Patent ID: 8355144

Claim:
A printing method comprising: establishing in a storage unit a modifiable identification information database to store at least one printer identification information and a plurality of driver identification information corresponding to a plurality of printer drivers associated with the printer identification information; receiving with a driver selection unit the printer identification information from a printer; retrieving with the driver selection unit the driver identification information associated with the received printer identification information from the identification information database; selecting with a driver selecting unit one of the plurality of printer drivers corresponding to the driver identification information associated with the printer identification information upon receipt of the driver identification information or upon receipt of a request for a change of the printer driver corresponding to the received printer identification information, the printer driver corresponding to the retrieved driver identification information; generating with a command processing unit data for printing using the selected printer driver; determining with the command processing unit whether an error occurs in a printing operation; when it is determined by the command processing unit that the error has occurred, transmitting a request from the command processing unit to the driver selecting unit to change a selected driver; and in response to the request, deleting with the driver selecting unit the driver identification information from the identification information database, retrieving with the driver selection unit other driver identification information associated with the received printer identification information from the identification information database, and selecting with the driver selecting unit another printer driver corresponding to the other retrieved driver identification information, the other driver identification information having a higher priority than other driver identification information corresponding to the printer identification information from the identification information database.