JPH06324823A - Printer management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select the printer for reflecting exactly a state at that time of each printer, especially a user's demand conforming to a dynamic parameter or related to a printing quality, etc., by extracting candidate printers conforming to a print request, and transferring the print request to one of the candidates. CONSTITUTION:To a network 1, plural work stations 2, plural printers 3 and a print management server 4 are connected. The print managem ent server 4, first of all, executes an inquiry to a printer agent 31, and collects and holds various information related to a state at that time with regard to each printer 3. Also, with respect to a print request sent from a client 21, information related to the state at that time such as an attribute, a state, etc., of the printer 3 is referred to, an optimal printer 3 is selected and the print request is transferred. Subsequently, when a print output related to the print request is finished by its printer 3, a print end notice is executed to the client 21 from which the print request is issued.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer management system, and more particularly to a printer management system for a network system in which a plurality of printers are connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique relating to printer management of a network system in which a plurality of printers are connected, for example, JP-A-1-196624 and JP-A-2-993.
77, JP-A-2-259821, JP-A-3
There are those described in JP-A-122715, JP-A-3-157716 and JP-A-3-257616. In the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-196624, the expected output end time is calculated from the current number of records waiting to be output by the printer and the processing speed of the printer.
A new job is assigned to the printer that finishes outputting the earliest (in this specification, “print request” and “job” are used interchangeably. Client requests print output of document) It is more familiar to say "request a print" when
This is because it is more familiar to say "to process a job" when the printer that receives the print output executes the print output. ). In the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-99377, when printing out, the type of data (code data, image data, vector data) included in print data is checked and From those, those which can print out those data are selected, and the data are printed out. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-2
In the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59821, a printer most suitable for a print request at that time is selected from a plurality of printers connected to a network.

In the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-122715, any printer among a plurality of printers is registered in the printer information storage means, and at the time of print output, these registered printers are registered. Select the printer that is available at that time from the list and print out from that printer. In the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-157716, in order to complete printing by the printer on the network as much as possible until the designated time, the queue for holding the print request is set at a predetermined interval such as 5 minutes. If there is a print request with a designated time, the print request is queued in the optimum queue by considering the number of print requests accumulated in the queue and the designated time. JP-A-3-257
In the conventional technique disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 616, the output data is analyzed to calculate the required number of output sheets, and the printer having the remaining sheet number is the one having the shortest output time at that time. Print output is executed.

[0004]

However, the state of the printer changes unexpectedly. In particular, a printer connected to the network handles a relatively large number of print requests. For this reason, there are many cases where trouble occurs in the process of sequentially processing these. Also, a printer that went down due to trouble at one time may be restarted after being maintained. Also, printers have different printing methods, different resolutions,
In addition to the parameters that determine the print quality of the printer, there are parameters that change the print quality with the passage of time, such as the degree of wear of the drum and the remaining amount of toner.
Furthermore, there are parameters that should be called the individuality of the printer, such as easy paper jams and beautiful fonts. However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, sufficient consideration has not been given to these problems. Further, although it has been done that the printer is selected depending on the static parameter of the printer or whether the printer is ready or not when outputting the data, the dynamic one related to the passage of the above time, No consideration was given to what should be called the individuality of the printer. (Static: Items that the printer basically has, such as the size of paper that can be printed and the availability of color printing. The meaning is different from whether or not printing is possible at that time). For this reason, in the conventional device, when a print request is made shortly after the print request is issued or when the designated time is reached,
If the printer stopped due to paper shortage, or the printer has been restored but it is not reflected in the printer selection, the printer has become empty. There was a problem that it was not reflected sufficiently.

The object of each invention of the present application is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and to select the printer for a normal print request or a time-specified print request, attributes, performance, operating status, and failure status which are the basis of the selection. It is possible to select a printer that responds to the current status of each printer, so-called real-time status, or flexibly reflects the user's request regarding print quality, etc. It is to provide a printer management method capable of realizing a comfortable print environment without wasting resources.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, according to the invention of claim 1, in a printer management system of a network system in which a data processing device, a print management server and a plurality of printers are connected, each of the printers is , A printer agent that outputs information regarding the current state of the printer, the print management server accepts a print request issued from the data processing device, and the current state of the printer output from each of the printer agents. Information about the print request, a candidate printer extraction unit that extracts a candidate printer that matches the print request, and a transfer unit that transfers the print request to any of the candidate printers.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a printer management system of a network system in which a data processing device, a print management server, and a plurality of printers are connected, each printer outputs information regarding the current status of the printer. The print management server receives a print request with a time designation issued from the data processing device, and temporarily retains the print request, and the print management server relates to the designation of the print request. Transfer time calculating means for calculating a transfer time suitable for the time, and candidate printer extracting means for extracting a candidate printer suitable for the print request by referring to information on the current state of the printer output from each printer agent. And when the transfer time related to the designated time comes, A print request that has been temporarily held in the holding means and a transfer means for transferring to one of the candidate printer.

According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the configuration of claim 1 or 2, the print management server further comprises
Printer information holding means for holding information about the current state of each printer, and information about the current state of each printer held in the printer information holding means based on the information output from each printer agent Printer information collection means for updating the candidate printers, and the candidate printer extraction means refers to the information about the current state of each printer held in the printer information holding means to find candidate printers that match the print request. Extract. According to the invention of claim 4, in addition to the configuration of claim 3, each printer agent supplies information about the status of the printer to the print management server when the status of the printer changes. According to the invention of claim 5, in the invention of claim 1 or 2,
When the print management server further transfers the print request to any of the printers, the print management server further includes printer information collecting means for collecting information regarding the status of the printer from each printer agent, and the candidate printer extracting means. Refers to the collected information about the current status of each printer, and extracts candidate printers that match the received print request.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, when the printer information collecting means attempts to transfer the print request to any of the printers, the printer information is sent to each of the printer agents. Inquiry regarding the state at that time is made, and in response to this, the information held in the printer information holding means is updated based on the information output from the printer agent, and the candidate printer extracting means is updated. The candidate printer is extracted based on the information. According to the invention of claim 7, in the invention of claim 5 or 6, the printer information collecting means makes an inquiry to each of the printers by a simultaneous broadcast including a keyword corresponding to the print request at that time. To do. According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configurations of the first to seventh aspects, the print management server further monitors the processing status of the transferred print request, and prints the processing status of the print request. A notification unit is provided to notify the data processing device that issued the request.

According to a ninth aspect of the invention, in each of the first to eighth aspects of the invention, the information about the current state output from each printer agent is stored in the queue of the printer. Information on the time when the processing of all print requests is completed is included. According to a tenth aspect of the invention, in addition to the respective configurations of the first to ninth aspects, the management server further has a print quality table that defines correspondence between the abstract print quality and specific parameters of the printer,
The candidate printer extracting means collates the abstract quality specified by the user with this table to obtain the specific parameters of the corresponding printer, and the information indicating the current state of each printer output from the printer agent and the information By collating with specific parameters, a printer capable of printout with the abstract print quality specified by the user is extracted.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the respective configurations of the first to ninth aspects, the printer agent further includes a print quality table that defines correspondence between abstract print quality and specific parameters of the printer. Then, the specific parameters of the printer at that time are collated with this table to determine and output the abstract print quality of the printer at that time. According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect or the eleventh aspect of the invention, the information indicating the current state of each printer includes information about printer parameters that change with the passage of time. According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configurations according to the first aspect to the twelfth aspect, the data processing device includes a user interface that allows a user to confirm whether or not to output by the selected printer. According to a fourteenth aspect of the invention, in addition to the respective configurations of the first to twelfth aspects, the print management server has a selection condition table for holding a condition regarding printer selection set by a user for each printer, Printer selection is performed according to the conditions set in the selection condition table. According to a fifteenth aspect of the invention, in addition to each of the configurations according to the first to fourteenth aspects, the print management server further includes a required time table holding required time to each printer, and the required time table acquired from the table. The time is added to the time required by each printer to process the print request at that time, and the printer that processes the print request at that time is extracted based on the time after the addition.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the printer agent provided in each printer outputs information regarding the current state of the printer, for example, operating status, attributes, performance of the printer, and print requests waiting to be output. This information is given in a predetermined manner, not by the printer agent responding to periodic inquiries from the management server, by responding to the inquiries made by the management server when selecting the printer, or by responding to the inquiries. The printer agent voluntarily supplies information to the management server and outputs the information at intervals of. The candidate printer extraction means receives a print request issued from the data processing device, refers to the information about the current state of the printer output from each printer agent, and extracts a candidate printer that matches the print request. The transfer unit transfers the print request to any of these candidate printers.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the temporary holding means accepts the time-specified print request issued from the data processing device, and temporarily holds it. The transfer time calculating means calculates a transfer time suitable for the time specified for the print request. This time is obtained, for example, by obtaining the time required for print output based on the number of print output sheets and the print speed of the printer, and subtracting this from the time designated by the user. When the request is accepted or when the transfer time related to the designated time is reached, the candidate printer extraction means extracts a candidate printer that matches the print request at that time, as in the case of claim 1. The transfer unit transfers the print request temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit to any of the candidate printers when the transfer time corresponding to the designated time is reached.

