Application program and control method

Abstract

To provide a function having a better extended application.SOLUTION: A program of an extended application that extends a function in association with printing data generation software operable on an information processing apparatus, causes a computer of the information processing apparatus to function as first acquisition means that acquires printing function information generated by the printing data generation software, second acquisition means that acquires capability information of a printing device from the printing device, and edition means that edits the printing function information acquired by the first acquisition means based on the capability information acquired by the second acquisition means and support information indicating a printing function supported by the extended application.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure provides: Application program and control method Regarding. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, Windows (registered trademark) and other operating systems have provided standard class drivers (hereinafter referred to as "standard drivers") that can be used commonly with printing devices provided by multiple vendors. Such standard drivers are included in the operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") package. The standard driver is configured to allow printing functions to be specified according to PrintCapabilities generated based on information obtained from the connected printing device. This allows users using the standard driver to specify printing functions according to the capabilities of the connected printing device.

[0003] A standard driver can be associated with an application for function extension (hereinafter also referred to as an "extension application"). The extension application is provided by the vendor that provides the printing device. By providing the extension application, the vendor can provide functions (extension functions) that cannot be achieved with the standard driver alone. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for extending functions such as a stamp function using an extension application. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-74906 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Further efforts are needed to enable enhanced applications to provide better functionality. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An application program according to one aspect of the disclosure is an application program that extends the functionality of print data generation software that generates print data, and includes, in a computer of an information processing device, an acquisition process that acquires information on a plurality of functions of a printing device, a display process that displays a print setting screen based on at least a part of the information acquired in the acquisition process, and a second function that can be used only in combination with a first function that is not supported by the application program among the plurality of functions. By editing predetermined information generated by the information acquired in the acquisition process, a control process for controlling the printing settings screen so that the printing settings screen is not displayed; and an application program for executing the control process. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] Book Invention according to claim 1 According to Among the multiple functions, a second function that can be used only in combination with a first function that is not supported by an application program that extends the functions of print data generation software that generates print data is controlled so that it is not displayed on the print setting screen. It is possible. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the printing system. [Figure 2] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing system. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a PDC extension. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the flow of editing processing of a PDC. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a PDC. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are diagrams illustrating examples of various information related to PDC extension. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PDC after functional extension. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a print setting screen. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen after print function expansion. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a media-col-database. [Figure 11]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of deleting an invalid printing function. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a PDC after an invalid printing function has been deleted. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a PDC after an invalid printing function has been deleted. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a print setting screen after invalid print functions are deleted. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a PDC editing request reason from an OS. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of deleting an invalid printing function. [Figure 17] 10 is a diagram showing the data structure of cache information for determining whether PDC editing is necessary; FIG. [Figure 18] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flow of deleting invalid print settings in the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure, and not all combinations of features described in the present embodiments are necessarily essential to the solutions of the present disclosure. Note that identical components are given the same reference numerals and will not be described again.

[0010] <<Embodiment 1>> <Printing system hardware configuration> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a printing system according to this embodiment. The printing system includes a host computer 101, and FIG. 1 mainly shows the block configuration of the host computer. The host computer 101 is an example of an information processing device. The host computer 101 includes an input interface 110, a CPU 111, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, an external storage device 114, an output interface 115, an input / output interface 116, and a network interface (NETIF) 120. Input devices such as a keyboard 118 and a pointing device 117 are connected to the input interface 110, and display devices such as a display unit 119 are connected to the output interface 115. The NETIF 120 controls data transfer between the host computer and external devices via a network. In the example of FIG. 1, the display unit 119, the pointing device 117, and the keyboard 118 are shown as examples of devices separate from the host computer 101, but these may also be included in the host computer 101. The display unit 119 may also be a touch panel display with input / output device functionality.

[0011] An initialization program is stored in ROM 112. An external storage device 114 stores application programs, an operating system (OS), print data generation software, and various other data. In the following description, the OS refers to the OS of the host computer 101 stored in ROM 112 unless otherwise specified. In the following, application programs will be abbreviated as applications. RAM 113 is used as a work memory when executing the various programs stored in the external storage device 114, thereby enabling the various programs to run within the host computer 101.

[0012] In this embodiment, the CPU 111 executes the processes according to the procedures of the programs stored in the ROM 112, thereby executing the functions and processes of the host computer 101, which will be described later.

[0013] The printing device 102, which is an output device, is connected to the host computer 101 via an input / output interface 116. In the example of FIG. 1, the host computer 101 and the printing device 102 are separate, but they may also be configured as a single information processing device. Note that the printing device will be described as an inkjet printer that prints by ejecting ink onto paper, but printing may also be performed using other methods (e.g., electrophotography). The host computer 101 may be a desktop personal computer, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a laptop computer. The input / output interface 116 may be wired or wireless. The host computer 101 and the printing device 102 may also be connected via a LAN or a WAN such as the Internet.

[0014] <Software-based printing system configuration> FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a printing system. Here, the description is based on the premise that the printing system uses a host computer 101 with Microsoft® Windows® 10 installed as its OS. FIG. 2(a) is a diagram illustrating a typical configuration in which an extended application 204 is not associated with print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. In other words, it is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a printing system in which the extended application 204 is not used. Meanwhile, FIG. 2(b) is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a printing system according to this embodiment in which the extended application 204 is associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102.

[0015] First, an example of a printing system with a general configuration will be described using Figure 2(a). A printing system with a general configuration includes a drawing application 201 and print data generation software 202. In addition, print function information 203 is stored in RAM 113 or external storage device 114. The drawing application 201 and print data generation software 202 are programs that can be run on the host computer 101, and are stored in RAM 113 or external storage device 114.

[0016] The drawing application 201 is software that creates content (drawing data) to be printed. Examples of the drawing application 201 include various applications operated by the user, such as a word processing application, a spreadsheet application, and a presentation data creation application. When the drawing application 201 receives a print request through a user operation, it issues a print instruction to the OS. The print instruction includes print setting information for instructing the operation of the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. The print setting information is also called a PrintTicket (hereinafter abbreviated as "PT").

