SE521272C2 - Installing drivers for networked peripherals, especially printers, by searching for drivers in units connected to network and then installing it on computer connected to network - Google Patents

Abstract

Based on information relating to the peripheral, a search is made for drivers in units connected to the network, and once one is found, the routine is installed on a computer (C1-C3) connected to the network. Independent claims are also included for (a) a computer software program for carrying out the driver installation, and (b) a system comprising at least one computer and peripheral, having the program stored in it. COMPUTING AND CONTROL - The network can be a LAN (local area network) or WAN (wide area network), or a combination thereof. The search for a drive routine is carried out in a server connected to the network, preferably on internet homepages associated with the manufacturer of the peripheral.

Description

25 30 35 It is also known, for example from the HP Network Printer Installer, to simplify the installation of new printers using the so-called Printer Wizard. This is a program used by servers for automatic installation and de- However, programs a problem to locate the printer drivers, landing of printer drivers. is also with this and that only installed printers on identified servers in the network are available. Furthermore, only very limited information about the available printers can be presented to the user, ie the identity of the printer and possibly the printer model.

Problems related to printer installation are related above. However, the same or similar problems exist when installing other peripherals in networks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and simpler way of installing a peripheral unit on a network.

A specific purpose is to facilitate the installation of a suitable driver on a computer on the network.

Another specific object is to provide a method for installing a peripheral device in a TCP / IP network.

A further specific purpose is to achieve improvements regarding the installation of peripherals in peer-to-peer networks and to offer distribution and automatic copying of drivers over the network.

These objects are achieved by means of a method, a product and a system in accordance with the appended claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings By way of example, the invention will now be described in more detail in the following with reference to embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an example of a network in which the method of in accordance with the invention can be used. Fig. 2 is a schematic flow diagram of the method in accordance with the invention.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments The invention is intended for computer networks, comprising at least one computer, which may be a client, C, or a server, S. Furthermore, it comprises at least one printer connected to the network. Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a typical network in which the method according to the invention may be used, which network has several client computers, C1, C2, C3, Ps1 and Ps2, the network preferably also being connected to a network of two print servers The network server, S1, and printer P1-P3, connected to it. with a larger geographical scope, "wide area network", However, it should be understood that this illustrated network serves as an example of the network which, like the Internet, can be used in conjunction with the invention, and that the invention can nevertheless be used in many other networks. configurations.

The invention provides a simple way to install drivers for network peripherals, such as printers. By means of the invention, the user is simply connected to the available printer, and thus a simple and uncomplicated method is provided to install a printer and a print server and to generate a first print.

Preferred platforms for the method according to the invention are Windows 95, 98, NT4, Windows 2000, but other platforms can still be used. Furthermore, the invention is mainly intended for the use of TCP / IP, but many other protocols, such as NetBIOS can be used and supported.

The invention provides at least some, and preferably all, of the following functions: a simple and preferably automatic method of making printers and / or print servers connectable to the network; - a simple, and preferably automatic, way to find available printers on the network, and also printers that are not already installed; - an efficient way to provide available printers to the user; - an easy way to name printers during installation; - a simple, locating and distributing required printer and preferably automatic, drivers; - an efficient way to present available status information about the printers and the writing process; - support for bi-directional printer protocols; and - a simple way to perform at least simple configurations of the print servers.

These functions will be described in more detail below. The method according to the invention comprises at least one writing step shown in Fig. 2. First, re physically connected to the network. The installation process then begins with finding such available printers connected to the network, sorting them according to any parameter (s) and presenting them to the user. The user can then select a preferred printer.

A printer driver for this printer is located and installed on the client computer. Then, the user can use the printer to perform printing. A function also makes status information available to the user.

Connecting printers and / or print servers The print server preferably connects automatically to the network resources and introduces itself to the appropriate services. Preferably, a method for dynamic set of IP addresses and hostnames can be used.

This can be done by using an automatic method such as DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) or BO-OTP Autonet. These protocols are described in more detail in it (BOOTstrap protocol), or via Microsoft the following. IP address or host name can also be set manually, but this is preferably not the default method. After configuration, the printer is now installable.

With BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol) or DHCP Host Configuration Protocol), a client can obtain a TCP / IP (Dynamic address, default router and a subnet mask from a server, which stores information about which TCP / IP address a device with specific MAC (Machine Addressable Code) Support for BOOTP or DHCP is implemented preferably on the Print Server.

“Autonet” is a protocol developed by Microsoft, for the automatic assignment of IP addresses to network devices. The autonet first sends some DHCP requests.

If there is no response, the machine takes an IP address and sends an arp packet with this IP address. However, this address is not static and the machine sends a DHCP request periodically and the procedure is repeated each time the system is restarted.

One way IP application is preferably used. This application receives BOOTP / DHCP messages that are generally sent by a print server. The user can then assign an IP address to the Print Server, or the user can enter an IP address range from which new IP addresses can be automatically selected as needed.

Consequently, the assignment of an IP address in accordance with the invention can take place either automatically or manually, by entering an IP address when a Print server has presented itself via BOOTP or some other protocol used. Retrieving Available Printers It is a requirement that a suitable printer be selected relative to its reference characteristics. The reference characteristics of the identified writer that are of interest can be, for example, name, model, physical position and writing capacity. Information about the model can currently be obtained from the device ID, but printer capacity such as color and duplex support must be supplied from the printer in another way, for example with PJL (Printer Job Language). The preferred methods for obtaining the information on available printers are SLP and SNMP, which will be discussed below.

SLP includes User Agents (Service Location Protocol) is a protocol that (UA), (SA) directory agents (DA). SA provides available service agents and services, which are described by the configuration values of the attributes. Services are then classified into service types, which define available keywords and attributes for SA. Each host can be connected to a DA that has centralized service information. DA includes a list of all keywords and attribute values and a lifetime for each registered service.

With SLP, all available printers can be presented, and if there are special reference properties to be considered, the most suitable printer based on the requirements can be suggested. The available printers can also be grouped according to the attributes.

Support for SLP is preferably implemented in the print server.

(UA) the discovery is preferably implemented in Windows client- Furthermore, a user agent is in accordance with software.

In accordance with the invention, SLP is preferably used to find printers connected to the network. The printers are preferably presented with their capabilities such as color, duplex and paper size using the printer service pattern. The brand of the product can be determined via 10 15 20 25 30 35 521 272 7 "manufacturer attributes". To make it easy for the user to select the printer he / she wants, the physical printers are preferably presented. The printers can, for example, be displayed in a table with columns for different performances. It may also be possible to sort the table with respect to properties of interest.

The printer system in accordance with the invention can be started, for example, by: Selecting the printer system in the start menu.

A right-click menu in the printer directory under "My Computer".

An icon on the task list in the start menu.

A shortcut via the desktop.

Presentation of available printers The invention preferably provides a presentation of available printers with information on type. A sorting mechanism is preferably provided, for example, name, color / black and white, physical location, etc. also to make the presentation easily accessible. In this way, available printers on the network can be presented to the user, sorted in accordance with functionality such as color / black and white, model, etc. and preferably with the user's specific name. To achieve this, the example (SNMP) Pelvis Simple Network Management Protocol can be used.

Naming of printers during installation Simple naming during installation is preferably provided by the invention. Names can also be changed afterwards. Preferably, this is preceded by a check that the user has sufficient authority.

Locating and Distributing Printer Drivers An important feature of the invention is a simple, and preferably automatic, assignment of printer drivers. This assignment can be made based on the print server's knowledge of the connected printers. The peripheral device sends the device ID to the print server. Information about the connected printers is preferably correlated to the list of available printer drivers in the OS (operating system).

Known sources used for locating printer drivers, hereinafter referred to as PD, are: 1. installed PD on other clients or servers on the network; 2. from a directory in any computer (client or server) on the network that has not already installed PD; 3. the printer; 4. installation system installation CD; and 5. the printer manufacturer's website.

Preferably, all, or at least most, of the specified order are used. However, the method according to the invention of the sources above, and preferably also in it, can also use only one or a few of the sources, and can also use them in a different order.

