JP2024131583A - Support Programs - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique capable of confirming the number of remaining sheets printable by a printer, in an information processing apparatus with an OS-standard general-purpose printing program embedded therein.SOLUTION: An auxiliary program 42 acquires, from a printer 2, the number of remaining sheets printable of an unprinted part in the number of sheets printable which is increased by a purchase for an amount according to the number of sheets, and causes a display 13a of a PC 1 to display the number of remaining sheets printable. When a printing instruction is issued to an OS-standard general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 causes the printer 2 to print an image to be printed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The technical field disclosed in this specification relates to a support program that supports the control of a printer.

Conventionally, there are printers that can limit the number of prints. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a printing system that includes an image recording device (printer), an information processing device, and a center server device, in which the information processing device downloads a prepaid printer driver with a limited number of prints from the center server device, on the condition that the billing procedure has been completed, and the printer driver compares the number of prints with the remaining number of printable sheets when printing is performed, and if the remaining number of printable sheets is insufficient, a message indicating this is displayed and print data is not sent.

JP 2006-209311 A

In recent years, a technology has been put into practical use that controls a printer using an OS-standard general-purpose print program that is part of the operating system (OS) without using the printer driver provided by the printer vendor mentioned above. With this technology, when the OS detects a printer, it associates it with the OS-standard general-purpose print program, and thereafter, when a print instruction for that printer is received, the OS-standard general-purpose print program generates print data without using the printer driver provided by the printer vendor, making it possible to print using the OS-standard general-purpose print program.

However, the standard general-purpose printing program for the OS mentioned above does not have a function to display the remaining number of pages that can be printed. This causes inconvenience to the user.

The support program made for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems is executable by a computer of an information processing device, and is a support program corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing device, the information processing device is equipped with an operating system having a general-purpose printing program, and the computer is capable of executing an acquisition process to acquire the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer, the remaining number of printable sheets being the number of unprinted sheets among the number of printable sheets that is increased by purchasing a printable sheet at an amount corresponding to the number of sheets, and the computer is capable of executing a display process to display the remaining number of printable sheets acquired by the acquisition process on a user interface of the information processing device, and is further configured to execute a print process to cause the printer to print the image to be printed when a print instruction is output from an application program built into the information processing device and the print instruction is given to the general-purpose printing program to cause the printer to print an image.

The support program disclosed in this specification obtains and displays the remaining number of pages that can be printed on the printer, allowing the user to check the remaining number of pages that can be printed even on an information processing device that does not have a printer driver.

An information processing device incorporating the above support program, a computer-readable storage medium storing the support program, a control method for implementing the functions of the support program, and a printing system including the support program and a printer are also novel and useful.

The technology disclosed in this specification realizes a technology that allows the remaining number of pages that can be printed on a printer to be confirmed on an information processing device that has a general-purpose printing program built into the OS standard.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of the electrical configuration of a PC according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a print setting procedure. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a detailed setting screen. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first management table. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display necessity setting screen. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a display necessity setting procedure. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a printing execution procedure. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen display procedure. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a confirmation screen. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a procedure after printing is executed. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a notification screen. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a notification screen. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a print execution procedure in a second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a print setting procedure in the third embodiment. FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a print setting screen.

A personal computer (hereinafter, "PC") that uses the support program of this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. This specification discloses a support program executed on a PC.

First Embodiment
The printing system 5 shown in FIG. 1 includes a PC 1, a printer 2, and a server 3, which are connected via a network such as the Internet 4. The number of printers 2 and PCs 1 connected to the server 3 is not limited to this embodiment. The printing system 5 is used in a printing management service that permits printing on a printer according to a charge number. Specifically, in the printing management service, a charge number is charged for each printer 2. The printer 2 is permitted to print until the remaining number of printable sheets, which is the number of sheets that have not been printed out of the charge number, reaches 0, and when the remaining number of printable sheets reaches 0, printing is restricted even in the middle of printing. The printer 2 whose printing has been restricted is permitted to print again by increasing the charge number. The charge number is an example of the "printable number".

As shown in FIG. 1, the PC 1 of this embodiment is equipped with a controller 10 including a CPU 11 and a memory 12. The PC 1 is an example of an "information processing device." The CPU 11 is an example of a "computer." The PC 1 also has a user interface (hereinafter referred to as "user IF") 13 and a communication interface (hereinafter referred to as "communication IF") 14, which are electrically connected to the controller 10. Note that the controller 10 in FIG. 1 is a general term for the hardware and software used to control the PC 1, and does not necessarily represent a single piece of hardware that actually exists in the PC 1.

The CPU 11 of the PC 1 executes various processes according to the programs read from the memory 12 and based on the user's operations. Various programs and data are stored in the memory 12. The memory 12 is also used as a working area when various processes are executed. The buffer provided in the CPU 11 is also an example of a memory. Note that an example of the memory 12 is not limited to a ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. built into the PC 1, but may also be a storage medium that can be read and written by the CPU 11, such as a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

User IF 13 includes a display 13a, which is hardware that displays a screen to notify the user of information, and hardware that accepts operations by the user. Note that user IF 13 may be a combination of a display 13a capable of displaying information and a mouse or keyboard or the like that has an input acceptance function, or may be a touch panel that has the functions of display 13a and an input acceptance function.

The communication IF 14 includes hardware for communicating with external devices such as the printer 2 and the server 3. The communication standards of the communication IF 14 include Ethernet (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), USB, etc. The PC 1 may be connectable to the Internet via the communication IF 14. The PC 1 may be equipped with multiple communication IFs 14 that support multiple communication standards.

As shown in FIG. 1, the memory 12 of the PC 1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as "OS") 21 including a general-purpose print program 41, various programs including an auxiliary program 42, an editing application 43, and a browser 45, and various data including display necessity information 51. The auxiliary program 42 is an example of a "support program." The editing application 43 is an example of an "application program." The display necessity information 51 will be described later.

OS21 is a multitasking OS that can process multiple tasks in parallel by managing and switching between multiple tasks. Examples of OS21 include Windows (registered trademark), MacOS (registered trademark), Linux (registered trademark), iOS (registered trademark), and Android (registered trademark).

The OS 21 includes a generic print program 41. The generic print program 41 is an OS standard program prepared by the OS 21 vendor and provided as part of the OS 21. The generic print program 41 is not configured to use a printer driver specific to each printer.

The generic printing program 41 is a program that has the functionality to cause multiple models of printers provided by multiple vendors to print based on user instructions. The generic printing program 41 supports generic functions that allow printing to be performed on many printers. Unlike printer drivers specific to each printer, the generic printing program 41 does not support functions specific to each printer or printer driver, particularly functions that require complex processing.

The general-purpose printing program 41 is a program that includes a function that receives image data specified as the print target in print instructions output from various applications based on user instructions, and generates intermediate image data based on that image data. The intermediate image data is, for example, XPS data. The general-purpose printing program 41 further has a function that generates print data in a format that can be used for printing on various printers based on the intermediate image data. The print data is, for example, PWGRaster data or PDF data. The general-purpose printing program 41 also has a function that transmits the generated print data to the printer specified as the device to execute printing, via the communication function of the OS 21.

The auxiliary program 42 is a program or group of programs that executes processing based on instructions from the OS 21 in conjunction with the processing of the general-purpose printing program 41, and is a program that supports the control of the target hardware. The auxiliary program 42 in this embodiment corresponds to the model of the printer 2 connected to the PC 1, and is provided, for example, by the vendor of the printer 2. The general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 when the printer 2 is selected as the device to execute printing, when an instruction for detailed print settings is received while the printer 2 is selected, when an instruction to execute printing on the printer 2 is received, etc. The auxiliary program 42 is, for example, called a print support app (abbreviated as PSA) or a hardware support app (abbreviated as HSA).

