Patent Application
20220391648
The present disclosure relates to a technique for a control apparatus that transmits print data to a printing apparatus.
It has heretofore been a general practice to use a printer driver, which is installed on a host apparatus connected to a printer, as a measure for executing printing with the printer. There are default print settings for the printer driver. The default print settings are used as default values of the print settings in a case of performing printing by use of an application on the host apparatus.
Meanwhile, there is a device in the printer that can update contents of settable print settings. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2016-224702 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1) adopts a technique for causing a printer driver to obtain information on settable print settings updated by a printer by connecting the printer driver to the printer like the one mentioned above and synchronizing the printer driver with the printer. Here, the printer driver can change default print settings based on the obtained information.
Setting values set as the default print settings in the printer driver may no longer be supported in a case where the contents of the print settings are subjected to updating and the like on the printer side. In this case, the printer driver will not be able to conduct the subsequent printing based on the contents of the default print settings. Meanwhile, in the case of the printer driver configured to be synchronized with the updated contents of the print settings in the printer, the default print settings on the printer side are also changed as a result of synchronization. Here, a user may be unaware of such a change.
A control apparatus according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a first obtaining unit configured to obtain information on a first print setting from a printer, the first print setting being settable for printing by using the printer; a second obtaining unit configured to obtain information on a second print setting in a case of printing by using print control software; a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the information on the second print setting obtained by the second obtaining unit is included in the information on the first print setting obtained by the first obtaining unit; and a notification unit configured to issue notification to a user in a case where the determination unit determines that the information on the second print setting is not included in the information on the first print setting.
Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.
Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiment are not intended to limit the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims. It is to be also understood that a solution of the present disclosure does not always require a combination of all of the features described in any of the embodiments.
The host 1 includes a main board 100 provided with a CPU 101 and the like, a keyboard (KB) 105, a display unit (DISPLAY) 107 such as LCD, and an external storage device 109. The external storage device 109 includes a hard disk drive (HDD) or a flexible disk drive (FDD), for example. Meanwhile, the main board 100 includes a RAM 102, a ROM 103, a keyboard controller (KBC) 104, a display controller (DISPC) 106, a disk controller (DKC) 108, and a printer controller (PRTC) 110.
The CPU 101 generally controls the above-mentioned respective constituents connected to a system bus 111, and executes various programs. The KBC 104 controls input from the keyboard 105 or a pointing device (not shown). The keyboard controller 104 is also referred to as an operating unit or an input unit. The DISPC 106 controls display on the DISPLAY 107.
The RAM 102 functions as a main memory or a work area for the CPU 101. The ROM 103 stores an operating system, various programs in accordance with the present embodiment, a boot program, various applications, a printer control command generation program (hereinafter also referred to as a “printer driver”) serving as print control software, and the like. The DKC 108 controls access to the external storage device 109 such as the hard disk drive and the flexible disk drive. The PRTC 110 is connected to the printer 2 through the bidirectional interface 3, and controls communication processing of print data with the printer 2.
The printer 2 includes a controller 121, a printer engine 122, an operation panel 12, and a non-volatile storage device 133. The printer 2 is connected to the host 1 through the bidirectional interface 3. The non-volatile storage device 133 includes a hard disk drive (HDD) 128 or an EEPROM 129. The non-volatile storage device may also be referred to as a non-volatile memory.
The controller 121 includes a CPU 124, a ROM 125, a RAM 126, an interface controller (I/FC) 123, and a disk controller (DKC) 127. In addition, the controller 121 includes a panel interface (I/FP) 130 and an engine interface (I/FE) 132. The CPU 124 executes various programs. The ROM 125 receives the print data from the host 1, and stores programs for realizing optimum printing or various data by controlling the printer engine 122.
The RAM 126 is used as a work area for temporarily storing various data and various programs. The I/FC 123 is connected to the host 1 through the bidirectional interface 3, and controls communication processing of the print data with the host 1. The HDD 128 stores large volumes of data such as the data from the host 1 and auxiliary information concerning this data. The EEPROM 129 stores information unique to the printing apparatus used in the case of a printing operation. The DKC 127 controls access to the non-volatile storage device 133. The I/FP 130 controls display on the operation panel 12 or input from the operation panel 12. The I/FE 132 directly controls the hardware, thereby controlling the printer engine 122 that realizes the optimum printing. Although the printer engine 122 of the present embodiment uses the printer engine that applies an ink jet printing method, it is also possible to use a printer engine in accordance with an electrophotographic method or to use an offset printer.