According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the configuration of claim 1 or claim 2, printer information holding means and printer information collecting means are provided. The printer information holding unit holds information regarding the current state of the printer. The printer information collecting means updates the information about the current state of each printer held in the printer information holding means based on the information output from each printer agent. Then, with reference to this information, the candidate printer extraction means extracts a candidate printer that matches the print request at that time. In the invention of claim 4, claim 3
Each printer agent of the invention supplies the information about the printer status to the print management server when the status of the printer changes, for example, when the remaining amount of toner changes. According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the print management server further includes printer information collecting means, and when the print request is to be transferred to any printer, the printer information is collected. The collecting means collects information about the current state of the printer from each printer agent. The candidate printer extraction means refers to the collected information regarding the current state of each printer, and extracts a candidate printer that matches the received print request.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in addition to the configuration of the third aspect, when a print request is to be transferred to one of the printers, the printer information collecting means instructs each printer agent of the current state of the printer. Inquiries regarding the status are made, and in response to this, the information held in the printer information holding means is updated based on the information output from the printer agent. The candidate printer extracting means extracts a candidate printer based on the updated information. According to the invention of claim 7, the printer information collecting means according to claim 5 or claim 6 performs the simultaneous broadcast including a keyword corresponding to the print request at that time, for example, a keyword such as “size A3, color printing”. Make an inquiry to the printer. According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in addition to each of the configurations according to the first to seventh aspects, the print management server further includes a notification unit, and the notification unit monitors the processing status of the transferred print request. The processing status of the print request, for example, the processing status such as printing completion, output stop due to paper shortage, etc., is notified to the data processing device that issued the print request.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in each of the first to eighth aspects of the invention, the information about the current state output from each printer agent is stored in the queue of the printer. It includes information on the time when the processing of all print requests is completed. In the invention of claim 10, in addition to the respective configurations of claims 1 to 9,
The management server further has a print quality table that defines correspondence between abstract print quality and specific printer parameters. The abstract print quality is "pine, bamboo, plum", "special,
The upper, middle, and medium "expressions are used, and the concrete parameters are, for example, the resolution of 400 dpi or the like, the printing method of the laser or the like, and the print quality table shows, for example," pine is 400 dpi or more in the laser method ". As such, the corresponding relationship is determined. The candidate printer extraction means collates the abstract quality specified by the user with this table, acquires the specific parameters of the corresponding printer, and outputs the information representing the current state of each printer output from the printer agent. By collating with this specific parameter, a printer capable of printout with the abstract print quality designated by the user is extracted.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the respective configurations of the first to ninth aspects, the print quality table similar to that of the tenth aspect is held on the printer agent side. This print quality table also defines the correspondence between the abstract print quality and the specific parameters of the printer. By comparing the specific parameters of the printer at that time with this table, the abstract print quality of the printer at that time Is determined and output by this printer agent. According to a twelfth aspect of the invention, in the tenth or eleventh aspect of the invention, the information indicating the current state of each printer is added to the information about the printer parameters that change with the passage of time, for example, the degree of wear of the drum. (Integrated value of the number of output sheets after drum replacement) is included, and the printing quality of each printer at that time is determined based on this. According to a thirteenth aspect of the invention, in addition to the configurations of the first to twelfth aspects, the data processing device is provided with a user interface, and the user is instructed whether to output with a selected printer or to use the next candidate. Let me check.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the components of the first to twelfth aspects, the print management server has a selection condition table. This table holds conditions for printer selection set by the user for each printer. This condition is set for each printer.
Set "Unconditional selection", "Confirm and select", "Do not select", etc. For example, if a printer that is "unconditionally selected" is extracted as a candidate, without asking the user
That printer is selected as the printer to handle the current print request. When the printer that is designated as "confirm and select" is extracted as a candidate, confirmation is performed with respect to the user. Printers that are not selected are not extracted from the beginning.
According to a fifteenth aspect of the invention, in addition to the respective configurations of the first to fourteenth aspects, the print management server further has a required time table. This required time table holds the required time from the user or the data processing device to each printer. The required time acquired from this table is added to the time required for print request processing of each printer at that time, and the addition is performed. The printer that processes the print request at that time is extracted based on the later time.

[0019]

The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. 1st Example is shown in FIGS. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 8 in which claim 2 is cited and claim 3 is cited. FIG. 2 shows the overall construction of this first embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a network, which includes a plurality of workstations 2, a plurality of printers 3, and a print management server 4.
Are connected. The workstation 2 and the printer 3 are actually connected in a larger number. A workstation client 21 operates on the workstation 2. The workstation client 21
Has a user interface for using the print service provided in this embodiment, communicates with the print management server 4, sends a print request, inquires about the current state of the printer 3, print end notification, and print The fault notification 3 is received. Since the "workstation client 21" is redundant, the word "workstation" is omitted in the following description, and "client 21" is omitted.
Say. Also, in the figure, the display of the word "workstation" is omitted. The same applies to other configurations and the like when parentheses are added after the name. Parentheses are used when notation in the figure is omitted.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a printer agent, which is arranged on each printer 3. The agent 31
Responds to the inquiry from the print management server 4, and returns to the print management server 4 information regarding the current state of each printer 3. The content of this information is arbitrary. Printer attributes, performance, operating status, and other various items serving as parameters for printer selection can be this "information regarding the status at that time". As an example, the printer name, printer type, and printable media size (A4,
B4), printable media type (plain paper, film, etc.), resolution, printable data format, presence / absence of color, other functions (double-sided printing, bag binding, etc.)
Presence / absence, presence / absence of printer queue, current status of printer queue, error status, status of print job, current availability status of each printer function, for example, for color printers, currently only monochrome printing is possible, many types Various types of printers can be considered, such as a printer in which sheets of paper are set, film and recycled paper can be currently used, and a printer with a sorter is currently stopped.
Since the "printer agent arranged in each printer" is redundant, in such a case it will be abbreviated as "agent". In the figure, it is called "agent".

The outline of the functions of the print management server 4 will be described. First, the printer agent 31 is queried to collect and hold various information regarding the status of each printer 3 at that time. Further, with respect to the print request sent from the client 21, the printer 3 refers to the information regarding the current state such as the attribute and state of the printer 3, selects the optimum printer 3, and transfers the print request. When the printer 3 completes the print output related to the print request, the client 21 that issued the print request
A print end notification is sent to. The print management server 4
Performs spooling in response to the time-specified print request sent from the client 21, and considers the time required for print output, and at a suitable time before the specified time by a predetermined time, the attributes and status of the printer 3 are displayed. In consideration of the above, the print request is transferred to the optimum printer 3. When the print output related to this print request is completed, a print end notification is sent to the client 21 that issued the print request. Note that the print management server 4 uses the client 21
It also responds to the inquiry about the information about the current state of the printer 3 issued from. Further, when a failure occurs in the managed printer 3, the client 21 or the like using the printer 3 is notified of that fact.

