JP2015130072A - Information processing apparatus, print control method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To print document data in the paper sizes that are less used in Japan, such as Legal and Ledger by changing the size to the printable paper size.SOLUTION: An image forming apparatus includes receiving means for receiving paper feed information indicating the paper size for each paper feed stage, storage means for storing a list of received paper sizes, and size error suppressing means for performing, when determined that the designated paper size is not present in the list, definite style enlargement/reduction processing of changing the paper size to be used in printing from the paper size designated in a print job to the paper size included in the list and transmitting the changed size to the image forming apparatus.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a print control method, and a program.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique for informing the host computer when the paper size detected by the recording device and the paper size sent by the host computer do not match.

JP 2007-69533 A

  Here, it is assumed that the paper size mismatch is reported to the host computer by the technique of Patent Document 1. However, there is a possibility that the paper size designated by the host computer is wrong in the first place, and the user does not have the paper of the paper size designated by the host computer. For example, when printing document data of a paper size that is rarely used in Japan, such as legal and leisure, even if a paper size error is notified, the user does not have the paper size of the paper in the first place, and the specified paper It may not be possible to print according to size. In that case, after all, the user gives up printing with the initially specified paper size, and the user is forced to change the paper size to printable manually and reprint.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and receives the paper size for each paper feed tray and stores it in the list. If the specified paper size is not included in the list, the paper included in the list An object is to realize a convenient printing method by changing the size to print.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides:
Receiving means for receiving paper feed information indicating a paper size for each paper feed stage from the image forming apparatus;
A storage means for storing a list of received paper sizes;
Determining means for determining whether a sheet size designated by a print job to be executed exists in the list;
When it is determined that the designated paper size does not exist in the list, the paper size used for printing is changed from the paper size designated by the print job to the paper size included in the list, and the image formation is performed. And size error suppression means for performing standard enlargement / reduction processing transmitted to the apparatus.

Alternatively, according to another aspect, the present invention
Receiving means for receiving paper feed information indicating a paper size for each paper feed stage from the image forming apparatus;
A storage means for storing a list of received paper sizes;
Means for recording a history of paper sizes that have been included in the list;
When it is determined that the designated paper size does not exist in the list or the history, a preset option is referred to, and when the standard enlargement / reduction is selected, the paper size used for printing is selected. When a standard enlargement / reduction process is performed in which the paper size specified by the print job is changed to a paper size included in the list and transmitted to the image forming apparatus, and the warning message is selected, the specified paper size is selected. Size error suppression means for performing warning message processing for notifying the user that the size is not set in the image forming apparatus.

  According to the present invention, the paper size for each paper feed tray is received and stored in the list, and when the designated paper size is not included in the list, the paper size is changed to the paper size included in the list and printed. Therefore, a highly convenient printing method can be realized.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print processing system. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a print system to which a host computer, a server, and a printing apparatus of a print processing system can be applied. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of programs and the like installed in an external memory 11 of a host computer 3000 of the print processing system. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram when the operating system of the host computer 3000 of the print processing system receives configuration information from the printer 1500. 6 is a flowchart for explaining details of a “update the list of paper sizes” process in the sequence diagram of FIG. 4 of the print processing system. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of “store paper size for each current paper feed stage” data in FIG. 4 and an example of a “paper size list” set in the past in FIG. 4 of the print processing system. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example screen that allows the user to select a size error suppression process when a paper size error occurs in the print processing system. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing when printing is performed with a paper size that is not set in the printer 1500 of the print processing system. 9 is a flowchart illustrating details of “size error suppression processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 8 of the print processing system. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for notifying that the paper size specified in the print setting in the flowchart of FIG. 9 of the print processing system is not set in the printer. 10 is a flowchart of processing for suppressing size error when the printer driver 2041 determines that a paper size error has occurred during printing processing. The figure which shows an example of the screen of the device setting sheet 600 of a printer property screen. 10 is a flowchart of processing for examining whether or not a paper size error has occurred for a plurality of print settings included in a print job. The figure which shows an example of the file referred when the standard UI driver of OS205 preserve | saves the paper size information acquired by AutoConfig in the storage area. (A) A diagram showing an example of saved contents set by the standard UI driver of the OS 205 in the initial state according to the file of FIG. 14, and (b) a standard of the OS 205 based on the configuration information of the printer acquired by AutoConfig. FIG. 15C is a diagram showing an example of saved contents in which the UI driver has updated the paper size information. (C) From the state of FIG. 15B, the paper size information has been updated based on the printer configuration information acquired by AutoConfig. The figure which shows an example of the preservation | save content. 10 is a flowchart of processing for determining whether there is a paper size error during printing processing based on the stored paper size information. The figure which shows the example of a display of the conflict resolution completed message which OS205 displays. 10 is a flowchart of processing for displaying a conflict resolution message of the OS 205 when the printer driver 2041 determines that a paper size error has occurred at the start of printing. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of print settings delivered by a source that calls a printer driver 2041 such as an OS 205. 9 is a flowchart illustrating details of “size error suppression processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 8 of the print processing system.

