JP2004021455A - Information processor and job processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To freely construct a print processing environment excellent in operability capable of identifying and transferring specific print jobs generated for different printers whose attributes are different, and instructing respective print processing start with high reproducibility by those respective printers by one time print instructing operation by a user. <P>SOLUTION: The print attributes of documents to be printed by a user are set, and a plurality of set print attributes are stored, and in a status that those set print attributes are displayed by a user interface, a print job is divided so that print jobs analyzable by the respective printers can be generated, and transmitted to the corresponding printers by a plotting data control part 404 and a plotting data conversion part 405 according to print conditions designated for each printer on the user interface where the print attributes are displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a job processing method capable of communicating with a plurality of printers having different attributes via a printer driver via a network.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a printing system in which a plurality of printers are connected to a predetermined communication medium, and a plurality of client computers (information processing devices) capable of communicating with each printer by a predetermined protocol and outputting a print job are connected. ing.
[0003]
In this case, when a user on the client computer prints a document created by executing an application, the printer control software may receive a message even if two selectable printers are connected on the network. Only a set of print attributes could be set.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, in the conventional information processing apparatus, when a user prints one document, only one set of print attributes can be set by one print instruction to the printer control software.
[0005]
Therefore, if a user wants to print a document with a plurality of print attributes (for example, the first printer has a print attribute of one copy in color and the second printer has seven prints in monochrome), the printer control software needs to print once. It is necessary to set a print attribute for each time and issue a print instruction a plurality of times, which complicates the setting operation burden of the user at the time of printing, and there is a problem that an efficient print instruction cannot be given to the printer. Was.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to set a print attribute of a document to be printed by a user and hold the set print attributes, With the plurality of set print attributes displayed on the user interface, the print job is divided on the displayed user interface according to the print conditions specified for each printer, and each printer can analyze the print job. By generating a job and transmitting it to the corresponding printer, a single print designation operation by the user identifies and transfers a specific print job generated for each printer having a different attribute, and causes each printer to transfer the specific print job. Information that can freely construct a print processing environment with excellent operability that can instruct the start of print processing with good reproducibility. Processing apparatus and to provide a job processing method.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a printer having a different attribute via a printer driver via a computer network, wherein the printer driver sets a print attribute of a document to be printed by a user. Setting means for storing, a holding means for holding a plurality of print attributes set by the setting means, a display means for displaying a plurality of print attributes set by the setting means through a user interface, and a display means for displaying the plurality of print attributes set by the setting means. Transmission means for dividing a print job according to a printing condition designated for each printer on the user interface, generating a print job that can be analyzed by each printer, and transmitting the generated print job to the corresponding printer. It is characterized by the following.
[0008]
A second invention according to the present invention is characterized in that each of the plurality of print attribute settings has the same item as a normal print attribute setting item.
[0009]
A third invention according to the present invention is characterized in that each of the plurality of print attribute settings has some of the normal print attribute setting items.
[0010]
A fourth invention according to the present invention is characterized in that each print attribute setting also includes setting of a print output to be output.
[0011]
A fifth invention according to the present invention is characterized in that each print attribute setting includes a setting of a printer to be output.
[0012]
A sixth invention according to the present invention is characterized in that the number of printers performing document output is limited to one.
[0013]
A seventh invention according to the present invention is a job processing method in an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with printers having different attributes via a printer driver via a computer network, wherein the printer driver is adapted to process a document to be printed by a user. A setting step of setting print attributes, a holding step of holding the plurality of print attributes set in the setting step in a holding unit, and displaying the plurality of print attributes set in the setting step on a display unit by a user interface. A display step, on a user interface displayed by the display means, dividing a print job according to a printing condition designated for each printer, generating a print job that can be analyzed by each printer, and sending the print job to a corresponding printer. The sending step to send each For example, characterized in that is.
[0014]
An eighth invention according to the present invention is characterized in that each of a plurality of print attribute settings has the same item as a normal print attribute setting item.
A ninth invention according to the present invention is characterized in that each of the plurality of print attribute settings has some of the normal print attribute setting items.
[0015]
A tenth invention according to the present invention is characterized in that each print attribute setting includes a setting of a print setting to be output.
[0016]
An eleventh invention according to the present invention is characterized in that the number of printers that output documents is limited to one.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a first printing system to which an information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.
