JP7746895B2 - Support Program - Google Patents

Description

The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to a support program that supports printer control.

In recent years, technology has been put into practical use that controls printers without using the printer driver mentioned above, but instead uses a general-purpose printing program that is built into the operating system (OS). With this technology, when the OS detects a printer, it associates it with the OS's standard general-purpose printing program. 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.

In addition, various application programs (apps) that can use printers are known, and apps that manage multiple apps are also known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing device that includes an app management unit that manages apps and a printer management unit that manages printers, and that displays the current status of a printer corresponding to a selected app.

JP 2018-88109 A

As mentioned above, there is known technology for associating and managing printers with apps. Even in an environment where an OS-standard general-purpose printing program is used, it would be desirable to be able to manage various apps that can use printers. However, because OS-standard general-purpose printing programs do not have an interface for app management, there is room for improvement.

The support program developed to solve the above-mentioned problems is executable by a computer of an information processing device, corresponds to a specific printer, and supports a general-purpose printing program pre-installed in the operating system of the information processing device, the operating system is capable of accepting a program launch instruction corresponding to a selected printer, the general-purpose printing program has a program associated with the printer that requests processing in response to the launch instruction, the support program manages multiple application programs, and the support program has information indicating the capabilities available for each of the managed application programs, and the support program outputs to the computer a print instruction output from an application program installed in the information processing device that instructs the general-purpose printing program to print an image on the specific printer. When a print instruction is received and processing is requested from the general-purpose printing program, the computer is configured to execute processing to obtain image data representing the image from the general-purpose printing program and send a print command to the specific printer based on the image data; and when a process is requested from the general-purpose printing program when the operating system receives the startup instruction while the specific printer is selected, the computer is configured to execute an acquisition process to obtain capability information indicating the capabilities of the specific printer via the general-purpose printing program, and a management process to display a list of information indicating specific application programs that are application programs that use the capabilities indicated in the capability information obtained in the acquisition process, among the multiple application programs to be managed, and to accept execution instructions for the displayed specific application programs.

The support program disclosed in this specification is also requested to process when the OS receives a startup instruction, in addition to a print instruction from an application program. When processing is requested by a startup instruction from the OS, the support program acquires capability information for a specific printer, displays a list of specific apps that use the acquired capabilities from among the managed apps, and accepts an instruction to run the specific apps displayed. This provides great convenience, as the user can identify specific apps based on the operation of entering a startup instruction at times other than when printing, and can even run the specific apps.

An information processing device incorporating the above support program, a computer-readable storage medium storing the support program, a control method for realizing the functions of the support program, and a printing system including the support program and a printer are also novel and useful.

The technology disclosed in this specification enables easy management of various printer-enabled applications on an information processing device that incorporates an OS-standard general-purpose printing program.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the electrical configuration of a PC. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure by an auxiliary program. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen for accepting a device management instruction. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a detailed management screen. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for an application information display process. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a list display screen. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the electrical configuration of a PC. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a printing procedure.

A personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC") that uses the auxiliary program of this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. This specification discloses an auxiliary program executed on a PC.

As shown in Figure 1, the PC 1 of this embodiment is equipped with a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and 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 has a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "user IF") 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 14, which are electrically connected to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 in Figure 1 is a general term for the hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware actually present in the PC 1.

The CPU 11 executes various processes in accordance with programs read from the memory 12 and based on user operations. Various programs and 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 by the CPU 11 is also an example of memory. Note that the memory 12 is not limited to the ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built into the PC 1, but may also be a storage medium that can be read and written by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

User IF 13 includes hardware that displays a screen to notify the user of information, and hardware that accepts user operations. User IF 13 may be a combination of a display capable of displaying information and a mouse or keyboard with input acceptance functionality, or it may be a touch panel with display and input acceptance functionality.

The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with external devices such as the printer 2. Communication standards for the communication IF 14 include Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and USB. The PC 1 may be able to connect to the Internet via the communication IF 14. The PC 1 may also be equipped with multiple communication IFs 14 that support multiple communication standards. In this embodiment, the PC 1 is connected to the printer 2 via the communication IF 14, as shown in FIG. 1. The printer 2 is a device that has at least printing and communication functions. The printer 2 is an example of a specific printer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 21, which includes a general-purpose printing program 41, an auxiliary program 42, and various application programs (hereinafter referred to as "apps") such as an editing app 43. The OS 21 is, for example, Windows (registered trademark), macOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), or Android (registered trademark). The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a support program.

