JP2001071590A - Printing apparatus and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing apparatus capable of processing the data sent from a cliant side to perform printing processing and capable of obtaining equal output from other printer connected through a network and a control method therefor. SOLUTION: The job transmitted from a cliant 3 is converted to a data system capable of being outputted from a local printer engine 13 to be accumulated in a data accumulation means A17 and, when a remote redirection printer 2 is designated to an output destination, the job accumulated in a data convertion means 15 is converted to the data system corresponding to the redirection printer of the output destination and the resource corresponding to the redirection printer of the output destination is incorporated to be transmitted to the redirection printer 2 along with the corresponding printing attribute from a data transmission means 16.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a printing apparatus having a redirection function and capable of effectively utilizing another printing apparatus connected via a network. It relates to a control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, printers having various functions have been put into practical use with the advancement of functions of printers (printing apparatuses). These functions include, for example, form overlay, external character registration, data modification, and the like. In the form overlay, the printer has a form such as a form, and the client can apply the data to the form and print it simply by transmitting the data to the printer.
In external character registration, external characters are registered in a printer, and printing can be performed using the external characters. The data modification function is a function of modifying data transmitted from the client on the printer side and performing printing.

When a printer capable of processing and printing data on such a printer is used, it is not necessary to process data on the client side, and a desired print output can be easily obtained. .

However, since a high-performance printer capable of processing data on the printer side is expensive, it is often difficult to make all the printers connected to the network high-performance. In such a case, it is common to connect a low-function printer to a network in addition to a high-function printer, and use the printers as needed.

However, since a low-function printer cannot process data on the printer side as described above, jobs may be concentrated on a high-function printer.

Further, when a failure occurs in a high-performance printer or the like, functions such as a form overlay cannot be used, and usually an application for applying data to a form is not installed on the client side. Therefore, a desired output cannot be obtained.

[0007]

As described above, a high-function printer capable of processing data on the printer side, such as a form overlay, often causes a concentration of jobs, and a part of the printer may be damaged. Occurs, printing using the data processing function of the printer cannot be performed, and the business or the like may be stagnated.

[0008] Therefore, the present invention enables a print process to be performed by processing data sent from a client side, and to obtain an equivalent output from another printer connected via a network. It is an object to provide a printing apparatus and a control method thereof.

[0009]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image developing means for developing a print job into an image, and forming an image developed by the image developing means on a sheet. And a characteristic management unit that manages characteristics of another printing device that is an image output destination different from the image output unit, and the output destination of the print job is In the case of an image output unit, the print job is converted into first data corresponding to the image development unit,
A data conversion unit that converts the print job into second data corresponding to the other printing device based on characteristics managed by the characteristic management unit when the output destination is the other printing device; And a data transfer unit for sending the second data converted by the data conversion unit to the another printing apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the data conversion unit includes a first data generation unit that generates the first data based on the print job; And a second data generating means for generating the second data based on the first data generated by the generating means and the characteristic managed by the characteristic managing means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the second data generating means converts the print attribute included in the print job into a format corresponding to the other printing apparatus. It is characterized by comprising conversion means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a resource managing means for managing resources used when the image developing means develops an image based on the first data; The printer further includes a resource conversion unit that converts a resource managed by the resource management unit into a format corresponding to the other printer, and a resource incorporation unit that incorporates the resource converted by the resource conversion unit into the second data. It is characterized by the following.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the other printing device is a plurality of printing devices, and the data conversion means is configured to connect the second data generation means to the other data processing means. It is characterized in that it is provided with a number corresponding to the number of printing apparatuses.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, there is further provided transmission control means for limiting the number of the second data transmitted simultaneously from the data transfer means. .

