Program, control method, and information processing device.

Abstract

This enables the storage of a predetermined driver object in the registry for a predetermined printer driver whose identification information is stored in a predetermined printer object, and which is not currently stored in the registry. [Solution] A program for installing a predetermined printer driver on an information processing device, comprising: an information acquisition step of acquiring information on driver objects and printer objects, which are information on the printer driver stored in the registry of the information processing device; and a driver object storage step of storing in the registry a predetermined driver object relating to the predetermined printer driver, which has identification information stored in the predetermined printer object acquired in the information acquisition step, and which is not stored in the registry.

Description

【Technical Field】 【0001】 The present invention relates to a program, a control method, and an information processing apparatus. 【Background Art】 【0002】 In order to use an image forming apparatus having a printer, a scanner, etc. by connecting it to a computer, it is usually necessary to install a device driver for controlling these devices on the computer. 【0003】 For example, when using a printer, it is necessary to install a printer driver. When the printer driver is installed on the computer, the program of the printer driver is stored in a predetermined storage device of the computer, and the setting information of the installed printer driver is registered as a driver object in the registry. 【0004】 In addition, the connection port information of the printer and the setting information of the driver associated with the print queue are registered as a printer object in the registry in the operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS) of the computer. 【0005】 By the way, in recent years, computer operating systems have disclosed technologies that block the functions of printer drivers manufactured and provided by printer manufacturers (also expressed as vendors or manufacturers) and provide a secure environment in which vulnerabilities in the OS related to printing are not exploited by attackers. 【0006】 On the other hand, when applying the above environment, the driver object of the printer driver manufactured by the printer manufacturer registered in the OS is deleted from the registry, and the print queue associated with the driver becomes unavailable. Furthermore, since the print queue becomes unavailable, it becomes impossible to send a print job from the computer to the image forming apparatus. 【0007】 Furthermore, printer and driver objects registered in the registry may be deleted due to user error. In this case, the information linking the print queue and the printer driver is deleted, rendering the print queue unusable. 【0008】 Conventional technologies include those that allow the installation of printer drivers compatible with the updated OS specifications when the OS specifications are changed. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that enables the installation of printer drivers compatible with the updated OS, even when the OS is updated to one that only supports printer drivers of a specific architecture. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents] 【0009】 [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2017-27538 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve] 【0010】 This enables the storage of a predetermined driver object in the registry for a predetermined printer driver whose identification information is stored in a predetermined printer object, and which is not currently stored in the registry. [Means for solving the problem] 【0011】 One embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems is a program for installing a predetermined printer driver on an information processing device, wherein the information processing device has a registry that stores driver objects and printer objects which are information relating to the printer driver, the printer objects store identification information of the printer driver, and the program is characterized by causing the information processing device to execute an information acquisition step of acquiring information of the printer object and the driver object from the registry, and a driver object storage step of storing in the registry a predetermined driver object relating to the predetermined printer driver whose identification information is stored in the predetermined printer object acquired in the information acquisition step, and which is not stored in the registry. [Effects of the Invention] 【0012】 The present invention makes it possible to store in the registry a predetermined driver object relating to a predetermined printer driver, which has identification information stored in a predetermined printer object, and which is not stored in the registry. [Brief explanation of the drawing] 【0013】 [Figure 1] A diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A diagram showing an example of a PC hardware configuration according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of information stored in the auxiliary storage device of the PC according to this embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] A diagram showing an example of registry information. [Figure 6] A diagram showing an example of the UI displayed in the print settings