JP2001053945A - Facsimile transmission controller and program recording medium therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve communication efficiency while effectively utilizing a retry interval, which is conventionally useless dead time, by transmitting another FAX transmission request under transmission wait while making it interrupt even during that retry time while utilizing an error retry time interval set to a FAX transmission request interrupted when an error occurs. SOLUTION: When a connection error in the communication line or transmission error in the data transmission is detected, a transmission execution control part 9 interrupts a connection to a communication line. A CPU 1 sets the fixed retry time interval to the interrupted FAX transmission request and when there is the other FAX transmission request under transmission wait, the other FAX transmission request is made interrupt to start that FAX transmission. After the lapse of retry time set to the interrupted FAX transmission request, the CPU 1 restarts FAX transmission corresponding to the interrupted FAX transmission request.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to connecting to a communication line in response to a FAX (facsimile) transmission request,
The present invention relates to a facsimile transmission control device for performing data transmission through the communication line and a program recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a data processing apparatus such as a personal computer incorporates facsimile communication software.
(X communication port) to the destination facsimile machine. At this time, if a plurality of fax transmission jobs are waiting to be transmitted to one fax communication port, one job When the transmission is complete,
Jobs are sequentially designated and transmitted one by one from the next job in the queue (the highest priority job queued). Here, transmission completion of one job means that data transmission to the destination has been completed normally, or that the job has ended with an error after exceeding a preset number of error retries. , The next job is specified and transmission is started.

[0003]

However, as described above, transmission of one job is completed (normal end / abnormal end), and then transmission of the next job is started. Until the time set as the retry interval (for example, 180 seconds) elapses,
Even if there is a next waiting job, the job is in a waiting state until the previous transmission is completed, and there is a wasteful free time, which is a factor of deteriorating the transmission efficiency. In particular, at the time of error retry when the number of transmission pages is enormous and an error occurs during the transmission, transmission is restarted from the first page, so that it takes more time to complete the transmission. In the case of a device having a plurality of FAX communication ports, switching of a port according to the current situation, such as switching a job to a currently available port, is manually performed each time. In this case, the operator needs to check the current situation and select the port that can transmit the most efficiently, but it is extremely difficult to determine which port is the most efficient, Switch ports each time
There is a problem that manual operation places a heavy burden on the operator. Further, since data transmission is performed in the order in which the FAX transmission request is made, the same destination (the same FAX
If a plurality of FAX transmission requests for the X number) deviate in time, the communication line is temporarily disconnected, then auto-dial again after a while to establish a line connection to the same party. Disconnection once causes an increase in communication cost, and if a line of the other party is used before the redial, a connection error occurs at the time of redial. In order to prevent this, it is possible to manually change the job waiting order. However, it is necessary to search for a FAX transmission request having the same FAX number from the queue and combine them into one. When the number is large, it is extremely difficult work.

An object of the first invention is to utilize an error retry time interval set for a FAX transmission request interrupted at the time of occurrence of an error. This is to enable the error retry time to be used effectively by interrupting and transmitting a FAX transmission request. A second object of the present invention is to transmit data from a page being transmitted when resuming the FAX transmission in response to a FAX transmission request interrupted by an error during data transmission for a plurality of pages, thereby enabling the same page to be transmitted. That is, duplicate transmission can be avoided. The subject of the third invention is:
By simply arbitrarily designating one or more assignment conditions for assigning a fax transmission request to any of a plurality of fax communication ports in advance, each time a fax transmission request is accepted, a plurality of fax communication ports are selected. The purpose is to be able to select a communication port that meets the needs of the user and determine the transmission order of the FAX transmission request. A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a fax
When a transmission request is received, an optimal communication port for allocating a FAX transmission request is automatically selected from among the plurality of FAX communication ports in consideration of the current state of the plurality of FAX communication ports, and
By determining the transmission order of transmission requests, it is possible to expect a great improvement in transmission efficiency.

[0005] The means of the present invention are as follows. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a facsimile transmission control device which performs an automatic dial in response to a FAX transmission request, connects to a communication line, and performs data transmission through the communication line. An error detecting means for detecting a connection error of the device or a transmission error during data transmission,
When an error is detected by this error detection means,
A connection interrupting means for interrupting the connection to the communication line, and a fixed retry time interval for the fax transmission request interrupted by the connection interrupting means, and if there is another fax transmission request waiting for transmission, A first transmission control means for interrupting the other FAX transmission request and starting the FAX transmission, and an FA interrupted by the connection interruption means.
After the retry time set for the X transmission request has elapsed, a second transmission control means for resuming the FAX transmission for the interrupted FAX transmission request is provided. According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a connection error at the time of a communication line or a transmission error at the time of data transmission is detected, the connection to the communication line is interrupted, and then a fixed FAX transmission request is received. Is set, and if there is another FAX transmission request that is waiting for transmission, the other FAX transmission request is interrupted to start the FAX transmission. And the suspended F
After the retry time set for the AX transmission request has elapsed, the FAX transmission for the interrupted FAX transmission request is resumed. Therefore, using the error retry time interval set for the FAX transmission request interrupted when an error occurs, another FAX transmission request waiting for transmission is interrupted and transmitted even during the retry time. As a result, the error retry time can be effectively used.