[0017] The drawing application 201 can display a print setting screen to accept print setting operations from the user and set print setting information (PT). The print setting screen is a screen provided by any of the print data generation software 202, the OS, and the drawing application 201. The print setting screen includes setting items (hereinafter also referred to as "control items") that indicate configurable print functions and control items that indicate their setting values. The print setting screen displays the control items according to capability information (information that can be set as print settings) acquired from the print data generation software 202. The capability information is also called PrintCapabilities (hereinafter abbreviated as "PC"). The print data generation software 202 determines the PC based on the print function information 203.

[0018] The print capability information 203 is data indicating all configurable print functions, their setting values, and the mutual exclusion relationships between the setting values. The print capability information 203 is also called PDC (Print Device Capabilities). The print capability information 203 is included in a configuration file of the print data generation software 202 and stored in the external storage device 114 as an unmodifiable file. Alternatively, the print capability information 203 can be dynamically generated by the print data generation software 202. Specifically, the print data generation software 202 or the OS can be configured to acquire printing device attribute data from the printing device 102 and generate the print capability information 203 based on the attribute information in the acquired attribute data. When the print capability information 203 is dynamically generated, the generated print capability information 203 can be edited. The printing device attribute data acquired from the printing device 102 is the response data acquired by issuing an IPP Get-Printer-Attributes operation to the printing device. IPP stands for Internet Print Protocol. The response includes attribute information indicating functions (printing device capabilities) that can be specified by the printing device 102, and setting values ​​related to the attribute information. The response data is saved in RAM 113.

[0019] This configuration allows the print data generation software 202 to be configured so that the user can specify print functions available on each connected printing device 102, depending on the printing device 102. In other words, even when printing devices with different functions or printing devices developed by different vendors are connected, the print data generation software 202 can be configured so that the user can specify print functions available on the connected printing device. Here, a configuration using the IPP Class Driver included in Windows® 10 will be described as the print data generation software 202. The IPP Class Driver is a printer driver that executes printing processing in accordance with the specifications of a standard printing protocol called IPP, and is software that is bundled with the OS and pre-installed on the host computer 101. Furthermore, the IPP Class Driver is not a specific printer driver provided by the vendor of the printing device 102 for each model of the printing device 102. The IPP Class Driver is a standard class driver provided by the OS vendor that can be used commonly for multiple printing devices. The IPP Class Driver also acquires attribute information of the connected printing device 102 and generates print function information 203 based on that information so that the user can specify the print functions supported by the connected printing device 102. In this way, the IPP Class Driver, which is print data generation software 202, can dynamically generate print function information 203 (PDC).

[0020] The print setting information (PT) specified through the print setting screen displayed on the PC based on such print function information 203 (PDC) is included in the print instruction output from the drawing application 201. Note that the print instruction output from the drawing application 201 includes the data to be drawn in addition to the print setting information (PT).

[0021] The OS generates intermediate data (also called input data) based on the print instruction output from the drawing application 201 and passes it to the print data generation software 202. The data output by the drawing application 201 for printing is data in Graphic Device Interface format (GDI format data) or XML Paper Specification format (XPS format data). When an IPP Class Driver is used as the print data generation software 202, if the data output by the drawing application 201 is data in GDI format, the OS converts the data format. That is, the OS converts the GDI format data output from the drawing application 201 into data in XPS format. The converted XPS format data is then passed to the print data generation software 202 as intermediate data. On the other hand, if the data output by the drawing application 201 is data in XPS format, the OS passes the XPS format data to the print data generation software 202 as intermediate data. The intermediate data includes drawing data, which is information about the image to be formed on paper, and print setting information (PT) set by the user.

[0022] The print data generation software 202 converts the acquired intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102 and sends it to the printing device 102. The print data includes drawing data, which is information about the image to be formed on paper, and print setting attribute information (attribute information that specifies print settings) generated based on print setting information set by the user. The print setting attribute information includes attribute information that indicates functions that can be specified by the printing device 102 (capabilities of the printing device) and setting values ​​related to that attribute information.

[0023] The printing device 102 prints on paper based on the print data sent from the print data generation software 202. At this time, the printing device 102 forms the drawing data included in the print data on paper in accordance with the print setting attribute information included in the print data. The print setting attribute information includes attribute information and its setting values ​​for specifying print quality (priority on image quality or priority on speed, etc.) and double-sided printing, etc. For example, if the print setting attribute information includes attribute information specifying double-sided printing, the printing device 102 executes double-sided printing.

[0024] 2(b) is a diagram showing the configuration of this embodiment when the extension application 204 is associated with the print data generation software 202 and the printing device 102. Note that configurations and processes not specifically mentioned below are equivalent to the configurations and processes in FIG. 2(a). Note that in the following explanation, processes described as being executed by each piece of software provided in the host computer 101 are actually realized as follows. That is, they are realized by the CPU 111 loading each piece of software stored in the ROM 112, etc., into the RAM 113 and executing it.

[0025] The extension application 204 is software for extending the functions of the print data generation software 202, and is not software that is bundled with the OS and pre-installed on the host computer 101. Therefore, a user operates the host computer 101 to download the extension application 204 from a server via the Internet and install it on the host computer 101. Alternatively, the extension application 204 may be automatically installed on the host computer 101 when the printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101. Specifically, when the printing device 102 is connected to the host computer 101, the OS acquires device identification information from the printing device 102. The OS may download the extension application 204 corresponding to the acquired device identification information from a server via the Internet and install it on the host computer 101. In this way, the print data generation software 202 and the extension application 204 are held in the host computer 101 as separate files.

[0026] The print data generation software 202 and the extension application 204 may be updated and upgraded, but these update processes are also performed at different times. Furthermore, the timing at which the host computer 101 acquires the print data generation software 202 is different from the timing at which the extension application 204 is acquired. Furthermore, the trigger at which the host computer 101 acquires the print data generation software 202 is different from the trigger at which the extension application 204 is acquired. When the extension application 204 is installed, the OS associates the extension application 204 with the print data generation software 202 and the corresponding printing device 102.