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus comprising: an image developing means for developing a print job into an image; and an image outputting means for forming and outputting the image developed by the image developing means on a sheet. In the apparatus control method, while managing the characteristics of another printing apparatus serving as an image output destination different from the image output unit, when the image output destination is specified to the image output unit, the print job Into the first data corresponding to the image developing means, and when the output destination of the image is specified to the other printing device, the print job is converted to the other data based on the characteristics of the other printing device. And converting the converted second data to the other printing apparatus.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect of the invention, the second data is based on the first data converted based on the print job and the characteristics of the other printing device. It is characterized by being converted.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect of the present invention, a print attribute included in the print job is converted into a format corresponding to the other printing apparatus, and the converted print attribute is converted to the second attribute. The data is sent to the other printing device together with the data.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the seventh aspect of the present invention, the second data uses a resource used when the image expanding means expands the image based on the first data. The resource converted into a format corresponding to the other printer is incorporated.

[0019] The invention of claim 11 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 7, the number of the second data to be simultaneously transmitted to the other printing apparatus is limited to a preset value.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of a printing apparatus and a control method thereof according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of a printing apparatus (printer) according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a printer (printing apparatus) 1 according to the present invention includes a network 10 connected to a redirection printer 2 (2-1, 2-2, 2-3) and a client 3 (3-1, 3-2). Connected through. Printer 1 is client 3
Print processing is performed based on the job (data) sent from -1 or 3-2, and form overlay or data modification is performed as necessary.

Also, as shown by the dashed arrow in the figure, when data from the client 3-1 is printed by the redirection printer 2-1 via the printer 1, a form overlay or the like is applied by the printer 1. Can be
In this case, regardless of the presence or absence of the form overlay function of the redirection printer 2-1, a print output on which processing such as form overlay has been performed can be obtained from the redirection printer 2-1.

That is, the printer 1 communicates with the client 3-
The data sent from the printer 1 is subjected to processing such as form overlay as in the case of output by the printer 1, and then converted into data in a format suitable for the redirection printer 2-1.
1 and the redirection printer 2-1 prints out.

Accordingly, a plurality of printers 1, for example, as shown in FIG.
Is connected to the network 10, the data from the client 3-1 is transferred to the redirection printer 2.
In the case of performing print output from the printer -1, the output result differs between the case where the data is processed via the printer 1-1 and the case where the data is processed via the printer 1-2. Become. However, the printer 1-1 and the printer 1-
If the two have exactly the same settings, the same output will be obtained regardless of the route.

If the output destination of the data processed by the printer 1-1 is set to the printer 1-2, the printer
Can be obtained from the printer 1-2. That is, the user can output the data created by the client in a desired format using the function of the printer 1 irrespective of the function of the printer (such as the redirection printer 2) of the actual output destination.

Next, the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of the printer 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 includes a resource management unit 11 and an image development unit 12, a printer engine 13, a reception unit 14, a data conversion unit 15, a data transfer unit 16, a data storage unit A17, a redirection printer management unit. Means 18 and data storage means B19.

The resource management means 11 manages resources such as fonts and forms, and the image development means 12
Expand print data into images. Printer engine 1
Reference numeral 3 prints an image by operating an IOT (Image Output Terminal) not shown. The receiving means 14 receives data and the like sent from the client 3. The data conversion means 15 converts the data sent from the client 3 into data suitable for the redirection printer 2 as an output destination, and the data transfer means 16 transfers the data converted by the data conversion means 15 to the redirection printer 2. . The data storage unit A17 temporarily stores data (print data, print attributes, and the like) received from the client 3 by the reception unit 14, and the redirection printer management unit 18 stores information about the redirection printer 2 (adapted data format, The data storage unit B19 temporarily stores the data converted by the data conversion unit 15.

In the printer 1, the data sent from the client 3 is received by the receiving means 14 and stored in the data storing means A17. If the stored data is specified to be output from the printer 1, the data is developed into an image by the image developing means 12, and printed out from the IOT (not shown) by the printer engine 13.

On the other hand, if the data stored in the data storage unit A17 has been designated to be output from the redirection printer 2, the data is transferred to the data conversion unit 1
In step 5, the data is converted into a format suitable for the redirection printer 2, stored in the data storage unit 19, and then transferred from the data transfer unit 16 to the redirection printer 2. When converting data, the data conversion unit 15 uses information on resources managed by the resource management unit 11 and information on the redirection printer 2 managed by the redirection printer management unit 18.

