JP2003216353A - Print system, print method and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print system capable of realizing the efficiency of print output even when the processing capability of a receiver is deteriorated. <P>SOLUTION: A client receives and acquires the processing capability information of a print server from a print server (S120; YES, S130). Also, application data are converted into GDI data and PDL data (S150, S160), and then whether or not the PDL data should be converted into BMP data is judged based on the acquired processing capability information (S170), and when the judged result is 'BMP', the PDL data are converted into the BMP data, and transmitted to a print server (S180; YES, S190, S200). On the other hand, when the judged result is not 'BMP', the PDL data are transmitted to the print server in the data format as it is (S180; NO, S200). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer which prints out an image based on print data of a first data format, and a print data of a second data format.
The present invention relates to a printing system, a printing method, and a program that include a relay device that converts the data format into the data format and sends the print data to the printer, and a transmission device that transmits print data to the relay device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a plurality of clients, a print server, and a plurality of printers have been connected via a LAN,
A print system in which print data is transmitted from each client to a print server and the print server causes a predetermined printer to print out has become widespread.
Note that a job to be printed out from the client to the printer via the printer server is hereinafter referred to as a "print job".

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an outline of a conventional printing system. As shown in the figure, the client has an OS (Operating System) compatible with the network.
Application software (hereinafter, simply referred to as "application") for creating a document or for creating a graphic that operates on System) is installed.

Documents created and edited using these applications have a data format peculiar to the application. When this document is printed out, data having a data format unique to the application (hereinafter referred to as "data format") is used. , "Application data"), G
DI format data (hereinafter referred to as "GDI data"), PDL format data (hereinafter referred to as "PDL data")
Say. ) And send it to the print server.

Here, PDL (Page Descri
The option language (Language) format is a language for instructing a print image on a printer, and is converted by a printer driver. The printer driver corresponds to the printer to be used and is installed in the client in advance. The GDI format is a data format that the printer driver can process, and the application data is a GDI (GDI (G) that stores a program for graphics processing.
(rackics Device Interface)
Is converted to GDI data. GDI is also installed in the client in advance.

When the print server receives the PDL data from the client, the print server converts the PDL data into bitmap format data (hereinafter simply referred to as "BMP data") and then sends the data to a predetermined printer for BM.
An image is printed out based on the P data.

[0007]

The print server in the conventional print system converts PDL data into BMP data in the order of reception. Therefore, if the print server has sufficient processing capacity to process a print job, this is not a problem. However, for example, when a plurality of PDL data are already accumulated or the received PDL data has a very large capacity. However, there is a problem that the load of processing the print job of the print server becomes large, the processing ability of the print job is significantly reduced, and it takes a long time to print out.

The present invention provides a print system capable of efficiently outputting a print even if the processing capacity of a relay device is reduced,
It is an object to provide a printing method and a program.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a printing system according to the present invention includes a printer that prints out an image based on print data of a first data format and a second print data. What is claimed is: 1. A printing system comprising: a relay device that converts a data format into a first data format and sends the printer data to the printer; and a transmission device that transmits print data to the relay device. An information acquisition means for acquiring information on processing capacity; and a second method based on the acquired information.
Of the data format of the first data format and transmitting the print data to the relay apparatus, the relay apparatus, when the print data received from the transmitter is in the first data format. The print data is transmitted to the printer in the same data format.

According to this structure, for example, when the processing capability of the relay device is lowered, the transmitting device can convert the print data into the first data format and transmit the print data to the relay device. Therefore, the relay device does not need to convert the received print data into the first data format, and the print data received from the transmission device can be transmitted to the printer in the same data format, which reduces the processing of the relay device. In addition, the print output can be efficiently performed.

Here, in the "information concerning the processing capacity of the relay device", in addition to the information showing the processing capacity of the relay device, the print data transmitted from the transmitting device is from the second format to the first format.
It also includes information on whether or not the relay device has the processing capability of converting to the format. Further, the information on whether or not there is a processing capacity capable of performing the conversion processing of the data format is such that when the relay apparatus has the processing capacity of the data conversion, the transmitting apparatus transmits the second data format to the relay apparatus, and If there is no processing capacity in the relay device, the transmitting device transmits the first data format to the relay device. Therefore, the “information regarding the processing capacity of the relay device” is the second data of the print data based on the processing capacity of the relay device. It can also be regarded as a determination result of determining whether to convert from the data format of No. 1 to the first data format.

The information regarding the processing capability of the relay device is information indicating the processing capability of the relay device at the time of transmitting the print data, and the transmitting device transmits the print data to the second data based on the information. First from the data format
The transmitting means is characterized in that the transmitting means converts or does not convert the data format according to the determination result of the determining means and transmits the converted data format.