[Embodiment 1]
<Configuration of print processing system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a print processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This print processing system includes a host computer 3000 that is an information processing apparatus, and a printer 1500 that is an image forming apparatus that receives print data from the host computer 3000 and performs printing. In the host computer 3000, the CPU 1 comprehensively controls each device connected to the system bus 4 in accordance with a program stored in the RAM 2. This control includes printing control. The RAM 2 also functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 1. The ROM 3 stores various programs and data, and is divided into a font ROM that stores various fonts, a program ROM that stores boot programs, BIOS, and the like, and a data ROM that stores various data.

  An operation input device interface (hereinafter also referred to as I / F) 5 controls input from an operation input device 9 such as a keyboard or a pointing device (mouse). The display I / F 6 controls display on the display 10. The external memory I / F 7 controls access to the external memory 11 such as a hard disk. The printer I / F 8 is connected to the printer 1500 via the bidirectional interface 21 and performs bidirectional communication control processing with the printer 1500.

  Next, the configuration of the printer 1500 will be described. The CPU 12 controls the overall operation of the printer 1500. The RAM 19 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 12, and is also used as an output information expansion area and an environment data storage area. The RAM 19 also includes a non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) area, and is configured such that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The ROM 13 includes a font ROM that stores various fonts, a program ROM that stores a control program executed by the CPU 12, and a data ROM that stores various data. The input unit 18 transmits / receives data to / from the host computer 3000. The printing unit I / F 16 controls an interface with the printing unit 17 that is a printer engine. Access to the external memory 14 is controlled by the external memory I / F 20. The external memory 14 may be a connected hard disk (HD), MO, floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD), or IC card. The external memory 14 stores font data, an emulation program, form data, and the like. When the external memory 14 such as a hard disk is not connected, information used in the host computer 3000 is stored in the data ROM of the ROM 13. The external memory 14 is not limited to one, and may include a plurality of external memories. For example, in addition to a built-in font, an optional font card, a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages having different language systems, and the like are connected. It may be configured to be able to. The operation unit 1501 is provided with an operation panel that receives an operation by a user, and an operation switch, an LED display, and the like are arranged on the operation panel (not illustrated). In addition, an unillustrated NVRAM (non-volatile RAM) may be provided to store printer mode setting information from the operation panel. The CPU 12 outputs an image signal as output information to the printing unit (printer engine) 17 via the printing unit interface 16 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13. The CPU 12 can perform bidirectional communication processing with the host computer 3000 via the input unit 18. The CPU 12 is configured to receive print data transmitted from the host computer 3000 via the input unit 18 and to notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer 1500 and the like. As an example of the image forming apparatus, a printer is employed. Of course, a so-called multi-function copying machine having other functions such as a scanner, a facsimile, and image processing is also applicable as the image forming apparatus.

  FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a print system to which the host computer, the server, and the printing apparatus of the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention can be applied. The print system according to this embodiment includes one or more host computers 3000 (for example, for each user), one or more servers 4000 (for example, installed for each floor), and one or more printers 1500 (for example, for each floor). ). Further, the client PC 3000, the server 4000, and the printer 1500 are connected via a local area network (LAN) 1000.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of programs and the like installed in the external memory 11 of the host computer 3000 of the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The external memory 11 is composed of, for example, a hard disk (HD) or a flash memory drive (SSD). As shown in the drawing, an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS) 205, various applications 201, and a print processing related program 204 are stored. Examples of the various applications 201 include a document processing application program that performs document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables, and the like are mixed. The external memory 11 also stores unillustrated user files, edit files, and the like related to various applications 201. The print processing related program 204 is a program for generating print data described using a page description language, and is commonly used for a plurality of printers of the same series. The print spooler 2040 is a mechanism for temporarily storing and sequentially executing print jobs of the printer 1500 that are generated simultaneously. The print processing related program 204 includes a printer control command generation module (hereinafter referred to as printer driver) 2041 and a printer driver UI control module (hereinafter referred to as UI driver) 2042. UI is an abbreviation for user interface, and will be abbreviated as UI hereinafter. The application 201 including the printer driver UI control module 2401 according to the present embodiment stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and executed by the CPU 1. Further, the CPU 1 executes, for example, an outline font development (rasterization) process to the RAM 2 to enable WYSIWYG (WhatYou See Is What You Get) on the display 10. Further, the CPU 1 opens various registered windows based on commands designated by the mouse on the display 10 and executes various data processing. When executing printing, the user can open a print setting screen (controlled by the UI driver 2042), and perform settings for the printer driver 2041 including printer settings and print mode selection.