The generic printing program 41 is an OS-standard program provided together with the OS 21, and has the functionality to cause the printer 2, etc., to execute printing. In this embodiment, the generic printing program 41 is a program that includes the functionality to generate 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.

The auxiliary program 42 is a program or group of programs that support the control of the target hardware. In this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 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 print using the general-purpose printing program 41 is received. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, called a print support app (abbreviated as PSA) or a hardware support app (abbreviated as HSA).

Note that auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of multiple programs that each accept execution commands, or a single program that can perform different processes depending on the command. Additionally, auxiliary programs may be programs prepared by the printer vendor for each printer type. For example, auxiliary programs may be prepared for inkjet printers and laser printers. There may also be auxiliary programs prepared not only for each printer type, but also for each printer model or series of printer models.

For example, when a new printer is connected to PC1, OS21 of PC1 can download an appropriate auxiliary program from a server or the like depending on the type and model of the connected printer and install it into PC1. OS21 associates the identification information of the installed auxiliary program with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in memory 12, and creates a printer queue for each printer.

The editing application 43 is, for example, an application for creating and editing image data and document data. The editing application 43 may be, for example, Microsoft Word (registered trademark) or PowerPoint (registered trademark), or an application provided by the printer 2 vendor. The editing application 43 is capable of receiving, via the user IF 13, a print execution instruction for causing the printer 2 to execute printing, for example.

Next, the processing procedure performed by the OS 21 and auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the sequence diagram in Figure 2. This procedure is executed when the printer 2 is connected to the PC 1 and the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 is stored in the memory 12.

Note that each processing step in this embodiment basically represents processing by the CPU 11 in accordance with instructions written in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. Processing by the CPU 11 also includes hardware control using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, detailed description of the OS 21 will be omitted and the operation of each program will be explained. Also, the term "obtain" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

OS21 can accept user instructions for setting each component, and can accept device management instructions, including instructions to display information about various devices connected to PC1 and instructions to change settings, on a screen for accepting setting instructions. For example, when OS21 accepts a setting instruction and a device management instruction (A01), it can further accept device selection, as shown in FIG. 3. For example, when OS21 accepts operation of the "Printers and Scanners" button 512 on the device setting screen 51 (FIG. 3(A)), which is displayed upon accepting operation of the "Devices" button 511, it displays the device management screen 52, as shown in FIG. 3(B) (A02).

The device management screen 52 is a screen that includes a list of various devices connected to the PC 1 that are capable of performing image processing, such as printers and scanners. The user can select a device to manage from the list displayed on the device management screen 52 (A03). For example, when an operation is received on the button 521 that specifies Printer 2 on the device management screen 52, the OS 21 displays the detailed management screen 53, as shown in FIG. 4 (A04).

The details management screen 53 displays an "Open Printer Queue" button 531, a "Launch App" button 532, a "Print Test Page" button 533, and the like. The "Open Printer Queue" button 531 is a button that accepts an instruction to check the status of the printer queue corresponding to the selected printer. The "Launch App" button 532 is a button that accepts an instruction to launch the program corresponding to the selected printer. The "Print Test Page" button 533 is a button that accepts an instruction from OS21 to send a test image to the selected printer. On the details management screen 53, OS21 can accept user operations on buttons 531, 532, 533, and the like.

When an instruction to launch a program is received by operating the "Launch App" button 532 on the detailed management screen 53 displayed after printer 2 is selected (A11), the OS 21 passes information about the selected printer, printer 2, and an instruction to launch a program corresponding to that printer to the general-purpose printing program 41. When the general-purpose printing program 41 receives this instruction from the OS 21, it launches the program associated with the printer information for printer 2. In this embodiment, because identification information for the auxiliary program 42 is stored in association with the printer information for printer 2, the general-purpose printing program 41 launches the auxiliary program 42 (A12).