of a drawing application. [Figure 7]A diagram showing the sequence of the entire processing of this system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 8] A diagram showing an example of the UI displayed on the installer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 9] A flowchart of the processing of the installer according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. [Figure 10] A diagram showing the sequence of the entire processing of this system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. [Figure 11] A flowchart of the processing of the resident application according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 【Mode for Carrying Out the Invention】 【0014】 Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiments, not all of these plurality of features are essential to the invention, and the plurality of features may be arbitrarily combined. Further, in the accompanying drawings, the same or similar configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted. 【0015】 <System Configuration> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applicable. A PC (Personal Computer) 100, which is an information processing device, and a plurality of image forming devices (101, 102) are connected via a network 130. It is assumed that printing is performed using the image forming devices (101, 102) from the PC 100 used by the user via the network 130. Note that the number of the PC 100 and the image forming devices (101, 102) is not limited to the numbers shown in FIG. 1. 【0016】 <Hardware Configuration of Information Processing Device> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the PC 100 in FIG. 1 as an information processing device in the image forming system according to the present embodiment. 【0017】 The CPU 200 comprehensively controls access to various devices based on a control program stored in the ROM 201 or the auxiliary storage device 203. 【0018】 The ROM 201 stores a control program executable by the CPU 200 and the like. 【0019】 The RAM 202 mainly functions as the main memory, work area, etc. of the CPU 200, and may be configured such that its storage capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). 【0020】 The auxiliary storage device 203 is composed of, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or the like. 【0021】 The network I / F 204 is an interface for data communication with an external device via the network 130. 【0022】 The keyboard I / F 205 is an interface for controlling key inputs from the keyboard 207 and a pointing device (not shown). 【0023】 The display I / F 206 is an interface for controlling the display of the display 208. 【0024】 The system bus 140 is a bus for communicably connecting each part within the PC 100. 【0025】 <Configuration of information used in the information processing device> Figure 3 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of information stored in the auxiliary storage device 203 of the PC 100 according to the present embodiment. The auxiliary storage device 203 stores an OS (Operating System) 210, a printer driver 214, an application 215, a driver installer 218, and the like. The OS 210 is software for controlling the basic operations of the PC 100. 【0026】 The printer driver 214 is a predetermined printer driver corresponding to the image forming apparatus that the user wishes to use. When the user instructs the PC 100 to install the printer driver 214, the driver installer 218 instructs the start of the printer driver 214 installation. Subsequently, the OS 210's API (Application Program Interface) is called, and the printer driver 214 is installed within the OS 210. 【0027】 The driver installer 218 is a program for installing the printer driver 214. Once the installation is performed by the driver installer 218, the printer driver 214 package is stored in a newly created designated folder within the driver store. 【0028】 Here, the driver store is a folder managed by OS210 to store the printer driver 214 packages. The newly created designated folder is a folder placed within the driver store with a name corresponding to the printer driver 214 to be installed. 【0029】 The registry 211 stores driver object 212 and printer object 213, which are information related to the printer driver 214. Driver object 212 contains the configuration information of the printer driver 214 and information for accessing a predetermined folder newly created in the driver store, which is the storage location for the printer driver 214. Printer object 213 contains the configuration information of the printer's connection port and the name and configuration information of the printer driver 214 associated with the print queue. 【0030】 Furthermore, the print queue is an icon displayed in the OS210 control panel and the print settings screen of the drawing application 216 as an option for selecting the destination of a print job. The printer object 213 can also be considered as the object information of the print queue. 【0031】 During the installation process of the printer driver 214, the driver object 212 and the printer object 213 are registered in the registry 211. The printer object 213 stored in the registry contains the identification information of the printer driver 214 that corresponds to the driver object 212. As a result, when the print queue corresponding to the printer object 213 is selected, printing using the printer driver 214 can be performed. 