JP2000315140A - Reprinting system and gathering printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reprinting system and a gathering printing method capable of quickly and accurately executing gathering printing. SOLUTION: The system is constituted of a master device 1 provided with an application software execution means 4 for printing out a prepared document or a read document, a printing data preparation means 5 for generating/ outputting PDL conversion printing data to be printing data converted into a printer description language and a printer monitoring means 6 including a means for acquiring and storing the PDL conversion printing data transferred from the means 5 and a means for storing the PDL conversion printing data in a storage device 7 built in the master device 1 itself on the basis of information indicating the existence of gathering or the like found out by analyzing the PDL conversion printing data transferred from the master device 1 at the time of printing and a printer 2 provided with a printing data analysis means 8 for storing the PDL conversion printing data in a storage device built in the printer itself in accordance with the existence of information concerned in gathering obtained by analyzing the PDL conversion printing data transferred from the master device 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a collate printing technique, and more particularly to a reprint system and a collate printing method capable of performing collated printing at high speed and accurately.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, information processing apparatuses having no printing function, such as workstations and personal computers, have been provided with a printer system including a page printer and a printer server for controlling the page printer.
(Local Area Network), etc., are connected by a network line, and print data generated by information processing in the information processing device is transmitted to the printer system through the network line for printing. Used in In such a remote printer system, as a printer server, print data received from the information processing apparatus is stored in a memory for each page and repeatedly printed by a printer for a designated number of copies. It has been common to use a simple printer server with a small storage capacity for processing print data for every minute from the viewpoint of reducing equipment costs. For this reason, when the information processing apparatus specifies to print a plurality of copies of print data for a plurality of pages, the print data is printed in a stack format in which the specified number of copies are printed for each page. However, in the conventional remote printer system as described above, when a simple printer server having a small storage capacity is used as the printer server, it is specified that the information processing apparatus prints a plurality of pages of print data for a plurality of copies. Can be printed only in a stack format, and cannot be printed in a collation format in which a plurality of pages are collectively printed repeatedly a specified number of times. As a conventional technique for solving such a problem, for example, there is a technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-240644 (first conventional technique). That is, the first prior art described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-240644 discloses a remote printer system which can print in a collated format when printing a plurality of copies of print data for a plurality of pages using a simplified printer server. An information processing apparatus in a remote printer system, wherein a printer system is connected by a network line, and when print data is generated by predetermined information processing, the print data is transmitted to the printer system through the network line and printed. , When multiple copies of print data are specified,
An information processing apparatus in a remote printer system, wherein print data for the number of print copies is individually filed, and print data files for the number of print copies are transferred to a printer system via a network line. In such an information processing apparatus, when the number of print copies of print data is specified, the print data for the number of print copies is individually filed, and the print data files for the number of print copies are transferred to the printer system through a network line. I do. Alternatively, one print data file is created from print data for the number of print copies, and this print data file is transferred to the printer system via a network line. This discloses an effect that an information processing apparatus in a remote printer system that can print in a collated format when printing a plurality of copies of print data for a plurality of pages using a simplified printer server is disclosed.

On the other hand, in a conventional page printer, when printing a plurality of copies, a computer controls the printer to repeatedly output print data for all the copies to the printer, or to continuously output the same page to the printer. I was giving instructions in code. However, in such a scheme,
It takes a long time to output all print data from the computer to the printer for a few minutes. If the computer cannot be used during that time, or if the printer outputs the same page continuously for the same number of copies, the output result will be There is a problem that it takes time and effort to rearrange the images one by one. As a conventional technique for solving such a problem, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
(Prior art). In other words,
The second prior art described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 238114 discloses a technique of reducing the occupation time of the printer output of the computer of the host device and printing results when a plurality of copies are printed by a small page printer which cannot be provided with a sorter function. A page buffer having a collation function for eliminating the trouble of rearranging the pages later by arranging the pages one by one in a page order, and receiving a print buffer from an external input; Auxiliary storage device that can store the contents of the print data for all pages, and multiple copies print data in the auxiliary storage device that detects the codes of the start of multiple copies print data and the end of multiple copies print data from the reception buffer An instruction to store the print data between the start and the end of the multi-copy print data was issued, and the end of the multi-copy print data was detected. Has a control unit that issues an instruction to repeatedly print out the required number of copies of print data from the auxiliary storage device and print the data, and configures one copy while developing the bit image from the reception buffer to the page buffer. After the printing of all pages corresponding to the first copy is completed, the print data stored in the auxiliary storage is It is configured to read and print the remaining number of copies. This allows
There is no need to rearrange the print results,
An effect is disclosed that the time occupied by the printer output of the connected host computer can be shortened.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has a problem that collated printing is not normally performed when the size of the printed document exceeds the size of the auxiliary storage device on the printing device. there were. This is because the host device does not know the capacity of the auxiliary storage device on the printing device, but simply transfers the print data to the printing device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a reprint system and a collate printing method capable of performing collated printing at high speed and accurately. It is in.

