Help file generating method and apparatus

• US 20050125729A1
• Filed: 11/15/2004
• Published: 06/09/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HP Printing Korea Co., Ltd. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Smirnov, Dmitry Evgenievich, Lee, Seung-wan
• Granted Patent: US 7,861,162 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/234
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/30 Creation or generation of source code
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/453 Help systems

Abstract

A method of generating a help file used commonly in different models of image forming apparatuses includes reading a setting value indicating a function provided by one of the image forming apparatuses, setting a field value of a parameter corresponding to the read setting value, and configuring a help message based on the set field value of the parameter. A system to generate a help message includes a configuration module to determine identification information regarding each of a plurality of functions of an object included in one of software versions and characteristic data regarding the software version, and a universal help file including function descriptions for all of the software versions provided in a computer, receiving the identification information and the characteristic data, and generating the help message regarding the object using the function descriptions according to the identification information and the characteristic data. The function descriptions include a section filled with the characteristic data.

Claims

1. A method of generating a help message corresponding to an image forming apparatus connected to a computer, the method comprising:

reading a setting value indicating a function provided by one of a plurality of image forming apparatuses;

setting a field value corresponding to the read setting value; and

configuring the help message based on the set field value using a help file used commonly in the plurality of image forming apparatuses.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the configured help message on a monitor.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the help file is generated using hypertext markup language (HTML).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the help file comprises a compiled HTML.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the reading of the setting value comprises reading the setting value from a driver configuration file of the one of the image forming apparatuses, and the driver configuration file comprises an initialization (INI) file or a registry file.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the setting of the field value comprises setting the field value of the parameter as a predetermined value when the setting value corresponding to a predetermined function indicates that the function is provided by the one of the image forming apparatuses.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the configuring of the help message comprises configuring the help message by adding to the help message a description of the function corresponding to the parameter when the field value of the parameter is set as the predetermined value.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the setting of the field value comprises setting the field value of the parameter as a predetermined value when the setting value corresponding to a predetermined function indicates that the function is not provided by the one of the image forming apparatuses.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the configuring of the help message comprises configuring the help message by deleting from the help message a description of the function corresponding to the parameter when the field value of the parameter is set as the predetermined value.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the help file is generated using a JavaScript program.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining identification information regarding each of a plurality of functions of a particular one of a plurality of objects included in a particular one of a plurality of software versions corresponding to the image forming apparatuses, and characteristic data regarding the particular software version; and

generating the help message regarding the particular object using function descriptions according to the identification information and the characteristic data.

12. An apparatus to generate a help message corresponding to one of image forming apparatuses connected to a computer, the apparatus comprising:

a first unit to read a setting value indicating a function provided by one of a plurality of image forming apparatuses;

a second unit to set a field value of a parameter corresponding to the read setting value; and

a third unit to configure a help message based on the set field value of the parameter using a help file used commonly in different models of the image forming apparatuses.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a fourth unit to display the configured help message on a monitor.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the help file is generated using hypertext markup language (HTML).

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the help file comprises a compiled HTML.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first unit reads the setting value from a driver configuration file of the one of the image forming apparatuses, and the driver configuration comprises an initialization (INI) file or a registry file.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second unit sets the field value of the parameter as a predetermined value when the setting value corresponding to a predetermined function indicates that the function is provided by the one of the image forming apparatuses.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the third unit configures the help message by adding to the help message a description of the function corresponding to the parameter when the field value of the parameter is set as the predetermined value.

19. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the second unit sets the field value of the parameter as a predetermined value when the setting value corresponding to a predetermined function indicates that the function is not provided by the one of the image forming apparatuses

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the third unit configures the help message by deleting from the help message a description of the function corresponding to the parameter when the field value of the parameter is set as the predetermined value.

21. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the help file is generated using a JavaScript program.

22. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the third unit determines identification information regarding each of a plurality of functions of a particular one of a plurality of objects included in a particular one of a plurality of software versions corresponding to the image forming apparatuses, and characteristic data regarding the particular software version, and generates the help message regarding the particular object using function descriptions according to the identification information and the characteristic data.

23. A system for generating a help message in a computer, the system comprising:

a configuration module to determine identification information regarding each of a plurality of functions of a particular one of a plurality of objects included in a particular one of a plurality of software versions, and characteristic data regarding the particular software version; and

a universal help file comprising one or more function descriptions corresponding to the plurality of software versions provided in the computer, to receive the identification information and the characteristic data, and to generate a help message regarding the particular object using the function descriptions according to the identification information and the characteristic data,

wherein the function descriptions comprise a section filled with the characteristic data.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

a control module to receive the identification information and the characteristic data from the configuration module and transmitting them to the universal help file.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein:

the universal help file comprises a plurality of file fragments corresponding to the plurality of objects, each of the file fragments comprising a help message generator and the function descriptions corresponding to the software versions, the help message generator generating the help message regarding the particular object using the function descriptions according to the identification information and the characteristic data; and

the control module selects one of the file fragments corresponding to the particular object based on the identification information and the characteristic data, and transmits the identification information and the characteristic data to the selected file fragment.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the help message generator deletes descriptions of functions that the particular object does not have, according to the identification information, and inserts the characteristic data into a section of the function descriptions to generate the help message.

27. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

an input device to request to provide the help message regarding the particular object included in the particular software version.

28. The system of claim 23, further comprising:

a display device to display the help message generated by the universal help file.

29. The system of claim 23, wherein the characteristic data comprises at least one of a name and an Internet address of a manufacturer of the particular software version.

30. The system of claim 23, wherein the soft versions are formed in software, and the software comprises a printer driver.

31. The system of claim 23, wherein the universal help file generates the help file according to a setting value indicating one of the functions provided by one of a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

32. A method of generating a help message in a system including a computer, the method comprising:

receiving a request to provide a help message regarding a particular one of a plurality of objects included in a particular one of a plurality of software versions;

determining identification information regarding each of a plurality of functions of the particular object, and characteristic data regarding the particular software version; and

generating the help message regarding the particular object using one or more function descriptions according to the identification information and the characteristic data in a universal help file having the function descriptions corresponding to the software versions provided in the computer.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the generating of the help message comprises:

deleting descriptions of functions that the object does not have from the function descriptions according to the identification information; and

inserting the characteristic data into a corresponding section in the function descriptions.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising displaying the generated help message.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein the generating of the help message comprises:

forming the help message according to a setting value indicating a function provided by one of a plurality of image forming apparatuses.

36. A method of generating a help message corresponding to an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:

generating a single help file used commonly in different image forming apparatuses; and

generating a single help message corresponding to the image forming apparatus using the single help file.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the generating of the single help message comprises:

generating a first section in which one or more common functions of the different image forming apparatuses are included; and

generating a second section in which one or more variable sections different in the different image forming apparatuses are included.

38. The system of generating a help message corresponding to an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:

a single help file used commonly in different image forming apparatuses to generate a single help message corresponding to the image forming apparatus using the single help file.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the single help file generate the single help message having a first section in which one or more common functions of the different image forming apparatuses are included, and a second section in which one or more variable sections different in the different image forming apparatuses are included.