JP4380735B2 - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to information processing in an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printing system generally includes a color printer that enables color output, a host computer that controls the color printer to generate print data, and a communication interface that connects both of them. .

  Among the color printers constituting such a printing system, an ink jet printer uses various papers depending on the application.

  For example, plain paper used in copiers, coated paper with a surface coated to suppress ink bleeding and improve color development, glossy paper used to form photographic images such as silver salt photographs There are various types of paper.

  When printing the print data on these papers (media), the user selects the paper type to be printed in the print settings on the printer driver and performs appropriate printing based on the settings. It was.

  Therefore, the printer driver performs image processing on the print data from the paper type and quality set in the printer driver setting screen, creates binary data that can be interpreted by the printer, and transfers the data to the printer. Enabled printing.

  In some cases, a printer and a digital camera are connected via an interface, and photo data stored in the memory of the digital camera is directly transferred to the printer for printing.

  In this case, paper to be printed on the digital camera or the printer is set, and the multi-value data is transferred to the printer.

  On the printer side, image processing is performed on print data received using a print profile previously stored in the printer, and printing is executed.

  Recently, there are printers equipped with a paper sensor called a media sensor that automatically determines the type of paper.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a printing apparatus configured to be able to discriminate the type of paper by irradiating light from a light emitting element onto the paper surface and detecting the intensity of the reflected light.

In this example, the user does not need to set the paper type with the printer driver, and printing is possible.
JP 2003-212390 A

  However, in a printing apparatus having a media sensor that determines the type of paper as described above, the paper surface is irradiated with light, and the paper type is determined by the intensity of the reflection. It was difficult to distinguish the difference.

  Therefore, a media sense system has been considered that reliably identifies the paper.

  For example, a mark indicating the type of paper is attached to the paper, and this mark is read by the media sensor. This method makes it possible to reliably identify the paper, but it is impossible to acquire any information on a medium without a mark.

  For this reason, the newly added paper (marked paper) can be printed correctly, but in the case of using the unmarked paper that has been used in the market in the past, the type of paper cannot be detected.

  As a result, when a marked sheet and an unmarked sheet are used in combination, the printing system is inconvenient.

  Further, when using a marked sheet and a non-marked sheet together, the printing process is temporarily stopped because the sheet type cannot be determined during printing. Thereafter, for a sheet for which the user could not detect the sheet type, a complicated operation for performing printing again after reselecting the sheet type from the printer driver is required, resulting in a decrease in printing efficiency.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus with a paper setting intended by the user even when the printing apparatus notifies that the type of fed paper is unknown. It is to provide a mechanism that can notify and continue the printing process.

  The information processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.

  An information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus that detects a type of paper to be fed, wherein a part or all of print data is transferred to the printing apparatus, and paper is fed based on the transferred print data Receiving means for receiving a detection result relating to the type of paper from the printing apparatus, holding means for holding paper setting information to be set for each paper type, and paper type as a detection result relating to the paper type received from the receiving means. A determination unit that determines whether or not it is notified that the paper type is unknown, and if the determination unit determines that the paper type is unknown, it matches the print setting information acquired from the print data And notifying means for selecting any of the sheet setting information from the holding means and notifying the printing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, even when the printing apparatus notifies that the type of fed paper is unknown, the printing process can be continued by notifying the printing apparatus of the paper setting intended by the user.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Description of system configuration>
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the configuration of a printing apparatus that can communicate with the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This example is an example of an ink jet printer in which the printer engine is an ink jet printer engine and the above-described media sensor is disposed on the paper conveyance path.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1-1 denotes a paper feed tray on which a paper 1-2 selected by the user is set. It is assumed that a mark for specifying the paper type is not attached to this paper.

  The sheet 1-2 is conveyed at a predetermined speed in the apparatus by driving the rollers 1-5 to 1-7 under the control of the controller 1-9, and printed by the scanning movement of the ink head section 1-4. Is executed and discharged to the discharge tray 1-8. Of course, when a duplex unit is provided, the sheet can be reversed and printing can be performed on both the front surface and the back surface.

