JP2001130115A - Method and device for controlling print - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To present a preview display in the layout after bookmaking at the time of bookmaking print. SOLUTION: When store of intermediate data is commanded at the time of print, intermediate data and an output job setting file are stored in a spool file 302 by means of a spooler 302. When a stored job is selected, a preview of print image is displayed by means of a previewer 306. When bookmaking print is set, each page is displayed under spread state on the order of bookmaking. Turning method of page, e.g. left turn or right turn, and bookmaking unit are also presented by a preview image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a print control method, apparatus, and medium, and more particularly to a print control method, apparatus, and medium in a system including information processing such as a personal computer and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when printing data such as a document or an image edited by an application program for editing a document or an image, an image to be printed is printed on a screen before actually printing it on paper. A print preview function for displaying and presenting to a user is known.
This print preview function is provided in the application program.

Also, software having a "collective printing" function of holding document data instructed by an application for printing in a client without outputting the document data to a printer, and transmitting a plurality of document data as one job to the printer. There is.

[0004] In "collective printing", document data generated by an application is output to the OS drawing means without being output to the drawing means.
The data is spooled as an MF file, and when the user issues a print instruction, all the spooled data is output to a graphic engine, which is a drawing means of the OS, and passed to a printer driver.

[0005] In the batch printing, since the graphic engine, which is the drawing means of the OS, is started after all the data has been gathered, it is impossible to edit the data in the spool. Further, since the data is spooled in the EMF file, it is not dependent on the resolution of the output printer driver.

[0006]

However, in the conventional batch printing, print data is generated by the printer driver according to the settings of the printer driver when the user instructs printing, and is output and spooled by the application. Different print settings cannot be set for each job.

In order to provide information such as a page layout set by the printer driver for each job,
A mechanism that spools data based on data output by a graphic engine, which is a drawing means of the OS, is conceivable. If spooling is performed in this manner, jobs having different page layouts can be combined because each job has print settings. However, when combining stored print jobs, there are settings that must be shared in order to combine them into one new job. For example, it is the resolution of an image. Even in the case of intermediate data, since a bitmap image or the like is generated at a set resolution, intermediate data having different resolutions cannot be combined into one print job. In order to combine, it is necessary to unify the resolution.

As described above, the stored print jobs include:
There may be some that cannot be integrated, and it is necessary to notify the user of this in order to prevent defective printouts.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and when a user edits a stored print job, the user can immediately know whether or not editing is possible, and a print control method with good workability. And an apparatus.

[0010]

To achieve the above object, the present invention has the following arrangement. That is, this is a print control method for editing a stored print job. When a list of stored print jobs is displayed, print jobs that cannot be combined with each other are added with an image indicating that fact, and Display the list.

More preferably, when a plurality of print jobs are selected as edit targets and the print jobs selected as edit targets are print jobs that cannot be combined with each other, all of the print jobs displayed in the list are combined with each other. An image indicating that it cannot be added is displayed.

More preferably, when one print job is selected as an edit target, the selected print job is set as a target print job, and when a print job to be edited is not selected, a predetermined print job is set. Is displayed as a print job that cannot be combined with the print job of interest as an image indicating that the print job cannot be combined with the print job of interest.

[0013] More preferably, the method further comprises a storing step of storing the print job.

[0014] More preferably, when bookbinding printing is designated, the printing apparatus further comprises a printing step of printing the print job by a printing device so that the order is the same as the preview display.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described.

<Configuration of Printer Control System> FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a printer control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As long as the functions of the present invention are executed, a system that is connected and processed through a network such as a LAN or WAN, whether it is a single device or a system including a plurality of devices. However, the present invention can be applied.

In FIG. 1, a host computer 300
0 includes a CPU 1 for executing document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets and the like) are mixed based on a document processing program or the like stored in the program ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11; System bus 4
The CPU 1 generally controls each device connected to. The program ROM or the external memory 11 of the ROM 3 stores an operating system program (hereinafter referred to as OS), which is a control program of the CPU 1, and the like. The font ROM or the external memory 11 of the ROM 3 stores Font data and the like to be used are stored, and various data used when performing the above-described document processing and the like are stored in the data ROM of the ROM 3 or the external memory 11. The RAM 2 functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like for the CPU 1.

The keyboard controller (KBC) 5
It controls key input from a keyboard 9 or a pointing device (not shown). CRT controller (CRTC)
6 controls the display of a CRT display (CRT) 10. Reference numeral 7 denotes a disk controller (DKC) which stores a boot program, various applications, font data, a user file, an edit file, a printer control command generation program (hereinafter referred to as a printer driver), a hard disk (HD), and a floppy disk (F).
D) controls access to the external memory 11. A printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to a printer 150 via a bidirectional interface (interface) 21.
0 to execute communication control processing with the printer 1500.

The CPU 1 executes, for example, a process of rasterizing an outline font into a display information RAM set on the RAM 2, and outputs the W on the CRT 10.
YSIWYG is possible. Further, the CPU 1
Various registered windows are opened based on a command specified by a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the RT 10,
Perform various data processing. When performing printing, the user opens a window related to print settings, and can set a printer and a print processing method for a printer driver including selection of a print mode.

The printer 1500 is controlled by the CPU 12. The printer CPU 12 outputs an image as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program or the like stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program or the like stored in the external memory 14. Output a signal. The program ROM of the ROM 13 includes a CPU 1
2 and the like. The font ROM of the ROM 13 stores font data and the like used when generating the output information.
In the case of a printer having no external memory 14 such as a hard disk, information used on a host computer is stored in M.

The CPU 12 can communicate with the host computer via the input unit 18 and can notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer and the like. The RAM 19 functions as a main memory of the CPU 12, a work area, and the like. The RAM 19 is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). In addition, RAM
19 is an output information development area, environment data storage area, NV
Used for RAM and the like. Hard disk (H
D), access to the external memory 14 such as an IC card is controlled by a memory controller (MC) 20. The external memory 14 is connected as an option and stores font data, an emulation program, form data, and the like. Reference numeral 18 denotes the above-described operation panel on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged.

The above-mentioned external memory 14 is not limited to one, but a plurality of external memories can be connected. In addition to the built-in fonts, an option card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages can be connected. It may be configured as follows. Furthermore, NVRAM (not shown)
And the printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1501 may be stored.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a typical printing process in a host computer to which a printing device such as a printer is directly connected or connected via a network. The application 201, the graphic engine 202, the printer driver 203, and the system spooler 204 exist as files stored in the external memory 11, and when executed, are loaded into the RAM 2 and executed by the OS or a module using the module. It is a program module. Further, the application 201 and the printer driver 203
It can be added to the FD of the external memory 11, a CD-ROM (not shown), or the HD of the external disk 11 via a network (not shown). External memory 1
Application 201 stored in RAM 2
Is loaded and executed, but this application 2
01 to the printer 1500,
Similarly, output (drawing) is performed using the graphic engine 202 which is loaded into the RAM 2 and is executable.

The graphic engine 202 similarly loads a printer driver 203 prepared for each printing device from the external memory 11 to the RAM 2 and sets the output of the application 201 in the printer driver 203. The GDI (Gr.) Received from the application 201
From aphic Device Interface (DPH) function to DDI (Device Dri)
ver Interface) function and convert it to the printer driver 2
The DDI function is output to 03. Printer driver 203
Is the DDI received from the graphic engine 202.
Control commands that the printer can recognize based on the function,
For example, it is converted to PDL (Page Description Language). The converted printer control command is output as print data to the printer 1500 via the interface 21 via the system spooler 204 loaded into the RAM 2 by the OS.

The printing system according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which print data from an application is temporarily spooled as intermediate code data as shown in FIG. 3 in addition to the printing system including the printer and the host computer shown in FIG. Having.

<Software Modules Related to Printing in the Present Embodiment> FIG. 3 is an expanded version of the system shown in FIG. 2. When a print command is sent from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203, a spool composed of intermediate codes is temporarily used. The configuration for generating the file 303 is adopted. FIG.
In this system, the application 201 is released from the printing process when the printer driver 203 has converted all print commands from the graphic engine 202 into printer control commands. On the other hand, in the system shown in FIG. 3, the spooler 302 converts all print commands into intermediate code data and outputs them to the spool file 303. Usually, the latter requires less time. Further, in the system shown in FIG. 3, the contents of the spool file 303 can be processed. This makes it possible to realize functions that the application does not have, such as enlargement / reduction of print data from the application, and printing by reducing a plurality of pages to one page.