[0018]
Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a network to which client computers 102 and 103 are connected. The client computers 102 and 103 communicate with a monochrome printer 104 and a color printer 105 as network printers via a predetermined protocol. And a print job can be transmitted.
[0019]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0020]
In the figure, 401 is an application used when a user creates a document, 402 is an operating system, 403 is printer control software, 404 is a drawing data control unit, 405 is a drawing data conversion unit that converts data into printer data, 406 Is a spool file for temporarily storing drawing data, and 407 is a printer on a network.
[0021]
FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrams showing an example of a print setting user interface displayed on the display device of each of the client computers 102 and 103 shown in FIG. 1. The display control is performed by the printer control software 403 shown in FIG. You. 4 is displayed by the printer control software 403 when the setting addition button 209 shown in FIG. 3 is pressed.
[0022]
3, reference numeral 201 denotes a print setting user interface displayed on the client computer by the printer control software, 202 and 203 denote print setting units, 204 and 205 denote copy number setting boxes for setting the number of copies in each print setting, and 206 and 207. Is a print attribute selection list for selecting print attributes, 208 is a print setting delete button for deleting print settings, 209 is a print setting add button for adding print settings, and 210 is an attribute item is deleted from the print attribute list. A print attribute delete button 211 is a print attribute add button for adding an attribute item to the print attribute list, and 212 is a print button for instructing start of printing.
[0023]
4, reference numeral 301 denotes a user interface for setting print attributes; 302, a column for setting colors for printing; 303, a column for setting the print style of the document; 304, double-sided settings; 305, sort settings; This is a column for setting the number of pages to be printed per output sheet. 307 is a column for selecting an output printer, 308 is a printer list for displaying a list of printers connected to the computer network 101, 309 is a cancel button for closing this user interface without saving settings, and 310 is An OK button to save settings and close this user interface. Hereinafter, a specific example of the print attribute processing operation will be described.
[0024]
Here, a specific example will be described in which the user creates a document by operating the application software 401 on the client computers 102 and 103, and prints the created document in one copy in color and seven copies in monochrome.
[0025]
As for the printers to be used, one color copy is printed by the color printer 105 and seven monochrome copies are printed by the monochrome printer 104. It is assumed that the options in the print attribute selection lists 206 and 207 include only “default setting”. The default settings here are "monochrome" for color settings, "no" for double-sided printing settings, "no" for sort settings, "1 page" for the number of print pages per output sheet, and monochrome for the output printer. It is assumed that the printer 104 is used.
[0026]
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that “default” is displayed in the printer attribute selection list 206 in the case of the default setting, and a setting item different from the default is displayed in the case of a setting different from the default. In any case, the name of the output printer is displayed.
[0027]
First, the user issues a print setting instruction to the application 401 on the client computers 102 and 103. This instruction is notified to the print control software 403 through the operating system 402. As a result, the print control software 403 causes the print setting user interface 201 to be displayed to the user on the display device on the client computers 102 and 103.
[0028]
Next, the user makes settings for printing one copy of the document in color. Here, the user inputs “1” to the copy number setting box 204 using a keyboard or the like. Next, in order to perform color printing of this one copy, the print attribute must be set to "color". However, since there is no color setting in the print attribute setting lists 206 and 207, this is created by the following procedure.
[0029]
First, to create a color setting, the user presses a setting addition button 209 shown in FIG. At this time, the printer control software 403 displays the print attribute setting user interface 301 to the user. Here, the user sets the color setting 302 to “color”, and selects the color printer 105 in the output printer setting 307.
[0030]
Finally, an OK button 310 is pressed to save the print attributes. By this operation, an item is added to the print attribute list. As the name displayed in the list, a setting different from the default and a printer name to be output thereafter are displayed, so an item "color, color printer" is added. This item is saved unless the user deletes or edits it. Therefore, when color printing by the color printer 105 is required next time, “color, color printer” may be selected from the print attribute list.
[0031]
Subsequently, the user makes settings for printing seven copies in monochrome. Since the print attributes of the seven copies are default, “7” is input to the copy number setting box 205 of the second print setting 203. In the print attribute list 207 in this print setting, there is no need to set it because it is a default setting.