According to this configuration, the processing capacity of the relay device at the time of transmitting the print data can be accurately grasped, and whether the transmitting device converts the second data format to the first data format or not. Since the determination is made, the print output can be efficiently performed without increasing the processing of the relay device. Further, the transmitting device is a client,
The relay device is a print server. Therefore, for example, it is particularly effective in a print system in which a print server receives print data from a plurality of clients.

Further, the print data transmitted from the transmission device is converted from the second format to the first data format by the relay device and transmitted to the printer. Based on the print data of the first data format by the printer. In a printing method for printing out an image, the transmitting device acquires an information acquisition step of acquiring information regarding the processing capacity of the relay device, and the transmitting device, based on the acquired information,
A first transmitting step of converting the second data format into print data of the first data format and transmitting the print data to the relay apparatus; and the print data received from the transmitting apparatus by the relay apparatus has a first data format. In this case, the second transmission step of transmitting the print data in the same data format to the printer as is.

Therefore, when the processing capacity of the relay device is lowered, the transmitting device can convert the print data into the first data format and transmit the print data to the relay device. Therefore, the relay device does not need to convert the received print data into the first data format, and the print data received from the transmission device can be transmitted to the printer in the same data format, which reduces the processing of the relay device. In addition, the print output can be efficiently performed.

In addition, the print data of the first data format converted from the second data format is sent to the printer and printed out to the relay device, the transmission device transmitting the print data, and the processing capability of the relay device. To execute an information acquisition process of acquiring information about the information and a transmission process of converting the print data from the second data format to the first data format based on the acquired information and transmitting the print data to the relay device. And the program. Therefore, for example, when the processing capability of the relay device is reduced, the transmission device can convert the print data into the first data format and transmit the print data to the relay device. Therefore, in the relay device,
Since it is not necessary to convert the received print data into the first data format and the print data received from the transmission device can be transmitted to the printer in the same data format, the processing of the relay device can be reduced and the print data can be printed. Output can be performed efficiently.

[0017]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a printing system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) 1. Overall Structure FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a printing system according to the present invention.

As shown in the figure, this print system is configured by connecting a print server 102, a client 103, a client 104, a printer 105, and a printer 106 to a network 101, respectively.
In the present embodiment, the network is an Ethernet (registered trademark) LAN 101 (hereinafter, referred to as “LAN10”).
It is written as "1". ) Is used, TCP / IP, FT
According to the communication protocol such as P, the respective devices can communicate with each other.

Applications for creating / editing documents or figures are installed in the clients 103 and 104. When printing out a document or figure created / edited using this application, the clients 103 and 104 send PDL data or BMP data as print data to the print server 102, and the print server 102 receives the print data. If the printed data is PDL data, it is converted to BMP data, and then the converted BMP data or the received BMP
The data is transferred to predetermined printers 105 and 106 and printed out.

Thereafter, the print server 102 receives a print job from the client 103, and the printer 1
A case where the image is printed out on 05 will be described. Figure 2
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a sequence for printing out a document or the like created / edited by the client 103. An outline of a case where a document created using an application is printed out will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG. 2 shows a case where the printer 105 is in a state capable of print output.

When the client 103 inputs a print job, the client 103 transmits a request to execute the print job (hereinafter, simply referred to as “print job execution request”) to the print server 102. In response to this, the print server 102 determines whether to permit execution of the print job from the client 103. When permitting the execution, the client 1 is provided with the information indicating the permission and the information indicating the processing capacity of the print server 102.
Return to 03. On the other hand, when the execution of the print job is not permitted, for example, when the printer 105 is powered off, the information indicating that the execution is not permitted and the information indicating the reason are returned to the client 103.

Here, the information indicating whether or not the print job is permitted to be executed will be referred to as "executability information" below.
Say. Further, for the sake of convenience, the information indicating the processing capability and the information indicating the reason why the print job is not permitted are
It is called "processing capacity information". The client 103 sends the above-mentioned executability information and processing capability information to the print server 102.
When the execution permission information is the information indicating that the permission is granted, the application data is received by GDI.
Converted to data and to PDL data by the printer driver.

Next, based on the received processing capacity information, it is judged whether or not the converted PDL data is converted into BMP data, and if it is converted, the PDL data is converted into BMP data.
Convert to data. Then, the BMP data or PDL data is transmitted to the print server 102. The print data transmitted to the print server 102 will be referred to as “job data” below. Also, B of PDL data
To convert to MP data, the data format of job data is P
This shows that the DL format has been converted to the BMP format.