For these purposes, the system shown in FIG. 2 is spooled with intermediate code data as shown in FIG.
The system has been extended. In order to process print data, settings are usually made from a window provided by the printer driver 203, and the printer driver 203 stores the settings in the RAM 2 or the external memory 11.

The details of FIG. 3 will be described below. As shown in the figure, in this extended processing method, the dispatcher 301 receives a DDI function as a print command from the graphic engine 202. The print command (DDI) received from the graphic engine 202 by the dispatcher 301
Function) is based on a print command (GDI function) issued from the application 201 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 stores the spooler 302 stored in the external memory 11 in the RAM 2
, And sends a print command (DDI function) to the spooler 302 instead of the printer driver 203.

The spooler 302 analyzes the received print command, converts the print command into an intermediate code in page units, and outputs the intermediate code to the spool file 303. The spool file of the intermediate code stored in page units is called a page drawing file (PDF: Page Description File). Also, the spooler 302 performs processing settings (Nup, double-sided,
Staple, color / monochrome designation, etc.) are acquired from the printer driver 203 and stored in the spool file 303 as a file for each job. At this time, the setting file stored for each copy is referred to as a job setting file (SDF: Spool Description File).
Call. This job setting file will be described later.
Although the spool file 303 is generated as a file on the external memory 11, it may be generated on the RAM 2. Further, the spooler 302 stores the spool file manager 304 stored in the external memory 11 in RAM.
2 and notifies the spool file manager 304 of the generation status of the spool file 303. After that, the spool file manager 304 determines whether or not printing can be performed according to the contents of the processing settings related to the print data stored in the spool file 303.

When the spool file manager 304 determines that printing can be performed using the graphic engine 202, the despooler 305 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and the spool file 303 is stored in the despooler 305. To print the page drawing file of the intermediate code described in.

The despooler 305 stores the spool file 30
3 is processed according to the job setting file including the processing setting information included in the spool file 303, and the GDI function is regenerated.
The GDI function is output again via the graphic engine 202.

When the print command (DDI function) received by the dispatcher 301 from the graphic engine 202 is based on a print command (GDI function) issued from the despooler 305 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 uses the spooler 302. Instead, a print command is sent to the printer driver 203.

The printer driver 203 generates a printer control command composed of a page description language or the like based on the DDI function obtained from the graphic engine 202 and outputs it to the printer 1500 via the system spooler 204.

Further, FIG. 3 shows an example in which a previewer 306 and a setting change editor 307 are provided in addition to the extended system described above to enable preview, change print settings, and combine a plurality of jobs. .

In order to perform print preview, change print settings, and combine a plurality of jobs, the user first specifies "output destination" in the properties of the printer driver shown in FIG.
It is necessary to specify “store” in the pull-down menu 901 which is a means for performing If you only want to preview, select "Preview" as the output destination
It is also possible by selecting.

The contents set in the properties of the printer driver as described above are stored as a setting file in a structure provided by the OS (called DEVMODE in Windows OS). The structure includes, for example, a setting as to whether or not to store data in the spool file manager 304 during processing settings included in the spool file 303. The spool file manager 304 reads the processing settings via a printer driver, When the store is designated, the page drawing file and the job setting file are generated and stored in the spool file 303 as described above, and the window screen of the spool file manager pops up as shown in FIG. A list of jobs that have been created is displayed. FIG. 16 shows an example in which four jobs are spooled, and the job can be operated by pressing the menu bar or the menu icon immediately below the menu bar. The number of menu bar and menu icon operations is the same. The operation types include "Print" with the job selected, "Save and print" to print with the spool file of the intermediate code intact, and "Output preview for the job considering the print settings". "Preview", "Delete" to delete the intermediate code spool file, "Duplicate" to generate a copy of the intermediate code spool file, "Join" to combine multiple intermediate code spool file jobs into one job ,
"Split", which divides a combined job into a plurality of original jobs, "Job Edit", which changes the print settings (layout settings, finishing settings, etc.) of a single job or a combined job, and "Top", which makes the print order of a job first "Move to one", increase the print order of a certain job by one, "move up", specify the print order of a certain job, "move down", and end the print order of a certain job There are at least 11 operations of “move last”.

When a preview of a certain single job or a combined job is designated on the window screen (FIG. 16) of the spool file manager, the previewer 306 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and the previewer 306 is loaded. For spool file 3
An instruction is issued to perform a preview process of the job of the intermediate code described in 03.

(Previewer) The previewer 306 sequentially reads out the page drawing file (PDF) of the intermediate code included in the spool file 303, and reads the job setting file (SD) stored in the spool file 303.
F), processing is performed in accordance with the contents of the processing setting information included in the processing information, a GDI function is output to the graphic engine 202, and the graphic engine 202 outputs drawing data to its own client area. Become.

The graphic engine 202 can perform appropriate rendering according to a designated output destination. Accordingly, the previewer 306 processes the intermediate code included in the spool file 303 in accordance with the processing settings included in the spool file 303, similarly to the despooler 305, and
It can be realized by a method of outputting using. In this way, the processing settings set by the printer driver are stored in the spool file 303 as a job setting file, and the data of the page drawing file is processed and output based on the job setting file. If Nup (processing for reducing and arranging N logical pages into one physical page and printing) is specified, double-sided printing is performed, bookbinding printing is specified. If a stamp is specified, a print preview similar to that output by the printer can be provided to the user accordingly. Note that the preview function of the conventional application software for creating a document, for example, draws based on the page settings in the application, so the print settings in the printer driver are not reflected, and the printout is actually performed. Could not be recognized by the user.

By performing the preview processing as described above, a large preview of the print processing settings included in the spool file 303 is displayed in the previewer 306 as shown in FIG.
Then, the previewer 306 is closed by a user's non-display instruction, and control is performed on the window screen of the spool file manager (FIG. 1).
Go to 6).

If the user performs printing in accordance with the content displayed by the previewer 306, a print request is issued by instructing "print" or "save and print" on the spool file manager 304. . The print request is sent to the despooler 305 as described above.
Then, the GDI function is generated by processing the page drawing file based on the job setting file, transmitted to the graphic engine 202, a print command is sent to the printer driver 203 via the dispatcher 301, and printing is executed.

(Setting change editor) Next, setting change using the setting change editor 307 will be described.

As a method of realizing the same as the preview,
In FIG. 9, the setting can be made for a job designated as “store”. The spool file manager 304 is popped up by a similar flow, and a list of spooled jobs is displayed. When "Job Edit" is designated on the spool file manager window screen (FIG. 16) and a setting change instruction is issued, the setting change editor 307 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and the setting change editor is loaded. 307 is instructed to display the current or default processing settings. Then, a job setting screen as shown in FIG. 18 is displayed.

The setting change editor 307 acquires the job setting file of the job for which “job edit” is specified from the spool file 303, and, based on the setting items specified in the job setting file, displays the job setting screen of FIG. Change the default value of. In the example illustrated in FIG. 18, the job setting file of the job designated as “job edit” includes the number of copies: one, the printing method: one side, the staple:
None, layout: one page / sheet or the like is specified.

The setting change editor 307 also processes the page drawing file of the intermediate code included in the spool file 303 in accordance with the contents of the processing setting included in the job setting file stored in the spool file 303, and uses the graphic engine 202. By outputting to the own client area, a small preview output on the screen shown in FIG. 18 becomes possible.

Here, it is possible to change or correct the contents of the processing settings included in the job setting file stored in the spool file 303. At this time, even if the user has the items that can be set in the printer driver 203 in the user interface on the setting change editor 307,
The user interface of the printer driver 203 itself may be called. As shown in FIG.
You can specify the printing method (single-sided, both eyes, bookbinding printing), stapling (saddle finisher, etc.), page layout, layout order, etc.
Most of the items that can be specified by the printer driver can be reset. However, changes in settings relating to print quality such as resolution and graphic mode are not permitted.

