Support program and printing system

Abstract

To reduce the possibility that print jobs, which cannot be handled by a printer, are accumulated on the printer, when an OS-standard general-purpose printing program causes the printer to execute storage printing.SOLUTION: A PC 1 having a general-purpose printing program 41 and an auxiliary program 42 embedded thereon determines user identification information that can be handled by the auxiliary program 42 on a printer 2 when storage printing is enabled. When storage printing is enabled and the auxiliary program 42 is activated by the general-purpose printing program 41 using a print instruction, the auxiliary program 42 adds the determined user identification information to a print job, and transmits the print job to the printer 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

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

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

[0003] Also, printers are known that have a storage print function that does not immediately start printing based on a received print job, but temporarily stores data based on the print job in memory and starts printing based on that data in response to a user operation via a user interface. Patent Document 1, for example, discloses the storage print function. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-142172 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When an OS-standard general-purpose print program generates a print job, it does not necessarily assign user identification information that the printer can handle to the print job. On the other hand, if the printer determines whether to execute a print job stored in memory based on the user identification information assigned to the print job, the printer may not be able to execute a print job that has user identification information that the printer cannot handle. Therefore, there is room for improvement in achieving stored printing using an OS-standard general-purpose print program. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A support program made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems is executable by a computer of an information processing device, corresponds to a printer connected to the information processing device, and supports a general-purpose printing program pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, wherein the printer has a function of performing accumulated printing, and when the accumulated printing is enabled, after receiving a print job, stores the received print job in a memory of the printer without starting printing, and starts printing based on the print job on condition that user identification information assigned to the print job matches user identification information accepted by the printer, and when a processing request is received from the general-purpose printing program and the accumulated printing is enabled, the computer executes a determination process to determine user identification information that can be handled by the printer, and when a processing request is received from the general-purpose printing program due to a print instruction output from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction being to the general-purpose printing program to cause the printer to print an image, and when the accumulated printing is enabled, the computer executes a transmission process to send the print job to which the user identification information has been assigned to the printer if the user identification information determined in the determination process is available.

[0007] When a processing request is received from the general-purpose printing program while stored printing is enabled, the support program of the above configuration determines user identification information that can be handled by the printer. When a print instruction is received while stored printing is enabled and processing is requested from the general-purpose printing program, the support program sends a print job with the determined user identification information to the printer. This reduces the possibility that a print job with user identification information that the printer cannot handle will be stored in the printer, and as a result, increases the possibility of storing and printing on the printer.

[0008] An apparatus and system for realizing the functions of the support program, and a computer-readable storage medium storing the support program are also novel and useful. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The technology disclosed in this specification realizes a technology that can reduce the possibility of accumulating print jobs that the printer cannot handle when causing the printer to perform accumulated printing from an OS-standard general-purpose printing program. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing system. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a procedure when printing is selected. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure when a print instruction is received. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user name input screen. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a printing procedure. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure when a display instruction to display a detailed setting screen is received. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure when a print instruction is received. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detailed setting screen. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

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

[0012] (First embodiment) 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. A buffer provided in the CPU 11 is also an example of the memory 12. Note that the example of 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 13a capable of displaying information and a mouse or keyboard having an input acceptance function, or may be a touch panel having the display 13a 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 is compatible with 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 be equipped with multiple communication IFs 14 compatible with multiple communication standards.

[0016] 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 40 including a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps"). The OS 40 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.

[0017] The OS 40 can support multiple languages, such as English, Chinese, and Japanese. When setting up the PC 1, for example, one language is selected from the multiple languages ​​that the OS 40 can support. The login user name used when logging in to the PC 1 is registered in the OS 40. The login user name is configured in the language selected in the OS 40.

[0018] The PC 1 of this embodiment incorporates various applications, such as an information application 43. The information application 43 is, for example, a map application, a calendar application, or a browser, and has a function of displaying various information on the display 13a in response to a user request. The information application 43 is an example of an application program. Note that the information application 43 itself does not necessarily have a function of printing the displayed information.

[0019] The generic printing program 41 is an OS standard program provided together with the OS 40, and has a function for causing the printer 2 or the like to print information displayed on the display 13a by the information application 43 or the like. The generic printing program 41 of this embodiment is a program that includes a function for generating intermediate data based on 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 specific functions that various printers have, and the functions it supports are limited to generic ones.

