Support program

Abstract

To provide a technology for enabling a user to check information on a plurality of printer queues easily, in an information processing device with an OS-standard general-purpose printing program installed thereon.SOLUTION: An auxiliary program 42 is requested to execute processing by a general-purpose printing program 41 in response to a print instruction output from an editing application 43 or the like. The auxiliary program 42 is requested to execute processing by the general-purpose printing program 41 also in response to an OS 21 receiving an activation instruction in a state in which a printer 2 has been selected. When the auxiliary program 42 is requested to execute processing in response to the OS 21 receiving an activation instruction, the auxiliary program 42 causes a CPU 11 of a PC 1 to acquire body information held by the selected printer 2, determine whether or not there exists another printer different from the printer 2, acquire body information held by a printer 3 determined to exist, and display the acquired body information of the printer 2 and body information of the printer 3.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. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, a technology has been put into practical use that controls printers using a general-purpose printing program that is built into the operating system (OS) as standard, without using the printer driver mentioned above. With this technology, when the OS detects a printer, it associates it with the OS's standard general-purpose printing program, and thereafter, when a print command for that printer is received, printing can be performed using the OS's standard general-purpose printing program without using a printer driver.

[0003] Also, a configuration is known in which a support program is associated with an OS-standard general-purpose print program, and printing is achieved through cooperation between the general-purpose print program and the support program. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a parameter list that stores print setting parameters for each printer queue is provided, and when a print instruction is received, the support program reads and sets the parameters corresponding to the printer queue from the parameter list. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-123243 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] As mentioned above, in an environment where a general-purpose print program that is standard for an OS is used, there is a known technique for setting parameters for each selected printer queue. However, an OS may have multiple printer queues, and in order for a user to check information about a printer queue other than the currently selected printer, they must switch the selected printer, which is time-consuming for the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A support program devised to solve the above-described problems is executable by a computer of an information processing device, and is a support program that supports a general-purpose printing program that is pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, wherein the operating system is capable of receiving a start instruction for a program corresponding to a selected printer, and the general-purpose printing program has a program associated with the printer that requests processing in response to the start instruction, and when a print instruction is output to the computer from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction instructing the general-purpose printing program to print an image on the printer, and processing is requested from the general-purpose printing program, image data representing the image is obtained from the general-purpose printing program, and processing is performed based on the image data. and when a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program as a result of the operating system accepting the startup instruction while a first printer is selected, the computer is configured to execute the following processes via the general-purpose printing program: a first acquisition process of accessing the first printer to acquire first main body information held by the first printer; a determination process of determining whether a second printer that is connected to the information processing device and is separate from the first printer exists; a second acquisition process of accessing the second printer to acquire second main body information held by the second printer that is determined to exist in the determination process; and a display process of displaying the first main body information acquired in the first acquisition process and the second main body information acquired in the second acquisition process.

[0007] The support program disclosed in this specification, when a startup instruction is received by the OS separately from a print instruction from an application program, acquires first main body information of the first printer and second main body information of the second printer if a second printer other than the selected first printer exists, and displays the acquired first main body information and second main body information. This allows the user to easily grasp not only the first main body information of the selected first printer but also the second main body information of the second printer based on the operation of inputting a startup instruction, without having to switch the printer selection. Therefore, the user can easily obtain information useful for selecting a printer to print from among multiple printers connected to the information processing device, for example, before inputting a print instruction.

[0008] An information processing device incorporating the above 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. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The technology disclosed in this specification realizes a technology that allows a user to easily check information on multiple printer queues in an information processing device that has an OS-standard general-purpose printing program installed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the electrical configuration of a PC. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure by an auxiliary program. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen for accepting a device management instruction. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a detailed management screen. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for a printer information display process. [Figure 6]FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a printer list screen. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a printer list screen. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a printing procedure. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for a printer information display process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a "PC") that uses the auxiliary program of the first embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This specification discloses an auxiliary program executed on a PC.

[0012] As shown in Fig. 1, the PC 1 of this embodiment includes a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. The PC 1 is an example of an information processing device. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The PC 1 also includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "user IF") 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 14, which are electrically connected to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 in Fig. 1 is a collective term for hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.

