JP2003091387A - Printing control system and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent duplicate execution of print setting. SOLUTION: The bookbinding application receives DEVMODE from a printer driver, and sets in DEVMODE (S1311) so that the functions possible to be realized in both of a printer and the bookbinding application will not to be realized by the printer. The bookbinding application forms a printing instruction document on the basis of the setting for printing, and a despooler and printer deriver generate commands possible to be carried out by the printer on the basis of the instruction document and a document to be printed, and transmits it as a printer document data (S1315).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used in a document processing system for collecting output data generated by various programs such as a document processing program and an image editing program into one document and providing an editing function for the document. And a print control method for the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Different types of data such as characters, tables, and images have different structures for defining the data and different editing operations on the data. Therefore, various application programs are provided according to the types of data. . The user uses applications according to the type of data such as a character processing program for editing characters, a spreadsheet program for editing tables, and an image editing program for editing images.

As described above, a user generally uses an application program for each type of data. However, as a document that the user intends to create, for example, a character and a table, rather than a document composed of only one type of data, such as only a character, a table, or an image,
Documents composed of multiple types of data such as characters and images are more common. Therefore, in order to create a target document including a plurality of types of data, the user needs to print the data for each application by using the printing function of each application and combine the printed materials in a desired order.

[0006] Alternatively, there is a program called a so-called office suite that forms a single integrated application by various applications and provides a function of combining data generated by the respective applications to form a single document. When using this integrated application, the user can combine the data created by each application into one target document by a specific application included in the integrated application.

In recent years, a system for storing documents such as manuals, catalogs and conference materials as electronic documents and printing as many copies as needed (POD: Print On Deman)
d) is widespread. The POD system uploads the document file created by the user to the print management server,
The operator of the print management server causes the document file to be printed. In such a system, instead of giving an instruction each time as in normal printing, such as which printer to output, what format to output, and what function of the printer to use for printing, When the operator first issues a print instruction for a document to be printed, the content instruction described above on the print management server is converted into an electronic document to form a print instruction document (generally called a job ticket), and this job ticket information is used as the print management server. By registering in, it is possible to obtain the same output format every time even when there is no print document creator.

Further, some of such systems have a function of distributing processing to a plurality of printers registered in advance in order to speed up printing. Also,
In order to guarantee printing even when the designated printer becomes unusable due to some reason, some printers have a function of printing on behalf of the designated printer.
When this function is used, the print instruction described in the print instruction document (job ticket) is transmitted to a plurality of printers in the same manner, and the same product is obtained by any printer. In addition, in order to print with a plurality of printers under different conditions (such as the number of copies), it is necessary to register each job ticket in the print management server.

[0007]

As described above, the conventional PO
In the D system, it is necessary to register the job ticket in the print management server in advance, and in order to use the functions of the POD system such as distributed printing, the print management server of the POD system must be used, which reduces the cost. There is a problem in that

Therefore, in recent years, there has been considered a printing system having a distributed printing function for directly generating a print job for a plurality of printers from a client PC. However, a printing system having such a distributed printing function is
Each time the client PC issues a print instruction, it is necessary to set print settings for each of the distributed printer drivers, and there is always a need for a print document creator. In addition, when a user combines printed materials from various applications to create one target document, for example, in order to assign page numbers to each page, all the necessary data should be printed out and put together as a document. You need to determine the page number. Then, each application writes the determined page number for each page (called a logical page or a document page) of the document created by the application.
Even if the application program has the function of assigning page numbers, if there are discontinuous portions, the user must also specify the page numbers for those portions. Also, when the pages of the target document are rearranged, the page numbers must be reassigned accordingly. Alternatively, a plurality of original pages may be combined into one page as a printed matter (which is called a physical page or a printed page), or single-sided printing may be changed to double-sided printing. Even if it is changed, the application needs to be edited and reprinted.

As described above, since the application that can manage the data varies depending on the type of data, the user himself has to manually provide the interface between the applications. This means that the user needs a lot of labor, which causes a decrease in productivity. In addition, since many people are involved, an error is likely to occur.

On the other hand, when a target document is created using the integrated application, various data can be arranged in a data state without printing out. For this reason, less labor is required than when a target document is created by combining printed materials. However, the application for editing / creating various data is limited to the one included in the integrated application, and the application desired by the user cannot always be used. In addition, the target document created by the integrated application is a single document file, which can be edited or edited in file units.
Management of output etc. is performed. Therefore, even if the format is set for a part of the document file, there are many restrictions due to the function of the application. For example, it is necessary to change the format setting for each part where the format is changed and reprint. For this reason, much labor is required and productivity is low, which is no different from the method described above.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, there is a problem in the case where it is desired to perform the same processing in the document processing system in a more advanced and detailed manner with respect to the processing performed in the printer. For example, when using a printer that has a function to add a margin on the left side but does not have a function to add a margin on the right side, the process may be performed depending on whether the user has a margin on the left side or a margin on the right side. I have to change. Or, for example, when reducing the page to be printed and printing two pages on one sheet,
If the system performs the process, the printer also performs the same process, resulting in double processing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and does not allow the printer to process the function of the printer corresponding to the function for which advanced or detailed setting is made in the system. It is an object of the present invention to provide a print control apparatus and method that can prevent duplication of processing by changing to different instructions.