The host 1 includes a printer driver 201 and a default print setting module 210. The printer driver 201 serving as the print control software can be operated by the print control apparatus, and includes print settings and a unit for changing the print settings. Moreover, the printer driver 201 converts a print target document into print data interpretable by the printer 2 in accordance with contents of print settings based on a print instruction by the user, and transmits the converted print data to the printer 2. The printer 2 generates a print product by developing the received print data. The printer driver 201 includes a user interface unit 202, a print data generation unit 203, a printer status notification unit 204, a sheet list obtaining unit 205, and a sheet detail information obtaining unit 206. Moreover, the printer driver 201 includes driver sheet information 207. The driver sheet information 207 stores information concerning the sheet types that can be set as the print setting in the printer driver 201. The driver sheet information 207 includes a driver sheet list 208 and driver sheet detail information 209. The driver sheet list 208 is a list recording the types of sheets that can be set to the printer driver 201. Meanwhile, the driver sheet detail information 209 is information describing details on the respective sheet types recorded in the driver sheet list 208. The driver sheet list 208 and the driver sheet detail information 209 will be described later in detail.
The user interface unit 202 provides the user with a measure for inputting the print settings to the printer driver 201. The printer driver 201 displays a print setting screen on the DISPLAY 107 based on a command to display the print setting screen from the operating system. Information concerning the functions of the printer 2 is held in the user interface unit 202, and the printer 2 displays the print setting screen based on this information. Meanwhile, the print setting screen regarding the print setting of the sheet type is displayed based on the driver sheet information 207. Furthermore, the user interface unit 202 overwrites and updates (synchronously updates) the contents of the driver sheet information 207 by using printer sheet information 211 obtained from the printer 2.
The print data generation unit 203 generates the print data to be transmitted to the printer as a print job. The print data generation unit 203 converts a document prepared by the user into a data format interpretable by the printer 2 in accordance with the print settings set by using the user interface unit 202, and generates a control command for controlling the printer.
The printer status notification unit 204 obtains status information on a printing status, an error occurrence status, or the like of the printer 2 through the bidirectional interface 3, and displays the information on the DISPLAY 107. The sheet list obtaining unit 205 obtains a printer sheet list 212 held by the printer 2 through the bidirectional interface 3. The sheet detail information obtaining unit 206 obtains printer sheet detail information 213 held by the printer 2 through the bidirectional interface 3.
The default print setting module 210 stores default values of the print settings for performing the printing with the printer 2 while using an application on the host 1 by way of the printer driver 201. The print settings to be stored in the default print setting module 210 are obtained from the printer driver 201 by the operating system at the time of installing the printer driver 201 on the host 1, and are generated by storing the print settings in the ROM 103 on the host 1. Meanwhile, the contents of the default print setting module 210 can be changed into desired print settings by the user through the printer driver 201.
The printer 2 includes the printer controller unit 121, the printer engine unit 122, and the printer sheet information 211. The printer sheet information 211 stores information concerning the sheet types that can be set to the print setting in the printer 2, and includes the printer sheet list 212 and the printer sheet detail information 213. The printer sheet list 212 is a list that records the types of sheets supported by the printer 2. Meanwhile, the printer sheet detail information 213 is information that records details of the respective types of sheets recorded in the printer sheet list 212. The printer sheet list 212 and the printer sheet detail information 213 will be described later in detail. Although the driver sheet list 208 and the printer sheet list 212 are distinguished from each other for the convenience of description in the present embodiment, the driver sheet list 208 and the printer sheet list 212 are formed from data having the same structure, respectively. Note that the driver sheet detail information 209 and the printer sheet detail information 213 are also formed from data having the same structure, respectively.
The quality section 303 is used for selecting output quality of a print product, and has options “high”, “standard”, “fast”, and the like. The double-sided printing section 304, the borderless printing section 305, and the black-and-white printing section 306 have options “on” and “off” for the respective functions thereof, and the settings thereof are reflected to a result of printing. A sheet information update button 307 is a button for activating a sheet information update program to be described later.
