JP2003263281A - Printing machine, printing system, and print information control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing machine, a printing system, and a print information control method capable of acquiring information required as a print history, even if printing is made without involving a printer driver. <P>SOLUTION: A print history control portion 25 of an external device 2 retains information on print data transmitted at the issuance of a print command. When the printing machine 1 receives the print data, a history information control portion 12 determines whether there is information required as the print history. If it is found that there is no such information existing, the history information control portion 12 identifies a sending party of the print data and transmits thereto a request for the information required as the print history. Upon the receipt of this request, the external device 2 transmits the information required for the print history. The printing machine 1 generates a print history from the information required as the print history received and stores it in a history storage portion 13. <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 technique for generating and managing history information when transferring print data from a host device to a printing device for printing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, when print data is sent from a host device such as a computer to a printing device such as a printer for printing, it is common to print through a printer driver provided in the host device. . When the printing history is left in the printing device, information necessary for the printing device is usually added to the print data in the printer driver in the higher-level device and sent to the printing device. The printing apparatus generates and manages a print history based on the added information.

However, due to problems such as the program size of the printer driver, the conventional method that does not require a printer driver has been used. For example, a method is used in which print data is sent to a printing device using a simple tool that sends it to the printing device without processing the print data, and the printing device analyzes and prints the print data. There is.

With such a method, it is not possible to add various information when transmitting print data. Therefore, even the printing apparatus cannot obtain the information necessary for the print history from the print data. Therefore, a method is adopted in which only the information that can be specified by each transmission protocol is extracted and left as a print history.

However, with the method of extracting information from the transmission protocol, it is not possible to grasp all the information that can be arbitrarily added when the printer driver transmits print data. For example, in the IP protocol, the file name to be transmitted cannot be specified and cannot be recorded in the history. There is also a lot of information that can be omitted as protocol specifications, and since it is not normally used,
Even if the information can be added in the protocol, there is no guarantee that it can be acquired reliably. In addition, it is not possible to respond to a request for special information, for example, to investigate the status of the OS that issued the print request.

[0006]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to obtain necessary information as a print history even when printing is performed without going through a printer driver. An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus, a printing system, and a print information management method.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, print data is transmitted from a higher-level device to a printing device for printing, and a print history is generated and managed at that time. In addition, it is characterized in that the host device which is the source of the print data is specified, and the information required as the print history is acquired by inquiring to the specified host device. Alternatively, it is characterized in that information regarding a higher-level device is stored in advance, and information required as a print history is acquired from previously stored information regarding the higher-level device to generate a print history. Also, by combining these, information that could not be obtained by an inquiry to the higher-level device can be obtained from previously stored information about the higher-level device, or conversely, can be obtained from previously stored information about the higher-level device. For the missing information,
It can be configured to obtain by inquiring the specified higher-level device.

With such a configuration, even when the information required as the print history is sent to the printing apparatus without being added to the print data without going through the printer driver, the higher-level apparatus can be inquired or stored in advance. By using the stored information about the higher-level device, it is possible to acquire the information required as the print history and generate the print history. When the received print data is added with information required as a print history, the information can be used, and it can be configured to be applicable regardless of the addition of information.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a printing device, 2 is an external device, 11 is a data receiving unit, 12 is a history information management unit, 13 is a history storage unit, 14 is a data storage unit, 15 is a print control unit, 16 is a PDL processing unit, Reference numeral 17 is an analysis unit, 18 is a drawing processing unit, 19 is a printing mechanism unit, 21 is a display operation unit, 2
2 is an application, 23 is a print data storage unit, 24
Is a print instruction control unit, 25 is a print history control unit, and 26 is a communication interface.

The printing device 1 receives the print data sent from the external device 2 and prints based on the print data. In this example, the printing apparatus 1 includes a data receiving unit 11, a history information management unit 12, a history storage unit 13, and a data storage unit 1.
4, print control unit 15, analysis unit 17, PDL processing unit 16,
The drawing processing unit 18 and the printing mechanism unit 19 are included. The data receiving unit 11 communicates with the external device 2,
The print data sent from the external device 2 is received.

The history information management unit 12 determines whether or not the information required as a print history is added to the received print data, and if it is added, the information is extracted and the print history is extracted. To generate. At this time, if the information required as the print history is not added or if the information is insufficient, the external device 2 is requested to provide the information required as the print history. Then, in response to the request, the external device 2
It receives the information sent from and creates a print history. The history storage unit 13 stores the history information generated by the history information management unit 12. The information accumulated as the history information is arbitrary, and may include information such as a file name, time, data amount, transmission source (user), etc., and information regarding the OS.

The data storage unit 14 stores the print data received by the data receiving unit 11. The print control unit 15 controls the printing apparatus 1.

