JP2003280843A - Print controller and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make realizable a print control by which the printing order of a plurality of print jobs is automatically altered as desired without performing any special operation for every print. <P>SOLUTION: A print order control module 15 configuring a print server 1, by retrieving each print job in a document queue 11 according to a 'sort extraction condition' arbitrarily set in a condition management table 14, extracts information matching with the extraction condition from the print data of each print job, and changes the order of print of a plurality of print jobs by using each extracted information as a key to makes a printer successively print a plurality of print jobs for every job unit in the order of print. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control apparatus and a program for sequentially printing a plurality of print jobs in the order of input.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a printer device or a print server, a plurality of print jobs are sequentially printed from an application / client terminal in the order of submission. When rearranging, for example, in order of attendance number at school and slip number at company, etc., it is necessary to perform manual work, and it takes time and labor for sorting work, and there is a possibility that sorting may be wrong. It was Therefore, the applicant, after displaying and outputting a plurality of print jobs temporarily stored in the print server on the screen, selects a desired print job from the job list using a management tool or the like, A technique (Japanese Patent Application No. 9-313178) for instructing printing is disclosed.

[0003]

In this case, if a plurality of print jobs are selected one by one in a desired order on the display screen and a print instruction is input each time, the print products are printed. As a result, the items are sorted in a predetermined order such as the order of attendance numbers and the order of slip numbers. Therefore, it is not necessary to manually sort a large number of printed materials, and the sorting work is efficiently performed. Will be able to.

The present invention is a further development of the technique previously disclosed to the present applicant, in which a plurality of print jobs are selected one by one in a desired order on the display screen, and printing is performed each time. The printing order of a plurality of print jobs is automatically sorted without inputting an instruction, and printing of each print job can be controlled according to the order. That is, an object of the first invention is to realize a print control in which the print order of a plurality of print jobs is automatically changed as desired without performing a special operation for each print. An object of the second invention is to realize a print control in which the print order of each page taken out over a plurality of print jobs is automatically changed as desired without performing a special operation for each print. is there.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, in a print control device for sequentially printing a plurality of print jobs in the order of input, each print job is arbitrarily selected from within the job. Condition designating means for designating an extraction condition for extracting the information, and an extracting means for extracting information matching the condition by searching each print job according to the extraction condition designated by the condition designating means. And a print order changing unit for changing the print order of a plurality of print jobs using each information extracted for each print job by the extracting unit as a key, and a plurality of prints according to the print order changed by the print order changing unit. A print control unit that sequentially prints jobs for each job unit is provided. Further, it provides a computer with a program for realizing the main functions shown in the above-mentioned invention of claim 1 (invention of claim 9).

Therefore, the inventions according to claims 1 and 9 are
Information that matches the specified conditions is extracted by searching each print job according to the specified extraction conditions, and the print order of multiple print jobs is changed using each extracted information as a key. Therefore, since a plurality of print jobs are sequentially printed for each job, it is possible to realize print control in which the print order of a plurality of print jobs is automatically changed as desired without performing a special operation for each print. it can. Therefore, on the display screen, it is not necessary to input a print instruction each time while selecting a plurality of print jobs one by one according to a desired order, and no need to sort the printed materials at all. It is possible to greatly improve the work efficiency.

The invention according to claim 1 may be as follows. The condition specifying unit specifies an area condition indicating an extraction area for extracting information from print data in a print job and an attribute condition indicating an attribute of information existing in the extraction area, and the extraction is performed. The means extracts, for each print job, information that matches the attribute condition from the extraction area that corresponds to the area condition (the invention according to claim 3). Therefore, according to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect similar to that of the first aspect of the invention, the information which matches the attribute condition is extracted from the extraction area corresponding to the arbitrarily specified area condition. Because I chose to extract each time,
For example, data in a fixed format in which the "slip number" and "attendance number" are set in a predetermined area in the print data, such as slips and answers, and the character type entered in that area is also fixed. If so, "slip number" and "attendance number" can be easily extracted from the print data as sort information, and the print order of a plurality of print jobs can be sorted by slip number / attendance by using this sort information as a key. It is possible to change in numerical order. In this case, not only the numerical order but also the alphabetical order, alphabetical order, grade order, etc. can be sorted according to the designated attribute condition.

The condition designating means designates, for each print job, an extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from the print job, and also designates a job input within a designated period as a print order change target. The period condition of is specified, and the extraction means
Among the plurality of print jobs, a job that matches the period condition is selected as a sort target, and information that matches the extraction condition is extracted for each selected sort target job (the invention according to claim 4). Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effect similar to that of the invention described in claim 1, a job that matches an arbitrarily designated period condition is selected from a plurality of print jobs as a sort target. By doing so, it is possible to control the printing order by sorting only print jobs that have been submitted within a certain period of time. Therefore, for example, in a school lesson, by changing the print order of print jobs submitted within 30 minutes from the start of the class, the print order of answer data or work data submitted by the students is divided every 30 minutes. It is possible to perform sort printing, and it is also possible to realize print control that sorts into a group that submits early and a group that submits late.

The condition designating means arbitrarily designates a target job condition indicating a target for changing the print order among a plurality of print jobs, and prints the print data of each print job matching the target job condition. An extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information is specified, and the extraction unit selects a print job corresponding to the target job condition from a plurality of print jobs as a sort target and the selected sort target. Information that matches the extraction condition is extracted from the print data for each job (the invention according to claim 5).
Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to the effect similar to that of the invention described in claim 1, among a plurality of print jobs, a job that matches an arbitrarily specified target job condition is set as a sort target. Since the selection is made, it is possible to control the printing order by setting only the arbitrarily specified job as the sort target without setting all the print jobs as the sort targets. In this case, for example, only jobs arbitrarily designated, such as 5 jobs or 10 jobs from the top, can be sorted.

