JPH11161443A - Network printer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network printer system having an update managing function for a print data processing program. SOLUTION: The network printer system is constituted by connecting personal printers 1, 2 and 3 and a printer 4 to a network 5. In this system, corresponding to an arbitrary print request, the version of a printer driver 12 on the side of the personal printer as a print request source and the version of a print data processing part 43 on the side of the printer are checked. When the mutual versions are not correct in this check, it is reported from the side of the printer 4 to the user. Therefore, since the non-coincidence between the version numbers of the printer driver 12 and the print data processing part 43 is reported from the printer side at the time of negotiation before sending print data, wrong print data can be prevented from being sent to the printer 4 and trouble at the time of printing can be decreased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a network printer system which is a printing system in a network environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a network printer system is generally applied as a system for sharing a printer. For example, in the current printing method in the Windows environment, each maker provides a printer driver for Windows for each printer. And on the printer side,
It has a print data processing unit for interpreting print data output through the driver.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-152946 discloses an "information processing apparatus, a printing apparatus, a printing system, and a data processing method of a printing system", which relates to a technique for checking version information of a printer driver. One of the main points of this conventional example is to notify a user of a difference when a version difference or the like is found.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, when the versions between the programs of the interpretation data held by the printer driver and the print processing unit are different,
Automatically change the program. When such a program is automatically changed, the system program and printer driver software of the printer are frequently upgraded for trouble handling and function expansion, so even if the correct printer driver is selected on the PC side, There is a problem that printing may not be performed normally due to a difference in version from the printer.

An object of the present invention is to provide a network printer system having an update management function of a print data processing program.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a network printer system according to the present invention is a network printer system in a printing environment of a network printer in which a personal printer and a printer are connected via a network. For print requests,
The version of the printer driver of the personal printer that is the print request source and the version of the print data processing unit of the printer are checked. If the versions do not match, the printer notifies the user of this. It is made possible.

The printer has a storage unit for storing a print data processing program and a printer driver program. The printer receives data regardless of the information content of the version of the printer driver, and checks the information of the printer driver. The printer side can determine whether the print data received is output-processed or discarded.

Further, when the network printer system (print data processing unit) is upgraded, the printer notifies the user in the same network of the upgrade to notify the user before the process of changing the stored program in the printer. It is characterized by being able to do.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a network printer system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the network printer system according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a network printer system according to the present embodiment. 2 to 4 are flowcharts showing an operation example.

In FIG. 1, a network printer system according to the present embodiment includes a personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a personal computer).
A PC 1, a PC 2, a PC 3, and a network printer 4 are connected by a network 5 and configured.

The PC 1 having the above-described components includes, for example, a network communication unit 11, a printer driver 12, and an OS & application 13. The network printer 4 includes a printing unit 41, a storage unit 42, a print data processing unit 43, a network communication unit 44, and a panel input / output unit (hereinafter, simply referred to as a panel) 45. The storage unit 42 holds a print data processing and a printer driver management program.

In the network printer system of the present embodiment configured as described above, when a print request is executed from an application on the PC side, it is converted into print data that can be processed by a print destination printer by a Windows printer driver. The print data is sent to the printer through the network.

On the printer side, the print data is directly transferred to a print data processing section in the printer and processed for printing. Usually, the PC side has many printer drivers, and selects and uses a driver suitable for the output destination printer. If the printer driver is selected due to a different manufacturer or a different model, printing is not performed correctly.

Further, since the system program of the printer and the printer driver software are frequently upgraded in response to troubles and expansion of functions, the PC side (output request side).
Even if the correct printer driver is selected, printing may not be performed normally due to a difference in version from the printer. The printer driver on the PC side and the print data processing unit on the printer side have a close relationship. Therefore, when upgrading the version for troubleshooting, etc.,
It is necessary to always manage and use the latest version numbers and the like on the PC side and the printer side.

However, since the user is not aware of the version number of the normal printer driver and uses it, the printer and the printer check this part before transmitting the print data. Notify the PC side.

The version number of the print data processing program currently held by the print data processing unit 43 and the version number of the corresponding printer driver are stored in the area of the storage unit 42 in the printer. The retained memory is a nonvolatile storage area whose contents are not erased even when the power is turned off. The version number held here is called a registered version number. The printer startup program automatically writes the version number of the print data processing unit into the storage unit every time the printer is started.