[0027] The extension application 204 described in this embodiment includes a print setting screen extension unit 205, a skip control unit 206, a print function extension unit 207, a print data editing unit 208, and a notification unit 209. The extension application 204 also includes shared information 210 that can be commonly accessed by each unit. The extension application 204 is provided by the vendor that provides the printing device 102. The shared information 210 is actually a file saved in the external storage device 114 or information stored in the RAM 113. The extension application 204 writes and reads information to and from the shared information 210 by using an API (Application Program Interface) provided by the OS.

[0028] The extension application 204 may terminate operation each time the processing of each unit is completed. In this case, the OS will launch the extension application 204 each time a request to use each unit is received. Another possible configuration is also possible. For example, the OS may terminate the operation of the extension application 204 when the processing of the print setting screen extension unit 205 is completed, but the OS may keep the extension application 204 running even after the processing of the skip control unit 206 is completed.

[0029] Furthermore, the extended application 204 may cancel processing during the processing of each unit. When the extended application 204 cancels processing, the job being processed in the print queue is deleted by the OS. The print queue is a spooler provided in the OS that stores generated jobs. A job is generated based on a print instruction output from the extended application 204 and stored in the print queue. Intermediate data generated based on a print instruction output from the extended application 204 becomes data associated with the job stored at that time. When the intermediate data associated with the job is being processed, the job status also becomes "in processing." When print data converted from the intermediate data associated with the job (in other words, the print data associated with the job) is sent to the printing device 102, the job is deleted from the print queue by the OS. A print queue is generated by the OS for each printing device 102 with which the extended application 204 communicates. That is, for example, when the extended application 204 communicates with multiple printing devices 102, multiple print queues are created by the OS. Each generated print queue is associated with a corresponding printing device 102. Note that multiple print queues linked to one printing device 102 may be created.

[0030] When the drawing application 201 receives a print request from a user, it issues a print instruction to the OS. The print instruction includes print setting information (PT), as in the configuration of FIG. 2(a). In the configuration of FIG. 2(b), as in the configuration of FIG. 2(a), the drawing application 201 can display a print setting screen for specifying the print setting information (PT). In the configuration of FIG. 2(b), a print setting screen provided by the extension application 204 is displayed. Specifically, a print setting screen provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205 included in the extension application 204 is displayed. In other words, the print setting screen display control is performed by the print setting screen extension unit 205. Whether or not the print setting screen provided by the print setting screen extension unit 205 is displayed depends on the user's operation.

[0031] When the drawing application 201 accepts a print request from a user and issues a print instruction to the OS, the OS activates the skip control unit 206. The skip control unit 206 performs control processing to determine whether or not to perform skip processing, which skips the processing of the print data generation software 202. After the skip control processing of the skip control unit 206, the OS generates intermediate data based on the print instruction output from the drawing application 201 and passes the intermediate data to the print data generation software 202. Here, if the skip processing is not performed by the skip control unit 206, the intermediate data is processed by the print data generation software 202 into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102 and passed to the print data editing unit 208. On the other hand, if the skip processing of the print data generation software 202 is performed, the intermediate data is passed to the print data editing unit 208 without being processed by the print data generation software 202. This makes it possible for the print data editing unit 208 to process the intermediate data.

[0032] The print data editing unit 208 edits the intermediate data passed from the print data generation software 202 or the print data processed by the print data generation software 202. Taking layout printing as an example of the editing content, the print data editing unit 208 changes the layout of the intermediate data or print data based on the print setting information for layout printing received from the OS. Layout printing involves, for example, laying out and printing N pages of data on one page, and is referred to as N-in-1 or N-up (N indicates the number of pages). The print data editing unit 208 can also display a UI screen on the display unit 119, and can display the layout results of the intermediate data or print data as a preview screen. After the print data editing unit 208 edits the print data, the print data is passed to the printing device 102 via the OS. The printing device 102 prints on paper based on the accepted print data. Note that if the skip control unit 206 skips the print data generation software 202, the print data editing unit 208 may convert the received intermediate data into print data that can be interpreted by the printing device 102. Furthermore, functions provided by the OS may be used to convert the intermediate data into print data.

[0033] The extension application 204 also has a print function extension unit 207. The print function extension unit 207 can edit the print function information 203 (PDC) generated by the print data generation software 202 or the OS. In other words, the print function extension unit 207 can change the print function information 203 even if the print function information 203 is stored in the external storage device 114 as an unchangeable file. In this way, the extension application 204 has the ability to edit the print function information 203 (PDC). The print function extension unit 207 can add functions provided by the extension application 204. The print function extension unit 207 can also add functions that are supported by the printing device 102 but not by the print data generation software 202, add exclusive relationships between setting values ​​of print functions, and so on.

[0034] The OS starts the print function extension unit 207 when the extension application 204 is first associated with the printing device 102 and the print data generation software 202. Furthermore, the OS may start the print function extension unit 207 at any other timing, such as when the OS starts up. This allows the print function extension unit 207 to detect the extension and add it to the print function information 203 in cases where an optional device (e.g., a finisher) is added to the printing device 102 later and printing-related functions are extended.

[0035] The extension application 204 also has a notification unit 209. The notification unit 209 can display a notification to the user in response to an error occurring in the printing device 102. For example, when an out-of-paper error occurs in the printing device 102, the print data generation software 202 detects the error. The OS then uses a notification function called a toast notification, which is an OS function, to display a message on the display unit 119. When the user presses this toast notification, the OS calls the notification unit 209 of the extension application 204, and the UI screen of the notification unit 209 is displayed. The UI screen of the notification unit 209 can display, for example, a detailed message about the out-of-paper error or instructions on how to refill paper. Note that pressing includes not only a click operation with a mouse or the like, but also a touch or tap operation on a touch panel display.

