JP2001084191A - Method and device for supporting document output - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To print a document which is accompanied by an electronic mail in a simple operation without installing any corresponding application. SOLUTION: In this supporting method, an electronic mail addressed to a prescribed mail address is obtained by a mail receiving part 31, and an accompanying document is extracted from the obtained electronic mail by a document extracting part 32, and an application 34-x corresponding to the accompanying document is selected and started by an application selecting and starting part 33, and a PDL(page description language) is generated by the application 34-x, and transmitted to a print server by a PDL transmitting part.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document output support method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a document output support method and apparatus capable of printing a document attached to an electronic mail by an easy operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of network technology, opportunities to use electronic mail (hereinafter abbreviated as mail) have been increasing. E-mail can be sent not only by exchanging character information but also by attaching a document created using application software such as a word processor, thereby expanding the range of use of e-mail.

A document attached to an e-mail can be edited and printed by a user who has received the e-mail by using corresponding application software. For example, when the user prints the attached document, the printing process is performed according to the procedure shown in FIG.

[0004] First, a user checks a received mail using a mail tool (step 901), and if a desired document is attached, saves the attached document on a hard disk or the like (step 902). Subsequently, the application is started (step 903), the attached document stored previously is read (step 904), and a print instruction is issued (step 905). Thereafter, a printer is selected as necessary (step 906), and the PDL is assigned to the selected printer.
(Page Description Language)
e: page description language) to end the printing process.

[0005] Printing a document attached to a mail as described above is not a simple operation. Also,
Clients (computers) used by users include:
It is necessary to install an application corresponding to the attached document, but installing the application only for printing the document is not very preferable from the viewpoint of effective use of resources and the like.

As a technique for transferring print data using mail, a "data processing system and storage medium" described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-222330 has been proposed. In this "data processing system and storage medium",
A printer server generates print data such as PDL from a document and transfers the print data to a printer by e-mail, thereby enabling print output from a remote printer through which routing information does not pass.

[0007]

As described above, when printing a document attached to an e-mail, it is necessary to save the attached document at each client and then activate a corresponding application to issue a print instruction. However, even if the user simply prints a document, the operation is not easy. In addition, in order to perform attached documents, applications corresponding to each client must be installed, so applications that are not used for purposes other than printing documents must also be installed. Also in this regard, it has been difficult to say that the attached document can be easily printed.

The "data processing system and storage medium" described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-222330 enables printing from a remote printer, but does not facilitate printing instructions for an attached document. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a document output support method and apparatus capable of printing with a simple operation without installing an application corresponding to a document attached to an e-mail to a client. .

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document output supporting method for outputting an attached document attached to an electronic mail. Upon receiving an e-mail addressed to an e-mail address, extract the attached document from the received e-mail, convert the extracted attached document to print data by application software corresponding to the attached document, and convert the converted print data. The electronic mail is sent to a printer corresponding to the mail address of the predetermined electronic mail.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the predetermined mail address corresponds to a plurality of printers, and the print data is stored in the plurality of printers based on additional information of the electronic mail. The data is sent to a printer selected from the printer.

[0012] In a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the additional information is a sender of the electronic mail.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the additional information is a subject of the electronic mail.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the electronic mail is stored in a mail server,
The reception of the electronic mail is performed by accessing a mail server at a predetermined interval.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the access to the mail server is performed when the printer is in a printable state.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the electronic mail is stored in a mail server,
The reception of the e-mail is performed by accessing the e-mail server when the e-mail to the predetermined e-mail address is notified from the e-mail server.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the electronic mail addressed to the predetermined mail address is stored in a desired mail server among a plurality of mail servers, and the reception of the electronic mail is performed. , By accessing the plurality of mail servers.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a document output support apparatus for outputting an attached document attached to an electronic mail addressed to a predetermined mail address stored in a mail server.
A mail obtaining unit for obtaining an electronic mail addressed to the predetermined mail address from the mail server; a document extracting unit for extracting an attached document from the electronic mail obtained by the mail obtaining unit; and an attached document extracted by the document extracting unit Application selection means for selecting and starting application software corresponding to the application software, and print data generation for generating print data corresponding to the attached document extracted by the document extraction means by the application software selected and started by the application selection means And print data sending means for sending the print data generated by the print data generating means to a printer corresponding to the predetermined mail address.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the predetermined mail address corresponds to a plurality of printers, and the print data sending means is configured to send the electronic mail acquired by the mail acquiring means. Based on the additional information,
A predetermined printer is selected from the plurality of printers, and the print data generated by the print data generation unit is transmitted to the selected printer.