【0032】 The drawing application 216 may be, for example, an application for creating documents or spreadsheets, or a web browser or photo application. 【0033】 Resident application 217 starts simultaneously with the OS 210 on PC100 and periodically monitors things like the printer connection status through polling. 【0034】 <Configuration of an image forming apparatus in an image forming system> Figure 4 shows an example of the configuration of an image forming apparatus in the image forming system according to this embodiment. Here, the image forming apparatus 101 will be used as an example for explanation. In this embodiment, the explanation is based on the premise that each image forming apparatus (101, 102) has different functions such as printing, but the parts and detailed configuration may differ depending on the function. 【0035】 The CPU 300 comprehensively controls access to various devices based on control programs stored in the ROM 301 or storage 303. The ROM 301 is a non-volatile memory area that stores control programs and other data that the CPU 300 can execute. 【0036】 RAM302 primarily functions as the main memory and work area of ​​the CPU300, and may be configured to allow expansion of its storage capacity by connecting optional RAM to an expansion port (not shown). 【0037】 The storage unit 303 stores print data, image data, various programs, and various setting information. The scanner 309 is a scanning unit that reads the original document and generates a scanned image. The printer 310 is a printing unit that performs printing operations based on predetermined image data. 【0038】 The control unit 308 receives input from the user via the UI (User Interface) and displays the UI. The network interface 307 is an interface for data communication with external devices via the network 130. 【0039】 Thus, hardware such as the CPU 300, ROM 301, RAM 302, and storage 303 constitute what is known as a computer. 【0040】 <How driver and printer objects are stored in the registry, and an example of how the print settings screen is displayed> Figure 5(a) shows the UI screen 1000 of the registry editing application when the driver object 212 and printer object 213 are registered in the registry 211. When the printer driver 214 is installed and a new print queue is created for printer AAA of the image forming apparatus 101, the driver object 212 of the printer driver 214 and the printer object 213 of printer AAA are stored in the registry 211. 【0041】 Furthermore, by storing the identification information of the printer driver 214 in the printer object 213, the driver object 212 and the printer object 213 are linked. In this embodiment, the name of the printer driver 214 shown in information 1001 is used as the identification information, but other information may also be used. 【0042】 Furthermore, by storing the printer connection port name (172.23.66.79) of the printer indicated in information 1002 in the printer object 213, it becomes possible to print to that printer from the print queue corresponding to the printer object 213. 【0043】 Figure 6(a) shows an example of the screen 2000 displayed in the print settings UI of the drawing application 216 when the driver object 212 associated with the printer object 213 is registered in the registry 211, as shown in Figure 5(a). 【0044】 In the aforementioned UI screen 2000, selecting print queue 2003 for printer AAA from the printer selection combo box 2001 displays the preview screen 2002. Furthermore, pressing the print execution button 2004 sends a print job to the image forming apparatus printer AAA. 【0045】 Figure 5(b) shows an example of when the driver object 212 is deleted due to a mechanism that blocks the functionality of the printer driver 214 provided by the printer manufacturer. An example of a mechanism that blocks the functionality of the printer driver provided by the printer manufacturer is Windows Protected Print (WPP) mode in Windows®. If the driver object 212 is deleted, the printer object 213 of printer AAA remains associated with the driver object 212 of the printer driver 214, which does not exist in the registry 211. 【0046】 Figure 6(b) shows an example of the screen 2100 displayed in the print settings UI of the drawing application 216 when the driver object 212 associated with the printer object 213 is not registered in the registry 211, as shown in Figure 5(b). 【0047】 Because the driver object 212 associated with the printer object 213 is not registered, the print queue 2003 of printer AAA cannot be used. For example, in the UI screen 2100, if the print queue 2003 of printer AAA is selected from the printer selection combo box 2001, the preview screen 2102 is not displayed correctly. Also, even if the print execution button 2004 is pressed, printing to the image forming apparatus printer AAA cannot be performed. 【0048】 In this case, in order to make the print queue usable again, it is necessary to reinstall the printer driver 214 using the driver installer 218. However, reinstalling the printer driver 214 using the driver installer 218 will create a new print queue, resulting in the existence of multiple print queues for the same image forming apparatus. 【0049】 Figure 6(c) shows an example of the screen 2200 displayed in the print settings UI of the drawing application 216 after reinstalling the printer driver 214. 