Preferably, the proposed method enables automatic installation of both uninstalled and installed PDs. PD is preferably found with a search method that goes through all the above mentioned sources. This facilitates that a printer not yet installed can be selected and in the following the search, copying and installation of PD on the first computer will be performed automatically. This is especially effective in a distributed peer-to-peer network where no servers or shared printers are used.

A function must be able to select the appropriate printer driver if it is available. The printer driver must also be made available over the network so that all users can apply it. This selection may be based on device ID (according to IEEE-1284). 10 15 20 25 30 35 521 272 §fl ïç; 9 Device ID is a sequence of bytes supplied by the device for identification.

When a device is detected, the device ID is used to select the correct printer driver from an INF file, which has information about the available printer driver in the computer's operating system. A match results in the choice of drivers. If exact match is not obtained, the user must be consulted. If the printer installation tool is to be capable of automatically installing the appropriate drivers, they must be accessible.

It is therefore preferable to make all available printer drivers accessible to all users. Normally, if the required drive files are not found locally, the system installation source is used to locate the installation files. It is an advantage if this source can be changed to refer to another position, after configuration by an administrator. One possibility may then be to make it accessible to an administrator to configure printing systems in accordance with the invention to provide information on where in the network printer drivers can be found. This can be done on the CD server, or a shared memory device or a CD player device on an administrator's computer.

Another feature may be to try and find it over the network. There are different ways to do this. If the driver is not provided by Microsoft and is not found locally, the network, LAN, can be scanned to see if it is installed on another computer on the network.

An advanced solution can be to let an always active computer / server contain all such drivers and make them accessible at all times.

There are other ways to access a printer driver: - Windows 98 can download the latest driver directly from www.microsoft.com.

Printer drivers will be selected using different methods, until a suitable driver has been found ... hv-Q 10 15 20 25 30 35 521 272 10 nits. The order is as follows: l. By matching model names obtained from the printer's INF file for the printer and model. 2. Scanning the network for printer objects assigned to the current print server port. Driver information from the computer is locked using this port and the driver found is suggested.

Furthermore, updating of printer drivers can be performed. For example, if a new version of the printer driver is found (according to the previously described sources), the user can be suggested to update.

Presentation of available status information Another preferred feature of the invention is the presentation of all available status information. Eczema in accordance with SNMP can be used so that pelvises, right-clicking on a printer, the invention, can provide access to status information.

(Simple Network Management Protocol) monitor the writing process. Alternatively, a so-called pop-up message can be presented to reflect the status of the writing job. The status can be acquired via PJL (Printer Job Language) via the parallel port and is reflected in SNMP objects that can be retrieved by the writing client.

Printer status support is preferably handled both during a print job and idle (or when someone else is using the printer). An opportunity for the print server to announce that the status has changed would be beneficial, as it would thus be possible to see print jobs submitted by other users.

Bi-Directional Printer Protocols The invention preferably supports bi-directional printer protocols. Bi-directional printer protocols enable the use of modern bi-directional printer drivers, using two-way communication with status and non-write data seed printer. Commands, 10 15 20 25 30 521 272 ll as new fonts can thus be exchanged between the printer and the printer driver. The system according to the invention is preferably transparent to PD.

It is preferred in the present invention to use RAW TCP to enable bi-directional writing. ("Reverse telnet") as transmission protocol Simple configurations The invention preferably provides a simple configuration of the print server.

When a printer is first installed, a limited configuration, such as naming the Print Server and setting the location, can be implemented.

It will be possible to start a limited web browser with the home page of the current Print Server.

From there, authorized users can configure the print server. A normal user can observe writing jobs etc.

The configuration can be started via a menu selection on the printer object or via a configuration button when the printer object is selected.