FIG. 1 shows each component provided in the print management server 4. The outline of the function of each of these components will be described.
The detailed processing procedure will be described later with reference to the flowchart. In the figure, reference numeral 40 denotes a printer information holding unit, which holds information regarding the state of each printer 3 at that time. Reference numeral 41 denotes a timer, which activates the printer information collecting unit 42 every predetermined time. Each time the printer information collecting unit 42 is activated, it collects information about the current state of the printer 3 from the agent 31 of each printer 3 and updates the information held in the printer information holding unit 40. When the inquiry about the information about the current state of the printer 3 is received from the client 21, the printer information holding unit 40 is searched and the information about the current state of the printer is returned to the client 21. It should be noted that although the collection interval of the information regarding the current state of each printer 3 is arbitrary, for example, the information regarding the current state is
Information collection items are divided into those with relatively little change such as printer attributes and those with relatively many changes such as print queue status. For example, the former is every few minutes, the latter is every few seconds. It is also effective to distinguish the intervals. A request receiving unit 43 receives a print request issued by the client 21 and supplies the information to the candidate printer extracting unit 44. From the supplied information, the candidate printer extraction unit 44 determines the output media size, output media type, resolution, output data format, presence / absence of color, and presence / absence of designation of other functions (double-sided printing, bag binding printing, etc.). To analyze. Then, referring to the information about the current state of each printer 3 held in the printer information holding unit 40, the printer candidates satisfying the respective conditions are listed.

The print request issued from the client 21 is provided with a field for designating the printer name. You can specify multiple printers. When the printer name is specified, the printer candidates are listed among them. If not specified, a printer candidate is selected from all the printers 3 registered in the printer information holding unit 40. When the print request is a normal print request (no time designation), the normal request transfer unit 45 arranges the candidate printers extracted by the candidate printer extraction unit 44 in ascending order of waiting time, and selects the first candidate from the candidates. Transfer the job using the protocol suitable for the printer. If the job transfer fails, transfer the job to the next candidate. When the transfer is completed, the client 21 is notified of the selected printer name and the job ID of the print request. This data is also written in the job data holding unit 46.

When the received print request has a time designation, the request receiving section 43 also sends necessary information to the transfer time calculating section 47. The transfer time calculating unit 47 calculates the transfer time based on this information. This transfer time is the specified time minus the expected print time. The estimated print time is obtained from the size of print data and the number of pages of the request, and the print speed. The print speed may be based on the average of the speeds of the candidate printers, or it may be based on the slowest printer. Further, the spare time may be added or a predetermined coefficient may be multiplied for the spare time. The transfer time calculation unit 47 supplies this transfer time to the request reception unit 43. The request receiving unit 43 stores the time-specified print request in the spool 48 together with the transfer time and the list of printer candidates. The spool 48 temporarily holds this time-specified print request until the transfer time arrives.

Reference numeral 49 denotes a timer, which activates the transfer timing control unit 50 every predetermined time. Each time the transfer timing control unit 50 is activated, it confirms the transfer time of each print request held in the spool 48 and the information about the current state of each printer stored in the printer information holding unit 40. In this embodiment, the median value of the times when the respective candidate printers can be processed is compared with the print request transfer time. When the print request transfer time comes before or almost at the same time, the transfer timing control unit 50 instructs the time specification request transfer unit 51 to transfer the print request with time specification. The time designation request transfer unit 51 selects a predetermined one from the candidate printers and transfers the print request with the time designation to the printer 3 (the selection of the candidate printer will be described later). When the transfer is completed, the client 21 is notified of the selected printer name and the job ID of the print request. This data is also written in the job data holding unit 46. The "time at which each candidate printer can be processed" is the printer information holding unit 4
It is calculated from the information about the queue status of each printer 3 stored in 0.

Reference numeral 52 is also a timer, which activates the processing progress monitoring unit 53 at predetermined time intervals. The processing progress monitoring unit 53 inquires of each printer 3 the processing progress of each print job based on the print job data of each printer 3 stored in the job data holding unit 46 each time it is activated. When the print job is completed, a print completion notification is sent to the job issuing client 21.
When a printer failure occurs, an error notification is sent to the administrator and the user who is currently using the printer 3. In the case of time-specified printing, it is conceivable that the workstation 2 of the client 21 is powered off at the time of completion or at the time of occurrence of an error. In such a case, the client 21
You may send an e-mail to the user who used
The print management server 4 may notify when the client 21 is activated again.

The procedure of each process performed by the print management server 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart. The process performed by the printer information collection unit 42 is shown in FIG. Timer 41
The printer information collecting unit 42 inquires of each printer agent 31 regarding the current state (step S1). The word "step" will be omitted hereinafter. If there is a response from the agent 31 of the inquired printer 3 that there is a failure or there is no response itself, it is determined that there is a printer failure (S2 “Yes”), and the job data holding unit 46 is referenced. , Error notification is sent to the client 21 which is sending the print request to the printer 3 (S
3). When this process is over, or if there are no obstacles,
Information indicating the current state of each printer 3 acquired in S1 is stored in the printer information holding unit 40, and the information is updated (S4).

FIG. 4 shows a procedure of a print request transfer process and the like. These are the request receiving unit 43 and the candidate printer extracting unit 4.
4, the normal request transfer unit 45, the job data holding unit 46, the transfer time calculation unit 47, the spool 48, the timer 49, the transfer timing control unit 50, and the time designation request transfer unit 51. First, the print request transmitted from the client 21 is received by the request receiving unit 43 (S11).
The request receiving unit 43 analyzes the received print request and obtains the output media size and other various conditions required by the print request (S12). The print request has a field for designating the printer name as described above. The request receiving unit 43 inspects the content of the field (S13). If specified (S13 “Yes”),
The candidate printer extraction unit 44 refers to the information of the designated printer 3 held in the printer information holding unit 40, and selects printer candidates from the printers 3 (S14).
When there is no designation (S13 “No”), a printer candidate is selected from all the printers registered in the printer information holding unit 40 (S15). When no printer candidate that meets the print request conditions is found (S16 “N
o ”), the request reception unit 43 notifies the client 21 that issued the print request of an error (S17).

If there is a printer candidate (S16)
"Yes"), and it is checked whether the print request has a time designation (S18). If the time is not specified (S1
8 “No”), the normal request transfer unit 45 calculates the job waiting time by referring to the information indicating the current state of the queue of each printer candidate in the printer information holding unit 40 (S19). Then, the printer candidates are arranged in ascending order of waiting time (S20), and a print job (job) is made to the top candidate with a protocol suitable for the printer.
Is transferred (S21). If a failure occurs in job transfer (S22 "ERROR"), the first candidate is deleted (S23), and the job is transferred to the next candidate (S2).
4 “Yes” → S21). If the transfer of this print job is completed before there are no printer candidates (S22 "O
K ”), the normal request transfer unit 45 notifies the client 21 of the selected printer name and job ID (S2).
6). If there are no more printer candidates before the transfer destination is found (S24 "No"), an error notification is sent to the client 21 that issued the print request, and the processing ends (S2).
5). If the time is specified (S18 "Yes
s "), the print request transfer time is calculated by the procedure described above (S26). This is stored in the spool 48 together with the print request content and the candidate printer list (S27).

FIG. 5 shows the transfer control procedure of the time-specified print request by the transfer time control unit 50, and FIG. 6 shows the available time states of the respective candidate printers AE. Each arrow indicates that the printer 3 has a queue until that time, and the printer 3 cannot be used until that time. Further, the transfer time TT in FIG. 6 is a time at which the current time has returned from the designated time DT to the current time by the time t required to process the time designated print request at this time, and this is the procedure described above. It is calculated by the transfer time calculation unit 47. The transfer timing control unit 50 is activated by the timer 49 at regular intervals. When activated, the contents of the spool 48 are first checked to see if there is a print job (S31). If there is (S31 "Ye
s "), and selects a job that has not been processed (S32). The transfer timing control unit 50 refers to the printer information holding unit 40 for the printers 3 that are candidates for the selected job, and based on the information about each queue, for example, the candidate printers A to E as shown in FIG. The available time is calculated and the median value CT is calculated (S33).
(Note that printer D is unavailable). Calculated median value C
T is compared with the print request transfer time TT. In the present embodiment, when the median value CT comes before the print request transfer time TT, or almost at the same time,
It is assumed that it is time to transfer the data (S34 “Yes”). A normal print job is distributed to each printer 3 so as to be almost the same. Therefore, when this median value CT comes before the print request transfer time TT, or almost at the same time, some of the candidate printers print the time-specified prints at about the specified time, in other words, at the exact time. The printout of the request is ready to be completed, which is an opportunity to transfer the timed print request. That is, if the transfer is performed at such a time, the printer is not occupied more quickly than necessary, so that it is possible to execute other print request processing in the meanwhile, such as a hurry.