【0050】 By reinstalling the printer driver 214, the printer object 213 and the driver object 212 associated with the printer object 213 are registered. At this time, the registry 211 also stores the printer object 213 with the same connection port destination and print settings information. As a result, the combo box 2001 will now display the print queue 2003 for printer AAA that was already registered, as well as the print queue 2003 for printer AAA that was re-registered when the printer driver 214 was reinstalled. 【0051】 Regardless of which print queue 2003 is selected, it is possible to send a print job to printer AAA. However, since the same print queue will be displayed multiple times, the user experience will be impaired. 【0052】 <Embodiment 1> In this embodiment, the driver installer 218 illustrates a process that makes the print queue of a printer, which became unusable due to the deletion of the driver object 212, available again without impairing the user's operability. 【0053】 Figure 7 shows the processing sequence of the system in Embodiment 1. 【0054】 In S100, the user is instructed to launch the driver installer 218. 【0055】 S101 indicates that the driver installer 218 communicates with the image forming apparatus 101 via the network 130 to search for a printer that can connect to the PC 100 and is compatible with the printer driver 214. S102 indicates that the image forming apparatus 101 responds to this. The response result of S102 is passed from the OS 210 to the driver installer 218. In this embodiment, the printer detected by the search is a printer that can connect to the PC 100 and is compatible with the printer driver 214, but a printer from the same printer manufacturer may also be detected. 【0056】 S103 shows the process of displaying a screen on the UI of the driver installer 218 that allows the user to select the desired printer from the printers detected by the search. 【0057】 In S104, the user is instructed to select the printer to install from the screen displayed on the UI of the driver installer 218. 【0058】 S105 shows the process in which the driver installer 218 requests to obtain information on the driver object 212 and printer object 213 stored in the registry 211 within the OS 210. In S105, the driver installer 218 requests to obtain information on the driver object 212 and printer object 213, which have setting information for the driver name to be installed by the installer. 【0059】 The information for driver object 212 and printer object 213 is stored, for example, when the printer driver 214 is installed by the driver installer 218 in order for the user to use the print queue. 【0060】 In the S106 process, the OS210 indicates a response process to the driver installer 218's request to obtain information on the driver object 212 and the printer object 213. For example, if the user reinstalls the printer driver 214 using the driver installer 218 after the driver object 212 has been deleted, the OS210 returns only the information on the printer object 212 to the driver installer 218. 【0061】 The S107 process involves the driver installer 218 installing the printer driver 214. During this process, the driver object 212 for the corresponding printer driver 214 is stored in the registry 211. However, if the same driver object 212 already exists in S106, the printer driver 214 is not installed. The S107 process makes the previously unusable print queue usable again. 【0062】 During the S108 process, if there are any unprocessed elements remaining in the printer list selected by the user as the target for installation, the driver installer 218 determines the printer to be installed from that printer list. 【0063】 Next, in the S106 process, if a printer object 213 associated with a driver object 212 that does not exist in the registry 211 already exists, the following process is performed in S109. In S109, the driver installer 218 regenerates the print queue and re-stores the printer object 213 in the registry 211. The driver installer 218 determines whether or not the driver object 212 and the printer object 213 are associated by checking whether the printer object 213 has the setting information for the driver name to be installed by the installer. 【0064】 Subsequently, in the S110 process, the driver installer 218 transfers the configuration information of the existing printer object 213 that existed during the S106 process to the newly stored printer object 213. The information transferred includes, for example, the connection port settings for the printer corresponding to the existing printer object 213 and the name of the driver associated with the print queue. 【0065】 In this case, the driver installer 218 may inherit all the configuration information, or it may inherit only some of the configuration information. For example, the port information may use the settings from when the printer object 213 was re-stored, while other print settings may inherit the settings of the existing printer object 213 that existed during the S106 process. 【0066】 In the S111 process, the driver installer 218 deletes the existing print queue and printer object 213 that existed during the S106 process. 【0067】 Furthermore, in the S109 process, if the driver installer 218 regenerates the print queue with a different name from the existing print queue, the printer object 213 may re-store in the registry 211 with the same name as the regenerated print queue. Subsequently, the driver installer 218 may execute the S110 and S111 processes, and after the S111 process, the print queue name may be changed back to the existing name. 