The changed items are authenticated according to the authentication request on the setting change editor 307, and control is transferred to the spool file manager 304. If the change is approved, the print setting changes will be saved, but not saved in the original job setting file, but a new job output setting file used for job editing etc. is newly created and saved Will do. Details of the job output setting file will be described later with reference to FIG.

Then, if the user performs printing in accordance with the setting change contents as in the case of the confirmation in the previewer 306,
A print request is issued on the spool file manager 304. The print request is transmitted to the graphic engine 202, a print command is sent to the printer driver 203 via the dispatcher 301, and printing is executed.

In the window screen (FIG. 16) of the spool file manager, it is possible to specify that a plurality of print jobs be combined and printed as one print job. Again, like previews and setting changes,
A job in which the output destination is specified as “store” in the properties of the printer driver in FIG. 9 is assumed.

When the user combines print jobs, first, the application 201 sends the printer driver 20.
3 is called, and a store is selected from the user interface as shown in FIG. As described above, by this selection, the spool file is stored in the spool file 303, and a window screen (FIG. 16) of the spool file manager pops up as shown in FIG. The spooled jobs are listed on the spool file manager window. By performing the same operation from the application 201, a list of a plurality of jobs is displayed on the spool file manager 304.

Here, when a plurality of jobs are selected and "combination" is designated, the setting change editor 307 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 and the setting change editor 307 is displayed on the list. Instructs to display the first job or default processing settings. Then, a connection setting screen as shown in FIG. 18 is displayed. Here, the setting change editor 307 is used as the connection setting screen, but another module may be used.

The setting change editor 307 processes the page drawing file of the intermediate code included in the spool file 303 according to the contents of the processing setting included in the job setting information stored in the spool file 303, and is designated as a combined job. The output on the screen is performed by outputting all the jobs to its own client area using the graphic engine 202. At this time, a small preview of all the jobs selected in the preview area shown in FIG. 18 is possible. When generating a combined job, a job output setting file is generated by expanding the job setting file of each single job. The job output setting file is also generated at the time of editing a job. One setting file can be created for one job. One copy file is also generated for a combined job.

Here, it is possible to display each job with the processing settings before the combination, or to change and correct the processing settings to a unified processing setting as a combined job and display it. At this time, the user can have the items that can be set in the printer driver 203 in the user interface on the setting change editor 307 or call the user interface of the printer driver 203 itself.

As described above, the combined job and the changed change item are authenticated in accordance with the authentication request on the setting change editor 307, and the control is transferred to the spool file manager 304. By these operations, the plurality of jobs selected earlier are displayed as one combined job on the window of the spool file manager.

If the user performs printing in accordance with the contents of the setting change as in the case of the confirmation in the previewer 306,
A print request is issued on the spool file manager 304. The print request is transmitted to the graphic engine 202, a print command is sent to the printer driver 203 via the dispatcher 301, and printing is executed.

<Configuration of Laser Beam Printer> FIG.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a color laser printer having a double-sided printing function, which is an example of a printer 1500.

This printer is a host computer 300
The laser light modulated with the image data for each color obtained based on the print data inputted from 0
Scans the photosensitive drum 15 to form an electrostatic latent image.
Then, this electrostatic latent image is developed with toner to obtain a visible image,
This is multiplex-transferred for all colors to the intermediate transfer member 9 to form a color visible image. Further, the color visible image is transferred to the transfer material 2 and the color visible image is fixed on the transfer material 2. The image forming unit that performs the above control includes a drum unit having a photosensitive drum 15, a primary charging unit having a contact charging roller 17, a cleaning unit, a developing unit, an intermediate transfer body 9, a paper cassette 1 and various rollers 3, 4, 5, 7, a transfer unit including the transfer roller 10, and a fixing unit 25.

The drum unit 13 is formed integrally with a photosensitive drum (photosensitive member) 15 and a cleaner container 14 having a cleaning mechanism also serving as a holder for the photosensitive drum 15. The drum unit 13 is detachably supported by the printer main body, and is configured such that the unit can be easily replaced according to the life of the photosensitive drum 15. The photosensitive drum 15 is formed by applying an organic photoconductor layer to the outer periphery of an aluminum cylinder, and is rotatably supported by the cleaner container 14. The photosensitive drum 15 is rotated by transmitting a driving force of a drive motor (not shown). The drive motor rotates the photosensitive drum 15 in a counterclockwise direction according to an image forming operation. The electrostatic latent image is formed by selectively exposing the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 to light. In the scanner unit 30, the modulated laser light is reflected by a polygon mirror that rotates in synchronization with a horizontal synchronization signal of an image signal by a motor 31a, and irradiates the photosensitive drum via a lens 32 and a reflecting mirror 33.

The developing units are three color developing units 20Y and 20Y for developing yellow (Y), magenta (M) and cyan (C) in order to visualize the electrostatic latent image.
M, 20C, and one black developing unit 21B for developing black (B). The color developing units 20Y, 20M and 20C and the black developing unit 21B have sleeps 20YS, 20MS, 20CS and 21B, respectively.
S, these sleeps 20YS, 20MS, 20CS,
Coating blade 20Y pressed against the outer periphery of each 21BS
B, 20 MB, 20 CB and 21 BB, respectively. Also, three color developing units 20Y, 20M, 20
C is provided with application rollers 20YR, 20MR, and 20CR.

The black developing device 21B is detachably attached to the printer main body, and the color developing devices 20Y, 20M, and 20C are detachably attached to a developing rotary 23 that rotates around a rotation shaft 22. ing.

The sleep 21BS of the black developing unit 21B
Are arranged at a minute interval of, for example, about 300 μm with respect to the photosensitive drum 15. Black developing unit 21B
Is a sleep 21B that rotates in a clockwise direction while conveying toner by a feeding member built in the container.
A charge is applied to the toner by frictional charging so that the toner is applied to the outer periphery of S by the application blade 21BB. Also, by applying a developing bias to Sleep 21BS,
The photosensitive drum 15 is developed in accordance with the electrostatic latent image to form a visible image on the photosensitive drum 15 using black toner.

The three color developing units 20Y, 20M, 20
C rotates with the rotation of the developing rotary 23 during image formation, and a predetermined sleep 20YS, 20MS, 20S.
The CS is opposed to the photosensitive drum 15 at a minute interval of about 300 μm. As a result, the predetermined color developing units 20Y, 20M, and 20C are stopped at the developing position facing the photosensitive drum 15, and a visible image is created on the photosensitive drum 15.

At the time of forming a color image, one of the intermediate transfer members 9
The developing rotary 23 rotates with each rotation, and a yellow developing device 20Y, a magenta developing device 20M, a cyan developing device 20C,
Next, a developing process is performed in the order of the black developing device 21B.
The intermediate transfer member 9 rotates four times to sequentially form visible images using the yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners. As a result, a full-color visible image is formed on the intermediate transfer member 9.

The intermediate transfer member 9 is configured to rotate in accordance with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 15 in contact with the photosensitive drum 15, and rotates clockwise during color image formation. Undergoes multiple transfers of visible images. Further, the intermediate transfer body 9 simultaneously transfers the color visible image on the intermediate transfer body 9 to the transfer material 2 by multiple transfer by nipping and transporting the transfer material 2 by contacting a transfer roller 10 described later during image formation. An intermediate transfer member 9 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the intermediate transfer member.
And a density sensor 9c for detecting the density of the toner image transferred to the intermediate transfer member.

The transfer roller 10 has a transfer charger which is supported so as to be able to contact and separate from the photosensitive drum 15, and is constituted by winding a metal shaft with a medium-resistance foam elastic body.