[0036] The configuration of the extension application 204 for realizing this embodiment is not limited to having all of the above-mentioned functions (units), but may have only some of the functions or other functions. The extension application 204 may also be simply called print software. As described above, the extension application 204 has at least one of the following functions: a function for displaying a print setting screen (print setting screen extension unit 205), a function for controlling whether or not to skip processing by the print data generation software 202 (skip control unit 206), a function for editing print data input to the printing device (print data editing unit 208), and a function for extending functions that can be specified by the print data generation software 202 (print function extension unit 207). Another function is a function for displaying a screen in response to an error occurring in the printing device 102 (notification unit 209).

[0037] <PDC editing process using the print function extension unit> A method for adding a print function to the PDC based on the print functions supported by the extension application 204 and the capability information of the printing device 102 when the print function extension unit 207 edits the PDC of the print data generation software in this embodiment will be described.

[0038] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the PDC editing process performed by the print function extension unit 207 in this printing system. First, the print data generation software 202 acquires capability information 302 of the printing device 102 connected to the host computer 101 and generates a PDC 203 based on that information. The capability information 302 acquired from the printing device 102 includes information that the user can set as print settings when printing to the printing device 102. The OS 301 requests the print function extension unit 207 of the extension application 204 to edit the PDC 203, for example, when the extension application 204 is associated with a print queue for the printing device 102. Upon receiving the PDC editing request from the OS 301, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the PDC 203 generated by the print data generation software and begins PDC editing. Details of print function extension using PDC editing are described below.

[0039] 4 is a diagram showing the main processing flow of the PDC editing process by the print function extension unit 207 in this printing system. Hereinafter, the print function extension unit 207 may be described as the main body of each process, but in reality, the corresponding function is realized by the CPU 111 executing the corresponding program. Note that the symbol "S" in the description of each process indicates a step in the flowchart, and this also applies to the flowcharts from FIG. 4 onwards.

[0040] The flow in FIG. 4 starts when the OS 301 starts the print function extension unit 207, for example, when the OS 301 is associated with the extension application 204 for the first time.

[0041] In S401, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the PDC 203 to be edited from the OS 301. The PDC 203 is a PDC that the print data generation software 202 has created based on the capability information 302 of the printing device 102.

[0042] 5, a specific example of a PDC 203 created by the print data generation software 202 based on capability information 302 acquired from the printing device 102 will be described. PDC 501 includes information on features supported by the printing device 102, or information on setting values ​​(options) for a certain feature that is supported by the print data generation software 202. For example, information 502 indicates that ISOA4 and North America Letter can be specified as PageMediaSize (paper size). Furthermore, information 503 indicates that the Main tray, Rear tray, and Disc tray can be specified as the JobInputBin (paper feed slot).

[0043] In explaining the embodiments, the description of the printing functions is limited to paper size and paper feed slot, but in reality, other features or options such as paper type are also described. Note that the feature names or option names in the PDC used in the following explanation are merely examples, and other names (information indicating functions) or configurable values ​​may also be used.

[0044] A PDC 601 in FIG. 6(a) is a simplified list of items equivalent to the Features or Options of the PDC 501 shown in FIG. 5, and the PDC 501 and PDC 601 indicate the same PDC.

[0045] In S402, the print function extension unit 207 acquires capability information 302 from the printing device 102. As explained above, the capability information 302 is attribute information indicating functions (printing device capabilities) that can be specified by the printing device 102 and setting values ​​related to that attribute information. A simplified example of the capability information 302 acquired by the print function extension unit 207 from the printing device 102 is shown as capability information 602 in FIG. 6B. That is, the capability information 602 acquired from the printing device 102 describes the printing functions or configurable values ​​supported by the printing device 102. For simplicity's sake, the capability information 602 is illustrated with a similar structure to the PDC 601, but the actual data structure is different. As explained above, the PDC 601 is created by the print data generation software 202 based on the capability information 602 of the printing device 102, but as shown in FIG. 6, the PDC 601 and the capability information 602 have different descriptions. Specifically, the PDC 601 does not include a description of the paper size "square," but it is included in the capability information 602. This is because the PDC 601 is created taking into account the settings that can be set on the printing device and the settings that can be set in the print data generation software 202 itself.

[0046] In S403, the print function extension unit 207 obtains a list of print function information (support information) supported by the extension application 204 from the shared information 210. The list of print function information supported by the extension application 204 is stored in the shared information 210 and lists all print functions that the extension application 204 can process and their setting values. The print function extension unit 207 references the list of print function information supported by the extension application 204 obtained from the shared information 210. As a result, the print function extension unit 207 proceeds to add to the PDC 601 any print function or setting value not listed in the PDC 601 from the capability information 602 of the printing device 102. If the print function extension unit 207 adds to the PDC 601 a print function or setting value not supported by the extension application 204, unexpected behavior may occur when a user selects that print function or setting value and prints. To prevent this unexpected behavior, the extension application 204 needs to retain a list of supported print function information. The list of print function information supported by the extension application 204 may be updated by updating the extension application 204, for example.

[0047] 6C shows a simple example of a list of print function information supported by the extended application 204. Note that the list of print function information supported by the extended application 603 has the same structure as a simple example of a PDC such as PDC 601, but it may be written in the same data structure as a PDC, or in a different data structure.

[0048] In S404, the print function extension unit 207 compares the capability information 602 of the printing device 102 acquired in S402 with the list of print function information 603 supported by the extension application acquired in S403. The print functions listed in both are added to the PDC 601 of the print data generation software 202 acquired in S401. Note that print functions already listed in the PDC 601 are not added. In this example, the paper size "square" is listed in both the capability information 602 of the printing device 102 and the list of print function information supported by the extension application 603, but is not listed in the PDC 601 created by the print data generation software 202. The PDC 604 in FIG. 6D shows a simple example of the PDC after the print function extension unit 207 adds the paper size "square" through the processing in S404. When the processing in S404 is completed, the print function extension unit 207 ends this flow.

[0049] As described above, by the processing of S401 to S404, the print function extension unit 207 edits the PDC 601 generated by the print data generation software and extends the print functions. By the print function extension processing by the print function extension unit 207, print functions that are included in the capability information 302 of the printing device 102 and that are supported by the extension application 204 are added to the PDC 601 generated by the print data generation software 202.