The PDL processing section 16 processes print data described in a normal page description language (PDL). In this example, the analysis unit 17 is provided to interpret the file data as it is created by the application 22 in the external device 2. The analysis unit 17 interprets print data corresponding to each predetermined application, and processes the print data so that the print mechanism unit 19 can perform printing.

The drawing processing unit 18 develops the print data processed by the PDL processing unit 16 or the analysis unit 17 into image data. The printing mechanism unit 19 prints an image on, for example, a sheet based on the image data developed from the print data.

The external device 2 transmits print data for printing using the printing device 1, and can be constituted by, for example, a computer. The external device 2 includes a display / operation unit 21, an application 22, a print data storage unit 23, a print instruction control unit 24, a print history control unit 25, a communication interface 26, and the like. The application 22, the print instruction control unit 24, the print history control unit 25, and the like operate under the control of an operating system (OS) (not shown). Also,
Various operations are also performed on the other units under the control of the OS.

The display / operation unit 21 displays information to the user of the external device 2 and receives an input operation from the user. The application 22 is an application program that operates under the OS. A plurality of applications 22 may be installed.

The print data storage unit 23 stores files created by the application 22 and print data described in PDL (hereinafter collectively referred to as print data). The print data stored in the print data storage unit 23 is
It is not limited to the one created by the application 23 in the external device 2. For example, it may be sent from another external device, such as an attached document of an electronic mail, or downloaded from a file server. Further, the print data stored in the storage medium can be read and stored in the print data storage unit 23.

The print instruction control unit 24 receives a print instruction issued by the user from the display operation unit 21, reads out the instructed print data from the print data storage unit 23, and sends the print data to the printing apparatus 1 via the communication interface 26. Send.
The print history control unit 25 manages information about print data transmitted to the printing apparatus 1, receives a request for information required as a print history from the printing apparatus 1, acquires the requested information, and sends the requested information to the printing apparatus 1. Will be returned. The communication interface 26 communicates with the printing apparatus 1.
The protocol is arbitrary as long as it can communicate with the printing apparatus 1, and for example, LPD or a general FTP or HTTP as a file transfer protocol can be used.

Next, an example of the operation in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the external device 2, print data created by the application 22 or input from another is stored in the print data storage unit 23. When the user gives a print instruction from the display operation unit 21, the print instruction control unit 24 stores the instructed print data in the print data storage unit 2.
It is read from the printer 3 and transmitted to the printing apparatus 1 via the communication interface 26. At this time, the print data to be transmitted does not have to be added with information required as various print histories as in the conventional case. Further, when the print data is transmitted to the printing apparatus 1, the print history control unit 25 temporarily stores information regarding the transmitted print data, for example, a file name and a data size, particularly information required as a print history in the printing apparatus 1. Keep it. This makes it possible to respond to a request for information required as a print history from the printing apparatus 1. Further, it may be configured to hold other arbitrary information, such as holding OS information, for example, to check the status of the OS used by the user of the printing apparatus 1.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the printing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. When the print data is transmitted from the external device 2 as described above, in the printing device 1, the transmitted print data is received by the data receiving unit 11 in S41. The received print data is stored in the data storage unit 14.

The received print data is analyzed in S42 by the history information management unit 12 for the presence / absence of information required as a print history. In S43, it is determined whether or not there is information required as a print history. If the information required as print history exists in the print data,
The information is acquired, a print history is generated in S46, and is stored in the history storage unit 13.

When the information required as the print history does not exist in the print data, the sender of the print data is specified in S44. For example, LPD as a protocol
If is used, the sender can always be identified. In many cases, it is possible to specify the transmission source with other protocols. Then, in S45, the sender (the external device 2 in the example shown in FIG. 1) is sent a notification requesting information required as a print history.

In the external device 2 which has received this notification, the print history control unit 25 holds the information so that it can respond to the request as described above. Therefore, the information required as the held print history is returned as a response to the request from the printer 1.

Upon receiving a response from the external device 2, the printing device 1
Then, in S46, a print history is generated from the received information necessary as the print history and stored in the history storage unit 13. In this way, even if the information required as the print history is not added to the print data, the information required as the print history is acquired from the transmission source (external device 2) and the print history is accumulated. You can

The print data stored in the data storage unit 14 is processed by the PDL processing unit 16 or the analysis unit 17. For example, when print data is described in normal PDL, the PDL processing unit 16 processes it. Also,
When the print data is the file data as it is created by the application 22 of the external device 2, the analysis unit 17 interprets the print data for each application 22. Then, the PDL processing unit 16 or the analysis unit 1
In accordance with the processing result of 7, the drawing processing unit 18 performs drawing processing to generate image data to be printed, and the printing mechanism unit 19 prints it on, for example, paper.

