is not limited to the display of the warning message 50, 60, etc., but may be a sound warning, or a combination of a display and a sound warning.

[0075] As described above in detail, according to the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment, the PC 1 acquires information on the paper held by the printer 2 when displaying a setting screen for accepting information on detailed settings. Furthermore, when a print instruction is given to the general-purpose print program 41, the PC 1 compares the paper information acquired from the printer 2 with the paper information included in the print settings for the print instruction to determine suitability. Furthermore, if the auxiliary program 42 determines that the paper is unsuitable, it issues a warning before sending the print data, so that the user can be expected to make an input to avoid printing the print data, and as a result, it is more likely that printing unintended by the user can be avoided.

[0076] In addition, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment obtains paper information from the printer 2 when displaying the detailed setting screen that can be displayed before a print instruction is received, so that processing can be expected to be completed more quickly after a print instruction is received, compared to when paper information is obtained from the printer 2 when a print instruction is received.

[0077] It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the technology disclosed in this specification can be naturally improved and modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the technology. For example, the device connected to PC1 is not limited to a printer, but may be any device having a printing function, such as a multifunction device, a copier, or a fax machine. Furthermore, the number of printers connected to PC1 is not limited to the illustrated example, and may be two or more.

[0078] Also, for example, the illustrated warning messages are merely examples and are not limiting. For example, buttons for accepting printing or cancellation may not be present. For example, if the auxiliary program 42 determines that printing is inappropriate, it may cancel the printing after displaying a warning message. Alternatively, even if the auxiliary program 42 determines that printing is inappropriate, it may display a warning message and then transmit the print data to the printer 2 if the auxiliary program 42 has a function for canceling printing received by the printer 2. However, by accepting a user's instruction via a warning message, it is easier to reflect the user's intention than to simply cancel or transmit the data.

[0079] Also, for example, the warning message may accept changes to print settings, and the warning message may not display paper information, and may also display information on the paper type.

[0080] In addition, in the present embodiment, the paper information includes information on the paper size and information on the paper type, but it may include only one of them. Furthermore, the paper information may include information other than the paper size information and the paper type information.

[0081] Also, for example, in this embodiment, in S102 of the paper determination process, it is determined whether or not to determine whether a paper is to be determined based on the paper size and paper type, but this determination does not have to be made. In other words, all print instructions may be determined regardless of the paper size and paper type.

[0082] Also, for example, in this embodiment, if the paper size does not match, it is determined to be inappropriate, but if the difference in paper size is within a predetermined range, it may be determined to be suitable, or if the paper size of the printer 2 is larger than the paper size in the print settings, it may be determined to be suitable. Also, it is not necessary to make a determination based on the paper type. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 may determine that the paper size is suitable if it is suitable. Also, for example, in this embodiment, if the paper size in the print settings is a user-defined size, it is determined to be suitable even if it does not match, but this is not limited to this.

[0083] Also, for example, in this embodiment, the paper determination process is executed before the print data is generated, but it may be executed after the print data is generated. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may perform the paper determination process after the print data is generated and before the print data is sent to the printer 2. In that case, the auxiliary program 42 may compare the size of the print data in addition to comparing the paper information of the printer 2 with the paper information of the print settings in the paper determination process.

[0084] Furthermore, when the auxiliary program 42 acquires paper information from the printer 2 based on a previous print instruction or the like, the auxiliary program 42 may leave the acquired paper information stored in the memory 12. In other words, if paper information is already stored in the memory 12 when an instruction for detailed settings is received, that information may be used.

[0085] In the embodiment, only the printing operation is described in detail as the operation of the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles. The program that executes the process of the present embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, but may be any program that receives instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose print program 41 when printing is performed using the general-purpose print program 41. For example, it may be a print workflow application (Print workflow) whose specifications have been made public by Microsoft.

[0086] Furthermore, the execution timing of the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to that of the embodiment. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may be executed in response to a direct execution instruction from the OS 21, or the auxiliary program 42 may be resident. If the auxiliary program 42 is resident, it is sufficient that the auxiliary program 42 performs the above-mentioned operation upon receiving an execution command.

[0087] In addition, in any of the flowcharts disclosed in the embodiments, the order of execution of multiple processes in any of the steps can be arbitrarily changed or the processes can be executed in parallel as long as no contradiction occurs in the process content.

[0088] The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, multiple CPUs, hardware such as ASIC, or a combination of these. The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be realized in various forms, such as a recording medium having a program for executing the processes recorded thereon, or a method. [Explanation of symbols]

[0089] 1 PC 2. Printer 11 CPU 13 User Interface 100 Printing System

Claims

1. A support program executable by a computer of an information processing device and corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing device, The computer includes: a setting screen display process for displaying a setting screen for receiving an input operation of print settings using a user interface of the information processing device; a first acquisition process for acquiring first paper information, which is information about paper used for printing, from the printer in association with displaying the setting screen by the setting screen display process; Run the command, The computer further comprises: When a print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction is for causing the printer to print an image to a general-purpose print program installed in advance in an operating system of the information processing device, a second acquisition process for acquiring second paper information, which is information on paper included in the print settings for the print instruction; a determination process for determining suitability of the paper by comparing the first paper information acquired in the first acquisition process with the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process; a warning process for performing a process for issuing a warning using the user interface when the determination process determines that the information is inappropriate; Execute the A support program characterized by:

2. 2. A support program as claimed in claim 1, The first paper information and the second paper information include predetermined information, In the determination process, When the predetermined information included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process does not match the predetermined information included in the first paper information acquired in the first acquisition process, the paper information is determined to be inappropriate. A support program characterized by:

3. A support program according to claim 1 or 2, The computer includes: when the process for issuing a warning is executed in the warning process, a decision as to whether or not to cancel the print job based on the print instruction is accepted using the user interface, and when the decision to cancel is accepted, a cancellation process for canceling the print job is executed. A support program characterized by:

4. A support program according to claim 3, The computer includes: When the print instruction is given, executes the determination process before print data indicating an image to be printed in accordance with the print instruction is generated; When the determination process determines that the print data is inappropriate, the warning process is executed before the print data is generated. A support program characterized by:

5. A support program according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the first paper information and the second paper information include information on a paper size, In the determination process, determining whether the paper size is appropriate by comparing the paper size included in the first paper information with the paper size included in the second paper information; A support program characterized by:

6. A support program according to claim 5, The paper sizes that can be set in the print settings include standard sizes that are predefined and user-defined sizes that are defined by the user. If the paper size included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process is the standard size, when the paper size is determined to be inappropriate in the determination process, the computer executes the warning process before print data indicating an image to be printed in accordance with the print instruction is transmitted to the printer. If the paper size included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process is the user-defined size, the computer is not caused to execute the warning process. A support program characterized by:

7. A support program according to claim 5, The paper sizes that can be set in the print settings include standard sizes that are predefined and user-defined sizes that are defined by the user. If the paper size included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process is the standard size, in the determination process, if the paper size included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process does not match the paper size included in the first paper information acquired in the first acquisition process, the paper size is determined to be inappropriate. If the paper size included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process is the user-defined size, in the determination process, if a difference between the paper size included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process and the paper size included in the first paper information acquired in the first acquisition process is outside a predetermined range, the paper size is determined to be inappropriate. A support program characterized by:

8. A support program according to any one of claims 5 to 7, The print settings include information about a paper feed tray, and the printer is capable of mounting a plurality of paper feed trays; The trays that can be set in the information on the paper feed tray include each tray installed in the printer and an automatic tray that is automatically determined by the printer based on the paper size included in the print settings, In the first acquisition process, the first paper information is acquired for each tray installed in the printer; If the paper feed tray included in the print settings is a tray installed in the printer, in the determination process, if the paper size included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process does not match the paper size included in the first paper information corresponding to the paper feed tray indicated in the paper feed tray information included in the print settings among the first paper information acquired in the first acquisition process, the paper size is determined to be inappropriate; If the paper feed tray included in the print setting is the automatic tray, in the determination process, if the paper size included in the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process does not match any of the paper sizes included in the first paper information corresponding to each paper feed tray acquired in the first acquisition process, it is determined to be inappropriate. A support program characterized by:

9. A support program according to any one of claims 5 to 8, The paper size included in the first paper information acquired in the first acquisition process includes a predetermined size indicating high value, If the paper size included in the first paper information is the predetermined size, when the paper size is determined to be inappropriate in the determination process, the computer is caused to execute the warning process. If the paper size included in the first paper information is not the predetermined size, the computer is not caused to execute the warning process. A support program characterized by:

10. A support program according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the first paper information and the second paper information include information on a paper type, In the determination process, determining whether the paper type is appropriate by comparing the paper type included in the first paper information with the paper type included in the second paper information; A support program characterized by:

11. A support program according to claim 10, The paper type included in the first paper information acquired in the first acquisition process includes a predetermined type indicating high value, if the paper type included in the first paper information is the predetermined type and the paper type is determined to be inappropriate in the determination process, cause the computer to execute the warning process; If the paper type included in the first paper information is not the predetermined type, the computer is not caused to execute the warning process. A support program characterized by:

12. A support program according to any one of claims 1 to 11, In the warning process, performing a process for issuing a warning to notify the second paper information acquired in the second acquisition process using the user interface; A support program characterized by:

13. A printer; a support program executable by a computer of an information processing device and corresponding to the printer connected to the information processing device; A printing system having: The support program is displaying a setting screen for receiving input operations for print settings using a user interface of the information processing device; When the setting screen is displayed, a request for acquiring first paper information, which is information about the paper to be used for printing, is sent to the printer; The printer includes: When the request is received, the printer responds by sending information about a paper set in the printer as the first paper information; The support program is When a print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction is for causing the printer to print an image to a general-purpose print program installed in advance in an operating system of the information processing device, acquiring second paper information that is information about paper included in the print settings for the print instruction; determining whether the paper is suitable by comparing the first paper information received from the printer with the second paper information; When the paper is determined to be unsuitable, a process for issuing a warning is performed using the user interface. A printing system comprising:

Images