Print Setting App Adapts Interface to Printer Type
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Solution Overview
Problem
General-purpose printer drivers have limitations in available print setting items and functions, particularly when dealing with various types of printers, such as ink-jet and electrophotographic printers, as they cannot effectively display and manage printer-specific settings like finishing options without additional apps.
Innovation Solution
A print setting application that acquires and displays printer information based on the printing method, allowing it to customize the print setting screen according to the printer type, either acquiring specific information for electrophotographic printers or not acquiring it for ink-jet printers, thereby enhancing the user interface for different printer configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a general-purpose printer driver is used to support multiple printer types, then compatibility with various printers is improved, but the availability of printer-specific setting items and functions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the print setting functionality into a general-purpose printer driver and a separate print setting extension app. The extension app is specifically designed to provide printer-specific settings for electrophotographic printers, while the general-purpose driver handles compatibility across multiple printer types. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in its strength without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The print setting extension app acts as an intermediary between the user and the printer-specific functions. It receives printer information from the server or printer, determines the printer type, and then conditionally displays appropriate setting items. This intermediary layer enables printer-specific functionality to be added on demand without requiring separate driver installations for each printer type.
2Ease of operation
If printer-specific information is acquired for all printer types, then printer-specific settings can be displayed, but unnecessary information acquisition and processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary determination of printer type before acquiring detailed printer-specific information. The print setting extension app first obtains basic printer information, identifies the printer type (electrophotographic or ink-jet), and then conditionally acquires additional settings information only when needed. This preliminary action prevents unnecessary information acquisition for ink-jet printers that don't require finishing settings.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention applies local quality by making the information acquisition process adaptive to the specific printer type. Instead of uniformly acquiring all possible printer information regardless of printer type, the system tailors the information acquisition to the local characteristics of each printer category. Electrophotographic printers receive detailed finishing settings information, while ink-jet printers receive only essential information.
Data Source
AI summary
An application to be stored in a nonvolatile storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention is a print setting application to be installed in an information processing apparatus, the application when executed on the information processing apparatus causes the information processing apparatus to: acquire a printing method of a printer; acquire, in a case where the acquired printing method is a first method, printer information regarding a predetermined item; and display an object based on the acquired printer information on a display, wherein, in a case where the acquired printing method is a second method, the information processing apparatus does not acquire the printer information regarding the predetermined item.