Support Program

Abstract

To provide a technique that improves a display procedure of EWS web pages embedded in a printer in an information processor with OS-standard general-purpose printing programs.SOLUTION: A PC 1 has an auxiliary program 42 installed that supports a general-purpose printing program 41 that is compatible with a printer 2 connected to the PC 1 and pre-embedded in the OS 40 of the PC 1. The printer 2 has an embedded web server (EWS) 23 that functions as a web server. The auxiliary program 42 makes the CPU 11 of the PC 1 execute the process for acquiring connection information indicating the connection destination of the printer 2 from the general-purpose printing program 41 and the process for displaying a web page provided by the EWS 23 embedded in the printer 2 using the acquired connection information, when processing is requested by the general-purpose printing program 41 as a result of the OS 40 receiving a startup instruction with the printer 2 selected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

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

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

[0003] Also, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a printer is known that incorporates an EWS (Embedded Web Server) program, which is a program that functions as a web server, and that displays web pages provided by the EWS on the browser of an information terminal and accepts various printer settings from the information terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-196822 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] To display a webpage provided by the EWS in a browser, the user must enter the printer's address, which is time-consuming. Patent Document 1 also describes a configuration in which an application program (printing app) provided by a printer vendor has browser functionality and displays the EWS webpage, but the printing app must be launched to display the EWS webpage. Even in an environment where a standard OS general-purpose printing program is used, there are cases where a webpage provided by the EWS is used to configure various printer settings, and there is room for improvement in the procedure for displaying such webpages.

[0006] The technology disclosed in this specification aims to realize a technology that improves the procedure for displaying web pages of an EWS built into a printer in an information processing device that has a general-purpose print program built into the OS standard. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a support program that can be executed by a computer of an information processing device, corresponds to a specific printer, and supports a general-purpose printing program that is pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, wherein the operating system is capable of receiving an instruction to start a program corresponding to a selected printer, the general-purpose printing program has a program associated with the printer that requests processing in response to the instruction to start, the specific printer has a program installed therein that functions as a web server, and the web server is capable of receiving settings for the specific printer via a web page that it provides, The computer, When the specific printer is selected and the operating system receives the startup instruction, a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program. an acquisition process for acquiring connection information indicating a connection destination of the specific printer from the general-purpose printing program; a display process for displaying the web page provided by the web server incorporated in the specific printer using the connection information acquired in the acquisition process; Execute The present invention is characterized by being configured as follows.

[0008] According to the technology disclosed in this specification, when an operating system (OS) receives a startup instruction for a support program, the computer of the information processing device uses the support program to obtain connection information indicating the connection destination of a specific printer from a general-purpose printing program, access the web server (EWS) of the specific printer based on the connection information, and display the web page provided by the web server. This allows a user to view the web page provided by the web server of the specific printer without having to enter the address of the specific printer or launch a print app to display the web page, by simply entering a startup instruction. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The technology disclosed in this specification realizes a technology that improves the procedure for displaying web pages in an EWS built into a printer in an information processing device that has a general-purpose print program built into its OS standard. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing system. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a procedure for changing display and print settings in an EWS, including the operations of an OS, an auxiliary program, and a browser. [Figure 3] 1A and 1B are explanatory diagrams showing examples of a "Bluetooth and Devices" screen and a "Printers and Scanners" screen, respectively. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a printer screen. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a start-up screen. [Figure 6] 10A and 10B are explanatory diagrams showing examples of web page screens for print setting options; [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure for a collation process based on the operation of an auxiliary program. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a matching result screen. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a setting confirmation screen. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure when a print instruction is received. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] (First embodiment) An embodiment of a printing system that uses a support program according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the schematic configuration of a printing system according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 1 of this embodiment is made up of a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a "PC") 1 and a printer 2.

[0013] As shown in Fig. 1, the PC 1 of this embodiment includes a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. The PC 1 is an example of an information processing device. The CPU 11 is an example of a computer. The PC 1 also includes a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "user IF") 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 14, which are electrically connected to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 in Fig. 1 is a collective term for hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.

[0014] The CPU 11 executes various processes in accordance with programs read from the memory 12 and based on user operations. Various programs and various data are stored in the memory 12. The memory 12 is also used as a work area when various processes are executed. The buffer provided in the CPU 11 is also an example of memory. Note that the memory 12 is not limited to a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built into the PC 1, but may also be a storage medium readable and writable by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium, such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

[0015] The user IF 13 includes a display 13a, which is hardware that displays a screen for notifying the user of information, and hardware that accepts operations by the user. Note that the user IF 13 may be a combination of the display 13a capable of displaying information and a mouse, keyboard, or the like that has an input acceptance function, or may be a touch panel that has the display 13a and an input acceptance function.