[0006]

The gist of the present invention is to provide a reprinting system capable of performing collated printing at high speed and accurately. A lower-level printing device capable of bidirectional communication with the higher-level device via a two-way communication cable, wherein the higher-level device executes application software executing means for printing a created document or a read document; Print data creation means for generating and outputting PDL converted print data, which is print data obtained by converting a document passed from the execution means into a printer description language understood by the printing apparatus;
A storage device that stores the PDL-converted print data, a unit that obtains and holds the PDL-converted print data transferred from the print data creating unit, information on the status of the printing device in its own device, and / or the printing Means for acquiring and holding predetermined information including information relating to a capacity usable for storage of print data on the device side; a collation obtained by analyzing the PDL-converted print data from the host device at the time of printing; Printing apparatus monitoring means including at least one of means for storing the PDL-converted print data in a storage device on the host apparatus side based on information such as the presence or absence of the PDL conversion print data; Said PDL
A storage device for storing the converted print data; and a PDL-converted print data stored in the printing device based on presence / absence of collation information obtained by analyzing the PDL-converted print data transferred from the higher-level device. There is provided a reprinting system characterized by having a print data analyzing means for storing in a storage device. According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reprinting system according to the first aspect, wherein the printing apparatus monitoring unit includes a unit for performing collated printing. The gist of the invention described in claim 3 is that the printing apparatus monitoring means acquires and holds information on the status of the printing apparatus in its own apparatus, information on the capacity of a storage device on the printing apparatus side, and the like. The reprinting system according to claim 1, further comprising: Further, the gist of the invention according to claim 4 is that the print data creating means includes:
A printer description language for converting print data into a printer description language PDL understandable by the printing apparatus in accordance with a predetermined command from the application software execution means when the application software execution means of the host device prints print data; The printer executes the conversion to generate the PDL converted print data and sends it to the printer monitor. The PDL converted print data which is the print data generated and output by the print data generator at the start of the printer description language conversion is converted. The collation information including information on paper size and collation is added, and the PD generated and output by the print data creating means at the end of the printer description language conversion.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for adding the collation information of the total number of prints to the end of the L-converted print data.
4. A reprinting system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The gist of the invention described in claim 5 is that the printing apparatus monitor means receives the PDL converted print data generated and output by the print data creation means from the print data creation means and transfers it to the printing apparatus. Acquiring the collation information on the presence / absence of collation printing, the paper size and / or the number of pages, based on the collation information added to the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creating means; When collated printing is not performed, the PDL converted print data generated and output by the print data generating unit is directly transferred to the printing apparatus via the bidirectional communication cable, and when collated printing is performed, the print data generation is performed. Means for transferring the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the means to the printing apparatus and transferring the PDL-converted print data to the printing apparatus It exists a conversion print data to the re-printing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a means for saving to the upper device of the storage device. The gist of the invention described in claim 6 is that the printing apparatus monitoring means acquires the information on the capacity of the storage device on the printing device side via the bidirectional communication cable and stores the information on the storage device on the printing device side. After calculating the number of pages that can be stored in the PDL-converted print data, transferring all the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation unit to the printing apparatus, and then transferring the total number of pages of the PDL-converted print data to the printing apparatus. The number of pages that can be stored in the storage device of the printing device is compared. If the result of the comparison indicates that the PDL-converted print data is larger than the capacity of the storage device of the printing device, the collation is performed again. The PDL-converted print data stored in the storage device of the higher-level device is repeatedly transferred to the printing device by the specified number of copies, and the capacity of the storage device of the printing device is more relevant. If the number is larger than the DL conversion print data, a means for transferring a command instructing execution of collated printing to the printing apparatus and instructing to repeatedly print the PDL conversion print data on the storage device of the printing apparatus