JP2000259374A - Printing control method and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To relax a sense of unfairness among users of plural host devices by deciding whether or not interruption processing is possible on the basis of an amount of printing data of a print job. SOLUTION: This printing control method provides an interruption processing part 112 and a processing condition storage part 150 to a printer 100. When a printing request of another print job is outputted from a host 300 while the print job outputted from a host 200 is being performed, the interruption processing part 112 decides whether the interruption processing is possible or not on the basis of an interruption capacity 157 which is product of an amount of remaining data 154 with a predicted processing time regarding the print job of the host 200 as an initial value and a preset interruption ratio 156, and a comparison result of an amount of interruption demand 159 of the predicted time for processing regarding the print job of the host 300.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing system in which a single printing device is shared by a plurality of host devices, and
The present invention relates to a print control method for controlling print data in the printing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some network systems including a plurality of host devices include a printing device that executes a print job based on print data generated in the host device. In such a data network system, a single printing device is shared by a plurality of host devices, and a printing device that is executing a print job requested by one of the host devices is assigned to another host device. May output a print job request. In such a case, in the printing apparatus, it is necessary to select whether to continue the execution of the print job being executed or to interrupt the print job being executed and execute a new print job first.

For this reason, in the conventional network system, priorities are set in advance for each of a plurality of host devices, and processing of print data relating to a print job redundantly output from the plurality of host devices is prioritized. There is one that is executed on the basis of.

In such a network system, as shown in FIG. 15, a control unit 510 including a print data processing unit 511 and an interrupt processing unit 512 is provided to a printer 500 connected to a plurality of host computers via a network 400. An interface 520 connecting the control unit 510 to the network 400, a printer interface 530 connecting the control unit 510 to the printer engine 540,
In addition to the printer engine 540 that executes the printing process, the processing state storage unit 550 and the interruption state storage unit 570
Is provided.

[0005] The processing state storage unit 550 stores information on the print job being executed, and indicates the total number of pages 551 of the print data being printed, the number of pages 552 being printed, and a completion state indicating the state of completion of the print processing. A flag 553, a current priority 554 indicating the priority of the print job being processed, an interrupt priority 555 indicating the priority of the print job requesting the interrupt processing, and a host which has output the print job being processed. It has a storage area for each of the hosts 556 that represents computer information. The interrupted state storage unit 570 stores information on the print job interrupted by the execution of the interrupt processing, and
0 is provided with storage areas 571 to 576 corresponding to the storage areas 551 to 556, respectively.

The host computer 600 that has output the print job being executed by the printer 500 includes a control unit 610 including a data transfer unit 611, an interface 620 connecting the control unit 610 to the network 400, and a print job being executed by the printer 500. The storage unit 630 stores the current print data 631 relating to the job and the priority 633 preset in the host computer 600. The host computer 700 that has output the print job interrupt request to the printer 500 includes a control unit 710, an interface 720, and a storage unit 730, like the host computer 600. Storage unit 730
Stores interrupt print data 731 relating to the print job that has output the interrupt request and a priority 733 preset in the host computer 700.

In the above configuration, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 129336 discloses a method of determining whether or not a print job interrupt process can be performed and determining a timing of restarting a print job interrupted by the interrupt process based on a priority preset in a host computer. A disclosed configuration is disclosed. That is, when the host computer 600 executes the print job relating to the current print data 631, the control unit 510 of the printer 500 sets the current priority 554 to the priority 6 of the host computer 600.
33 are stored. When a print job request is output from the host computer 700 in this state, the control unit 510 of the printer 500
0 priority 733 is assigned to the printer 500 interrupt priority 555
And the interrupt processing unit 512 sets the current priority 554
And the interrupt priority 555. The control unit 510 determines whether or not the print job output from the host computer 700 can be interrupted based on the comparison result. The control unit 510 determines the restart timing of the interrupted print job when executing the interrupt processing based on the content of the completion flag 553.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-162415 discloses a configuration in which it is determined whether a print job can be interrupted based on the priority. The priority is changed in accordance with the progress of the print job being executed. There is disclosed a configuration for causing such a configuration. That is, the progress of the print job output from the host computer 600 being executed is determined based on the total number of pages 551 and the contents of the processing page 552 stored in the processing state storage unit 550, and the print job is determined to be a predetermined one. The content of the current priority 554 is changed when progressing to the state, and when a print job request is output from the host computer 700, the interrupt priority 555, which is the priority of the host computer 700, is changed and the current priority is changed. Degree 5
Then, based on the result of the comparison, it is determined whether or not the print job output from the host computer 700 can be interrupted.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei 6-139031 and Hei 9-190317 disclose a configuration for judging whether or not an interrupt process of a print job can be performed based on a priority. Immediately after an interrupt request for a print job is input, after processing of one page in a print job being executed, or end of processing for print data of a communicating page in a print job being executed. A configuration that starts at any later timing is disclosed.

[0010]

However, the priority among print jobs generated in a plurality of host computers constituting a network system is not always constant, and the priority set in each host computer in advance is not always constant. By determining whether or not to execute the interrupt processing based on the above, there may be a case where a plurality of print jobs cannot be executed in an order corresponding to the actual priority of each print job, and When a print job related to a small amount of print data is output from a lower priority host computer during execution of a print job related to a large amount of print data, the printer is occupied by the print job including a large amount of print data, and the print data Resolves the inconvenience of a small print job waiting for a long time There is a problem that can not be.

These problems cannot be solved by changing the priority according to the progress of the print job being executed, and the data amount of one page of the print data relating to the print job is reduced. Even if the interrupt processing is started at the timing when the processing of the print data for one page is completed, the print job having a small amount of print data cannot always be ended quickly because the processing is not constant.