[0016] The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with an external device such as the printer 2. The communication IF 14 may use a communication standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or USB. The PC 1 may be connectable to the Internet (not shown) via the communication IF 14. The PC 1 may also be provided with multiple communication IFs 14 compatible with multiple communication standards.

[0017] As shown in Fig. 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 40 including a general-purpose print program 41, an auxiliary program 42, a browser 43, and various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps") 44. The OS 40 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark). Alternatively, it may be macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark). The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program.

[0018] The generic printing program 41 is an OS standard program provided together with the OS 40, and has a function for causing the printer 2, etc., to print information displayed on the display 13a by the browser 43, the application 44, etc. The generic printing program 41 of this embodiment is a program that includes a function for generating intermediate image data based on the image data to be printed. The generic printing program 41 supports functions that can be used in common by multiple models of printers provided by various printer vendors. Unlike printer drivers that are specific to various printers, the generic printing program 41 does not support all of the specific functions that various printers have, and the functions it supports are limited to generic ones.

[0019] The auxiliary program 42 is a program or group of programs that executes processing based on instructions from the OS 40 in conjunction with the processing of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is a program that supports the control of the target hardware. The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1, and is launched from the general-purpose printing program 41 when, for example, an instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing using the general-purpose printing program 41 is received. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, what is called a print support app (abbreviated as PSA) or a hardware support app (abbreviated as HSA).

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

[0021] For example, when a new printer is connected to the PC 1, the OS 40 of the PC 1 can download an appropriate auxiliary program 42 from a server or the like according to the type and model of the connected printer and install it in the PC 1. The OS 40 associates the identification information of the installed auxiliary program 42 with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in the memory 12.

[0022] The browser 43 is a program used to browse websites. The browser 43 is launched by an employee (user) and has the function of displaying on the display 13a a web page provided by a web server (for example, in this embodiment, the EWS 23 of the printer 2, which will be described later) indicated by a specified URL. In this embodiment, the browser 43 is configured separately from the auxiliary program 42, so the auxiliary program 42 does not need to support the browser function for displaying the web page of the EWS 23, making it easier to implement the auxiliary program 42.

[0023] In this embodiment, the browser 43 is configured separately from the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may also have a browser function. In this case, there is no need to start a browser to display a web page, and even an information processing device that does not have a built-in browser can access a web server and display a web page.

[0024] Furthermore, the PC 1 of this embodiment incorporates, as the applications 44, for example, an information application and an office application. Examples of the information application include a map application and a calendar application. The information application is activated by an employee (user), and when activated, has the function of displaying various information on the display 13a in response to a user request. The information application may also incorporate a browser 43. The information application itself may or may not have the function of printing the displayed information.

[0025] Furthermore, the office application is, for example, a word processing application, a spreadsheet application, a presentation application, etc., and is launched by an employee (user). When launched, the office application is a program that can, for example, accept images that will become image data, accept edits to those images, accept print settings, specify the printer 2 to perform printing, and accept instructions to perform printing via the user IF13.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 1, a printer 2 is connected to the PC 1 of this embodiment. The printer 2 is composed of a control unit, an image forming unit, a network interface (none of which are shown), a storage unit 22, etc. In this embodiment, the image forming unit uses a thermal printing method. Alternatively, the image forming unit may use an electrophotographic method, an inkjet printing method, or another method. The image forming unit may use an image forming method capable of color printing, or an image forming method that supports only monochrome printing. The communication standard of the network interface of the printer 2 is, for example, Ethernet, and the printer 2 is connected to the communication IF 14 of the PC 1 via a wired LAN line 21. Alternatively, the communication standard of the network interface may be, for example, a wireless LAN communication standard such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or a USB communication standard.

[0027] The printer 2 also has a storage unit 22 that stores a program for an embedded web server (hereinafter referred to as "EWS" (short for Embedded Web Server)) 23. The storage unit 22 also has a data storage area 24 that stores password information 25 and various information 26. The printer 2 can launch the EWS 23 by starting and executing a program for the EWS 23. The EWS 23 is an example of a web server.

[0028] The password information 25 is information about an authentication password used when logging in to the EWS 23, and the EWS 23 can be controlled from the PC 1 when the password entered via the PC 1 matches the password information 25. The various information 26 includes, for example, capability information of the printer 2, connection information for connecting to the printer 2, status information of the printer 2, various setting information set in the printer 2, remaining amount information of consumables of the printer 2, information about the number of pages printed by the printer 2, information about support for consumables, etc.

[0029] Therefore, in this embodiment, the EWS 23 of the printer 2 is accessed via the browser 43 of the PC 1, and the printer 2 can be managed on the PC 1 by displaying a web page provided by the EWS 23 and inputting parameters.