The auxiliary program 42 may be a combination of multiple programs that each accept an execution command, or a single program that can execute different processes depending on the command. The auxiliary program may also be a program prepared by the printer vendor for each type of printer. For example, an auxiliary program for inkjet printers and an auxiliary program for laser printers may be prepared. There may also be auxiliary programs prepared not only for each type of printer, but also for each model of printer or each series of printer models.

For example, when a new printer is connected to PC1, OS21 of PC1 can download an appropriate auxiliary program from a printer vendor's server or the like according to the type and model of the connected printer and incorporate it into PC1. OS21 associates the identification information of the incorporated auxiliary program with the printer information of the newly connected printer and stores it in memory 12.

The editing application 43 is, for example, a program for creating and editing image data and document data. The editing application 43 may be, for example, Microsoft's (registered trademark) Word (registered trademark) or PowerPoint (registered trademark), or may be a program provided by the vendor of the printer 2. The editing application 43 can accept, for example, a print execution instruction to cause the printer 2 to execute printing via the user IF 13. Note that the editing application 43 is not limited to a program for creating and editing data, and may also be a program having a function for accepting display instructions and print instructions for various types of information, such as map information and web pages, in response to a user request.

The browser 45 is a program capable of displaying web pages on the display 13a of the user IF 13. In this embodiment, the PC 1 is connected to the server 3 via the Internet 4.

The server 3 has a web server function and can provide an external device such as a PC 1 with a web page for accepting procedures for purchasing a charge quantity. In addition to the web server function, the server 3 has at least a storage function and a communication function. The server 3 in this embodiment has a second management table 3a. The second management table 3a stores data used for the print management service, such as charge history.

The PC 1 in this embodiment is connected to the printer 2 via the communication IF 14. The printer 2 is a device having at least a printing function and a communication function. For example, when the printer 2 receives print data from the PC 1, it can execute printing based on the received print data. The printer 2 in this embodiment is a color printer capable of color printing, but the printer 2 may be a printer capable of only monochrome printing.

The printer 2 has a first management table 2a. The first management table 2a stores data used for the print management service, such as the remaining number of pages that can be printed. The printer 2 can be connected to the server 3 via the Internet 4. The printer 2 can register data in the first management table 2a, read data from the first management table 2a, and provide the data to the PC 1, the server 3, etc. The first management table 2a will be described later.

Next, the printing procedure will be described. Note that each process in this embodiment basically indicates processing by the CPU 11 according to commands written in a program such as the auxiliary program 42. Processing by the CPU 11 also includes control of hardware using the API of the OS 21. In this specification, a detailed description of the OS 21 will be omitted and the operation of each program will be described. Also, "obtain" is used as a concept that does not necessarily require a request.

First, the print setting procedure will be described with reference to the sequence diagram in FIG. 2. The editing application 43 accepts the creation and editing of text and images based on instructions from the user. Then, for example, when the user wishes to print the text or image being displayed, or when the user wishes to display the remaining number of printable sheets on the display 13a, the user selects print in the editing application 43 (A01). The user can select print, for example, from a menu of operation items provided in the editing application 43.

When the editing application 43 accepts the selection of printing, it requests the general-purpose printing program 41 of the OS 21 to display a screen for accepting instructions regarding printing (A02). In response to the request, the general-purpose printing program 41 causes the user IF 13 to display a print setting screen (A03). The print setting screen is a screen for accepting user instructions regarding various print settings that can be accepted by the general-purpose printing program 41. Note that the print setting screen may be displayed by the editing application 43.

An example of a print setting screen is shown in FIG. 3. The print setting screen 800 in the example of FIG. 3 includes, for example, a printer selection field for selecting the printer to print with, and a setting field for accepting parameter settings for basic print setting items. Basic print setting items include, for example, the number of copies to print, document orientation, and paper size. The print button 801 is a button that accepts an instruction to print with the selected print settings. The cancel button 802 is a button that accepts a cancel instruction to cancel printing with the selected print settings. The detailed settings button 803 is a button that accepts an instruction to make detailed settings that are not included in the basic print settings.

As shown in FIG. 2, for example, when printer 2 is selected in the printer selection field as the device to be used for printing, and an instruction for detailed print settings is received by operating the detailed settings button 803 (A11), the general-purpose print program 41 passes an instruction to the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to printer 2 to start receiving the detailed print settings (A12).

When the auxiliary program 42 is started in response to the instruction of A12, it acquires the capabilities information of the printer 2. Specifically, the auxiliary program 42 requests the general-purpose printing program 41 to acquire the capabilities information (A13). The general-purpose printing program 41 sends a command requesting the capabilities information to the printer 2 and acquires the capabilities information from the printer 2 (A14). The general-purpose printing program 41 passes the acquired capabilities information to the auxiliary program 42 (A15). This allows the auxiliary program 42 to acquire the capabilities information of the printer 2.

The general-purpose printing program 41 communicates with the printer 2 via the OS 21 in A14, for example, by communication according to IPP (short for Internet Printing Protocol). The auxiliary program 42 may obtain capability information directly from the printer 2, for example, by using MIB (short for Management Information Base), instead of making a request to the general-purpose printing program 41.

The capability information acquired from the printer 2 includes information on parameters that can be set as print settings. The capability information may further include, for example, information on remaining amounts of consumables, information on selectable trays, paper information on the paper set in each tray, and information on compatible print resolutions. The printer 2 may also have a function of performing image processing based on the accepted print job and printing based on the data after image processing, such as a function of performing aggregate printing such as Nin1, composite printing such as watermarks, and economical printing that saves on coloring materials. If the printer 2 has an image processing function that can be executed by the printer 2, the printer 2 may pass capability information including information on that function. The printer 2 may also pass capability information including information indicating its own status.

The capacity information acquired from the printer 2 includes the remaining number of pages that can be printed. The printer 2 manages the remaining number of pages that can be printed using a first management table 2a. An example of the first management table 2a is shown in FIG. 4. The first management table 2a stores a device ID DV1, a cumulative charge number ACH1, a cumulative print number APR1, and a remaining number of pages that can be printed RPR1. The device ID DV1 is information that identifies the printer 2.

The cumulative charge number ACH1 is the cumulative value of the charge number charged to the printer 2. When the printer 2 in this embodiment is notified of the new charge number to be charged from the server 3, the printer 2 increases the charge number by adding the notified charge number to the cumulative charge number ACH1. In this embodiment, all available users can charge the printer 2 with the charge number. Note that the charge number may be set so that only the administrator of the printer 2 can charge the printer 2 and not the user, or only a portion of the users who can use the printer 2 can charge the printer 2. In addition, when the printer 2 is charged from the server 3, user information identifying the user who charged, the date and time of charging, the number of charged sheets, etc. are registered as a charge history in the second management table 3a of the server 3. In addition, the remaining printable number RPR1 after charging, etc. are also obtained from the printer 2 and periodically registered in the second management table 3a.

The cumulative number of printed sheets APR1 is the cumulative value of the number of printed sheets that is counted each time printing is performed. The printer 2 of this embodiment has a function for counting the number of printed sheets, and updates the cumulative number of printed sheets APR1 in real time each time printing is performed. The remaining number of printable sheets RPR1 is the difference between the cumulative charge number ACH1 and the cumulative number of printed sheets APR1. Thus, the printer 2 can manage the remaining number of printable sheets RPR1 in real time according to printing. Note that the number of printed sheets and the remaining number of printable sheets RPR1 are not necessarily the same as the number of sheets of paper, and different numbers of sheets may be counted depending on the size of the paper. For example, A3 size paper may be counted as twice the number of sheets of A4 size paper. Also, for example, paper printed on both sides may be counted as two sheets.

