Supporting program, information processing apparatus and printing method

Abstract

To provide a technique for allowing, in an information processing apparatus in which an OS-standard general-use printing program is implemented, a user to easily obtain information concerning processes that are based on a print instruction.SOLUTION: When a general-use printing program 41 receives a print instruction to cause a printer 2 to execute printing of an image, a supporting program 42 obtains status information of the printer 2 from the printer 2, determines, on the basis of the status information obtained, whether or not a display condition to output a message based on the status information is satisfied, and, upon determining that the display condition is satisfied, displays the massage on a UI 20 of a PC 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] As a technology for controlling a printer from an information processing device such as a personal computer, a configuration is widely known in which a printer driver is installed in the information processing device, print data is generated by the printer driver, and the print data is transmitted to the printer (for example, Patent Document 1). The printer driver is provided by the printer manufacturer and corresponds to various functions of the printer, and the printer can be fully utilized.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0002]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] In recent years, a technology for controlling a printer by a general-purpose printing program incorporated as a standard in an operating system (OS) without using the above-described printer driver has been put into practical use. In this technology, when the OS detects a printer, it associates the printer with a general-purpose printing program standard to the OS. Thereafter, when a print instruction for the printer is received, printing can be performed by the general-purpose printing program standard to the OS without using a printer driver.

[0004] Even in printing by the above-described general-purpose printing program standard to the OS, similar to printing by a printer driver, the processing for a print instruction is completed when print data is accumulated in the print queue of the OS. When the user obtains information regarding subsequent print data, it is necessary to operate the user interface of the OS, which is troublesome for the user.

[0005] This specification discloses a technology that enables a user to easily obtain information regarding processing based on a print instruction in an information processing apparatus in which a general-purpose print program conforming to an OS standard is incorporated.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] One aspect of a support program made for the purpose of solving the above-described problems is a support program executable by a computer of an information processing apparatus and corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus. The computer is caused to execute an acquisition process, a determination process, and a display process based on a print instruction to cause the general-purpose print program pre-incorporated in the operating system of the information processing apparatus to perform image printing on the printer. In the acquisition process, the printer is inquired via a communication interface of the information processing apparatus to acquire information of the printer. In the determination process, based on the information of the printer acquired in the acquisition process, it is determined whether or not a display condition for outputting a message based on the information is satisfied. In the display process, when it is determined in the determination process that the display condition is satisfied, the message is displayed on a display device of the information processing apparatus. This is the gist.

[0007] The above support program acquires information of the printer from the printer by the support program, and when the display condition is satisfied, displays a message based on the acquired information on the display device. According to such a support program, the user can easily obtain information regarding a print job by the user confirming the message without operating the user interface of the OS.

[0008] A control method, a computer program, and a computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program for realizing the functions of the above apparatus are also novel and useful.

Advantages of the Invention

[0009] According to the technology disclosed in this specification, in an information processing apparatus incorporating a general-purpose printing program conforming to the OS standard, a technology is realized that enables a user to easily obtain information regarding processing based on a print instruction.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, a printing system using the program of the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. This embodiment discloses an embodiment that embodies a printing system including a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC") and a printer.

[0012] An example of the configuration of a printing system in which the program of this embodiment is executed is shown in FIG. 1. The system shown in FIG. 1 includes a PC1, a printer 2, and a printer 3. PC1 is an example of an information processing apparatus. Printers 2 and 3 are devices having a printing function and can communicate with PC1 via local communication or network communication. Note that a plurality of printers 2 may be connected to PC1.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, for example, PC1 includes a controller 10, a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "UI") 20, and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 30. UI 20 and communication IF 30 are electrically connected to controller 10.

[0014] UI 20 includes hardware that performs various displays and receives user instruction inputs. UI 20 may be a touch panel having both a display function and an input reception function, or may be a combination of a display having a display function and a keyboard, a mouse, etc. having an input reception function.

[0015] Communication IF 30 includes hardware for communicating with printer 2 and printer 3, and hardware for accessing the Internet. Communication IF 30 may include a plurality of interfaces with different communication methods. Examples of communication methods include network communication and USB communication. Also, it may be wired communication or wireless communication.

[0016] Controller 10 includes a CPU 11 and a memory 12. CPU 11 is an example of a computer. Memory 12 includes a ROM, a RAM, a non-volatile memory, and a buffer for CPU 11, and stores programs such as various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps") and various data. In this specification, the details of the memory are not distinguished. CPU 11 executes various processes according to the program read from memory 12 and based on the user's instructions. Note that the controller 10 in FIG. 1 is a general term for the hardware and software used for the control of PC1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware actually existing in PC1.

