Support Program

Abstract

To provide a technology that facilitates the use of custom paper sizes in information processing devices that incorporate the OS standard general-purpose printing program. [Solution] The auxiliary program 42 causes the CPU 11 of the PC 1 to store custom paper information 44, which indicates at least the size of the custom paper defined by the user, in memory 12 so that it can be read and written in response to a request from the auxiliary program 42, regardless of whether printer 2 or 3 is selected. When printer 2 or 3 is selected, the auxiliary program 42 causes the CPU 11 to acquire capability information indicating the capabilities of the selected printer, read the stored custom paper information 44, determine the paper information to be used to display the detailed settings screen based on the read custom paper information 44 and the capability information, and display the detailed settings screen to the user interface 13 based on the determined paper information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to a support program for supporting the control of a printer.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, a technology for controlling a printer by using a general-purpose printing program compliant with the operating system (OS) that forms part of the OS without using a printer driver provided by a printer vendor has been put into practical use. In this technology, when the OS detects a printer, it associates the printer with the general-purpose printing program compliant with the OS. Thereafter, when a print instruction for the printer is received, the general-purpose printing program compliant with the OS generates print data without using the printer driver provided by the printer vendor, enabling printing by the general-purpose printing program compliant with the OS.

[0003] As a document that discloses the printing technology using the general-purpose printing program compliant with the OS, there is, for example, Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for obtaining capability information from a printer by an auxiliary program that supports the control of the printer and passing a capability value for selecting a custom paper size defined by a user and supported by the printer to the general-purpose printing program.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, a selected printer can execute a print job with a custom paper size specified. However, there is no description of a technology for using that custom paper size on a printer other than the selected printer. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The support program, which was created to solve the above-mentioned problems, is executable by the computer of the information processing device, corresponds to a first printer and a second printer connected to the information processing device, and is a support program that supports a general-purpose printing program of the operating system of the information processing device, wherein the memory of the information processing device is provided with a storage area for the support program, and the support program can perform a storage process to store custom paper information, which indicates at least the size of custom paper defined by the user, in the storage area so that it can be read and written upon request from the support program, provided that the first printer or the second printer that the support program can support is selected, and the support program is executable by the computer Furthermore, the system is configured to perform the following: a first acquisition process, when either the first printer or the second printer is selected, to acquire capability information indicating the capabilities of the selected printer from the selected printer; a custom paper reading process, when either the first printer or the second printer is selected, to read the custom paper information stored in the storage area; a paper information determination process, which determines the paper information to be used for displaying the print settings screen based on the custom paper indicated in the custom paper information read in the custom paper reading process and the capability information acquired in the first acquisition process; and a display process, which displays the print settings screen on the user interface of the information processing device based on the paper information determined in the paper information determination process.

[0007] The support program disclosed herein stores custom paper information in a common memory area that is readable and writable regardless of whether the first or second printer it corresponds to is selected. The support program then reads the custom paper information from that memory area, regardless of which printer is selected, and determines the paper information based on the custom paper indicated in that information and the capability information of the selected printer. Furthermore, the support program displays the print settings screen based on the determined paper information. Therefore, the support program can use its custom paper information regardless of whether the first or second printer is selected as the printer. As a result, the user does not need to register custom paper information for each selectable printer, and the effort required to use custom paper is reduced.

[0008] A new and useful information processing device incorporating the above-mentioned support program, a storage medium readable by a computer that stores 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 herein enables the use of custom paper sizes in an information processing device that incorporates a general-purpose printing program that is a standard for the operating system. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows an overview of the electrical configuration of a PC. [Figure 2] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the printer selection procedure. [Figure 3] This flowchart shows an example of the cache generation process. [Figure 4] This is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of capability information, including information about custom paper types. [Figure 5]This is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of cache information that includes custom paper information. [Figure 6] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the print setup procedure. [Figure 7] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of custom paper information. [Figure 8] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the detailed settings screen. [Figure 9] This is a flowchart showing an example of a custom processing procedure. [Figure 10] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a warning screen. [Figure 11] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a registration / deletion screen. [Figure 12] This is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a warning screen. [Figure 13] This is a sequence diagram showing an example of the printing procedure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC") that utilizes the support program of the embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. This specification discloses a support program that runs on a PC.

[0012] As shown in Figure 1, the PC1 in this configuration includes a CPU 11 and a controller 10 which includes memory 12. The PC1 is an example of an information processing device. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The PC1 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 Figure 1 is a general term for the hardware and software used to control the PC1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware actually present in the PC1.

[0013] The CPU 11 of PC1 executes various processes according to the program read from the memory 12 and based on the user's operations. The memory 12 stores various programs and various data. The memory 12 is also used, for example, as a work area when executing various programs. The buffer included in the CPU 11 is also an example of the memory 12. Note that PC1 is not limited to the built-in ROM, RAM, HDD, etc., and may use a storage medium that can be read and written by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium like a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.

[0014] The user IF 13 includes a display 13a, which is hardware for displaying a screen for notifying the user of information, and hardware for receiving operations by the user. Note that the user IF 13 may include a combination of a display 13a capable of displaying information and a mouse, keyboard, etc. having an input reception function, or may include a touch panel having the functions of the display 13a and the input reception function.

[0015] The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with external devices such as printer 2 and printer 3. The communication standards of the communication IF 14 are Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), USB, etc. PC1 may be connected to the Internet via the communication IF 14. Also, PC1 may have a plurality of communication modes corresponding to a plurality of communication standards. When having a plurality of communication modes, PC1 performs communication with printer 2 and printer 3 using one of them according to the user's selection or the hardware configuration. The communication mode with printer 2 and the communication mode with printer 3 may be different communication modes.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1, the memory 12 stores various programs and various data, including an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 21 that includes a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, an editing application 43, and custom paper information 44. The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program. The editing application 43 is an example of an application program. The custom paper information 44 includes information on custom papers that are papers defined by the user and for which registration is instructed, and is stored in a predetermined directory 22. The custom paper information 44 includes, as information on each custom paper, at least information on the vertical and horizontal paper sizes, and may further include information such as paper type and paper thickness. In the following, the paper size of the custom paper may be referred to as the "custom size". The custom size is also called the user-defined size.