[0013] The CPU 11 executes various processes in accordance with programs read from the memory 12 and based on user operations. Various programs and various data are stored in the memory 12. 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 memory. Note that the memory 12 is not limited to a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built into the PC 1, but may also be a storage medium readable and writable by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium, such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

[0014] The user IF 13 includes hardware for displaying a screen for notifying the user of information and hardware for accepting user operations. 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.

[0015] The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as the printer 2. The communication IF 14 may use a communication standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or USB. The PC 1 may be connectable to the Internet via the communication IF 14. The PC 1 may also be provided with multiple communication IFs 14 compatible with multiple communication standards.

[0016] 1, for example, printer 2, printer 3, and printer 4 are connected to PC 1 in this embodiment via communication IF 14. Printer 2, printer 3, and printer 4 are all devices that have at least a printing function and a communication function.

[0017] 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 21 including a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps") such as an editing app 43. The OS 21 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark). The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program.

[0018] The generic printing program 41 is an OS standard program provided together with the OS 21, and has the function of causing the printer 2, etc., to execute printing. The generic printing program 41 of this embodiment is a program that includes the function of generating intermediate image data based on the image data to be printed. The generic printing program 41 supports functions that can be used in common by multiple models of printers provided by various printer vendors. Unlike printer drivers that are specific to various printers, the generic printing program 41 does not support all of the functions that are specific to various printers, and the functions it supports are limited to generic ones.

[0019] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or a group of programs that support 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 is received using the general-purpose printing program 41. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, a print support application (abbreviated as PSA) or a hardware support application (abbreviated as HSA). The auxiliary program 42 may also be a program compatible with the printer 3 and the printer 4.

[0020] The auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of multiple programs that each accept an execution command, or a single program that can execute different processes depending on the command. The auxiliary program may also be a program prepared by a printer vendor for each printer type. For example, an auxiliary program for inkjet printers and an auxiliary program for laser printers may be prepared. A separate auxiliary program may be prepared not only for each printer type, but also for each printer model or series of printer models.

[0021] For example, when a new printer is connected to the PC 1, the OS 21 of the PC 1 can download an appropriate auxiliary program from a server or the like depending on the type and model of the connected printer and install it in the PC 1. The OS 21 stores the identification information of the installed auxiliary program in the memory 12 in association with the printer information of the newly connected printer, and generates a printer queue for each printer.

[0022] 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 Word (registered trademark) or PowerPoint (registered trademark), or may be an application provided by the vendor of the printer 2. The editing application 43 is capable of receiving, via the user IF 13, for example, a print execution instruction for causing the printer 2 to execute printing.

[0023] Next, the processing procedure by the OS 21 and auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 2. This procedure is executed when the printer 2 is connected to the PC 1 and the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is stored in the memory 12.

[0024] Note that each processing step in this embodiment basically indicates processing by the CPU 11 in accordance with instructions written in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, the operation of each program will be explained without a detailed description of the OS 21. Also, the term "obtain" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

[0025] The OS 21 can accept user instructions to set each component, and can accept device management instructions, including instructions to display information about various devices connected to the PC 1 and instructions to change settings, on a screen for accepting setting instructions. For example, when the OS 21 accepts a setting instruction and a device management instruction (A01), it can further accept device selection, as shown in FIG. 3. For example, when the OS 21 accepts an operation on the "Printers and Scanners" button 512 on the device setting screen 51 (FIG. 3(A)) displayed upon accepting an operation on the "Devices" button 511, it displays a device management screen 52, as shown in FIG. 3(B) (A02).

[0026] The device management screen 52 is a screen that includes a list of various devices that are connected to the PC 1 and are capable of performing image processing, such as printers and scanners. The user can select a device to manage from the list displayed on the device management screen 52 (A03). For example, when an operation is received on the button 521 that specifies Printer 2 on the device management screen 52, the OS 21 displays a detailed management screen 53, as shown in FIG. 4 (A04).