The transfer roller 10 is separated downward so as not to disturb the color visible image during the multiple transfer of the color visible image onto the intermediate transfer body 9 as shown by the solid line in FIG. After the four color visible images are formed on the intermediate transfer member 9, the transfer roller 10 is moved by a cam member (not shown) in accordance with the timing of transferring the color visible images to the transfer material 2. It is located above indicated by.
As a result, the transfer roller 10 is pressed against the intermediate transfer member 9 with a predetermined pressing force via the transfer material 2 and a bias voltage is applied, so that the color visible image on the intermediate transfer member 9 is transferred to the transfer material 2.
Is transferred to

The fixing unit 25 transfers the transfer 2
It fixes the transferred color visible image, and includes a fixing roller 26 for heating the transfer material 2 and a pressure roller 27 for pressing the transfer material 2 against the fixing roller 26. The fixing roller 26 and the pressure roller 27 are formed in a hollow shape, and have heaters 28 and 29 therein, respectively. That is, the transfer material 2 holding the color visible image is transported by the fixing roller 26 and the pressure roller 27,
The toner is fixed to the surface by applying heat and pressure.

The transfer material 2 after the fixing of the visible image is thereafter discharged to the paper discharge section 37 by the paper discharge rollers 34, 35 and 36, and the image forming operation is completed.

The cleaning means is for cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 15 and the intermediate transfer member 9, and is provided after the visible image formed by the toner formed on the photosensitive drum 15 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 9. The waste toner or the waste toner after transferring the four color visible images formed on the intermediate transfer body 9 to the transfer material 2 is transferred to the cleaner container 1.
4

The transfer material (recording paper) 2 to be printed is taken out from the paper feed tray 1 by the paper feed roller 3 and is conveyed so as to be sandwiched between the intermediate transfer body 9 and the transfer roller 10 to be transferred by the color toner. The image is recorded, passes through the fixing unit 25, and the toner image is fixed. In the case of single-sided printing, the conveyance path is formed so that the guide 38 guides the recording sheet to the upper paper discharge unit, but in the case of double-sided printing, the path is formed so as to guide the recording sheet to the lower duplex unit.

The recording paper guided to the duplex unit is once fed into the lower part of the tray 1 (the transport path indicated by the two-dot chain line) by the transport rollers 40, is transported in the opposite direction, and is sent to the duplex tray 39. On the double-sided tray 39, the sheet is turned upside down from the state of being placed on the sheet feed tray 1, and the sheet is turned upside down in the transport direction. By transferring and fixing the toner image again in this state, double-sided printing can be performed.

<Storing Process of Intermediate Data for Printing> FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing of a page unit saving step in the generation of a spool file 303 in the spooler 302. FIG.

First, in step 501, the spooler 302
From the application to the graphics engine 202
The print request is accepted via the. In the application, a dialog for inputting print settings as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed, and the print settings input from this dialog are passed to the spooler 303 from the printer driver. The setting input dialog shown in FIG. 8 includes setting items such as 801 for determining the number of logical pages to be laid out on one physical page.

In step 502, the spooler 302
It is determined whether the received print request is a job start request. If it is determined in step 502 that the received print request is a job start request, the process proceeds to step 503, where the spooler 302 issues a spool file 303 for temporarily storing intermediate data.
Create Subsequently, in step 504, the spooler 3
02 notifies the spool file manager 304 of the progress of the printing process.
Is initialized to 1. Here, the spool file manager 304 reads job information and processing settings for the job whose printing has started from the spool file 303 and stores the information.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step 502 that the request is not a job start request, step 50
Proceed to 6.

In step 506, the spooler 302
It is determined whether the received request is a job end request. If it is determined that the request is not a job end request, the flow advances to step 507 to determine whether it is a page break. If it is determined in step 507 that the page is a page break, the process advances to step 508 to notify the spool file manager 304 of the progress of the printing process. Then, the page number counter is incremented, the page drawing file storing the intermediate code is closed, and the next page drawing file is generated.

If it is determined in step 507 that the received print request is not a page break, the process proceeds to step 509, and the spooler 302 prepares for writing the intermediate code in the page drawing file.

Next, at step 510, the spooler 302 stores the print request in the spool file 303.
Performs a process of converting the DDI function of the print request into an intermediate code. In step 511, the spooler 302 writes the print request (intermediate code) converted into a form that can be stored in step 510 into the page drawing file of the spool file 303. After that, returning to step 501,
The print request from the application is received again. This series of processing from step 501 to step 511 is executed by the application by a job end request (End Doc).
Continue until you receive The spooler 302 simultaneously acquires information such as processing settings stored in the DEVMODE structure from the printer driver 203 and stores the information in the spool file 303 as a job setting file. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 506 that the print request from the application has ended the job, all the print requests from the application have ended.
In step S2, the progress of the printing process is notified to the spool file manager 304, and the process ends.

<Generation of Spool File> FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing details of control between the spool file 303 generation process and the print data generation process described below in the spool file manager 304.

In step 601, the spool file manager 304 receives a notification of the progress of the printing process from the spooler 302 or the despooler 305.

At step 602, the spool file manager 304 sends a message to the
It is determined whether or not the notification is a print start notification from the spooler 302 notified in step 4, and if so, step 6
03, and print processing settings are stored in the spool file 303.
And start managing jobs. On the other hand, in step 602, if the print start notification is not from the spooler 302, the process proceeds to step 604, and the spool file manager 304 receives a print end notification of one logical page from the spooler 302 notified of the progress notification in step 508 described above. Determine if there is. If it is a printing end notification of one logical page, the process proceeds to step 605, and logical page information for this logical page is stored. Then, in the subsequent step 606, it is determined whether printing of one physical page can be started for the n logical pages for which spooling has been completed at this time. If printing is possible, the process proceeds to step 607, where the physical page number is determined from the logical number allocated to one physical page to be printed.

For the calculation of the physical page, for example, if the processing setting is such that four logical pages are arranged in one physical page, the first physical page can be printed when the fourth logical page is spooled. This is the first physical page. Subsequently, the second physical page can be printed when the eighth logical page is spooled.

Even if the total number of logical pages is not a multiple of the number of logical pages allocated to one physical page, step 5
The logical page to be allocated to one physical page can be determined by the spool end notification in step S12.

In step 608, information such as a logical page number constituting a printable physical page and its physical page number in a format as shown in FIG. 10 is stored in a job output setting file (physical page information). , And the despooler 305 is notified that the physical page information has been added for one physical page. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 601 to wait for the next notification. In the present embodiment, print processing can be performed even if all spools of the print job have not been completed at the time when one page of print data, that is, a logical page constituting one physical page is spooled.

On the other hand, if the progress notification is not the printing completion notification of one logical page from the spooler 302 in step 604, the process proceeds to step 609, and the spool file manager 304 sends the notification from the spooler 302 notified in step 512 described above. It is determined whether the notification is a job end notification. If it is a job end notification, the process proceeds to step 606 described above. On the other hand, if the notification is not a job end notification, the process proceeds to step 610, where the spooled file manager 304
It is determined whether it is a print end notification of one physical page from 05. If the notification is a print end notification of one physical page, the process advances to step 612 to determine whether the printing of the processing settings has been completed. If printing is completed, step 61
The process proceeds to step 2 to notify the despooler 305 of the end of printing.
On the other hand, if it is determined that the printing for the processing settings has not been completed, the process proceeds to 606 described above. The despooler 305 in this embodiment assumes one physical page as a unit for performing the printing process. In step 608, information necessary for performing printing processing of one physical page is sequentially stored in a file and is in a reusable format. However, if reusing is unnecessary, a high-speed medium such as a shared memory is used. , And overwrites one by one physical page one after another to save the speed and resources. If the progress of the spool is faster than the progress of the despooling, or if the despooling is started after the spooling of all pages is completed, at step 608, the page print is not notified for each physical page without being notified. According to the progress of the despooling side, it is possible to reduce the number of times of notification by setting the notification content that a plurality of physical pages or all physical pages can be printed.

If it is determined in step 610 that the notification is not a print end notification of one physical page from the despooler 305, the process proceeds to step 613, and the spool file manager 304 determines whether the print end notification is from the despooler 305. . If the notification is determined to be a print end notification from the despooler 305, the process proceeds to step 614, where the spool file manager 304 deletes the corresponding page drawing file of the spool file 303 and ends the processing. However, on the other hand, if it is not a print end notification from the despooler 305, the process proceeds to step 615, performs other normal processing, and waits for the next notification.