【0068】 The driver installer 218 performs steps S109 to S111, which prevents multiple print queues from being displayed that correspond to the same printer AAA and have the same print settings information. 【0069】 In the S106 process, if a printer object 213 associated with a driver object 212 that does not exist in the registry 211 does not exist, the following process is performed in S112. In the S112 process, the driver installer 218 creates a new print queue and stores a new printer object 213. 【0070】 Note that the order of processing in S109 to S111 of the driver installer 218 is not limited to this. For example, the driver installer 218 may temporarily save the setting information necessary for the transfer of the printer object 213 to the storage device of the PC 100, delete the existing print queue, and then regenerate the print queue to transfer the aforementioned setting information. 【0071】 Furthermore, in the S106 process, the printer object 213, which is associated with the driver object 212 that does not exist in the registry 211, is associated with the driver object 212 of the printer driver 214 that was reinstalled in the S107 process. Therefore, the processes in S109 to S111 of the driver installer 218 can be omitted as needed. 【0072】 Additionally, a selection UI, such as screen 3000 shown in Figure 8, may be used to allow the user to choose whether to create a new print queue, restore an existing one, or delete an existing one. 【0073】 If the user selects to create a new print queue, process S112 is executed. However, if an existing printer object 213 exists in registry 211, the print queue is regenerated with a different name than the existing print queue. If the user selects to restore, if an existing printer object 213 exists in registry 211, processes S109 to S111 are executed. If an existing printer object 213 does not exist, process S112 is executed. If deletion is selected, processes S109 to S112 are not performed, and the existing print queue is deleted. 【0074】 At this time, only one of the following options can be selected for each print queue: create new, restore, or delete. 【0075】 For example, in screen 3000 displayed in the UI shown in Figure 8, print queue 3001 is selected for printer A, print queue 3005 for printer B, and print queue 3009 for printer C. In this case, a new print queue is created for printer A, the print queue for printer B is restored, and the print queue for printer C is deleted. Note that the options for new creation, restoration, and deletion can be any combination, or one or two of them may be selected. 【0076】 Figure 9 is a flowchart of the processing of the driver installer 218 according to Embodiment 1. The processing in Figure 9 starts when the driver installer 218 receives notification of a startup command from the user. 【0077】 In S201, the driver installer 218 communicates with the image forming apparatus (101, 102) via the network 130 and searches for a printer that can connect to the PC 100 and is compatible with the printer driver 214. S201 is an example of the printer search process. 【0078】 In step S202, a screen is displayed on the UI of the driver installer 218, as shown in Figure 8, allowing the user to select the desired printer from the printers detected by the search. Step S202 is an example of the selection screen display process. 【0079】 In S203, the driver installer 218 detects the printer selected by the user as the target for installation. 【0080】 In S204, the driver installer 218 retrieves information about the driver object 212 and printer object 213 in the registry 211. S204 is an example of the information retrieval process. 【0081】 In S205, the driver installer 218 installs the printer driver 214. At this time, the driver object 212 of the corresponding printer driver 214 is stored in the registry 211. S205 is an example of the driver object storage process. 【0082】 In S206, the driver installer 218 determines whether there are any unprocessed elements remaining in the list of printers selected by the user for installation. 【0083】 In S206, if there are any unprocessed elements remaining (Yes in S206), the process proceeds to S207; otherwise, if there are no unprocessed elements remaining (No in S206), the driver installer 218 process ends. 【0084】 In S207, which corresponds to S108 in Figure 7, the driver installer 218 selects one unprocessed printer element from the list of printers to be installed and selects it as the printer to be installed. 【0085】 In S208, the driver installer 218 checks whether a printer object 213 for the printer, which is associated with the driver object 212 of the driver in question and does not exist in the registry 211, exists during the processing of S204. 【0086】 If a printer object 213 for the printer, associated with a driver object 212 for the driver that does not exist in registry 211, exists (Yes in S208), proceed to S209; otherwise, proceed to S212. 【0087】 In S209, which corresponds to S109 in Figure 7, the driver installer 218 creates a new print queue and stores a new printer object 213 corresponding to the print queue in the registry. S209 is an example of the printer object storage process. 【0088】 In S210, which corresponds to S110 in Figure 7, the driver installer 218 transfers the configuration information of the existing printer object 213 to the newly created printer object 213. S210 is an example of a configuration information transfer process. 