JP2001100959A - Print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print system which can select the most efficient image process while taking into account the kind of data to be processed into an image and the capacity of a file spooled by an application. SOLUTION: The print system has a print processing time judging table which contains the print processing times needed by a host computer and the printer controller of a printer to perform an image expanding process and a means for judging which of image processing parts of the host computer and the image processing part of the printer would expand object data to be printed in a shorter time up to image output by referring to the printing process time judging table.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print system which receives a print request from an application, processes the print data of the print data, and prints the print data with a printer.
In particular, the present invention relates to a print system applicable to a printer connected to a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in a print system, when printing print data from an application, print data sent from a host computer or a computer connected to a LAN or the like is described in a printer description language (hereinafter, referred to as PDL). ) Is transmitted to a printer as image data converted into raster data by using a high-speed image processing function of the printer, and is printed on paper. Also, due to the high performance of the host computer, some of the data requires less processing time until printing if image processing is performed by the host computer, and there is also a system in which all image processing is performed by the host computer. These were generally either fixed for each system or the user had to choose one.

However, with the diversification of applications, the data (characters,
Table, graph, photograph, etc.), it was difficult to determine which image processing function was actually used to speed up the processing up to printing. Conventionally, as a technique for solving such a problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-334318, "Printer Driver", Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-198529, "Image Processing Apparatus", and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-325867. The technique disclosed in “Print control method and print system” is known.

The technique disclosed in the first Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-334318, "Printer Driver", compares the performance of a host computer with that of a printer, and performs image data expansion processing with the higher performance. The comparison parameters include CPU performance, memory capacity, printer print speed, and the like. In other words, according to this technique, when the status of the host computer and the printer is checked, if the status is busy, the data is expanded with the higher performance. Also, only the part where the processing of print data is complicated,
It is also proposed to perform the expansion processing on the one with higher performance. Further, it has been proposed that the expansion processing be performed in a direction having a closer performance in accordance with the printing speed of the printer.

In the above-mentioned prior art, the determination as to which one of the image processing functions of the host computer and the printer is to be used is made based on the type of CPU used and the operating frequency thereof, thereby solving the problems described later. That is what we are trying to solve. However, since the content of the data to be actually printed is not considered, there is a sufficient possibility that the result of the actual operation may not be as expected.
For example, an application other than printing is often running on the host computer, and the load affects the image processing time. Further, the image processing time depends on the content of the data to be printed.

Further, since the data transfer time is not taken into account, for example, if the amount of data becomes large after image processing on the host computer side, the data transfer time becomes long, and the time until printing is delayed. May be.
In addition, since the image processing means / procedure may differ between the host computer and the printer due to the difference in each data format, the time for actually expanding the data despite the high performance of the hardware is high. Sometimes it is late. For these reasons, the accuracy in actual operation is not sufficient.

On the other hand, the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-198529, "Image Processing Apparatus", means for recognizing the amount of image data and predicts the amount of data when the data is subjected to image processing. Means, and if the printer has a predetermined image processing capability, the data format to be transmitted to the printer is changed by comparing the data amounts thereof (the expansion of image data is performed by either the host computer or the printer). Judge what to do). In this technology, when a printing request is made by PDL, a comparison between the recognized data amount and the predicted data amount is made by multiplying each of the performance coefficients determined from the CPU performance and the performance of the transmission path. Has been proposed.

That is, in this technique, the determination as to which one of the image processing functions of the host computer and the printer is to be used is made based on the amount of data on the transmission path to solve the problems described below. . However, in recent years, high-speed transmission paths have emerged,
At present, the effect is diminishing. Further, in this technique, the data criterion is used as a criterion for the data amount, so that the ratio of the data transfer speed in the entire processing time up to printing is smaller than the image development processing speed and the printing processing speed, and the image on the printer side is small. When the processing speed is slow, the printing time is delayed, and it cannot be said that the performances of the host computer and the printer are effectively utilized.

The criterion here is the amount of data to the last, and the hardware performance and data transmission performance are only taken into account as coefficients. Value.
It differs from the actual operation. In actual printing processing, the time during which image processing is performed by the host computer, or the time until the image processing unit of the printer performs image processing and prints, and the time during which image data flows on the transmission path, , May be partially processed in parallel. For this reason, not only this technology but also the hardware performance, the data transfer time from the host computer to the printer, the amount of data, etc. are individually quantified, and the print processing time is estimated by various methods. In the prior art that attempts to perform efficient image processing, the processing time of each unit in the printing process is estimated and calculated. Therefore, faster image processing is performed by either the host computer or the printer. It cannot be said that it is possible to accurately determine whether or not it can be performed.

The technique disclosed in the third Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-325867 entitled "Print Control Method and Printing System" predicts the processing time by accumulating the individual processing times of each graphic command. It is. In this technique, although it can be said that the accuracy of the actual operation is close to the actual operation in comparison with the above two conventional techniques, it takes a long time to calculate the estimated time, and other techniques that also operate on the host computer. Since the operation load of the application is not taken into consideration and the processing time on the printer side is not taken into account, it can be said that the technique is insufficient as a system optimization technique.

[0011]

The first problem is that the difference in image processing time in printing depends on the type of data to be subjected to image processing (for example, text documents, graphic (image) documents, etc.).
The fact that the data type greatly depends on the application to be created is that it is difficult to determine the processing time. For example, MS-WORD has a high ratio of text documents, and MS-Power Point has a high ratio of figures and image documents.

A second problem is that the difference in the image processing time also depends on the capacity of the file spooled by the application. The spooled file is Win
In the dows environment, it is called an EMF file. The file capacity differs between a text document and a graphic (image) document, and the file capacity differs depending on the number of pages and the number of characters in a page even for text documents of the same data type. In general, a large spool file capacity means that there are many commands that need to be processed, which means that the image processing time is long.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned problems and to take into account the type of data to be subjected to image processing and the capacity of a file spooled by an application. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing system capable of selecting the most efficient image processing. Other objects of the present invention will be clarified in the following description.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print system which focuses on a difference in print data type due to a difference in an application and performs image expansion processing by a host computer. A print processing time determination table (hereinafter simply referred to as a determination table) for each application in which each print processing time is described when the image development processing is performed by the printer controller of the printer, and printing is performed by referring to the determination table. It is characterized in that it has means for judging whether the target data is developed by the host computer or the image processing unit of the printer, the time required for image output is short.

In the printing system according to the first aspect, since the determination is made only based on the data type (application type), for example, even in the case of an MS-WORD document, not only text but also graphs (graphics), Since some documents contain image objects, it is expected that the judgment results will vary. Therefore, the print system according to claim 2 includes a print processing time determination table for each data capacity for each application,
If the data volume is acquired from the spool file created when the host computer captures the print data, and the data is expanded by either the host computer or the image processing unit of the printer with reference to this determination table, the time until printing is short Is determined. That is, here, the spool file capacity is noted, and not only the type of data but also the spool file capacity is determined, so that a more practical determination can be performed.

