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Software Patent Abstract
Disclosed a software installing method to a computer including the
steps of: installing a software program to the computer, the software
program corresponding to an equipment connected to the computer;
acquiring equipment information of the equipment from the equipment
connected to the computer; and displaying the acquired equipment
information of the equipment on the display section prior to the
installing step.
Software Patent Claims
1. A software installing method to a computer comprising the steps
of:installing a software program to the computer, the software program
corresponding to an equipment connected to the computer;acquiring
equipment information of the equipment from the equipment connected
to the computer; anddisplaying the acquired equipment information
of the equipment on the display section prior to the installing
step.
2. The software installing method of claim 1,wherein software program
information corresponding to each of the equipments is acquired
in the acquiring step, andthe equipment information displayed on
the display section prior to the installing step is the software
program information corresponding to one of the equipments acquired
based on the equipment information from the acquired software program
information corresponding to each of the equipments.
3. The software installing method of claim 1,wherein the equipment
information is web page data, andthe equipment information is displayed
on the display section based on the acquired web page data prior
to the installing step.
4. The software installing method of claim 1,wherein the equipment
connected to the computer comprises an image forming section, andthe
software program to be installed in the computer is a driver program
of the equipment comprising the image forming section.
5. The software installing method of claim 1,wherein the equipment
information is acquired by using a Management Information Base in
a Simple Network Management Protocol.
6. The software installing method of claim 1,wherein the equipment
information is information of an optional setup added to the equipment.
7. The software installing method of claim 1,wherein the equipment
information is information of an exterior of the equipment.
8. A computer readable storage medium storing a program comprising:installing
a software program to the computer, the software program corresponding
to an equipment connected to the computer;acquiring equipment information
of the equipment from the equipment connected to the computer; anddisplaying
the acquired equipment information of the equipment on the display
section prior to the installing step.
9. The computer readable storage medium storing a program of claim
8,wherein software program information corresponding to each of
the equipments is acquired in the acquiring step, andthe equipment
information displayed on the display section prior to the installing
step is the software program information corresponding to one of
the equipments acquired based on the equipment information from
the acquired software program information corresponding to each
of the equipments.
10. The computer readable storage medium storing a program of claim
8,wherein the equipment information is web page data, andthe equipment
information is displayed on the display section based on the acquired
web page data prior to the installing step.
11. The computer readable storage medium storing a program of claim
8,wherein the equipment connected to the computer comprises an image
forming section, andthe software program to be installed in the
computer is a driver program of the equipment comprising the image
forming section.
12. The computer readable storage medium storing a program of claim
8,wherein the equipment information is acquired by using a Management
Information Base in a Simple Network Management Protocol.
13. The computer readable storage medium storing a program of claim
8,wherein the equipment information is information of an optional
setup added to the equipment.
14. The computer readable storage medium storing a program of claim
8,wherein the equipment information is information of an exterior
of the equipment.
Software Patent Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001]The present U.S. patent application claims a priority under
the Paris Convention of Japanese patent application No. 2006-145469
filed on May 25, 2006, which shall be a basis of correction of an
incorrect translation.
BACKGROUND
[0002]1. Field of the Invention
[0003]The present invention relates to a software installing method
and a storage medium.
[0004]2. Description of Related Art
[0005]In earlier development, in computers to which a device driver
for an operation of equipments connected so as to communicate has
been installed, some computers have been known, which allow a user
to select the equipment intuitively by displaying the illustration
of the exterior thereof on a display and so on when the user selects
and uses variety types of equipments whose device driver has been
installed. For example, JPHei10-133833A and JP2002-268783 disclose
a technique to acquire an exterior illustration from equipment (printer)
which can be controlled by a computer through a device driver or
the like and is connected to a network, and to display it.
[0006]According to such technique, for example when various type
of the equipments connected so as to communicate are network printers
and a user select an output printer from the printers whose device
drivers are installed and executes the printing on the computer,
a user can select the output printer easily by consulting the exterior
view of the printer displayed on the screen.
[0007]However, the above-described technique was for selecting
equipment corresponding to the device driver which had been already
installed, and the exterior of equipment which had not been installed
yet could not be displayed and selected. When there are plural candidate
equipments for the installation of the device driver and the device
driver for one of the equipments is intended to be installed in
the computer which is connected with various types of the equipments
so as to communicate each other, it was impossible to display an
information such as the exterior on the display and to allow a user
confirm it. As a result, it was difficult for a user to identify
the equipment whose device driver the user intends to install to
use the equipment.
