JP2004202754A - Image formation device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image formation device and a program which enable printing by receiving a document file such as a PDF file without being converted to printing data while a load at the transmission side is prevented even when the image formation device has a small usable capacity at a memory part. <P>SOLUTION: A printer sequentially stores objects included in the PDF file transmitted from a PC. When it is judged that all objects which compose a predetermined page are stored (YES in S212), a printing process is carried out to the predetermined page (S213). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a program, and in particular, includes an object that can be arranged in a file in an order different from a page order, and reference information indicating a position of the object in the file, and is configured from a predetermined object. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a program for receiving and printing a document file defining a page from an image processing apparatus without being converted into print data.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art A personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as “PC”) can transmit a document file stored on a hard disk to a printer via a network such as a LAN and print the document file.
[0003]
In this case, the document file is usually converted into print data described in PDL (Page Description Language) such as PS (PostScript (R)) which can be analyzed by a printer by a printer driver installed in the PC. It is transmitted after being converted.
[0004]
On the other hand, as a document file distributed on the Internet, a PDF (Portable Document Format) file that can reproduce the same appearance as an original document regardless of the type of hardware or application has been widely used. The PDF file includes an object that can be arranged in the file in an order different from the page order and reference information indicating a position of the object in the file, and defines a page including a predetermined object.
[0005]
By the way, a PDF file may have several hundred pages of data, for example. When such a PDF file having a particularly large data size is converted into print data by a PC, the conversion takes a long time, the processing becomes complicated, and the data size is rather large due to the conversion, and the data transfer time increases. For this reason, the load on the PC increases. In order to reduce the load on the PC, a printer capable of directly printing a PDF file transmitted from the PC to the printer without converting it into print data (hereinafter referred to as “PDF direct print”) has been proposed. .
[0006]
However, in the PDF file, objects relating to data to be printed can be arranged in the file regardless of the page order, and reference information indicating the position of the object in the file is arranged at the end of the file. The printer can print only after receiving the entire PDF file. For this reason, the printer may not be able to receive the entire PDF file because of a lack of the capacity (available capacity or free space) of the mounted memory, and may not be able to execute printing.
[0007]
In connection with this problem, there is known an apparatus that changes the contents of a PDF file and reconstructs the data so that the received data can be sequentially displayed on a display without receiving the entire PDF file. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
[0008]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 11-502954
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the device described in Patent Document 1, as a result, a complicated process for reconstructing the PDF file is required on the transmission side such as a PC before the file transfer. Therefore, there is a problem that the technique of the above-described apparatus does not reduce the load on the PC as compared with converting a PDF file into print data described in PDL such as PS. In addition, since the above technique is merely a technique related to display on a display, sufficient consideration is not given to printing with a printer.
[0010]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus having a small usable capacity of a storage unit while preventing a load on a transmission side while preventing a PDF file from being loaded. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus and a program capable of receiving and printing a document file such as a document file without being converted into print data.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following means.
[0012]
(1) A document file that includes an object that can be arranged in a file in an order different from the page order and reference information that indicates the position of the object in the file, and defines a document file that defines a page composed of a predetermined object. An image forming apparatus that receives and prints from an image processing apparatus without being converted into an image, and that forms a predetermined page and a storage unit that sequentially stores objects included in a document file transmitted from the image processing apparatus. Determining means for determining whether or not all of the objects are stored in the storage means; and, if the determination means determines that all of the objects constituting the predetermined page have been stored in the storage means, An image forming apparatus having printing means for performing printing processing on the image forming apparatus.
[0013]
(2) The image forming apparatus according to (1), wherein the predetermined page is a first page among pages that have not been printed yet.
[0014]
(3) The image forming apparatus according to (1) or (2), further including a deletion unit that deletes a predetermined object already stored in the storage unit from the storage unit.
[0015]
(4) There is further provided a second judging means for judging whether or not the usage amount of the storage means has exceeded a predetermined limit usage amount, and the deletion means has the use of the storage means by the second judgment means. The image forming apparatus according to (3), wherein, when it is determined that the amount exceeds a predetermined limit usage amount, the predetermined object is deleted from the storage unit.