[0030] Next, an example of the procedure for displaying the EWS and changing print settings, including the operations of the OS 40, auxiliary program 42, and browser 43, will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 2. Note that Fig. 2 and other sequence diagrams described later illustrate the operations when the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is installed in the PC 1.

[0031] Note that each processing step in this embodiment basically indicates processing by the CPU 11 in accordance with instructions written in a program, such as the auxiliary program 42. The processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 40. In this specification, the operation of each program will be described without a detailed description of the OS 40.

[0032] At the beginning of the procedure, for example, when the user clicks on a start menu (not shown) on a start screen (not shown) of the OS 40 displayed on the display 13a via the user IF 13, the OS 40 displays a start menu screen (not shown) on the display 13a. Thereafter, when the user clicks on a "Settings" button (not shown) on the start menu screen displayed on the display 13a via the user IF 13, the OS 40 displays a setting screen (not shown) on the display 13a. Thereafter, when the user clicks on a "Bluetooth and Devices" button 511 from the menu displayed on the setting screen via the user IF 13, the OS 40 displays, for example, a "Bluetooth and Devices" screen 51 shown in FIG. 3(A) on the display 13a.

[0033] Thereafter, when the user clicks, via the user IF 13, the "Printers and Scanners" button 512 on the "Bluetooth and Devices" screen 51 displayed on the display 13a, the OS 40 displays, for example, the "Printers and Scanners" screen 52 shown in FIG. 3(B) on the display 13a. On the "Printers and Scanners" screen 52, for example, as shown in FIG. 3(B), a list of printer selection buttons associated with individual printers is displayed, and this list display includes a printer selection button 521 associated with printer 2. Specifically, each printer selection button is associated with a printer queue managed by the OS 40, and a printer queue is generated for each printer by the OS 40.

[0034] Thereafter, when the user clicks the printer selection button 521 on the "Printers and Scanners" screen 52 via the user IF 13 (step 11 (hereinafter referred to as T11)), the OS 40 displays on the display 13a a printer screen 53 for the printer 2 associated with the printer selection button 521 (T12), for example, as shown in Fig. 4. On the printer screen 53, for example, an "Open Printer Queue" button 531, a "Launch App" button 532, a "Print Test Page" button 533, etc. are displayed.

[0035] Thereafter, when the user clicks the "Launch App" button 532 displayed on the printer screen 53 via the user IF13 (T13), the general-purpose printing program 41 of the OS 40 launches the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the currently selected printer 2 (T14).

[0036] The OS 40 associates printer information with program identification information and stores them in the memory 12. If the program identification information is associated with the printer information of the selected printer, the general-purpose printing program 41 launches the program indicated by the associated program identification information when the "Launch App" button 532 is clicked. The association between printer information and program identification information is performed, for example, when a print queue is generated or when the program is installed. In this embodiment, the printer information for Print 2 is associated with the identification information of the auxiliary program 42, and when the "Launch App" button 532 is clicked with Print 2 selected, the general-purpose printing program 41 launches the auxiliary program 42.

[0037] When the auxiliary program 42 is started from the general-purpose print program 41 of the OS 40 by clicking the "Launch App" button 532, it requests the OS 40 for connection port information of the printer 2 (T15). Then, the OS 40, which has accepted the request for connection port information, replies with the connection port information, and the auxiliary program 42 acquires the connection port information (T16). Note that the processing of T16 is an example of an acquisition processing, and the connection port information is an example of connection information.

[0038] In this embodiment, the PC 1 and the printer 2 are connected via the wired LAN line 21, so the auxiliary program 42 acquires, as the connection port information, information on the port to which the wired LAN line 21 is connected and the IP address of the printer 2. If the PC 1 and the printer 2 are connected via USB, the auxiliary program 42 acquires, as the connection port information, information on the assigned connection port of the USB and the IP address of the printer 2.

[0039] Thereafter, the auxiliary program 42 requests the printer 2 to send setting information using, for example, an MIB (abbreviation for Management Information Base) based on the acquired connection port information (T17). In response to this request, the printer 2 extracts the printer 2's setting information from the various information 26 in the storage unit 22 and sends the extracted setting information to the PC 1, so the auxiliary program 42 acquires the setting information (T18) and then stores the acquired setting information currently set in the printer 2 in the memory 12 (T19). The processing of T19 is an example of storage processing.

[0040] In this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 is configured to obtain the setting information directly from the printer 2, for example, using an MIB, but this is not limited to this. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may be configured to obtain the setting information via the general-purpose printing program 41 of the OS 40. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 requests capability information from the general-purpose printing program 42, and the general-purpose printing program 41, in response to the request, requests the capability information from the printer 2 using IPP (an abbreviation for Internet Printing Protocol). The printer 2 replies with the capability information including the printer 2's setting information. The general-purpose printing program 41 then passes the capability information sent from the printer 2 to the auxiliary program 42. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 obtains the printer 2's setting information indirectly via the OS 40, and the auxiliary program 42 does not need to execute the processes of T17 to T18.