An object of the present invention is to determine the amount of print data of a print job for which interrupt processing is to be permitted based on the amount of print data of a print job being executed, and to execute the interrupt processing based on the determined amount of print data. By judging the propriety,
Provided is a print system and a print control method, which can eliminate the inconvenience of a print job having a small amount of print data being in a standby state for a long period of time and can reduce unfairness among users of a plurality of host computers. It is in.

[0013]

The present invention has the following arrangement as means for solving the above-mentioned problems.

(1) In a print control method applied to a printing system including a printer for executing a print job output from a plurality of host devices, an allowable interrupt amount is determined from a print data amount of a print job being executed by the printer. Calculate,
Determining whether or not an interrupt process can be performed according to whether or not an interrupt data amount, which is a print data amount of a print job related to the interrupt request, is within a range of an allowable interrupt amount. ).

In the configuration of (1), which print job is to be preferentially executed is determined based on the print job being executed by the printer and the print data amount of the print job related to the interrupt request. You. Therefore, the execution order is determined for each print job in consideration of the time required to complete each print job in the printer.

(2) In the configuration of (1), the allowable interrupt amount can be calculated by multiplying the print data amount of the print job being executed by the printer by a preset allowable interrupt ratio. .

In the configuration of (2), the print job amount related to the interrupt request and the interrupt allowance calculated by multiplying the print data amount of the print job being executed by the printer by a preset interrupt allowance ratio. Is compared with the amount of interrupt data, which is the amount of print data, and based on the result of the comparison, it is determined which of the print job being executed in the printer or the print job relating to the interrupt request is to be preferentially executed. Therefore, by setting an appropriate value as the interrupt allowance, it is possible to give a priority according to the print data amount to each print job.

(3) The present invention is characterized in that it is determined whether or not an interrupt process can be performed by using the processing time of the print data as the interrupt data amount and the allowable interrupt amount.

In the configuration of (3), which of the print job being executed in the printer and the print job relating to the interrupt request is to be preferentially executed is determined based on the processing time of each print job. Therefore, the execution order of each print job is determined in a state suitable for the user's feeling in the host device that has output each print job.

(4) In the configuration of (3), each of the plurality of host devices predicts the processing time of the print data of the print job related to the print request, and outputs the predicted processing time together with the print request. be able to.

In the configuration of (4), by using the processing time of the print job output together with the print request from each host device, which of the print job being executed in the printer or the print job related to the interrupt request is prioritized. Is determined. Therefore, it is not necessary for the device that determines whether or not to perform the interrupt process to calculate the processing time of each print job, and the process of creating data used to determine whether or not to perform the interrupt process is distributed to a plurality of devices that constitute the printing system. Thus, it is possible to reduce the time required to determine whether or not to perform the interrupt processing.

(5) In the print data relating to the print job being executed by the printer, an allowable interrupt amount is calculated from an unprocessed print data amount.

In the configuration (5), the comparison between the allowable interrupt amount calculated from the unprocessed print data amount of the print job being executed by the printer and the interrupt data amount of the print job related to the interrupt request is performed. Based on the result, it is determined which of the print job being executed in the printer and the print job relating to the interrupt request is to be executed with priority.
Therefore, the amount of interrupt data for which interrupt processing should be permitted decreases as the print job progresses in the printer, and the priority of a plurality of print jobs is determined in consideration of the progress of the print job in the printer.

(6) When the amount of unprocessed print data in the print data relating to the print job being executed by the printer becomes smaller than a predetermined amount, the allowable interrupt amount is reduced. (Claim 4).

In the configuration (6), when the amount of unprocessed print data in the print job being executed by the printer becomes smaller than the predetermined amount, the amount of unprocessed print data in the print job being executed by the printer is reduced. Is reduced (the amount of print data of a print job for which interrupt processing is to be permitted) calculated from. Therefore, a print job with a large amount of print data is not interrupted immediately before the end of the print job being executed by the printer.

(7) In the configuration of (6), when the amount of unprocessed print data in the print data relating to the print job being executed by the printer becomes smaller than a predetermined amount, an allowable interrupt amount is set. Can be set to 0.

In the configuration (7), when the amount of unprocessed print data in the print job being executed by the printer becomes smaller than a predetermined amount, the interrupt process is prohibited, and the print job being executed by the printer is prohibited. Interrupt processing immediately before the end can be reliably prohibited.

(8) The printer is characterized in that the print data amount relating to the print job that has already been subjected to the interrupt processing for the print job being executed by the printer is added to the interrupt data amount to determine whether or not the interrupt processing can be performed. (Claim 5).

In the configuration of (8), in determining whether or not the current interrupt processing is possible, the amount of interrupt data of the print job related to the current interrupt processing is already assigned to the print job being executed by the printer. The print data amount of the print job subjected to the interrupt processing is added, and the added interrupt data amount is compared with the allowable interrupt amount. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a plurality of print jobs from being repeatedly interrupted for a single print job.

(9) The interrupt allowable amount and the interrupt data amount are adjusted based on the adjustment data set in each of the plurality of host devices (claim 6).

In the configuration of (9), the permissible interrupt amount and the interrupt data amount are adjusted by the adjustment data in the host device. Therefore, by setting appropriate adjustment data in the host device, either the print job being executed in the printer or the print job related to the interrupt request is given priority in consideration of the interrelationship between a plurality of host devices. And executed.

(10) In the configuration of (9), the adjustment data is level data set for each print job, and
The printer can adjust the allowable interrupt amount based on the level data set for the print job being processed, and adjust the interrupt data amount based on the level data set for the print job related to the interrupt request.

