JP2007200247A - Installation method for device driver, information processor, and image processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an installation method for a device driver capable of reducing a data volume of the device driver stored in an image processor for reducing deterioration in performance, an information processor, and an image processing system. <P>SOLUTION: This installation method for installing the device driver in the information processor 10 connected to the image processor 20 is provided with receipt steps S1-S2 in which the information processor 10 receives a device driver specific part stored in the image processor 20, a generation step S3 in which the information processor 10 integrates the received device driver specific part with a device drive common part for generating the device driver for the image processor 20, and a control step in which the information processor 10 controls the image processor 20 by using the generated device driver. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a device driver installation method, an information processing apparatus, and an image processing system, and more particularly to a device driver installation method for installing a device driver stored in an image processing apparatus into the information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus, and the image processing. About the system.

  For example, a personal computer (PC) as an example of an information processing apparatus uses a device driver to control an image processing apparatus as an example of a connected peripheral device. A device driver is a program for controlling an image processing apparatus connected to a PC or the like, and is also called driver software or a driver.

  The device driver is for eliminating the inefficiency of managing all peripheral devices having different specifications for each manufacturer and model by the operating system (OS) main body. In a PC or the like, a program for controlling peripheral devices or the like is disconnected from the OS main body, and each device driver is incorporated into the OS main body as necessary.

  Thus, a PC or the like needs to have a device driver installed in order to control an image processing apparatus or the like. In addition, the device driver is often changed (version-up) and needs to be updated. Therefore, it has been very troublesome to manually update the device driver. Further, when the device driver is updated manually, the change of the device driver is not noticed and the update of the device driver may be delayed.

Therefore, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, the printer driver is updated for a plurality of computers sharing the printing apparatus by using the printer driver stored in the printing apparatus, so that there is no human intervention. Is doing. In the technique described in Patent Document 2, in a network printer system, a printer driver can be installed from a printer to a client without using a recording medium.
JP 2001-51810 A JP 2001-296976 A

  However, the conventional device driver needs to be prepared for each image processing apparatus or the like because the functions installed in the image processing apparatus or the like are different. Therefore, since the conventional device driver needs to be prepared for each image processing apparatus or the like, there is a problem that it takes time for development.

  In addition, when a function is added to the image processing apparatus or the like due to firmware update or the like, it is necessary to reinstall the entire device driver, resulting in a large burden.

  Note that, as in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, even when a printer driver is installed from a printing apparatus or printer, the problem that man-hours for development cannot be solved. Furthermore, when a printer driver is installed from a printing apparatus or printer, there is a problem in that the performance deteriorates depending on the installation timing (for example, when there is a print request).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and can provide a device driver installation method, an information processing apparatus, and a device driver that can reduce the data capacity of a device driver stored in an image processing apparatus and reduce performance degradation. An object is to provide an image processing system.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an installation method for installing a device driver in an information processing apparatus connected to an image processing apparatus, wherein the information processing apparatus is based on a processing request to the image processing apparatus. A reception step of receiving a device driver specific part unique to the image processing apparatus stored in the image processing apparatus; and the installed device driver common part in which the information processing apparatus is common to all the device drivers A generation step of generating the device driver for the image processing apparatus by incorporating the received device driver specific part, and a control for the information processing apparatus to control the image processing apparatus using the generated device driver And a step.

  In the present invention, the information processing apparatus receives the device driver specific part specific to the image processing apparatus from the image processing apparatus, and the received device driver specific part is added to the installed device driver common part common to all device drivers. A device driver for the image processing apparatus is generated by being incorporated, and the image processing apparatus is controlled using the generated device driver.

  Therefore, in the present invention, it is not necessary to store the common part of the device driver in the image processing apparatus, and the data capacity of the device driver stored in the image processing apparatus can be reduced. Furthermore, in the present invention, since it is only necessary to download the device driver specific part constituting a part of the device driver from the image processing apparatus to the information processing apparatus, it is possible to reduce the performance degradation compared to downloading the entire device driver.

  In addition, what applied the component, expression, or arbitrary combination of the component of this invention to a method, an apparatus, a system, a computer program, a recording medium, a data structure, etc. is also effective as an aspect of this invention.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a device driver installation method, an information processing apparatus, and an image processing system that can reduce the data capacity of a device driver stored in the image processing apparatus and can reduce performance degradation. .

