JP2006189920A - User interface apparatus, display method for user interface, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display only a control needing customization by enabling a user to select and set a control which is not displayed in a customization setting window. <P>SOLUTION: In a step 1801, customization information is read from a registry. In a step 1802, initialization processing of a set value or the like of each control is performed. In a step 1803, on the basis of the customization information read in the step 1801, display or non-display of each control is processed. In a step 1804, on the basis of the customization information read in the step 1801, with reference to move distance information on each control, move processing of the control is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to customization of a setting screen for instructing the operation of a program using a user interface, and in particular, a user interface device for instructing an item column displayed on a display of a computer device or the like and inputting data. The present invention relates to a display method and a program.

  In recent years, printer drivers use drivers provided by vendors and drivers attached to operation systems.

  Recently, printers have become multifunctional, and the user interface has increased control for setting each function, and various methods for reducing the load on the user who uses the printer driver have been proposed. Has been.

  As one of them, Patent Document 1 describes control for customizing a user interface of a printer driver. In particular, in Patent Document 1, a control configuration desired by the user is realized by copying a necessary control by drag and drop into a window called a user-defined panel, and setting the user on the user-defined panel. The technology to do is described.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 describes control for acquiring printer configuration information and reflecting it in driver settings in order to reduce the load on the user's printer driver settings.

  Patent Document 3 acquires user name information set in a paper discharge bin of a printer, designates a paper discharge bin set in the input user name, and discharges a print destination user as desired. It describes the control of discharging to the bin.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-244843 JP 2000-242597 A JP 2000-132356 A

  In the prior art, since the printer driver provided by each vendor is used, a user interface suitable for each user has not been provided. On the other hand, in recent years, as the functions of printers have increased, the user interface mechanism of printer drivers has become complicated and complicated. Under such a background, there is a demand for a technology that allows the user himself to construct a user interface suitable for each user.

  In Patent Document 1, the user can construct a user interface. However, customization control is to operate a user-defined window by placing a control that the user wants to set, and a format provided by the printer driver (for example, a tab configuration) ) And the like are changed, the usage method is changed from the conventional method, and there is a problem that the usability is deteriorated.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses control for acquiring printer configuration information and reflecting it in a user interface. However, it is unnecessary such that settings are reflected on a control panel that is not normally used by a user and displayed on a control panel. The control was displayed and reflected, and the usability was bad.

  In Patent Document 3, a printer has a plurality of paper discharge bins as a paper discharge device, a user name is assigned to each of the paper discharge bins, and a paper discharge bin is based on the user name input during printing. Is described, and a technique for ejecting paper is specified. However, in the current office environment, output is often managed, for example, management of a person who outputs, and assignment of a printer discharge bin for each user. For this reason, the user must specify the paper output bin when making settings in the printer driver, especially if you are unsure of which paper output bin you should use. Troublesome work such as having to make settings after confirming that the user belongs to a group has occurred.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and the object of the present invention is to enable the user to customize the printer driver, and further to the above-described setting for each user when performing customization. The object is to provide a user interface device or the like that solves the problem.

  In order to achieve such an object, the present invention allows the user to select and set a control to be hidden in the customization setting window, thereby displaying only the control that needs to be customized. Control of setting values associated with each user is realized. Further, the present invention can easily set the display / non-display of the control and the default setting when customizing the user interface of the printer driver, especially in the case where the setting is difficult such as a paper discharge bin. Make it easy to set.

  Therefore, the user interface device according to the present invention is a user interface device that displays a customization setting screen and a print setting screen. An acquisition unit that acquires printer configuration information, and a print setting screen on the basis of the printer configuration information acquired by the acquisition unit. A setting unit that displays or hides the print setting control on the customization setting screen, and a control unit that displays or hides the print setting control set by the setting unit on the print setting screen. To do.

  The user interface display method of the present invention is a user interface display method for displaying a customization setting screen and a print setting screen. The acquisition step for acquiring printer configuration information and the printing based on the printer configuration information acquired in the acquisition step. A setting step for displaying or hiding the print setting control on the setting screen on the customization setting screen; and a control step for displaying or hiding the print setting control set in the setting step on the print setting screen. It is characterized by.

  Further, the program of the present invention provides a computer that displays a customization setting screen and a print setting screen, an acquisition step of acquiring printer configuration information, and print setting controls on the print setting screen based on the printer configuration information acquired in the acquisition step. A setting process for displaying or hiding on the customization setting screen and a control process for displaying or hiding the print setting control set in the setting manual process on the print setting screen are executed.

  According to the present invention, in the complicated user interface of the printer driver, only the control that the user needs to set uniquely can be displayed, so that the burden on the user at the time of setting can be reduced.

  Further, according to the present invention, when designating and outputting the paper output bin, the user can output to an appropriate paper output bin without being aware of the specification of the paper output bin, and the discharge of other departments can be performed. Output to a paper bin can be avoided and information leakage can be prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a printing device control system to which the present invention is applied. As long as the function of the present invention is executed, a connection is made through a network such as a LAN or a WAN, even if it is a single device or a system composed of a plurality of devices. The present invention can be applied even to a system. That is, the configuration of various terminals connected in the embodiment is an example, and it is needless to say that there are various configuration examples depending on applications and purposes.