[0027] The detailed management screen 53 displays an "Open Printer Queue" button 531, a "Launch App" button 532, a "Print Test Page" button 533, and the like. The "Open Printer Queue" button 531 is a button that accepts an instruction to check the status of the printer queue corresponding to the selected printer. The "Launch App" button 532 is a button that accepts an instruction to start a program corresponding to the selected printer. The "Print Test Page" button 533 is a button that accepts an instruction by the OS 21 to send a test image to the selected printer. On the detailed management screen 53, the OS 21 can accept user operations on the buttons 531, 532, 533, and the like.

[0028] When an instruction to start a program is received by operating the "Launch App" button 532 on the detailed management screen 53 displayed after printer 2 is selected (A11), the OS 21 passes information about printer 2, the selected printer, and an instruction to start a program corresponding to that printer to the general-purpose printing program 41. When the general-purpose printing program 41 receives this instruction from the OS 21, it starts a program associated with the printer information about printer 2. In this embodiment, since identification information for the auxiliary program 42 is stored in association with the printer information about printer 2, the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 (A12).

[0029] When the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment is started from the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to a start instruction from the user, it executes a printer information display process (A31). The procedure for the printer information display process will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 5. The printer information display process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 based on the description of the auxiliary program 42.

[0030] First, the CPU 11 requests the OS 21 for connection information for the currently selected printer, printer 2, and acquires the connection information from the OS 21 (S101). The connection information is, for example, an IP address. The CPU 11 associates the connection information acquired from the OS 21 with the identification information of the printer 2 and stores it in the memory 12 (S102). S102 is an example of a storage process. Note that if the connection information for printer 2 is already stored in the memory 12, the CPU 11 may overwrite the connection information.

[0031] That is, the auxiliary program 42 stores the connection information of the printer 2, which is the currently selected printer, in the memory 12 at the timing when the instruction to start the auxiliary program 42 is given by operating the "start application" button 532 (see FIG. 4).

[0032] Furthermore, CPU 11 requests printer 2 for its main body information using the acquired connection information, and acquires the main body information from printer 2 (S103). Printer 2, which is the selected printer, is an example of the first printer, and the main body information of printer 2 is an example of first main body information. S103 is an example of a first acquisition process.

[0033] The main body information includes capability information indicating the capabilities of the printer 2, i.e., information indicating functions that can be executed by the printer 2 and information on parameters that can be set as print settings. The main body information may also include at least one of information indicating the status of the main body of the printer 2, such as status information, information on the remaining amount of consumables, information indicating accessories such as installed optional trays, information on the paper size and paper type set for each tray, information on main body settings such as the language used, information on network settings, firmware version information, print history information, and the number of print jobs waiting.

[0034] The printer 2 of this embodiment is equipped with an operation panel, which includes a display that displays information and operation buttons that accept input operations from the user. The operation panel may include a touch panel. The printer 2 can display information about the printer 2 on the operation panel and can also accept various instructions input through the operation panel. The printer 2 can accept instructions via the operation panel, such as instructions to set the paper size and paper type for each tray, and instructions to change the main unit settings and network settings. The printer 2 may pass information indicating the various settings accepted via the operation panel to the auxiliary program 42 as main unit information.

[0035] The printer 2 may also have a function to perform image processing based on the received print job and print based on the data after the image processing, such as aggregate printing such as Nin1, composite printing such as watermark, and economical printing that saves coloring agent. If the printer 2 has an image processing function that can be executed by the printer 2, the printer 2 may pass information about that function to the auxiliary program 42 as main body information.

[0036] The auxiliary program 42 can obtain information that is not understood by the OS 21 by obtaining information directly from the printer 2 using, for example, an MIB (abbreviation of Management Information Base).

[0037] Note that the auxiliary program 42 may output an acquisition request to the OS 21 requesting main body information of the printer 2 instead of directly requesting information from the printer 2 in S103. In this case, the OS 21 acquires information from the printer 2 by communication according to IPP (abbreviation for Internet Printing Protocol), for example, and passes the acquired information to the auxiliary program 42. The auxiliary program 42 may both request information from the OS 21 and acquire main body information by direct communication.