Furthermore, the capability information acquired from the printer 2 includes the URL of the charge screen provided by the server 3. The charge screen will be described later.

Based on the acquired capability information, the auxiliary program 42 displays a detailed setting screen on the user IF 13 to accept detailed print settings (A17). FIG. 3 shows an example of the detailed setting screen 100. The detailed setting screen 100 is an example of a "setting screen". For example, the currently set print settings are displayed in the current setting display area 110 of the detailed setting screen 100. The detailed setting screen 100 can accept settings for each print setting item that the printer 2 can handle in the setting area 120. The setting area 120 can accept not only general print settings but also print settings specific to the printer 2. Since there are many print setting items that can be accepted on the detailed setting screen 100, the auxiliary program 42 can accept an instruction to switch the item to be selected using the basic tab 121 and the extended function tab 122. The number of tabs may be three or more.

The current setting display area 110 of the detailed setting screen 100 is provided with a number display area 111 for displaying the remaining number of printable sheets. When the detailed setting screen 100 is started, the auxiliary program 42 displays the remaining number of printable sheets (for example, 10 sheets) included in the capacity information acquired in the processes of A13 to A15 described above in the number display area 111. Thus, the auxiliary program 42 can display the remaining number of printable sheets on the display 13a in response to the operation of the detailed setting button 803 displayed on the print setting screen 800, making it easy for the user to check the remaining number of printable sheets. The detailed setting button 803 is an example of a "first operator". The detailed setting instruction is an example of an "acquisition instruction". The processes of A13 to A15 are examples of an "acquisition process". A17 is an example of a "display process".

If the remaining number of printable sheets included in the capability information is 0, the auxiliary program 42 performs a warning process (A18). In this form of warning process, a message is displayed on the display 13a to inform the user that printing is not possible. The warning process of A18 is an example of a "first warning process." The warning may be displayed on the detailed setting screen 100, or may be displayed on a screen other than the detailed setting screen 100. The display of the other screen may be ended by a user operation, or may be ended automatically after a certain time has elapsed since the display started.

The auxiliary program 42 can accept various setting instructions related to printing. In this embodiment, a link 112 is displayed on the detailed setting screen 100. In this embodiment, the link 112 is associated with a URL included in the capacity information acquired from the printer 2. The charge screen is a web page for accepting a procedure to purchase a charge number. This URL may or may not be provided with identification information that specifies the printer 2. The link 112 is displayed near the number display area 111. Therefore, the user can easily notice the presence of the link 112 when checking the remaining number of printable sheets. The link 112 is an example of a "link indicating the destination of an external device that accepts an operation to increase the remaining number of printable sheets." The server 3 is an example of an "external device." The URL is an example of a "destination."

For example, if the remaining number of printable sheets displayed in the number display area 111 is less than the number of printable sheets specified in the print instruction, or if the user wants to increase the remaining number of printable sheets in advance, the user operates the link 112 using the user IF 13. When the auxiliary program 42 accepts the operation of the link 112 (A31), it starts the browser 45 (A32). When starting the browser 45, the auxiliary program 42 passes the URL associated with the link 112 to the browser 45. This URL contains device-specific information that identifies the selected printer 2 as a query.

The browser 45 accesses the server 3 based on the received URL, and displays the charge screen provided by the server 3 on the display 13a of the PC 1 (A33). For example, the charge screen displays the remaining printable number of sheets corresponding to the device-specific information registered in the second management table 3a, a list of plans with different amounts depending on the number of sheets, a field for inputting user information, and a purchase button for receiving instructions to pay the fee.

For example, when a user selects a plan with a recharge quantity of "200 sheets" on the recharge screen, enters user information, and presses the purchase button, the server 3 performs the payment. When the payment is complete, the server 3 stores the recharge history in the second management table 3a. The server 3 notifies the printer 2 that the recharge quantity of "200 sheets" will be added. In response to this notification, the printer 2 adds the added recharge quantity of "200 sheets" to the cumulative recharge quantity ACH1 in the first management table 2a. As a result, the remaining number of printable sheets RPR1 increases by "200 sheets".

In this embodiment, the detailed setting screen 100 displays an update button 113 for the remaining number of printable sheets (hereinafter referred to as the "update button 113"). The update button 113 is an operator that accepts an update instruction to update the remaining number of printable sheets. For example, when the user operates the link 112 to increase the charge number of the printer 2 and then operates the update button 113, the auxiliary program 42 accepts the update instruction (A21). The auxiliary program 42 reacquires the remaining number of printable sheets from the printer 2 (A13-A15) and redisplays the remaining number of printable sheets after the charge number "200 sheets" has been added in the number display area 111 (A26).

Therefore, the user can check the remaining number of printable sheets after adding the charge amount on the detailed setting screen 100. In addition, the auxiliary program 42 obtains and displays the remaining number of printable sheets in response to operation of the update button 113 while the detailed setting screen 100 is displayed, making it easy for the user to check the remaining number of printable sheets. Note that the update button 113 is an example of a "first operator." The update instruction is an example of an "acquisition instruction." The processes A13 to A15 that are performed after operation of the update button 113 are an example of an "acquisition process." The process A26 is an example of a "display process."

The auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment has a function to display the remaining number of printable sheets not only while the detailed setting screen 100 is displayed, but also when a print instruction is given, when printing is completed, or when printing is not completed. Printing completed means that printing on the printer based on the print instruction is completed. Printing not completed means that printing on the printer based on the print instruction is not completed. Printing not completed means, for example, that a print instruction is given and a predetermined time has passed without receiving a completion notification, resulting in a time-out, or that printing is stopped due to an error. If the remaining number of printable sheets is frequently displayed during one printing job, the user may find it annoying. Therefore, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment makes it possible to set the timing for displaying the remaining number of printable sheets on the detailed setting screen 100.

Specifically, for example, when the extended function tab 122 is operated, the setting area 120 of the detailed setting screen 100 is switched to a screen that accepts settings for print setting items specific to the printer 2. This screen includes a special setting button. The special setting button is an operator for accepting an instruction to display a special screen that displays a list of special print setting items that are set less frequently. When the special setting button is operated, the auxiliary program 42 displays, for example, the special screen 900 shown in FIG. 5 on the display 13a. In this embodiment, one of the items displayed in a list on the special screen 900 is a display necessity item 910 that sets whether or not to display the remaining number of printable sheets.

Returning to FIG. 2, when the user selects the display necessity item 910 using the user IF 13, the auxiliary program 42 accepts a display necessity setting instruction (A41) and executes a display necessity setting process that sets whether or not to display the remaining number of printable sheets at each timing (A42).

The procedure for the display necessity setting process will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 6. The CPU 11 of the PC 1 causes the display necessity setting screen to be displayed on the display 13a of the PC 1 (S31), and determines whether or not to register the display necessity information (S32).

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 11 displays a display necessity setting screen 920 on the display 13a in response to an operation of selecting a display necessity item 910. The display necessity setting screen 920 includes check boxes 921, 922, and 923, an OK button 924, and a cancel button 925.