<Procedure for obtaining configuration information from the printer>
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram when the operating system of the host computer 3000 of the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention receives configuration information from the printer 1500. Normally, the UI driver 2042 requests the printer 1500 to acquire configuration information, and the printer 1500 generally responds to the request.

  However, in addition to the above acquisition method, there is a method of transmitting configuration information from the printer side even if it is not requested. For example, when there is a change in the paper feed information (paper size, paper remaining amount, paper orientation) with respect to the printer 1500 (S400), the printer 1500 includes all hosts registered in the printer 1500 in advance. An event is transmitted to the computer 3000. A method of acquiring the configuration information from a device such as a printer in this way by spontaneous operation of the device (for example, event transmission) is called AutoConfig (automatic configuration). Information indicating the configuration obtained by AutoConfig is referred to as configuration information. In the present embodiment, the configuration information is a paper feed stage and paper size of the printer, and may be referred to as paper feed information.

  The event includes, for example, information indicating that the paper feed information has been changed, and changed paper feed information (for example, paper size for each paper feed stage). The event transmitted from the printer is notified to the UI driver 2042 through the print spooler 2040. The UI driver 2042 stores paper size information for each paper feed stage from the notified paper feed information (S401). Further, the list of paper sizes set for the printer 1500 is updated and stored again from the paper size information for each paper feed stage (S402). The process for updating the paper size will be described later, so please refer to it. The storage destination is stored in a storage area such as the RAM 2. Since this event is transmitted whenever the status of the paper feed information on the printer is changed, the UI driver 2042 always holds the latest paper feed information without acquiring configuration information each time printing is performed. Become. Hereinafter, a mechanism in which configuration information is notified of an event from a printer will be referred to as an “AutoConfig” system.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining details of the S402 “update the list of paper sizes” process in the sequence diagram of FIG. 4 of the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. That is, the execution subject is the host computer 3000 on the hardware, and the UI driver 2042 on the software module. First, the UI driver 2042 acquires paper size information for each paper feed stage in the information transmitted in the event notified from the print spooler 2040. Then, the current paper feed information is updated with the obtained paper size information for each paper feed stage (S500). Next, the paper size list (paper size history) information that has been set in the past and saved in the storage area is acquired (S501). Next, S502 to S504 are repeated for all paper feed stages. First, among the paper feed information updated in S500, the paper size (focused paper size) set in the paper feed tray focused first (also referred to as the focused paper feed tray) is acquired (S502). The paper size acquired in S502 is compared with the list information of paper sizes set in the past acquired in S501, and it is checked whether there is a paper size that matches the target paper size in the list (S503). ). If there is no paper size that matches the target paper size in the list of paper sizes set in the past, the target paper size is added to the list of paper sizes that have been set in the past and recorded. (S504). This is checked for the paper sizes set in all paper feed stages. When the paper sizes of all paper feed stages are checked, the updated list of paper sizes that have been set in the past is stored in the original storage area (S505). In the loop of S502 to S504, it is not necessary to pay attention to the size that has not been changed because the list has already been registered. According to the above procedure, the current paper feed information, that is, information indicating the correspondence between the paper feed stage and the paper size can be updated according to the paper change event received from the printer.