In the configuration of (10), the allowable interrupt amount is adjusted by the adjustment data set in the host device which has output the print job being executed in the printer,
The amount of interrupt data is adjusted by the adjustment data set in the host device that has output the print job related to the interrupt request. Therefore, by setting appropriate adjustment data in accordance with the characteristics of each print job, it is possible to take into account the characteristics of each print data and to determine whether the print job is being executed in the printer or the print job related to the interrupt request. Can be executed with priority.

(11) In the configuration of (9), the adjustment data is a flag indicating the validity or invalidity of the interrupt processing, and the data is used as a print job being processed by the printer or a print job related to the interrupt request. If the content of the set flag is invalid, interrupt processing can be prohibited.

In the configuration of (11), the adjustment data having the contents of valid or invalid is set according to the characteristics of each print job, so that the allowable interruption amount and the interruption data amount are compared. It is possible to set in advance whether or not to execute the interrupt processing.

(12) The printer determines the start timing of the interrupt processing based on the amount of unprocessed print data in the page being printed.

In the configuration (12), the start timing of the interrupt process is determined according to the progress of the print process in each page. Therefore, the interruption process of another print job is not started immediately before the end of the printing process for one page, and the interruption process is not made to wait for a long time immediately after the start of the printing process for one page.

(13) In the configuration of (12), the ratio of the unprocessed print data in the page being processed by the printer is compared with a preset reference value, and the ratio of the unprocessed print data is If the value is lower than the value, the processing of the print data of the page is completed, and if the ratio of the unprocessed print data is higher than the reference value, the print job being executed by the printer is immediately interrupted and an interrupt request is issued. The execution of the print job according to the above is started.

In the configuration of (13), depending on whether the printing process for one page has progressed to the reference amount, whether the interrupt process is started after the printing process for the page is completed,
Alternatively, it is determined whether to immediately start the interrupt processing. Therefore, it is not necessary to repeatedly perform the printing process in the print job after restarting the printing process for one page that has progressed to the reference amount, so that it is possible to save the waste of the printing process time, and it is possible to reduce the waste of the one page that does not progress to the reference amount. The interrupt process can be started without waiting for the print process for the minute, and the interrupt process can be completed early.

(14) A printer which executes a print job output from a plurality of host devices in the printing system calculates an allowable interrupt amount from the print data amount of the print job being executed, and the calculated interrupt. There is provided means for determining whether or not to execute the interrupt process based on a comparison result between the allowable amount and the print data amount of the print data related to the interrupt request (claim 8).

In the configuration of (14), the printer constituting the printing system determines whether or not to perform the interrupt process based on a comparison between the allowable interrupt amount and the interrupt data amount. Therefore, the determination as to whether or not to execute the interrupt processing is performed intensively in the printer, and the determination result is standardized.

(15) Each of a plurality of host devices constituting a printing system together with the printer calculates an allowable interrupt amount from the print data amount of a print job being executed in the printer, and the calculated allowable interrupt amount. Means for determining whether or not to execute an interrupt process based on a result of comparison between the print data and a print data amount of the print data related to the interrupt request output from another host device. ).

In the configuration (15), in each of the plurality of host devices constituting the printing system, it is determined whether or not the interruption process is possible based on a comparison between the allowable interruption amount and the interruption data amount. Therefore, the processing load on the printer that should perform the printing process is reduced, and the characteristics of each host device and each print job can be easily reflected in the determination result of whether or not to execute the interrupt process.

[0044]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This printing system is configured by connecting host computers 200 and 300 to a printer 100 via a network 400. In this configuration, the printer 100
Will be described when a new print job interrupt request is output from the host computer 300 while the print job output from the host computer 200 is being executed.

The printer 100 includes a print data processing unit 111 for developing print data output from a host computer into bitmap data, and an interrupt output unit 112 for determining whether or not to execute a print job interrupt process. A processing state storage unit, together with an interface 120 for connecting the control unit 110 to the network 400, a printer engine 140 for executing print processing based on bitmap data, and a printer interface 130 for connecting the control unit 110 to the printer engine 140. Fifteen
0 and a suspended state storage unit 170.

The processing state storage unit 150 stores the total number of pages 151 of the print data relating to the print job being executed, the currently processed page 152 of the print data that is currently being printed, and the printing of the currently processed print data. A completion flag 153 indicating whether or not the processing has been completed;
The remaining data amount 154 in the print data relating to the print job being executed, the preset lower limit data amount 155,
The allowable interrupt rate 156 and the allowable interrupt amount 157, the existing interrupt amount 158 for the print job being executed, the interrupt request amount 15 representing the print data amount of the print job related to the interrupt processing request.
9 and a host 160 which is information for specifying the host computer which has output the print job being executed.
And an area for storing the respective data. The interrupted state storage unit 170 stores information on a print job interrupted by the execution of the interrupt processing, and includes areas 171 to 180 corresponding to the storage areas 151 to 160 in the processing state storage unit 150, respectively.

The host computer 200 that has output the print job currently being executed by the printer 100 has a data transfer unit 211 that outputs print data to the print data processing unit 111 of the printer 100 and a processing amount of print data related to the print job. , A control unit 210 including a processing amount prediction unit 212 for predicting the print job, an interface 220 for connecting the control unit 210 to the network 400, and a storage unit 230 for storing data including print data 231 related to a print job. Note that the control unit 210 can be configured by a CPU and a RAM, and the storage unit 230 can be configured by a RAM. The data transfer unit 211 and the processing amount prediction unit 212 can be realized by software executed by the CPU. The host computer 300 that outputs a new print job interrupt processing request to the printer 100
It is configured similarly to.

FIGS. 2 to 5 show that the printer 100 is connected to the host computer 20 in the above network system.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an input / output state of data when a new print job is output from the host computer 300 to the printer 100 while a print job output from 0 is being executed.