In the print system according to the first and second aspects, a value measured under a certain condition is entered as an initial value of the determination table. In this case, in particular, the processing time of the host computer may differ from the value of the user who actually constructed the system, and may not always match the actual use environment of the user. Therefore, in the print system according to the third aspect, the determination is made based on the value of the determination table, and if there is a difference between the value actually printed based on the determination and the value of the determination table, Is replaced with the value actually printed, and if there is a print request from an unknown application, additional data is created in the judgment table to match the processing time in the actual use environment. In this way, the judgment table is prepared.

In the printing system according to the third aspect, by rewriting the value of the determination table, it is possible to make a determination according to the actual use state of the user. MS-WORD
If a document with full shade is output,
Processing time will be significantly different from past values. Also at this time, the value of the determination table is rewritten to the processing time when the unique data is printed, so that accurate determination may not be performed at the next printing. Therefore, claim 4
In consideration of the fact that the unique data is printed, the print system according to (1) reflects a value obtained by averaging the past data in the determination table to enable more accurate determination.

In the printing system according to the third and fourth aspects, only the processing time in the image processing means selected based on the determined result is fed back to the determination table. In such a case, if the processing time table in the host computer contains a value larger than the actual value of the actual system environment due to some factor (for example, the manufacturer must implement the initial value in the table. There may be a case where there is a difference between the measured environment and the actual user environment), or a case where a value of unique data is entered as described in the print system according to claim 4. In this case, the image processing is performed by the controller in the determination even though the image processing should be performed by the host computer in the ability, so the data of the processing time of the host computer in the determination table is not updated, and as a result, the printer always performs the processing. It is possible that image processing is performed in the image processing unit.

Therefore, in a printing system according to a fifth aspect, the host computer has means for holding print data requested to be printed by an application, and the host computer has a feature based on the features of the printing system according to the third and fourth aspects. Has a test print function that processes the previously held print data without printing it with the image development function that was not used in the actual print processing when the process was performed. By making it possible to reflect the measured value data obtained by actually measuring the print processing time in the determination table, the data of the processing time can be constantly updated.

In the print system according to the first to fifth aspects, an image is developed by a host computer,
The image processing unit determines whether to develop an image based on the time from when print data is received from an application running on the host computer to when the printer print processing unit is started. The processing time of the set (hereinafter referred to as print processing time) is not included in the determination condition. In other words, no matter how late the print processing time is,
Image development by the host computer, time to transfer raster data to the image processing unit and activate the print processing unit (hereinafter referred to as host computer processing time), and convert to PDL by the host computer and transfer to the image processing unit This is determined by the time required for the image processing unit to develop the image and activate the print processing unit (hereinafter referred to as printer processing time).

If the print processing time is slower than both, the processing time of the print processing unit actually becomes a bottleneck, and the time required for printing completion (discharge completion) is obtained regardless of whether the host computer or the image processing unit develops an image. The difference disappears. In such a case, the user generally performs other processing on the host computer in many cases. Therefore, it is necessary to leave complicated processing such as image development to the printer and complete the processing on the host computer as soon as possible. It can be said that there are merits. However, the above claims 1 to
In the print system according to No. 5, if the host computer processing time is shorter than the printer processing time, the print processing time is processed by the host computer no matter how slow, so that the load on the host computer increases, but the printing cannot be performed at high speed. There's a problem.

Therefore, in the printing system according to the sixth aspect, it is described in the printing system according to the first to fifth aspects whether the host computer or the image processing unit determines whether to expand the print data. In addition to the judgment table, the processing speed of the connected printer print processing unit is recognized and compared with other judgment conditions and executed. That is, in addition to the host computer processing time and the printer processing time, the print processing time is managed in the determination table, and by adding the print processing time to the determination conditions, a better print processing performance can be obtained. The goal is to make people comfortable.

In the print system according to the third, fourth, and sixth aspects, if the initial value of the determination table does not conform to the system, the development is always performed by only one of the host computer printers, and the development is performed. It is possible that only the print processing time is measured, only the expanded value of the printer and host computer values in the judgment table is updated, and the value for which no judgment is made is not updated. is there. In this case, the printing capability of the system cannot be accurately reflected in the determination table, and as a result, the processing time may be delayed. A printer for the determination table by the printing system according to claim 5,
The problem that one of the values of the host computer cannot be updated can be avoided. However, in this method, a load may be applied to both the host computer and the printer every time.

Therefore, in the printing system according to the seventh aspect, it is intended to improve the accuracy of the values of both the printer and the host computer in the determination table, to optimize the printing system, and to improve the printing system. Eliminate the problem. As a means, when the driver is installed, a period for improving the accuracy of the judgment table is provided, and during this period, the data is forcibly expanded using either the host computer or the printer without referring to the values in the judgment table And replaces the values of both the printer and the host computer in the determination table with highly accurate values.

On the other hand, in the printing system according to the seventh aspect, when the host computer environment changes (for example, a change in the amount of memory, addition or deletion of an application, etc.), the judgment table has an appropriate value for the host computer environment. Instead, the printing time may be delayed as a result. Therefore, in the print system according to the present invention, even if the environment of the host computer is changed by performing the operation of improving the accuracy of the determination table during an arbitrary period, the value of both the printer and the host computer in the determination table is converted by the print system. To be able to reflect the measured values of

In the print system according to the seventh and eighth aspects, the development is forcibly performed by both the host computer and the printer, and the determination table is updated. However, when there is an extreme difference in the processing speed between the host computer and the printer, the processing for improving accuracy as in the seventh and eighth embodiments is not necessary. Therefore,
In the print system according to the ninth aspect, the difference between the print processing speeds of the host computer and the printer is detected, and when it is determined that it is not necessary to improve the accuracy of the determination table, the print system according to the seventh and eighth aspects is provided. Do not execute processing to improve accuracy.

In the print system according to the first to ninth aspects, it is automatically determined whether the development is performed by the host computer or the printer. For example, even if the user wants to reduce the load on the host computer, ,
The host computer may be overloaded. Therefore, in the print system according to claim 10,
A user is allowed to select whether to use a host computer or a printer, without referring to a determination table, and also to select whether or not to perform an operation for improving the accuracy of the determination table.

Here, the host computer processing time refers to a process of developing print data on a raster by the host computer and a time for transferring the developed raster data to a printer. On the host computer, the process of rasterizing and the process of transferring the raster are different, so that they can be processed in parallel. The printer processing time refers to a processing time for converting print data into PDL by a host computer. Also in this case, each process can be performed in parallel. Regardless of the processing in the host computer or the processing in the image processing unit, if processing is performed continuously, any one of the processing becomes a bottleneck, and there is an idle time during which processing is not performed in the processing that does not become a bottleneck. become. Claim 1
9 also has this idle time. However, this free time could not be used effectively.