SUMMARY
[0008]It is one of objects of the present invention, upon the consideration
of the conventional technique, to provide a technique to install
a device driver corresponding to the equipment intended by a user
in a computer easily.
[0009]In order to accomplish the above object, in accordance with
a first aspect of the invention, a software installing method to
a computer comprising the steps of: installing a software program
to the computer, the software program corresponding to an equipment
connected to the computer; acquiring equipment information of the
equipment from the equipment connected to the computer; and displaying
the acquired equipment information of the equipment on the display
section prior to the installing step.
[0010]Preferably, software program information corresponding to
each of the equipments is acquired in the acquiring step, and the
equipment information displayed on the display section prior to
the installing step is the software program information corresponding
to one of the equipments acquired based on the equipment information
from the acquired software program information corresponding to
each of the equipments.
[0011]Preferably, the equipment information is web page data, and
the equipment information is displayed on the display section based
on the acquired web page data prior to the installing step.
[0012]Preferably, the equipment connected to the computer comprises
an image forming section, and the software program to be installed
in the computer is a driver program of the equipment comprising
the image forming section.
[0013]Preferably, the equipment information is acquired by using
a Management Information Base in a Simple Network Management Protocol.
[0014]Preferably, the equipment information is information of an
optional setup added to the equipment.
[0015]Preferably, the equipment information is information of an
exterior of the equipment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016]These and other objects, advantages and features of the present
invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description
given hereinbelow and the appended drawings, and thus are not intended
as a definition of the limits of the present invention, and wherein;
[0017]FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a connection
between printers P1, P2 and P3, and a computer 1.
[0018]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional composition
of the printers P1, P2 and P3 schematically;
[0019]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional composition
of the computer 1 schematically;
[0020]FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a functional composition
of the computer 1 at software installation schematically;
[0021]FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the installation processing
in the computer 1.
[0022]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on a displaying
section 20.
[0023]FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the screen on the
displaying section 20.
[0024]FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the screen on the
displaying section 20.
[0025]FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a functional composition
of the printers P10, P20 and P30 schematically; and
[0026]FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing a functional composition
of the computer 1 at the software installation schematically.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0027]Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present invention will
be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. The invention is not
limited to the following embodiment. The embodiment of the invention
is to show the best mode of the invention, so the uses or the terms
are not limited to the embodiment.
[0028]As shown in FIG. 1, printers P1, P2 and P3 as MFPs (Multi
Function Peripherals) which form images on a recording medium such
as papers based on an inputted data and in addition have various
types of functions such as copying and scanning, and a computer
1 as an information equipment such as a PC (Personal Computer) or
a WS (Work Station), are connected to be able to communicate with
each other through a network N.
[0029]The network N is a communication line for performing communication
in conformity with predetermined standards, such as a LAN (Local
Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), the internet, a USB (Universal
Serial Bus) and an IEEE1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronic
Engineers 1394), and performs data communication among the connected
terminals. The data communication may be either of a parallel communication
and a serial communication as long as the data communication conforms
to the predetermined standards. In addition to the above-described
wire communication, the data communication is not particularly limited,
and may be wireless communication such as wireless LAN, e.g. IEEE802.11a,
802.11b, or 802.11g, Bluetooth wireless communication, and an infrared
communication such as IrDA (Infrared Data Association).
[0030]The printers P1, P2 and P3, as shown in FIG. 2, comprise
a control section 10P, a display section 20P, a operating section
30P, a communication section 40P, an image forming section 50P,
and a storage section 60P. These sections are connected with each
other by a bus and so on.
[0031]The control section 10P comprises a CPU (Central Processing
Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and
so on. The CPU develops various types of programs or data stored
in the ROM or storage section 60P into a working area of the RAM
and executes them sequentially, so that the control section 10P
controls operations of each section to control whole of the equipment
integrally.
[0032]Specifically, the control section 10P controls each section
based on control information and image data which are inputted through
the communication section 40P so as to form images in the image
forming section 50P. The control section 10P, based on the control
information inputted through the communication section 40P, outputs
data, such as configuration information, stored in the storage section
60P to external equipments through the communication section 40P.
For example, the control section 10P replies by outputting the configuration
information to a query by communication of the external equipments.