[0032]
Note that the present embodiment shows a case where two types of print settings can be set. However, if three or more types of print settings are desired, the print settings can be added using the print setting addition button 209.
[0033]
When the user wants to delete the print setting, the user can delete the print setting using the print setting delete button 208. Further, among the existing items in the print attribute list, items that are no longer needed can be deleted by the print attribute delete button 210.
[0034]
At this point, the print settings desired by the user have been completed, and the user presses the print button 212 to give a print instruction. Hereinafter, actual processing of print data will be described with reference to FIG.
[0035]
When the print button 212 shown in FIG. 3 is pressed by the user, the application 401 outputs drawing data to the operating system 402 using the output destination as a printer. At this time, the print setting value set by the user is also passed to the operating system 402.
[0036]
Next, the operating system 402 passes the drawing data to the drawing data control unit 404 which is a part of the printer control software 403. At this time, the drawing data control unit 404 stores the data in the spool file 406 until all the drawing data is received.
[0037]
Next, the drawing data control unit 404 analyzes the print attribute data. Here, the drawing data control unit 404 recognizes that one copy is output to the color printer 105 with color print settings and seven copies are output to the monochrome printer 104 with monochrome print settings.
[0038]
First, in order to perform one-copy printing, the drawing data control unit 404 sends drawing data for one-copy printing to the drawing data conversion unit 405. The drawing data conversion unit 405 converts the received drawing data into data that can be interpreted by the printer, and sends the data to the color printer 105.
[0039]
Subsequently, the drawing data control unit 404 sends the drawing data of the 7-copy monochrome print setting to the drawing data conversion unit 405 in order to perform 7-copy monochrome printing. The drawing data conversion unit 405 converts the received image data into data that can be interpreted by the printer, and sends the data to the monochrome printer 104.
[0040]
In this way, the user can realize printing with different print attributes with a single print instruction.
[0041]
[Second embodiment]
FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a second printing system to which the information processing device according to the present invention can be applied.
[0042]
In the figure, reference numeral 501 denotes a network, and client computers 502 and 503 are connected to the network 501. The client computers 502 and 503 communicate with a monochrome printer 504 and a color printer 505 as network printers via a predetermined protocol at a low speed. The print job can be transmitted by communicating with the monochrome printer 506.
[0043]
FIGS. 6 and 7 are diagrams showing an example of a first print setting user interface displayed on the display device of the client computers 502 and 503 shown in FIG. 5, and are displayed by the printer control software 403 shown in FIG. The display is controlled. 7 is displayed by the printer control software 403 when the print setting addition button shown in FIG. 6 is pressed.
[0044]
In FIG. 6, reference numeral 601 denotes a print setting user interface displayed on the client computer by the printer control software, and 602 and 603 denote print setting units.
[0045]
Reference numerals 604 and 605 denote copy number setting boxes for setting the number of copies in each print setting. Reference numerals 606 and 607 denote print attribute selection lists on which selectable print attributes are displayed. Reference numerals 608 and 609 denote output printer lists on which printer lists output according to the respective print settings are displayed.
[0046]
A print priority item 610 is configured so that either “speed” or “cost” can be selected. A print setting delete button 611 is instructed when deleting print settings.
[0047]
A print setting addition button 612 is designated when a print setting is added. A print attribute delete button 613 is instructed when deleting an attribute item from the print attribute list. A print attribute addition button 614 is designated when an attribute item is added to the print attribute list.
[0048]
A printer search button 615 is instructed when automatically searching for an output printer. A print button 616 is instructed when instructing to start printing.
[0049]
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 701 denotes a user interface for setting a print attribute, and 702, a column for setting a color for printing, which is configured to be selectable from "color" or "monochrome".
[0050]
Reference numeral 703 denotes a field for setting the print style of the document, which includes a duplex setting field 704, a sort setting field 705, and a print page number per output sheet setting field 706. A cancel button 707 is instructed when the user interface 701 is closed without saving the settings. An OK button 708 is instructed when saving the settings and closing this user interface.
[0051]
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a printer information table held by the printer control software 403 shown in FIG. 2, and in the present embodiment, corresponds to an information table of a printer connected to a network.
[0052]
7, reference numeral 801 denotes a printer information table, which corresponds to the printer information of each of the printers 504 to 506 shown in FIG.