When the check box 921 is checked, a confirmation setting can be accepted in which the remaining number of printable sheets is displayed and confirmed when a print command is issued. When the check box 922 is checked, a completion notification setting can be accepted in which the remaining number of printable sheets is displayed and notified when printing is completed. When the check box 923 is checked, a non-completion notification setting can be accepted in which the remaining number of printable sheets is displayed and notified when printing is not completed. The OK button 924 is an operator that instructs the user to accept the settings entered in the display necessity setting screen 920. The cancel button 925 is an operator that instructs the user to cancel the settings entered in the display necessity setting screen 920.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the CPU 11 accepts the operation of the OK button 924 included in the display necessity setting screen 920 using the user IF 13, the CPU 11 determines to register the display necessity information (S32: YES). In this case, the CPU 11 stores the display necessity information 51 in the non-volatile area of the memory 12 shown in FIG. 1 according to the checks placed in the check boxes 921, 922, and 923 (S33). The display necessity information 51 stores information indicating whether or not to display the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer when a print command is issued, when printing is completed, and when printing is not completed.

For example, check boxes 921, 922, and 923 are not checked by default. Therefore, the display necessity information 51 stores as default values an OFF setting at reception, which indicates that the remaining number of printable sheets will not be displayed when the auxiliary program 42 receives a print instruction, an OFF setting at completion, which indicates that the remaining number of printable sheets will not be displayed when the printer 2 completes printing, and an OFF setting at non-completion, which indicates that the remaining number of printable sheets will not be displayed when the printer 2 stops printing.

For example, when the user checks check boxes 921, 922, and 923 and operates OK button 924, CPU 11 rewrites display necessity information 51 stored in memory 12 to display necessity information 51 including an ON at reception setting indicating that the remaining number of printable sheets is displayed when auxiliary program 42 receives a print instruction, an ON at completion setting indicating that the remaining number of printable sheets is displayed when printer 2 completes printing, and an ON at non-completion setting indicating that the remaining number of printable sheets is displayed when printer 2 stops printing. The item corresponding to check box 921 is an example of an "item that accepts a confirmation setting as to whether or not to check the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer when printing".

As shown in FIG. 6, when the CPU 11 stores the display necessity information 51 in the memory 12, it ends the display necessity setting process and returns to the print setting procedure of FIG. 2. This allows the user to customize the timing of displaying the remaining number of printable sheets after printing by arbitrarily checking the check boxes 921, 922, and 923 on the display necessity setting screen 920.

In response to this, when the CPU 11 receives an operation of the cancel button 925 included in the display necessity setting screen 920 using the user IF 13, it determines not to register the display necessity information (S32: NO), does not store the setting entered in the display necessity setting screen 920 as the display necessity information 51 in the memory 12, ends the display necessity setting process, and returns to the print setting procedure of FIG. 2.

Returning to the explanation of the print setting procedure in FIG. 2, for example, if the remaining number of printable sheets displayed in the number display area 111 is greater than the number of printable sheets specified in the print instruction, the user can check the remaining number of printable sheets to confirm that printing is not restricted due to an insufficient remaining number of printable sheets. In this case, the user operates the OK button 131 on the detailed setting screen 100. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 accepts an instruction to end the detailed print setting (A51), ends the display of the detailed setting screen 100, and stores the accepted print setting information in memory 12 (A52).

Then, the auxiliary program 42 notifies the general-purpose printing program 41 of the end of acceptance of the detailed print settings (A53). Based on the notification from the auxiliary program 42, the general-purpose printing program 41 notifies the editing application 43 of the end of acceptance of the detailed print settings (A54). The auxiliary program 42 may also notify the editing application 43 of the end of acceptance of the detailed print settings. The editing application 43 activates the print setting screen displayed in A03 (for example, the print setting screen 800 shown in FIG. 3), and becomes capable of accepting user instructions such as an instruction to execute printing or an instruction to cancel printing.

Next, the print execution procedure will be described with reference to the sequence diagram in FIG. 7. After the user has determined the image to be printed and the print settings for the printer 2, the user inputs an instruction to execute printing in the editing application 43 (C01). For example, when the editing application 43 receives an operation on the print button 801 on the print settings screen 800 shown in FIG. 3, it determines that it has received an execution instruction to the general-purpose printing program 41 to cause the printer 2 to print the selected image.

The editing application 43 passes the received print instruction information to the general-purpose printing program 41 (C02). The general-purpose printing program 41 obtains, as the print instruction information, image data indicating the image to be printed and information indicating the print settings from the editing application 43.

Based on the information obtained from the editing application 43, the general-purpose printing program 41 generates intermediate image data by converting the format of the image data of the image to be printed into the format of intermediate image data (C03). The image data contained in the editing application 43 is of various types, and the general-purpose printing program 41 converts the image data to be printed into intermediate image data suitable for generating print data. Note that if the image data to be printed is suitable for generating print data, the generation of the intermediate image data may be omitted and the intermediate image data may be used as is.

Before generating the intermediate image data, the general-purpose printing program 41 may start an auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the designated device, the printer 2, and notify the printer 2 that the print job processing has started. When the auxiliary program 42 is started from the general-purpose printing program 41, it can pass information indicating various instructions used when generating the intermediate image data to the general-purpose printing program 41 as necessary.

After generating the intermediate image data, the general-purpose printing program 41 starts the auxiliary program 42 (C05). The started auxiliary program 42 registers the issuance of an end event in the general-purpose printing program 41 (C07). In this embodiment, the end event is an event that the general-purpose printing program 41 can output when the general-purpose printing program 41 receives an end notification from the printer 2 that executes the printing, notifying the end of printing. By registering the issuance of an end event in the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 becomes able to receive the end event output from the general-purpose printing program 41.

The timing for executing the end event registration process shown in C07 may be any time after the auxiliary program 42 is started in conjunction with a print instruction (after the execution instruction is received in C05) and before the auxiliary program 42 performs the print process (before outputting the print data). In this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 registers the issuance of an end event in the general-purpose print program 41 every time a print instruction is received, but if the general-purpose print program 41 has a function for maintaining the registration of the issuance of an end event, the auxiliary program 42 may omit the process of C07.

In addition, the auxiliary program 42 can obtain intermediate image data generated by the general-purpose printing program 41 by making a request to the general-purpose printing program 41. The auxiliary program 42 then edits the intermediate image data and print setting information received from the general-purpose printing program 41 based on the print settings received via the print setting screen.

When a print instruction is received, the auxiliary program 42 determines whether or not to check the remaining number of printable sheets (C08). When the display necessity information 51 includes an OFF setting at the time of reception, the auxiliary program 42 determines not to check the remaining number of printable sheets when a print instruction is received (alt: do not check). In this case, the auxiliary program 42 passes the intermediate image data to the general-purpose printing program 41 and requests the general-purpose printing program 41 to rasterize (C11). The general-purpose printing program 41 rasterizes the intermediate image data and generates raster data, which is bitmap data (C12). Furthermore, the general-purpose printing program 41 passes the generated raster data to the auxiliary program 42 (C13). As a result, the auxiliary program 42 obtains the raster data.

Note that the auxiliary program 42 may perform rasterization instead of the general-purpose printing program 41. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 performs rasterization based on the intermediate image data received in the print execution instruction, and generates raster data. Rasterization by the auxiliary program 42 allows greater freedom than rasterization by the general-purpose printing program 41, and there is a high possibility that raster data suitable for printing on the printer 2 will be generated. On the other hand, if rasterization is performed by the general-purpose printing program 41, the auxiliary program 42 requires less processing, and the program size of the auxiliary program 42 can be reduced.

The auxiliary program 42 then processes the raster data acquired in C13 as necessary, and encodes the processed raster data into PDL data to generate print data (C14). Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 passes the generated print data to the general-purpose print program 41, and instructs it to send it to the printer 2 (C15). C15 is a process for causing the printer 2 to print, and is an example of a "print process."