The invention described in claim 2 (second invention)
In a facsimile transmission control device that connects to a communication line in response to a FAX transmission request and performs data transmission through the communication line, an error detection unit that detects an error during FAX transmission, and an error is detected by the error detection unit. Connection interruption means for interrupting the connection with the communication line, and a transmission error is detected during transmission of data for a plurality of pages, and when the connection to the communication line is interrupted, transmission during the error occurs. Intermediate page storage means for storing and holding pages,
When the FAX transmission in response to the interrupted FAX transmission request is resumed, the transmission control means for transmitting data from the intermediate transmission page stored and held in the intermediate page storage means. In the invention according to claim 2, the FA
X: When an error during transmission is detected, the connection to the communication line is interrupted. When a transmission error is detected during transmission of data for a plurality of pages and the connection to the communication line is interrupted, The page being transmitted when an error occurs is stored and held. Then, FAX for the interrupted FAX transmission request
When resuming the transmission, the data transmission is performed from the stored page being transmitted. Therefore, when resuming FAX transmission in response to an FAX transmission request interrupted due to an error during data transmission for a plurality of pages, data is transmitted from the page being transmitted to avoid duplicate transmission of the same page. Can be.

The invention according to claim 3 (third invention) is:
A facsimile transmission control device for connecting a communication line to a facsimile communication port in response to a facsimile transmission request and transmitting data through the communication line, and assigning a facsimile transmission request to one of a plurality of facsimile communication ports. Specifying means for arbitrarily specifying the above allocation conditions, and selecting a communication port matching one or more of the allocation conditions specified by the specifying means from a plurality of facsimile communication ports each time a facsimile transmission request is received. And
And a transmission control means for allocating the FAX transmission request to the selected communication port and determining the transmission order of the FAX transmission request. In the case where an assignment condition indicating that a plurality of FAX transmission requests having the same destination is to be continuously transmitted from the same FAX communication port is designated by the designation means,
Each time an X transmission request is accepted, the transmission control means selects a communication port on which another FAX transmission request of the same transmission destination exists from among a plurality of FAX communication ports based on the transmission destination, and selects the communication port. When assigning the current FAX transmission request to the specified communication port, the transmission order may be controlled so that the FAX transmission request is transmitted continuously to the another FAX transmission request. Further, the transmission control means may include a plurality of FAs having the same destination.
When continuously transmitting X transmission requests from the same FAX communication port, the data for the plurality of FAX transmission requests is combined into one, and one transmission is performed without interrupting the communication line for each of the plurality of FAX transmission requests. May be transmitted by one connection to a communication line. According to the third aspect of the present invention, one or more allocation conditions for allocating a FAX transmission request to any one of the plurality of FAX communication ports are arbitrarily specified. F
Each time an AX transmission request is received, a communication port that meets the specified assignment condition is selected from a plurality of FAX communication ports, and the FAX transmission request is assigned to the selected communication port. Determine the transmission order. Therefore, 1 or 2 for allocating a FAX transmission request to any of a plurality of FAX communication ports
By simply arbitrarily specifying the above allocation conditions in advance, FA
Each time an X transmission request is received, a communication port that meets the user's request can be selected from a plurality of FAX communication ports, and the transmission order of the FAX transmission request can be determined.

[0008] The invention described in claim 6 (fourth invention) is:
A facsimile transmission control device that connects a communication line to a facsimile communication port in response to a facsimile transmission request and performs data transmission through the communication line. Selecting means for selecting a communication port optimal for transmission efficiency based on a plurality of allocation conditions for allocating a transmission request and the current state of each facsimile communication port; and transmitting the facsimile transmission request to the communication port selected by the selection means. And a transmission control means for determining the transmission order of the FAX transmission request. In the invention according to claim 6, when a FAX transmission request is received,
A communication port optimal for transmission efficiency is selected based on a plurality of allocation conditions for allocating a FAX transmission request to one of the plurality of FAX communication ports and the current state of each FAX communication port, and the FAX is assigned to the selected communication port. A transmission request is assigned, and the transmission order of the FAX transmission request is determined. Therefore, even if the operator is not particularly conscious,
When a FAX transmission request is accepted, multiple FAs are automatically
Considering the current state of the X communication ports, selecting an optimum communication port for allocating a FAX transmission request from among the X communication ports and determining the transmission order of the FAX transmission request, expects a great improvement in transmission efficiency. Can be.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a data processing device such as a personal computer in which FAX communication software is incorporated. This data processing apparatus calls a document created and transmitted and transmits it to a destination facsimile machine through a FAX modem (FAX communication port). The data processing apparatus performs an auto-dial in response to a FAX transmission request.
A communication line is connected to the FAX communication port, and data is transmitted through the communication line. Here, in this embodiment, a plurality of FAX communication ports
When a plurality of FAX transmission jobs are waiting to be transmitted for each X communication port, various ports are used to determine which port the currently received FAX transmission job is to be assigned to, and to respond to an error that has occurred during FAX transmission. To do. Here, when determining the port assignment, the assignment is performed by referring to the assignment condition arbitrarily designated by the user in advance. In this data processing apparatus, not only FAX transmission but also FAX reception are of course possible. However, only FAX transmission will be described below, and various device names will be described for FAX transmission.

The CPU 1 is a central processing unit that controls the overall operation of the data processing device according to the operating system and various application software in the storage device 2. The storage device 2 includes, in addition to an operating system and various application software, a database,
It has a storage medium in which character fonts and the like are stored and its drive system. The storage medium 3 is fixedly provided or removably mountable, and is composed of a magnetic / optical recording medium such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, an optical disk, and a RAM card, and a semiconductor memory. The programs and data in the recording medium 3 are loaded into a RAM (static RAM, etc.) 4 under the control of the CPU 1 as needed. Further, the CPU 1 receives a program or data transmitted from another device through a communication line or the like and stores the program or data in the recording medium 3 or a program stored in a recording medium provided in another device. And data can be accessed and used via a communication line or the like. Further, an input device 5, a display device 6, a printing device 7, a timer control unit 8, and a transmission execution control unit 9, which are input / output peripheral devices, are connected to the CPU 1 via a bus line. Control their behavior.

