JP2002222073A - System and method for printing document - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily actualize overlay printing satisfying a purpose by using forms defined for respective printers of a spool system without modifying an application. SOLUTION: In the spool system 120, a table 121 wherein overlay forms for form composition are defined for respective spool names by purposes in printing documents is provided, a print document and an overlay form file defined in the spool name of the printed document are read from a form holder 15, this overlay form is combined with the print document and the printing is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a form printing system, and more particularly, to a form printing system and a form printing method capable of defining an overlay form for each purpose-specific spool name and synthesizing and printing the form without changing an application. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In form printing, in order to combine a print data part for each print form and a form data part expressing the form of the form, conventionally, it is necessary to determine a form and data in advance and then combine and print. (See, for example,
-91805). In addition, it is necessary for the application to instruct the synthesis process in consideration of the field specified in the form data. Furthermore, changing the form required changing the application program.

[0003]

Heretofore, there has been a problem that the application has to be changed each time the user wants to change the form, and the operability is extremely poor. In the case of a commercially available application or the like, there is a problem that the application cannot be changed and it is difficult to modify the form.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and can easily perform overlay printing according to purpose by using a form defined for each printer of a spool system without changing an application. It is an object to provide a form printing system and a form printing method to be realized.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a form printing system according to the present invention uses form data defining a form of a form for print data output from an application without modifying the application. In order to combine and print the form, the form is registered in advance for each type of form to be output in units of spool for the printer defined in the spool system, and output to the printer on the spool system that matches the form for printing. This automatically implements form overlay printing without modifying the application.

In order to realize this, the form printing system according to the present invention is provided with a table defining an overlay form for synthesizing a form for each spool name for each purpose of the print form, and the overlay form and the print form specified by the table are defined. And printing.

According to the present invention, by defining an overlay form to be synthesized by a spool name, it is possible to cope with this by changing the spool name for each form to be overlaid, and a plurality of spool names can be defined for one printer. Form synthesis can be performed for the same printer without recreating an application. This makes it possible to easily print a composite form simply by replacing the form.

The form printing system according to the present invention further comprises a table for storing at least a page number and overlay information in which a form file name of the page is defined, corresponding to each purpose-specific spool name of the print form. A form folder that stores an overlay form defined by a form file name, and based on the overlay information stored in the table, the overlay form corresponding to the form file name of the designated page indicated by the page number of the print form. A form synthesizing unit for reading from the form folder and synthesizing the designated page of the print form with a specified page; and a print job analyzing unit for controlling the form synthesizing unit and performing print management on a page basis. .

According to the present invention, even when the overlay form is different for each page or when it is desired to change the form only for the last page, overlay printing of a plurality of forms can be easily performed simply by defining a spool name for each purpose.

Further, the form printing system of the present invention further sets a paper type in the overlay information, and when the page number and the paper type match, the overlay form corresponding to the form file name is converted to the form file. It is characterized by reading from a folder and combining it with a specified page of the print form.

According to the present invention, when forms of the same type are different in paper size, it is not necessary to define a spool name for each paper, a form composition definition can be systematically performed, and a plurality of types of papers can be defined. Even in the case of a print job composed of one job that requires composition, form composition printing can be easily performed.

The form printing system according to the present invention is a table for storing at least a page number, a paper type, active information, and overlay information in which a form file name is defined corresponding to each purpose-specific spool name of a print form. A form folder storing an overlay form defined by the form file name, and a form page name read from the form folder to a designated page of a print form matching the page number and the paper type of the overlay information. A form synthesizing unit for synthesizing the overlay form and the data generated by the active information on a designated page of the form printing; and a printing unit for controlling the form synthesizing unit to perform print management in page units. A job analysis unit.

According to the present invention, it is possible to add real-time information, such as page number information and print execution date, which is difficult to add without a print execution application, without changing the print execution application.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a form printing system according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a form printing application, 11 denotes a spool operation tool, 12 denotes a spool system, 13 denotes a printer driver, 14 denotes a file for storing a spool folder, 15 denotes a file for storing a form folder, and 16 denotes a file for storing a form folder. It is a printing device.

