JP2004054832A - Print data converter and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inexpensive and highly versatile print data converter and printing system while succeeding to conventional data assets. <P>SOLUTION: When printing old print data saved in a HOST, in a printer server, the old print data is read by application software executed by an AP control part 32. Data configuration of the read old print data is analyzed by an analyzing part 38 in a data converting part 36, and intermediate print output data of a data format that can be printed out by a printer is generated on the basis of its analysis result. The generated intermediate data is unwound as print output data for the printer by a drawing part 42, it is sent to the printer as print job data via a printer driver 34, and it is printed out by the printer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a print data conversion device that converts print data having a predetermined data configuration into a data format printable by a printing device, and a printing system including the print data conversion device.
[0002]
Problems to be solved by the prior art and the invention
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various print data (hereinafter, referred to as old print data) handled by a so-called mainframe computer or office computer (office computer) is generally created on a dedicated application, and a dedicated printer for outputting the old print data. Print processing is performed. The old print data handled here has a specific data format for each dedicated application. For example, text data representing character information, form overlay data representing various forms such as a ruled line style in a form, and patterns and It is composed of three kinds of data of image data representing a photograph and the like, and these three kinds of data are overlaid and printed at the time of print output. Therefore, when printing old print data, it is necessary to provide a dedicated printer capable of printing out the old print data as described above.
[0003]
By the way, in the above-described conventional technology, a dedicated printer for printing old print data is relatively expensive and contributes to an increase in the cost of the system. It is preferable to use an inexpensive general-purpose printer.
[0004]
However, since it is impossible to directly print out the old print data with the general-purpose printer as described above, it is necessary to convert the old print data into a data format that can be printed out by the general-purpose printer. The conversion work is complicated, the work load is large, and the work efficiency of print output may be greatly reduced.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive and versatile print data conversion device and a printing system while inheriting conventional data resources.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information acquiring means for acquiring print data format information capable of executing a print process in a printing apparatus for performing a print process on a predetermined recording medium based on predetermined print data; A print data acquisition unit that acquires print data for performing a print process in the apparatus, an analysis unit that analyzes a data configuration of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit, and, based on an analysis result of the analysis unit, A conversion unit that converts the data format of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit into print data format information acquired by the information acquisition unit; and print data that has been subjected to data format conversion by the conversion unit to the printing apparatus. Transfer means for transferring.
[0007]
The information obtaining means obtains print data format information that can be printed by a printing device that prints on a predetermined recording medium (for example, recording paper) based on the predetermined print data. The print data obtaining means obtains print data for performing a printing process in the printing device. The analysis unit analyzes a data configuration of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit. The conversion unit converts the data format of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit into print data format information acquired by the information acquisition unit based on the analysis result of the analysis unit. Further, the transfer unit transfers the print data that has been subjected to the data format conversion by the conversion unit to the printing apparatus. This makes it possible to automatically convert print data in a data format that cannot be printed by the printing device into a data format that can be printed by the printing device.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus for performing printing processing on a predetermined recording medium based on predetermined printing data, and outputting job information including at least the printing data for instructing execution of the printing processing in the printing apparatus. A print instruction device and a print control management device that manages execution control of print processing in the print device based on job information output from the print instruction device are provided on the same network, and the print control management device is Information acquisition means for acquiring print data format information that can execute a printing process in a printing apparatus; print data acquisition means for acquiring print data included in job information output from the print instruction apparatus; and the print data acquisition means Analyzing means for analyzing the data configuration of the print data obtained in the step, and obtaining the print data based on an analysis result of the analyzing means. Conversion means for converting the data format of the print data obtained in the step into print data format information obtained by the information obtaining means, and transfer means for transferring the print data having been subjected to the data format conversion by the conversion means to the printing apparatus And having the following.