[0017] The OS 21 is a multitasking OS that can manage and switch between multiple tasks to process the multiple tasks in parallel. The OS 21 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), Android (registered trademark).

[0018] The OS 21 includes a general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 is an OS-standard program prepared by the vendor of the OS 21 and provided as part of the OS 21. That is, the PC 1 is equipped with the OS 21 that has the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 is not configured to use a printer driver specific to each printer.

[0019] The general-purpose printing program 41 is a program that has the functionality to perform printing on multiple types of printers, each provided by multiple vendors, based on user instructions. The general-purpose printing program 41 supports general-purpose functions that enable printing on many printers. Unlike printer drivers specific to each printer, the general-purpose printing program 41 does not support functions unique to each printer or printer driver, especially functions that require complex processing.

[0020] The general-purpose printing program 41 is a program that, based on user instructions, receives image data designated as the target for printing in print instructions output from various application programs, and includes a function to generate intermediate data based on that image data. The intermediate data is, for example, XPS data. The general-purpose printing program 41 further has a function to generate print data in a format that can be used for printing on various printers, based on the intermediate data. The print data is, for example, PWGRaster data or PDF data. The general-purpose printing program 41 also has a function to send the generated print data to the printer designated as the device to execute the print job, via the communication function of the OS 21.

[0021] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or group of programs that performs processing based on instructions from the OS 21 in conjunction with the processing of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is an application program that supports the control of the target hardware. This form of auxiliary program 42 is provided, for example, by the vendor of printer 2 or printer 3 connected to PC 1. Printer 2 and printer 3 are devices from the same vendor, but may be the same model or different models. The auxiliary program 42 is compatible with either the model of printer 2 or the model of printer 3.

[0022] The general-purpose printing program 41 starts an auxiliary program 42, which is a program corresponding to the selected printer, when printer 2 or printer 3 is selected as the device to perform printing, when it receives instructions for detailed print settings while printer 2 or printer 3 is selected, when it receives instructions to perform printing on printer 2 or printer 3, etc. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, called a print support application (abbreviated as PSA) or a hardware support application (abbreviated as HSA).

[0023] The auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of multiple programs, each accepting an execution command, or it may be a single program capable of executing different processes depending on the command. Furthermore, the auxiliary program may be compatible with two or more printers; for example, it may be a program provided by a printer vendor for each type of printer. For instance, separate auxiliary programs may be provided for inkjet printers and laser printers. In addition to being limited to each printer type, auxiliary programs may also be provided for each printer model or series of printer models.

[0024] For example, when a new printer is connected to PC1, the OS21 of PC1 can download appropriate auxiliary programs from the printer vendor's server or storage specified by OS21, depending on the type and model of the connected printer, and install them into PC1. The OS21 associates the identification information of the installed auxiliary programs with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in memory 12.

[0025] The editing application 43 is, for example, an application program for creating and editing image data or document data. The editing application 43 may be, for example, Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, or a program provided by the vendor of printer 2 or printer 3. The editing application 43 can receive print execution instructions via the user interface 13, for example, to print to printer 2 or printer 3. The editing application 43 is not limited to a program for creating and editing data, but may also be a program that has the function of receiving instructions to display or print various types of information such as map information or web pages, according to the user's request.

[0026] In this configuration, PC1 is connected to printers 2 and 3 via communication IF14, as shown in Figure 1. Printers 2 and 3 are devices having at least printing and communication functions. Specifically, printers 2 and 3 may be multifunction printers, copiers, fax machines, etc. Both printers 2 and 3 can execute printing based on the received print data when they receive print data from PC1, etc. Printers 2 and 3 are examples of first and second printers. Both printers 2 and 3 may be devices capable of color printing, or devices capable of monochrome printing only.

[0027] Next, we will explain the procedure for printing using printer 2 or printer 3 on PC1 in this configuration. The procedure when printer 3 is selected is the same as when printer 2 is selected, and the following explanation will focus on the case when printer 2 is selected.

[0028] In this configuration, processes other than user operations basically refer to the processing performed by the CPU 11 in accordance with instructions written in programs such as the auxiliary program 42. In this specification, for convenience, the various processes that the controller 10 or CPU 11 performs in accordance with programs such as the auxiliary program 42, the general-purpose printing program 41, and the OS 21 may be described as if each program were to perform the various processes independently. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the OS 21 API. In this specification, a detailed description of the OS 21 is omitted and the operation of each program is explained. Also, "acquisition" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

[0029] First, the selection and setting procedure for PC1, which accepts the selection of the printer to be used for printing and the specification of print settings, will be explained with reference to the sequence diagram in Figure 2.

[0030] The editing application 43 can create and edit text and images based on user instructions. If the user wants to print the currently displayed text or image, the user selects "Print" in the editing application 43 (A01). Furthermore, the user selects "Printer 2" as the device to be used for printing (A02). A02 is an example of a selection instruction to select Printer 2. Once Printer 2 is selected by the user, Printer 2 becomes the selected printer. Note that if Printer 2 is set as the default printer or the printer used for the last print job, the user does not need to explicitly perform operation A02. In this case as well, Printer 2 becomes the selected printer.

[0031] Upon receiving operations A01 and A02, the editing application 43 passes information indicating that printer 2 has been selected to the general-purpose printing program 41 (A03). In response to a request from the editing application 43, the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to printer 2 and passes information indicating that printer 2 has been selected (A04).

[0032] The editing application 43 or the general-purpose printing program 41 may display a print screen capable of accepting print instructions to the user interface 13. When the general-purpose printing program 41 displays a print screen capable of accepting print instructions, it may display a screen that includes a display generated by the auxiliary program 42. In that case, the general-purpose printing program 41 may request display data indicating the screen to be displayed from the auxiliary program 42, and display the print screen based on the display data received from the auxiliary program 42.