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described based on the following embodiments with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a multifunction peripheral (MFP) as an image processing apparatus will be described as an example. However, any apparatus controlled by a device driver may be used. In this embodiment, a personal computer (PC) as an information processing apparatus will be described as an example. However, any apparatus that controls an image processing apparatus using a device driver may be used. Furthermore, although the present invention will be described by taking a printer driver as a device driver (hereinafter simply referred to as a driver) as an example, any device driver that controls the image processing apparatus may be used.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an example of an image processing system according to the present invention. In the image processing system 1 of FIG. 1, a PC 10, an MFP 20, and a server 30 are connected via a network 40 such as a LAN (local area network). The PC 10 has already installed a driver common part common to all drivers for each predetermined group (for example, a manufacturer such as a manufacturer) to which the MFP 20 belongs. In addition, the MFP 20 stores a driver-specific portion unique to the own machine for each type of OS used by the PC 10. Further, the server 30 causes the MFP 20 to download the latest driver specific part.

  The image processing system 1 according to the present invention installs a driver for the PC 10 as follows when a print request is made to the MFP 20 from an application incorporated in the PC 10.

  First, the user operates the PC 10 to select, for example, the MFP 20 as an object to be requested for printing. In step S 1, the PC 10 makes a driver acquisition request to the MFP 20. In step S <b> 2, the MFP 20 transmits, to the PC 10, a driver specific part corresponding to the type of OS used by the PC 10 among the driver specific parts specific to the MFP 20.

  In step S 3, the PC 10 generates a driver for the MFP 20 by incorporating the driver specific part received from the MFP 20 into the installed driver common part. The PC 10 can control the MFP 20 using the generated driver for the MFP 20 and perform printing with the MFP 20.

  FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image processing system according to the present invention. As in FIG. 1, the image processing system 1 in FIG. 2 is also connected to the PC 10, the MFP 20, and the server 30 via a network such as a LAN.

  The PC 10 includes an operation unit 11, an application (hereinafter simply referred to as an application) 12, a driver common unit 13, an OS 14, a communication processing unit 15, and a device specific driver 16. The MFP 20 includes a communication processing unit 21, a driver management unit 22, a storage device 23, an operation unit 24, a print processing unit 25, and an external storage device 26. The server 30 includes a communication processing unit 31, a data management unit 32, and a storage device 33.

  With respect to the system configuration diagram of FIG. 2, FIG. 3 shows a processing procedure when a print request is made from the application 12 incorporated in the PC 10 to the MFP 20. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure when a print request is issued from the PC to the MFP. FIG. 4 is an image diagram of an example of a user interface (UI).

  First, the user makes a print request by operating the operation unit 11 of the PC 10 while the UI 100 is displayed on a display unit (not shown) such as a display of the PC 10. In step S <b> 11, the operation unit 11 issues a print request to the application 12. In step S12, the application 12 displays a UI 101 for designating a driver common part on the display unit based on the print request.

  When the user operates the operation unit 11 to specify a driver common part from the UI 101, the operation unit 11 proceeds to step S13, and notifies the application 12 of the specified driver common part. In step S14, the application 12 activates the driver common unit 13 based on the designated driver common part. The application 12 displays a UI 102 for designating the MFP 20 on the display unit based on the designated driver common part.

  When the user operates the operation unit 11 and designates the MFP 20 from the UI 102, the operation unit 11 proceeds to step S15, and notifies the driver common unit 13 of the ID of the MFP 20 designated by the user. In steps S16 to S18, the driver common unit 13 makes a driver acquisition request to the driver management unit 22 of the MFP 20 using the ID of the MFP 20 specified by the user.

  Proceeding to Steps S19 to S20, the driver management unit 22 acquires a file of a driver specific part unique to the own device from the storage device 23. Here, the driver specific part file acquired from the storage device 23 is in accordance with the type of OS used by the PC 10. In steps S21 to S23, the driver management unit 22 transmits the acquired driver specific part file to the driver common unit 13 of the PC 10.