[0017] An example of memory 12 may be a computer-readable storage medium. A computer-readable storage medium is a non-transitory medium. Non-transitory media include, in addition to the above examples, recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs. Also, non-transitory media are tangible media. On the other hand, electrical signals that carry programs downloaded from servers on the Internet, etc., are computer-readable signal media, which are a type of computer-readable media, but are not included in non-transitory computer-readable storage media.

[0018] In the memory 12, for example, as shown in FIG. 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. The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, a hardware support application (abbreviation, HSA) created by a printer vendor based on specifications published by Microsoft. The OS 21 is, for example, Microsoft Windows (registered trademark), MacOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark). Note that in addition to what is shown in the figure, the memory 12 stores various data including information on connected printers and various programs such as browsers.

[0019] The general-purpose printing program 41 is an application for causing various printers such as the printer 2 to execute printing from the PC 1, and is an OS-standard printing program pre-embedded in the OS 21. The general-purpose printing program 41 of this embodiment is a program that generates print data that the printer can handle based on the image data to be printed.

[0020] The general-purpose printing program 41 is a general-purpose application applicable to printers of multiple types provided by the vendor of each printer, and is a program that causes each printer to perform operations common to each model. Alternatively, the general-purpose printing program 41 may be a program provided by the vendor of each printer to the vendor of the OS 21 for pre-installation in the OS 21, for example, a type of printer driver provided for pre-installation in the OS 21.

[0021] The auxiliary program 42 is a program that executes processing based on instructions from the OS 21 in association with the activation of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is an application that supports the control of the target hardware, such as the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, launched from the general-purpose printing program 41. The auxiliary program 42 is a program prepared for each type of printer by the vendor of the printer 2 or the like. For example, an auxiliary program 42 for an inkjet printer and an auxiliary program 42 for a laser printer are prepared. There may be an auxiliary program 42 prepared not only for each type of printer but also for each model of printer or for each series of printer models.

[0022] The vendor of the printer registers the auxiliary program 42 in the platform provided by the vendor of the OS 21 according to the procedure specified by the vendor of the OS 21. When a new printer 2 is connected to the PC 1 and the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is registered in the platform, the OS 21 downloads the auxiliary program 42 from the server where the auxiliary program 42 is stored and incorporates it into the PC 1.

[0023] Then, the OS 21 stores in the memory 12 by associating the identification information of the incorporated auxiliary program 42 with the printer information of the newly connected printer. In the PC 1 to which printers of a plurality of models are connected, respective auxiliary programs corresponding to the types of the respective models are incorporated, and information for associating each printer with each auxiliary program is stored in the memory 12. That is, in the memory 12, as the printer information of each printer connected to the PC 1, information of the corresponding auxiliary program 42 is stored together with the model information and access information of the printer.

[0024] The editing application 43 is an application for creating and editing, for example, image data and document data. The editing application 43 is, for example, Microsoft Word (registered trademark), PowerPoint (registered trademark). Further, it may be an application provided by the vendors of the printer 2 and the printer 3. The editing application 43 receives a user operation including an instruction to cause the printer 2 to perform a predetermined operation. Specifically, the editing application 43 receives, via the UI 20, for example, a print instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing.

[0025] In addition, each process in the embodiment basically represents the process of the CPU 11 according to the instructions described in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. That is, the processes such as "judgment", "extraction", "selection", "calculation", "decision", "specification", "acquisition", "reception", and "control" in the following description represent the process of the CPU 11. The process by the CPU 11 includes hardware control using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, the detailed description of the OS 21 is omitted, and the operations of each program are described. That is, in the following description, the description to the effect that "program B controls hardware C" may refer to "program B controls hardware C using the API of the OS 21". In addition, the process of the CPU 11 according to the instructions described in the program may be described in an abbreviated expression. For example, it may be described by omitting the program as "performed by the CPU 11". In addition, the process of the CPU 11 according to the instructions described in the program may be described in an abbreviated expression by omitting the CPU as "performed by program A".

[0026] Note that "acquisition" is used as a concept that does not require a request. That is, the process of receiving data without the CPU 11 requesting is also included in the concept of "the CPU 11 acquiring data". In addition, the "data" in this specification is represented by a bit string readable by a computer. And data having the same substantial meaning content but different formats shall be treated as the same data. The same applies to the "information" in this specification. In addition, "request" and "instruct" are concepts indicating outputting information indicating what is being requested or information indicating what is being instructed to the other party. In addition, the information indicating what is being requested or the information indicating what is being instructed is also simply described as "request" and "instruct".

[0027] Also, the process by which the CPU 11 determines whether information A indicates that matter B is the case may be conceptually described as "determining from information A whether matter B is the case." The process by which the CPU 11 determines whether information A indicates that matter B is the case or whether it indicates that matter C is the case may be conceptually described as "determining from information A whether matter B or matter C is the case."

