JP2003216382A - Printing device retrieving system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing device retrieving system capable of making it unnecessary for a user to grasp printing device performance or print data, and improving the efficiency of the printing device by sufficiently utilizing the printing device performance. <P>SOLUTION: In this printing device retrieving system for retrieving a plurality of printing devices 2-4 connected to a network cable 5 by a host device 1, the host device 1 is provided with a printing device performance acquiring means 31 for acquiring printing device performance information being the information of the performance of the printing devices 2-4, a print condition inputting means 29 for inputting a desired print condition, a print data analyzing means 28 for analyzing print data to be transmitted from the host device to the printing devices 2-4 to recognize the contents of printing, and a printing device retrieval judging means 30 for retrieving and judging the printing device optimal to the recognized contents of printing and the inputted desired print condition based on the printing device performance information. <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 an optimum printing device search system for a host device which is also connected to a network in an environment where a plurality of printing devices having different performances are connected to the network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a plurality of printing apparatuses having different performances exist in a network environment, and the optimum printing apparatus for print data or the like is searched from among the plurality of printing apparatuses to obtain a personal computer (PC, personal computer). When printing from a host device such as the above, the person who prints has determined the performance of each printing device before determining the printing device that is judged to be optimal.

[0003]

As described above, the conventional method for searching a printing device has a problem that the person who prints must know the performance of each printing device. In addition, even if you know the printing performance, when selecting a printing device that is suitable for the printing data, you must consider the type and amount of printing data, and most of the printing performance is not fully utilized. There was a problem that printing was performed with.

In this printing device search system, it is necessary to eliminate the need for the user to grasp the printing device performance and print data, and to make full use of the printing device performance to improve the efficiency of the printing device. There is.

Since the present invention satisfies these requirements, it is possible to eliminate the need for the user to grasp the printing apparatus performance and print data, and to make full use of the printing apparatus performance to improve the efficiency of the printing apparatus. An object is to provide a printing device search system.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a printing device search system of the present invention is a printing device search system for searching a plurality of printing devices connected to a network in a host device. Is a printing device performance acquisition unit that acquires printing device performance information that is information about the performance of a plurality of printing devices, a printing condition input unit that inputs desired printing conditions, and print data sent from the host device to the printing device. Based on the print data analysis means for recognizing the print contents by recognizing the print contents and the print device performance information, the optimum print device is searched for the recognized print contents and the input desired print conditions. And a printing device search determining means for determining.

Thus, it is possible to eliminate the need for the user to grasp the printing apparatus performance and print data, and to obtain a printing apparatus search system in which the printing apparatus performance can be fully utilized and the efficiency of the printing apparatus can be improved.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A printing device searching system according to claim 1 of the present invention is a printing device searching system for searching a plurality of printing devices connected to a network in a host device. Printing device performance acquisition means for acquiring printing device performance information, which is information about the printing device performance, printing condition input means for inputting desired printing conditions, and analysis of print data sent from the host device to the printing device. Print data analysis means for recognizing the content of printing by means of printing, and printing based on the performance information of the printing device, searching for the optimum printing device for the recognized content of printing and the desired printing conditions inputted and making a judgment The device search determination means is included.

With this configuration, when a print instruction is issued from the AP (application program) of the host device connected to the network, the print data can be displayed without the user being aware of the print device performance and the type and amount of print data. It has an effect that the optimum printing device can be searched for based on the analysis result, the desired printing condition designated at the time of printing, and the printing device performance.

A printing device search system according to a second aspect is the printing device search system according to the first aspect,
The print data analysis means uses the printing speed or color reproducibility as the index of the printing device performance information, and analyzes the brightness, brightness, pigment, screen ruling, and resolution of the image printed based on the print data. It is a thing.

With this configuration, the image brightness, luminance, pigment, screen ruling, and resolution are analyzed based on the type and amount of print data, so that the user can determine the printing device performance and print data. This has an effect that the optimum printing device can be surely searched for without being conscious of the type and the amount of data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printing device retrieval system according to the first or second aspect, the printing device performance acquisition means drives and controls the printing device installed in the host device. The printing device performance information is acquired by the program.

With this configuration, since the printing device performance information is acquired from the drive control program installed in the host device that issued the printing instruction, the printing device performance information can be obtained without transmitting the data on the network. It can be acquired and has the effect of not blocking traffic on the network.