In addition, in the processes of C14 and C15, print data for printable pages may be generated based on the remaining number of printable pages and passed to the general-purpose printing program 41. This allows the auxiliary program 42 to avoid having the printer 2 print more pages than the remaining number of printable pages. Furthermore, the auxiliary program 42 can process functions that are not supported by the general-purpose printing program 41 when generating the print data. Functions that are not supported by the general-purpose printing program 41 include, for example, compositing watermarks, headers/footers, etc., enlarging or reducing images for booklet printing or poster printing, and changing the layout for booklet printing, etc.

The print data that the auxiliary program 42 passes to the general-purpose print program 41 in C15 of FIG. 7 may be data in a format that can be printed by the printer 2. Note that the PDL data generated by the auxiliary program 42 may be data in a format that can be used for printing by printers other than the model of the printer 2.

The general-purpose printing program 41 sends print data to the printer 2 and instructs it to print in response to the instruction from the auxiliary program 42 (C16). The printer 2 executes printing based on the received print data (C17). This generates a printed matter based on the print instruction output from the editing application 43.

In response to this, if the display necessity information 51 includes an ON setting at the time of reception, the auxiliary program 42 determines that the remaining number of printable sheets should be confirmed when a print instruction is received (alt: confirm). In this case, the auxiliary program 42 displays a confirmation screen including the remaining number of printable sheets on the display 13a of the PC 1 according to the confirmation screen display procedure.

The confirmation screen display procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 8. The auxiliary program 42 performs the processes A13 to A15 in FIG. 2 to obtain capacity information including the remaining number of pages that can be printed from the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 displays a confirmation screen including the obtained remaining number of pages that can be printed on the display 13a (C21). The processes A13 to A15 are an example of "obtaining process". The process of C21 is an example of "display process".

An example of a confirmation screen is shown in FIG. 9. For example, the confirmation screen 300 includes a message 301, a link 302, an OK button 303, a cancel button 304, and an update button 305.

The message 301 includes a message notifying the user of the remaining number of printable sheets that the auxiliary program 42 has obtained from the printer 2. In this way, when a print command is issued, the remaining number of printable sheets is automatically displayed on the confirmation screen 300 so that the user can check it, making it easier for the user to check the remaining number of printable sheets. If the remaining number of printable sheets is insufficient for the number of prints, the message 301 may include a warning message 301a notifying the user of this fact. By warning the user before the printer 2 starts printing that the remaining number of printable sheets is less than the number of prints and printing will be restricted, it is expected that unnecessary processing will be avoided. The confirmation screen 300 may also display the number of sheets that is short of the remaining number of printable sheets. This is because it serves as a guide when increasing the number of sheets to charge. The processing of C21 that displays the warning message 301a is an example of a "second warning processing".

Link 302 is similar to link 112 shown in FIG. 3, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. OK button 303 is an operator that accepts a continue instruction to continue printing based on a print instruction. Cancel button 304 is an operator that accepts a cancel instruction to cancel printing based on a print instruction. Cancel button 304 is an example of a "second operator." Update button 305 is an operator that accepts an update instruction to update the remaining number of printable sheets displayed on confirmation screen 300. If the remaining number of printable sheets is displayed as being insufficient for the number of prints, confirmation screen 300 may be configured so that OK button 303 cannot be operated unless the charge number is increased.

When the user confirms on the confirmation screen 300 that the remaining number of printable sheets is sufficient for the number of prints specified in the print instruction, for example, the user operates the OK button 303. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the auxiliary program 42 accepts the instruction to continue (C31), closes the confirmation screen 300 (C32), and performs the processes of C11 to C17 in FIG. 7. That is, the auxiliary program 42 sends the print data to the printer 2 via the general-purpose print program 41, and causes the printer 2 to print. In this way, if the user confirms the remaining number of printable sheets on the confirmation screen 300 and determines that printing can be performed according to the print instruction, the printer 2 executes printing, increasing the expectation that printing will be completed.

When the user confirms on the confirmation screen 300 that the remaining number of printable sheets is insufficient for the number of prints specified in the print instruction, or when the user wants to increase the charge number, the user operates the link 302. As shown in FIG. 8, when the auxiliary program 42 accepts the operation of the link 302 (C41), it performs the processes A32 to A33 in FIG. 2 and displays the charge screen on the browser 45. The process of A32 is an example of "processing for accessing an external device at the destination indicated by the link when an operation on a link is accepted via a user interface." In this way, when the user sees on the confirmation screen 300 that the remaining number of printable sheets is insufficient, the user can access the server 3 from the link 302 displayed on the confirmation screen 300, which reduces the effort required to increase the remaining number of printable sheets.

When the user wants to check the remaining number of printable sheets after purchasing a charge amount, for example, the user operates the update button 305 on the confirmation screen 300. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the auxiliary program 42 accepts the update instruction (C51), performs the processes A13 to A15 in FIG. 2, and reacquires the capacity information including the remaining number of printable sheets from the printer 2. The auxiliary program 42 updates the remaining number of printable sheets displayed on the confirmation screen 300 to the reacquired remaining number of printable sheets (C55). In this way, the auxiliary program 42 displays the remaining number of printable sheets of the printer 2 on the display 13a in real time in response to the operation of the update button 305, so that the user can easily know whether the remaining number of printable sheets after purchasing a charge amount is sufficient for the number of prints specified in the print instruction.

When the user confirms on the confirmation screen 300 that the remaining number of printable sheets is insufficient for the number of printable sheets specified in the print instruction, for example, the user can operate the cancel button 304 on the confirmation screen 300. As shown in FIG. 8, when the auxiliary program 42 receives a cancel instruction by operating the cancel button 304 (C61), it notifies the general-purpose print program 41 of the cancellation of the print (C62). The process of C62 is an example of a "cancellation process". The general-purpose print program 41 notifies the editing application 43 of the cancellation of the print (C63). As a result, the print is canceled without sending the print data to the printer 2. In addition, the auxiliary program 42 closes the confirmation screen 300 (C64). In this way, the user who inputs the print instruction can confirm the remaining number of printable sheets on the confirmation screen 300 before the printer 2 executes printing, and if it is determined that the remaining number of printable sheets is insufficient, the user can cancel the print, thereby reducing wasteful printing such as printing only up to a certain page.

Next, the procedure after the print process will be described with reference to the sequence diagram in Figure 10. The printer 2 that executes the print notifies the general-purpose print program 41 of the end of the print process (C101). The types of end of the print process include, for example, print completion when the printing has ended, and print incompletion when the printing has not ended. The printer 2 can send an end notification including type information indicating the type of end to the general-purpose print program 41.

When the general-purpose printing program 41 receives an end notification including type information from the printer 2, it outputs an end event on the condition that the issuance of an end event has been registered (C102). The general-purpose printing program 41 outputs the type information included in the end notification received from the printer 2 together with the end event.

The auxiliary program 42 acquires the end event and type information output from the general-purpose printing program 41 (C103). If the end notification includes an end code that is set specifically for each type of printing end, the general-purpose printing program 41 may output an end event of a type that corresponds to the end code. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 may acquire the type information by analyzing the type of the end event.

For example, if the end notification sent from the printer 2 includes type information, but the general-purpose printing program 41 outputs an end event that does not specify the type of printing end, the auxiliary program 42 may obtain the type information included in the end notification from the general-purpose printing program 41. In this case, too, the auxiliary program 42 can obtain the type information from the general-purpose printing program 41 without communicating with the printer 2.

Also, for example, if the end notification sent from the printer 2 does not include type information, the auxiliary program 42 may obtain the type information from the printer 2. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 may obtain the type information from the printer 2 via the general-purpose printing program 41. At this time, the general-purpose printing program 41 communicates with the printer 2 via the OS 21, for example, by communication according to IPP (short for internet printing protocol). Also, the auxiliary program 42 may obtain the type information directly from the printer 2, for example, by using MIB (short for Management Information Base).