[0050] 7 shows the PDC after the print function has been expanded using this flowchart. That is, PDC 604 is actually written as PDC 701. In PDC 701, a paper size "Photo5x5" 702 has been added to the Feature column indicating the paper size for PDC 501 generated by print data generation software 202. The paper size "Photo5x5" written in PDC 701 is actually the paper size "square."

[0051] <Example of the screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit> Next, the print setting screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 will be described with reference to FIG. 8. A PC is generated based on the PDC 701 edited by the process of FIG. 4. The print setting screen 801 in FIG. 8(a) is an example of a screen displayed by the print setting screen expansion unit 205 based on the generated PC. Note that in FIG. 8, an example of the print setting screen based on the PDC 501 will be described first. An example of the print setting screen based on the PDC 701 will be described later with reference to FIG. 9. The print setting screen expansion unit 205 is called by the OS 301 when the user instructs the drawing application 201 to display the print setting screen. The print setting screen expansion unit 205 displays the print setting screen 801 based on the PC that can be obtained from the OS 301. The user can specify print functions that can be set in the print data generation software 202 by operating the print setting screen 801.

[0052] Control 802 is a control item that allows the user to set the type of paper to be used for printing, such as plain paper or photo paper. Control 803 is a control item that allows the user to set the paper size to be used for printing, such as A4 or letter. List 810 shown in FIG. 8(b) shows the display state when control 803 is expanded, and the user can select a paper size from the expanded list.

[0053] Control 804 is a control that can set the paper feed slot for printing paper of the printing device 102, and can set items such as the main tray or rear tray. List 811 shown in Figure 8(c) shows the display state when control 804 is expanded, and the user can select a paper feed slot from the expanded list.

[0054] Control 805 is a control item that can set the print orientation, and can be set to portrait or landscape. Control 806 is a control item that can switch double-sided printing between enabled and disabled. Control 807 is a control item that can set the binding direction when printing double-sided, and can be set to, for example, long-edge binding or short-edge binding. Control 808 is a cancel button that closes the screen without reflecting the settings. Control 809 is an OK button that reflects the settings and closes the screen.

[0055] The print settings screen 901 in Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the print settings screen after the print function has been expanded by the editing process in Fig. 4. In the list 902 showing the expanded state of the paper size control 803, the paper size "square" added by the editing process in Fig. 4 can be selected.

[0056] <PDC Editing Process by Print Function Extension Unit in First Embodiment> Here, it is clear from PDC 601 of print data generation software 202 or edited PDC 604 that print data generation software 202 does not support the paper size "Disk" but supports the paper feed slot "Disk." In such a case, PDC 501 generated by print data generation software 202 or edited PDC 701 will not list the paper size "Disk" but will list the paper feed slot "Disk." If the paper feed slot "Disk" is only compatible with the paper size "Disk," the user can specify a print function. However, even if the user actually specifies the function, printing from the paper feed slot "Disk" is not possible, and the paper feed slot "Disk" becomes an invalid print function. It is desirable to configure the system so that users cannot specify such invalid print functions. If a user selects an invalid print function (e.g., paper feed slot "Disk" in 812) on print setting screen 801 and attempts to print, they may encounter a misprint or a print error. The following describes a method for deleting invalid print functions when invalid print settings such as those described above are written in the PDC 601 or PD 604.

[0057] First, PDC 501 created by print data generation software 202 based on capability information 302 acquired from printing device 102 is composed only of print functions supported by print data generation software 202. Meanwhile, printing device 102 has information called media-col-database (print setting combination information) that lists combinations of print settings that the printing device 102 can print with. While capability information 302 includes print functions that can be set when printing on printing device 102 or their setting values, media-col-database lists information on combinations of print functions that can be printed on printing device 102 and their setting values.

[0058] A specific example of media-col-database is shown in Figure 10. media-col-database 1001 is a conceptual representation of the information contained in media-col-database, and in reality it is written in a different configuration.

[0059] media-col-database1001 indicates that printing is possible when the media type, size, margins, and paper feed satisfy a specific combination. For example, the first line of media-col-database1001 indicates that printing is possible with the combination of paper size "A4", margins "standard", paper feed "automatic", and media "plain paper".

[0060] Here, media-col-database 605 in FIG. 6(e) is a table that simply represents media-col-database 1001 in FIG. 10. For example, (1) indicates that printing is possible when the paper size is "A4" and the paper feed is set to "Automatic." Note that while only the paper size and paper feed combination are listed here, printing is actually possible when the margins and media are also set to a compatible combination. (7) in media-col-database 605 indicates that the "Disk" paper feed is only possible when combined with the "Disk" paper size. As mentioned above, even in this case, the "Disk" paper feed is listed for PDC 601 or PDC 604, and the user can select the "Disk" paper feed on the print settings screen 801. This can lead to misprints or printing errors, reducing usability.

[0061] This problem is solved by referencing the media-col-database 1001 obtained from the printing device 102 when editing the PDC in the print function extension unit 207 of the extension application 204. Specifically, the media-col-database 1001 is referenced, invalid print functions are detected, and the PDC is edited to exclude them. Specific processing steps are described below.

[0062] 11 is a diagram showing the main flow of the print function expansion process and the invalid print function deletion process of the print function expansion unit 207. Examples of each step will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0063] This flow begins when the print function extension unit 207 receives a PDC editing request from the OS 301. Steps S1101 to S1103 are the same as steps S401 to S403 in the PDC editing process flow shown in Fig. 4, and therefore will not be described here. Examples of the information acquired in steps S1101 to S1103 are the PDC 601 of the print data generation software 202, the PDC 203 of the printing device 102, the capability information 602 of the printing device 102, and the list of print function information 603 supported by the extension application 204.