The print server 102 is a client 1
When the above job data is received from 03, it is determined whether the data is PDL data or BMP data, and if the received data is PDL data, the data is converted to BMP data. B received from the client 103
MP data or BMP converted by the print server 102
By sending data to the printer 105, the printer 1
05 is executing print output.

Next, the structures of the clients 103 and 104, the print server 102, and the printers 105 and 106 will be described below. 1) Configuration of Client The clients 103 and 104 are, for example, personal computers, and include a CPU, a storage unit, a display unit,
It is equipped with a keyboard and mouse. The storage unit is RA
It is composed of an M, a ROM, a hard disk, and the like. The personal computer used for the client 103 is a so-called desktop type personal computer as shown in FIG. 1, and is a display device having a computer main body including a CPU, a storage unit and the like, and a display unit such as a CRT and a liquid crystal display. And the keyboard are provided separately. Further, the personal computer used for the client 104 is a so-called notebook type computer and integrally includes a CPU, a storage unit, a liquid crystal display unit, and a keyboard. Although there are two clients 103 and 104 in FIG. 1,
Actually, many clients may be connected to the LAN 101.

A hard disk of each client 103, 104 has a network-compatible OS such as Win.
Dows2000 (product name of Microsoft Corporation) is installed. Further, in the hard disk, GDI for graphics processing, a device driver (hereinafter, referred to as “printer driver”) for controlling the printers 105 and 106, and the like are installed in advance in addition to the application started on the OS. .

The installed applications include so-called word processing software for creating / editing documents, so-called graphics software for creating / editing images / graphics, and the like. When these applications are used, they are operated by inputting alphanumeric keys or the like from the keyboard and selecting various functions from the mouse.
When printing out the created document,
The print mode is selected by operating the keyboard, mouse, etc. on the application, and the print job is submitted.

As described above, GDI is used to print out documents, figures, etc. created by an application.
It is converted into a format that can be processed by the printer driver, and the converted GDI data is output to the printer driver. The printer driver, like the conventional one, prints a document created using an application to the printer 105,
A function of converting data into PDL format (PDL data) that can be recognized by the 106, and the converted job data (PDL data).
Data or BMP data) to the print server 102, and a function to determine whether or not to convert PDL data into BMP data based on the processing capability information received from the print server 102. It has a function of converting PDL data into BMP data based on the above.

In FIG. 3, the job data is sent to the print server 1.
It is a figure which shows the data structure at the time of transmitting to 02. As shown in the figure, the job data to be transmitted to the print server 102 includes a data main body portion and a header portion added to the head of the data main body portion. PD in the data body
Job data of L data or BMP data is stored. The header part is divided into multiple fields,
The address of the destination address or the source address is stored in the second field. Data format information indicating the data format of the job data stored in the data body is stored in the second field. As the data format information, for example, "BMP" is stored when the job data is BMP data, and "PDL" is stored when the job data is PDL data.

2) Structure of print server The print server 102 includes clients 103 and 104.
When the print job is received from the printer 105, the received print job is transferred to one of the printers 105 and 106, and the documents and figures created / edited by the clients 103 and 104 are printed out to the printers 105 and 106.

As the print server 102, a personal computer is used in this embodiment, and a CPU,
A RAM, a ROM, a storage device such as a hard disk, a display unit, a keyboard and the like are provided. The print server 102 is also a desktop type, as shown in FIG. When the print server 102 receives a print job execution request from the clients 103 and 104 via the LAN 101, the print server 102 determines whether or not the printers 105 and 106 connected to the network can print, and determines whether or not the print job can be executed. , And a function of returning the processing capability information of the print server 102 to the client 103 that issued the print job execution request.

When the print server 102 permits the clients 103 and 104 to execute the print job, the print server registers the print job in the job management table T1. The job management table T1 is for managing print jobs and is provided in, for example, a hard disk. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the job management table T1. Job management table T1
As shown in the figure, has columns of "job number", "client", "data format", "capacity", and "reception time".

The "job number" column indicates the print server 10
2 indicates the order in which the print jobs are received, and the “client” column indicates the client 1 that requested the print job.
03 and 104 are shown. The “data format” column indicates the data format of the job data, and when the job data is received from the clients 103 and 104, as shown in FIG.
It is obtained from the data format information of the header part. The "capacity" column stores the capacity of the received job data.

In the "reception time" column, the client 103,
It shows the time when the print job execution request is received from 104. In addition, in FIG. 1, two clients are LANs.
Although connected to the LAN 101, a large number of clients are actually connected to the LAN 101, and as shown in FIG.
Multiple clients are submitting print jobs.

