JP2004181739A - Network printer and its printing control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing control method of good working efficiency of printers connected to a network by notifying the error to the user who has precedently transmitted data that cannot be printed to the printer, and urging to change printing conditions or to change printer states to enable printing. <P>SOLUTION: The printing condition is designated to printing data received from a host computer. A printing condition confirming part 13 confirms by comparing the printing condition of the received printing data with the printer state. When the printing condition disagrees and printing cannot be started, the printing data is deleted by a data deletion process part 14, and an error notification process part 15 notifies the error by sending an electronic mail to the user who has transmitted the printing data. Thereafter, the printer 1 receives next printing data and starts printing if the printing condition agrees. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a print control method in a case where print data is received and printed from a plurality of host computers in a printer connected to a network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a method of outputting print data at an early stage, for example, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-339111, when an error occurs, the number of print jobs remaining in the printer is notified so that another user can print to another printable printer. Is urged to do so.
[0003]
Further, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-343789 provides a print control method in which a print job whose print conditions do not match is saved and a printable job is interrupted before printing.
[0004]
Further, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-256029 discloses a technique in which when an error occurs in a printer, the occurrence of the error is notified to a notification destination corresponding to the type of the error, and the error is promptly canceled.
[0005]
Also, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-102270 provides that automatic printing can be performed by automatically selecting a printable printer that meets specified print conditions from a plurality of printers connected to a network and performing efficient printing. I have.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2000-339111 A [Patent Document 2]
JP 2000-343789 A [Patent Document 3]
JP 2001-256029 A [Patent Document 4]
JP-A-11-102270
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the present invention, when a printer is connected to a network and a plurality of users print using the printer, when printing of the print data cannot be started because specified printing conditions do not match the printer status, the data is printed. To solve the problem of waiting until the next print data sent by other users can not be printed until the data is canceled or the data is canceled,
Furthermore, an error is notified to a user who has previously transmitted data that cannot be printed to the printer, thereby prompting the user to change the printing conditions or change the printer status in order to enable printing, and to operate the printer connected to the network. An object of the present invention is to provide an efficient print control method.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a network printer of the present invention includes a printing condition checking unit for checking whether printing is possible under specified printing conditions for print data received from a host computer connected to a network,
An error notifying unit for notifying the user who transmitted the print data of an error by e-mail when it is determined that the printing cannot be executed by the printing condition checking unit;
And a print data deleting unit for deleting the print data from the network printer when the print condition checking unit determines that the printing cannot be executed.
[0009]
In the above configuration, the print data received from the host computer includes a mail address for sending an error notification.
[0010]
Further, in the above configuration, the print data received from the host computer includes an error notification necessity flag which specifies whether or not an error notification is required. The flag is determined, and the error notification is not required. In this case, a means for notifying an error is provided.
[0011]
Further, in the above configuration, the print data received from the host computer includes a print data save flag instructing to save the print data without deleting the print data, the flag is determined, and the print data is saved. If it is determined that the print data has been stored in the data save buffer, it is determined whether or not there is data already stored in the data storage unit when the print data is received. It is characterized by comprising means for deleting data.
[0012]
According to the present invention, when printing cannot be started in a printer connected to the network because the printing conditions of the previously received print data do not match, the print data is deleted. The user who sent the deleted print data is notified of the error by e-mail to change the print conditions, change the printer status to enable printing, and change the printer to send the print data, Have the print data sent. The printer from which the previous data has been deleted can receive the next print data, and can print if the print conditions of the next received print data match, so that the printer can print efficiently without waiting for the next user. .
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing system including a printer 1 and host computers 2 and 3 connected to a network 4. The network 4 is connected to host computers 2 and 3 for transmitting print data and a printer 1 for receiving and printing the print data. The printer 1 includes a printer management unit 10, a network control unit 11, a data reception control unit 12, a print condition confirmation unit 13, a data deletion processing unit 14, an error notification processing unit 15, a data save processing unit 16, It mainly includes a print processing unit 17, a data reception buffer 18, a data save buffer 19, and a printer engine 110.
[0015]
The printer management unit 10 controls the operation of the entire printer in order to print the received print data so as to obtain a print result specified under specified conditions.
[0016]
The network control unit 11 communicates with the host computers 2 and 3 connected to the network 4 and performs data transmission and reception control processing.
[0017]
The data reception control unit 12 performs processing for storing print data received from the host computer in the data reception buffer 110. The printing condition check unit 13 performs a process of comparing whether or not printing can be started under the printing conditions specified in the received print data with the status of the printer.
[0018]
When the printing of the received print data cannot be started, the data deletion processing unit 14 performs a process of stopping printing of the print data and deleting the received print data from the printer.
[0019]
When the received print data is deleted from the printer, the error notification processing unit 15 performs a process of transmitting a mail to notify the user who transmitted the print data of the deletion.
[0020]
The data save processing unit 16 stores the print data in a data save buffer when the user cannot start printing the received print data and wishes to temporarily hold the data in the printer without deleting the data. A process for storing the data in the storage 111 is performed. The data saving processing unit 16 is a component required when implementing the invention described in claim 3.
[0021]
The print processing unit 17 controls the printer engine to instruct the printer engine to print the print data.
[0022]
The printer engine 110 is a device that forms an image on a print medium, and the type of color / monochrome, inkjet / laser, or the like is not limited.
[0023]
Although two host computers are shown in FIG. 1, the number is not limited. Further, the network does not depend on the connection form such as wired / wireless, and the communication protocol of the network is not limited.
[0024]
