JP3201326B2 - Network printing system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network printing apparatus system in which a large number of data processing apparatuses and facsimile apparatuses share a printing apparatus connected via a network. The present invention relates to a network printing apparatus system in which, in response to a plurality of print output requests, the printing apparatus notifies the data processing apparatus of the completion of printing when all print output is completed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a network printing apparatus system in which a printer such as one or a plurality of digital printing apparatuses and many general-purpose small computers (data processing apparatuses) and facsimile apparatuses are connected by an Ethernet local area network (LAN) or the like. Is used. This printer has various advanced functions and is commonly used when a large number of personal computers (general-purpose small computers) and facsimile machines are used.

In such a network printing apparatus system, when processing data is printed by a general-purpose small computer, the general-purpose small computer sends a print request command to a LAN to perform access control for securing a transmission channel, and also performs a print control with a printer. Negotiation for print output of print data is performed between. And
The general-purpose small computer confirms the print standby state, sends out the print data, and prints out with the printer.

In such a network printing apparatus system, spool printing is executed in print transmission processing between a general-purpose small computer and a printer. That is, a spool (intermediate medium processing) for executing the data output processing of the general-purpose small computer and the print output processing (job) with the printer in parallel is executed. In a general-purpose small-sized computer, print output is completed in a printer by a spool processing end notification by application processing after a print output request.

[0005] In this case, since the end point of the actual print output by the printer cannot be ascertained with certainty, the user may forget to remove the print-completed paper. For example, if other operations are started after operating a print output request on a general-purpose small computer, it is difficult for the user of the general-purpose small computer that issued the print request to confirm that the actual print output in the printer has been completed. Sometimes I forgot the completed paper. In order to solve such a problem, a network printing apparatus system that notifies a general-purpose small computer that has issued a print request of a change in the state of printing termination, an end of actual printing output by a printer, a print interruption due to no paper or a paper jam, or the like is known. (For example, JP-A-9-91102 and JP-A-8-91102).
-339278).

[0006]

In such a conventional example, since the notification is performed every time the printout is completed, the continuous notification is troublesome for the user of the general-purpose small-sized computer, and is not used in the general-purpose small-sized computer. Worker's work efficiency decreases. That is, when data processing is continuously performed by a general-purpose small computer, if the print request is continuously made to the printer, a notification is continuously and asynchronously sent to the general-purpose small computer which made the print request every time the printout is completed. Done. This continuous printing end notification
If the user is interrupted during input operation, for example, the screen display is cumbersome for the user, and depending on the method of displaying the notification screen, the input operation may have to be stopped. There was room for improvement above.

The present invention solves such a problem in the prior art. In response to a plurality of continuous print output requests from the same data processing device, printing is performed when all print outputs are completed. The device can notify the data processing device of the completion of printing.This enables the data processing device to ascertain that all printing has been completed, avoiding troublesome continuous notification, and interrupting input operations. It is an object of the present invention to provide a network printing apparatus system which is no longer used and whose work efficiency is improved.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a network printing apparatus system according to the present invention uses a printing apparatus in which a plurality of data processing apparatuses are connected via a network, and the same data processing apparatus is continuously connected. In addition to sending print data requesting print output to the printing device, and after the printing device performs print output, if the print device has print data of the same data processing device address, complete all print output, and thereafter The print output completion notification is sent to the data processing device and displayed on the data processing device.

Further, in the network printing apparatus system of the present invention, as the data processing apparatus, a communication interface unit, a plurality of print data are continuously transmitted, a print output request is issued, and all printing by the printing apparatus is performed. A control unit for performing control to receive a print completion notification from the printing device at the time of completion of output, a storage unit, an operation unit, a display unit for displaying a print completion notification from the printing device on a screen, and a storage storage unit. There is a configuration.

Further, in the network printing apparatus system according to the present invention, the sound output unit notifies the completion of printing from the printing apparatus by a sound output including an intermittent sound and a single sound. This is a configuration for notifying the print completion notification from the user by a synthesized voice. Further, as the printing device, a communication interface unit and, in addition to printing in response to a continuous print output request from the data processing device, a notification of print completion is sent to the data processing device that issued the print output request when all the print outputs have been completed. And a printing unit that prints and outputs print data.

Further, the network printing apparatus system of the present invention continuously transmits a plurality of file message data received and stored by the facsimile apparatus to the printing apparatus, and after the printing apparatus performs print output, further outputs the facsimile apparatus. In the case where the print data is provided from the printer, the print output completion notification is sent to the facsimile apparatus after all the print outputs are completed. In addition, the server executes data acquisition and print output spool processing with the data processing device,
Further, the server is configured to execute a spooling process of data fetching and printing output with the data processing device, and determine a free state of the printing device and issue a print instruction to one of the printing devices.

With the network printing apparatus system of the invention having such a configuration, when the data processing apparatus continuously sends print data for requesting print output to the printing apparatus, and after the printing apparatus completes all print output, A print output completion notification is sent to the data processing device. The notification in this case is performed by screen display, sound output, or synthesized voice output by the data processing device. As a result, all the printing completion is reliably determined by the data processing apparatus, and the trouble of continuous notification can be avoided, and the input operation is not interrupted and the work efficiency is improved.

Further, the network printing apparatus system of the present invention, even when a plurality of file message data received and stored by the facsimile apparatus are continuously transmitted to the printing apparatus, the completion of the print output here is determined by the facsimile apparatus. it's shown. That is, the facsimile apparatus can continuously notify the completion of print output, and the degree of freedom of the network configuration is improved.

Further, in the network printing apparatus system according to the present invention, the server executes a spooling process for fetching data from and printing out data with the data processing apparatus, and also determines a free state of the printing apparatus to issue a print instruction. It is carried out. As a result, it is not necessary to perform the spooling process in the printing apparatus, the control processing load is reduced, and the printing output is made faster. In addition, the print output can be executed by a plurality of printing apparatuses, and when a larger number of data processing apparatuses are connected to the network, the delay of the print output hardly occurs.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment of a network printing apparatus system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration in a first embodiment of the network printing apparatus system of the present invention. In this example, data processing devices 1, 2, 3,.
And a printer 4 such as a digital printing device, for example,
Bus-type Ethernet or FDD as network topology
I and other networks connected by LAN5.

As such an access control method for the LAN 5, various control methods are known.
For example, CSMA / CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Acce
ss with Colision Detection) method. Also,
Various types of data transfer methods are known as data transfer methods between the data processing apparatuses 1 to 3 and the printer 4.
Here, description will be made by applying the ZMODEM transmission standard which is a transmission protocol for performing high-speed image / text data transfer between personal computers.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the data processing devices 1 to 3 in FIG. The data processing devices 1 to 3 are provided with a communication interface (I / F) unit 10 for performing access control (CSMA / CD) for securing a transmission channel for the LAN 5 and communication control of a transmission protocol (ZMODEM) in data transfer. In particular, control is performed to receive a print completion notification from the printer 4 when all print output is completed when continuously requesting the printer 4 to output a plurality of pieces of processing data to the printer 4. It has a control unit 11, a ROM 12 storing a control program, a working RAM 13, and a memory 14 storing processing data and the like.

Further, the data processing devices 1 to 3 are provided with a keyboard 1 for selecting various functions and performing data input operations.
CRT 5 which displays various processing data on the screen and print completion notice from the printer 4 on the screen.
And a display unit 16 using a liquid crystal display (LCD),
It has a floppy disk (FD) device 17 for storing processing data and the like on a floppy disk (FD), and stores processing data and the like on a hard disk (HD) or stores an operating system (OS) and the like. Interface processing between a hard disk (HD) device 18 and an external printer, for example, RS-232
Printer I / F that executes interface processing such as C
And a sound output unit 20 for notifying a print completion notification from the printer 4 by sound output.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the printer 4 in FIG. This printer 4 has a LAN 5
A communication interface (I / F) unit 30 for controlling access control (CSMA / CD) and communication protocol (ZMODEM) for data transfer, and further controls each unit. And a control unit 31 that performs control to notify a print completion notification to the data processing apparatuses 1 to 3 that have issued the print output request when all the print outputs have been completed, together with the print output in response to the continuous print output request that has been performed. , RO storing control program
M32, a working RAM 33, and a memory 34 for temporarily storing print data.

Further, the printer 4 is used for performing copy output by the apparatus itself, and a keyboard 35 for selecting various functions and data input operation, and displaying the number of copies and the selection of copy paper on a screen. Liquid crystal display (L
A display unit 36 using a CD and a floppy disk (F
D) a floppy disk (FD) device 37 for storing processing data and the like, and a hard disk (HD) device 38 storing processing data and the like on a hard disk (HD) or storing an operating system (OS) and the like. have. Further, it has a print (print engine) unit 39 for sending print (copy) output paper at the time of printing or copying.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described. First, the data processing apparatuses 1 to 1 shown in FIGS.
Reference numeral 3 indicates that the communication I / F unit 10 controls access to the LAN 5 and communication control of a transmission protocol in data transfer. Further, the control unit 11 controls each unit through a control program stored in the ROM 12 and a working process of the RAM 13, and in particular, when a plurality of process data are continuously requested to be printed out to the printer 4, all print data are output. When the output is completed, control is performed to receive a print completion notification from the printer 4. In this processing, the memory 14 stores processing data and the like.

Further, various functions are selected and data input operations are performed from the keyboard 15, and various processing data are displayed on the display unit 16 on the screen. In particular, a print completion notification from the printer 4 is displayed on the screen. Further, the processing data and the like are stored in the floppy disk device 17 and the hard disk device 18, and the stored operating system and the like are read and executed. Further, the processing data is transmitted to an external printer (not shown) through the printer I / F unit 19, and the sound output unit 20 notifies the printer 4 of a print completion notification by sound output.

Next, the printer 4 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
The communication I / F unit 30 controls access to the LAN 5 and communication control of a transmission protocol in data transfer.
Further, the control unit 31 controls each unit through a control program stored in the ROM 32 and a working process of the RAM 33. In particular, along with printing for a continuous print output request performed by any of the data processing devices 1 to 3, At the time when the print output is completed, control is performed to notify a print completion notification to the data processing apparatuses 1 to 3 that have issued the print output request.
Further, the memory 34 temporarily stores the print data.

Further, in the printer 4, a keyboard 35, a display unit 36, a floppy disk device 37, and a hard disk device 38 are used for performing copy output by the device itself. Further, the print unit 39 sends out a print (copy) output sheet at the time of printing or copying.

The data processing devices 1 to 3 operating as described above
The printer 4 sends the processed data processed by the data processing devices 1 to 3 to the printer 4 via the LAN 5, where it is printed and output. Data processing devices 1-3 are LAN
5 to perform access control by the CSMA / CD method for securing a transmission channel. Further, the data processing apparatuses 1 to 3 and the printer 4 execute a high-speed data transfer sequence through the LAN 5 and according to a transmission protocol of the ZMODEM transmission standard.

According to the access control and the high-speed data transfer sequence, the printer 4 makes a print output request in response to a plurality of continuous print output requests from the same data processing devices 1 to 3 when all the print outputs are completed. Notify the data processing apparatuses 1 to 3 of the completion of printing. The print completion notification is displayed on the screen by the data processing devices 1 to 3 that have issued the print output request, and the sound output is performed to notify the user of the data processing devices 1 to 3.

Hereinafter, this operation will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the ZMODEM transmission format.
This ZMODEM transmission format includes a header field (binary / HEX) and a data subpacket field (binary / ASCH) as shown in FIG. 4A.
As shown in (b), ZPAD, ZDLE, ZBIN, P
OS / FLAGS, CRC1, 2, 3, 4 fields. In addition, the binary data sub-packet field has DATA, as shown in FIG.
It consists of TERM, CRC1 and CRC2 fields.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a ZMODEM transmission procedure, and FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram when an error occurs in the ZMODEM transmission procedure. ZMODEM of FIG.
The transmission procedure sequence corresponds to the data processing devices 1 to 1 shown in FIG.
3 is executed between the communication I / F unit 10 and the control unit 11 and the communication I / F unit 30 and the control unit 31 shown in FIG. The ZMODEM transmission procedure sequence includes a function request ZRQINT to the receiving side, a function request ZRINIT from the receiving side, a function request ZSINIT from the transmitting side, an acknowledgment ZACK, file information ZFILE, a transmission start request ZRPOS from a specified file position, and data Sub-packet ZDATA, transfer end of one file ZEOF,
The transfer end notification ZFIN and the command 00 are exchanged.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram when a data transmission error occurs in the ZMODEM transmission procedure. The sequence at the time of occurrence of this error corresponds to the ZMODEM transmission procedure sequence in FIG. 5, in which the data subpacket ZDATA is retransmitted after the transmission start request ZRPOS is notified from the designated file position, and the data subpacket ZDATA is transmitted after the acknowledgment ZACK. To transfer. The retransmission due to the occurrence of the data transmission error is performed by using a well-known CRC (Cyclic Re
The determination is made based on a data transmission error rate according to a dundancy check code) method.

This ZMODEM transmission format and Z
According to the MODEM transmission procedure sequence, the communication I / F unit 10 and the control unit 11 of the data processing devices 1 to 3 shown in FIG.
Then, data transmission described below is performed through the respective LANs 5 of the communication I / F unit 30 and the control unit 31 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, a description will be given on the assumption that the data processing apparatus 1 has continuously made a plurality of print output requests to the printer 4.

First, the access control by the CSMA / CD system for the data processing apparatus 1 to secure a communication channel in the LAN 5 by avoiding collision of data transmission from the other data processing apparatuses 2 and 3 is performed. After this, FIG.
Through the M transmission format, the ZMODEM transmission procedure sequence shown in FIG. 5, and the error occurrence sequence in the ZMODEM transmission procedure, status information of print output completion, status information other than print output completion, spool information of print data, no print paper Information, print paper jam information, and the like are exchanged, and are appropriately displayed on the screen of the data processing apparatus 1.

The operation of notifying and notifying the data processing apparatus 1 that has issued the print output request from the printer 4 that all the print outputs have been completed in response to the plurality of print output requests will be described below. FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the data processing apparatuses 1 to 3 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the printer 4 in FIG. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of print output completion notification control in the operation of the first embodiment.

In the data processing apparatus 1, intermittent data processing is performed by application processing executed by the control unit 11, and a print output instruction for print data for each of the intermittent processing is issued from the application processing to the spool processing each time. Done. A continuous print request from the spool processing is transmitted to the communication I / F together with the address of the data processing apparatus 1 and the file number and name of the print data.
The communication processing of the unit 10 is performed from the LAN 5 to the printer 4.

In the printer 4, the control unit 31 receives a spool request from the data processing device 1 through a communication process in the communication I / F unit 30 and executes a spool process. If the spool process is executed normally, the spool process completion notification is sent to the LAN through the communication process in the communication I / F unit 30.
5 to the data processing device 1. Data processing device 1
Then, the spool processing completion notification from the printer 4 is transmitted to the communication I /
The control unit 11 captures the data through the communication processing in the F unit 10,
Notify spool processing. In the spool process, the completion of the spool process is notified to the application process.

When the spooling process is completed, the printer 4
Then, the print output processing by the print unit 39 is executed under the control of the control unit 31. After the print output of one print data (file) shown in FIG. 9 is completed (step S1).
0) Since the spool process changes, the output completion notification control by the control of the control unit 31 based on the change causes
Determine the completion of print output. In this case, it is determined whether or not the information of the spool process includes the same address as the print request that has executed the print output process this time (step S11).
If there is the same address (S11: Yes), the sending control of the output completion notification to the data processing device 1 is suspended (step S12). In other words, a working process of holding the file number and name of the print data stored in the memory 34 holding the output completion notification in the RAM 33 is executed.

In step S11, when there is no same address as the print request for which the print output processing has been executed this time (S11: N
o), the control unit 31 checks the RAM 33 to determine whether there is a file number or a name of the print data for which the output completion notification is suspended (steps S13 and S14). If the file does not exist (S14: No), it is determined that the printing of a plurality of files (print data) at the same address (data processing device 1) has been completed, and the communication I / F through the output completion notification control of the control unit 31. The data is transmitted from the unit 30 to the LAN 5.

The control unit 11 receives the print output completion notification of the continuous print data through the communication process of the communication I / F unit 10 of the data processing device 1, and sends it to the application process through the spool process. Through this application process, the display unit 16 displays on the screen that all print output for print data for which print output has been continuously requested has been completed. The print completion notification is sent to the sound output unit 2.
At 0, a preset intermittent sound or the like is output to notify the user.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, data processing devices 1 to 3 are connected to a LAN 5, and two printers 4a and 4b, a server 6, and a facsimile device 7 are connected. Here, the server 6 performs the spool processing in the printer 4 in the first embodiment, and the printers 4a and 4b execute printing by the spool processing. Also, the printers 4a and 4b are determined to be empty,
A print instruction is issued to one of the printers 4a and 4b. The server 6 includes a communication I / F unit that performs an interface process with the LAN 5 and an I / F unit that performs an interface process with the printers 4a and 4b, a control unit that controls an instruction to execute a spool process and printing, and a data storage. It is composed of devices and the like.

The facsimile apparatus 7 has a general-purpose configuration for receiving facsimile electronic message data from a public telephone line network (PSTN) or the like in a binary transmission control procedure in a communication control device and the like. It is configured to be stored in a storage device or the like. Further, the facsimile apparatus 7 performs communication I in the data processing apparatuses 1 to 3 shown in FIG.
It has the same configuration as the / F unit 10 and the control unit 11.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment will be described. The facsimile machine 7 receives, for example, facsimile message data such as a questionnaire continuously, accumulates the continuously received facsimile message data in a storage device, and then continuously sends the data to the printer 4.
And print it intensively by the printer 4. After the continuous printing output is completed, the printer 4 notifies the facsimile machine 7 of the printing completion, and the facsimile machine 7 notifies the printing completion notification. That is, the same operation as that between the data processing apparatus 1 and the printer 5 in the first embodiment is performed, and a print end notification is not performed each time facsimile message data is printed.

The server 6 performs the same spool processing as the spool processing in the printer 4 in the first embodiment, and the printers 4a and 4b execute the print output.
Further, the printers 4a and 4b determine the idle state and issue a print instruction. By providing such a server 6, the printers 4a and 4b do not need to perform the spooling process, and the control processing load is reduced, and the printing output is accelerated. Further, it becomes possible to execute parallel print output by the two printers 4a and 4b, so that print output delay does not occur when a larger number of data processing devices are connected to the network.

In the first embodiment, the data processing devices 1 to 3 notify the completion of printing from the sound output unit 20 by means of intermittent sounds or the like. It is also possible to notify the completion of printing together with the names of the users of the data processing devices 1 to 3 by a synthesized voice. In this case, there is an advantage that the notification at the time when all the print outputs are completed in response to the plurality of print output requests can be easily confirmed even at a remote place. Similarly, in the second embodiment, it is possible to notify by a synthesized voice.

[0043]

As is clear from the above description, according to the network printing apparatus system of the present invention, the printing is performed after the completion of all the print output, and this notification is displayed on the screen and sound output by the data processing apparatus. Or, it is performed with a synthesized voice output. As a result, all the printing completion is reliably determined by the data processing apparatus, and the trouble of continuous notification can be avoided, and the input operation is not interrupted and the work efficiency is improved.

Further, the network printing apparatus system of the present invention continuously sends a plurality of file message data received and stored by the facsimile apparatus to the printing apparatus and prints out the same. To display. That is, the facsimile apparatus can continuously notify the completion of print output, and the degree of freedom of the network configuration is improved.

Further, in the network printing apparatus system according to the present invention, the server executes spool processing relating to data fetching and printing out with the data processing apparatus, and determines a free state of the printing apparatus to issue a print instruction. It is carried out. As a result, there is no need to perform the spool processing in the printing apparatus, and the control processing load is reduced. In addition, print output can be executed by a plurality of printing apparatuses, and delay in print output when a larger number of data processing apparatuses are connected to a network is less likely to occur.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a network printing apparatus system according to the present invention.
It is a block which shows the schematic structure in embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a data processing device in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the printer in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of a ZMODEM transmission format in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing a ZMODEM transmission procedure in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram when an error occurs in the ZMODEM transmission procedure of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the data processing device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of the printer according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of an operation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-3 data processing device 4, 4a, 4b printer 5 LAN 6 server 7 facsimile device 10, 30 communication interface unit 11, 31, control unit 16 display unit 20 sound output unit 39 print unit

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-8-221232 (JP, A) JP-A-9-305336 (JP, A) JP-A-9-97146 (JP, A) JP-A 8- 328771 (JP, A) JP-A-5-81264 (JP, A) JP-A-9-76606 (JP, A) JP-A 8-241180 (JP, A) JP-A-7-273916 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/12

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A network printing system in which a plurality of data processing devices share a printing device connected via a network, wherein the same data processing device continuously sends print data to the printing device for printing. While making an output request, displaying a print output completion notification from the printing device, and after performing the printing output, the printing device determines whether or not the printing device has print data from the same data processing device. A network printing apparatus system for completing a print output, and thereafter transmitting a print output completion notification to the data processing apparatus. 2. A data processing device, comprising: a communication interface unit for controlling communication of data transfer through a network; and continuously sending print data to make a print output request and completing all print output by the printing device. A control unit that controls to receive a print completion notification sent at the time, a storage unit that stores a control program and performs a working process, and an operation unit that performs at least a function selection and a data input operation; 2. The network printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a display unit for displaying the processing data on a screen and displaying a printing completion notification from the printing apparatus on a screen; and a storage unit for storing the processing data. system. 3. The data processing device further includes a sound output unit, wherein the sound output unit outputs a print completion notification from a printing device as an intermittent sound,
3. The sound is output by a sound output including a single sound.
A network printing device system as described. 4. The network printing apparatus system according to claim 2, wherein the data processing apparatus includes a synthesized voice output unit, and the synthesized voice output unit notifies a print completion notification from the printing apparatus by a synthesized voice. . 5. A communication interface unit for controlling data transfer as the printing device, and a print completion notification when all print outputs in response to a continuous print output request from the data processing device are completed while controlling each unit. A control unit that performs control to notify the data processing device that has issued a print output request, a first storage unit that stores a control program and performs a working process, and stores print data received from the data processing device. Second
The network printing apparatus system according to claim 1, further comprising: a storage unit configured to print and output print data stored in the second storage unit. 6. A facsimile device together with the data processing device, wherein the facsimile device successively sends a plurality of received and stored file message data to a printing device, and prints out from the printing device. A completion notification is displayed, and after the printing device has performed the print output, it is determined whether or not the print device has the print data from the facsimile device, and all the print outputs are completed, and thereafter, the print output is performed to the facsimile device. 2. The network printing apparatus system according to claim 1, wherein a completion notification is sent. 7. The network printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a server connected to the network, wherein the server executes data acquisition and print output spooling with a data processing device. Equipment system. 8. A plurality of printing apparatuses and a server are connected to the network, the server executes data acquisition processing and spool processing of print output with a data processing apparatus, and frees up the plurality of printing apparatuses. Determine the state,
2. The network printing apparatus system according to claim 1, wherein a printing instruction is issued to one of the printing apparatuses.