When the auxiliary program 42 is launched from the general-purpose printing program 41 in response to a user's launch instruction, it acquires printer 2 device information via the OS 21. The auxiliary program 42 first requests printer 2 connection information from the OS 21 (A21) and acquires the connection information from the OS 21 (A22). The connection information is, for example, an IP address.

The auxiliary program 42 uses the connection information acquired in A22 to request printer 2 for main body information including capability information (A23), and acquires the main body information including capability information from printer 2 (A24). The capability information is information indicating the capabilities of printer 2, i.e., information indicating functions that can be executed by printer 2 and information on parameters that can be set as print settings. A24 is an example of acquisition processing, and an example of main body acquisition processing.

In addition to capability information, the main unit information may also include information indicating the status of the main unit of the printer 2, such as status information, remaining consumables information, information indicating accessories such as installed optional trays, information on the paper size and paper type set for each tray, main unit settings such as the language used, network settings information, firmware version information, printing history information, and the number of print jobs waiting.

The printer 2 in this embodiment is equipped with an operation panel. The operation panel of the printer 2 includes a display that displays information and operation buttons that accept user input operations. The operation panel may include a touch panel. The printer 2 is capable of displaying information about the printer 2 on the operation panel, and is also capable of accepting various instructions via input operations on the operation panel. The printer 2 is capable of accepting instructions via the operation panel, such as instructions to set the paper size and paper type for each tray, and instructions to change the main unit settings and network settings. The printer 2 may pass information indicating the various settings accepted via the operation panel to the auxiliary program 42 as main unit information.

The printer 2 may also have the function of performing image processing based on the received print job and printing based on the processed data, such as aggregate printing such as N-in-1, composite printing such as watermark printing, and economical printing that saves on coloring agents. If the printer 2 has an image processing function that it can execute, the printer 2 may pass information about that function to the auxiliary program 42 as main information.

The auxiliary program 42 can obtain information directly from the printer 2 using, for example, the MIB (Management Information Base), thereby obtaining information that is not understood by the OS 21. The auxiliary program 42 temporarily stores the information obtained from the printer 2 in the memory 12 (A25).

In addition, instead of A21, the auxiliary program 42 may output to the OS 21 an acquisition request requesting main body information including printer 2 capability information. In this case, the OS 21 acquires information from the printer 2, for example, through communication in accordance with IPP (Internet Printing Protocol), and passes the acquired information to the auxiliary program 42. The auxiliary program 42 may both request information from the OS 21 and acquire main body information through direct communication.

Next, the auxiliary program 42 executes an application information display process (A31). The procedure for the application information display process will be described with reference to the flowchart in Figure 5. The application information display process is a process for classifying and displaying various applications compatible with the printer 2 according to the application status. The application information display process is executed by the CPU 11 of the PC 1 based on the contents of the auxiliary program 42.

The CPU 11 obtains a list of apps that can be used by the printer 2 (S101). In S101, the CPU 11 creates a list of apps that use the capabilities of the printer 2, for example, based on the capability information of the printer 2. The apps listed in S101 are examples of specific application programs. The capabilities supported by each app and the capabilities indicated in the capability information may include printer functions such as printing, scanning, and faxing, as well as capabilities and configurations related to special printing provided by the app, such as printing on postcards, printing disc labels, and printing labels. The CPU 11 may also list apps based on the model information of the printer 2.

The auxiliary program 42 manages various applications that are applicable to the various printers that correspond to the auxiliary program 42. For example, an auxiliary program 42 that corresponds to multiple models of printers will manage an application that can be executed on at least one of the corresponding models. Managed applications include, for example, a printing application, a scanning application, and a fax sending application. Printing applications include, for example, a disc label printing application, a New Year's card printing application, and a label printing application.

For each managed app, the auxiliary program 42 can obtain app information such as the app name, information about the printer capabilities and configuration required to run the app, information indicating whether the app is already installed on PC1, version information for installed apps, and information indicating the save location of installed apps.

The auxiliary program 42 may obtain information about each managed app by reading the model information and app correspondence information built into the auxiliary program 42, or by querying a server provided by the printer 2 vendor or the like. The auxiliary program 42 may also be able to accept settings for each managed app by the administrator of the PC 1 or the like.

