KR20050072607A - Printing control method in network printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

A print control method of a network printing system is disclosed. A printing control method of a network printing system having a network printer for storing and printing a print document transmitted from a user terminal according to the present invention comprises: attribute information of a print target document from a user terminal and a print target document in a storage device; Receiving a search request signal for whether or not the same document storage, and comparing the received attribute information with the attribute information corresponding to the print document previously stored in the storage device to determine the existence of the same document and corresponding to the determination result And transmitting a search response signal indicating the existence of the same document to the user terminal. When the same document exists in the print target document in the storage device, the user can print the document stored in the storage device, thereby reducing the use of resources of the user terminal and improving the printing speed.

Description

Printing control method in network printing system

The present invention relates to a network printing system, and more particularly, to a network printing system capable of printing a printed document stored in a network printer when the same document as the document to be printed is already stored in a storage device in the network printer. Print control method.

In general, a printer is the most common image forming apparatus that prints print data received from a computer or scanner onto a recording sheet. In recent years, such a printer is connected to a plurality of user terminals (computers) through a local area network (LAN) to allow a plurality of users to use it in common, thereby increasing the use efficiency of the printer.

1 is a view schematically showing a general network printing system.

Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional network printing system includes a plurality of user terminals 10, 10-1, and 10-2 and a plurality of network printers 20 and 20-1, and the plurality of user terminals 10, 10-1 and 10-2 and the plurality of network printers 20 and 20-1 are interconnected through a local area network (LAN).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a print control method of the network printing system shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, after creating a print target document through an application program (S30), and applying a print command (S32), the print data corresponding to the print target document is printer data recognizable by a network printer by the printer driver. It is converted (S34). The printer data converted by the printer driver is spooled by the spooler (S36), and then transmitted to the network printer connected through the network interface (for example, LAN) via the port monitor (S38). The printer data transmitted to the network printer through the port monitor is output after being printed on the recording paper by the network printer (S40).

According to the conventional network printing system, when the first user terminal 10 wants to reprint the same printed document as the printed document printed through the above printing process, or the second user terminal 10-1 receives the first print document. In the case where the user wants to print the same print document as the printed document printed by the user terminal 10, the first user terminal 10 should repeat the same process, and the same printing as described above in the second user terminal 10-1. The process should be carried out.

As described above, according to the conventional network printing system, even when each user terminal 10, 10-1, or 10-2 intends to print the same document, the number of times the print command is applied every time the print command is applied is S34. Steps to S38 should be repeated. If the same process is repeated for the same document, resources of the user terminals 10, 10-1, and 10-2 may be wasted. In particular, when a large amount of data to be printed, there is a problem that it takes a considerable time to perform the above process.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to store a printed document in a storage device in a network printer, and then, when the same document as the stored document is transmitted from the user terminal, the stored document is output in the network to increase the printing speed. The present invention provides a printing control method of a printing system.

In the printing control method of a network printing system having a network printer for storing and printing a print document transmitted from a user terminal according to the present invention in a storage device for solving the above technical problem, the printing target from the user terminal Receiving attribute information on a document and a search request signal for whether to store the same document as the print target document in the storage device; Determining whether the same document exists by comparing the received attribute information with attribute information corresponding to the printed document previously stored in the storage device; And transmitting a search response signal indicating whether the same document exists to the user terminal in response to the determination result.

Here, the attribute information includes at least one of a file name, a file size, a creation date, and a modification date for the document to be printed.

The transmitting step transmits an acknowledgment signal indicating that the same document exists when the same document as the print target document exists in the storage device, and the same document as the print target document does not exist in the storage device. In this case, a negative response signal indicating that the same document does not exist is transmitted.

On the other hand, in order to solve the above technical problem, in the print control method of a network printing system having a network printer for storing and printing a print document transmitted from a user terminal according to the present invention in a storage device, the print request signal Correspondingly extracting attribute information on the document to be printed; Transmitting, to the network printer, the extracted attribute information and a search request signal for whether to store the same document as the print target document to the storage device; Outputting a message requesting selection of an output target document when a search response signal indicating that the same document exists from the network printer is received; And transmitting one of a print request signal for the print target document and a print request signal for a print document stored in the storage device to the network image forming apparatus based on the selected output target document.