[0033]The display section 20P is, for example, a LCD (Liquid Crystal
Display) and so on, and displays images based on a display control
by the control section 10P. The operating section 30P is an operation
key which is not particularly illustrated, a pressure-sensitive
(resistive) touch panel in which transparent electrodes are disposed
in a reticular pattern on a screen of the display section 20P, and
so on. The operating section 30P outputs inputted operation signal
to the control section 10P.
[0034]The communication section 40P comprises communication circuits
for communicating with other information equipments through the
above-described network N and an interface to connect to the network
N. The communication section 40P performs the data communication
with the external equipments, specifically with the computer 1,
under a control by the control section 10P. The image forming section
50P is a functional section which forms images on a recording medium
such as papers by various types of printing methods such as an electrophotographic
method, ink-jet method, thermal sublimation method, and so on, based
on the data inputted through the communication section 40P and so
on, under the control by the control section 10P.
[0035]The storage section 60P is composed of, for example, a magnetic
storage medium, optical storage medium, or nonvolatile storage such
as semiconductors, and is readable and writable by the control section
10P so as to store various types of control programs of the equipment,
the configuration information of the equipment, inputted data from
the communication section 40P and so on. The storage section 60P
may comprise an interface to which the above-described storage medium
such as the magnetic storage medium, optical storage medium, and
nonvolatile memory are removably loaded, and data may be read and
written through the interface. In this case, under the control by
the control section 10P, it is possible to read out the data previously
stored in the loaded storage medium, and to form images in the image
forming section 50P and transfer data from the communication section
40P to the external equipments.
[0036]The printers P1, P2, and P3 may comprise a scanning part
to read an original image under the control by the control section
10P and a finisher part to execute sheet finishing such as stapling,
punching holes, and so on to the storage medium formed in the image
forming section 50P under the control by the control section 10P,
and may execute copying, scanning or various sheet finishing to
storage medium responding to operation direction on the operating
section 30P or control direction by external equipments.
[0037]The computer 1 comprises, as shown in FIG. 3, a control section
10, a display section 20, an operating section 30, a communication
section 40, a storage section 50 and a data reading section 60.
These sections are connected with each other through a bus and so
on.
[0038]The control section 10 comprises a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and
so on. The CPU develops various types of control programs and data
read from the ROM, the storage section 50 or the data reading section
60, into a working area of RAM and executes them sequentially, so
that the control section 10 controls operations of each section
and controls whole of the equipment.
[0039]The display section 20 is, for example, a CRT (Cathode-Ray
Tube), a LCD, an organic or inorganic ELD (Electro Luminescence
Display), a plasma display, and so on. The display section 20 displays
display data inputted from the control section 10 on a screen under
the control by the control section 10.
[0040]The operating section 30 comprises a key board comprising
numeral keys, alphabetic keys, various types of functional keys
and so on, and a pointing device such as a mouse and a touch panel,
and outputs the inputted operation signal to the control section
10. The communication section 40 comprises communication circuits
for communicating with other information equipments through the
above-described network N and an interface connected to the network
N. The communication section 40 performs the data communication
with the external equipments, specifically with the printers P1,
P2, and P3, under the control by the control section 10.
[0041]The storage section 50 is composed of, for example, a magnetic
storage medium, optical storage medium, or nonvolatile memory such
as semiconductors and so on, and is readable and writable by the
control section 10. The storage section 50 stores various types
of application program 51 for the computer 1, a printer driver 52
to output the control information and printing job data for forming
images to the printers P1, P2 and P3 connected to the computer 1
to be able to communicate with each other, and various types of
the configuration information.
[0042]The data reading section 60 comprises an interface to which
a storage medium M such as a magnetic storage medium, optical storage
medium, and nonvolatile memory are removably loaded. The data stored
in the storage medium M is read out trough the interface. The data
reading section 60 may write data on the storage medium M.
[0043]The storage medium M stores installation program M1 which
the control section 10 reads out and executes to install a software
program so that the computer 1 can execute it, such as the program
of installation processing to store the printer driver 52 in the
storage section 50, and configuration information M2 which is a
data of installed software program. The configuration information
M2 to be stored in the storage medium M is the data as the printer
driver 52 stored in the storage section 50, and includes image data
of exterior appearance of the printer for displaying exterior of
the printer to be controlled when the printer is operated through
the printer driver 52. The image data of exterior appearance of
the printer comprises, for example, multiple image data in each
color or shape which are different in each production model, and
multiple image data in each optional setup.