[0020] The general-purpose printing program 41 can accept print settings for the functions it supports via a general-purpose printing setting screen. Furthermore, when sending a print job to a printer selected on the general-purpose printing setting screen, the general-purpose printing program 41 can set user identification information to be assigned to the print job. For example, the general-purpose printing program 41 can set the user identification information using a login user name registered in the OS 40. The login user name may consist of only a user name that identifies the user, or may consist of a user name plus additional information such as device information.

[0021] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or group of programs that executes processing based on instructions from the OS 40 in conjunction with the processing of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is a program that supports the control of the target hardware. The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1, and is launched from the general-purpose printing program 41 when, for example, an instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing using the general-purpose printing program 41 is received. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, what is called a print support app (abbreviated as PSA) or a hardware support app (abbreviated as HSA).

[0022] 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 in response to commands. The auxiliary program 42 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.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 of this embodiment is connected to the printer 2. The printer 2 is a device having at least a printing function and a communication function. The printer 2 has an operation panel 21 and a memory 22. The operation panel 21 has an operation function for accepting various input operations and a display function for displaying information. The memory 22 stores a control program for controlling the operation of the printer 2 and various data. The memory 22 stores, for example, print setting values ​​according to the functions that the printer itself supports.

[0024] Examples of print settings stored in memory 22 include paper size, double-sided printing, color / monochrome printing, layout printing (N in 1), and economical printing that reduces the amount of colorant used. The printer 2 of this embodiment has an accumulation printing function. The accumulation printing function is a function that receives a print job with user identification information from an external device such as PC 1, stores the print job in memory 22 without starting printing, and executes printing based on the print job on the condition that the user identification information assigned to the print job matches the user identification information received via operation panel 21. The print settings stored in memory 22 also include a setting to enable or disable accumulation printing.

[0025] During installation, the auxiliary program 42 is registered in the general-purpose printing program 41 or the OS 40 as a program to be launched based on the selection of the printer 2. When stored printing is enabled for the selected printer, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment can change the user identification information set by the general-purpose printing program 41 to user identification information that can be handled by the printer 2. The change of user identification information will be described later. The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment has the function of displaying a detailed setting screen that accepts print settings for functions unique to the corresponding printer 2.

[0026] Next, the printing procedure including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment, and the procedure performed by each program when printing is selected in the information application 43, will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 2. Note that Fig. 2 and other sequence diagrams described later show the operation when the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is installed in the PC 1.

[0027] Note that the processes, flowcharts, and sequence diagrams in the following explanation basically represent the processing of the CPU 11 in accordance with instructions written in programs such as the auxiliary program 42. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 40. In this specification, the operation of each program will be explained without a detailed description of the OS 40. Also, the term "acquire" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

[0028] At the beginning of the procedure, the user launches the information application 43 (A01). In response to a user instruction, the information application 43 displays an information screen containing various information on the display 13a (A02). While the information screen is displayed, the information application 43 accepts a print selection (A03), and when print is selected, sends a display request and information screen data to the general-purpose printing program 41 of the OS 40 (A04). The information application 43 transmits the information screen data in a file format that corresponds to its own capabilities. Therefore, the general-purpose printing program 41 receives the information screen data in a file format that corresponds to the capabilities of the data sender, such as the information application 43.

[0029] In response to the display request, the general-purpose print program 41 displays a general-purpose print setting screen on the display 13a (A06). The general-purpose print setting screen is a screen that accepts instructions for print settings and instructions for printing. The general-purpose print setting screen may display a preview of the data received from the information application 43 in A04. The general-purpose print setting screen can accept the selection of a printer to be used for printing.

[0030] The general-purpose printing program 41 can accept the selection of a printer while the general-purpose printing setting screen is displayed (A07). For example, if the selected printer is printer 2, the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 and requests processing corresponding to the selection of printer 2 (A08). In A08, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes information about the selected printer and information about the print settings that were set when the printer was selected to the auxiliary program 42.

[0031] When printer 2 is set as the printer to be normally used in the OS 40, the general-purpose printing program 41 displays the general-purpose printing setting screen with printer 2 selected (A06) and starts the auxiliary program 42 (A08). That is, printer 2 is automatically selected by the OS 40, and the general-purpose printing program 41 executes A08 based on the information of the selected printer 2. In this case, the user does not need to operate A07.

