JPH11353075A - Printing device status display control method, printing device status display control device, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (with correction) [PROBLEMS] To simultaneously manage the states of a plurality of printing apparatuses. SOLUTION: A pointer to the first printer information is obtained (S1002), and it is determined from this whether or not there is printer information (S1003). If there is no printer information, if a target printer is connected to a printer port of a host computer, It is registered in the printer management information (S1012), and if there is, the status of the printer is obtained (S1004), and it is checked whether or not it is different from that (S1005). If it is different, error information, warning information, The operation state information is updated (S1006), the display priority is updated (S1007), and the printer with the highest display priority has been changed (S1008), or the printer currently being processed becomes the current display target. Printer (S
1011) At this point, the printer having the highest display priority is obtained, and the printer status is updated (S100).
9).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing device status display control method for displaying the status of a printing device, a printing device status display control device, and a storage medium storing a program for executing the printing device status display control method. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a printer which is connected to a host computer as a print control device, receives image recording data transferred from the host computer, and prints an image in accordance with the image recording data is provided to a printer. Some printers have a function of returning error or warning information generated in the printer main body and printer status information such as the operation status of the printer to a host computer through an interface capable of bidirectional communication in response to a request.

[0003] For example, when an out-of-paper error occurs at the time of printing by the printer body, the state of the out-of-paper error is indicated by:
In addition, when the remaining amount of ink is low, a state of a low ink level warning is displayed, and when the printer body is performing a preparation operation for printing, a state indicating that the printer is preparing for printing is displayed. It operates so as to be returned according to predetermined format data.

A program for detecting the status of the printer on the host computer and displaying a message indicating the status of the printer for the printer described above is a part of the function of the printer driver operating on the host computer. Alternatively, some printers are provided as a utility program independent of a printer driver so that an error state or the like of a printer can be checked on a screen of a host computer without checking the printer body.

[0005]

However, acquisition of the printer status and display of the printer status on the screen of the host computer by the printer status display program as described above are performed independently for each printer. I have.

Therefore, when monitoring and displaying the statuses of a plurality of printers in a situation where a plurality of printers are connected to the host computer, it is necessary to execute and display a printer status display program for each individual printer. is there.

In this case, there is a problem that as the number of programs to be executed simultaneously increases, the load on the host computer increases in terms of both memory capacity and CPU processing.

[0008] In addition, a status display window is displayed for each printer on a screen of a limited size, which causes a problem of troublesomeness on the screen.

Further, conventionally, the status of a plurality of connected printers is monitored, and only the status of one printer is displayed on one screen. However, there are some printers which can select a printer to be displayed by a user operation. .