[0033] The auxiliary program 42 determines whether cache information, which includes information indicating the capabilities of printer 2, is stored in memory 12 (A11). The cache information is stored in a non-volatile storage area of ​​memory 12, for example, as a file in a predetermined format. The absence of cache information is an example of the first condition, and the presence of cache information is an example of the second condition. The determination in A11 is an example of determining whether the first condition and the second condition are met.

[0034] If the auxiliary program 42 determines that the cache information is not stored in memory 12 (alt:[no cache]), it requests the general-purpose printing program 41 to obtain capability information, which is information indicating the capabilities of printer 2 (A21). The general-purpose printing program 41 sends a command to printer 2 to request capability information and obtains the capability information from printer 2 (A22). The general-purpose printing program 41 passes the capability information obtained from printer 2 to the auxiliary program 42 (A23). As a result, the auxiliary program 42 can obtain the capability information of printer 2. A21 to A23 is the process by which the auxiliary program 42 obtains the capability information of printer 2, and is an example of the first acquisition process.

[0035] The capability information obtained from Printer 2 includes information on the settings that can be set as print settings and the parameters that can be set for each setting. For example, the capability information may include information on items related to the paper feed trays available on Printer 2, such as information indicating the selectable paper feed trays, information on the paper sizes and types that can be used with each paper feed tray, information indicating the range of paper sizes that can be used with each paper feed tray and the mutual exclusion conditions between print settings and each paper feed tray, and information on the paper sizes and types set for each paper feed tray. Furthermore, the capability information may also include information on the print resolutions that Printer 2 can handle, information on the image processing functions that Printer 2 can perform, information indicating the status of Printer 2 such as the remaining amount of consumables, information indicating the default print settings, and information indicating whether or not stacked printing is possible. In addition, if Printer 2 has various image processing functions, detailed capability information for each function may be included.

[0036] Furthermore, when the auxiliary program 42 obtains information about printer 2, it may request the general-purpose printing program 41 to obtain the information, as shown in A21 to A23, or it may request and obtain the information directly from printer 2. The general-purpose printing program 41 can obtain information from printer 2 via OS 21, for example, through communication corresponding to IPP (Internet Printing Protocol). For example, the general-purpose printing program 41 can send a command to printer 2 requesting capability information and pass the information obtained from printer 2 to the auxiliary program 42. Alternatively, instead of requesting from the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 can obtain various types of information, such as capability information, directly from printer 2 using, for example, MIB (Management Information Base).

[0037] The auxiliary program 42 executes a cache generation process to generate cache information corresponding to printer 2 based on the acquired capability information (A25). The procedure for the cache generation process will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 3. This cache generation process is executed by the CPU 11 of PC1 based on the description in the auxiliary program 42.

[0038] The CPU 11 generates cache information (B01) that includes information other than that related to custom paper, based on the capability information of the printer 2 obtained in A21 to A23 of Figure 2. Note that details of the cache information other than that related to paper size are omitted in this specification.

[0039] The CPU 11 then determines whether the capability information obtained from the printer 2 includes information on supported paper types, specifically information on custom paper types (B02). If the printer 2 is capable of handling custom paper types, it can send information on the supported custom paper types as capability information. The custom paper information included in the capability information of the printer 2 includes at least information indicating the range of supported vertical and horizontal dimensions, and may also include information such as paper type and paper thickness. The custom paper information included in the capability information of the printer 2 may also include information on custom paper types registered by the user. Depending on the model and firmware version, for example, some printers are capable of handling custom paper types, while others are not. Printers that are not capable of handling custom paper types send capability information that does not include information on custom paper types.

[0040] If printer 2 is capable of supporting custom paper, CPU 11 can obtain capability information 50, which includes information on the custom paper as supported paper, in A21-A23 of Figure 2, for example, as shown in Figure 4. The capability information 50 in the example of Figure 4 includes basic paper information 51, custom range information 52 and 53 for each tray, and exclusive information 54 as information on the paper size. A21-A23 of Figure 2, when capability information 50 including information on custom paper is obtained, is an example of the second acquisition process.

[0041] Basic paper information 51 is information on standard paper sizes that printer 2 can handle, and the basic paper size is indicated by a name such as "A4" or "Letter". Custom range information 52 for each tray is information that indicates the range of custom paper sizes that can be handled by each paper tray of printer 2. Custom range information 53 is information that indicates the range of custom paper sizes that printer 2 can handle. Exclusive information 54 is information that indicates the exclusive conditions between custom paper and print settings. Exclusive information 54 includes information on print settings that cannot be combined with any custom paper (for example, "borderless printing") and information on print settings that limit the range of custom paper sizes that can be combined (for example, "double-sided printing").

[0042] If the CPU determines that the acquired capacity information includes information on custom paper types (B02: YES), the CPU 11 determines whether the capacity information includes information for each tray (B03). If the capacity information for the selected printer 2 includes at least one of the tray-specific custom range information 52 and custom range information 53, the CPU 11 determines YES in B02. Also, if the capacity information for the selected printer 2 includes tray-specific custom range information 52, the CPU 11 determines YES in B03. Note that the capacity information for various printers may include both tray-specific custom range information 52 and custom range information 53, or only one of them.

[0043] If the CPU determines that the capability information includes information for each tray (B03:YES), the CPU 11 adds the range information for each tray and the exclusive information for each tray to the cache information generated in B01 based on the capability information 50 (B04). For example, as shown in Figure 5, the CPU 11 adds to the cache information 60 the following as information about the types of paper that can be used: paper information 61 which includes information about the types of custom paper that can be used, exclusive information 62 which relates to the custom paper, and configurable range information 63 which indicates the range of sizes that can be used for each tray.

[0044] If the CPU determines that the capacity information does not include information for each tray (B03:NO), the CPU 11 adds paper information 61, which includes information on compatible custom paper types, and exclusive information 62 related to the custom paper types, based on the capacity information 50 (B05).

[0045] Furthermore, if the capability information includes information indicating a range of paper sizes as a condition for custom paper that can be combined with print settings such as double-sided printing (B07: YES), the CPU 11 adds configurable range information 64, indicating the range of custom paper sizes that can be combined with print settings, to the cache information 60 based on the capability information 50 (B08). In other words, the CPU 11 adds the information that can be obtained based on the capability information 50 to the cache information.