[0044]The functional composition when the control section 10 reads
out the installation program M1 and executes it, so as to install
the corresponding printer driver 52 to the printers P1 or P2 connected
through the communication section 40 will be described. As shown
in FIG. 4, the control section 10 functions as an installation executing
section 11, a user interface 12, and a communication interface 13
by executing the installation program M1.
[0045]The installation executing section 11, according to a selection
direction given by a user interface section 12 described below,
reads out the configuration information M2 and stores the printer
driver 52 corresponding to the printers P1, P2 and other printers
in the storage section 50. The configuration information M2 is the
information of the printer driver of each product or model of the
printers such as the printers P1 and P2, and comprises the printer
driver information M21 and M22 including the above-described image
data of exterior appearance of the printer. The configuration information
M2, as well as storing the information in each product or model
of the printers according to above-described printer driver information
M21 or M22, may store the information in each product or model in
a table format. The configuration information M2 is not particularly
limited to the above composition.
[0046]The user interface section 12, prior to an installation of
the printer driver 52, receives the selection direction of the printer
driver which displays an installation screen to be displayed on
the display section 20, performs installation, from the operating
section 30, and sends it to the installation executing section 11.
Specifically, the installation screen to be displayed on the display
section 20 is displayed on an equipment information display section
121 and a searched equipment display section 122.
[0047]The equipment information display section 121 is a functional
section which displays information of the printers P1 and P2 connected
trough the communication section 40 and searched by an equipment
information acquiring section 131 described below on the display
section 20. The searched equipment display section 122 is a functional
section which acquires the information of the printer searched by
the equipment searching section 132 described below as an installation
object, namely, the information of the printer which can be communicated
through the communication section 40 and the information of the
printer driver corresponding to the above printer from the configuration
information M2, and displays it on the screen of the display section
20.
[0048]In other words, the user interface section 12 displays the
information such as an installable printer driver and the corresponding
equipment, the information sent from a communication interface section
13 described below and so on. The user interface section 12 accepts
installation conditions such as installation object equipments and
a type of the printer drivers on the operation section 30 and sends
it to the installation executing section 11.
[0049]The installation screen displayed on the display section
20 based on the display control of the user interface section 12
comprises a searched equipment display screen 21, an equipment information
display screen 22 and an operating information display screen 23.
The searched equipment display screen 21 is to display the list
of the printers P1, P2, and so on connected to the computer 1 through
the communication section 40 searched as an installation object
of the printer driver 52. The equipment information display screen
22 is to display particular information of the equipments such as
the printers P1 and P2 searched as the installation object. Specifically,
it displays exterior images corresponding to the figure of the printers
P1 and P2 searched as the installation object by executing the processing
described below. The operating information display screen 23 is
a screen which displays selection button and so on to accept the
operation from the operation section 30.
[0050]The communication interface 13 is a functional section which
comprises the equipment information acquiring section 131 and an
equipment searching section 132, communicates with the external
equipments connected with the communication section 40 to be able
to communicate with each other, and sends the information acquired
by this communication to the user interface section 12. The equipment
information acquiring section 131 acquires the information from
the printers P1 and P2 connected with the communication section
40. Specifically, the equipment information acquiring section 131
performs data communication by the predetermined communication protocol
such as a SNMP/MIB (Simple Network Management Protocol/Management
Information Base) in a TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Interne
Protocol) with the printers P1 and P2, and acquires various types
of configuration information and so on from the printers P1 and
P2.
[0051]The equipment searching section 132 communicates with all
equipments connected with the communication section 40 similarly
by using the predetermined protocol, e.g. the SNMP/MIB in TCP/IP,
and searches the printer corresponding to the printer driver information
M21 or the printer driver information M22 of the configuration information
M2. All equipments connected with the communication section 40 to
be able to communicate each other may be equipments connected to
the same node of the network N to which the communication section
40 is connected. In other words, when the communication network
is divided into several nodes by a router and so on, the equipments
belonged to the node connected with the communication section 40
are the searching objects.
[0052]The installation processing executed by the control section
10 reading out the installation program M1 will be described. As
shown in the FIG. 5, the control section 10 reads out the installation
program M1 from the storage medium M loaded to the data reading
section 60, according to the operation direction from the operating
section 30 and so on, and realizes the functions as the above-described
installation executing section 11, user interface section 12 and
communication interface 13. In other words, it activates the function
as an installer (Step S11).