In this case, the condition designating means may designate a user attribute as a target job condition indicating a print order change target among a plurality of print jobs (claim 6).
The invention described above), as a user attribute, for example, by specifying the name or group name of the department to which the user belongs,
It is possible to sort the print order only for persons or groups corresponding to the user attributes.

According to a second aspect of the invention (a second aspect), in a print control apparatus for sequentially printing a plurality of print jobs according to the order of input, for each print job, arbitrary information is extracted from the job. Condition specifying means for specifying the extraction condition, extracting means for extracting information matching the condition by searching each print job according to the extraction condition specified by the condition specifying means, and for each print job Printing in which each print page taken out as a print target is targeted for batch printing, and the print order of each print page targeted for batch printing is changed using each information extracted for each print job by the extraction unit as a key Order changing means, and print control for sequentially printing the print pages to be collectively printed according to the print order changed by the print order changing means It is intended to and a stage. Further, the computer is provided with a program for realizing the main functions shown in the invention described in claim 2 described above (the invention described in claim 10).

Therefore, according to the second and tenth aspects of the present invention, by searching the inside of each print job according to the arbitrarily specified extraction condition, the information matching the condition is extracted, and the print job is printed for each print job. Each print page taken out as a target is targeted for batch printing, the print order of each print page targeted for batch printing is changed using each information extracted for each print job as a key, and the batch printing target is based on the changed print order. Since each print page is sequentially printed, it realizes print control that automatically changes the print order of each page taken out over multiple print jobs as desired without performing a special operation for each print. be able to. Therefore, after converting a plurality of print jobs into one job on the display screen, there is no need to perform any editing work for rearranging each print page to be sorted in a desired order.
It is possible to sort the print order of the print pages taken out over a plurality of print jobs page by page. In this case, since each print page targeted for batch printing matches the extraction condition, it is possible to print related pages together.

The invention according to claim 2 may be as follows. The print job is a group-compatible job that includes print data for a plurality of users who belong to the same group, and the print order changing unit is a target for batch printing of each print page extracted from each print job corresponding to a plurality of groups. In addition, the printing order of each print page of the batch printing is changed by using the information extracted by the extraction unit for each print job corresponding to a plurality of groups as a key (the invention according to claim 7). Therefore, claim 7
According to the described invention, in addition to the effect similar to that of the invention described in claim 1, even if different groups such as a department or a group belong to each other, each print job corresponding to a plurality of groups. The printing order can be sorted page by page based on each print page taken out from the page, and sorting not limited to the same group is possible.

In this case, the print order changing means may change the print order of the print pages to be collectively printed by changing the print order of the print pages divided into the same group. (Invention according to claim 8), there is no need to sort printed matter by group. In addition, the invention described in claim 2 may be the invention described in claims 3 to 6, and in this case also, the invention described in claim 3
It has an effect corresponding to ~ 6.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION (First Embodiment) A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a server / client system in this embodiment. This server / client system is a local communication system built in a computer classroom of a company or school, and has a print server 1 as a core. In this print server 1,
Multiple client terminals 2 and one shared printer 3
And are connected via a network (dedicated private line) 4 in a system environment.

The client terminal 2 is, for example, a desktop / notebook personal computer, and the created file created by the application 21 is transmitted to the print server 1 via the client module 22 as a print target. In this case, accompanying information such as "file name", "user name", "client name" is added to the created file and transmitted. The shared printer 3 is a non-impact printer such as thermal transfer or inkjet that performs full-color printing or a dot impact printer, and is completed for the print server 1 every time the printing of the print job transmitted from the print server 1 is completed. Give notice.

The print server 1 includes a document queue (spool folder) 11 and a management tool (manager).
12, which has an output module 13, and the like, executes a spool process of writing the print job to the document queue 11 each time a print job transmitted from each client terminal 2 is received, and concurrently with the spool process. Then, the document queue 11 is accessed, and each print job waiting to be printed is sequentially read in the order of submission and transferred to the shared printer 3.
As described above, in addition to the normal "sequential print mode" in which each print job is sequentially printed according to the order of submission, in this embodiment, the "instruction print mode" as a special mode
Is provided so that the “sequential print mode” and the “instruction print mode” can be arbitrarily switched.

That is, in the "instruction print mode", the document queue 11 is accessed in response to the print instruction from the operator, the print order of each print job waiting to be printed is changed, and then each print job is changed. This is a special operation mode in which printing is sequentially performed according to the changed printing order. Each time the operator inputs a printing instruction, the management tool 12 gives a printing instruction to the output module 13, and the output module 13 , Management tools 12
The print data read from the document queue 11 is transferred to the shared printer 3 in accordance with the print instruction from. In this case, before the management tool 12 gives a print instruction to the output module 13, a print order control module, which will be described later, is operated to perform automatic sort processing for changing the print order of each print job.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the overall functions of the print server 1. The print server 1 has a document queue 11, a management tool 12, and an output module 13, as well as a condition storage table 14, a print order control module 15, a print order control table 16 and the like, which will be described later. The management tool 12 performs a condition setting process for setting and registering the “sort extraction condition” that is arbitrarily input in advance by the operator in the condition storage table 14. This "sort extraction condition" specifies an extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from the print data for each print job. The management tool 12 stores the input "sort extraction condition" in the condition storage table. 14 is newly set or the already set contents are changed.