Therefore, in the printing system according to the eleventh aspect, the conversion time of the print data to the PDL and the conversion time of the raster data in the host computer, the data transmission time from the host computer to the printer, and the time required for the image processing unit. It has means for recognizing the conversion time from PDL to raster data, has means for storing each processing time as a determination table, has a function of comparing each processing time, and based on the result of the comparison, By determining whether there is a processing bottleneck and performing processing that allows other processing to be efficiently allocated to the idle time, whether the image is developed by the host computer or the image is developed by the image processing unit for each page And printing is executed.

In the print systems according to the above 1 to 11, when the print data is expanded by the host computer based on the determination table, the state of the host computer during the expansion processing is not taken into account.
There is a risk that the expansion processing time in the host computer will take significantly longer than the time described in the determination table.
For example, a request for interrupt processing with higher priority to the host computer, time loss due to repeated retries during communication, and the like can be considered.

Therefore, in the print system according to the twelfth aspect, as described above, it is determined that the actual development processing time by the host computer is longer than the estimated development processing time of the host computer described in the determination table. Then, the printer controller (image processing unit) is changed to perform the remaining printing and other developing processing. Means for setting an upper limit having a certain margin with respect to the host computer development processing time in the determination table, and measuring and comparing the upper limit value with the time during which the host computer development processing time is actually performed. If the value exceeds the upper limit, means for switching the subsequent development processing of the print data to the printer controller (image processing unit) is provided.

In the printing system according to the twelfth aspect, when the host computer expands the print data, if the host computer expansion processing time exceeds the upper limit value of the determination table, the print data expansion processing is performed by the printer controller. The determination of whether to switch to was performed automatically. However, when a printer controller (image processing unit) is shared as in a network printer, if a large number of users perform expansion processing in the printer controller (image processing unit), the printing time may be increased. .

Therefore, in the printing system according to the thirteenth aspect, in the printing system according to the twelfth aspect, it is determined that the actual host computer development processing time exceeds the upper limit of the host computer development processing time in the determination table. When this is done, it has a means to ask the user whether to continue the expansion processing in the host computer as it is or to change the expansion processing to the printer controller (image processing unit), and based on the user's instruction, It is characterized in that it has means for continuing the subsequent processing of developing print data by the host computer or switching to a printer controller (image processing unit).

In the printing system according to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, when the image development processing unit 8 of the host computer performs the image development processing as a result of the determination by the processing determination unit 5,
If the hardware resources such as the CPU are occupied by the image development processing, and other application programs are being executed in parallel, the execution may be hindered.
In other words, the user may not be able to perform other operations during the printing process.

Therefore, in the print system according to the fourteenth aspect, in addition to the configuration of the print system according to the first to thirteenth aspects, image development processing management for permitting / stopping image development processing to the image development processing unit 8 is provided. And temporarily suspending / resuming image development processing based on a predetermined development processing occupancy.

In the print system according to the fourteenth aspect, even when no other application program is being executed, the image development processing is performed based on the predetermined execution processing occupancy, so that useless time is generated. Could be Therefore, the print system according to claim 15 includes, in addition to the configuration of the print system according to claim 14, a user operation detection unit that detects that a user is operating the host computer. It is characterized by not outputting an image expansion processing stop instruction from the image expansion processing management unit.

In the printing system according to the first to fifteenth aspects, in the case of a battery-operated host computer such as a notebook PC, if image development processing is performed by the host computer, battery consumption may be accelerated. Therefore, in the print system according to claim 16, in addition to the configuration of the print system according to claims 1 to 15, power supply type detection means for detecting whether the host computer is operating on a battery or an AC power supply. And when the battery is operating, the processing determination unit always determines that the printer performs the image development processing.

[0038]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below according to the claims.

[Claim 1] In the present embodiment, when a print request is made from an application, an optimum image data processing resource is selected with reference to a determination table, and processing is executed. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a system according to the present invention. FIG.
Among them, 1 is a host computer of this system, and an OS
And various application software are operated, connected to the printer via an interface (I / F) unit 10, the printer driver 3 performs image processing, issues a print command and the like, controls the printer 16, and performs printing. Do.
For example, the user can operate the host computer 1 via an interface such as a display or a keyboard.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a printer, which comprises an image processing unit 15 for performing image processing and a print processing unit 14 for performing printing on paper. 2 is an application such as CAD, DTP / graphics software / spreadsheet software / word processor, and various data such as text-based data such as DOS environment and data accompanying OS drawing processing such as WINDOWS environment. included. Reference numeral 3 denotes a printer driver, which comprises a processing determining unit 5, a table processing unit 6, a PDL processing unit 7, and an image development processing unit 8 when classified by main functions. Various types of data from application 2
The image processing is performed by the PDL processing unit 7 when the data is converted into a data format (PDL) that can be understood by the printer 16, and the image processing unit 8 when the data is converted into raster data.

The table processing unit 6 extracts and processes data for each application based on the determination table 9 having the data of the print processing time in the host computer 1 and the image processing unit 15 of the printer 16. Processing decision unit 5
Identifies the application that has requested printing, and determines, based on the table data obtained by the table processing unit 6, whether to perform raster or PDL processing. Reference numerals 10 and 11 denote I / F units for connecting a host computer and a printer, through which commands are exchanged and image data can be transferred to the printer 16 side. Reference numeral 15 denotes an image processing unit of the printer, which includes an image expansion processing unit 13 for expanding image data into raster data, and an I / F unit 11. A print processing unit 14 sends image data to an engine unit of the printer in response to a request from the printer controller and prints the image data on paper.

As shown in FIG. 2, the determination table 9 identifies the application (aaa,
bbb, ccc,...) and processing time t (Ha), t (H
b), t (Hc)..., and processing time t (Pa), t (Pb), t (P
c)... each data. Further, other information may be added. Here, each processing time refers to the time required for the print processing of the first page.

FIG. 3 shows an operation flow. When the printer driver 3 receives the print request of the application 2, the table processing unit 6 extracts the relevant data from the determination table 9 having the print speed prediction data for each application,
From the data values in the table, the print data is subjected to image expansion processing by the image expansion processing unit 8 of the host computer,
The image processing determining unit 5 determines whether to send the data to the printer as raster data or to convert the data into a PDL after being converted by the PDL processing unit 7 and perform image processing in the image processing unit of the printer (FIG. 3: S1). ~ S5). Image processing unit 15 of printer
When the data is received as raster data, the data is passed to the print processing unit 14 as it is, and when the data is received as PDL data, the data is passed to the print processing unit 14 after being rasterized by the 13 image development processing units. Printing is performed on paper (FIG. 3: S6 to S8).