  In step S24, the driver common unit 13 incorporates (plugs in) the driver specific part into the driver common part using the received driver specific part file. In step S25, the driver common unit 13 generates a device-specific driver 16 for the MFP 20. The application 12 displays a UI 103 for designating printing conditions on the display unit.

  When the user operates the operation unit 11 to specify a print condition (original size, number of copies, etc.) from the UI 103 and requests start of printing, the operation unit 11 proceeds to step S26 and issues a print start request including the specified print condition. This is performed for the application 12. In step S27, the application 12 makes a print start request including the designated print condition and print data to the driver common unit 13.

  In step S28, the driver common unit 13 converts the print data according to the print conditions. The data conversion performed in step S28 is a process common to all the drivers of the MFP 20 belonging to a predetermined group such as a manufacturer.

  In step S29, the driver common unit 13 sends a unique process execution request including the printing conditions and the print data converted in step S28 to the device specific driver 16. In step S30, the device-specific driver 16 executes the unique processing of the MFP 20 on the print data. In step S31, the device-specific driver 16 notifies the driver common unit 13 of an execution result including the print data for which the unique process has been executed in step S30.

  In steps S32 to S34, the driver common unit 13 makes a print request to the print processing unit 25 of the MFP 20 including print data that has undergone data conversion and unique processing, and print conditions specified from the UI 103. In step S35, the print processing unit 25 performs print processing based on the print data and print conditions included in the print request.

  As shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 3, the PC 10 installs a driver common portion in advance, and when making a print request, downloads the driver specific portion from the MFP 20 to generate a driver for the MFP 20.

  Therefore, in the image processing system 1 according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the data amount of the driver stored in the MFP 20 rather than storing the entire driver. Further, in the image processing system 1 according to the present invention, since the driver specific part is downloaded from the MFP 20 to the PC 10 at the timing when the print request is made, the performance degradation can be reduced as compared with downloading the entire driver.

  By the way, as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 3, if the driver-specific portion is downloaded at the timing of making a print request, the performance degradation can be reduced as compared with downloading the entire driver. The performance of 1 may be degraded.

  Therefore, in the image processing system 1 according to the present invention, as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 5, when the PC 10 is activated, the driver-specific portion is downloaded from the MFP 20 to the PC 10 to generate a driver for the MFP 20. By using the shaft down, performance degradation can be further reduced.

  FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of a processing procedure for generating a driver for an MFP by downloading a driver-specific portion from the MFP to the PC when the PC is activated. When the power is turned on, the PC 10 proceeds to step S41 and activates the OS 14. In step S42, the OS 14 activates the driver common unit 13 based on the installed driver common portion.

  In steps S43 to S45, the driver common unit 13 uses the ID of the MFP 20 to make a driver acquisition request to the driver management unit 22 of the MFP 20. Proceeding to steps S46 to S47, the driver management unit 22 obtains a driver specific part file unique to the own device from the storage device 23. Here, the driver specific part file acquired from the storage device 23 is in accordance with the type of OS used by the PC 10. In steps S48 to S50, the driver management unit 22 transmits the acquired driver specific part file to the driver common unit 13 of the PC 10.

  In step S51, the driver common unit 13 incorporates (plugs in) the driver specific part into the driver common part using the received driver specific part file. In step S52, the driver common unit 13 generates a device-specific driver 16 for the MFP 20.

  By repeating steps S43 to S52 for MFPs other than the MFP 20 connected to the network, the PC 10 can download the driver-specific portion when it is activated.

  Next, a process of generating a driver for the MFP 20 by incorporating (plug-in) the driver specific part received from the MFP 20 into the installed driver common part will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship among installed driver common parts, driver specific parts, and MFP drivers. The PC 10 can generate the driver 202 for the MFP 20 by plugging the driver specific part 201 received from the MFP 20 into the installed driver common part 200.

  In order to realize the characteristics as shown in FIG. 6, the driver has a structure as shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the structure of the driver. As shown in FIG. 7, the driver includes a driver common unit 13 and a device-specific driver 16. For example, a printer driver will be described as an example. The driver common unit 13 performs processing common to all printer drivers, such as conversion into a printer language, color space conversion, or image processing. The driver common unit 13 is realized by a driver common part.

  In addition, the device-specific driver 14 has a setting value unique to each MFP, and performs processing for using a function added to each MFP. The device-specific driver 14 is realized by plugging in a driver-specific portion unique to each MFP downloaded from each MFP into the driver common portion.