FIG. 2 shows an input / output state of data during a printing process based on print data output from the host computer 200. First, the control unit 210 of the host computer 200 sends a print request including the total number of pages of the print data 231 and identification data of the host computer 200 to the interface 220 and the network 4.
00 to the printer 100. The control unit 110 of the printer 100 that has not executed the print processing transmits the print data output permission to the host computer 200 on condition that the print processing is possible, and the processing state storage unit 150 The area 160 and the area 151 store the identification data of the host computer 200 and the total number of pages of the print data.

On the other hand, the control unit 210 of the host computer 200 having received the output permission from the printer 100 outputs the print data 231 stored in the storage unit 230 to the printer 100 via the data transfer unit 211. The control unit 110 of the printer 100
Print data 231 output from the print data processing unit 1
At 11, the data is developed into bitmap data and supplied to the print engine 140. The print data processing unit 111
While the printing process is being executed, the number of pages for which the printing process is being executed in the printer engine 140 is stored in the area 152 of the processing status storage unit 150. 150 area 1
After setting the completion flag of 53, when the development of the bitmap data of the next page is started, the page 152 being processed is rewritten, the completion flag 153 is reset, and the remaining data amount 154 is updated.

FIG. 3 shows an input / output state of data when determining an allowable interrupt amount for a print job being executed. The host computer 200 includes a processing amount prediction unit 21
The estimated processing time of the print data 231 calculated in 2 is output to the printer 100 together with the print data 231.
The estimated processing time can be output from the host computer 200 to the printer 100 together with the print request.
The control unit 110 of the printer 100 stores the estimated processing time output from the host computer 100 in the processing state storage unit 1.
The data is stored in 50 areas 154. The interrupt processing unit 112 of the control unit 110 is configured to
Referring to the remaining data amount, the lower limit data amount, and the interrupt allowance ratio stored in 156, an interrupt allowance is calculated, and stored in the area 157 of the processing state storage unit 150.

That is, the control unit 110 of the printer 100
The estimated processing time input together with the print data from the host computer 200 is stored in the processing state storage unit 150 as an initial value of the remaining data amount 154, and the print processing executed every time the print processing of one page of print data is completed The content of the remaining data amount 154 is updated by subtracting the time, and the updated remaining data amount 154 is multiplied by a preset interrupt allowance 156 to calculate the allowable interrupt amount 157. Therefore, as the printing process for one page of print data is completed and the remaining amount of print data related to the print job being executed decreases, the allowable interrupt amount 15
The value of 7 also decreases. When the remaining data amount 154 is reduced below the preset lower limit data amount 155, the value of the remaining data amount 154 is set to “0” for the calculation of the allowable interrupt amount 157, and the value of the allowable interrupt amount 157 is set. Becomes "0". As a result, it is possible to reduce the allowable interrupt amount 157 immediately before the end of the print job being executed, and prevent another print job from being interrupted.

When the remaining data amount 154 is reduced to a predetermined lower limit data amount 155 or less, it is not necessary to set the values of the remaining data amount 154 and the allowable interrupt amount 157 to “0”. A predetermined amount is subtracted from the interrupt allowable amount 257 obtained by multiplying the interrupt allowable ratio 256 by the remaining data amount 254, or the predetermined amount is multiplied by the interrupt allowable amount 2
57 may be reduced. Even if you do this,
The allowable interrupt amount 257 immediately before the end of the print job being executed can be reduced to prevent another print job from being interrupted.

FIG. 4 shows an input / output state of data when a new print job request is output from the host computer 300 while a print job output from the host computer 200 is being executed. The host computer 300 calculates the estimated processing time of the print data 331 calculated by the processing amount
When a print request including the total number of pages 1 and the identification data of the host computer 300 is output to the printer 100 via the interface 320, the host computer 2
The control unit 110 of the printer 100 that is executing the print job output from the job number 00 stores the estimated processing time of the print data 331 as an interrupt request amount in the area 159 of the processing state storage unit 150, and stores the processing state storage unit 150. It is determined based on the contents of the areas 157 to 159 whether or not to execute the interrupt process related to the print request output from the host computer 300.

That is, the interrupt processing unit 112 included in the control unit 110 of the printer 100 compares the value obtained by adding the interrupt request amount 159 to the interrupt request amount 158 with the allowable interrupt amount 157 to determine the interrupt amount 158. If the value of the interrupt processing amount 159 obtained by adding is larger than the allowable interrupt amount 157, the interrupt request is not permitted,
If the value of the interrupt processing amount 159 obtained by adding the existing interrupt amount 158 is smaller than the allowable interrupt amount 157, the print job output from the host computer 200 being executed is interrupted and output from the host computer 300. The print job is interrupted.

FIG. 5 shows that while the print data processing unit 111 of the printer 100 is executing the expansion processing of the print data output from the host computer 200, the interrupt processing unit 112 4 shows the data input / output state when the write processing is permitted. When the interruption processing unit 112 in the control unit 110 of the printer 100 permits the interruption processing of the print data 331 of the host computer 300 during the execution of the print job for the print data 231 output from the host computer 200, the processing state Completion flag 15 in storage unit 150
3 to determine the interrupt start timing. This interrupt start timing will be described later in a third embodiment.

At the determined interrupt start timing, the interrupt processing unit 112 of the control unit 110 of the printer 100 stores the predicted processing time of the print data 331 as the already-processed interrupt amount in the area 158 of the processing state storage unit 150. , And instructs the print data processing unit 111 to interrupt the print job.
Next, the interrupt processing unit 112 saves the contents of the processing state storage unit 150 to the interrupted state storage unit 170 and sets the contents of the processing state storage unit 150 to the initial state, and then stores the information about the host computer 300 and the print data 331. Is stored in the processing state storage unit 150. Thereafter, the interrupt processing unit 11
2 outputs a print data transmission permission to the host computer 300. As a result, the data transfer unit 311 of the host computer 300 outputs the print data 331 related to the interrupt processing to the printer 100. Printer 1
The print data processing unit 111 of the printer engine 140 converts the print data 331 into bitmap data and
And the print processing for the print data 331 is executed.