[0028] Next, an example of the configuration of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment and the printing procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6. Note that the same reference numerals are used for common processes among FIGS. 2, 5, and 6.

[0029] The auxiliary program 42 is a program that is executed by an instruction from the general-purpose printing program 41 when a printing instruction to print using the general-purpose printing program 41 is received in a state where a printer corresponding to the auxiliary program 42 is specified via an editing application 43 or the like. Hereinafter, a case will be described in which the PC 1 receives an instruction to execute printing on the printer 2 via the general-purpose printing program 41 in a state where image data to be printed is specified in the editing application 43, for example, via the UI 20, and the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the model type of the printer 2 is incorporated in the PC 1.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 2, first, the editing application 43 receives, via the UI 20, the designation of the image to be printed and the input of an instruction to execute printing (arrow A). The image displayed by the editing application 43 is an example of the image to be printed. The editing application 43 displays, as an image, for example, a document edited in the editing application 43 or a photograph read in the editing application 43. Then, the editing application 43 that has received the printing instruction passes a printing execution notification indicating the content of the received printing instruction to the OS 21. Note that in FIG. 2 and FIGS. 5 and 6 described later, the operation of the OS 21 is shown omitted.

[0031] When OS21 receives a print execution notification that uses the general-purpose printing program 41, it causes the general-purpose printing program 41 to execute and passes the print execution notification to the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow B). The general-purpose printing program 41 can obtain various types of information included in the print instruction from the print execution notification, such as information indicating the printer to be printed, information indicating the print parameters set in the application, information indicating the image data to be printed, and information identifying the user who gave the print instruction. As will be described later, these pieces of information can also be used by the auxiliary program 42.

[0032] The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate image data by converting the format of the image data included in the print execution notification into the format of intermediate image data, and generates a print job including the intermediate image data (arrow C). The 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. If the image data included in the print execution notification is data suitable for generating print data, the generation of intermediate image data may be omitted and it may be used as intermediate image data as it is. The intermediate image data is, for example, XPS data.

[0033] Furthermore, the general-purpose printing program 41 identifies the printer specified as the device to execute the print based on the information included in the print execution notification. For example, when printer 2 is specified, the general-purpose printing program 41 identifies the model of printer 2 based on the model information of the printer included in the printer information stored in the memory 12. Since the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to printer 2, which is the printer specified in the print instruction, is stored in the memory 12, the general-purpose printing program 41 outputs an execution instruction for the processing of the auxiliary program 42 and operates the auxiliary program 42 before starting the generation of print data by the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow D). Note that the general-purpose printing program 41 may operate the auxiliary program 42 after generating the print data by the general-purpose printing program 41.

[0034] The auxiliary program 42 determines whether there is a specific setting in the print parameters according to the execution instruction (arrow E). Arrow E is an example of a determination process, and the determination condition of arrow E is an example of a display condition. The print parameters may be the print parameters obtained by the general-purpose print program 41 from the editing application 43 and attached to the execution instruction, or may be the print parameters received by the auxiliary program 42 by, for example, displaying a print parameter editing screen.

[0035] The types of print parameters include general-purpose parameters that the general-purpose print program 41 can handle, such as paper size, and unique parameters that are specific to the printer, such as paper type, and that the general-purpose print program 41 cannot handle. When the editing application 43 is not an application provided by the vendor of the printer 2, only the general-purpose parameters are attached to the execution instruction. However, when the editing application 43 is an application provided by the vendor of the printer 2, both the general-purpose parameters and the unique parameters of the printer 2 may be attached to the execution instruction. Note that even when only general-purpose parameters are attached to the execution instruction, the auxiliary program 42 may add unique parameters and process the print parameters.

[0036] Among the print parameters, there may be cases where it is preferable to confirm the execution of printing with the user before printing, such as when the paper type is high-quality paper such as a postcard. Therefore, the auxiliary program 42 designates a specific setting for confirming the execution of printing before printing among the printable parameters.

[0037] For example, when the auxiliary program 42 designates "postcard", which is one of the paper type settings, as a specific setting, the auxiliary program 42 determines whether the setting value of the paper type in the print parameters is "postcard". When the setting value of the paper type is "postcard", the auxiliary program 42 determines that the print parameters include a specific setting and displays a message (arrow F). Arrow F is an example of a display process.

[0038] Specifically, for example, the auxiliary program 42 causes the dialog 110 shown in FIG. 4(a) to be displayed on the UI 20. A confirmation message 114 for confirming printing on a postcard is displayed in the dialog 110. Further, in the dialog 110, a print continuation button 111 for instructing continuation of printing and a cancel button 112 for instructing cancellation of printing are displayed.