Further, the present invention enables creation and editing of a document in which data created by an application program desired by a user is collected, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a document processing system and method which enhances the operability and improves the productivity of document editing.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following constitution.

A print control apparatus for printing a document by a printer, wherein means for acquiring a function setting provided in the printer and an item of the function setting which overlaps with the layout information of the print document are not processed by the printer. And changing means for changing the function setting, and means for generating the print instruction document and print data according to the print document and transmitting the print data to the printer.

[0016] Preferably, the changing unit determines whether the printer has valid settings for the duplicate items in the layout information of the print document, and for the items having the valid settings, for the items. , Change the settings so that the device does not perform processing.

Preferably, the function setting includes at least one of page layout, page arrangement order, stamp, number of copies, binding direction, and binding margin as the overlapping items.

[0018] Preferably, the print document layout information further comprises a user interface means for allowing the user to set valid or invalid settings for items overlapping with the function settings of the printer.

Preferably, it further comprises means for converting the output data of the application program into the document.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment <System Outline> An outline of a document processing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this document processing system, a data file created by a general application is converted into an electronic manuscript file by an electronic manuscript writer. The bookbinding application provides a function of editing the electronic manuscript file. The details will be described below.

<System Configuration and Operation> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a software configuration of a document processing system suitable for the information processing system of this embodiment. The word processing system
It is realized by a digital computer 100 which is a preferred embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention. The general application 101 is word processing, spreadsheet, photo retouch, draw or paint,
It is an application program that provides functions such as presentation and text editing, and has a printing function for the OS. These applications use a predetermined interface (generally called GDI) provided by an operating system (OS) when printing application data such as created document data and image data. That is,
In order to print the created data, the application 101 transmits an output command (called a GDI function) of a predetermined OS-dependent format to the output module of the OS that provides the interface. The output module that receives the output command converts the command into a format that can be processed by an output device such as a printer, and outputs (called a GDI function). The format that the output device can process depends on the device type, manufacturer,
A device driver is provided for each device because it differs depending on the model, and the OS uses the device driver to convert commands, generate print data, and enclose it in JL (Job Language) to create a print job. Is generated. When using Windows of Microsoft Corporation as the OS, a module called GDI (Graphic Device Interface) corresponds to the above-mentioned output module.

The electronic manuscript writer 102 is an improved version of the above-mentioned device driver, and is a software module provided for realizing the present document processing system.
However, the electronic manuscript writer 102 is not intended for a specific output device, and the bookbinding application 104 described later is used.
The output command is converted into a format that can be processed by the printer driver 106. The format after conversion by the electronic document writer 102 (hereinafter referred to as “electronic document format”) is
It does not matter as long as the manuscript in page units can be expressed in a detailed format. Among substantial standard formats, for example, the PDF format by Adobe Systems, the SVG format, etc. can be adopted as the electronic manuscript format. Application 1
When the electronic manuscript writer 102 is used with 01, the electronic manuscript writer 102 is designated as the device driver used for output, and then the printing is executed. However,
The electronic manuscript file as it is created by the electronic manuscript writer 102 does not have a complete format as an electronic manuscript file. Therefore, it is the binding application 1 that specifies the electronic manuscript writer 102 as the device driver.
04, under the control of which the conversion of application data into an electronic document file is executed. The bookbinding application 104 completes the new incomplete electronic document file generated by the electronic document writer 102 as an electronic document file having a format described below. In the following, when it is necessary to clearly identify this point, the electronic manuscript writer 10
The file created in 2 is called an electronic manuscript file, and the electronic manuscript file given a structure by the bookbinding application is called a book file. Further, when there is no particular need to distinguish between them, the document file, the electronic manuscript file, and the book file generated by the application are all called a document file (or document data).

In this way, the electronic original writer 102 is designated as the device driver, and the general application 101
The application data is printed on the page defined by the application 101 (hereinafter referred to as “logical page” or “original page”) by printing the data.
Call. ) Is converted into an electronic manuscript format and stored as an electronic manuscript file 103 in a storage medium such as a hard disk. The hard disk may be a local drive included in the computer that implements the document processing system of this embodiment, or may be a drive provided on the network when connected to the network. .

The bookbinding application 104 provides the user with a function for reading the electronic manuscript file or the book file 103 and editing the file. However, the bookbinding application 104 does not provide a function of editing the content of each page, but a function of editing the structure of a chapter or a book, which will be described later and is configured with the page as a minimum unit.