The input device 5 has a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and is used to input character string data and various commands.
The user inputs a fax transmission port allocation condition for deciding to which port the job requested to be transmitted is allocated. Here, the port assignment condition arbitrarily input and designated by the user in advance is set and stored in the storage device 2. Until the setting content is changed, every time a FAX transmission request is issued, A process of selecting and determining a port is performed according to the allocation condition. In addition to the method of directly specifying a desired port, the port determination method includes “designation by the number of jobs”, “designation by the number of pages”, and “designation by continuous transmission / combination transmission of the same FAX number” described later. ,
A desired determination method is selected and designated from among them.

The display device 6 is a liquid crystal, CRT or plasma display device, and the printing device 7 is a non-impact printer such as thermal transfer or ink jet or a dot impact printer. The timer control unit 8 sends an interrupt signal to the CPU 1 at regular time intervals. The CPU 1 monitors the FAX job currently waiting for transmission according to the timer event, and executes the transmission if there is a job that has reached the transmission timing. FAX to control unit 9
Make a transmission request. The transmission execution control unit 9 is provided corresponding to a plurality of FAX transmission ports P, performs an automatic dial in response to a FAX transmission request from the CPU 1, connects a communication line to the corresponding FAX transmission port P, and A facsimile transmission operation for transmitting data through the communication line is performed, and various events are notified to the CPU 1.

FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually showing the relationship among the CPU 1, the timer control unit 8, the transmission execution control unit 9, and the FAX transmission port P. The CPU 1 can execute F
When an AX transmission request event is received, a FAX transmission request process is executed, and a FAX to which the FAX transmission request is assigned
When the transmission port P is determined and a timer event is received from the timer control unit 8 at regular intervals, a waiting job monitoring process is executed, and a FAX transmission request for the job whose transmission timing has been reached is determined. This is given to the execution control unit 9. Here, when the CPU 1 gives a FAX transmission request to the transmission execution control unit 9, the CPU 1 can receive an event from the transmission execution control unit 9. Further, each transmission execution control unit 9 corresponding to the plurality of FAX transmission ports P responds to a FAX transmission operation by sending a one-page transmission end event, an error end event,
An all page normal end event is output and notified to the CPU 1.
The transmission standby job storage unit M as a spool file provided between the CPU 1 and the transmission execution control unit 9
The fax transmission port P is provided in a one-to-one correspondence. The transmission standby job storage unit M stores a queue of a plurality of jobs waiting to be transmitted for each FAX transmission port P, and reads a job at the transmission timing from the queue. The job transmission data is written out to the corresponding transmission data buffer B. At this time, the transmission execution control unit 9 automatically dials the designated transmission destination FAX number, and stores the contents of the transmission data buffer B to 1
Each page is read and transmitted from the corresponding FAX transmission port P. Note that, as described above, the CPU 1 only requests the transmission execution control unit 9 to execute the FAX transmission.
Even when an AX transmission request is received, the FAX transmission request can be simultaneously received asynchronously with the FAX transmission.

FIG. 3 shows FA stored in the storage device 2.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a data structure of X port management information A, in which a "number of FAX transmission ports" is stored in a header portion thereof, and subsequently, FAX control information is stored for each port. Here, the FAX control information for one port includes “FAX transmission port ID”, “status identifier”, “total number of jobs”, and “pointer to job information” as shown in FIG.
It consists of ‥. "FAX transmission port ID" is FA
This is the device identification data of the X driver or the like, and is “state identifier”
Indicates the current status of the fax transmission port P, that is, whether the fax is being transmitted or is idle, the “total number of jobs” indicates the number of jobs currently queued for transmission, and the “pointer to job information” Is an address pointer for accessing the job control information B stored and managed in job units. The job control information B is stored and managed on a job-by-job basis.
D, "job data identifier", "transmission destination FAX number", "pointer to transmission data combination information C", "job status identifier", "transmission start date and time", "total number of pages", "current transmission page number" , "Maximum number of retries", "retry interval", "current number of retries", "job name", "priority order", and ‥‥.

Here, "job ID" is data for identifying a facsimile transmission job, and "job data identifier" is the name of a data file to be transmitted. The “transmission destination FAX number” is the telephone number of the transmission destination, and the “pointer to transmission data combination information C” defines the connection relationship when a plurality of jobs with the same FAX number are combined as one job. This is an address pointer for accessing the job control information B to be executed. The combination of a plurality of jobs will be described later. The “job status identifier” indicates the current status of the job, such as “transmitting”, “waiting for transmission”, and “transmission completed”. The “transmission start date and time” indicates a date and time specified in advance as the transmission start timing, and the job is in a standby state until the “transmission start date and time” is reached. The “total number of pages” indicates the total number of pages to be transmitted, and the “currently transmitted page number” indicates to which page the transmission is currently completed.

At this time, when a transmission error occurs before the transmission of the “total number of pages” is completed, and the transmission is interrupted and then retransmitted, the “current transmission page number” is called and The page is transmitted. “Maximum number of retries” indicates the maximum number of retransmissions when a connection error occurs during a communication line or a transmission error occurs during data transmission. "Retry interval" indicates the wait time until retransmission.If a connection error occurs during communication line or a transmission error occurs during data transmission, the "transmission start date and time" is set after the "retry interval" wait time. I try to update. In this case, if there is a job waiting for transmission at the port, the job is transmitted using the retry time interval. “Current number of retries” indicates the number of retries up to the current time until reaching the maximum number of retries.
"Job name" indicates the job title to be sent,
The "priority" indicates the priority at which the job is to be interrupted in the queue.