[0032] Alternatively, instead of the general-purpose printing program 41 displaying the general-purpose printing setting screen, the information application 43 may be configured to display the general-purpose printing setting screen. In this case, the information application 43 starts the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to the selection of printing in A03, obtains data to be displayed on the general-purpose printing setting screen from the general-purpose printing program 41, and displays the general-purpose printing setting screen on the display 13a. Then, in response to the selection of printer 2, the information application 43 passes information about the selected printer 2 to the general-purpose printing program 41. As a result, the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 in A08.

[0033] When the auxiliary program 42 is started, it requests the OS 40 for the capability information of the selected printer (A11). For example, if printer 2 is selected in A07, the OS 40 receives the request from the auxiliary program 42 and sends an acquisition request for the capability information to printer 2, thereby acquiring the capability information from printer 2 (A12). The OS 40 passes the capability information acquired from printer 2 to the auxiliary program 42 (A13). The auxiliary program 42 stores the received capability information in memory 12 (A14) and notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 of the completion of the processing requested in A08 (A21). The general-purpose printing program 41 may receive the capability information from the auxiliary program 42 and reflect it on the general-purpose printing setting screen.

[0034] The OS 40 communicates with the printer 2, for example, using IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) communications. Note that the auxiliary program 42 may obtain capability information directly from the printer 2, for example, using MIB (Management Information Base), instead of making a request to the OS 40.

[0035] The capability information acquired from the printer 2, which is a real printer, includes information on parameters that can be set as print settings. The capability information includes, for example, information indicating whether accumulated printing is enabled or disabled.

[0036] Next, the procedures performed by each program when a print instruction is received via the general-purpose print setting screen will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The sequence diagram in FIG. 3 illustrates the operation when a print instruction is received with printer 2 selected. For example, the general-purpose print setting screen has a print execution button, and a print instruction is received by operating the print execution button. Because the general-purpose print setting screen is displayed in response to a request from information application 43, this means that operations on the general-purpose print setting screen are received by information application 43. Therefore, in this embodiment, a print instruction is received by information application 43, and a print instruction is output from information application 43 to general-purpose print program 41 in response to that instruction. Note that information application 43 may also directly receive a print instruction separately from the general-purpose print setting screen, and in this case, a print instruction is also output from information application 43 to general-purpose print program 41 in response to that instruction.

[0037] 3, when a user issues a print command via a general-purpose print setting screen in which printer 2 is selected as the printer to be used for printing, and the general-purpose print program 41 receives a print command from the information application 43, the general-purpose print program 41 receives image data representing the image to be printed together with the print command from the information application 43 (D01). The general-purpose print program 41 generates intermediate data by converting the format of the received image data into the format of intermediate data (D03). The intermediate data is, for example, XPS data.

[0038] The general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 and passes the generated intermediate data and the print settings accepted on the general-purpose printing setting screen to the auxiliary program 42 along with a print instruction (D11). In other words, the auxiliary program 42 is requested to process and started by the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to a print instruction specifying the printer 2 as the destination. Before starting the auxiliary program 42 in D11, the general-purpose printing program 41 sets user identification information to be assigned to the print job based on the login user name registered in the OS 40. The general-purpose printing program 41 passes the user identification information to the auxiliary program 42 along with the intermediate data, etc. (D11).

[0039] The started auxiliary program 42 generates print data based on the intermediate data (D12). That is, the auxiliary program 42 rasterizes the intermediate data processed by the general-purpose printing program 41, and generates print data representing the image to be printed. The print data generated in D12 is, for example, PDL data dedicated to the printer 2. Rasterization by the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 allows for greater flexibility than rasterization by the general-purpose printing program 41, and there is a high possibility that print data suitable for printing on the printer 2 will be generated.

[0040] The auxiliary program 42 that generated the print data executes a storage printing validity determination process (D13) to determine whether the selected printer can perform storage printing. The capability information of the printer 2 stored in the memory 12 includes information indicating whether storage printing is valid or invalid. The auxiliary program 42 reads the capability information of the printer 2 from the memory 12 and determines whether the printer 2 can perform storage printing based on the information included in the read capability information.