When printing the book file 103 edited by the bookbinding application 104, the bookbinding application 104 causes the electronic original despooler 10 to print.
5 is activated. The electronic manuscript despooler 105 reads out the specified book file from the hard disk, generates an output command suitable for the output module of the OS described above in order to print each page in the format described in the book file, and outputs the command (not shown). Output to the output module.
At that time, the printer 10 used as an output device
7 drivers 106 are designated as device drivers. The output module converts the output command received using the printer driver 106 of the designated printer 107 into a device command that can be interpreted and executed by the printer 107. The device command is the printer 107
The image corresponding to the command is printed by the printer 107.

FIG. 2 is a hardware block diagram of the computer 100. In FIG. 2, the CPU 201
Programs such as the OS, general applications, and bookbinding applications stored in the program ROM of the ROM 203 or loaded from the hard disk 211 to the RAM 202 are executed to realize the software configuration of FIG. 1 and the procedure of the flowchart described later. RAM
202 functions as a main memory and a work area of the CPU 201. Keyboard controller (KBC) 20
Reference numeral 5 controls a key input from the keyboard 209 or a pointing device (not shown). A CRT controller (CRTC) 206 controls the display on the CRT display 210. Disk controller (DKC) 207
Controls access to a hard disk (HD) 211 or a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD) (not shown) that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files to be described later, and the like. PRTC208 is the connected printer 1
Controls the exchange of signals with 07. The NC 212 is connected to the network and executes a communication control process with another device connected to the network.

<Electronic Document Data Format> Before referring to the details of the editing application 104, the data format of the book file will be described. The book file has a three-layer structure that imitates a paper medium book. The upper layer is called a “book” and imitates one book, and attributes relating to the book in general are defined. The intermediate layer below it corresponds to the chapter in the book and is also called the "chapter". Attributes can be defined for each chapter. The lower layer is a “page”, which corresponds to each page defined by the application program. Attributes can be defined for each page. A book may contain multiple chapters, and a chapter may contain multiple pages.

FIG. 3A is a diagram schematically showing an example of the format of a book file. The books, chapters, and pages in the book file of this example are indicated by the corresponding nodes. One book file contains one book. Since the book and the chapter are concepts for defining the structure as a book, they include defined attribute values and links to lower layers as their entities. The page has, as an entity, data for each page output by the application program. Therefore, in addition to its attribute value, the page includes the substance of the manuscript page (manuscript page data) and a link to each manuscript page data. The print page when output to a paper medium or the like may include a plurality of original pages. This structure is not displayed as a link but is displayed as an attribute in each hierarchy of book, chapter, and page.

In FIG. 3, a book 301 has book attributes defined and two chapters 302A and 302A are provided.
02B is linked. By this link, Chapter 30
It is displayed that 2A and 302B are included in the book 301. Chapter 302A includes pages 303A and 303
B is linked, indicating that these pages are included. Attribute values are defined in each of the pages 303A and 303B, and links to the document page data (1) and (2), which are the substance thereof, are included. These links point to the data (1) and (2) of the manuscript page data 304 shown in FIG. 3B, and the pages 303A and 303B.
Indicates that the document is the original page data (1) and (2).

FIG. 4 is a list of book attributes. For items that can be defined redundantly with the lower layer, the attribute value of the lower layer is preferentially adopted. Therefore, for an item included only in the book attribute, the value defined in the book attribute is a valid value throughout the book. However, items that overlap with the lower layer have the meaning as default values when they are not defined in the lower layer. Note that each item shown does not correspond specifically to one item,
Some include multiple related items.

FIG. 5 is a list of chapter attributes, and FIG. 6 is a list of page attributes. The relationship between chapter attributes and page attributes is similar to the relationship between book attributes and lower layer attributes.

The items unique to the book attribute are six items including a printing method, bookbinding details, a front / back cover, index sheets, slip sheets, and chapter breaks. These are the items defined throughout the book. As the printing method attribute, three values of single-sided printing, double-sided printing and bookbinding printing can be designated. Bookbinding printing is a bundle of a specified number of sheets, folded in half,
This is a method of printing in a format that enables bookbinding by splicing the bundles together. As the bookbinding detail attribute, when bookbinding printing is designated, the spread direction, the number of sheets to be bundled, and the like can be designated.

The front cover / back cover attribute includes designation of adding sheets to serve as a front cover and a back cover when printing electronic document files that are put together as a book, and designation of print contents on the added sheets. Index paper attributes are
Specifying the insertion of index paper with ears, which is prepared separately for the printing device, as a chapter break and the index (ears)
Includes specifying print contents for the part. This attribute is provided when the printing device used by the inserter that has the insert function to insert the paper prepared separately from the printing paper at the desired position is used, or multiple paper cassettes can be used. Effective in some cases. The same applies to the slip sheet attribute.