[0016]
(5) A document file that includes an object that can be arranged in a file in an order different from the page order and reference information that indicates the position of the object in the file, and that defines a page composed of a predetermined object, and prints a document file A program used in an image forming apparatus that receives and prints from an image processing apparatus without being converted into a file, and stores a predetermined object in a storage unit that sequentially stores objects included in a document file transmitted from the image processing apparatus. A determining step of determining whether or not all the objects constituting the page are stored; and, if it is determined in the determining step that all the objects constituting the predetermined page are stored in the storage means, An output procedure of outputting the predetermined page to a printing unit for performing a printing process on the Program for executing the image forming apparatus.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a print system to which a PC and a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention are applied.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the print system includes PCs 100A and 100B having a function as an image processing apparatus, and a printer 200 as an image forming apparatus, which are communicably connected to each other via a network 300. I have. The network 300 includes a LAN conforming to standards such as Ethernet (R), token ring, and FDDI, and a WAN in which LANs are connected by a dedicated line.
[0020]
Note that the type and number of devices connected to the network are not limited to the example shown in FIG. The printer 200 may be directly connected (locally connected) to the PC 100A or 100B without going through the network 300.
[0021]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of PCs 100A and 100B shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the PCs 100A and 100B include a CPU 101 for controlling the entire apparatus and performing various arithmetic processing, a ROM 102 for storing programs and data, a RAM 103 for temporarily storing programs and data as a work area, A hard disk 104 as an external storage device for storing various programs and data; a display unit 105 such as a liquid crystal display for displaying various information; an input unit 106 including a keyboard and a mouse for inputting various instructions; And a network interface 107 such as a LAN card for connecting to the network 300, which are mutually connected via a bus 108 for exchanging signals.
[0022]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printer 200 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the printer 200 includes a CPU 201, a ROM 202, a RAM 203, an operation panel unit 204, a printing unit 205, and a network interface 206, which are interconnected via a bus 207 for exchanging signals. ing. Note that, of the components of the printer 200, a duplicate description of a portion having the same function as the components of the PCs 100A and 100B will be omitted.
[0023]
The RAM 203 can temporarily store data received from the PC. The ROM 202 may store font information related to a font indicating a character typeface. Note that the printer 200 may include a hard disk as an external storage device for storing various programs and data. The operation panel unit 204 is used for displaying various information and inputting various instructions. The printing unit 205 prints various data on a recording material such as paper using a known image forming process such as an electrophotographic process.
[0024]
The PCs 100A and 100B and the printer 200 may include components other than the components described above, or may not include some of the components described above. In the following, a case where data is transmitted from PC 100A to printer 200 to perform printing, for example, will be described.
[0025]
In the print system shown in FIG. 1, two types of printing, normal printing and PDF direct printing, can be executed. When performing normal printing, a predetermined file is converted to print data described in PDL such as PS by a printer driver installed in the hard disk 104 of the PC 100A, and then transmitted to the printer 200. On the other hand, when the PDF direct print is executed, the PDF file is transmitted from the PC 100A to the printer 200 without being converted into print data according to a program described later installed on the hard disk 104.
[0026]
As a data communication protocol between the PC and the printer, a predetermined protocol that can perform bidirectional communication, establish a session for each job, and transmit data of an arbitrary portion in a file is used. You. For example, various protocols such as Raw (TCP / IP 9100), LPR (Line Printer Remote), and IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) can be used. However, a proprietary protocol may be used.
[0027]
Here, the structure and analysis method of a standard PDF file will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the structure of a standard PDF file, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sample PDF file. 4 and 5 are created with reference to “PDF Reference third edition Adobe Portable Document Format Version 1.4” (Adobe Systems Inc.).
[0028]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a standard PDF file 500 includes a header 510, a body 520, a cross-reference table 530, and a trailer 540.
[0029]
In the header 510, a comment starting with “%” is described. From the header 510 in FIG. 5, it can be seen that the format of the file is PDF and the version (1.4 in this case) of the compliant PDF specification.
[0030]
The body 520 is composed of a plurality of objects (objects 1 to 6 in FIG. 5). Objects are the individual elements that make up a document.
[0031]
The first object 1 is defined by the description from “10 obj” to “endobj”, and other objects are similarly defined. Here, for example, the number in “10 obj” is the number of the object, and the first number and the next number represent the ID number and the generation number (generation) of the object, respectively.