A printing device search system according to a fourth aspect is the printing device search system according to the first or second aspect, wherein the print data analysis means drives and controls a printing device installed in the host device. Therefore, the analysis of the print data is performed at the stage of generating the print data or after the generation of the print data.

With this configuration, the print data is analyzed by the drive control program installed in the host device, and when the analysis is performed in the print data generation stage, the analysis result can be obtained quickly. When the analysis is performed after the print data is generated, the print data can be generalized.

A printing device search system according to a fifth aspect is the printing device search system according to the fourth aspect.
The print data analysis means outputs the analysis result of the print data to an external storage device such as an internal memory or a hard disk.

With this structure, the analysis result of the print data can be used in other devices.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the printing device retrieval system according to the first or second aspect, further comprising data display means for displaying the retrieved optimum printing device.

With this configuration, since the search result of the printing device is displayed, the user can visually check the result.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
~ It demonstrates using FIG.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a general printing apparatus search system.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a host device as a personal computer (PC) capable of issuing a print instruction to a personal computer (personal computer) or workstation.
Reference numerals 2, 3, and 4 are printers as printing apparatuses for receiving and printing the print data transmitted from the host apparatus 1, and 5 is a general network cable. The personal computer 1 is equipped with an operating system (OS), application software (AP), driver software (here, printer driver) for controlling the drive of the printing apparatus, and the like. Although the printers 2 to 4 are printers here, they may be facsimile machines instead of printers. Although three printers are used in FIG. 1, there is no limit to the number of printers. Also, network cable 5
May be wired or wireless.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a printing device search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the host device 1 has a RAM 6 in which the illustrated information is stored, a bus 7, a CRT interface 8, a CRT 9, a keyboard interface 10, a keyboard 11, and a printing condition input device 12.
, Mouse interface 13, mouse 14, RO
M15, CPU16, communication interface 17,
And an external storage device 18. Also, the printing devices 2 to 4
Is a RAM 20 in which the illustrated information is stored, a bus 21, a communication interface 22, a ROM 23, and a C
It has a PU 24, an LCD panel 25, and an image processing device 26.

The function and the like of the printing device search system of FIG. 2 will be described.

The RAM 6 is a driver for the printing speed information of the printer acquired by the driver software installed in the host device 1, color reproduction information such as saturation, brightness, and pigment, screen ruling information, and printer resolution information. It stores the information as information, and also stores the print condition input at the time of the print instruction from the application program (AP). In addition, the result of direct communication with the printer regarding the above information, the result of analyzing the print data received from the AP by the printer driver, and the optimum printer search result determined by the result and the user's input print condition Is stored. The CRT interface 8 is connected to the CRT 9, and the CRT 9 displays the input condition of the user and the search result of the printing device. The keyboard interface 10 is connected to the keyboard 11 and is used when the user inputs data from the print condition input device 12 or when selecting from printer search results. The printing conditions take into account information such as printing speed information, color reproduction information such as saturation, lightness, and pigments, screen ruling information, and resolution information of the printing device, and emphasize speed, vividness, and brightness.
Expressions that are easy for users to understand, such as emphasis on color tone and importance on wood grain, are conditions based on the finish of printing,
It is stored in the RAM 6. The mouse interface 13 is connected to the mouse 14, and the mouse 14 is used at the time of input from the printing condition input device 12 or when selecting from a printer search result or the like. The ROM 15 has a CPU
A program for operating 16 is stored. The communication interface 17 refers to a network card in the personal computer 1. However, neither wired nor wireless is defined, and an interface that can be connected with either is used. Using this communication interface 17, SNMP (Simple
Network Management Protocol
ol), SMB (Server MessageBlo)
ck) to communicate with the printers 2 to 4 by a communication method using a general network protocol, and print speed information of the printer, color reproduction information such as saturation, brightness, and dye, screen frequency information, and printing. Gets device resolution information.
The external storage device 18 such as an HDD stores the print data analysis result, print data, and the like.