[0041] If the capability information in the memory 12 includes information indicating that accumulated printing is enabled, the auxiliary program 42 determines that accumulated printing is enabled (alt: enabled). In this case, the auxiliary program 42 acquires the language selected by the OS 40 (D14). For example, the auxiliary program 42 acquires the language selected by the OS 40 by reading the user identification information received from the general-purpose printing program 41 in D11. Alternatively, the auxiliary program 42 may acquire the language selected by the OS 40 by inquiring of the OS 40. The auxiliary program 42 executes a character determination process to determine whether the language acquired in D14 is a language that includes characters that the selected printer 2 cannot handle (D15).

[0042] For example, the selected printer 2 supports English and cannot handle Chinese characters. In this case, if the language acquired in D14 is Chinese or Japanese that uses kanji, the auxiliary program 42 determines that the language acquired in D14 is a language that includes characters that cannot be handled by the selected printer 2. On the other hand, if the language acquired in D14 is English, the auxiliary program 42 determines that the language acquired in D14 is not a language that includes characters that cannot be handled by the selected printer 2.

[0043] If the auxiliary program 42 determines in the character determination process that the language acquired in D14 is a language that contains characters that the selected printer 2 cannot handle (alt: applicable), it displays, for example, the user name input screen D1 shown in Figure 4 on the display 13a of the PC 1 (D21).

[0044] As shown in FIG. 4, the user name input screen D1 includes a user identification information input field SA11 for inputting user identification information and a change button SW11 for accepting a change instruction to change the user identification information. The user name input screen D1 notifies the user of the language (e.g., English) that the printer 2 can handle, and the user identification information input field SA11 accepts only input of characters that the printer 2 can handle. For example, if the language selected in the OS 40 is Chinese or Japanese, including kanji characters, while the printer 2 only supports Western languages ​​such as English or French, the user identification information input field SA11 does not accept input of kanji characters and can only accept input of Western language characters. The user name input screen D1 also includes a check box CH1 for accepting an instruction to omit input of user identification information. If the check box CH1 is checked, the auxiliary program 42 will not display the user name input screen D1 from the next time, even if there is a language mismatch. On the other hand, if the check box CH1 is not checked, the auxiliary program 42 will redisplay the user name input screen D1 if there is a language mismatch the next time.

[0045] As shown in FIG. 3, when the change button SW11 is operated via the user IF 13 and a change instruction is received (D22), the auxiliary program 42 associates the user identification information entered in the user identification information input field SA11 with the user identification information received in D11 and stores it in the memory 12 (D23). This allows the user identification information stored in D23 to be displayed in the user identification information input field SA11 by default the next time the user name input screen D1 is displayed, thereby eliminating the need to enter user identification information. Furthermore, the user identification information assigned by the general-purpose printing program 41 may be automatically changed to user identification information that does not include characters that the printer 2 cannot handle by reading the user identification information from the memory 12, without displaying the user name input screen D1 on the display 13a and prompting the user to enter user identification information. When changing to the user identification information stored in the memory 12, the auxiliary program 42 may also ask the user whether or not to use the user identification information. D22 and D23 are examples of a decision process.

[0046] On the other hand, if the auxiliary program 42 determines in the character determination process that the language acquired in D14 does not correspond to a language that includes characters that the selected printer 2 cannot handle (alt: not applicable), it acquires the login user name (D31).The auxiliary program 42 performs an additional determination process to determine whether the acquired login user name includes additional information other than the user name (D32).

[0047] For example, if the general-purpose printing program 41 has a login user name as "[device name]\user name," the auxiliary program 42 acquires user identification information consisting of that user name in D11. The auxiliary program 42 can recognize that the "device name" is additional information added to the "user name" by the "\." In this case, the auxiliary program 42 determines that the login user name is a user name to which additional information has been added (alt: additional information present).

[0048] In this case, the auxiliary program 42 removes the additional information from the user identification information acquired in D11 (D33). The auxiliary program 42 changes the user identification information acquired in D11 to user identification information from which the additional information has been removed, and stores the user identification information in the memory 12 (D34). For example, if the user identification information acquired in D11 is "[device name]\user name", the auxiliary program 42 deletes the character before "\" and stores the user identification information consisting only of "user name" in the memory 12. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 can determine the user identification information based on the user name. D33 and D34 are an example of the determination process.

[0049] In contrast to the above, if the auxiliary program 42 determines in D13 that accumulated printing is not valid, it does not change the user identification information received in D11. Also, if the auxiliary program 42 determines in D13 that accumulated printing is valid, but the determination result of the character determination process in D15 is inapplicable, and the user identification information acquired in D11 does not include additional information, it does not change the user identification information received in D11.