The slip sheet attribute includes designation of insertion of a sheet supplied from an inserter or a sheet cassette as a chapter break, and designation of a sheet feeding source when inserting a slip sheet.

The chapter break attribute is, at the chapter break,
This includes designation of whether to use a new paper, a new print page, or do nothing in particular. In single-sided printing, the use of new paper has the same meaning as the use of new print page. In double-sided printing, if "Use new paper" is specified, consecutive chapters will not be printed on one sheet of paper, but if "Use new print page" is specified, consecutive chapters will be 1 It can be printed on the front and back of a sheet of paper.

With regard to chapter attributes, there are no items unique to chapters, and all items overlap with book attributes. Therefore, if the definition in the chapter attribute and the definition in the book attribute are different,
The value defined in the chapter attribute takes precedence. Items common only to book attributes and chapter attributes are paper size, paper orientation, N-
There are five items: up print designation, enlargement / reduction, and paper discharge method. Among these, the N-up print designation attribute is an item for designating the number of original pages included in one print page. Possible layouts are 1x1, 1x2, 2x2, 3x3,
There are 4x4 etc. The paper discharge method attribute is an item for designating whether or not the staple processing is performed on the discharged paper, and the effectiveness of this attribute depends on whether or not the printing apparatus used has the staple function.

Items unique to the page attribute include a page rotation attribute, zoom, layout designation, annotation, and page division. The page rotation attribute is an item for designating a rotation angle when arranging a document page on a print page. The zoom attribute is an item for designating the scaling factor of a document page. The scaling factor is specified with the size of the virtual logical page area being 100%. The virtual logical page area is an area occupied by one manuscript page when manuscript pages are arranged according to the designation such as N-up. For example, 1x
If it is 1, the virtual logical page area is an area corresponding to one print page, and if it is 1 × 2, each side of one print page is reduced to about 70%.

Attributes common to books, chapters, and pages include watermark attributes and header / footer attributes. The watermark is a separately designated image or character string that is printed over the data created by the application. The header and footer are watermarks printed on the upper and lower margins of each page, respectively. However, in the header / footer, items that can be specified by variables such as page number and date and time are prepared. The contents that can be specified in the watermark attribute and the header / footer attribute are common to chapters and pages, but they are different from them for books. In the book, the contents of the watermark and header / footer can be set, and it is possible to specify how to print the watermark and header / footer throughout the book. On the other hand, in chapters and pages, watermarks and headers set in the book are
You can specify whether to print the footer.

<Book File Generation Procedure> The book file has the structure and contents described above. Next, a procedure for creating a book file by the bookbinding application 104 and the electronic document writer 102 will be described. Book file creation is a bookbinding application 1
It is realized as a part of the book file editing operation by 04. FIG. 7 shows a procedure for opening a book file by the bookbinding application 104.

First, the bookbinding application 104 determines whether the book file to be opened is a new one to be created or an existing one (step S701). In the case of new creation, the bookbinding application 104 newly creates a book file that does not include chapters (step S702). In the example shown in FIG. 3, the newly created book file is a book node having only the book node 301 and having no link to the chapter node. As the book attribute, a set of attributes prepared in advance for new creation is applied. Then, a user interface (UI) screen for editing the new book file is displayed (step S704). FIG. 11 is an example of a UI screen when a new book file is created. In this case, since the book file has no substantial content, nothing is displayed on the UI screen 1100.

On the other hand, if there is an existing book file, the bookbinding application 104 opens the designated book file (step S703), and according to the structure, attributes, and contents of the book file, the user interface (U
I) Display the screen. FIG. 10 is an example of this UI screen. The UI screen 1100 includes a tree portion 1101 showing the structure of a book and a preview portion 1102 displaying a printed state. In the tree portion 1101, chapters included in the book and pages included in each chapter are displayed in a tree structure as shown in FIG. Pages displayed in the tree portion 1101 are original pages. The preview portion 1102 displays the content of the print page in a reduced size. The display order reflects the structure of the book.

Now, the application data converted into the electronic document file by the electronic document writer 102 can be added to the opened book file as a new chapter. This function is called an electronic manuscript import function. By importing the electronic manuscript into the book file newly created by the procedure of FIG. 7, the book file is given a substance. This function is activated by dragging and dropping application data on the screen of FIG. FIG. 8 shows the procedure for importing an electronic manuscript.

First, the application program that has generated the designated application data is activated, and the electronic document writer 102 is designated as a device driver to print out the application data, thereby converting the application data into electronic document data (step S801). When the conversion is completed, it is determined whether the converted data is image data (step S802). Under the Windows OS, this determination can be performed based on the file extension of application data. For example, it can be determined that the extension is "bmp", which is Windows bitmap data, "jpg" is jpeg-compressed image data, and "tiff" is tiff format image data. Further, in the case of such image data, it is possible to directly generate the electronic document file from the image data without activating the application as in S801, and thus the process of S801 can be omitted.