  It should be noted that the driver specific part received from the MFP 20 may be hierarchically incorporated (plugged in) in the installed driver common part to generate a driver for the MFP 20.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a driver for an MFP in which driver-specific parts are hierarchically incorporated into installed driver common parts. The PC 10 can generate the driver 305 for the MFP 20 by plugging in the driver specific parts 301 to 304 received from the MFP 20 into the installed driver common part 300.

  In order to realize the characteristics as shown in FIG. 8, the driver has a structure as shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the structure of the driver. As shown in FIG. 9, the driver includes a driver common unit 13 and hierarchical device-specific drivers 14a and 14b. In the driver shown in FIG. 9, driver specific portions 303 and 304 are further plugged in on the driver specific portions 301 and 302 plugged into the driver common portion 13. By adopting the configuration as shown in FIG. 9, the driver can cut out various levels of varying portions (for example, functional varying portions).

  For example, taking a printer driver as an example, the function-specific driver 14b performs different processing for each function such as scaling and stamping. By plugging in the scaling-specific driver, stamp-specific driver, and the like into the device-specific driver 14a, the printer driver can expand new functions such as scaling and stamping.

  Next, a process for updating the driver specific part stored in the MFP 20 to the latest one will be described. In the image processing system 1 according to the present invention, the driver specific part is downloaded from the MFP 20 to the PC 10 each time a print request or the PC 10 is started. All the PCs 10 using the MFP 20 can use the MFP 20 with the latest driver.

  For example, as a method of updating the driver specific part stored in the MFP 20 to the latest one, a method of automatically downloading the latest driver specific part from the server 30 to the MFP 20 can be considered.

  FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure for automatically downloading the latest driver specific part from the server to the MFP. In step S61, the driver management unit 22 of the MFP 20 starts a timer that measures a certain period.

  The driver management unit 22 proceeds to steps S62 to S64 at regular intervals, and makes a driver version confirmation request to the data management unit 32 of the server 30 using the model name of the MFP 20 and the ID of the server 30. In steps S65 to S67, the data management unit 32 determines the latest driver version of the driver corresponding to the model name of the MFP 20, and transmits the driver version to the driver management unit 22 of the MFP 20.

  In step S68, the driver management unit 22 compares the driver version received from the server 30 with the driver version of the driver stored in the own device. If the driver version received from the server 30 is different from the driver version of the driver stored in the own device, the driver management unit 22 proceeds to steps S69 to S71, and the model name of the MFP 20 and the server 30 ID. Is used to make a driver request to the data management unit 32 of the server 30.

  Proceeding to steps S 72 to S 73, the data management unit 32 acquires the latest driver specific part file from the storage device 33 according to the model name of the MFP 20. In steps S 74 to S 76, the data management unit 32 transmits the latest driver-specific part file corresponding to the model name of the MFP 20 to the driver management unit 22 of the MFP 20.

  In step S77, the driver management unit 22 updates the driver specific part file stored in the storage device 23 to the latest driver specific part file received in step S76.

  As another method for updating the driver specific part stored in the MFP 20 to the latest one, a method of updating to the latest driver specific part using the external storage device 26 of the MFP 20 can be considered. For example, when the environment for accessing the server 30 cannot be established, the driver specific part stored in the MFP 20 is updated to the latest driver specific part using the external storage device 26 such as an SD card or a USB memory.

  FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure for updating to the latest driver specific part using the external storage device of the MFP. First, the user operates the operation unit 24 of the MFP 20 to make a driver update request. In step S81, the operation unit 24 of the MFP 20 issues a driver request to the driver management unit 22.

  Proceeding to steps S82 to S83, the driver management unit 22 reads the latest driver specific part file from the external storage device 26. In step S84, the driver management unit 22 updates the driver specific part file stored in the storage device 23 to the latest driver specific part file read in step S83.