[0064] In S1104, the print function extension unit 207 acquires a media-col-database from the printing device 102. In this flow, it is assumed that the print function extension unit 207 acquires the media-col-database 1001 shown in FIG. 10 from the printing device 102. The media-col-database 1001 contains information about the print functions that can be used by the printing device 102 and the combinations of their setting values. In the following explanation, the media-col-database 605, which is a list that simply shows the media-col-database 1001, is used. Note that in this embodiment, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the capability information 302 from the printing device 102 in S1102 and the media-col-database in S1104 in separate steps, but they may also be acquired in the same step.

[0065] Thereafter, in S1105, the print function extension unit 207 performs the same print function extension as in S404, that is, edits the PDC 203. Here, the print function extension unit 207 adds the paper size "square" that matches the capability information 602 of the printing device 102 and the print function information list 603 supported by the extension application to the PDC 601 of the print data generation software 202. Therefore, the edited PDC 601 becomes PDC 604.

[0066] After the printing functions have been expanded, steps S1106 to S1108 are repeated until all combinations have been verified for the list of combination information listed in media-col-database 605 acquired in S1104. In the repeated processing of steps S1106 to S1108, it is verified whether the PDC 604 lists printing functions that satisfy each combination information listed in media-col-database 605, and invalid printing functions are detected. The specific processing flow is shown below.

[0067] First, in S1106, the print function extension unit 207 obtains a set of combination information from the media-col-database 605 and determines whether some of the print functions included in the combination information are described in the PDC 604 expanded in S1105. For example, (1) in the media-col-database 605 is a combination of paper size "A4" and paper feed slot "Automatic," and the PDC 604 contains both, so the determination is No. On the other hand, (7) in the media-col-database 605 is a combination of paper size "Disk" and paper feed slot "Disk," but the PDC 604 only contains "Disk" for the paper feed slot. In this case, the determination is Yes.

[0068] If the result of the determination is Yes, in S1107, the print function extension unit 207 stores the corresponding print function as an invalid print function candidate in the invalid print function candidate list. The invalid print function candidate list is temporarily stored in the RAM 113 and is held during steps S1106 to S1109.

[0069] On the other hand, if No, the process proceeds to S1108, and if a printing function included in the combination information is stored in the invalid printing function candidate list as an invalid printing function candidate, the printing function is deleted from the invalid printing function candidate list.

[0070] Steps S1106 to S110 are repeated until verification is complete for all combination information. In the example of media-col-database 605, for combinations (1) to (6), all printing functions that satisfy the combination exist in PDC 604, so the process proceeds to S1108. On the other hand, for combination (7), as described above, the paper size "Disk" is not listed in PDC 604, so the process proceeds to S1107, and the paper feed slot "Disk" is retained as an invalid printing function candidate. As a result of verifying combinations up to (7), the paper feed slot "Disk" is ultimately determined to be an invalid printing function. After verifying all combinations, the process proceeds to S1109, and the printing function extension unit 207 deletes from the PDC the printing functions that were retained as invalid printing function candidates at this point.

[0071] 12 shows a specific example of a PDC 1201 after the print function extension unit 207 deletes invalid print functions from the PDC 701. "Disk" has been deleted from information 1202 indicating InputBin, which is a paper feed port.

[0072] 13 shows an example of a PDC that is a simplified representation of the PDC 1201. Comparing the PDC 1301 in FIG. 13 with the PDC 604, it can be seen that the PDC 1301 has the "Disk" paper feed slot removed from the PDC 604.

[0073] Also, the print settings screen 1401 in Figure 14 shows an example in which the invalid print function "Disk" has been deleted from the paper feed slot list 811 of the print settings screen 801 displayed by the print settings screen extension unit 205 of the extension application 204.

[0074] In the above, the combination of paper size and paper feed slot has been used as an example of a combination that can result in an invalid print function, but the combinations that can result in an invalid print function are not limited to this. For example, an invalid print function can occur when combining "paper type" and "print quality," or when combining "paper type" and "paper size." The following describes the combination of "paper type" and "print quality."

[0075] Assume that the printing device capability information 602 contains the paper types "plain paper," "photo paper," "glossy gold," and "platinum grade," as well as the print qualities "best," "fine," "standard," and "draft." Furthermore, the media-col-database 605 contains information that printing is only possible with the combination of the paper type "platinum grade" and the print quality "best." Furthermore, the print function information list 603 supported by the print data generation software PDC 601 and extension application does not contain information about the paper type "platinum grade," but does contain information about print functions other than the paper type "platinum grade." In other words, it contains information about the paper types "plain paper," "photo paper," and "glossy gold," as well as the print qualities "best," "fine," "standard," and "draft."

[0076] In this case, the "Platinum Grade" paper type is not added to PDC 604, which is the print data generation software PDC 601 that has been expanded by the extension application 204. This is because "Platinum Grade" is listed in the capability information 602 but not in the print function information list 603 supported by the extension application. On the other hand, if the "Highest" paper quality was not originally listed in PDC 601, it will be added to PDC 604. Because the "Platinum Grade" paper type and the "Highest" print quality are print function settings that are only available in this combination, the "Highest" print quality listed in PDC 604 after the expansion becomes an invalid print function. Even if a user sets the "Highest" print quality and prints, the actual printout will not be printed at the "Highest" print quality, or a print error will occur. By applying this embodiment, the invalid print function and the "Highest" print quality are deleted, preventing users from encountering misprints or print errors.

[0077] This embodiment can be applied to cases other than those described above. For example, the paper type "Fine Art" and the paper size "For Fine Art" are combinations of print functions that can only be used in combination, and this combination can result in invalid print functions. As described above, by applying this embodiment, it is possible to eliminate the existence of invalid print functions that occur even with the combination of the paper type "Fine Art" and the paper size "For Fine Art."

[0078] As described above, this embodiment makes it possible to provide better functionality as an extended application. Specifically, when editing a PDC using an extended application, it is possible to add a printing function to a PDC generated by the print data generation software based on the printing functions supported by the extended application 204 and the capability information of the printing device 102. It is also possible to delete invalid printing functions that arise when the PDC is generated by the print data generation software 202 and when the PDC is edited by the extended application. By deleting invalid printing functions, it is possible to prevent, for example, a user from setting an invalid printing function and encountering misprints or printing errors.