The auxiliary program 42 determines whether to notify the remaining number of printable sheets (C104). If the type information acquired in C103 indicates that printing is complete and the display necessity information 51 includes an ON setting when completed, or if the type information acquired in C103 indicates that printing is not complete and the display necessity information 51 includes an ON setting when not completed, the auxiliary program 42 determines to notify the remaining number of printable sheets (alt: notify).

In this case, the auxiliary program 42, similar to A13 to A15 in FIG. 2, acquires capability information including the remaining number of pages that can be printed from the printer 2, and displays a notification screen including the acquired remaining number of pages that can be printed on the display 13a (C112). The processes of A13 to A15 are an example of "acquisition processing". The process of C112 is an example of "display processing".

Figure 11 shows an example of a notification screen that is displayed when printing is not completed. For example, notification screen 600 includes message 601 indicating that printing is not completed, message 602 including the remaining number of pages that can be printed, link 603, OK button 604, and update button 605. Message 601 includes a message indicating the reason why printing was not completed, such as printing being stopped due to an error. Message 601 also includes the printer name and file name, and can inform the user which printer was used to print and which file did not complete printing. Message 601 also includes the number of pages printed, and can inform the user how many pages of the file corresponding to the print instruction have been printed. Link 603 is similar to link 112 shown in Figure 3, so a description thereof will be omitted.

In this way, even if printing is not completed due to an error or the like, the auxiliary program 42 displays the remaining number of printable sheets at that time on the notification screen 600. Therefore, the user can easily check the remaining number of printable sheets even after operating the print button 801 (see FIG. 3) on the print setting screen 800 to cause the printer 2 to print.

For example, when the user sees the remaining number of printable sheets displayed on the notification screen 600 and wants to increase the charge number, the user operates link 603. As shown in FIG. 10, when the auxiliary program 42 accepts the operation of link 603 (C121), it performs the processes A32 to A33 in FIG. 2. Therefore, even after printing is completed, the user can easily access the server 3 and increase the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer 2 by operating link 603 displayed on the notification screen 600.

For example, a user who has increased the charge number operates the update button 605. The auxiliary program 42 accepts the update instruction from the operation of the update button 605 (C131), and executes the processes of A13 to A15 in FIG. 2 to reacquire the capacity information including the remaining number of printable sheets. The auxiliary program 42 redisplays the reacquired remaining number of printable sheets on the notification screen 600 (C135). Thus, the user can confirm the remaining number of printable sheets that has been increased by purchasing the charge number on the currently displayed notification screen 600.

For example, when the auxiliary program 42 receives an end instruction by operating the OK button 604 (C141), it ends the display of the notification screen 600 (C142).

Figure 12 shows an example of a notification screen that is displayed when printing is complete. For example, notification screen 400 includes a message 401 indicating the print result, a message 402 including the remaining number of pages that can be printed, and an OK button 404.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the auxiliary program 42 receives an end instruction by operating the OK button 404 (C141), it ends the display of the notification screen 400 (C142). In this way, the auxiliary program 42 displays the remaining number of printable sheets at the time of printing completion on the notification screen 400, allowing the user to consider the number of printable sheets for future printing. Note that the notification screen 400 may also display a link for performing a process to increase the remaining number of printable sheets, allowing the user to increase the remaining number of printable sheets in preparation for the next printing.

In response to this, the auxiliary program 42 determines not to notify the remaining number of printable sheets (alt: do not notify) if, for example, the type information acquired in C103 indicates that printing is complete and the display necessity information 51 includes an OFF setting when complete, or if the type information acquired in C103 indicates that printing is not complete and the display necessity information 51 includes an OFF setting when not complete. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 does not acquire or display the remaining number of printable sheets.

As described above, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment obtains the remaining number of pages that can be printed on the printer 2 and displays it on the display 13a of the PC 1, so that the user can check the remaining number of pages that can be printed even if the PC 1 does not have a printer driver.

Second Embodiment
Next, a second embodiment of the technology disclosed in this specification will be described. In the second embodiment, whether or not to display the confirmation screen 300 is determined based on the remaining number of printable sheets. This point differs from the first embodiment, in which whether or not to display the confirmation screen 300 is determined according to the settings stored in the display necessity information 51, but the other points are common to the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the points that differ from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and the points that are common to the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals in the drawings and explanations, and explanations will be omitted as appropriate.

As shown in FIG. 13, the auxiliary program 42 of this embodiment is started by the general-purpose printing program 41 (C05), and then performs the processes A13 to A15 in FIG. 2 to obtain the capacity information including the remaining number of printable sheets from the printer 2. Based on the remaining number of printable sheets included in the capacity information, the auxiliary program 42 determines whether or not to display the remaining number of printable sheets on the display 13a (C201). C201 is an example of a "determination process".

In this embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 specifies the number of pages to be printed based on the intermediate image data acquired together with the execution instruction. The auxiliary program 42 then compares, for example, the remaining number of pages that can be printed, included in the capacity information, with the number of pages to be printed specified in response to the execution instruction, and if the remaining number of pages that can be printed is equal to or greater than the number of pages to be printed, determines not to display the remaining number of pages to be printed (alt: do not display). This is because there is a low possibility that printing will be restricted midway through printing, and there is little need to display the remaining number of pages to be printed. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 executes the processes C11 to C17 in FIG. 7 without displaying the confirmation screen, and causes the printer 2 to print. In this way, when the remaining number of pages that can be printed is equal to or greater than the number of pages to be printed and it is clear that printing will not be restricted, the auxiliary program 42 can suppress delays in the start of printing by not displaying the remaining number of pages to be printed.

In response to this, the auxiliary program 42 determines to display the remaining number of printable sheets (alt: display) when, for example, the remaining number of printable sheets included in the capacity information is less than the number of printable sheets specified in response to the execution instruction. This is because it is expected that printing will be restricted midway through printing, and there is a high need to display the remaining number of printable sheets. In this case, the auxiliary program 42 displays a confirmation screen 300 including the remaining number of printable sheets and a warning message 301a (C21). The process after C21 is the same as the confirmation screen display procedure in FIG. 8, so a description thereof will be omitted.

When the user looks at the remaining number of printable sheets on the confirmation screen 300 and realizes that printing will be restricted midway, they can press the cancel button to cancel the printing or press the link to increase the charge amount. In this way, when the remaining number of printable sheets is less than the number of sheets to be printed and there is a risk that printing will be restricted, the auxiliary program 42 can be expected to prevent unnecessary printing by displaying the remaining number of printable sheets.

Note that, for example, if the auxiliary program 42 stores a threshold value (e.g., 20 sheets) for whether or not to display the remaining number of printable sheets, the process of C201 may be performed based on the remaining number of printable sheets and the threshold value. Specifically, if the remaining number of printable sheets included in the capacity information is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the auxiliary program 42 may determine not to display the remaining number of printable sheets, and if the remaining number of printable sheets included in the capacity information is less than the threshold value, it may determine to display the remaining number of printable sheets. In this way, when the remaining number of printable sheets is less than the threshold value and there is a high possibility that printing will be restricted, the user can be informed of the remaining number of printable sheets. Note that the threshold value may be a fixed value or a variable value that can be set by the user. If the threshold value is a variable value, the setting of the threshold value may be accepted on the detailed setting screen 100.