The user can change the version number of the printer driver from the panel input / output unit 45 of the network printer 4. When the system is upgraded, an administrator or the like registers the version number of the printer driver 12 of the printer corresponding to the system from the panel 45.

FIGS. 2 to 4 are flowcharts showing an example of the operation.

<Operation Example 1> In the flow chart of FIG. 2, the printer driver 12
Before sending the print data to the printer, the storage information in the printer driver 12 is sent to the target printer via the network 5 (S11) and negotiated. The driver information to be transmitted is the corresponding printer ID
(Printer name) and version.

The printer receives this information, checks whether it matches the version stored in the storage unit (S21, S22), and returns a response packet. Here, the driver ID is a character string for determining the model of the printer and the type of the print language processing unit.

For example, the RPD of the printer MF-P355
To print using L, the [MFP355_RPD
L]. The printer on the receiving side determines from this character string, and if the model is not “MF-P355” or does not support the print language “RPDL”, an error is unconditionally made. The fact that the driver ID is invalid is transmitted to the printer driver to that effect (S27). In this example, a character string is used. However, an actual character string may be used as long as the model name and the language of print data processing can be determined.

Next, it is determined whether or not the version number of the printer driver matches the registered version number held in the storage area of the printer (S23, S2).
4). If these are different, there is a possibility that the printing will not be performed correctly. Therefore, the content to that effect is notified to the user who is the print requester in a response packet (S28).

The response packet contains a return code and a result message. The return code is the result of the negotiate returned as a code, and the result message is a character string representing the content thereof, and the PC displays the character string on the screen as it is.

If the return code is not OK, a result message is displayed on the PC screen to warn the user. It issues a message according to the situation, whether the model of the driver is different or the version is different. Upon receiving this message, the PC user cancels the print request and checks the version of the printer driver.

The above-described network printer system includes:
If a version number difference occurs between the printer driver on the PC side and the print data processing program on the printer side, the user is notified of the content in a response packet. However, in actual use, since a plurality of print data are often sent continuously, there is a problem that efficiency is poor if the PC driver receives the check result of the printer driver information every time.

According to the present invention, the print data is not transmitted after the printer driver information is negotiated, but is transmitted directly to the printer side following the printer driver information (S13), and whether or not the data is to be printed is determined by the printer. The decision is made on the side.

The printer holds the data flag. NG when checking driver information before starting printing
, The data flag is turned on. When this mode is ON, even if data is received, the data is discarded internally and printing processing is not performed. Then, the user is notified by a message that the data has been received but the data has been read and discarded and has not been printed.

<Operation Example 2> In the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, a print request is issued from the PC side. The printer driver transmits driver information (S31). The print data processing unit of the printer checks the contents of the received driver information (S41, S42). If the check result is OK, the data flag is turned off (S43). If the check result is NG, the data flag is turned ON (S46).

If the data printing flag is ON, the printer discards the sent print data without printing it (S47). When the reception of the print data is completed, a message indicating that the print data has been discarded is sent to the PC (S48). After sending the message, the data haki flag is turned off (S49),
Prepare for the following data: If the data printing flag is OFF, the received print data is subjected to normal print processing (S45).

According to the above-described processing procedure, the data (driver information + print data) sent from the PC is determined and processed by the print data processing section of the printer.
The PC can process efficiently even if it issues print requests continuously.

In the network printer system of the present invention, when the printer upgrades the version of the system (print data processing unit), the printer notifies the user of the upgrade by using a network to notify the user of the upgrade. .

In the above cases, it was possible to know that the printer driver needs to be upgraded only when the user makes a print request. It is also desirable to upgrade the printer driver on the side. In this case, a request for notification of version upgrade information is made from a panel to notify a user in the network to that effect.

First, when the version of the printer system (print data processing unit) is upgraded, an administrator or the like selects “notification of version upgrade” from the selection items on the printer panel. When execution of "notification of version upgrade" is selected, a notification of the version upgrade is sent to a PC (user) in the network registered in the printer in advance. There are two ways to specify the notification destination: [Specify by computer name] and [Specify by workgroup name].