[0041] In this embodiment, the setting information for the printer 2 includes the paper type, print quality, paper size, color mode, print orientation, and reduction of paper stains, and may also be composed of some of these.

[0042] Thereafter, the auxiliary program 42 executes a process for displaying a start-up screen (T20), and then the auxiliary program 42 displays, for example, a start-up screen 54 shown in FIG. 5 on the display 13a (T21). The start-up screen 54 displays a start button 541 for displaying the EWS 23, a verification button 542 for performing verification, a settings confirmation button 543 for confirming the settings, an end button 544, and the like. Note that when the user clicks the end button 544 via the user IF 13, the PC 1 stops displaying the start-up screen 54. Furthermore, the settings confirmation button 543 is displayed as being hidden or grayed out so that it cannot be entered until the start button 541 is clicked.

[0043] When the user clicks the start button 541 for accessing the EWS via the user IF 13 while the start screen 54 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display 13a (T22), the auxiliary program 42 passes URL information for the EWS 23 based on the IP address of the printer 2 acquired in T16 to the browser 43 (T23). If the browser 43 is not already running, the browser 43 is also started in T23. When the URL information is passed to the browser 43, the browser 43 accesses the EWS 23 based on the acquired URL information and requests webpage data (T24). The EWS 23 then passes webpage data for a login screen, and the login screen is displayed on the browser 43. If the password entered into the browser 43 via the login screen matches the password information 25 stored in the printer 2, login to the EWS 23 is successful, and the EWS 23 sends webpage data for a setting screen (T25). In this manner, in this embodiment, the EWS 23 is accessed after the start button 541 is operated by T22, and therefore the processing of T22 is an example of selection reception processing.

[0044] In this embodiment, the EWS 23 is accessed after the start button 541 is operated, but the EWS 23 may be accessed automatically after the start screen 54 is displayed, without waiting for the start button 541 to be operated. In this case, the user does not have to operate the start button 541 to access the EWS 23. Also, the start button 541 is displayed on the start screen 54, but this is not a limitation. For example, the start button 541 may be displayed on a dedicated screen, such as a pop-up screen, on the start screen 54.

[0045] Thereafter, the browser 43 executes a process for displaying the web page based on the received web page data of the setting screen (T26), and then displays the home page 55 of the setting screen shown in Fig. 6(A) on the display 13a (T27). Note that the process of causing the browser 43 to display the setting screen based on the process of T23 is an example of a display process.

[0046] In this embodiment, the status of the printer 2 is displayed on the home screen 55. Therefore, the user can know the current status of the printer 2 by viewing the home screen 55 displayed on the display 13a.

[0047] That is, in this embodiment, when the user clicks the start button 541 for starting the EWS 23 via the user IF 13 (T22), a setting screen such as the home screen 55 shown in FIG. 6(A) is displayed on the display 13a (T27), allowing the user to accurately grasp the current status and setting contents of the printer 2, thereby improving user convenience.

[0048] Furthermore, in this embodiment, unless the user clicks the launch button 541 for launching the EWS via the user IF 13, the EWS 23 is not accessed and the home screen 55 is not displayed on the user IF 13. Therefore, if the web page does not need to be displayed, the launch button 541 need not be operated, and unnecessary display can be avoided by not displaying the web page of the EWS 23.

[0049] Here, when the user changes the print settings on the web page screen displayed on the browser 43 via the user IF 13 (T28), the browser 43 executes a process to change the display of the web page screen based on the instruction (T29), and displays the changed web page screen on the display 13a (T30).

[0050] Specifically, in this embodiment, when the user clicks a "Basic Settings" button 551 in the left menu on the home screen 55 shown in Fig. 6(A) via the user IF 13, the browser 43 displays a basic settings screen (not shown) on the display 13a. After that, when the user further clicks a "Print Setting Options" button 562 in the left menu of the basic settings screen, the browser 43 displays a print setting options setting screen 56 shown in Fig. 6(B) on the display 13a based on the instruction.

[0051] In this embodiment, the browser 43 displays the contents of the print settings of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1 on the display 13a, so that it is possible to check whether the print settings set on the printer 2 are set correctly via the print setting option setting screen 56.

[0052] For example, the print setting options screen 56 allows the user to set the paper stain reduction function to either "off," "weak," or "strong" for single-sided printing and double-sided printing. The single-directional printing function can also be set to either "off" or "on."