The CPU 11 classifies each app included in the list obtained in S101 in order. Specifically, the CPU 11 classifies each listed app into three categories: an executable list, a warning list, and a not-installed list. The executable list is a list of apps that can be executed on the current printer 2. The warning list is a list of apps that have warning information. The not-installed list is a list of apps that are compatible with the printer 2 but are not installed on the PC 1. Note that when the app information display process starts, the executable list, warning list, and not-installed list are all empty lists.

The CPU 11 determines whether the app to be classified has already been installed on the PC 1 (S102). If it determines that the app has not been installed (S102: NO), the CPU 11 adds the app to a list of apps that have not been installed (S103).

If it is determined that the application is already installed (S102: YES), the CPU 11 determines whether an optional configuration such as an optional tray is required to execute the classified application (S105). For example, to execute an application that prints on disc labels such as CDs, an optional disc tray must be attached. Also, for example, to properly print on fabric such as T-shirts, fabric ink must be used.

If it is determined that an optional configuration is required (S105: YES), the CPU 11 determines whether the required optional configuration is installed in the printer 2 based on the device information (S106). If it is determined that an optional configuration is not required (S105: NO), or if it is determined that the required optional configuration is installed (S106: YES), the CPU 11 determines whether the device settings are compatible with the app to be classified (S107).

For example, when printing using a New Year's card printing app, postcard-sized paper must be loaded. If postcard-sized paper is set in at least one of the trays of the printer 2, the CPU 11 determines in S107 that the application is compatible. If it determines that the application is compatible (S107: YES), the CPU 11 adds the application to be classified to the executable list (S111).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the required optional configuration is not installed (S106: NO), or if it is determined that the main unit settings are not compatible with the app to be classified (S107: NO), the CPU 11 adds the app to be classified to a warning list (S112). Apps added to the warning list are apps that have been installed but cannot be executed in the current state of the printer 2.

Furthermore, the CPU 11 adds warning information as information about the app added to the warning list (S113). The warning information includes, for example, information about optional configurations that are required but not installed, and information about incompatible settings. The warning information is an example of app information, and S113 is an example of app acquisition processing.

After S111 or S113, the CPU 11 determines whether an update is available for the app to be classified (S115). The CPU 11 can determine whether the app is the latest version by, for example, comparing the version information of the app to be classified with information about the latest version of that app. The auxiliary program 42 can obtain information about the latest version of each app from, for example, a server provided by the vendor.

If it is determined that the app is not the latest version, i.e., that an update is available (S115: YES), the CPU 11 adds update information to the app (S116). The update information is information indicating that an update is available. The update information is an example of app information, and S116 is an example of app acquisition processing.

After S103, after S116, or if it is determined that there are no updates (S115: NO), the CPU 11 determines whether there are any unclassified apps among the apps included in the list created in S101 (S121). If it is determined that there is a next app to be classified (S121: YES), the CPU 11 returns to S102 and classifies the next app in the same way.

If it is determined that classification has been completed for all apps included in the lists obtained in S101 (S121: NO), the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display a list based on each classified list (S122), terminates the app information display process, and returns to the procedure in FIG. 2. For example, the CPU 11 causes the user IF 13 to display a list display screen 54, as shown in FIG. 6. The list display screen 54 is an example of a list screen, and S122 is an example of management processing.

The list display screen 54 is a screen that displays, in a distinguishable manner, the icons of each app included in the executable list added in S111, the warning list added in S113, and the not-installed list added in S103. Specifically, the list display screen 54 includes an executable area 541 that includes the icons of each app included in the executable list, a warning area 542 that includes the icons of each app included in the warning list, and a not-installed area 543 that includes the icons of each app included in the not-installed list.

The list display screen 54 may further include an end button 544 that accepts an instruction to end the display, and information indicating the status of the printer 2. Based on the main unit information acquired in A24 of FIG. 2, the auxiliary program 42 may display, for example, the status of the printer 2, information on the remaining amount of consumables, and setting information for each tray on the list display screen 54.