The notification method based on the computer name is a method in which the PC name (computer name) in the network is held in the printer, and the name is notified. When a printer receives a print request from the network, the printer sends the request to the PC.
The name is stored in an internal storage area. The number to hold is 2
If the number is zero, the duplicate name is not registered. If the number exceeds 20, the oldest one is deleted from the list and registered.

In the notification method using the workgroup name, when used as a network, PCs and printers always belong to some group. Therefore, by notifying the group name, all PCs belonging to the group are automatically notified.

<Operation Example 3> In FIG. 4 showing Operation Example 3, when the version of the printer system is upgraded, the administrator selects “notification of version upgrade” by setting items on the panel. On the panel, there are two selection items, [Registration List] and [Workgroup]. Select either [Registration List] or [Workgroup] (S5
1).

If the registration list is selected, the printer sends a version upgrade notice to the network along the list of the last 20 users who have been requested to print (S52). If a workgroup is selected, a version upgrade notification is sent to the workgroup name to which the printer belongs (S53). Each PC belonging to the workgroup name receives the message.

When the PC receives the message (notification), the content is notified on the screen and the upgrade information can be known (S61). Therefore, it is possible to know the necessity of upgrading the printer driver before executing printing.

According to the above-described embodiment, the version of the printer driver on the PC side and the version of the print data processing section on the printer side are checked at the time of a print request in the shared printer on the network, and the user is notified of this. Can be reduced. Further, by sharing a printer in a network, the user can use the printer more easily.

Further, when the versions of the printer driver and the print data processing unit do not match in the shared printer of the network, the print data received by the printer is discarded without performing the print processing, thereby reducing printing defects. it can. By sharing the printer in the network, the user can use the printer more easily.

When the version of the system (print data processing unit) on the printer side of the shared printer on the network is upgraded, the version of the printer driver is upgraded before transmitting the contents to the user on the network. The notification improves usability as a shared printer.

As described above, in the case of the present embodiment, unlike the conventional case, sharing of the printer is basically considered.
Do not change the print data processing program inside the printer without permission.

The above embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. However, it is not limited to this.
Various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0044]

As is apparent from the above description, the network printer system of the present invention responds to an arbitrary print request with the version of the printer driver of the personal printer which is the source of the print request and the print data of the printer. The version of the processing unit is checked, and when the versions are not correct, the printer can notify the user of the fact. Therefore, the printer side is notified of a mismatch between the version number of the printer driver and the version number of the print data processing unit at the time of negotiation before sending the print data, so that it is possible to prevent sending out incorrect print data to the printer. Can be reduced.

The printer has a storage unit for storing a print data processing program and a printer driver program. The printer receives the data regardless of the information content of the version of the printer driver. According to the check result, the printer can determine whether the received print data is to be output-processed or discarded. Therefore, when sharing the printer in the network environment, when the versions are different between the data transmission side and the data processing side, the received data is discarded by the printer side (processing side), thereby reducing the trouble at the time of printing. It is easier for the user to use.

Further, when sharing a printer in a network environment, if the version of the printer system (print data processing unit) is upgraded and the version of the printer driver needs to be upgraded, the printer notifies the user of this fact. It becomes possible for the side to know the necessity of version upgrade earlier, and the usability as a shared printer is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a network printer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2, 3 Personal computer (PC) 4 Network printer (Printer) 5 Network 11 Network communication unit 12 Printer driver 13 OS & application 41 Printing unit 42 Storage unit 43 Print data processing unit 44 Network communication unit 45 Panel input / output unit (Panel) )

Claims (4)

[Claims] In a network printer system in a printing environment of a network printer in which a personal printer and a printer are connected via a network, a version of a printer driver on the side of the personal printer which is a print request source for an arbitrary print request. And the version of the print data processing unit of the printer is checked, and if the versions do not match,
A network printer system, wherein the printer can notify a user of the fact. 2. The network printer system according to claim 1, wherein the printer has a storage unit that stores a print data processing program and a printer driver program. 3. The printer receives the data irrespective of the information content of the version of the printer driver, and determines whether to output or discard the received print data according to the result of checking the information of the printer driver. 3. The network printer system according to claim 1, wherein the network printer system is enabled. 4. When a version upgrade process of the network printer system (print data processing unit) is performed, the printer informs a user on the same network of the upgrade before changing the holding program in the printer. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
4. The network printer system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.