JP2002007092A - Information processor, printer, printing controller and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system where a plurality of jobs can continuously be outputted in a printing system where a plurality of users or information processors share a printer on a network and a plurality of printing jobs from the users or hosts are printed. SOLUTION: At the time of generating the printing job in hosts 401 to 403 sharing the printer, a printing job generating part 406 generates the printing job including occupation information designated by a printer occupation designating part 405. The printer 404 receiving the job analyzes occupation information in the printing job by a printing job discrimination part 414. When occupation is instructed by occupation information, it is stored in a printer occupied state storage part 413 that the printer 404 is in an occupied state. A printer control part 412 controls a system so that only the printing job received from the user (host) in the middle of occupation is printed when the printer 404 is in the occupied state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printing system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses (host computers) share a printing apparatus and a control method thereof, and more particularly to a printing system in which output results can be easily distributed.

[0002] The present invention also relates to an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus used in a printing system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses (host computers) share a printing apparatus.

[0003] The present invention further relates to a printing control apparatus for controlling a printing apparatus which can be shared by a plurality of information processing apparatuses (host computers).

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of host computers (hereinafter referred to as "host") connected to a local area network or the like.
Printers (hereinafter, referred to as “printers”) commonly use a printing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a “printer”) to sequentially print out print jobs received from each host in a common paper output tray in the order of reception.

In such a printing system,
2. Description of the Related Art An interrupt printing technique is known in which printing is performed prior to a print job currently being printed or a print job stored in a spooler in a memory.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, if the shared printer has only one paper output tray, or if print data from a plurality of hosts is set to be printed out to the same paper output tray. In this case, since users of a plurality of hosts assigned to the same discharge tray make random print requests, even if the same user instructs a plurality of print jobs consecutively,
It is not possible to prevent a print job designated by another person from being accepted during the instruction, and to prevent the output of another person from being mixed even if the user expects continuous output. Did not.

[0007] Even if a print job of another person is not accepted between a plurality of designated print jobs, the order of accepting print jobs may be changed by the interrupt printing function described above. In such a case, as a result, the print output specified by another person is mixed between the print job results that the user has continuously specified.

However, some printings intended by the user include:
It is only meaningful if a plurality of print jobs are printed consecutively, and it may be inconvenient if another job of another person is mixed in between.

For example, there may be a case where a document file is divided into chapters, but all of the plurality of document files are combined to form an entire chapter, and all of them are one meaningful document.

For example, a document file before printing is divided into a plurality of sections for each chapter, and it is assumed that all of these document files are all collected into one meaningful document. Suppose that the document files of Chapters 1, 2, ...) are printed by a shared printer. In this case, there is a problem that the output results of each chapter need to be continuous, and if other print results are mixed in between, it is necessary to manually remove other people's print results from the output results. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to allow a plurality of users or information processing apparatuses to share a printing apparatus on a network and to provide a plurality of information from each user or host. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system capable of continuously outputting a plurality of jobs in a printing system and a control method for printing a print job.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing system in which a plurality of users or information processing apparatuses share a printing apparatus on a network and print processing of a plurality of print jobs from each user or host. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus that can be used in a printing system capable of continuously outputting a plurality of jobs.

Still another object of the present invention is a printing control apparatus for controlling a printing apparatus shared by a plurality of information processing apparatuses on a network, wherein a plurality of jobs from the same user or a host are continuously transmitted to the printing apparatus. It is another object of the present invention to provide a print control device capable of causing a print to be output.

[0014]

That is, the gist of the present invention is an information processing apparatus which can use a printing apparatus by transmitting a print job to a printing apparatus connected to a network, and wherein the information processing apparatus includes a predetermined printing apparatus. An information processing apparatus includes an occupation information adding unit that adds occupation information indicating that the print job is occupied for a period.

Another aspect of the present invention is a printing apparatus that is connectable to a network and performs print processing based on a print job received from an information processing apparatus connected to the network. The print job analyzing means for obtaining the information indicating the transmission source of the print job, the occupation information specified by the transmission source, and the occupation information when the obtained occupation information is information specifying occupation by the transmission source. And a control unit for performing control so that only the print job received from the transmission source is printed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print control apparatus for controlling a printing apparatus based on print jobs received from a plurality of sources via a network. A print job analyzing unit that acquires the occupation information specified by the transmission source, and a transmission period based on the occupation information when the acquired occupation information is information that specifies occupation by the transmission source. Control means for controlling so as to supply only the print job originally received to the printing apparatus.

Another aspect of the present invention resides in a printing system in which the information processing apparatus of the present invention and a printing apparatus are communicably connected via a network.

Another aspect of the present invention resides in that the information processing apparatus of the present invention and a print control apparatus are communicably connected via a network, and the print control apparatus includes a print apparatus which can use the information processing apparatus. Is connected to the printing system.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. First, before describing the configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, a configuration of a laser beam printer with a scanner as a printer applicable to the printing system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that the device used as a printer in the present embodiment is not limited to a laser beam printer, and it goes without saying that a printer of another printing method may be used. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to a printer, and may be a device capable of performing print processing such as a copying machine or a facsimile. It goes without saying that the printer may be a color printer or a monochrome printer.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1500 denotes a laser beam printer main body, which inputs and stores print information (character codes and the like), form information, macro instructions, and the like supplied from an externally connected host computer; A corresponding character pattern, form pattern, or the like is created according to the information, and an image is formed on a recording medium such as a recording sheet.