Next, the printer 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining printing and transfer processing in the printer 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printer 1 comprises a plurality of input means 51-1 through 51-n and a conversion scheduler 5
2. Job conversion units 53-1 to 53-n, resource conversion units 54-1 to 54-n, job scheduler 5
5, image developing means 56, image transfer engine control means 57, engine 58, resource converting means 59-1 to 59-n, output job converting means 60-1 to 60-
n, job attribute conversion means 61-1 to 61-n, resource incorporation means 62-1 to 62-n, output job transfer means 63-1 to 63-n, monitoring means 64-1 to 64-n
It comprises.

Note that the relationship between the components shown in FIG. 4 and the components shown in FIG. 3 is such that the input means 51-1 to 51-n are a part of the receiving means 14, the conversion scheduler 52 and the job scheduler 55, The monitoring means 64-1 to 64-n
Corresponds to a part of the control unit not shown. Job converting means 53-1 to 53-n and resource converting means 54-
1 to 54-n, resource conversion means 59-1 to 59-
n, output job conversion units 60-1 to 60-n, job attribute conversion units 61-1 to 61-n, and resource incorporation units 62-1 to 62-n correspond to the data conversion unit 15. The image development means 56 corresponds to the image development means 12, the image transfer engine control means 57 and the engine 58 correspond to the printer engine 13, and the output job transfer means 63-1 to 63-n correspond to the data transfer means 16. Corresponding to the department.

In FIG. 4, data indicated by broken lines are data such as jobs (print data, print attributes) and resources. The resource management means 11 and the data storage means A17 shown in FIG. It is stored in the means B19 (details will be described later).

The operation of the printer 1 will now be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of the printer 1.

The printer 1 starts operating when the receiving means 14 receives data (step 101), and when the received data is a resource (N in step 102).
O), the input means 51 (any of 51-1 to 51-n) converts the resource
Are identified from the resource conversion means 54-1 through 54-n (step 103), and are spooled as resources 75 in the resource management means 11 (step 104). afterwards,
The resource conversion means 54 specified earlier according to the scheduling by the conversion scheduler 52 performs resource conversion for creating a common PDL (preset page description language) based on the resource 75 (step 10).
5), the created common PDL 76 is transferred to the resource management unit 11
(Step 106).

On the other hand, if the received data is a job (YES in step 102), the input unit 51 specifies the job conversion unit 53 for converting the job from the job conversion units 53-1 to 53-n. (Step 107), and specifies the print attribute (step 10).
8) The job is spooled as a job 71 in the data storage unit A17 (step 109). Thereafter, the job conversion unit 53 specified earlier according to the scheduling of the conversion scheduler 52 performs job conversion for creating a common PDL based on the job 71 (step 110), and stores the created common PDL 72 and its print attribute 73 as data. Storage means A1
7, and specifies the output destination (step 111).

Thereafter, when the job is output by the scheduling of the job scheduler 55, if the previously specified output destination is local, that is, if the output is performed from the printer 1 (YES in step 112), the image is developed. The means 56 expands the image based on the common PDL 72 and the print attribute 73 (step 113). When resources are used for image development, the image development unit 56 uses the common PDL 76 and the like managed by the resource management unit 11. When the image development by the image development means 56 is completed, the image transfer engine control means 57 transfers the developed image to the engine 58 and controls the engine 58 (step 114), and outputs the image from the local IOT (step 114). 115).

If the previously specified output destination is the redirection printer 2 (any of 2-1 to 2-3) (NO in step 112), the output corresponding to the output destination redirection printer 2 is performed. Job conversion means 6
0 (any of 60-1 to 60-n), the corresponding job attribute conversion unit 61 (any of 61-1 to 61-n) sets the print attribute 73 stored in the data storage unit A17 to Redirection printer management means 18
Printer characteristic DB (database) 85 managed by
Print attribute instruction data 8 for redirection based on
1 is created and stored in the data storage means B19 (step 116).