  The controller 1-9 includes a communication interface that communicates with the host computer 100.

  The controller 1-9 includes hardware such as a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and the received print data is processed by the CPU executing a control program stored in the ROM.

  1-3 is a media sensor that can detect the type of paper to be fed. The arrangement position of the media sensor 1-3 differs depending on the position of the sheet to be sensed.

  For example, the following means (1) to (3) are available as means for grasping the characteristics for determining the type of paper.

  (1) including means for preliminarily marking a paper as a storage medium and optically detecting the mark, (2) means using a dedicated paper cassette, (3) means for embedding an IC chip in the paper, etc. There are many different things.

  Therefore, the installation position of the media sensor 1-3 differs depending on the position of the sheet to be sensed and its detection means.

  In the embodiment described below, if the result sensed by the media sensor 1-3 is unknown, it is impossible to obtain an approximate value from the sense result, and the controller 1-9 informs the host computer 100 of that fact. Shall be notified. Here, this is information indicating that the controller 1-9 cannot determine the paper type.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus shown in this example is composed of hardware resources and software resources (modules). Note that a keyboard, a pointing device, and the like as input devices are omitted.

  In FIG. 2, reference numeral 100 denotes a host computer configured to be able to communicate with the printer 105 via a predetermined interface or network.

  A monitor 106 displays various windows provided by the application software 101 and a print setting screen provided by the printer driver 103.

  In the host computer 100, application software 101 such as a word processor, a spreadsheet, and an Internet browser is installed in a hard disk (HD) 107. Note that the application software 101 is loaded from the HD 107 into the RAM 109 and executed by the CPU 108.

  The HD 107 holds a plurality of paper setting information set for each paper type by the user via the user interface. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7B, examples of the paper type include, for example, professional photo, plain paper, and glossy paper, but other media may be included.

  Various drawing processing instruction groups indicating output images issued by the application software (application) 101 are input to the monitor driver 104 via the operating system (OS) 102. Here, the various drawing processing command groups include an image drawing command, a text drawing command, and a graphics drawing command.

  When printing is performed from the application 101, these drawing command groups are also input to the printer driver 103 via the OS 102. The printer driver 103 processes the drawing command group to create print data and causes the printer 105 to print it.

  In addition, the monitor driver 104 displays display data including text, graphics, images, and the like on the monitor 106 in conjunction with the operation of the application 101. Here, the monitor driver 104 displays a print setting screen provided by the printer driver 103 described later on the monitor 106.

  The host computer 100 includes hardware resources such as a CPU 108, a hard disk (HD) 107, a RAM 109, and a ROM 110 in order to store and function the above software.

  Note that it is conceivable to use an IBM AT compatible personal computer, which is generally popular, as the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 2, and Microsoft Windows (R) as the OS 102.

  Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described using a printing system in which an arbitrary application 101 having a printing function is installed in the HD 107 and connected to the monitor 106 and the printer 105 in the host computer 100 as an example.

  In the printing system configured as described above, the host computer 100 executes the application 101 to create output image data having different attributes and display it on the monitor 106. Here, the output image data having different attributes includes text data classified into text such as characters, graphics data classified into graphics such as graphics, and image image data classified into photographic images.

  When printing the output image data created in this way, the application 101 issues a print output request to the OS 102 and issues a predetermined drawing command group to the OS 102. Here, the predetermined drawing command group includes a text drawing command for the text data portion, a graphics drawing command for the graphics data portion, and an image drawing command for the image image data portion.

  When the OS 102 receives a print output request from the application 101, it passes a drawing command group to the printer driver 103 corresponding to the printer 105.

  The printer driver 103 processes a print output request and a drawing command group passed from the OS 102, creates print data that can be printed by the printer 105, and transmits the print data to the printer 105.