The spool system 12 according to the present invention includes a print job receiving unit 120 and a printer management information table 121 for storing overlay information.
, Print job management unit 122, print job analysis unit 12
3, the device output unit 124, and the form synthesis processing unit 1
25.

The print job receiving unit 120 has a function of receiving a print job from the form printing application 10 executed in its own computer or on a computer remotely located using a network or the like.

The print job management unit 122 manages spooling of the print job received by the print job receiving unit 120 to the storage file 14 of the spool folder and the like, and a printer management which is composed of, for example, a file or a memory and stores overlay information. Based on the information table 121, job management such as print job print scheduling and print job reprint management, and instructions from the spool operation tool 11 (for example, print job change instructions, etc.)
And a function of managing a print job based on the

The print job analyzing unit 123 analyzes a print job instructed to execute printing from the print job managing unit 122, controls the form synthesizing processing unit 125, and is specified in the printer management information table 121 for each spool name. It has a function of outputting form overlay file data to be combined with the print job from the overlay information to the device output unit 124 at a necessary timing. Also,
The print job analyzing unit 123 converts the spooled description language of the print job into a dedicated print language corresponding to the printing device 16 using the printer driver 13.

The device output section 124 has a function of outputting a print job sent from the print job analyzing section 123 to the remotely located printing apparatus 16 using its own computer and / or a network. And a function of controlling the state.

The form synthesizing section 125 reads the print form being spooled from the file 14 storing the spool folder, reads the overlay form defined by the overlay information in the printer management information table 121 from the form folder 15, and reads the spool form. It has a function of synthesizing with a print form in the middle, and a function of synthesizing a print date, time, page number, and the like in a form based on print-time editing designation information designated in overlay information of the printer management information table 121.

In the spool folder 14, print jobs output from various form printing applications 10 are sequentially registered under the control of the print job management unit 122. In the form folder 15, various overlay forms defined by the spool name are registered.

Next, the operation of the form printing system of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

First, in the present invention, the spool operation tool 1
1, the printer management information table 121 is registered so as to define in advance the form file name of the overlay to be combined with the print execution printer identification name (hereinafter referred to as a spool name) when printing from the form printing application 10. By submitting a print job by specifying the spool name according to the purpose of output,
Form overlay printing can be automatically performed without modifying the application. In this case, the spool name is given a name that imagines the form to be overlaid, thereby preventing the spool name designation error at the time of printing. In addition, since the spool name can be defined as n: 1 for an actual printing device, it is possible to perform a plurality of form syntheses for the same printer.

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the overlay information stored in the printer management information table 121.
In the overlay information shown in FIG. 2, output device information, a form file name to be overlaid, other information, and the like are registered in correspondence with the above-mentioned spool name. For example, corresponding to the spool name of “invoice”, the output device information is “123.45.67.89:P”.
R1 ”becomes“ @Pserv ”as the form file name.
\ D \ Forms \ bill. frm "is registered in each case. Also, corresponding to the spool name of "Receipt",
"123.45.67.89:
PR1 ”becomes“ @Pser
v \ D \ Forms \ voucher. frm "is registered in each case.

Next, the operation of the present invention using the overlay information shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the following description, the print job analysis unit 123
It is assumed that has already been activated and the form overlay processing of the print job during spooling of the spool folder 14 can be processed by controlling the form synthesizing processing unit 125.

First, the form synthesizing unit 125 reads overlay information (see FIG. 2) from the printer management information table 121 (step S10). Then, it is checked whether or not there is form data from the overlay information, that is, whether or not a form file name is defined (step S11). If there is no form data,
It is determined that there is no form synthesis (step S13), and normal print processing is executed and the processing is terminated.

On the other hand, if there is file data, the form synthesizing unit 125 reads out the form file defined by the form file name corresponding to the spool name of the print form from the form folder 15, and reads out the form file from the spool folder. The print job is combined with the print form and sent to the print job analysis unit 123 (step S12).

The print job analysis unit 123 outputs the data of the form overlay file synthesized with the print form to the device output unit 124 at a necessary timing. The device output unit 124 sends the print job analysis unit 1
The overlay printing form sent from the server 23 is output and printing is performed (step S14).