[0053]Next, the control section 10 reads in the information of
the printer driver, namely the configuration information M2, from
the storage medium M (Step S12), recognizes the information stored
in the storage medium M such as a product model name of the printer
corresponding to the printer driver so as to recognize an appropriate
model (Step S13). The recognition of the appropriate model is performed
by reading in the printer driver information M21, M22 and so on
of each product or model of the printers in the storage medium M.
[0054]Next, the control section 10 searches the appropriate model
printer corresponding to the printer driver stored in the storage
medium M from the equipments connected with the communication section
40 by the appropriate model recognized in the configuration information
M2 and the searching by the equipment searching section 132 (Step
S14). Specifically, the control section 10 compares the "product
name" (model name) of the data searched by the equipment searching
section 132 as shown in table 1 with the information of the product
name or the model name such as the printer driver information M21
and M22, and detect the appropriate model printer.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 IP ADDRESS 10.20.30.40 10.20.30.41 10.20.30.42
PRODUCT NAME MODEL A MODEL A MODEL B NICK NAME ABC ABC2 KEN LOCATION
ENTRANCE CENTER KEN'S DESK
[0055]Next, the control section 10 outputs the list of the appropriate
model printer searched by the equipment searching section 132 to
the searched equipment display section 122, and by the control of
the searched equipment display section 122, displays the list of
the searched appropriate model printer on the searched equipment
display screen 21 of the display section 20 as shown in FIG. 6 (Step
S15).
[0056]Next, the control section 10 acquires the information of
the printer selected by operation on the operation part 30 from
the appropriate model printers listed on the searched equipment
display screen 21 (the printer highlighted in FIG. 6) by using the
equipment information acquiring section 131 (Step S16). The information
acquired by the equipment information acquiring section 131, as
shown in table 2, includes the information of the optional setup
of the equipments as "optional extras" and the information
of the outward color of the equipment as "exterior color"
as well as the information acquired in the equipment searching section.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 IP ADRESS 10.20.30.40 10.20.30.41 10.20.30.42
PRODUCT NAME MODEL A MODEL A MODEL B NICK NAME ABC ABC2 KEN LOCATION
ENTRANCE CENTER KEN'S DESK OPTIONAL FINISHER NO FINISHER NOTHING
EXTRAS NO ADDITIONAL ADDITIONAL TRAY TRAY EXTERIOR BLACK WHITE BLUE
COLOR
[0057]Next, the control section 10 outputs the information acquired
by the equipment information acquiring section 131 to the equipment
information display section 121, and by the control of the equipment
information display section 121, displays a detail information of
the printer selected on the searched equipment display screen 21,
on the equipment information display screen 22 as shown in FIG.
6 (Step S17). Specifically, it displays the exterior of the selected
printer and so on.
[0058]The exterior image of the printer displayed on the equipment
information display screen 22 is composed based on the information
acquired by the equipment information acquiring section 131 and
the image data of each optional setup or exterior of the equipment
stored in the printer driver information M21 and M22. For example,
the "image data" of each "body composition"
as shown in table 3 is stored in the printer driver information
M21.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 BODY COMPOSITION IMAGE DATA BODY IS BLACK
IMAGE DATA OF BODY WHOSE EXTERIOR IS BLACK BODY IS WHITE IMAGE DATA
OF BODY WHOSE EXTERIOR IS WHITE FINISHER IMAGE DATA OF FINISHER
ADDITIONAL TRAY IMAGE DATA OF ADDITIONAL TRAY
[0059]In the printer driver information M22, the "image data"
of each "body composition" as shown in table 4 is stored.
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 BODY COMPOSITION IMAGE DATA BODY IS BLUE
IMAGE DATA OF BODY WHOSE EXTERIOR IS BLUE BODY IS RED IMAGE DATA
OF BODY WHOSE EXTERIOR IS RED ADDITIONAL TRAY IMAGE DATA OF ADDITIONAL
TRAY
[0060]The examples of the composition based on each above-described
data are shown in table 5.
TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 IP ADDRESS 10.20.30.40 10.20.30.41 10.20.30.42
PRODUCT NAME MODEL A MODEL A MODEL B COMBINATION BLACK + WHITE +
BLUE OF IMAGE DATA FINISHER ADDITIONAL TRAY
[0061]When the detail of the "model A" printer whose
"IP address" is "10.20.30.40" among the printers
in table 5 is displayed, as shown in FIG. 6, the exterior image
of the body whose exterior color is "black", and which
comprises the "finisher" as the optional extras is displayed
on the equipment information display screen 22. When the detail
of the "model A" printer whose "IP address"
is "10.20.30.41" is displayed, as shown in FIG. 7, the
exterior image of the body whose exterior color is "white",
and which comprises the "additional tray" as the optional
extras is displayed on the equipment information display screen
22. When the detail of the "model B" printer whose "IP
address" is "10.20.30.42" is displayed, as shown
in FIG. 8, the exterior image of the body which comprises no optional
extras, and whose exterior color is "blue" is displayed
on the equipment information display screen 22.
[0062]Next, the control section 10 acquires the user's selection
of the printer whose printer driver is to be installed from the
selection on the searched equipment display screen 21 and the operation
of the selection button on the operating information display screen
23 made by the operation on the operation section 30 (Step S18).
The control section 10 sends the acquired information of the printer
driver to be installed to the installation executing section 11
and executes the installation of the printer driver (Step S19).
Finally, the control section 10 ends the function as an installer
(Step S20) to end the processing.
Variation of the Embodiment
[0063]A variation of the above-described embodiment, in which the
printers P1, P2 and P3 in FIG. 1 are printers P10, P20, and P30
which have a function as web servers, and the user interface 12
in FIG. 4 is a user interface 12a which has a function as a web
browser, will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. The
explanation to the composition which is as same as the above-described
embodiment is omitted for simplification.
[0064]FIG. 9 is a block diagram which shows the functional composition
of the printers P10, P20, and P30 schematically. FIG. 10 is a conceptual
diagram which shows the functional composition of the variation
schematically when the software installation is executed in the
computer 1.
[0065]The printers P10, P20 and P30, as shown in FIG. 9, comprises
the above-described control section 10P, display section 20P, operating
section 30P, communication section 40P, image forming section 50P
and the storage section 60P, and these sections are connected with
each other by a bus and so on. The storage section 60P stores, as
well as the configuration information to be outputted to the external
equipments based on the control information inputted through the
communication section 40P, a web server program 61P and stats information
page data 62P.
[0066]The web server program 61P is executed by the control section
10P so as to function as a web server which receives the request
by the HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) communication through
the communication section 40 and returns the information of the
requested URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to the source of the request.
The status information page data 62P is a web page data stored in
the URL, in which the configuration information of the equipment
is described in HTML (HyperText Transfer Protocol).
[0067]The web page data in which the configuration information
of the equipment is described is, for example, a page provided with
a link to display, the image data corresponding to the exterior
color and the optional extras as well as text display data. In other
wards, the web page can display the exterior image which shows the
states of the equipment, when it is displayed by a browser.
[0068]The printers P10, P20, and P30 works as web servers and returns
status information page data 62P which is the configuration information
of the equipment to the acquisition request for the equipment information
in which a URL is specified from the computer 1. The printers P10,
P20, and P30 output a HTML statement dynamically responding to the
request such as CGI (Common Gateway Interface) from the computer
1. For example, when the equipment information is requested, the
web page data which is same as the status information page data
62P may be returned based on the configuration information stored
in the storage section 60P.
[0069]In the variation, the functional composition when the computer
1 installs the printer driver 52 is such that the equipment information
display section 121 in the above-described user interface section
12 of the embodiment is an equipment information display section
121a which has the function as the web browser, as shown in FIG.
10.
[0070]When the equipment information display section 121a displays
the detail information of the printer selected on the searched equipment
display screen 21 on the equipment information display screen 22,
it analyzes the HTML statement acquired based on the "URL"
information of the data as shown in table 6, which is acquired in
the equipment information acquiring section 131 and the equipment
searching section 132, and displays it on the screen.
TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 IP ADDRESS 10.20.30.40 10.20.30.41 10.20.30.42
PRODUCT MODEL A MODEL A MODEL B NAME NICK NAME ABC ABC2 KEN LOCATION
ENTRANCE CENTER KEN'S DESK URL http:// http://10.20.30.41/ http://10.20.30.42/
10.20.30.40/ default.html default.html default.html
[0071]The above data of table 6 is acquired from the printers P10,
P20 and P30, and stored in the storage section 60P of each printer.