【0089】 In S211, which corresponds to S111 in Figure 7, the existing print queue and existing printer object 213 that remained before the printer driver 214 was reinstalled by the driver installer 218 are deleted. S211 is an example of a printer object deletion process. 【0090】 In S212, which corresponds to S112 in Figure 7, the driver installer 218 creates a new print queue and a printer object 213 corresponding to the print queue. S212 is an example of a printer object storage process. 【0091】 The above is an example of how to restore the driver object 212 of the printer driver 214 from the printer manufacturer, which was deleted by the driver installer 218, to the registry, thereby making the unusable print queue usable again. 【0092】 Furthermore, if, for example, a setting is configured to prevent driver installation, such as WPP, a notification may be displayed when the installer is instructed to run, stating that the installer cannot be run due to that setting and that the setting needs to be changed. 【0093】 <Embodiment 2> Embodiment 1 describes a process in which the driver object 212 of the printer driver 214 manufactured by the printer manufacturer, which was deleted by the driver installer 218, is stored in the registry again, thereby making the unusable print queue usable again. 【0094】 Embodiment 2 describes the process by which the resident application 217 determines that an error has occurred in the connection status of the print queue, using Figures 10 and 11. In addition, it describes the process of making the print queue of a printer that has become unusable due to the deletion of the driver object 212 of the printer driver 214 from the printer manufacturer usable again. 【0095】 In this embodiment, the resident application 217 installs the printer driver 214 using the package information of the printer driver 214 stored in the driver store, and stores the driver object 212 in the registry 211. Therefore, since the driver installer 218 is not used in this embodiment, the print queue can be made available again without the print queue being regenerated. 【0096】 Figure 10 shows the processing sequence of this system in an embodiment using the resident application 217. 【0097】 S301 is a process in which the resident application 217 requests the OS 210 to obtain connection status information for the print queue. In this embodiment, obtaining the connection status is defined as detecting a connection error that occurred when the print queue received a print job transmission instruction to printer AAA corresponding to the printer driver 214. Alternatively, obtaining the connection status may also be defined as detecting a connection error that occurred at other times, such as when a print queue is selected. Furthermore, S301 may be executed as a trigger when a connection error occurs, or it may be called periodically by polling. 【0098】 In S302, OS210 returns the response to the processing of S301 by resident application 217 to resident application 217. If a connection error occurs in the print queue during processing S302, the following processing is performed in S303. 【0099】 In S303, the resident application 217 requests the OS 210 to retrieve information about the driver object 212 and the printer object 213 in the registry 211. 【0100】 In S304, OS210 returns the response to the processing in S303 by the resident application 217 back to the resident application 217. If, in the processing of S304, a printer object 213 associated with a driver object 212 that does not exist in the registry 211 exists, the resident application 217 performs the following processing in S305. 【0101】 In S305, the resident application 217 identifies the location of the printer driver 214's package information in the driver store from the printer driver 214's identification information held by the printer object 213. After the location of the printer driver 214's package information is identified, the resident application 217 installs the printer driver 214 using the printer driver 214's package information. The package information used at this time is the information stored in a predetermined folder located in the driver store that has the folder name corresponding to the driver in question. 【0102】 During the installation of the printer driver 214, the driver object 212 is registered in the registry 211 within the OS 210 and linked to the corresponding printer object 213. 【0103】 Figure 11 is a flowchart of the processing of the resident application 217 according to Embodiment 2. The processing in Figure 11 is started when the resident application 217 is started by the startup of the OS 210 or by user operation. 【0104】 In S401, the resident application 217 obtains the print queue connection status from OS210. 【0105】 In S402, the resident application 217 checks the connection status of the print queue obtained in S401 to see if a connection error has occurred. If a connection error has occurred in the connection status of the print queue (Yes in S402), the process proceeds to S403; otherwise, the process returns to S401. S401 and S402 are examples of the connection status acquisition process. 【0106】 In S403, the resident application 217 retrieves information about the driver object 212 and printer object 213 in the registry 211 from the OS 210. 【0107】 In S404, the resident application 217 checks whether a printer object 213 for the printer in question exists in the registry 211, which is associated with a driver object 212 for a driver that does not exist in the registry 211. If a printer object 213 for the printer in question exists, associated with a driver object 212 for a driver that does not exist in the registry 211 (Yes in S404), the process proceeds to S405. 