[0046] After B08, or if it is determined that the capability information does not include information on custom paper types (B02:NO), or if it does not include information indicating the range of custom paper types that can be combined with the print settings (B07:NO), the CPU 11 terminates the cache generation process and returns to the printer selection procedure shown in Figure 2.

[0047] The auxiliary program 42 may generate cache information in the cache generation process of A25, for example, including information indicating the capabilities of printer 2 and information regarding the default print settings when printing is performed on printer 2. The cache information may be the capability information itself obtained from printer 2, a part of the capability information, or information that further includes information from the auxiliary program 42 in addition to the capability information. Note that the capability information 50 shown in Figure 4 and the cache information 60 shown in Figure 5 are diagrams for illustrative purposes only, and the arrangement of information and terminology are not limited to the examples shown.

[0048] Returning to the explanation of the printer selection procedure in Figure 2, the auxiliary program 42 stores the cache information generated in the cache generation process in memory 12, associating it with information indicating printer 2, which is the selected printer (A26). A26 is an example of the cache process. On the other hand, if the cache information corresponding to printer 2, which is the selected printer, is already stored in memory 12 (alt:[Cached]), the auxiliary program 42 reads that cache information from memory 12 (A31). A31 is an example of the capability read process. Since the auxiliary program 42 can store cache information for each printer, it can reduce the load on communication with the printer.

[0049] After A26 or A31, the auxiliary program 42 generates general-purpose capability information (A41) based on the cache information generated in A25 or read in A31. The general-purpose capability information is information indicating the capabilities of the selected printer, printer 2, and is used by the general-purpose printing program 41 and the editing application 43. The general-purpose capability information may include all the information contained in the cache information, or it may include only some of the information from the cache information. The general-purpose capability information is an example of capability-dependent information.

[0050] As mentioned above, if the cache information includes information about custom paper, the auxiliary program 42 generates general-purpose capability information including the information about custom paper in A41. The auxiliary program 42 may generate general-purpose capability information including basic information and add the information about custom paper to the generated general-purpose capability information. A41 is an example of the generation process and the addition process.

[0051] The auxiliary program 42 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 of the completion of processing related to the printer selection notification received in A04 by passing the generated general-purpose capability information to the general-purpose printing program 41 (A42). A42 is an example of response processing.

[0052] The general-purpose printing program 41 shares general-purpose capability information received from the auxiliary program 42 by passing it to the editing application 43 (A43). The general-purpose printing program 41 and the editing application 43 can use the general-purpose capability information received from the auxiliary program 42, for example, when accepting print settings from the user. By passing general-purpose capability information, including information about custom paper that can be used with the selected printer, from the auxiliary program 42 to the general-purpose printing program 41, the general-purpose printing program 41 and the editing application 43 can accept the selection of an appropriate custom paper as the paper size for the print settings.

[0053] Next, regarding printing on printer 2, the print setup procedure, which is the procedure for receiving print setting instructions, will be explained with reference to the sequence diagram in Figure 6. The print setup procedure is executed after printer 2 is selected as the printer to perform printing and the printer selection procedure shown in Figure 2 is performed.

[0054] After steps A01 and A02 of the printer selection procedure shown in Figure 2, the user can instruct the system to perform detailed print settings. When the editing application 43 receives instructions for detailed print settings (C01), it passes these instructions to the general-purpose printing program 41 (C02). The general-purpose printing program 41 then passes the detailed print settings instructions to the auxiliary program 42 (C03), thereby launching the auxiliary program 42. C03 is an instruction to launch a screen for accepting print settings, and is an example of a launch instruction.

[0055] The auxiliary program 42 determines the acceptable paper size options based on the cache information 60 (see Figure 5) obtained in A25 or A31. In the example in Figure 5, the auxiliary program 42 determines "A4", "Letter", and "A5" as the paper size options. Furthermore, since the printer 2 is capable of handling custom paper, the auxiliary program 42 determines whether registered custom paper information is stored in memory 12 as custom paper information 44 (see Figure 1) (C11). That is, the auxiliary program 42 reads the custom paper information 44 and determines whether the read custom paper information 44 contains information about custom paper.

[0056] Custom paper information 44 is information about custom paper that has been instructed to be registered by the user, and is stored in a non-volatile storage area provided for the auxiliary program 42 in memory 12 so that it can be read and written upon request from the auxiliary program 42. The auxiliary program 42 can save the custom paper information 44 as a file in a predetermined directory 22 (see Figure 1) that the auxiliary program 42 can access, using a procedure described later. The predetermined directory 22 is an example of a storage area for support programs. Note that the predetermined directory 22 is provided in memory 12 as a storage area that can be read and written upon request from the auxiliary program 42, for example, when the auxiliary program 42 is installed.

[0057] The custom paper information 44 includes information about each registered custom paper, such as the paper size information, which is at least the length and width of the paper, as shown in Figure 7. The custom paper information 44 may also include information indicating, for example, the name of the custom paper, the thickness of the custom paper, and the type of the custom paper. The custom paper information 44 is stored in a common memory area for each printer that the auxiliary program 42 can support, regardless of the selected printer.

[0058] If the auxiliary program 42 determines that the custom paper information 44 contains information about a custom paper that has already been registered (opt:[Registered]), it reads the information about the registered custom paper (C12). C12 is an example of the custom paper reading process. The auxiliary program 42 reads the custom paper information 44 regardless of whether the selected printer is printer 2 or printer 3, as long as a printer capable of handling custom sizes is selected. In other words, the custom paper information 44 is information that can be used in common by both printer 2 and printer 3.

[0059] The auxiliary program 42 adds the custom paper sizes that are compatible with the selected printer from the custom paper information 44 to the paper size options (C13). C13 is an example of the paper information determination process. The paper size options are an example of paper information. Based on the custom paper information 44 and the cache information 60 (see Figure 5) obtained in A25 or A31 mentioned above, the auxiliary program 42 adds the custom paper sizes that are compatible with the printer for which both the length and width dimensions are selected to the paper size options. The auxiliary program 42 may also make its determination by referring to the capabilities information 50 (see Figure 4) of the printer 2.