  In FIG. 1, 3000 is a host computer or a client computer (hereinafter referred to as a host computer or the like). The ROM 103 or the external memory 111 in the host computer or the like implements a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) and an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS) that are control programs of the CPU 101, and functions executed by each server or each PC. Various programs to be described later are stored. The OS used in this embodiment is Windows XP (registered trademark), but is not limited to this. The RAM 102 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 101. The CPU 101 implements various operations by loading a program necessary for execution of processing into the RAM 102 and executing the program.

  An input control (input C) 105 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 109 or a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown). A video control (VC) 106 controls display on a display device such as a CRT display (CRT) 110. The display device may be a liquid crystal display. These are used by the administrator as necessary, and are not directly related to the present invention.

  The memory control (MC) 107 is stored in a hard disk (HD), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, or a PCMCIA card slot for storing a boot program, browser software, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. Controls access to an external memory 111 such as a compact flash (registered trademark) memory connected via an adapter. A communication I / F control (communication I / FC) 108 connects and communicates with an external device via a network, and executes communication control processing on the network. For example, Internet communication using TCP / IP or data transmission / reception with the printer 1500 is possible. Note that the CPU 101 enables display on the CRT 110 by executing outline font rasterization processing on a display information area in the RAM 102, for example. Further, the CPU 101 enables a user instruction with a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 110.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1500 denotes a printer. In the printer 1500, the CPU 112 in the printer outputs information to a printing unit (printer engine) 117 connected to the system bus 115 based on a control program stored in the program ROM 113b or a control program stored in the external memory 114. As an image signal. The program ROM 113b stores a control program executed by the CPU 112 and the like. The font ROM 113a stores font data used when generating the output information, and the data ROM 113c stores information used on the host computer or the like in the case of a printer without the external memory 114 such as a hard disk. To do.

  The paper discharge device connection unit 122 enables connection between an optional end device and the printer 1500.

  The CPU 112 can communicate with a host computer or the like via the input unit 118, and is configured to be able to notify the host computer or the like 3000 of information in the printer. A RAM 119 is a main memory of the CPU 112 and functions as a work area. The RAM 119 is configured such that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown).

  The RAM 119 is also used for an output information expansion area, an environment data storage area, NVRAM, and the like. Access to the above-described external memory 114 such as a hard disk (HD) or IC card is controlled by a memory control (MC) 120. The external memory 114 is connected as an option and stores font data, an emulation program, form data, and the like. The input unit 118 is the above-described operation panel, on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged.

  Further, the external memory described above is one or plural, and is configured to be able to connect a plurality of external memories storing an optional font card and a program for interpreting a printer control language having a different language system in addition to the built-in font. Also good. Further, the external memory may have an NVRAM (not shown) and store printer mode setting information from the operation unit 1501.

  In the present embodiment, the page description language (hereinafter referred to as PDL) supported by the printer 1500 is assumed to be a relatively advanced PDL such as LBP Image Processing System (manufactured by Canon Inc., hereinafter referred to as LIPS). However, it is not limited to this.

  A printing device control program (hereinafter referred to as a printer driver) for realizing the present invention is recorded in the external memory 111 and is executed by the CPU 101 by being loaded into the RAM 102 as necessary. Furthermore, definition files and various information tables used by the printer driver according to the present invention are stored in the external memory 111, and detailed descriptions thereof will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a main functional block diagram showing a flow when transmitting print job data from the host computer 3000 shown in FIG. 1 to the printer 1500.

  Program modules such as an application program (hereinafter referred to as an application) 201, a graphic engine 202, a printer driver 203, and a print subsystem 204 in the host computer 3000 are stored as files in the external memory 111 shown in FIG. When loaded, it is loaded into the RAM 102 and executed by the OS or another module that uses a certain module.

  The application 201 and the printer driver 203 can be added to the hard disk (HD) of the external memory 111 via an FD of the external memory 111, a CD-ROM (not shown), or a network described later.

  The application 201 stored in the external memory 111 is loaded into the RAM 102 and executed by the CPU 101. When printing is performed from the application 201 to the printer 1500, output (rendering) is performed using the graphic engine 202 that is similarly loaded into the RAM 102 by the CPU 101 and executed.

  The graphic engine 202 activates a printer driver 203 prepared for each printing apparatus. As a result, the printer driver 203 is loaded from the external memory 111 to the RAM 102 and executed by the CPU 101. The graphic engine 202 uses the printer driver 203 to convert the output of the application 201 into a printer control command by PDL.

  The printer control command converted by the printer driver 203 is output to the printer 1500 via the communication interface 221 via the print subsystem 204.

  The print subsystem 204 is activated by the OS, loaded from the external memory 111 to the RAM 102 and executed by the CPU 101, print job scheduling, connection control with a printer host computer, and printer status. Manage. Further, the printer driver 203 generates a printer control command related to the output of the printing and drawing commands instructed from the application 201, and instructs the printer to be reflected in the print output. Further, the printer driver 203 has a function (hereinafter referred to as a user interface) for performing settings for controlling functions of the printer driver 203 and the printer 1500 main body, a function for storing the settings, and the printer driver 203 and the printer 1500 main body. A function for providing information about the capabilities of the printer to the application or OS, a function for generating a printer control command when the function set in the user interface is a function of the printer, and a function set in the user interface is a printer driver In the case of an independent function, it has a function for realizing the function.

  FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a printing system to which the host computer 3000 and the printer 1500 shown in FIG. 1 can be applied. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a network, and a plurality of host computers 3000, a printer 1500, and a print server computer 4000 are connected to the network 301.

  In this system, the communication I / F control 108 (see FIG. 1) of the host computer 3000 or the like has the function of a network interface card (NIC). The printer 1500 is directly connected to the network 301 even when connected to the print server computer 4000 via the local interface 302 such as Centronics or USB and connected to the host computer 3000 via the print server computer 4000. Form may be sufficient. Note that the input unit 118 (see FIG. 1) of the printer 1500 directly connected to the network 301 has a function of a network interface card (NIC).

  When sending a print job from each host computer etc. 3000 to the printer 1500 connected to the network 301 via the print server computer 4000, each host computer etc. 3000 first passes through the print subsystem 204 (see FIG. 2). A print job is transmitted to the print server computer 4000. The print server computer 4000 transmits the print job transmitted from each host computer 3000 to the printer 1500 via a print subsystem (not shown) on the print server computer 4000. Accordingly, each host computer 3000 or the like can transmit a print job to the printer 1500 via the print server computer 4000. The verification (authentication) server 5000 is a server that holds a database (DB) 6000 that holds department information of an organization.

  When a print job is transmitted from each host computer 3000 to the printer 1500 directly connected to the network 301, each host computer 3000 is directly connected to the network 301 via the print subsystem 204 (see FIG. 2). The print job is transmitted to the printer 1500.

  Next, the basic processing flow of a printer driver suitable for applying the present invention will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a status diagram showing the flow of basic processing when printing is performed in the print control apparatus, and particularly corresponds to the processing of the application 201, graphic engine 202, and printer driver 203 shown in FIG. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same thing as FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the application 201 does not directly communicate with the printer driver 203 but via the graphics engine 202 of the OS. Therefore, the application 201 itself is actually connected to the graphics engine 202. Communicate. The graphic engine 202 receives an instruction from the application 201 and instructs the printer driver 203.

  First, in step 401, the application 201 notifies the graphic engine 202 of print settings such as single-sided / double-sided settings and the number of copies setting via the memory secured in the RAM 102, and the graphic engine 202 notifies the print settings, Based on the print settings, the printer driver 203 sends to the printer driver 203 an initialization request for a memory area newly secured in the RAM 102 in order to store information necessary for the printing process. As a result, the printer driver 203 secures a memory area for holding information (printer driver information) necessary for the printer driver 203 to perform print processing, and initializes the memory area in accordance with the notified print settings.

  In step 402, when the printer driver 203 completes the necessary processing by receiving the initialization processing request for the memory area referred to by the printer driver 203, the print capability of the printer driver 203 corresponding to the print setting received in step 401 is displayed as a graphic. The graphic engine 202 sends a handle value necessary for associating the print job finally transmitted to the printer 1500 and the print setting to be reflected in the print job to the application 201.

  In step 403, when the application 201 sends a print start request to the graphic engine 202, the graphic engine 202 sends a print start request to the printer driver 203. As a result, the printer driver 203 starts PDL generation processing, and generates a printer command necessary for the printer 1500 to start printing. However, the process for generating the printer command necessary for the printer 1500 to start printing is the time when the printing process for the first page (first page) is started (the drawing instruction for the first page from the application is received). Time).

  In step 404, the application 201 sends a drawing instruction or a page break instruction for realizing drawing of a drawing object such as a character or an image to the graphic engine 202. The graphic engine 202 sends the drawing instruction and the page break instruction to the printer driver 203. As a result, the printer driver 203 appropriately generates a printer control command reflecting a specified drawing object, a page break, and a request for changing print settings (not shown) in the middle, and outputs the printer control command to the printer 1500. Note that the number of pages to be printed depends on the designation from the application 201.

  In step 405, the application 201 sends a print end request to the graphic engine 202, and the graphic engine 202 sends the print end request to the printer driver 203. As a result, the printer driver 203 generates a printer command necessary for the printer 1500 to end printing, and ends the PDL generation processing.

  In step 406, the application 201 sends a handle value discard request acquired in step 402 to the graphic engine 202. The graphic engine 202 is in a memory area for storing information necessary for the printer driver 203 to perform print processing. A request for discarding information (printer driver information) is sent to the printer driver 203. Accordingly, the printer driver 203 performs a process for discarding the printer driver information.

  One job to be transmitted to the printer 1500 is generated by the processing in steps 403 to 405 described above.

  The printing system of this embodiment has a configuration in which print data from the application 201 is once spooled with intermediate code data in addition to the printing system including the printer and the host computer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this system, the contents of intermediate code data once spooled can be processed. As a result, functions that the application does not have, such as enlargement / reduction or printing by reducing a plurality of pages into one page, can be realized with respect to the print data from the application 201.

  FIG. 5 shows a system configuration expanded to generate a spool file 504 consisting of an intermediate code once when a print command is sent from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203. In the system shown in FIG. 5, the contents of the spool file 504 can be processed. As a result, functions that the application 201 does not have, such as enlargement / reduction or printing by reducing a plurality of pages to one page, can be realized.