【0108】 In S405, the resident application 217 installs the corresponding printer driver 214 and links the driver object 212 with the printer object 213. 【0109】 The processes in steps S401 to S405 are repeated while the resident application 217 is running. 【0110】 In Example 2, the resident application 217 determines whether an error has occurred in the print queue connection status. Then, it determines whether a printer object 213 exists that is associated with the driver object 212 of the deleted printer manufacturer's printer driver 214. This makes it possible to make the print queue of the printer that became unusable due to the deletion of the driver object 212 usable again without impairing the user's operability. 【0111】 <Other examples> The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that implements one or more of the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and by having one or more processors in the computer of that system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., an ASIC) that implements one or more functions. [Explanation of Symbols] 【0112】 100 PC 210 OS 211 Registry 212 Driver Objects 213 Printer Objects 214 Printer Driver 217 Resident Applications 218 Driver Installer

Claims

[Claim 1] A program that causes a specified printer driver to be installed on an information processing device, The aforementioned information processing device has a registry that stores driver objects and printer objects, which are information related to printer drivers. The printer object includes at least the identification information of the printer driver, The program is configured on the information processing device. An information acquisition step of acquiring information about the printer object and the driver object from the registry, A driver object storage step involves storing in the registry a predetermined driver object relating to the predetermined printer driver, which has identification information stored in the predetermined printer object acquired in the information acquisition step, and which is not stored in the registry. A program characterized by causing the execution of a specific action. [Claim 2] The program according to claim 1, characterized in that the driver object includes at least information regarding the storage location of the printer driver. [Claim 3] The program according to claim 1, characterized in that the identification information of the printer driver is the name of the printer driver. [Claim 4] The program according to claim 1, further characterized in that the information processing device is instructed to execute a printer object storage step that stores a new printer object in the registry. [Claim 5] The information processing device further includes a setting information transfer step of transferring the setting information of the predetermined printer object to the new printer object, A printer object deletion step for deleting the predetermined printer object, The program according to claim 4, characterized by causing it to execute. [Claim 6] The program according to claim 5, characterized in that the setting information for the predetermined printer object includes at least the connection port information for the printer corresponding to the predetermined printer object, the name of the predetermined printer driver, and print setting information. [Claim 7] The information processing device further includes a printer search step for a printer that is connectable to the information processing device and corresponds to the predetermined printer driver, A selection screen display step displays a screen that allows the user to choose whether to perform only the printer object storage step, perform the setting information transfer step and the printer object deletion step, or delete the predetermined printer object for the printer corresponding to the predetermined printer driver detected in the printer discovery step. Make it run, The program according to claim 4, characterized in that it causes the user to install a printer driver corresponding to the printer selected by the user from the screen displayed in the selection screen display step. [Claim 8] The information processing device further has a predetermined print queue corresponding to the predetermined printer object, The program further causes the information processing device to perform a connection status acquisition step to acquire the connection status of the predetermined print queue. The program according to claim 1, characterized in that if the connection status of the predetermined print queue obtained in the connection status acquisition step is an error, the program causes the information acquisition step and the driver object storage step to be executed. [Claim 9] The program according to claim 8, wherein the connection status acquisition step detects a connection error that occurred when a print job transmission instruction was received from the predetermined print queue to a printer corresponding to the predetermined printer driver. [Claim 10] The program according to claim 8, wherein the connection status acquisition step is characterized by periodically acquiring the connection status by polling. [Claim 11] The program according to claim 1, characterized in that the program is a driver installer that installs the predetermined