[0039] When the user operates the cancel button 112 (arrow G), the auxiliary program 42 outputs a cancellation notice to the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow H). The general-purpose printing program 41 cancels printing in response to the cancellation notice (arrow I) and outputs a print cancellation notice to the editing application 43 (arrow J). By displaying the confirmation message 114, it can be expected that a user who notices that a specific setting has been made will change the setting value and instruct printing again.

[0040] Note that the auxiliary program 42 may accept changes to the setting values, or the editing application 43 may accept them. Also, similar to the dialog 120 in FIG. 4(b) described later, the dialog 110 may also be provided with a reset button 123, and upon operation of the reset button 123, processing similar to arrows R to T and D in FIG. 5 described later may be performed.

[0041] On the other hand, when the user operates the print continuation button 111 (arrow G), the auxiliary program 42 executes an editing process of editing the intermediate image data attached to the execution instruction based on the print parameters (arrow K) and passes an end notice to the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow L). The general-purpose printing program 41 generates print data based on the intermediate image data included in the end notice output from the auxiliary program 42 (arrow M). That is, the general-purpose printing program 41 generates print data with the setting value of the paper type remaining "postcard". Note that the intermediate image data may be the intermediate image data generated by the general-purpose printing program 41. The print data generated by the general-purpose printing program 41 is print data in a format that can be used for printing by various printers. The print data is, for example, PWGRaster data or PDF data.

[0042] Note that the auxiliary program 42 erases the dialog 110 and ends the display of the message in response to the operation of the print continuation button 111 or the cancel button 112. Note that the auxiliary program 42 may not display the print continuation button 111 or the cancel button 112 in the dialog 110, and may end the display of the message and continue printing when a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0043] After generating the print data, the general-purpose print program 41 transmits a print command including the generated print data to the printer 2 (arrow N). Note that the auxiliary program 42 may have a function of processing the print data, such as adding a command for executing a function specific to the printer 2 to the print data. In this case, the general-purpose print program 41 may transmit the processed print data to the printer 2. The print data includes, for example, printer identification information for identifying a printer that executes a print job, print image data of an image to be printed, and print parameters, as shown in FIG. 3(a).

[0044] In the printer 2 that has received the print command, printing of the image of the print data is executed based on the print data attached to the print command. When the printer 2 receives the print data to which a command is added, the printer 2 performs the operation indicated by the command when executing the printing. Note that after the completion of the process of editing the print data, the auxiliary program 42 may transmit a print command to the printer 2 via the communication IF 30 without going through the general-purpose print program 41.

[0045] The processes of the above-described arrows E and F may be performed only once for one print job. The timing for performing the processes of arrows E and F is not limited to the above, and may be, for example, after the editing process, before the print data is generated, or after the print data is generated, as long as it is before the print data is transmitted to the printer 2. However, by executing before the editing process, it is possible to avoid unnecessary processes that do not lead to printing.

[0046] Also, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, after receiving print parameters corresponding to a print instruction, the auxiliary program 42 inquires about the current status information, which is information of the printer 2, and acquires the current status information (arrow O). The arrow O is an example of an acquisition process. The reception of the print parameters may be performed by receiving the print parameters attached to the execution instruction, or may be performed by receiving the setting of the print parameters in the editing process of the intermediate image data. Note that the auxiliary program 42 acquires the identification information of the printer indicated by the execution instruction output from the general-purpose print program 41, and inquires about the current status information with respect to the printer indicated by the acquired identification information.

[0047] As shown in, for example, FIG. 3(b), the current status information includes a number of information such as status information and setting information.

[0048] The status information is information indicating the state of the printer 2 that executes the print job. The status information includes, for example, information indicating the free state of the memory for the accumulation job that accumulates the print job, job information indicating the progress state of the print job, the remaining amount of the coloring agent, the presence or absence of the finisher, the presence or absence of the staple pins, and the like.

[0049] The job information includes any one of "printing in progress" indicating that the printing of the print job is being executed, "printing completed" indicating that the printing of the print job has been completed, "printing stopped" indicating that the printing of the print job has stopped, and "waiting" indicating that it is waiting for the completion of the printing of another print job. The printer 2 can receive a cancel operation to cancel the printing via the operation unit. When the printer 2 receives the cancel operation, the job information includes information indicating "printing completed" and "cancel operation: yes". On the other hand, when the printer 2 completes the printing without receiving the cancel operation, the job information does not include "cancel operation: yes" but includes "printing completed".