In response to the received print job execution request, it is determined whether or not printing is possible, for example, by using the SNMP protocol for communication between the print server 102 and the printers 105 and 106, for example. The printer 102 can understand the status of each printer 105 from the MIB information sequentially transmitted from the printer 105.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data structure used when the executability information and the processing capability information are transmitted from the print server 102. As shown in the figure, this data structure is composed of a data main body portion in which processing capacity information is stored and a header portion added to the head of the data main body portion. The header part is divided into a plurality of fields, and the address of the destination address or the source address is stored in the first field. Executability information is stored in the second field. As the executability information, for example, “OK” is stored when the execution of the print job is permitted in response to the received print job execution request, and conversely, “NO” is stored when the execution is not permitted.

In the processing capability information, the executability information is "OK".
In this case, for example, the schedule of the print server 102, specifically, the job management table T1 shown in FIG.
It shows the capacity of each PDL data whose data format is the PDL format among the print jobs stored therein.
On the other hand, when the executability information is “NO”, there are, for example, the reason why the execution of the print job cannot be permitted, such as “a printer has a problem” in addition to the above-mentioned “the printer is powered off”. Note that the trouble includes paper jam, toner exchange, recording paper replenishment, and the like. The reason for this is that the code indicating the trouble content, which is arranged between the print server 102 and the clients 103 and 104, is stored. Is also good.

When the print server 102 receives job data from the clients 103 and 104, it determines whether the data is PDL data or BMP data,
If it is not BMP data, that is, the received data is PD
In the case of L data, it has a function of converting the PDL data into BMP data. The print server 102
Of course, it also has a function of transmitting the received BMP data or the converted BMP data to the printers 105 and 106 to print them out.

3) Printer The printer 105 of this embodiment is a so-called MFP (Mul).
A multi-purpose image forming apparatus called a "ti Function Peripheral", which uses, for example, a digital copying machine. FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing the structure of the copying machine. The printer 105 will be described below. In addition,
The printer 106 also has the same configuration as the printer 105.

The copying machine is equipped with an image forming section 11 for forming an image based on the BMP data transmitted from the print server 102 via the LAN 101. First,
The received BMP data is converted into image data that has undergone various data processing in the control unit 13. The converted image data is sent to the print head unit 14, the laser diode built in the print head unit 14 is driven to expose the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 to form an electrostatic latent image, and the toner developing device is formed. 16 is driven to develop the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 15.

On the other hand, the recording paper in the paper cassette 18 is supplied to the transfer drum 17 according to an instruction from the controller 13.
This recording paper is wound around the transfer drum 17, and the toner image developed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 15 is transferred to the recording paper by the transfer charger 19. The toner image transferred onto the recording paper is easily peeled off, and the toner is fixed on the surface of the recording paper by being pressed while being heated in the fixing device 20 and then discharged onto the paper discharge tray 21.

The copying machine has not only a function as the printer 105 but also a function as a scanner. That is, the copying machine includes the image reading unit 10 that acquires image data by reading a document or the like. The image reading unit 10 is a known unit that reads an image of a document or the like placed on a platen glass (not shown) by moving a scanner 12 having a CCD. Image reading unit 1
The image data read by 0 can be transmitted to the print server 102.

Further, the copying machine has not only the functions of the printer 105 and the scanner, but also the function of the copying machine. That is, the copying machine is provided with an operation panel for the operator to perform various operations, and the operator operates the operation keys on the operation panel to specify the density and the enlargement / reduction ratio. Specify the recording paper and set the number of copies.

2. Processing Content When Submitting Print Job 1) Processing Content of Client FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing content when submitting a print job of the client 103. As shown in the figure, in this process, when a print mode for printing out a document created by an application is selected and input from a keyboard, a mouse, etc., a print job is input and a request is made to execute the print job. A print job execution request is transmitted to the print server 102 (S11).
0).

Next, when a reply to the print job execution request is received from the print server 102, the reply contents, that is, the executability information and the processing capability information are acquired and stored in the hard disk or the like (S120; YES,
S130). Then, it is determined from the executability information whether or not the execution of the print job is permitted (S140). If execution of the print job is not permitted, that is, if the execution propriety information is “NO”, the contents of the processing capability information,
For example, "printer power off" or the like is output to the OS and the process ends (S140; NO, S210). When the execution of the printer job is not permitted, the OS uses the processing capability information received from the print server 102 to notify the operator that the input print job execution request is not permitted. Display the contents on the display.