[0053]
Reference numeral 802 denotes a printer name column in which the printer names of the printers 504 to 506 shown in FIG. 5 are set. Reference numeral 803 denotes a color column in which color information printable by the printers 504 to 506 shown in FIG. 5 is set.
[0054]
Reference numeral 804 denotes a printing speed column, which indicates the number of output sheets of A4 size per minute by the printers 504 to 506 shown in FIG. Reference numeral 805 denotes a printing cost column, which shows the cost per A4 size printer of each of the printers 504 to 506 shown in FIG.
[0055]
In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the printer information table 801 is automatically obtained by the printer control software 403 through the computer network 501. It is also assumed that each of the printers 504, 505, and 506 has a communication processing function for returning printer information in response to a printer information inquiry from the printer control software 403. Hereinafter, the printer setting processing operation will be described in detail. Here, a specific example is given in which the user creates a document on the client computer and prints one copy of the document in color and seven copies in monochrome.
[0056]
The user does not particularly specify the printer to be used, but since the general affairs department has requested that the office cost be reduced as much as possible, the printing is performed so that the printing cost is the lowest.
[0057]
Further, it is assumed that the options in the print attribute selection lists 606 and 607 include only “default setting”. Here, the default settings are “monochrome” for the color setting, “no” for the duplex printing setting, “no” for the sorting setting, and “1 page” for the number of print pages per output sheet.
[0058]
In the present embodiment, the printer attribute selection lists 606 and 607 display “default” in the case of default setting, and display setting items different from the default in the case of setting different from the default.
[0059]
In the output printer lists 608 and 609, a low-speed monochrome printer is set as a default output printer.
[0060]
First, the user issues a print setting instruction to the application 401. This instruction is notified to the print control software 403 through the operating system 402.
[0061]
As a result, the print control software 403 displays a print setting user interface 601 to the user. Next, the user makes settings for printing one copy of the document in color. Here, the user inputs “1” in the copy number setting box 604. Next, in order to perform color printing of this one copy, the print attribute must be set to "color". However, since there is no color setting in the print attribute setting lists 606 and 607, this is created by the following procedure.
[0062]
To create, the user presses a print setting addition button 612. At this time, the printer control software 403 displays a print attribute setting user interface 701 to the user.
[0063]
Here, the user sets the color setting 702 to “color” and presses an OK button 708 to save the print attribute. By this operation, an item is added to the print attribute list. For the name displayed in the list, a setting different from the default is displayed, so an item "color" is added.
[0064]
This item is saved unless the user deletes or edits it. Therefore, when color printing by a color printer is required next time, “color” may be selected in the print attribute list 608 or 609.
[0065]
Subsequently, the user makes settings for printing seven copies in monochrome. Since the print attribute of the seven copies is the default, “7” is input to the copy number setting box 605 of the second print setting 603. In the print attribute list 607 in this print setting, there is no need to set it because it is a default setting.
[0066]
Note that the present embodiment shows a case where two types of print settings can be made. However, if three or more types of print settings are to be made, the print settings can be added using the print setting addition button 612. If the user wants to delete the print setting, the user can delete the print setting using the print setting delete button 611. Further, among the existing items in the print attribute list, items that are no longer required can be deleted by using the print attribute delete button 613.
[0067]
Next, the output printer is set. First, in order to perform printing at the lowest cost in this printing, the user selects “cost” in the priority item selection 610 of the print setting user interface 601.
[0068]
Subsequently, the user presses a printer search button 615 to search for an output printer. At this time, the printer control software 403 searches the printer information table 801 for an optimal printer for each print setting.
[0069]
First, for printing one copy of color, since there is only one color printer in the printer information table 801, the color printer 504 is selected, and “color printer” is selected and displayed in the output printer list 608.
[0070]
Next, the printer control software 403 determines an output printer for printing seven copies of monochrome. From the printer information table 801, it can be seen that there are two monochrome printers, but “low-speed monochrome printer” is selected and displayed in the output printer list 609 because the user has set cost priority.
[0071]
At this point, the print settings desired by the user have been completed, and the user presses the print button 616 to give a print instruction. Hereinafter, actual processing of print data will be described with reference to FIG.