However, in this case, even if a trouble such as an error occurs in a certain printer, if the printer is not designated as a display target at that time, the screen of the host computer is displayed unless the user selects the status display of the printer. Does not display the status of the printer, and there is a problem that the user cannot grasp the printer in which an error or the like has occurred.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and simultaneously manages the states of a plurality of printing apparatuses and notifies the user when displaying the state of one of the printing apparatuses. Automatically displays the status of the printer in the high priority state to be performed without depending on the user's instruction,
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing device status display control method, a printing device status display control device, and a storage medium storing a program for executing the printing device status display control method, which facilitate the user's grasp of the status of each printing device. I do.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: a plurality of printing apparatuses connected to a printing control apparatus having a display unit; In a printing device status display control method for displaying in a display frame provided on a screen, a status information obtaining step of obtaining status information of a plurality of printing devices, and a plurality of printing device statuses obtained by the status information obtaining step. A priority order determining step of determining a priority order of screen display for each of the printing devices; and selecting one of the plurality of printing devices based on the priority order determining step, and changing a state of the printing device. A selection display step for displaying on the screen of the display means; and an priority change step for changing the priority determined in the priority determination step according to a change in state of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses. And charts changing step and is characterized in that it comprises.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus status display control method according to the first aspect, wherein each of the printing control apparatuses is connected to a printing apparatus. A plurality of printing control devices connected to each other via a communication network, and when acquiring status information of a plurality of printing devices in the status information obtaining step, another printing control device via the communication network. Querying the status information of the connected printing device with respect to, and returning the status information of the connected printing device in response to an inquiry request for printing device status information from another print control device, It is characterized by including.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus, comprising: a plurality of printing apparatuses connected to a printing control apparatus having a display unit and a storage unit storing a printing status display program; A printing status display control device for displaying the status of the plurality of printing devices in a display frame provided on a screen of the means, wherein status information of the plurality of printing devices is displayed based on a printing status display program stored in the storage means. State information obtaining means for obtaining, priority order determining means for determining the priority of screen display for each of the plurality of printing devices from the obtained status of each printing device, and the plurality of printing devices based on the determined priorities. Selection display means for selecting one of the devices and displaying the status of the printing device on the screen of the printing control device; The priority changing means for changing the determined screen display priority and is characterized in that it comprises.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus status display control apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein each of the printing control apparatuses is connected to a printing apparatus. A plurality of printing control devices connected via a communication network, and the priority changing means of each printing control device, when acquiring status information of the plurality of printing devices, performs another processing via the communication network. Inquiry means for inquiring status information of the connected printing device to the printing control device, and returning status information of the printing device connected to itself in response to a status information inquiry request from another printing control device Return means to be provided.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 5 is a display device in which the status of a plurality of printing devices connected to a printing control device having display means is provided on a screen of the display means. A storage medium storing a program for executing a printing device status display control method to be displayed in a frame, wherein the printing device status display control method obtains status information of a plurality of printing devices, A priority order determining step of determining a priority of screen display for each of the plurality of printing devices from the status of each printing device acquired by the status information acquiring step; and Select one of them,
A selection display step of displaying the state of the printing apparatus on a screen of the display unit; and a priority change step of changing the priority determined in the priority determination step according to a change in the state of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses. And the following.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail.

(First Embodiment) First, FIGS.
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing state display control apparatus according to the first embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a format of information indicating the status of the printer 1014 returned by the printer 1014 as the printing apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of printer management information for the printer status display program according to the first embodiment to manage information on a connected printer.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a database of messages used by the printer status display program in the first embodiment for displaying the printer status. FIG. 5 shows the first
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a printer status display displayed by the printer status display program according to the embodiment. FIG.
5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a print control program according to the first embodiment. The printer status display program shown in FIG. 6 manages the status of a plurality of (two) printers 1014 and 1015 connected to the host computer 1001 and selects one of the display targets according to the status of each of the printers 1014 and 1015. Is selected and displayed. As shown in FIG. 5, the display content is a printer name, a connection destination port, and a character string of a message indicating the status of the printer.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, and the processing operation according to the printer status display program in the first embodiment will be described in detail.

(Description of Configuration) The printing device status display control device shown in FIG. 1 includes a host computer 1001 having a configuration as described below, which is a printing control device. The host computer 1001 has a CPU 100
A program (which is executed by the CPU 1003) for controlling each controller, which will be described later, and a ROM 100 storing data used in the program are stored in a main body 1002 controlled by the CPU 3.
4 and an HDD controller 1005 for controlling data access to a hard disk (HDD) 1006
An OS operating on the host computer 1001, an application program, a printer driver for generating image recording data to be transferred to a printer described later, a printer status display control gram, and a hard disk (HDD) 1006 storing a status display database; An OS (operating system), an application program, a printer driver, and an output control program (these software are stored in the hard disk 1006)
RAM 1007, which are loaded via a hard disk drive controller 1005, respectively, and a display device 1009.
A display controller 1008 which is connected to the CPU 1003 and displays characters and images on the display device 1009 under the control of the CPU 1003; and a keyboard controller 1010 which receives an input from the user of the host computer 1001 via the keyboard 1011 under the control of the CPU 1003. A data input / output controller 101 that performs bidirectional communication with the connected printers 1014 and 1015 under the control of the CPU 1003
2, 1013.