[0009]
In a print control management device provided on the same network as each of the printing device and the print instruction device, the information obtaining means obtains print data format information capable of executing print processing in the printing device, and obtains print data. The means acquires print data included in job information output from the print instruction device. The analysis unit analyzes a data configuration of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit. The conversion unit converts the data format of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit into print data format information acquired by the information acquisition unit based on the analysis result of the analysis unit. The transfer unit transfers the print data, which has been subjected to the data format conversion by the conversion unit, to the printing apparatus. Thus, the print control management device can automatically convert print data in a data format that cannot be printed by the printing device into a data format that can be printed by the printing device.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0011]
As shown in FIG. 1, a printing system 10 according to the present embodiment is configured to convert the old print data (text data representing character information, form overlay data representing various forms such as a ruled line style on a form, and a pattern, a photograph, and the like). A host computer (HOST) 12 such as a mainframe or office computer storing print data composed of three types of image data to be represented, and print data of a general-purpose data format different from the old print data (hereinafter, referred to as “print data”). A general personal computer (PC) 14 for creating and storing general-purpose print data, and a printer 16 for executing print processing based on each print data (old print data and general-purpose print data) from the HOST 12 and the PC 14. , Print data from the HOST 12 and the PC 14 (old print data, With transmitting general print data) to get to the printer 16, the printer server 18 to monitor the operating status of the printer 16 are interconnected via a network 20.
[0012]
The printer server 18 includes a CPU as a main control unit that executes control software, which will be described later, and controls each unit of the internal device, an internal memory that stores the control software program and control data such as various parameters, It is configured by a general PC having a data storage unit for storing various data and the like, and is connected to the network 20 by a communication interface (IF) (not shown).
[0013]
The data format that can be directly printed and output on the printer 16 side is only general-purpose print data. When the old print data is printed out by the printer 16, details will be described later. Conversion processing is performed.
[0014]
FIG. 2 shows a module configuration of control software executed by the printer server 18.
[0015]
The communication control unit 30 acquires each print data from the HOST 12 and the PC 14 via the communication IF connected to the network 20 and executes a control process for exchanging various information with the printer 16. Module.
[0016]
The AP control unit 32 is a module that controls execution of application software (AP) corresponding to old print data sent from the HOST 12, and is capable of exchanging various data with the communication control unit 30. The old print data sent from the HOST 12 is read on the application software and an output instruction to the printer 16 is issued.
[0017]
The printer driver 34 is a module that controls the operation of the printer 16, and is capable of exchanging various data with the communication control unit 30. The printer driver 34 generates a control code for executing a print process based on print data, outputs the control code to the printer 16, and monitors an operation state of the printer 16.
[0018]
The data conversion unit 36 is a module including an analysis unit 38, an editing unit 40, a drawing unit 42, and an environment setting unit 44, and is capable of transmitting and receiving various data to and from the AP control unit 32 and the printer driver 34. Have been.
[0019]
The analysis unit 38 analyzes various commands and print data (especially, old print data) from application software executed by the AP control unit 32, and transmits the print data to an editing unit 40, which is a lower module, which will be described later. This is the module that has the main functions. The analyzing unit 38 has a printer monitoring function of transmitting error status information and the like from the printer 16 to application software executed by the AP control unit 32. The operating state of the printer 16 monitored by the printer driver 34 is monitored. The monitoring process is executed based on. The analysis unit 38 also has an execution processing log collection function based on a command analysis result or the like for the purpose of investigating the cause of failure analysis.
[0020]
The editing unit 40 is based on the analysis results of three types of data by the analysis unit 38: text data representing character information, form overlay data representing various forms such as a ruled line style in a form, and image data representing designs and photographs. Is a module for generating intermediate data for print output in a state where each data is overlaid and edited.
[0021]
The drawing unit 42 is a module that develops (ie, converts to GDI) the intermediate data generated by the editing unit 40 as print output data for transmission to the printer 16.
[0022]
The environment setting unit 44 acquires logical printer information that specifies a print data output destination printer set on the application software executed by the AP control unit 32 and associates it with a physical printer (the printer 16 in the present embodiment). Module. Here, the setting of the configuration information of the printer device, usable font information and the like is performed.
[0023]
Therefore, the data conversion unit 36 analyzes what kind of data the old print data stored in the HOST 12 is composed of, and based on the analysis result, converts the old print data into data which can be printed out by the printer 16. It can be automatically converted into a format and can be printed out by the printer 16. The environment setting unit 44 may be configured as a module different from the data conversion unit 36 in terms of its function.
[0024]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the processing sequence of the printing system 10 shown in FIG.