  6 shows an example of the “store paper size for each current paper feed stage” data in FIG. 4 and an example of a “paper size list” set in the past in the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is. In the AutoConfig system, configuration information is transmitted from the printer 1500 using an XML schema. The UI driver 2042 understands the schema and stores it in the storage area. FIG. 6A is an example of current paper feed information 601 that stores the paper size set in each paper feed stage. FIG. 6B is an example of a list 602 of paper sizes set so far created by the procedure of FIG. Here, for example, when a sheet of paper size “postcard” is reset in the cassette 1 of the printer 1500, an event (event information) indicating that at least the postcard size is set in the cassette 1 is received from the printer 1500. . The paper size information for each paper feed stage transmitted from the printer 1500 together with this event is, for example, paper feed information (or configuration information) 603 in FIG. The UI driver 2042 refers to the received paper size, and sets the new paper size that has been set in the paper size list as shown in FIG. Add the size “postcard” and save again.

<Paper size error occurrence prevention processing>
FIG. 7 shows a user a size error suppression process (referred to as a “size error suppression process at the time of a paper size error”) when a paper size error is predicted in the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of the screen which shows the selection screen of the option made to select. When the user selects “size error suppression processing at the time of paper size error” from the item list 410 on this screen, the combo box 420 below it can select the size error suppression processing when a paper size error is expected. Switch to a combo box to select one of the methods. A processing method for suppressing printing can be selected in the combo box. In this embodiment, a method that can be selected is output as it is, a warning message is displayed (warning message processing), a standard enlargement / reduction processing (enlargement or reduction processing to a usable paper size), or output. Either cancel printing. A print job in which a paper size error is expected is processed according to the selected method.

  FIG. 8 shows that when a print job is executed with a paper size not set in the printer 1500 of the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention, that is, when the print job is executed normally, a paper size error occurs in the printer 1500. It is a flowchart explaining the process in the case of doing. First, it is determined whether or not to perform a size error suppression process when a paper size error occurs (S800). As an example of the determination method, when an item other than “output as it is” is selected from the “size error suppression process at the time of paper size error” combo box 420 on the screen of FIG. 7, the size error suppression process is performed. It can be judged. As a result of the determination, when the size error suppression process is performed (Yes in S800), it is determined whether or not AutoConfig configuration information has been acquired (S801). “AutoConfig configuration information has been acquired” means that configuration information (paper feed information) has been acquired by the procedure of FIG. As an example of the determination method, when notified from the spooler by AutoConfig, for example, in step S401 in FIG. 4, information indicating that the UI driver 2042 has acquired the configuration information of the printer 1500 by AutoConfig is set in the storage area. To do. If the information is set, it can be determined that AutoConfig configuration information has been acquired. If it is determined that the AutoConfig configuration information has been acquired (Yes in S801), it is determined whether the currently specified paper feeding method is automatic paper feeding or not (S802). The automatic paper feeding is a paper feeding method in which the printer 1500 selects a paper feeding unit corresponding to the size and feeds paper. When the currently specified paper feeding method is automatic paper feeding (Yes in S802), it is checked whether the designated paper size is set in any of the paper feeding units of the printer 1500 (S803). Specifically, referring to the current paper feed information, paying attention to one paper feed unit, the paper size set in the paper feed stage of interest and the print job to be executed (the print job of interest) Compare with the paper size specified in the print settings in step 2) to see if they match. This is repeated until all paper feed units are judged or matched with attention paid to all paper feed units. That is, it is determined whether or not the paper size designated by the target print job exists in the list of paper sizes set in the printer. In the present embodiment, one print job has one print setting. When there are a plurality of print settings, the print settings for the first page are used in this example. When the paper size specified in the print setting of the target print job is not set in any paper feed unit (when the loop ends without entering Yes in S803), a size error suppression process is performed (S805). If the currently specified paper feeding method is other than automatic paper feeding (No in S802), it is checked whether or not the designated paper size is set in the designated paper feeding unit (S804). If the designated paper size is not set in the designated paper feed unit (No in S804), a size error suppression process is performed (S805). The size error suppression process will be described with reference to FIG. If the print job is canceled in step S805, the process ends in step S805 without performing printing. In other cases, even after the process of FIG. Will continue.