When the print order control module 15 receives a print instruction from the management tool 12, the condition storage table 1
4. Automatic sort processing that refers to the document queue 11 and changes the print order of a plurality of print jobs using the information (sort information) extracted from the print data for each print job according to the “sort extraction condition” I'm trying to do. As a result, the plurality of print jobs are changed in the order according to the sort information described above, not in the order of submission. In this case, when the print order of the plurality of jobs is changed, the print order control module 15 creates the print order control table 16 based on the contents of the change.

The output module 13 refers to the print order control table 16 in response to the print instruction from the print order control module 15, accesses the document queue 11 according to the print order, and selects the corresponding print job.
Print control is performed in which print data corresponding to each selected job is read out for each job and transferred to the shared printer 3. That is, in the above-mentioned “instruction print mode”, the output module 13 operates on condition that there is a print instruction from the print order control module 15, and the print order control table 16
A plurality of print jobs are printed out in the order according to the contents of.

FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing the contents of the condition storage table 14. The condition storage table 14 can set a “sort extraction condition” for extracting arbitrary information from the print data for each print job for each item.
As the condition items, "target job", "target period",
It has “target page”, “target area”, and “target attribute”. The “target job” item specifies whether all jobs in the document queue 11 waiting to be printed are unconditionally sorted or only jobs within a specified range are sorted. If no "target job" is specified, all jobs are to be sorted, and if specified, jobs within the arbitrarily specified range are selected as sort targets. In this case, the designated job range is, for example, 5 or 10 jobs from the beginning, which is a range arbitrarily designated according to the work content and the like, but the content is arbitrary.

The item "target period" is time information arbitrarily designated in order to sort each print job spooled backward from the current system date and time by a designated time, and this "target period". In addition to the above “Target job”, the target job is selected in consideration of this “Target period”, but if the “Target period” is not specified, only the above “Target job” will be selected. In consideration of the above, the target job is selected. The "target period" is designated in a unit of time such as "30 minutes", but may be designated in a unit of day. When “30 minutes” is designated as the “target period”, the job submitted 30 minutes before the current time is designated as the selection target.

The item "target page" is used to arbitrarily specify a target page from which sort information is to be extracted in a print job having print data for a plurality of pages. For example, the first page or pages 1 to 3 Etc. are specified. The item “target area” is used to arbitrarily specify from which area of the page specified in “target page” the sort information should be extracted, and a prepared area candidate, for example, “ An area arbitrarily selected and designated from among "upper right", "lower right", "upper left", "lower center", ..., "title" is set. The item of "target attribute" is an item for arbitrarily specifying information having an attribute to be extracted as sort information among information included in the area specified by "target area", and is prepared in advance. Attribute candidates such as “underline”, “slanted line”, “font size”, “<
>>, “color”, etc., the attribute arbitrarily selected and designated is set.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the document queue 11. The document queue 11 stores a print job each time a print job transmitted from each client terminal 2 is received. For each print job, a “job ID”, a “reception date”, and a “document file” are stored. , And “document accompanying information” are stored. The "job ID" is unique job identification information automatically generated each time a print job is received, the "reception date and time" indicates the date and time when the print job is received, and the "document file" indicates print data. ing. In addition, "Document accompanying information" is "File name",
The information includes “user name”, “client name”, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an automatic sort process for changing the print order of a plurality of print jobs. The print order control module 15 refers to the condition storage table 14 and the document queue 11 and refers to the “sort extraction condition”.
Accordingly, for each print job, the automatic sort processing for changing the print order of a plurality of print jobs is performed using the sort information extracted from the print data as a key. At that time, as in the illustrated example, the document queue 11
A plurality of print jobs written in are selected as sort targets, and other sort extraction conditions are “target page = P1”, “target area = upper right”,
When "target attribute = underline" is designated, a numerical value string, for example, "attendance number" is extracted as sort information from the first page of each job.

In this case, the print order control module 15
The sort information (for example, attendance number) extracted for each print job is written into the job list table 17 shown in FIG. Note that FIG. 6 shows the contents of the job list table 17 before sorting. The job list table 17 includes a “job ID” for each print job,
"Sort information", "start page", and "end page" are stored, and the print order control module 15 rewrites the contents of the job list table 17 using the "sort information" extracted for each print job as a key. However, at that time, the contents of the job list table 17 are sorted by referring to the sort order management table 18 shown in FIG.

The sort order management table 18 has a plurality of "sort orders" prepared as selection candidates corresponding to the "data type", and a plurality of "sort orders" set for each "data type". , An arbitrary “sorting order” is selected and designated in advance, and the sort information is rearranged according to the selected “sorting order”. That is, as the "data type", "number",
“Reading”, “alphabet”, “symbol”, “figure”, etc. are prepared as selection candidates, and there are a plurality of “sorting orders” corresponding to “data type”. "Reverse order", ..., "Reading" is "Japanese alphabetical order",
"Reverse order", etc. are prepared as selection candidates, and the desired "data type" and "sort order" are selected from them.
Is arbitrarily selected and specified.