Each icon included in the executable area 541 is an icon that can accept an instruction to run that app. When an operation on an icon included in the executable area 541 is accepted, the auxiliary program 42 outputs an execution instruction to the app indicated by the operated icon. Note that in this case, the execution instruction is input with the printer queue corresponding to printer 2 selected, so the executed app performs processing using printer 2.

Note that on the list display screen 54, for apps to which update information or warning information has been added, an icon with a badge indicating the additional information is displayed. For example, Figure 6 shows an example where there is update information for "App C" included in the executable area 541, and a badge 71 indicating an update is displayed on the icon of "App C." S122, which displays the badge 71 indicating an update, is an example of update display processing. By displaying information based on the update information or warning information for the app as a badge on the app icon, the user can be notified that there is additional information related to the app.

When an operation is received on an icon included in the executable area 541 and to which update information has been added, the auxiliary program 42 may selectively receive an execution instruction or an update instruction. Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 may simply notify the user that an update is available as update information, or may display a link to the app's download site. If there is a specific app that can be updated, displaying the update information as well can be expected to encourage the user to perform an update operation for that specific app that can be updated.

On the other hand, the icons included in the warning area 542 and the not-installed area 543 are icons that restrict the acceptance of execution instructions. When an operation is received on an icon included in the warning area 542, the auxiliary program 42 does not execute the app, but instead displays detailed warning information, for example. When an operation is received on an icon included in the not-installed area 543, the auxiliary program 42 does not execute the app, but instead displays installation information indicating the installation of the program.

For example, Figure 6 shows an example in which "App D" included in warning area 542 is an app that prints on disc labels, and an optional tray for discs is not installed in printer 2. Therefore, a badge 72 indicating warning information is displayed on the icon for "App D." For example, when an operation is received on the icon for "App D" in Figure 6, auxiliary program 42 may display information indicating that the required optional configuration is not installed.

Furthermore, even if the required optional configuration is installed, if the main unit settings are not compatible with the app, the auxiliary program 42 adds the app to the warning list and displays the app's icon in the warning area 542. In this case, when an operation on the icon is accepted, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to accept, for example, an instruction to change the main unit settings to make them compatible with the app. Then, when the settings are changed to make them compatible with the app, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to accept an instruction to run the app.

The auxiliary program 42 displays warning information based on the device information. By displaying the device information in association with the app, the user can also see the device information necessary to use the app on the list display screen 54.

Also, for example, the icons displayed in the not-installed area 543 are icons indicating apps that can be applied to the printer 2 by installing them. When an operation on an icon in the not-installed area 543 is accepted, the auxiliary program 42 displays installation information such as information indicating the content of the app, information for executing a program that accepts the installation of the app, and information indicating a link to the app's download site. The process of displaying the list display screen 54 including app installation information is an example of installation display processing.

If there is an app that is applicable to Printer 2 but has not been installed, it is displayed as an icon in the not installed area 543, so that the user can understand that the app is not installed and is expected to install it. Apps on the not installed list can be distinguished from installed apps by displaying them in a separate area, hiding them, displaying them as icons of different sizes or shapes, displaying them in a different font, or displaying them grayed out.

Returning to the explanation of Figure 2, after the application information display process (A31) is completed, the auxiliary program 42 becomes able to accept operations on the currently displayed list display screen 54. That is, the user can perform operations on each icon displayed on the list display screen 54. For example, when a user operation on an icon included in the executable area 541 is accepted (A41), the auxiliary program 42 determines that an instruction to execute the application has been accepted, and executes the application (A42). A41, in which an instruction to execute an application is accepted, is an example of management processing. The auxiliary program 42 may output an execution instruction to the application via the OS 21.

After displaying the list display screen 54, the auxiliary program 42 may be able to accept instructions to change the settings of each displayed app, as well as instructions to install, update, or uninstall the app, in addition to instructions to execute the app. The auxiliary program 42 may also be able to accept instructions to change the settings of the printer 2.

Note that PC 1 may incorporate an integrated program 44 that manages printers and apps, as shown in FIG. 7, for example. Integrated program 44 is a program for managing, for example, various printers provided by the vendor of printer 2 and various apps that are compatible with the various printers. Integrated program 44 contains information on various applicable apps based on, for example, model information for each printer.