<Output of Spool File> FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of the print data generation process in the despooler 305.

The despooler 305 reads necessary information (a page drawing file and a job setting file) from the spool file 303 in response to a print request from the spool file manager 304 and generates print data. The method of transferring the generated print data to the printer is as described with reference to FIG.

In generating print data, first, in step 7
01, the aforementioned spool file manager 30
Enter the notification from 4. In the following step 702, the despooler 305 determines whether the input notification is a job end notification, and if it is a job end notification, proceeds to step 703, sets an end flag, and proceeds to step 705. On the other hand, if it is not a job end notification in step 702, the process proceeds to step 704, and the above-described step 60 is performed.
It is determined whether a print start request for one physical page in step 8 has been notified. If it is not determined in step 704 that the request is a start request, the process proceeds to step 710, performs other error processing, and returns to step 701 to wait for the next notification. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 704 that the print start request is for one physical page, the process proceeds to step 705,
The despooler 305 saves the ID of the printable physical page notified in step 704. In the following step 706, the despooler 305 determines whether or not all pages of the physical page ID stored in step 705 have been printed. If all physical pages have been processed, the process advances to step 707 to determine whether the end flag has been set in step 703 described above. If the end flag is set, it is considered that the printing of the job has been completed, and a notification of the end of the processing of the despooler 305 is sent to the spool file manager 304, and the processing is ended. If it is determined in step 707 that the end flag has not been set, the process returns to step 701 and waits for the next notification. On the other hand, if it is determined in step 706 that printable physical pages remain, step 708
Then, the despooler 305 displays the stored physical page ID.
, Sequentially reads unprocessed physical page IDs, reads information necessary for generating print data of a physical page corresponding to the read physical page IDs, and performs print processing. In the printing process, the despooler 305 converts the print request command stored in the spool file 303 into a format (GDI function) recognizable by the graphic engine 202 and transfers it. Processing settings (hereinafter referred to as N-page printing) in which a plurality of logical pages are laid out into one physical page as in the present embodiment are converted in this step while taking the reduced arrangement into consideration. When the necessary printing processing is completed, the subsequent step 70
In step S9, the spool file manager 304 is notified of the end of the print data generation for one physical page. Then, the process returns to step 706 again, and repeats until the printing process is performed for all printable physical page IDs stored in step 705.

The above is the flow of the printing process using the dispatcher 301, the spooler 302, the spool file manager 304, and the despooler 305. By performing the above-described processing, the application 201 is released from the printing processing at the timing when the spooler 302 generates the intermediate code and stores the intermediate code in the spool file 303. Therefore, the processing is completed in a shorter time than when the application 201 outputs the intermediate code to the printer driver 203 directly. . Further, since the spool file 303 is temporarily stored as an intermediate file (page drawing file, job setting file) based on the print setting of the printer driver, the user can recognize the print preview to be actually printed, It is possible to combine and rearrange the print jobs generated by the application, and to allow the user to change the print settings without starting up the application again and printing.

Here, in the print processing using the spooler 302, a job output setting file is generated by the despooler 305 when a print request is issued to the graphic engine 202. A file is generated. The job output setting file is equivalent to a job setting file for a single job, and is generated based on a plurality of pieces of job setting information for a combined job. Here, the job output setting file will be described.

<Configuration of Job Output Setting File> FIG.
0 indicates an example of a job output setting file that stores information that constitutes a printable physical page generated by the spool file manager 304 in step 608. A field 1001 is an ID for identifying a job, and can be held in the form of a file name storing the information or a name of a shared memory. A field 1002 is job setting information. The job setting information includes a structure necessary for starting printing of the job to the graphic engine 202, designation of N page printing, designation of additional drawing such as a page frame, finishing designation such as the number of copies, staples, and the like. Information that can be set only once for one job is included. The job setting information 1002 stores as much information as necessary according to the function for the job. A field 1003 indicates the number of physical pages of the job, and indicates that physical page information for this number is stored after this field. In the present embodiment, the number of physical pages that can be printed is notified, so that operation is possible without this field. Thereafter, the fields 1004 to 100
Physical page information is stored by the number of "3". The physical page information will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 11 shows an example of the job setting information shown in the field 1002 of FIG. Field 1
101 is the total number of physical pages. Field 1102
Is the total number of logical pages. Fields 1101 and 1102 are used when printing the number of pages and the like as additional information in addition to the print data. If printing continues, both fields are provisional values, or
Spool file manager 304 until printing is completed
Delays the creation of printable physical page information. A field 1103 is copy number information for specifying how many copies of the print job are to be printed. A field 1104 is used to specify whether to print a copy in a case where a plurality of copies are set in the field 1103. A field 1104 is finishing information such as staples, punches, and Z-folds, and is specified when a finisher is provided in the printer main body or outside. A field 1106 is additional print information in which information to be added to a job, such as decoration such as a page frame, additional information such as a date, a user name, the number of pages, and watermark printing is stored. As the number of functions increases, the number of fields included in the job setting information also increases.
If double-sided printing is possible, a field for storing the specification of double-sided printing is added.

FIG. 12 shows an example of the physical page information shown in the field 1004 of FIG. The first field 1201 is a physical page number, for managing the printing order,
This value is used when additional printing of the physical page number is performed. A field 1202 is physical page setting information. When a layout or color / monochrome can be designated for each physical page, the layout and color / monochrome settings are stored. A field 1203 is the number of logical pages allocated to the physical page. When four pages are allocated to one physical page, 4 or an ID indicating 4-page printing is stored. Field 120 after field 1204
The information of the logical pages is stored by the number specified in 3.
Depending on the number of pages printed from the application 201, the actual number of page data may be smaller than the number of pages specified in 1203. In such a case, special data indicating an empty page is stored in the logical page information.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the physical page setting information 1202. A field 1301 stores the designation of the order of arranging the logical pages on the physical page (from the upper left to the side, from the upper left to the bottom, etc.) in the order of arranging the logical pages on the physical page and printing N pages. Depending on the system,
The setting of 1301 may be substituted by arranging the order of the logical page information after the field 1204 instead of the order of the page numbers, instead of the order of the page numbers. Field 1302 is information on the front and back of double-sided printing.
For example, it is used when aligning the binding margin on the front and back. A field 1303 is a specification of a color page or a monochrome page. When the printer has a monochrome mode and a color mode, a document in which color pages and monochrome pages are mixed,
This value is used when it is desired to print a color page in a color mode and a monochrome page in a monochrome mode. By having this information, it is possible to change the processing by the color printer in page units in the auto color mode. In other words, a color page is composed of intermediate transfer members (intermediate transfer drums and intermediate transfer belts) or transfer members (transfer drums and transfer belts) corresponding to the number of device colors,
The transfer can be controlled by making four rotations for YMCK and making one rotation only for black for a monochrome page. A field 1304 is additional print information that is used when printing additional information such as the number of pages and the date on a physical page. A field is added to the physical page setting information according to the function of the system.

FIG. 14 shows an example of the logical page information 1204. Field 1401 is the logical page
The ID is used to refer to the intermediate code of the page drawing file corresponding to the logical page from the spool file 303 using this ID. It is sufficient that the intermediate code of the logical page can be accessed using this ID, and it may be a file or a memory pointer, or may contain the intermediate code itself constituting the logical page. A field 1402 is a logical page number when the logical page number is printed as additional information.
Used for auxiliary information of logical page ID. Field 14
In the format information 03, various setting items that can be specified in logical page units are stored. For example, additional print information such as a page frame and various setting information specified in units of logical pages such as an enlargement / reduction ratio are stored. If necessary, attribute information for a logical page such as color / monochrome information for each logical page can be stored.
Conversely, in a system where setting can be switched in logical page units and attribute information in logical page units is unnecessary,
Field 1403 is unnecessary.

The job output setting file is configured as described above. Note that the job setting file is almost the same, and includes a print format (one-sided, two-sided, bookbinding printing), a print layout (Nup, poster printing), additional information (watermark, date, user name addition), number of copies, paper size information. Each of the physical pages includes an arrangement order of logical pages, a front side or a back side of double-sided printing, a color mode, and the like.