Example Using the Functions To add and display printers, it is normal to display all available printers connected to the print server, and allow the user to initiate the printer installation, for example, when he or she wishes to access the printer. It should preferably be possible to sort the printers, with respect to preferences such as position and color support, according to the user's wishes. The installation procedures are preferably imperceptible / transparent to the user. The function of adding a printer can be started from a menu selection in the printer directory. It can also be started from an icon on the toolbar in the start menu. Another way is to have the printer installed automatically, as the print server is given an IP address and can be detected and installed. The user can then choose to be notified when a new printer is installed. In accordance with the invention, the following functions are used to install a printer: 1. Detect an unconfigured peripheral device; 2. Perform a network configuration of the peripheral device (set IP address or configure an automatic method performing this task); 3. Locate the peripheral unit, such as a printer; 4. Detect and locate the driver; 5. Copy and install the driver; and 6. Make the peripheral device, ie the printer, available to the user.

Conclusion The invention simplifies the installation of new peripheral devices, such as printers. Furthermore, location of peripherals and drivers can be done automatically, as well as installation on a new client. In this way, the method in accordance with the invention is particularly well suited for persons without special computer knowledge and education. Furthermore, the presence of no server is required, and thus the invention is suitable for peer-to-peer networks without a file server and central installations.

In accordance with the invention, it is further possible to select a new peripheral unit and install a drive unit for each assignment, and preferably as part of the assignment. The driver can then be automatically removed from the client. This is especially useful in distributed, dynamic networks where clients can connect temporarily. In this case, a client, such as a portable computer, can, with the aid of the invention, connect to the network, and at a printer request automatically receive a suitable driver. When the task is completed, the driver is automatically removed, and thus will not take up any memory capacity in the client.

The invention has now been described by means of an example. However, several modifications of the invention are possible. For example, not only printers and printer drives can be installed by the method, but also other network and system peripherals that require a drive for its use, such as scanners, etc. Furthermore, not all of the described preferred functions are required. be part of the invention. A combination of only some of them may be sufficient in many cases. There may also be other ways of carrying out the described functionality of the invention. Such obvious modifications must be considered as part of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (16)

10 15 20 25 30 35 521 272 14 PATENT REQUIREMENTS A method of installing routines for a network peripheral unit, such as a printer, on a first computer (C1-C3) connected to a network, said drive routine being suitable for a selected network peripheral unit, such as a printer (P1), also connected to the network, the method comprising the steps of: - based on information concerning the peripheral device, scanning one or more devices connected to the network, without prior knowledge of the contents of the devices, by drivers, and - thereafter, when one is found , install the driver on the first computer (C1-C3). The method of claim 1, wherein the step of installing the driver comprises the step of copying the driver to the first computer. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of searching for the driver is performed in response to an indication from the user that a selected peripheral device is to be used. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the steps of searching for drivers comprise searching other computers acting as clients on the network, ("local area network", LAN), a network with a larger geographic wherein the network either is a wide area network (WAN) or any other type of network, or a combination of such networks. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the step of searching for the driver comprises searching in a server connected to the network, the network being either a local area network (LAN), a network with a larger geographical extent (WAN) or any other type of network, or a combination of such networks. A method according to claim 5, wherein the search for the driver comprises the search in websites belonging to the manufacturer of the peripheral unit. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the steps of searching for the driver are preceded by the step of presenting a list of available peripheral units (P1-P3) that the user can select a suitable peripheral device there- connected to the network for a user, so from. A method according to claim 7, wherein the presentation comprises displaying properties of the connected peripheral units. A method according to claim 7 or 8, wherein a retrieval method, such as SLP (Service Location Protocol) and / or SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), is used to obtain information about available peripherals on the network. A method according to any one of claims 7-9, wherein a list of available peripheral units is presented in response to an indication from another system, such as a program function, or the user. A method according to any one of claims 7-10, wherein the steps of presenting a list are preceded by the step of requesting that an action be performed on a peripheral unit, such as writing a document. A method according to any preceding claim, comprising the steps of removing the driver from the first computer after performing an intended operation. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least some of the peripheral units are automatically installed and integrated in the network and the operating system. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the network is a peer-to-peer network. A computer program product which has thereon stored a computer program for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-14. A system comprising a network and at least a first computer and a peripheral unit connected thereto, wherein a computer program for performing the method according to any one of claims 1-14 is stored in the system.