is provided. The reprinting system according to claim 5, wherein: According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a reprinting system including a host device capable of printing and a printing device below the host device and capable of bidirectional communication with the host device via a bidirectional communication cable. A collation printing method capable of performing collated printing at high speed and accurately with respect to the host device, wherein the higher-level device includes an application software execution step of printing a created document and a read document, and A print data generating step of generating and outputting PDL-converted print data, which is print data obtained by converting the received document into a printer description language that can be understood by the printing apparatus; and storing the PDL-converted print data in a storage device of the host device Storing the PDL-converted print data transferred from the print data creating step, and storing the PDL-converted print data. A step of acquiring and holding predetermined information including information on the state of the apparatus and / or information on a capacity usable for storing print data on the printing apparatus side, and the PDL conversion printing from the higher-level apparatus at the time of printing A printing apparatus monitoring step including at least one of a step for storing the PDL conversion print data in the storage step based on information such as the presence or absence of collation obtained by analyzing data; A storage step for storing the PDL-converted print data transferred from the higher-level device; and a PDL corresponding to the presence or absence of collation information obtained by analyzing the PDL-converted print data transferred from the higher-level device. A collation printing method includes a print data analysis step of storing converted print data in a storage device of the printing apparatus. The gist of the present invention resides in a collation printing method according to claim 7, wherein the printing device monitoring step includes a step for performing collation printing. Claim 9
The gist of the invention described in the paragraph is that the printing apparatus monitoring step includes a step of acquiring and holding information on the state of the printing apparatus in the apparatus itself, information on the capacity of a storage device on the printing apparatus side, and the like. The collating and printing method according to claim 7, wherein The gist of the invention according to claim 10 is that, when the application data execution step of the higher-level device prints print data,
A printer description language PDL that can be understood by the printing apparatus in accordance with a predetermined command from the application software execution step
The printer generates a PDL-converted print data by executing a printer description language conversion for converting the print data to the print device monitor process, and generates and outputs the print data generated and output by the print data creation process at the start of the printer description language conversion. The paper size and the collation information including information on the presence or absence of collation are added to the PDL conversion print data as data,
A step of adding the collation information of the total number of printed sheets to the end of the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation step at the end of the printer description language conversion. The collation printing method according to any one of items 7 to 9, above. The gist of the invention described in claim 11 is that, in the printing device monitoring step, the PDL conversion print data generated and output by the print data creation step is received from the print data creation step and transferred to the printing apparatus. Acquiring the collation information on the presence / absence of collation printing, the paper size and / or the number of pages based on the collation information added to the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation step; If collated printing is not performed, the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data generating step is directly transferred to the printing apparatus via the bidirectional communication cable, and collated printing is performed if collated printing is performed. Transferring the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the process to the printing device, and transferring the PDL converted print data to the printing device.
The collation printing method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, further comprising a step of storing DL conversion print data in the storage step. Claim 12
The gist of the invention described in the above is that the printing device monitoring step obtains information on the capacity of the storage device on the printing device via the two-way communication cable and saves the information on the storage device on the printing device. Calculating the total number of pages of the PDL-converted print data transferred to the printing device after transferring all the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation process to the printing device; The number of pages that can be stored on the storage device is compared, and if the result of the comparison indicates that the PDL-converted print data is larger than the storage device storage capacity of the printing device, the higher-level device The PD stored in the storage device on the side
The L-converted print data is repeatedly transferred by the specified number of copies to the printing apparatus. If the storage device of the printing apparatus has a larger capacity than the PDL-converted print data, a command for instructing collated printing is issued. The collating printing method according to claim 11, further comprising a step of instructing the printing apparatus to repeatedly print the PDL conversion print data on a storage device of the printing apparatus. .