If it is not the image data, the bookbinding application 104 adds the electronic manuscript file generated in step S801 to the book of the currently opened book file as a new chapter (step S80).
3). As for the chapter attribute, the value of the book attribute is copied for the one common to the book attribute, and for the other attribute, it is set to the prescribed value prepared in advance.

In the case of image data, as a general rule, no new chapter is added, and the step S is added to the designated chapter.
Each manuscript page included in the electronic manuscript file generated in 801 is added (step S804). However, if the book file is a newly created file, a new chapter is created and each page of the electronic manuscript file is added as a page belonging to that chapter. The page attribute is given the attribute value for the attribute common to the upper layer, and the value is given for the attribute inherited in the application data to the electronic document file. For example, when N-up is designated in the application data, the attribute value is inherited. In this way, a new book file is created or a new chapter is added.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating an electronic document file by the electronic document writer 102 in step S801 of FIG. First, create a new electronic manuscript file and open it (step S
901). An application corresponding to the designated application data is activated, and an output command is transmitted to the output module of the OS using the electronic document writer 102 as a device driver. The output module converts the received output command into electronic document format data by the electronic document writer and outputs the data (step S902). The output destination is the electronic document file opened in step S901. The electronic manuscript writer 102 determines whether the conversion is completed for all the designated data (step S90).
3) If it is completed, the electronic document file is closed (step S904). The electronic document file generated by the electronic document writer 102 is a file containing the document page data entity shown in FIG.

<Editing Book File> As described above, a book file can be created from application data. With respect to the generated book file, the following editing operations can be performed on chapters and pages. (1) Add new (2) Delete (3) Copy (4) Cut (5) Paste (6) Move (7) Change chapter name (8) Renumber page numbers (9) Insert cover page (10) Insert sheet Insert (11) Insert index paper (12) Page layout for each original page.

In addition, it is possible to cancel an editing operation that has been performed once and to redo the canceled operation. These editing functions allow you to combine multiple book files, rearrange chapters and pages in the book file, delete chapters and pages in the book file, change the layout of original pages, insert slip sheets and index sheets, etc. Operation becomes possible. When you do these operations,
The search result is reflected in the attributes shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, or in the structure of the book file. For example,
When a new blank page addition operation is performed, a blank page is inserted at the specified location. This blank page is treated as an original page. Further, if the layout of the manuscript page is changed, the contents of the change are reflected in the attributes such as the printing method, N-up printing, front / back cover, index sheet, slip sheet, and chapter break.

<Output of Book File> The book file created and edited as described above is intended for print output. When the user selects a file menu from the UI screen 1100 of the bookbinding application shown in FIG. 10 and selects print from the file menu, the output is performed by the designated output device. At this time, the electronic original despooler 105
Generates an OS output command, for example, a Windows GDI command, from a book file created by the bookbinding application 104, and sends it to an output module, for example, GDI. The output module generates a command suitable for the device by the designated printer driver 106 and sends it to the device.

<Other System Configuration> The outline of the document processing system of this embodiment is as described above. This is a stand-alone system, but the server / client system that extends it has almost the same configuration and
A book file is created and edited by the procedure. However, the book file and print processing are managed by the server.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the structure of a server / client type document processing system. The client document processing system is a stand-alone system that includes a client module DOMS (Document Output).
Management Service: Document output management service) Driver 109 and DOMS print service module 11
0, DS (Document Service) Client Module 10
It has a configuration in which 8 is added. The client document processing system 1200 includes a document management server 1201, a centralized print management server 1202, and a print server 1203.
Are connected. These servers are typically connected to the client word processing system by a network, but if the server also acts as a client at the same time, they are connected by interprocess communication simulating communication between networks. In FIG. 12, both the document management server 1201 and the centralized printing management server 1202 are connected to the client, but only one of them may exist on the network. If the connected server is a document management server, the document management server client system 1201SC including the client module is a print management server client system 1202SC including the client module is a stand-alone type. Added to the document management system.

The document management server 1201 is a server for storing book files created / edited by the bookbinding application 104. When the book file is managed by the document management server 1201, the book file is stored in the database 1211 of the document management server 1201 instead of or in addition to the local HD of the client PC. Bookbinding application 10
4 and the document management server 1201 store and read the book file by the DS client 108 and D.
This is performed via the S core 1212.

The centralized print management server 1202 is a server that manages printing of book files stored in the client document management system 1200 or stored in the document management server 1201. The print request from the client is sent via the DOMS driver 109 and the DOMS print service module 110 to the DOMSWG server module 1221 of the central print management server 1202.
Sent to. The centralized print management server 1202 uses the client D when printing with the client printer.
When the electronic document data is passed to the electronic document despooler 105 via the OMS print service module 110 and is printed by the print server 1203, the DOMS print service module 1 of the print server 1203 is used.
Send to 203. The centralized print management server performs, for example, a security check on the qualifications of a user who has issued a print request for a stored book file, and saves a log of print processing. in this way,
The document processing system can be realized as a stand-alone system or a client / server system.