  The host computer 100 and the printer 105 are connected by an interface capable of bidirectional communication such as USB (Universal Serial Bus). It may be connected by a network interface.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a print processing module in the information processing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, an application 201 creates a document and inquires of the user interface driver 203 about the function of the printer system in order to print the document. Then, after the inquiry, the application 201 notifies the printing system including the OS GDI 202 of the start of printing.

  When the GDI 202 receives a print start notification from the application 201, the GDI 202 notifies the user interface driver 203 of a print start print event by the application 201.

  Subsequently, the application 201 supplies the print data of the document to be printed to the GDI 202 and continues the printing process. Print data via the GDI 202 is stored in the spool file 204. The spool file 204 is temporarily held on the HD 107 by the OS 102 shown in FIG.

  The print processor 205 reads print data from the spool file 204, and the print data is sent to the language monitor 207 via the graphics driver 206. The language monitor 207 transmits print data to the printer 105 while performing bidirectional communication with the printer 105.

  The language monitor 207 receives information on the state held by the printer 105 as needed. Further, the language monitor 207 transmits the current printer 105 and printing status to the status monitor 209 based on the information received from the printer 105 and the print data to be transmitted, and the status monitor 209 displays the status.

The status monitor 209 not only displays the status of the printer 105 and printing, but also presents a response option to the user when printing is interrupted for some reason, receives a response input from the user, and receives a language monitor. 207 is notified.

  Hereinafter, the flow of image processing in the host computer 100 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B regarding the printing operation using the inkjet recording apparatus of the present invention that operates based on the above configuration.

  4A and 4B are flowcharts illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is a print processing example based on a print request from the application 201 of the host computer 100. S41 to S52 and S52-1 to S52-5 indicate respective steps.

  First, execution of printing is instructed from the application 201. FIG. 5 shows an example of a user interface that can be displayed by the printer driver of the printer 105 at this time.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface displayed on the monitor 106 shown in FIG. This example is a user interface provided by the printer driver 103 and corresponds to a state in which a basic setting screen is displayed, for example.

  In FIG. 5, TAB1 to TAB5 are tab buttons, and a setting screen is displayed when the user selects each tab button TAB1 to TAB5 with a pointing device.

  Reference numeral 501 denotes a setting unit for setting the type of paper, which corresponds to a state in which, for example, an automatic discrimination paper is selected for the list box. In the list box, as shown in FIG. 6, one of the paper types can be set.

  Reference numeral 502 denotes a setting unit for setting a paper feeding method, which corresponds to a state in which, for example, an auto sheet feeder is selected for a list box. BT1 to BT4 are buttons.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting items that can be displayed on the setting unit 501 illustrated in FIG. 5.

  In FIG. 6, reference numeral 61 denotes a paper type, which is configured to be displayed in the list box of the setting unit 501 shown in FIG. 5 when, for example, “automatic determination paper” is set.

  Reference numeral 62 denotes a paper type, which is configured to be displayed in the list box of the setting unit 501 shown in FIG. 5 when, for example, “normal paper” is set.

  Reference numeral 63 denotes a paper type, which is configured to be displayed in the list box of the setting unit 501 shown in FIG. 5 when, for example, “Profoto” is set.

  Reference numeral 64 denotes a paper type, which can be displayed in the list box of the setting unit 501 shown in FIG. 5 when, for example, “high quality exclusive paper” is set.

  In the present embodiment, the paper type of the setting unit 501 shown in FIG. 5 is set to “automatic determination paper” in the paper setting item 61 shown in FIG. 6 as a default setting.

  When the automatic determination sheet is selected, the printer driver 103 does not create binary raster data as print data, but creates print data as multi-value data.

  When the list box in the setting unit 501 is opened based on a user operation instruction, a UI capable of arbitrarily selecting any one of the paper types 61 to 64 shown in FIG. 6 is displayed. Here, when the user selects and prints an arbitrary paper type, the printer driver 103 also performs image processing to create binary raster data.