The interrupt processing unit 112 includes a processing state storage unit 15
It is determined whether or not the print job for the print data 331 has been completed with reference to the contents of the areas 151 to 153 at 0. That is, if the total number of pages 151 and the content of the processing page 152 match and the completion flag 153 is set, it can be determined that the print job has been completed. After confirming the end of the print job related to the interrupt processing, the interrupt processing unit 112 writes the contents of the interrupted state storage unit 170 into the processing state storage unit 150, and processes the written page 152, the completion flag 153, and the host. Referring to the contents of 160, the host computer 200 outputs an instruction to transfer the print data 231 from the first data of the page of the print data 231 for which the print processing is not completed in the print data 231. In accordance with this instruction, the data transfer unit 211 of the host computer 200 outputs unprocessed data in the print data 231 to the printer 100. In the printer 100, the print data processing unit 111 expands the print data output from the host computer 200 into bitmap data and supplies the bitmap data to the printer engine 140, thereby interrupting the print job related to the print data 331 by interrupt processing. Restarts the completed print job.

With the above arrangement, according to the printing system of the first embodiment of the present invention, the allowable interrupt amount is calculated from the remaining data amount of the print job being executed.
The calculated allowable interrupt amount is compared with the print data amount of the print job for which the interrupt processing request has been made, and based on the comparison result, whether or not the interrupt processing can be executed is determined. Is updated each time the printing process for one page of print data is completed. Therefore, the print data amount of a print job that can be interrupted is set according to the print data amount of the print job being executed, and a print job with a large print data amount is executed during a print job with a small print data amount. It is possible to prevent the interruption processing and the interruption processing of another print job immediately before the end of the print job being executed.

By setting the value of the remaining data amount to "0" when the remaining data amount of the print job being executed falls below the preset lower limit data amount, the other data can be obtained immediately before the end of the print job being executed. Can be more reliably prevented from being interrupted.

Further, the amount of interrupt request, which is the print data amount of the print job that has been subjected to the interrupt processing, is added to the amount of interrupt request that is compared with the allowable amount of interrupt when determining whether or not to execute the interrupt processing. Therefore, a large number of print jobs with a small amount of print data are not repeatedly interrupted for a single print job, and the end time of the first started print job is extended indefinitely. Can be prevented.

During the execution of the print job related to the interrupt processing, the print job related to the interrupt processing is further interrupted by setting the allowable interrupt amount to “0”. This may prevent the end time of the print job started first from being significantly delayed.

FIG. 6 shows an input / output state of data at the time of determining whether or not to perform an interrupt process in the printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the print data processing unit 111 of the printer 100
It is determined with reference to the interruption level whether interruption processing of the print job output from 0 is possible.

The host computer 200 is connected to the printer 1
When a print job request for print data
An interrupt level 232 set in advance in the host computer 200 is output together with 31. The interrupt processing unit 112 of the control unit 110 of the printer 100 calculates a value obtained by multiplying the interrupt allowance rate preset for the printer 100 as a value specific to the printing system by the interrupt level 232 to the actual interrupt allowance rate. Is stored in the area 156 of the processing state storage unit 150.

The printer 10 which is executing the print processing related to the print job output from the host computer 200
For 0, the host computer 300 that outputs the print job related to the interrupt processing outputs an interrupt level 332 preset in the host computer 300 together with the estimated processing time. The interrupt processing unit 112 of the control unit 110 of the printer 100 stores the contents of the predicted processing time output from the host computer 300 as an interrupt request amount in the area 159 of the processing state storage unit 150. Further, the interrupt processing unit 112 compares the product of the allowable interrupt amount and the interrupt level 332 with the required interrupt amount in determining whether or not to perform the interrupt process.

With the above processing, in the printing system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the host computer 200 that has output the print job that is executing the printing processing
Is determined in consideration of the interrupt level 232 set in the host computer 300 and the interrupt level 332 set in the host computer 300 that has output the interrupt processing request. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether interrupt processing is possible or not in detail by considering not only information set in the printing system but also information individually set in each of the plurality of host computers.

The interrupt levels 232 and 332 are, for example, "0" to "1" with a default value of "0.5".
May be set by the user. Also, assume that the interrupt levels 232 and 332 take a value of either “0” or “1” as information for selectively permitting the interrupt processing, and one of the interrupt levels 232 and 332 is “0”. ", Interrupt processing may not be permitted.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an interrupt timing setting process in the control unit of the printer constituting the printing system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. Printer 100
The interrupt processing unit 112 of the control unit of the host computer 2
When interruption of the print job output from the host computer 300 is permitted for the print job output from the host computer 300, the print output from the host computer 200 is referred to by referring to the completion flag 153 of the processing state storage unit 150. It is detected whether or not it is time to complete the printing process for one page related to the job.

When the content of the completion flag 153 indicates that the printing process for one page of print data has been completed, the interrupt processing unit 112 outputs the output from the host computer 200 at that time. The print job is interrupted, and interrupt processing of the print job output from the host computer 300 is started. Interrupt processing unit 112
Compares the current page remaining data amount with the page lower limit data amount 162 when the content of the completion flag 153 does not indicate that the print processing of one page of print data has been completed.
Here, the current page remaining data amount is an unprocessed data amount in the current page in which the printing process is being executed, and is measured by the timing unit 113 from the current page data amount 161 stored in the processing state storage unit 150. It is calculated by subtracting the elapsed time from the start timing of the printing process for the current page.