A work area for executing each software is also secured in the RAM 1007, and a status display database used by the printer status display program is also loaded in this work area.

Further, the user operates the display device 10.
09, interactive operations such as print data creation and print instructions are performed on the host computer 1001 using the keyboard 1011.

FIG. 2 shows the printers 1014 and 1015.
Is a diagram showing, in a predetermined format, the content of information to be returned to the host computer 1001 as information (printer status information) indicating each status. The printer status information includes error information (ERR) indicating the type of error occurring in the printer 1014 or the like, information (WRN) indicating the type of warning occurring in the printer 1014 or the like, and information indicating the operation state of the printer (WRN). STS).

It should be noted that there are two types of errors that occur in the printer according to the present embodiment: a no-paper error and a paper jam error.

There are two types of warning information, warning information indicating that the remaining amount of black ink is low, and warning information indicating that the remaining amount of color ink is low.

Further, the printer operating state includes a printing state, an idle state in which processing such as printing is not performed,
This means any one of the printing preparation states in which the processing corresponding to the preparation for printing is being performed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the contents of the printer management information managed during the operation of the printer status display program. The printer management information is stored in the host computer 100.
1 is information for managing information on the printer 1014 and the like connected to the port number 1 and includes port names (LPT1, LPT1,
2), printer name, printer error information, printer warning information, printer operation information, and display priority information.

The display priority information is used when the printer status display program determines which printer 1014 or 1015 is to be displayed with priority.

FIG. 4 shows the contents of the status display database. In response to the printer status information received from the printer 1014 or the like, the printer status display program executes the display device 1009 of the host computer 1001.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a database in which display contents and display priorities displayed above are stored in correspondence with each state of the program.

(Description of Processing Operation) Next, the processing operation based on the printer status display program on the host computer 1001 in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

The printer status display program is started when the host computer 1001 starts up, and thereafter displays the status of the connected printers 1014 and 1015.

It should be noted that only one printer status display program runs on one host computer 1001, and a plurality of printer status display programs do not run on the same host computer.

In the processing operation of the printer status display program shown in FIG. 6, first, an initialization process is performed (step S1001). In this initialization process, the hard disk 1
The status display database stored in 006 is stored in RAM1
007 to load the work area and initialize the printer management information.

Next, a pointer to the first printer information registered as printer management information is obtained (step S1002).

Next, it is determined whether there is printer information from the pointer acquired in step S1002 (step S1003). In the initialized state immediately after the start of the host computer 1001, there is no registered printer information, and thus there is no printer information indicated by this pointer. In this case, the process proceeds to step S1012. Then, the presence or absence of a printer connected to all the printer connection ports of the host computer 1001 is checked, and if the target printer is connected, it is registered in the printer management information (step S101).
2). When the process is completed for all the printer connection ports, the process returns to step S1002, and the process is started again from the printer registered at the top of the printer management information.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1003 that there is printer information, the process proceeds to step S10.
In step 04, the process for the printer is performed. That is, the printer status is acquired from the port stored as the printer information, and the printer status is analyzed to recognize the contents (step S1004).

Next, it is checked whether or not the status of the printer acquired here is different from the status held as printer information until then (step S1005). Here, if it is determined that there is no change in the state of the printer,
The process proceeds to step S1010 described below.

On the other hand, when there is a change in the status of the printer, the error information, the warning information, and the operation status information in the printer information are updated to the printer status information acquired in step S1005 (step S1006), and step S1 is executed.
Proceed to 007.

Then, by searching the status display database, priority order information corresponding to the printer status is searched, and the display priority order in the printer information is updated (step S1007).

Next, it is checked whether or not the printer having the highest display priority has been changed due to a change in the state of the printer (step S1008). If the printer has been changed, the process proceeds to step S1009, while the change has been made. If not, the flow advances to step S1011 to check whether the printer currently being processed is the current display target. If it is the display target, the flow advances to step S1009. If the printer is not a display target, the process advances to step S1010 because there is no need to update the current display content.