[0020] The invention of claim 11 is the invention of claim 10, wherein the additional information is a sender of the electronic mail.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth aspect, the additional information is a subject of the electronic mail.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the mail obtaining means accesses the mail server at a predetermined interval, and receives an e-mail addressed to the predetermined address at the mail server. In this case, the e-mail is obtained when the e-mail is received.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the mail acquisition means accesses the mail server when the printer is in a printable state. .

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the invention, when the mail server notifies the mail server of the arrival of the electronic mail addressed to the predetermined mail address, Accessing and acquiring the electronic mail.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the invention, the electronic mail addressed to the predetermined mail address is stored in a desired mail server among a plurality of mail servers, and the mail obtaining means includes: It is characterized by accessing the plurality of mail servers and acquiring an e-mail addressed to the predetermined mail address from each of the plurality of mail servers.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the mail acquisition means and the document extraction means,
The application selection unit and the print data transmission unit are provided in a print server that controls transmission of print data to the printer.

[0027] The invention of claim 18 is the invention according to claim 9, wherein the mail acquisition means and the document extraction means,
The application selection unit and the print data transmission unit are provided in the mail server.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a document output support method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a network to which a document output support device according to the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a client 1 (1-1, 1-2, 1-3), a mail server 2, a document output support device 3, and a print server 4 are connected to the network 100. The client 1 creates and edits documents, sends and receives mails, and the like, and the mail server 2 transfers mails and stores mails addressed to managed mail addresses in a spool area. Document output support device 3
Obtains a mail addressed to a predetermined address from the mail server 2, and instructs the print server 4 to print a document attached to the obtained mail. The print server 4 operates to execute the received print job and output a print from a printer (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the document output support device 3. As shown in the drawing, the document output support device 3 includes a mail receiving unit 31, a document extracting unit 32, an application selecting / starting unit 33, and an application 34 (3
4-1 to 34-n), a printer selection unit 35 and a PDL transmission unit 36.

The mail receiving section 31 obtains mail addressed to a predetermined address spooled in the mail server 2,
The document extracting unit 32 extracts the attached document from the mail acquired by the mail receiving unit 32. The application selection / activation unit 33 converts the application 34-x corresponding to the attached document extracted by the document extraction unit 32 into the application 34-x.
1 to 34-n, and activates the selected application 34-x. The application 34-x reads the attached document extracted by the document extracting unit 32, generates a PDL based on the attached document, and outputs the PDL to the PDL transmitting unit 36.

On the other hand, the printer selection unit 35 selects the print server 4 as the transmission destination of the PDL and the printer (not shown) as the output destination based on the mail destination acquired by the mail reception unit 31.

The mail acquired by the mail receiving unit 31 is addressed to a predetermined address. The destination is set so as to correspond to the output destination printer. In other words, if at least one printer can be designated as the output destination, at least one address is set as the print instruction mail address, and if there are two printers, at least two addresses are set as print instruction mail addresses, and mail addressed to the mail address is received. The unit 31 acquires the information. Therefore, when there are a plurality of set mail addresses, the printer selection unit 35 selects a PDL transmission destination based on the obtained mail destination.

The printer selecting unit 35 extracts additional information such as a mail sender and a subject from the mail acquired by the mail receiving unit 31, and performs PDL based on the extracted additional information.
It is also possible to select a print server 4 as a transmission destination and a printer (not shown) as an output destination.

For example, when selecting a printer based on a mail sender, the mail receiving unit 31 obtains a mail addressed to a predetermined address, and from this mail, the printer selecting unit 35 uses the mail sender (additional information). Extract the sender's character string. Then, a preset printer is selected based on the extracted character string of the mail sender.