An operation panel 1501 is provided with switches for operation, an LED display, and the like. 1000
Is a printer control unit that controls the entire printer 1500 and analyzes character information and the like supplied from the host computer. This printer control unit 1000
It mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to a laser driver 1502.

The laser driver 1502 is a semiconductor laser 1
A circuit for driving the laser beam 503 switches on / off a laser beam 1504 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1503 according to an input video signal. Laser light 15
04 is scanned left and right by a rotary polygon mirror 1505, and after being changed in direction by a reflection mirror, reaches the electrostatic drum 1506. The surface of the electrostatic drum 1506 is uniformly charged in advance, and an electrostatic latent image (such as a character pattern) corresponding to a video signal is formed on the surface by the irradiation of the laser beam.

This latent image is developed by a developing unit 1507 provided around the electrostatic drum 1506, and then transferred to a recording sheet. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper. The cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 1508 mounted on the printer 1500, is taken into the apparatus by a discharge roller 1509 and a transport roller 1511, and is connected to the electrostatic drum 1506. An image (toner image) that is supplied to the opposite position and developed is transferred.

The printer 1500 has at least one or more card slots (not shown) so that an optional font card and a card (emulation card) of a different language can be connected in addition to the built-in fonts.

Further, it has a network interface and a communication interface, and is configured to be able to communicate with a host computer directly connected via a network or by a cable.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the printer shown in FIG. 1 and a host computer which can use the printer. In FIG. 2, a printer 1500 and a host computer 3000 are communicably connected.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 3000 denotes a host computer which performs text processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed based on a text processing program stored in the program ROM 32 of the ROM 3. A CPU 1 is provided for execution, and the CPU 1 controls each device connected to the system bus 4 as a whole.

The program ROM 3 of the ROM 3
2 stores a control program of the CPU 1 and the like, and a ROM
The font ROM 31 for font data and the like used in the above sentence processing are stored in the ROM 31 for fonts.
The OM 33 stores various data used when performing the above-described text processing.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a RAM, which functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like for the CPU 1. A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 9, a pointing device (not shown) such as a mouse or a tablet. 6 is a CRT controller (CRTC),
The display of the CRT display (CRT) 10 is controlled.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a disk controller (DKC).
Stores boot programs, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, etc.
A rewritable recording device such as a hard disk (HD), a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD), a magneto-optical disk (MO), an IC card (semiconductor memory) and / or a read-only storage device such as a CD-ROM; The access to the external memory 11 is controlled.

8 is a printer controller (PRTC)
And a predetermined bidirectional interface (interface) 2
1 connected to the printer 1500 via the printer 1
A communication control process with the communication 500 is executed.

The CPU 1 executes, for example, a process of rasterizing an outline font in the display information RAM set on the RAM 2, and executes the process on the CRT 10.
YSIWYG is possible.

The CPU 1 opens various registered windows based on commands specified by a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the CRT 10 and executes various data processing.

In the printer 1500, reference numeral 12 denotes a printer CPU (CPU).
Based on a control program or the like stored in the M132 or a control program stored in the external memory 14, access to various devices connected to the system bus 15 is comprehensively controlled. And outputs an image signal as output information to a printing unit (printer engine) 17.

The program RO of the ROM 13
A control program for the printer CPU 12 is stored in M132. The font ROM 131 of the ROM 13 stores font data and the like used when generating the output information. In the case of a printer without the external memory 14 such as an HD, FD, MO, C card, or CD-ROM, ROM1
In the third data ROM 133, information used on the host computer is stored.

The printer CPU 12 can communicate with the host computer 3000 via the input section 18 and can notify the host computer 3000 of information in the printer. 19 is the printer CPU
12 main memories, RAM functioning as work area
Option RA connected to an extension board (not shown)
The memory capacity can be expanded by M.

The RAM 19 has an output information development area,
Used for environmental data storage area, NVRAM, etc. The access to the external memory 14 such as the hard disk (HD) is controlled by a disk controller (DKC) 20. The external memory 14 is connected as an option and stores font data, an emulation program, form data, and the like.

Reference numeral 1501 denotes the aforementioned operation panel.
Switches and LED indicators for operation are arranged. The number of the external memories 11 and 14 is not limited to one, and at least one or more is provided. In addition to the built-in fonts, an optional font card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages are connected. It may be configured to be able to do so.

Further, an NVRAM (non-volatile RAM), not shown, may be provided to store printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1501.

(Overall Configuration of Printing System) FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a printing system in which a local area network (LAN) is used as a means for connecting a printer 1500 and a host computer (host) 3000, and a plurality of host computers can use the printer 3000.

Referring to FIG. 3, the printer 15 shown in FIG.
A network printer 404 corresponding to a configuration obtained by adding a network connection function (a network interface circuit and a control program) to the network printer 400 is connected to the LAN 400.

A host 4 corresponding to a configuration in which a network connection function (network interface circuit and control program) is added to the host 3000 in FIG.
01 is also connected to the LAN 400. Host 4
02 and 403 have the same configuration as the host 401, and both are connected to the LAN 400. Each host 401 to 40
3 can use the network printer 404 via the LAN 400.