[0050] After determining the user identification information, the auxiliary program 42 assigns the user identification information to the print job and sends it to the selected printer 2 (D41). D41 is an example of a sending process. If stored printing is enabled and user identification information is stored in memory 12, the auxiliary program 42 assigns the user identification information to the print job. On the other hand, if stored printing is disabled, or if stored printing is enabled but user identification information is not stored in memory 12, the auxiliary program 42 assigns the user identification information received from the general-purpose printing program 41 to the print job in D11. In addition to user identification information, the print job also includes print data, print settings, and print commands. If stored printing is enabled, the printer 2 accumulates and stores the print job in memory 22 when it receives the print job (D42). If stored printing is disabled, the printer 2 immediately executes printing when it receives the print job.

[0051] The auxiliary program 42, which has sent the print job to the printer 2, returns a completion notification of the process requested in D11 to the general-purpose printing program 41 (D43). The general-purpose printing program 41 notifies the information application 43 that printing has finished (D44).

[0052] The general-purpose printing program 41 may transmit the print data and print commands to the printer 2. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the determined user identification information and the generated print data to the general-purpose printing program 41 so that the data is sent from the PC 1 to the printer 2 as the destination. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 transmits the user identification information, print data, etc. received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2. In this case, the process in which the auxiliary program 42 passes the user identification information, print data, etc. to the general-purpose printing program 41 is an example of a transmission process.

[0053] Next, the procedure for storing and printing in the printer 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 5(a). When the storing and printing function is selected via the operation panel 21, the printer 2 executes the process shown in Fig. 5(a).

[0054] That is, the printer 2 displays, for example, a reception screen D2 shown in FIG. 5(b) on the operation panel 21 (S1). The reception screen D2 includes an input field SA21 and a complete button SW21. The input field SA21 accepts input of user identification information. The complete button SW21 accepts an instruction to complete input of the user identification information.

[0055] 5(a), the printer 2 that has displayed the reception screen D2 determines whether the input of the user identification information is complete (S2). If the completion button SW21 is not operated, the printer 2 waits with the reception screen D2 displayed because the input is not complete (S2: NO).

[0056] On the other hand, if the Complete button SW21 is operated via the operation panel 21, the printer 2 determines that the input is complete (S2: YES) and reads from the memory 22 the print job corresponding to the user identification information entered in the input field SA21 (S3). The printer 2 determines whether or not a corresponding print job exists (S4). If the print job corresponding to the user identification information entered in the input field SA21 exists in the memory 22 (S4: YES), the printer 2 executes printing of the print job (S5) and ends the process. On the other hand, if the print job corresponding to the user identification information entered in the input field SA21 does not exist in the memory 22 (S4: NO), the printer 2 notifies the user that there is no print job to be printed (S6) and ends the process.

[0057] For example, if the language selected in OS 40 is Japanese, the user identification information set by general-purpose print program 41 may contain kanji characters. In contrast, printer 2 supports English but cannot support Japanese. If stored printing is enabled for printer 2, auxiliary program 42 changes the user identification information containing Japanese characters to user identification information in English, attaches the changed user identification information to the print job, and sends it to printer 2. That is, even if Japanese is selected in OS 40, the print job stored in printer 2 is assigned user identification information written in English, which is compatible with printer 2. This avoids a situation in which printer 2 is unable to read the print job from memory 22 and therefore unable to execute printing due to a mismatch between the language of the user identification information assigned to the print job and the language of the user identification information entered on reception screen D2.

[0058] Also, for example, in a printer 2 having a storage printing function, user identification information consisting only of a user name is input in the input field SA21 of the reception screen D2. On the other hand, if the user identification information assigned to the print job is configured by adding additional information such as a device name to the user name, the printer 2 cannot read the print job from the memory 22 and cannot execute printing because the user name entered in the reception screen D2 does not exactly match the user identification information assigned to the print job. On the other hand, when storage printing is enabled, the auxiliary program 42 assigns user identification information consisting only of the user name, with additional information such as a device name removed, to the print job and sends it to the printer 2. This avoids a situation in which the printer 2 cannot read the print job corresponding to the user identification information entered in the input field SA21 of the reception screen D2 from the memory 22 due to the additional information, and is therefore unable to execute printing.