[0060] For example, if the custom paper information 44 has three types of custom paper registered as shown in Figure 7, and the selected printer is printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 will add "Custom B" with a paper size of (88.9 x 127.0) and "Custom C" with a paper size of (200.0 x 250.0) as options, since the custom paper sizes that printer 2 can handle are (88.9 x 215.9) x (127 x 355.5), but will not add "Custom A" with a paper size of (240.0 x 322.0).

[0061] Then, the auxiliary program 42 displays an advanced settings screen on the user IF13's display 13a, which accepts detailed print settings (C15). C15 is an example of the display process. The auxiliary program 42 displays an advanced settings screen 70, which includes, for example, a "Paper Size" selection field 71, an "Edit Custom Paper" button 72, a "Borderless Printing" selection field 73, and a "Duplex / Booklet" selection field 74, as shown in Figure 8. The advanced settings screen 70 is an example of a print settings screen. The user can set detailed print settings on the displayed advanced settings screen 70. For example, when the program accepts an operation on the "Paper Size" selection field 71, the auxiliary program 42 displays a list of paper size options, including the option added in C13, and accepts the user's selection operation.

[0062] The auxiliary program 42 adds only compatible custom paper sizes to the paper size options based on the capabilities of the selected printer. By manipulating the "Paper Size" selection field 71, the user can easily select custom paper, as the paper size options, including those compatible with printer 2, will be displayed. Whether printer 2 or printer 3 is selected, the custom paper options available for that printer will be displayed, making it easy for the user to utilize custom paper.

[0063] When the auxiliary program 42 receives an operation to select a custom paper size (C16), it executes a custom process (C21). Specifically, when it receives an operation to select a custom paper size from the paper size options, or when it receives an operation to click the "Edit Custom Paper" button 72, the auxiliary program 42 determines that it has received an operation to select a custom paper size. The procedure for the custom process in C21 will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 9. The custom process is executed by the CPU 11 of PC1 based on the description in the auxiliary program 42.

[0064] CPU 11 determines whether an incompatible print setting that cannot be used in combination with custom paper has been selected (D01). As shown in Figure 5, the cache information of printer 2 includes print settings that combine custom paper and borderless printing as exclusive information. In other words, printer 2 cannot perform borderless printing for all custom paper. If CPU 11 determines that borderless printing has been selected in the "Borderless Printing" selection field 73 on the detailed settings screen 70 and that custom processing has started (D01: YES), it displays a warning (D02). D02 is an example of the second warning process.

[0065] CPU11 displays a warning screen to user IF13, for example as shown in Figure 10, indicating a conflict between the borderless printing setting and the custom paper selection, and then terminates the custom process. As a result, the detailed settings screen 70 shown in Figure 8 is displayed again. For example, if the user has not selected borderless printing on the detailed settings screen 70, even if they attempt to select custom paper, D01 will determine it as NO, and the warning screen will not be displayed.

[0066] If the print settings include a setting that cannot be selected simultaneously with any custom paper, and the user accepts the selection of a custom paper, the auxiliary program 42 will not accept the registration or editing of the custom paper and will issue a warning. This allows the user to understand that the settings include a conflict with the custom paper.

[0067] If the CPU determines that the setting to prohibit the use of custom paper has not been selected (D01:NO), the CPU 11 displays a registration / deletion screen to the user IF 13, which accepts instructions for registering or deleting custom paper (D05). D05 is an example of the registration display process. The registration / deletion screen accepts editing instructions for the information of each custom paper stored in the custom paper information 44.

[0068] The CPU 11 displays a registration / deletion screen 80, which includes, for example, a list 81 of the names of custom paper registered in the custom paper information 44, an information field 82 that displays various information about the selected custom paper, an add button 83, a delete button 84, a save button 85, and a cancel button 86, as shown in Figure 11. The registration / deletion screen 80 is an example of a custom paper registration screen. The operation of selecting a custom paper accepted on the detailed settings screen 70 is also an instruction to launch the registration / deletion screen 80, and is an example of a custom launch instruction.

[0069] The CPU 11 can accept input operations related to custom paper information, operations on the save button 85, and operations on the cancel button 86 on the displayed registration / deletion screen 80. The CPU 11 determines which of these operations the received user operation is (D11). Note that any operation other than the save button 85 or the cancel button 86 is considered an information input operation.

[0070] If the CPU determines that it has received an input operation for information (D11: Information Input), it determines whether the operation is an operation on the add button 83 or the information field 82, or an operation on the delete button 84 (D21). If it determines that the operation is on the add button 83 or the information field 82 (D21: Add or Edit), the CPU temporarily stores the newly entered custom paper information or the edited custom paper information as additional information based on the received input (D22).

[0071] If the CPU determines that the operation is to press the delete button 84 (D21: Delete), the CPU 11 displays a confirmation screen to confirm the deletion of the specified custom paper and accepts the user's input (D25). If the user selects to delete (D25: YES), the CPU 11 temporarily stores the deletion information indicating the deletion of the specified custom paper (D26).

[0072] After D22 or D26, or if the user selects not to delete (D25: NO), CPU 11 proceeds to D11 and becomes ready to accept input on the registration / deletion screen 80. CPU 11 can repeatedly accept input operations until it accepts input from either the save button 85 or the cancel button 86.

[0073] If the CPU determines that it has received an operation to the save button 85 (D11: save), the CPU 11 launches the registration / deletion screen 80 in D05 and then determines in D22 whether or not there is any additional information to be stored (D31). If it determines that there is additional information (D31: YES), the CPU 11 updates the custom paper information 44 based on the stored additional information. If the additional information stored is information about a new custom paper, the CPU 11 adds the information about that custom paper to the custom paper information 44 and stores it (D32). D32 is an example of the storage process. If the additional information stored is the editing of an existing custom paper, the CPU 11 updates the custom paper information 44 to reflect the information of the edited custom paper. The operation to the save button 85 when there is additional information is an example of a registration instruction.