[0053] That is, in printer 2, depending on the content printed on the front side of the paper, the ink may take a long time to dry, which may result in smearing on the back side of the paper. Therefore, with printer 2's paper smear reduction function, when the user sets "weak," printer 2 prints on the paper at a slower speed and with a normal amount of ink to reduce paper smearing. When the user sets "strong," printer 2 prints on the paper at a slower speed and with a smaller amount of ink to reduce paper smearing. When the user sets "off," printer 2 prints on the paper at a normal speed and with a normal amount of ink. The "off," "weak," and "strong" settings can be changed by the user clicking one of "off," "weak," and "strong" from the drop-down lists of pull-down menus 563 and 564 displayed on display 13a (T28).

[0054] Furthermore, when the user sets the unidirectional function of printer 2 to "off," printer 2 prints on paper from both directions, improving print speed. When the user sets it to "on," printer 2 prints on paper from one direction, slowing print speed but improving print quality. The "off" and "on" settings can be set by the user clicking either "off" or "on" from the drop-down list of pull-down menu 565 displayed on display 13a (T28).

[0055] The print setting option webpage screen 56 shown in Fig. 6(B) shows the initial state of the print settings. In this embodiment, the following explanation will be given on the assumption that the user has changed the setting for single-sided printing from the initial state "off" to "weak" and for double-sided printing from the initial state "off" to "strong" on the print setting option setting screen 56 shown in Fig. 6(B). It is assumed that the setting for single-sided printing has not been changed from the initial state "off."

[0056] Therefore, the browser 43 executes a display change process for the print setting option setting screen 56 based on the user's setting change operation (T29). After that, the browser 43 displays the print setting option setting screen 56 after the display change process on the display 13a.

[0057] 6(B), when the user clicks on the "OK" button 566 via the user IF 13, an instruction to change the print settings can be sent to the browser 43 (T31). Note that when the user clicks on the "Cancel" button 567 via the user IF 13, no instruction to change the print settings is sent to the browser 43.

[0058] The browser 43, which has received the instruction to change the print settings, sends information indicating that the instruction to change the print settings has been issued to the printer 2 (T32). Then, the printer 2, which has received the information, changes the print settings (T33). In this embodiment, the setting for the paper stain reduction function is changed from "off" to "weak" during single-sided printing, and from "off" to "strong" during double-sided printing.

[0059] Furthermore, when the user clicks the "Logout" button 556 via the user IF 13 on the home screen 55 shown in FIG. 6(A) or the print setting option setting screen 56 shown in FIG. 6(B), information indicating that a logout instruction has been issued is sent to the printer 2, and a logout instruction is issued to the EWS 23.

[0060] Next, an example of the procedure of the collation process based on the operation of the auxiliary program 42 in this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG.

[0061] When the user clicks on the verification button 542 to start verification via the user IF 13 on the start-up screen 54 displayed on the display 13a (T41), the auxiliary program 42 requests the printer 2 to send setting information based on the connection port information acquired in the processing of T16 (T42). In response to this request, the printer 2 extracts its setting information from the various information 26 in the storage unit 22 and sends the extracted setting information to the PC 1, and the auxiliary program 42 acquires the setting information (T43). T42 to T43 are the same as T17 to T18.

[0062] In this manner, in this embodiment, the process for verification is started in response to clicking on the verification button 542. That is, for users who do not need to verify the print setting contents, the display of the verification results can be bothersome and frustrating. Therefore, by accepting a click on the verification button 542 (an example of inputting a confirmation instruction) before verifying the setting contents and then executing the process for verifying the setting contents, it is possible to eliminate the frustration of users who do not need to verify the setting contents.

[0063] Next, the auxiliary program 42 compares the setting information acquired from the printer 2 in the process of T43 with the initial setting information stored in the memory 12 in the process of T19, and extracts the differences in the setting information. In other words, it extracts the print settings that have been changed from the initial print settings (T44). The process of T44 is an example of a comparison process.

[0064] Next, the auxiliary program 42 executes a display process for displaying the extracted difference in the setting information (T45), and displays a collation result screen 57 shown in FIG. 8 on the display 13a (T46).

[0065] On the comparison result screen 57 shown in FIG. 8, if an instruction to change the print settings is given in the process of T31, a comparison between the initial settings and the current settings for the changed print settings is displayed. For example, in this embodiment, for the paper stain reduction function, the initial setting value "Off" and the current setting value "Weak" or "Strong" are displayed for single-sided printing and double-sided printing, respectively. In this case, the setting for the single-sided printing function has not been changed, so it is not displayed on the comparison result screen 57. Also displayed on the comparison result screen 57 are a "Restore to Initial" button 571, an "OK" button 572, and a "Redisplay" button 573.

[0066] In this manner, in this embodiment, auxiliary program 42 displays the changed print settings, that is, the settings that are the differences when a comparison is performed with the initial print settings, among the print settings of printer 2, and the user can check whether the changed print settings are set correctly via comparison result screen 57 displayed on display 13a. Also, because only the changed parts are displayed, it is easier to understand the changed settings than when all the setting contents are displayed.