The process of C201 may also be performed by, for example, the auxiliary program 42 comparing the difference between the remaining number of printable sheets and the number of printed sheets with a threshold value. For example, the auxiliary program 42 may determine not to display the remaining number of printable sheets when the difference between the remaining number of printable sheets included in the capacity information and the number of prints specified for the execution instruction is equal to or greater than the threshold value, and may determine to display the remaining number of printable sheets when the difference between the remaining number of printable sheets included in the capacity information and the number of prints specified for the execution instruction is less than the threshold value. In this way, by displaying the remaining number of printable sheets when the remaining number of printable sheets after printing is less than the threshold value, the user can be informed that there is an increased possibility that printing will soon be restricted in future printing.

Third Embodiment
Next, a third embodiment of the technology disclosed in this specification will be described. The third embodiment is configured to display the remaining number of printable sheets before the detailed settings button 803 is operated. This point differs from the first embodiment, which displays the remaining number of printable sheets after the detailed settings button 803 is operated. In this embodiment, the points that differ from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and points that are common to the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals in the drawings and explanations, and explanations will be omitted as appropriate.

As shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 14, when the generic printing program 41 accepts the selection of the printer 2 on the print setting screen 800 displayed on the display 13a (A301), it starts the auxiliary program 42 corresponding to the printer 2 (A302). The auxiliary program 42 executes the processes A13 to A15 in FIG. 2 and obtains capability information from the printer 2 via the generic printing program 41.

The auxiliary program 42 generates display data (A321). For example, as shown in FIG. 15, the print setting screen 800 displayed by the general-purpose print program 41 includes a printer selection field 811, a setting field 813, various operation buttons 801, 802, 803, and a notification field 812. The notification field 812 can display, for example, display data generated by the auxiliary program 42. The auxiliary program 42 generates display data to be displayed in the notification field 812, including the remaining number of printable pages and a URL contained in the capacity information acquired from the printer 2.

The auxiliary program 42 passes the generated display data to the general-purpose printing program 41 (A322) and ends the process. Based on the display data received from the auxiliary program 42, the general-purpose printing program 41 displays the remaining number of printable sheets 821 and a link 822 on the print setting screen 800 displayed on the display 13a. Note that the link 822 does not have to be displayed. The process of A322 is an example of a "display process". Note that the process of A323 may be such that the editing application 43 displays the print setting screen 800. In this case, the editing application 43 may receive the display data and control the display content of the notification field 812.

Therefore, the auxiliary program 42 displays the remaining number of printable sheets in the notification field 812 of the print setting screen 800 before the detailed settings button 803 is operated, so that the user can easily grasp the remaining number of printable sheets. In addition, the user can easily access the server 3 from the print setting screen 800 to increase the charge number.

In addition, if the remaining number of printable sheets included in the capability information is 0, the auxiliary program 42 may generate display data including a warning message to the effect that printing is not possible, and display the warning message in the notification field 812.

The embodiments disclosed in this specification are merely examples and do not limit the present invention in any way. Naturally, the technology disclosed in this specification can be improved or modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the technology. For example, the device connected to PC1 is not limited to a printer, but may be any device with a printing function, such as a multifunction device, copier, or fax machine. Furthermore, the number of printers connected to PC1 is not limited to the example shown in the figure, and may be two or more.

For example, instead of the first management table 2a, the printer 2 may have a user management table that manages the remaining number of printable sheets for each user. Specifically, for example, the user management table may store a user ID, a user-specific cumulative charge number charged by the user, a user-specific cumulative print number obtained by accumulating the number of prints performed by the user, and a user-specific remaining number of printable sheets calculated by the difference between the user-specific cumulative charge number and the user-specific print number. In this case, when the auxiliary program 42 obtains the remaining number of printable sheets from the printer 2 in response to the operation of the update button 113, etc., it may obtain the user-specific remaining number of printable sheets from the printer 2 and display it on the detailed setting screen 100, the confirmation screen 300, the notification screen 400, the notification screen 600, etc.

For example, if the server 3 manages the remaining number of pages that can be printed, the auxiliary program 42 may obtain the remaining number of pages that can be printed from the server 3.

For example, in the process of acquiring the remaining number of printable sheets, such as A13 to A15 in FIG. 2, the auxiliary program 42 does not have to acquire the remaining number of printable sheets directly. For example, if the printer 2 manages the cumulative number of printed sheets and the server 3 manages the cumulative charge number for each printer, the auxiliary program 42 may acquire the cumulative number of printed sheets directly from the printer 2 or via the general-purpose printing program 41, acquire the cumulative charge number for the printer 2 from the server 3, and acquire the remaining number of printable sheets by subtracting the cumulative number of printed sheets from the cumulative charge number.

The warning process of A18 in FIG. 2 and the warning message 301a shown in FIG. 9 may be omitted. However, by issuing a warning when the remaining number of printable sheets becomes 0 or when the remaining number of printable sheets is less than the number of sheets to be printed, the user can recognize the shortage of the remaining number of printable sheets before the printer 2 prints.

The auxiliary program 42 may periodically obtain and display the remaining number of printable pages while the detailed setting screen 100 is activated. However, the auxiliary program 42 may display an update button 113 that accepts an acquisition instruction on the detailed setting screen 100, and obtain and display the remaining number of printable pages when the update button 113 is operated, thereby making it possible to obtain the remaining number of printable pages only when it is necessary to display the remaining number of printable pages. Therefore, for example, the remaining number of printable pages can be obtained when it is not necessary to display it, thereby preventing an increase in unnecessary communication. In other words, unnecessary processing can be reduced.

For example, it is possible to omit the process shown in C08 of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, and not acquire and display the remaining number of printable sheets when a print instruction is given. However, by acquiring and displaying the remaining number of printable sheets even when a print instruction is given, it becomes easier for the user to check the remaining number of printable sheets.

For example, the display necessity item 910 or the check box 921 of the display necessity setting screen 920 shown in FIG. 5 may be omitted, and the confirmation setting of whether to check the remaining number of printable sheets when printing may not be accepted. In this case, if the remaining number of printable sheets is displayed each time a print instruction is issued, the user can check the remaining number of printable sheets each time printing is performed and understand whether printing based on the print instruction is restricted. Note that the remaining number of printable sheets may not be displayed when a print instruction is issued. However, if the display necessity setting screen 920 is displayed in response to the operation of the display necessity item 910 of the detailed setting screen 100 and a setting of whether to display a confirmation screen for checking the remaining number of printable sheets when a print instruction is issued is accepted, for example, the user can arbitrarily set whether to display a confirmation screen when printing, and the inconvenience of the confirmation screen being displayed each time printing is performed can be reduced.

For example, at least one of the check boxes 922, 923 on the display necessity setting screen 920 may be omitted, and the setting of whether or not to notify the remaining number of printable sheets when printing is completed or not completed may not be accepted. In this case, the remaining number of printable sheets may or may not be notified at all times when printing based on a print instruction is completed or not completed.

For example, the link 302 may not be displayed on the confirmation screen 300 shown in FIG. 9. However, by displaying the link 302 on the confirmation screen 300 and allowing the user to increase the charge amount before printing, the possibility of being unable to print due to an insufficient remaining number of printable sheets can be reduced.

For example, the confirmation screen 300 shown in FIG. 9 does not include the cancel button 304, and the processes of C61 to C64 in FIG. 8 may be omitted. However, by displaying the remaining number of printable pages and the cancel button 304 on the confirmation screen 300, for example, if the user determines that printing according to the print instruction is not possible based on the remaining number of printable pages displayed on the confirmation screen, the user can operate the cancel button 304 to cancel printing. This can reduce wasteful printing, such as only printing up to a certain page.