For example, in the example of FIG. 5, the data type of the sort information extracted for each print job is "numeric", and the "sort order A", "sort order B", ... When "Sort order A" is selected and specified, sort information "13", "7", "5" is
They are sorted in ascending order, and the order is "5", "7", "13". As a result, in the example of FIG. 5, even if the input order of a plurality of print jobs is, the print order of the print jobs is changed by the automatic sort.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the contents of the print order control module 15 created based on the contents of the job list table 17. The print order control module 15 is created based on the contents of the sorted job list table 17, and stores a “job ID”, a “start page”, and an “end page” for each print job in the sort order. Has become. "Start page" and "End page"
Is information that specifies the print range for each print job. In this embodiment, since the job is sorted for each job, the "start page" is "1" and the "end page" is It is the “last page” in the job list table 17.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing basic hardware components of the print server 1. The basic components of the client terminal 2 are also the print server 1.
Since it is the same as, the description thereof will be omitted. CPU 101
Is a central processing unit that controls the overall operation of the print server 1 according to the operating system and various application software in the storage device 2. The storage device 102 has a program storage area and a data storage area. In the program storage area, various application programs and the like are stored in addition to the operating system, and the data storage area has the above-mentioned documents. A queue 11, a condition storage table 14, a print order control table 16, a job list table 17, a sort order management table 18 and the like are stored, and are configured by a magnetic, optical, semiconductor memory or the like and a drive system thereof. The recording device 102 may be configured such that a removable storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD can be mounted in addition to a fixed memory such as a hard disk. The programs and data in the storage device 2 are loaded into the RAM (for example, static RAM) 103 as necessary, or the RAM 1
The data in 03 is saved in the storage device 102. The RAM 103 has a program execution area and a work area.

Further, the CPU 101 can directly access and use a program / data of another electronic device via the communication device 104, or can download and receive from another electronic device via the communication device 104. Communication device 10
Reference numeral 4 is a wired / wireless communication interface, which is connected to the local communication network and controls data transmission / reception between the client terminal 2 and the shared printer 3. on the other hand,
An input device 105 and a display device 106, which are its input / output peripheral devices, are connected to the CPU 101 via a bus line.
Controls their behavior. The input device 105 is an operation unit that constitutes a pointing device such as a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse, or a touch input pen, and inputs character string data and various commands. Display device 106
Is a liquid crystal for full color display, a CRT or a plasma display device.

Next, the operation algorithm of the print server 1 in the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. Here, each function described in these flowcharts is stored in the form of a readable program code, and the operation according to this program code is sequentially executed. Also,
It is also possible to sequentially execute the operation according to the above-mentioned program code transmitted via the transmission medium. This is the same in other embodiments described later, and it is also possible to execute the operation peculiar to this embodiment using a program / data externally supplied via a transmission medium in addition to the recording medium.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing sort extraction condition setting processing executed by the print server 1.
First, the print server 1 reads out the contents of the condition storage table 14, that is, "target job", "target period", "target page", "target area", and "target attribute" (step A1). The set contents set in 14 are displayed and output for each item in the setting screen (step A2). If the item to be changed is selected and designated (step A3) and item data for the selected item is newly input (step A3).
4) The input item data is set as the selected item and the content is rewritten (step A5). Hereinafter, the setting change process described above is repeated (steps A3 to A6) until the end of setting is instructed (step A6).

11 to 13 are flowcharts showing the operation of the print order control module 15. First, the print order control module 15 monitors whether or not a sort print instruction is received from the management tool 12 in a state where the above-mentioned "instruction print mode" is set, and waits until there is a sort print instruction. (Step B1).
Here, when the sort print instruction is received, the “sort extraction condition” set in the condition storage table 14 is acquired (step B2), and the document queue 1 is also acquired.
Document files for one to one jobs are acquired (step B3). Thereafter, a target job selection process of selecting and determining a job to be sorted from the jobs in the document queue 11 waiting to be printed according to the “sort extraction condition” is performed (steps B4 to B10).

That is, the print order control module 15
It is checked whether all the jobs in the document queue 11 waiting to be printed have been acquired (step B
4) If the acquisition of all jobs has not been completed, the "target job" as the sort extraction condition is referred to and it is checked whether all jobs are targeted (step B5). Now, if the "target job" is all jobs, step B7
If the range is specified, it is checked whether the job of interest currently falls within the specified range (step B6). If it is out of the specified range, the process returns to step B3 to exclude the job from the sort target, and the next job is acquired from the document queue 11.
Hereinafter, the above operation is repeated.

On the other hand, if it is within the specified range (step B
6) Check whether the "target period" as the sort extraction condition is set (step B7). If the period condition is not set, the currently focused job is determined as the sort target and this is selected. It is retained as a sort target (step B10). When the "target period" is set, the system date and time are acquired, and the reception date and time associated with the job are acquired (step B8), and it is checked whether the reception date and time is within the specified period. (Step B9) If it is outside the specified period, the process returns to Step B3 to exclude the job from the sorting target, and the next job is acquired from the document queue 11. If within the specified period, the job is set as the sorting target. It is determined and held as a sort target (step B10).

When the sort target job is determined in this way, the process moves to step B11 in FIG. 12 to refer to the "target page" as the sort extraction condition to check whether all pages are designated. If all pages are specified, the print data for one page is read from the first page of the job to be sorted (step B12), and it is checked whether the reading for all pages is completed (step B13). First, since the first page is read out, the "target area" and "target attribute" as the sort extraction conditions are referred to identify the condition area (step B14), and information corresponding to the attribute condition is specified from within the area. (For example, a character string) is searched (step B15).

As a result, if there is no information corresponding to the attribute condition (step B16), the process returns to step B12 to read the next print page, and the above operation is repeated (steps B12 to B16). Here, if there is no corresponding information even if all pages are read (step B1
6) After removing this job from the sorting target (step B19), the process returns to step B3 in FIG. 11. However, if there is information corresponding to the attribute condition (step B16), in addition to the "job ID", " Read last page "(Step B
17), "job ID", "start page = 1", and "final page" are additionally registered in the job list table 17 (step B18).

