Abstract:
A printer host connected to plural printing apparatuses includes state information acquiring means which are provided to correspond to the printing apparatuses and each of state information acquiring means acquires state information of the corresponding printing apparatus and a state information managing means which manages the state information acquiring means. The state information managing means causes, when a predetermined first instruction is received, the state information acquiring means to acquire state information concerning printing apparatuses which are executing printing, and displays predetermined information included in the state information. Consequently, usefulness of information to be displayed is improved in the printer host which displays state information of the plural printing apparatuses.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a printing system, and, in particular, to a printer host which displays state information of a printing apparatus. 
   A printer state display program (a status monitor) is known as software which displays a state of a printer in a host computer connected to the printer. 
   Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2000-293336 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses a technique which makes it possible to manage, when plural printers are connected to a host computer, the plural printers simultaneously and recognize changes in states of the respective printers. 
   However, in the technique disclosed in the Patent Document 1, since items of information on states of the respective printers, which can be recognized, are fixed, it is impossible to flexibly select items of information which a user can recognize. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to improve usefulness of information to be displayed in a printer host which displays state information of plural printing apparatuses. 
   A printer host, which is a first aspect of the invention for solving the problem described above, is a printer host connected to plural printing apparatuses, including:
         state information acquiring means which are provided to correspond to the printing apparatuses and each of the state information acquiring means acquires state information of the corresponding printing apparatus; and   state information managing means which manages the state information acquiring means, wherein   the state information managing means causes, when a predetermined first instruction is received, the state information acquiring means to acquire state information concerning printing apparatuses, which are executing printing, and displays predetermined information included in the state information.       

   According to the invention, it is possible to cause the printer host to display state information concerning printing apparatuses, for which the printer host is executing printing, all together and it is possible to provide information useful for a user. 
   The state information managing means can display, when a predetermined second instruction is received, a screen for receiving designation of a printing apparatus and information which should be displayed, cause, when there is no printing apparatus which is executing printing at the time when the predetermined first instruction is received, the state information acquiring means to acquire state information concerning the printing apparatus designated, and display the information designated among pieces of information included in the state information. 
   The predetermined first instruction can be double clicking on an icon corresponding to the state managing means. 
   Moreover, the predetermined information included in the state information can be information schematically indicating states of the printing apparatuses. 
   In the designation of information which should be displayed, it is possible to select information schematically indicating states of the printing apparatuses, information indicating states of expendables, or information indicating a reception situation of a print job. 
   A recording medium having recorded therein a printing-apparatus-state-information display program, which is a second aspect of the invention for solving the problem, is a recording medium having recorded therein a printing-apparatus-state-information display program which is executed in a printer host connected to plural printing apparatuses, wherein
         the program causes the printer host to function as:   state information acquiring means which are provided to correspond to the printing apparatuses and each of the information acquiring means acquires status information of the corresponding printing apparatus; and   state information managing means which manages the state information acquiring means, and   the state information managing means acquires, when a predetermined instruction is received, state information concerning printing apparatuses which are executing printing and displays predetermined information included in the state information.       

   A state information display method, which is a third aspect of the invention for solving the problem, is a state information display method for a printing apparatus in a printer host connected to plural printing apparatuses, the state information display method including:
         a step in which the printer host receives a predetermined instruction;   a step of specifying printing apparatuses which are executing printing;   a step of acquiring state information concerning the printing apparatuses specified which are executing printing; and   a step of displaying predetermined information included in the state information acquired.       

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram for explaining a hardware configuration of a printing system; 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a computer; 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram showing a display screen of an icon corresponding to a status monitor managing unit; 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram showing a reception screen in an initial setting; 
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram for explaining processing at the time when an icon receives predetermined operation; 
       FIG. 6  is a diagram showing a screen on which information on a “printer state” is displayed; and 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram showing a screen on which information on “expendables information” is displayed. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   An embodiment of the invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. 
     FIG. 1  is a block diagram for schematically explaining a hardware configuration of a printing system to which the present invention is applied. 
   As shown in the figure, in the printing system, a computer  30  for realizing various kinds of processing by application software, print processing by a printer driver, a user interface via an input/output device, and the like is connected to plural printers  10  ( 10 A,  10 B, and  10 C). 
   In this embodiment, it is assumed that the computer  30  is connected to the respective printers  10  through a computer network  60 . However, the computer  30  may be connected to the respective printers  10  through plural ports. A display device  21  such as a color display, an input device  22  such as a mouse and a keyboard, and the like are connected to a main body of the computer  30 . Note that a configuration of the printing system is not limited to this. 
   In this embodiment, the computer  30  functions as a printer host which generates print data, transmits the print data to the printers  10 , manages states of the printers  10 , and displays state information (status). 