In step S1009, of the printers registered at this time, the printer having the highest display priority is obtained, the printer status is updated, and the flow advances to step S1010. In step S1010, a pointer to the next printer information is obtained.

With the above-described processing, one cycle of the processing for the first printer is completed, so a pointer to the next printer information registered in the printer management information is obtained, and the flow returns to step S1003.

Thereafter, when all the printers registered in the printer management information, that is, all the connected printers are processed, the process proceeds to step S10.
From step 03, the process proceeds to step S1012, and a series of processing is repeated from the investigation of the connected printer.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a change in the state is detected while checking the state of the printer connected to the host computer 1001, and the display priority information is updated. By determining and displaying the printer whose status is to be displayed on the basis of the status, any one of the printers 1014 or 1015 which needs to be notified of the status among the plurality of connected printers 1014 and 1015 is most necessary.
To notify the user of the state. Through these processes, it is possible to save the user from having to individually select a printer whose status is to be displayed, and to provide a user who operates the host computer 1001 with convenience.

(Second Embodiment) Next, FIGS.
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The printing apparatus status display control apparatus according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7 includes two host computers 2001 and 3001 which are printing control apparatuses.

The host computer 2001 has a main body 2002 controlled by a CPU 2003 as control means.
And a hard disk drive (HDD) 2 that stores a program (which is executed by the CPU 2003) for controlling each controller, which will be described later, and data used in the program.
An HDD controller 2005 for controlling data access to the 006, an OS running on the host computer 2001, an application program, a printer driver for generating image recording data to be transferred to a printer, a printer status display control gram, and a status display database are stored. Hard Disk (HDD) 2006
And an OS (operating system), an application program, a printer driver, an output control program (these software is executed by the CPU 2003) and the like stored in the hard disk 2006 are respectively loaded via the hard disk drive controller 2005. A display controller 2008 connected to the RAM 2007 and the display device 2009 to display characters and images on the display device 2009 under the control of the CPU 2003, and receives an input from the user of the host computer 2001 via the keyboard 2011 under the control of the CPU 2003. Keyboard controller 2010 and CPU 200 respectively
Data input / output controller 201 for performing bidirectional communication with the connected printer 2014 according to the control of
2 and a network controller 2013.

The host computer 3001 has a main unit 3 controlled by a CPU 3003 as control means.
002, a ROM 3004 storing a program for controlling each controller described later (the program is executed by the CPU 3003) and data used in the program, a hard disk (HD)
D) HD for controlling data access to 3006
D controller 3005 and host computer 300
OS running on the PC, an application program, a printer driver for generating image recording data to be transferred to the printer, a hard disk (HDD) 30 for storing a printer status display control gram, and a status display database
06, an OS (operating system), an application program, a printer driver, and an output control program stored in the hard disk 3006 (these software are executed by the CPU 3003)
Etc. are respectively the hard disk drive controller 30
A display controller 3008 that is connected to the display device 3009 via the CPU 3003 and displays characters and images on the display device 3009 under the control of the CPU 3003;
A keyboard controller 3010 for receiving an input from the user of the host computer 3001 via the keyboard 3011 according to the control of
In accordance with the control of 3003, the connected printer 3014
A data input / output controller 3012 for performing bidirectional communication with the network, and a network controller 3013.

Further, the network controller 2
013 and the network controller 3013
N and the like.

As described above, in the above-described first embodiment, two data input / output controllers are provided, and a printer is connected to each of them. However, in the second embodiment, the data I / O controllers 2012, 301
2 is provided only in each of the host computers 2001 and 3001.
One printer 2014 and 3014 are connected to 3001 respectively.

In the second embodiment, a network controller 2013 is provided.
20 and the host computers 2001 and 3001
Information can be communicated between them. That is, it is possible to transfer print data on the host computer 2001 via the communication network 2020 to a printer 3014 connected to the host computer 3001 for printing.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the contents of the printer management information for the printer status display program in this embodiment to manage the information of the connected printer, and shows the host name indicating the host computer to which the printer is connected. At the same time.