[0032]
Examples of the object include a page object, a page list object, a catalog object, a data object, and a font object.
[0033]
The page object describes page information in which the numbers of objects necessary to construct a specific page are listed. The page object includes a description of “/ Type / Page”. The page list object describes page number information in which the page object numbers are listed in the page order. That is, the page list object describes the number of each page object and the page number of the page indicated by the page object in the entire document. Further, the page list object includes a description of “/ Type / Pages”. The catalog object describes the structure information of the document, and includes the number of the page list object. The data object describes the contents of a specific page referred to by the page object, and is used to render the page. In the font object, font information about a font indicating a character typeface is described.
[0034]
The data object includes an image object including image data represented by a group of pixels, a character object including character data represented by a character code, and a graphic object including graphic data represented by a group of figures such as lines. included. In FIG. 5, object 1 is a catalog object, object 3 is a page list object (in FIG. 5, the document is composed of only one page), object 4 is a page object, and object 5 is a data object.
[0035]
The cross-reference table 530 is reference information indicating the position of the object in the file. In the cross-reference table 530, the position of each object is represented by an offset. Here, the offset refers to the number of bytes from the beginning of the file to the beginning of the data of interest. This makes it possible to randomly access the objects arranged in the body 520. The cross-reference table 530 starts with a line containing the keyword “xref” in the file.
[0036]
The trailer 540 is information to be accessed at the start of file analysis. Specifically, the trailer 540 describes information indicating the position of the cross-reference table 530 in the file, and the number of the object to be referred to first (the root object serving as the root of the hierarchical structure). The number shown after “startxref” is the offset of the cross-reference table 530. The line including “Root” indicates the number of the root object. The line including “Size” indicates the number of objects existing in the file, including the first entry of the cross reference table 530 (the object ID number is “0”). This trailer 540 is located at the end of the file and begins with a line containing the keyword "trailer".
[0037]
When analyzing a standard PDF file, the apparatus for analyzing the PDF file first analyzes the trailer 540 at the end of the file, and then analyzes the cross-reference table 530. Then, the contents of the page described in the body 520 can be analyzed based on the information obtained by the analysis. The object contains the number of another object in which the next required data is described. Therefore, by following the number of the next required object, the entire analysis of the PDF file becomes possible. Therefore, the objects can be described in an arbitrary order on a per-object basis in the body of the PDF file, and as a result, can be arranged in the file in an order different from the page order.
[0038]
Next, a process performed by the PC 100A will be described with reference to FIG. The algorithm shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is stored as a program in a storage device such as the hard disk 104 of the PC 100A, and is executed by the CPU 101.
[0039]
Here, a case will be described in which, instead of normal printing using a printer driver, PDF direct printing is performed on a PDF file, and the printer 200 prints the PDF file.
[0040]
Before the user instructs execution of PDF direct printing, initial settings are performed in advance. The initial settings include the settings of the output destination printer and the settings of the printing conditions. The output destination printer and the printing conditions are set based on a user operation through the input unit 106. The printing conditions include attributes related to the printing order of the pages. Specifically, the printing conditions include, for example, the number of copies, designation of single-sided printing / double-sided printing, designation of a collate for output in units of copies, and printing in normal order (order from the first page to the last page of the file). ) / Designation that printing is not always required. However, other attributes may be included in the printing conditions, and some of the above-described attributes may be omitted. The printing conditions may be set in the printer 200 through the operation panel unit 204.
[0041]
With the initial settings, the PC 100A accepts an instruction from the user to execute the PDF direct print for the PDF file (S101). Here, an icon of an application program file for PDF direct printing is displayed in advance on the desktop of the PC 100A. The user can instruct the execution of the PDF direct print by dragging and dropping the PDF file to be printed onto the icon and activating the application program. The instruction to execute the PDF direct print may be issued by another method.
[0042]
Subsequently, a session between the PC 100A and the printer 200 as an output destination is automatically established (S102). The session is maintained until it is closed in step S113 described later.
[0043]
Then, the PDF file targeted for PDF direct printing is transmitted to the printer 200 (S103). At this time, the PC 100A transmits the PDF file without any processing. The printing conditions set in advance are also transmitted to the printer 200.
