Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery – Data processing system error or fault handling – Reliability and availability
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-18
2003-07-01
Tu, Christine T. (Department: 2133)
Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery
Data processing system error or fault handling
Reliability and availability
C714S047300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06587971
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print control method and a print control apparatus of a host computer and the like for transferring image data to a printer, and relates as well to a memory medium used by the print control method and print control apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when image data is printed using, for example, a printer connected to a host computer, the host computer receives information as to how the printer operates, error information relating to errors such as clogging or jamming of print paper, shortage of ink and toner, and the like from the printer, and displays the received information and the like on the display unit or the like of the host computer. The host computer notifies a user of a printing status by it.
Even if the printer does not execute a printing operation, the host computer receives information such as the on-line and off-line status of the printer, whether a printer cover is opened or closed, and the like from the printer as well as displays the received information and the like on the display unit or the like of the host computer.
As described above, in order to acquire the status information of the printer, the host computer transmits a command to the printer to cause it to create the status information, further requests the printer to transmit the status information, converts the status information transmitted therefrom in response to the request into a form of characters, graphics and the like which can be displayed and displays them on the display unit and the like of the host computer. In this case, the host computer instructs the printer to transmit the status information at a preset time interval.
Conventionally, when image data is printed using, for example, a printer connected to a host computer, printed, the user selects the printer through application software or the like loaded on the host computer, and image drawing commands according to the printer are transmitted to the printer. At the time, reference is not made to the type information of the printer (i.e., the information identifying its type) connected to the host computer and what image drawing commands the printer recognizes, in many cases.
However, print control apparatuses of the conventional host computer and the like have the following problems.
First, even if a printer executes a printing operation and the status of the printer changes after a short time, the host computer requests the transmission of status information to the printer only at the preset time interval. If the preset time interval is longer than the interval over which the status of the printer changes, there arises the problem that a time lag is caused between the actual status of the printer and the status of the printer display on the display unit or the like of the host computer.
If the time interval at which the host computer requests the transmission of the status information to the printer is preset to a shorter time interval to avoid the above time lag, the host computer must process the status information from the printer at the short time interval even if the status of the printer changes relatively little, or slowly, such as when the printer is not carrying out printing operations. Thus, there is caused a problem that the efficiency of the host computer and the printer is degraded.
When the user makes a mistake in the setting of printer and designates a printer which is different from an actually connected printer in the printing operation he or she executes through application software or the like, there is a problem not only that image drawing commands which cannot be recognized by the printer are transmitted and a normal print result cannot be obtained, but also that ink, toner and the like are wasted.
To avoid the above problem, it is possible not to transmit image drawing commands if the type information of a printer connected to the host computer does not coincide with the type information of a printer selected by the user through application software or the like, but this causes the problem that the image drawing commands are not transmitted even if there is another type of printer connected which can recognize image drawing commands similar to the above image drawing commands and printing therefore could be executed normally by the lather printer; nonetheless, the user must again select a printer and execute printing operation, which renders printing unnecessarily troublesome.
Further, there can be contemplated a method such that when an image drawing command set which can be recognized by a printer connected to the host computer is compared with an image drawing command set intended to be transmitted to the printer, and it is found that they coincide with each other, image drawing commands are transmitted even if the type of the printer does not coincide with the type of a printer which is assumed by the image drawing commands to be transmitted. With this method, however, there arises a problem that when image drawing commands which are specific to the type of a printer selected by the user is used as a part of image data, the part is not properly printed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention made in view of the aforesaid problems is to provide a print control method and a print control apparatus capable of recognizing the status information of a printer, selecting a time interval at which the transmission of the status information is suitably requested of the printer, from among a plurality of time intervals which are preset in accordance with the status information of the printer, reducing a time lag between the change of status of the printer and the status information of the printer displayed by a host computer or the like as well as avoiding the deterioration of performance of the host computer and the like and the printer.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a print control method and a print control apparatus capable of recognizing what type a connected printer is, and the information of an image drawing command set to be recognized, controlling whether image drawing commands are to be transmitted or not depending upon whether or not the type of connected printer coincides with the type of printer designated by the user for the printing operation and whether or not the image drawing command set of the connected printer coincides with the image drawing command set which is intended to be transmitted, avoiding the transmission of improper image drawing commands to the printer and ensuring that proper image drawing commands are transmitted to the printer.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a memory medium capable of smoothly controlling the print control apparatus.
To achieve the first object, a print control method according to one aspect of the invention transfers image data to a printer as follows. A status request setting command is transmitted to the printer to cause it to create status information indicating the position status. The printer is requested to transmit the status information, which is received by the other party (i.e., the host computer or the like). A time interval at which the transmission of the status information is requested of the printer is controlled in accordance with the operating status of the printer.
In that print control method, the time interval control step can be performed such that the time interval is controlled in accordance with an error status of the printer.
Also, to achieve the first object, according to a print control apparatus of another aspect of the invention, a print control apparatus transfers image data to a printer by performing the method indicated above, employing suitable means for the various steps.
To achieve the second object, a print control method according to another aspect of the invention transfers image data to a printer as follows. Type information indicating what type the printer is, is acquired from the printer. The model name of the printer, included in the typ
Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
Fitzpatrick ,Cella, Harper & Scinto
Lamarre Guy
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