When the time to transfer is reached, the transfer time control unit 50 commands the time designation request transfer unit 51 to transfer the time designation print request. Time designation request transfer unit 51
Takes out the time-specified print request from the spool 48, and the available processing time is closer to the present value than the median value CT and closest to the median value CT, that is, the printer E in this case.
This time designated print request is transferred to (S35).
Then, the print request is removed from the spool (S36), and the printer name, job ID, etc. are stored in the job data holding unit 46. In order to refer to the latest information in the printer information holding unit 40, it is effective to execute the candidate selection process shown in S13 to S15 of FIG. 4 again between S32 and S33. FIG. 7 shows a flow of processing for monitoring the processing status of the print job of each printer 3 by the processing progress monitoring unit 53. When activated by the timer 52, the processing progress monitoring unit 53 inquires of each printer agent 31 about the processing status of the print job (S41). When the print job is completed (S42 "Yes"), the print completion notification is sent to the job issuing client 21 (S43). If a printer failure has occurred (S44
“Yes”), an error message or the like is displayed on the desktop used by the system administrator or the console of the print management server 4. Further, referring to the job data holding unit 46, an error notification is also given to the user who is currently using the printer 3 (S45). The acquired status of each print job is stored in the printer information holding unit 40 (S46).

A modification of the first embodiment will be described.
As a method of collecting information by the printer information collecting unit 42, in the embodiment, the printer information collecting unit 42 makes an inquiry to each printer agent 31. In addition to this, it is also possible to add a process of voluntarily notifying the printer information collecting unit 42 from the printer agent 31 of the status change such as the end of the print job and the printer failure. In this case, the printer agent 31
An area for storing the address of the print management server 4 is provided therein, and the printer agent 31 references the print management server 4 (printer information collection unit 4 when there is a status change such as job completion or printer failure).
Notify 2). According to the configuration of claim 5, "When the printer agent further changes the state of the printer in which the printer agent is arranged, the state of the printer agent is changed without waiting for the inquiry of the printer information collecting means." Supplying information to the printer information collecting means ". When this configuration is added to the first embodiment, it becomes an embodiment of "the invention of claim 5 in which claim 4 is cited".

In S36 of FIG. 5, after the print request is transferred to the printer 3, the job is removed from the spool 48. However, it is also possible to use it for job recovery without doing this. By doing this, S in FIG.
If the job failure is notified at 44 and the job is designated at the time, the print request remains on the spool 48. Therefore, the print request can be sent to another printer 3 again. Printer selection in this case can be executed in the same manner as in S13 to S15 of FIG. Further, in FIG. 2, the workstation 2, the printer 3, and the print management server 4 are represented as if they are physically separate, but for example, the print management server 4 is arranged on any one of the workstations 2. But it doesn't have to be physically independent.

The second embodiment will be described. In the following description, the code "B" may be added after the code of each block, for example, "4" to give the code "4B" or the like.
This means that the original configuration or function is added or deleted. The reference numerals are "B" for the second embodiment and "C" for the third embodiment, in each order,
Assign alphabetic symbols. Returning to the description of the second embodiment. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 3 which cited claim 2, and is the print management server 4B of this embodiment.
The configuration of is shown in FIG. In the invention of claim 3 expressed in the second embodiment, it is not essential to monitor the subsequent processing progress of the job transferred to each printer 3. Therefore, in this embodiment, the processing progress monitoring unit 53 and the timer 52 for activating it are not used in the configuration of the print management server 4 (FIG. 1) of the first embodiment. These are deleted in the print management server 4B of the second embodiment of FIG.
Of course, the processing progress monitoring unit 53 and the timer 52 do not perform the processing. That is, in this second embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The process shown in is not performed. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment. The description is omitted because it is redundant.

The third embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 8 which cites claim 1 which cites claim 1, and FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the print management server 4C of this embodiment, and also shows job transfer processing and the like. The procedure is shown in FIG. Claim 2 expressed in this third embodiment
In the invention, processing of a time-specified job is not an essential requirement. Therefore, in the third embodiment, the transfer time calculation unit 47, the spool 48, the timer 49, the transfer timing control unit 50, and the time designation request transfer unit 51 are included in the configuration of the print management server 4 (FIG. 1) of the first embodiment. Is not used. These are deleted in the print management server 4C of the third embodiment shown in FIG. Naturally, the processing by these is also not performed. That is, in this third embodiment, S18 of FIG.
The processes of S26 and S27 are not performed. In the print request transfer processing procedure of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 10, these processings are deleted. The processing of FIG. 5 is not performed either. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment. The description is omitted because it is redundant.

The fourth embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 3 which cited claim 1.
FIG. 11 shows the configuration of the print management server 4D of this embodiment. This is represented by FIG. 10 which is the same as the third embodiment and FIGS. 2 and 3 which are the same as the first embodiment. In the invention of claim 1 expressed by the fourth embodiment, the invention of claim 2 (third embodiment)
Similarly, processing of a job with a designated time is not an essential requirement. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment as well, the transfer time calculation unit 47, the spool 48, the timer 49, the transfer timing control unit 50, and the time designation request transfer unit 51 of FIG. 1 are not used.
The print management server 4D of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG.
Then these have been deleted. Naturally, the processing by these is also not performed. That is, the processing of S18, S26, and S27 of the print request transfer processing procedure (FIG. 4) of the first embodiment is not performed. Also in the fourth embodiment, job transfer is executed in the same flow as the flow shown in FIG. 10 in which these are deleted, that is, the third embodiment. The processing of FIG. 5 is not performed either. Further, in the invention of claim 1 represented by the fourth embodiment, it is an essential requirement to monitor the subsequent processing progress of the job transferred to each printer 3, as in the invention of claim 4 (second embodiment). is not. Therefore, also in this embodiment, the processing progress monitoring unit 53 of the print management server 4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
And, the timer 52 for starting it is not used. These are deleted in the print management server 4D of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. These process progress monitoring units 5
Naturally, the processing by 3 and the timer 52 is not performed.
That is, the processing shown in FIG. 7 is not performed. Other configurations and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment. The description is omitted because it is redundant.

The invention of claim 4 will be supplemented.
According to the present invention, when there is a change in the state of the printer 3 in which the printer agent 31 is arranged, information regarding the change in the state is supplied to the print management server 4 without waiting for an inquiry from the printer management server 4. In order to carry out this, for example, in the same manner as in "Description of a modification of the first embodiment", the second embodiment, the third embodiment,
Alternatively, in each printer agent 31 of the fourth embodiment,
An area for storing the address of the print management server 4B, 4C, or 4D is provided, and the printer agent 31
However, when there is a change in status such as job completion or printer failure, the print management servers 4B and 4C are referred to with reference to this.
Alternatively, 4D (each printer information collecting unit 42) may be notified. As a result, the printer agent 31 voluntarily notifies the printer information collecting unit 42 of the status change such as the end of the print job and the printer failure.