The transmission data combination information C is configured to store and manage the first to Nth job IDs having a connection relationship with the number of connection jobs as shown in the figure. This defines a connection relationship for connecting a plurality of jobs having the same FAX number as one job. In this case, the plurality of combined jobs are combined into one job, and the fax is transmitted by one line connection by referring to the transmission data combination information C. In addition, such a transmission is described below.
In this embodiment, a plurality of jobs having the same FAX number are consecutively connected in the same port, and a FAX transmission is performed by connecting a line for each job in this embodiment. Although there is a method of transmission, such transmission is hereinafter referred to as “continuous transmission”.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. Here, a program for realizing each function described in these flowcharts is stored in the storage medium 3 in the form of a readable program code.
1 sequentially executes operations according to the program code. This is the same for other embodiments described later.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart which is started each time a FAX transmission request event is received from a general application. First, the CPU 1 creates new job control information B based on the FAX transmission request information (step A1), and sets “the current number of retries =“ 0 ”” and “job status identifier” as initial values of the job control information B. = "Waiting for transmission", "Current transmission page number =" 1 "", and "Connection information =" None "" (step A2). Then, of the plurality of FAX transmission ports P, the current FAX
A port determination process is performed to select one of the ports to which the transmission request is assigned (steps A1 to A1).
2). That is, the port determination process is performed by referring to the output port allocation condition arbitrarily specified by the user in advance, that is, the port determination method. here,
In the step, it is determined whether or not the output port determination method has been specified by the user in advance (step A3).
If not specified, the port searched first among the plurality of FAX transmission ports P is selected and determined as an allocation target (step A4). When the output port determination method is specified, if it specifies a specific port directly (step A5), the specified port is directly selected and determined as an allocation target (step A6).

On the other hand, if the designation of the output port determination method is "designation by the number of jobs" (step A7), the FAX port management information A for each port is referred to and the "total number of jobs" is compared. As a result, a port having the smallest number of jobs waiting to be transmitted is selected and determined as an allocation target (step A8). If "designation by number of pages" (step A9), the port having the least number of untransmitted pages is determined. That is, by referring to the FAX port management information A, the control information of each job waiting to be transmitted is designated for each port, and a value obtained by accumulating the “total number of pages” for each job, more precisely, The total value of the value obtained by subtracting the "current transmission page number" from the "number" is obtained, and the total value obtained for each port is compared to select and determine the port having the smallest value as an allocation target (step A10). Further, if the designation of the output port determination method is "designation of continuous transmission / combination transmission of the same FAX number" (step A11), the process proceeds to step A12 in FIG. The control information of each job is referred to, the [FAX number of the destination] is compared with the "FAX number of the destination" of the currently received FAX transmission request, and the port to which the job of the same number is allocated is assigned to the port to be allocated. Select and decide.

When the port to which the current FAX transmission request is assigned is determined in this way, a transmission order process is performed in the determined port to determine where in the queue the FAX transmission request is to be added. That is, when the output port determination method is not specified (step A3), when the output port determination method is “direct specification” (step A3).
5) In the case of “designation by the number of jobs” (step A)
7) In the case of "designation by the number of pages" (step A9), the process proceeds to step A19 in FIG. 5, and "priority order" is designated in the job control information B created based on the currently designated fax transmission request. Find out what is. As a result, if the “priority” is not specified, the transmission standby job storage unit M corresponding to the selected and determined port is accessed, and the current job is added at the end (step A2).
0) If it is specified, the job of the same priority is searched in the transmission standby job storage unit M corresponding to the selected and determined port, and the current job is interrupted last (step A21). FIG. 11 shows a queue (queue) of a FAX transmission request job, where “priority” is A> B
Assuming that there is a relationship of > C #, as shown in (B), if there is no designation of "priority" in the current fax transmission request job, the job is added to the end of the fax transmission port P2.

On the other hand, when the method of determining the output port is
In the case of "designation of continuous transmission / combined transmission by X number" (step A11), one port having a job with the same FAX number is selected and determined as described above (step A12). In this case, this port is selected. Then, the transmission standby job storage unit M corresponding to is accessed to search for a job with the same FAX number, and the current job is interrupted last (step A13). In this case, it is further checked whether or not "combination transmission is specified" (step A14). If the connection is specified, it is checked whether or not the transmission data combination information is already stored and managed (step A15). Here, if there are two or more jobs with the same FAX number in the same port, the job is created when the second job is additionally registered. , And set an address in the “pointer to binding information” of the binding source (first) job (step A).
16). Then, the transmission data combination information C that has already been created or created this time is accessed, and the current job ID is additionally registered (step A17). FIG. 11A shows the case of “designation of continuous transmission”, and FIG. 11B shows the case of “designation of combined transmission”.
Regardless of whether “priority” is specified or not, the current FAX transmission request job is added to the end of the jobs that have a continuous / combined relationship with them.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a waiting job monitoring process which starts to be executed in accordance with a timer event output from the timer control unit 8 at regular intervals. First, the first FAX control information is designated from the FAX port management information A and called (step B1), and the "status identifier" is checked to see if it is "in use" (transmitting) (step B2). If currently in use, step B13
To check if there is another unprocessed (selected) port. If there is, return to step B1 and specify and call the next FAX control information. In this way, a search is made for a free port that is not being transmitted. As a result, when an empty port is found, the first job control information B of that port is searched.
(Step B3), and checks whether the "job status identifier" is "waiting for transmission" (step B3).
4). If the transmission is in progress or the transmission is completed, step B
3, the next job control information B is designated and called,
The “job status identifier” is determined. In this way, the job waiting for transmission is searched, and the “transmission start date and time”
Then, it is determined whether the transmission timing has been reached (step B5). If the transmission timing has been reached, the job is selected as a transmission target (step B6).