<Size error suppression processing>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating details of the “size error suppression process” in the flowchart of FIG. 8 of the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, a list 602 of paper sizes set in the past stored in the storage area is referred to (S900). If the paper size specified in the print settings is in the list 602 (Yes in S901), the user is notified that the paper size specified in the print settings is not set in the printer 1500 ( S903). Refer to the detailed description of the notification process described later. If the paper size specified in the print settings does not match all the paper sizes in the list 602 (No in S901), the processing is performed according to the size error suppression processing specified in advance (S902). The specification of the size error suppression process is described in the screen 400 for selecting the size error suppression process at the time of the paper size error described with reference to FIG. If the size error suppression process specified in advance is “display warning message” (“warning message” in step S902), it is confirmed that the paper size specified in the print settings is not set in the printer 1500. Notification is made (S903). This notification is different from a paper size error that occurs in the printer 1500 during execution of the print job in that it is displayed on the user interface of the host computer before execution of the print job. If the size error suppression process specified in advance is “standard size enlargement / reduction output” (“standard size enlargement / reduction output” in S902), the appropriate paper size among the paper sizes in the paper feed unit The image is output after being scaled to a size (S904). The standard enlargement / reduction means, for example, enlargement or reduction processing (enlargement / reduction processing or scaling processing) to a predetermined fixed size. As a method of standard scaling to an appropriate paper size, for example, if the specified paper size is Letter, it has an approximate paper size A4, and if it is Legal, it has A3 in advance. There is a method of scaling up and down according to it. Also, there is a method of calculating the area of the drawing area of the designated paper size and scaling it to a standard paper size closest to the paper size set in each paper feed stage. However, these methods are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these. Note that if a size that includes the entire specified paper size is selected as the paper size after the standard enlargement / reduction, an object such as a printed image may be output as it is without being scaled. You may enlarge together. If a size smaller than the designated paper size is selected as the paper size after the standard enlargement / reduction, it is desirable to reduce the object printed in accordance with the new size, but it may be output as it is. On the other hand, when the size error suppression process designated in advance is “cancel printing” (print cancel in S902), the current print process is canceled (S905). At this time, the OS 205 is notified of the cancellation of the printing process due to a paper size designation error (S906). In this case, print processing cancellation due to a paper size specification error may be displayed on the user interface to notify the user.

  FIG. 10 is an example of a screen for notifying that the paper size specified in the print setting is not set in the printer in S903 of the flowchart of FIG. 9 of the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The user can recognize that a paper size error has occurred without referring to the printer 1500 by referring to the screen 500 after executing the printing process. Note that the screen of FIG. 10 may be displayed by the UI driver or the OS. Further, a paper size and paper type information screen 501 for each current paper feed stage is displayed in more detail. In this way, information can be provided so that the user can make an appropriate decision. However, the screen 500 may not include the information screen 501. In addition, a current print job can be canceled from the UI driver by a [No] button 503. With the [Yes] button 502, printing can be continued with the current print settings. Further, a “print setting change” button 504 allows the UI driver to start a print setting screen that allows the user to change the current print setting. The buttons 503 and 504 may be configured not to be provided on the screen 500. In this case, as a case where the [Yes] button 502 is pressed, it is conceivable that after the screen 500 is displayed, paper is fed to the paper feed stage for printing. As a result, the user can continue printing by simply pressing the [Yes] button 502 without instructing printing again.

  As described above, when the print processing system according to the present embodiment is used, a print job that may cause a paper size error is discovered based on the configuration information of the printer that is collected asynchronously with the print job, and the countermeasure is taken in advance. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately handle a paper size error that may occur without affecting the performance during printing.

  In the present embodiment, what kind of processing is performed as the size error processing is selected in advance, and processing according to the option is performed. However, for example, standard enlargement / reduction may be executed without room for selection, may be canceled, or may be a warning message. Two of them may be optional.

[Embodiment 2]
In the first embodiment, the UI driver 2042 always acquires the latest information of the printer 1500 using AutoConfig, which is a function of the OS 205. However, device option information such as paper feed information and paper size information for each paper feed method can be edited by the user on the device option setting screen of the printer property of the UI driver 2042. When the user edits the setting, there is a problem that it becomes unclear whether the information on the paper feeding method and paper size acquired at the time of printing is synchronized with the actual configuration of the printer 1500. In order to solve this problem, if it is determined that the user has edited information related to the paper feeding method and paper size on the device option setting screen of the UI driver 2042 after the last acquisition of configuration information from the printer, Do not perform size error suppression processing.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of processing for suppressing size error when the printer driver 2041 according to the embodiment of the present invention determines that a paper size error has occurred during printing processing. That is, FIG. 11 shows a procedure in place of FIG. 8 of the first embodiment. S1100 to S1101 and S1103 to S1106 are the same processes as S800 to S801 and S802 to S805 in FIG. If it is determined that the configuration information has been acquired by AutoConfig (Yes in S1101), it is determined whether or not the user has edited the device option information after the configuration information, particularly the paper feed information, is finally acquired (S1102). As an example of the determination method, when specific information (for example, paper size or paper feeding direction for each paper feed stage) on the device setting sheet screen is changed by the user, information indicating the change is stored in the RAM 2. Set it in a storage area. The description of this specific information will be described later, so please refer to that. In addition, this information is information indicating that the change has been made when the configuration information is successfully acquired by AutoConfig, or when the user intentionally acquires the configuration information of the printer and as a result, the correct configuration information is acquired. To release. If this information is set during the printing process, it can be determined that the user is editing the device option information. If it is determined that the device option information has not been edited by the user (No in S1102), it is checked whether or not the paper feeding method specified in the print setting is automatic paper feeding (S1103). On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1102 that the device option information has been edited by the user (Yes in S1102), the processing is terminated and normal printing processing is continued.

