JP2011170451A - Printing controller and printing control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing controller and a printing control program for retrieving and presenting the setting items of printing attributes relevant with the history information of printing processing. <P>SOLUTION: A printing control server 2 is provided with: a retrieval sentence input acceptance means 205 for accepting a retrieval sentence; a keyword extraction means 206 for extracting a keyword from the retrieval sentence; a storage part 21 for storing setting item information in which setting items for setting the printing attributes of a printer 3 are associated with keywords; a setting item number-of-matching calculation means 207 for retrieving the setting items matched with the extracted keywords, and for calculating the number of matching of the keywords associated with the setting items; a setting item number-of-matching correction means 208 for correcting the number of matching on the basis of at least one of setting history information 213 in which the printing attributes of the printer 3 are set and processing history information 215 of the printer 3; and a setting item output means 209 for rearranging the setting items on the basis of the corrected number of matching, and for outputting the setting items in the order of arrangement. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus and a print control program.

  As an example of a conventional print control device, if an error occurs during operation of the printing device, the error code, the date and time of occurrence of the error, and the setting attributes of the printing device are accumulated in the error history, and a function for solving the problem by user operation Has been proposed, the error history is totaled, and display items for problem solving are rearranged and displayed based on the totaled result (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-256102

  An object of the present invention is to provide a print control apparatus and a print control program that can retrieve and present print attribute setting items related to print processing history information.

  In order to achieve the above object, an aspect of the present invention provides the following print control apparatus and print control program.

[1] A reception unit that receives a search sentence, an extraction unit that extracts a search word from the search sentence, a storage unit that associates and stores a setting item for setting a print attribute of the printing apparatus and the search word, A history including a setting history of a printing attribute of the printing device, a calculation unit that searches the storage contents of the storage unit and calculates the number of matches of the search term extracted by the extraction unit that matches the search term of the setting item A printing control apparatus comprising: a correcting unit that corrects the number of matches based on information; and an output unit that preferentially outputs the setting items in descending order of the number of matches corrected by the correcting unit.

[2] A setting history storage unit that stores a setting history in which the setting of the printing attribute of the printing apparatus is executed based on the setting item, and a processing history storage unit that stores a processing history executed in the printing apparatus The printing control apparatus according to [1], wherein the correction unit corrects the number of matches based on the setting history stored by the setting history storage unit and the processing history stored by the processing history storage unit. .

[3] Receiving means for receiving a search sentence, extraction means for extracting a search word from the search sentence, and storage means for storing a setting item for setting a printing attribute of the printing apparatus and the search word in association with each other. A storage unit that searches the storage content of the storage unit and that matches the search term of the setting item, calculates a match number of the search term extracted by the extraction unit, and a print attribute setting history of the printing apparatus A print control program for functioning as a correction unit that corrects the number of matches based on history information including, and an output unit that preferentially outputs the setting items in descending order of the number of matches corrected by the correction unit.

  According to the first or third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to search for and present the print attribute setting items related to the print processing history information.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to search and present the setting history related to the print processing setting history and the processing history.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a print control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the print control server. 3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating examples of setting item information, setting history information, and processing history information stored in the storage unit of the print control server. 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating examples of setting history correction information, processing history correction information, and processing-setting item correspondence information stored in the storage unit of the print control server. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search image for setting item search displayed on the display unit of the terminal device. FIGS. 6A to 6C are diagrams for explaining an example of the content of the search text input in the input frame of the search image and an operation of extracting a keyword from the search text. FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing the number of setting item matches calculated by the setting item match number calculating unit and the number of setting item matches corrected by the setting item match number correcting unit, respectively. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a setting item search operation of the print control server.

(Configuration of print control system)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a print control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The print control system 1 is configured by connecting a print control server 2, a printing device 3, and a terminal device 4 via a network 5.

  The print control server 2 changes and registers print attribute settings (hereinafter referred to as “print settings”) when printing on the printing apparatus 3 in response to a request from the terminal apparatus 4, and prints registered in the printing apparatus 3. Execute printing based on the settings. Here, the “print attribute” is a specification when printing is performed. For example, in addition to paper size, font used, print magnification, single-sided / double-sided printing, a finisher such as a stapler or Z-fold, N-up printing ( N mode for printing N originals on one sheet), and whether or not a tray is selected.

