JP2018149736A - Image formation apparatus, control method and program of image formation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow newly-input printing data of an individual user to be properly reserved even in a case where the storage amount of the printing data of the individual user reaches the upper limit in reservation printing.SOLUTION: An image formation apparatus includes: extraction means which extracts bibliographic information of printing data from the received printing data; and storage control means which performs control to store the extracted bibliographic information in any of a common bibliographic table storing common bibliographic information being the bibliographic information of the printing data shared by plural users and an individual bibliographic table allocated for each user and storing individual bibliographic information being the bibliographic information of the printing data that can be accessed by an individual user. The storage control means stores the extracted bibliographic information in the common bibliographic table when the storage number of the individual bibliographic information in the individual bibliographic table that should store the individual bibliographic information exceeds the prescribed upper limit value in a case where the extracted bibliographic information is the individual bibliographic information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus control method, and a program, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus capable of executing reservation printing for temporarily storing print data, an image forming apparatus control method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, devices such as multifunction peripherals have used a mechanism (reserved printing) in which received print data is not immediately printed but is temporarily stored in a storage area and managed. In reservation printing, a storage area for storing print data is assigned to each user. In addition, in order to prevent the storage area of the entire multifunction peripheral from being compressed, an upper limit is set for the storage amount (storage size and storage number) of print data for each user. However, if an upper limit is set for the print data storage amount, the newly input print data cannot be retained when the print data storage amount reaches the upper limit.

  Patent Document 1 describes a method of storing print data of a user in another user's storage area when the storage amount of the print data of the user exceeds an upper limit due to print data newly input by the user. ing.

JP 2010-094772 A

  However, in the method described in Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the storage area allocated to another user may be compressed, and the other user may not be able to newly input his print data. is there.

  Therefore, the present invention provides an image forming apparatus capable of appropriately retaining newly inputted personal user print data even when the storage amount of the personal user print data reaches an upper limit in the reservation printing. The purpose is to do.

  An image forming apparatus according to the present invention is an image forming apparatus capable of executing reservation printing that retains received print data and executes printing of print data in accordance with a print instruction from a user, from the received print data, Extracting means for extracting bibliographic information of the print data, a shared bibliographic table storing shared bibliographic information that is bibliographic information of print data shared by a plurality of users, and a personal bibliographic table assigned to each user, Storage control means for performing control for storing the extracted bibliographic information in any of the personal bibliographic tables that store the personal bibliographic information that is the bibliographic information of the print data that can be accessed by the storage control means, If the extracted bibliographic information is personal bibliographic information, the personal bibliographic information in the personal bibliographic table where the personal bibliographic information should be stored When the number of storage exceeds a predetermined upper limit value, and storing, the bibliographic information extracted in the shared bibliographic table.

  According to the present invention, in the reservation printing, even when the storage amount of the print data of the individual user reaches the upper limit, the newly input print data of the individual user can be appropriately reserved.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the information processing system in 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of PC in 1st Embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a multifunction machine according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a function structure of the various apparatuses in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the conventional submission process. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a bibliographic information extraction process. It is a figure for demonstrating a personal bibliography table and a submission upper limit table. It is a figure for demonstrating the conventional screen structure of a personal bibliography list display screen. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the submission process in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the shared bibliographic information determination table in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the shared bibliographic table in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the personal bibliography list display process in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the personal bibliography list display screen in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in 1st Embodiment of the bibliographic list display control part at the time of receiving display switching operation. It is a figure which shows an example of the shared bibliography list display screen in 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in 1st Embodiment of the bibliographic list display control part when printing operation with respect to the personal bibliographic information preserve | saved at the shared bibliographic table is performed.

  Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
First, an example of the configuration of the information processing system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an information processing system according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system according to the first embodiment includes an information processing apparatus 10 and an image forming apparatus 20. The information processing apparatus 10 and the image forming apparatus 20 can communicate with each other via the network 30.

  The information processing apparatus 10 is, for example, a PC. Hereinafter, the information processing apparatus 10 is referred to as a PC 10. A printer driver application or an LPR protocol daemon (LPD) application is installed in the PC 10. Thereby, the PC 10 can transmit print data to the image forming apparatus 20.

  The image forming apparatus 20 is a multifunction machine, for example. Hereinafter, the image forming apparatus 20 is referred to as a multifunction machine 20. A reservation printing application is installed in the multifunction device 20. As a result, the multi-function device 20 can temporarily store (retain) the print data and execute reservation printing that executes printing of the print data in accordance with a print instruction from the user.

  Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the PC 10 in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the PC 10.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the PC 10 includes a controller 200, an input device 209, a display device 210, and an external memory 211. The controller 200 includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an input controller 205, a video controller 206, a memory controller 207, and a communication interface controller (communication I / F controller) 208. Each component of the controller 200 is connected to each other by a system bus 204.

  The CPU 201 is an arithmetic device that comprehensively controls the controller 200 and controls each component connected to the system bus 204. The ROM 202 or the external memory 211 stores a basic input / output system (BIOS) that is a control program of the CPU 201 and an operating system program (OS). The ROM 202 or the external memory 211 stores various programs necessary for realizing the functions executed by the PC 10.

  The RAM 203 functions as a main memory or work area for the CPU 201. The CPU 201 implements various operations by loading a program or the like necessary for executing the processing from the ROM 202 or the external memory 211 to the RAM 203 and executing the loaded program.

  The input controller 205 controls input from the input device 209. The video controller 206 controls display on the display device 210. The memory controller 207 controls access to the external memory 211.

  The communication I / F controller 208 is communicably connected to an external device via a network (for example, the network 30 shown in FIG. 1), and controls communication with the external device. Thereby, the PC 10 can communicate with an external device via the network, for example, using TCP / IP.

  Note that the CPU 201 can display information such as characters on the display device 210 by executing an outline font rasterization process on a display information area in the RAM 203, for example. Further, the CPU 201 can input a user instruction with a mouse cursor (not shown) on the display device 210.

  The input device 209 is a pointing device such as a keyboard or a mouse. The display device 210 is a CRT display device or a liquid crystal display device. The external memory 211 is a compact flash (registered trademark) memory connected to a hard disk (HD), a flexible disk (FD), or a PCMCIA card slot via an adapter. The external memory 211 stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, editing files, various data, and the like. Various programs recorded in the external memory 211 are loaded into the RAM 203 as necessary and executed by the CPU 201. Also, definition files and various information tables used when executing the various programs are also stored in the external memory 211.