The network cable 5 does not make a distinction between wired and wireless, and either can be used. RAM20 has
The processing speed of the printer, the effective range of resolution, pigment, brightness, and saturation, the number of screen lines, etc. are stored. Also,
As with the communication interface 17, the bus 21 and the communication interface 22 are not defined as wired or wireless, and both interfaces are connectable. Also in the communication method, similar to the communication interface 17, print data, control data and the like are transmitted and received by a communication method using a network protocol such as SNMP and SMB. A print control program is stored in the ROM 23. The LCD panel 25 represents the state of printing operation and the state of input from the panel. The image processing device 26 is a device that performs image processing of print data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the function realizing means of the CPU 16 of FIG.

In FIG. 3, 27 is a data display means for displaying data, 28 is a print data analysis means for analyzing print data sent from the host device 1 to the printing devices (printers) 2 to 4 and recognizing the contents of printing. , 29 is a print condition input means for inputting desired print conditions, and 30 is a print content recognized by the print data analysis means 28 based on the print device performance information acquired by the print device performance acquisition means 31 described later. And a printing device search determination means for searching and determining an optimal printing device for the desired printing conditions input by the printing condition input means 29, and 31 is printing device performance information that is information about the performance of a plurality of printing devices. Is a printing device performance acquisition unit, and 32 is a printing device control unit that controls the printing devices 2 to 4.

The function and the like of the CPU 16 thus configured will be described.

The data display means 27 displays, on the CRT or the like, the printer that is most suitable in terms of printer performance from the print data and the printing conditions of the user. Print data analysis means 28
When the print instruction is issued from the AP, the data discharged by the printer driver is classified into a data group of each information such as characters, graphs, images and colors. The printing condition input means 29
For items that the user inputs, such as emphasis on speed, emphasis on vividness, importance on brightness, importance on tint, and importance on graininess,
Gets which item was selected and how the priority status was entered. The printing device search determination means 30
Based on the analysis result of the print data analysis unit 28, the input printing condition of the printing condition input unit 29, and the performance information of the printers 2 to 4 acquired from the printing device performance acquisition unit 31, the optimum printer is searched and determined. The printing device performance acquisition unit 31 also has a role of transferring the search result in the printing device performance acquisition unit 31 to the data display unit 27 when the display result is required. As described above, the printing device performance acquisition unit 31 uses the printers 2-4.
Communication at the time of acquisition of performance information from the printer and printer control means 3
It communicates with the printer 2 to obtain information such as the processing speed of the printers 2 to 4, the effective range of resolution, pigment, brightness, and saturation, and the screen ruling. However, the communication at the time of information acquisition may be performed only by the printing device control unit 32 or the printing devices 2 to 4, and the communication method is the printer 2.
4 to 4 directly communicate with the above-mentioned SNMP, S
It shall be performed using a general network protocol such as MB. Further, the printing device control means 32 holds the performance information of the printers 2 to 4, which corresponds to a printer driver or the like, and analyzes the print data of the printers 2 to 4, processing speed, resolution, pigment, brightness, and saturation. It holds information such as the effective range and screen frequency. The printers 2 to 4 transmit / receive / output print data, process speed,
It manages information such as resolution, pigment, brightness, saturation, and screen ruling.

FIG. 4 is a display diagram showing a display example of the search result of the optimum printer.

In FIG. 4, the input printing conditions 33 selected by the user are arranged in descending order of priority. Reference numeral 34 represents the searched optimum printer, which is the result of the search based on the input print condition 33 and the print data. Three
Reference numeral 5 is address information of the optimum printer 34, which is used to identify the installation location. Reference numeral 36 represents an estimated printing end time, and a value calculated from the data amount of print data and the number of jobs waiting for processing power of the printers 2 to 4 is displayed.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation procedure of the user in the printing apparatus search system.

In FIG. 5, when a print instruction is given from the AP of the personal computer 1 (S1), the user who gives the print instruction is given priority on speed, vividness, brightness, tint.
The input printing conditions such as the importance of fineness of grain are displayed, and the priorities are set (S2). It is set by the user in consideration of the analysis result of the print data, the processing speed of the printer acquired through communication with the printer driver or the printer, the effective range of resolution, pigment, brightness, and saturation, and the number of screen lines. Based on the priority, the search result is displayed as shown in FIG. 4 (S3). The user selects from the displayed search results (S4).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print search system.