  The printing device 3 executes printing via the print control server 2 based on the request from the terminal device 4. In addition to the printing function, the printing apparatus 3 may have other functions such as a scanner and a facsimile, and includes not only a single unit but also a plurality of units corresponding to each function. .

  The terminal device 4 includes a display unit 40 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and an operation unit 41 such as a keyboard and a mouse, and performs printing on the print control server 2 according to the contents input to the operation unit 41. A print setting request and a print execution request to the apparatus 3 are transmitted, display information is received from the print control server 2, and a user interface (hereinafter referred to as “UI”) is displayed on the display unit 40.

  The network 5 is a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, or the like, and may be wired or wireless.

  In addition, although the printing apparatus 3 and the terminal device 4 show a single unit in the figure, a plurality of each may be provided.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the print control server 2.

  The print control server 2 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and the like, and controls each unit and executes various programs. The print control server 2 includes a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and a flash memory. A storage unit 21 that stores information and a communication unit 22 that communicates with the printing device 3 and the terminal device 4 via the network 5 are provided.

  The control unit 20 executes a print control program 210, which will be described later, to thereby generate a UI generation unit 200, a print setting execution unit 201, a setting history storage unit 202, a print execution unit 203, a processing history storage unit 204, and a search statement input reception unit. 205, a keyword extraction unit 206, a setting item match number calculation unit 207, a setting item match number correction unit 208, a setting item output unit 209, and the like.

  The UI generation unit 200 generates information (hereinafter referred to as “UI information”) that can be displayed as a UI on the display unit 40 of the terminal device 4.

  The print setting execution unit 201 executes print settings for printing on the printing apparatus 3 in response to a request from the terminal apparatus 4, and stores the print settings in the storage unit 21 as print attribute setting information 211. In the print settings, a plurality of setting items for setting a plurality of types of print attributes are prepared in advance.

  The setting history storage unit 202 stores the setting items set by the print setting execution unit 201, the set time, contents before and after the setting, and the like as setting history information 213 in the storage unit 21.

  The print execution unit 203 causes the printing apparatus 3 to execute a printing process in response to a request from the terminal apparatus 4.

  The processing history storage unit 204 stores, as processing history information 215, the processing ID, processing time, processing content, and the like executed by the print control server 2 when the printing execution unit 203 causes the printing apparatus 3 to execute printing processing. Stored in the unit 21.

  The search sentence input accepting unit 205 accepts a search sentence input to the search image (see FIG. 5) 40A displayed on the display unit 40 of the terminal device 4.

  The keyword extraction unit 206 extracts a keyword registered in the setting item information 212 from the search sentence received by the search sentence input reception unit 205 as a search term.

  The setting item coincidence number calculating unit 207 calculates, for each setting item, the number of matching keywords extracted by the keyword extracting unit 206 with respect to the keywords registered in the setting item information 212.

  The setting item match number correction unit 208 corrects the number of keyword matches for each setting item calculated by the setting item match number calculation unit 207 based on setting history correction information 214 and processing history correction information 216 described later.

  The setting item output unit 209 rearranges the setting items based on the number of keyword matches corrected by the setting item match number correction unit 208, and generates UI information that can be displayed on the display unit 40 of the terminal device 4 by the UI generation unit 200. Send.

  The storage unit 21 causes the control unit 20 to operate as each of the above-described units 200 to 209, print attribute setting information 211 set by the print setting execution unit 201, and setting items and settings corresponding to the type of print attribute Setting item information 212 including keyword information corresponding to the item, setting history information 213 stored by the setting history storage unit 202, setting history correction information 214 including information for correcting the number of keyword matches, processing history storage unit 204 Processing history information 215 stored by the process, processing history correction information 216 including information for correcting the number of keyword matches, and processing for associating the processing contents of the printing apparatus 3 with the setting items of the print setting item information 212 Various information such as information 217 is stored.

  3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating examples of the setting item information 212, the setting history information 213, and the processing history information 215 stored in the storage unit 21 of the print control server 2.

  The setting item information 212 includes a setting item ID column 212a indicating setting item identification information, a setting item column 212b indicating the name of the setting item corresponding to the type of print attribute, and keywords that are determined in advance in association with the setting item. Have keyword columns 212c, 212d, 212e,.

  The setting history information 213 includes a history ID column 213a indicating identification information of the setting history of the print attribute, a setting item ID column 213b corresponding to the setting item ID of the setting item ID column 212a of the setting item information 212, and print setting. A setting time column 213c indicating the changed time, a pre-change column 213d indicating the content before the setting change, and a post-change column 213e indicating the content after the setting change.