In the following description, processing when the printer 401 directly connected to the LAN is used from the hosts 401 to 403 will be described.
It is also possible to use the printer 421 connected to the print server host 420 from the print server host 420 via the print server host 420 connected to the LAN 400 from the print server 03. In this case, the print server host 420 controls the printer 404 in the following description. Do. The print server host 420 can be realized by a computer device having the same configuration as the hosts 401 to 403.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a host computer and a printer used in the printing system according to the embodiment shown in FIG. Each block shown in FIG. 4 is a program ROM of the host computer.
32 and / or the external memory 11 and the program stored in advance in the program ROM 132 and / or the external memory 14 of the printer.
This is realized by reading into the AMs 2 and 19 and executing them.

As shown in FIG. 4, the printing system includes:
Host computers (hosts) 401 to 403 create a print job and transmit the print job to the printer 404 via the LAN 400. The printer 404 processes the print jobs sequentially received from each host, and prints the print result to the printer 404. Is stored in the paper discharge tray.

Specifically, the host 401 shown in FIG.
Printer occupation designation unit 405 and print job creation unit 406
, A control unit 407, and a transmission unit 408.

At the start of printing, the printer occupation designation unit 405 allows the user to select whether to execute printing in a printer occupation state.

When the printer occupation designation section 405 designates the printer occupation, the print job creation section 406 adds printer control information for instructing whether or not to occupy the printer to the identification information in the print job, Create a print job.

The control unit 407 is a control unit that performs processing, instructions, and the like through transmission and reception of a print job with each processing unit. Specifically, when the printer occupation designation unit 405 instructs whether to occupy the printer, the control unit 407 notifies the print job creation unit 406 and adds the printer occupation information to the identification information. Give instructions to When a print job is created by the print job creation unit 406, the control unit 407 outputs the print job to the transmission unit 408 and instructs the printer 404 to transmit the print job via the LAN 400.

Next, the printer 404 shown in FIG. 4 includes a receiving section 409, a print job spool section 410, an identification information processing section 411, a printer control section 412, a printer occupation state storage section 413, a print job determination section And a data printing unit 415.

The receiving unit 409 sequentially prints the print jobs created by the respective hosts 401 to 403 on the LAN 400
The print job received by the receiving unit 409 is temporarily stored in the print job spool unit 410. Note that the print job received by the receiving unit 409 is added with identification information such as a host name, a user name, and printer control information for instructing whether to occupy the printer at the time of print processing of the host that performs printing. I have.

The print job spooling unit 410 includes the receiving unit 4
In step 09, the received print job is temporarily stored, and when a plurality of print jobs are received, the print order and the like for the print jobs are managed.

The identification information processing unit 411 receives, from the printer control unit 412, identification information of a print job to be subjected to print processing from among the print jobs stored in the print job spool unit 410, and executes printing based on the identification information. The extracted user name and host name, printer control information as to whether or not the printer is occupied, and the like are extracted and output.

The printer occupation state storage unit 413 stores information on whether the printer is currently in the occupation state. If the printer is in the occupied state, the user name of the print job in which the printer is occupied and, if necessary, the host name are also stored.

The print job determination unit 414 stores the identification information result output from the identification information processing unit 411 and the current printer occupation state storage unit 41.
3 is received from the printer control unit 412, and “print permitted” or “print non-permitted” is determined for this print job.

This determination is made by the printer occupation state storage section 41
If the content of No. 3 is already in the printer occupation state, the user name in the identification information of the received print job is compared with the user name stored in the printer occupation state storage unit, and the user is currently printing. If the print job is from the same user, “print permitted” is set, and if the print job is from a different user, “print prohibited” is set. At this time, if the print job is a new print job by the occupying user, it is determined whether there is a new printer occupation instruction. If there is a new printer occupation instruction, the printer occupation state is continued. If there is no printer occupation instruction, the printer occupation state is released.

If the printer is not occupied,
If "print permission" is determined, and the printer control information indicating whether or not to occupy the printer in the identification information of the received print job is referred to, and if the content is an instruction to "occupy the printer", , Printer occupation state storage unit 41
Notify 3 to occupy the printer.

The printer control unit 412 is a control unit that performs processing instructions through the exchange of print jobs with each processing unit and accesses the print job spool unit 410.

More specifically, the printer control unit 412 temporarily stores the print job in the print job spool unit 410 when the receiving unit 409 receives the print job,
Manage print jobs. When the print job is processed, the print job is sent to the print job spool unit 410.
The identification information included in the print job is extracted and output to the identification information processing unit 411. Upon receiving the identification information details from the identification information processing unit 411, the information is output to the print job determination unit 414. At this time, the identification information stored in the printer occupation state storage unit 413 is extracted,
Output to the print job determination unit 414. Thereafter, based on the determination result obtained by the print job determination unit 414, if the result is “printing not permitted”, a notification is sent to the print job spooling unit 410, and the non-permitted print job is placed in a print waiting state.

When the determination result obtained by the print job determination unit 414 is “print permitted”, the print job determination unit 41
Based on the content of the printer control information indicating whether or not to output the printer occupancy state, the printer occupation state storage unit 413 is instructed to newly save the content of whether or not to occupy the printer. Next, the print job stored in the print job spool unit 410 is copied to the data printing unit 4.
15 and instructs the print tray to print out.