  Next, an example of a hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 20 in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 20.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the multi-function device 20 includes a controller unit 300, an operation unit 308, a printer 312 that functions as an image output device, a scanner 314 that functions as an image input device, and a card reader 318. The controller unit 300 is connected to the scanner 314 and the printer 312. The controller unit 300 inputs and outputs image data and device information to and from external devices via a LAN (for example, the network 30 shown in FIG. 1) or a public line (WAN) (for example, PSTN or ISDN).

  The controller unit 300 includes a CPU 301, a RAM 302, a ROM 303, a hard disk drive (HDD) 304, a network I / F 305, a modem 306, an operation unit I / F 307, an external I / F 317, and an image bus I / F 319. The above components are connected to the system bus 309. The controller unit 300 includes a raster image processor (RIP) 310, a printer I / F 311, a scanner I / F 313, and an image processing unit 316. The above components are connected to the image bus 315.

  A CPU 301 is a processor that controls the entire apparatus. A RAM 302 is a system work memory for the CPU 301 to operate, and is used as a program memory for recording a program and an image memory for temporarily recording image data. The ROM 303 stores a system boot program and various control programs. The HDD 304 stores various programs for controlling the system, image data, and the like.

  The operation unit I / F 307 is an interface with the operation unit 308. The operation unit 308 is, for example, a touch panel or a keyboard. The operation unit I / F 307 notifies the CPU 301 of key information (for example, pressing of the start button) input from the operation unit 308.

  The network I / F 305 is connected to a LAN (for example, the network 30 shown in FIG. 1). The network I / F 305 also has a wireless communication function. For example, the network I / F 305 performs data input / output with other devices using infrared rays, Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or the like. A modem 306 is connected to the public line network and inputs / outputs data such as FAX transmission / reception.

  The external I / F 317 is an interface that accepts external inputs such as USB, IEEE 1394, printer port, and RS-232C. For example, a card reader 318 for reading an IC card (storage medium) used for user authentication or the like is connected to the external I / F 317. Then, the CPU 301 controls the card reader 318 via the external I / F 317, reads information from the IC card, and acquires the read information.

  An image bus I / F 319 is a bus bridge that connects the system bus 309 and an image bus 315 that transfers image data at high speed, and converts the data structure. The image bus 315 is, for example, a PCI bus or IEEE1394.

  For example, the RIP 310 develops vector data such as a PDL (Page Description Language) code into a bitmap image. A printer I / F 311 connects the printer 312 and the controller unit 300 and performs synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data. A scanner I / F 313 connects the scanner 314 and the controller unit 300, and performs synchronous / asynchronous conversion of image data.

  The image processing unit 316 corrects, processes, and edits input image data, and performs printer correction, resolution conversion, and the like on print output image data. Further, the image processing unit 316 performs rotation processing of image data, performs compression / decompression processing such as JPEG on multi-valued image data, and compression / decompression such as JBIG, MMR, MH, etc. on binary image data. Process.

  The scanner 314 illuminates an image (original image) on a sheet serving as an original and scans it with a CCD line sensor, thereby converting the image into an electrical signal as raster image data. The sheet is set on the tray of the document feeder, and the user of the multifunction machine 20 instructs the start of scanning via the operation unit 308. Then, the CPU 301 gives an instruction to the scanner 314, the original paper is fed one by one by the original feeder, and the original image reading operation is performed.

  The printer 312 prints an image on a sheet based on the raster image data. The printing method may be any method such as an electrophotographic method using a photosensitive drum or a photosensitive belt, or an ink jet method in which ink is ejected from a minute nozzle array to directly print an image on a sheet. I do not care. A printing operation in the printer 312 is started by an instruction from the CPU 301. Note that the multifunction machine 20 may include a plurality of paper feed stages and a paper cassette corresponding to each paper feed stage so that the printer 312 can select different paper sizes and different paper orientations. Good.

  The operation unit 308 has an LCD, and a touch panel sheet is pasted on the LCD. The operation unit 308 displays a system operation screen on the LCD, and acquires key position information via the touch panel sheet when a key in the operation screen is pressed. The operation unit 308 transmits the acquired position information to the CPU 301 via the operation unit I / F 307. The operation unit 308 includes, for example, a start key, a stop key, an ID key, a reset key, and the like as various operation keys. Here, the start key is used when starting a document image reading operation. There is a green and red two-color LED in the center of the start key, and the color of the two-color LED indicates whether the start key can be used. The stop key serves to stop the operation during operation. The ID key is used when inputting the user ID of the user. The reset key is used when initializing settings from the operation unit. The operation unit 308 does not need to have a touch panel sheet, and has only an LCD for displaying a character string (a character string indicating a print state or a document name being printed) and various operation keys. Also good.

  A card reader 318 reads information stored in an IC card and information stored in an IC chip provided in a mobile terminal (not shown) under the control of the CPU 301. The card reader 318 notifies the CPU 301 of the read information via the external I / F 317. The card reader 318 corresponds to the NFC communication standard, and can read and write to an IC card or an IC chip of a portable terminal. In addition, when a portable terminal compatible with the NFC standard is held over a card reader compatible with the NFC standard, authentication is performed and pairing between the portable terminal and the printer (multifunction device) is performed. Then, P2P communication is established between the handheld portable terminal and the printer (multifunction device), and data communication becomes possible. In addition, it is also possible to take over communication (handover) to Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark), which are high-speed communication standards, and to perform high-speed communication between the portable terminal and the printer (multifunction device). . For example, by holding the portable terminal over a card reader, the image data stored in the portable terminal can be transmitted to a printer (multifunction machine). Since the NFC communication standard is a well-known technique, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the above-described multifunction device 20, there is a platform for controlling the multifunction device 20, and an authentication application for communicating with the authentication server is operating on this platform. The authentication application is stored in the HDD 304. A login context for storing user information during login and a storage area for various setting information managed by the platform are secured on the HDD 304. On the platform, an application for extending the main body function of the multifunction machine 20 is operating. These applications are executed using a platform API (Application Programming Interface). In this way, each function of the printer is controlled by operating each application via the platform.