[0038] Next, the CPU 11 reads out the connection information stored in the memory 12 (S111). As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of printers 2, 3, and 4 are connected to the PC 1 of this embodiment. Then, for example, when printer 3 or printer 4 is selected and an operation on the "Launch App" button 532 (FIG. 4) described above is received, the auxiliary program corresponding to the selected printer is launched. If the launched auxiliary program is the same type of program as the auxiliary program 42, it executes the same process as the printer information display process of this embodiment, and the connection information of the printer selected at that time is stored in the memory 12. If connection information of printers other than printer 2 is stored in the memory 12, the auxiliary program 42 can read out that connection information from the memory 12.

[0039] In addition, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment stores the connection information of the printer 2 in S102, so that even if the selected printer is subsequently switched and an instruction to start the auxiliary program is given, the started auxiliary program can read out the connection information of the printer 2 in S111.

[0040] The auxiliary program corresponding to printer 3 and printer 4 may be auxiliary program 42 or a different program. Even if the programs are different, if there is a memory area that can be commonly used by the auxiliary programs corresponding to printers 2 to 4, the auxiliary programs can share the connection information by storing the connection information in that memory area.

[0041] That is, the connection information read in S111 may include connection information for printers other than printer 2. CPU 11 determines whether the read connection information includes connection information for printers other than printer 2 (S112). S112 is an example of a determination process. Printers other than printer 2, i.e., printer 3 and printer 4, are examples of second printers.

[0042] If it is determined that connection information for a printer other than printer 2 is included (S112: YES), CPU 11 uses the connection information to acquire main body information from the printer other than printer 2 (S113). Main body information for a printer other than printer 2 is an example of second main body information, and S113 is an example of second acquisition processing. For example, CPU 11 acquires main body information for printer 3 and main body information for printer 4. For main body information for a printer other than printer 2, CPU 11 may acquire information directly from a printer other than printer 2 using, for example, MIB (short for Management Information Base). If OS 21 can acquire main body information from a printer other than printer 2, CPU 11 may output an acquisition request to OS 21.

[0043] By storing the connection information in memory 12 and using the stored connection information, the time required to obtain the connection information is shorter and it is easier to obtain the connection information than, for example, searching for a printer connected to a network. Furthermore, by using the stored connection information, the auxiliary program 42 can access even printers outside the local network.

[0044] After S113, the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display the acquired information about each printer (S121). For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display a printer list screen 54. S121 is an example of display processing. On the other hand, if it is determined that connection information for printers other than printer 2 is not included (S112: NO), the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display only the information about printer 2 acquired in S121. In this case, the CPU 11 does not display information about other printers, or displays "no information."

[0045] The printer list screen 54 includes a first display area 541 that includes information about the selected printer, printer 2, and a second display area 542 that includes information about printers other than printer 2 that are connected to the PC 1. The auxiliary program 42 displays the information about the selected printer and the information about printers other than the selected printer in a distinguishable manner.

[0046] First display area 541 includes detailed main body information 61 of printer 2, and includes a button 71 for receiving an instruction to change the print settings and a button 72 for receiving an instruction to perform a test print. Second display area 542 includes the printer names of printers other than printer 2, and buttons 73 and 74 for receiving an instruction to display information for each printer. Printer list screen 54 may further include an end button 544 for receiving an instruction to end the display.

[0047] Then, the CPU 11 becomes able to accept operations on the buttons on the displayed printer list screen 54. After S121, the CPU 11 ends the printer information display process and returns to the procedure of FIG.

[0048] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 2, after the printer information display process (A31) by the auxiliary program 42 ends, the user can operate each of the buttons 71 to 74 displayed on the printer list screen 54. When the auxiliary program 42 receives an operation on any of the buttons 71 to 74, it executes processing corresponding to the received operation.

[0049] For example, when the auxiliary program 42 receives a user instruction (an example of an output instruction) to cause the printer 2 to perform a test print by operating the button 72 (A43), it sends a test print command (an example of a main body command) to the printer 2 (A44). This causes the printer 2 to perform the test print (A45).

[0050] For example, when an instruction to display information about a printer other than printer 2 is received by operating button 73 or 74 (A41), auxiliary program 42 changes printer list screen 54 to a screen including the instructed information and displays it (A42). A42 is an example of display processing.