[0050] Information about "printing stopped" is added with information indicating the types of errors such as paper jams, out of paper, and out of colorant. When the printer 2 receives multiple pieces of print data, it processes the print data stored in the internal memory in order. Therefore, the states of the print jobs executed by the printer 2 include a state of printing in progress, a state of printing completed, and a state of standby. Also, the states of the print jobs include a state where printing has been ended due to an error such as out of paper or paper jam, or a cancel operation. The printer 2 detects the state of its own device in response to an inquiry from the PC1 and returns the current status information.

[0051] Note that "printing stopped" is an example of status information indicating a status in which a print job corresponding to a print instruction cannot be executed. "Printing completed" is an example of status information indicating a status in which a print job corresponding to a print instruction can be executed.

[0052] When the auxiliary program 42 can receive the current status information from the printer 2, that is, when communication with the printer 2 is possible, the auxiliary program 42 stores in the memory 12 the current status information including "online", which is information indicating that the printer 2 can communicate with the PC1, in the status information. Also, when communication with the printer 2 is impossible due to a communication error or power-off, the auxiliary program 42 stores in the memory 12 the status information including information indicating "printing stopped" and information indicating "offline".

[0053] The memory for stored jobs is a storage area for stored printing in the printer 2. In the information indicating the free state of the memory for stored jobs, for example, when the memory for stored jobs is not free, "memory full" is set, and when it is free, the degree of its freedom is set.

[0054] The setting information is information including the set values in Printer 2. Printer 2 has an operation unit that accepts input of various settings. Printer 2 has a function of accepting, via the operation unit, for example, the set values of the paper size and paper type of the paper set in each tray, and the set value of color / monochrome printing, and storing them in the internal memory. When Printer 2 returns the set values of the paper size and paper type in response to an inquiry from PC1, it may return the paper size and paper type set in the internal memory to PC1, or if it has a function of detecting the paper size and paper type, it may return the detection result to PC1.

[0055] Note that the types of the above current situation information include unique information and general-purpose information. The unique information is information that the general-purpose printing program 41 does not support, that is, status information or setting information unique to Printer 2. For example, information regarding option units such as the presence or absence of a finisher, the presence or absence of stapler pins, the success or failure of stapling included in the status information, information regarding the memory for storing jobs such as memory full, information regarding the cancel operation on the Printer 2 side, the set value of the paper type included in the setting information, etc. are examples of unique information.

[0056] On the other hand, the general-purpose information is general-purpose information that corresponds to the general-purpose printing program 41, that is, general-purpose information that OS21 can understand. For example, the status of the print job, errors, communication status, remaining amount of coloring agent included in the status information, the paper size included in the installation information, the set value of color / monochrome printing, etc. are examples of general-purpose information. Note that the unique information is an example of the first information, and the general-purpose information is an example of the second information.

[0057] Returning to FIG. 5, when the auxiliary program 42 stores the current situation information acquired from Printer 2 in the memory 12, it determines whether or not the value of the print parameter of the print job corresponding to the print instruction matches the value indicated in the setting information corresponding to the print parameter and included in the current situation information acquired from Printer 2 (arrow P). Note that arrow P is an example of a determination process, and the determination condition of arrow P is an example of a display condition.

[0058] For example, the auxiliary program 42 compares the value of the print parameter with the set value indicated in the setting information included in the current status information. For example, when the set value of the paper type in the print parameter is "glossy paper" and the set value of the paper type included in the current status information obtained from the printer 2 is "plain paper", the auxiliary program 42 determines that the value of the print parameter does not match the set value of the setting information, and displays a message on the UI 20 (arrow Q). Arrow Q is an example of a display process.

[0059] Specifically, for example, the auxiliary program 42 causes the UI 20 to display the dialog 120 shown in FIG. 4(b). A message 124 notifying that the paper type setting does not correspond to the printer 2 is displayed in the dialog 120. In addition, in the dialog 120, a print continuation button 121 for instructing the continuation of printing, a cancel button 122 for instructing the cancellation of printing, and a reset button 123 for instructing the change of print settings are displayed.

[0060] For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the user operates the reset button 123 via the UI 20 (arrow R), the auxiliary program 42 outputs a return notification to the general-purpose print program 41 (arrow S). The general-purpose print program 41 re-outputs an execution instruction in response to the return notification (arrows T, D). For example, in the editing process of the auxiliary program 42, by displaying a setting screen for setting the print parameter, the paper type of the print parameter is likely to be changed from "glossy paper" to "plain paper", so that the printer 2 is suppressed from performing printing not intended by the user.

[0061] When the user operates the print continuation button 121 via the UI 20 (arrow R), the auxiliary program 42 performs an editing process (arrow K) and continues printing (arrows K to N). Since the user has deliberately permitted printing on plain paper by the dialog 120, the possibility of reprinting is low. That is, reprinting is suppressed.