When selecting a printer based on a subject, a mail addressed to a predetermined address is sent to the mail receiving unit 3.
1 is acquired, and the printer selection unit 35 extracts a character string of the subject as additional information from the mail. For example, if the subject includes the printer name [Prt1],
The printer selection unit 35 includes a printer (Prt) (not shown).
If 1) is selected as the output destination, and the subject includes [Prt2], which is the printer name, the printer selection unit 35 selects a printer (Prt2) (not shown) as the output destination.

In each client 1, when printing a document attached to a mail, as shown in FIG. 3, the user checks the mail using a mail tool (step 101), and Is selected (no decision is made about the output printer and no operation is performed) (step 102), and the mail is transferred to a predetermined mail address indicating the selected printer (step 103).
Is performed only.

The mail transferred from the client 1 is
After being spooled by the mail server 2, the document output support device 3 extracts the attached document from the mail and prints it out from a printer (not shown) via the print server 4.

Here, the flow of processing in the document output support device 3 will be described. FIG. 4 shows the document output support device 3
3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing of FIG.

When the processing is started, the document output support apparatus 3 continues the processing until there is an end instruction from the administrator (NO in step 201), and when there is an end instruction (step 20).
(1; YES) The process ends. However, the termination instruction from the administrator is issued at the time of maintenance of the document output support device 3 or the like, and the processing is normally continued.

In the document output support apparatus 3, while the processing is continued, the mail receiving means 31 accesses the mail server 2 to check for the presence or absence of a mail (step 202), and the mail is spooled in the mail server 2. If it is (YES in step 203), the mail is acquired (step 204). When the mail is obtained by the mail receiving means 31, the document extracting means 32 extracts the attached document from the mail (step 205), and the application selecting / starting means 33 sets the application 34-
x is selected and activated, and the application 34-x generates a PDL based on the attached document (step 206).
When the PDL is generated, the PDL transmitting unit 36 transmits the PDL to the print server 4 selected by the printer selecting unit 35.
L (step 207), and after stopping the processing for a certain period of time (step 208), again at step 20
Return to 1.

On the other hand, as a result of checking the presence / absence of mail (step 202), if the mail is not spooled in the mail server 2 (N in step 203)
O), the processing is stopped for a fixed time (step 208), and the process returns to step 201 again.

In the processing described here, the document output support device 3 periodically accesses the mail server 2 to check for the presence or absence of a mail. If a setting has been made so as to receive notification of an incoming mail from the mail server 2 when there is an incoming call, a document can be printed by the processing shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing of the document output support device 3 when receiving a mail arrival notification.

The document output support device 3 starts processing upon receiving a mail arrival notification from the mail server 2, and the mail receiving means 31 acquires mail spooled in the mail server 2 (step 301). Mail receiving means 31
When the e-mail is obtained, the document extracting unit 32 extracts the attached document from the e-mail (step 302), and the application selecting / starting unit 33 selects and starts the application 34-x corresponding to the attached document, and 34-x generates a PDL based on the attached document (step 303). When the PDL is created, the PDL
The transmitting means 36 transmits the PDL to the print server 4 selected by the printer selecting means 35 (step 30).
4), end the process.

Further, the document output support device 3 checks the status of the printer via the print server 4, and acquires the mail and performs the printing process only when the printer is in a printable state. Can also. FIG. 6 shows a printing paper instructing device 3 for performing a printing process according to the state of the printer.
3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the processing of FIG.

When the processing is started, the document output support apparatus 3 continues the processing until there is an end instruction from the administrator (NO in step 401), and first checks the status of the printer via the print server 4 (step 402). ). If the printer is ready for printing (step 40)
(YES in step 3), the mail receiving means 31 accesses the mail server 2 and checks whether there is a mail (step 40).
4) If the mail is spooled in the mail server 2 (YES in step 405), the mail is acquired (step 406). When the mail is obtained by the mail receiving means 31, the document extracting means 32 extracts the attached document from the mail (step 407), and the application selecting / starting means 33 selects the application 34-x corresponding to the attached document. Launch and application 34
-X generates a PDL based on the package insert (step 408). When the PDL is generated, the PDL transmission unit 36
Transmits the PDL to the print server 4 selected by the printer selection means 35 (step 409), and thereafter suspends the processing for a certain period of time (step 410), and returns to step 401 again.