[0051] For example, when an instruction to display information about the printer 3 is received by operating button 73 in A41, the auxiliary program 42 displays, in A42, a printer list screen 55 instead of the printer list screen 54, as shown in FIG. 7, for example. The printer list screen 55 includes a third display area 543 that displays detailed main body information 81 about the printer 3 in addition to the various pieces of information included in the printer list screen 54. The third display area 543 further includes, for example, a button 82 that receives an instruction to change the print settings of the printer 3, and a button 83 that receives an instruction to cause the printer 3 to perform test printing.

[0052] The auxiliary program 42 acquires the main body information from the printer 3 in S113 of the printer information display process, and identifies processes that can be executed by the printer 3 based on the acquired main body information. The auxiliary program 42 may, for example, be provided with information on executable processes for each printer model in advance, or may acquire the information by inquiring of a server or the like.

[0053] The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment can display main body information for printers other than the selected printer, making it easy for the user to compare the status of the selected printer with that of other printers. However, the user may not want to display information about printers other than the selected printer. In this embodiment, the information is displayed in response to a display instruction from the user, preventing the display from becoming too cluttered.

[0054] The auxiliary program 42 then becomes able to accept operation of each button on the currently displayed printer list screen 55. For example, when a user instruction to change the settings of the printer 2 is accepted by operating the button 71, the auxiliary program 42 displays the current settings and accepts the user's instruction to change them. For example, when a user instruction to output the changed settings to the printer 2 (an example of an output instruction) is accepted (A43), the auxiliary program 42 sends a setting change command (an example of a main body command) to the printer 2 to change the settings (A44). As a result, the printer 2 executes processing to change the settings based on the instruction (A45).

[0055] Furthermore, auxiliary program 42 can accept an instruction to output a test print command (an example of a main body command) to printer 3 by operating button 83, and can accept an instruction to output a setting change command (an example of a main body command) to printer 3 by operating button 82. A main body command is a command that causes printer 3 to execute a process that can be executed by printer 3.

[0056] For example, when an output instruction to output a command to cause the printer 3 to perform a test print is received by operating the button 83 (A46), the auxiliary program 42 sends a test print command to the printer 3 as a main command (A47). A46 is an example of an output instruction receiving process, and A47 is an example of a sending process. The printer 3 executes the test print based on the received test print command (A48).

[0057] The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment accepts main command instructions for printers other than the selected printer, so the user can, for example, issue the same instruction to the selected printer and other printers. However, there are cases where the user does not want the main command output for printers other than the selected printer. In this embodiment, the main command is sent after accepting the user's instruction, so it is possible to avoid executing unnecessary processing.

[0058] The auxiliary program 42 may display the printer list screen 55 from the beginning in S121 of the printer information display process (FIG. 5). Alternatively, for example, the auxiliary program 42 may display the printer information for all printers corresponding to the auxiliary program 42 on the same screen at the same time. In this case, for example, the auxiliary program 42 may display the information for printer 2 and the information for printer 3 and printer 4 in different display formats, such as by changing the size of the display area or the display font. By displaying them simultaneously, the user can easily compare the status of each printer.

[0059] Furthermore, when auxiliary program 42 displays information about a printer other than printer 2 in response to an operation of button 73 or button 74 on printer list screen 54, it may open a separate window instead of displaying it on the same screen as printer list screen 55. In this case, auxiliary program 42 may also accept an instruction to output the main command in that separate window.

[0060] Next, the printing procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. 8. The auxiliary program 42 is also executed when a user instructs the general-purpose printing program 41 to print on the printer 2. The user can use the editing application 43 or the like to select an image to be printed, specify a printer to print on, and instruct the printer 2 to print. FIG. 8 shows the operation of each program when the editing application 43 receives a user instruction to print on the printer 2. The user's instruction to print may also be input directly to the general-purpose printing program 41.

[0061] When the editing application 43 receives a print execution instruction from the general-purpose printing program 41 to cause the printer 2 to print the selected image (B01), the editing application 43 passes the print instruction to the general-purpose printing program 41 via the OS 21 (B02). The general-purpose printing program 41 obtains, in the print instruction, information indicating image data of the image to be printed and information indicating print settings.

[0062] The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate image data by converting the format of the image data included in the received print instruction into the format of intermediate image data (B03), and generates a print job including the intermediate image data. The image data passed from the editing application 43 can be 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 intermediate image data may be omitted and the image data may be used as is as intermediate image data. The intermediate image data may be, for example, XPS data.