[0062] Also, when the user operates the cancel button 122 via the UI20 (arrow R), the auxiliary program 42 outputs a cancel notification to the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow H). The general-purpose printing program 41 stops printing in response to the cancel notification (arrow I) and outputs a print cancel notification to the editing application 43 (arrow J). Thereby, printed matter that the user does not intend is suppressed.

[0063] Note that the processes of arrows P and Q may be performed only once each time a print parameter setting is received. Also, the timing for executing the processes of arrows P and Q is not limited to the above, and may be, for example, after the editing process, before generating the print data, or after generating the print data.

[0064] As shown in FIG. 6, when the general-purpose printing program 41 generates print data in response to the end notification of the auxiliary program 42 and transmits the print data to the printer 2 (arrow N), the printer 2 stores the print data in its internal memory and executes printing (arrow V). After the auxiliary program 42 outputs an end notification to the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow L in FIG. 5), it periodically inquires the printer 2 about the status information and receives the status information returned from the printer 2 (arrow U). The auxiliary program 42 lists the received status information and stores it in the memory 12.

[0065] Based on the status information from the printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 determines whether or not the display conditions are satisfied, for example, whether it is "printing stopped" or "printing completed" (arrow W), and displays a message when the display conditions are satisfied (arrow X). Note that arrow U is an example of an acquisition process, arrow W is an example of a determination process, and arrow X is an example of a display process. The determination condition of arrow U is an example of the display condition.

[0066] The auxiliary program 42 can display a message based on the latest status information by periodically acquiring and updating the status information. Note that the auxiliary program 42 may, for example, acquire the setting information from the printer 2 only once when the general-purpose printing program 41 transmits print data to the printer 2 and display a message, and periodically acquire and display other status information. According to this, the communication load when periodically acquiring the status information can be reduced.

[0067] For example, as shown in FIG. 3(b), when the auxiliary program 42 receives status information such as "printing stopped" or "paper out" from the printer 2, it displays a message (arrow X).

[0068] Specifically, for example, the auxiliary program 42 causes the UI 20 to display the dialog 130 shown in FIG. 4(c). The dialog 130 displays an error message 134 that notifies information on the printer 2 stopping printing, error content, and error resolution measures. In addition, information 135 indicating the progress status of the print job is displayed in the dialog 130. Note that the error message 134 may not include the error content and error countermeasures. Also, the information 133 may not be displayed.

[0069] When the paper is replenished, the printer 2 resumes printing. When the printer 2 resumes printing, in response to an inquiry from the PC 1, it returns status information including "printing in progress" to the PC 1. When the status information changes from "printing stopped" to "printing in progress", the auxiliary program 42 determines that the error has been resolved and ends the display of the dialog 130. Note that the auxiliary program 42 may end the display of the dialog 130 when a predetermined time has elapsed after displaying the dialog 130.

[0070] When the printing of the printer 2 is completed and the status information includes "printing completed", the auxiliary program 42 displays a message (arrow X), ends the monitoring process of the status information (repetition of arrows W to X), and ends the display of the message after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[0071] Specifically, for example, the auxiliary program 42 causes the UI 20 to display the dialog 140 shown in FIG. 4(d). In the dialog 140, a print end message 144 for notifying the end of printing and information 145 indicating the progress status are displayed. Note that the information 145 may not be displayed. After displaying the dialog 140, the auxiliary program 42 ends the display of the dialog 140 when a predetermined time has elapsed. Note that the message regarding the end of printing may be displayed not only when the printing ends normally but also when the printing ends in an abnormal state such as forcibly ending the printing using the operation unit of the printer 2.

[0072] In the display process of the arrow F in FIG. 2, the arrow Q in FIG. 5, and the arrow X in FIG. 6, a message may be displayed based on both the specific information and the general information, or only the message based on the specific information may be displayed and the message based on the general information may not be displayed. This is because the specific information tends to be highly important in executing the print job and there is a high need to display the message.

[0073] Also, when ending the display of the error message or the print end message due to the elapse of a predetermined time, the predetermined time may be changed according to the display conditions. For example, when giving a warning-level notification such as notifying that the print job cannot be executed due to out of paper or paper jam, it may be displayed for a long time or until the error is resolved. However, when giving a caution-level notification such as a notice that the print job can be executed but printing will soon become impossible due to insufficient colorant, the display may be stopped in a short time.