After that, the output job converting means 60 operates the corresponding resource incorporating means 62 (any of 62-1 to 62-n). If the common PDL 72 stored in the data storage unit A17 uses resources (YE in step 117)
S), the corresponding resource converting means 59 (59-1 to 5-5)
9-n) to operate the resource management unit 11
Is converted to the resource 77 for the redirection printer 2 (step 118). Subsequently, the resource embedding unit 62 generates a PDL for generating a page image to be output by the redirection printer 2 based on the common PDL 72 (step 119), and generates the page generation data 82 by incorporating the converted resource 77. (Step 120).

On the other hand, if the common PDL 72 does not use the resource, the resource embedding means 62
The page generation data 82 for redirection is created based on L72 (step 121).

When the page generation data 82 is created, the output job conversion means 60 operates the corresponding output job transfer means 63 (any of 63-1 to 63-n),
The print attribute instruction data 81 and the page generation data 82 are transmitted to the redirection printer 2, which is the output destination (step 122).

The monitoring means 64 (64-1 to 64-)
n) monitors the respective redirection printers 2.

Next, the conversion of each data described above will be described. Here, the conversion of the print attribute will be described first.

The print attribute is converted by the job attribute conversion means 6.
1 creates print attribute instruction data based on the print attribute 73 and the printer characteristic DB 85. Print attribute 7
3 is basically described for the printer 1, and describes, for example, the type of paper and designation of double-sided printing as shown in FIG. The printer characteristic DB 85 describes information on the redirection printer 2, and describes, for example, a printer name and a communication protocol as shown in FIG. Although the PAD-filename is described in the printer characteristic DB 85, the PAD file (Print Attribute Description) is described.
In the “ion file: print attribute description file”, the description method of the print attribute for the redirection printer 2 is specified as in the PAD file 85a shown in FIG.

The job conversion means 61 has a printer characteristic DB
The print attribute instruction data 81 (see FIG. 6) corresponding to the description of the print attribute 73 is created with reference to the PAD file 85a specified at 85. Therefore, “iso-a4” which is the designation (media-used) of the paper of the print attribute 73
The description of the print attribute instruction data 81 corresponding to “−white” is “<< PageSize [595 842] >>”.
setpagedevice ”, and the description of the print attribute instruction data 81 corresponding to“ duplex ”which is the double-sided print designation (plex) of the print attribute 73 is“ << Du ”.
plex true >> setpagedice "
Becomes

Next, the job conversion by the job conversion means 53, the incorporation of resources by the resource incorporation means 62, and the conversion of resources by the resource conversion means 59 will be described. Here, a case will be described in which the redirection printer 2-1 supports the form overlay function and the redirection printer 2-2 does not support the form overlay function, and each of them is designated as an output destination.

When creating a common PDL 72 based on the spooled job 71, the job conversion means 53, if it is necessary to incorporate resources,
Describes how to incorporate resources into This description
For example, as shown in FIG. 8, an instruction for incorporating a resource is described, and both the case where the job is output from the local (printer 1) and the case where the job is output from the remote (the redirection printer 2) are supported. A simple description.

Then, “getFormInstance” is described as a procedure for loading resources,
"ExecFor" is a procedure for using resources.
mInstance ".

On the other hand, the resource conversion means 59 creates a resource 77 corresponding to each redirection printer 2 based on the common PDL 76 of the resource. However, the resource conversion means 59 uses a form resource (for form overlay) like the redirection printer 2-1. As shown in FIG. 9A, the resource 77 to be incorporated into the supported one is “/ Forme”.
“xch definition resource pop” is described, and the resource supported by the redirection printer 2-1 is used. Also, the resource 77 to be incorporated into a resource that does not support the form resource such as the redirection printer 2-2 is “myFormInstanceList 3” as shown in FIG.
"1 roll put", indicating that the form instance is stored in a memory called myFormInstanceList.