FIG. 9 shows the contents of the printer status display displayed by the printer status display program according to the present embodiment, in which the host name indicating the name of the host computer to which the printer is connected is displayed. .

The printer status display programs operating on the host computers 2001 and 3001 in the present embodiment are the same as the printer status display programs in the first embodiment, and each of the host computers 2001 and 311 has the same configuration.
001 is started at the time of activation, and thereafter, the status of the connected printer 2014 or 3014 is displayed.

Note that only one printer status display program operates on one host computer 2001 or 3001, and a plurality of printer status display programs do not operate on the same host computer 2001 (or 3001).

Hereinafter, the processing operation of the printer status display program according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

Steps S2001 to S200
The operation of Step 3 is the same as the operation of Step S1001 to Step S1003 of the first embodiment.

If it is determined in step S2003 that there is no printer information registered, the printer 2014 connected to the host computer 2001 is checked to update the printer management information with the printer management information (step S2).
012).

After that, the host computer 3001 is notified to the printer status display program running on another host computer 3001 on the network.
Of the printer 3014 connected to the host computer 3001, the printer management information managed by the host computer 3001 is acquired, and the acquired printer information is registered in the printer management information together with the host computer name (step S2013). That is, this step S2
At 013, the printer information including the printer status of the printer 3014 connected to another host computer 3001 on the communication network 2020 is transmitted to the host computer 20.
01 is acquired by the printer status display program running on the PC. Thereafter, the process returns to step S2002.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S2003 that there is printer information registered, if the printer currently being processed is the printer 2014 directly connected to its own host computer, the host computer 2
The printer information is acquired from the connection port 001 (step S2004).

If the printer currently being processed is the printer 3014 connected to another host computer S3001 on the network, the host computer S3001 is used instead of acquiring the printer information from the connection port.
The printer status display program operating on the printer 3001 requests information on the printer 3014, and acquires printer information managed by the host computer S3001.

The following steps S2005 to S
The processing up to 2010 is the same as step S in the first embodiment.
The operation is the same as the processing from 1005 to step S1010.

From the above processing, according to the present embodiment,
Similar to the printer 2014 directly connected to the host computer 2001, the printer 3 connected to another host computer 3001 existing on the communication network 2020
It is possible to monitor the status of the printer 014, and it is possible to display the printer status of a plurality of printers including the printer 3014 connected to another host computer 3001, which has a higher priority in status display.

As in the first and second embodiments, instead of storing the above-described printer status display program on a hard disk and reading and executing the same, the printer status display program is stored in advance in a CD (compact disk), for example. The same operation as in the first and second embodiments can be performed by storing the data in a storage medium such as a ROM or a DVD (Digital Video Disk) and introducing the storage medium into the host computer 1001, 2001 or the like. The effect can be exhibited.

[0067]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Among the plurality of printing devices connected to the printing control device, the status of the printing device having the highest priority can be displayed, and the priority can be automatically changed according to a change in the status of each printing device. The present invention provides a printing apparatus state display control method capable of switching the display of a printing apparatus having a high print quality, thereby facilitating the selection of the printing apparatus and the state of the printing apparatus while avoiding the troublesome work of the user. be able to.

Further, according to the present invention, the status information of another printing device on the other printing control device side connected via the communication line network is obtained, and the status information is displayed in the same manner as the locally connected printing device. Can be provided.