  FIG. 12 is an example of a screen of the device setting sheet 600 of the printer property screen according to the present embodiment. When the setting relating to the following paper feed method in the item of the option list 610 is changed, information indicating that the device option setting has been changed is set in a storage area such as the RAM 2.

In the user interface screen of FIG.
-“2-stage cassette pedestal”: Yes-“Paper deck”: No, if the user intentionally changes the information obtained by AutoConfig, even if it is judged as a paper size error, the size error suppression process is performed. Do not do. As a result, it can be avoided that the UI driver 2042 erroneously executes the size error suppression process.

[Embodiment 3]
In the first embodiment, the UI driver 2042 checks the print setting for a specific page at the time of printing, and determines whether a paper size error occurs. The specific page refers to paper size information included in the print settings first notified to the printer driver 2041 at the time of print processing. However, in the case of printing a plurality of pages, a plurality of print settings may be included in the print job. In this case, an error may occur in a paper size other than a specific page, and the size error suppression process is not performed for the paper size error. In order to solve this problem, the size error suppression processing is executed not by the UI driver 2042 but by the printer driver 2041 that manages the print job, and the printer driver 2041 examines a plurality of print settings included in the print job to check the paper size. It may be determined whether a size error occurs.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart of processing for checking whether or not a paper size error has occurred for a plurality of print settings included in a print job according to the embodiment of the present invention. S1300, S1301, and S1304 are the same processes as S800, S801, and S805 in FIG. However, this processing is processing by the printer driver, unlike FIG. 8 of the first embodiment. When it is determined that the configuration information has been acquired by AutoConfig (Yes in S1301), it is checked whether or not a paper size error occurs for the print setting included in the print job (S1302). Since the process for checking whether or not a paper size error occurs has already been described in S802 to S804 in FIG. 8 of the first embodiment, a description thereof is omitted here. When a paper size error occurs in any one of a plurality of print settings of a print job to be processed, a size error suppression process is performed (S1304).

  As described above, the printer driver 2041 that manages the print job checks all print settings and checks a paper size error, thereby enabling more appropriate size error suppression processing.

[Embodiment 4]
In the first embodiment, when it is determined that a paper size error occurs with reference to a list of currently set paper sizes and previously set paper sizes, the printer 1500 performs size error suppression processing. It was. However, if only the standard UI driver 2042 of the OS 205 is used and there is no vendor-specific UI driver 2042, a list of paper sizes set in the past cannot be created. In order to solve this problem, in the present embodiment, a method for creating a list of paper sizes acquired by AutoConfig is changed.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of a file (referred to as a save designation file) referred to when the standard UI driver 2042 of the OS 205 according to the present embodiment saves the paper size information acquired by AutoConfig in the storage area. ing. As shown in this file, “MediaSize_A3” indicated by “* Feature” is used as a key, and the initial value is specified as “NotInstalled” of “DefaultOption”. Furthermore, when ““ ¥ Printer.MediaSize.MediaSizeEntry.A3: Installed ”” is “true” from the information acquired by AutoConfig, it is specified to be changed to “Installed”. This description format is described for all paper sizes supported by the printer 1500. In the example of FIG. 14, the same designation is made for the three sizes of A3, B4, and Letter.