[0072]
When the user presses the print button 616, the application 401 outputs drawing data to the operating system 402 using the output destination as a printer. At this time, the print setting value set by the user is also passed to the operating system 402.
[0073]
Next, the operating system 402 passes the drawing data to the drawing data control unit 404 which is a part of the printer control software 403. At this time, the drawing data control unit stores the data in the spool file 406 until all the drawing data is received.
[0074]
Next, the drawing data control unit 404 analyzes the print attribute data. Here, the drawing data control unit 404 recognizes that one copy is output to the color printer 504 with color print settings and seven copies are output to the monochrome printer 506 with monochrome print settings.
[0075]
First, in order to perform one-copy printing, the drawing data control unit 404 sends drawing data for one-copy printing to the drawing data conversion unit 405. The drawing data conversion unit 405 converts the received drawing data into data that can be interpreted by the printer, and sends the data to the color printer 504.
[0076]
Subsequently, the drawing data control unit 404 sends the drawing data of the 7-copy monochrome print setting to the drawing data conversion unit 405 in order to perform 7-copy monochrome printing. The drawing data conversion unit 405 converts the received drawing data into data that can be interpreted by the printer, and sends the data to the monochrome printer 506.
[0077]
In this manner, the user can perform printing with different print attributes by setting a print priority item and automatically searching for a printer by one print instruction.
[0078]
Hereinafter, with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, various data processing for causing the information processing apparatus according to the present invention to read and execute a program for executing various processes from a computer-readable recording medium will be described. explain.
[0079]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In addition, (1) to (18) indicate each step.
[0080]
First, in step (1), the user issues a print setting instruction to the application 401 on the client computers 102 and 103. This instruction is notified to the print control software 403 through the operating system 402. As a result, in step (2), the print control software 403 displays the print setting user interface 201 to the user on the display device on the client computers 102 and 103.
[0081]
Next, in step (3), the user makes settings for printing one copy of the document in color. Here, the user inputs “1” to the copy number setting box 204 using a keyboard or the like. Next, in order to perform color printing of this one copy, the print attribute must be set to "color". However, since there is no color setting in the print attribute setting lists 206 and 207, this is created by the following procedure.
[0082]
First, in step (4), to create a color setting, the user presses a print setting addition button 209 shown in FIG. At this time, in step (5), the printer control software 403 displays the print attribute setting user interface 301 to the user. Next, in step (6), the user sets the color setting 302 to “color”, and selects the color printer 105 in the output printer setting 307.
[0083]
Finally, in step (7), it is determined whether or not the OK button 310 has been pressed to save the print attribute. If NO, the process proceeds to step (9), and if YES, the process proceeds to step (8). An item is added to the print attribute list. As the name displayed in the list, a setting different from the default and a printer name to be output thereafter are displayed, so an item "color, color printer" is added. This item is saved unless the user deletes or edits it. Therefore, when color printing by the color printer 105 is required next time, “color, color printer” may be selected from the print attribute list.
[0084]
Subsequently, in step (9), the user makes settings for printing seven copies in monochrome. Since the print attributes of the seven copies are default, “7” is input to the copy number setting box 205 of the second print setting 203. In the print attribute list 207 in this print setting, there is no need to set it because it is a default setting.
[0085]
Next, in step (10), when the print button 212 shown in FIG. 2 is pressed by the user, in step (11), the application 401 outputs drawing data to the operating system 402 using the output destination as a printer. . At this time, the print setting value set by the user is also passed to the operating system 402.
[0086]
Next, in step (12), the operating system 402 passes the drawing data to the drawing data control unit 404 which is a part of the printer control software 403, and in step (13), the drawing data control unit 404 Until the data is received, the data is stored in the spool file 406.
[0087]
Next, in step (14), the drawing data control unit 404 analyzes the print attribute data. Here, the drawing data control unit 404 recognizes that one copy is output to the color printer 105 with color print settings and seven copies are output to the monochrome printer 104 with monochrome print settings.
[0088]
Then, in step (15), the drawing data control unit 404 sends the drawing data of the one-copy print setting to the drawing data conversion unit 405 in order to perform one-copy printing. Next, in step (16), the drawing data conversion unit 405 converts the received drawing data into data that can be interpreted by the printer, and sends the data to the color printer 105.