Further, according to the present invention, a printing control apparatus having a display means and a storage means storing a printing state display program has a system configuration in which a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected, thereby avoiding troublesome work for the user. It is possible to provide a printing device status display control device that can facilitate the selection of the printing device and the convenience of grasping the status. In this case, the status of the other printing device connected to the other printing control device via the communication network is acquired, and the status of the printing device can be displayed similarly to the locally connected printing device. A display control device can also be realized.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to display the status of a printing device having a high priority of displaying the status among a plurality of printing devices connected to the printing control device, and to display the status of each printing device. By storing a print status display program capable of automatically switching to the display of a high-priority printing device in response to a change in status, a plurality of print control devices having existing display means and storage means are provided. Introducing a printing device status display control device having a system configuration to which a printing device is connected, so that it is possible to avoid the troublesome work of the user and to facilitate the selection of the printing device and the convenience of grasping the status of the printing device. A storage medium storing a program for executing the method can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing device status display control device according to a first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a format of information indicating a status of a printer returned by the printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing contents of printer management information for managing information of a connected printer according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a database of messages used for displaying a printer status according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer status display according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the printing device status display control device according to the first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing device status display control device according to a second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the contents of printer management information for managing information of a connected printer according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer status display according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a printing device status display control device according to the second embodiment of this invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1001 Host computer 1002 Main body 1003 CPU 1004 ROM 1005 Hard disk drive controller 1006 Hard disk 1007 RAM 1008 Display controller 1009 Display device 1010 Keyboard controller 1011 Keyboard 1012 Data input / output controller 1013 Data input / output controller 1014 Printer 1015 Printer

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G09G 5/00 510 G09G 5/00 510V 510C

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A printing device status display control method for displaying the status of a plurality of printing devices connected to a printing control device having a display means in a display frame provided on a screen of the display means, A status information obtaining step of obtaining status information of the printing device; and a priority determining step of determining a priority of screen display for each of the plurality of printing devices from the status of each printing device obtained by the status information obtaining step; A selection display step of selecting one of the plurality of printing apparatuses based on the priority order determining step and displaying a state of the printing apparatus on a screen of the display unit; A priority changing step of changing the priority determined in the priority determining step according to the state change of the printer. Your way. 2. The printing control device according to claim 1, wherein the printing control device includes a plurality of printing control devices connected to each other via a communication network while the printing devices are connected to each other. Querying status information of a connected printing device to another printing control device via the communication network when acquiring status information; and requesting printing device status information from another printing control device. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: returning status information of a connected printing device to the printing device. 3. A printing control device comprising a display means and a storage means storing a printing state display program, a plurality of printing apparatuses connected to the printing control apparatus, and the plurality of printing apparatuses being displayed in a display frame provided on a screen of the display means. In a printing device status display control device for displaying the status of the device, based on a printing status display program stored in the storage unit, status information obtaining means for obtaining status information of a plurality of printing devices, and the obtained status of each printing device Priority determining means for determining the priority of screen display for each of the plurality of printing devices, and selecting one of the plurality of printing devices based on the determined priorities, Selection display means for displaying the status on the screen of the print control device;
And a priority change unit configured to change the determined priority of the screen display in accordance with a change in the status of each of the plurality of printing devices. 4. The print control device comprises a plurality of print control devices each connected to a print device and connected via a communication network, wherein the priority change means of each print control device includes a plurality of print control devices. When acquiring the status information of the printing device, an inquiry unit for inquiring the status information of the connected printing device to another printing control device via a communication network, and the status information from the other printing control device. 4. The printing device status display control device according to claim 3, further comprising: return means for returning status information of the printing device connected thereto in response to the inquiry request. 5. A program for executing a printing device status display control method for displaying a status of a plurality of printing devices connected to a printing control device having a display means in a display frame provided on a screen of the display means. Wherein the printing device status display control method comprises: a status information obtaining step of obtaining status information of a plurality of printing devices; and a plurality of printing device statuses obtained from the status of the printing devices obtained by the status information obtaining step. A priority order determining step of determining a priority of screen display for each of the printing devices; and, based on the priority order determining step, selecting one of the plurality of printing devices and changing a state of the printing device to the A selection display step of displaying on a screen of a display unit; and changing the priority determined in the priority determination step according to a change in a state of each of the plurality of printing apparatuses. Storage medium characterized by comprising: a priority changing step, the to.