  FIG. 15A shows an example of saved contents (paper feed settings) set by the standard UI driver of the OS 205 in the initial state according to the file of FIG. 14 according to the present embodiment. A value of “NotInstalled” is set as an initial state for all supported paper sizes. FIG. 15B shows the saved contents updated by the standard UI driver of the OS 205 with reference to the save designation file based on the printer configuration information acquired by AutoConfig according to the present embodiment. An example is shown. In this example, configuration information indicating that the paper sizes A3, A4, Letter, and A5 are set in the printer 1500 ("Installed") is acquired from the printer, and the current paper feed setting is also set. It has been updated accordingly. FIG. 15C shows an example of the saved content in which the paper size information is updated based on the printer configuration information acquired by AutoConfig from the state of FIG. 15B according to the present embodiment. In this example, the postcard paper size is set in one of the paper feed stages for the printer 1500.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart of processing for determining whether or not a paper size error occurs during the printing process based on the stored paper size information according to the present embodiment. First, the value for the paper size specified in the print settings is checked (S1601). If the value is NotInstalled (Yes in S1601), a warning message is displayed. If the value is not NotInstalled (No in S1601), size error suppression processing is performed according to the size error suppression method specified by the user (S1602). Since S1603 to S1606 of each size error suppression process are the same as S903 to S906 in FIG.

  In this way, by setting the information acquired by AutoConfig to Installed / NotInstalled for each paper size, the same processing as the determination processing at the time of paper size error shown in the first embodiment can be performed.

[Embodiment 5]
Further, when there is no vendor-specific UI driver 2042, in a print job size error suppression process in which a paper size error occurs during printing, a warning message may be displayed by displaying a screen as shown in FIG. 10 of the first embodiment. Can not. In order to solve this problem, the conflict resolved message display function of the OS 205 is used as shown in FIG. This function rounds the print setting from either of the print settings to the printable setting if the setting that cannot continue printing is made between the print settings. Due to the rounding, the message “XXX has been changed because it conflicts with another printer setting” appears above the control of the changed value. Note that “rounding” here is almost synonymous with changing. However, this is not simply a change, but a change to a print setting that approximates the original print setting.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart of processing for displaying a conflict resolution message of the OS 205 when the printer driver 2041 according to the present embodiment determines that a paper size error has occurred at the start of printing.

  Steps S1800 to S1804 are the same as steps S800 to S804 in FIG. When the paper size specified in the print settings is not set in any paper feed unit (when the loop ends without entering Yes in S1803, or No in S804), the paper size of the print settings is rounded (S1805). ). Therefore, in the procedure of FIG. 18, unlike FIG. 8, the print job is not canceled in step S1805 because a paper size error occurs.

  FIG. 19A shows an example of print settings delivered by the caller of the UI driver 2042 such as the OS 205 according to the present embodiment. In this example, “ISOA5” indicating the paper size of A5 is set in “PageMediaSize” that specifies the paper size of the print setting.

  FIG. 19B is an example of print settings to be passed to the caller of the UI driver 2042 such as the OS 205 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this example, when the printer driver 2041 outputs the specified paper size to the printer 1500 with respect to the print settings shown in FIG. 19A, it is determined that a paper size error has occurred, and is rounded to an appropriate paper size. It has been reworked. The appropriate paper size designates a paper size that is as close as possible to the paper size set in the paper feed stage of the printer 1500. In this example, “ISOA4” indicating the paper size of A4 is set.

  The OS 205 that has received the print setting of FIG. 19B returned by the printer driver 2041 checks the changed setting from the input print setting, and displays a message regarding the changed print setting item, for example, on the user interface. As described above, if the print processing system according to the present embodiment is used, even if there is no original UI driver, a warning message using the standard function of the OS can be displayed when a paper size error occurs.

[Embodiment 6]
In the fourth embodiment, the size error suppression processing in the case where only the standard UI driver 2042 of the OS 205 is used and there is no vendor-specific UI driver 2042 has been described. In particular, when the size error suppression process is “warning message”, the method of notifying the warning message using the conflict resolved message display function of the OS 205 has been described. However, with this method, the contents are determined in advance, and detailed causes cannot be notified. A method for solving this problem will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating details of S805 “size error suppression processing” in the flowchart of FIG. 8 of the print processing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. S2000 to S2002 and S2004 to S2007 are the same as S900 to S902 and S903 to S906 in the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 9, S901 is described so as to repeat by paying attention to each item of the paper size list, but in FIG. 20, the repetition is omitted. However, the processing content does not change. When the designated paper size is in the list of paper sizes set in the past (Yes in S2001), it is checked whether or not to activate the print preview screen (S2003). Alternatively, when “warning message” is specified in the size error suppression process (warning message in S2002), it is checked whether or not to start print preview (S2003). When the print preview is activated (Yes in S2003), the UI driver 2042 ends without doing anything. If the print preview is not activated (No in S2003), a warning message indicating that the designated paper size is not set in the printer and notification using the conflict resolved message display function of the OS 205 are used (S2004).