[0074] As mentioned above, the custom paper information stored in the custom paper information 44 is read by the auxiliary program 42 (C12 in Figure 6). Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 is a program that supports both printer 2 and printer 3. In other words, even when printer 3 is selected, the auxiliary program 42 is launched and can read and use the custom paper information 44, just as it does with printer 2. Therefore, custom paper information added to the custom paper information 44 when printer 2 is selected will also be available when printer 3 is selected.

[0075] When the auxiliary program 42 is instructed to add custom paper on the registration / deletion screen 80, it stores the custom paper information 44 without determining whether it can be applied to the selected printer. As a result, regardless of the capabilities of the selected printer, the custom paper information 44 is stored in directory 22 (see Figure 1), which is a common storage area available to the auxiliary program 42, and the custom paper information can be shared among multiple printers compatible with the auxiliary program 42.

[0076] Furthermore, if the printer to which the added or edited custom paper is selected supports it, the CPU 11 adds the custom paper as a paper size option (D33). As a result, the newly added custom paper will be displayed as one of the options in the subsequent detailed settings screen 70 (Figure 8). In this case, the CPU 11 then selects the newly added or edited custom paper as the paper size on the detailed settings screen 70 (D34) and terminates the custom processing.

[0077] As a result, the custom paper size that was added or edited is selected in the "Paper Size" selection field 71, and the detailed settings screen 70 is displayed again. When a compatible custom paper size is added, the newly added and registered custom paper size is selected, saving the user the trouble of changing the paper size to the custom paper size. The auxiliary program 42 may also set the registered custom paper size as the default paper size. If the printer to which the added or edited custom paper is selected is not compatible, the CPU 11 skips D33 and D34 and terminates the custom processing.

[0078] When the save button 85 is pressed, if there is no additional information (D31: NO) but there is information to delete (D41: YES), the CPU 11 deletes the information of the custom paper to be deleted from the custom paper information 44 based on the stored deletion information (D42). Furthermore, the CPU 11 removes the deleted custom paper from the paper size selection (D43). Then, the CPU 11 ends the custom processing by setting the paper size on the detailed settings screen 70 to the paper size that was selected before the deleted custom paper was selected, or the paper size set as the default (D44).

[0079] Furthermore, if the CPU 11 determines that neither additional nor deleted information is stored when the save button 85 is pressed (D41: NO), the CPU 11 terminates the custom processing. If both additional and deleted information are present when the save button 85 is pressed, the CPU 11 executes D32-D34 based on the additional information and D42-D44 based on the deleted information.

[0080] On the other hand, if the CPU determines that it has received an operation to press the cancel button 86 (D11: Cancel), the CPU 11 discards all the information stored in D22 and D26 based on the operation received on the registration / deletion screen 80 displayed in D05 (D52), and terminates the custom processing. If the CPU 11 receives an instruction to add or edit a custom form and additional information is stored, it is advisable to notify the user that all the information that has been operated on will be discarded before discarding the information, and to obtain user confirmation (D51). If no additional information is stored, the CPU 11 does not need to obtain user confirmation.

[0081] Furthermore, after displaying the registration / deletion screen 80, the CPU 11 may accept the addition or deletion of multiple custom paper sizes before accepting the operation of the save button 85. If multiple custom paper sizes have been added, the CPU 11 may store all the added custom paper sizes in the custom paper information 44 and add them as options for paper size. In addition, the custom paper that the CPU 11 sets as selected in the "Paper Size" selection field 71 may be the last custom paper added, or it may be selected by the user before displaying the detailed settings screen 70.

[0082] Returning to the explanation of Figure 6, after the custom processing is completed, the auxiliary program 42 displays the detailed settings screen 70 shown in Figure 8 and becomes capable of accepting further print setting instructions (C22). As mentioned above, the auxiliary program 42 can accept the selection of a custom paper size registered in the custom paper information 44.

[0083] When the auxiliary program 42 receives a custom paper selection as a print setting instruction, it determines whether it is compatible with the capabilities of printer 2 based on cache information 60 (see Figure 5) regarding the capabilities of printer 2. For example, if "Tray 1" is selected as the paper feed method, and the paper size of the selected custom paper is a size that cannot be handled by "Tray 1", the print setting and the capabilities of printer 2 are incompatible. If the auxiliary program 42 contains incompatible print settings, it displays a warning screen (C23) warning that the paper selection or print setting is inappropriate, for example, as shown in Figure 12. C23 is an example of the first warning process.

[0084] If a custom paper size that does not match the capabilities of the selected printer 2 is selected, a warning will be issued indicating that the print settings are incompatible, thereby preventing the setting of an inappropriate paper size. The warning screen may also provide details of the incompatible print settings and the conditions for making them compatible. Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 may automatically resolve the incompatible print settings, resolve them based on user instructions, or allow the user to choose whether or not to resolve them automatically.

[0085] If all print settings are compatible with the capabilities of printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 can accept a print setting completion instruction. Upon receiving the print setting completion instruction (C24), the auxiliary program 42 stores information indicating the confirmed print settings in memory 12 (C25).

[0086] The auxiliary program 42 responds to the detailed settings instruction received in C03 by ending the display of the detailed settings screen 70 once the print settings have been confirmed and passing the confirmed print settings information to the general-purpose printing program 41 (C31). The general-purpose printing program 41 responds to the detailed settings instruction received in C02 by passing the received print settings information to the editing application 43 (C32). This allows the editing application 43 to accept further instructions regarding printing.

[0087] Furthermore, the detailed settings screen 70 may include selectable settings and parameters that cannot be accepted by the general-purpose printing program 41. The editing application 43 or the general-purpose printing program 41 can determine the print settings that can be accepted by the printer 2 based on the general-purpose capability information received from the auxiliary program 42 in A42 or A43 of Figure 2. The editing application 43 or the general-purpose printing program 41 may also display registered custom paper types for selection.

[0088] Next, the procedure for executing the print operation will be explained with reference to the sequence diagram in Figure 13. When the editing application 43 receives instructions for printing, including the specification of the image to be printed and an instruction to execute printing on printer 2 (E01), it passes the print instruction information and image data indicating the image to be printed to the general-purpose printing program 41 (E02). The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data based on the information received from the editing application 43 (E03).