The fifth embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 9 which cited claim 3.
Its features are as follows. (1) When a print request is made, the printer information collecting unit 42E inquires of each printer agent 31E about the current state. (2) The response time of each printer agent 31E in response to this includes the release time of each printer 3 (end time of the current job). (3) The end time of each print request at this time is predicted based on the printer open time and the print speed of each printer, and the printer 3 having the earliest time is selected and the end time is selected. Supply print jobs. FIG. 12 shows the print management server 4E and the like of this embodiment. In the figure, only those necessary for explaining the features of this embodiment are shown. The blocks shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are added to the drawing according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows the processing procedure of this embodiment. The configuration and operation of the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to these. In the figure, reference numeral 61 denotes an output sheet number counting section, which counts the number of print output sheets of the print request at that time based on the job information supplied from the request receiving section 43. This information is supplied to the candidate printer extraction unit 44E together with the job information. The candidate printer extraction unit 44E responds to the supply of such information and instructs the printer information collection unit 42E to collect printer information. The printer information collecting unit 42E inquires the printer information of all the connected printers 3 (L51, S52. Note that when referring to each printer individually, the symbols "PR1 to PR3" are used). The agent 31E of each printer 3 returns printer information, for example, information such as the type of data that the printer 3 can print out, the print speed, the current printer status (ready or not ready), and the printer release time (S6).
1). The printer release time is the time at which all jobs held by the printer 3 at that time are scheduled to end. These are the number of sheets (number of pages) of each job held by each printer agent 31E in the printer. Is calculated and divided by the print speed of the printer.

FIG. 14 shows examples PD1 to PD3 of the collected printer information of the printers PR1 to PR3. The candidate printer extraction unit 44E uses such printer information PD1 to PD1.
Based on PD3, first, a printer applicable to the print request at this time is selected (S53). For example, if color printing is requested, monochrome printers are excluded.
Printers that cannot interpret the page description language of the print request are also excluded. Those that do not have the required paper size are also excluded. The printer in the not ready (unusable) state such as the printer PR2 is also excluded. For the printer 3 determined to be able to process the print request at this time, the expected end time is calculated (S54). FIG. 15 shows this calculation procedure. For example, it is assumed that the printer PR1 has two jobs and the estimated end time of the job 2 is 9:10:00. The number of pages of job 3 to be newly added is “100”, and the print speed is 50 per minute.
If it is a page, the time required to print out the job 3 is 2 minutes. Therefore, if this printer P
If R1 were to process this job 3, its expected end time would be 9:30:00 (FIG. 15).

This time prediction process is executed for each of the remaining printers. For example, assuming that the estimated end time of the printer PR3 is 8:59:00 and the print speed is 20 pages per minute, the number of pages of job 3 is 1
Since it is 00, the time required for print output is 5 minutes, and if the processing of job 3 is executed by this printer PR3, the expected end time will be 9:40:00 (FIG. 15). When the calculation of the expected end time of each printer 3 is completed in this way, the one with the earliest expected end time is selected from among them (S55). Here, it is assumed that the printer PR1 is selected. The normal request transfer unit 45 transmits the job at this time to the printer PR1 (S56). The printer agent 31E stores this job 3 in a queue (not shown) (S63). Then, the expected end time is calculated (S64). The procedure for calculating the expected end time is S54.
Is the same as that performed by the candidate printer extraction unit 44E. In S54, the candidate printer extraction unit 44E calculates the predicted end time under the assumption that the job is to be processed. In S64, the estimated end time of the actually accepted job is calculated.

When one print is completed, the agent 31E of the printer 3 removes (dequeue) the print completed job from the queue (S65, FIG. 16DC). The expected end time of each job does not exactly match the actual print completion time. In this embodiment, the jobs at that time are allocated based on the estimated end time of the last job of each printer 3. Therefore, if only the estimated end time is accumulated, the deviation from the actual print completion time may increase. Therefore, in this embodiment, each time one print is completed, each printer agent 31E corrects the expected end time of the subsequent job based on the actual completion time (S66).

For example, at a certain point in time, the queue of the printer PR1 holds jobs 1 to 3 having the contents shown in the queuing list QLO of FIG. Minutes 30 seconds ". According to the queuing list QLO, the expected end time of job 1 was “9:00:00”. Therefore, the print of this job is completed 30 seconds later than scheduled. Agent 31E of printer PR1
Adds this deviation "30 seconds" to the expected end time of the subsequent jobs (S66). As a result, job 2 and job 3
The expected end time of each is delayed by 30 seconds, and becomes the respective values shown in the queuing list QLN. The other operations are the same as those described above. In the fifth embodiment, when a print request is assigned to a printer, an inquiry about the status is made. So, for example, if you've just run out of paper,
At that moment, jobs can be distributed that accurately reflect the state of each printer at the moment.

The sixth embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 9 which refers to claim 7,
The fifth embodiment is basically the same as the fifth embodiment, except for the following points. (1) Inquiries about printer information should be sent simultaneously. (2) This includes a keyword indicating the content of the print request at this time. (3) Only the agent 31F of the printer 3 that responds to this keyword, that is, the job at this time, responds with the information about the release time of the printer 3 and the current state of the printer 3. FIG. 17 shows the main configuration of the print management server 4F of this embodiment, and FIG. 18 shows the processing procedure. The configuration shown in FIG. 17 is also basically the same as that of the fifth embodiment. However, the printer information collecting unit 42F of this embodiment broadcasts with the keyword, and the agent 3 of the printer that does not conform to the keyword, for example, the printer PR2.
1F does not respond at this time. In this respect, there is a slight difference from the fifth embodiment. Therefore, the code of the block is renewed (the additional code is "F") and the drawing is separated.

The processing procedure of this embodiment shown in FIG. 18 is also the fifth.
It is basically the same as the embodiment. However, the following points are different. (1) The printer information collecting unit 42F inquires the printer information of each printer agent 31F by broadcast including the keyword (S52F). (2) Only the agent 31F of the printer conforming to this keyword responds with the status of the printer at that time (S61F). (3) Therefore, the "selection of compatible printer" performed in S53 (FIG. 13) of the fifth embodiment should not be performed in the sixth embodiment. So this is also a new figure. The types of keywords included in the simultaneous broadcast are arbitrary. Specifically, there are static items such as resolution and printing speed, sizes of held paper, remaining amount of each paper, and dynamic items such as printer open time. The advantage of the sixth embodiment is that it is possible to easily find a printer that matches the purpose by devising the type of the keyword and its contents. For example, when the total number of printouts is large, the broadcast request includes a keyword such as "remaining amount of paper A4 is 300 or more" in order to prevent the paper from running out in the middle, so that the print request will be sent to the end surely. You can select the printer on which is executed. Further, there is no need for a configuration or storage means for storing printer information.

The seventh embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 10, and this embodiment is basically the same as the first embodiment, except for the following points. (1) To select a printer with particular attention to the print quality of the printer. (2) The user can select this selection with an abstract expression such as pine, bamboo, and plum. The following factors can be considered as factors that affect print quality.・ Printing method (laser / inkjet / wire dots, etc.) ・ Resolution (dpi) ・ Amount of gradations ・ Abrasion degree of drums ・ Abrasion degree of developing machine blades ・ Amount of toner remaining (the poorer the remaining toner) ・Differences in printer model and manufacturer ・ Differences in the types of paper used and brands (quality of backing paper is poor) Consider these factors as necessary when implementing.

FIG. 19 shows the main components of the print management server 4G, workstation client 21G, etc. of this embodiment. In the figure, 71 is an input / output unit composed of a keyboard, a mouse, etc., and 72 is a print request processing unit, which reads a corresponding document file from the file storage unit 73 in accordance with a print request input from the input / output unit 71. And supplies it to the communication processing unit 74. The communication processing unit 74 supplies this print request to the print management server 4G via the network 1 and also exchanges various data via the network 1. Reference numeral 81 denotes a communication processing unit on the print management server 4G side, which starts receiving this print request and exchanges various data via the network 1. A job processing unit 82 has the same functions as the candidate printer extraction unit 44, the normal request transfer unit 45, the transfer time calculation unit 47, the timer 49, the transfer timing control unit 50, the time designation request transfer unit 51, and the like of the first embodiment. Equipped with. A printer information table management unit 42G1 creates / updates the printer information table 40G1. A print quality condition table management unit 42G2 creates / updates the print quality condition table 40G2. Reference numeral 87 is an input / output unit including a keyboard and a mouse.