  For these purposes, the system of FIG. 2 has been expanded such as spooling with intermediate code data as shown in FIG. In order to process print data, settings are made from a window provided by the normal printer driver 203, and the printer driver 203 saves the setting contents on the RAM 102 or the external memory 111.

  Details of FIG. 5 will be described below. As shown in the figure, in this expanded processing method, the dispatcher 501 receives a DDI function that is a print command from the graphic engine 202. When the DDI function received by the dispatcher 501 from the graphic engine 202 is based on a print command (GDI function) issued from the application 201 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 501 stores the internal information stored in the external memory 111. The spooler 503 in the spool processing module 502 is loaded into the RAM 102, and the DDI function is sent to the spooler 503 instead of the normal print data creation processing 507.

  The spooler 503 analyzes the received DDI function, converts it into an intermediate code for each page, and outputs it to the spool file 504. The spool file of intermediate code stored in units of pages is called a page drawing file (PDF). Further, the spooler 503 acquires processing settings (bookbinding printing, Nup, double-sided, stapling, color / monochrome designation, etc.) relating to the print data set for the printer driver 203 from the printer driver 203 as a file for each job. Save to the spool file 504.

  At this time, the setting file stored for each job is referred to as a job setting file (also referred to simply as SDF: Spool Description File). This job setting file will be described later. The spool file 504 may be generated on the RAM 102, which is generated as a file on the external memory 111 (see FIG. 1). Further, the spooler 503 loads the spool file manager 505 stored in the external memory 111 into the RAM 102 (see FIG. 1), and notifies the spool file manager 505 of the generation status of the spool file 504. Thereafter, the spool file manager 505 determines whether printing can be performed in accordance with the contents of the processing settings relating to the print data stored in the spool file 504.

  When the spool file manager 505 determines that printing can be performed using the graphic engine 202, the despooler 506 stored in the external memory 111 is loaded into the RAM 102 and is described in the spool file 504 with respect to the despooler 506. The intermediate code page drawing file is instructed to be printed.

  The despooler 506 processes the page drawing file of the intermediate code included in the spool file 504 according to the job setting file including the processing setting information included in the spool file 504, regenerates the GDI function, and again generates the GDI function via the graphic engine 202. Is output.

  When the print command (DDI function) received by the dispatcher 501 from the graphic engine 202 is based on the print command (GDI function) issued from the despooler 506 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 501 is not the spooler 503. Then, a print command is sent to the normal print data creation processing 507 of the printer driver. The printer driver 203 generates a printer control command including PDL based on the DDI function acquired from the graphic engine 202 and outputs the printer control command to the printer 1500 via the print subsystem 204.

  In the above description, the operation environment suitable for carrying out the present invention or the entire processing content of the printer driver 203 has been described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. The present invention will be described in detail below. It should be noted that the configurations and contents of the various tables in FIGS. 1 to 19 are not limited, and it is needless to say that the tables are configured with various configurations and contents according to applications and purposes. In the present embodiment, a description will be given of a mode that operates on a client computer.

  A procedure for customizing the print setting screen will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a printer property setting screen, showing a user interface for setting the printer configuration. 702 setting 1 sheet, 703 setting 2 sheet, 704 setting 3 sheet, a setting sheet for managing the Windows spooler managed by the Windows system, a setting sheet for managing the output port, a sheet for setting the configuration of the printer, etc. This is a conventional setting sheet. A customization setting sheet 705 is a setting sheet for the user to perform customization settings.

  The manual customization setting 706 button is a push button type control that is pressed when the user himself performs display / non-display settings for all controls.

  The automatic customization setting 707 button is a push button type control that is pressed when acquiring printer configuration information and automatically setting display or non-display of some controls according to the printer configuration information. . For example, if the duplex control device is not installed, duplex printing cannot be performed, and the printing method is fixed to simplex printing. Therefore, the printing method that is the operation control is set to non-display.

  The display / non-display setting is automatically performed according to the configuration information of the printer, and then the display / non-display setting can be performed by the user himself / herself.

  Further, it may be configured so that the user cannot change the display / non-display setting for the control set to non-display according to the configuration information of the printer.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent the display setting by the user by mistake, so that the user's troublesome work can be eliminated and useless display can be eliminated.

  Reference numeral 708 denotes a push button type OK button. By pressing this button, the change information on the sheet can be updated and the sheet can be terminated.

  Reference numeral 709 denotes a push button type cancel button. By pressing this button, the sheet can be terminated without updating the change information on the sheet.

  Reference numeral 710 denotes a push button type help button. By pressing this button, the contents information of each control of the sheet can be displayed.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a customization setting screen, which is a user interface displayed when the custom setting manual button 706 or the custom setting automatic button 707 in FIG. 7 is pressed. Reference numerals 802, 803, 804, and 805 denote sheets on which document setting controls used for printing are arranged. The configuration of the control will be described by taking the setting 1 sheet 802 as an example.