[0044]
After the transmission of the PDF file, the path of the transmitted PDF file is recorded in the queue (S104). The path is a character string indicating the storage location of the file, and the path includes the drive name and directory name where the file is stored. The queue is a temporary storage area of a path dedicated to PDF direct printing.
[0045]
In step S105, it is determined whether a session close request, which is a request to close the session, has been received from printer 200. If a session close request has been received (YES in S105), the flow proceeds to step S112.
[0046]
If a session close request has not been received (NO in S105), it is determined whether a transmission request for a predetermined object has been received from printer 200 (S106). If an object transmission request has not been received (NO in S106), the process returns to step S105.
[0047]
When the transmission request of the object is received (YES in S106), a PDF file including the object is searched (S107). Here, the path located at the head of the queue is referred to, and the PDF file indicated by this path is searched. Then, it is determined whether or not the searched PDF file exists (S108).
[0048]
If the searched PDF file is found (YES in S108), the requested object is extracted from the PDF file and transmitted to the printer 200 (S109), and the process returns to step S105. Here, the transmission request of the object from the printer 200 includes information on the offset and the size of the object, as described later. Therefore, the extraction of the object from the PDF file is performed based on the offset and size information.
[0049]
On the other hand, when the searched PDF file is not found (NO in S108), a predetermined error display for notifying the user that an error has occurred is displayed on the display unit 105 (S110). Subsequently, a job cancel request, which is a request to cancel the job for performing the PDF direct print, is transmitted to the printer 200 (S111).
[0050]
In step S112, the path located at the head of the queue is deleted, and the currently maintained session is closed (S113).
[0051]
Next, processing performed by the printer 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. The algorithm shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 7 to 10 is stored as a program in a storage device such as the ROM 202 of the printer 200 and is executed by the CPU 201.
[0052]
Here, the case where the printer 200 receives the PDF file to be printed transmitted from the PC 100A and executes the PDF direct print on the received PDF file will be described below.
[0053]
First, the printer 200 initializes the tables shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 used in this application (S201). FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an offset information management table for managing the offset of each object, and FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a page information management table for managing the number of an object related to each page. The contents and usage of these tables will be described later.
[0054]
When the initialization of the table is completed, the printer 200 sequentially receives the PDF files transmitted from the PC 100A and analyzes the received data (S202).
[0055]
In step S203, it is determined whether the received data is a job cancel request. If the request is a job cancel request (YES in S203), the job for performing the PDF direct print is canceled (S204), and the execution of the application ends. If it is not a job cancel request (NO in S203), the process proceeds to step S205.
[0056]
In step S205, it is determined whether the received data is the head of the object. If it is the head of the object (YES in S205), the process proceeds to step S206. If it is not the head of the object (NO in S205), the process proceeds to step S207.
[0057]
In step S206, the offset of the object of interest is recorded. Here, the offset of the object is obtained by counting the number of bytes from the head of the file to the head of the object. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, the number and offset of the corresponding object are recorded in the offset information management table. Note that the deleted flag shown in FIG. 11 is a flag that is set to “1” when a deletion process is performed on an object in step S303 described below.
[0058]
In step S207, it is determined whether the received data is a page object. If it is a page object (YES in S207), the process proceeds to step S208. If it is not a page object (NO in S207), the process proceeds to step S209.
[0059]
In step S208, page information of the page object of interest is recorded. Specifically, the page object number and the object number required to compose the corresponding page are extracted from the page object of interest, and are recorded in the page information management table as shown in FIG.
[0060]
In step S209, it is determined whether the received data is a page list object. If it is a page list object (YES in S209), the process proceeds to step S210. If it is not a page list object (NO in S209), the process proceeds to step S211.
[0061]
In step S210, page number information of the page list object is recorded. Specifically, by analyzing the page list object, the number of each page object and the page number corresponding to the page object are obtained, and are recorded in the page information management table as shown in FIG.
[0062]
By the processing in steps S208 and S210, columns other than the column of the output flag in the page information management table are created. Note that the output completion flag illustrated in FIG. 12 is a flag that is set to “1” when a page including necessary objects is output to the printing unit 205.