[0074] Also, the auxiliary program 42 may start repeating the inquiry of the current situation information (corresponding to the arrow O in FIG. 5 and the arrow U in FIG. 6) periodically, triggered by a print instruction to cause the general-purpose printing program 41 to execute printing on the printer 2 (arrow A in FIGS. 2, 5, and 6), or may start triggered by receiving an execution command from the general-purpose printing program 41 (arrow D in FIGS. 2, 5, and 6). In this case, the auxiliary program 42 may make the determination of arrow P in FIG. 5 and arrow W in FIG. 6 based on the result of the started periodic inquiry. Also, in this case, the auxiliary program 42 may end the repetition of the inquiry of the current situation information triggered by a cancel operation (triggered by arrow H in FIGS. 2 and 5) or the end of printing by the printer (triggered by arrow X in FIG. 6).

[0075] As described above, when the auxiliary program 42 acquires the current situation information of the printer 2 from the printer 2 and satisfies the display conditions, the auxiliary program 42 displays a message based on the acquired current situation information on the UI20. According to such an auxiliary program 42, the user can easily obtain the current situation information regarding the print job by the user confirming the message without the user operating the UI20 of the OS21.

[0076] Note that this embodiment is merely an example and does not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the present invention can naturally be variously improved and modified without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the device connected to the PC1 is not limited to a printer, and may be any device having a printing function such as a multifunction machine, a copier, a FAX device, etc. Also, the printer connected to the PC1 is not limited to the illustrated example, and may be one or three or more.

[0077] Also, the module that executes each process of this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, and may be any program that receives an instruction from the OS21 when performing printing with the general-purpose printing program 41 of the OS21. For example, a print workflow app (Print workflow) whose specifications are disclosed by Microsoft may also be used.

[0078] Also, the auxiliary program 42 may erase the message indicated by the arrow X in FIG. 6 in response to an operation via the UI 20. Further, after the auxiliary program 42 displays the message with the arrow X in FIG. 6, if the regular repetition of the inquiry of the current situation information (arrow W in FIG. 6) continues and status information different from "printing stopped" is received from the printer, for example, when status information indicating "printing in progress" or "waiting" is received, the message may be automatically erased. Thereby, since the information whose necessity for display has decreased is automatically erased, it is possible to suppress giving trouble to the user.

[0079] In the arrow X in FIG. 6, it is not necessary to display a message indicating the end of printing. However, by displaying the print end message, it becomes easier for the user to recognize the useful matter of the end of printing.

[0080] A cancel button may be provided in (c) of FIG. 4 so that the user can cancel printing when an error occurs. In this case, it becomes possible to execute a subsequent print job, and the usability is good. Further, the information 135 and 145 shown in FIG. 4 may be continuously displayed from when a print instruction is given until the print job corresponding to the print instruction ends.

[0081] Also, in any of the sequence diagrams disclosed in the embodiments, the plurality of processes in any plurality of steps can be arbitrarily changed in the execution order or executed in parallel within a range where there is no contradiction in the processing content.

[0082] Also, the processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, a plurality of CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. Further, the processes disclosed in the embodiments can be realized in various forms such as a recording medium recording a program for executing the processes, or a method.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0083] 1 PC 2 Printer 11 CPU 20 UI 21 OS 30 Communication IF 41 General printing program 42 Auxiliary program

Claims

1. A support program executable by a computer of an information processing apparatus, the support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus, wherein the computer is caused to execute an acquisition process, a determination process, and a display process based on a print instruction for causing the printer to perform printing of an image with respect to a general-purpose print program pre-embedded in an operating system of the information processing apparatus; in the acquisition process, make an inquiry to the printer via a communication interface of the information processing apparatus, and acquire information of the printer; in the determination process, determine whether or not a display condition for outputting a message based on the information is satisfied based on the information of the printer acquired in the acquisition process; in the display process, when it is determined in the determination process that the display condition is satisfied, cause the message to be displayed on a display device of the information processing apparatus. A support program characterized by the above.

2. In the support program according to claim 1, after the general-purpose print program generates print data, the computer is caused to execute the acquisition process, the determination process, and the display process, wherein the information of the printer acquired in the acquisition process includes status information indicating a status of the printer, and the display condition is set such that the status information indicates a status in which a print job corresponding to the print instruction cannot be executed. A support program characterized by the above.

3. In the support program according to claim 2, in the display process, when the status information indicating a status in which the print job corresponding to the print instruction can be executed is acquired after the message is displayed, end the display of the message. A support program characterized by the above.

4. In the support program according to claim 1, after receiving print parameters of a print job corresponding to the print instruction, the computer is caused to execute the acquisition process, the determination process, and the display process, wherein the information of the printer acquired in the acquisition process includes setting information set in the printer, and the display condition is set such that a value of the print parameters does not match a value indicated by the setting information corresponding to the print parameters. A support program characterized by the above.