[0089] The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data by converting the image data format of the image to be printed into an intermediate data format. The image data included in the editing application 43 is of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the image data to be printed into intermediate data suitable for generating print data. If the image data to be printed is already suitable for generating print data, the generation of intermediate data can be omitted, and the data can be used directly as intermediate data.

[0090] Furthermore, the general-purpose printing program 41 may, before generating intermediate data, start an auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the specified device, printer 2, to notify it that it has started processing the print job. When the auxiliary program 42 is started by the general-purpose printing program 41, it can pass information indicating various instructions used when generating intermediate data to the general-purpose printing program 41 as needed.

[0091] The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate data and then outputs an execution instruction to the auxiliary program 42 (E05). The auxiliary program 42 can obtain the intermediate data and print setting information generated by the general-purpose printing program 41 by making a request to the general-purpose printing program 41, for example.

[0092] The auxiliary program 42 can edit the intermediate data obtained from the general-purpose printing program 41 as needed (E06). The auxiliary program 42 may edit the intermediate data based, for example, on the print settings information stored in C25, or on the capabilities of printer 2 included in the printer 2 capability information 50 (Figure 4) or cache information 60 (Figure 5). In addition, if the received print settings include a process that can be executed by printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 may generate a command to cause printer 2 to execute that process.

[0093] The auxiliary program 42 passes the edited intermediate data to the general-purpose printing program 41 and instructs the general-purpose printing program 41 to generate print data and send it to the printer 2 (E11). As a result, the general-purpose printing program 41 performs necessary processing such as rasterizing the intermediate data to generate print data (E12) and sends the print job containing the generated print data to the printer 2 (E13). The printer 2 executes printing based on the received print job (E14).

[0094] Alternatively, the auxiliary program 42 may perform rasterization and generate print data instead of the general-purpose printing program 41. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 may perform rasterization based on the intermediate data to generate print data, and then pass the generated print data and print settings to the general-purpose printing program 41 to instruct it to send them to the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 may also receive the print data generated by the general-purpose printing program 41 and process it as needed. The print data sent to the printer 2 only needs to be in a format that can be printed by the printer 2.

[0095] Rasterizing with auxiliary program 42 offers greater flexibility compared to rasterizing with general-purpose printing program 41, and is more likely to generate print data suitable for printing on printer 2. On the other hand, rasterizing with general-purpose printing program 41 reduces the processing load on auxiliary program 42, thus reducing its program size.

[0096] Alternatively, instead of having the general-purpose printing program 41 send the print data to the printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 may send a print command instructing the printer to execute the print job, along with the print data, to the printer 2. For example, if the print settings include settings related to image processing that can be performed on the printer 2, the auxiliary program 42 may generate a print command that also includes information about that processing.

[0097] As explained in detail above, the auxiliary program 42, which is compatible with both printer 2 and printer 3, stores the custom paper information 44 in a common memory area that can be read and written to regardless of which printer is selected. Furthermore, regardless of which printer is selected, the auxiliary program 42 reads the custom paper information 44 and determines the selectable paper size options based on the capabilities of the selected printer and the custom paper information 44, and displays the detailed settings screen 70 based on the determined information. Therefore, regardless of whether the user selects printer 2 or printer 3, the appropriate custom paper can be selected on the detailed settings screen 70. As a result, the user does not need to register custom paper information for each printer, and the effort required to use custom paper is reduced.

[0098] The embodiments disclosed herein are merely illustrative and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the technology disclosed herein can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from its essence.

[0099] Furthermore, the screen examples shown in each figure are merely examples and are not limited to those illustrated. For example, the text, object shapes, arrangements, backgrounds, etc., displayed in the illustrated screens can be anything.

[0100] Furthermore, the number of printers compatible with the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to two; it may be three or more. Also, the auxiliary program 42 may be compatible with printers not connected to PC1, and the stored custom paper information 44 may be available for printing on printers newly connected to PC1. In addition, while the capability information for each printer includes information on the combination of custom size range and print settings as exclusive information, it may also include exclusive information on paper type, paper thickness and print settings, not limited to custom sizes.

[0101] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 generates cache information and general-purpose capability information when it receives a printer selection (A02 in Figure 2). However, the generation of this information may also be performed when the acceptance of print settings begins, when detailed print setting instructions are received, or when a print execution instruction is received.

[0102] Furthermore, although the embodiment states that the auxiliary program 42 can receive instructions from the user to register or delete custom forms, it does not necessarily have to have registration or deletion functions. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to receive custom form information during installation, or it may be able to obtain custom form information from a server or the like.

[0103] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the auxiliary program 42 starts a custom process with a print setting that is incompatible with all custom paper types selected (NO in D01 in Figure 9), it displays a warning screen (Figure 10) and does not display the custom paper registration / deletion screen 80 (Figure 11). However, the custom paper registration / deletion screen 80 may be displayed after accepting the operation to close the warning screen. Since registered custom paper can be shared by multiple printers, if registration is possible, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to use that custom paper when another printer is selected. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 may only allow registration and not allow selection. Also, in the warning process (D02, C23), the auxiliary program 42 may not only display a warning screen but also generate a warning sound.

[0104] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 saves the custom paper information 44 as a file in a predetermined directory 22, but it is not limited to this. For example, if the OS 21 of PC1 is Windows (registered trademark), a memory area for the auxiliary program 42 can be provided in the registry. In that case, the auxiliary program 42 may write the custom paper information 44 to the registry instead of generating a file.

[0105] Furthermore, if, after the print settings screen is displayed by the general-purpose print program 41, the user changes the default printer from another printer to printer 2 via the OS 21, the general-purpose print program 41 may also launch the auxiliary program 42. Additionally, the auxiliary program 42 may be launched not only when printing is selected, but also, for example, when printer 2 is selected as a device setting. In these cases as well, the auxiliary program 42 may be capable of generating and updating cache information, registering and deleting custom paper types, etc.