In the above description of the operation, in S43,
It was determined whether or not the information required as the print history is present in the print data. For example, some information may be present in the print data, but there may be missing information. In S43, it is determined whether or not there is insufficient information among the information required as the print history, and if there is insufficient information, a request is made to the transmission source (external device 2). You can also In addition,
The request in this case may be received from the external device 2 by making a request for the missing information, or may be received from the external device 2 including the information already acquired from the print data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. Reference numeral 31 is a device information storage unit. In the second embodiment, the external device 2 does not require a special configuration such as the print history control unit 25. Therefore, in FIG. 3, the internal configuration of the external device 2 is omitted.

The device information storage unit 31 holds various kinds of information relating to external devices that send print data, in particular, information registered in advance for information required as a print history. When the received print data does not include the information required as the print history, or when the information is insufficient, the history information management unit 12 stores the information required as the print history in the device information storage unit. 31 to obtain a print history.

Next, an example of the operation in the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, information about the external device is registered in the device information storage unit 31 for each external device that is the transmission source of the print data. The information relating to the external device includes at least information that cannot be obtained from print data, etc., out of the information that is required as the print history. As a registration method, an input is made from an operation means (not shown) provided in the printing apparatus 1, an external apparatus 2 is used to obtain and acquire it via a recording medium such as a flexible disk or a network, or the external apparatus 2 The configuration may be directly uploaded from. For example, if there is a server that stores information about external devices, it may be configured to download from that server. Of course, you may have several registration methods.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of the operation of the printing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. When the print data is transmitted from the external device 2, in the printing device 1, the transmitted print data is received by the data receiving unit 11 in S51. The received print data is stored in the data storage unit 14.

The received print data is analyzed in S52 by the history information management unit 12 for the presence / absence of information required as a print history. In S53, it is determined whether or not there is information required as a print history. If the information required as print history exists in the print data,
The information is acquired, the print history is generated in S56, and is stored in the history storage unit 13.

If the information required as the print history does not exist in the print data, the sender of the print data is specified in S54. For example, LPD as a protocol
If is used, the sender can always be identified. In many cases, it is possible to specify the transmission source with other protocols. Then, in S55, the information required as the print history corresponding to the external device of the transmission source specified in S54 is acquired from the device information storage unit 31. Then, in S56, S5
The print history is generated from the information required as the print history acquired in step 5 and stored in the history storage unit 13. In this way, even when the information required as the print history is not added to the print data, the information required as the print history can be acquired from the device information storage unit 31 and the print history can be accumulated. .

Regarding the print data stored in the data storage unit 14, the PDL processing unit 16 or the analysis unit 17 is used as in the description of the operation in the first embodiment.
After the processing, the drawing processing unit 18 performs drawing processing to generate image data to be printed, and the printing mechanism unit 19 prints on image data such as paper.

Also in the example of the operation in this embodiment, for example, a part of the information required as the print history is present in the print data, but if there is insufficient information, it is insufficient. The information to be stored may be acquired from the device information storage unit 31. As for the information existing in the print data and also existing in the device information storage unit 31, it may be decided in advance which one has priority, and which one may be selected may be configured to be selectable.

Two embodiments have been shown above. These embodiments can also be used in appropriate combination. For example, in the case where information necessary for the print history that does not exist in the print data is acquired to some extent by using the device information storage unit 31 described in the second embodiment, and the information is still insufficient. Can be configured to inquire the external device 2 as described in the first embodiment. In particular, the printing device 1 has a small storage capacity, and the number of records is limited, and it may not be possible to register information of many external devices. In such a case, when print data is sent from an external device registered in advance, the device information storage unit 3
When the print data is sent from an unregistered external device by using No. 1, it is possible to make an inquiry to the external device of the transmission source. Of course, conversely, it is possible to make an inquiry to an external device and use the information about the higher-level device registered in advance for the external device that cannot respond to the inquiry.

Further, as an intermediate configuration between the first and second embodiments described above, a server for accumulating information about external devices is separately provided, and the printing apparatus 1 is a sender. It is also possible to make an inquiry to the server instead of the external device and obtain the information required as the print history.

Besides this, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Of course, it goes without saying that the configurations of the printing device and the external device are not limited to those shown in FIGS.