As described above, the user who instructs the printing can instruct the printer to occupy the printer, and can perform the printing. When the user wants to continuously output the image to the paper output tray of the printer, another printing is performed between the user's own printing results. Output to the output tray without mixing the print results of other people

Is performed. Therefore, each user sharing the printer on the local area network (LAN) can accurately obtain all of his or her print results from the print results that have already been output to the output tray. This makes it possible to eliminate the need for manual sorting of print results.

(Data Structure of Print Job) Next, the host 4
The data structure of a print job output by the printers 01 to 403 to the printer 404 will be described.

FIG. 6 shows the hosts 401 to 403 shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a print job output from the printer to a printer 404. As shown in FIG. 6, the print job includes identification information including a user name, a user number, printer control information in which an instruction for occupying the printer is stored, and print data. Therefore, by using this identification information, it is possible to uniquely specify the user or host who has instructed the output of the print job among the hosts sharing the printer, and it is possible for the specific user or host to occupy the printer. .

It is needless to say that the identification information included in the print job may be anything other than the user name and the user number as long as the user and the host can be specified.

(Print Control Processing) Next, a series of flows from when printing is performed by the host to when output is performed to the paper output tray of the printer will be specifically described. FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of a printer occupation setting screen displayed on the CRT 10 when printing is designated in the host computer.
This setting screen is displayed, for example, when execution of an application print process being executed by the host computer is designated. Of course, even if the setting screen of FIG. 5 is called from another screen that specifies specific print contents, such as a page to be printed, a page to print the occupancy setting, etc.
An occupancy setting column may be provided as one setting item on a screen for setting other items necessary for printing.

On this setting screen, click the check box 51 corresponding to “Occupy the printer until the next print job” with a pointing device such as a mouse, or
When checked by designating using the keyboard, printer occupancy setting is performed. Then, when the print start button 52 is clicked or a corresponding key is pressed by a keyboard, a print job including the printer occupation setting in the printer control information is generated. When the cancel button 53 is clicked, the setting screen is closed without changing the setting contents.

(Print Job Generation and Transmission Processing) Next, FIG.
The print job generation and transmission processing when the occupancy setting is made on the setting screen of FIG. 5 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.

In an application or the like running on the host computer, when a print start request is made by the user,
The printer occupation designation unit 405 shown in FIG. 4 displays a user interface screen (not shown) for a print instruction on the CRT 10. This screen has a button for calling the printer occupation setting screen, in addition to the fields for specifying the number of copies and the page to be printed, which are specified for normal printing, and this button is clicked or the corresponding key is pressed When there is
The printer occupancy setting screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. If the user wants to occupy the printer until the next job and perform printing, the user turns on the check box 51 on the printer occupancy setting screen (the state shown in FIG. 5) and performs occupancy setting. When the print start button 52 is clicked or the corresponding key is pressed on the printer occupation setting screen, the print job generation processing shown in FIG. 7 starts.

First, the control unit 407 determines whether or not it has been designated to occupy the printer (step S701).
If the control unit 407 has been instructed to occupy the printer, the control unit 407 instructs the print job creation unit 406 to set “printer occupation flag = 1” in the printer control information in the print job identification information, Print job creation unit 40
6 sets 1 to the printer occupation flag in the printer control information of the new job (step S702).

On the other hand, when it is not instructed to occupy the printer, the print job creating unit 406 is instructed to set “printer occupation flag = 0” in the printer control information in the print job identification information. The print job creation unit 406 sets the printer occupation flag in the printer control information of the new job to 0 (step S703).

The control unit 407 sends to the print job creation unit 406 information that can identify the user (and, if necessary, the host computer) that has requested printing.
It is instructed to be set in the identification information of the print information. In response to this, the print job creation unit 406 acquires the user name, the host computer name, and the like from, for example, the OS running on the host computer, and sets it in the identification information (step S704).

Next, the print job creating unit 406 creates a print job in which the identification information is added to the print data received from the application or the OS (step S).
705).

When a print job is created, the control unit 407
Transmits the print job created by the print job creation unit 406 to the transmission unit 408 via the LAN 400 to the printer 404.
To send to.

(Print Job Output Processing) Next, print job control processing in the printer 404 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the control unit 412 controls the hosts 401 to 40
It is checked whether or not the print job output by the printer 3 is received via the LAN 400 (step S801). If a new print job has been received, the received print job is temporarily stored in the print job spool unit 410 (step S802).

Next, the print job determination unit 414 receives the value of the printer occupation flag stored in the printer occupation state storage unit 413, and determines whether or not the printer is currently in the occupation state (step S803).

At this time, if the “printer occupation flag = 1”, that is, if the printer is in the occupied state, the control unit 412 extracts identification information from the print job being spooled (step S80).
4) Output to the identification information processing unit 411. Then, the identification information processing unit 411 extracts and outputs, from the received identification information, user information for specifying the user who has requested the print job and printer control information indicating whether or not the printer is occupied.

The print job judging section 414 compares the user information received from the identification information processing section 411 with the user information (for example, user name) stored in the printer occupation state storage section 413, and occupies the current printer. It is determined whether or not the print job of the user is spooled (step S806). In this determination processing, among the jobs not in the print waiting state, the print job spool unit
10 is notified of "printing not permitted", and the print job is changed to a print waiting state.