[0063] The general-purpose printing program 41 further outputs an execution instruction to the auxiliary program 42, which is a program corresponding to the printer 2 (B04), and requests processing from the auxiliary program 42. In the execution instruction, the intermediate image data generated in B03 and information indicating the print settings are passed to the auxiliary program 42.

[0064] The auxiliary program 42 performs rasterization based on the received intermediate image data and print settings to generate print data (B05). The print data generated in B05 is data in a format that can be used for printing by the printer 2, such as PDL data dedicated to the model of the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 may execute B05 using the main body information acquired in A24. The auxiliary program 42 may also acquire information from the printer 2 again before B05.

[0065] The auxiliary program 42 sends the generated print data and a print command instructing the printer 2 to print (B06). Upon receiving the print data and the print command, the printer 2 prints the image of the print data based on the received print command (B11). This produces a printed product.

[0066] Rasterizing with the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 allows for greater flexibility than rasterizing with the general-purpose print program 41, and is more likely to generate print data suitable for printing on the printer 2. Note that the print data generated by the auxiliary program 42 may be in a format that can also be used for printing on printers other than the printer 2 model.

[0067] Furthermore, instead of the auxiliary program 42 generating the print data, the general-purpose printing program 41 may generate the print data. That is, the auxiliary program 42 may pass intermediate image data, print setting information, and print execution information to the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 may generate print data based on the intermediate image data and print settings received from the auxiliary program 42, and pass the generated print data to the auxiliary program 42. When the auxiliary program 42 receives print data from the general-purpose printing program 41, it sends the print data received from the general-purpose printing program 41 to the printer 2 together with a print command instructing the execution of printing.

[0068] The print data generated by the general-purpose print program 41 is print data in a format that can be used for printing on various printers, such as PWGRaster data or PDF data. If the print data is generated 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 also reduce the program size of the auxiliary program 42.

[0069] Furthermore, the general-purpose printing program 41 may transmit the print data, etc. to the printer 2. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the generated print data, etc. 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. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 transmits the print data, etc. received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2 via the OS 21.

[0070] The printer 2 may also have a function for rasterizing intermediate image data. If the printer 2 has a rasterization function, the auxiliary program 42 may send a print command including intermediate image data of the image to be printed and print settings to the printer 2 without generating print data for the image to be printed.

[0071] Furthermore, if the connection information used to send the print command is not stored in memory 12, auxiliary program 42 stores the connection information in memory 12 (B15). B15 is an example of a storage process. The auxiliary program 42 stores the connection information of the printer to which the print command is sent in association with the printer's identification information in a memory area that can be written by auxiliary program 42. Note that if the connection information of printer 2 is already stored, auxiliary program 42 may overwrite the connection information.

[0072] When the transmission of the print data is completed, the auxiliary program 42 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 of the end of processing (B21). As a result, the general-purpose printing program 41 ends the processing of the print instruction accepted in B02. The general-purpose printing program 41 may also notify the editing application 43 of the end of processing.

[0073] The auxiliary program 42 may store the printer connection information not only when it is started from the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to an operation on the "Launch App" button 532 (FIG. 4) or when it is started from the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to an instruction to execute printing, but also at other times. For example, when the auxiliary program 42 is installed on the PC 1, the auxiliary program 42 may obtain connection information of the associated printer from the OS 21 and store the obtained connection information in the memory 12. Also, for example, when a new printer corresponding to the auxiliary program 42 is connected to the PC 1, the auxiliary program 42 may obtain connection information of the new printer from the OS 21 and store the obtained connection information in the memory 12.

[0074] As described above in detail, when the OS 21 accepts a startup instruction for the auxiliary program 42 of the first embodiment, separate from a print instruction via the editing application 43 or the like, the auxiliary program 42 acquires the device information of the selected printer 2 and the device information of a printer other than the printer 2, and displays them as the printer list screen 54 or the printer list screen 55. This allows the user to easily grasp not only the information of the selected printer 2, but also the information of other printers, without having to switch the printer selection. For example, before inputting a print instruction, the user can easily obtain information useful for selecting a printer to use for printing from among multiple printers connected to the PC 1.