[0063]
In the offset information management table and the page information management table, each column of the table is filled in the order of analysis of the object. Therefore, the information is not always arranged in the table in the order of the object number or the page. No (see FIGS. 11 and 12). However, it is also possible to manage the offset information management table so that each information is arranged in the order of object number, and in the page information management table, each information is arranged in the page order.
[0064]
In step S211, data storage processing is performed. That is, the storage processing is performed on data that is neither a page object nor a page list object among the received data.
[0065]
As shown in FIG. 9, in the data storing process, the received data is stored in a predetermined storage area of the memory (RAM 203) as long as the data can be stored (S301).
[0066]
Subsequently, it is determined whether the usage of a storage device such as a memory has exceeded a predetermined limit usage. Here, it is determined whether or not a memory overflow has occurred (S302). The memory overflow refers to a state in which a predetermined storage area of the memory is full of data and no more data can be stored. The predetermined limit usage amount is not limited to the case where the predetermined storage area of the memory becomes full, but may be set as appropriate, for example, the usage amount of 80% of the full state.
[0067]
If a memory overflow has occurred (YES in S302), the predetermined object already stored in the memory is deleted (S303). As a result, it is possible to secure a free space for storing an object that has not yet been stored, and it is possible to reliably print a PDF file. Here, by deleting a predetermined object only when a memory overflow occurs, it is possible to prevent a situation in which deletion processing is performed frequently and wastes processing time.
[0068]
The predetermined object to be deleted is an object that is not necessary for the output processing of another page that has not been output yet, of the objects constituting the page that has already been output to the printing unit 205 (see S213). It is. Thus, it is possible to prevent the output processing of another page from being hindered, and it is possible to prevent the speed of PDF direct printing from lowering. However, the predetermined object to be deleted is not necessarily limited to the above-described object, and may be another object such as an object having a large data size. In addition, it is preferable that objects constituting the first page among pages for which output processing has not yet been completed are not deleted. This is because such a page should be output and printed quickly. Further, a plurality of selection conditions of the object to be deleted are set, and priorities are assigned to these selection conditions, and processing according to the plurality of selection conditions is executed in stages until memory overflow does not occur. Is also good.
[0069]
In the present embodiment, as described above, the printer 200 deletes a predetermined object only when a memory overflow occurs. However, an object for which output processing to the printing unit 205 (see S213) has been completed is deleted irrespective of the occurrence of memory overflow, unless it is necessary for output processing of another page for which output processing has not been completed. May be adopted.
[0070]
Note that, in the offset information management table shown in FIG. 11, the deleted flag of the object on which the deletion process has been performed is set to “1”.
[0071]
After the predetermined object is deleted (S303), the process returns to step S301, and data that cannot be stored due to a memory overflow is stored.
[0072]
On the other hand, when the memory overflow does not occur (NO in S302), the process returns to the flowcharts of FIGS.
[0073]
In step S212 in FIG. 8, it is determined whether there is a page that can be output to the printing unit 205. That is, it is determined whether or not all the objects constituting a certain page have been stored in the memory.
[0074]
Here, the offset information management table in FIG. 11 and the page information management table in FIG. 12 are referred to. Specifically, the page is a page that has not been output yet (a page whose output flag shown in FIG. 12 is “0”), and is an object (an object number shown in FIG. 12) required to compose the page. Column) are determined. It should be noted that the case where the necessary objects are present is a case where the number and offset of the object are recorded in the offset information management table shown in FIG. 11 and the deletion completion flag is “0”.
[0075]
When it is determined that there is a page that can be output (YES in S212), output processing of the page is performed (S213).
[0076]
As shown in FIG. 10, in the output process of a page that can be output, it is determined whether or not designation of normal printing is performed by referring to a preset printing condition (S401).
If the designation of the normal order printing has not been made (NO in S401), that is, if the designation that the normal order printing is not necessarily required has been made, it is possible to output to the printing unit 205 in step S212. The page determined to be present is rasterized, all output to the printing unit 205 (S402), and printed on paper. Then, in the page information management table, the output completed flag for the page output in step S402 is set to “1”. Therefore, even if the entire PDF file is not received, the page can be printed when all the objects constituting the predetermined page are stored and the page can be output.