<Output Procedure by Document Processing System> The output processing of the book file has been briefly described above, but a more detailed processing procedure at the time of output by the document processing system will be described below.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure by the bookbinding application and despooler at the time of output by the document processing system. In the following, the bookbinding application and despooler are collectively called the system.

First, in step S1301, the bookbinding application reads and receives both the print document (corresponding to the above-mentioned book file) and the print instruction document from the hard disk or the like in response to a user's instruction. The print instruction document is an electronic document attached to a print document to be printed and in which information on how to print the target print document is described. Even if the print document and the print instruction document are integrated into one document file, the same processing can be performed. The contents of this print instruction document are changed by the user changing the print settings on the user interface screen shown in FIG.

The overall structure of the print instruction document is as shown in FIG. The print instruction document includes a page layout information section 150 that describes a printer device name 1501 that is an output target, a print document name 1502 that is a print target, and the layout and order of printing the pages of the print document.
3. A printer instruction information section 1504 which describes an instruction to the output target printer.

FIG. 16 shows an example of detailed settings in the page layout information section which describes in S403 the layout and order of printing the pages of the print document. The page layout 1601 indicates how many pages of data are printed on one sheet, and there are 1 page / sheet, 2 pages / sheet, 4 pages / sheet, 16 pages / sheet, and the like. Arrangement order 1602 shows an arrangement when printing data of a plurality of pages on one sheet, and there are left-to-right direction, right-to-left direction, left-to-down direction, right-to-down direction, and the like. Stamp 16
Reference numeral 03 is for drawing an image or the like on paper, and there are images such as "Confidential" and "Confidential". Number of copies 1
Reference numeral 604 sets the number of print copies. Binding direction 1
Reference numeral 605 denotes an object for designating the direction in which the printed material is bound. The margin designated by the binding margin 1606 is set in the printed material, and the processing may be performed in conjunction with the paper ejection direction 1607.

Bookbinding application 104 of the present embodiment
Performs the page layout setting described in detail above on the document data (book file) to be printed indicated by the print document name 1502, and sets the set data via the despooler 105 to the printer specified by the printer device name 1501. Send to.

FIG. 17 shows a printer instruction information section 150.
4 is an example of detailed setting in FIG. The paper discharge method 1701 is
This item is used to specify the processing of ejected paper and includes stapling and sorting. The printing method 1702 is an item that specifies single-sided printing, double-sided printing, or the like. Paper feeding method 1703
Is an item that specifies the portion to feed the paper, and includes upper cassette, lower cassette, and bypass tray. Resolution 170
Reference numeral 4 is an item for specifying the resolution, which includes high resolution fine and normal resolution normal.

In the present embodiment, after the above-described detailed settings are set in the printer described by the printer device name 1501, printing is performed by sending data to the printer.

On the other hand, FIG. 18 shows an example of the structure of the instruction information when the system actually instructs the printer to print. This instruction information is Microsoft Windows
In S, it is called DEVMODE. DEVMODE is
The Windows OS is a structure that stores the contents that can be set by the properties of the printer driver, and is provided by the OS. The DEVMODE is referred to by the printer driver to which the print data is passed when generating a print command to be sent to the printer. The printer driver generates a print command to cause the printer to function as described in DEVMODE and sends it to the printer. In the present embodiment, DEVMODE will be described as an example to describe the document processing system that operates under the Windows OS. But O
In general, the S generally has a mechanism for realizing a process corresponding to the function of the device for a device-dependent part such as the function of the printer. Therefore, the essence of the present invention does not change even when using another OS.

DEVMODE is a common part open to the public,
There is an extension that can be set for each printer. In the drawings of this embodiment, for simplification, only relevant portions are extracted.

The device name 1801 contains the printer name of the output target. For DEVMODE size 1802, DEVMO
The size of each common part and extended part of DE and the total size can be stored. As the paper 1803, the size of the output paper is set. The paper feeding direction (vertical / horizontal) is stored in the placement direction 1804. Driver version 1
805 contains the driver version. The color mode 1806 is an item for designating whether to print data in color or monochrome in the case of a color printer.

The page layout 1807 is an item indicating how many pages of data are to be printed on one side of one sheet, and 1 page / sheet, 2 pages / sheet, 4 pages / sheet, 16 pages / sheet, etc. is there. Arrangement order 1808 is an item indicating an arrangement when printing data of a plurality of pages on one sheet, and is from left to right, right to left, left to down, right to down,
and so on.

The stamp 1809 is an item for drawing an image or the like on a sheet separately from the document.
There is an image such as “ential”.