  The control 806 is a check box type and is associated with the control 813. The user can set the check of the check box type control to ON or OFF by using a keyboard or mouse input device mounted on the print server computer 4000 or the host computer 3000. When the check box type control 806 is turned on, 813 is displayed as Enable on the customization setting screen 801 (the control is operable instead of gray). On the other hand, when the check box type control 806 is turned OFF, 813 is disabled (the control becomes gray and cannot be operated).

  For example, when the check box type control of 806 is set to ON, the control screen 813 is displayed on the screen for performing the print setting (the screen reflecting the setting and the print setting screen shown in FIG. 10 described later). Will not. When the check box type control 806 is turned OFF, the control 813 is displayed on the print setting screen. The check box type controls 807 to 812 perform the same operation as the control on the right side. For the check box type controls 806 to 812, the initial value is set to OFF. For the controls 813 to 817, a standard set value is selected as an initial value. The user can change the set value only when the check box type control associated with the control is hidden to hide the control.

  When the user presses the 820 push button type OK control, the customization setting is saved in the registry. If the user changes the setting of each control and presses the push button type cancel button 821, the changed content is not saved in the registry.

  FIG. 9 shows a relationship between a dialog 923 displayed when a push button type control 919 (option 2) is pressed and a check box type control 912. When 919 is pressed, an option 2 dialog 923 is displayed. In the option 2 dialog 923, check box type controls 924 to 926 and edit box type controls for performing print settings 927 to 929 are arranged. The check box type control of 924 and the edit box type control of 927 are related. When the check of the check box type control of 924 is ON, the edit box type control of 927 becomes Enable and the check of 924 When the check of the box type control is OFF, the edit box type control of 927 is disabled. The relationship between 925 and 928 and 926 and 929 is similar to the relationship between 924 and 927.

  When the check boxes 924, 925, and 926 are ON, the associated 927, 928, and 929 are not displayed on the print setting screen.

  The setting 1 sheet of the customization setting screen 901 is the first hierarchy, and the option 2 dialog 923 opened by pressing the control 919 of the first hierarchy is the second hierarchy.

  Check the check box type controls 924, 925 and 926 related to the edit box type controls 927, 928 and 929 existing in the dialog 923 which is the second hierarchy, and set the push button type control 930 OK button to ON. When the dialog of 923 is closed by pressing the button, all the controls in the dialog 923 are hidden on the print setting screen, so that 951 on the setting 1 sheet of 933 which is the control in the first layer is displayed. Control to hide the push button type control on the print setting screen. Therefore, the check of the check box type control 944 is turned ON.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state in which registry information stored by pressing the push button type OK button 952 of the customization setting shown in FIG. 9 is read and reflected on the print setting screen. The upper screen (1001) in FIG. 10 is a print setting screen showing before reflection, and the lower screen (1016) in FIG. 10 is a print setting screen showing after reflection.

  The setting 1 sheet of 1002 in the upper window of FIG. 10 is in a standard print setting state. On the other hand, when the push button type OK button 952 is pressed in the check state set in the setting 1 sheet of 934 in FIG. 9 and the setting 1 sheet of the print setting screen is displayed, the control state is as shown in the lower part of FIG. This is a setting 1 sheet 1017 of the window 1016 of the screen. Since the check boxes of 939, 941, 942, and 944 of the setting 1 sheet 934 in FIG. 9 are checked ON, the controls 1007, 1009, 1010, and 1011 that should be displayed with the standard print settings are hidden. Become. Also, since the control 1007 is not displayed, 1008 moves to the top. Since the control 1011 is not displayed, the control 1013 moves to the right. A state in which the control is hidden and moved in this way is a lower window 1016 in FIG. The control 1021 and the control 1022 are displayed side by side, and the control 1023 is displayed on the right to arrange the controls.

  FIGS. 15 to 17 are flowcharts showing the process for creating the customization information described with reference to FIGS. A control program for executing this processing is stored and executed in the main memory of the computer device. Hereinafter, the process will be described.

  In step 1501 of FIG. 15, a customization setting window 801 (see FIG. 8) for the user to create a customization file is displayed.

  In step 1502, when the customization setting window 801 is opened, a memory area for holding customization information is secured. When the memory area is secured in step 1502, if the custom setting automatic push button type control 707 in FIG. 7 is pressed, the printer configuration information is acquired from the printer 1500, and the check box type control corresponding to the printer configuration information is acquired. Is displayed (check OFF), and other check box type controls are not displayed (check ON) and are stored in the control check state 1304 in FIG. 13 in advance.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining a control for acquiring printer configuration information and setting display / non-display according to the acquisition status. In 1901, information on the duplex unit is acquired when the configuration information of the printer is acquired. If the duplex unit is installed, 1304 in the memory area corresponding to the printing method as the corresponding control is displayed. (See FIG. 13) is turned OFF. When the duplex unit is not attached, 1304 of the memory area is turned ON. Similarly, for the paper discharge option acquired by acquiring the printer configuration information 1902, a memory area is stored according to the mounting state.

  It should be noted that the information about the paper discharge bin may be acquired as the printer configuration information acquired from the printer.