[0059] In the process of S5, the printer 2 may display on the operation panel 21 a list of print jobs stored in the memory 22 that correspond to the user identification information entered on the reception screen D2, and start printing the selected print job. Furthermore, when a user logs in to the printer 2 via the reception screen D2 using user identification information, the printer 2 may automatically start executing all print jobs stored in the memory 22 that have been assigned that user identification information.

[0060] As described above, when accumulated printing is enabled and a processing request is received from the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment determines user identification information that can be handled by the printer 2. When a print instruction is received and accumulated printing is enabled and processing is requested from the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 sends a print job with the determined user identification information attached to the printer 2. This reduces the possibility that a print job with user identification information that the printer 2 cannot handle will be stored in the printer 2, and as a result, the possibility of executing accumulated printing can be increased.

[0061] Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment accepts an input to change the user identification information via the user name input screen D1. This is expected to change the user identification information assigned to the print job from user identification information consisting of characters that the printer 2 cannot handle to user identification information consisting of characters that the printer 2 can handle. As a result, the possibility of accumulated printing failing due to the language of the user identification information is reduced.

[0062] Furthermore, for example, the OS 40 may have information in which the device name is added to the user name, such as {(device name) \ (user name)}, as the login user name. In contrast, many printers often cannot recognize a user name with a device name added as user identification information. However, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment deletes the additional information "device name" from the user identification information composed of {(device name) \ (user name)} and changes it to user identification information composed only of the user name. Therefore, the user identification information assigned to a print job can be user identification information that is easy for the printer 2 to handle. As a result, it is possible to avoid the printer 2 being unable to perform printing due to the user identification information including additional information such as a device name.

[0063] Furthermore, when a print instruction is received and accumulated printing is enabled, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment changes the user identification information, assigns the changed user identification information to the print job, and sends the print job to the printer 2. This allows the auxiliary program 42 to assign user identification information that can be handled by the printer 2 to each print job.

[0064] (Second embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the technology disclosed in this specification will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the procedure when a display instruction to display a detailed settings screen is received. In this embodiment, when the detailed settings screen is displayed, the user identification information assigned to a print job can be changed. This differs from the first embodiment, in which the user identification information is changed when a print instruction is received while accumulated printing is enabled. Here, the differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment will be used for configurations and processes common to the first embodiment.

[0065] For example, the general-purpose print setting screen displayed by the general-purpose print program 41 has an advanced settings button for receiving a display instruction to display a detailed settings screen. As shown in Fig. 6, the general-purpose print program 41 receives a display instruction through a user operation of this advanced settings button (B01). The general-purpose print program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 and instructs it to display the detailed settings screen (B02). At this time, the general-purpose print program 41 passes the print settings received on the general-purpose print setting screen and the login user name registered in the OS 40 to the auxiliary program 42 as user identification information.

[0066] The auxiliary program 42 displays, for example, a detailed setting screen on the display 13a (B03). The detailed setting screen includes an apply button that instructs applying the setting values ​​of each item accepted on the detailed setting screen to the print settings. When the auxiliary program 42 accepts operation of the apply button (B04), it reads the capability information stored in the memory 12 (B05).

[0067] The auxiliary program 42 performs the accumulated printing validity determination process based on the information indicating whether accumulated printing is valid or invalid, which is included in the read capability information (B06). Note that the auxiliary program 42 may not acquire the capability information when the printer is selected and store it in the memory 12, but may instead acquire the capability information from the printer 2 when the detailed setting screen is displayed, and perform the accumulated printing validity determination process based on the acquired capability information. The capability information may be acquired each time the detailed setting screen is displayed, or the acquired capability information may be stored in the memory 12 in association with the printer information.

[0068] If accumulated printing is enabled (alt: enabled), the auxiliary program 42 acquires the language selected by the OS 40 (B14) and executes character determination processing (B15). The processing of B06, B14, and B15 is the same as the processing of D13, D14, and D15 in FIG. 3 described above, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0069] In the character determination process, if the acquired language corresponds to a language that includes characters that cannot be handled by the printer 2 (alt:corresponding), the auxiliary program 42 displays a user name input screen, accepts user identification information, and stores it in the memory 12 (B21 to B23). The processes of B21 to B23 are the same as the processes of D21 to D23 in Fig. 3 described above, and therefore description thereof will be omitted. B23 is an example of storage processing.