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the overlay information. In the overlay information according to this embodiment, output device information, a page number to be overlaid, and a paper type (A4, A
3, B5), the form file name of the overlay, and the presence / absence of active information dynamically generated at the time of printing are registered by the spool operation tool 11.

As a notation example of the page number, "0" is common to all pages, "1 or more integer" is designated page, "N" is common to all pages except designated page, and "E" is only last page. , Respectively.

As an example of the notation of the paper type, "A
.., "A4, B4..." Means fixed-form designated sheets, and "ALL" means all sheets.

As a description example of the presence or absence of active information, "0" means no active information, and "1" means active information.

Further, as the contents of the active information, as shown in FIG. 4, "information type", "position", "size", "font type", "display designation" and the like are registered.

The operation of the second embodiment using the overlay information will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. Similarly, in the following description, the print job analysis unit 123 has already been activated and the form synthesis processing unit 12
5 will be described as being in a state in which the form overlay of the print job during spooling of the spool folder 14 can be processed by controlling the spool 5.

FIG. 6 shows an operation flow when at least a “page number” is newly added to the overlay information of FIG. First, the form synthesis processing unit 125 reads overlay information (see FIG. 3) from the printer management information table 121 (Step S20). Then, it is checked whether form data exists for the page specified by the "page number" from the overlay information, that is, whether a form file name is defined (step S21). If there is no form data, it is determined that there is no form synthesis (step S23), a normal print process is executed, and the process ends.

On the other hand, if there is file data, the form synthesizing processing unit 125 reads out the form file defined by the form file name corresponding to the spool name of the print form from the form folder 15, and reads out the form file from the spool folder. The print job is combined with the corresponding page of the print form and sent to the print job analysis unit 123 (step S
22).

The print job analysis unit 123 outputs the data of the form overlay file synthesized with the print form to the device output unit 124 at a necessary timing. The device output unit 124 sends the print job analysis unit 1
The overlay printing form sent from the server 23 is output and printing is performed (step S24).

FIG. 7 shows an operation flow when at least "page number" and "paper type" are newly added to the overlay information of FIG. First, the form synthesis processing unit 125 reads the overlay information (see FIG. 3) in the printer management information 121 (Step S30).
Then, it is checked whether or not form data exists for the page specified by the "page number" from the overlay information, that is, whether or not a form file name is defined (step S31). If there is no form data for the current page, it is determined that there is no form synthesis (step S3).
4), normal printing is performed, and the process ends.

On the other hand, if there is form data for the current page, it is further checked whether the "paper type" matches the specification of the spooled print form (step S3).
2). If the paper type does not match, it is determined that there is no form combining (step S34), normal printing is performed, and the process ends.

If it is determined that the paper type matches the specification of the spooled print form (Yes in step S32)
s) The form synthesizing unit 125 stores the form file defined in the fall file name in the form folder 1
5 is combined with the corresponding page of the print form read from the spool folder and sent to the print job analysis unit 123 (step S33).

The print job analysis unit 123 outputs the data of the form overlay file synthesized with the print form to the device output unit 124 at a necessary timing. The device output unit 124 sends the print job analysis unit 1
The overlay printing form sent from the server 23 is output and printing is performed (step S35).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an operation flow when the active information shown in FIG. 4 is set in the overlay information shown in FIG. First, the form synthesis processing unit 12
5 reads the overlay information (see FIG. 3) in the printer management information 121 (step S40). And
It is checked whether form data exists for the page specified by the "page number" from the overlay information, that is, whether a form file name is defined (step S41). If there is no form data for the current page,
It is determined that there is no form synthesis (step S49), normal printing is performed, and the process is terminated.

On the other hand, if there is form data for the current page, it is further checked whether the “paper type” matches the specification of the spooled print job (step S).
42). If the paper type does not match, it is similarly determined that there is no form synthesis (step S49), normal printing is performed, and the process ends.

If it is determined that the paper type matches the specification of the spooled print job (Y in step S42)
es) It is further checked whether or not the active information is set (step S43). If there is active information, the active information (FIG. 4) of the printer management information table 121 is read (step S44), and active information to be embedded in the form is generated (step S45). For example, based on the active information shown in FIG.
It is generated based on the character size, font type, and the like.

