JP2004005697A - Printing system, printing method, and computer-readable recording medium storing virtual printer driver program - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to significantly improve the efficiency of a printing process.
A virtual printer driver (20) that is started at the start of printing, selects a printer driver of a printer most suitable for printing print data from a plurality of printers, and causes a corresponding printer to execute print data print processing. In the print processing, priority is set for a plurality of properties of print data including at least the number of prints, printing conditions for print data are set for each printer, and printing is performed to store the priority set for each property and the printing conditions for each printer. A condition storage unit 21, a printer driver selection unit 22 for selecting a printer driver of a printer that matches the printing conditions of each printer in descending order of the priority of each property of the print data, and determines the status of the printer corresponding to the selected printer driver A situation determination unit 23 is provided.
[Selection] Fig. 2

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printing system for selecting a desired printer from a plurality of printers connected to a network and performing printing processing on the selected printer, a printing method, and a computer-readable recording medium storing a virtual printer driver program. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for greatly improving the efficiency of print processing.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Generally, a computer system is preliminarily set with one default printer driver for controlling print processing for outputting print data to a printer connected to the computer system. Executed on the default printer corresponding to the driver. For this reason, in a printing system in which a computer system is connected to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) and is capable of outputting print data to a plurality of printers, when a user executes print processing with a printer other than the default printer, After the user manually switches the printer driver from the default one to the one corresponding to the desired printer, the printing process is executed.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in the conventional printing system, the printer driver is set as a default in the computer system, and when the user executes a printing process with a printer other than the default printer, the user manually sets the printer driver to the default. It is necessary to switch from a printer corresponding to a desired printer to a printer corresponding to a desired printer. However, such a conventional printing system has the following technical problems to be solved.
[0004]
First, in a conventional printing system, as described above, since a printer driver is preset in the computer system in advance, color data is printed in monochrome, or a certain page description language is used. In some cases, the print data is output by a printer that is not suitable for the desired print processing, such as when the print data is output by a printer that does not support the page description language, and the efficiency of the print processing is extremely low.
[0005]
Second, in the conventional printing system, when a third party is printing a large amount of print data or when an error such as a paper jam occurs in the printer, the user can use a status monitor indicating the status of the printer. It is often the case that the user does not print his or her own print data after performing work such as viewing the printer or investigating the printer. It is difficult.
[0006]
As described above, in the conventional printing system, one printer driver is previously set in the computer system by default, and when printing is performed using a printer different from the default printer, the user has to manually perform other operations. It is necessary to select a printer driver and execute the printing process, so that the efficiency of the printing process is extremely low.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of the above technical problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that greatly improves the efficiency of print processing.
[0008]
It is another object of the present invention to provide a printing method that greatly improves the efficiency of a printing process.
[0009]
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a computer-readable recording medium storing a virtual printer driver program for greatly improving the efficiency of print processing.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above technical problem, the inventor automatically selects a printer driver optimal for printing print data from a plurality of printer drivers based on a printing condition set in advance by a user, and starts a printing process. By providing means for performing this in the computer system, it is possible to execute printing on a printer that is optimal for printing print data without the user being conscious of it, so that the efficiency of print processing can be greatly improved. As a result of vigorous research, we came up with a technology with the following characteristics.
[0011]
A first feature of the present invention that reflects this idea is that, when a printing system that selects a desired printer from a plurality of printers connected to a network and performs print processing on the selected printer is started at the start of printing, A virtual printer driver that selects a printer driver of a printer that is most suitable for printing print data from among the printers, activates the selected printer driver, and causes the corresponding printer to execute print data print processing. Sets the priority of a plurality of properties of print data including at least the number of prints in a print process, sets print conditions for each printer of print data, and stores the priorities of the set properties and the print conditions for each printer. Print condition storage unit and the properties of the print data A printing system, comprising: a printer driver selection unit that selects a printer driver of a printer that matches printing conditions for each linter; and a status determination unit that determines the status of a printer corresponding to the selected printer driver. .
[0012]
As a result, the efficiency of the printing process can be significantly improved.