In this embodiment, the processing is performed as follows. First, the administrator of the print management server 4G uses the input / output unit 87 and the printer information table management unit 42G1 to create the printer information table 40G1. An example of the contents of the printer information table 40G1 is shown in FIG. Similarly, the input / output unit 87 and the print quality condition table management unit 42G2 are used to print the print quality condition table 40G.
Create 2. An example of the contents of the print quality condition table 40G2 is also shown in FIG. This determines the type of print quality provided by this system and its content. Of course, it is not limited to the examples given here. The user issues a print request using the input / output unit 71. At this time, the name of the document file or the like desired to be printed out is input, and the print quality is designated by any of "pine, bamboo, and plum". Of course, what is specified is arbitrary. For example, if you want to proofread the created text, you can specify "Ume" with the lowest rank and "Pine" with the highest rank in the case of documents to be delivered to customers.

Upon receiving this print request, the print request processing unit 72 stores the designated file in the file storage unit 7.
3, the job is created with the print quality specified by the user, and the job is supplied to the print management server 4G. The request receiving unit 43 receives this job and spools it on the spool 48. The job processing unit 82 takes out the spooled job. Then, the print quality designated as the attribute of this print job is taken out, the print quality condition table 40G2 is searched, and the print quality condition corresponding thereto is acquired. The job processing unit 82 searches the printer information table 40G1 based on this condition to find the printer 3 that satisfies the condition. Then, similarly to each of the embodiments described above, the printer 3 that can print out the earliest among them is selected and the job is transmitted to it.
In the seventh embodiment, the print quality is designated in the abstract form. Therefore, it is possible to easily obtain a printed matter of desired print quality without each user having to care about the resolution of each printer and other parameters that affect print quality. The print quality condition table 40G2 can be updated at any time. Therefore, by repeating the update as appropriate according to the system operation, it is possible to realize a printing environment that matches the individuality of the system, such as the user and installation location.

The eighth embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the twelfth aspect of the invention, and FIG. 21 shows the configuration of the print management server 4H and the like, and FIG. 22 shows an example of the contents of the printer information table 40H1 and the print quality condition table 40H2. This embodiment is basically the same as the seventh embodiment, but differs from the seventh embodiment in that consumable information is added to the printer information (FIG. 22). As described above, the states of consumables such as the amount of toner and the remaining amount of ink affect print quality. Although the drum is not a simple consumable item, as the number of printed sheets increases, the surface becomes worn and print quality deteriorates. Therefore, the contaminated state of the drum is also included in the consumable information here. Note that this information is specifically represented by the number of printouts or the like. The consumable information is periodically collected by the printer information table management unit 42H1 and reflected in the printer information table 40H1. Other than this, 7th
The operation is similar to that of the embodiment. The description is omitted. According to the eighth embodiment, the print quality at the time of processing the request can be reflected in the output, and the printer selection more suitable for the state at that time can be performed. Therefore, it is possible to realize a more detailed print service that more accurately reflects the user's desire regarding the print quality.

The ninth embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 11, and the configuration of the print management server 4I and the like is the same as that of the eighth embodiment (addition code is changed from H to I. Illustration is omitted). This embodiment is basically the same as the eighth embodiment. Each printer 3
However, it differs from the eighth embodiment in that it determines its own quality information based on the state of consumables and the like. As described in the eighth embodiment, print quality is affected by consumables and other conditions.
Therefore, the quality information determined by the printer by itself reflects the state of consumables and the like that change with time. The quality information is the same as that of the print management server 4 of the eighth embodiment.
The printer information table management unit 42H1 for H regularly collects and updates the printer information table 40I1. FIG. 23 shows an example of the contents of the printer information table 40I1 and the print quality condition table 40I2. Here, the quality information is expressed as “excellent”, “upper”, and “average”. Then, for example, on the basis of the same standard as the print quality condition table 40H2 in FIG. 22, each printer 3 determines this quality information according to the state of its own consumables and the like. Other than this, the operation is the same as that of the eighth embodiment. The description is omitted. Also according to the ninth embodiment, the print quality at the time of processing the request can be reflected in the output, and the printer selection more suitable for the state at that time can be performed. Therefore, it is possible to realize a more detailed print service that more accurately reflects the user's desire regarding the print quality. Further, since the evaluation of the print quality is left to the printer, the burden on the print management server 4I side can be lightened.

The tenth embodiment will be described. This embodiment is one embodiment of the thirteenth aspect of the invention, and FIG. 24 shows a main part of the configuration. The candidate printer is the candidate printer extraction unit 44J.
Selected by. In this embodiment, the user can confirm whether or not the selected printer should output. As described above, the print quality of the printer is affected by various parameters such as the remaining amount of toner, the number of print output sheets, and the like. Some of these parameters have the property of being difficult to detect with a sensor or the like, even if they are visible. In addition to print quality, printers have parameters that are to be called their individuality, such as good or bad fonts, good or bad toner, good or poor color development, and less paper jams. There is also a problem that the place where the device is installed is far from the user, and when it is selected, it is not convenient to go there.

The present embodiment is useful in such a situation. That is, when issuing a print request, the user can specify whether or not to make this confirmation in the window 91 shown in FIG. If no designation is made, the job is transmitted to the printer 3 selected by the candidate printer extraction unit 44J, and printout is executed. When the designation is made, the confirmation window 92 of FIG. 26 is displayed when the candidate printer extraction unit 44J selects the printer 3. If the selected printer 3 suits your taste,
Place the cursor on the "Print" button and click the mouse button (not shown). This operation is abbreviated as "Click button". The job is transmitted to the selected printer 3 and the print output is executed. If you do not like the selected printer 3, click the "next candidate" or "previous candidate" button.
The candidate printer extraction unit 44J refers to the printer information collection unit 42, finds another candidate printer, and supplies it to the user interface 43J.
Displays this in window 91. When a desired printer is found among the printers 3 displayed one after another, the "print" button is clicked there. The job is transmitted to the selected printer 3 and the print output is executed.

When there are no more candidate printers, the candidate printer extraction unit 44J notifies the user interface 43J of that fact. The user interface 43J displays the message "Candidate printer is gone" in the window 92. This message is "Printer ○○
Has been selected. Do you want to print it? Is displayed instead of the message. If you want to redo the printer selection by changing the printing conditions, click the "Cancel" button to cancel the print output. If you want to put up with the candidate printers that have been displayed so far, click the "previous candidate" button and select that printer. As described above, according to the present embodiment, when selecting a printer, it is possible to accurately reflect the user's preference with respect to printer parameters having subtle differences that cannot be detected by a sensor or the like.

The eleventh embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the invention of claim 14 and is similar to the tenth embodiment. The structure is similar to that of the tenth embodiment (FIG. 24). In this embodiment, each user's preference for each printer is accurately reflected, and each user selects one of the printers from "unconditionally selected", "confirmed and selected", or "not selected". It is classified and registered in the printer table 102 (FIG. 28). A printer that is "unconditionally selected" is, so to speak, one that suits the taste of the user.
If it is selected by the candidate printer extraction unit 44J, it can be used as an output printer without confirmation by the user. If the user selects "OK" for the printer that is "confirmed and selected", it is regarded as the output printer,
If you say "No", it will be omitted,
For example, print quality is a little difficult, but since it is the closest and convenient, you want to use it when you do not have a problem with print quality such as proofreading. The printers that are “not selected” are not used by the user, and are registered in this rank, for example, such that the printer is installed far away and does not have a desired font.

FIG. 27 shows an example 101 of the selection criterion registration window. Each user applies each printer to any selection criterion in consideration of his or her circumstances. The result is held in the printer information holding unit 40 as the printer table 102 (FIG. 28). The settings are made for each user for the same printer. Therefore, the printer table 10
2 exists separately for each user. FIG. 29 shows a printer selection procedure based on the printer table 102. When a print request from a certain user is accepted, the printer information holding unit 40 is referenced and a candidate printer suitable for the job is taken out (S71). This candidate printer name is collated with the printer table 102 of the user at this time stored in the printer information holding unit 40. If the user at this time says "Unconditionally select" this printer,
This is selected as the output printer (S76), and the job at this time is transmitted.