  First, in step S <b> 41, the language monitor (LM) 207 transfers a part of the created and spooled print data to the printer 105 based on a print instruction such as a document from the application. In this case, the language monitor 207 temporarily transfers only the setting data portion of various print data, which is the head portion of the print data, to the printer 105 and stands by.

  In step S <b> 42, a sense result notification is received from the printer 105. Here, when the printer 105 receives the print data and determines that the print data is multi-value data, the printer 105 performs media sense and notifies the printer driver of the result. Note that the operation for performing media sensing differs depending on the position of the sensor and the sensing method. For example, the example shown in FIG. 1 is an example in which the printer once feeds the paper and the sensor reads the paper identification printed on the back of the paper.

  The printer 105 is configured to identify whether the transferred print data is binary data or multi-value data in the setting data portion in the print data received from the language monitor 207.

  In step S43, the language monitor 207 determines whether the determination result of the paper type by the media sensor is unknown from the printer 105. Here, when the language monitor 207 determines that the media sense result is not unknown (when the printer 105 can normally determine the paper type), the process proceeds to S51.

  On the other hand, if the language monitor 207 determines in S43 that the media sense result is unknown, the process proceeds to S44. Here, the media sense result is unknown when the media sensor of the printer 105 cannot determine the type of the fed paper, that is, when the paper type is unknown.

  In step S <b> 44, the language monitor 207 transfers only the head portion of the print data to the printer 105 and stands by while acquiring the status information of the printer 105.

  The printer 105 performs media sense on the paper fed by the media sensor 1-3 shown in FIG. 1, adds the sense result as one of the printer status information, and returns it to the host computer 100.

  Here, the language monitor 207 periodically acquires the printer status information from the printer 105, and confirms that there is a change in the media type value in the printer status information. Here, the change in the value of the media type means that the result of the media sense performed by the printer 105 is reflected in the printer status information and returned.

  In the present embodiment, the language monitor 207 acquires and holds printer information necessary for determining the status of the printer 105 in addition to the media sense result.

  For example, when there are a plurality of paper feed ports of the printer 105, information on the paper feed ports actually fed by the printer 105 is acquired and held.

  Next, the printing process of the host computer 100 when the media sense result is unknown in S43 will be described.

  FIG. 4C is a flowchart illustrating an example of a data processing procedure in the printing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. In addition, S71-S82 show each step. Each step is realized by the CPU of the controller 1-9 shown in FIG. 1 loading a control program from the ROM into the RAM and executing it.

  First, the controller 1-9 waits to receive print data from the host computer 100 via the communication interface. When the controller 1-9 receives print data from the host computer 100, image data based on the received print data is generated in S72. This image data is data for driving the ink heads 1-4.

  Next, in step S73, the controller 1-9 executes initialization of each unit and then waits for the print preparation to be OK. Here, when the controller 1-9 detects that the paper is out or the ink amount is low, the controller 1-9 notifies the host computer 100 of the fact.

  If the controller 1-9 determines that the print preparation is OK, the roller 1-5 is driven to feed the paper in S74. Next, in S75, the media sensor 1-3 detects the type of the fed paper. Next, in S76, the controller 1-9 determines whether or not the media sensor 1-3 could not detect the type of the fed paper. That is, when a sheet that cannot be handled by the media sensor 1-3 is fed, it is impossible to detect the type of the sheet.

If the controller 1-9 determines that the paper type cannot be detected, that is, the paper type has been detected, the process proceeds to S77. In step S77, the ink head 1-4 is driven according to the image data generated based on the received print data to execute printing. In step S <b> 78, the controller 1-9 determines whether the next print data is received from the host computer 100. If the controller 1-9 determines that the next print data is received from the host computer 100, the process returns to S72.

On the other hand, if the controller 1-9 determines in S78 that the next print data has not been received from the host computer 100, the present process is terminated.

On the other hand, if the controller 1-9 determines in S76 that the paper type cannot be detected, the controller 1-9 notifies the host computer 100 that the paper cannot be detected in S79.