On the other hand, if the printer is in a state in which printing cannot be performed due to busy conditions or the like (NO in step 403), or if the mail has not been spooled in the mail server 2 (NO in step 405), the processing is performed for a fixed time. Is stopped (step 410), and the process returns to step 401 again.

Next, the flow from when a document is created until it is printed out will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow from creation of a document to printout.

First, the user A creates, edits, and saves the document 51 with the application 11 of the client A (for example, the client 1-1). Subsequently, the mail A 52 is created by the mail tool 12-1 of the client A, the document 51 stored in the created mail 52 is attached, and the mail 51 is transmitted to the user B.

Subsequently, the user B uses the mail tool 12-2 of the client B (for example, the client 1-2) to
The mail A52 to which the document 51 is attached is received, and is transferred to a predetermined address indicating the printer as the mail B53 to which the document 51 is attached.

Thereafter, the document output support device 3 sends the mail B
53 received by the document extracting unit 32
The application 34 extracts the document 51 from the
1 is read and the PDL 54 is generated. When the PDL 54 is generated by the application 34, the printer control unit 36 transmits the PDL 54 to the print server 4 and prints out by the printer.

When the user A who has created the document 51 sends the mail 52 to which the document 51 is attached not to the user B but to a predetermined address indicating the printer, the user B does not need to perform any operation. This is similar to the case where the document 51 is printed out and the document 51 is transmitted by facsimile.

In the above description, the document output support device 3 obtains mail from one mail server 2, but mail can be obtained from a plurality of mail servers, such as the Internet. It is also possible to do via.

The document output support device 3 can be configured to be included in the mail server 2 or the print server 4. For example, when it is included in the print server 4, the configuration is as shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the print server 4 when the document output support device 3 is included in the print server 4.

As shown in the figure, the print server 4
E-mail receiving unit 41, document extracting unit 42, application selecting / starting unit 43, application 44-x, PDL
It comprises a receiving unit 45, a printer control unit 46, and a spooler 47.

The mail receiving section 41 obtains mail of a predetermined address spooled in the mail server 2, and the document extracting section 42 extracts an attached document from the mail obtained by the mail receiving section 41. Application selection / activation unit 43
Selects and activates the application 44-x corresponding to the attached document extracted by the document extracting unit 42, and the application 44-x generates a PDL based on the attached document.

The PDL receiving section 45 receives PDL (normal printing) transmitted from the client 1. The printer control unit 46 includes an application 44-x
And the PDL passed from the PDL receiving unit 45 to the spooler 47
, And controls the printer (not shown) to transmit the spooled PDL to the spooler 47.

[0059]

As described above, according to the present invention, an e-mail addressed to a predetermined e-mail address is acquired, an attached document is extracted from the acquired e-mail, and the attached document is handled. Since the application is configured to generate the PDL, the user can print the attached document only by transferring the e-mail including the attached document to a predetermined e-mail address and use the attached document. There is no need to install an application corresponding to the attached document on the client.

Further, since the mail address of the user who issued the print job can be obtained from the mail attached with the document, the e-mail address as a contact address can be printed on a banner sheet or the like, or the completion or interruption of printing can be performed. It is possible to easily perform processing such as notifying the user of the execution state of the print job to the user, performing charge management, and the like.

Further, since the document attached to the mail of the predetermined destination is printed out, the e-mail can be used in a manner similar to FAX by directly transmitting the mail with the document attached to the predetermined destination. It is also possible.

Further, since the printer of the print output destination can be designated according to the additional information of the mail, it is possible to output to a printer unique to each user, and the subject includes a character string specifying the printer of the output destination. Output to a desired printer. Therefore, the user can easily select the output destination by setting the mail address common to a plurality of printers and selecting the output destination printer based on the additional information of the mail.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a network to which a document output support device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a document output support device 3.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a print instruction procedure by a user.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of the document output support device 3;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the document output support device 3 when receiving a mail arrival notification.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of the document output support device 3 when performing a printing process according to the state of the printer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a flow from creation of a document to print output.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of the print server 4 when the document output support device 3 is included in the print server 4.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of the print server 4 when the document output support device 3 is included in the print server 4.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 Client 2 Mail server 3 Document output support device 4 Print server 11 Application 12-1, 12-2 Mail tool 31 Mail receiving unit 32 Document extracting unit 33 Application selecting / starting unit 34, 34-1 to 34-n, 34-x application 35 printer selection unit 36 PDL transmission unit 54 PDL 41 mail reception unit 42 document extraction unit 43 application selection / activation unit 44-x application 45 PDL reception unit 46 printer control unit 47 Spooler 51 Document 52 Mail A 53 Mail B 100 Network