FIG. 2 shows the data format of print data received by the printer. This print data is transmitted from the host computer for each print job. The print data includes at least the e-mail address of the user who transmitted the print data, the print conditions for forming and outputting an image on a print medium, and the image data. Here, the printing conditions include, for example, paper size, designation of single-sided printing / double-sided printing, designation of monochrome / color, and number of copies.
[0025]
For example, when print data is transmitted from the host computer 2 to the printer 1, the network control unit 11 communicates with the host computer 2 and performs control for receiving the print data. Next, the data reception control unit 12 confirms the normality of the received data and interprets the data content, performs data processing if necessary, and stores the data as it is in the data reception buffer 110 if not necessary. Next, the printing condition checking unit 13 checks whether the designated printing condition matches the current printer status. For example, assume that A4 is specified as the paper size in the print data. If the printer is set to a print paper size other than A4 size, and it is determined that the specified print cannot be performed due to the mismatch of the paper size, the data deletion processing unit 14 deletes the print data stored in the data reception buffer. delete. Then, the error notification processing unit 14 sends an e-mail to the user (the e-mail address in the print data) that sent the print data. At this time, the e-mail describes the fact that printing was not possible, the name of the print data, the reason why the printing was not possible, the name of the printer, and the like. Thereafter, the printer receives the next print data from another user, and immediately starts the printing process if the printing conditions match the printer status. On the other hand, the user who has received the e-mail confirms the specified printing conditions, corrects the specified printing conditions if incorrect, and requests the printing again. If you want to print using that printer, set A4 paper to the printer and request printing again. If another printer capable of printing under the specified printing conditions is connected to the network, the printer requests printing to a printer that matches the printing conditions. By doing so, printing desired by a plurality of users can be efficiently realized.
[0026]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a print control operation of the printer according to the present embodiment.
[0027]
According to the present embodiment, the printing condition checking unit 13 performs a checking process before starting printing of print data. At this time, if an error (paper jam, printer failure, etc.) that cannot start printing even if the printing conditions match is detected, printing is temporarily stopped without deleting the print data, and the error is reported. And wait for the error to clear. When the error is cleared, the printing process of the paused print data is restarted.
[0028]
The criteria for determining whether printing is possible under the printing conditions specified in the print data differ depending on the specifications and configuration of the printer. For example, when a color printer is equipped with a black toner and a color toner, if the remaining amount of the color toner is exhausted, depending on the printer, printing may be performed using only the black toner. At this time, if the received print data is monochrome data, the designated desired printing is possible. In such a case, printing can be started. An optimum judgment criterion can be selected according to the specifications and configuration of the printer.
[0029]
Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
[0030]
For example, when the user does not need the e-mail from the printer, an error notification necessity flag is provided in the print data. After the print condition check unit 13 determines that printing cannot be started and the data deletion processing unit 14 deletes the print data, if the error notification necessity flag is not set, an e-mail for notifying an error is transmitted. Then, the processing of the print data ends.
[0031]
Further, for example, if the user does not want to delete the print data when printing cannot be started because the print conditions do not match, a print data save flag is provided in the print data. When the print condition check unit 13 determines that printing cannot be started and the print data save flag is set, the data save processing unit 16 stores the print data in the data reception buffer 18 into the data save buffer 19. At this time, since the print data has not been deleted, no error notification is given to the user. Next, when the printer 1 receives print data from another user, if the print data has been saved in the data save buffer 19, the print data stored in the data save buffer is deleted. After the deletion, an e-mail is sent to notify the user who sent the print data of the error. Before receiving print data from another user, for example, if the desired paper size is set and the print conditions match, the print data stored in the data save buffer can be printed.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in a printer that receives and prints print data from a plurality of computers connected to a network, the print condition specified by the previously received print data does not match the status of the printer. Since the print data is sometimes deleted, the printer receives the next print data from another user, and when the print condition specified by the print data matches the state of the printer, the printer is made to wait. Since printing can be performed without using a printer, the efficiency of use of the printer is improved.
[0033]
Also, when the print data received earlier is deleted, the user who sent the print data is notified by e-mail that the print data has been deleted, so that the user can print the specified print data. It is possible to know at an early stage without going to the place where the printer is installed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system and a functional configuration of a printer according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing data items of print data according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a printer processing operation according to claim 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a printer processing operation according to claims 2 and 3 of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer, 2, 3 ... Host computer, 4 ... Network (LAN), 10 ... Printer management part, 11 ... Network control part, 12 ... Data reception control part, 13 ... Printing condition confirmation part, 14 ... Data deletion processing part , 15 ... Error notification processing unit, 16 ... Data saving processing unit, 17 ... Print processing unit, 18 ... Data receiving buffer, 19 ... Data saving buffer, 110 ... Printer engine.

Claims (3)

In a printer connected to the network,
A print condition confirming unit for confirming whether the print data can be printed under the designated print conditions,
An error notification unit that notifies an error to a user who has requested printing by e-mail when printing cannot be performed under the specified printing conditions;
A print control method comprising: a print data deletion unit that deletes print data that cannot be printed. The print control method, wherein the error notification unit specifies whether or not an error notification is required by a user who has made a print request, and determines whether to perform an error notification according to the specification. A print data save determination unit that determines whether to save the print data after it is determined that printing cannot be performed by the print condition confirmation unit;
A print data saving means for saving print data in a print data saving buffer when it is determined by the print data saving determination means to save;
Save data presence / absence determining means for determining whether or not there is already saved data in the data save buffer when print data is received;
A print control method, comprising: a saved print data deleting unit that deletes the saved print data after the save data presence / absence determining unit determines that the print data is saved.

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