The current page remaining data amount is the page lower limit data amount 162
If the number is smaller than that, the interrupt processing unit 112 refers to the completion flag 153 and waits for the completion of the printing process on the current page. When the printing process on the current page is completed, the interrupt processing unit 112 outputs the output from the host computer 200. The interrupted print job is interrupted, and an interrupt process for the print job output from the host computer 300 is started. On the other hand, if the current page remaining data amount is larger than the page lower limit data amount 162, the interrupt processing unit 112 calculates the ratio of the current page remaining data amount to the total data amount of the current page, and calculates the calculated ratio. If it is lower than the reference amount, the print job output from the host computer 200 is interrupted when the printing process for the current page is completed, and the host computer 3
00, the print job output from the host computer 200 is immediately interrupted when the calculated ratio is higher than the reference amount, and the print job output from the host computer 300 is interrupted. Start interrupt processing.

With the above processing, in the printing system according to the third embodiment, after the printing process for the current page is completed, or in accordance with the amount of unprocessed data in the current page in which the printing process is being executed, The interrupt process is immediately started without waiting for the completion of the print process for the page. As a result, duplication of the printing process due to the start of the interrupt process immediately before the completion of the printing process of the current page can be prevented, and a long time immediately after the start of the printing process of the current page having a large amount of data can be prevented. Can be prevented from waiting for the start of interrupt processing.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the printing system including the first and third embodiments. The host computer estimates the processing time of the print data relating to the new print job (s1), and outputs a print request including the estimated processing time to the printer 100 (s1).
2). The printer 100 that has received the print request determines whether or not the print job is being executed (s3). If the print job is not being executed, the printer 100 sends the print data to the host computer that has output the print request. A transmission permission is output (s15), and a print job is executed based on the print data transmitted from the host computer according to the transmission permission (s16).

When a print job is being executed in the printer 100 that has received the print request, the printer 1
The control unit 110 of 00 compares the estimated processing time included in the print request received in s2 with the allowable interrupt amount for the print job being executed (s4), and when the estimated processing time exceeds the allowable interrupt amount. Continuously executes the print job being executed without performing the interrupt processing (s12), and after the print job being executed is completed, permits the host computer that has output the print request in s2 to permit transmission of the print data. The print job is output (s13), and a new print job is executed based on the print data transmitted from the host computer in accordance with the transmission permission (s14).

If the predicted processing time is equal to or less than the allowable interrupt amount in s4, the control unit 110 of the printer 100
It is determined whether or not the amount of unprocessed data in the page being printed is equal to or smaller than a predetermined amount (s5). If the amount of unprocessed data exceeds the predetermined amount, the amount of unprocessed data in the page is occupied. The ratio is compared with a reference value (s6). s
If the amount of unprocessed data in the page being printed is equal to or less than a predetermined amount in step 5, or if the ratio of the amount of unprocessed data in the page being printed is less than the reference value in step s6, After waiting for the completion of the printing process for the page being processed (s7), if the ratio of the unprocessed data amount in the page being printed exceeds the reference value in s6, the print job being executed is immediately executed. The print data transmission permission is output to the host computer that has interrupted and output the print request in s2 (s
8) The print job of the interruption process is executed based on the print data transmitted from the host computer in accordance with the transmission permission (s9).

When the print job of the interruption process is completed,
A print data transmission permission is output to the host computer that has output the interrupted print job (s10), and the interrupted print job is resumed based on the print data transmitted from the host computer in accordance with the transmission permission (S10). s11).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for calculating the allowable interrupt data amount in the printer of the printing system. This process is executed in parallel with the process shown in FIG. Control unit 110 of printer 100
Stores the estimated processing time output together with the print request from the host computer in the area 154 of the processing state storage unit 150 as an initial value of the remaining data amount, and sets the allowable interrupt amount based on the remaining data amount and the allowable interrupt rate. calculate. The control unit 110 updates the remaining data amount each time the print processing for one page of print data ends until the print processing for all print data related to the print job is completed and the print job is completed. And a process of calculating an allowable interrupt amount based on the allowable interrupt rate is repeatedly executed (s21 to s23).

Note that the printer 100 is provided with a plurality of paper output trays, and the printed paper relating to the print job of the interruption process is replaced with a paper output tray different from the paper output tray from which the printed paper relating to the interrupted print job is discharged. The print papers associated with a plurality of print jobs can be prevented from being mixed on a single paper output tray, and the work of sorting the printed papers for each print job after the completion of the plurality of print jobs can be prevented. Can be unnecessary.

In the first to third embodiments, the areas 154, 155, 1
Although the processing time is used as the data amount stored in 57 to 159, the actual print data amount itself can be used as the data amount.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printing system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In this printing system, the interrupt processing unit 112 and the interrupt processing unit 2 similar to the processing state storage unit 150 included in the printer 100 configuring the printing system according to the first to third embodiments are described.
13 and the processing state storage unit 250
00 and 300 respectively. That is, in the printing system according to this embodiment, the host computer that has output the print job being executed by the printer 100 determines whether or not an interrupt request for a print job output from another host computer is possible. However, in the host computers 200 and 300, it is not necessary to store information for specifying the host computer that has output the print job. Therefore, the processing state storage unit 150 replaces the area 160 in which the information for specifying the host computer is stored. Area 260 of the processing state storage unit 250
Stores the interruption status of the print job.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the host computer constituting the printing system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of host computers included in the printing system according to this embodiment all have the same configuration and execute the same processing. Therefore, the processing procedure will be described using the host computer 200 as an example. When a print job occurs in the host computer 200, the control unit 210
In step 12, the processing amount of the print data 231 is predicted and stored as the remaining data amount in the area 254 of the processing state storage unit 250 (s31). Next, the control unit 210 calculates the allowable interrupt amount 257 based on the remaining data amount 254 and the allowable interrupt rate 256 in the interrupt processing unit 213, and stores it in the area 257 of the processing state storage unit 250 (s32). .