  Next, in S80, the controller 1-9 waits for reception of a parameter for setting the paper type from the host computer 100 for the paper for which the paper type is determined to be impossible. In step S81, based on the parameters received by the controller 1-9, the paper settings for the temporarily interrupted print data are reflected.

  In S82, the printing process for the temporarily interrupted print data is continued, and the process proceeds to S78.

  The present embodiment is an example of media sense that can return only information that is unknown from the printer 105 when the media sense result by the media sensor 1-3 of the printer 105 is unknown. Hereinafter, the processing after S44 by the host computer 100 of FIG. 4A will be described.

  In step S <b> 44, the language monitor 207 acquires printer status information from the printer 105. This is acquired from the printer status information when the media sense result is acquired in S43.

  Next, in step S45, the language monitor 207 determines whether to stop the printing process and temporarily display a guide or to switch to a process for continuing printing. Hereinafter, an example of the user interface in the embodiment will be described. In S45, there is a case where there is nothing that matches the paper setting information preset by the user, the paper type unknown, and the print setting information set by the print data notified by the printer 105. In this case, the process proceeds to S53, where a user interface (see FIG. 8) for the user to switch the process is displayed on the monitor 106, and the user selects one of the different processes to switch the process. In this example, as shown in FIG. 8, different print processes include a process for continuing the print process for the print data, a process for canceling the print process for the print data, and a process for resetting paper settings for the print data. One of them.

  7A to 7C are diagrams illustrating an example of a user interface in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7A shows an example of a setting screen for when media determination is impossible. FIG. 7B shows an example of a detailed setting screen for media determination displayed when the button BT12 is pressed on the setting screen in FIG. 7A. Furthermore, FIG. 7C shows an example of a media selection screen (paper type selection screen display).

  In FIG. 7A, RB1 and RB2 are radio buttons, which indicate a state in which the current radio button RB1 is selected, and corresponds to a state in which “display guide once” is selected when media determination is impossible.

  The radio button RB2 is selected when printing is continued with the details of the detailed settings. Note that BT11 is an OK button that is pressed to confirm the current setting, and the button BT12 is pressed to make a detailed setting.

  In FIG. 7B, TAB11 to TAB13 are tab sheets, which are provided corresponding to the types of media. In the present embodiment, the tab sheet TAB11 includes setting units 601 to 604 for setting the paper type for the professional photo. . In this embodiment, an example in which setting items related to the setting units 601 to 604 are included as paper setting information is shown, but other setting items may be included.

  Here, the setting unit 601 includes a list box for setting a paper feeding method. In this example, this corresponds to the state where the auto sheet feeder is selected as the current paper feeding method.

  The setting unit 602 includes a list box for setting the paper size. In this example, the L size is selected as the paper size.

  The setting unit 603 includes a list box for setting a use application (denoted as a use application in the drawing). In this example, this corresponds to a state where “PhotoShop (registered trademark)” of Adobe Corporation in the United States is selected as the application to be used.

  The setting unit 604 includes a list box for instructing valid (ON) / invalid (OFF) of the borderless setting. This example corresponds to a state where the borderless setting is set to ON. BT21 and BT22 are buttons.

  In FIG. 7C, RB31 and RB32 are radio buttons. In the present embodiment, the radio buttons RB31 and RB32 corresponding to either professional photo or glossy paper are selected, and the button BT32 is used to instruct to continue printing, or the button BT33 can stop printing.

  In the present embodiment, the host computer 100 includes the user interface shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C. These user interfaces are realized in the printer driver or in the utility of the printing system.

  In the user interface shown in FIG. 7A, media sense is performed and printing is performed when the paper type setting by the driver setting is automatic determination. However, if the media type cannot be determined as a result of media sense, the user selects whether to display the guide once without continuing printing or to continue printing with the details of the detailed settings. It will be. Here, when the user presses the button BT12, a user interface shown in FIG. 7B is displayed. This user interface is a user interface for setting to hold the contents of print settings for printing on paper owned by the user and whose media determination is unknown.