[0067] Next, on the collation result screen 57, the user selects one of the buttons, “Restore to Initial Settings” button 571, “OK” button 572, and “Redisplay” button 573, via the user IF 13 (T47). When the user selects “Restore to Initial Settings” by clicking the “Restore to Initial Settings” button 571, the auxiliary program 42 associates a setting request command for performing print settings for the printer 2 with the initial setting information stored in the memory 12 and transmits the command to the printer 2 (T48). Accordingly, the printer 2 executes setting processing for restoring the printer 2 to its initial state based on the received setting information (T49). Thereafter, the auxiliary program 42 executes display processing for redisplaying the start-up screen 54 on the user IF 13 (T50), and then redisplays the start-up screen 54 shown in FIG. 5 on the user IF 13 (T51). Note that the processing of T47 is an example of change acceptance processing, and the processing of T48 is an example of setting processing.

[0068] In this embodiment, when the auxiliary program 42 receives an instruction to change the settings back to their initial state, it sends a command to the printer 2 to change the print settings back to the state before the change, thereby canceling the print settings from the web page of the EWS 23 and restoring the print settings of the printer 2, thereby avoiding operation with incorrect setting changes.

[0069] Also, at T47, if the user clicks the "OK" button 572 to indicate "OK," the auxiliary program 42 executes a display process to display the startup screen 54 again on the user IF 13 without sending a setting request command to the printer 2 (T52), and then displays the startup screen 54 shown in FIG. 5 again on the user IF 13 (T53).

[0070] Furthermore, if the user clicks the "Redisplay" button 573 to instruct "Redisplay" at T47, the auxiliary program 42 again passes the URL information of the EWS 23 to the browser 43 (T54). The browser 43 then accesses the EWS 23 of the printer 2 based on the acquired URL information and requests the webpage data (T55). The printer 2 then transmits the webpage data to the browser 43 (T56). The browser 43 then executes a webpage display process based on the received webpage data (T57), and then redisplays the home screen 55 shown in FIG. 6A on the display 13a (T58). Therefore, the user can reset the print settings of the printer 2 by clicking the "Basic Settings" button 551 in the left menu on the home screen 55 via the user IF 13.

[0071] In this manner, in this embodiment, when the "Redisplay" button 573 is clicked, the auxiliary program 42 passes the URL information to the browser 43 again, thereby redisplaying the web page and enabling the settings to be redone, thereby preventing operation with incorrect setting changes. Note that the processing of T47 in this case is an example of a redisplay reception processing.

[0072] When the user clicks a start button 541 on the startup screen 54 displayed on the display 13a, the auxiliary program 42 causes the browser 43 to display a webpage provided by the EWS 23 and makes a setting confirmation button 543, which is used to confirm the settings, clickable. When the user clicks the setting confirmation button 543 via the user IF 13, the auxiliary program 42 acquires setting information from the printer 2 in the same manner as in T42 to T43 and executes a display process for displaying a confirmation screen displaying the acquired setting information. For example, the setting confirmation screen 58 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display 13a. The setting confirmation screen 58 displays information based on the acquired setting information, as well as an OK button 581 for returning to the startup screen 54. The setting confirmation screen 58 displays all setting values ​​of the print setting options, not just the changed setting values. Furthermore, although the setting confirmation screen 58 shown in FIG. 9 displays only the setting values ​​of the print setting options among the setting information, other information set in the printer 2 may also be displayed. By displaying the setting confirmation screen 58, the user can confirm the settings set in the printer 2 via the browser 43. The setting confirmation button 543 is an example of a display reception process, and the setting confirmation screen 58 is an example of a setting display process.

[0073] Next, the procedures performed by each program when a print instruction is received from a user will be described with reference to the sequence diagram in Fig. 10. The print instruction from the user may be input directly to the general-purpose print program 41, or may be input to the browser 43 or application 44 and output from the browser 43 or application 44 to the general-purpose print program 41.

[0074] Based on a user's instruction to execute printing (T61), the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 and requests processing corresponding to the instruction to execute printing (T62). In the processing of T62, the auxiliary program 42 receives information on the print settings that were set when the instruction to execute printing was accepted from the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 may also pass image data indicating the image to be printed to the auxiliary program 42.

[0075] Upon receiving the print instruction, the auxiliary program 42 requests information about the printer 2's main body capabilities (T63). Then, the auxiliary program 42 acquires the information about the main body capabilities from the printer 2 (T64). Note that the information about the main body capabilities includes, for example, information about image processing that can be performed by the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 checks the print setting information received in T62 based on the acquired information about the main body capabilities (T65). In T65, the auxiliary program 42 checks, for example, whether there is any discrepancy between the print settings and the main body capabilities of the printer 2. Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 passes the print setting information of the confirmation result to the general-purpose printing program 41 (T66).