  The processing history information 215 includes a history ID column 215a indicating processing history identification information of the printing device 3, a processing ID column 215b indicating identification information of processing received by the print control server 2 according to the processing of the printing device 3, and It has a processing time column 215c indicating the time when the processing was performed and a processing content column 215d indicating the content of the processing.

  4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating examples of setting history correction information 214, processing history correction information 216, and processing-setting item correspondence information 217 stored in the storage unit 21 of the print control server 2.

  The setting history correction information 214 is information for correcting the number of matches described later (see FIGS. 7A and 7B) based on the information of the setting history information 213, and is an item indicating items as correction conditions. It has a column 214a, a condition column 214b indicating the content of the correction condition, a comparison column 214c indicating the correction condition contrast, and a weight column 214d indicating the correction amount when the condition is satisfied.

  The process history correction information 216 is information for correcting the number of matches (see FIGS. 7A and 7B), which will be described later, based on the information of the process history information 215, and is an item indicating items as correction conditions. It has a column 216a, a condition column 216b indicating the contents of the correction conditions, a comparison column 216c indicating the correction conditions, and a weight column 216d indicating the correction amount when the conditions are satisfied. The setting history correction information 214 and the processing history correction information 216 have been described with respect to the date and time. However, the setting history correction information 214 and the processing history correction information 216 are not limited to this.

  The process-setting item correspondence information 217 is information for associating the process ID with the setting item ID. The process ID field 217a corresponding to the process ID field 215b of the process history information 215 and the setting related to the process contents of the process ID field 217a are set. And a related setting item ID column 217b to indicate an item ID.

(Operation of print control system)
Hereinafter, an operation example of the print control system 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1) Print Setting Operation First, the user operates the operation unit 41 of the terminal device 4 in order to perform print settings when printing on the printing device 3. The terminal device 4 transmits to the print control server 2 a request for print setting when printing on the printing device 3 via the network 5.

  The print setting execution unit 201 of the print control server 2 receives the request from the terminal device 4, and outputs information related to the setting items for print setting, for example, the setting item information 212 shown in FIG. 3 to the UI generation unit 200. The UI generation unit 200 generates UI information based on the information output from the print setting execution unit 201 and transmits the UI information to the terminal device 4.

  The terminal device 4 receives the UI information from the print control server 2 and displays the UI on the display unit 40. The user selects a desired setting item using the operation unit 41 according to the content of the UI displayed on the display unit 40 of the terminal device 4, and prints by inputting a setting parameter or the like in the setting item. The print attribute of the device 3 is set.

  When the print setting execution unit 201 executes print settings, the setting history storage unit 202 of the print control server 2, as shown in FIG. 3B, the setting items of the setting, the time when the setting was performed, and the change contents Are stored in the storage unit 21 as setting history information 213.

(2) Print Execution Operation Next, the user operates the operation unit 41 of the terminal device 4 in order to execute printing by specifying a document to be printed and print settings in the printing apparatus 3. The terminal device 4 transmits a print request to the print control server 2.

  The print execution unit 203 of the print control server 2 receives the request from the terminal device 4 together with the request for the document to be printed and the print setting specification, and controls the printing device 3 to execute printing with the specified content.

  The printing apparatus 3 operates based on the control of the print control server 2 and executes printing. The processing history storage unit 204 of the print control server 2 receives the history information of the processing contents output as the printing apparatus 3 executes the printing, from the printing apparatus 3 as processing history information 215 shown in FIG. Save in the storage unit 21.

(3) Search Text Input Operation Next, when the user is uncertain which setting item can be selected when selecting a setting item in the “(1) Print setting operation”, the user selects a desired setting. The operation unit 41 of the terminal device 4 is operated to search for items. The terminal device 4 transmits a setting item search request to the print control server 2.

  When receiving the setting item search request from the terminal device 4, the UI generation unit 200 of the print control server 2 generates UI information for searching for the setting item and transmits the UI information to the terminal device 4. The terminal device 4 displays a search image for setting item search on the display unit 40 based on the transmitted UI information.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search image for setting item search displayed on the display unit 40 of the terminal device 4.