In each printer, the location of web page in which the configuration
information of the printer, namely the location of the status information
page data 62P is previously configured in the information of "URL"
stored in the storage section 60P. By doing so, the equipment information
display section 121a displays the web page acquired based on the
information of the "URL" so as to display the configuration
information of each printer on the screen.
[0072]Specifically, in the examples of FIGS. 6 to 8, in the state
where one of the printers is selected on the searched equipment
display screen 21, by selecting the button of "go to the web
page" on the operating information display screen 23, it is
possible to display the equipment exterior of the selected printer
on the web page of the equipment information display screen 22.
[0073]As described above, in any above-described embodiments, the
computer 1 acquires the configuration information of the printers
P1 and P2 connected through the communication section 40 by the
equipment information acquiring section 131 when the printer driver
52 is installed, outputs it to the equipment information display
section 121, and displays the equipment information display screen
22 based on the acquired information on the display section 20 prior
to the installation. A user has only to confirm the information
of the printer displayed on the equipment information display screen
22 when the user installs the printer driver of the desired printer.
Accordingly, an extra effort of user's conformation for an installation
can be reduced, and installation can be performed easily.
[0074]The computer 1 acquires the information of the printer displayed
on the equipment information display screen 22 from the configuration
information M2 readable by the computer 1. Accordingly, the computer
1 can acquire the information of the printer to be displayed prior
to the installation without going through the communication section
40, namely without placing a burden on the network N.
[0075]The computer 1 displays the information of the printer displayed
on the equipment information display screen 22 based on the web
page data acquired from the printer which has the web server function
by referring to the URL information acquired from the printer, by
the equipment information display section 121a.
[0076]The computer 1 can communicate with the printer connected
through the communication section 40 by using MIB (Management Information
Base) in SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol).
[0077]The computer 1 can display the information of the optional
setup and the exterior of the printer connected to the computer
1 acquired in the equipment information acquiring section 131 by
the equipment information display section 121 on the equipment information
display screen 22 of the display section 20. Thus, the software
program of the optional setup or the exterior intended by a user
can be easily installed.
[0078]The computer 1 can display the equipment information display
screen 22 by the equipment information display section 121 based
on the information acquired in the equipment information acquiring
section 131 and the image information of each optional setup or
each exterior stored in the configuration information M2. Thus,
a load on the communication section 40 can be reduced, and also
the exterior of the printer can be displayed even if the image data
in each optional setup or each exterior is not stored in side of
the printer.
[0079]The description of the embodiment is to show one example
of the invention, and the present invention is not limited to the
embodiment. The compositions and operations described in the embodiment
can be changed appropriately within the spirit of the invention.
[0080]For example, the variation of the invention has the composition
that the printers P10, P20 and P30 have the function as web servers,
and performs HTTP communication with the web browser of the computer
1. However, FTP communication is possible, where the printer side
functions as a FTP server and the computer 1 side functions as a
FTP client. Further, the composition to acquire from a database
server by SQL (Structured Query Language) and so on is possible.
That is, the CSS (Client Server System) is not limited to HTTP communication
between the web server and the client thereof, but may by FTP communication
or the composition by the database and the terminals.
[0081]In the above embodiment, when the software program corresponding
to the equipment connected to the computer is installed into the
computer, it is possible to confirm the equipment which corresponds
to the software program to be installed by the equipment information
displayed on the display section prior to the installation. As a
result, it is possible to install the software program corresponding
to the equipment intended by a user to the computer easily.
[0082]In the above embodiment, when the software program corresponding
to the equipment connected to the computer is installed, it is possible
to acquire the equipment information displayed on the display section
based on the information of the software program for the installation
corresponding to the each equipment. As a result, it is possible
to display the equipment information without placing a burden on
the communication section.
[0083]In the above embodiment, it is possible to confirm the equipment
information on the web page when the software program corresponding
to the equipment connected to the computer is installed.
[0084]In the above embodiment, it is possible to install the software
program corresponding to the equipment having the image forming
part, which is intended by a user, to the computer easily.
[0085]In the above embodiment, it is possible to acquire the equipment
information connected to the computer by using the MIB (Management
Information Base) in the SNMP communication protocol (Simple Network
Management Protocal).
[0086]In the above embodiment, a user can confirm the information
of the optional setup added to the equipment on the display section,
and can install the software program of the equipment with exterior
intended by the user easily.
[0087]In the above embodiment, a user can confirm the information
of the exterior of the equipment on the display section, and can
install the software program of the equipment with the exterior
intended by the user.
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