[0013]
A second feature of the present invention that reflects this idea is that a printing system is started at the start of printing in a printing system that selects a desired printer from a plurality of printers connected to a network and performs printing processing on the selected printer. A printing method using a virtual printer driver that selects a printer driver of a printer most suitable for printing print data from a plurality of printers, activates the selected printer driver, and causes a corresponding printer to execute print data printing processing. The printing process sets priorities for a plurality of properties of the print data including at least the number of prints, sets print conditions for each printer of the print data, and sets the priorities of the set properties and the print conditions for each printer. A step of storing the print condition in the print condition storage unit; Inputting the properties, selecting the printer driver of the printer that matches the printing conditions for each printer in descending order of the priority of each property of the print data, and activating the selected printer driver to print the print data to the corresponding printer. And a step of executing the printing process.
[0014]
As a result, the efficiency of the printing process can be significantly improved.
[0015]
Furthermore, a third feature of the present invention that reflects this idea is that a printing system that selects a desired printer from a plurality of printers connected to a network and performs printing processing on the selected printer is started at the time of starting printing. A virtual printer driver program that selects a printer driver of a printer that is optimal for printing print data from the plurality of printers, activates the selected printer driver, and causes a corresponding printer to execute the print data print processing. A computer-readable recording medium that stores therein, sets a priority order for a plurality of properties of print data including at least the number of prints, sets a print condition for each printer of the print data, and prints the set properties. Priority and print conditions for each printer are stored in the print condition storage unit. And inputting the print properties of the print data to be printed, and selecting the printer driver of the printer that matches the print conditions for each printer in descending order of the priority of each property of the print data. Activating the selected printer driver and causing a corresponding printer to execute the printing process of the print data, and causing the computer to execute these processes. Recording medium.
[0016]
As a result, the efficiency of the printing process can be significantly improved.
[0017]
Here, it is desirable to use a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a magnetic tape, or the like as the recording medium.
[0018]
When the status of the printer corresponding to the selected printer driver is busy or error, it is preferable to select a printer driver according to a countermeasure when the printer is busy or error.
[0019]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a computer-readable recording medium that stores a printing system, a printing method, and a virtual printer driver program according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0020]
First, the configuration of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0021]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0022]
In the printing system 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a virtual printer driver capable of controlling print processing by all printer drivers A, B, C, D, and E installed in the computer system. (Hereinafter, abbreviated as a virtual driver), the virtual driver refers to printing conditions set in advance by the user, and selects an original printer driver optimal for printing print data from a plurality of printer drivers. It is configured to automatically select and execute print processing.
[0023]
Next, a specific configuration of the virtual driver will be described in detail.
[0024]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the virtual driver according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0025]
As shown in FIG. 2, the virtual driver 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention stores a print condition stored in a print condition storage unit 21 by referring to print conditions stored in the print condition storage unit 21. A printer driver selecting unit 22 for selecting a printer driver most suitable for printing on the printer, a status determining unit 23 for determining the status of the printer corresponding to the printer driver selected by the printer driver selecting unit 22, and the printing condition storage unit 21 It has a priority storage unit 21a for designating and storing the priority (priority) of the property of the print data at the time of processing, and a printer condition storage unit 21b for setting and storing print conditions for each printer of the print data.
[0026]
Here, the “print data property” means whether the print processing is performed in color or monochrome, the number of prints, the print paper size, the printer is busy (= other print processing is being executed), or an error (= paper jam). (For example, "execute printing on another printer", "stop printing", "standby", etc.), the type of application (file), resolution, etc. It means information related to data printing processing. For example, when the user previously sets the priority of the property of the print data via the priority setting screen 50 as shown in FIG. 5A, the print data printing process is executed with reference to the priority. You. That is, when the user sets the priority order of the properties of the print data as shown in FIG. 5A, priority is given to color / monochrome (priority number 1) over the number of prints (priority number 2). The print process of the print data is executed. For example, when a print process of performing 50 color print processes is designated, a printer capable of printing 50 monochromatic prints and a printer capable of printing 30 color prints are provided. The printer automatically selects a printer driver corresponding to the latter printer capable of printing 30 sheets in color and executes printing.
[0027]
The “printing conditions of the printer” means whether the printing process of each printer is color or monochrome, the number of printable sheets, the printing paper size, the paper orientation (vertical, horizontal, etc.), a method of dealing with a busy or error, This means information related to print processing in each printer, such as the type and resolution of an application (file), and is set by the user via a printer condition setting screen 51 shown in FIG. In the printer list window of the printer condition setting screen 51, all printer driver names installed in the computer system used by the user are displayed.