[0075] Next, the auxiliary program 42 of the second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment differs from the auxiliary program 42 of the first embodiment only in the method of acquiring connection information, and the same reference numerals will be used to designate the same configurations and operations as the auxiliary program 42 of the first embodiment, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0076] The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment executes a printer information display process different from that of the first embodiment when processing is requested from the general-purpose printing program 41 based on a program startup instruction issued by operating the "Launch App" button 532 (FIG. 4). The procedure for the printer information display process of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The printer information display process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 based on the contents of the auxiliary program 42.

[0077] In the printer information display process of this embodiment, the CPU 11 searches for printers connected to the network to which the PC 1 is connected (S201). The CPU 11 outputs a search signal to the network to which the PC 1 is connected via the communication IF 14, for example, and receives a response signal transmitted from each printer. S201 is an example of the search process.

[0078] The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment does not need to store the connection information in the memory 12. Compared to the first embodiment in which the connection information is read from the memory 12, the printers that are the target of the network search are limited to printers within the network, but the network search may enable the auxiliary program 42 to access printers for which it has never obtained connection information.

[0079] The CPU 11 determines whether the printer that received the response is the selected printer, printer 2 (S202). If it is determined that the printer is printer 2 (S202: YES), the CPU 11 acquires main body information from printer 2 (S103). S103 is the same process as S103 in the first embodiment. Printer 2, the selected printer, is an example of the first printer, and the main body information of printer 2 is an example of first main body information. S103 is an example of a first acquisition process.

[0080] After S103, or if it is determined that the printer from which the response was received is not printer 2 (S202: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether the printer from which the response was received includes information about a printer other than printer 2 (S112). In other words, the CPU 11 determines whether a printer other than printer 2 has been found. S112 is an example of the determination process.

[0081] If it is determined that information about a printer other than printer 2 is included (S112: YES), the CPU 11 uses that information to acquire main body information from the printer other than printer 2 (S113). A printer other than printer 2 is an example of a second printer. The main body information of a printer other than printer 2 is an example of second main body information, and S113 is an example of second acquisition processing. Note that if multiple printers other than printer 2 are found, the CPU 11 requests main body information from all of the found printers in S113.

[0082] Then, the CPU 11 displays the acquired information of each printer on the user IF 13 (S121), and ends the printer information display process. S121 is an example of the display process. Note that the printer targeted in S113 may be a printer that does not support the auxiliary program 42 or a similar program, and detailed printer information cannot be acquired from the printer. In S121, the CPU 11 may simply display information that can be acquired.

[0083] The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment displays a screen similar to the printer list screen 54 of the first embodiment and is capable of accepting user operations. Then, in response to a user instruction on the displayed screen, the auxiliary program 42 can output a main body command to each printer.

[0084] Furthermore, similar to the first embodiment, when the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment is started from the general-purpose print program 41 in response to a print instruction from the user, it executes the same procedure as the procedure shown in the sequence diagram of Fig. 8. However, since the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment does not need to store connection information in the memory 12, it executes a procedure with B15 deleted.

[0085] As explained in detail above, the auxiliary program 42 of the second embodiment, like the auxiliary program 42 of the first embodiment, when a startup instruction is received by the OS 21, acquires the main body information of the selected printer 2 and the main body information of a printer other than the printer 2, and displays a printer list screen. This allows the user to easily grasp not only the information of the selected printer 2, but also the information of the other printers, without having to perform an operation to switch the selected printer.

[0086] 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 naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the device connected to PC1 is not limited to a printer, but may be any device with a printing function, such as a multifunction device, a copier, or a fax machine. Furthermore, devices other than devices with a printing function may also be connected to PC1.

[0087] 6 and 7 are merely examples and are not limited to the examples shown. For example, the wording, number, shape, arrangement, background, etc. of buttons displayed on the screen may be any.

[0088] Also, for example, although the printer list screens 54 and 55 include buttons 71-72 and 82-83 for accepting main body commands, it is sufficient that at least the main body information of each printer is included, and buttons for accepting main body commands do not have to be included. Also, in this embodiment, main body commands are output when an operation on each button is accepted, but main body commands may also be automatically output depending on the display of the printer list screens 54 and 55.