Hereinafter, a print control method of a network printing system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a block diagram schematically showing a network printing system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a network printing system includes a user terminal 100 and a network printer, and the user terminal 100 and the network printer 200 are interconnected through a wired / wireless local area network (LAN).

The user terminal 100 according to the present invention transmits the attribute information of the print target document to the network printer 200 before transmitting the print target document created in the application program to the network printer 200, whether the same document exists. Request a search.

The network printer 200 compares the attribute information received from the user terminal 100 with the attribute information of the prestored print document, and determines whether the same document exists. In response to the determination result, a search response signal indicating whether the same document exists is transmitted to the user terminal 100.

The user terminal 100 transmits a new print document to the network printer 200 or prints a print document existing in the network printer 200 according to whether the same print document as the print target document exists in the network printer 200. The request signal is transmitted to the network printer 200.

First, the user terminal 100 includes an input device 105, a display device 110, a ROM 115, a RAM 120, a central processing unit (CPU) 125, and an application program unit ( 130, an attribute information extraction unit 135, a printer driver 140, a printer spooler 145, a port monitor 150, and a terminal communication unit 155.

The input device 105 applies a key input signal according to a user's key operation to the CPU 125, and a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, and the like may be applied.

The display device 110 is a general monitor and displays an operation state of the user terminal 100 under the control of the CPU 125.

The ROM 115 is a nonvolatile memory device and stores various control programs necessary to implement the functions of the user terminal 100.

The RAM 115 is a volatile memory device and temporarily stores various data according to program execution of the CPU 125. In the RAM 115, a program executed by the CPU 125 is loaded and stored, or the result data processed by the CPU 125 is stored.

The CPU 125 controls the overall operation of the user terminal 100 according to the control program stored in the ROM 115. For example, when a print start command for a print target document created in the application program unit 130 is received, the CPU 125 drives the attribute information extractor 135 to extract attribute information for the print target document. Then, the printer driver 140 is driven to convert the attribute information extracted by the attribute information extraction unit 135 into printer data recognizable by the network printer 200.

The application program unit 130 stores various applications for creating a print target document.

The attribute information extraction unit 135 extracts attribute information on the print target document created by the application program unit 130 under the control of the CPU 125. Here, the attribute information for the document to be printed includes a file name, a file size, a creation date and a change date. The attribute information extracted by the attribute information extraction unit 135 is temporarily stored in the RAM 120.

The printer driver 140 converts the print document created by the application program unit 130 and the attribute information extracted by the attribute information extraction unit 135 into printer data recognizable by the network printer 200.

The printer spooler 145 is a program for managing the spooling of the printer data converted by the printer driver unit 140. The printer spooler 145 sequentially stores the printer data output from the printer driver unit 140 in a queue. Thereafter, the printer data of a predetermined unit (for example, one page unit) is read and transmitted to the port monitor 150 in a first-in first-out (FIFO) method.

The port monitor 150 is a program for controlling the terminal communication unit 155 electrically and physically connected to the network printer 200, and checks the printer data transmission state to the network printer 200.

The terminal communicator 155 may be connected to the network printer 200 to provide a communication interface between the terminal communicator 155 and the network printer 200. The terminal communication unit 155 may be a network interface card (NIC).

Meanwhile, the network printer 200 includes an operation panel unit 210, a memory unit 220, a printer communication unit 230, a storage device 240, a printer control unit 250, and a print engine unit 260.

The operation panel unit 210 includes a plurality of operation keys for selecting and setting a function supported by the network printer 200, and an input unit and a printer for applying a key input signal according to the key operation to the printer controller 250. The display unit may display an operation state of the network printer 200 under the control of the controller 250.

The memory unit 220 is a nonvolatile memory device, and is a ROM (222) for storing various control programs required to implement a function supported by the network printer 200 and a printer control unit 250 as a volatile memory device. RAM (224) for temporarily storing data according to the result of the program execution of the program and various data generated during the processing of the received print data.