Then, by referring to the job control information associated with the selected job, the data after the "current transmission page number" is read and written into the transmission data buffer B of the selected port (step B7). Then, the “status identifier” of the selected job is set to “transmitting” (step B8). In this case, if the selected job is to be newly transmitted this time, the “currently transmitted page number” is usually set to “1”.
All data for the “total number of pages” is read from the page and written to the transmission data buffer B of the selected port. On the other hand, when the selected job is interrupted due to a transmission error in the previous transmission, and the job is retransmitted after the elapse of the retry interval, the `` current transmission page number '' of the job includes
Since the page number that could be transmitted normally before the transmission error occurred last time is set,
The data to be written to the transmission data buffer B of the selected port is the data after the middle page, that is, all the data of the “total number of pages” from the next page after the “current transmission page number”.

Next, referring to the transmission data combination information C indicated by the "pointer to combination information" of the selected job,
An unprocessed combined job is selected (step B9). If there is a combined job (step B10), the job control information B indicated by the job ID is selected and acquired (step B1).
1) The data after the "current transmission page number" of the combined job is written into the transmission data buffer B of the selected port (step B7), and the "status identifier" of the selected job is set to "transmitting" (step B7). Step B8). Less than,
The above operation is repeated every time a combined job is detected. As a result, the transmission data for a plurality of jobs in the connection relationship is continuously written to the transmission data buffer B of the selected port in accordance with the connection relationship of the plurality of jobs defined in the transmission data connection information C. FIG. 12 shows a state in this case, in which the data of the FAX transmission request job and the data of the FAX transmission request job are combined into one and written into the transmission data buffer B of the selected port. Here, the FAX transmission request job is interrupted due to a transmission error in the previous transmission, and is re-transmitted after the elapse of the retry interval. This is the case where “2” is set as the page number that could be transmitted normally during the period. In such a case, all data for the third and subsequent pages of the FAX transmission request job and data for all pages of the FAX transmission request job are combined into one and written to the transmission data buffer B of the selected port.

When the process of writing data to the transmission data buffer B for one port is completed in this way, a FAX transmission request is notified to the transmission execution control unit 9 corresponding to the selected port (step B12), and ""Statusidentifier" is set to "in use" (step B13). Then, it is checked whether there is another unprocessed port (step B1).
4) If there is, return to step B1 and repeat the above operation. In this way, the port being transmitted is skipped, and if there is an empty port, it is sequentially designated one by one,
In the queue of the vacant port, the job which has reached the transmission timing is detected, the data of the job is read and written into the transmission data buffer B of the port, and a FAX transmission request is given to the transmission execution control unit 9.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the operation of the transmission execution control section 9 which is started when a facsimile transmission request is received from the CPU 1. First, the transmission execution control unit 9 acquires the destination FAX number included in the FAX transmission request information, connects to the communication line of the FAX number partner by auto-dialing (step C1), and checks whether or not the connection is normally performed. (Step C2). Here, if a connection error is detected because the communication partner is busy, the connection of the communication line is interrupted, and an error end event is generated and given to the CPU 1 (step C3).
On the other hand, when it is confirmed that the connection is normally established, the value of the counter N (not shown) for monitoring the page being transmitted is initialized to "1" (step C4), and the value of the counter N is indicated. The data of the Nth page to be read is read from the corresponding transmission data buffer B and transmitted from the FAX transmission port P (step C5). Note that the data read from the transmission data buffer B is modulated through the FAX transmission port P in the same manner as usual.

Then, it is checked whether a page transmission error has occurred (step C6). If a transmission error occurs during data transmission for one page, the connection of the communication line is interrupted as in the case of the connection error described above. At the same time, an error end event is generated and given to the CPU 1 (step C3). If data for one page can be transmitted normally, a one-page transmission end event is generated and notified to the CPU 1. (Step C7) “1” is added to the counter N to update the value (Step C8). Then, it is checked whether the data of the Nth page indicated by the counter N is in the transmission data buffer B, that is, whether transmission of all pages in the transmission data buffer B has been completed (step C9). Until the end, the process returns to step C5, and the above operation is repeated page by page. As a result, when transmission of all pages is completed,
CPU generates a transmission end event for all pages indicating that
1 is notified (step C10).

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the operation of the CPU 1 which is started when the one-page transmission end event is received from the transmission execution control part 9. First, the FA for which data transmission for one page is completed based on the one page transmission end event.
The X transmission port P is specified, the FAX transmission port ID is obtained (step D1), and the job ID for which one-page transmission has been completed is obtained (step D2). Then, based on the acquired FAX transmission port ID and job ID, FAX port management information A is referred to, and the corresponding job control information B is acquired (step D3). The "current transmission page number" in the job control information B is compared with the "total number of pages" (step D4). If the transmission of all pages has not been completed, "1" is added to the "current transmission page number" and the value is updated (step D5). on the other hand,
If “current transmission page number”> “total number of pages” is satisfied and it is detected that transmission of all pages of the job has been completed (step D4), the “job status identifier” is set to the “job status identifier”. "Complete" is set (step D6). Then, an unprocessed combined job is selected with reference to the transmission data combination information C indicated by the “pointer to combination information” (step D7). If there is a combination job (step D8), the combined job ID is used. The job control information B indicated is obtained (step D9), and the “current transmission page number” and the “total number of pages” in the job control information B are compared (step D4). As a result, if all the pages of the combined job have not been transmitted, a process of updating the value of the “currently transmitted page number” is performed (step D5).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the CPU 1 which is started when an error end event is received from the transmission execution controller 9. First, based on the error end event, the FAX transmission port P that has ended with the error is specified, and the “state identifier” corresponding to the FAX transmission port is set to “empty” (step E1). Next, the FAX transmission port ID is obtained (step E).
2) Acquire the job ID that has ended with an error (step E3). Then, referring to the FAX port management information A based on the obtained FAX transmission port ID and job ID, the corresponding job control information B is obtained (step E).
4). “Current retry count” in the job control information B
Is increased by “1” (step E5), and the “current number of retries” is compared with the “maximum number of retries” (step E5).
6). As a result, if “current number of retries”> “maximum number of retries”, processing is performed as a fax transmission job error end (step E9), but if “current number of retries” is less than “maximum number of retries”, The “transmission start date and time” is added to the “transmission start date and time” to update the “transmission start date and time” (step E7), and the “job status identifier” is set to “transmission waiting” (step E8). .