On a PC 1 incorporating the integrated program 44, the auxiliary program 42 may launch the integrated program 44 and have the integrated program 44 display app information instead of executing the app information display process itself. The auxiliary program 42 can, for example, pass printer 2 main body information to the integrated program 44, causing the integrated program 44 to execute the app information display process.

If the integrated program 44 manages apps, the processing of the auxiliary program 42 becomes simpler, reducing the man-hours required for the auxiliary program 42. On the other hand, if the auxiliary program 42 manages apps, there is no need to incorporate the integrated program 44.

Next, the printing procedure, including the operation of the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment, will be described with reference to the sequence diagram in Figure 8. The auxiliary program 42 is also executed when a user instructs the general-purpose printing program 41 to print on the printer 2. The user can use the editing application 43, etc. to select the image to be printed, specify the printer to print on, and instruct the printer to print. Figure 8 shows the operation of each program when the editing application 43 accepts a user instruction to print on the printer 2. Note that the user's instruction to print may also be input directly to the general-purpose printing program 41.

When the editing application 43 receives a print instruction from the general-purpose printing program 41 to cause the printer 2 to print the selected image (B01), it passes the print instruction to the general-purpose printing program 41 via the OS 21 (B02). The general-purpose printing program 41 obtains information indicating the image data of the image to be printed and information indicating the print settings in the print instruction.

The general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate image data by converting the format of the image data included in the received print instruction into the format of intermediate image data (B03), and generates a print job including the intermediate image data. The image data passed from the editing application 43 can be of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the received image data into intermediate image data suitable for generating print data. Note that if the image data included in the print instruction is suitable for generating print data, the generation of intermediate image data may be omitted and the data may be used as intermediate image data as is. The intermediate image data is, for example, XPS data.

The general-purpose printing program 41 further outputs an execution instruction to the auxiliary program 42, which is a program corresponding to the printer 2 (B04), requesting processing from the auxiliary program 42. In the execution instruction, the intermediate image data generated in B03 and information indicating the print settings are passed to the auxiliary program 42.

The auxiliary program 42 performs rasterization based on the received intermediate image data and print settings, and generates print data (B05). The print data generated in B05 is data in a format that can be used for printing by the printer 2, such as PDL data specific to the model of the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 may execute B05 using the printer information acquired in A24. The auxiliary program 42 may also acquire printer information, etc. again from the printer 2 before B05.

The auxiliary program 42 sends the generated print data and a print command instructing the printer 2 to print (B06). Upon receiving the print data and print command, the printer 2 prints the image of the print data based on the received print command (B11). This generates a printed document.

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

Also, instead of the auxiliary program 42 generating the print data, the general-purpose printing program 41 may generate the print data. That is, the auxiliary program 42 may pass intermediate image data, print setting information, and print execution information to the general-purpose printing program 41. The general-purpose printing program 41 may generate print data based on the intermediate image data and print settings received from the auxiliary program 42, and pass the generated print data to the auxiliary program 42. 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 along with a print command instructing the execution of printing.

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 print data is generated using the general-purpose print program 41, the auxiliary program 42 requires less processing, which is expected to avoid increases in processing time and reduce the program size of the auxiliary program 42.

The general-purpose printing program 41 may also send print data, etc. to the printer 2. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 may pass the generated print data, etc. to the general-purpose printing program 41 so that it is sent from the PC 1 to the printer 2 as the destination. In this case, the general-purpose printing program 41 sends the print data, etc. received from the auxiliary program 42 to the printer 2 via the OS 21.

The printer 2 may also have the ability to rasterize intermediate image data. If the printer 2 has this ability, the auxiliary program 42 may send a print command to the printer 2 that includes intermediate image data of the image to be printed and print settings, without generating print data for the image to be printed.

When the transmission of the print data is complete, the auxiliary program 42 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 of the end of processing (B21). This causes the general-purpose printing program 41 to end processing of the print instruction accepted in B02. The general-purpose printing program 41 may also notify the editing application 43 of the end of processing.