  The search image 40A includes an input frame 400 for inputting a search sentence 410, a search button 401 for executing a search for a setting item with the search content input in the input frame 400, and setting items 402a to 402 that are search results. And a result display frame 402 for displaying 402c. The setting items 402a to 402c are, for example, link images for moving to a screen for performing detailed settings.

  The user uses the operation unit 41 to input the search sentence 410 in the input frame 400 of the search image 40A displayed on the display unit 40 of the terminal device 4.

(4) Match Number Calculation Operation FIGS. 6A to 6C illustrate an example of the content of the search sentence 410 input to the input frame 400 of the search image 40A and an operation of extracting a keyword from the search sentence 410. FIG.

  Assume that the input search sentence 410 is, for example, a sentence with the content “When the Word data created in A3 is output, it is output in the A2 roll” shown in FIG. The terminal device 4 transmits the input search sentence 410 to the print control server 2.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the setting item search operation of the print control server 2.

  The search statement input acceptance unit 205 of the print control server 2 accepts the search statement 410 transmitted from the terminal device 4 (S1).

  Next, the keyword extraction unit 206 of the print control server 2 uses, for example, “A3”, “Create”, “Word”, “Data”, “Output”, “A2” shown in FIG. Nouns 410a to 410h are extracted as examples of morphemes such as “”, “roll”, and “output” (S2).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, the keyword extraction unit 206 includes “paper size, A series”, “print setting”, “application, data type”, “ The keywords 411a to 411e such as “output” and “paper type” are extracted (S3). The keywords 411a to 411e are extracted based on keyword correspondence information (not shown) in which keywords and nouns are associated in advance.

  Next, the setting item match number calculation unit 207 of the print control server 2 sets the number of keywords 411a to 411e that match any of the keyword columns 212c to 212 of the setting item information 212 shown in FIG. The number of setting item matches is calculated for each setting item ID 212a (S4). For example, when the setting item ID in the setting item ID column 212a is “1”, “output” of the keyword 411d matches the keyword column 212d, and thus is counted as “1”. Similarly, when the setting item ID in the setting item ID column 212a is “2”, the “output” of the keyword 411d matches the keyword column 212e, so “1”, and when the setting item ID is “3”, the keyword Since the “paper size” of 411a and the “paper type” of the keyword 411e match the keyword fields 212c and 212e, “2” is counted.

  FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams showing the number of setting item matches calculated by the setting item match number calculating unit 207 and the number of setting item matches corrected by the setting item match number correcting unit 208, respectively.

  The setting item match number 207A is the number for which the keywords 411a to 411e match any one of the keyword columns 212c, 212d, 212e,. Indicates.

(5) Match Number Correction Operation Next, the setting item match number correction unit 208 first calculates the setting item match number 207A calculated by the setting item match number calculation unit 207 based on the setting history information 213 and the setting history correction information 214. (S5).

  The setting item match number correction means 208 acquires, for example, the setting item ID “1” in the setting item ID field 207a of the setting item match number 207A shown in FIG. 7A, and corresponds to the setting item ID “1”. The information to be acquired is acquired from the setting history information 213 in FIG. The information corresponding to the setting history ID “1” is that of the history ID “1” in the history ID column 213a.

  Next, the setting item match number correction unit 208 acquires information in the condition column 214 b in the setting history correction information 214 that matches information corresponding to the history ID “1” in the history ID column 213 a of the setting history information 213. Here, since the information matching the history ID “1” of the setting history information 213 is processed from the processing time column 215c to “2009/09/25 13:00”, the current date and time is “2009/09/25”. 13:55 ”corresponds to the condition“ within 1 hour ”in the condition column 214 b of the setting history correction information 214. Since this condition is defined as the weight “* 10 + 5” in the weight column 214d, the setting item match number correction unit 208 corresponds to the setting item ID field 207a of the setting item match number 207A corresponding to the setting item ID “1”. By multiplying the number of matches “1” in the number-of-matches column 207b by 10 and adding five, it is corrected to “15” as in the correction setting item match number 207B of FIG. 7B.

  The setting item match number correction unit 208 corrects the setting item match number 207A calculated by the setting item match number calculation unit 207 based on the processing history information 215, the processing history correction information 216, and the processing-setting item correspondence information 217. (S6).

  For example, the setting item coincidence number correcting unit 208 acquires the setting item ID “3” in the setting item ID field 207a of the setting item coincidence number 207A illustrated in FIG. 7A and relates to the setting item ID “3”. The process ID is acquired from the process-setting item correspondence information 217 in FIG. The process ID “3” including “3” in the related setting item ID field 217b of the process-setting item correspondence information 217 is acquired from the process ID field 217a.

  Next, the setting item match number correction unit 208 acquires the information including the acquired process ID “3” from the process history information 215 shown in FIG. 3C (for example, the history ID “3”) and matches the information. The weight “* 2 + 1” corresponding to the information is doubled by the number of matches “1” in the match number field 207b corresponding to the setting item ID “3” of the setting item match number 207A to add “1”, thereby FIG. The correction setting item match number 207B in (b) is corrected to “3”.

(6) Setting Item Output Operation Next, the setting item output unit 209 preferentially selects the setting item ID field 207c based on the matching number 207d of the correction setting item matching number 207B (S7), and the UI generation unit 200 UI information to be displayed as setting items 402a to 402c in the result display frame 402 shown in FIG. 5 from the top among the selected setting items is generated (S8).

  Next, the terminal device 4 receives the UI information from the print control server 2, and sets the setting item IDs “3”, “1”, and “2” in the result display frame 402 of the search image 40A on the display unit 40 in the order. Setting items 402a to 402c are displayed.

[Other embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, the matching number correction based on the setting history information and the matching number correction based on the processing history information may be executed in reverse order. Further, the number of matches may be corrected based on history information regarding the printing apparatus 3 other than the setting history information and the processing history information.

  In addition, the UI generation unit 200, the print setting execution unit 201, the setting history storage unit 202, the print execution unit 203, the processing history storage unit 204, the search statement input reception unit 205, the keyword extraction unit 206, which are used in the above embodiment. The setting item coincidence number calculating unit 207, the setting item coincidence number correcting unit 208, and the setting item output unit 209 may be read from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM into a storage unit in the apparatus and connected to a network such as the Internet. You may download from the server apparatus etc. to the memory | storage part in an apparatus. Moreover, you may implement | achieve part or all of the means used by the said embodiment by hardware, such as ASIC.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Print control system, 2 ... Print control server, 3 ... Printing apparatus, 4 ... Terminal device, 5 ... Network, 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Memory | storage part, 22 ... Communication part, 40 ... Display part, 40A ... Search image , 41 ... operation unit, 200 ... generation means, 201 ... print setting execution means, 202 ... setting history storage means, 203 ... print execution means, 204 ... processing history storage means, 205 ... search sentence input reception means, 206 ... keyword extraction Means, 207... Setting item match number calculation means, 207A... Setting item match number, 207B... Correction setting item match number, 208... Setting item match number correction means, 209. Print attribute setting information, 212 ... Setting item information, 212 ... Print setting item information, 212 ... Setting item information, 213 ... Setting history information, 214 ... Setting history correction information 215 ... processing history information, 216 ... processing history correction information, 217 ... setting item correspondence information, 400 ... input frame, 401 ... search button, 402 ... result display frame, 402a-402c ... setting item, 410a-410h ... noun, 411a -411e ... keyword, 410 ... search sentence

Claims (3)

An accepting means for accepting a search sentence;
Extraction means for extracting a search term from the search sentence;
Storage means for storing a setting item for setting a printing attribute of the printing apparatus and a search term in association with each other;
Searching the storage contents of the storage means, and calculating means for calculating the number of matches of the search terms extracted by the extraction means, which matches the search term of the setting item;
Correction means for correcting the number of matches based on history information including a print attribute setting history of the printing apparatus;
An output unit that preferentially outputs the setting items in descending order of the number of matches corrected by the correction unit. A setting history storage means for storing a setting history in which the setting of the printing attribute of the printing apparatus is executed based on the setting item;
Processing history storage means for storing a processing history executed in the printing apparatus;
The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction unit corrects the number of matches based on the setting history stored by the setting history storage unit and the processing history stored by the processing history storage unit. Computer
An accepting means for accepting a search sentence;
Extraction means for extracting a search term from the search sentence;
Storage means for storing a setting item for setting a printing attribute of the printing apparatus and a search term in association with each other;
Searching the storage contents of the storage means, and calculating means for calculating the number of matches of the search terms extracted by the extraction means, which matches the search term of the setting item;
Correction means for correcting the number of matches based on history information including a print attribute setting history of the printing apparatus;
A print control program that functions as an output unit that preferentially outputs the setting items in descending order of the number of matches corrected by the correction unit.

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