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP01 BB10 HJ06 HJ10 HK02 HK03 HK11 HN05 HN15 HQ01 HQ17 5B021 CC04 EE04 5B089 GA11 JA31 KB06 LA18 LB12 5K030 GA17 GA18 HA06 JT02 LD13 LE11 9A001 JJ14 JJ27 JJ27

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A document output support method for outputting an attached document attached to an electronic mail, comprising: receiving an electronic mail addressed to a predetermined mail address to which the attached document is attached; Extracting the extracted attached document into print data by application software corresponding to the attached document, and sending the converted print data to a printer corresponding to the predetermined mail address. How to help. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined mail address corresponds to a plurality of printers, and the print data is sent to a printer selected from the plurality of printers based on additional information of the e-mail. 2. The document output support method according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The document output support method according to claim 2, wherein the additional information is a sender of the electronic mail. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the additional information is a subject of the electronic mail.
Document output support method. 5. The document output support method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic mail is stored in a mail server, and the reception of the electronic mail is performed by accessing the mail server at a predetermined interval. 6. The document output support method according to claim 2, wherein the access to the mail server is performed when the printer is in a printable state. 7. The e-mail is stored in a mail server, and the e-mail is received when the e-mail addressed to the predetermined e-mail address is notified from the mail server. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
Document output support method. 8. The electronic mail addressed to the predetermined mail address is stored in a desired mail server among a plurality of mail servers, and the reception of the electronic mail is performed by accessing the plurality of mail servers. 2. The document output support method according to claim 1, wherein: 9. A document output support device for outputting an attached document attached to an electronic mail addressed to a predetermined mail address stored in a mail server, wherein the electronic mail addressed to the predetermined mail address is obtained from the mail server. A mail acquisition unit, a document extraction unit that extracts an attached document from the electronic mail acquired by the mail acquisition unit, an application selection unit that selects and starts application software corresponding to the attached document extracted by the document extraction unit, A print data generation unit that generates print data corresponding to the attached document extracted by the document extraction unit by the application software selected and activated by the application selection unit; and the print data generated by the print data generation unit. Corresponds to the specified email address Document output support apparatus characterized by comprising a print data sending means for sending to the printer. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined mail address corresponds to a plurality of printers, and the print data transmitting unit transmits a predetermined printer from the plurality of printers based on the additional information of the electronic mail acquired by the mail acquiring unit. 10. The document output support apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the print data generated by the print data generation unit is transmitted to the selected printer. 11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the additional information is a sender of the electronic mail. 12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional information is a subject of the electronic mail.
0. Document output support device. 13. The mail acquisition means accesses the mail server at a predetermined interval, and obtains the electronic mail when an electronic mail addressed to the predetermined address has arrived at the mail server. The document output support device according to claim 9, wherein 14. The document output support apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said mail acquisition means accesses said mail server when said printer is in a state capable of printing out. 15. The method according to claim 15, wherein the e-mail acquiring unit accesses the e-mail server when the e-mail addressed to the predetermined e-mail address is notified from the e-mail server and acquires the e-mail. The document output support device according to claim 9. 16. The electronic mail addressed to the predetermined mail address is stored in a desired mail server among a plurality of mail servers, and the mail obtaining means accesses the plurality of mail servers, and stores the plurality of mail servers. 10. The document output support device according to claim 9, wherein an e-mail addressed to the predetermined e-mail address is obtained from each of the e-mails. 17. The method according to claim 17, wherein the mail acquisition unit, the document extraction unit, the application selection unit, and the print data transmission unit are provided in a print server that controls transmission of print data to the printer. The document output support device according to claim 9. 18. The document output support apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the mail acquisition unit, the document extraction unit, the application selection unit, and the print data transmission unit are provided in the mail server.