[Claim 2] In the present embodiment, a determination table having print processing time data for each data capacity is provided for each application, and it is better to develop this table by either the host computer or the image processing unit of the printer. It determines whether the time until image output is fast and executes it. As shown in FIG. 4, the determination table includes, for each application, the application identification (aaa, bbb, ccc,.
...), Its data capacity, and the estimated processing time t (Ha1) when image development is performed by the host computer;
t (Hb2), t (Hc3),..., and estimated processing times t (Pa1), t when image development is performed by the printer
(Pb2), t (Pc3),...

FIG. 5 shows an outline of the operation flow. When there is a print request from the application 2, the information of this application is identified by the processing determination unit 5, and its data capacity is recognized. Based on this, the corresponding data is referenced from the above-described determination table of FIG. 4 (FIG. 5: S1 to S3).
In the example of the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, there are three ways to classify by capacity,?,?,?, But the number of times is not limited. If the information is further divided into more details, more accurate judgment can be realized. Based on this data, the processing determination unit 5 determines whether to output the data as raster data to the printer or to output the data as PDL and perform processing in the image processing unit of the printer (FIG. 5: S4 to S6). The data is developed by the image processing means and the printing process is performed (FIG. 5: S7 to S
10).

[Claim 3] In the present embodiment, the print processing time is actually measured at the time of printing, and this is reflected in the data judgment table. As shown in FIG. 6, processing time measuring units 4 and 12 for measuring an actual print processing time are provided.
The processing time measuring unit 4 has means for measuring the time for each processing in the host, extracting the processing time from the printer via the I / F unit, and calculating the processing time of each unit, and includes a system timer, a dedicated timer, and the like. , Which has means for calculating time. Numeral 12 measures the image data processing time in the printer and notifies the host computer of the information.

The print processing time indicated here is determined by the determination processing unit 5 after the application issues a print request.
The period from when image data processing starts to immediately before image data is passed to the print processing unit 14 on the printer side. FIG. 7 shows a schematic transition diagram of the print processing time. As shown in this figure, each process of the host computer-I / F-printer in the actual system usually has a part overlapping. For this reason, even if the processing time of each processing unit is simply accumulated and calculated, the actual processing time may be significantly different from the actual processing time.

[As]-[Ae] is the image processing time on the host computer, which is determined by the determination processing unit, and from the start of the print processing to start the actually determined processing.
This is the time until image processing in the host computer is completed, and corresponds to the time required for image development processing to raster data and the time required for conversion processing to PDL. This time is measured by the processing time measuring unit 4 and stored in the host computer or in a storage unit such as a memory or HDD on the expansion I / F, and can be arbitrarily extracted. [Bs]-[Be]
Is the time from the start of the transfer of the first data on the I / F of the host computer and the printer to the end of the last data, which is preferably the transfer time of the image data only. It is conceivable that the determination actually starts from the start of data transfer at the I / F command level.

Since this time is data on the I / F, it can be measured on either the host computer side or the printer side, and either data may be used. [Os]-[Oe] is the time from when the printer starts processing the image data to when the data is passed to the print processing unit 14 and immediately before the printing process is started, and when the image processing unit receives the PDL data and performs the image expansion process. Or the time to receive the raster data. These times are measured by the processing time measuring unit 12, and the measured value data is stored in the storage unit in the printer or on the extended I / F, and arbitrarily through a 10-11 I / F in response to a request from the host computer. Can be read. The host computer obtains the previous measurement time from the printer at a time when the print processing is not performed, and calculates the print processing time shown in FIG. The calculation result may be stored in the storage unit.

The measurement result is rewritten by the table processing unit 6 as the data of the judgment table corresponding to the image development processing means used for the print processing. If the application is new and is not in the determination table, the table processing unit 6 creates a new table. FIG. 2 shows application identifiers, host computer processing time, printer processing time, data capacity, and the like.
Alternatively, it is additionally created in accordance with each data determination table format of FIG. In this case, the initial values of the host computer processing time and the printer processing time are set to 0.

FIG. 8 shows an outline of the operation flow. At the time of referring to the determination table for proceeding with the processing according to claims 1 and 2 in the print request from the application, the presence or absence of the table is checked (FIG. 8: S1 to S2). As described above, a table is newly added, and an operation is performed so as to perform image expansion processing by the printer (FIG. 8: S3
~ S5). This is because it is not necessary to perform image processing on the printer side in particular, and it is not possible to determine whether the image data of the new application can be processed by the host computer or the printer at first.
It may be developed on the host computer. After that, image development processing is performed in each unit, and the time is measured by the time measurement unit 4 in FIG.
The measurement is performed in the same step 12, and the above-described print processing time is calculated (FIG. 8: S6 to S8), and the data of the new table used for the determination of this processing is rewritten with the value of the measured data (FIG. 8: S9). ). This means that the data of the processing time has been written to either the host computer processing time or the printer processing time in the current (first time) processing.

As a result, when a second print request is made from this application, image development processing is performed using the means having a smaller data value of the table, ie, 0, so that the print processing time is Is rewritten to the value measured at As a result, when both data are collected, and at the time of a subsequent (third or subsequent) print request, optimum print processing performance based on the actual print processing time can be obtained.

[Claim 4] FIG. 9 shows a flowchart of the processing. Assuming that the print processing time actually measured by the means of claim 3 is "ta" after performing the print processing, this data is not replaced with the corresponding data in the determination table, but the average value "Ta" with the value in this table is used. (FIG. 9: S1 to S3). As a method of obtaining an average value, a method of storing measured data in a table for several times in the past and obtaining an average value or a method of obtaining an average by a calculation formula such as the following formula 4-? Can be considered. . Ta = ｛(n−1) × ty + ta｝ ÷ n Ta: calculated average value ty: data value on the table before rewriting ta: actually measured value n: number of data for the past n times (other than 0 and 1) Any integer of

However, if ty is a new application (initial value 0), an average is not taken and Ta = ta is set (FIG. 9: S4 to S6). T calculated in this way
a is written into the corresponding table by the table processing unit (FIG. 9: S7).

[Claim 5] After performing print processing according to the features of claims 3 and 4, test printing is performed by using the image development processing means which has not performed image development processing in the processing. The processing time is measured by the measurement unit, and this data is reflected on the determination table. This processing is
This is performed at a time when there is no next print request in the system and the printer is not used (hereinafter, referred to as idle time).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the processing.
Shown in After receiving a print request from the application,
The host computer stores the print data in a storage means (stores the data in an HDD or the like) so that the print data can be arbitrarily read later (FIG. 10: S1). This data (hereinafter referred to as test print print data) is all data of the print data. However, in the claims 1 to 4, except for the part according to the claim 2 in which the data capacity is used as a material for processing determination, One page of data may be considered in consideration of the effective use of the device resources to be stored. When the printing process is completed (Fig. 1
0: S2 to S3), and a process for changing the data table described in the third and fourth aspects is performed (FIG. 10: S4). At this point, the printer driver of the host computer performs the image development process on the host computer. Since it is known which of the printer and the printer has performed the test printing, the test printing is performed using the image developing processing means which has not performed the developing first.