On the other hand, when the "target page" as the sort extraction condition is specified, (step B1
1) The print page corresponding to the designated page is read from the sort target job (step B20), and the target sort corresponding to the above-described steps B14 and B15 is performed by referring to the “target area” and the “target attribute” as sort extraction conditions. Information retrieval processing is performed (step B21). As a result, if there is no corresponding information (step B22), this job is excluded from the sorting targets (step B19), and the process returns to step B3 in FIG. If there is corresponding information, the "job ID" and "final page" are read (step B17), and the "job ID", "start page = 1", and "final page" are additionally registered in the job list table 17. (Step B18). When the processing for one job is completed, the process returns to step B3 in FIG. 11 and the above-described operation is repeated.

When the completion of all jobs is detected in step B4 of FIG. 11, the process moves to step B23 of FIG. 13, the job list table 17 is accessed, and the presence or absence of data is checked. If so, all sort information is read from the job list table 17 (step B24), the data type of this sort information is determined (step B25), and the corresponding "sort order" is determined from the sort order management table 18 based on this data type. Is read (step B26), the arrangement order of each sort information is changed according to this "sort order", and the contents of the job list table 17 are rewritten based on this arrangement order (step B2).
7).

After the contents of the job list table 17 are sorted in this way, the print order control module 15 is created based on the sorted contents (step B28).
Then, the print order control module 15 gives a print instruction to the output module 13 (step B2).
9) The contents of the job list table 17 are cleared (step B30). This allows the output module 13
Refers to the print order control table 16 in response to the print instruction from the print order control module 15, as described above,
According to the print order, the document queue 11 is accessed to select a corresponding print job, and the print data corresponding to each selected job is read out for each job and transferred to the shared printer 3.

As described above, in the first embodiment, the print order control module 15 constituting the print server 1 has the document queue 1 according to the “sort extraction condition” arbitrarily set in the condition storage table 14.
By searching for each print job in No. 1, information that matches the extraction condition is extracted from the print data of each print job, and the print order of a plurality of print jobs is changed using each extracted information as a key. Since a plurality of print jobs are sequentially printed for each job according to the print order, a print control is realized in which the print order of a plurality of print jobs is automatically changed as desired without performing a special operation for each print. be able to. Therefore, it is not necessary to input a print instruction each time while selecting a plurality of print jobs one by one in a desired order on the display screen, and no need to sort the printed materials at all. It is possible to greatly improve the work efficiency.

In this case, information matching the "target attribute" is extracted for each print job from the extraction area corresponding to the "target area" condition arbitrarily specified as the sort extraction condition. If the data is in a fixed format, such as a slip and answer, the "slip number" and "attendance number" are set in a specified area in the print data, and the character type entered in that area is also fixed. If
The "slip number" and "attendance number" can be easily extracted from the print data as sort information, and the print order of a plurality of print jobs can be changed to the slip number order / attendance number order using this sort information as a key. It becomes possible. In this case, not only the numerical order but also the alphabetical order, alphabetical order, grade order, etc. can be sorted according to the designated attribute condition.

Further, among the plurality of print jobs based on the "target period" arbitrarily specified as the sort extraction condition,
Since the jobs that match the condition of the “target period” are selected as the sort targets, only the print jobs that are submitted within a fixed time can be the sort targets and the printing order can be controlled. Therefore, for example, in a school lesson, by changing the print order of print jobs submitted within 30 minutes from the start of the class, the print order of answer data or work data submitted by the students is divided every 30 minutes. It is possible to perform sort printing, and it is also possible to realize print control that sorts into a group that submits early and a group that submits late.

Since a job that matches the condition of this "target job" is selected from among a plurality of print jobs based on the "target job" arbitrarily specified as the sort extraction condition, It is possible to control the printing order of all print jobs, not only the print jobs, but only the arbitrarily specified jobs. In this case, for example, 5 jobs or 1 from the beginning
Only arbitrarily specified jobs can be sorted, such as 0 jobs.

In the sort order management table 18, a plurality of "sort orders" corresponding to "data types" are prepared as selection candidates, so that the information extracted by the sort extraction conditions is not limited to "numbers". Instead, it may be "reading", "alphabet", "symbol", "figure", etc. Furthermore, the sorting order can be a desired order arbitrarily selected and designated from a plurality of candidates, It is possible to sort and print all kinds of documents in the desired sort order.

In the first embodiment described above,
Although the "target job" and "target period" are specified as sort extraction conditions, "target job" and "target period" are other extraction conditions, "target page",
In addition to the “target area” and the “target attribute”, they may be designated as necessary. Further, in the above-described first embodiment, the information that matches the sort extraction condition is extracted from the document file (print data) for each print job. Information that matches the sort extraction condition may be extracted from the information.

On the other hand, a recording medium (for example, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a RAM card, etc.) in which the program code for executing each of the above-mentioned means is recorded may be provided to the computer.
That is, a recording medium having a computer-readable program code, and in a state in which an extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from within the job is specified for each print job, the specified extraction condition is Therefore, by searching the inside of each print job, the function to extract the information that matches the condition, the function to change the print order of a plurality of print jobs using each information extracted for each print job as a key, and the change It is also possible to provide a computer-readable recording medium that records a program for realizing a function of sequentially printing a plurality of print jobs for each job according to the performed printing order.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment described above, the print order of a plurality of print jobs is changed in accordance with the sort extraction conditions, and the print jobs are sequentially printed for each job. In addition to collecting the print pages taken out over a single job into one job, the print order of the print pages is changed to print. Here, basically the same components in both embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the characteristic part of the second embodiment will be mainly described below.

FIG. 14 is a diagram conceptually illustrating the automatic sort process in the second embodiment. In this case, as in the illustrated example, a plurality of print jobs written in the document queue 11 in the order of submission,
Indicates a group-corresponding print job, for example, a group-corresponding job submitted for each group in a class in a school or each department in a company. In the print job corresponding to this group / department, the document file includes print data (print page) individually created by each student / employee belonging to the group / department, and this document file is configured. Each print page to be made is associated with a student / employee on a one-to-one basis. Therefore,
In this example, all pages are specified as the "target page" as the "sort extraction condition".