Thus, the resource conversion means 59
Creates a plurality of resources 77 and
2 refers to the printer characteristic DB 85 and selects a resource 77 corresponding to the output destination redirection printer 2 and incorporates it into the common PDL 72.

The job attribute conversion means 61 acquires the capability of the redirection printer 2 as an output destination with reference to the printer characteristic DB 85, and creates print attribute instruction data 81 according to this. For example, if the output destination is the redirection printer 2-1, “/ Formfi” is included in the print attribute instruction data 81 as shown in FIG.
ndresource ”, and instructs to search for a form from a resource. If the output destination is the redirection printer 2-2,“ myFormInstall ”is included in the print attribute instruction data 81 as shown in FIG.
anceList ”and the form is myFormI
It instructs to search from the memory called nstanceList.

As described above, the resource incorporation means 62 incorporates the resource 77 according to the capacity of the output destination redirection printer 2, and the job attribute conversion means 61 applies the resource 77 according to the capacity of the output destination redirection printer 2. A desired output result is obtained by creating print attribute instruction data 81 defining a load method and a use method, combining the two, and sending the job to the output redirection printer 2 by the output job transfer unit 63 as one job. Can be.

In the above description, the form overlay function has been described. However, in addition to the above, the form overlay function cannot be directly output by the redirection printer 2 by the printer 1, for example, LCDS printing (LCDS is Line C
This is an abbreviation of “mode Data Stream” and is a format in which a data stream generated by a mainframe host computer flows as it is (not formatted like PDL).
And transfer it to the redirection printer 2).

As described above, the printer 1 can print out the job transmitted from the client 3 from both the local (the IOT of the printer 1) and the remote (the redirection printer 2). The printer 1 sequentially executes the received jobs. When there are many jobs for which remote output is specified, the processing becomes a heavy load, and the local output process may be delayed. .

When the printer 1 is processing a job for which remote output is specified, the printer 1 does not appear to be operating. Therefore, a delay in local output may cause discomfort to the user. It could be.

For example, local output is roughly divided into decomposing processing such as image development and marking processing for drawing on paper. Of these, the decompose process is a high-load process and cannot be performed simultaneously with the remote output transfer process, which also has a high load.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
If three remote jobs are processed while two local jobs are being processed, locally, the time from when the previous sheet is output to when the next sheet is output becomes longer.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 11B, if one remote job is processed while two local jobs are processed, local paper output can be performed at relatively short intervals. Done. However, since the distribution of job execution is related to the performance of the printer 1, local and remote operations are not always performed alternately.
Limit the transfer of remote jobs to 1 for easy explanation
I have one.

Further, in the printer 1, the transmission timing of the remote job from the output job transfer units 63-1 to 63-n is controlled by a transmission control process 90 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the transmission control process 90. As shown in the figure, the transmission control process 90 includes a process ID queue 91 composed of a transmission waiting queue 91a and a transmitting queue 91b, a queue management unit 92, a reception data processing unit 93, a system setting information 94, a transmission start An instruction unit 95 is provided.

The process ID queue manages the IDs of registered transmission processes in a queue. The process ID of the process waiting to be transmitted is managed by the transmission queue 91a, and the process ID of the process being transmitted is managed by the transmission queue 91b. Queue management unit 9
Reference numeral 2 performs queue management such as registration of the transmission process ID in the transmission queue 91a and movement from the transmission queue 91a to the transmitting queue 91b. The reception data processing unit 93
Accepts the sending process and its process ID
Is requested to the queue management unit 92. The system setting information 94 is information that sets the number of simultaneous transmission sessions, that is, the number of queues managed simultaneously in the transmitting queue 91b. The transmission start instruction unit 95 includes a queue management unit 92
Instructs the output job transfer means 63 to transmit a job based on the transmission permission issued when the transmission process ID is moved from the transmission waiting queue 91a to the transmitting queue 91b.

Here, the operation of the transmission control process 90 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 are flowcharts showing the operation flow of the transmission control process 90. FIG.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state of a process ID at the time of operation of “0”.