On the other hand, when the execution of the print job is permitted, that is, when the execution propriety information is "OK", the application data created by the application is GD.
I is used to convert to GDI data, and this GDI data is converted to PDL data by the printer driver (S14).
0; YES, S150, S160). When the conversion into PDL data is completed, it is judged by the conversion format judgment process whether or not to convert the PDL data into BMP data based on the processing capability information acquired in step S130 (S1).
70). The conversion format determination processing will be described later, but if it is determined that the conversion format is BMP data, the determination result is “BM
When it is determined that the PMP data is not converted into BMP data, the determination result is "PDL".

Next, when the result of the determination in the conversion format determination process is "BMP", the PDL data is converted into BMP data, and the converted data (job data) is transmitted to the print server 102. The process ends (S1)
80; YES, S190, S200). On the other hand, when the determination result is "PDL" which is not "BMP", the PDL data is directly transmitted to the print server 102 and the process ends (S180; NO, S200).

Next, a conversion format determination process for determining whether to convert to BMP data will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing content in step S170. The processing capacity information in this embodiment indicates the schedule of the print server 102 when a print job execution request is received from the client 103. Specifically, it shows the capacity of each job data in the PDL format among the print jobs stored in the print server 102. These pieces of information are obtained from the data format and capacity of the job management table T1.

As shown in FIG. 8, the conversion format judgment processing is as follows.
First, the processing capacity information, that is, the capacity of each job data in the PDL format held by the print server 102 is acquired, and the total conversion time when the print server 102 converts the job data into the BMP format is calculated (S171,
S172). The total conversion time is calculated, for example, from the conversion speed at which the print server 10 converts the job data into the BMP format.

Next, the conversion time when the job data to be transmitted is converted into the BMP format by the client 103 is calculated (S173). This conversion time is also calculated from the conversion speed at which the client 103 converts the print data scheduled to be transmitted into the BMP format, for example. Then, the total conversion time when converted by the print server 102 and the conversion time when converted by the client 103 are compared, and when the total conversion time is longer than the conversion time, that is, the one converted into BMP data by the client 103. If is faster, the determination result is set to "BMP", and the process proceeds to step S180 in FIG. 7 (S174; YES, S175). On the other hand, when the total conversion time is less than or equal to the conversion time, that is, the print server 102 sets B
If it is faster to convert to MP data, the judgment result is "P
DL ”, and the process proceeds to step S180 in FIG. 7 (S17
4; NO, S176).

2) Processing Contents of Print Server FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing contents when the print server 102 receives a print job. As shown in FIG. 5, when the print server 102 first receives a print job execution request from the client 103, the print server 102 creates executability information and processing capability information, and uses the data structure as shown in FIG. It transmits to 103 (S310; YES, S320). The executability information is created from the MIB information periodically sent from the printer 105, and the processing capacity information is created from the capacity of each PDL data stored in the job management table T1.

If the executability information is "NO", the print job is not executed and the process is terminated (S33).
0; NO), and if the executability information is "OK", it waits until job data is received from the client 103 (S330; YES, S340; NO). In response to this, the client 103 transmits the job data in the PDL format or the BMP format based on the processing capability information.

Next, when the print server 102 receives the job data from the client 103, it determines whether or not the data is BMP data (S340; YES,
S350). Then, when the job data is BMP data, the data is transmitted to the predetermined printer 105 and the processing is terminated (S350; YES, S360). On the other hand, if the job data is not BMP data, that is, if it is PDL data, the job data is converted to BMP data, the converted BMP data is transmitted to the printer 105, and the process is terminated (S350; NO, S370, S3
60).

According to the print system having the above configuration, the client 103 transmits PDL data or BMP data based on the processing capacity of the print server 102, so that even if the processing capacity of the print server 102 is reduced, the client 103 can efficiently perform the processing. Can process print jobs. Specifically, when the print server 102 stores a large number of job data in the PDL format, even if a new print job is input, the print server 102 cannot process because there is a previously accepted print job. Processing capacity is significantly reduced.

In such a case, the print server 102
Is the data format of the other print job that was submitted first.
While converting to MP format, the client 103
Convert the data to BMP data and print server 10
If the data is transmitted to No. 2, the print server 102 does not need to convert it to the BMP format, and the print output is faster accordingly.