The printer communication unit 230 may be connected to the user terminal 100 to provide a communication interface with the user terminal 100. The printer communication unit 230 receives the attribute information and / or the print target document for the print target document transmitted from the user terminal 100 through the terminal communication unit 155.

The storage device 240 stores the document to be stored in the document received from the user terminal 100 through the printer communication unit 230 and the attribute information about the document to be stored. The storage target document and attribute information may be stored separately. The storage device 240 may be a hard disk drive (HDD).

Table 1 is a table showing an example of the attribute information for the storage target document stored in the storage device 240.

Filename File size Date Created Changed date aaa.gul 1,234 KB 2003-09-03 2003-09-04 bbb.doc 2,345KB 2003-07-25 2003-07-25 ccc.hwp 300 KB 2003-05-01 2003-05-01 ddd.txt 10 KB 2003-03-27 2003-03-28 . . . . . . . .

As shown in [Table 1], the attribute information for the document to be stored includes a file name, a file size, a creation date and a modification date.

The printer controller 250 controls the overall operation of the network printer 200 according to the control program stored in the ROM 222. When the printer controller 250 receives the same document search request signal from the user terminal 100 through the printer communication unit 230, the printer controller 250 stores the attribute information of the print target document received from the user terminal 100 and the storage device 240. The attribute information of the printed document is compared to determine the existence of the same document. In response to the determination result, the printer controller 250 transmits a search response signal indicating the existence of the same document to the user terminal 100. That is, when the same document as the print target document exists in the storage device 240, the printer controller 250 transmits an acknowledgment signal ACK indicating that the same document exists to the user terminal 100, and the storage device ( If the same document as the document to be printed does not exist at 240, a negative response signal NAK indicating that the same document does not exist is transmitted.

The print engine 260 performs a print job of printing the print data corresponding to the document to be printed on the recording sheet under the control of the printer controller 250.

Hereinafter, a printing control method of a network printing system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a printing control method of the user terminal illustrated in FIG. 3.

First, when a print command for printing a document stored in the user terminal 100 is received (S310), the CPU 125 controls the attribute information extraction unit 135 to extract attribute information of the document to be printed (S320). ). When the attribute information of the print target document is extracted by the attribute information extractor 135, the CPU 125 transmits the same document search request signal to confirm whether the extracted attribute information and the same document exist as the print target document. The printer communication unit 230 is controlled to transmit to the 200 (S330).

Subsequently, when a search response signal indicating the existence of the same document is received from the network printer 200 through the terminal communication unit 155 (S340), the port monitor 150 receives the received search response signal. To the CPU 125. The CPU 125 determines whether the search response signal received from the network printer 200 is an acknowledgment signal indicating that the same document exists or a negative response signal indicating that the same document does not exist (S350).

In step S350, when the search response signal received from the network printer 200 is a negative response signal indicating that the same document does not exist, the CPU 125 transmits the print target document to the network printer 200. 155 is controlled (S360). Preferably, when it is determined in step S350 that the search response signal is a negative response signal, the CPU 125 converts the print data corresponding to the document to be printed into printer data recognizable by the network printer 200 ( 140).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S350 that the search response signal is an acknowledgment signal indicating that the same document exists, the CPU 125, as shown in Figure 5, requesting the selection of the output target document 400 After the generation, the display apparatus 110 displays the result (S370). In response to the message 400, if a print document stored in the network printer 200 is selected as an output target document, that is, if "YES" is selected (S380), the CPU 125 stores the network printer 200. The print request signal for requesting the output of the print document is transmitted to the network printer 200 (S390). On the contrary, when " NO " is selected in step S380, the CPU 125 switches to step S360 to process the print target document to be transmitted to the network printer 200.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a printing control method in the network printer shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 6, when a search request signal for the same document as the print target document is received from the user terminal 100 through the printer communication unit 230 (S510), the printer controller 250 transmits from the user terminal 100. The attribute information of the received print target document and the attribute information of the printed document stored in the storage device 240 are compared (S520).