For example, if the remaining number of printable sheets is less than the number of sheets to be printed, the warning message 301a shown in FIG. 9 does not have to be displayed on the confirmation screen 300. However, the auxiliary program 42 can display the confirmation screen 300 including the remaining number of printable sheets and the warning message 301a to warn that the remaining number of printable sheets is insufficient, thereby preventing printing from being restricted due to an insufficient remaining number of printable sheets. It is also expected that the user can increase the remaining number of printable sheets by purchasing a charge on the confirmation screen 300.

The detailed settings screen 100 shown in FIG. 3 may not display the link 112, and the processes A31 to A33 in FIG. 2 may be omitted. However, if the auxiliary program 42 displays the link 112 for the detailed settings screen 100 to increase the charge number, and allows the charge number to be increased on the detailed settings screen 100, the possibility of being unable to print due to an insufficient remaining number of printable sheets can be reduced.

The process shown in FIG. 10 may be omitted, and the auxiliary program 42 may be configured not to display the remaining number of printable sheets when printing on the printer 2 has finished or when printing on the printer 2 has not finished. However, by displaying the remaining number of printable sheets at that time even when printing is complete, the number of printable sheets can be taken into consideration for future printing. Also, by displaying the remaining number of printable sheets at that time even when printing has not finished, if the notified remaining number of printable sheets is 0, the user can recognize that there is an insufficient number of printable sheets.

For example, the screen examples displayed on user IF 13 are all merely examples and are not limited to the examples shown in the figures.

In the above embodiment, the auxiliary program 42 recognized whether printing was completed or not completed based on the completion notification output by the printer 2. In contrast, the auxiliary program 42 may recognize whether printing was completed or not completed by, for example, periodically communicating with the printer 2 or the server 3 and acquiring the status after sending the print data.

Instead of the update button 113, the auxiliary program 42 may display an acquire button on the detailed settings screen 100 that accepts an instruction to acquire the remaining number of pages that can be printed, and after the detailed settings screen 100 is launched, when the acquire button is operated, the auxiliary program 42 may acquire and display the remaining number of pages that can be printed.

The auxiliary program 42 may output print data when the acquired remaining number of printable sheets is 0 or when the acquired remaining number of printable sheets is less than the number of prints. In other words, the auxiliary program 42 does not need to perform processing according to the remaining number of printable sheets during print processing. In this case, the printer 2 limits the execution of printing according to the remaining number of printable sheets. However, the auxiliary program 42 may, for example, not send print data when the acquired remaining number of printable sheets is 0, or not send print data or send only print data for the remaining number of printable sheets when the acquired remaining number of printable sheets is less than the number of prints. In this way, the auxiliary program 42 can avoid unnecessary printing by performing processing to have the printer print the image to be printed according to the acquired remaining number of printable sheets.

In addition, in any of the flowcharts disclosed in the embodiments, the execution order of multiple processes in any of the steps can be changed or they can be executed in parallel as desired, as long as no inconsistencies occur in the process content.

The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be executed by a single CPU, multiple CPUs, hardware such as an ASIC, or a combination of these. The processes disclosed in the embodiments may be realized in various ways, such as a recording medium on which a program for executing the processes is recorded, or a method.

1...PC, 2...Printer, 11...CPU, 13...User IF, 21...OS, 41...General-purpose printing program, 42...Auxiliary program, 43...Editing application

Claims (16)

A support program executable by a computer of an information processing device and corresponding to a printer connected to the information processing device, the information processing device being equipped with an operating system having a general-purpose printing program;
The computer includes:
A process for acquiring the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer can be executed, the remaining number of printable sheets being the number of unprinted sheets among the number of printable sheets that is increased by purchasing a printable sheet for an amount corresponding to the number of sheets,
The computer further comprises:
A display process may be executed to display the remaining printable sheet count acquired in the acquisition process on a user interface of the information processing device,
The computer further comprises:
When a print instruction is output from an application program installed in the information processing device, the print instruction is for causing the general-purpose print program to print an image on the printer,
A printing process for performing a process for causing the printer to print the image to be printed;
It is possible to execute
A support program configured to: 2. A support program as claimed in claim 1,
the printing process causes the printer to print the image to be printed according to the remaining printable number acquired in the acquisition process;
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 1 or 2,
The computer includes:
executes a first warning process for warning the user that printing is not possible when the remaining number of printable sheets acquired in the acquisition process is 0;
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 2,
The computer includes:
When the print instruction is given and the remaining printable number of sheets acquired in the acquisition process is less than the number of sheets to be printed based on the print instruction,
execute a second warning process for warning that the remaining number of printable sheets is running short;
A support program configured to: 2. A support program as claimed in claim 1,
The computer includes:
A process for displaying a setting screen for receiving print settings to be used for printing on the printer on a user interface of the information processing device can be executed, the setting screen having a display area for displaying the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer;
The computer further comprises:
Executing the acquisition process and the display process while the setting screen is activated;
In the display process, the remaining printable sheet count acquired in the acquisition process is displayed in the display area of the setting screen.
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 5,
the setting screen includes a first operator for receiving an instruction to obtain the remaining number of printable sheets;
The computer includes:
when an operation on the first operator is received via the user interface, the acquisition process and the display process are executed.
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 5,
the setting screen includes a link indicating a destination of an external device that accepts an operation for increasing the remaining number of printable sheets;
The computer includes:
when an operation on the link is accepted via the user interface, executing a process for accessing the external device that is a destination indicated by the link;
A support program configured to: 2. A support program as claimed in claim 1,
The computer includes:
When the print instruction is given,
Executing the acquisition process and the display process;
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 8,
The computer includes:
A process can be executed to receive, via a user interface of the information processing device, a confirmation setting as to whether or not to confirm the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer at the time of printing;
The computer further comprises:
When the print instruction is given,
If the confirmation setting for confirming the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer at the time of printing is accepted, the acquisition process and the display process are executed;
If the confirmation setting for not confirming the remaining number of printable sheets on the printer at the time of printing is accepted, the acquisition process and the display process are not executed.
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 8,
In the display process,
displaying, on the user interface, a confirmation screen including the remaining printable number acquired in the acquisition process, the confirmation screen including a link indicating a destination of an external device that accepts an operation for increasing the remaining printable number;
The computer includes:
when an operation on the link is accepted via the user interface, executing a process for accessing the external device that is a destination indicated by the link;
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 8,
In the display process,
a confirmation screen including the remaining printable number acquired in the acquisition process is displayed on the user interface, the confirmation screen including a second operator for accepting a cancel instruction to cancel printing based on the print instruction;
The computer includes:
executing a cancellation process for canceling printing based on the print instruction when an operation on the second operator is accepted via the user interface;
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 8,
The computer includes:
When the print instruction is given,
executing a determination process for determining whether or not to display the remaining number of printable sheets based on the remaining number of printable sheets acquired in the acquisition process after executing the acquisition process and before executing the display process;
When it is determined in the determination process that the remaining printable number is to be displayed, the display process is executed;
When it is determined in the determination process that the remaining printable number is not to be displayed, the display process is not executed.
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 12,
In the determination process,
if the remaining number of printable sheets acquired in the acquisition process is less than a threshold value, it is determined that the remaining number of printable sheets is to be displayed;
A support program configured to: A support program according to claim 12,
In the determination process,
determining that the remaining number of printable sheets is to be displayed when a difference between the remaining number of printable sheets acquired in the acquisition process and the number of printable sheets based on the print instruction is smaller than a threshold value;
A support program configured to: 2. A support program as claimed in claim 1,
The computer includes:
When printing based on the print instruction is completed,
Executing the acquisition process and the display process;
A support program configured to: 2. A support program as claimed in claim 1,
The computer includes:
If printing based on the print instruction is not completed,
Executing the acquisition process and the display process;
A support program configured to:

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