[0079] <<Embodiment 2>> Next, a second embodiment will be described. There are various triggers that cause the OS to request an extension application to edit a PDC, but depending on the trigger, there may be cases where PDC editing is not necessary. When an extension application edits a PDC, a certain processing load is imposed, such as obtaining the PDC from the printing device, so it is desirable to avoid unnecessary PDC editing.

[0080] In this embodiment, when the extension application 204 receives a PDC editing request from the OS 301, the reason for the PDC editing request is acquired from the OS 301. This allows the necessity of PDC editing to be determined, and unnecessary PDC editing is skipped, thereby reducing the processing load.

[0081] FIG. 15 is a table showing triggers for the OS 301 to request PDC editing and whether a PDC is necessary in that situation. As shown in Table 1501, four examples of when PDC editing is necessary are given. The first case is when the host computer 101 and printing device 102 are newly connected and the print data generation software 202 creates a new PDC 203. The second case is when the PDC 601 of the print data generation software 202 is updated due to a version upgrade of the OS 301, for example. The third case is when the capability information 602 and media-col-database 605 of the printing device 102 are updated due to an update of the printing device 102, for example. The fourth case is when the print function information list 603 supported by the extension application 204 is updated due to an update of the extension application 204, for example.

[0082] In the first case, the PDC 203 newly created by the print data generation software 202 is in an unexpanded state, so PDC editing is required. Additionally, in the other cases 2 to 4, PDC editing is also required for the respective reasons. Note that even in cases other than the second to fourth, PDC editing is required if a PDC editing request is received from the OS 301 based on a trigger that may result in the addition of a new print function to an existing PDC or the creation of a new disabled print function.

[0083] Furthermore, PDC editing is not necessary if a PDC editing request is received from OS 301 based on a trigger that does not create the possibility of adding a new print function to an existing PDC or the possibility of creating a new disabled print function. Examples of such cases include when the OS 301 issues a PDC editing request when the user displays a print setting screen or starts printing.

[0084] <PDC Editing Process by Print Function Extension Unit in Second Embodiment> 16 is a diagram showing the flow of the main processing of the PDC editing processing by the print function extension unit 207 in this embodiment. Steps from S1602 onwards are the same as steps S1101 to S1109 in the flow diagram of the main processing of the PDC editing processing by the print function extension unit 207 in embodiment 1. Therefore, a description of steps S1602 onwards will be omitted.

[0085] In S1601, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the reason for the PDC editing request from the OS 301 and determines whether PDC editing is necessary. The PDC editing request reason acquired from the OS 301 is assumed to include trigger information indicating that the OS 301 requested PDC editing. The print function extension unit 207 determines that PDC editing is necessary if the PDC editing request reason acquired from the OS 301 is classified as "PDC editing required" in Table 1501. The print function extension unit 207 determines that PDC editing is not necessary if the PDC editing request reason acquired from the OS 301 is classified as "PDC editing not required" in Table 1501. If the print function extension unit 207 determines that PDC editing is necessary in S1601, it proceeds to S1602 and performs subsequent processing. If it determines that PDC editing is not necessary, it skips the subsequent processing and terminates this flow.

[0086] As described above, the print function extension unit 207 acquires the reason for the PDC editing request from the OS 301 and determines whether PDC editing is necessary, thereby skipping unnecessary PDC editing and reducing the processing load in PDC editing.

[0087] <<Embodiment 3>> Next, a third embodiment will be described. As in the second embodiment, the present embodiment is configured such that the extended application 204 determines whether PDC editing is necessary and skips unnecessary PDC editing, thereby reducing the load of PDC editing processing. In the third embodiment, the configuration in which the extended application 204 determines whether PDC editing is necessary differs from the configuration in the second embodiment. A specific example in which the extended application 204 determines whether PDC editing is necessary in the third embodiment will be described below.

[0088] Examples of cases where PDC editing is required include the four cases described in embodiment 2. In this embodiment, these new connections or updates to various information are detected by taking the difference from the cache information stored in the shared information 210 of the extended application 204, and a determination is made as to whether PDC editing is required.

[0089] 17 shows the data structure of cache information. For brevity, the PDC 601 of the print data generation software 202, the printing device capability information 602, the list of print function information supported by the extension application 603, and the media-col-database 605 are referred to as "information used for caching."

[0090] In order for the print function extension unit 207 to store the "information used for caching" as cache information in the shared information 210, it is necessary to confirm the print queue identification information. The print queue identification information is information that identifies which print queue the "information used for caching" is associated with. Note that in this embodiment, since the print queue is associated with the printing device 102, the print queue identification information is, in other words, information that identifies which printing device 102 the "information used for caching" is associated with. In this embodiment, the print function extension unit 207 is capable of acquiring the print queue identification information from the OS 301. By acquiring the "print queue identification information" from the OS 301, the print function extension unit 207 pairs the "print queue identification information" with the related "information used for caching information" to create "cache information" in a data structure such as data structure 1701. In other words, "cache information" is information that includes the "print queue identification information" and the "information used for caching information."

[0091] In this embodiment, when the print function extension unit 207 performs PDC editing, the above-mentioned cache information is stored in the shared information 210 of the extension application 204. Thereafter, when a PDC editing request is received from the OS 301, the difference between the newly acquired "information used for caching" and the cache information stored in the shared information 210 is calculated to determine whether PDC editing is necessary.

[0092] <PDC Editing Process by Print Function Extension Unit in Third Embodiment> Figure 18 is a diagram showing the flow of the main processing of the PDC editing processing by the print function extension unit 207 in embodiment 3. S1801 to S1804 are the same as S1101 to S1104 in Figure 11. Also, S1810 to S1814 are the same as S1105 to S1109. Therefore, a description of the processing other than S1805 to S1809 will be omitted.