The print order control module 15 refers to the condition storage table 14 and the document queue 11, and according to the "sort extraction condition", print pages individually created by each student / employee for each print job corresponding to a group. The sort information that matches the “sort extraction condition” is extracted from the list, and the sort information extracted for each student / employee is used as a key to perform an automatic sort process for changing the print order of each print page. At this time, as in the illustrated example, a plurality of print jobs written in the document queue 11 according to the order of submission are selected as sort targets, and other sort extraction conditions are “target page = all pages”. , "Target area = upper right" and "Target attribute = Underline" are specified, a numeric string, for example, "attendance number / employee number" is extracted from each page of each job as sort information. Be done

In this case, the print order control module 15
The sort information (for example, attendance number / employee number) extracted from each page for each print job corresponding to each group is written in the job list table 17. As a result, in the example of FIG. 14, the contents of the job list table 17 are as shown in FIG. Note that FIG. 15 shows the contents of the job list table 17 before sorting. The job list table 17 is configured to store “job ID”, “page number”, and “sort information”, and “job ID”
Is information that specifies a print job corresponding to a group from which "sort information" is extracted, and "page number" is information that specifies a page from which "sort information" is extracted.

The print order control module 15 rewrites the contents of the job list table 17 by using the "sort information" as a key. At that time, the sort order management table 18 is referred to as in the first embodiment. , The contents of the job list table 17 are sorted. Then, the print order control module 15 creates the print order control table 16 based on the contents of the sorted job list table 17. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the contents of the print order control table 16, and is configured to store a “job ID”, a “start page”, and an “end page” for each print job in the sort order. In the second embodiment, since the print pages are sorted, the "start page" and the "end page" have the same value.

17 and 18 are flowcharts showing the operation of the print order control module 15 in the second embodiment. First, the print order control module 15 monitors whether or not a sort print instruction is received from the management tool 12 in a state where the above-mentioned "instruction print mode" is set, and waits until there is a sort print instruction. (Step C1). Here, when the sort print instruction is received, the “sort extraction condition” set in the condition storage table 14 is acquired (step C
2) Obtain a document file for one job from the document queue 11 (step C3). Thereafter, a target job selection process of selecting and determining a job to be sorted from the jobs in the document queue 11 waiting to be printed according to the “sort extraction condition” is performed (step C4). Note that this target job selection processing is the same processing as steps B4 to B10 in FIG. 11 described above, so description thereof will be omitted.

After resetting the page counter (not shown) (step C5), the print order control module 15 refers to the condition storage table 14 and specifies the "target page" as the "sort extraction condition". Check if there is any (step C6). In this case, FIG.
When each print page is associated with a student / employee in a one-to-one manner, as in the example, the "target page" as the "sort extraction condition" is all pages, Although no page condition is specified in step C6,
When the page condition is specified, the print page is specified according to the value of the page counter, and it is checked whether the specified page meets the condition of "target page" (step C7). Here, if the page is not the corresponding page, "1" is added to the value of the page counter to update the value (step C8), and the page is searched while updating the page counter until the value reaches the final page. Processing is performed (steps C7 to C9).

When the relevant page is retrieved by this (step C7), the print page corresponding to this page counter value is extracted (step C10), and the "target area" and "target attribute" as sort extraction conditions are selected. With reference to the conditional area (step C11), sort information (for example, a character string) corresponding to the attribute condition is specified from within the area.
Is extracted (step C12). Then, "Job I
D "and" page counter value "are read (step C1
3), "job ID", "sort information", and "page counter value" are additionally registered in the job list table 17 (step C14). In this case, the "page counter value" is set in the "start page" and the "last page".

When the processing for one page is completed, the process returns to step C8 and the page counter value is "1".
Is added to update the value, the page is sequentially searched until the value reaches the final page, sort information is extracted from the page, and the operation of additionally registering in the job list table 17 is repeated (step C7- C14). Here, when the value of the page counter reaches the final page (step C9), the process returns to step C3 to select and designate the next print job, and the above operation is repeated.

On the other hand, when each print page is associated with a student / employee in a one-to-one manner as in the example of FIG. 14 described above, the “target page” as the “sort extraction condition” is set.
Indicates that all pages are targeted, so that no page condition designation is detected in step C6. Then, the process proceeds to steps C16 to C20 in FIG. It should be noted that this process is a process corresponding to steps C10 to C14 described above. That is, the print page corresponding to the page counter value is extracted (step C16), and the condition area is specified (step C).
17) Then, sort information corresponding to the attribute condition is extracted from the area (step C18). Then, "Job I
D ”and“ page counter value ”are read (step C
19), "job ID", "sort information", and "page counter value" are additionally registered in the job list table 17 (step C20).

Then, "1" is added to the value of the page counter to update the value (step 21), and the page counter is sorted while updating the page counter until the value reaches the final page (step C22). The process of extracting information and additionally registering it in the job list table 17 is repeated (steps C16 to C22). As a result, when the value of the page counter reaches the final page (step C2
2) Then, in order to select and specify the next print job, the process returns to step C3 in FIG. 17, and the above operation is repeated.