  For example, it is assumed that a professional photo paper is held, and this paper cannot be determined in the media sense. When the user uses this paper, paper setting information including the following items is preset. In other words, paper is set in the auto sheet feeder and printed, the paper size is L, the application used when printing with this paper is "PhotoShop (registered trademark)", and the borderless setting is ON as the print setting This is a preset to print with (Print without borders).

  In this setting screen, it is possible to set a plurality of sheets.

  In FIG. 7A, when the radio button RB2 is selected, that is, when “continue printing with the contents of the detailed setting” is selected, the process proceeds to S46.

  On the other hand, if the radio button RB1 is selected in S45, that is, if "Display guide once when media cannot be determined" is selected, the process proceeds to S53.

  On the other hand, if the guide display is not selected in S45, the language monitor 207 acquires print setting information of the print data in S46. Here, the paper size setting, the borderless printing setting state, the application used, and the like are acquired as settings on the printer driver.

  Note that the setting information of the paper size setting for the setting unit 602 and the borderless printing setting for the setting unit 604 is embedded in the print data, and the language monitor 207 searches and acquires the print data.

  Further, in the case of Windows (registered trademark), the application information used for the setting unit 603 can determine the process that performed printing, and can identify the application from the process name.

  In step S47, the language monitor 207 determines whether the print setting of the print job matches any of the paper settings shown in FIG. 7B preset by the user. That is, it is determined whether the print setting of the print job matches all the following paper setting states 1 to 4.

  In the example illustrated in FIG. 7B, it is determined whether the contents of the setting units 601 to 604 match the setting state of the print data to be printed (this information is acquired from the status of the printer 105). It is determined whether or not all of the following paper setting states 1 to 4 match.

  In the paper setting state 1, the preset setting is print data to be fed from the cassette. In the paper setting state 2, the paper size for the setting unit 602 is the L size (this information is acquired from the print data in the printer driver setting).

  In the paper setting state 3, the application used for the setting unit 603 is PhotoShop (registered trademark) (this information can be determined by acquiring the process of the application that has executed printing).

  In the paper setting state 4, the borderless setting for the setting unit 604 is ON (this information is acquired from the print data in the printer driver setting).

  It is determined whether the above print data matches the paper setting states 1 to 4 set by the user.

  Further, in the case where the setting is made for a plurality of paper types (corresponding to the tab sheets TAB11 to TAB13) in FIG. 7B, it is determined whether or not all the setting contents match.

  If the language monitor 207 determines that there is a matching setting, the process proceeds to S48. If it is determined that there is no matching setting, the process proceeds to S53, and a guide display process shown in FIG. 4B described later is executed.

  In step S48, the language monitor 207 determines whether there are two or more matching paper type settings. For example, in the setting example of FIG. 7B, when the setting content of the glossy paper of the tab sheet TAB13 is the same as that of the professional photo of the tab sheet TAB11, the same setting is made for two types of paper.

  That is, the glossy paper setting content of the tab sheet TAB13 is a case where the paper feeding method is the auto sheet feeder, the paper size is the L version, the application used is PhotoShop (registered trademark), and the borderless setting is ON.

  If the language monitor 207 determines that only one type matches (for example, it is assumed that the professional photos match), the process proceeds to S50. That is, the first tab sheet TAB11 is selected as the optimum setting among the tab sheets TAB11 to TAB13. However, by configuring the user to select and hold any one of the tab sheets TAB11 to TAB in advance, the printer 105 can be notified of paper settings for the media intended by the user.

  In step S <b> 50, the language monitor 207 notifies the printer 105 of print parameter information for the matched paper type. For example, the language monitor 207 transfers the parameter identification ID for the professional photo to the printer 105 in the form of a command.