This test print is performed using an idle time so as not to disturb a print request from another application (FIG. 10: S6). It is also conceivable to hold information indicating whether or not to perform test printing in the storage device until the test print processing is actually completed (FIG. 10: S5). In this case, information on whether or not to perform test printing is stored in a specific place such as a register or an information table (hereinafter referred to as test print information), and the printer driver periodically monitors this place and performs processing. Do. The configuration of the test print information includes presence / absence of a test print request, data processing means (host computer or printer), storage location information of print data, application identification information, data capacity, and the like. It is necessary to have a configuration capable of saving (FIG. 10: S7
To S13).

As an example of the means for managing the test print information, it is conceivable to store it as a table as shown in FIG. The application identification and the data capacity can be obtained from the data itself in the data storage location. This test print information may be deleted when the print processing is completed. If a print request is issued from the application during the test printing, the processing is forcibly terminated immediately by means such as interrupt processing. However, since the print data and its information are stored first, the test print processing may be performed again during the idle time after the print processing is completed.

When the test print processing starts, first, the printer driver starts the test print processing based on the test print information using the print data stored previously. The contents of the processing are the same as the data except that a test print command is issued from the host computer to the printer in place of the print execution command, and the printer does not perform the print processing (the print processing is not performed after the start of the print processing in FIG. 7). The processing up to rewriting the determination table is performed in the same manner as in claims 3 and 4. When the test print processing ends, the stored test print information and the data used for the test print are deleted, and the processing ends.

[Claim 6] In this embodiment, the processing time of the print processing unit (tP: hereinafter, referred to as print processing time), which is a value unique to the printer, is stored. For example, a column of the print processing time may be added to the table as shown in FIG.

An example of the processing flow in claim 6 is shown in FIG.
3 is shown. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating the processing bottleneck state of the print processing unit. First, regardless of the print processing time, the printer processing time (t1) ≦ the host computer processing time (t2) is determined (S1 in FIG. 13), and if the result is true, the image processing unit performs image expansion. An instruction is given (FIG. 13: S2).

If t1> t2 (if the above determination is false), it is determined whether or not printing is to be performed for a plurality of pages (FIG. 13: S8).
If it is one page, the host computer instructs to perform image development (FIG. 13: S9). If it is multiple printing,
It is determined whether t2 ≦ print processing time (tP) (FIG. 1).
3: S3) If the result is false, the host computer is instructed to develop the image (FIG. 13: S7).

When t2 ≦ tP holds, t1 <t2
(S4 in FIG. 13). If the result is true, it is instructed to develop the image by the host computer on the first page. (FIG. 13: S5). It is faster for the first page to be processed by the host computer for the time represented by t △, but for the second and subsequent pages, since tP is larger than t1 and t2, it becomes a processing bottleneck in the print processing unit, and in either case, image development is performed. There is no difference in going. Therefore, it can be said that it is more desirable for the user to use the host computer to develop the image in the image processing unit whose processing by the host computer is light.

However, even if t2 ≦ tP holds, t1 <tP
If P does not hold, there is no bottleneck in the print processing, and the host computer is instructed to perform all processing (FIG. 13: S6).

[Claim 7] The present embodiment is a mechanism for improving the accuracy of the judgment table for a fixed period after the driver installation to improve the accuracy of the values of both the host computer and the printer in the judgment table (FIG. 15). reference). The certain period is determined by the number of updates of the determination table after driver installation and the like. The period of the operation of improving the accuracy of the determination table is determined by the driver, and the user can optimize the printing system without any special operation.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of the operation of improving the accuracy of the judgment table. In the judgment table accuracy improvement operation period, whether the data is developed by the host computer or the printer is determined without referring to the determination table.
The determination as to whether the printing is to be performed by the host computer or the printer is made for the purpose of accurately measuring the print processing time of both the printer and the host computer. In the simplest case, the same number of printers and host computers are output alternately (FIG. 16: S3 to S6).

As an example, after installing the driver,
The operation of improving the accuracy of the determination table until 2N (time) output is performed for each application will be described. After the driver is installed, when an application prints out, the development is performed alternately between the host computer and the printer without referring to the determination table, and the output is performed according to FIG.
The values of the printer and the host computer in the determination table are updated N times, respectively, and the accuracy is improved.

[Claim 8] The printer system according to the present invention is a mechanism for performing the operation of improving the accuracy of the judgment table in an arbitrary period to improve the accuracy of the values of both the host computer and the printer in the judgment table. 17). Unlike the seventh aspect, the print processing time is measured not only immediately after the installation of the driver but also in an arbitrary period by developing both the host computer and the printer, and the accuracy of the determination table is improved.

Here, the arbitrary period is determined for the purpose of improving the accuracy of the determination table. Desirably, the operation of improving the accuracy of the determination table is performed when there is a difference in the number of times of expansion between the printer and the host computer. Alternatively, a period for improving the accuracy of the determination table may be provided periodically according to a certain elapsed time, the number of prints, or the like. In addition, an operation of improving the accuracy of the determination table can be performed by a user operation. The determination as to whether the printing is to be performed by the host computer or the printer is made for the purpose of accurately measuring the print processing time of both the printer and the host computer. In the simplest case, the same number of printers and host computers are output alternately.

As an embodiment, a case will be described in which the judgment table accuracy improving operation is performed when the expansion rate of either the host computer or the printer is low (see FIG. 18). Let the total number of prints in a certain application be Na (times),
The number of times of development on the host computer is Ah (times).
When the expansion ratio β = Na / Ah in the host computer deviates from a predetermined range βmin <β <βmax,
Until the application outputs 2N (times) printouts, the printer and the host computer alternately develop and output (FIG. 18: S2 to S7). Each value of the host computer and the printer in the judgment table is updated N times, and the accuracy of the judgment table is improved.

[Claim 9] FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing a decision table accuracy improving operation in the printer system according to the present invention. In this embodiment, a determination table as shown in FIG. 20 is provided for a certain application a, and the maximum and minimum values THmax (a) and TPmax of the print processing time of both the host computer and the printer are provided.
(A), THmin (a) and TPmin (a) are recorded. The difference between the print processing times of the host computer and the printer is detected, and if the difference is determined to be extremely large, the print processing is performed only by the faster one so that the load is not applied to the slower side. The judgment table accuracy improvement operation of the items 7 and 8 is not executed (FIG. 19: S2 to S4).