When the transmission control process 90 starts its operation, first, it performs initialization processing of each unit (step 20).
1). Thereafter, when the received data is input to the received data processing unit 93 (YES in step 202), if the received data is a process ID registration request (step 203).
YES), the queue management unit 92 sets the transmission queue 91a
To register the process ID.

Subsequently, if there is a process ID waiting to be transmitted in the transmission waiting queue 91a, the queue management unit 92 checks the process ID registered in the transmitting queue 91b.
Is checked (step 206). As a result of the check, if the number of process IDs is smaller than the number of simultaneous transmission sessions set in the system setting information 94 (YES in step 207), the first process ID registered in the transmission waiting queue 91a is transmitted to the transmission queue. At the same time as moving to 91b (step 208), the output job transfer means 63 is permitted to transmit the job via the transmission start instructing section 95 (step 209). Also, if there is no process ID waiting for transmission in the transmission queue 91a (NO in step 205),
If the number of process IDs registered in a is equal to or larger than the number of simultaneous transmission sessions set in the system setting information 94 (NO in step 208), step 202
And waits for the input of the next received data (step 202).
NO).

In this way, the transmission process is accepted,
When the number of simultaneous transmission sessions is set to 1, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, the process ID 161 of the transmission process 151 received first is registered in the transmission queue 91b, and the transmission processes 152 and 15 received thereafter are registered.
The process IDs 162 and 163 of the transmission queue 91
a. At this time, the transmission process 1
When 54 is input to the reception data processing unit 93, the process ID 164 is registered in the transmission queue 91a.

On the other hand, when the reception data input to the reception data processing section 93 is a transmission end notification (step 2).
03, NO), the queue management unit 92 deletes the corresponding process ID from the transmitting queue 91b as shown in FIG. 16 (step 210), and thereafter, the transmission waiting queue 91a
If there is a process ID waiting to be transmitted, the number of process IDs registered in the transmitting queue 91b is checked (step 206). As a result of the check, if the number of process IDs is less than the number of simultaneous transmission sessions set in the system setting information 94 (YE in step 207)
S), the first process ID registered in the transmission queue 91a is moved to the transmission queue 91b (step 208), and the transmission of the job is permitted to the output job transfer unit 63 via the transmission start instruction unit 95. (Step 209).

By controlling the number of jobs transmitted at the same time in this way, the local output of the printer 1 is given priority over the remote output. Both can print out.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention, a job transmitted from a client is converted into a data format that can be output from a local printer engine and stored, and a remote redirection printer is designated as an output destination. If it has been configured, the stored job is converted to a data format compatible with the output destination redirection printer, and a resource compatible with the output destination redirection printer is installed and sent to the redirection printer. The same output as the local printer is obtained from the printer, and each redirection printer can be used effectively.

Further, even when the output destination printer is changed due to failure or busy, the stored data can be used, so that the output destination printer can be easily changed without retransmitting the data. Can switch.

Further, since the number of jobs to be transferred to the redirection printer is limited, the performance of local output does not decrease and the user can use the printer more easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which a plurality of printing apparatuses according to the present invention are installed.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the printer 1.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining printing and transfer processing in the printer 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation of the printer 1.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a description example of a print attribute 73;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a description example of a PAD file 85a.

FIG. 8 is a view showing a description example of a common PDL 72;

FIG. 9 is a view showing a description example of a resource 77;

FIG. 10 is a view showing a description example of print attribute instruction data 81.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a processing pattern of a job.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the position of a transmission control process 90.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a transmission control process 90.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of the operation of a transmission control process 90;

FIG. 15 shows a process I during the operation of the transmission control process 90.
The figure (1) which showed the state of D.