After that, the control unit 210
It is determined whether or not there is another host computer that is outputting a print job (S33). This determination is
This is performed by transmitting confirmation data to another host computer or the printer 100. Printer 1
When 00 is executing a print job output from another host computer, the control unit 210 transmits an interrupt request signal to the host computer that has output the print job being executed once (s34). , S35), or receives an interrupt permission signal, or waits for completion of the print job being executed (s36 → s33).

The control unit 210 determines whether a print job output from another host computer is not being executed, a print job output from another host computer has been completed, or an interrupt permission signal has been received. Executes the print job based on the print data 231 by sequentially transmitting the print data to the printer 100 (s37). At this time, as shown in FIG. 12, the data transfer unit 211 sends the print page 252, the completion flag 253, and the remaining data amount in the process state storage unit 250 every time the print data for one page is transmitted. 254
Is updated, and the allowable interrupt amount 257 calculated based on the remaining data amount 254 after the update is updated and stored. If the remaining data amount 254 is equal to or smaller than the lower limit data amount 255, the value of the remaining data amount 254 is set to “0” when calculating the allowable interrupt amount, and the allowable interrupt amount 257 is set to “0”. .
This is to prevent another print job from being interrupted immediately before the end of the print job being executed.

When the remaining data amount 254 is equal to or smaller than the lower limit data amount 255, the remaining data amount 254 is not always required.
Does not need to be set to “0” to set the allowable interrupt amount 257 to “0”. A predetermined amount is subtracted from the allowable interrupt amount 257 obtained by multiplying the allowable interrupt rate 256 and the remaining data amount 254, Alternatively, the allowable interrupt amount 257 may be reduced by multiplying by a predetermined rate. Even in this case, the allowable interrupt amount 257 immediately before the end of the print job being executed can be reduced to prevent another print job from being interrupted.

Thereafter, the control unit 210 receives an interrupt request signal from another host computer (s38), or
Waiting for completion of the print job being executed (s39), as shown in FIG. 13, when an interrupt request signal is received from another host computer until the print job is completed, the interrupt request signal is included in the interrupt request signal. The interrupt request amount is compared with the allowable interrupt amount stored in the processing information storage unit 250 (s40). If the interrupt request amount is equal to or less than the allowable interrupt amount, as shown in FIG. During the printing process, a comparison is made between the current page data amount 261 (total print data amount included in the page being printed) stored in the processing state storage unit 250 and the page reference data 262 (a preset reference value). It is determined whether the data amount of the page is larger than the reference value (s4).
1) If the data amount of the page being printed is larger than the reference value, it is further determined whether or not the ratio of the remaining data amount in the page being printed is larger than a predetermined value (s42). ). When the amount of interrupt request exceeds the allowable amount of interrupt, the control unit 210 sends an interrupt disable signal to the host computer that sent the interrupt request signal (s47).

When the data amount of the page being printed is smaller than the reference value, or when the ratio of the remaining data amount in the page being printed is smaller than the predetermined value, the controller 210 sets the completion flag 253 to the completion flag 253. After confirming the end of printing of the page being printed with reference to the contents of (s4)
3) If the data amount of the page being printed is larger than the reference value and the ratio of the remaining data amount in the page being printed is larger than the predetermined value, the print job is immediately interrupted (s44). ), And sends an interrupt permission signal to the host computer that sent the interrupt request signal (s45). Thereafter, the control unit 210 waits for transmission of a print job end signal relating to the interrupt processing (s46),
When the end signal is received, the interrupted print job is restarted (s37).

With the above-described processing, in the printing system according to the fourth embodiment, the interrupt allowable amount is calculated from the remaining data amount of the print job in which the print processing is being executed, and the calculated interrupt allowable amount and the interrupt allowable amount are calculated. Comparing the print data amount of the print job for which the interrupt processing request was made, and determining whether to execute the interrupt processing based on the comparison result;
The remaining data amount of the print job being executed is updated each time the print processing of one page of print data is completed. Therefore, the print data amount of a print job that can be interrupted is set according to the print data amount of the print job being executed, and a print job with a large print data amount is executed during a print job with a small print data amount. It is possible to prevent the interruption processing and the interruption processing of another print job immediately before the end of the print job being executed.

When the remaining data amount of the print job being executed falls below a preset lower limit data amount, the value of the remaining data amount is set to “0”. Can be more reliably prevented from being interrupted.

Further, the existing interrupt amount, which is the print data amount of the print job that has already been subjected to the interrupt processing, is added to the interrupt request amount that is compared with the allowable interrupt amount when determining whether or not to execute the interrupt processing. As a result, a large number of print jobs with a small amount of print data are not repeatedly interrupted for a single print job, and the end time of the first started print job is prevented from being extended endlessly. it can.

As in the second embodiment, the user can set the interrupt levels 232 and 332 in each of the host computers 200 and 300 so that the interrupt permission rate and the interrupt request amount can be set. May be corrected by the interrupt levels 232 and 332. Thereby, the interruption state of the print job can be set finely. In addition, by setting the interrupt levels 232 and 332 as a flag having a value of “0” or “1”, it is possible to easily set whether or not to perform the interrupt process.

Further, in the printing system according to this embodiment, the determination as to whether or not to execute the interrupt processing is made by using the actual print data amount itself. Processing time can be used as data. In this case, in the process at s42, the control unit 210 of the host computer 200 is provided with a clock unit 214, and the clock unit 214 measures the elapsed time from the start timing of the printing process for each page. The remaining data amount in the page being printed may be determined based on the ratio of the estimated data processing time to the print data for each page.