If there is no print job in the spool received from the occupying user in step S806, the process returns to step S801 to wait for a new print job.

On the other hand, if the print job received from the occupying user is detected in the spool in step S806, the printer control information extracted by the identification information processing unit 411 is output to the print job determination unit 414, and It is checked whether or not the printer occupancy setting has been made in the print job identification information (step S807).

Returning to step S803, if the printer is not occupied, the control unit 412 extracts identification information from the print job to be processed next in the spool (step S805) and outputs it to the identification information processing unit 411. . At this time, as a print job to be processed next, if there is a print job in a print waiting state, the oldest print job among them, and if there is no print job in a print wait state, the oldest print job among all print jobs May be selected, or a selection may be made according to other arbitrary conditions such as assigning a priority to each host.

Then, the identification information processing section 411 outputs printer control information indicating whether or not the printer is occupied based on the received identification information. The print job determination unit 414 checks whether or not the printer occupancy setting has been made in the identification information of the print job (step S).
807).

If it is determined that the printer occupancy setting has been made (the flag is 1), "printer occupation flag = 1" is set in the printer occupation state storage unit 413 (step S808).

On the other hand, if the printer occupancy setting is not made for this print job (if the flag is 0), the printer occupation state storage unit 413 stores “printer occupation flag =
"0" is set (step S809).

Next, the printer control unit 412 receives the print data from the print job spool unit 410, outputs the print data to the data printing unit 415, and executes printing (step S8).
10). It waits for the end of printing (step S811), and checks whether a new job has been received during printing (step S812). If a message has been received, the process returns to step S802 to repeat the processes after the spool. If no print job has been received, it is checked whether or not there is an unprocessed print job in the print job spool unit 410 (step S813).
If not, the process returns to step S801 to wait for reception of a new job.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the hosts 401 to 403 transmit a print job with identification information including a user name and an instruction as to whether or not to occupy the printer, and the printer 404 receiving the print job. First, it is determined whether the printer is currently occupied, and if the printer is occupied, it is determined whether the print job is a print job from the same user. If it is from another user, the print job is in a waiting state until the printer occupation state is released. Also, if the printer is not occupied,
Alternatively, if the printer is occupied and is a print job from the same user, printing is performed.

The printer 4 receiving the print job
In step 04, when printing is permitted for the print job, and when the print job is instructed to occupy the printer, the printer is set to the occupation state.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the printer control information used for the means for setting the printer in the occupied state is determined by the "printer occupation flag".
However, the means for instructing the printer to be in an occupied state is not limited to this.

In the second embodiment, a method is described in which time information is defined in the printer control information used for the means for occupying the printer, and the printer is occupied by using a timer. I do. Next, a specific flow from when printing is performed by the host to when output is performed to the paper output tray of the printer will be specifically described.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a printer occupancy setting screen displayed on the CRT 10 when printing is designated in the host computer. This setting screen is displayed, for example, when execution of an application print process being executed by the host computer is designated. Of course, even if the setting screen of FIG. 9 is called from another screen such as a page to be printed to specify specific print contents, other items necessary for printing, such as a page to print the occupation setting, are set. An occupation setting column may be provided as one setting item on the screen for performing the setting.

On this setting screen, check box 9 corresponding to “Occupy printer for a certain period of time after the start of actual printing”
9 is checked by clicking with a pointing device such as a mouse or by using a keyboard, and the desired time is occupied in the text box 92 (FIG. 9).
Is input from the keyboard, the printer occupancy setting is performed.

When the user clicks the print start button 93 or presses a corresponding key on the keyboard, a print job including the printer occupation setting in the printer control information is generated. When the cancel button 94 is clicked, the setting screen is closed without changing the setting contents.

(Print Job Generation and Transmission Processing) Next, FIG.
The print job generation and transmission processing when the occupancy setting is made on the setting screen of FIG. 9 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. When there is a print start request, the printer occupation designation unit 405 shown in FIG. 4 displays a user interface screen (not shown) for a print instruction on the CRT 10. This screen has a button for calling the printer occupation setting screen, in addition to the fields for specifying the number of copies and the page to be printed, which are specified for normal printing, and this button is clicked or the corresponding key is pressed When there is, the screen for setting the printer occupation shown in FIG. 9 is displayed.

When the user wants to occupy the printer for a certain period of time, the user turns on the check box 91 on the printer occupancy setting screen (the state shown in FIG. 9) and inputs the desired occupation time in the text box 92. When the print start button 93 is clicked or the corresponding key is pressed on the printer occupation setting screen, the print job generation processing shown in FIG. 10 starts.

First, the control unit 407 determines whether or not it is designated to occupy the printer (step S100).
1). If the control unit 407 has been instructed to occupy the printer, the control unit 407 instructs the print job creation unit 406 to include “Printer occupation time T = XXX” (XXX is the text box 92) in the printer control information in the print job identification information. Is set (representing a value corresponding to the time or a value corresponding to the time) (step S1002).

If the user is not instructed to occupy the printer, that is, if the check box 91 is not checked, and if the set time of the text box 92 is 0, the time is not included in the printer control information. Shall not be set.

The control unit 407 also sends information to the print job creation unit 406 that can identify the user (and, if necessary, the host computer) that has requested printing.
It is instructed to be set in the identification information of the print information. In response, the print job creation unit 406 acquires a user name, a host computer name, and the like from, for example, an OS running on the host computer, and sets the identification information in the identification information (step S1003).