Further, FIG. 3 shows an example in which a setting change editor 307 having a job setting change function is provided in addition to the extended system described above. In the present embodiment, the job settings include a single job included in the job setting file and a combined job included in the job output setting file shown in FIG. Because it is independent from the file 303,
Job settings can be changed by recreating the job output setting file. The setting change editor 307 alone or in cooperation with the spool file manager 304 realizes a job setting change function by recreating a job output setting file or rewriting a part thereof.

<Setting Change Processing Procedure> FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing details of a job setting change processing process in the setting change editor 307.

First, in step 1501, the setting change editor reads a job setting file or a job output setting file. The job output setting file is the same file that the previewer 305 and the despooler 303 read. Next, the process proceeds to step 1502, where the read result is displayed to the user. Step 1503
Then, the user interacts with the user on the user interface as shown in FIG. 18, and changes the setting contents by specifying the above-described menu or the like. This step may be performed not in an interactive manner but in a batch manner in which changes are made in accordance with the contents of setting changes written in a file or the like. Then step 15
04, at step 1501, the setting change editor
A determination is made as to whether the content read first and the currently specified setting content have been changed. If the settings match, the process advances to step 1505 to generate a new job output setting file, notify the spool file manager of the change, and end the processing. If it is determined in step 1505 that there is no change, the spool file manager is notified that there is no change, and the processing ends. In this way, a new job output setting file is generated. When the “OK” button is selected on the user interface screen of FIG. 18, the new job output setting file becomes valid, and the old job output setting file is created. The file is deleted. Also, the job setting file for a single job is saved without being deleted, not changed from the job output setting file. When the "Return to initial state" button is selected on the screen in FIG. 18, the new job output setting file is deleted, and the old job output setting file becomes valid and reflected on the display. In this embodiment, the setting change editor 307 is described as a separate module, but may be a part of the user interface of the spool file manager 304. The setting change editor 307 does not actually write the contents of the change to the job output setting file, but only notifies the spool file manager 304 of the contents of the setting change. An implementation format performed on the manager 304 side may be used.

FIG. 3 shows an extended system for combining a plurality of print jobs and printing as one print job. The extension for despooling and previewing the combined job will be described.

Normally, the intermediate format spool file 303
Is created for each job. In the case of a single job, since the intermediate code of each logical page in the processing target job file is read out in order and the processing is performed, the logical page ID in the field 1401 indicates a relative position indicating where each logical page is located in the file. Alternatively, it can be realized by an absolute offset. In the case of a combined job, it is necessary to specify the spool file and the page information belonging to the job from the job ID in the field 1401. In this embodiment, the spool file is specified by adding an ID for identifying the spool file to the logical page ID. In this case, the main change is only the field 1401. This is because if the spool file can be identified, the reading of the page portion can be processed by the same logic as the processing of the single job. When the spool file is stored in a separate file for each logical page, there is also an implementation form in which the file name of the logical page is used as the logical page ID of the field 1401 as it is. <Preview Display During Store Processing> Next, a procedure for displaying a print preview image based on a print job saved as an intermediate data and a job output setting file as described above will be described. When printing from an application program, the user designates a print job storing process as shown in FIG. 9 to create a print job defined by the intermediate code and the job output setting file according to the procedure of FIG. be able to. As a result, a list of currently stored print jobs is displayed as shown in FIG. The user specifies a desired print job from the print job list, edits and combines print jobs, adds a print job to an already combined job, changes the order of print jobs in a combined job, and the like. Operation can be performed.

At this time, when a print job is specified from a list and an operation such as editing or combining is specified from a button or a menu, a print preview screen for the entire job as shown in FIG. 18 is displayed. Note that this print preview screen is different from the one that is displayed on a page basis, such as a preview screen prepared by an ordinary application, and is different from a single or combined print job in that the connection of pages is performed. Also, a preview of the relationship between pages can be displayed.

FIG. 19 shows a procedure in the case where data created by an application program or the like is designated for storage and printed. Menu 90 as the output destination on the screen of FIG.
When "Store" is selected from 1 and printed, the procedure of FIG. 9 is executed. First, in step S1901, the spooler is started, and intermediate data and a job output setting file are generated and stored. If "store" is specified, the spooler does not instruct the spool manager to start printing, and the intermediate data is held without being printed. In this embodiment, the print job in this state is referred to as a stored print job.

In step S1902, the print job that has been converted into intermediate data and held in step S1901 is added to the already stored print job list in step S1902. However, in the present embodiment, the stored print job is held only during execution of the program (the previewer 306 and the setting change editor 307 in FIG. 3) for managing the stored print job, and when the execution is completed. The stored print job is deleted. However, the stored print job may be retained until it is actively deleted.

When a new print job is added to the stored print job list, a list of those jobs is displayed in step S1903 as shown in FIG. Note that a print job held as intermediate data is referred to as a held job, and a job selected for combination or editing from the held jobs is referred to as a target job.

<Display of Job List> FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing details of step S1903 in FIG. Note that the procedure in FIG. 20 is executed each time the state to be displayed changes, such as when a job is selected from the job list, and the job list display is updated.

First, in step S2001, it is determined whether a plurality of jobs have been selected. If not, it is determined whether there is a job selected in step S2002. If there is a selected job, the job is set as the target job, and the edit button is enabled. The edit button is the button 16 in FIG.
08. FIG. 16 shows just the single job selected, with the edit button enabled.

On the other hand, if there is no selected job, in step S2004, the last selected job is set as the target job. If there is no job selected last, that is, if the job list is displayed first, the first job in the job list is set as the target job.

When the target job is determined, step S2
In 005, a job that cannot be combined with the target job is searched for from all the held jobs, and the fact that the job cannot be combined with the target job and the reason that the job cannot be combined are set in a predetermined memory area or the like. The job that cannot be combined with the target job is, for example, a job that differs from the target job in any of the specified resolution, the number of bits per pixel, or the graphic mode.

Finally, in step S2006, a job list is displayed. At this time, for the job for which the combination cannot be performed in step S2005 and the reason for which is set, a symbol indicating that the job cannot be combined with the target job and the reason thereof are displayed in the column where the job is displayed.
FIG. 26 shows this state. Selected job 26
For example, the job 2602 can be combined, but the job 2603 and below cannot be combined. Therefore, a symbol indicating that fact is displayed on the left, and the reason why the combination cannot be performed is displayed in the comment column.

On the other hand, if a plurality of jobs are selected, it is determined in step S2007 whether or not the selected jobs can be combined.
008: Combine button (button 1606 in FIG. 16)
Is enabled (operable state), and step S20
In step 06, a job list is displayed.

If all the selected jobs cannot be combined, it is set in step S2009 that all the held jobs cannot be combined. In step S2006, a symbol or comment indicating that the job is set to be uncombinable in step S2009 is displayed.

Thus, a job list is displayed. As described above, since the procedure of FIG. 20 is re-executed every time a job is selected from the job list, use is made of the possibility of combination and the possibility of editing and combining operations according to the selected job. Can be presented to others.

<Editing / Combining Operation> When an edit button (for a single selected job) or a combining button (for a plurality of selected jobs) is operated while a job is selected from the displayed job list. , The procedure of FIG. 21 is performed. When a job that cannot be combined is selected, the combining operation cannot be performed.

First, in step S2101, it is determined whether the operation is a combination operation. If it is a combining operation, in step S2102, the selected job output setting files are temporarily combined. Since this operation has not been determined, a temporary job output file is created and used. When jobs are combined, some settings are changed and unified without using the settings of each job as they are.

As a method of unification, the setting is changed to a predetermined setting, another job is matched with the first job, or cleared. For example, the designation of the printing method of the jobs to be combined is unified to single-sided printing except when they are all double-sided printing. The binding margin, staple designation, normal / reverse order, face-up / down, inserter use, and the like are matched to the first job. The number of copies and bookbinding are cleared.