[0076] Depending on the results of the check in T65, the auxiliary program 42 may change the print settings and pass them on in T66. For example, if the print settings received in T62 include information about image processing that is better executed by the printer 2 than by the general-purpose printing program 41 or the auxiliary program 42, the auxiliary program 42 may change the print settings to exclude that image processing. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 may store the excluded print setting information so that it can be passed to the printer 2 in a later procedure, and pass the changed print setting information to the general-purpose printing program 41 in T66.

[0077] The general-purpose printing program 41 uses the print settings received from the auxiliary program 42 to convert the format of the image data of the image to be printed into the format of intermediate image data, thereby generating intermediate image data, and passes the generated intermediate image data to the auxiliary program 42 (T67). The image data included in the application 44 is of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the image data to be printed into intermediate image data suitable for generating print data. Note that if the image data to be printed is suitable for generating print data, the generation of intermediate image data may be omitted and the image data may be used as is as intermediate image data. The intermediate image data may be, for example, XPS data.

[0078] The auxiliary program 42 performs rasterization based on the intermediate image data received in T67, and generates print data representing the image to be printed (T68). The print data generated in T68 is data in a format that can be used for printing by the printer 2, such as PDL data dedicated to the model of the printer 2.

[0079] Rasterizing with the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 allows for greater flexibility than rasterizing with the general-purpose print program 41, and is more likely to generate print data suitable for printing on the printer 2. Note that the print data generated by the auxiliary program 42 may be in a format that can also be used for printing on printers other than the printer 2 model.

[0080] The auxiliary program 42 sends the print data generated in T58 to the printer 2 together with a print command instructing the printer 2 to execute printing (T69). If the auxiliary program 42 determined in T65 that there is image processing to be executed by the printer 2, it generates a print command that also includes information about that processing. The auxiliary program 42 may further notify the general-purpose printing program 41 that it has finished sending the print data.

[0081] Upon receiving the print data and print command, the printer 2 prints the image of the print data based on the received print command (T70), thereby generating a printed matter.

[0082] Note that instead of the auxiliary program 42 generating the print data, the general-purpose printing program 41 may generate the print data. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the intermediate image data and print execution information received in T67 to the general-purpose printing program 41, and the general-purpose printing program 41 may rasterize the intermediate image data to generate the print data. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes the generated print data to the auxiliary program 42. Then, when the auxiliary program 42 receives print data from the general-purpose printing program 41, it sends the print data received from the general-purpose printing program 41 to the printer 2 together with a print command instructing the execution of printing.

[0083] The print data generated by the general-purpose print program 41 is print data in a format that can be used for printing on various printers, such as PWGRaster data or PDF data. If the print data is rasterized by the general-purpose print program 41, the processing of the auxiliary program 42 is reduced, which is expected to prevent an increase in processing time and reduce the program size of the auxiliary program 42.

[0084] The general-purpose printing program 41 may transmit the print data and print commands to the printer 2. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the generated print data to the general-purpose printing program 41 so that the data is sent from the PC 1 to the printer 2 as the destination. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 transmits the print data and the like received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2.

[0085] As described above in detail, in this embodiment, when the OS 40 receives an instruction to start the auxiliary program 42, that is, when the user clicks the "Launch App" button 532 on the printer screen 53 shown in Fig. 4 via the user IF 13, the auxiliary program 42 obtains the connection information of the printer 2 from the OS 40, accesses the EWS 23 of the printer 2 using URL information based on the connection information, and displays a webpage provided by the EWS 23. As a result, in order to view the webpage provided by the EWS 23 of the printer 2, the user does not need to input the address of the printer 2 or perform an operation to start a print application for displaying the EWS 23, but can view the webpage simply by inputting a start instruction that is prepared in advance in the OS 40 and that is separate from the print instruction.

[0086] The embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples and do not limit the present invention in any way. Therefore, the technology disclosed in this specification can naturally be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the device connected to PC1 is not limited to a printer, but may be any device with a printing function, such as a multifunction device, copier, or fax machine. Furthermore, the number of printers connected to PC1 is not limited to the illustrated example, and may be two or more.

[0087] In this embodiment, the PC 1 is configured as a notebook personal computer, but it may also be configured as a desktop personal computer. In this case, the PC 1 is provided with an interface for connecting devices that realize the functions of the user IF 13, specifically, a keyboard, a mouse, a display, etc. The PC 1 may also be configured as a smartphone, a tablet, etc.

[0088] Furthermore, if the browser 43 cannot access the EWS 23, or if the password entered via the user IF 13 when the browser 43 accesses the EWS 23 of the printer 2 to request web page data (T24) does not match the password information 25, the auxiliary program 42 may be configured to display an error on the startup screen 54 shown in FIG. 5.