  The multi-function device 20 has a web browser and can cooperate with the web system. For example, the multi-function device 20 displays a screen on the web browser based on the screen information received from the web application server. When a user instruction is input via a screen displayed on the Web browser, a request is made to the Web application server, and the multi-function device 20 receives a command from the Web application server in response to the request. Accordingly, operations such as scan processing and print processing are executed by the multifunction device 20.

  With the configuration described above, the multi-function device 20 can transmit the image data read from the scanner 314 to the network 30 and output (print) the print data received from the network 30 by the printer 312. The image data read from the scanner 314 can be faxed to the public line network by the modem 306, and the image data received by fax from the public line network can be output (printed) by the printer 312.

  Next, an example of a functional configuration of each device in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of each apparatus.

  The PC 10 includes a print data generation unit 401 and a print data transmission unit 402. The functions of the print data generation unit 401 and the print data transmission unit 402 are realized by a printer driver of the PC 10, for example. The print data generation unit 401 has a function of generating print data. The print data transmission unit 402 has a function of transmitting print data to an external device. The print data transmission unit 402 transmits print data to the multifunction device 20, for example.

  The multi-function device 20 includes a print data receiving unit 411, a print data storage control unit 412, a bibliographic information extraction unit 413, a personal bibliographic storage control unit 414, an excess determination unit 415, a shared bibliographic storage control unit 416, a bibliographic list display control unit 417, And a print data printing unit 418.

  The print data receiving unit 411 has a function of receiving print data from an external device. The print data receiving unit 411 receives the print data transmitted by the print data transmitting unit 402 of the PC 10, for example. The print data storage control unit 412 has a function of storing the print data received by the print data receiving unit 411 in a storage unit such as the HDD 304.

  The bibliographic information extraction unit 413 has a function of extracting bibliographic information from the print data. The bibliographic information is information indicating print data attributes such as the name of the print data and the owner of the print data. Details of the bibliographic information will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  The personal bibliographic storage control unit 414 has a function of performing control to store personal bibliographic information in a personal area in a storage unit such as the HDD 304. Personal bibliographic information is bibliographic information of print data that can be accessed by an individual user. More specifically, bibliographic information including information that can specify the owner of a job among the bibliographic information extracted by the bibliographic information extraction unit 413. It is. For example, bibliographic information including a user name. The user name will be described later with reference to FIG. Depending on the setting contents of a shared bibliographic information determination table (table shown in FIG. 10) to be described later, even bibliographic information including information that can identify the job owner may be treated as shared bibliographic information. The personal area is an area for storing personal bibliographic information, and is an area secured for each user. In the present embodiment, a personal bibliographic table (to be described later) is provided in the HDD 304 as a personal area. Then, the personal bibliographic storage control unit 414 stores the personal bibliographic information in the personal bibliographic table. An upper limit is set for the number of bibliographic information that can be stored in the personal bibliographic table. Storing bibliographic information in the bibliographic table means that print data corresponding to each bibliographic information is also stored in the storage unit such as the HDD 304. That is, by providing an upper limit value for the number of bibliographic information stored, it is possible to prevent the print data storage area of the entire multifunction device 20 from being compressed.

  The excess determination unit 415 has a function of determining whether the number of bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliographic table exceeds the upper limit by newly storing the bibliographic information extracted by the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 in the personal bibliographic table. In other words, the excess determination unit 415 has a function of determining whether the number of bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliography table has reached the upper limit. The upper limit value of the number stored in the personal bibliographic table will be described later.

  The shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 has a function of performing control to store shared bibliographic information in a shared area in a storage unit such as the HDD 304. The shared area is an area for storing shared bibliographic information. In the present embodiment, a shared bibliographic table (to be described later) is provided as a shared area in the HDD 304. Then, the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 stores the shared bibliographic information in the shared bibliographic table. The shared bibliographic information is bibliographic information that matches the conditions set in the multifunction device 20 among the bibliographic information extracted by the bibliographic information extraction unit 413, and all users who use the multifunction device 20 can view and operate. Bibliographic information possible. That is, the shared bibliographic information is bibliographic information shared among a plurality of users, and the shared bibliographic table is a table for managing shared documents that do not limit the users who can browse and operate. In this embodiment, it is assumed that only one shared bibliographic table is stored in a storage unit such as the HDD 304. Since the shared bibliographic table is an area shared by a plurality of users, the upper limit value of the number of stored bibliographic information is larger than the personal bibliographic table that is assumed to be used by individual users (one user). The upper limit value of the number of stored shared bibliographic tables will be described later.

  The bibliographic list display control unit 417 outputs a list of bibliographic information stored in each bibliographic table by the personal bibliographic storage control unit 414 and the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 to the display device (LCD of the operation unit 308) for display. It has a function to make it.

  Hereinafter, the list of personal bibliographic information is called a personal bibliographic list, and the list of shared bibliographic information is called a shared bibliographic list. In addition, the term “bibliographic list” simply refers to a list of bibliographic information, without being divided into a personal bibliographic list and a shared bibliographic list.

  The print data printing unit 418 has a function of printing data stored in a storage unit such as the HDD 304 by the print data storage control unit 412. In the present embodiment, the print data printing unit 418 outputs the print data stored in the HDD 304 to the printer 312 for printing.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8, a conventional submission process, a bibliographic list (bibliographic table) data structure, and a bibliographic information screen will be described. Thereafter, with reference to FIGS. 9 to 16, the submission process, the data structure of the bibliographic list (bibliographic table), and the bibliographic information screen in the present embodiment will be described. For convenience of explanation, the conventional submission process will be described below in accordance with the functional configuration of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 4. However, a conventional multifunction peripheral does not necessarily have the functional configuration of the present embodiment. Absent.

  First, an outline of a conventional submission process will be described with reference to FIG. The submission process refers to a process from receiving print data to storing bibliographic information. Here, a case where print data including personal bibliographic information is received will be described. In step S <b> 501, the print data reception unit 411 of the multifunction device 20 receives print data transmitted from the external device to the multifunction device 20. For example, the print data receiving unit 411 receives print data transmitted from the PC 10 that is communicably connected to the multifunction machine 20. In step S502, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 of the multifunction machine 20 extracts bibliographic information from the received print data. Here, the processing (bibliographic information extraction processing) in step S502 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing bibliographic information extraction processing.

  In step S <b> 601, the print data storage control unit 412 of the multifunction machine 20 stores the received print data in a storage unit such as the HDD 304.

  In step S602, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 of the multifunction machine 20 determines the print data stored in the storage unit such as the HDD 304 in step S601 as a bibliographic information extraction target. Then, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 reads the print data that is the target of bibliographic information extraction from the storage unit such as the HDD 304 into the RAM 302.

  In step S603, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 of the multifunction machine 20 analyzes the print data read into the RAM 302 in step S602, and extracts bibliographic information. Then, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 holds the extracted bibliographic information in the RAM 302.

  Returning to the description of FIG. In step S503, the excess determination unit 415 of the MFP 20 refers to the bibliographic information held in the RAM 302 in step S502 (specifically, step S603). If the user name is included in the referenced bibliographic information, the excess determination unit 415 determines the bibliographic information as personal bibliographic information. Then, the excess determination unit 415 refers to the personal bibliographic table of the user indicated by the user name stored in the HDD 304, and determines whether the number of bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliographic table has reached the upper limit. .

  Here, the personal bibliographic table and the submission upper limit table will be described with reference to FIG. The personal bibliographic table is a table that stores personal bibliographic information. An example of the personal bibliographic table is shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b). FIG. 7A shows a personal bibliographic table of a user whose user name is “user1”. FIG. 7B shows a personal bibliographic table of a user whose user name is “user2”. Thus, the personal bibliographic table is stored in the storage unit such as the HDD 304 for each user.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the personal bibliographic table stores bibliographic information including information shown in items 701 to 706 for each print data. The bibliographic information other than the items 701 to 706 may be included in the personal bibliographic information.

  The item 701 stores a bibliographic ID that is identification information of each bibliographic information. The bibliographic ID is an ID given to the bibliographic information extracted from the print data by the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 of the multifunction machine 20 and held in the RAM 302. In this embodiment, information obtained by combining the user name of the print data and the print data ID is given as the bibliographic ID.

  Here, the print data ID is a unique value that the MFP 20 assigns to each received print data with a serial number, and a number is assigned independently for each personal bibliographic table. In addition, when print data is printed, bibliographic information corresponding to the print data is deleted from the personal bibliographic table, and serial numbers are missing, the print data of the print data newly stored in the personal bibliographic table The ID is given the youngest number among the missing numbers. For example, suppose that print data corresponding to personal bibliographic information whose bibliographic ID is user1_0003 to 0005 is printed in a state where personal bibliographic information whose bibliographic ID is user1_0001 to 0050 is stored in the personal bibliographic table. In this case, since the personal bibliographic information whose bibliographic ID is user1_0003 to 0005 is deleted from the personal bibliographic table, the bibliographic ID of the print data newly stored in the personal bibliographic table is user1_0003.

  An item 702 stores a document name. The document name is the name of print data corresponding to each personal bibliographic information. The name of the print data is a file name of the print data, for example. When the PC 10 accepts a printing operation from the user (for example, pressing a “print” button on a printer driver screen (not shown)), the print data generation unit 401 of the PC 10 acquires a document name to be printed and generates the generated print. Write to the data header. Then, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 of the multifunction device 20 analyzes the print data and extracts the document name written in the header of the print data.

  As will be described later, information corresponding to the items 703, 705, and 706 is also written in the header of the print data. Similarly, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 analyzes the print data, extracts each information written in the header of the print data, and at the timing when the analysis process is completed, 702, 703, 705, and 706.

  An item 703 stores a user name. The user name is the owner name of the print data. The owner name is, for example, a login user name of the PC 10 or a fixed name preset in the PC 10. In the present embodiment, when the PC 10 receives a printing operation from the user, the print data generation unit 401 of the PC 10 writes the owner name in the header of the generated print data.

  The item 704 stores the storage date and time. The storage date / time is the date / time when the corresponding print data is stored in the storage unit such as the HDD 304. In the present embodiment, the time is managed by the multifunction device 20, and the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 of the multifunction device 20 can acquire the time at the timing of analyzing the print data. The bibliographic information extraction unit 413 stores the acquired time in the item 704.

  The item 705 stores the type of print command. The print command is a print data transmission command to the multifunction device 20 received by the multifunction device 20. When the print data receiving unit 411 receives print data, the print command is specified in the print data transmission command and written in the header of the print data. For example, when the received print data is print data transmitted by a printer driver transmission command, the print command = “driver” is written in the header of the print data. Further, for example, when the received print data is print data transmitted by the FTP command, the print command = “FTP” is written in the header of the print data. For example, when the received print data is print data transmitted by the LPR command, the print command = “LPR” is written in the header of the print data.

  The item 706 stores transmission source information. The transmission source information is identification information of the device that is the transmission source of the print data indicated by the bibliographic information. As for the transmission source information, when the PC 10 receives a printing operation from the user, the print data generation unit 401 of the PC 10 acquires, for example, the IP address of the PC 10 itself and writes it in the header of the generated print data. In the present embodiment, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 of the multifunction device 20 analyzes the print data, extracts the IP address written in the header of the print data, and stores it in the item 706.

  FIG. 7C shows an example of a submission upper limit table for setting an upper limit value of the number of bibliographic information stored in the bibliographic table. Assume that the submission upper limit table shown in FIG. 7C is stored in advance in the HDD 304 of the multifunction machine 20.

  An item 711 indicates the type of data. An item 712 indicates the upper limit number of data of the type indicated by the item 711. In the example shown in FIG. 7C, the upper limit value of the number of bibliographic information stored in each user's personal bibliographic table (hereinafter referred to as the personal bibliographic upper limit number) is set to 200. The upper limit value of the number of bibliographic information stored in the shared processing table (hereinafter referred to as the shared bibliographic upper limit number) is set to 2000. Therefore, for example, in the personal bibliographic table shown in FIG. 7A, since 200 pieces of bibliographic information are stored, the number of storages has reached the upper limit. On the other hand, in the personal bibliographic table shown in FIG. 7B, since 150 pieces of bibliographic information are stored, there is a margin of 50 up to the upper limit value.

  If it is determined in step S503 that the number of stored bibliographic information in the referenced personal bibliographic table has not reached the upper limit (NO in step S503), the process proceeds to step S504. On the other hand, if it is determined that the number of bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliography table has reached the upper limit (YES in step S503), the process proceeds to step S505.

  In step S504, the personal bibliographic storage control unit 414 of the MFP 20 stores the bibliographic information temporarily stored in the RAM 302 in step S502 in the user's personal bibliographic table indicated by the user name included in the bibliographic information.

  In step S 505, the bibliographic information extraction unit 413 of the multifunction machine 20 deletes the bibliographic information temporarily stored in the RAM 302 in step S 502 from the RAM 302. The print data storage control unit 412 deletes print data corresponding to the deleted bibliographic information from the storage unit such as the HDD 304. The above is the flow of the conventional submission process.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a conventional screen configuration of the personal bibliography list display screen. When the MFP 20 accepts a user login operation via the operation unit 308, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 can display a personal bibliographic list display screen (FIG. 8A) that can operate the login user's personal bibliographic list. Screen 800) shown in FIG. The screen 800 includes a bibliographic list display unit 801, a drop-down list 802, buttons 803 to 805, a check box 806, and buttons 807 and 808. By operating the drop-down list 802, it is possible to switch between the personal bibliography list display screen and the shared bibliography list display screen. Hereinafter, an operation using the drop-down list 802 is referred to as a display switching operation. Buttons 803 and 804 are buttons for switching whether to display a print waiting list or a printed list on the bibliographic list display unit 801. A button 805 is a button for updating the display of the bibliographic list display unit 801. A button 807 is used to issue a print instruction for print data corresponding to the bibliographic information selected by the check box 806. A button 808 is a button for logging out. A screen 810 shown in FIG. 8B is an error dialog displayed on the front of the personal bibliography list display screen 800 when the number of stored personal bibliographic information of the logged-in user exceeds the upper limit. On the screen 810, a message is displayed to the effect that the storage of the bibliographic information of the logged-in user has failed because the stored number of personal bibliographic information of the logged-in user has exceeded the upper limit.

  As described above, in the conventional submission process, when the number of stored personal bibliographic tables exceeds the upper limit, the multi-function device 20 cannot store new personal bibliographic information in the personal bibliographic table, and the corresponding printing is performed. It is also impossible to store data. In addition, in the conventional personal bibliography list display screen, the user can select which print data corresponds to the personal bibliographic information that was not stored in the personal bibliographic table because the number of stored personal bibliographic tables exceeded the upper limit. It is not possible to know how it was processed.

  Next, the submission process, the data structure of the bibliographic list (bibliographic table), and the bibliographic information screen in this embodiment will be described. Note that the processing of each flowchart described below is executed by the CPU 301 of the multifunction device 20 using the functions of the functional units included in the multifunction device 20.

  First, with reference to FIG. 9, the flow of the submission process in the present embodiment will be described. Note that the processes in steps S901 and S902 are the same as the processes in steps S501 and S502, respectively, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  In step S903, the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 of the MFP 20 determines whether the bibliographic information extracted in step S902 is shared bibliographic information. Specifically, the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 refers to each item of the bibliographic information temporarily stored in the RAM 302 in step S902, and determines the shared bibliographic information stored in advance in the HDD 304 of the multifunction device 20. Determine whether any of the conditions in the table are met. FIG. 10 shows an example of the shared bibliographic information determination table. In the shared bibliographic information determination table, for each determination condition (user name 1002, print command 1003, and print source information 1004), determination condition identification information (condition ID 1001) and an operation to be executed when the determination condition is met. The contents (operation 1005) are stored. For example, the determination condition with the condition ID 1 shown in FIG. 10 is the determination condition for storing the bibliographic information with the user name “user1” in the shared bibliographic table, that is, bibliographic information that is originally processed as personal bibliographic information. Is a determination condition for processing as shared bibliographic information. Each determination condition in the shared bibliographic information determination table can be set by the user via the operation unit 308, for example.

  When the user name, the print command, and the transmission source information of the bibliographic information to be determined match at least one condition in the shared bibliographic information determination table (YES in step S903), the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 It is determined that the bibliographic information is shared bibliographic information. Then, an operation corresponding to the operation content described in the operation 1005 is executed. For example, if “store in shared bibliographic table” is set in operation 1005, the process proceeds to step S 904. If “discard” is set in the operation 1005, the bibliographic information to be determined is discarded and the process ends.

  When the user name, the print command, and the transmission source information of the bibliographic information to be determined do not match any of the conditions in the shared bibliographic information determination table (NO in step S903), the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 It is determined that the bibliographic information to be determined is not shared bibliographic information. Then, the process proceeds to step S906.

  In step S904, the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 determines that the bibliographic information extracted in step S902 is shared bibliographic information, and stores the bibliographic information in a shared bibliographic table that is a storage area for shared bibliographic information. As described above, the shared bibliographic table is a table that stores bibliographic information of print data that can be browsed and operated by a plurality of users. An example of the configuration of the shared bibliographic table in the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The items 1101 to 1106 shown in FIG. 11 are the same as the items 701 to 706 shown in FIG.

  The item 1107 stores a temporary placement flag. The temporary placement flag is a flag for identifying whether the corresponding bibliographic information is the original shared bibliographic information or the bibliographic information that is originally personal bibliographic information but temporarily placed in the shared bibliographic table. It is.

  When 0 is set in the temporary placement flag, it indicates that the bibliographic information corresponding to the temporary placement flag is original shared bibliographic information shared by a plurality of users. Specifically, sharing with a plurality of users means that when a user other than the user who is the owner of the bibliographic information is logged in to the multi-function device 20, the bibliographic information is displayed to those users and an operation is accepted. It is possible to access such as. “Original shared bibliographic information” is bibliographic information that is determined to be shared bibliographic information in step S903. That is, the bibliographic information that matches any of the conditions in the shared bibliographic information determination table shown in FIG.

  When the temporary placement flag is set to 1, it indicates that the bibliographic information is temporarily placed in the shared bibliographic table. Further, when 1 is set in the temporary placement flag, the bibliographic information that is not viewed or operated by a user other than the user with the user name 1103 is obtained. The “bibliographic information temporarily placed in the shared bibliographic table” means bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table in step S909 described later (that is, the shared bibliographic table because the number of stored personal bibliographic tables exceeds the upper limit value). Bibliographic information temporarily stored in the table).

  In step S904, for the bibliographic information for which the user name could not be acquired even after analyzing the print data, the character string “share” and the smallest number among the unused numbers in the shared bibliographic table are combined. A bibliographic ID is assigned. For the bibliographic information for which the user name has been acquired, a bibliographic ID combining the user name and the lowest number among unused numbers in the shared bibliographic table is assigned.

  In step S905, the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 of the multifunction device 20 sets 0 to the temporary placement flag of the bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table in step S904.

  In step S906, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the multifunction device 20 identifies the user of the bibliographic information extracted in step S902 by referring to the user name value of the bibliographic information.

  In step S907, the excess determination unit 415 of the multifunction machine 20 refers to the user's personal bibliographic table specified in step S906. Note that the personal bibliographic table in the present embodiment is the same as the table shown in FIGS. Then, the excess determination unit 415 determines whether the number of bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliographic table exceeds the upper limit. Specifically, the number of bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliography table is counted, and it is determined whether or not the count exceeds an upper limit value (200 in this case). The determination process in step S907 is the same as the process in step S503 shown in FIG. That is, also in this embodiment, the submission upper limit table as shown in FIG. 7C is stored in the storage unit such as the HDD 304, and the excess determination unit 415 determines the excess determination in step S907 based on the submission upper limit table. I do. The submission upper limit value does not necessarily have to be stored in the form of a data table, and may be a condition determination value included in an internal processing program executed by the multifunction machine 20, for example. The submission upper limit may be set by the user. In addition, the upper limit value of the number of personal bibliographies may be set to a different value for each user.

  If it is determined that the number of stored bibliographic information in the personal bibliographic table does not exceed the upper limit (NO in step S907), the process proceeds to step S908. On the other hand, if it is determined that the number of bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliographic table exceeds the upper limit (YES in step S907), the process proceeds to step S909.

  In step S908, the personal bibliographic storage control unit 414 of the MFP 20 stores the bibliographic information temporarily stored in the RAM 302 in step S901 in the user's personal bibliographic table indicated by the user name included in the bibliographic information, and performs processing. Exit.

  In step S909, the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 of the multi-function device 20 stores the bibliographic information temporarily stored in the RAM 302 in step S901 in a shared bibliographic table that is a shared bibliographic information storage area. At this time, the bibliographic ID included in the bibliographic information is combined with the user name of the print data corresponding to the bibliographic information and the lowest number among the unused numbers in the shared bibliographic table as the storage destination. Set the resulting ID. Thus, in this embodiment, when the personal bibliographic information cannot be stored in the corresponding personal bibliographic table, the personal bibliographic information is stored in the shared bibliographic table. Therefore, the upper limit value (for example, 2000) of the number of bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table is set to be larger than the upper limit value (for example, 200) of the bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliographic table.

  In step S910, the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 of the multifunction machine 20 sets 1 to the temporary placement flag of the bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table in step S909.

  As described above, in the processing shown in FIG. 9, when the number of memories in the personal bibliographic table exceeds the upper limit value and personal bibliographic information cannot be stored in the personal bibliographic table, another storage area (this embodiment) Then, the personal bibliographic information is stored in the shared bibliographic table. Also, since the personal bibliographic information that could not be stored in the personal bibliographic table is stored in the shared bibliographic table, the personal bibliographic table of other users is not compressed.

  Further, by using a temporary flag, bibliographic information intentionally stored in the shared table can be distinguished from bibliographic information stored in the shared table because it cannot be stored in the storage area of the personal bibliography.

  Next, the flow of personal bibliographic list display processing in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The personal bibliographic list is displayed when the user logs in to the multifunction machine 20, and only the logged-in user (logged-in user) can display and operate.

  The bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the multifunction device 20 acquires the user information of the login user of the multifunction device 20 (step S1201). The login process of the user is performed by a login processing unit (not shown) in the multifunction machine 20. The login processing unit accepts input of a user ID and a password via the operation unit 308. Then, the login processing unit compares the input information with data of an authentication information table (not shown) (a table storing a user ID and a password that can be logged into the multifunction machine 20).

  Next, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the multi-function device 20 specifies a personal bibliographic table in which a value that matches the user ID of the login user is stored in the user name (step S1202). Then, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 acquires personal bibliographic information stored in the specified personal bibliographic table and reads it into the RAM 302.

  Next, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the MFP 20 refers to the shared bibliographic table and acquires all the bibliographic information from the shared bibliographic table (step S1203).

  Next, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the multifunction device 20 determines whether the bibliographic information of the login user is included in the bibliographic information acquired in step S1203 (step S1204). Specifically, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 refers to each bibliographic information acquired in step S1203. When there is bibliographic information having a user name that matches the user ID of the login user, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines that the bibliographic information is the personal bibliographic information of the login user. If there is no bibliographic information having a user name that matches the user ID of the login user (NO in step S1204), the process proceeds to step S1207. On the other hand, if there is bibliographic information having a user name that matches the user ID of the login user (YES in step S1204), the bibliographic information is held in the RAM 302, and the process proceeds to step S1205.

  In step S1205, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the multi-function device 20 displays the personal bibliographic list display screen (screen 1300 shown in FIG. 13) on the display device (LCD of the operation unit 308). The personal bibliographic list display screen 1300 is the same as the personal bibliographic list display screen 800 shown in FIG. Then, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 displays the personal bibliographic information list acquired in step S1202 in gray out on the bibliographic list display unit 1301 of the personal bibliographic list display screen. As described above, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 grays out the bibliographic list display unit 1301 so that an operation for the personal bibliographic information being displayed on the bibliographic list display unit 1301 is not accepted. In this state, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 displays a dialog 1310 shown in FIG. 13B on the front surface of the personal bibliographic list display screen 1300 (step S1206). As shown in FIG. 13B, the dialog 1310 displays a warning message that prompts the user to first perform processing (for example, deletion or printing) on the personal bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table. Note that the message shown in FIG. 13B is an example, and other messages may be displayed. As described above, when the log-in user's personal bibliographic information exists in the shared bibliography table, the dialog 1310 is displayed. That is, when the number of bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliographic table has reached the upper limit value, and bibliographic information corresponding to the upper limit value is temporarily stored in the shared bibliographic table, a dialog 1310 is displayed. .

  In step S 1207, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the multifunction machine 20 displays the personal bibliographic list of the login user on the personal bibliographic list display screen 1300 in the bibliographic list display unit 1301. At this time, an operation for personal bibliographic information being displayed in the bibliographic list display unit 1301 can be accepted.

  According to the processing shown in FIG. 12, the number of stored personal bibliographic information of the logged-in user exceeds the upper limit, and a part of the personal bibliographic information of the logged-in user is temporarily stored in the shared bibliographic table. The user can be made aware. In addition, according to the processing shown in FIG. 12, the user is prompted to preferentially process personal bibliographic information temporarily stored in the shared document table, so that the shared area that has been borrowed is preferentially released. can do.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 14, 15 and 16, the operation of the multi-function device 20 when the process (printing operation) for the personal bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table is performed by the user will be described. For example, when the dialog shown in FIG. 13B is displayed, the user can change the display screen to the shared bibliography list display screen 1500 in order to perform processing (printing) on his / her personal bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliography table. Perform display switching operation to switch to. Then, one or all pieces of personal bibliographic information with an icon 1501 in the shared bibliography list display screen 1500 are selected, and a print instruction is issued.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the first embodiment of the bibliographic list display control unit when a display switching operation by the user is accepted. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a shared bibliographic list display screen according to the first embodiment.

  First, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the multifunction device 20 determines whether or not to execute a display process for displaying the shared bibliographic list display screen (step S1401). For example, when a display switching operation to the shared bibliography list display screen 1500 is performed on the personal bibliography list display screen 1300, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines to execute the display process of the shared bibliography list display screen 1500. To do. On the other hand, when a display switching operation to the personal bibliographic list display screen 1300 is performed on the shared bibliographic list display screen 1500, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines to execute the display process of the personal bibliographic list display screen 1300. To do. In the case of the first display screen display process after login, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines to execute the display process of the personal bibliographic list display screen 1300.

  If it is determined to execute the display process of the personal bibliography list display screen 1300 (NO in step S1401), the bibliographic list display control unit 417 can access all the personal bibliographic information in the personal bibliography table of the login user. Bibliographic information. Then, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 stores the personal bibliographic information in the RAM 302 (step 1402). Then, the process ends.

  If it is determined to execute the display processing of the shared bibliography list display screen 1500 (YES in step S1401), the bibliographic list display control unit 417 selects the unprocessed bibliography in the shared bibliographic table. One piece of information is referred to (step S1403). The bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines whether the temporary placement flag of the referenced bibliographic information is 1 (step S1404).

  If the temporary placement flag is 0 (NO in step S1404), the bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines that the bibliographic information for which the temporary placement flag is 0 is accessible bibliographic information. And stored in the RAM 302 (step S1405). The bibliographic information determined to be accessible is displayed on the shared bibliography list display screen 1500 during the login of the currently logged-in user and can be accessed. Then, the process proceeds to step S1408.

  If the temporary placement flag is 1 (YES in step S1404), the bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines whether the bibliographic information referred to in step S1403 is the bibliographic information of the login user (step S1406). Here, when the user name included in the bibliographic information referred to in step S1403 matches the user name of the login user, it is determined that the bibliographic information is the bibliographic information of the login user.

  If it is determined that the log-in user is bibliographic information (YES in step S1406), the bibliographic list display control unit 417 proceeds to the process in step S1405 and determines the bibliographic information as accessible bibliographic information. As a result, the bibliographic information temporarily stored in the shared bibliographic table from the personal bibliographic table of the logged-in user is displayed on the shared bibliographic list display screen 1500, and the logged-in user has the same bibliographic information as the original shared bibliographic information. Can be browsed and operated. Then, the process proceeds to step S1408.

  If it is determined that it is not the login user's bibliographic information (NO in step S1406), the bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines that the bibliographic information referred to in step S1403 is inaccessible bibliographic information and stores it in the RAM 302 ( Step S1407). The bibliographic information determined to be inaccessible is not displayed on the shared bibliography list display screen 1500 during the login of the current login user, and cannot be accessed. That is, the bibliographic information temporarily stored in the shared bibliographic table from the personal bibliographic table of a user other than the logged-in user is not displayed on the display screen, and the logged-in user cannot browse or operate. Then, the process proceeds to step S1408.

  In step S1408, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines whether there is bibliographic information whose access permission is not yet determined in the shared bibliographic table. If there is bibliographic information whose access permission has not been determined in the shared bibliographic table (YES in step S1408), the process returns to step S1403. If it is determined that all the bibliographic information in the shared bibliographic table can be accessed (NO in step S1408), the process ends.

  In the method described above, accessible bibliographic information and inaccessible bibliographic information are stored in the RAM 302. However, for example, only accessible bibliographic information may be left in the shared bibliographic table on the RAM 302, and inaccessible bibliographic information may be deleted from the shared bibliographic table on the RAM 302. In that case, the bibliographic information remaining in the shared bibliographic table when the processing shown in FIG. 14 is completed becomes the bibliographic information accessible to the login user.

  A star-shaped icon 1501 shown in FIG. 15 is an object for making it possible to identify bibliographic information whose temporary placement flag is 1. The bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the multi-function device 20 displays an icon 1501 in the bibliographic information column (row) in which the temporary placement flag is 1 among the bibliographic information displayed on the shared bibliographic list display screen.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the first embodiment of the bibliographic list display control unit when a printing operation is performed on the personal bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table. As described above, when the dialog shown in FIG. 13B is displayed, the user can display the shared bibliography list display screen in order to perform a printing operation on the personal bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliography table. A display switching operation for switching to 1500 is performed. Then, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 of the MFP 20 displays a list of shared bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table according to the flow shown in FIG. 14 (step S1601). Thereby, the bibliographic information determined to be accessible is displayed on the shared bibliography list display screen 1500.

  The bibliographic list display control unit 417 receives a user operation for selecting bibliographic information from a list of bibliographic information displayed on the shared bibliographic list display screen 1500 (step S1602). Further, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 receives a print instruction (pressing the printer start button) input via the shared bibliographic list display screen 1500 (step S1603). Then, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 instructs the print data printing unit 418 of the multifunction machine 20 to print the print data corresponding to the selected bibliographic information.

  The print data printing unit 418 prints the selected print data (step S1604). When the printing process by the print data printing unit 418 is normally completed, the shared bibliographic storage control unit 416 deletes the bibliographic information of the printed print data from the shared bibliographic table.

  The excess determination unit 415 determines whether or not bibliographic information whose temporary flag is 1 and whose user name is the login user ID exists in the shared bibliography table (step S1605). If it exists (YES in step S1605), the process ends. If it does not exist (NO in step S1605), the process proceeds to step S1606.

  The bibliographic list display control unit 417 determines that the personal bibliography of the login user stored in the personal bibliography table can be operated, and displays a personal bibliography list display screen (step S1606). That is, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 switches from the shared bibliographic list display screen to the personal bibliographic list display screen. At this time, the bibliographic list display control unit 417 does not display the personal bibliographic list display screen in gray out, and does not display a dialog (dialog 1310 shown in FIG. 13) for displaying a warning message. 1300 is displayed.

  As described above, when the personal bibliographic information is stored in the borrowed shared area, the multifunction device 20 makes the personal bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliographic table unprocessable. Further, the multifunction device 20 makes the personal bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliography table processable in response to the release of the shared area that has been borrowed. In addition, the user can recognize whether or not the personal bibliographic information stored in the personal bibliography table can be processed by switching gray-out display ON / OFF on the personal bibliography list display screen. Therefore, it is possible to preferentially process personal bibliographic information stored in the shared area that is borrowed.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, even if personal bibliographic information cannot be stored in the personal bibliographic table because the number of stored personal bibliographic tables exceeds the upper limit value, other storage areas (in this embodiment, Personal bibliographic information can be stored in the shared bibliographic table. As a result, the print data corresponding to the personal bibliographic information that can no longer be stored in the personal bibliographic table is appropriately stored (retained) in the storage unit such as the HDD without being deleted. Therefore, even when the storage amount of individual user print data reaches the upper limit, the newly-entered user personal print data can be appropriately retained without affecting other users' submissions. It becomes.

  In this embodiment, when personal bibliographic information that can no longer be stored in the personal bibliographic table is stored in the shared bibliographic table, the personal bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table is accessed from other users (viewing, operation, etc.). To be managed. As a result, it is possible to prevent other users from accessing the personal bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table and the print data corresponding to the personal bibliographic information. Therefore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to store the personal bibliographic information in the shared bibliographic table while ensuring security for the personal bibliographic information and the print data corresponding to the personal bibliographic information. Therefore, even when the storage amount of the print data of the individual user reaches the upper limit, it becomes possible to appropriately retain the newly input print data of the individual user while ensuring security.

(Other embodiments)
Note that the present invention can be implemented as a system, apparatus, method, program, storage medium, or the like, and can be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices. You may apply to the apparatus which consists of one apparatus.

  The present invention also includes a software program that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments directly or remotely from a system or apparatus. The present invention also includes a case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW. In addition, there are magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R), and the like.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. The computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be supplied from a home page by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk.

  It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the downloaded key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. In addition, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

  The above-described embodiments are merely examples of implementation in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or the main features thereof.

Claims (10)

An image forming apparatus capable of executing reservation printing that retains received print data and executes printing of the print data in accordance with a print instruction from a user,
Extraction means for extracting bibliographic information of the print data from the received print data;
A personal bibliographic table that stores shared bibliographic information that is bibliographic information of print data shared by multiple users and a personal bibliographic table that is assigned to each user and that is accessible to individual users. Storage control means for performing control for storing the extracted bibliographic information in any of the personal bibliographic tables for storing information,
The storage control means, when the extracted bibliographic information is the personal bibliographic information, the number of stored personal bibliographic information in the personal bibliographic table in which the personal bibliographic information should be stored exceeds a predetermined upper limit value. The extracted bibliographic information is stored in the shared bibliographic table. Display control means for performing control to display on the display device a shared bibliographic list that is a list of the shared bibliographic information or a personal bibliographic list that is a list of the personal bibliographic information of a logged-in user who has logged into the device
The display control means includes
When the shared bibliographic list is displayed and the personal bibliographic information of the login user is stored in the shared bibliographic table, the shared bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table and the personal of the login user are stored. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein bibliographic information is included in the shared bibliographic list and displayed. The display control means includes
When the shared bibliographic list is displayed, the personal bibliographic information of users other than the login user stored in the shared bibliographic table is not included and displayed in the shared bibliographic list. The image forming apparatus according to 2. The display control means includes
3. When displaying the personal bibliographic information included in the shared bibliographic list, a predetermined icon is displayed in a column of the personal bibliographic information in the shared bibliographic list. The image forming apparatus according to 3. The storage control means
Each bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table manages a flag that can identify whether the bibliographic information is the shared bibliographic information or the personal bibliographic information, in association with the bibliographic information,
The display control means includes
The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the personal bibliographic information is specified from the bibliographic information stored in the shared bibliographic table based on the flag managed by the storage control unit. The display control means includes
3. When displaying the personal bibliographic list, if the personal bibliographic information of the login user is stored in the shared bibliographic table, the personal bibliographic list is displayed in an inoperable state. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The display control means includes
When the personal bibliography list is displayed in an inoperable state, print data corresponding to the personal bibliographic information of the login user stored in the shared bibliographic table is displayed as the personal bibliography of the login user stored in the personal bibliography table. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein information prompting the user to process the print data corresponding to the information is displayed. The storage control means
The bibliographic information extracted by the extraction unit includes a determination unit that determines whether the bibliographic information is the shared bibliographic information or the personal bibliographic information according to a predetermined determination condition. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. A control method for an image forming apparatus capable of executing reservation printing, wherein the received print data is retained and printing of the print data is performed in accordance with a print instruction from a user,
An extraction step of extracting bibliographic information of the print data from the received print data;
A personal bibliographic table that stores shared bibliographic information that is bibliographic information of print data shared by multiple users and a personal bibliographic table that is assigned to each user and that is accessible to individual users. A storage control step for performing control for storing the extracted bibliographic information in any of the personal bibliographic tables for storing information,
In the storage control step, when the extracted bibliographic information is the personal bibliographic information, the number of stored personal bibliographic information in the personal bibliographic table in which the personal bibliographic information is to be stored exceeds a predetermined upper limit value. The extracted bibliographic information is stored in the shared bibliographic table.   A program for causing a computer to function as the image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

Images