[0028]
If the printing system uses a network and a plurality of printers are connected to the network, the network administrator installs an original printer driver (corresponding to a plurality of printers) and a virtual driver on the server computer. The priority order of the properties of the print data and the printing conditions of the printer may be set in advance on the server computer. As a result, the users in the network can execute the printing process efficiently using each printer on the network only by sharing the virtual driver from the server computer. Here, the network means an entire electrical network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) and a WAN (Wide Area Network).
[0029]
Subsequently, a printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0030]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[0031]
The printing process using the printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention is executed by the following steps.
[0032]
(1) The virtual driver 20 is activated via the print screen 60 (FIG. 6A) for starting the printing process (virtual driver activation step 301).
[0033]
(2) The “property” button 60 a in the print screen 60 is pressed to start the property input screen 61, and the number of print data of print data to be printed and the paper A print property such as a size is input (property input step 302).
[0034]
(3) The printer driver selection unit 22 refers to the print properties input via the print property input screen 61, the priority order of the print properties recorded in the print condition storage unit 21, and the printing conditions of the printer. Then, the most suitable printer driver for the print processing of the print data is selected (driver selection step 303).
[0035]
(4) Activate the selected printer driver (printer driver calling step 304).
[0036]
(5) The printer status determination unit 23 determines the status of the printer corresponding to the selected printer driver, and notifies the user of the determination result via, for example, a printer status display screen illustrated in FIG. Situation determination step 305). If the result of the determination is that the printer is busy or error, the flow proceeds to the queue clear step 307, and if the printer is neither busy or error, the flow proceeds to the print processing step 308.
[0037]
(6) The user is notified via the printer status display screens 62c and 62d that print processing of print data cannot be executed, the print processing is stopped by clearing the queue, and the process returns to the driver selection step 303 again. (Queue clear step 307).
[0038]
(7) The start of the printing process is notified to the user via the printer status display screen 62d, and printing is executed by a printer most suitable for the printing process (printing process step 308). After the printing process, the user is notified of the completion of printing via the printer status display screen 62e or the like.
[0039]
As described above, in the printing system and the printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention, by setting the priority of the property of the print data and the printing conditions of each printer in advance, the virtual printer The driver refers to the print data properties, the priority order of the set print data properties, and the printing conditions of the printer, automatically selects the most suitable printer driver for printing the print data, and performs the printing process in the selected printer driver. Even if the user is unfamiliar with the printing process, color printing can be performed by a color printer, and printing of 10 or more sheets can be performed by a stencil printing machine. is there.
[0040]
It is assumed that the computer system has, for example, an overview as shown in FIG. That is, a flexible disk drive 43 and an optical disk drive 45 are provided, and a flexible disk 44 is inserted into the flexible disk drive 43 and an optical disk 46 is inserted into the optical disk drive 45, and a predetermined read operation is performed to record these data. The program stored on the medium can be installed in the system. Also, by connecting a predetermined drive device, for example, installation and reading / writing of data can be executed using a ROM 47 serving as a memory device and a cartridge 48 serving as a magnetic tape device. Further, the user can recognize the output information related to the printing process by the output via the display 41, and can input the input information related to the printing process via the keyboard 42. Although not shown here, a mouse pointer may be used as the input device.
[0041]
The virtual driver 20 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be programmed and stored in a computer-readable recording medium. When the printing process is executed, the recording medium is read into a computer system, the program is stored in a storage unit such as a memory in the computer system, and the printing program is executed by an arithmetic unit. The method can be realized. Here, the recording medium includes, for example, a computer-readable medium capable of recording a program such as a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a magnetic tape.
[0042]
Thus, it should be understood that the present invention includes various embodiments and the like not described herein. Therefore, the present invention must be limited only by the matters specifying the invention according to the claims that are reasonable from this disclosure.
[0043]
(Experimental example)
Finally, in order to understand the printing system and the printing method according to the present embodiment, an experimental example of a printing process using the printing system according to the present embodiment will be briefly described.
[0044]
Now, when the priority order of the properties of the print data and the printing conditions of each printer are set as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the properties of the print data are shown in the left column of FIG. 7C. If so, in the printing system and method according to the present embodiment, the printer driver corresponding to the printer shown in the right column of FIG. 7C is automatically selected, and the printing process is executed.
[0045]
Here, taking the case 1 as an example, the operation of the printing process using the printing system according to the present embodiment will be briefly described.