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The features of the embodiment described below are as follows.
An object of the present invention is to enable collated printing to be performed at high speed and accurately. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for explaining a reprint system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a host device, 2 is a printing device, 3 is a bidirectional communication cable, 4 is application software execution means,
5 is a print data creation unit, 6 is a printing device monitoring unit, 7
Is a storage device, 8 is print data analysis means, 9 is a storage device,
Reference numeral 10 denotes a reprint system. Referring to FIG. 1, a reprint system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a print-capable upper device 1, a print-capable print device 2, and a bidirectional device for connecting the host device 1 and the print device 2. A communication cable 3 is provided. The host device 1 can be realized by, for example, a computer such as a personal computer and a workstation, and includes an application software executing unit 4, a print data creating unit 5, a printing device monitoring unit 6, a storage device 7.
It has. The printing device 2 includes a print data analysis unit 8,
A storage device 9 is provided.

In the host device 1, the application software executing means 4 can print a created document or a read document. The print data creation unit 5 converts the document passed from the application software execution unit 4 into a language that the printing device 2 can understand (that is, a printer description language, Print
r Description Language (hereinafter, printer description language PDL).
The printing device monitoring unit 6 obtains and holds the printing data transferred from the printing data creating unit 5 and obtains information on the state of the printing device 2 in its own device, information on the capacity of the storage device 9, and the like. The storage unit 7 stores the print data (described later) in the storage device 7 based on information such as the presence / absence of collation obtained by analyzing print data (PDL converted print data described later) from the higher-level device 1 during printing. There is provided a unit for storing PDL-converted print data), a unit for performing processing for collated printing, and the like. The storage device 7 is a storage device such as a hard disk.

On the other hand, on the printing device 2 side, the print data analysis means 8 analyzes the print data (PDL converted print data described later) transferred from the host device 1 and outputs the print data to the storage device 9 according to the collation. Is a means for saving. The storage device 9 is a storage device such as a hard disk and a semiconductor memory.

Next, the operation of the reprint system 10 (collated printing method) will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, when the application software execution unit 4 of the host device 1 prints print data, the print data creation unit 5 responds to a predetermined instruction from the application software execution unit 4 by using a printer description that the printing device 2 can understand. The print data is converted into the language PDL (printer description language conversion), and the print data converted into the printer description language PDL (hereinafter referred to as PDL converted print data) is sent to the printing apparatus monitor 6. The printer monitor 6 adds collation information such as paper size and collation to the print data (PDL converted print data) generated and output by the print data generator 5 at the start of the printer description language conversion. At the end of the description language conversion, collation information on the total number of prints is added to the end of the print data (PDL-converted print data) generated and output by the print data creating means 5. The reason is that the total number of printed sheets is unknown at the start of the printer description language conversion, and becomes clear only at the end of the printer description language conversion, so that it is necessary to add it to the end of the print data.

The printing device monitor 6 receives the print data (PDL converted print data) generated and output by the print data generator 5 from the print data generator 5 and transfers the print data to the printer 2. Is generated
Based on the collation information added to the output print data (PDL-converted print data), collation information on the presence / absence of collation printing, paper size and / or number of pages is obtained. As a result, when collated printing is not performed, the print data (PDL converted print data) generated and output by the print data creating unit 5 is transferred to the printing apparatus 2 as it is via the bidirectional communication cable 3 and collated printing is performed. When performing the printing, the print data (PDL conversion print data) generated and output by the print data generation unit 5 is transferred to the printing device 2 and the print data generated and output by the print data generation unit 5 to be transferred to the printing device 2 (ie, Then, the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creating means 5 to be transferred to the printing apparatus 2 is stored in the storage device 7.

Further, the printing device monitoring means 6 transmits information on the capacity of the storage device 9 of the printing device 2 to the bidirectional communication cable 3.
After calculating the number of pages that can be acquired and stored in the storage device 9 through the storage device 9 and transferring all the print data (PDL converted print data) generated and output by the print data creation unit 5 to the printing device 2, the printing device 2 Print data (PD
The total number of pages of the L-converted print data) is compared with the number of pages that can be stored in the storage device 9, and as a result of the comparison, the print data (PDL-converted print data) generated and output by the print data creating unit 5 is stored. If the capacity is larger than the capacity of the apparatus 9, the print data (PDL-converted print data) stored in the storage apparatus 7 is repeatedly transferred to the printing apparatus 2 for the designated number of copies for collation again. If the capacity of the storage device 9 is larger than the print data (PDL-converted print data) generated and output by the print data creation means 5, a command for executing collated printing is transferred to the printing device 2 and the storage device 9 is executed. A command is issued to repeatedly print the above print data (PDL converted print data). In response to this, the printing apparatus 2 that has received the collation print execution command executes the collation print for the designated number of copies. In this way, collated printing is enabled.