  The present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

It is the schematic of an example of the image processing system by this invention. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of an image processing system according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure when a print request is issued from the PC to the MFP. It is an image figure of an example of a user interface (UI). FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram of another example illustrating a processing procedure when a print request is made from the PC to the MFP. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship among installed driver common parts, driver specific parts, and MFP drivers. It is a schematic diagram of an example showing the structure of a driver. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a driver for an MFP in which driver-specific parts are hierarchically incorporated into installed driver common parts. It is a schematic diagram of another example showing the structure of a driver. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure for automatically downloading the latest driver specific part from the server to the MFP. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a processing procedure for updating to the latest driver specific part using an external storage device of the MFP.

Explanation of symbols

1 Image processing system 10 PC
11 Operation part 12 Application 13 Driver common part 14 OS
15 Communication Processing Unit 16 Device Specific Driver 20 MFP
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Communication processing part 22 Driver management part 23 Storage device 24 Operation part 25 Print processing part 26 External storage device 30 Server 31 Communication processing part 32 Data management part 33 Storage device 40 Network 200,300 Driver common part 201,301-304 Driver specific Part 202,305 driver

Claims (17)

An installation method for installing a device driver in an information processing apparatus connected to an image processing apparatus,
The information processing apparatus receives a device driver specific part unique to the image processing apparatus stored in the image processing apparatus based on a processing request to the image processing apparatus;
The information processing apparatus generates a device driver for the image processing apparatus by incorporating the received device driver specific part into the installed device driver common part common to all the device drivers;
A device driver installation method comprising: a control step in which the information processing apparatus controls the image processing apparatus using the generated device driver.   2. The device driver installation method according to claim 1, wherein the generation step generates the device driver for the image processing apparatus by hierarchically incorporating the device driver specific part into the device driver common part.   The device driver installation method according to claim 1, wherein the device driver common part is installed for each manufacturer of the image processing apparatus.   4. The device driver installation method according to claim 1, wherein the device driver specific part is different for each function of the image processing apparatus. 5.   5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving step receives the device driver specific part specific to the information processing apparatus from the connected image processing apparatus when the information processing apparatus is activated. The device driver installation method according to claim 1.   6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an update step of updating the device driver specific part stored in the own apparatus from a connected server apparatus. How to install device drivers.   The image processing apparatus further includes an updating step of updating the device driver specific part unique to the image processing apparatus stored in the image processing apparatus using the device driver specific part read from the external storage device. The device driver installation method according to claim 1, wherein the device driver is installed. An information processing apparatus that controls an image processing apparatus using a device driver,
A communication processing unit for communicating with the image processing device;
Based on a processing request to the image processing apparatus, a device driver specific part unique to the image processing apparatus stored in the image processing apparatus is acquired, and the installed device driver common to all the device drivers is common A driver common unit that generates the device driver for the image processing apparatus by incorporating the acquired device driver specific part into the part; and
An information processing apparatus comprising: an application that controls the image processing apparatus using the generated device driver.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the driver common unit generates a device driver for the image processing apparatus by hierarchically incorporating the device driver specific part into the device driver common part.   10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the device driver common part is installed for each manufacturer of the image processing apparatus.   11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the device driver specific part is different for each function of the image processing apparatus.   12. The driver common unit receives the device driver specific part specific to the information processing apparatus from the connected image processing apparatus when the information processing apparatus is activated. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims. An image processing system in which an information processing apparatus controls an image processing apparatus using a device driver,
The image processing apparatus includes a storage unit that stores a device driver specific part unique to the image processing apparatus,
The information processing apparatus includes a communication processing unit that performs communication with the image processing apparatus;
Based on a processing request to the image processing apparatus, a device driver specific part unique to the image processing apparatus stored in the storage unit is acquired, and the installed device driver common part common to all the device drivers is acquired. A driver common unit that incorporates the acquired device driver specific part and generates a device driver for the image processing apparatus; and
An image processing system comprising: an application that controls the image processing apparatus using the generated device driver.   The image processing system according to claim 13, wherein the driver common unit hierarchically incorporates the device driver specific part into the device driver common part to generate a device driver for the image processing apparatus.   15. The image processing system according to claim 13, wherein the device driver common part is installed for each manufacturer of the image processing apparatus.   The image processing system according to any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein the device driver specific part is different for each function of the image processing apparatus.   17. The driver common unit receives the device driver specific part specific to the information processing apparatus from the connected image processing apparatus when the information processing apparatus is activated. The image processing system according to claim 1.

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