   A printer driver program and a status monitor program, which are computer programs for causing the computer  30  to function as a printer host, are generally developed by a manufacturer of the printer  10  to correspond to a model of the printer  10 . The printer driver program and the status monitor program are recorded in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed. Alternatively, the printer driver program and a status monitor program are circulated via a computer network such as the Internet. It is also possible to develop the status monitor program to be included in the printer driver program. These programs are installed in the computer  30  and executed to realize functions described later. 
   It is possible to use, for example, a general-purpose information processing apparatus such as a personal computer as the computer  30 . In this embodiment, the computer  30  includes a control unit  310  including a Central Processing Unit (CPU) which executes various programs, a Random Access Memory (RAM) which temporarily stores data, programs, and the like, and a Read Only Memory (ROM) in which various data, various programs, and the like for controlling the computer  30  are stored in advance in a nonvolatile manner, an input/output interface  320  for connecting the computer  30  to the display device  21 , the input device  22 , and the like, a network interface  330  for connecting the computer  30  to the computer network  60 , a media drive device  340  for accessing a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, and an auxiliary storage  350  such as a hard disk. It goes without saying that a configuration of the computer  30  is not limited to this. 
   The printer  10  may be, for example, a page printer including a print mechanism of a laser system. The page printer of the laser system includes a toner cartridge which contains a toner in a housing. The page printer of the laser system performs printing by transferring the toner onto a print medium such as a print sheet. Note that the printer  10  may be a color laser printer or a monochrome laser printer. For example, a printer of an ink-jet system may be used instead of the printer of the laser system. 
   The printer  10  includes a control unit  110  which includes a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM and controls various kinds of processing in the printer  10 , a network interface  120  for connecting the printer  10  to the computer network  60 , and a printing mechanism  130  including print mechanisms such as a toner cartridge, a photosensitive drum, and a laser beam irradiating mechanism, and a sheet feeding and discharging mechanism. It goes without saying that a configuration of the printer  10  is not limited to this. 
     FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the computer  30  to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, a functional configuration of the computer  30  connected to the three printers  30  through a network is shown. 
   As shown in the figure, the computer  30  includes an operating system unit  31 , plural pairs of printer driver units  41  and status monitoring units  42 , and a status monitoring managing unit  43 . 
   The printer driver units  41  and the status monitoring units  42  are installed in the computer  30  in pairs to correspond to the printers  10  connected to the computer  30 . It is also possible to install the plural printer driver units  41  (a printer driver for C  41   c   1 , a printer driver  41   c   2  for C( 2 )), which have different basic settings, and the plural status monitoring unit  42  (a status monitoring unit for C  42   c   1 , a status monitoring unit for C  42   c   2 ), which have different basic settings, in pairs, respectively, for one printer  10  (the printer  10 C in an example in the figure) 
   At the time of printing, by designating any one of the printer driver units  41 , a user can execute printing in the printer  10  corresponding to the printer driver unit  41 . In addition, at this point, the status monitoring unit  42  corresponding to the printer  10  is started by the printer driver unit  41 . 
   The operating system unit  31  is so-called basic software which controls a basic user interface, file management, and the like for the computer  30 . The printer driver units  41 , the status monitoring unit  42 , and the status monitoring managing unit  43  are functional units which operates on the operating system  31 . 
   The printer driver unit  41  performs processing for causing the printers  10  to print a document created by not-shown application software. 
   The status monitoring unit  42  performs communication with the printer  10  corresponding to the status monitoring unit  42 , acquires information on a status of the printer  10 , and displays the information on the display device  21  if necessary. The information on the status of the printer  10  acquired by the status monitoring unit  42  can include states of expendables, an error occurrence situation, and a print job reception situation. 
   The status monitoring managing unit  43  is established on the computer  30  by a status monitoring program in the same manner as the status monitoring unit  42 . It is possible to set the status monitoring managing unit  43  as a functional unit which is installed simultaneously when a status monitoring program is installed first and is basically resident in the operating system unit  31 . 
   Therefore, as indicated by a display screen  500  shown in  FIG. 3 , an icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring managing unit  43  is always displayed in an active program display area  501  provided by the operating system unit  31  (e.g., in a task tray of a task bar in Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft corporation). 
   The icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring managing unit  43  represents an icon corresponding to the status monitoring unit  42 . Even when the plural status monitoring units  42  are active, that is, even when the plural printers  10  are executing printing, icons corresponding to the respective status monitoring units  42  are not displayed and only the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring managing unit  43  is displayed. 
   Processing in the case in which the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring unit  43  receives operation from a user will be explained. 