In this embodiment, as an example of the schedule of the print server 102, the processing capacity information is indicated by the capacity of each PDL data stored in the print server 102, and the conversion format judgment processing indicates the PDL data Although the time for converting the data into BMP data is calculated from the capacity, for example, the print server 102 calculates the time for converting each PDL data into BMP data,
The estimated conversion end time is stored in the job management table T1. When a print job execution request is issued from the client 103, the estimated conversion end time of the PDL format job data received last is used as the processing capacity information in the client 103. You may send it to. In this case, the client 103 may compare the conversion end scheduled time of the job data scheduled to be transmitted with the conversion end scheduled time to determine the data format to be converted depending on which process is faster.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the client 103 determines the data format of the print data transmitted from the client 103 based on the processing capacity information of the print server 102. But,
In the present embodiment, the print server 102 determines the format of print data based on its processing capability, transmits the determination result to the client 103, and the client 103 determines the data format of the print data based on the format. Is being converted.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a sequence for printing out a document or the like created by the client 103. An outline of a case where a document created using an application is printed out will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that FIG. 10 shows a case where the printer 105 is in a state capable of print output. The client 103 first prints a document created on the application by the printer 1.
If you want to print out 05, print server 1
02 to send a print job execution request. In response to this, the print server 102 changes the client 103
Execution permission information indicating that the print job is permitted to be executed from the client is returned to the client 103.

The client 103 is the print server 1
Since the executability information received from 02 is information indicating that the execution of the print job is permitted, the application data is converted into GDI data and PDL data. next,
The data information of the converted PDL data, which will be described later, is transmitted to the print server 102. The print server 102 that received this data information, based on its own processing capability,
It is determined whether the job data can be converted into BMP data. If the job data can be converted, the determination result is “PDL”,
If it cannot be converted to BMP data, the judgment result is "B
MP ”. Then, the client 10
Send to 3.

In response to this, when the determination result is "BMP", the client 103 converts the PDL data into BMP data and transmits the BMP format job data to the print server 102. When the determination result is “PDL”, PDL data, that is, job data in PDL format is transmitted to the print server 102. Print server 1
Upon receiving the above job data from the client 103, 02 determines whether the data is PDL data or BMP data, and if the received data is PDL data, converts the data into BMP data. Then, the BMP data received from the client 103 or the BMP data converted by the print server 102 is transmitted to the printer 105, thereby causing the printer 105 to print out.

1. Processing Content when Submitting Print Job 1) Processing Content of Client FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing content when submitting a print job of the client 103. As shown in the figure, this process starts when the operation to print out the document created by the application is performed from the keyboard, mouse, etc., and a print job execution request for requesting execution of the print job is issued. Print server 102
(S510).

Next, when a reply to the print job execution request is received from the print server 102, it is judged from the execution permission / inhibition information whether or not the execution of the print job is permitted (S520; YES, S530). When the executability information is “NO”, the content of the processing capability information, for example, “power OFF of printer” is output to the OS and the process is terminated (S530; NO, S610). If “OK”, the application data is G
It is converted into GDI data by DI, and this GDI data is further converted into PDL data by the printer driver (S53).
0; YES, S540, S550).

When the conversion into PDL data is completed, the capacity of the converted PDL data is transmitted to the print server 102 as data information (S560). In response to this, the print server 102 determines whether the job data received from the client 103 can be converted into the BMP format from the processing capability of its own print job, and transmits the determination result to the client 103.

The client 103 is the print server 1
When the judgment result is received from 02, the judgment result is BMP.
It is determined whether or not the format (S570; YES, S58).
0). If the determination result is "BMP", the PDL
The data is converted into BMP data, and the print server 102
To end the processing (S580; YES, S59).
0, S600). On the other hand, when the determination result is “PDL”, the PDL data is directly transmitted to the print server 102 and the processing ends (S580; NO, S600).

2) Processing Content of Print Server FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the print server 102 when it receives a print job. As shown in the figure, when the print server 102 first receives a print job execution request from the client 103,
Executability information and processing capability information are created, and these are returned to the client 103 in the data structure as shown in FIG. 5 (S710; YES, S720).

If the executability information is "NO", the print job is not executed and the process is terminated (S73).
(0; NO), and if the executability information is "OK", it waits until the data information is received from the client 103 (S730; YES, S740; NO). When the print server 102 receives the data information from the client 103, the print server 102 performs the conversion format determination process,
Determines whether or not the format of the job data to be transmitted can be converted to the BMP format, and the determination result is used by the client 1
03 (S740; YES, S750, S76)
0). The conversion format determination process is the same as that of the first embodiment (see FIG. 8). In response to this, the client 103 transmits the job data converted based on the determination result to the print server 102.

When the print server 102 receives the job data from the client 103, the print server 102 determines whether the job data is BMP data (S770; Y).
ES, S780). When the received job data is BMP data, the data is transmitted to the printer 105 and the process is terminated (S780; YES, 790). On the other hand, when the received job data is not BMP data, that is, when the job data is PDL data, the received job data is converted into BMP data, this BMP data is transmitted to the printer 105, and the process is terminated (S780). ;
NO, S800, S790).