In order to perform the printing as desired by the user, it is preferable that the contents of the driver sheet list 208 included in the driver sheet information 207 coincide with the contents of the printer sheet list 212 included in the printer sheet information. For example, in the case where the print settings are updated on the printer side, it is possible to conduct the printing without any problem if the sheet type set as the default sheet type in the printer driver remains supported. On the other hand, it is not possible to conduct the printing if the sheet type set as the default sheet type in the printer driver is no longer supported as a consequence of the updating of the print settings on the printer side. What is more, since the default print settings are used as the default values in the case of printing by using the application, the user may be unaware that the set values in the default print settings are not currently supported by the printer. Given the situation, the present embodiment is configured to perform processing in accordance with the contents recorded in the driver sheet list 208 and the printer sheet list 212 in the case where the user presses the sheet information update button 307 shown in
First of all, the processing of the flowchart of
Next, in S602, the CPU 101 obtains the default print setting module 210 through the operating system, thus obtaining the default sheet type 302 (hereinafter followed by a suffix B) stored therein. In the present embodiment, the “plain paper” will be obtained. In S603, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the sheet type 302(B) obtained in S602 is included in the printer sheet list 212(A) obtained in S601. The processing goes to S608 in the case where the sheet type 302(B) is included therein. On the other hand, the processing goes to S604 in the case where the sheet type 302(B) is not included therein. In S604, the CPU 101 issues notification about the status in which the setting of the default sheet type 302 currently stored in the default print setting module 210 is no longer supported along with the progress in the processing of the sheet information update program.
In S605, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the user presses any one of the continue button 703 and the cancel button 704 on the dialog of
In S606, the CPU 101 updates the driver sheet information 207, thereby updating the sheet types 302 that are settable in the printer driver 201. Specifically, the CPU 101 first overwrites and updates the driver sheet list 208 based on the printer sheet list 212 obtained in S601. Next, the CPU 101 obtains, by using the sheet detail information obtaining unit 206, information from the printer sheet detail information 213 on the sheet type 403 among the sheet types 403 recorded in the updated driver sheet list 208, which is not included in the current driver sheet detail information 209. Then, the CPU 101 saves the obtained printer sheet detail information 213 as the driver sheet detail information 209. In the case of the present embodiment, the driver sheet list 208 is updated from the list of
Next, in S607, the CPU 101 changes the sheet type 302 stored in the default print setting module 210. Here, the sheet type selected in the control section 702 at the timing to press the continue button 703 on the dialog of
In S608, the CPU 101 updates the driver sheet information 207 in order to deal with a case where the sheet types other than the sheet type set to the default sheet type on the printer sheet list are different from those on the driver sheet list. After carrying out the processing in S608, the CPU 101 terminates the sheet information update program.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to improve usability in the case where the default print setting in the printer driver is no longer supported due to the updating of the print settings in the printer. To be more precise, in the case where the print settings registered as the default print settings are not available in the printer, the user can recognize this situation by carrying out the above-described processing flow so as to issue the notification. Here, the notification is issued in the case where the determination in S603 of
The present embodiment will describe a processing flow in a case of performing printing while using the printer driver 201 to set the sheet type 302 which is not supported by the printer 2,
The flowchart of
In S801, the CPU 101 generates the print data in the case of setting the “plain paper” to the sheet type 302 by using the print data generation unit 203, and transmits the generated print data to the printer 2. In S802, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the sheet type 302 set to the print data transmitted in S801 is supported by the printer 2, or in other words, whether or not a print error occurs in the printer 2. Here, the above-mentioned determination is carried out based on the status information on the printer 2 obtained by using the printer status notification unit 204. The error occurs in the case of the present embodiment because the “plain paper” is set to the sheet type 302 in the print data transmitted in S801 whereas the printer 2 does not support the “plain paper”. In this case, the processing goes to S803 as a result of the determination in S802. On the other hand, the CPU 101 terminates the program in the case where the CPU 101 determines that the error does not occur. In S803, the CPU 101 issues notification about the occurrence of the print error in the printer 2.
In S804, the CPU 101 conducts processing branch depending on whether the user presses the agree button 902 or the no button 903 on the dialog of
In S805, the CPU 101 performs the processing to update the driver sheet information. Specifically, the CPU 101 updates the driver sheet information 207 in the printer driver 201. In this processing, the CPU 101 starts the processing flow shown in
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to promptly notify the user of the occurrence of an anomaly by displaying the notification screen to the user in the case of performing the printing under the situation where the sheet type 302 not supported by the printer 2 is set in the printer driver 201. Moreover, it is also possible to improve usability for the user because the driver sheet information 207 can also be updated by an operation on the notification screen. Furthermore, it is also effective to issue the above-described notification even in the case where the user who updates the contents of the print settings for the printer 2 is different from the user who conducts the printing by using the printer driver 201.
Embodiment(s) of the present disclosure can also be realized by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a ‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or that includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out and executing the computer executable instructions from the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform the functions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network of separate computers or separate processors to read out and execute the computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™), a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-095039, filed Jun. 7, 2021, which is hereby incorporated by reference wherein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-095039 | Jun 2021 | JP | national |