[0093] In S1805, the print function extension unit 207 acquires information identifying which print queue the PDC to be edited is linked to from the OS 301. That is, the print function extension unit 207 acquires print queue identification information from the OS 301. Furthermore, by acquiring the print queue identification information here, the print function extension unit 207 can create the cache information described above. Using this cache information, the print function extension unit 207 can determine whether or not PDC editing is necessary.

[0094] Next, in step S1806, the print function extension unit 207 determines whether the cache information associated with the print queue acquired from the OS 301 in step S1805 is stored in the shared information 210 of the extension application 204. If the determination result is Yes, the process proceeds to step S1807; if the determination result is No, the process proceeds to step S1808.

[0095] In S1807, the print function extension unit 207 determines whether there is a difference between the created cache information and the cache information linked to the print queue. If there is a difference in any of the information, the print function extension unit determines Yes and proceeds to S1809. On the other hand, if there is no difference, the print function extension unit determines No and ends this flow.

[0096] In S1808, the print function extension unit 207 newly saves the cache. That is, the print queue identification information acquired from the OS 301 in S1805 and the "information used for the cache" acquired in S1801 to S1804 are stored as cache information in the shared information 210. Thereafter, the print function extension unit 207 continues the PDC editing process from S1810 onwards.

[0097] In S1809, the print function extension unit 207 updates the cache information for the information determined to have a difference among the "information used for caching," and then continues the PDC editing process.

[0098] The above is the method of PDC editing processing in this embodiment. Here, in addition to this embodiment, an example will be described in which the PDC editing processing is further accelerated by utilizing the PDC editing request reason acquired from the OS 301 described in embodiment 2. As described in embodiment 2, when the extension application 204 accepts a PDC editing request from the OS 301, the print function extension unit 207 can determine whether PDC editing is necessary by acquiring the PDC editing request reason from the OS 301.

[0099] Here, it is assumed that the reason for the PDC editing request acquired from the OS 301 is an update of any of the information used for caching described in embodiment 3. In this case, the print function extension unit 207 can skip the process of acquiring information that has not been updated by using the cache information stored in the shared information 210. A specific example will be described below.

[0100] Consider a case where the extension application 204 receives a PDC editing request from the OS 301, and the reason for this is that the PDC 601 of the print data generation software 202 has been updated. Here, the print function extension unit 207 acquires print queue identification information associated with the PDC to be edited from the OS 301, similar to the processing in S1805. The print function extension unit 207 then determines whether cache information using the print queue identification information acquired from the OS 301 as a key is stored in the shared information 210. If the relevant cache information exists, the print function extension unit 207 acquires only the PDC 601 of the print data generation software 202, and can refer to the cache information for other information. In other words, the processing in S1802, S1803, and S1804 can be skipped.

[0101] As described above, according to this embodiment, the print function extension unit 207 can create a cache of various information used in PDC editing by acquiring print queue identification information linked to the PDC to be edited from the OS 301. The print function extension unit 207 can determine whether PDC editing is necessary by calculating the difference between the created cache information and the various information to be used in newly acquired PDC editing, and can reduce the processing load by skipping unnecessary PDC editing. In addition, by using the PDC editing request reason acquired from the OS 301 described in the second embodiment, the processing load can be further reduced.

[0102] <<Other embodiments>> The present invention can also be realized by supplying a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and having one or more processors in the computer of the system or device read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0103] 102 Printing device 202 Printing data generation software 203 PDC 204 Extended Applications 207 Printing function expansion unit

Claims

1. An application program that extends the function of print data generation software that generates print data, the application program being installed in a computer of an information processing device, an acquisition process for acquiring information on a plurality of functions of the printing device; a display process for displaying a print setting screen based on at least a part of the information acquired in the acquisition process; a control process for controlling a second function, which can be used only in combination with a first function that is not supported by the application program, from among the plurality of functions to not be displayed on the print setting screen by editing predetermined information generated by the information acquired in the acquisition process; An application program for executing

2. 2. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined information is edited by the application program.

3. 3. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the print data generation software is software for performing communication using the Internet Print Protocol.

4. 4. The application program according to claim 3, wherein the print data generation software is an Internet Print Protocol Class Driver.

5. the print data generation software is software provided by a vendor of an operating system of the information processing device; 5. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the application program is provided by a vendor that provides the printing device.

6. 6. The application program according to claim 1, wherein the information on the plurality of functions is acquired from the printing device.

7. An application program that extends the function of print data generation software that generates print data, the application program being installed in a computer of an information processing device, an acquisition process for acquiring information on a plurality of functions of the printing device; a display process for displaying a print setting screen based on at least a part of the information acquired in the acquisition process; a control process for controlling so that a second setting value, which can be used only in combination with a first setting value that is not supported by the application program, among the plurality of functions is not displayed on the print setting screen by editing predetermined information generated by the information acquired in the acquisition process; An application program for executing

8. 8. The application program according to claim 7, wherein the predetermined information is edited by the application program.

9. 9. The application program according to claim 7, wherein the print data generation software is software for performing communication using the Internet Print Protocol.

10. 10. The application program according to claim 9, wherein the print data generation software is an Internet Print Protocol Class Driver.

11. the print data generation software is software provided by a vendor of an operating system of the information processing device; 11. The application program according to claim 7, wherein the application program is provided by a vendor that provides the printing device.

12. the first setting value is a setting value for setting a square as a sheet size, 12. The application program according to claim 7, wherein the second setting value is a setting value for setting a disk as a sheet feed source.

13. the first set value is a set value for setting a platinum grade as a type of sheet, 12. The application program according to claim 7, wherein the second setting value is a setting value for setting the highest print quality.

14. 14. The application program according to claim 7, wherein the information on the plurality of functions is acquired from the printing device.

15. A control method using an application program that extends the function of print data generation software that generates print data, an acquisition process for acquiring information on a plurality of functions of the printing device; a display process for displaying a print setting screen based on at least a part of the information acquired in the acquisition process; a control process for controlling a second function, which can be used only in combination with a first function that is not supported by the application program, from among the plurality of functions to not be displayed on the print setting screen by editing predetermined information generated by the information acquired in the acquisition process; A control method comprising:

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