[0089] In the embodiment, only the printing operation is described in detail as the operation of the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles as well. The program that executes the process of this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, and may be any program that receives instructions from the OS 40 or the general-purpose print program 41 when printing using the general-purpose print program 41. For example, it may be a print workflow application (Print workflow) whose specifications have been made public by Microsoft.

[0090] Furthermore, the execution timing of the auxiliary program 42 is not limited to that of the embodiment. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may be executed in response to a direct execution instruction from the OS 40, or may be a resident auxiliary program 42. If the auxiliary program 42 is resident, it may simply receive an execution command and perform the above-described operation.

[0091] Furthermore, in any flowchart disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of multiple processes in any multiple steps can be changed or they can be executed in parallel as long as no contradiction occurs in the processing content.

[0092] The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by hardware such as a single CPU, multiple CPUs, or ASIC, or a combination thereof. The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be realized in various ways, such as a recording medium on which a program for executing the processes is recorded, or a method. [Explanation of symbols]

[0093] 1 PC 2. Printer 23 EWS 11 CPU 13a Display 40 OS 41 General-purpose printing program 42 Subsidy Programs 43 Browser

Claims

1. a support program that can be executed by a computer of an information processing device, corresponds to a specific printer, and supports a general-purpose printing program that is pre-installed in an operating system of the information processing device, wherein the operating system is capable of receiving a start instruction for a program that corresponds to a selected printer, the general-purpose printing program has a program associated with the printer that requests processing in response to the start instruction, the specific printer has a program installed therein that functions as a web server, and the web server is capable of receiving settings for the specific printer via a web page that it provides; The computer, When the specific printer is selected and the operating system receives the startup instruction, a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program. an acquisition process for acquiring connection information indicating a connection destination of the specific printer from the operating system; a display process for displaying the web page provided by the web server incorporated in the specific printer using the connection information acquired in the acquisition process; Execute A support program configured to:

2. 2. The support program according to claim 1, In the display process, launching a web browser incorporated in the information processing device, passing the connection information acquired in the acquisition process to the launched web browser, and displaying the web page by the web browser; A support program configured to:

3. 2. The support program according to claim 1, the support program has a browser function for displaying web pages, In the display process, accessing the web server using the connection information acquired in the acquisition process, receiving the web page from the web server, and displaying the received web page using the browser function; A support program configured to:

4. 4. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, When the specific printer is selected and the operating system receives the startup instruction, a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program. before executing the display process, executing a selection receiving process for receiving a selection of whether or not to display the web page; When the selection to display the web page is accepted in the selection accepting process, the display process is executed; When the selection not to display the web page is accepted in the selection accepting process, the display process is not executed. A support program configured to:

5. 5. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, When the specific printer is selected and the operating system receives the startup instruction, a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program. After the display process is executed, a display reception process is executed to receive an instruction to display the setting contents set in the specific printer; When the display instruction is accepted in the display accepting process, the specific printer is accessed using the connection information acquired in the acquisition process, setting data indicating settings configured in the specific printer is acquired, and a setting display process is executed to display the setting contents indicated in the acquired setting data. A support program configured to:

6. 5. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, When the specific printer is selected and the operating system receives the startup instruction, a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program. before executing the display process, access the specific printer using the connection information acquired in the acquisition process, acquire setting data indicating settings configured in the specific printer, and execute a storage process to store the acquired setting data in a memory of the information processing device; After the display process is executed, a comparison process is executed in which the specific printer is accessed using the connection information acquired in the acquisition process, setting data indicating the setting contents set in the specific printer is acquired, a difference is extracted between the setting contents indicated in the acquired setting data and the setting contents indicated in the setting data stored in the storage process, and the extracted result is displayed. A support program configured to:

7. 7. The support program according to claim 6, The computer, After the display process is executed, a confirmation reception process is executed to receive an instruction to confirm the setting contents set in the specific printer; When the confirmation instruction is accepted in the confirmation acceptance process, the verification process is executed. A support program configured to:

8. The support program according to claim 6 or 7, The computer, After the verification process is executed, a change acceptance process is executed to accept an instruction to change the setting contents of the specific printer back to the original state; When the change instruction is accepted in the change acceptance process, a setting process is executed in which a command for setting the setting contents indicated in the setting data stored in the storage process is sent to the specific printer using the connection information acquired in the acquisition process. A support program configured to:

9. The support program according to claim 6 or 7, The computer, After the verification process is executed, a redisplay receiving process is executed to receive a redisplay instruction to display the web page; When the re-display instruction is accepted in the re-display accepting process, the display process is re-executed. A support program configured to:

10. 10. The support program according to claim 1, The computer, When a print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction being to cause the general-purpose print program to print an image on the specific printer, and processing is requested from the general-purpose print program, acquiring image data representing the image from the general-purpose printing program, and executing a transmission process for transmitting a print command to the specific printer based on the image data; A support program configured to:

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