In FIG. 6, first, the print data analysis means 28 converts the print data instructed to print from the AP on the personal computer 1 into print data which can be recognized by the printers 2 to 4 by the printer driver in the personal computer 1. Then, the color, character, image, and graph data are analyzed, and R
It is saved in the AM 6 or the external storage device 18 (S11). Next, the printing device performance acquisition unit 31 uses a communication command from the communication interface 17 to directly communicate with the printing devices 2 to 4 connected to the network.
Alternatively, information such as the processing speed of the printer, the effective range of resolution, pigment, lightness, and saturation, the number of screen lines, etc. is acquired from the printing device control means 32 installed in the personal computer 1 and stored in the RAM 6 (S12). ). Next, the print condition input means 29 presents to the user through the CRT 9 the items input by the user such as emphasis on speed, importance on vividness, importance on brightness, importance on tint, and importance on graininess, and the user's input print The conditions are acquired and the input printing conditions are stored in the RAM 6 (S13). Next, the printing device search determination unit 30 determines whether or not the data itself includes color data based on the analysis result of the print data stored in the RAM 6 (S14). If it is determined in step S14 that the data is monochrome data, a monochrome printer is searched and the search result is stored in the RAM 6 (S15). If the data is determined to be color data in step S14, a color printer is searched and the search result is stored in the RAM 6 (S16). next,
The printing device performance acquisition unit 31 again communicates with the printing devices 2 to or the printing device control unit 32 using the communication interface 17, acquires the processing speed and the number of waiting jobs of each printer, and stores them in the RAM 6 (S17). . Next, the printing device performance acquisition unit 31 performs the steps S11 and S.
17, the end time is calculated from the data amount of the print data which is acquired in the RAM 6 and stored in the RAM 6, the processing speed of the printing apparatus, and the number of jobs waiting to be processed, and stored in the RAM 6 (S
18). Next, the data display means 27 uses the RAM 6
The data stored in is displayed on the CRT 9 in the format of FIG. 4 (S19).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the host device 1 obtains printing device performance information, which is information about the performance of the plurality of printing devices 2 to 4, and a desired device. Print condition input means 29 for inputting the print conditions of the above, print data analysis means 28 for recognizing print contents by analyzing print data sent from the host device 1 to the print devices 2 to 4, and print device performance information. In addition, the printing device search determination unit 3 that searches and determines the optimum printing device for the recognized printing content and the input desired printing condition.
By including 0, when the print instruction is issued from the AP (application program) of the host device 1 connected to the network, the user can print without being aware of the printing device performance and the type and amount of print data. The optimum printing device can be searched from the data analysis result, the desired printing condition designated at the time of printing, and the printing device performance.

Further, the print data analysis unit 28 uses the printing speed or color reproducibility as an index of the printing apparatus performance information, and determines the brightness, the brightness, the pigment, the screen ruling, and the resolution of the image printed based on the print data. By performing analysis, the image brightness, brightness, pigment, screen ruling, and resolution are analyzed based on the type and amount of print data. -It is possible to reliably search for the optimum printing device without paying attention to the amount of data.

Further, the printing device performance acquisition means 31 includes printing devices 2 to 4 installed in the host device 1.
Since the printing device performance information is obtained by the program that controls the driving of the printing device, the printing device performance information can be obtained without transmitting the data on the network cable 5, and the traffic on the network is not disturbed. .

Further, the print data analyzing means 28 analyzes the print data at the step of generating the print data or after the print data is generated by the program for driving and controlling the printing devices 2 to 4 installed in the host device 1. Since the analysis is performed, if the analysis is performed at the print data generation stage, the analysis result can be obtained quickly, and if the analysis is performed after the print data is generated, the print data should be general-purpose. You can

Further, the print data analysis means 28 can use the print data analysis result in other devices by outputting the print data analysis result to an external storage device such as an internal memory or a hard disk.

Further, by providing the data display means 27 for displaying the retrieved optimum printing device, the user can visually confirm the retrieval result.

[0044]

As described above, according to the printing device search system of the first aspect of the present invention, the printing device search system searches the plurality of printing devices connected to the network in the host device. The host device is
Printing device performance acquisition means for acquiring printing device performance information, which is information about the performance of a plurality of printing devices, printing condition input means for inputting desired printing conditions, and analysis of print data sent from the host device to the printing device. Then, based on the print data analysis means for recognizing the printing content and the printing apparatus performance information, the optimum printing apparatus is searched and judged for the recognized printing content and the input desired printing condition. By having the printing device search determination means, when the printing instruction is issued from the AP (application program) of the host device connected to the network, the user is aware of the printing device performance and the type and amount of print data. Without
There is an advantageous effect that the optimum printing device can be searched based on the analysis result of the print data, the desired printing condition specified at the time of printing, and the printing device performance.