Next, the print job creating unit 406 creates a print job in which the identification information is added to the print data received from the application or the OS (step S).
1004).

When a print job is created, the control unit 407
Transmits the print job created by the print job creation unit 406 to the transmission unit 408 via the LAN 400 to the printer 404.
To send to.

(Print Job Output Processing) Next, referring to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The print job control process will be described. First, the control unit 4
Reference numeral 12 denotes the print job output by the host 401 to 403
It is checked whether it has been received via the AN 400 (step S1101). When a new print job is received, the received print job is temporarily stored in the print job spool unit 410 (step S110).
2).

Next, the print job determination unit 414 receives the value of the printer occupation time stored in the printer occupation state storage unit 413, and determines whether the printer is currently in the occupation state (step S1103).

At this time, if “printer occupancy time> 0”, that is, if the printer is in the occupied state, the control unit 412 extracts identification information from the print job being spooled (step S110).
4) Output to the identification information processing unit 411. Then, the identification information processing unit 411 extracts and outputs, from the received identification information, user information for specifying the user who has requested the print job and printer control information indicating whether or not the printer is occupied.

The print job determination unit 414 compares the user information received from the identification information processing unit 411 with the user information (for example, user name) stored in the printer occupation state storage unit 413, and occupies the current printer. It is determined whether the print job of the user is spooled (step S1106). In this determination processing, among the jobs not in the print waiting state, for a print job received from a user other than the occupied user, a notification of “printing not permitted” is given to the print job spool unit 410, and the print job is changed to the print waiting state. Keep it.

In step S1106, if there is no print job in the spool received from the occupying user, the flow returns to step S1101 to wait for reception of a new print job.

On the other hand, if the print job received from the occupying user is detected in the spool in step S1106, the printer control information extracted by the identification information processing unit 411 is output to the print job determination unit 414, and the It is checked whether or not the printer occupancy setting has been made in the print job identification information (step S1107).

Returning to step S1103, if the printer is not occupied, the control unit 412 extracts identification information from the print job to be processed next in the spool (step S1105) and outputs it to the identification information processing unit 411. . At this time, as a print job to be processed next, if there is a print job in a print waiting state, the oldest print job among them, and if there is no print job in a print wait state, the oldest print job among all print jobs May be selected, or a selection may be made according to other arbitrary conditions such as assigning a priority to each host.

Then, from the received identification information, the identification information processing unit 411 outputs printer control information indicating whether or not the printer is occupied based on the identification information. The print job determination unit 414 checks whether or not the printer occupancy setting has been made in the identification information of the print job (step S).
1107).

If it is determined that the printer occupancy setting has been made (the occupation time has been set), the set occupation time and user information are set in the printer occupation state storage unit 413, and the occupation time is set. Starts a countdown (step S1109). The occupation time can be measured by counting down the value determined by the countdown cycle and the set time stored in the printer occupation state storage unit 413 in the countdown cycle, but it is needless to say that any other method can be used. . Next, a print job is executed (step S1).
110).

On the other hand, if the printer occupancy is not set in this print job in the step S1107 (if the occupation time is not set), the print job is immediately executed (step S1110).

Next, the printer control unit 412 receives the print data from the print job spool unit 410, outputs the print data to the data printing unit 415, and executes printing (step S1).
110). Wait for the end of printing (step S1111),
It is checked whether a new job has been received during printing (step S1112). If there is a reception, the process returns to step S1102 to repeat the processes after the spool. If there is no reception, the print job spool unit 4
It is checked whether or not there is an unprocessed print job in step 10 (step S1113). If there is an unprocessed job, the process returns to step S1103. If not, the process returns to step S1101 to wait for a new job.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained by using a print job in which the printer occupation time is set, and the printer is independently occupied. This has the effect that the state can be released.

[Third Embodiment] In the second embodiment, a print job in which a desired occupation time is set is used. However, in the third embodiment, means for occupying the printer is set. The case where the number of printer occupied jobs indicating how many jobs the printer occupies in the future is used as the printer control information used for the printer. Next, a specific flow from when printing is performed by the host to when output is performed to the paper output tray of the printer will be specifically described.

FIG. 12 shows a host computer.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer occupation setting screen displayed on the CRT 10 when a print is designated. This setting screen is displayed, for example, when execution of an application print process being executed by the host computer is designated. Of course, even if the setting screen of FIG. 12 is called from another screen that specifies specific print contents, such as a page to be printed,
An occupancy setting column may be provided as one setting item of a screen for setting other items necessary for printing, such as a page for printing occupancy settings.

On this setting screen, check box 1 corresponding to “Occupy printer for a fixed time after the start of actual printing”
When the user checks the box 21 by clicking with a pointing device such as a mouse or by designating with the keyboard, and inputs the number of jobs to be occupied in the text box 122 from the keyboard, the printer occupancy setting is performed.

When the print start button 123 is clicked or the corresponding key is pressed by the keyboard,
A print job including the printer occupation setting in the printer control information is generated. When the cancel button 124 is clicked, the setting screen is closed without changing the setting contents.