The number of copies 1810 is an item for setting the number of copies to be printed. The binding direction 1811 is an item for designating the binding direction of the printed material, and the margin designated by the binding margin 1812 is set in the printed material. At times, processing may be performed in conjunction with the paper discharge method 1813.

The paper discharge method 1813 is an item for designating the processing of the discharged paper, and includes stapling and sorting.
The processing position may be linked with the binding direction in S711. The printing method 1814 is an item that specifies single-sided printing, double-sided printing, or the like. The paper feed method 1815 is
It is an item for designating a portion to feed a sheet, and includes a cassette 1, a cassette 2, a manual feed tray, and the like. Resolution 1816
Is an item for specifying the resolution, and includes fine and normal.

Returning to the description of FIG. 13, step S130.
When the bookbinding application receives the print document and the print paper self-document in step 1, the print instruction document is opened in step S1302.

The bookbinding application reads the printer device name 1501 specified in the print instruction document in S1303. It is checked whether the printer device name is designated in the print instruction document (S1304). If no printer device name is specified, a default printer name registered in advance in a predetermined storage location is acquired and that printer device is set as an output target (S130).
6).

Next, it is checked whether or not a driver for the printer device (target printer) determined as the output target is installed (S1307),
If the printer has not been installed (S1308), an error occurs and the user is notified that the printer cannot be used (S1309).

Subsequently, the DEVMODE of the target printer is acquired from the driver of the target printer (S131).
0).

After that, the DEVMO described in the next and subsequent sections.
An adjustment process for rewriting DE is performed (S1311).

After adjusting the DEVMODE, the DEVMODE is notified to the printer device in order to give an instruction to notify the printer (S1312).

Subsequently, the contents of the print document are expanded based on the expansion instruction information described in the print instruction document, and the expanded data is sent to the printer device (S1313). This processing is performed by the despooler 105. It also notifies the printer that all print data has been sent (S1).
314).

When all the printing is completed, the user is notified to that effect (S1315), and the printing is completed.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a process for changing the settings of the DEVMODE read in step 1311 of FIG. 13 for the items to be processed by the electronic document despooler 105 in advance so as not to be duplicated by the printer.

In the document processing system of this embodiment, items 1807 to 18 in FIG. 18 to be processed by the printer device.
With respect to No. 12, by performing more detailed settings in the system, higher-level processing than that performed by the printer device is realized. Therefore, those items 1897-1812
Has a table of default values so that the printer device does not perform processing.

In step S1401, the despooler 10
In 5, the table in which the default values for the parts processed by the despooler are stored is read. This default table is stored in the hard disk 211 of FIG. Further, for example, the default table is prepared in advance for items to be realized by the bookbinding application among the settings provided by the bookbinding application. Then, of the items that can be set in DEVMODE according to the function of the target printer, default values are set for items for which a default table is prepared.

In S1402, the default value of each item is read from the table and reflected in the corresponding DEVMODE portion (S1403). It is checked whether all the items are finished (S1404), and the process is finished.

DEVMODE described in FIG.
Is the DEVMODE shown in FIG. 18 acquired from the printer.
On the other hand, since the system performs the process shown in FIG. 16, the process shown in FIG. 14 reflecting the default value corresponding thereto is added. Ie the page layout,
In order to perform the print processing in which the values shown in FIG. 16 are reflected for each item of the arrangement order, the stamp, the number of copies, the binding direction, and the binding margin, the bookbinding application generates a print instruction document that reflects the values of those items. . And instead of that,
A default value is set in DEVMODE, whereby "one page print" is set for the page layout, and the setting of the layout order, stamp, number of copies, binding direction, and binding margin is not performed.

Since the despooler creates an output command according to the print instruction document, the output command is generated in a manner that reflects each item value in FIG. Since these items in DEVMODE are not set, duplicate processing by the printer can be prevented.

Further, by storing the corrected print instruction document, it is possible to check the function of the printer device again after the next time, or even if the function is checked again.
Almost no correction is required, and the optimized print instruction enables quick print processing.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 20 shows a DEVMO.
16 is a flowchart of another embodiment of processing for changing DE (processing of FIG. 14 in the second embodiment). It should be noted that this embodiment uses step S of FIG.
The part other than that 1311 is replaced with FIG. 20 is the same as the first embodiment.

In the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to select whether the system makes more detailed settings for the items 1807 to 1812 processed by the printer device, or whether the settings of the printer device remain valid. ing.

FIG. 21 is a detailed example of the page layout information section 1503 shown in FIG. 15. Among the page layout information, the stamp item 2103, the binding direction item 2105, and the binding margin 21.
Reference numeral 06 indicates that the printer settings are made valid and the printer is made to perform the settings.

In step S2001 of FIG. 20, the system reads the table in which the default values for the parts processed by the system are stored. In S2002, the default value of each item is read from the table. It is checked whether the instruction for the item is device setting valid (S2003). If the device setting is valid, the DEVMODE setting is left as it is and the process proceeds to the next item. If the device is not valid, the default value read in S2002 is reflected in the corresponding DEVMODE portion (S2004).