Further, by supplying the program to a general-purpose personal computer included in the printing system via a recording medium, the processing described in the fourth embodiment can be executed.

[0092]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, which print job is executed with priority based on the print job being executed by the printer and the print data amount of the print job related to the interrupt request. The print job can be determined for each print job in consideration of the time required for the printer to complete each print job. Can be solved, and the feeling of unfairness among users of a plurality of host devices can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, which of the print job being executed in the printer and the print job related to the interrupt request is to be executed with priority is determined based on the processing time of each print job. By doing so, it is possible to determine the execution order of each print job in a state adapted to the user's feeling in the host device that has output each print job, and to reduce unfairness among users of a plurality of host devices. it can.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the allowable interrupt amount calculated from the unprocessed print data amount in the print job being executed by the printer, the interrupt data amount of the print job related to the interrupt request, and , Based on the comparison result, it is determined which of the print job being executed in the printer or the print job related to the interrupt request is to be preferentially executed. Of the print job can be determined.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the amount of unprocessed print data in a print job being executed by the printer becomes smaller than a predetermined amount, printing of a print job for which interrupt processing is to be permitted is performed. By reducing the amount of data, it is possible to prevent a print job having a large amount of print data from being interrupted just before the end of a print job being executed by the printer, and to end the print job first started by the printer. Can be prevented from being significantly delayed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in determining whether or not the current interrupt processing is possible, the amount of interrupt data of the print job relating to the current interrupt processing includes the amount of interrupt data for the print job being executed by the printer. By adding the print data amount of the print job that has already been interrupted and comparing the added interrupt data amount with the allowable interrupt amount, multiple print jobs can be repeatedly assigned to a single print job. And the end timing of the print job first started in the printer can be prevented from being significantly delayed.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, by adjusting the allowable interrupt amount and the amount of interrupt data using the adjustment data set in the host device, the mutual relationship between a plurality of host devices is considered. The execution order of the print job being executed in the printer and the print job related to the interrupt request can be determined.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the start timing of the interrupt process is determined according to the progress of the print process in each page, so that another print process is completed immediately before the end of the print process for one page. It is not necessary to start the interrupt processing of the print job or to wait for the interrupt processing for a long time immediately after the start of the print processing for one page. A remarkable delay in the end timing can be prevented.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, in the printer constituting the printing system, it is determined whether or not the interrupt processing can be performed based on the comparison between the allowable interrupt amount and the interrupt data amount. Is determined centrally in the printer, and the results of the determination as to whether interrupt processing is possible can be uniformly performed to ensure fairness among a plurality of host devices.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in each of the plurality of host devices constituting the printing system, it is determined whether or not the interrupt processing can be performed based on a comparison between the allowable interrupt amount and the interrupt data amount. This makes it possible to reduce the processing load on the printer that should perform the printing process, and to easily reflect the characteristics of each host device and each print job in the determination result of whether or not to execute the interrupt process.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an input / output state of data during a printing process based on print data output from a host computer 200.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an input / output state of data when determining an allowable interrupt amount for a print job being executed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an input / output state of data when a new print job request is output from the host computer 300 during execution of a print job output from the host computer 200.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a print data processing unit 111 of a printer 100 executes a process of expanding print data output from a host computer 200. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an input / output state of data when permission is granted.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an input / output state of data at the time of determining whether or not to perform an interrupt process in a printing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an interrupt timing setting process in a control unit of a printer constituting a printing system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in a printing system including the first and third embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure when calculating an allowable interrupt data amount in a printer of the printing system.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of a host computer configuring a printing system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an input / output state of data in the printing system according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an input / output state of the data.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an input / output state of the data.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional printing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100-Printer 110-Control Unit 112-Interruption Processing Unit 150-Processing State Storage Unit 200, 300-Host Computer (Host Device) 212, 312-Processing Volume Prediction Unit 400-Network

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Naoyuki Kano 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 HK23 HQ10 HR01 5B021 AA01 CC04 CC05 EE01

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A print control method applied to a printing system including a printer that executes print jobs output from a plurality of host devices, wherein an allowable interrupt amount is calculated from a print data amount of a print job being executed by the printer. And determining whether or not to perform an interrupt process based on whether or not an interrupt data amount, which is a print data amount of a print job related to the interrupt request, is within a range of an allowable interrupt amount. Method. 2. The print control method according to claim 1, wherein whether or not the interruption process is possible is determined by using a processing time of the print data as the interruption data amount and the interruption allowable amount. 3. The print control method according to claim 1, wherein an allowable interrupt amount is calculated from an unprocessed print data amount in the print data relating to the print job being executed by the printer. 4. The printer according to claim 3, wherein when the amount of unprocessed print data in the print data relating to the print job being executed by the printer becomes smaller than a predetermined amount, the allowable interrupt amount is reduced. Print control method. 5. The printer according to claim 1, further comprising: adding a print data amount of the print job which has already been subjected to the interrupt processing to the print job being executed by the printer to the interrupt data amount to determine whether the interrupt processing is possible. The print control method according to any one of the above. 6. The print control method according to claim 1, wherein an allowable interrupt amount and an interrupt data amount are adjusted based on adjustment data set in each of the plurality of host devices. 7. The print control method according to claim 1, wherein the start timing of the interrupt processing is determined based on the amount of unprocessed print data in the page being printed by the printer. 8. A print system to which the print control method according to claim 1 is applied, wherein the printer executes a process of determining whether or not an interrupt process can be performed. 9. A host apparatus which outputs a print job being executed by a printer in a printing system to which the print control method according to claim 1 is applied. And a printing system.