(Print Job Generation and Transmission Processing) Next, FIG.
With reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, a description will be given of print job generation and transmission processing when occupancy is set on the setting screen of FIG. When there is a print start request, the printer occupation designation unit 405 shown in FIG. 4 displays a user interface screen (not shown) for a print instruction on the CRT 10. This screen has a button for calling the printer occupation setting screen, in addition to the fields for specifying the number of copies and the page to be printed, which are specified for normal printing, and this button is clicked or the corresponding key is pressed If there is, the screen for setting the printer occupation shown in FIG. 12 is displayed.

When the user wants to occupy a certain number of jobs and perform printing, the user turns on the check box 121 on the printer occupancy setting screen (the state shown in FIG. 12) and inputs the desired number of occupied jobs into the text box 122. . Print start button 1 on printer occupancy setting screen
23 is clicked or the corresponding key is pressed,
The print job generation process shown in FIG. 13 starts.

First, the control unit 407 determines whether or not it is designated to occupy the printer (step S130).
1). When the control unit 407 has been instructed to occupy the printer, the print job creation unit 406 includes “printer occupied job number = XXX” (XXX is the text box 122) in the printer control information in the print job identification information.
(Representing the number set in)
(Step S1302).

If the user is not instructed to occupy the printer, that is, if the check box 121 is not turned on, or if the number of jobs set in the text box 122 is 0, the occupancy is not included in the printer control information. The number of jobs is not set.

The control unit 407 also provides the print job creation unit 406 with information that can specify the user (and, if necessary, the host computer) that has requested printing.
It is instructed to be set in the identification information of the print information. In response, the print job creation unit 406 acquires a user name, a host computer name, and the like from, for example, an OS running on the host computer, and sets the identification information in the identification information (step S1303).

Next, the print job creation unit 406 creates a print job in which the identification information is added to the print data received from the application or the OS (step S).
1304).

When the print job is created, the control unit 407
Transmits the print job created by the print job creation unit 406 to the transmission unit 408 via the LAN 400 to the printer 404.
To send to.

(Print Job Output Processing) Next, referring to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The print job control process will be described. First, the control unit 4
Reference numeral 12 denotes the print job output by the host 401 to 403
It is checked whether or not it has been received via the AN 400 (step S1401). When a new print job is received, the received print job is temporarily stored in the print job spool unit 410 (step S140).
2).

Next, the print job determination unit 414 receives the number of printer occupation jobs stored in the printer occupation state storage unit 413, and determines whether the printer is currently in the occupation state (step S1403).

At this time, “the number of jobs occupied by the printer> 0”,
That is, when the print job is in the occupied state, the control unit 412 extracts the identification information from the print job in the spool (step S140).
4) Output to the identification information processing unit 411. Then, the identification information processing unit 411 extracts and outputs, from the received identification information, user information for specifying the user who has requested the print job and printer control information indicating whether or not the printer is occupied.

The print job determination unit 414 compares the user information received from the identification information processing unit 411 with the user information (for example, user name) stored in the printer occupation state storage unit 413, and occupies the current printer. It is determined whether or not the print job of the user is spooled (step S1406). In this determination processing, among the jobs not in the print waiting state, for a print job received from a user other than the occupied user, a notification of “printing not permitted” is given to the print job spool unit 410, and the print job is changed to the print waiting state. Keep it.

If there is no print job in the spool received from the occupying user in step S1406, the process returns to step S1401 to wait for a new print job.

On the other hand, if the print job received from the occupied user is detected during spooling in step S1406, the number of occupied jobs stored in the printer occupation state storage unit 413 is decremented (decreased by 1).
(Step S1408). Then, the identification information processing unit 41
The printer control information extracted by the print job determination unit 41
4 and checks whether the printer occupancy setting is made in the identification information of the print job (step S1407).

Returning to step S1403, if the printer is not occupied, that is, if the number of occupied jobs is 0, the control unit 412 extracts identification information from the print job to be processed next in the spool (step S1403). S1405), and outputs the result to the identification information processing unit 411. At this time, as a print job to be processed next, if there is a print job in a print waiting state, the oldest print job among them, and if there is no print job in a print wait state, the oldest print job among all print jobs May be selected, or a selection may be made according to other arbitrary conditions such as assigning a priority to each host.

Then, the identification information processing unit 411 outputs printer control information indicating whether or not the printer is occupied based on the received identification information. The print job determination unit 414 checks whether or not the printer occupancy setting has been made in the identification information of the print job (step S).
1407).

If it is determined that the printer occupation setting has been made, the set occupation job number and user information are newly set in the printer occupation state storage unit 413 (step S1409). Next, a print job is executed (step S1410).

On the other hand, if the printer occupancy is not set in this print job in the step S1407 (if the number of occupied jobs is not set), the print job is immediately executed (step S1410).

Next, the printer control unit 412 receives the print data from the print job spool unit 410, outputs the print data to the data printing unit 415, and executes printing (step S1).
410). Wait for the end of printing (step S1411),
It is checked whether a new job has been received during printing (step S1412). If the message has been received, the process returns to step S1402 to repeat the processes after the spool. If there is no reception, the print job spool unit 4
It is checked whether or not there is an unprocessed print job in step S1013 (step S1413). If there is an unprocessed job, the process returns to step S1403. If not, the process returns to step S1401 to wait for reception of a new job.