If the printer selected as a candidate is set to "confirm and select", the same printer confirmation window 92 as in the tenth embodiment is displayed (S75). When the user selects "print" in this window, this is selected as the output printer (S76), and the job at this time is transmitted. When the user selects "next candidate", the next printer extracted by the candidate printer extraction unit 44J is set as a candidate (S73), and the same process is performed for this (S73).
72). When "previous candidate" is selected, the previous candidate is read in S73 and S72 is re-executed. "Cancel"
In case of, the processing is stopped. If "no selection" is set for the candidate printer, the next candidate is similarly extracted in S73, and the same processing is repeated for this. When there are no more candidates, the user is informed of "printer selection failure" and the process ends (S74). As described above, according to this embodiment, the user's preference can be reflected accurately and easily in accordance with the pre-registered parameters of the printer, which have subtle differences not detected by the sensor or the like when selecting the printer.

The twelfth embodiment will be described. This embodiment is an embodiment of the fifteenth aspect of the invention, and FIG. In this embodiment, the distance from each user to each printer is stored in the required time table 112 (details are shown in FIG. 31), and this value is extracted by the candidate printer extraction unit 44K for candidate printers and printed to the users. It is intended to be used as a notice of output completion. The location of the printer is not always close to each user. The tendency becomes even stronger if the establishment is large. In view of this point, in this embodiment, it is possible to select the printer that can obtain the printed matter earliest from the viewpoint of individual users.
In addition, when each user receives the output completion notice and goes to the printer, the completion notice is given according to the distance between the user and the printer so that the print output is just completed. Adjust the time. This allows each user to obtain a desired printed matter in the shortest time.

The required time table 112 is created for each individual user (112A, 112B, 112C). The required time may be one-way or round-trip, but here we will include the one-way required time. If the user's position is not fixed (if each user's desktop is not on the same workstation) then this duration table 11
2 is preferably made to correspond to each workstation. The candidate printer extraction unit 44K first calculates the expected output completion time T1 for the candidate printer. Next, the time required for the user to reach the printer is read from the time required table 112 of the user at that time, and the estimated output completion time T1 calculated earlier is twice the time required (round-trip time). Is added to obtain a predicted printed matter acquisition time T2. This process is performed for each candidate printer. Then, the estimated print product acquisition time T2 of each printer viewed from the user is obtained.
From among these, the one with the earliest time is selected as the output printer at this time. The actual output time of printed matter is
The estimated output completion time T1 is calculated first. The completion notification unit 111 subtracts the time required to reach the printer from this time T1 to obtain the time when the user should be notified of the completion. When this time arrives, the user is informed that the printed matter will be output at time T2. In response to this, when the user goes to the printer, the output of the printed matter is completed at the time when the user arrives there.

The correspondence between the configuration of the embodiment and the configuration of the claims will be described (excluding those using the same name). The workstation 2 corresponds to the data processing device. Printer attributes,
Various items such as performance, operation status, etc., which are parameters for selecting a printer suitable for a print request, correspond to "information regarding the current status of the printer". The normal request transfer unit 45 corresponds to the transfer means of claim 1 and each claim quoting it. The spool 48 serves as a temporary holding means. The transfer time calculating unit 47 corresponds to the transfer time calculating means. The time designation request transfer unit 51 corresponds to the transfer means of claim 2 and each claim quoting it. The printer information holding unit 40 corresponds to the printer information holding means (including the one in which an alphabetic code is added after the code 40. The same applies to other configurations). The printer information collecting unit 42 corresponds to printer information collecting means. The candidate printer extraction unit 44 corresponds to the candidate printer extraction means. The process progress monitoring unit 53 corresponds to the notification means.

[0061]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the printer agent provided in each printer outputs information regarding the current state of the printer, and the candidate printer extracting means is output from the data processing device. The print request is accepted, the information output from each printer agent is referred to, a candidate printer matching the print request is extracted, and the transfer means transfers the print request to any of these candidate printers. did. According to the second aspect of the invention, the temporary holding means receives and temporarily holds the time-specified print request issued from the data processing device, and the transfer time calculation means transfers the print request conforming to the time specified by the specification. The time is calculated, the candidate printer extracting means extracts the candidate printers as in claim 1, and when the transfer time corresponding to the designated time comes, the transfer means selects the print request temporarily held in the temporary holding means. Transferred to one of the printers.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to the first or second aspect, a printer information holding means and a printer information collecting means are provided, and the printer information holding means is information relating to the current state of the printer. The printer information collecting means updates the information about the current state of each printer held in this printer information holding means based on the information output from each printer agent, and refers to this to update the candidate printers. The extraction means extracts the candidate printer that matches the print request at that time. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, each printer agent of the third aspect of the invention supplies information regarding the state of the printer to the print management server when the state of the printer changes. According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the print management server further includes printer information collecting means, and when the print request is transferred to any printer, the printer information is collected. The collecting means collects information regarding the status of the printer at that time from each printer agent. Then, the candidate printer extracting means refers to the collected information and extracts a candidate printer that matches the received print request.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, in addition to the configuration of the third aspect, when the print request is to be transferred to any of the printers, the printer information collecting means notifies each printer agent of the current state of the printer. Inquiries are made, and in response thereto, the information held in the printer information holding means is updated based on the information output from the printer agent, and the candidate printer extracting means extracts the candidate printer based on the updated information. I decided to do it. In the invention of claim 7, the printer information collecting means of claim 5 or 6 makes an inquiry to each printer by a simultaneous broadcast including a keyword corresponding to the print request at that time. According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in addition to each of the configurations according to the first to seventh aspects, the print management server further includes a notification unit, and the notification unit monitors the processing status of the transferred print request. The processing status is notified to the data processing device that issued the print request.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in each of the first to eighth aspects of the invention, the information about the current state output from each printer agent is stored in the queue of the printer. Information about the time when all print requests are processed is included. Claim 1
According to the invention of No. 0, in addition to the respective configurations of claims 1 to 9, the management server further has a print quality table that defines correspondence between abstract print quality and specific parameters of the printer, and the candidate printer The extraction means collates the abstract quality designated by the user with this table, acquires the specific parameters of the corresponding printer, and collates the information representing the current state of each printer with this specific parameter,
The printer that can print out with the abstract print quality specified by the user is extracted. According to the invention of claim 11,
In addition to each of the configurations according to claims 1 to 9, the printer agent has a print quality table similar to that of claim 10, and the specific parameters of the printer at that time are collated with the abstraction at that time. The print quality is determined and output by this printer agent.

According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, the information representing the current state of each printer in the tenth or eleventh aspect of the invention includes information about the printer parameters that change with the passage of time. Based on this, the print quality of each printer at that time was decided. According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configurations according to the first to twelfth aspects, the data processing device is provided with a user interface, which allows the selected printer to output the data or the next candidate. Is made to be confirmed by the user. In the invention of claim 14, in addition to each of the configurations of claims 1 to 12, the print management server has a selection condition table in which “unconditional selection”, “confirm and select”, and “do not select”. Etc. and the conditions regarding the printer selection set by the user are retained, and with reference to this,
Enabled to select a candidate printer and confirm with the user. According to the invention of claim 15, claim 1 to claim 1
4, each print management server further has a required time table, and the required time acquired from this required time table is added to the time required for print request processing of each printer at that time. The printer that handles the print request at that time is selected.

Therefore, according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, when a printer is selected for a normal print request or a time-specified print request, the attribute, performance, operating state, fault state, etc., which is the basis of the selection In other words, it is possible to flexibly select a printer that responds to real-time conditions, so that a comfortable printing environment with less waste of resources such as encountering printer troubles and improper job distribution to printers is realized. It According to the second aspect of the invention, even if the printer goes down, as long as there is even one printer available, the printing can be properly finished at the designated time. According to the third aspect of the invention, the status of each printer can be acquired without making an inquiry to each printer agent each time the printer is selected, and the printer can be selected quickly. According to the invention of claim 4, the current state of each printer can be accurately grasped without making inquiries or the like periodically or when selecting a printer. In addition, the time interval for inquiries from the printer information collection means to each printer agent can be extended,
Therefore, the burden on the network and the printer agent can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, especially in a system in which the printer status changes a lot, it is possible to select a printer that reflects the latest status of each printer. According to the sixth aspect of the invention, since the contents of the printer information holding means are constantly updated to the latest one, when an application that acquires the printer status by a data processing device or the like and uses it as data for printer selection is assembled. Moreover, even if the application or the like does not inquire the status of each printer agent, the latest information at that time can be obtained only by accessing the printer information holding means. According to the invention of claim 7, it is possible to easily find the printer that matches the purpose by devising the type of the keyword and the content thereof. According to the invention of claim 8, the user can easily know the processing progress of the print request, and in this respect, a more comfortable print environment for the user is realized.