   First, reception of an initial setting will be explained. When the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring managing unit  43  receives predetermined operation, for example, right click of a mouse serving as the input device  22  from a user, the status monitoring managing unit  43  displays a reception screen  520  for an initial setting shown in  FIG. 4  on the display device  21 . 
   On the reception screen  520  for an initial setting, it is possible to set information which is to be displayed when the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring setting unit  43  is double-clicked in the case in which the status monitoring unit  42  is not operating, that is, none of the printers  10  is performing print processing. 
   In the example in the figure, it is possible to designate the printer  10  in a printer designation space  521  and designate information, which is displayed for the designated printer  10 , in an information-to-be-displayed designation space  522 . 
   In this embodiment, the user can cause the display device  21  to display information designated in advance for the printer  10  designated in advance by double-clicking the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitor managing unit  43  in the case in which the computer  30  is not performing print processing. 
   In the printer designation space  521 , it is possible to select a printer arbitrarily from the printers  10  ( 10 A,  10 B, and  10 C) monitored by the status monitoring unit  42  connected to the computer  30 . 
   In the information-to-be-displayed designation space  522 , it is possible to designate any one of a “printer state”, “expendables information”, and “job information” as an item of information. The “printer state” can be information schematically indicating a printability state, failure information, and the like of the printers  10 . The “expendables information” can be information indicating a degree of wear of expendables provided in the printers  10 . The “job information” can be information indicating a reception state of a print job. However, these pieces of information are examples and information other than these pieces of information may be designated. 
   Processing in the case in which the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring managing unit  43  receives a predetermined operation, for example, double click from a user will be explained with reference to a flow diagram in  FIG. 5 . 
   In this embodiment, when the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring managing unit  43  receives double click, information to be displayed is varied according to whether the computer  30  is executing printing. 
   Therefore, when the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring managing unit  43  receives double click (S 101 ), the status monitoring managing unit  43  judges whether the computer  30  is executing printing (S 102 ). 
   First, a case in which the computer  30  is executing printing (S 102 : Y) will be explained. In this case, the status monitoring managing unit  43  specifies the printer  10  which is performing print processing (S 103 ). This can be performed by, for example, detecting the active status monitoring unit  42 . Since the plural printers  10  are connected to the computer  30 , it is possible that the computer  30  is applying printing to the plural printers  10 . In this case, the status monitoring managing unit  43  specifies all the printers  10  which are performing print processing. 
   Then, the status monitoring managing unit  43  acquires status information of the printer  10  specified (S 104 ). When the computer  30  is applying printing to the plural printers  10 , status information is acquired from the respective printers  10 . The status monitoring units  42  corresponding to the respective printers  10  perform this processing. 
   When status information is acquired from the printer  10  which is performing printing, the status monitoring managing unit  43  displays information on a “printer state” of the printer  10  on the basis of the status information (S 105 ). When the computer  30  is applying printing to the plural printers  10 , the status monitoring managing unit  43  displays all pieces of information on “printer states” for the respective printers  10 . 
     FIG. 6  is a diagram showing an example of a screen  540  on which information on a “printer state” is displayed. In the example in the figure, the computer  30  is applying printing to three printers. Three screens ( 540   a ,  540   b , and  540   c ), on which information on “printer states” are displayed, are displayed. For example, on the screen  540   a  on which information on a “printer state” is displayed, information “expendables are not set correctly” is displayed as a state of a printer. 
   Note that, in this example, the status monitoring managing unit  43  causes the computer  30  to display a “printer state” for the printer  10  to which the computer  30  is applying printing. However, the status monitoring managing unit  43  may cause the computer  30  to display a “printer state” for the printer  10  to which the computer  30  is not applying printing. 
   When another computer is connected to the computer network  60 , the status monitoring managing unit  43  may cause the another computer to display a “printer state” for the printer  10  to which the another computer is applying printing. 
   A user may be allowed to designate the printer  10  for which the status monitoring managing unit  43  causes the computer  30  to display a “printer state”. The status monitoring managing unit  43  may cause the computer  30  to display status information other than a “printer state”. 
   A case in which the computer  30  is not executing printing (S 102 : N) will be explained. In this case, a status of the printer  10  set in an initial setting is acquired. The status monitor unit  42  corresponding to the printer  10  designated in the initial setting performs this processing. 
   For the printer  10 , the status monitoring managing unit  43  causes the display device  21  to display information designated in the initial setting.  FIG. 7  is a diagram showing an example of an expendables information display screen  560  to be displayed when “expendables information” is designated in the initial setting. 
   As described above, in this embodiment, when the icon  510  corresponding to the status monitoring managing unit  43  receives double click when printing is not performed, the status monitoring managing unit  43  displays information designated in advance of the printer  10  designated in advance. 
   However, information on all the printers  10  connected may be displayed or information to be displayed may be a “printer state” or the like.