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of the CPU 1 which is started to be executed when an all-page normal end event is received from the transmission execution control section 9. First, based on the all-page transmission end event, data transmission for all pages is completed.
AX transmission port P is specified, and its FAX transmission port ID
(Step F1), and a job ID for which all pages have been transmitted is obtained (step F2). Then, referring to the FAX port management information A based on the obtained FAX transmission port ID and job ID, the corresponding job control information B is obtained (step F3), and the “total” in the corresponding FAX port management information A is obtained. The number of jobs is decreased by "1" (step F4). Then, the transmission data combination information C indicated by the “pointer to the combination information”
To select an unprocessed combined job (step F
5) If there is a combined job (step F6), a process of subtracting “1” from “total number of jobs” (step F4) while acquiring job control information B indicated by the combined job ID (step F7). Repeat for the number of combined jobs. In addition to deleting one or more pieces of job control information B obtained in this way and all transmission data combination information C linked to the job control information B (step F8), the “status identifier” of the FAX transmission port P is set to “free”. "(Step F9).

As described above, in the first embodiment, when a connection error at the time of a communication line or a transmission error at the time of data transmission is detected, the connection with the communication line is interrupted, and the interruption is stopped. A fixed retry time interval is set for the fax transmission request job, and if there is another fax transmission request job waiting for transmission, this job is interrupted to start the fax transmission, and then interrupted. When the retry time set for the job has elapsed, the FAX transmission for the job is resumed. Other jobs can be interrupted and sent, making it possible to effectively use the retry interval, which was previously a wasteful idle time. It is possible to improve the.

When a transmission error is detected during data transmission of a plurality of pages and the connection to the communication line is interrupted, the page being transmitted when the error occurs is stored and held as a "current transmission page number". When the FAX transmission for the interrupted job is resumed, data transmission is performed from the page in the middle of transmission, so that duplicate transmission of the same page can be avoided, and communication time and communication cost can be reduced. It is possible to avoid waste of paper at the other party and to prevent erroneous recognition of pages due to duplicate transmission of the same page.

Also, if one or more allocation methods for allocating a fax transmission request to any of the plurality of fax transmission ports are arbitrarily specified, every time a fax transmission request is received, a plurality of fax transmission ports are received. Since the transmission port according to the specified allocation method is selected from among the above, and the transmission order of the FAX transmission request is determined, it is possible to meet the demands of the user only by specifying an arbitrary allocation method in advance. An appropriate transmission port can be selected, and a plurality of ports can be effectively used by a method according to the usage of the user. Here, a plurality of FAX transmission request jobs having the same FAX number of the transmission destination are
When "continuous transmission" to be continuously transmitted from the AX transmission port is designated by the user, every time a FAX transmission request is received, the same FAX number is selected from a plurality of FAX transmission ports based on the FAX number. When selecting a port where a job exists and assigning the current FAX transmission request to the selected port, the transmission order is controlled so that a plurality of jobs having the same FAX number are transmitted continuously. Thus, the occupancy of the destination facsimile machine is increased, it is possible to transmit a plurality of jobs preferentially, and it is possible to reduce line connection errors.

Further, when "combined transmission" is designated by the user, every time a FAX transmission request is received, the same FAX transmission port is selected from a plurality of FAX transmission ports based on the FAX number.
When selecting the port where the job with the X number exists and assigning the current FAX transmission request to this selected port, the transmission order is controlled so that a plurality of jobs having the same FAX number are transmitted continuously, At the time of fax transmission, data for the plurality of jobs are combined into one, and all data combined into one is transmitted by one connection to the communication line without interrupting the communication line for each of the plurality of jobs. Thus, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of errors during line connection and to significantly reduce communication time and communication cost.

In the first embodiment described above,
"Transmission of other jobs during error retry", "Retry transmission from page where transmission error occurred", "Continuous transmission of multiple jobs having the same FAX number", "One transmission by combining multiple jobs with the same FAX number" However, a condition may be set such that any of the above-described transmissions is not applied to a job specified in advance. The designation for applying any of the above-described transmissions may be performed for each FAX transmission request.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when performing “continuous transmission” and “combined transmission”, the condition is that the fax number is the same.
In the case of having an X number, "continuous transmission" or "combined transmission" may be performed if any of the FAX numbers applies. In this case, an index table may be prepared in which a destination partner and a plurality of FAX numbers of the destination are associated with each other, and the same destination partner may be determined by referring to the index table. Also, when performing "transmission of another job during error retry", a job waiting for transmission at the port is specified and transmitted, but when the number of pages of the job is large and transmission takes time Alternatively, another job having a small number of pages may be designated and transmitted regardless of the transmission waiting order. Also,
When performing "Retry transmission from the page where the transmission error occurred"
At the start of the retry, data indicating transmission from the middle page may be transmitted.