The conditions for determining the difference in print processing speed are as follows. Based on FIG. 20, the range of print processing time taken by the host computer in the past THmin (a) <TH
(A) <THmax (a) and print processing time TPmin (a) <TP (a) <TPm taken by the printer in the past
When there is no common range in ax (a), it is determined that there is an extreme difference in print processing time (see FIG. 21).

[Claim 10] FIG. 22 is a flowchart. In the present embodiment, the user has a function of automatically determining whether to perform development using a printer or a host computer from the properties of the driver. If is selected, the operations of claims 1 to 9 are performed. However, if is selected, development is performed according to the user's selection without referring to the determination table (FIG. 22: S1 to S4). Output is performed by the above-described method in an optimal print process.

Further, in the properties of the drive, the user can select the operation / non-operation of the accuracy improving operation of the determination table according to the seventh and eighth aspects. Figure 2 shows an example of the user selection screen
3 is shown.

[Claim 11] The processing time will be described with reference to FIG. PDL exchange time: tA... This time is from the time when the printer driver operating on the host computer receives the print processing command to the time when the transfer of the converted PDL data to the transmission path connected to the printer is started. This is a value obtained by measuring time. Data transfer time (PDL): t
B: This time is PD on the host computer.
This is a value obtained by measuring the time from when the image processing unit starts to receive the data converted to L to when the reception is completed.

Image development (image processing unit): tC... During this time, from the point of time when the reception of the data transferred as PDL is completed, the image processing unit rasterizes the data and starts the print processing unit. This is a value obtained by measuring the time up to the time point. Print processing time: tP... This time is a value obtained by measuring the time from when the print processing unit is activated to when the paper is completely discharged.

Image development (host computer): tD
..This time is a value obtained by measuring the time from when the printer driver running on the host computer receives the print processing instruction to when the raster data expanded starts to be transferred to the transmission path connected to the printer. is there. Data transfer time (raster): tE... This time is a value obtained by measuring the time from when the image processing unit starts receiving the data rasterized by the host computer until the reception is completed.

Examples of the time measurement described above include a case where measurement is performed using a system timer of a host computer or an image processing unit, and a case where measurement is performed using a dedicated timer (time measuring means). The measured individual values are stored in a determination table on the host computer as shown in FIG. The value measured by the image processing unit is
After printing is completed, the timing is transferred to the host computer and stored in a table.

In the case where the idle time of the processing is effectively used, if the print processing time is a bottleneck as described in claim 6, the time until the final printing is completed is not matter how the previous processing is devised. does not change. The same applies to a case where printing is not performed for a plurality of pages. Therefore, the processing in this claim is performed in claim 6
Will be carried out.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart according to the present invention.
3, FIG. 26 and FIG. The start of FIG. 26 is shown in FIG.
27 and the start in FIG. 27 is inherited from B in FIG. 13 is the processing time t.
It is a value obtained by adding the values of A, tB, and tC. t1 = tA + tB + tC (Equation 1) Further, t2 is a value obtained by adding the values of tD and tE. t2 = tD + tE (2)

First, in FIG. 13, when t1 <t2 is satisfied, the processing is continued to FIG. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 26, it is determined whether or not printing is performed for a plurality of pages (FIG. 2).
6: S1), it is determined whether or not tA + tB + tC (= t1)> tP is satisfied (whether or not the print processing unit is neck) (FIG. 26: S2), and it is determined whether or not tB <tC (FIG. 26: S3). If at least one of the conditions is not satisfied, an instruction is given to perform the expansion processing in the image processing unit (FIG. 2).
6: S14). Here, the meaning of adding the determination of tA <tB and tA <tC is as follows. If tC (image processing: image processing unit) processing is not a bottleneck (it has been determined whether or not it is a print processing unit processing bottleneck before that), it means that tA or tB processing has become a bottleneck. , And processing at the host computer, tD and t
Since it is clear that E is larger than tA and tB, respectively (tA <tD, tB <tE), embedding tD and tE is nothing but a slowdown in processing.

If all of the above conditions are satisfied, it is then determined whether tA <tB (FIG. 26: S4), and it is determined which process has a shorter idle time. When it is determined that tA <tB holds and the waiting time of tB is shorter, the minimum value of “n” that satisfies the following equation (Equation 3) is obtained (FIG. 26: S5) (where n is an integer). . n (tC−tB) ≧ tE−tB (Equation 3) When it is determined that tA <tB does not hold and the vacant time of tA is shorter, the following equation (Equation 4) holds. Find the minimum value of n ″ (FIG. 26: S11) (where n
Is an integer). n (tC−tA) ≧ tE−tA (Equation 4)

Thereafter, the image processing section is instructed to perform image development processing from the first page, and the same processing is performed up to the value “n” page obtained above, and the processing of the next “n + 1” page is performed by the host. Perform image expansion processing by computer. This process is repeated until printing is completed (FIG. 26: S7 to S10, S12 to
S13, S15 to S17). FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram of the above processing.
Shown in In the example of FIG. 28, tA = 1, tB = 2, tC =
3, tD = 4, and tP = 1.
Since tA <tB holds, Equation 3 is applied. n (3-2) ≧ 4-2 n ≧ 2, and n = 2. That is, after the image is expanded by the two-page image processing unit, the image is expanded by the one-page host computer. The case where all the processing is performed by the image processing unit in FIG.
Comparing with the case where the image is processed by the image processing unit,
It can be seen that when all images are developed by the image processing unit, printing of six pages is possible in the time of printing five pages.

Next, in FIG. 13, when t1 <t2 is not satisfied, printing is performed for a plurality of copies, and t2 <tP is not satisfied, the processing is continued to the processing in FIG.
Thereafter, it is determined whether or not tD <tE, that is, which of the image development time and the raster transfer time in the host computer is a bottleneck in the host computer processing (FIG. 27: S1). If tD <tE holds, the value of “x” that satisfies the following equation (Equation 5) is obtained (FIG. 27: S2). Here, “x” is an integer. tD + x * tE ≧ tB + tC + (x−1) tP (Equation 5) If tD <tE does not hold, the value of “x” that satisfies the following equation (Equation 6) is obtained (FIG. 27: S10). . However,
“X” is an integer. x * tD + tE ≧ tB + tC + (x−1) tP (Equation 6)

The "x" -th page obtained above, if it is repeated, and if the number of repetitions is "y", "y (x + 1)-
The 1st page is developed by the image processing unit. First, y (x-1) -1 (the number of pages developed by the image processing unit) ≦ the total number of pages is determined (FIG. 27: S4). If this is not the case, since the image processing unit does not perform the expansion processing thereafter, the remaining pages are instructed to be expanded by the host computer (FIG. 27: S5).
If 1 ≦ total number of pages is satisfied, first, an instruction is given to develop the “y (x + 1) −1” page by the image processing unit in order to adjust the order of paper output (FIG. 27: S
6). Then, while checking whether printing is complete,
The host computer develops the page up to the "y (x + 1)" page (FIG. 27: S7 to S9). Then, "y (x
The +1) -1 "page is skipped because the image processing unit is already developing the page (FIG. 27: S11 to S14).