DEVMODE described in FIG.
Is the DEVMODE shown in FIG. 18 acquired from the printer.
On the other hand, in the process shown in FIG. 21, only the setting made by the system is reflected in the default value.
The processing shown in is added.

In the above procedure, the values in the default table can be set by the user from the user interface screen or the like.

When the processing of FIG. 20 is performed,
In the print instruction document generated by the bookbinding application, the print settings are not reflected in the process of entrusting the printer. For example, when the stamp is executed by the printer as in the present embodiment, the bookbinding application does not describe an instruction to duplicately print the stamp on each page in the print instruction document. Therefore, when the user is to set whether to enable or disable the device function through the user interface screen, the contents of the print instruction document should be changed when the setting is fixed or when printing is executed. It is necessary to change what the printer does so that it is not reflected in the output command.

As described above, the function provided by the printer can be set by the printer or the system. The printer implementation generally has low functionality, but does not consume system resources, so that output processing can be completed in a short time and the system load does not become heavy. Therefore, it is possible to set whether the function is enabled or disabled by the printer depending on whether the high function or the low load is selected. Of course, it is possible to prevent the same processing from being repeated.

[0092]

As described above, when the print instruction described in the print instruction document includes an instruction that cannot be realized by the designated printer device, it is sufficient not to give the instruction to the printer. Instead, by correcting the data arrangement information and arranging and transmitting the data so that the printer can correctly process the data, the minimum guarantee of the print result can be realized.

By saving the corrected print instruction document, the function of the printer device will not be checked again after the next time, or even if the function is checked.
Almost no correction is required, and the optimized print instruction enables quick print processing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a stand-alone document processing system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computer that realizes a document processing system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a structure of a book file.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a list of book attributes.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a list of chapter attributes.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a list of page attributes.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a procedure for opening a book file.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a procedure for importing an electronic document file into a book file.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a procedure for converting application data into an electronic document file.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface screen when an existing book file is opened.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface screen when a new book file is opened.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a client-server type document processing system.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an output procedure by the despooler according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of a processing example of rewriting DEVMODE.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of a print instruction document.

FIG. 16:

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a detailed content example of a print instruction document.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of DEVMODE.

FIG. 19 is a DEVMOD after the print instruction document is rewritten.
It is a figure of the example of contents of E.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart of a processing example of rewriting DEVMODE in another embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of detailed contents of a print instruction document according to another embodiment.

FIG. 22 is an example of the contents of DEVMODE after rewriting a print instruction document in another embodiment.

Continued front page    F term (reference) 2C061 AP01 BB15 HH01 HH03 HJ08                       HK11 HK14 HN05 HN15 HN26                       HP06                 2C087 AB05 BD46 CA02 CA03                 5B021 AA01 AA02 BB01

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A print control device for printing a document by a printer, wherein means for acquiring a function setting included in the printer, and the printer performs processing of an item of the function setting that overlaps with layout information of the print document. A print control apparatus comprising: a changing unit that changes a function setting so that the print setting document does not exist; and a unit that generates print data according to the print instruction document and the print document and transmits the print data to a printer. 2. The changing unit determines whether the printer has valid settings for the duplicate items in the layout information of the print document, and for the items having valid settings, for the items, 2. The setting is changed so that the device does not perform processing.
The printing control device described in 1. 3. The function setting includes at least one of a page layout, a page arrangement order, a stamp, a number of copies, a binding direction, and a binding margin as the duplicate items. The print control device described. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a user interface unit that allows a user to set valid or invalid settings for items that overlap with the function settings of the printer in the layout information of the print document. The print control device described. 5. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for converting output data of an application program into the document. 6. A print control method for causing a printer to print a document, the method comprising: acquiring a function setting included in the printer; and performing a process on the function setting item that overlaps with layout information of the print document. A print control method comprising: a changing step of changing a function setting so that the print instruction document does not exist; and a step of generating print data corresponding to the print instruction document and the print document and transmitting the print data to a printer. 7. The changing step determines whether the printer has valid settings for the duplicate item in the layout information of the print document, and for the item having the valid setting, for the item, 7. The setting is changed so that the device does not perform processing.
The printing control method described in. 8. The function setting includes at least one of a page layout, a page arrangement order, a stamp, the number of copies, a binding direction, and a binding margin as the overlapping items. The print control method described. 9. The method according to claim 6, further comprising a user interface step for allowing the user to set valid or invalid settings for items overlapping with the function settings of the printer in the print document layout information. The print control method described. 10. The print control method according to claim 6, further comprising a step of converting output data of an application program into the document. 11. A computer program for realizing the print control method according to claim 6 by a computer. 12. A computer-readable memory for storing the computer program of claim 11.