The form synthesizing unit 125 stores the form file defined by the form file name corresponding to the spool name of the print form in the form folder 15.
, And combines the generated active information with the generated active information (step S46).
5, and combines it with the corresponding page of the print form and sends it to the print job analysis unit 123 (step S47).
If no active information is set in step S43, steps S44 to S46 are omitted, and
Step S47 is executed.

Thereafter, the print job analysis unit 123 outputs the data of the form overlay file in which the print form and the generated active information are combined to the device output unit 124 at a necessary timing. The device output unit 124
The overlay print form sent from the print job analysis unit 123 is output to the printing device 14 and printing is performed (step S48).

[0048]

According to the present invention, by defining an overlay form to be synthesized with a spool name, it is possible to cope with this by changing the spool name for each form to be overlaid. In addition, by performing processing on a page-by-page basis of a print job, it is possible to combine forms on a plurality of pages.
By defining a form to be registered in the spool system for the first page, the second page, and the nth page, a multi-page form having a different form for each page (for example, a form in which a plurality of pages of multi-sheet paper is developed) ) Also allows form overlay printing. Further, the form to be registered can be defined for each paper type (paper size such as A3, A4, etc.), and the form can be automatically switched and printed according to the paper type. Further, unique information (date, page, output user name, printer name, and the like) at the time of execution generated by the active information can be dynamically added to the form to be synthesized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a form printing system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of printer management information used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of overlay information used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of active information used in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation using overlay information according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a first operation using overlay information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a second operation using overlay information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a third operation using overlay information according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Form printing application 11 ... Spool operation tool 12 ... Spool system 120 ... Print job receiving part 121 ... Printer management information (table) 122 ... Print job management part 123 ... Print job analysis part 124 ... Device output part 125 ... Form synthesis processing Unit 13: Printer driver 14: Spool folder 15: Form folder 16: Printing device

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A table in which an overlay form to be synthesized for each purpose-specific spool name of a print form is provided,
A form printing system, wherein an overlay form specified by the table and the print form are combined and printed. 2. A table for storing at least a page number and overlay information in which a form file name of the page is defined, corresponding to each purpose-specific spool name of a print form, and an overlay defined by the form file name. A form folder for storing a form, based on the overlay information stored in the table, reading the overlay form corresponding to the form file name of the designated page indicated by the page number of the print form from the form folder, and performing the printing. A form printing system comprising: a form synthesizing unit for synthesizing a designated page of a form; and a print job analyzing unit for controlling the form synthesizing unit and performing print management on a page basis. 3. A paper type is further set in the overlay information, and when the page number matches the paper type,
3. The form printing system according to claim 2, wherein the overlay form corresponding to the form file name is read from the form folder and combined with a designated page of the print form. 4. A table for storing at least a page number, a paper type, active information, and overlay information in which a form file name is defined, corresponding to each purpose-specific spool name of a print form, and a table defined by the form file name. A form folder storing the overlay form, and the overlay form corresponding to the form file name read from the form folder, on the designated page of the print form matching the page number and the paper type of the overlay information, A form synthesizing processing unit for synthesizing the data generated by the active information with a designated page of the form printing, and a print job analyzing unit for controlling the form synthesizing processing unit and performing print management for each page. A form printing system characterized in that: 5. A form printing method, wherein an overlay form to be synthesized is defined for each purpose-specific spool name of a print form, and the defined overlay form and the print form are synthesized and printed. 6. An overlay information having at least a page number and a form file name of the page is defined corresponding to each purpose-specific spool name of the print form, and the page number of the print form is defined based on the overlay information. A form printing method comprising: reading out an overlay form corresponding to the form file name from a form folder on a designated page indicated by (1), combining the form with the designated page of the print form, and printing the form. 7. A paper type is further set in the overlay information, and when the page number matches the paper type,
7. The form printing method according to claim 6, wherein the overlay form corresponding to the form file name is read from the form folder and combined with a designated page of the print form. 8. An overlay information having at least a page number, a printing paper type, active information, and a form file name is defined corresponding to each purpose-specific spool name of a print form, and the page number and the form number of the overlay information are defined. By combining the overlay form corresponding to the form file name read from the form folder and the data generated by the active information into the designated page of the form print, on the designated page of the print form matching the paper type A form printing method characterized by printing.