[0025]
In the printing system 10 according to the present embodiment, when printing the old print data stored in the HOST 12, first, the environment setting in the printer server 18 is performed. Here, the logical printer information that specifies the output destination printer of the print data is acquired on the application software executed by the AP control unit 32 (arrow A), and the device configuration information (printable data format is Then, the environment setting unit 44 of the printer server 18 sets the printer 16 as the output destination printer of the print data from the HOST 12 (S1).
[0026]
Here, when executing the print processing of the old print data stored in the HOST 12, the old print data is first read into application software executed by the AP control unit 32 in the printer server 18, and the data conversion unit 36 (Arrow C).
[0027]
In the data conversion unit 36, as shown by the arrow D in FIG. 3, first, the analysis unit 38 forms a data structure of the old print data, that is, a form overlay representing various forms such as text data representing character information and a ruled line style in a form. The editing unit 40 analyzes data and three types of data of image data representing a design, a photograph, and the like, and generates intermediate data for print output in a state where each data is overlaid and edited based on each data. The generated intermediate data is developed by the drawing unit 42 as print output data to the printer 16, sent to the printer 16 via the printer driver 34 as print job data, and printed out by the printer 16. .
[0028]
When a print error occurs during execution of print output in the printer 16, the analysis unit 38 of the data conversion unit 36 in the printer server 18 outputs an error indicating the error content, as shown by an arrow E in FIG. The information is obtained, an error notification based on the error information is performed on the application software (S2), and an error occurrence is notified to the HOST 12 side. Further, on the printer 16 side, when the cause of the printing error is eliminated by, for example, an operation by the user, an automatic recovery process for automatically returning to a printable state again is executed (S3).
[0029]
When the print output is completed in the printer 16, the analysis unit 38 of the data conversion unit 36 in the printer server 18 detects the end of the print job and notifies the end of the print job on the application software as indicated by an arrow F in FIG. (S4), and notifies the HOST 12 of the end of the job.
[0030]
Subsequently, when performing the printing process of the next print data, as described above, the old print data stored in the HOST 12 is read by the application software executed by the AP control unit 32 in the printer server 18 and subjected to data conversion. Sent to the section 36 (arrow G).
[0031]
As described above, according to the printing system according to the present embodiment, the data conversion unit in the printer server analyzes the data configuration of the old print data stored in the HOST, and automatically converts the data configuration into a data format that can be output by the printer. Therefore, the old print data, which is a data format not directly supported by the printer, can be printed out by the printer.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, based on the analysis result of the data structure of the acquired print data, the data format of the print data is converted into a data format that can execute print processing by the printing device, and the printing device Therefore, the present invention has an excellent effect that it is possible to provide an inexpensive and highly versatile print data conversion apparatus and printing system while inheriting the conventional data assets.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a module configuration of control software executed by a print server according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of processing in each unit of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 printing system 12 host computer (HOST)
14. Personal computer (PC)
16 printer 18 printer server 30 communication control unit 32 AP control unit 34 printer driver 36 data conversion unit 38 analysis unit 40 editing unit 42 drawing unit 44 environment setting unit

Claims (2)

Information acquisition means for acquiring print data format information capable of executing print processing in a printing apparatus that performs print processing on a predetermined recording medium based on predetermined print data,
A print data acquisition unit for acquiring print data for performing a printing process in the printing apparatus;
Analysis means for analyzing the data configuration of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition means,
A conversion unit that converts a data format of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit into print data format information acquired by the information acquisition unit, based on an analysis result of the analysis unit;
Transfer means for transferring the print data subjected to the data format conversion by the conversion means to the printing apparatus;
A print data conversion device having: A printing device that performs printing processing on a predetermined recording medium based on predetermined print data,
A print instruction device that outputs job information including at least the print data for instructing execution of print processing in the printing device;
A print control management device that manages execution control of print processing in the printing device based on job information output from the print instruction device;
On the same network,
The print control management device, an information acquisition unit that acquires print data format information that can execute print processing in the printing device,
A print data acquisition unit that acquires print data included in job information output from the print instruction device;
Analysis means for analyzing the data configuration of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition means,
A conversion unit that converts a data format of the print data acquired by the print data acquisition unit into print data format information acquired by the information acquisition unit, based on an analysis result of the analysis unit;
Transfer means for transferring the print data subjected to the data format conversion by the conversion means to the printing apparatus;
A printing system comprising:

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