[0089] Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 in the first form stores connection information in the memory 12 and acquires information from the printer by reading the stored connection information, and the auxiliary program 42 in the second form acquires information from the printer by performing a network search, but the auxiliary program 42 may do both of these.

[0090] In addition, in the embodiment, only the printer information display operation and the printing operation are described in detail as the operation of the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles as well. Furthermore, the program that executes the processing of this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, and may be any program that receives instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose print program 41 when printing 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.

[0091] 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 may be a resident auxiliary program 42. If the auxiliary program 42 is resident, it may simply receive an execution command and perform the above-described operation.

[0092] Furthermore, in any flowchart disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of multiple processes in any multiple steps can be changed or they can be executed in parallel as long as no contradiction occurs in the processing content.

[0093] The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by hardware such as a single CPU, multiple CPUs, or ASIC, or a combination thereof. The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be realized in various ways, such as a recording medium on which a program for executing the processes is recorded, or a method. [Explanation of symbols]

[0094] 1 PC 2, 3, 4 printers 11 CPU

Claims

1. a support program that can be executed by a computer of an information processing device and supports a general-purpose printing program that is pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, the operating system being capable of receiving an instruction to start a program corresponding to a selected printer, and the general-purpose printing program having a program associated with the printer that requests processing in response to the instruction to start the program; The computer, When a print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, and the print instruction is sent to the general-purpose print program to cause a printer to print an image, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, image data representing the image is acquired from the general-purpose print program, and a print command is sent to a selected printer based on the image data, Furthermore, the computer When the first printer is selected and the operating system receives the startup instruction, a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program. a first acquisition process for accessing the first printer and acquiring first main body information held by the first printer via the general-purpose printing program; a determination process for determining whether or not a second printer that is connected to the information processing device and is different from the first printer exists; a second acquisition process for accessing the second printer and acquiring second main body information held by the second printer determined to exist in the determination process; a display process for displaying the first main body information acquired in the first acquisition process and the second main body information acquired in the second acquisition process; Execute A support program configured to:

2. 2. The support program according to claim 1, In the display process, The first main body information acquired in the first acquisition process is displayed in a manner distinguished from the second main body information acquired in the second acquisition process. A support program configured to:

3. The support program according to claim 1 or 2, In the display process, The first main body information acquired in the first acquisition process and the second main body information acquired in the second acquisition process are displayed on the same screen. A support program configured to:

4. 4. The support program according to claim 1, In the display process, The first main body information acquired in the first acquisition process and the second main body information acquired in the second acquisition process are displayed at the same time. A support program configured to:

5. 4. The support program according to claim 1, In the display process, receiving a display instruction for the second device information acquired in the second acquisition process, and displaying the second device information in response to the reception of the display instruction for the second device information; A support program configured to:

6. 6. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, acquiring connection information for the selected printer from the general-purpose printing program, and executing a storage process for storing the acquired connection information in a memory of the information processing device; In the second acquisition process, if the connection information of the second printer, which is a printer different from the first printer, is stored in the memory, the connection information is read out to access the second printer, and the second main body information of the second printer is acquired. A support program configured to:

7. 7. The support program according to claim 6, The computer, When the operating system receives the activation instruction and a process is requested by the general-purpose printing program, the storage process is executed. A support program configured to:

8. 6. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, When the first printer is selected and the operating system receives the startup instruction, a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program. executes a search process for searching for printers connected to a network to which the information processing device is connected; In the second acquisition process, a second printer that is a printer different from the first printer and that is the printer searched for in the search process is accessed, and the second main body information of the searched second printer is acquired. A support program configured to:

9. 9. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, a transmission process is executed to identify a process executable by the second printer based on the second device information acquired in the second acquisition process, and to transmit to the second printer a device command for causing the second printer to execute the identified process; A support program configured to:

10. 10. The support program according to claim 9, The computer, After executing the second acquisition process, an output instruction acceptance process is executed to accept an instruction to output the main body command to the second printer, and when the output instruction is accepted in the output instruction acceptance process, the transmission process is executed. A support program configured to:

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