Using the job output setting file combined in step S2102 or the job output setting file of the job selected to be edited, a preview display is executed in step S2103, and in step S2104 the target job is displayed. Display a list.
On the preview screen, thumbnail images of all pages included in the job to be edited or combined are displayed according to the layout. Also, in the target job list,
A list of names, page numbers, and page layouts of the jobs to be edited or combined is displayed. In the list display, in the case of a combining operation, the order of the jobs can be changed to a desired order, and the desired job can be deleted from the target job group. When the target job is operated in this way, the procedure in FIG. 21 is executed again, and the preview screen and the target job list are displayed again.

It is also possible to change the print settings of the target job. The items that can be changed are those that can be changed by editing the job output setting file. Items that require manipulation of intermediate data are not manipulated in this embodiment. However, if the processing time and the necessary resources are not taken into consideration, all the items can be reset. Items that can be reset in the system of the present embodiment include a printing method (single-sided / double-sided / binding) and
There are the number of copies, the presence or absence of staples, etc.

<Print Preview Display of Target Job> FIG.
2 is a flowchart showing a procedure for displaying a job preview screen as shown in FIG. 18 when a user instructs a desired operation such as job editing or combination on the print job list display screen shown in FIG. Yes, and corresponds to the details of step S2103 in FIG.

In FIG. 22, first, at step S220
In step 1, the layout setting of each target job is acquired.
The layout setting items include items such as a printing method, a page layout, a page frame, finishing, and paper feed switching. These information are acquired from the job output setting files shown in FIGS.

Here, the layout setting items will be briefly described. Examples of items to be set include the following. (1) Printing method: one of single-sided / double-sided / bookbinding is specified. One side and both sides are well known. Bookbinding is a method of printing a book in the form of a book simply by folding and binding the printed sheet in two. When bookbinding printing is specified, a method of folding one part at a time as a unit to be folded, or a method of designating a predetermined number of sheets, folding the sheet for every predetermined number of sheets, and then overlapping and binding the sheets. And can be specified. The unit for folding in two is called a bookbinding unit.

In the case of bookbinding printing, for example, two output sheets are overlapped and folded in two to perform bookbinding, so that printing cannot be performed in the order of logical pages created by the application. By repeating pages from right to left (this is specified separately) in the bound state, the pages are arranged in the order of the logical pages, so that the output order of the logical pages, that is, which physical page and how Decide whether to place a logical page. The order of the logical pages differs depending on whether the discharge is face-up or face-down.

Bookbinding printing is equivalent to double-sided two-up printing if only the format is considered without considering the order of pages, so four logical pages are printed on one sheet. Therefore, the required number S is given by S = the number of logical pages / 4 (rounding up the decimal part). For example, if the discharge method is face-up and the bookbinding unit is S sheets, the surface of the Qth sheet of the Pth bookbinding unit (the surface to be printed first) is (4 × (P− 1) + 2 × Q-1) logical page and (4 × (P−1) + 4 × S−2 × (Q−1)) logical page, and (4 × (P−1) +2) ×
Q) Logical page and (4 × (P−1) + 4 × S−2 × Q)
-1) A logical page is arranged. In the case of face-up, the back surface and the front surface may be switched. (2) Bookbinding opening direction: indicates the direction of double-page spread, and can be specified as top open, right open, or left open. (3) Bookbinding unit: As described above, a unit for folding in two is shown. (4) Page layout: N called N-up printing
A layout in which a logical page is placed on one side of a sheet, or a layout called poster printing in which one logical page is divided into a plurality of sheets and printed can be designated. (5) Finishing: Processing after printing can be specified. For example, a sheet supplied separately from a printed sheet can be inserted as a cover by an external device called an inserter. (6) Paper feed switching: Designate the paper feeding method. For example,
When a so-called insertion is specified, two sheets are used to print on the sheet supplied from one sheet, and the sheet supplied from the other sheet is inserted between the printed sheets. Insert and eject. That is, sheets are alternately used from two sheet feeding ports.

The items which can be specified as the layout include the following.

Next, in step S2202, logical page information is obtained. A logical page is a page in data created by an application program or the like. When N-up printing is designated, a plurality of logical pages are printed on one physical page, that is, one side of one sheet. Will be. This logical page information is as shown in FIG.

In step S2203, step S22
01 and a page template based on the information acquired in step S2202. The page template is a framework of each physical page according to the layout, and a template corresponding to a specified paper size, a designation of one side / two sides / bookbinding, and a layout such as portrait / landscape is drawn. However, if poster printing is specified, the combined state is displayed as a preview, so this is not always the case.

Next, in step S2204, a page number assigned to each page to be preview-displayed is drawn. Here, pages are assigned in the order of logical pages or physical pages according to the layout. This allows the user to see the correct page number according to the layout on the print play view screen.

In step S2205, a logical page is drawn corresponding to each page template. here,
The job output setting file shown in FIGS. 10 to 14 is referred to, and a logical page is drawn on one physical page in accordance with the settings registered in the job output setting file. The intermediate data of the logical page to be drawn is obtained with reference to the logical page information shown in FIG.

Finally, in step S2206, the total number of pages or the required number is drawn. The total number of pages is the number of logical pages, and the required number of sheets is the number of output sheets.

(Drawing of Page Template) FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing details of step S2203 in FIG. In step S2301, the layout settings are acquired (the parentheses are written because the layout is acquired in step S2201 in FIG. 22), and step S23 is performed.
02, the printing method is determined in step S2303. For bookbinding printing, a page template for bookbinding printing is acquired in step S2304, and for double-sided printing, step S23
At 09, a page template for duplex printing is acquired.

If the printing is single-sided printing, it is determined in step S2306 whether or not the printing is the interim printing. Intermediate printing is a printing method in which a separately supplied sheet is inserted between output printed sheets and then ejected, and is used, for example, when printing a transparent original for an overhead projector. If the printing is for the middle printing, a page template for the printing for middle printing is obtained in step S2207. If the printing for the middle printing is not the printing, a page template for single-side printing is obtained in step S2308.

Finally, a page template is drawn according to the data of the page template acquired in step S2305.

(Drawing of Page Number) FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing details of step S2204 in FIG. In step S2401, the layout settings are acquired (the parentheses are used because the layout is acquired in step S2201 in FIG. 22), and the printing method is determined in steps S2402 and S2403. For bookbinding printing, a page number is drawn for bookbinding printing in step S2404, and for double-sided printing, a page number is drawn for double-sided printing in step S2406. If it is single-sided printing, a page number for single-sided printing is drawn in step S2405.

(Logical Page Drawing) FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing details of step S2205 in FIG. In step S2501, the layout setting is acquired (the parentheses are used because the layout is acquired in step S2201 in FIG. 22), and the printing method is determined in steps S2502 and S2503. For bookbinding printing, a logical page is drawn for bookbinding printing in step S2504, and for double-sided printing, a logical page is drawn for double-sided printing in step S2506. If it is single-sided printing, a logical page for single-sided printing is drawn in step S2505. Note that, in the drawing of the logical page, in order to draw the logical page according to the job output setting file and the logical page information, it is possible to perform a process that does not perform the case division according to the printing method. Alternatively, page selection processing> Editing and combining of stored print jobs and preview display associated therewith have been described. When editing or merging is specified for the desired job from the stored jobs and the target job list and its preview screen are displayed, the user can perform operations such as changing the job order and deleting pages on the screen. It can be performed. At this time, a page or a job to be operated is selected. The operation and display at that time will be described below.

<Page Selection> FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a target job and a preview screen when six jobs are selected from the stored jobs as target jobs and the combination thereof is designated. In FIG. 29, a page 2901 is selected from the preview screen, and the selected state is indicated by a bold frame displayed in the page.
On the actual screen, the bold frame is displayed in a vivid color such as red, and the user can identify at a glance that the page is selected. When a certain page is selected, a job including the selected page is also displayed so as to be identifiable.
02 also has a thick frame. This thick frame is also displayed in a vivid color such as red on the display, and can be easily identified.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the display processing for the preview display and the target job list display when a page on the preview screen is selected as shown in FIG. First, step S2
At 701, the selected page is displayed with a frame. Then, the logical page ID of the page is obtained from the logical page information of FIG. 14, and the job including the logical page is specified from the logical page ID. Logical page ID
Is a combination of a job ID and a unique ID of each page in the job. Therefore, it is easy to specify a job that includes the logical page ID from the logical page ID.