[0077]
On the other hand, if the print order has been specified (YES in S401), by referring to the tables in FIGS. It is determined whether or not the first page of the data can be output (S403).
[0078]
If the first page among the non-output pages can be output (YES in S403), the page is rasterized, output to the printing unit 205 (S404), and printed on paper. Then, in the page information management table, the output completed flag for the page output in step S404 is set to “1”. Therefore, even if the entire PDF file is not received, the page can be printed when the first page among the unoutputted pages can be output. Thereby, the normal printing is realized. After the page is output to the printing unit 205, the process returns to step S403. On the other hand, if the first page among the non-output pages cannot be output (NO in S403), the process returns to the flowchart of FIG.
[0079]
If it is determined in step S212 of FIG. 8 that there is no page that can be output (NO in S212), it is determined whether the object deleted in step S303 is necessary (S216). Here, the offset information table shown in FIG. 11 is referred to, and if there is no page that can be output because the predetermined object has been deleted in step S303 (the deletion flag is “1”), the deleted object is necessary. Is determined. If the deleted object is not needed (NO in S216), the process returns to step S202 in FIG.
[0080]
If the deleted object is required (YES in S216), a transmission request for the deleted object is transmitted to PC 100A, which is the transmission source of the PDF file (S217). As a result, the printing of the PDF file becomes more reliable.
[0081]
Here, the printer 200 first calculates the data size of the requested object from the offset of the requested object and the offset of the object to be arranged next in the file with reference to the offset information management table shown in FIG. I do. Then, the printer 200 transmits to the PC 100A a request to transmit the object including information on the offset and size of the requested object. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of information included in an object transmission request. The object transmission request may include other information such as the number of the requested object or the IP address of the printer 200 that is the output destination. After requesting the deleted object, the printer 200 returns to step S202 in FIG.
[0082]
In step S214, it is determined whether output of all pages of the PDF file to the printing unit 205 has been completed (S214). If the output for all pages has not been completed (NO in S214), the process returns to step S202 in FIG. 7, and the above processing is repeated.
[0083]
On the other hand, when the output of all pages is completed (YES in S214), a session close request is transmitted to PC 100A, which is the transmission source of the PDF file (S215).
[0084]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the printer sequentially stores the objects included in the PDF file transmitted from the PC, and when it is determined that all the objects constituting the predetermined page have been stored, the printer stores the objects in the predetermined page. Print processing can be performed on the print data.
[0085]
Therefore, even if the entire PDF file is not received, the page can be printed when the page can be output as a result of storing all the objects constituting the predetermined page. As a result, even a printer with a small available memory capacity can receive and print a PDF file without being converted into print data while preventing a load on the transmission side. In addition, by adopting a configuration in which the first page of the unoutputted pages can be output when the page can be output, it is also possible to perform normal order printing.
[0086]
The present invention is not limited to only the above-described embodiments, but can be variously modified within the scope of the claims.
[0087]
For example, as an apparatus having a function as an image processing apparatus, a computer such as a workstation or a server may be used instead of a PC. Further, instead of the printer, an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, a copier, and a multi-function peripheral (MFP) having a combined function thereof may be used.
[0088]
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the PDF file is transmitted from the PC to the printer based on the operation on the PC has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can also be applied to a case where a PDF file to be printed by a printer is designated and a PDF file to be printed is obtained from a storage device in which the PDF file to be printed is stored and is printed by the printer. it can.
[0089]
In the present invention, a means and a method for performing various processes for transmitting a PDF file from an image processing apparatus to an image forming apparatus for printing without converting the PDF file into print data are provided by a dedicated hardware circuit or a programmed computer. It can be realized by any of them. The program may be provided by a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disk or a CD-ROM, or may be provided online via a network such as the Internet. In this case, the program recorded on the computer-readable recording medium is usually transferred to a storage device such as a hard disk and stored. Further, the program may be provided as independent application software, or may be incorporated in the software of the device as one function of the device.
[0090]
The embodiments of the present invention described above include the inventions described in the following supplementary notes 1 to 7 in addition to the inventions described in claims 1 to 5 of the claims.