  Returning to FIG. 15, the memory for the customization information is secured in step 1502, but the memory configurations to be secured are 1301 to 1302 and 1303 to 1310 in FIG. The number of memory areas to be secured here is as many as there are on the user interface. The initial values of these memory areas are associated in advance with respect to 1301 and 1302. IDs of check box type controls indicated by 806 to 812 in FIG. 8 are set in 1301, and IDs of controls indicated by 813 to 819 in FIG. 8 are set in 1302. These 1301 and 1302 are set as one information table. By using this information table, the control IDs 1301 and 1302 are associated with each other. On the other hand, for 1303 to 1310, initial values are set as follows. Reference numeral 1303 denotes each control ID existing on the user interface. 1304 is in the check state of the control ID shown in 806 to 812, but the initial value is checked OFF. 1305 to 1307 are standard control positions, widths and heights. Reference numeral 1308 denotes the coordinates of the control after customization setting. As a result of customization, 1309 sets the distance to move from the conventional coordinate position 1305, but the initial value is no movement distance. When the check state from 806 to 812 is ON, the control from 1313 to 819 associated with the control 1310 is not displayed on the print setting screen. In step 1503, a message received when the user operates each control is waited for. In this message, the control ID indicating which control is operated can be acquired, and what operation has been performed can be acquired.

  When a message is received in step 1504, it is determined from the acquired control ID whether the control is a check box type control for setting display or non-display indicated by reference numerals 806 to 812 in FIG. If the message is a message from a check box type control for display / non-display, the information table consisting of 1301 and 1302 is referred to, and the acquired control ID is used as a key. Compare with control ID. The control ID associated with the memory 1302 that is matched in comparison.

  In step 1506, the memory area 1303 is compared and searched using the control ID 1302 as a key.

  In step 1507, ON or OFF of the set value of the control type check box is set to 1304 for the matched memory area.

  In step 1508, it is determined whether the control is a push button type control to be pressed when displaying the second layer window. If the control is the control, processing in step 1509 is performed.

  The message received in step 1503 is processing when the OK button 820 on the 802 sheet in FIG. 8 is pressed. In step 1510, the movement distance calculation processing is performed from the information on the memory, and the information on the memory is stored in the registry. To finish the process.

  In step 1511, a control moving distance is calculated. A window 933 in the lower screen of FIG. 9 is a customization setting screen, and a print setting screen reflecting the customization setting is a window 1016 in the lower screen of FIG. Here, 939 in the lower screen of FIG. 9 is check ON, and 940 is check OFF. Therefore, the control 946 associated with 939 is hidden on the print setting screen, and the control 947 associated with 940 is displayed on the print setting screen. The result is control movement to the top of the print setting screen 1022 in FIG. Such display information before and after each control is calculated by referring to the memory shown in FIG.

  In step 1513 when the message received in step 1503 is pressed when the cancel button 821 on the sheet 802 in FIG. 8 is pressed, the processing ends without saving the information stored in the memory in the registry. To do.

  If the message received in step 1503 does not correspond to the control on the sheet, the next message monitoring process is performed without performing the process.

  FIG. 16 is a processing flow when the push button type control is pressed. The push button type control here is a button that exists in the first layer and is pressed to display the second layer. The option button 1 of 818 in FIG. 8 and the option button 2 of 819 correspond to this. Step 1601 is a process for displaying a dialog window in the second hierarchy when the push button type control is first pressed in the first hierarchy.

  Step 1602 is a process of waiting for a message for all controls existing in the second layer. When the user operates each control, a message indicating what operation has been performed on which control is received. The subsequent processing (steps 1603 to 1608, step 1611) is the same processing as in FIG. 15, but only the processing after the OK button is pressed in step 1607 is different. After moving distance calculation processing in step 1608, whether or not the check box type control for setting all display / non-display in the dialog window is checked ON in step 1609 or each control stored in the memory of FIG. Acquire and check the information of the control check status of. Here, if all are ON, the check box type control for displaying and hiding the push button type control pressed to display the second hierarchy control is turned ON. This is because, when all the controls in the second hierarchy are set to non-display, the associated push button type controls in the first hierarchy are hidden on the print setting screen.

  In summary, when the manual setting manual 706 in FIG. 7 is pressed, the user can manually perform the customization setting, and when the setting automatic setting 707 is pressed, the printer 1500 receives the configuration information of the printer. Acquire and automatically customize user interface controls. In the case of automatic, display / non-display check ON / OFF is stored in the check state of each control in FIG. 13 based on the acquired information. Based on this information, the processing shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 is performed.

  In the present embodiment, the control to be hidden is configured to be checked, but the control to be displayed may be checked.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, a procedure for performing a customization setting for hiding the control using the user separation function as a setting value will be described.

  First, the user separation function will be described. Assume that paper discharge ports 601 to 607 shown in FIG. 6 are installed as the paper discharge device of the printer main body 1500 of FIG. A name can be assigned to each of the paper discharge ports 601 to 607. The assigned information is stored in the memory of the printer main body 1500. The user can discharge the printed matter to the specified paper discharge port by specifying the paper discharge port name. The printer driver provides a user interface for designating a paper discharge name to the user, and designates the name designated by the user to the printer, so that the printer outputs to the designated paper discharge port. As a premise, it is assumed that the user sets the name of the SECTION name to which the user belongs to each paper discharge port. In addition, a database is constructed on the print server computer 4000 that configures the relationship between SECTION (department name, etc.) and MEMBER (user name, etc.) shown in FIG. 14, and can search for the SECTION name from the MEMBER name. .