This process is repeated until the end of printing as shown in the flowchart of FIG. FIG. 29 shows a schematic diagram of the above processing. In the example of FIG. 29, tA = 1, tB = 2,
This is an example where tC = 8, tD = 3, tE = 5, and tP = 1. Since tD <tE holds, Equation 5 is applied. 3 + 4x ≧ 2 + 8 + (x−1) 3x ≧ 6 x ≧ 2, and x = 2. That is, the second, fifth, eighth,... Pages are developed by the image processing unit.

When all of the processing in FIG. 29 is performed by the host computer, the present invention is applied, and the host computer +
Comparing with the case where the image is processed by the image processing unit,
It can be seen that when all data are developed by the host computer, six pages can be printed in the time required to print five pages.

[Claim 12] An embodiment according to claim 12 will be described (see FIG. 30). In the determination tables according to claims 12 and 13, the host computer processing time t (H
In addition to a), a value (Tq) obtained by adding a certain upper limit margin to the time is set (Tq = 1.2 in this embodiment.
× t (Ha)). Tq takes into account some variation in t (Ha). The operation will be described. The processing flow shown in FIG. 31 after the processing determination unit of FIG. 1 determines that the data expansion processing is performed by the host computer. The processing time measuring unit 4 starts counting the expansion processing time (Tz) (FIG. 31: S1),
In the processing determination unit 5, the host computer processing time t
Comparison with (Ha) is performed as needed (FIG. 31: S2). At this time, if [Tq> Tz], the remaining expansion processing is changed to the printer controller (image processing unit) (FIG. 31: S
4), the process is performed until the end (FIG. 31: S5). [Tq ≦
Tz], the expansion processing is continued by the host computer as it is, and the end time until the expansion processing ends is compared (FIG. 31: S3).

[Claim 13] The operation of claim 13 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described according to the processing flow shown in FIG. The flow up to the processing time comparison (FIG. 32: S1, S2) is the same as in claim 12. If [Tq> Tz], a notification is given to the user, and the process selection is left to the user's instruction (FIG. 3).
2: S4). The user notification screen at that time is, for example, as shown in FIG. If the user's instruction is "change to printer controller (image processing unit)", the remaining expansion processing is changed to the printer controller (image processing unit) (FIG. 32: S5, S6), and the processing is completed. (FIG. 32: S7). If the instruction from the user is “do not change to the printer controller (image processing unit)”, the expansion processing in the host computer is continued until the end (FIG. 32: S5, S7). Comparison of processing time (Fig. 3
The processing when [Tq ≦ Tz] in (2: S2) is the same as in claim 12 (FIG. 32: S3).

[Claim 14] In the system according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 34, the image development processing management section 1 instructs the image development processing section 8 to permit / stop image development processing.
41 is provided. The image development processing management unit 141 repeats the permission / stop instruction based on the predetermined development processing occupancy, and controls the execution state of the image development processing unit 8 so that the desired occupancy is achieved. An example in which the image development processing management unit 141 is realized by a timer counter will be described. The timer counter is set to an arbitrary natural number M at intervals of 10 msec.
It has a function of repeatedly counting N. Also, it is assumed that a high-level development permission signal is output while M is being counted, and a low-level development permission signal is output while N is being counted. It is assumed that the processing can be executed, and when the level is low, the image development processing is temporarily stopped and the hardware resources such as the CPU can be released to other applications and the like.

When the occupation ratio of the expansion processing is desired to be 70%, the timer counter of the image expansion processing management section 141 sets M = 7,
Set N = 3. As a result, the development permission signal repeats the high level 70 msec and the low level 30 msec, and the image development processing unit 8
In order to repeat the execution of 0 msec and the temporary stop of 30 msec, the hardware resources are used at an occupancy of 70% (FIG. 35). As a result, other application programs can be executed in the remaining 30%, and the user can comfortably use the host computer.

This embodiment is an embodiment using a hardware timer counter. However, the present invention can be realized by using a timer function such as an OS by software.

[Claim 15] As shown in FIG. 36, there is provided a user operation detecting means 151 for outputting a detection result of a user operation to the image development processing management section 141. keyboard/
If there is a user operation such as a mouse, the operation is detected by the user operation detection unit 151 and the image development processing management unit 14
1 is informed. When no user operation is detected, the image development processing management unit 141 does not issue an instruction to stop the image development processing to the image development processing unit 8. An example of implementation using a keyboard / mouse input interrupt signal is shown.

FIG. 37 shows the operation timing. The user operation detection means is provided with a function of outputting a low-level mask signal for T (sec) using a keyboard / mouse input interrupt signal as a trigger (FIG. 38). When the mask signal is at the low level due to the key operation, an expansion stop instruction is issued to the image expansion processing unit 8 at a constant interval. When the key operation is not performed for a while and the mask signal is at the high level,
You are always instructed to allow deployment.

[Claim 16] As shown in FIG. 39, there is provided a power source type detecting means 161 for detecting whether the host computer is operating on a battery or an AC power source, and transmitting the detection to the processing decision unit 5. . When operating on a battery, the power supply type detecting means 161 detects it and transmits it to the processing determining unit 5, and the processing determining unit 5 always performs image expansion processing on the printer 16 when operating on the battery. Therefore, it is determined that print data is transmitted via the PLD processing unit 7.

For example, it is determined according to the following flow whether image development processing is performed by the host computer or image development processing is performed by the printer (FIG. 40). Power supply type detecting means 161
Obtains information on whether or not it is running on a battery from the basic software, and transmits it to the processing determination unit 5 (FIG. 40: S1).
In the case of battery operation, the processing determination unit 5 determines that the image development processing is unconditionally performed by the printer (FIG. 40: S2 to S
3). If the battery operation is not performed, the processing determination unit 5
Determines, for example, whether image development processing is performed by the host computer or image development processing by the printer according to the method of claim 1 (FIG. 40: S2, S4).

Each of the above embodiments is merely an example of the present invention, and it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

[0098]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the most efficient image processing can be selected in consideration of the type of data to be subjected to image processing and the capacity of a file spooled by an application. A possible printing system can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram according to claim 1;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a determination table according to claim 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart according to claim 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a determination table according to claim 2;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart according to claim 2;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram according to claim 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a print processing time according to claim 3;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart according to claim 3;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart according to claim 4;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart according to claim 5;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing test print information according to claim 5;

FIG. 12 is a view showing a determination table according to claim 6;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart according to claims 6 and 11;

FIG. 14 is a processing time comparison diagram (processing bottleneck) according to claim 6;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of claim 7;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart according to claim 7;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram according to an embodiment of claim 8;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart according to claim 8;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart according to claim 9;

FIG. 20 is a view showing a determination table according to claim 9;

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram of a determination operation according to claim 9;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart according to claim 10;

FIG. 23 is a view showing an example of a user selection screen according to claim 10;

FIG. 24 is a processing time comparison diagram according to claim 11;

FIG. 25 is a view showing a determination table according to claim 11;

FIG. 26 is a flowchart according to claim 11;

FIG. 27 is a flowchart according to claim 11;

FIG. 28 is a processing time comparison diagram according to claim 11 (part 1);
It is.