[0046]
In case 1, the properties of the print data are set to monochrome, the number of prints is 12, the print paper size is A5, and the printer A executes print processing when the selected printer is busy (including an error). (See the left column in FIG. 7 (c)). Therefore, first, the virtual printer refers to the priority of the property of the print data set by the user, and determines that the print data is to be printed with priority on color / monochrome. However, in this case, since the two printers A and B meet this condition, the virtual printer refers to the print property of the next priority (in this case, the number of prints) to determine Then, a printer driver corresponding to the printer B capable of printing ten or more sheets is automatically selected, and the printing process is started. However, in this experimental example, since the printer B is in an error state, the printer driver corresponding to the printer A is automatically selected by referring to a countermeasure when the printer is busy or error in the print data properties. Then, the printer A executes the printing process.
[0047]
In this manner, the printing system and method according to the embodiment of the present invention can automatically select a printer driver most suitable for printing print data and execute print processing in a printer corresponding to the selected printer driver. I have to.
[0048]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the printing system, the printing method, and the computer-readable recording medium storing the virtual printer driver program of the present invention, the printer driver corresponding to the printer performing the printing process is selected every time the printing process is performed. There is no need to use one printer driver (virtual driver) set as a default, and the printing process can be executed by all the printers connected on the network, thereby greatly improving the efficiency of the printing process. It is possible to improve.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an overview of a print control apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a priority setting screen and a printer condition setting screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a view showing a print screen, a property input screen, and a printer status display screen according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an experimental example of a printing process using the printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Printing System 20 Virtual Driver 21 Printing Condition Storage 21a Priority Storage 21b Printer Condition Storage 22 Printer Driver Selection 23 Printer Status Judgment 40 Computer System 41 Display 42 Keyboard 43 Flexible Drive 44 Flexible Disk 45 Optical Disk Drive 46 Optical Disk 47 ROM
48 Cartridge 50 Priority setting screen 51 Printer condition setting screen 60 Printing screen 61 Property input screens 62a, 62b, 62c, 62d, 62e Printer status display screen

Claims (3)

In a printing system in which a desired printer is selected from a plurality of printers connected to a network and print processing is performed by the selected printer, the printer is started at the time of starting printing, and the most suitable printer for printing print data is selected from the plurality of printers. A virtual printer driver that selects a printer driver of the type, activates the selected printer driver, and causes a corresponding printer to execute a print process of the print data,
The virtual printer driver includes:
In the print processing, priority is set for a plurality of properties of print data including at least the number of prints, printing conditions for print data are set for each printer, and printing is performed to store the priority set for each property and the printing conditions for each printer. A condition storage unit,
A printer driver selection unit that selects a printer driver of a printer that matches the printing conditions for each printer in descending order of priority of each property of the print data;
A printing system comprising: a status determination unit configured to determine a status of a printer corresponding to a selected printer driver. In a printing system in which a desired printer is selected from a plurality of printers connected to a network and print processing is performed by the selected printer, the printer is started at the time of starting printing, and the most suitable printer for printing print data is selected from the plurality of printers. A printing method using a virtual printer driver that selects the printer driver of the above, activates the selected printer driver, and causes a corresponding printer to execute a print process of the print data.
In the printing process, a priority is set for a plurality of properties of the print data including at least the number of prints, a print condition of the print data is set for each printer, and a priority of each set property and the print condition for each printer are stored in the print condition. Steps to be stored in the section,
Inputting print properties of print data for performing a printing process;
Selecting a printer driver of a printer that matches the printing conditions for each printer in the order of priority of each property of the print data;
Activating the selected printer driver and causing a corresponding printer to execute the print processing of the print data. In a printing system in which a desired printer is selected from a plurality of printers connected to a network and print processing is performed by the selected printer, the printer is started at the time of starting printing, and the most suitable printer for printing print data is selected from the plurality of printers. A computer-readable recording medium storing a virtual printer driver program that selects the printer driver of the above, activates the selected printer driver, and causes a corresponding printer to execute the print processing of the print data.
In the printing process, a priority is set for a plurality of properties of the print data including at least the number of prints, a print condition of the print data is set for each printer, and a priority of each set property and the print condition for each printer are stored in the print condition. Steps to be stored in the section,
A process of inputting print properties of print data for executing a print process;
A process of selecting a printer driver of a printer that matches the printing conditions for each printer in the descending order of the priority of each property of the print data;
Activating the selected printer driver and causing a corresponding printer to execute a print process of the print data,
A computer-readable recording medium storing a virtual printer driver program for causing a computer to execute these processes.

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