  Note that the SECTION name corresponds to the name of the paper discharge port (discharge bin) stored in the printer 1500. If the name of the paper discharge port (discharge bin) is changed in the printer 1500, the information in FIG. Be changed. Further, when the information (SECTION name) in FIG. 14 is changed, the corresponding discharge port (discharge bin) name of the printer 1500 is also changed.

  The lower screen of FIG. 11 is a paper discharge setting dialog 1117 displayed when the push button type control (paper discharge setting) 1103 of the setting 1103 for performing the customization setting including the paper discharge method and the paper discharge setting is pressed. It is. By turning on the check box of the check box type control 1108, the control 1114 is set to non-display. In the control 1114 (paper discharge method), the user separate mode is selected. When the user separate mode is selected, it is necessary to select a paper discharge destination by depressing a push button type control 1115. When the push button type control 1115 is pressed, a discharge setting dialog 1117 is displayed. 1117 includes a check box type control 1119 for setting a paper discharge destination. In order to hide 1119, the check box type control 1118 is turned ON. Check box type controls 1120 to 1127 exist in the control 1119. Among these options, there are 1127 check box type controls in addition to the actual paper discharge bins. The meaning of the existence of the check box type control 1127 is as follows.

  In the case where the print server computer 4000 and the host computer 3000 are configured as shown in FIG. 3, customization settings are made on the print server computer 4000 side. This customized setting is inherited by the host computer 3000 or the like. In this case, when one of the check box type controls 1120 to 1126 is selected and set by the control 1119 in FIG. 11, the discharge of all users connected to the print server computer 4000 is set. Will be output to the paper outlet. In order to avoid this, an option of automatic paper discharge bin of the check box type control 1127 is provided. By selecting automatic discharge bin of the check box type control 1127, the discharge port is determined by comparing the database 6000 on the verification (authentication) server 5000 with the name of the user who performs print settings for printing. Will do. The print server 4000 may perform collation.

  FIG. 12 shows a print setting window 1201. A setting 1 sheet 1202 is obtained by reading the discharge method and discharge setting customization information set in FIG. 11 from the registry and reflecting the settings. Since the check boxes 1108 and 1109 in FIG. 11 are checked, the controls 1114 and 1115 in FIG. 11 are not displayed. Therefore, the paper discharge method control and the paper discharge setting control are not displayed in FIG.

  The customization setting flowchart for FIG. 11 is similar to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 15, 16, and 17 described above.

  FIGS. 17 and 18 are flowcharts for performing the paper discharge setting of FIG. 12 which is the print setting using the customization information set on the screen shown in FIG. From here, in FIG. 17 and FIG. 18, the MEMBER 14 in FIG. 14 logs in on the host computer etc. 3000 and performs print settings when the paper output bin automatic is selected by user separation in the customization settings. The paper discharge port determined at this time will be described.

  14 is configured in the database 6000 on the verification (authentication) server 5000 in FIG. FIG. 14 includes a SECTION name and a MEMBER name belonging to the SECTION. With this database, it is possible to search for a SECTION name to which the MEMBER belongs from the MEMBER name.

  The process shown in FIG. 17 is a process executed when print setting is to be performed on an application or a Windows system. First, if customization setting is performed in step 1701, customization information which is set in the registry is confirmed. If the customization information cannot be confirmed, the customization process is not performed and the user performs the process using a normal user interface in step 1712. If the customization information can be confirmed in the registry, the user interface is hidden in step 1702. Details of step 1702 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In steps 1801 to 1804 of FIG. 18, control display / non-display settings and control position movement processing are performed based on the customization information read from the registry. In step 1801, customization information is read from the registry. In step 1802, initialization processing such as setting values for each control is performed. In step 1803, each control is displayed or hidden based on the customization information read in step 1801. Here, since the check box type control 1108 of FIG. 11 is checked, the control of the paper discharge method is not displayed in FIG. Similarly, since the check box type control 1109 in FIG. 11 is also checked, the discharge setting control is hidden in FIG.

  In step 1804, control movement processing is performed with reference to the movement distance information of each control based on the customization information read in step 1801.

  In step 1703 of FIG. 17, it is determined whether or not the value set in the case of the non-display setting is the automatic discharge bin selected by the check box type control 1127 of FIG. If the set value is not automatic paper discharge bin, in step 1711, the selected setting is used as a DEVMODE (structure for storing printer settings) value used at the time of printing. If the set value is automatic paper discharge bin, in step 1704, the login user name is acquired from the system. Here, the MEMBER 14 is acquired. In step 1705, the login user name obtained in step 1704 is collated from the database 6000 on the collation (authentication) server 5000 to obtain the belonging SECTION name (see FIG. 14). In step 1706, the name set for the paper discharge port is acquired from the printer 1500.

  In step 1707, it is determined whether the SECTION name acquired from the database exists among the names set for the paper discharge port acquired from the printer. If it exists, the SECTION name is selected as DEVMODE. If it does not exist, a message notifying that there is no appropriate paper outlet is displayed, and the standard paper outlet is set to DEVMODE. Using the DEVMODE information set for printing here, the capability notification in step 402 in FIG. 4 is performed and printing is performed.