[0089]
Subsequently, in step (17), the drawing data control unit 404 sends the drawing data of the 7-copy monochrome print setting to the drawing data conversion unit 405 in order to perform 7-copy monochrome printing. Then, in step (18), the drawing data conversion unit 405 converts the received image data into data that can be interpreted by the printer, sends it to the monochrome printer 104, and ends the processing.
[0090]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a second data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention. Note that (1) to (23) indicate each step.
[0091]
First, in step (1), the user issues a print setting instruction to the application 401, and in step (2), the instruction is notified to the print control software 403 via the operating system 402.
[0092]
As a result, in step (3), the print control software 403 displays the print setting user interface 601 to the user. Next, in step (4), the user makes settings for printing one copy of the document in color. Here, the user inputs “1” in the copy number setting box 604. Next, in order to perform color printing of this one copy, the print attribute must be set to "color". However, since there is no color setting in the print attribute setting lists 606 and 607, this is created by the following procedure.
[0093]
First, in step (5), when the user presses the print setting addition button 612, the printer control software 403 displays a print attribute setting user interface 701 to the user.
[0094]
Next, in step (6), the user sets the color setting 702 to "color", and in step (7), presses an OK button 708 to save the print attribute. Next, in step (8), the print attributes are stored and supported. In step (9), items are added to the print attribute list. For the name displayed in the list, a setting different from the default is displayed, so an item "color" is added.
[0095]
This item is saved unless the user deletes or edits it. Therefore, when color printing by a color printer is required next time, “color” may be selected in the print attribute list 608 or 609.
[0096]
Subsequently, in step (10), the user makes settings for printing seven copies in monochrome. Since the print attribute of the seven copies is the default, “7” is input to the copy number setting box 605 of the second print setting 603. In the print attribute list 607 in this print setting, there is no need to set it because it is a default setting.
[0097]
Next, in step (11), the process proceeds to the setting of the output printer. In order to perform printing at the lowest cost in printing, the user selects “cost” in the priority item selection 610 of the print setting user interface 601.
[0098]
Subsequently, in step (12), the user presses a printer search button 615 to search for an output printer. At this time, in step (13), the printer control software 403 searches the printer information table 801 for a printer that is optimal for each print setting.
[0099]
As a result of this search, for printing one copy of color, since there is only one color printer in the printer information table 801, the color printer 504 is selected, and “color printer” is selected and displayed in the output printer list 608. .
[0100]
Next, the printer control software 403 determines an output printer for printing seven copies of monochrome. From the printer information table 801, it can be seen that there are two monochrome printers. However, since the user has set cost priority, “low-speed monochrome printer” is selected and displayed in the output printer list 609.
[0101]
At this point, the print setting desired by the user has been completed. In step (14), when the user presses the print button 616 and gives a print instruction, the processing of the actual print data starts, and in step (15). The application 401 outputs drawing data to the operating system 402 with the output destination set as a printer, and the print setting value set by the user is also passed to the operating system 402 in step (16).
[0102]
Next, in step (17), the operating system 402 passes the drawing data to the drawing data control unit 404 which is a part of the printer control software 403. In step (18), the drawing data control unit Until the data is received, the data is stored in the spool file 406.
[0103]
Next, in step (19), the drawing data control unit 404 analyzes the print attribute data. Here, the drawing data control unit 404 recognizes that one copy is output to the color printer 504 with color print settings and seven copies are output to the monochrome printer 506 with monochrome print settings.
[0104]
Then, in step (20), the drawing data control unit 404 sends the drawing data of the one-copy printing setting to the drawing data conversion unit 405 in order to perform one-copy printing. The drawing data conversion unit 405 converts the received drawing data into data that can be interpreted by the printer, and sends it to the color printer 504 in step (21).
[0105]
Subsequently, in step (22), the drawing data control unit 404 sends the drawing data of the 7-copy monochrome print setting to the drawing data conversion unit 405 in order to perform 7-copy monochrome printing. The data conversion unit 405 converts the received drawing data into data that can be interpreted by the printer, sends the data to the monochrome printer 506, and ends the processing.
[0106]
Hereinafter, the configuration of a data processing program that can be read by a printing system to which the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied will be described with reference to a memory map shown in FIG.
[0107]
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs that can be read by a printing system to which the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.