In step S2702, a job including the selected logical page is framed and displayed as shown in FIG. Of course, when a plurality of pages are selected, for each of the selected pages, a job including the selected page is displayed in an identifiable manner.

FIG. 31 is a display example when a plurality of pages are selected from the preview screen. In FIG. 31,
Page 3101 and Page 3102 are selected,
A frame is displayed. Also, the job 3103 and the job 3104 including the respective pages are also framed.

By displaying in this way, the correspondence between a page and a job can be determined by selecting a page. For this reason, when a user selects a certain page and performs an operation such as deletion, the user can know which target job the operation affects.

<Job Selection> FIG. 30 is a diagram showing an example of a target job and a preview screen when six jobs are selected from the stored jobs as target jobs and the combination thereof is designated. In FIG. 30, a job 3001 is selected from the target job list, and the selected state is indicated by a bold frame. On the actual screen, the selected job is displayed in an easily recognizable manner by reverse display or the like, and the user can identify the selected job at a glance. When a certain job is selected, pages included in the selected job are also displayed so as to be identifiable. In FIG. 30, pages 3002 to 3004 included in job 3001 are also indicated by thick frames. This thick frame is also displayed in a clear color such as red on the display, and can be easily identified.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the display processing for the preview display and the target job list display when a job is selected from the target job list as shown in FIG. First, step S28
At 01, the selected job is displayed in an identifiable manner. Then, the physical page information of FIG. 10 is obtained from the job ID, the logical page ID included in each physical page is obtained from the physical page information by referring to the physical page information of FIG. 12, and the logical page ID is obtained. Identify the page corresponding to.

In step S2802, all pages included in the selected job are displayed with a frame as shown in FIG. Of course, when a plurality of jobs are selected, the pages included in the selected jobs are displayed in an identifiable manner for each selected job.

FIG. 32 is a display example when a plurality of jobs are selected from the target job list. In FIG. 32, a job 3201 and a job 3202 are selected, and are displayed so as to be identifiable. Pages 3203 to 3106 included in each job are also displayed with a frame.

As described above, when the target job list is displayed in the procedure shown in FIG. 20, for a job that cannot be combined with the target job, the fact that the job cannot be combined and the reason therefor are displayed. When a plurality of jobs are selected, if all the selected jobs cannot be combined, a message indicating that the jobs cannot be combined is displayed.

This display is re-executed each time a job is selected from the job list. Therefore, whether or not jobs can be combined can be presented to the user according to the target job list, and operability can be improved. it can.

[0147]

[Other embodiments] The present invention relates to a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader,
Printer, etc.)
The present invention may be applied to an apparatus including one device (such as a copying machine, a printer, and a facsimile machine).

An object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment and realizing the procedures shown in FIGS. 19 to 25 and FIGS. It is also achieved by a computer (or CPU or MPU) reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, C
DR, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM
Etc. can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. The CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

[0153]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When displaying the target job list, for jobs that cannot be combined with the target job, a message indicating that the job cannot be combined and the reason therefor are displayed, and when multiple jobs are selected, all the selected jobs are displayed. If it cannot be combined, a message that it cannot be combined is displayed. Therefore, whether or not jobs can be combined can be presented to the user by the target job list, and operability can be improved. This has the effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print control apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a typical print system of a host computer to which a printer is connected.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print system that temporarily spools an intermediate code before converting a print command from an application into a printer control command.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing in a spooler 302.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing print control in the spool file manager 304.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing in the despooler 305.

FIG. 8 is an example of a print setting screen.

FIG. 9 is an example of a print spool setting screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format passed when a physical page print request is issued from a spool file manager 304 to a despooler 305.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a data format passed when a physical page print request is issued from the spool file manager 304 to the despooler 305.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a data format passed when a physical page print request is issued from the spool file manager 304 to the despooler 305.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a data format passed when a physical page print request is issued from the spool file manager 304 to the despooler 305.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format passed when a physical page print request is issued from the spool file manager 304 to the despooler 305.

15 is a flowchart illustrating a setting change process in a setting change editor 307. FIG.

FIG. 16 is an example of a screen displaying a list of print jobs spooled by the spool file manager.

17 is an example of a screen of a previewer 306. FIG.

18 is an example of a screen of a setting change editor 307. FIG.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart in a case where data created by an application program or the like is designated to be stored and printed.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing details of step S1903 in FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart of a processing procedure when an edit button or a combination button is operated while a job is selected from a job list.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart of a procedure for displaying a preview screen when an edit button or a combine button is operated in a state where a job is selected from a job list.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing details of step S2203 in FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing details of step S2204 in FIG. 22.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing details of step S2205 in FIG. 22.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a job list.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a display process when a certain page is selected on a preview screen.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a display process when a certain job is selected from a target job list.

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating an example of a target job list and a preview screen when a certain page is selected on the preview screen.

FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of a target job list and a preview screen when a certain job is selected from the target job list.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a display example when a plurality of pages are selected from a preview screen.

FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating a display example when a plurality of jobs are selected from a target job list.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 System Bus 12 CPU 13 ROM 19 RAM 3000 Host Computer 1500 Printer

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Mori 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo F-term in Canon Inc. (reference) 2C061 AP01 AP03 AP04 AQ06 AR01 HJ07 5B009 RC00 5B021 AA01 AA02 LE00 PP08

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A print control method for editing a stored print job, comprising: when displaying a list of stored print jobs, adding an image indicating the fact to print jobs that cannot be combined with each other. A print control method characterized by displaying a list of print jobs. 2. When a plurality of print jobs are selected as edit targets and the print jobs selected as edit targets are print jobs that cannot be combined with each other, the fact that the print jobs cannot be combined with all print jobs displayed in the list. The print control method according to claim 1, wherein the image is displayed after being added. 3. When a single print job is selected as an edit target, the selected print job is set as a target print job. When a print job to be edited is not selected, a predetermined print job is set as a target print job. As a print job, a print job that cannot be combined with the target print job is
The print control method according to claim 1, wherein an image indicating that the print job cannot be combined with the target print job is displayed. 4. The print control method according to claim 1, further comprising a storage step of storing a print job. 5. The printing method according to claim 1, further comprising, when bookbinding printing is designated, a printing step of printing the print job by a printing device such that the order is the same as the preview display. Print control method. 6. A print control apparatus for editing a stored print job, wherein when displaying a list of stored print jobs, print jobs that cannot be combined with each other are added with an image indicating that fact. A print control device for displaying a list of print jobs. 7. When a plurality of print jobs are selected as edit targets and the print jobs selected as edit targets are print jobs that cannot be combined with each other, it is not possible to combine all print jobs displayed in the list with each other. 7. The print control device according to claim 6, wherein the image is displayed after being added. 8. When one print job is selected as an edit target, the selected print job is set as a target print job. When a print job to be edited is not selected, a predetermined print job is set as a target print job. As a print job, a print job that cannot be combined with the target print job is
The print control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an image indicating that the print job cannot be combined with the target print job is displayed. 9. The print control apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising storage means for storing a print job. 10. The printing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a printing unit that prints the print job by a printing apparatus so that the order is the same as the preview display when bookbinding printing is specified. Print control device. 11. When a list of stored print jobs is displayed by a computer to edit the stored print jobs, an image indicating the fact is added to print jobs that cannot be combined with each other. A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for displaying a list of print jobs. 12. When a plurality of print jobs are selected as edit targets and the print jobs selected as edit targets are print jobs that cannot be combined with each other, the fact that the print jobs cannot be combined with all print jobs displayed in the list. The storage medium according to claim 11, wherein the image is added and displayed. 13. When one print job is selected as an edit target, the selected print job is set as a target print job. When a print job to be edited is not selected, a predetermined print job is set as a target print job. As a print job,
The storage medium according to claim 11, wherein an image indicating that the print job cannot be combined with the target print job is added to a print job that cannot be combined with the target print job and displayed. 14. The storage medium according to claim 11, further comprising storage means for storing a print job. 15. The printing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a printing unit that prints the print job by a printing apparatus so that the order is the same as the preview display when bookbinding printing is specified. Storage media.