  In this embodiment, when the paper discharge bin is automatically set, the paper discharge bin to be discharged is specified in advance. However, when printing is executed, the paper discharge bin is discharged based on the user name. It may be determined whether or not there is a paper bin. If there is no paper discharge bin that is the same as the user name, the SECTION name to which the user belongs is acquired and an output instruction is issued to the paper discharge bin that has the same SECTION name. You may comprise.

  At this time, a user name is added to the print command, and the server determines the paper discharge bin based on the additional information (user name).

  Also, it is determined whether or not there is a paper discharge bin corresponding to the user name in the printer that has received the print command, and if there is not, the paper discharge bin is determined based on the information of FIG. 14 stored in the server or printer. You may comprise as follows.

  Further, an item related to the check box 1127 (for example, “bin automatic in the lower diagram of FIG. 11”) is converted into a button, and a discharge bin is determined based on the login user name when the button is pressed. Any one of 1126 may be checked.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible for a user to customize a printer driver, and it is possible to solve a problem related to settings for each user when performing customization.

  This embodiment is illustrative and not restrictive. Therefore, modifications other than the present embodiment are possible. As long as the modification is within the scope of the technical idea indicated by the claims, the modification is within the technical scope of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 2 is a main functional block diagram showing a flow when transmitting print job data from a host computer or the like shown in FIG. 1 to a printer. FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example of a printing system in which the host computer or the like illustrated in FIG. 1 is used for client and server applications and a printer is connected. FIG. 6 is a status diagram illustrating a basic processing flow of a printer driver to which the present invention is applicable. FIG. 2 is a main functional block diagram showing a flow when transmitting print job data from a host computer or the like shown in FIG. 1 to a printer, and a block diagram showing the internal processing of the printer driver in more detail. It is a figure which shows the paper discharge apparatus with which a printer is mounted | worn. It is a figure which shows the sheet | seat which performs a customization setting. It is a figure which shows the window for editing a customization setting. It is a figure explaining the control in the setting of the window of a 1st hierarchy, and the dialog of a 2nd hierarchy in order to edit a customization setting. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating print settings before and after performing customization settings. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a customization setting in a paper discharge method and a paper discharge setting. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating print settings after performing a paper discharge method and paper discharge setting customization settings. It is a memory map figure which shows the data structure of the storage medium of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the database structure of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the control method which produces customization information. It is a flowchart which shows the control method at the time of pushing down the push button type control at the time of creating customization information. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a control method for applying customized setting information for a paper discharge method and paper discharge settings at the time of print setting. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method for a non-display method of a user interface when customization setting information is applied during print setting. It is a figure which shows the control by which printer configuration information is acquired and display or non-display is set according to the acquisition status.

Explanation of symbols

1500 Printer 1501 Operation unit 3000 Host computer etc. 4000 Print server computer 101 CPU
102 RAM
103 ROM
104 System Bus 105 Input Control 106 Video Control 107 Memory Control 108 Communication I / F Control 109 Keyboard 110 CRT (Monitor)
111 External memory (HD, FD)
112 CPU
113a Font ROM
113b Program ROM
113c Data ROM
114 External memory 115 System bus 116 Printing section I / F
117 Printing section 118 Input section 119 RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 120 Memory control 121 Data transfer path 122 Paper discharge apparatus connection part 201 Application 202 Graphics engine 203 Printer driver 204 Print subsystem 301 Network 302 Local interface

Claims (9)

In a user interface device that displays a customization setting screen and a print setting screen,
Acquisition means for acquiring printer configuration information;
Setting means for displaying or hiding the print setting control on the print setting screen on the customization setting screen based on the printer configuration information acquired by the acquisition means;
And a control means for displaying or not displaying the print setting control set by the setting means on the print setting screen.   The user interface device according to claim 1, further comprising a generation unit configured to generate the print setting screen based on setting information set by the setting unit.   The user interface device according to claim 2, wherein the generation unit rearranges the print setting control to be displayed when the print setting screen is generated.   The user according to any one of claims 2 to 3, further comprising means for determining a paper discharge port based on the set paper discharge port information when the setting information includes the paper discharge port information. Interface device.   The user interface device according to claim 4, wherein the paper discharge port information is acquired from a database based on a user name.   6. The user interface device according to claim 5, wherein the discharge port information matches the discharge port information stored in the printer.   When the print setting control on the print setting screen is set to non-display on the customization setting screen based on the printer configuration information acquired by the acquisition means, the setting change that disables the setting change of the print setting control that is set to non-display The user interface device according to claim 1, wherein the user interface device is disabled. In the display method of the user interface that displays the customization setting screen and the print setting screen,
An acquisition step of acquiring printer configuration information;
A setting step for displaying or hiding the print setting control on the print setting screen based on the printer configuration information acquired in the acquiring step on the customization setting screen;
And a control step of displaying or hiding the print setting control set in the setting step on the print setting screen. On the computer that displays the customization settings screen and print settings screen,
An acquisition step of acquiring printer configuration information;
A setting step of displaying or hiding the print setting control on the print setting screen on the customization setting screen based on the printer configuration information acquired in the acquisition step;
A program for executing a control step of displaying or hiding the print setting control set in the setting manual step on the print setting screen.

Images