According to the invention of claim 9, the state of the queue of each printer can be grasped quickly and accurately, and the burden on the management server side is not imposed. According to the tenth aspect of the invention, it is possible to easily obtain a printed matter of a desired print quality without each user having to worry about the resolution of each printer and other parameters affecting the print quality. According to the invention of claim 11, the state of the print quality of each printer can be grasped quickly and accurately, and the management server side is not burdened. According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the state at the time of processing the request is reflected in the print quality that changes with the passage of time, such as the wear of the drum and the decrease of the toner.
More accurately reflected the user's wishes regarding print quality,
A more detailed print service can be realized. According to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, when selecting a printer, it is possible to accurately reflect the user's preference with respect to printer parameters, individuality, and the like that have subtle differences that cannot be detected by a sensor or the like. According to the fourteenth aspect of the present invention, when the printer is selected, the user's preference can be reflected accurately and easily according to the parameters registered in advance with respect to the printer parameters which are not detected by the sensor or the like. According to the fifteenth aspect of the invention, in a system in which printers are arranged here and there, it is possible to minimize the substantial print product supply time to the user.

Further, in each invention, the printer is monitored as needed, and when a failure occurs, it is possible to immediately notify the administrator or the like. Therefore, downtime is reduced, and the user print environment is improved in this respect as well. In each invention,
The state of each printer at that time is centrally managed by the printer information collecting means. Therefore, regarding the distribution of print requests, the distribution of print requests can be averaged, and the processing time can be shortened and the utilization efficiency can be improved, as compared with the case where individual data processing devices arbitrarily communicate with each printer and send print requests. . Further, regarding the management of the processing progress such as the end notification and the failure notification, it is sufficient for each printer side to notify only the printer information collecting means, so that the system can be simplified also in this respect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a print management server 4 according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a printer information collecting unit 42 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a print request transfer processing procedure according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a transfer processing procedure when there is a time designation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a processable time of the printer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of process progress management.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a print management server 4B according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a print management server 4C according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a procedure such as job transfer processing according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a print management server 4D according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a print management server 4E and the like of a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of printer information.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a procedure for calculating an expected end time.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a procedure for calibrating the expected end time.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the print management server 4F according to the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the sixth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a print management server 4G, workstation client 21G, etc. according to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a printer information table and a print quality condition table.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a print management server 4H or the like according to the eighth embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a printer information table 40H1 and a print quality condition table 40H2.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a printer information table 40I1 and a print quality condition table 40I2.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the main parts of the configuration of the tenth embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a window 91 for designating the presence / absence of confirmation of selection.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a window 92 for confirming a selected printer.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example 101 of a selection criterion registration window.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing the printer table 102.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a procedure of printer selection by the printer table 102.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram showing the main parts of the configuration of the twelfth embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of a table showing the time required from each user to each printer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Network 2 Data Processing Device 3 Printer 4 Print Management Server 31 Printer Agent 40 Printer Information Retaining Means 40G2, 40H2 Print Quality Condition Table 42 Printer Information Collecting Means 43 User Interface 44 Candidate Printer Extracting Means 45 Transferring Means 47 of Claim 1 Transferring Time Calculation means 48 Temporary holding means 51 Transfer means 53 according to claim 2 Notification means 112 Required time table

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Kosuke Arai 3-2-1 Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa KSP R & D Business Park Building, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Ikuo Ebe, Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa 3-2-1, KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. In a printer management system of a network system in which a data processing device, a print management server and a plurality of printers are connected, each printer includes a printer agent for outputting information regarding a current state of the printer. The print management server accepts a print request issued from the data processing device, refers to the information about the current state of the printer output from each printer agent, and extracts a candidate printer that matches the print request. A printer management system, comprising: a candidate printer extracting unit for performing the print request; and a transfer unit for transferring the print request to any of the candidate printers. 2. In a printer management system of a network system in which a data processing device, a print management server and a plurality of printers are connected, each printer comprises a printer agent for outputting information regarding the current status of the printer. The print management server receives a time-specified print request issued from the data processing device, temporarily holds the print request, and transfers the print request in conformity with the time specified by the specification. Transfer time calculating means for calculating time, candidate printer extracting means for extracting a candidate printer that matches the print request by referring to information about the current state of the printer output from each printer agent, and the specified time When the transfer time related to A printer management system comprising: a transfer unit that transfers the held print request to any of the candidate printers. 3. The printer management system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the print management server further includes printer information holding means for holding information regarding a current state of each printer, and each printer. Printer information collecting means for updating information about the current state of each printer held in the printer information holding means based on the information output from the agent, A printer management system characterized in that a candidate printer that matches the print request is extracted by referring to information about the current state of each printer held in the means. 4. The printer management method according to claim 3, wherein each of the printer agents supplies information regarding the status of the printer to the print management server when the status of the printer changes. Characteristic printer management method. 5. The printer management method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the print management server is further configured to send the print request to any printer from each printer agent at that time. Printer information collecting means for collecting information regarding the status of the printer, and the candidate printer extracting means refers to the collected information regarding the current status of each printer, and the candidate printer matching the received print request. A printer management method characterized by extracting a printer. 6. The printer management system according to claim 3, wherein the printer information collecting unit, when attempting to transfer the print request to any of the printers, sends the printer agent to each of the printer agents at that time. Inquiry about the status is made, and in response to this, the information held in the printer information holding means is updated based on the information output from the printer agent, and the candidate printer extracting means is based on the updated information. A printer management system, wherein the candidate printer is extracted. 7. The printer management method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the printer information collecting unit makes an inquiry to each of the printers by a simultaneous broadcast including a keyword corresponding to a print request at that time. A printer management method characterized by performing. 8. The printer management method according to claim 1, wherein the print management server further monitors a processing status of the transferred print request, and monitors the processing status of the print request. A printer management method comprising a notification unit for notifying a data processing device that issued a print request. 9. The printer management method according to claim 1, wherein the information about the status at that time output from each printer agent includes all the information stored in the queue of the printer. A printer management method characterized in that it includes information on the time when processing of a print request ends. 10. The printer management method according to claim 1, wherein the management server further includes a print quality table that defines correspondence between abstract print quality and specific printer parameters, and The printer extraction means collates the abstract quality designated by the user with this table to obtain the specific parameters of the corresponding printer, and the information indicating the current state of each printer output from the printer agent and the specific information. Printer management method characterized by extracting a printer capable of printing output with the abstract print quality specified by the user by collating with the dynamic parameters. 11. The printer management method according to claim 1, wherein the printer agent further has a print quality table that defines correspondence between abstract print quality and specific parameters of the printer. A printer management method characterized in that the concrete parameter of the printer at that time is collated with this table, and the abstract print quality of the printer at that time is determined and output. 12. The printer management method according to claim 10, wherein the information indicating the current state of each printer includes information about printer parameters that change with the passage of time. A printer management method characterized by the following. 13. The printer management method according to claim 1, wherein the data processing device includes a user interface that allows a user to confirm whether to output with the selected printer. A printer management method characterized by. 14. The printer management method according to claim 1, wherein the print management server has a selection condition table that holds a condition regarding printer selection set by a user for each printer. A printer management method characterized in that a printer is selected according to the conditions set in the selection condition table. 15. The printer management method according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the print management server further has a required time table holding a required time to reach each printer, and acquired from the table. A printer management method characterized in that the required time is added to the time required for print request processing of each printer at that time, and the printer that processes the print request at that time is extracted based on the time after the addition.