JPH0519992A - Print control method of information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] Regarding a print control method in an information processing apparatus networked through a transmission path, other than shared connection to the transmission path without modifying an application program operated in the information processing apparatus. It is intended to enable free printing using the printing device of. In an information processing device 4 that is accessible to another printing device 8 that is commonly connected to a transmission line 7, a virtual printing device control unit 5 of the information processing device 7 is connected to the transmission line 7 in common. When the information processing device 4 accesses the other printing device 8 via the transmission line 7, the device information about the other printing device 8 is stored in advance as the pseudo response information. The pseudo printing apparatus information is created for the other printing apparatus 8 that is shared and connected to the virtual printing apparatus 7, and the virtual printing apparatus control unit 5 notifies the application program 3 of the program execution unit 2 of the pseudo printing device information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control method for freely printing by using another printing device which is shared and connected to a transmission line in an information processing device networked through the transmission line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an operation mode of an information processing apparatus in recent years, as shown in FIG. 2, a coprocessor which constitutes a program execution unit 2 is mounted separately from a main processor which constitutes an emulator 1. A method of operating a plurality of operating systems (OS) by one information processing device by operating the application program 3 and emulating its input / output by the control program of the main processor has become widespread.

By adopting such a system, for example, in an information processing device constructed by using UNIX as a basic OS, it becomes possible to run an application program described in MS-DOS, and further, the processing result is displayed. Printing can be performed by the printing device 6 through the virtual printing device control unit 5.

On the other hand, instead of operating the information processing device 4 alone as described above, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of information processing devices 4 are connected by a transmission line 7 to form a network, and each information processing device Those that make effective use of resources have become popular.

[0005]

By the way, when the information processing devices are networked as shown in FIG. 3, not only the printers 6 of their own which are directly connected to the respective information processing devices 4 but also the transmission line 7 are connected. It is desirable to be able to print freely even by using another printing device 8 that is shared and connected. Further, at the time of this print processing, it is required that the user of the information processing apparatus 4 does not become aware of the existence of the transmission path 7 and that the printing apparatus 8 looks as if directly connected to the information processing apparatus. It

However, the application program operated by the conventional information processing apparatus is programmed on the assumption that the printing apparatus 6 is directly connected, as illustrated in FIG. By directly sensing the printing device 6 from the program 3, the device information is obtained. Therefore, even if the network as shown in FIG. 3 is constructed by using the information processing apparatus 4 having the configuration as shown in FIG. 2, the application program operating in the information processing apparatus is indirectly connected to the transmission line 7. The device information of the other printing device 8 cannot be read, and printing cannot be performed by a printing device other than the own printing device 6.

In order to meet the above demand, the application program operated by the information processing device 4 can be printed by another printing device 8 which is shared and connected to the transmission line 7.
You just have to modify the program. However, when the number and amount of application programs being operated are enormous, the correction work is difficult and cannot be easily dealt with. Therefore, if possible, it is desirable to be able to use another printing device sharedly connected to the transmission path without having to modify the operating application program.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to use another printing apparatus sharedly connected to a transmission line without modifying an application program currently in operation. It is to provide a print control method for an information processing apparatus capable of freely printing.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a print control method according to the present invention includes a program execution unit for operating an application program, an emulator for emulating input / output of the application program, and a printing apparatus. A virtual printing device control unit that emulates input and output, and an information processing device that is accessible to another printing device that is shared and connected to a transmission line. In the virtual printing device control unit, a shared connection to the transmission line. When the information processing device accesses the other printing device via the transmission path, the device information about the other printing device is stored in advance as pseudo response information.
Pseudo device information about the other printing device is created based on the pseudo response information, and the virtual printing device control unit notifies the application program of the pseudo device information.

[0010]

[Operation] In the case of the present invention, when an access is made to another printing device that is shared and connected via a transmission line, application information is created by creating device information for the other printing device in its own information processing device. The application program being executed does not need to directly read the device information of another printing device via the transmission path. Therefore, it is possible to directly obtain the device information about the other printing device sharedly connected to the transmission line as in the case of the own printing device, without modifying the application program operating in the information processing device. , Another printing device shared by the transmission line can be used.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an emulator that emulates the input / output of an application program 3, 2 is a program execution unit in which the application program 3 operates, 4 is an information processing device, 5 is a virtual printing device control unit, and 6 is dedicated to each information processing device. Printer, 7 is a transmission line,
Reference numeral 8 denotes a printing device sharedly connected to the transmission path 7.

The virtual printing device control section 5 comprises a pseudo response control section 9, a pseudo register 10, a transfer buffer 11, and a pseudo response information setting section 12. Pseudo response control unit 9
Notifies the application program 3 of device information of the printing device, receives print data of the application program 3 and temporarily stores the print data in the transfer buffer 11, or prints the print data of the transfer buffer 11 to the own printing device 6 or another printing device. It is sent to the device 8. The pseudo register 10 is a register for temporarily storing the input / output of the application program 3. The transfer buffer 11 is a memory that temporarily stores print data of the application program 3.