  Accordingly, when the printer 105 receives the parameter identification ID transferred from the language monitor 207, as shown in FIG. 4C, the printer 105 interprets the received command and determines the corresponding parameter.

  Next, in step S51, the language monitor 207 transfers the remaining print data to the printer 105 as needed, and ends this processing.

  As a result, the printer 105 performs printing while performing image processing with the print parameters instructed from the host computer 100.

  The above is an example in which, in the printer 105, when the media sensor 1-3 cannot determine the paper type and the paper type is unknown, printing is continued using the paper settings preset by the user.

  Next, an example of processing performed when a plurality of paper settings match in S48 will be described.

  If the language monitor 207 determines in step S48 that there is a match between two or more types of settings, the process proceeds to step S49. In this case, for example, in FIG. 7B, it is assumed that the print settings for the professional photo and the glossy paper are the same as the media.

  Here, the user interface shown in FIG. 7C is displayed on the monitor 106.

  Specifically, on the user interface shown in FIG. 7C, the user selects the type of paper set using the radio button RB31 or the radio button RB32. If either the radio button RB31 or the radio button RB32 is selected and the user presses the button BT32, the process proceeds to S50.

  Next, processing (guide display processing) when “display guide once when media cannot be determined” is selected in S45 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4B.

  The default setting of this function is a state in which the user selects the radio button RB1 in the user interface shown in FIG. 7A and “Display guide once when media cannot be determined” is selected.

  First, in S52-1, a dialog-type user interface shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface in the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 8, the user presses a button BT71 to select whether to cancel printing, press a button BT72 to continue printing, or press a button BT73 to stop printing.

  Next, the language monitor 207 determines whether or not the button BT71 is pressed by the user. If the language monitor 207 determines that the button BT71 is pressed, the process proceeds to S52-5, the user interface shown in FIG. 7B is displayed on the monitor 106, and the process proceeds to S52-3. As a result, the user performs detailed media determination settings on the user interface shown in FIG. 7B. That is, the user recognizes that the printer 105 cannot perform media determination, and the user makes a preference for the media determination for the first time. Here, the user sets print settings for printing on the paper set in the printer 105.

  On the other hand, if the language monitor 207 determines that the button BT71 is not pressed in S52-2, it is determined whether any of the button BT72 or the button BT73 is pressed in S52-3.

  That is, the language monitor 207 determines whether the user has selected to cancel printing or continue printing.

  Here, if it is determined that the user has pressed the button BT73 indicating print cancel, that is, if it is determined that print cancel is selected, the process proceeds to S52-4 to cancel the printing being processed, This process ends.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in S52-3 that the user has pressed the button BT72 indicating continuation of printing, that is, if it is determined that continuation of printing has been selected, the current setting remains as S46 in FIG. 4A. Transition.

  As a result, after detailed setting of media determination is performed on the user interface shown in FIG. 7B in S52-5, the process proceeds to S46. Since the processing after S46 is as described above, printing can be continued.

[Second Embodiment]
The configuration of a data processing program that can be read by the information processing apparatus and the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the memory maps shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs readable by the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs readable by the printing apparatus according to the present invention.

  Although not particularly illustrated, information for managing a program group stored in the storage medium, for example, version information, creator, etc. is also stored, and information depending on the OS on the program reading side, for example, a program is identified and displayed. Icons may also be stored.

  Further, data depending on various programs is also managed in the directory. In addition, a program for installing various programs in the computer, and a program for decompressing when the program to be installed is compressed may be stored.

  The functions shown in FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4C in this embodiment may be performed by a host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when an information group including a program is supplied to the output device from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external storage medium via a network. Is.

  As described above, the storage medium storing the software program code for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the system or apparatus. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  Therefore, as long as it has the function of the program, the form of the program such as an object code, a program executed by an interpreter, or script data supplied to the OS is not limited.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD, etc. Can be used.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. Then, the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk. It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server, an ftp server, and the like that allow a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer are also included in the claims of the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  In addition, the functions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized by executing the program code read by the computer. For example, based on an instruction of the program code, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing. Needless to say, the process includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized.