As described above, in the third embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained by using the print job in which the occupation time of the printer is set, and the printer is independently occupied. This has the effect that the state can be released.

[Fourth Embodiment] In the above-described first to third embodiments, the printers 404 directly connected to the local area network (LAN) in the system configuration shown in FIG. However, the present invention can be applied to a case where the printer 421 connected to the print server host 420 is used via the print server host 420 connected to the LAN. Needless to say.

FIG. 15 shows a functional block diagram in such a mode. 15, functional blocks having the same functions as the functional blocks described with reference to FIG. 4 are denoted by common reference numerals. The control unit 412 ′ and the reception unit 409 ′ of the print server host 420 are different from the control unit 412 in FIG.
And the receiving unit 409 may have the same function.

As shown in FIG. 15, the printer 4 connected to the LAN 400 via the print server host 420
In the case of using the printer 21, the processing performed by the printer 404 directly connected to the LAN 400 can be performed by the print server host 420.

The print job generation processing is the same as in the first to third embodiments, and the print job output processing is also performed by distributing the processing subject locations to the print server host 420 and the printer 421. The control unit 41 controls the functional blocks of the server host 420.
2 ′ may be the same except that the control unit 412 controls the functional blocks of the printer 421, and a description of the processing will be omitted.

[0140]

Another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium (or a recording medium) on which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded to a system or apparatus, and to provide the system or apparatus. Needless to say, the present invention can also be 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. The functions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized by the computer executing the readout program code, but also the operating system running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code.
It goes without saying that the (OS) or the like 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 the memory provided in the function expansion card inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is read based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, the CPU included in the function expansion card or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the above-mentioned storage medium, the storage medium described above (FIGS. 7, 8, 10,
A program code corresponding to the flowchart (shown in one or more of FIGS. 11, 13 and 14) will be stored.

[0143]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When printing is performed using a printer shared by a plurality of hosts, a single print result can be obtained without permitting the output of other shared users to be mixed by permitting the same user to occupy the printer for a predetermined period. Has the effect that it becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a laser printer as a printer applicable to a printing system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a host computer and a printer that can configure the printing system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a printing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a host computer and a printer in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer occupation setting screen according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a print job output by a host in the printing system of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a print job creation process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer occupation setting screen according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a print job creation process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer occupancy setting screen according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a print job creation process according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a printing process according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram of a printing system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 CPU 2 RAM 3 ROM 4 System bus 5 Keyboard controller (KBC) 6 CRT controller (CRTC) 7 Disk controller (DKC) 8 Parallel input / output controller (PPTC) 9 Keyboard (KB) 10 CRT 11 External storage device (external memory) 12 CPU 13 ROM 14 External storage device (external memory) 15 System bus 16 Printing unit I / F unit 17 Printing unit 18 Input unit 19 RAM 20 Disk controller (DKC) 21 Bidirectional parallel interface or LA
N cable 1000 Printer control unit 1500 Printer 1501 Operation panel 3000 Host computer

Claims (16)

[Claims] An information processing apparatus capable of using a printing apparatus by transmitting a printing job to a printing apparatus connected to a network, wherein the occupation information indicating that the printing apparatus is occupied for a predetermined period is provided. An information processing apparatus having occupation information adding means for adding to a print job. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined period is specified by a user. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined period is a time. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined period is the number of the print jobs. 5. A printing apparatus connectable to a network and performing a printing process based on a print job received from an information processing apparatus connected to the network, wherein the printing apparatus analyzes the print job and transmits the print job. Print job analyzing means for acquiring information indicating the origin and occupation information designated by the transmission source; and occupation based on the occupation information when the acquired occupation information is information designating occupation by the transmission source. Control means for controlling so as to print only the print job received from the transmission source during the period. 6. The printing method according to claim 5, wherein the control unit accumulates the print job received from a source other than the transmission source received during the occupation period, and performs a printing process after the end of the occupation period. apparatus. 7. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the occupation information is the number of print jobs to be processed continuously. 8. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the occupation information is a time from the start of processing of a print job having the occupation information. 9. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control means performs the control as the occupation period after receiving the occupation information to start the occupation and receiving the occupation information to release the occupation. The printing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein 10. A print control device for controlling a printing device based on print jobs received from a plurality of sources via a network, the print control device analyzing the print job, and information indicating a transmission source of the print job. A print job analyzing means for acquiring occupation information designated by the transmission source; and if the acquired occupation information is information designating occupation by the transmission source, a period based on the occupation information; Control means for performing control so as to supply only the received print job to the printing apparatus. 11. The printing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit accumulates the print job received from a source other than the transmission source received during the occupation period, and supplies the print job to the printing apparatus after the end of the occupation period. The printing control device according to the above. 12. The print control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the occupation information is the number of print jobs to be processed continuously. 13. The print control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the occupation information is a time from the start of processing of a print job having the occupation information. 14. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control means performs the control as the occupation period after receiving the occupation information indicating the start of occupation and receiving the occupation information indicating release of the occupation. The print control device according to claim 10, wherein 15. A plurality of information processing apparatuses according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and at least one printing apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 9. Is a printing system that is communicably connected via a network. 16. A plurality of information processing apparatuses according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and at least one information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 10 to 14. And a printing system, which is communicably connected via a network, and a printing device that can be used by the information processing device is connected to the printing control device.