The printer controller 250 determines whether the same document as the print target document to be output from the user terminal 100 exists in the storage device 240 based on the comparison result (S530).

In operation S530, when it is determined that the same document as the print target document does not exist in the storage device 240, the printer controller 250 may have the same document as the print target document in the storage device 240 as the user terminal 100. The printer communication unit 230 is controlled to transmit a negative response signal indicating that the device does not perform the operation (S540). Thereafter, when the print target document is transmitted from the user terminal 100 through the printer communication unit 230 (S542), the printer control unit 250 performs a print job on the received print target document. Control (S544).

In operation S530, when it is determined that the same document as the print target document exists in the storage device 240, the printer controller 250 may use the user terminal 100 to store the same document as the print target document in the storage device 240. The printer communication unit 230 is controlled to transmit an acknowledgment signal informing of existence (S550).

After transmitting the acknowledgment signal to the user terminal 100, the printer controller 250 checks whether or not the print request signal is received from the user terminal 100 (S552). When a print request signal is received from the user terminal 100, the printer controller 250 determines whether the print request signal is a print request signal for a print document stored in the storage device 240 (S554). At this time, if the print request signal is a print request signal for the print target document stored in the user terminal 100, the printer controller 250 switches to step S542.

On the other hand, in step S554, when the print request signal transmitted from the user terminal 100 is a print request signal for the print document stored in the storage device 240, the printer control unit 250 prints the corresponding from the storage device 240 After reading the document, the print engine 260 is controlled to perform a printing operation on the read printed document (S556).

As described so far, according to the network printing system and the print control method thereof according to the present invention, when printing a document created in a user terminal or a stored document through a network printer, printing to be currently printed on a storage device in the network printer When the same document as the document is stored, it is possible to print the document stored in the storage device, it is possible to reduce the use of resources (resource) of the user terminal, there is an advantage to improve the printing speed.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. I will understand. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims below and equivalents thereof.

1 is a view schematically showing a general network printing system;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a printing control method of the network printing system shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a block diagram schematically showing a network printing system according to the present invention;

4 is a flowchart for explaining a printing control method in the user terminal shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a message displayed to receive an output target document when the same document as the print target document exists in the network printer shown in FIG. 4; FIG.

6 is a flowchart for explaining a printing control method of the network printer shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100: user terminal 105: input device

110: display device 125: CPU

130: application program unit 135: attribute information extraction unit

140: printer driver unit 155: terminal communication unit

200: network printer 230: printer communication unit

240: storage device 250: printer control unit

260: printing engine

Claims (5)

In the print control method of a network printing system having a network printer for storing and printing a print document transmitted from a user terminal in a storage device, Receiving, from the user terminal, attribute information on a document to be printed and a search request signal for whether to store the same document as the document to be printed on the storage device; Determining whether the same document exists by comparing the received attribute information with attribute information corresponding to the printed document previously stored in the storage device; And And transmitting a search response signal indicating whether the same document exists to the user terminal in response to the determination result. The method of claim 1, And the attribute information includes at least one of a file name, a file size, a creation date, and a modification date of the document to be printed. The method of claim 1, The transmitting step transmits an acknowledgment signal indicating that the same document exists when the same document as the print target document exists in the storage device, and the same document as the print target document does not exist in the storage device. And a negative response signal indicating that the same document does not exist. In the print control method of a network printing system having a network printer for storing and printing a print document transmitted from a user terminal in a storage device, Extracting attribute information on the document to be printed in response to the print request signal; Transmitting, to the network printer, the extracted attribute information and a search request signal for whether to store the same document as the print target document to the storage device; Outputting a message requesting selection of an output target document when a search response signal indicating that the same document exists from the network printer is received; And And transmitting one of a print request signal for the print target document and a print request signal for a print document stored in the storage device to the network image forming apparatus based on the selected output target document. Print control method of a network printing system. The method of claim 4, wherein And the attribute information includes at least one of a file name, a file size, a creation date, and a modification date of the document to be printed.