  Further, the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. After that, based on the instruction of the program code, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing. Needless to say.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the embodiments) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not.

  Although various examples and embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will not limit the spirit and scope of the present invention to the specific description in the present specification.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus that can communicate with an information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the print processing module in the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 1st data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 1st data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a data processing procedure in the printing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface displayed on the monitor shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting item which can be displayed on the setting part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface in the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface in the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface in the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the user interface in the information processing apparatus which shows this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the storage medium which stores the various data processing program which can be read by the information processing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the storage medium which stores the various data processing program which can be read with the printing apparatus which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 Host computer 102 OS
103 Printer Driver 105 Printer 108 CPU
109 RAM
110 ROM

Claims (9)

An information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printing apparatus that detects a type of paper to be fed,
Receiving means for transferring part or all of the print data to the printing apparatus and receiving a detection result relating to the type of paper fed based on the transferred print data from the printing apparatus;
Holding means for holding paper setting information to be set for each paper type;
Determination means for determining whether or not it is notified that the paper type is unknown as a detection result regarding the paper type received from the receiving means;
If the determination means determines that the paper type is unknown, it selects any paper setting information that matches the print setting information acquired from the print data from the holding means, and Notification means for notifying the device;
An information processing apparatus comprising: If it is determined that the paper type is unknown by the determination unit, whether or not a plurality of paper setting information that matches the print setting information acquired from the print data is held in the holding unit Determining means for determining whether or not
And display means for displaying a sheet type selection screen for causing selecting said discrimination means by Rifuku number held in which the discriminated if the type of paper to the user,
The notification means in accordance with the type of paper to be selected from the displayed paper type selection screen by the display unit, and select the holding means or al for paper setting information, characterized by notifying the printing apparatus The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. If the determination means determines that the notification that the type of the paper is unknown, a guide display means for user interface to a guide display for causing selection of different processing regarding the print to the user,
And processing retainer stage performs the guide display means by that guide based on the display selected processed,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The processing that is different from, claims, wherein the treatment to continue printing data printing processing based on the processing to cancel the print is either processing for performing reconfiguration of the previous SL for paper setting information Item 4. The information processing device according to Item 3. An information processing method in an information processing apparatus that includes a holding unit that holds paper setting information to be set for each paper type and can communicate with a printing apparatus that detects a type of paper to be fed.
A receiving step of transferring a part or all of the print data to the printing apparatus and receiving a detection result regarding the type of paper fed based on the transferred print data from the printing apparatus;
A determination step of determining whether or not it is notified that the paper type is unknown as a detection result regarding the paper type received from the reception step;
When the determination step determines that it is notified that the paper type is unknown, the paper selection unit selects any paper setting information that matches print setting information acquired from the print data, and the printing apparatus A notification process to notify
An information processing method characterized by comprising: If it is determined that the paper type is unknown in the determination step, whether or not a plurality of paper setting information that matches the print setting information acquired from the print data is held in the holding unit. A discrimination process for discriminating whether or not
If it has been determined that said determination step by Rifuku number storing, and a display step of displaying a sheet type selection screen for causing selected the type of paper to the user,
It said notification step, the accordance the type of paper to be selected from among sheet type selection screen displayed by the display step, by selecting the holding means or al for paper setting information, characterized in that notifies the printing apparatus The information processing method according to claim 5. If the determination step determines that it has been notified type of the paper is unknown, a guide display step of displaying the guide a user interface for causing selection of different processing regarding the print to the user,
And as processing of Technology to perform the guide display process by that guide based on the display selected processed,
The information processing method according to claim 5, further comprising: The processing that is different from, characterized in that the process to continue the printing process based on the print data, processing to cancel the print is either processing for performing reconfiguration of the previous SL for paper setting information The information processing method according to claim 7.   A program for causing a computer to execute the information processing method according to any one of claims 5 to 8.

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