Next, the overall operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a print data creation step executed by the collated printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is executed by the collated printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a printing apparatus monitoring step, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a print data analyzing step executed by the collated printing method according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, first, when printing is performed by the application software executing means 4 of the host device 1 (step A1), the print data creating means 5 is called accordingly, and creates a printer description language PDL (step A1). A3). Here, the application software executing means 4 passes document attributes such as paper size and collation information to the print data creating means 5, and the print data creating means 5 adds collation information and the like to the print data based on the information ( Step A2) is performed. The print data creating means 5 detects the number of pages of the print document in response to a call from the application software executing means 4, and adds the print data to the print data when printing is completed (step A4). 6 (step A5).

Further, the printing apparatus monitoring means 6 acquires information on the capacity of the storage device 9 on the printing apparatus 2 from the printing apparatus 2 at the time of startup, and furthermore, it is possible to collate from the acquired capacity based on each printable paper size. Maximum number of pages (= storage device 9
(Capacity of bitmap required for printing one page).

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the printing apparatus monitoring means 6 having received the printing data (PDL converted printing data) from the printing data creating means 5 first analyzes the job (Job) and adds it to the head of the printing data. Whether collation has been done,
Information such as paper size is analyzed (step B1). If there is no collation (N in step B2), all the print data is transferred to the printing device 7 (step B5), and the process ends. On the other hand, when there is collation (Y in step B2)
Is the print data (P) received from the printer monitor 6.
DL conversion print data) is stored in the storage device 7 (step B).
3) Then, it is transferred to the printing device 2 at the same time (step B4). Here, the number of pages of the print data added at the end of the print data (PDL converted print data) is obtained and compared with the maximum number of pages according to the capacity of the storage device 9 (step B6).
I do. When collation printing is impossible in the printing apparatus 2 (the number of pages of the print data is larger) (N in step B6)
Reads the print data (PDL-converted print data) stored in the storage device 7 (step B7), repeatedly transfers the print data to the printing device 2 for the number of copies (step B8), and ends the processing. If collation printing is possible with the printing apparatus 2 (the number of pages of the print data is smaller) (step B6)
(Y) transfers a command (collation command) for collating on the printing apparatus 2 side to the printing apparatus 2 (step B).
9), end the processing.

Referring now to FIG. 4, print data (PDL converted print data) (print data in step C1) is received from the printing apparatus monitor means 6 (step C1), and the received print data analysis means 8 It is determined whether or not to perform collated printing (step C2). If collated printing is to be performed (Y in step C2), the print data (PDL converted print data) is actually printed in the storage device 9 of the printing device 2. After conversion into bitmap data in page units and storage (step C3), printing (step C4) is performed. If collated printing is not performed (N in step C2), printing (step C4) is performed as it is. After printing is completed, the end of the print data (PDL converted print data) (step B9 described above)
It is determined whether a collation print command has been added to the print data (PDL) added to the print data (PDL) stored in the storage device 9 if it has been added (Y in step C5). The converted print data) is read (step C6), collated printing (step C7) is performed for the designated number of copies, and the process ends. When the collation print command is not added (N in step C5),
The process ends as it is.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. The first effect is that collated printing can be performed reliably. The reason is that the host device 1 grasps the capacity of the auxiliary storage device on the printing device 2 and the size of the print data and checks whether collating printing is possible by the printing device 2. The second effect is that a high-speed collation printing function can be implemented only by adding a relatively small auxiliary storage device to the printing apparatus 2. The reason is that collation printing does not fail by judging whether to execute collation printing in the host device 1 or in the printing device 2 depending on the size of print data.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it is obvious that the embodiments can be appropriately modified within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. Further, the number, position, shape, and the like of the constituent members are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be set to numbers, positions, shapes, and the like suitable for carrying out the present invention. In each drawing, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0020]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained. The first effect is that collated printing can be performed reliably. The reason is that the host device grasps the capacity of the auxiliary storage device on the printing device and the size of the print data and checks whether collating printing is possible with the printing device. The second effect is that a high-speed collation printing function can be implemented only by adding a relatively small auxiliary storage device to the printing apparatus. The reason is that collation printing does not fail by judging whether to execute collation printing by a higher-level device or by a printing device depending on the size of print data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram for explaining a reprint system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a print data creation step executed by the collated printing method according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a printing apparatus monitoring process performed in the collated printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a print data analysis process performed by the collating printing method according to the embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Upper apparatus 2 ... Printing apparatus 3 ... Bidirectional communication cable 4 ... Application software execution means 5 ... Print data creation means 6 ... Printing apparatus monitoring means 7 ... Storage device (storage device on the upper apparatus side) 8 ... Print data analysis means 9 storage device (storage device on the printing device side) 10 reprinting system