[0038]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the information required as the print history from the received print data, for example, when the external device performs printing without passing through the printer driver. Even if it is not possible to obtain the information, it is possible to obtain the information required as the print history and leave the print history in the printing device with the minimum load on the system, such as inquiries and utilization of pre-registered information. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of operation of the printing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation of the printing apparatus 1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Printing device, 2 ... External device, 11 ... Data receiving unit, 1
2 ... History information management unit, 13 ... History storage unit, 14 ... Data storage unit, 15 ... Print control unit, 16 ... PDL processing unit, 17
... analysis unit, 18 ... drawing processing unit, 19 ... printing mechanism unit, 21
Display operation unit, 22 ... Application, 23 ... Print data storage unit, 24 ... Print instruction control unit, 25 ... Print history control unit, 26 ... Communication interface, 31 ... Device information storage unit.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Watanabe             Fujize, 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture             Within Rocks Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Satoshi Egawa             Fujize, 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture             Within Rocks Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazunobu Uchiyama             Fujize, 3-7-1, Fuchu, Iwatsuki City, Saitama Prefecture             Within Rocks Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 HH03 HK04 HN02 HN15                 2C087 AB05 BD01 BD53                 5B021 AA01 BB00 NN19

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus having a receiving means for receiving print data from a higher-level device and a printing means for printing based on the print data received by the receiving means, and storing a print history corresponding to the print data. Storage means,
A history information management unit that specifies a higher-level device that is the sender of the print data, obtains the information required as the print history by inquiring the specified higher-level device, and stores the acquired information in the storage unit. Printing device. 2. Further, the apparatus includes a higher-level device information storage unit that stores information related to the higher-level device, and the history information management unit relates to information required as the print history that cannot be acquired by an inquiry to the higher-level device. Is obtained from the upper device information storage means.
The printing device according to. 3. A printing device having a receiving means for receiving print data from a host device and a printing means for printing based on the print data received by the receiving means, and storing a print history corresponding to the print data. Storage means,
An upper apparatus information storage unit that stores information about an upper apparatus, and a higher apparatus that is a transmission source of the print data is specified, and the information required as the print history corresponding to the specified upper apparatus is acquired from the upper apparatus information storage unit. A printing apparatus comprising: history information management means for storing the history information in the storage means. 4. The history information management unit acquires the information required as the print history that could not be acquired from the higher-level device information storage unit by inquiring of the specified higher-level device. The printing device according to claim 3. 5. The history information management unit determines whether or not the print data received by the receiving unit is added with information required as the print history, and determines whether the print data is required as the print history. 5. When the usable information is added, all or part of the information required as the print history is acquired from the print data, according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The printing device described. 6. A printing system in which print data sent from a higher-level device is received by the printing device, and printing is performed based on the print data, wherein the higher-level device communicates with the printing device. A print control means for transmitting print data via the communication means, acquisition of history information when the print data is transmitted by the print control means, and an inquiry received from the printing device via the communication means According to the print history control means for returning all or a part of the history information, the printing device is based on the receiving means for receiving the print data from the host device and the print data received by the receiving means. A printing unit that prints by printing, a storage unit that stores a print history corresponding to the print data, and a print history that identifies a higher-level device that is the sender of the print data. The printing system is characterized by further comprising history information management means for inquiring and acquiring the required information as to the specified upper-level device and storing it in the storage means. 7. The printing device further includes a higher-level device information storage unit that stores information about a higher-level device, and the history information management unit of the printing device cannot be acquired by an inquiry to the higher-level device. 7. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein the information required as the print history is acquired from the higher-level device information storage means. 8. The history information management means determines whether or not the information required as the print history is added to the print data received by the receiving means, and determines as the information required as the print history. 7. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein when the usable information is added, all or part of the information required as the print history is acquired from the print data. 9. A print information management method for storing and managing history information when printing is performed based on print data received from a host device, wherein the print data is received and printed from the host device, and the print data is printed. Print information management characterized by specifying a higher-level device that is the source of data, obtaining the print history by inquiring the higher-level device that specifies the necessary information as the print history, and generating and storing the print history Method. 10. Information related to a higher-level device is stored in advance, and information required as the print history that could not be acquired by an inquiry to the higher-level device is acquired from previously-stored information related to the higher-level device. 10. The print information management method according to claim 9, wherein: 11. A print information management method for storing and managing history information when printing is performed based on print data received from a higher-level device, wherein information about the higher-level device is stored in advance, and the printing is performed from the higher-level device. While receiving and printing the data, the host device that is the source of the print data is specified, and the information required as the print history corresponding to the specified host device is acquired from the previously stored information about the host device. Then, the print history is generated and stored, and the print information management method. 12. The information required as the print history, which could not be acquired from the previously stored information about the higher-level device, is acquired by inquiring to the specified higher-level device. 11
Print information management method described in. 13. It is judged whether or not the information required as the print history is added to the received print data, and if the information usable as the necessary information as the print history is added. 13. The print information management method according to claim 9, wherein all or part of the information required as the print history is acquired from the print data.