As described above, even if the print server 102 determines the format of the job data to be transmitted from the client 103 to the print server 102, the processing capacity of the print server 102 decreases as in the first embodiment. However, the print job can be processed efficiently. Although the multipurpose image forming apparatus is used as the printers 105 and 106 in the above-described first and second embodiments, the image forming apparatus is based on the print data received from the print server. Can be printed out.

(Modification) The present invention has been described above based on the embodiment. However, it goes without saying that the content of the present invention is not limited to the specific example shown in the above-mentioned embodiment. Such modifications can be implemented. 1. Regarding the processing capacity of the print server In the above embodiment, the processing capacity information of the print server is used as the capacity of the PDL format print job stored in the print server, and the client converts the PDL format to the BMP format based on this information. Although it is determined whether or not to perform, the processing capacity information may be information indicating other contents.
Other contents include, for example, the remaining capacity of the hard disk of the print server, the work area capacity, and the processing speed of the CPU. Each will be described below.

1) Remaining capacity of hard disk When the print server receives job data from the client, if the job data is PDL data, B
Converted to MP data. At this time, the print server temporarily stores the received PDL data in the hard disk, and further stores the BMP data converted into the BMP format in the hard disk.

Therefore, when the print server receives a large number of print jobs or the received job data is very large, the remaining capacity of the hard disk becomes extremely small and new print jobs cannot be accepted. It may disappear. In such a case, the client converts PDL data into BMP data,
By transmitting the converted BMP data to the print server, the print server can accept the print job even if the remaining capacity of the hard disk is small.

Therefore, in the conversion format judgment processing in the client, the remaining capacity of the hard disk is acquired from the processing capacity information and this capacity is sufficient for converting from PDL data to BMP data, as in FIG. Whether or not to convert from the PDL format to the BMP format may be determined depending on whether or not there is. 2) Capacity of work area The work area is an area for temporarily storing information during conversion when converting PDL data into BMP data. Normally, RAM is used, but if the area is small, a hard disk is used. For this reason, when converting to BMP data, if the area for storing the information in the middle of conversion is insufficient, it is necessary to secure the area to be stored in another storage device, here, the hard disk. The processing capacity is greatly reduced.

Therefore, in the conversion format judgment processing in the client, the capacity of the work area is acquired from the processing capacity information, and this capacity is B from the PDL data, as in FIG.
Whether to convert from the PDL format to the BMP format may be determined depending on whether or not the capacity is sufficient to convert to MP data. 3) Conversion time of CPU processing speed PDL data to BMP data is
The faster the processing speed of the CPU, the shorter the conversion time. Therefore, the processing capacity information may be the processing speed of the CPU of the print server, and the conversion format determination processing compares the processing speed of the CPU of the client with the processing speed of the print server to convert from the PDL format to the BMP format. Just decide whether to convert.

4) Others The processing capacity information of the above-mentioned embodiment and the above-mentioned 1) to 3) is used independently. However, the CPU
Even if the print server has a higher processing speed than the client, the remaining capacity of the hard disk of the print server may be small, and the processing capacity of the print server may not be correctly grasped. Therefore, in order to prevent such a situation from occurring, the conversion format determination processing may be performed by combining the processing capability information described above.

2. Regarding Transmission Device and Relay Device 1) In the above embodiment, an example in which a client is applied as a transmission device and a print server is applied as a relay device has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, a print server may be applied as the transmission device and a printer may be applied as the relay device.

As such a specific example, when a print job is submitted from the client, the client first converts the created / edited application data into GDI data and sends the GDI data to the print server. Then, the print server receiving the GDI data (print data) refers to the processing capability of the printer, converts the GDI data received from the client into the PDL format, and further from this PDL format into the BMP format,
There is a system that sends the converted print data to a printer.

Naturally, even in such a case, the format of the print data transmitted from the print server to the printer is set to P
Whether to use the DL format or the BMP format may be determined by the print server or the printer. The print server must have a printer driver installed. 2) The print system according to the present embodiment includes the client and the image forming apparatus having the functions of the print server and the printer, but the image forming apparatus may have the function of the print server. In this case, the transmission device is the client and the relay device is the image forming device (in this case, the relay device and the printer are integrated).

Further, the so-called print controller can be provided with the function of a print server. In this case, the transmitting device serves as a client and the relay device serves as a print controller. As described above, in the transmission device and the relay device according to the present invention, the target device may be changed depending on the function of each device constituting the print system.