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A reprinting system capable of performing collated printing at high speed and accurately, comprising: a higher-level apparatus capable of printing; and a lower-level apparatus below the higher-level apparatus, which is connected to the higher-level apparatus via a bidirectional communication cable. A printing device capable of two-way communication, wherein the higher-level device is an application software executing unit that prints a created document or a read document, and a printer that allows the printing device to understand the document passed from the application software executing unit. Print data creation means for generating and outputting PDL conversion print data that is print data converted into a description language; a storage device for storing the PDL conversion print data; and the PDL conversion print data transferred from the print data creation means Means for acquiring and holding the information of the printing apparatus in its own apparatus and / or recording of print data on the printing apparatus side. Means for acquiring and holding predetermined information including information on a usable storage capacity, based on information such as the presence / absence of collation determined by analyzing the PDL-converted print data from the higher-level device at the time of printing. And a printing apparatus monitoring means including at least one of means for storing the PDL conversion print data in a storage device of the host apparatus side, wherein the printing apparatus is provided with the PDL conversion printing transferred from the host apparatus. A storage device for storing data; and a storage device on the printing device side for storing the PDL converted print data in accordance with the presence or absence of collation information obtained by analyzing the PDL converted print data transferred from the higher-level device. A reprint system comprising print data analysis means for storing the print data. 2. The reprinting system according to claim 1, wherein said printing apparatus monitoring means includes means for performing collated printing. 3. The printing apparatus monitoring means includes means for acquiring and holding information on the status of the printing apparatus in the printing apparatus, information on the capacity of a storage device on the printing apparatus side, and the like. The reprinting system according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the print data creating unit is configured to print the print data by the application software execution unit of the host device in accordance with a predetermined command from the application software execution unit. A printer description language conversion for converting the print data into a description language PDL is executed to generate the PDL converted print data and send it to the printing device monitor means. At the start of the printer description language conversion, the print data creation means generates the print data. A paper size is added to the PDL-converted print data that is the output print data.
The collation information including information on the presence / absence of collation is added, and at the end of the printer description language conversion, the collation of the total number of printed sheets is added at the end of the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation means. The reprinting system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising means for adding matching information. 5. The printing device monitoring unit receives the PDL converted print data generated and output by the printing data generating unit from the printing data generating unit and transfers the printing data to the printing device. When the collation information on the presence / absence of collation printing, the paper size and / or the number of pages is acquired based on the collation information added to the generated and output PDL conversion print data, and collation printing is not performed, The PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data generating unit is directly transferred to the printing device via the bidirectional communication cable, and when collated printing is performed, the print data generated and output by the print data generating unit is used. Transferring the PDL-converted print data to the printing device and transferring the PDL-converted print data to the printing device; The reprinting system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising means for storing the data in a storage device of the device. 6. The printing device monitoring means acquires information on the capacity of the storage device on the printing device via the two-way communication cable and calculates the number of pages that can be stored on the storage device on the printing device. And transferring all the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation means to the printing apparatus, and then transferring the PDL converted print data to the printing apparatus.
The total number of pages of the DL-converted print data is compared with the number of pages that can be stored in the storage device of the printing device, and as a result of the comparison, the PDL-converted print data is larger than the storage device of the printing device. If more, for collation again,
The PDL-converted print data stored in the storage device of the higher-level device is repeatedly transferred to the printing device by a designated number of copies, and the capacity of the storage device of the printing device is larger than that of the PD.