printer driver. [Claim 12] The program according to claim 1, characterized in that it identifies the storage location of the predetermined printer driver using the identification information of the predetermined printer driver and installs the predetermined printer driver from the storage location of the predetermined printer driver. [Claim 13] A control method for installing a predetermined printer driver on an information processing device, The aforementioned information processing device has a registry that stores driver objects and printer objects, which are information related to printer drivers. The printer object includes at least the identification information of the printer driver, The control method described above is An information acquisition step of acquiring information about the printer object and the driver object from the registry, A driver object storage step involves storing in the registry a predetermined driver object relating to the predetermined printer driver, which has identification information stored in the predetermined printer object acquired in the information acquisition step, and which is not stored in the registry. A control method characterized by having the following features. [Claim 14] The control method according to claim 13, characterized in that the driver object includes at least information regarding the storage location of the printer driver. [Claim 15] The control method according to claim 13, characterized in that the identification information of the printer driver is the name of the printer driver. [Claim 16] The control method according to claim 13, further comprising a printer object storage step of storing a new printer object in a registry. [Claim 17] The control method further includes a setting information transfer step of transferring the setting information of the predetermined printer object to the new printer object, A printer object deletion step for deleting the predetermined printer object, The control method according to claim 16, further comprising the above. [Claim 18] The control method according to claim 17, characterized in that the setting information for the predetermined printer object includes at least the connection port information for the printer corresponding to the predetermined printer object, the name of the predetermined printer driver, and print setting information. [Claim 19] The control method further includes a printer search step of searching for a printer that is connectable to the information processing device and corresponds to the predetermined printer driver, A selection screen display step displays a screen that allows the user to choose whether to perform only the printer object storage step, perform the setting information transfer step and the printer object deletion step, or delete the predetermined printer object for the printer corresponding to the predetermined printer driver detected in the printer discovery step. It has, The control method according to claim 16, characterized in that it installs a printer driver corresponding to the printer selected by the user from the screen displayed in the selection screen display step. [Claim 20] The information processing device further has a predetermined print queue corresponding to the predetermined printer object, The control method further includes a connection status acquisition step of acquiring the connection status of the predetermined print queue, The control method according to claim 13, characterized in that if the connection status of the predetermined print queue obtained in the connection status acquisition step is an error, the information acquisition step and the driver object storage step are executed. [Claim 21] The control method according to claim 20, characterized in that the connection status acquisition step detects a connection error that occurred when a print job transmission instruction was received from the predetermined print queue to a printer corresponding to the predetermined printer driver. [Claim 22] The control method according to claim 20, characterized in that the connection status acquisition step periodically acquires the connection status by polling. [Claim 23] The control method according to claim 13, characterized in that the control method is performed by a driver installer that installs the predetermined printer driver. [Claim 24] The control method according to claim 13, characterized in that it identifies the storage location of the predetermined printer driver using the identification information of the predetermined printer driver and installs the predetermined printer driver from the storage location of the predetermined printer driver. [Claim 25] An information processing device for installing a specified printer driver, It has a registry that stores driver objects, which are information about printer drivers, and printer objects. The printer object includes at least the identification information of the printer driver, Information acquisition means for acquiring information on the printer object and the driver object from the registry, A driver object storage means for storing in the registry a predetermined driver object relating to the predetermined printer driver, which has identification information stored in the predetermined printer object acquired in the information acquisition step, and which is not stored in the registry; An information processing device characterized by having the following features.

Images