[0108]
Although not shown, information for managing a group of programs stored in the storage medium, for example, version information, a creator, and the like are also stored, and information dependent on the OS or the like on the program reading side, for example, a program is identified and displayed. Icons and the like may also be stored.
[0109]
Further, data dependent on various programs is also managed in the directory. In addition, a program for installing various programs on a computer or a program for decompressing a program to be installed when the program to be installed is compressed may be stored.
[0110]
The functions shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 in this embodiment may be performed by a host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when a group of information including a program is supplied to the output device from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external storage medium via a network. Things.
[0111]
As described above, the storage medium storing the program codes of the software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the system or the apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or the apparatus stores the storage medium in the storage medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention is also achieved by reading and executing the program code thus obtained.
[0112]
In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.
[0113]
As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, etc. Can be used.
[0114]
When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
[0115]
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided on a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.
[0116]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the printer control software sets a print attribute of a document to be printed by a user, sets and holds a plurality of print attributes, Means for displaying the print attribute settings on the user interface, means for the user to add and delete print attribute settings, means for dividing print jobs, and means for transmitting the divided print jobs to different printers. The user can set different print attributes in one print instruction for one document.
[0117]
Further, according to the second aspect, the printer control software retains information of a printer connected to the network and checks the status, a user sets print attributes of a document to be printed, a plurality of prints. Means for setting and holding attributes, means for displaying the settings of the plurality of print attributes on a user interface, means for a user to add and delete print attribute settings, means for a user to set a printing purpose in each print attribute, Means for searching and displaying a printer suitable for each print attribute setting, means for changing a printer selected by the print control software by a user, means for dividing a print job, and transmitting the divided print job to a different printer Means, user's device selection finger Means for displaying at least one set of printers adapted to the respective print attributes based on the above, allows the user to print with better performance for different print attribute settings in one print instruction for one document. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first printing system to which an information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a print setting user interface displayed on a display device of the client computer shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a print setting user interface displayed on a display device of the client computer shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a second printing system to which the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.
6 illustrates an example of a print setting user interface displayed on the display device of the client computer illustrated in FIG. 5;
7 illustrates an example of a print setting user interface displayed on a display device of the client computer illustrated in FIG. 5;
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a printer information table held by the printer control software shown in FIG.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a second data processing procedure in the information processing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs that can be read by a printing system to which the information processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 Computer Network
102,103 Client computer
104 network monochrome printer
105 Network Color Printer
401 Application
402 Operating System
403 Printer control software
404 drawing data control unit
405 Drawing data conversion unit
406 spool file
407 Output printer

Claims (11)

An information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a plurality of printers having different attributes via a printer driver via a network,
The printer driver includes:
Setting means for setting print attributes of a document to be printed by a user;
Holding means for holding a plurality of print attributes set by the setting means,
Display means for displaying a plurality of print attributes set by the setting means via a user interface;
On the user interface displayed by the display means, according to the printing conditions specified for each printer, the print job is divided, and each printer generates a print job that can be analyzed and transmits the print job to the corresponding printer. And an information processing apparatus. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of print attribute settings has the same item as a normal print attribute setting item. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of print attribute settings has some of the normal print attribute setting items. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each print attribute setting includes a setting for specifying a print to be output. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each print attribute setting includes a setting for specifying a printer to be output. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number of printers that output documents is limited to one. A job processing method in an information processing apparatus capable of communicating with a plurality of printers having different attributes via a printer driver via a network,
The printer driver includes:
A setting step for setting print attributes of a document to be printed by a user;
A holding step of holding the plurality of print attributes set by the setting step in a holding unit,
A display step of displaying a plurality of print attributes set by the setting step on a display means by a user interface;
On the user interface displayed by the display means, according to the printing conditions specified for each printer, the print job is divided, and each printer generates a print job that can be analyzed and transmits the print job to the corresponding printer. And a job processing method. 8. The job processing method according to claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of print attribute settings has the same item as a normal print attribute setting item. 8. The job processing method according to claim 7, wherein each of the plurality of print attribute settings has some of the normal print attribute setting items. 9. The job processing method according to claim 8, wherein each print attribute setting includes a setting for specifying a print to be output. 8. The job processing method according to claim 7, wherein the number of printers that output documents is limited to one.

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