If there is more than the L-converted print data, means is provided for transferring a command instructing execution of collated printing to the printer and instructing the printer to repeatedly print the PDL-converted print data on a storage device of the printer. The reprinting system according to claim 5, wherein: 7. A collating print is performed for a reprinting system having a higher-level device capable of printing and a printing device located below the higher-level device and capable of bidirectional communication with the higher-level device via a bidirectional communication cable. A collation printing method capable of performing high-speed and accurate collation, wherein the higher-level device performs an application software execution step of printing a created document or a read document, and prints the document passed from the application software execution step. A print data creation step of generating and outputting PDL conversion print data that is print data converted into a printer description language that can be understood by the apparatus; a storage step of storing the PDL conversion print data in a storage device of a host apparatus; A step of acquiring and holding the PDL-converted print data transferred from the data creation step, information on a state of the printing apparatus in the apparatus; And / or a process for acquiring and holding predetermined information including information on a capacity usable for storage of print data on the printing apparatus side, analyzing the PDL-converted print data from the higher-level apparatus during printing. Based on the information such as the presence or absence of the obtained collation, the P
A printing device monitoring step including at least one of a step for storing the DL conversion print data, wherein the printing apparatus stores the PDL conversion print data transferred from the host apparatus; A print data analyzing step of storing the PDL-converted print data in a storage device of the printing apparatus in accordance with the presence or absence of collation information obtained by analyzing the PDL-converted print data transferred from the apparatus. Characterized collation printing method. 8. The collation printing method according to claim 7, wherein the printing device monitoring step includes a step for performing collation printing. 9. The printing apparatus monitoring step includes a step of acquiring and holding information on a state of the printing apparatus in the apparatus, information on a capacity of a storage device on the printing apparatus side, and the like. The collating printing method according to claim 7, wherein: 10. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the print data creation step includes a step of: when the application software execution step of the higher-level device prints the print data, in response to a predetermined command from the application software execution step. A printer description language conversion for converting the print data into a description language PDL is executed to generate the PDL converted print data and send it to the printing device monitor process. At the start of the printer description language conversion, the print data creation process generates The collation information including information on paper size and collation is added to the PDL-converted print data, which is output print data, and when the printer description language conversion is completed, the print data creation process generates and outputs Adding the collation information of the total number of prints to the end of the PDL-converted print data. 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein:
The collating printing method according to any one of the above. 11. The printing apparatus monitoring step includes: receiving the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation step from the print data creation step and transferring the print data to the printing apparatus; When the collation information on the presence / absence of collation printing, the paper size and / or the number of pages is acquired based on the collation information added to the generated and output PDL conversion print data, and collation printing is not performed, The PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation step is directly transferred to the printing device via the two-way communication cable, and when collated printing is performed, the print data creation step is performed by the print data creation step.
11. The method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of transferring the output PDL-converted print data to the printing apparatus, and storing the PDL-converted print data to be transferred to the printing apparatus in the storage step. A collation printing method according to any one of the preceding claims. 12. The printing device monitoring step obtains information on the capacity of the storage device of the printing device via the two-way communication cable and calculates the number of pages that can be stored in the storage device of the printing device. In addition, after transferring all of the PDL-converted print data generated and output by the print data creation step to the printing device, the total number of pages of the PDL-converted print data transferred to the printing device and the storage device on the printing device side The number of pages that can be stored in the upper device is compared. If the result of the comparison indicates that the PDL-converted print data is larger than the capacity of the storage device of the printing device, the storage of the higher-level device is re-checked for collation. The PDL-converted print data stored in the device is repeatedly transferred to the printing device by the designated number of copies, and the capacity of the storage device on the printing device side corresponds to the PDL-converted print data. If the number is larger than the above, a step of transferring a command for executing collated printing to the printing apparatus and instructing the printing apparatus to repeatedly print the PDL conversion print data on the storage device is provided. The collation printing method according to claim 11, wherein