[0070] On the other hand, if the character determination process determines that the acquired language does not include characters that the printer 2 cannot handle (alt: not applicable), the auxiliary program 42 acquires the login user name (B31) and executes the addition determination process (B32). If the auxiliary program 42 determines that additional information has been added to the login user name (alt: additional information present) in the addition determination process, it removes the additional information (B33) and stores user identification information consisting only of the login user name in the memory 12 (B34). Steps B31 to B34 are the same as steps D31 to D34 in FIG. 3 described above, and therefore will not be described here. Step B34 is an example of storage processing.

[0071] The auxiliary program 42 changes the print settings received in B02 based on the print settings received via the detailed settings screen (B41). The auxiliary program 42 passes the changed print settings to the general-purpose printing program 41 (B42). The general-purpose printing program 41 reflects the print settings received from the auxiliary program 42 in the setting values ​​of the general-purpose printing setting screen (B43).

[0072] When a print instruction is output from the information application 43 and instructs the printer 2 to print (D01), the auxiliary program 42 is started by the general-purpose print program 41 (D11). The auxiliary program 42 generates print data based on the intermediate data received from the general-purpose print program 41 (D12), and then reads user identification information from the memory 12 (D101). The auxiliary program 42 assigns the user identification information read from the memory 12 to the print job and sends it to the printer 2 (D41). In other words, when processing to change the user identification information is performed when the detailed settings screen is displayed, as in this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 does not perform processing to change the user identification information when the print instruction is accepted. The processing from D42 onwards has been described above, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0073] As described above, when accumulated printing is enabled, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment accepts user identification information via the detailed settings screen, determines user identification information that can be handled by the printer 2, and stores the information in the memory 12. When a print instruction is received, the auxiliary program 42 assigns the user identification information stored in the memory 12 to a print job and sends the print job to the printer 2. This reduces the possibility that a print job assigned user identification information that the printer 2 cannot handle will be accumulated in the printer 2, and as a result, the possibility of executing accumulated printing on the printer 2 can be increased.

[0074] 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, copier, or fax machine. Furthermore, the number of printers connected to PC1 is not limited to the illustrated example.

[0075] 3, it is possible to simply determine the user identification information to be changed, without having to store the determined user identification information in memory 12. However, storing the changed user identification information in memory 12 reduces the user's effort to subsequently input user identification information into user name input screen D1. Also, the process of deleting additional information becomes unnecessary.

[0076] 3, the user identification information may be changed. For example, regardless of whether accumulated printing is enabled or disabled, if the setting to print user identification information in the header or footer is enabled, the user identification information may be changed in the same way as when accumulated printing is enabled. This allows the printer 2 to avoid printing failures due to the printer being unable to print user identification information in the header or footer that is made up of characters that the printer 2 cannot handle.

[0077] Even if a printer has a storage printing function, the storage printing enable / disable setting may not be configured on the printer side but on the PC 1 side. When configuring the setting on the PC 1 side, the storage printing setting is configured, for example, on the detailed settings screen D3 shown in FIG. 8. In this case, for example, when the storage printing setting on the detailed settings screen D3 is switched from “disabled” to “enabled,” the user name input screen DL3 is displayed. Similar to the user name input screen D1 shown in FIG. 4, the user name input screen DL3 includes a user identification information input field SA11 and a check box CH1, and accepts input of user identification information. Operating the OK button SW33 closes the user name input screen DL3, allowing the user to set values ​​for other detailed print settings on the detailed settings screen D3. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 may execute the processes B06 to B34 of FIG. 6 when the storage printing setting is switched from “disabled” to “enabled.” In this way, when there is a setting change that enables accumulated printing, the auxiliary program 42 determines the user identification information and stores it in the memory 12, and when sending a print job, reads the stored user identification information from the memory 12 and assigns it to the print job, thereby assigning user identification information that can be handled by the printer 2 to each print job. Note that, in the case where the general-purpose printing program 41 can accept accumulated printing settings via the general-purpose printing setting screen, the user identification information may also be changed when the accumulated printing settings are switched.

[0078] In the above embodiment, the printer 2 that executes printing stores the print job, but the print job may also be stored by a virtual printer connected to the PC 1 via the Internet or an external server located on a network that connects the PC 1 and the printer 2. In this case, the printer 2 may request the virtual printer or the external server on the network to send a print job corresponding to the user identification information, receive the print job from the virtual printer or the server, and execute printing based on the print job.

[0079] In the embodiment, only the printing operation is described in detail as the operation of the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles as well. The program that executes the process of this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, and may be any program that receives instructions from the OS 40 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.