(Second Embodiment) Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment described above, one or more allocation methods for allocating a FAX transmission request to any one of a plurality of FAX transmission ports and control of the transmission order are arbitrarily specified. In the second embodiment, even if the user does not specify the allocation method and the transmission order in advance, the optimum output port and transmission order for transmission efficiency are automatically determined. In this case, a mode switching button (not shown) is provided for arbitrarily switching between the automatic mode for specifying the output port / transmission order automatic determination process and the manual mode specified by the user. Here, basically the same components in both embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the following mainly describes the features of the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the characteristic portion of the automatic determination processing for automatically determining the optimum output port and transmission order in terms of transmission efficiency. The other parts are the same as those in the first embodiment. Description is omitted. here,
When the FAX transmission request is received, the flowchart of FIG. 13 starts to be executed on condition that the above-described automatic mode is designated. First, based on the FAX number of the other party to which FAX transmission has been requested, all the FAX transmission ports P in which a job having the same FAX number is waiting to be transmitted are selected (step G1), and it is checked whether there is a corresponding port. , (Step G2), and if there is, check whether one is the selected port (Step G3). Here, when two or more ports are selected, a port having the smallest number of jobs waiting to be transmitted is selected from among the selected ports (step G4), and one selected port is checked (step G4). Step G5) Also, when two or more ports are selected, the “total number of pages” of the number of jobs waiting to be transmitted among the selected ports is further accumulated in order to narrow down the selection candidates. One port having the smallest value is selected (step G6). The determined port selected and determined in this way is set as an allocation target, and the current FAX transmission request job is added to the end of the job having the same FAX number of that port (step G7).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step G2 that there is no corresponding job having the same FAX number, the process proceeds to step G8, and among all the ports, the port with the smallest number of jobs waiting to be transmitted is set to select. As a result, it is determined whether or not one port has been narrowed down (step G9). If the number of applicable ports is two or more, the number of jobs waiting to be transmitted among the selected ports is further reduced to narrow down the selection candidates. One port having the smallest value of the total number of pages is selected (step G10). The determined port selected and determined in this way is set as an allocation target. In this case, it is checked whether or not "priority designation" is included in the current FAX transmission request (step G11). The current FAX transmission request job is added to the end of the jobs of the same priority in the queue (step G12). If the priority is not specified in the current fax transmission request, the current fax transmission request job is added to the last job of the determined port (step G1).
3).

As described above, in the second embodiment, when a FAX transmission request is received, a plurality of allocation conditions for allocating the FAX transmission request to one of the plurality of FAX transmission ports and the number of FAX transmission ports Based on the current situation, a port optimal for transmission efficiency is selected, the current FAX transmission request is assigned to the selected port, and the F
Since the transmission order of the AX transmission request is determined, the optimum port is automatically selected and the FAX transmission request is assigned to the port or the transmission order is determined without the operator's special consideration. It is possible to expect a significant improvement in transmission efficiency.

In the second embodiment described above,
When deciding a port, first, a port with the smallest number of jobs waiting to be transmitted is selected, and as a result, if the number of applicable ports is 2 or more, each port is selected to further narrow down the selection candidates. One port having the smallest total value of the “total number of pages” of the number of jobs waiting to be transmitted is selected. However, selection is not performed based on the number of jobs, and only one port is selected based on the total number of pages. A port may be selected. In addition, when the ports are automatically assigned, the transmission mode after the continuous assignment of the same FAX number is performed as shown in the above-described first embodiment, that is, “continuous transmission”,
It is similar to the above-described first embodiment that it is necessary for the user to arbitrarily designate in advance which of the “combined transmission” is to be executed. In this case, if "continuous transmission" is not performed and only "combined transmission" is performed, the designation is, of course, unnecessary.

[0043]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an error retry time interval set for a FAX transmission request interrupted at the time of occurrence of an error is used, and even during the retry time, the transmission standby state is maintained. The FAX transmission request is interrupted and transmitted, so that the retry interval, which was conventionally a wasteful idle time, can be effectively used, and the communication efficiency can be improved accordingly. According to the second aspect, when the FAX transmission is restarted in response to the FAX transmission request interrupted by the error during the data transmission for a plurality of pages, the data is transmitted from the page being transmitted. In addition to avoiding duplicate transmission of pages, it is possible to reduce communication time and communication cost, to reduce waste of paper at the transmission destination, and to prevent erroneous recognition of pages due to duplicate transmission of the same page. . According to the third aspect, each time a FAX transmission request is received, only one or two or more allocation conditions for allocating a FAX transmission request to one of a plurality of FAX communication ports are specified in advance. Since a communication port that meets the user's request is selected from a plurality of FAX communication ports and the transmission order of the FAX transmission request is determined, the plurality of ports can be enabled in a method suitable for the user's usage. It can be used. According to the fourth aspect, even if the operator does not pay special attention, when the FAX transmission request is received,
Since the optimum port for transmission efficiency is automatically selected from among a plurality of FAX communication ports as a port for allocating the FAX transmission request, and the transmission order of the FAX transmission request is determined. Can be expected to greatly improve.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a data processing device having a FAX transmission function.

FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually showing a relationship among a CPU 1, a timer control unit 8, a transmission execution control unit 9, and a facsimile transmission port P.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of FAX port management information A, job control information B linked thereto, and transmission data combination information C.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing FAX transmission request processing that is started each time a FAX transmission request event is received from a general application.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a facsimile transmission request process following FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a waiting job monitoring process that is started to be executed according to a timer event output from the timer control unit 8 at regular intervals.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of the transmission execution control unit 9 which is started when a facsimile transmission request is received from the CPU 1;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of the CPU 1 started to be executed when a one-page transmission end event is received from the transmission execution control unit 9;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of the CPU 1 started to be executed when an error end event is received from the transmission execution control unit 9;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of the CPU 1 started to be executed when an all-page normal end event is received from the transmission execution control unit 9;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a queue of jobs waiting to be transmitted corresponding to each FAX transmission port P and explaining to which port a current FAX transmission request is allocated;

FIG. 12 shows the same FA when “combined transmission” is specified.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating that data of a fax transmission request job of an X number is combined into one and written to a transmission data buffer B.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a characteristic portion of an automatic determination process for automatically determining an output port and a transmission order optimal for transmission efficiency in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 Storage device 3 Storage medium 8 Timer control unit 9 Transmission execution control unit P FAX transmission port M Transmission standby job storage unit A FAX part management information B Job control information C Transmission data combination information