16 shows a process I during the operation of the transmission control process 90.
The figure (1) which showed the state of D.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1-1, 1-2 Printer 2, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 Redirection printer 3, 3-1 and 3-2 Client 10 Network 11 Resource management unit 12 Image development unit 13 Printer engine 14 Reception Means 15 Data conversion means 16 Data transfer means 17 Data storage means A 18 Redirection printer management means 19 Data storage means B 51, 51-1 to 51-n Input means 52 Conversion scheduler 53, 53-1 to 53-n Job conversion means 54, 54-1 to 54-n resource conversion means 55 job scheduler 56 image expansion means 57 image transfer engine control means 58 engine 59, 59-1 to 59-n resource conversion means 60, 60-1 to 60-n output job Conversion means 61, 61-1 to 61-n job Sex conversion means 62, 62-1 to 62-n resource incorporation means 63, 63-1 to 63-n output job transfer means 64, 64-1 to 64-n monitoring means 71 spool (job) 72 jobs (common PDL) ) 73 Job (print attribute) 75 Spool (resource) 76 Resource (common PDL) 77 Converted resource 81 Print attribute instruction data 82 Page generation data 85 Printer characteristics DB 85a PDA file 90 Transmission control process 91 Process ID queue 91a Transmission wait Queue 91b Sending queue 92 Queue management unit 93 Received data processing unit 94 System setting information 95 Transmission start instructing unit 151, 152, 153, 154 Transmission process 161, 162, 163, 164 Process ID

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yuichi Kurita 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture KSP R & D Business Park Building Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hayato Kinoshita 3-2-2, Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa No. 1 KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takayuki Tanaka 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 HQ13 5B021 BB02 CC04 EE04 LA01

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus comprising: an image developing unit that develops a print job into an image; and an image output unit that forms an image developed by the image developing unit on a sheet and outputs the image. A characteristic management unit that manages characteristics of another printing apparatus serving as an image output destination different from the image output unit; and a print job corresponding to the image development unit when the output destination of the print job is the image output unit. 1 data, and when the output destination is the other printing device, the print job is converted into second data corresponding to the other printing device based on the characteristics managed by the characteristic management unit. And a data transfer unit for sending the second data converted by the data conversion unit to the other printing apparatus. A printing device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The data conversion unit includes: a first data generation unit that generates the first data based on the print job; a first data generated by the first generation unit; and the characteristic. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a second data generation unit configured to generate the second data based on characteristics managed by a management unit. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the second data generation unit includes an attribute conversion unit configured to convert a print attribute included in the print job into a format corresponding to the another printing device. Printing equipment. 4. A resource management unit that manages resources used when the image expansion unit expands an image based on the first data; and a resource managed by the resource management unit to the other printer. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a resource conversion unit configured to convert the resource into a corresponding format; and a resource incorporation unit configured to incorporate the resource converted by the resource conversion unit into the second data. 5. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the other printing apparatuses are a plurality of printing apparatuses, and the data conversion unit includes the second data generating units in a number corresponding to the number of the other printing apparatuses. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: 6. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising transmission control means for limiting the number of said second data transmitted simultaneously from said data transfer means. 7. A control method for a printing apparatus, comprising: an image developing means for developing a print job into an image; and an image output means for forming and outputting an image developed by the image developing means on a sheet. In addition to managing the characteristics of another printing apparatus serving as an image output destination different from the image output unit, when the image output destination is specified to the image output unit, the print job corresponds to the image development unit. When the output destination of the image is designated to the other printing device, the print job is converted to the first data based on the characteristics of the other printing device. 2. A method for controlling a printing apparatus, comprising: converting the second data into second data; and transmitting the converted second data to the other printing apparatus. 8. The printing method according to claim 7, wherein the second data is converted based on the first data converted based on the print job and characteristics of the other printing apparatus. How to control the device. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the printing attribute included in the print job is converted into a format corresponding to the other printing apparatus, and the converted printing attribute is transmitted to the other printing apparatus together with the second data. The method for controlling a printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein 10. The second data includes a resource obtained by converting a resource used when the image developing means expands an image based on the first data into a format corresponding to the other printer. The method according to claim 7, wherein the control is performed. 11. The control method for a printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the number of said second data to be simultaneously transmitted to said another printing apparatus is limited to a preset value.