The pseudo response information setting unit 12 is provided with device information (for example, about the printing device 8 sharedly connected to the transmission path 7).
It is a circuit that stores (for example, the size of the set paper) in advance and sends this device information to the pseudo response control unit 9 as pseudo response information of the printing device 8 during the printing process.

The printing device 8 commonly connected to the transmission line 7 is
The print control unit 14, the print buffer 15, the register 16, the printing unit 17, and the transmission path interface (I / F) 18 are included. The print control unit 14 receives print data sent from the information processing device 4 via the transmission path interface 18, and controls the print unit 17 to perform printing. The print buffer 15 is a memory that temporarily stores print data sent via the transmission path 7. The register 16 inputs and outputs with the printing unit 17. Printing section 17
Is a printer for printing print data.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described. In the case of the present invention, the device information (for example, the size of the set paper, etc.) about the printing device 8 that is shared and connected to the transmission path 7 is input to the pseudo response information setting unit 12 in advance,
Settings are stored as pseudo response information.

First, the information processing device 4 is its own printing device 6.
In the case of printing using, the application program 3 operating in the program execution unit 2 directly senses the printing device 6 via the pseudo register 10 and the pseudo response control unit 9, and directly receives the device information of the printing device 6. Print. This is the same printing process as the conventional one.

On the other hand, when the information processing device 4 performs printing by the printing device 8 which is shared and connected to the transmission line 7, the printing process is executed as follows.

That is, in FIG. 1, even if the application program 3 senses toward the transmission path 7 to obtain the device information of the printing device 8, the printing device 8 is directly connected to the information processing device 4. No, so you cannot get that device information.

Therefore, in the case of the present invention, when the application program 3 in operation issues an access request to the printing device 8, the pseudo response control unit 9 accesses the printing device 8 via the transmission line 7 and at the same time, outputs the pseudo response information. The pseudo response information of the printing device 8 is read from the setting unit 12, pseudo device information about the printing device 8 is created based on the pseudo response information, and the pseudo device information is set in the pseudo register 10.

The application program 3 refers to this pseudo device information set in the pseudo register 10 to set the print format for the printing device 8, creates print data based on this and sends it to the pseudo register 10.

The pseudo response control section 9 analyzes the print data set in the pseudo register 10. As a result of this analysis, if a response to the application program 3 is required,
Response data is created by referring to the pseudo response information of the pseudo response information setting unit 12 and sent to the application program 3 via the pseudo register 10. On the other hand, when no response is required, the print data set in the pseudo register 10 is transferred to the transfer buffer 11 and temporarily stored in the transfer buffer 11. The application program 3 and the pseudo response control unit 9 repeatedly execute this operation and send the print data to the transfer buffer 11.

When a certain amount of print data is accumulated in the transfer buffer 11, the pseudo response control unit 9 creates a packet for transmission, puts the print data on this packet, and transmits the packet to the transmission line interface 13 and the transmission line 7. , To the printer 8 via the transmission path interface 18.

The print control unit 14 of the printing device 8 temporarily stores the transmitted print data in the print buffer 15, and when the transmission of the print data from the application program 3 is completed, the print control unit 14 stores the print data in the print buffer 15. The print data is sent to the printing unit 17 via the register 16 and printed in a predetermined print format.

At the time of this printing, the pseudo device information created by the pseudo response control unit 9 of the information processing device 4 and notified to the application program 3 and the device information of the printing device 8 which is actually connected are inconsistent. In this case, the print control unit 14 converts the print format (for example, enlargement from B5 plate to A4 plate, A
After performing the reduction from 4th edition to B5th edition, etc., the printing unit 17
To print.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the device information of another printing device shared by the transmission line is transferred from the virtual printing device control unit in the information processing device to the application program. Since the notification is made in a pseudo manner, the application program does not need to read the device information of another printing device via the transmission path. Therefore, it is possible to freely print using another printing device that is shared and connected to the transmission path without having to modify the application program that is currently being operated, and further improve the processing function of the information processing device. can do.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional information processing device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a networked information processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Emulator 2 Program Execution Unit 3 Application Program 4 Information Processing Device 5 Virtual Printing Device Control Unit 6 Own Printing Device 7 Transmission Line 8 Shared Printing Device 9 Pseudo Response Control Unit 10 Pseudo Register 11 Transfer Buffer 12 Pseudo Response Information Setting Part 13 Transmission line interface 14 Print control part 15 Print buffer 16 Register 17 Printing part 18 Transmission line interface

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A program execution unit for operating an application program, an emulator for emulating the input / output of the application program, and a virtual printing device control unit for emulating the input / output of a printing device. In an information processing device that is provided and is capable of accessing another printing device that is sharedly connected to a transmission line, device information about another printing device that is sharedly connected to the transmission line is simulated in advance in the virtual printing device control unit. Stored as response information, when the information processing apparatus accesses the other printing apparatus via the transmission path, it creates pseudo apparatus information about the other printing apparatus based on the pseudo response information, and A print control method for an information processing device, characterized in that the virtual printer control unit notifies the application program of device information.