5. In the support program according to claim 1, the information of the printer acquired in the acquisition process includes job information indicating the state of a print job executed by the printer, the display condition is that the job information of the print job corresponding to the print instruction indicates the end of the print job, A support program characterized by the above.

6. In the support program according to claim 1, the types of the printer information acquired in the acquisition process include first information that the general-purpose printing program does not support and second information that the general-purpose printing program supports, the display condition is that the first information has been acquired, A support program characterized by the above.

7. In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 6, in the display process, after the message is displayed, when a predetermined time has elapsed, the display of the message ends, A support program characterized by the above.

8. In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the computer is caused to start periodic execution of the acquisition process based on transmission of print data generated by the general-purpose printing program to the printer, A support program characterized by the above.

9. In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the computer is caused to perform a cancellation reception process for receiving cancellation of a print job corresponding to the print instruction during display of the message by the display process, and a transmission process for transmitting a cancellation command of the print job to the printer when cancellation of the print job is received in the cancellation reception process, to execute, A support program characterized by the above.

10. In the support program according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the computer is caused to perform a setting reception process for receiving setting of print parameters of a print job targeted by the print instruction when the print instruction is given, and the general-purpose printing program generates print data based on the setting of the print parameters received in the setting reception process, furthermore, the computer is caused to re-execute the setting reception process when the message is displayed in the display process, A support program characterized by the above.

11. A support program executable by a computer of an information processing apparatus, the support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus, wherein the computer is caused to execute a determination process and a display process when accepting print parameters of a print job corresponding to the print instruction based on the fact that there is a print instruction to cause the printer to print an image with respect to a general-purpose print program pre-embedded in the operating system of the information processing apparatus; in the determination process, determine whether there is a specific setting in the print parameters of the print job corresponding to the print instruction; in the display process, when it is determined in the determination process that there is the specific setting, cause a message based on the specific setting to be displayed on a display device of the information processing apparatus. A support program characterized by the above.

12. An information processing apparatus including a communication interface, a display device, and a computer, wherein the operating system of the information processing apparatus has a general-purpose print program which is a pre-embedded program, a support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus is embedded in the information processing apparatus, wherein the computer is caused to execute an acquisition process, a determination process, and a display process by the support program based on the fact that there is a print instruction to cause the printer to print an image with respect to the general-purpose print program; in the acquisition process, inquire of the printer via the communication interface and acquire information of the printer; in the determination process, determine whether a display condition for outputting a message based on the information is satisfied based on the information of the printer acquired in the acquisition process; in the display process, when it is determined in the determination process that the display condition is satisfied, cause the message to be displayed on the display device. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above.

13. An information processing apparatus including a display device and a computer, wherein the operating system of the information processing apparatus has a general-purpose print program which is a pre-embedded program, a support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus is embedded in the information processing apparatus, wherein the computer is caused to Based on the fact that there is a print instruction to cause the printer to perform printing of an image on the general-purpose print program, when the support program receives print parameters of a print job corresponding to the print instruction, a determination process and a display process are executed. In the determination process: Determine whether there is a specific setting in the print parameters of the print job corresponding to the print instruction. In the display process: When it is determined in the determination process that there is the specific setting, cause the display device to display a message based on the specific setting. An information processing apparatus characterized by the above. **Claim 14** A printer is connected to an information processing apparatus. The operating system of the information processing apparatus has a general-purpose print program which is a pre-embedded program. The information processing apparatus has a support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus embedded therein. In a printing method for causing the printer to execute printing based on print data generated by the information processing apparatus, Based on the fact that there is a print instruction to cause the printer to perform printing of an image on the general-purpose print program, steps performed by the support program include an acquisition step, a determination step, and a display step. In the acquisition step: Inquire of the printer via the communication interface of the information processing apparatus and acquire information of the printer. In the determination step: Based on the information of the printer acquired in the acquisition step, determine whether a display condition for outputting a message based on the information is satisfied. In the display step: When it is determined in the determination step that the display condition is satisfied, cause the message to be displayed on the display device of the information processing apparatus. A printing method characterized by the above. **Claim 15** A printer is connected to an information processing apparatus. The operating system of the information processing apparatus has a general-purpose print program which is a pre-embedded program. The information processing apparatus has a support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing apparatus embedded therein. In a printing method for causing the printer to execute printing based on print data generated by the information processing apparatus, When receiving print parameters of a print job corresponding to the print instruction based on the fact that there is a print instruction to cause the printer to print an image for the general-purpose print program, steps performed by the support program include a determination step and a display step. In the determination step, it is determined whether there is a specific setting in the print parameters of the print job corresponding to the print instruction. In the display step, when it is determined in the determination step that there is the specific setting, a message based on the specific setting is caused to be displayed on a display device of the information processing apparatus. A printing method characterized by the above.

Images