3) In the print system of this embodiment, the client, the print server and the printer are
Although they are connected via a LAN, for example, even when a client and a print server are connected via a LAN and a printer is connected to the print server, the same operation as in the above embodiment can be performed. it can. 3. Regarding Conversion Format Judgment Processing In the above-described first embodiment, when a print job is submitted, the client converts the GDI data into PDL data, and then refers to the processing capacity of the print server to set P
Although it is determined whether or not the DL data is converted to the BMP data, for example, it may be determined whether or not to convert the application data to the GDI data and then to the BMP data. In this case, based on the judgment result, G
Converts DI data to PDL data, and further PDL
The data may be converted into BMP data.

Further, in the second embodiment, when a print job is submitted, the client converts the application data into GDI data and PDL data, and this P
Data information indicating the capacity of DL data is transmitted to the print server, and it is determined whether the data of the printer job of this data information can be converted into BMP data based on the processing capacity of the print server. , The client sends data information indicating the capacity of the GDI data to the print server, and the print server judges whether or not the print data of the capacity of this data information can be converted into BMP data, and the judgment result is sent to the client. Alternatively, the client may convert the GDI data based on the determination result.

4. Others The present invention is also applicable to a print system in which, for example, a client and a print server are connected to each other via a network, for example, the Internet, and image data such as a photograph is transmitted from the client to the print server and the print server prints the image data. Applicable. However, in this case, the printer driver needs to be installed in the client.

In order to send the BMP data from the client to the print server, a method of attaching this BMP data to a mail can be considered. In this case, the capacity of BMP data is large and the load on the communication path may significantly increase. However, it is considered to be sufficient by using a communication path capable of transmitting and receiving a large amount of information such as an optical fiber. To be

[0083]

As described above, the print system according to the present invention includes a printer that prints out an image based on print data in the first data format, and print data in the second data format from the first data format. A printing system comprising: a relay device that converts the data into a format and sends the print data to the printer; and a transmission device that transmits print data to the relay device, wherein the transmission device acquires information regarding the processing capability of the relay device. The relay device includes: an information acquisition unit; and a transmission unit that converts the print data in the second data format into print data in the first data format based on the acquired information and transmits the print data to the relay device. When the print data received from the transmitting device is in the first data format, the print data is transmitted to the printer in the same data format as it is. There. Therefore, when the processing capability of the relay device is low, the print data can be converted to the first data format by the transmission device and the print data can be transmitted to the relay device. Therefore, the relay device does not need to convert the received print data into the first data format, and the print output can be performed faster correspondingly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a sequence of the print system in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a data structure diagram of job data transmitted from a client to a print server.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of a job management table.

FIG. 5 is a data structure diagram showing executability information and processing capacity information returned from the print server to the client in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a printer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing contents of a client when a print job is input according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of conversion format determination processing of the client in the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing contents of a print server when a print job is input according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a sequence of the printing system in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processing contents of a client when a print job is input according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a print server when a print job is input according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram for explaining processing of a print job in a conventional print system.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 LAN 102 print server 103, 104 client 105,106 printer T1 job management table

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A printer that prints out an image based on print data of a first data format, and a relay device that converts the print data from a second data format to a first data format and sends it to the printer. A printing system comprising: a transmission device that transmits print data to the relay device, wherein the transmission device is an information acquisition unit that acquires information regarding a processing capacity of the relay device, and based on the acquired information. And a transmission unit that converts the second data format into print data of the first data format and transmits the print data to the relay apparatus, wherein the relay apparatus is configured such that the print data received from the transmission apparatus has the first data format. At the time, the print system transmits the print data to the printer in the same data format. 2. The information on the processing capacity of the relay device is information indicating the processing capacity of the relay device at the time of transmitting the print data, and the transmitting device sets the print data to the second data based on the information. It is provided with a judging means for judging whether or not to convert from the data format to the first data format, and the transmitting means converts or does not convert the data format according to the judgment result of the judging means, and transmits the data. The printing system according to claim 1. 3. The print system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device is a client and the relay device is a print server. 4. The print data transmitted from the transmission device is converted by the relay device from the second format to the first data format and transmitted to the printer, and the printer is based on the print data in the first data format. A printing method for printing out an image, comprising: an information acquisition step in which the transmission device acquires information regarding a processing capacity of the relay device; and a second step in which the transmission device is based on the acquired information.
A first transmission step of converting the data format from the data format to print data of the first data format and transmitting the print data to the relay apparatus; and when the relay apparatus receives the print data in the first data format. Secondly, the print data is transmitted to the printer in the same data format as the second.
And a sending step of the printing method. 5. A transmission device for transmitting print data to a relay device for transmitting print data of the first data format converted from the second data format to a printer for print output, and processing capacity of the relay device. Information acquisition processing for acquiring information about the print data, and a second print data based on the acquired information.
A program for executing a transmission process of converting the data format of 1 to the first data format and transmitting the data to the relay device.