As explained in detail above, in this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 is requested to process by the general-purpose printing program 41 when the OS 21 receives a startup instruction via the operation of the "Launch App" button 532, separate from a print instruction from the editing app 43 or the like. When processing is requested via a startup instruction from the OS 21, the auxiliary program 42 obtains capability information for the corresponding printer, Printer 2, displays a list of managed apps that use the obtained capabilities, and receives an instruction to run the displayed apps. This allows the user to identify apps that correspond to Printer 2 based on the operation of entering a startup instruction at a time other than printing, and further allows the user to run the apps, providing high convenience.

The embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples and do not limit the present invention in any way. Naturally, the technology disclosed in this specification can be improved and modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the device connected to PC1 is not limited to a printer; it can be any device with printing capabilities, 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 can be two or more.

Furthermore, for example, the list display screen 54 shown in FIG. 6 is merely an example and is not limited to the illustrated example. For example, the wording, icon shape, arrangement, background, etc. displayed on the screen may be any type. Also, for example, the auxiliary program 42 may display only executable apps.

Furthermore, for example, in this embodiment, update information and warning information are displayed as badges, but this is not limited to this. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may change the color or shape of the icon for the app to which the information has been added, or may provide a column for displaying the information separately from each icon.

In addition, in the embodiment, only the display operation of application information and the printing operation are described in detail as the operation of the auxiliary program 42, but the auxiliary program 42 may have other roles as well. Furthermore, the program that executes the processing of this embodiment is not limited to the auxiliary program 42, but may be any program that accepts instructions from the OS 21 or the general-purpose printing program 41 when printing using the general-purpose printing program 41. For example, it may be a print workflow application (Print workflow) whose specifications have been made public by Microsoft.

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 21, or the auxiliary program 42 may be resident. If the auxiliary program 42 is resident, it may simply receive an execution command and perform the operations described above.

Furthermore, in any of the flowcharts disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of multiple processes in any of the steps can be arbitrarily changed or can be executed in parallel, as long as no contradictions occur in the processing content.

Furthermore, the processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by hardware such as a single CPU, multiple CPUs, or an ASIC, or a combination of these. Furthermore, 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.

1 PC
2 Printer 11 CPU

Claims (8)

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 print 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, and the general-purpose print program has a program that requests processing in response to the start instruction associated with the printer, the support program manages a plurality of application programs, and further the support program has information indicating the capabilities that can be used for each of the application programs that it manages;
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 process for transmitting a print command to the specific printer based on the image data;
Furthermore, 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 capability information indicating capabilities of the specific printer via the general-purpose printing program;
a management process for displaying a list of information indicating specific application programs that utilize the capabilities indicated in the capability information acquired in the acquisition process among the plurality of application programs to be managed, and for receiving an instruction to execute the specific application programs that are displayed;
Execute
A support program configured to: 2. The support program according to claim 1,
In the management process,
displaying a list screen that displays a list of information indicating the specific application program, and accepting the execution instruction for the specific application program displayed via an operation on the list screen;
A support program configured to: 2. The support program according to claim 1,
an integrated program having a function of receiving the execution instruction for the application program to be managed can be installed in the information processing device;
In the management process,
starting the integrated program, causing the integrated program to display a list of information indicating the specific application program, and causing the integrated program to receive the execution instruction for the specific application program displayed;
A support program configured to: 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.
If the specific application program is available for updating, an update display process is executed to display update information indicating an update of the program.
A support program configured to: 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.
If there is the specific application program that is not installed in the information processing device, executing an installation display process that displays installation information indicating installation of the program.
A support program configured to: 6. The support program according to claim 1,
In the management process,
displaying the specific application program not installed in the information processing device in a manner that distinguishes it from the specific application program installed in the information processing device, and restricting acceptance of the execution instruction for the specific application program not installed in the information processing device;
A support program configured to: 7. 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.
executes a device acquisition process to acquire device information from the specific printer via the general-purpose printing program;
In the management process,
displaying a list of information indicating the specific application program, displaying information based on the device information acquired in the device acquisition process, and accepting the execution instruction for the displayed specific application program;
A support program configured to: 8. 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.
executes an application acquisition process for acquiring application information related to the specific application program;
In the management process,
a list of icons corresponding to the application programs is displayed as information indicating the specific application program, and information based on the application information acquired in the application acquisition process is displayed as a badge in association with the icons;
A support program configured to: