JPH06202822A - Device and method for transferring data - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve throughput in the case of printing out the same print data plural times even at a printer which is not provided with any page memory. CONSTITUTION:The printed data to be outputted to a printer 8 are divided and generated on an internal memory by a print data generating part 3. The divided and generated printed data are outputted to a printer 8, outputted to an external storage device 10 and stored as well. When a request for outputting the same print data plural times is generated, the printed data stored in the external storage device 10 are read out by a data transfer control part 5, and these data are outputted to the printer 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data transfer device and method for transferring print data to an external device such as a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art According to the prior art, when transferring print data prepared by a host computer to a printer having no page memory, the size of the printer must be large enough to receive it, that is, the size of the receiving buffer of the printer. A method of dividing print data and transferring it is generally used.

Also on the host computer side, it is difficult to always secure a memory having a capacity for one page of a high-resolution printer, for example. For this reason, the host computer side also employs band processing such that a memory of a size corresponding to the printer reception buffer is secured, print data is divided into several blocks and stored in the memory, and this is transferred. What is done is common. With this band processing method, the host computer can realize efficient data transfer with a small memory.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional technique, when a plurality of printout requests are made for the same print data, the divided print data is erased. There is a problem that the same processing as in the previous printout is forced. In the case of a printer having a page memory, the data stored in the page memory can be printed as it is for printing the second and subsequent sheets, so even if a printout request for a plurality of sheets is made, the time required for one page is slightly reduced. It is possible to print out at a higher level. However, a printer that does not have a page memory requires time proportional to the number of sheets.

Further, in the process of preparing print data by the host computer, particularly when a color printer is targeted, image processing and the like with a heavy load are involved. As a result, the capabilities of the host computer and the printer cannot be effectively utilized, resulting in a decrease in throughput.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a data transfer apparatus and method for improving the throughput when the same print data is printed out a plurality of times even in a printer having no page memory. The purpose is to do.

[0007]

A data transfer apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object has the following configuration. That is, a data transfer device that outputs print data to an external device, and a generation unit that generates a part or all of the print data to be output on a first storage medium; Storage means for storing the print data generated in the second storage medium and first output means for outputting the print data generated in the first storage medium, and the same print data is output a plurality of times When a request to
Second output means for reading the print data to be output after the second time from the second storage medium and outputting the read print data.

The data transfer method according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the following steps. That is, it is a data transfer method for outputting print data to an external device, and a part or all of the print data to be output is first printed.
Generating step on the storage medium, storing step on the second storage medium to store the print data generated on the first storage medium, and print data generated on the first storage medium And a first output step for outputting the same print data, and when a request for outputting the same print data occurs a plurality of times, the print data to be output for the second time and thereafter is read from the second storage medium and is output. 2 output process.

[0009]

With the above arrangement, print data output to an external device such as a printer is also stored on the second storage medium. Then, when there is a request to output the same print data a plurality of times, the print data stored in the second recording medium is read and output. Therefore, even if the same print data is requested to be output, the second and subsequent pages can be printed out with a throughput comparable to that of a printer having a page memory.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the structure of an image compression / expansion device of this embodiment, an application using the device, an external storage device and a printer.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a host computer, which is composed of processing blocks 2-5, an application 6, and an address / data bus 7.

A flag storage unit 2 stores a flag indicating whether or not the previous print data is recorded in the external storage device 10, and is composed of a memory. For the sake of explanation, if the flag is "1", it means that the previous print data is recorded in the external storage device 10. If the flag is "0", the previous print data is not recorded. Shall be indicated. The method of using this flag is not limited to such a method.

A printer data generator 3 is a program for converting the image data created by the application 6 into print data that meets the specifications of the printer 8. Processing such as image processing is performed by the print data generator 3. Further, when a printout request for a plurality of sheets is made, it also has a function of issuing a command to the data transfer control unit 5 to transfer the print data recorded in the external storage device 10 without regenerating the print data.
An I / O unit 4 includes an external storage device 10 and a printer 8.
Software and hardware for performing input / output for data transfer with and.

A data transfer control unit 5 transfers the print data generated by the print data generation unit 3 to the printer 8 and then temporarily records the print data in the external storage device 10 having a sufficient capacity. The data transfer control unit 5 also has a function of transferring the previous print data recorded in the external storage device 10 to the printer 8 when a printout request for a plurality of sheets is issued.

The application 6 is software having a function of creating image data as a basis of print data and issuing a printout request to the print data generating unit 3. A request for printing out a plurality of sheets is also issued from this application 6. The address / data bus 7 is a bus for exchanging information inside the host computer. The printer 8 prints out according to the print data received from the host computer.
Here, it is assumed that the printer 8 does not have a page memory.

The external interface 9 is an interface cable for physically connecting the host computer 1 and the printer 8, and the type is not particularly limited. The external storage device 10 is a storage device for temporarily recording print data, and is represented by a hard disk or the like. The type is not particularly limited as long as it has a sufficient capacity for recording print data. Although it is located outside the host computer 1 in the drawing, it may be built in the host computer 1. The external interface 11 is an interface cable for physically connecting the host computer 1 and the external storage device 10, and the type is not particularly limited.
Although it is located outside the host computer 1 in the figure, when the external storage device 10 is located inside the host computer 1, the interface 11 is also built into the host computer 1.

The operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart showing the control procedure of data transfer shown in FIG. It should be noted that this process is started when the application 6 issues any request including a printout request.

First, in step S1, the print data generator 3 checks whether or not the request issued from the application 6 is a printout request, and if a printout request is detected, the process proceeds to step S2. If not detected, a printout request from the application is awaited repeatedly in step S1. It is assumed that the printout request from the application 6 includes information designating the number of sheets.

In step S2, the print data generator 3
Receives image data to be printed out from the application. This image data may be graphic data created on the application or image data read from a scanner. In step S3, flag 0 is set in flag 3 to indicate that print data is not currently recorded in the external storage device 10.
Is substituted.

In step S4, it is checked whether or not flag = 0, and if flag = 0, it is determined that print data is not currently recorded in the external storage device 10, and the process proceeds to step S5 to newly create print data. move on. If the flag = 1, it is determined that the previous print data is recorded in the external storage device 10 and the process proceeds to step S10 without creating new print data.
The print data is read from 0 and transferred to the printer 8.

In step S5, the print data generator 3
At this point, print data matching the specifications of the printer 8 is created based on the image received from the application 6. still,
Band processing is performed here. In step S6, it is determined whether the printout requests detected in step S1 include a plurality of printout requests. Here, if the print-out request is for only one sheet, it is not necessary to record the print data in the external storage device 10, so that the process proceeds to step S11 to execute the data transfer to the printer 8. On the other hand, if a printout request for a plurality of sheets is included, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S7, it is checked whether or not the external storage device 10 has a sufficient capacity for recording all the print data. If there is not sufficient storage capacity, the external storage device 10 is not recorded, The process proceeds to S11 and data transfer to the printer is executed. If there is sufficient capacity, the process proceeds to step S8 to record the created print data in the external storage device 10.

In step S9, a flag = 1 is assigned to indicate that the current print data is recorded in the external storage device 10, and the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, the print data created in step S5 or the print data read from the external storage device in step S10 is transferred to the printer 8. Step S1
In 2, it is judged whether or not the transfer of the print data for one page is completed, and if not completed, the process returns to step S5 and the above-mentioned processing is repeated. On the other hand, if the transfer of the print data for one page is completed in step S12, the process proceeds to step S13. The judgment in step S12 is a step necessary for executing the band process.

In step S13, it is determined whether or not all the designated number of sheets from the application detected in step S1 have been printed out. Print out. At this time, if the flag of the flag storage unit 2 is set to “1”, the print data generation unit 3 does not execute the data generation, and the print data is read from the external storage device 10 and output to the printer 8. On the other hand, if the designated number is reached in step S13, the process proceeds to step S14.

In step S14, it is determined that all the requests from the application detected in step S1 have been executed, and flag = 0 is substituted. At this time, if the flag = 1, the print data remains in the external storage device 10. Therefore, a process of deleting the print data may be added here.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the external storage device 10 has a sufficient capacity, the print data once prepared by the host computer 1 is connected to the external storage device 10 (hard disk) connected to the host computer 1. Etc.). When a printout request for a plurality of sheets is made, the print data is read from the external storage device 10 and transferred to the printer 8 for the second and subsequent sheets, so that the page memory does not require time proportional to the number of sheets. It is possible to realize throughput equivalent to that of a printer having a.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0029]

As described above, according to the data transfer apparatus and method of the present invention, it is possible to improve the throughput when the same print data is printed out a plurality of times in a printer having no page memory. can get.

[0030]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image compression / expansion device of the present embodiment, an application using the same, an external storage device, and a printer.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure of data transfer in this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Host Computer 2 Flag Storage Section 3 Print Data Generation Section 4 I / O Section 5 Data Transfer Control Section 6 Application 7 Address / Data Bus 8 Printer 9, 11 External Interface 10 External Storage Device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A data transfer device for outputting print data to an external device, comprising: a generation unit for generating a part or all of print data to be output on a first storage medium; A storage unit that stores the print data generated on the storage medium in the second storage medium, a first output unit that outputs the print data generated on the first storage medium, and the same print data A second output means for reading out print data to be output for the second time and thereafter from the second storage medium and outputting the read print data when a request for outputting a plurality of times is generated; apparatus. 2. A first judgment means for judging whether or not the capacity for storing one page of print data to be output is in the second storage medium, and printing in the second storage medium. A second determination unit that determines whether or not data is stored, wherein the storage unit has a capacity sufficient to store print data in the second storage medium by the first determination unit. When the determination is made, one page of the print data generated on the first storage medium is recorded in the second storage medium, and the second output means prints by the second determination means. When it is determined that the data is stored, in response to a request to output the print data of the same page a plurality of times, the print data to be output from the second time onward is read from the second storage medium and is output. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Over data transfer device. 3. A data transfer method for outputting print data to an external device, the method comprising: generating a part or all of print data to be output on a first storage medium; A storage step of storing the print data generated on the storage medium in the second storage medium, a first output step of outputting the print data generated on the first storage medium, and the same print data A second output step of reading print data to be output for the second time and thereafter from the second storage medium and outputting the read print data when a request for outputting a plurality of times is generated; Method. 4. A first determination step of determining whether or not the capacity for storing one page of print data to be output is in the second storage medium, and printing in the second storage medium. A second determination step of determining whether or not data is stored, wherein the storage step has a capacity sufficient to store print data in the second storage medium according to the first determination step. When it is determined, one page of the print data generated on the first storage medium is recorded on the second storage medium, and the second output step is printed by the second determination step. When it is determined that the data is stored, in response to a request to output the print data of the same page a plurality of times, the print data to be output from the second time onward is read from the second storage medium and is output. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that Over data transfer method.