According to the printing device search system of the second aspect, in the printing device search system of the first aspect, the print data analyzing means uses the index of the printing device performance information as the printing speed or the color reproducibility. By analyzing the brightness, brightness, pigment, screen ruling, and resolution of the image to be printed based on the print data, the brightness, brightness, pigment, and screen line of the image can be calculated based on the type and amount of print data. Since the number and resolution are analyzed, there is an advantageous effect that the user can surely search for the optimum printing device without being aware of the printing device performance and the type and amount of print data. can get.

According to the printing device search system of the third aspect, in the printing device search system of the first or second aspect, the printing device performance acquisition means drives the printing device installed in the host device. By acquiring the printing device performance information by the controlling program,
Since the printing device performance information is acquired from the drive control program installed in the host device that issued the printing instruction, the printing device performance information can be acquired without transmitting the data on the network. This has the advantageous effect of not blocking the above traffic.

According to the printing device search system of the fourth aspect, in the printing device search system of the first or second aspect, the print data analyzing means drives and controls the printing device installed in the host device. By executing the program for performing the drive control program installed in the host device by performing the analysis of the print data at the stage of generating the print data or after the print data is generated, When the analysis is performed at the print data generation stage, the analysis result can be obtained quickly, and when the analysis is performed after the print data is generated, the print data can be generalized, which is an advantageous effect. can get.

According to the printing device search system of the fifth aspect, in the printing device search system of the fourth aspect, the print data analysis means outputs the analysis result of the print data to an external storage device such as an internal memory or a hard disk. By outputting the analysis result of the print data to the other device, an advantageous effect that the analysis result of the print data can be used in other devices can be obtained.

According to the printing device search system of the sixth aspect, in the printing device search system of the first or second aspect, since the data display means for displaying the searched optimum printing device is provided, the printing is performed. Since the device search result is displayed, the advantageous effect that the user can visually check is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a general printing device search system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a printing device search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a function realizing means of the CPU of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a display diagram showing a display example of a search result of an optimum printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a user operation procedure in the printing apparatus search system.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print search system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Host device (personal computer, PC) 2, 3, 4 printing device 5 network cable 6, 20 RAM 7, 21 bus 8 CRT interface 9 CRT 10 keyboard interface 11 keyboard 12 Printing condition input device 13 Mouse interface 14 mice 15,23 ROM 16, 24 CPU 17,22 Communication interface 18 External storage device 25 LCD panel 26 Image processing device 27 Data display means 28 Print data analysis means 29 Printing condition input means 30 printing device search determination means 31 printing device performance acquisition means 32 printer control means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A printing device search system in which a host device searches for a plurality of printing devices connected to a network, wherein the host device stores printing device performance information that is information about the performance of the plurality of printing devices. A printing device performance acquisition unit for acquiring, a printing condition input unit for inputting desired printing conditions, a print data analyzing unit for recognizing print contents by analyzing print data sent from the host device to the printing device, A printing device search determining unit for searching and determining an optimum printing device for the recognized print content and the input desired printing condition based on the printing device performance information. Printing device search system. 2. The print data analysis means uses the printing speed or color reproducibility as an index of the printing device performance information, and the brightness, luminance, pigment, screen ruling and resolution of an image printed based on the print data. The printing apparatus search system according to claim 1, wherein the analysis is performed. 3. The printing device performance acquisition means acquires the printing device performance information according to a program for driving and controlling the printing device installed in the host device. The printing device search system described. 4. The print data analyzing means analyzes the print data at a step of generating the print data or after the print data is generated by a program for driving and controlling the printing device installed in the host device. The printing device search system according to claim 1 or 2. 5. The printing device search system according to claim 4, wherein the print data analysis unit outputs the analysis result of the print data to an external storage device such as an internal memory or a hard disk. 6. The printing device search system according to claim 1, further comprising data display means for displaying the searched optimum printing device.