[0080] 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 40, 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.

[0081] 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.

[0082] 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]

[0083] 1...PC, 2...printer, 11...CPU, 40...OS, 41...general-purpose printing program, 42...auxiliary program

Claims

1. A support program executable by a computer of an information processing device, corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing device, and supporting a general-purpose print program pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, wherein the printer has a function of performing accumulated printing, and when accumulated printing is enabled, after receiving a print job, stores the received print job in a memory of the printer without starting printing, and starts printing based on the print job on the condition that user identification information assigned to the print job matches user identification information accepted by the printer; The computer, When a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program and the stored printing is enabled, executes a determination process for determining user identification information that can be handled by the printer; A print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, and the print instruction is given to the general-purpose print program to cause the printer to print an image, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, and when the accumulated print is valid, If the user identification information is determined in the determination process, a transmission process is executed to transmit a print job to which the user identification information is assigned to the printer. A support program configured to:

2. 2. The support program according to claim 1, In the determination process, if the language selected in the operating system does not include characters that cannot be handled by the printer, acquire a login user name of the user who has logged in to the information processing device from the operating system, and determine the user identification information based on the acquired login user name; If the language selected in the operating system includes characters that cannot be handled by the printer, a user name input screen for accepting input of a user name is displayed on a user interface of the information processing device, and the user identification information is determined based on the user name accepted on the user name input screen. A support program configured to:

3. 2. The support program according to claim 1, In the determination process, acquiring a login user name of a user who has logged in to the information processing device from the operating system, and if additional information other than information indicating the user name is added to the acquired login user name, determining the user identification information based on the user name from which the additional information has been removed. A support program configured to:

4. 4. The support program according to claim 3, In the determination process, acquiring the login user name from the operating system, and if information indicating a device name is added to the acquired login user name as the additional information, determining the user identification information based on the user name from which the information indicating the device name has been removed; A support program configured to:

5. 5. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, When a print instruction is output from the application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction is given to the general-purpose print program to cause the printer to print an image, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, and the accumulated print is enabled, the determination process; a transmission process for transmitting the print job to the printer, to which the user identification information determined in the determination process has been assigned; Execute A support program configured to:

6. 5. The support program according to claim 1, the support program has a function of displaying a detailed setting screen that accepts print settings that can be supported by the printer on a display of the information processing device, and the general-purpose printing program is capable of accepting an instruction to display the detailed setting screen; The computer, When the display instruction is received, a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program, and if the accumulated printing is enabled, the determination process; a storage process of storing the user identification information determined in the determination process in a memory of the information processing device; Execute Furthermore, the computer When a print instruction is output from the application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction is given to the general-purpose print program to cause the printer to print an image, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, and the accumulated print is enabled, a support program configured to, when the user identification information is stored in the memory by the storage process, read the user identification information from the memory, and execute the transmission process to transmit the print job to which the read user identification information is assigned to the printer.

7. 5. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, When a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program and a setting change is made to enable the stored printing, the determination process; a storage process of storing the user identification information determined in the determination process in a memory of the information processing device; Execute Furthermore, the computer When a print instruction is output from the application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction is given to the general-purpose print program to cause the printer to print an image, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, and the accumulated print is enabled, a support program configured to, when the user identification information is stored in the memory by the storage process, read the user identification information from the memory, and execute the transmission process to transmit the print job to which the read user identification information is assigned to the printer.

8. A printing system having a support program installed in an information processing device and a printer connected to the information processing device, the support program is a program that can be executed by a computer of the information processing device, corresponds to the printer, and supports a general-purpose printing program that is pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device; The printer has a function of performing accumulated printing, and when the accumulated printing is enabled, after receiving a print job, stores the received print job in a memory of the printer without starting printing; The support program is installed in the computer of the information processing device. When a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program and the stored printing is enabled, The support program causes the computer of the information processing device to execute a determination process for determining user identification information that can be handled by the printer. A print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, and the print instruction is given to the general-purpose print program to cause the printer to print an image, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, and when the accumulated print is valid, executes a transmission process for transmitting to the printer a print job to which the user identification information determined in the determination process has been assigned; The printer accepts input of user identification information, and starts printing based on the print job on the condition that the user identification information assigned to the print job stored in the memory matches the accepted user identification information; A printing system configured to:

Images