[0106] Furthermore, although this embodiment only describes in detail the operations related to printing as those of the auxiliary program 42, the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles. Also, the program that executes the processing in this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, but can be any program that receives instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose printing program 41 when printing using the general-purpose printing program 41. For example, the Print Workflow application whose specifications have been published by Microsoft (registered trademark) may also be used.

[0107] Furthermore, the execution timing of the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to the examples of this embodiment. For example, it may be executed by direct execution instruction from the OS 21, or it may be a resident auxiliary program 42. In the case of a resident auxiliary program, the auxiliary program 42 should perform the operations described above upon receiving an execution instruction.

[0108] Furthermore, in any flowchart disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of any multiple processes in any multiple steps can be arbitrarily changed or executed in parallel, as long as no inconsistencies arise in the processing content.

[0109] Furthermore, the processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, multiple CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination thereof. Also, the processes disclosed in each embodiment can be implemented in various ways, such as by recording a program for executing the process on a recording medium or by a method. [Explanation of symbols]

[0110] 1 PC 2, 3 printers 11 CPU 13 User Interface

Claims

1. A support program that is executable by the computer of the information processing device, corresponds to a first printer and a second printer connected to the information processing device, and supports a general-purpose printing program of the operating system of the information processing device, wherein the memory of the information processing device is provided with a storage area for the support program. The support program is installed on the computer, The support program can perform a storage process to store custom paper information, which at least indicates the size of the custom paper defined by the user, in the storage area so that it can be read and written upon request from the support program, provided that the first or second printer compatible with the support program is selected. The support program further operates when either the first printer or the second printer is selected on the computer. A first acquisition process to acquire capability information indicating the capabilities of the selected printer from the selected printer, which is the selected printer, Whether the first printer is selected or the second printer is selected, a custom paper reading process is performed to read the custom paper information stored in the storage area, A paper information determination process that determines the paper information to be used for displaying the print settings screen based on the custom paper indicated in the custom paper information read in the custom paper reading process and the capacity information acquired in the first acquisition process, A display process that displays the print settings screen on the user interface of the information processing device based on the paper information determined in the paper information determination process, It is possible to make it happen. A support program configured in this way.

2. A support program as described in claim 1, In the aforementioned paper information determination process, If the size of the custom paper indicated in the custom paper information read in the custom paper reading process is compatible with the selected printer based on the capability information obtained in the first acquisition process, then it is decided to include the custom paper in the paper information. A support program configured in this way.

3. A support program as described in claim 1, The support program will, if the computer receives a startup command to launch the print settings screen, The first acquisition process, the custom paper reading process, the paper information determination process, and the display process are executed. A support program configured in this way.

4. A support program as described in claim 1, In the aforementioned memory processing, The storage area is defined as a predetermined directory for the support program, and the file containing the custom form information is saved in the predetermined directory so that it can be read and written to in response to requests from the support program. A support program configured in this way.

5. A support program as described in claim 1, The aforementioned support program further provides the computer with: The system will obtain capability information indicating the capabilities of the selected printer. If a custom paper type is selected in the custom paper information stored in the memory area on the print settings screen, and the size of the selected custom paper type does not match the capacity information of the selected printer obtained, a first warning process is executed to warn that the selected custom paper type is inappropriate. A support program configured in this way.

6. A support program as described in claim 1, The support program, when the first printer or the second printer is selected on the computer, receives a custom startup instruction to launch the custom paper registration screen, The system executes a registration display process to display the custom form registration screen, which can accept the input of the custom form information and registration instructions, on the user interface of the information processing device. The support program further causes the computer to execute the storage process when it receives the registration instruction, and in the storage process, it stores the custom paper information entered on the custom paper registration screen in the storage area. A support program configured in this way.

7. A support program according to claim 6, The aforementioned custom startup instruction can be accepted via the print settings screen. The support program further causes the computer to select the custom paper indicated in the stored custom paper information as the paper size on the print settings screen when the custom paper information is stored in the storage area during the storage process. A support program configured in this way.

8. A support program according to claim 6, The aforementioned custom startup instruction can be accepted via the print settings screen. The support program, when the first printer or the second printer is selected on the computer, and the custom startup instruction is received, If the print settings screen does not have a setting that prevents the selection of custom paper size, the registration display process will be executed. If the print settings screen is configured so that custom paper size cannot be selected, the registration display process is not executed, and a second warning process is executed to warn that an inappropriate setting has been made for the custom paper. A support program configured in this way.

9. A support program as described in claim 1, The support program is installed on the computer, When an application program incorporated in the information processing device gives a selection instruction to the general-purpose printing program to select either the first printer or the second printer, A second acquisition process for acquiring capability information from the selected printer, which includes capability information indicating the capabilities of the selected printer, and which includes custom range information indicating the range of custom paper sizes that the selected printer can handle and exclusive conditions. A generation process that generates capability-dependent information indicating the capabilities of the selected printer based on the capability information obtained in the second acquisition process, An additional process to add the custom range information included in the capability information obtained in the second acquisition process to the capability dependency information, A response process for passing the capability-dependent information to the general-purpose printing program, The general-purpose printing program can cause the computer to accept print settings for printing to the selected printer based on the capability-dependent information passed from the support program. A support program configured in this way.

10. A support program as described in claim 9, The memory of the information processing device is capable of storing cache information based on the capabilities of each printer. The support program is installed on the computer, The application program gives the general-purpose printing program a selection instruction to select either the first printer or the second printer, and if the first condition is met, The second acquisition process, the generation process, the addition process, the cache process which stores the capability-dependent information as cache information in the memory in association with the information indicating the selected printer, and the response process are executed. The application program gives a selection instruction to the general-purpose printing program to select either the first printer or the second printer, and if the second condition, which is different from the first condition, is met, A read operation that reads the cache information associated with the selected printer from the memory, The response process for passing the capability dependency information shown in the cache information read in the capability reading process to the general-purpose printing program, To execute A support program configured in this way.

11. A support program according to claim 10, The first condition is that the cache information associated with the selected printer is not stored in the memory. The second condition is that the cache information associated with the selected printer is stored in the memory. A support program configured in this way.

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