  As described above, if the print processing system according to the present embodiment is used, even if the warning message cannot be displayed in detail only by the standard UI driver 2042 of the OS 205, the print preview is activated and detailed settings can be performed. .

[Other Examples]
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (13)

Receiving means for receiving paper feed information indicating a paper size for each paper feed stage from the image forming apparatus;
A storage means for storing a list of received paper sizes;
Determining means for determining whether a sheet size designated by a print job to be executed exists in the list;
When it is determined that the designated paper size does not exist in the list, the paper size used for printing is changed from the paper size designated by the print job to the paper size included in the list, and the image formation is performed. An information processing apparatus comprising size error suppression means for performing standard enlargement / reduction processing transmitted to the apparatus. Means for recording a history of paper sizes that have been included in the list;
If it is determined that the specified paper size does not exist in the list, the size error suppression unit determines whether the specified paper size exists in the history, and specifies the specified paper size. Is determined to exist in the history, warning message processing is performed to notify the user by a warning message that the specified paper size is not set in the image forming apparatus, and the specified The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the standard enlargement / reduction processing is performed when it is determined that a paper size does not exist in the history. A selection means for selecting in advance a processing option when it is determined that the designated paper size does not exist in the list;
The size error suppression means refers to the option when it is determined that the specified paper size does not exist in the list or the history, and when the standard enlargement / reduction is selected, the standard enlargement / reduction is performed. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein processing is performed, the warning message processing is performed when a warning message is selected, and the print job is canceled when cancellation is selected. . A display means for displaying a user interface;
The warning message is displayed on the display means, and in the display, it is possible to select whether to continue the print job, cancel, or change the print setting of the print job. The information processing apparatus described. A display means for displaying a user interface;
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the selection means displays selectable options on the display means, and accepts and saves one of the options. An editing means for editing the list;
Whether the list has been edited by the editing unit after the receiving unit has finally received the list before the determination unit determines whether the specified paper size exists in the list. And a second determination means for determining whether or not
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the second determination unit determines that the list is being edited, the print job is continued. .   7. The determination unit according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines whether or not the designated paper size exists in the list for all print settings of the print job. The information processing apparatus according to item. The information processing apparatus is controlled by the operating system,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the warning message processing is executed using a contention resolved message display function of the operating system. In the warning message process, it is determined whether or not a print preview screen is to be activated, and when the print preview screen is activated, the screen for notifying the warning message is not activated. Item 9. The information processing apparatus according to Item 8. Receiving means for receiving paper feed information indicating a paper size for each paper feed stage from the image forming apparatus;
A storage means for storing a list of received paper sizes;
Means for recording a history of paper sizes that have been included in the list;
When it is determined that the designated paper size does not exist in the list or the history, a preset option is referred to, and when the standard enlargement / reduction is selected, the paper size used for printing is selected. When a standard enlargement / reduction process is performed in which the paper size specified by the print job is changed to a paper size included in the list and transmitted to the image forming apparatus, and the warning message is selected, the specified paper size is selected. An information processing apparatus comprising: a size error suppression unit that performs warning message processing for notifying a user that a size is not set in the image forming apparatus.   The program for functioning a computer as an information processing apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 10. A receiving step of receiving paper feed information indicating a paper size for each paper feed stage from the image forming apparatus;
A storage process for storing a list of received paper sizes;
A determination step of determining whether a paper size designated by a print job to be executed exists in the list;
When it is determined that the designated paper size does not exist in the list, the paper size used for printing is changed from the paper size designated by the print job to the paper size included in the list, and the image formation is performed. And a size error suppressing step for performing a standard enlargement / reduction process transmitted to the apparatus. A receiving step of receiving paper feed information indicating a paper size for each paper feed stage from the image forming apparatus;
A storage process for storing a list of received paper sizes;
Recording a history of paper sizes that have been included in the list;
When it is determined that the designated paper size does not exist in the list or the history, a preset option is referred to, and when the standard enlargement / reduction is selected, the paper size used for printing is selected. When a standard enlargement / reduction process is performed in which the paper size specified by the print job is changed to a paper size included in the list and transmitted to the image forming apparatus, and the warning message is selected, the specified paper size is selected. And a size error suppression step of performing a warning message process for notifying the user that the size is not set in the image forming apparatus.

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