As a result, when the completion of all jobs is detected in step C4 of FIG. 17, post-processing is performed (step C15). In this post-processing, the processing corresponding to steps B23 to B30 in FIG. 13 described above is performed. That is, all sort information is read from the job list table 17, the sort order of each sort information is changed based on the data type of this sort information, the contents of the job list table 17 are rewritten, and then the contents of this job list table 17 are rewritten. The print order control module 15 is created based on the above. Then, after issuing a print instruction to the output module 13, the contents of the job list table 17 are cleared. Hereinafter, the operation of the output module 13 is similar to that of the above-described first embodiment.

As a result, in the example of FIG. 14, the print pages P1 and P2 extracted from the print jobs corresponding to the groups are combined into one job,
The first page is printed in the order of job page P1, hereafter job page P2, job page P1, job page P2, job page P2, and job page P1.

As described above, in the second embodiment, the print order control module 15 constituting the print server 1 has the document queue 1 according to the “sort extraction condition” arbitrarily set in the condition storage table 14.
By searching for each print job in No. 1, information that matches the extraction condition is extracted from the print page of each print job, and each print page extracted as a print target for each print job is targeted for batch printing. By using the information extracted for each print job as a key, the printing order of the batch printing target print pages is changed, and the batch printing target print pages are sequentially printed according to the changed printing order. It is possible to realize print control in which the print order of each print page taken out over a plurality of print jobs is automatically changed as desired without performing a special operation for each print. Therefore, after converting a plurality of print jobs into one job on the display screen, without performing any editing work of rearranging the print pages to be sorted in a desired order, the print pages extracted over the plurality of print jobs The print order of can be sorted for each page. In this case, since each print page targeted for batch printing matches the extraction condition, it is possible to print related pages together.

In this case, each print job is a job corresponding to a group including print pages for a plurality of users belonging to the same group. For example, even if the groups belong to different departments or classes, It is possible to sort the print order page by page based on the print pages taken out from the print jobs corresponding to a plurality of groups, and it is possible to sort without being limited to the same group.

In the second embodiment described above, all print jobs corresponding to groups are grouped together, but print jobs of the same group may be grouped together. FIG. 19 is a diagram exemplifying a case where print jobs of the same group are combined, and in this case, the user group name may be designated as the “target job” as the sort extraction condition. That is, the illustrated example shows a case where "user group name: aa" is specified as the sort extraction condition,
Even if the print job of "user group name: bb" is included in addition to the print job of "user group name: aa", the print order control module 15 arbitrarily specifies "as a sort extraction condition". User group name: a
Select each print job of "a" as the target job,
If the same sort processing as in the above-described second embodiment is performed below, the print execution order is as shown in the figure.

As described above, if the desired user group is designated as the sort extraction condition, on the user group side, every time the print data creation is completed.
Even if a print job is input each time, a plurality of jobs that have been input separately are combined and printed, so it is not necessary for the user group to combine multiple documents that have been created separately. No, you can save the trouble.

FIG. 20 shows still another example, which is not the automatic sort specified by the user group as in FIG. 19 described above, but the automatic sort for all user groups. In this case, as in the second embodiment described above,
Group all print jobs that support groups, but at that time,
In the example of FIG. 20, the print order is changed in the order in which print pages are grouped by the same user group name. That is, "user group name:
"aa" print job, "user group name: b"
All print jobs of "b" are combined into one job,
At this time, if the print order is changed by dividing the same “user group name: aa” and “user group name: bb” and arranging the print pages, the work of sorting the printed matter into groups can be performed. It becomes unnecessary. The order of arranging the user groups is arbitrary, but the order of arranging the user groups may be controlled by referring to preset setting information.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, the case of sorting by attendance number or slip number is exemplified, but in addition, grade order, group (class, department) order, name order, date order, Sorting in the order of destination, document type, level comparison, etc. is also possible. In the first and second embodiments described above, the sort extraction condition is
Although the “target area” and the “target attribute” are shown, the keyword may be used as the sort extraction condition, or the keyword for which the condition is designated may be searched and extracted from the document.

Further, when each print page to be printed is taken out from the document for each print job, the print page not including the sort information may be taken out. In this case, if the number of pages to be taken out and the page number are arbitrarily designated in advance, it is possible to selectively take out the pages corresponding to the number of pages to be taken out and the page number from among the pages constituting the document file.

Other than the above, the automatic sorting for each job unit in the above-described first embodiment, the automatic sorting for each page unit in the second embodiment, the automatic sorting for the user group designation shown in FIG. A menu screen for selecting the automatic sort for all user groups may be displayed, and the desired automatic sort may be arbitrarily selected from the menu screen. Further, the shared printer 3 is not limited to one, and a plurality of shared printers 3 may be installed.

On the other hand, it is a recording medium having a computer-readable program code, and is specified for each print job in a state in which the extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from the job is specified. A function to extract information that matches the conditions by searching each print job according to the extraction condition, and to make each print page extracted as a print target for each print job a batch print target Using the information extracted for each as a key, a function of changing the print order of each print page of the batch print target and a function of sequentially printing each print page of the batch print target according to the changed print order are realized. You may make it provide the computer-readable recording medium which recorded the program for it.

[0072]

According to the first invention (the invention according to claim 1), the information matching the condition is extracted by searching the inside of each print job according to the arbitrarily specified extraction condition. The print order of a plurality of print jobs is changed using each extracted information as a key, and the plurality of print jobs are sequentially printed for each job unit according to the print order, without performing a special operation for each print, It is possible to realize print control in which the print order of a plurality of print jobs is automatically changed as desired. Therefore, on the display screen, it is not necessary to input a print instruction each time while selecting a plurality of print jobs one by one according to a desired order, and no need to sort the printed materials at all. It is possible to greatly improve the work efficiency. According to the second invention (the invention according to claim 2), by searching the inside of each print job according to the arbitrarily specified extraction condition, the information matching the condition is extracted, and the extracted information is extracted. Since the print order of multiple print jobs is changed as a key and the multiple print jobs are printed sequentially for each job unit according to this print order, it is possible to print multiple print jobs without performing a special operation for each print. It is possible to realize print control in which the print order is automatically changed as desired. Therefore, on the display screen,
Work efficiency is greatly improved by selecting multiple print jobs one by one in the desired order without having to input print instructions each time and eliminating the need to sort the printed materials at all. It becomes possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a server / client system.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the print server 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing the contents of a condition storage table 14.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of a document queue 11.