FIG. 29 is a processing time comparison diagram according to claim 11 (part 2);
It is.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a determination table according to claims 12 and 13;

FIG. 31 is a flowchart according to claim 12;

FIG. 32 is a flowchart according to claim 13;

FIG. 33 is a view showing an example of a pop-up dialog according to claim 13;

FIG. 34 is a block diagram according to claim 14;

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing an example of an image expanding process according to claim 14;

FIG. 36 is a block diagram according to claim 15;

FIG. 37 is an operation timing chart according to claim 15;

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an image development processing management unit according to claim 15;

FIG. 39 is a block diagram according to claim 16;

FIG. 40 is a flowchart according to claim 16;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Host computer 2 Application group 3 Printer driver 4 Processing time measurement part 5 Processing judgment part 6 Table processing part 7 PDL processing part 8 Image development processing part 9 Judgment table 10 I / F part 11 I / F part 12 Processing time measurement part 13 Image development processing unit 14 Print processing unit 15 Image processing unit 16 Printer 141 Image development processing management unit 151 User operation detecting means 161 Power supply type detecting means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Satoshi Shiga 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Youichi Utaka 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo In Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Makoto Odaki Makoto 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Ricoh Co., Ltd. (Reference) 2C061 AP01 BB10 HH05 HJ06 HK22 HK23 HN05 HN15 HQ17 2C087 AB05 BA01 BA05 BA06 BA07 BA09 BC05 BD12 BD13 BD46 5B021 AA01 BB02 CC04 9A001 BB04 DD15 JJ35 KK42

Claims (16)

[Claims] In a print system including a host computer and a printer connected thereto, each of a case where image development processing is performed by the host computer and a case where image development processing is performed by a printer controller of the printer. If the print target data is expanded by either the host computer or the image processing unit of the printer by referring to the print processing time determination table describing the print processing time and the print processing time determination table, it is necessary to output the image before the image is output. A printing system comprising means for determining whether the time is short. 2. The print processing time determination table according to claim 2,
The data capacity is configured for each application, and the data capacity is acquired from a spool file created when the host computer takes in the print data,
2. The print processing time determination table according to claim 1, wherein a determination is made as to which of the host computer and the image processing unit of the printer is required to develop a shorter time until image output. Printing system. 3. A determination is made based on a value of the print processing time determination table, and when there is a difference between a value obtained by actually performing a print process based on the determination and a value of the print processing time determination table, The value of the print processing time determination table is rewritten with the value obtained by actually performing the print processing, and when there is a print request from an unknown application, data is additionally created in the print processing time determination table. The print system according to claim 1, wherein the print system is a print system. 4. Considering that specific data is printed,
4. The printing system according to claim 3, wherein a value obtained by averaging past processing time data is reflected in the print processing time determination table. 5. In addition to the above-mentioned means, the host computer holds print data requested to be printed by an application, and uses an image expansion function that is not used in an actual print process to first execute the print data. A test printing function for processing the held print data without printing, and reflecting actual measurement data of print processing time by the test printing function in the print processing time determination table. 5. The printing system according to 3 or 4. 6. The print processing time determination table,
6. The print processing time is recognized by recognizing the processing speed of a connected printer print processing unit, and the print processing time is managed by the print processing time determination table in addition to the host computer processing time and the printer processing time. The print system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 7. When a driver is installed, a period for improving the accuracy of the print processing time determination table is provided, and during the period, the user is forced to use either the host computer or the printer without referring to the value of the determination table. The printing system according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the development is performed by using (1), and the values of both the printer and the host computer in the print processing time determination table are replaced with high-precision values. 8. An operation for improving the accuracy of the print processing time determination table for an arbitrary period so that the value of the print processing time determination table becomes an appropriate value even when the host computer environment changes. The printing system according to claim 7, wherein 9. When the difference in print processing speed between the host computer and the printer is detected, and it is determined that it is not necessary to improve the accuracy of the print processing time determination table, the operation for improving the accuracy is not performed. The print system according to claim 7, wherein the print system is controlled. 10. A user can select whether to perform development by using the host computer or a printer without referring to the print processing time determination table, and whether or not to perform an operation for improving the accuracy of the print processing time determination table. The print system according to claim 1, wherein the print system is configured as follows. 11. A print system comprising a host computer and a printer connected to the host computer, wherein a conversion time of the print data to PDL and a conversion time to raster data in the host computer, and a data transmission time from the host computer to the printer. A means for recognizing the conversion time from PDL to raster data in the image processing unit, and storing the respective processing times as a print processing time determination table, comparing the respective processing times, and based on the result of the comparison. To determine whether there is a processing bottleneck, and to perform processing for efficiently allocating other processing to the idle time, and perform image processing by the host computer or image processing by the image processing unit for each page. A printing system characterized by changing whether to develop. 12. An upper limit value having a certain margin with respect to the host computer development processing time of the print processing time determination table is provided, and the time during which image development processing is actually performed by the host computer is measured. 2. A printer according to claim 1, further comprising: means for comparing the measured value with the upper limit of the previous period; and, when the upper limit is exceeded, means for switching the subsequent processing of the print data to the image processing unit of the printer. 12. The print system according to any one of items 11 to 11. 13. When it is determined that the actual image development processing time in the host computer exceeds the upper limit value of the host computer development processing time in the print processing time determination table, the image in the host computer is left as it is. A means for asking the user whether to continue the expansion processing or change the expansion processing to the image processing unit of the printer, and whether to continue the subsequent print data expansion processing by the host computer based on the user's instruction. 13. The print system according to claim 12, further comprising means for switching to an image processing unit of the printer. 14. An image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an image development processing management unit that instructs the image development processing unit to permit / stop the image development processing, based on a predetermined image development processing occupancy. 14. The print system according to claim 1, wherein the processing is temporarily stopped / restarted. 15. In addition to the above configuration, the image processing apparatus further includes a user operation detecting unit that detects that a user is operating the host computer. The print system according to claim 14, wherein a stop instruction is not output. 16. In addition to the above-described configuration, the host computer further includes a power supply type detection unit that detects whether the host computer is operating on a battery or an AC power supply. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit always determines that the image development processing is performed by the printer.
16. The print system according to any one of claims 15 to 15.