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tsuneharu Tamura 2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo Casio Computer Co., Ltd. Tokyo Office (72) Inventor Eiji Hatano 2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo Casio Computer Stock (72) Inventor Naoki Fukumoto 2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo Casio Computer Co., Ltd.Tokyo Office (72) Inventor Makoto Tsurumi 2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo Casio Computer F term (reference) in Tokyo office 5C075 BA13 CA10 CD09 CD15 CE02 CE08 CE09 FF90

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A facsimile transmission control device which performs an auto-dial in response to a FAX transmission request and connects to a communication line and performs data transmission through the communication line. Error detecting means for detecting the error, a connection interrupting means for interrupting the connection with the communication line when an error is detected by the error detecting means, and a fixed FAX transmission request interrupted by the connection interrupting means. In addition to setting the retry time interval, if there is another FAX transmission request waiting for transmission, the other FAX transmission request is interrupted and the F
First transmission control means for starting AX transmission, and after a retry time set for the FAX transmission request interrupted by the connection interruption means elapses, the FAX for the interrupted FAX transmission request is transmitted. Facsimile transmission control device, comprising: second transmission control means for restarting transmission. 2. A facsimile transmission control device for connecting to a communication line in response to a facsimile transmission request and transmitting data through the communication line, comprising: an error detection means for detecting an error during facsimile transmission; Connection interruption means for interrupting the connection with the communication line when an error is detected; and an error when a transmission error is detected during transmission of data for a plurality of pages and the connection to the communication line is interrupted. A midway page storage means for storing and holding a midway transmission page at the time of occurrence, and when resuming FAX transmission in response to the interrupted FAX transmission request, data transmission is started from the midway transmission page stored and held in the midway page storage means. Facsimile transmission control device, comprising: 3. A facsimile transmission control device for connecting a communication line to a facsimile communication port in response to a facsimile transmission request and transmitting data through the communication line, allocating the facsimile transmission request to any one of the plurality of facsimile communication ports. Means for arbitrarily specifying one or two or more allocation conditions for use, and each time a FAX transmission request is received, one or more of the FAX communication ports meet one or more of the allocation conditions specified by the specification means. A facsimile transmission control device comprising: selecting a communication port to be transmitted, assigning the facsimile transmission request to the selected communication port, and determining a transmission order of the facsimile transmission request. 4. A facsimile transmission request when an assignment condition indicating that a plurality of facsimile transmission requests having the same destination is to be continuously transmitted from the same facsimile communication port is specified by said specifying means. Every time we accept
On the basis of the destination, the transmission control means selects another FAX from the plurality of FAX communication ports.
When selecting the communication port where the transmission request exists, and assigning the current FAX transmission request to the selected communication port, the transmission is performed so that the FAX transmission request is transmitted continuously to the other FAX transmission request. 4. The facsimile transmission control device according to claim 3, wherein the order is controlled. 5. The transmission control means, when continuously transmitting a plurality of FAX transmission requests having the same transmission destination from the same FAX communication port, combines the data corresponding to the plurality of FAX transmission requests into one. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein all data combined into one is transmitted by one connection to the communication line without interrupting the communication line for each of a plurality of FAX transmission requests. A facsimile transmission control device as described in the above. 6. A facsimile transmission control device for connecting a communication line to a facsimile communication port in response to a facsimile transmission request and transmitting data through the communication line.
When an AX transmission request is received, a communication port optimal for transmission efficiency is selected based on a plurality of allocation conditions for allocating the FAX transmission request to one of the plurality of FAX communication ports and the current state of each FAX communication port. A facsimile transmission control device comprising: a selection unit; and a transmission control unit that allocates the FAX transmission request to the communication port selected by the selection unit and determines a transmission order of the FAX transmission request. 7. A recording medium having a program code which can be read by a computer, wherein the computer interrupts the connection with the communication line when a connection error in a communication line or a transmission error in data transmission is detected. Set a fixed retry time interval for the readable program code and the interrupted FAX transmission request, and if there is another FAX transmission request waiting for transmission, interrupt the other FAX transmission request and FAX transmission for the interrupted FAX transmission request is resumed after a computer-readable program code for starting FAX transmission and a retry time set for the interrupted FAX transmission request have elapsed. A recording medium having a computer readable program code. 8. A recording medium having a program code readable by a computer, the program code being readable by a computer for interrupting connection to a communication line when an error during facsimile transmission is detected. When a transmission error is detected during data transmission of a page and the connection to the communication line is interrupted, a computer-readable program code for storing and holding the page being transmitted when the error occurs, and A computer-readable program code for causing a computer to perform data transmission from a stored halfway transmission page when resuming a FAX transmission operation in response to a FAX transmission request. 9. A recording medium having a program code readable by a computer, wherein the computer arbitrarily designates one or more assignment conditions for assigning a fax transmission request to one of a plurality of fax communication ports. Each time a readable program code and a FAX transmission request are received, a plurality of FAX
A computer that selects a communication port that satisfies the specified one or more allocation conditions from the communication ports, allocates the FAX transmission request to the selected communication port, and determines the transmission order of the FAX transmission request. Recording medium having a program code readable by a computer. 10. A recording medium having a program code readable by a computer, comprising: a plurality of allocation conditions for allocating a facsimile transmission request to one of a plurality of facsimile communication ports when receiving a facsimile transmission request; A computer-readable program code for selecting a communication port optimal for transmission efficiency based on the current status of each fax communication port;
A computer-readable program code for allocating an X transmission request and determining a transmission order of the FAX transmission request.