[0091]
[Supplementary note 1] The object according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the predetermined object is an object that is not necessary for print processing of another page for which print processing has not been completed among objects constituting a page for which print processing has been completed. The image forming apparatus as described in the above.
[0092]
[Supplementary Note 2] The apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising a transmission unit configured to transmit a transmission request for the deleted object when the object configuring the predetermined page is deleted from the storage unit by the deletion unit. The image forming apparatus as described in the above.
[0093]
[Appendix 3] The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the document file is a PDF (Portable Document Format) file.
[0094]
[Supplementary Note 4] The program according to claim 5, wherein the document file is a PDF (Portable Document Format) file.
[0095]
[Supplementary Note 5] A computer-readable recording medium recording the program according to claim 5.
[0096]
[Supplementary Note 6] A document file that includes an object that can be arranged in a file in an order different from the page order and reference information that indicates a position of the object in the file and that defines a page including a predetermined object is printed. An image forming method for receiving and printing from an image processing device without being converted into data,
A storage step of sequentially storing objects included in the document file transmitted from the image processing device in storage means,
A judging step of judging whether or not all the objects constituting the predetermined page have been stored in the storage means;
A printing step of performing a printing process on the predetermined page when it is determined that all the objects constituting the predetermined page are stored in the storage unit;
An image forming method comprising:
[0097]
[Supplementary Note 7] The image forming method according to supplementary note 6, wherein the document file is a PDF (Portable Document Format) file.
[0098]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, even when the entire document file such as the PDF file is not received, all the objects constituting the predetermined page are stored, and as a result, the page can be output. , The page can be printed. As a result, even if the image forming apparatus has a small available capacity of the storage unit, the document file can be received and printed without being converted into print data while preventing the load on the transmission side.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print system to which a PC and a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention are applied.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a PC shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printer shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a standard PDF file.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a sample of a PDF file.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the PC.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the printer.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart continued from FIG. 7 for describing processing performed by the printer.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a data storage process illustrated in FIG. 7;
FIG. 10 is a flowchart for describing output processing of a page that can be output shown in FIG. 8;
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an offset information management table.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a page information management table.
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of information included in an object transmission request.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 to 6 ... objects,
100A, 100B ... PC,
101, 201 ... CPU,
102, 202 ... ROM,
103, 203 ... RAM,
104 ... Hard disk,
105 display unit,
106 ... input unit,
107, 206 ... network interface,
108, 207 ... bus,
200 ... printer,
204: operation panel section,
205 printing section,
300 ... network,
500 ... standard PDF file,
510 ... header,
520 ... body,
530 ... Cross reference table,
540 ... Trailer.

Claims (5)

A document file that includes an object that can be arranged in a file in an order different from the page order and reference information that indicates the position of the object in the file, and converts a document file that defines a page composed of a predetermined object into print data. An image forming apparatus for receiving and printing from an image processing apparatus without printing,
Storage means for sequentially storing objects included in the document file transmitted from the image processing apparatus,
Determining means for determining whether or not all objects constituting a predetermined page have been stored in the storage means;
An image forming apparatus comprising: a printing unit configured to perform a printing process on the predetermined page when the determination unit determines that all objects forming the predetermined page are stored in the storage unit. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined page is a first page of pages that have not been printed yet. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a deletion unit configured to delete a predetermined object already stored in the storage unit from the storage unit. A second determination unit configured to determine whether the usage amount of the storage unit exceeds a predetermined limit usage amount,
4. The image according to claim 3, wherein the deletion unit deletes the predetermined object from the storage unit when the second determination unit determines that the usage amount of the storage unit exceeds a predetermined limit usage amount. 5. Forming equipment. A document file that includes an object that can be arranged in a file in an order different from the page order and reference information that indicates the position of the object in the file, and converts a document file that defines a page composed of a predetermined object into print data. A program used in an image forming apparatus that receives and prints from an image processing apparatus without performing
A determination step of determining whether or not all objects constituting a predetermined page are stored in storage means for sequentially storing objects included in a document file transmitted from the image processing apparatus;
When it is determined in the determination procedure that all the objects constituting the predetermined page are stored in the storage unit, an output for outputting the predetermined page to a printing unit for performing a printing process on the predetermined page And a program for causing the image forming apparatus to execute the steps.

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