FIG. 5 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an automatic sort process for changing the print order of a plurality of print jobs.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the contents of a job list table 17 before sorting.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of a sort order management table.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the contents of the print order control module 15 created based on the contents of the job list table 17.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the basic hardware components of the print server 1.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing sort extraction condition setting processing executed by the print server 1.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print order control module 15.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print order control module 15 following FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print order control module 15 following FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an automatic sort process in the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the contents of a job list table 17 in the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a print order control table 1 according to the second embodiment.
The figure which showed the content of 6.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print order control module 15 in the second embodiment.

18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the print order control module 15 following FIG.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a modified application example of the second embodiment and illustrates a case where print jobs of the same group are collectively printed.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a modified application example of the second embodiment and exemplifying a case where the print order is changed in the order in which print pages are grouped by the same user group name.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 print server 2 Client terminal 3 shared printers 4 premises leased line 11 Document Queue 12 Management tools 13 Output module 14 Condition storage table 15 Print order control module 16 Print order control table 17 Job list table 18 Sort order management table 101 CPU 102 storage device 104 communication device 105 input device 106 display device

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Naoki Fukumoto             2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo             Shio Computer Co., Ltd. Tokyo office (72) Inventor Makoto Tsurumi             2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo             Shio Computer Co., Ltd. Tokyo office (72) Inventor Yukihiro Shindo             2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo             Shio Computer Co., Ltd. Tokyo office (72) Inventor Tsuneharu Tamura             2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo             Shio Computer Co., Ltd. Tokyo office (72) Inventor Takaho Watanabe             2-229 Sakuragaoka, Higashiyamato-shi, Tokyo             Shio Computer Co., Ltd. Tokyo office F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 HQ17 HR02                 2C187 AE13 BF39 CD09 GC06                 5B021 AA01 CC07

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A print control device for sequentially printing a plurality of print jobs in the order of input, and condition specifying means for specifying, for each print job, an extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from within the job. An extraction unit that extracts information that matches the conditions by searching the inside of each print job according to the extraction conditions designated by the condition designation unit, and each information extracted for each print job by this extraction unit as a key A print order changing unit that changes the print order of the plurality of print jobs, and a print control unit that sequentially prints the plurality of print jobs according to the print order changed by the print order changing unit. A print control device. 2. In a print control apparatus for sequentially printing a plurality of print jobs in the order of input, condition specifying means for specifying, for each print job, an extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from the job, An extraction unit that extracts information that matches the conditions by searching the inside of each print job according to the extraction conditions designated by the condition designation unit, and collectively prints each print page that is taken out as a print target for each print job. And the print order changing means for changing the print order of each print page of the batch printing target by using each information extracted for each print job by the extracting means as a key, and changing by the print order changing means. Print control means for sequentially printing the print pages to be collectively printed according to the performed printing order. Print control apparatus. 3. The condition designating means sets an area condition indicating an extraction area for extracting information from print data in a print job, and an attribute condition indicating an attribute of information existing in the extraction area. 3. The printing according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the extraction unit extracts, for each print job, information that matches the attribute condition from within an extraction region that corresponds to the region condition. Control device. 4. The condition designating means designates, for each print job, an extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from within the print job, and designates a job submitted within a designated period as a print order change target. The extraction unit selects a job that matches the period condition from among a plurality of print jobs as a sort target, and also matches the extraction condition for each selected sort target job. The print control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the information is extracted. 5. The condition designating means arbitrarily designates a target job condition indicating a print order change target among a plurality of print jobs, and prints each print job matching the target job condition. The extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from the data is specified, and the extraction unit selects a print job corresponding to the target job condition from a plurality of print jobs as a sort target and is selected. The print control apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein information matching the extraction condition is extracted from the print data for each sort target job. 6. The condition designating means sets, as a target job condition indicating a print order change target among a plurality of print jobs,
The print control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a user attribute is designated. 7. The print job is a group-compatible job that includes print data for a plurality of users who belong to the same group, and the print order changing unit is a print page extracted from each print job corresponding to a plurality of groups. And the print order of each print page of the batch print target is changed by using the information extracted for each print job corresponding to a plurality of groups by the extraction unit as a key. The print control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: 8. The print order changing means changes the print order of the print pages to be collectively printed by changing the print order of the print pages divided into the same group. The print control device according to claim 7. 9. A print job is searched for according to the specified extraction condition in a state where the extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from the job is specified for each print job to the computer. By doing so, the function to extract information that matches the conditions, the function to change the print order of multiple print jobs using each information extracted for each print job as a key, and the multiple print jobs according to the changed print order A program that realizes the function of sequentially printing print jobs for each job unit. 10. The computer searches each print job according to the specified extraction condition in a state where the extraction condition for extracting arbitrary information from the job is specified for each print job to the computer. By doing so, the function to extract the information that matches the conditions and the print pages taken out as print targets for each print job are targeted for batch printing, and the information extracted for each print job is used as a key. A program for realizing the function of changing the print order of each print page of the batch print target, and the function of sequentially printing each print page of the batch print target according to the changed print order.