JP2005190418A - Print management system, method for controlling it, program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct a divided printing environment where the same print result can be obtained at all times regardless of whether or not division has been made, without making a user aware that print data has been divided during printing, by managing the divided jobs as one original job. <P>SOLUTION: An information managing part 104 manages the correspondence between print data before division and each print data after division, and if the setting of substitute distributed printing is designated for the print data before division, the destination to which each print job created from each print data after division is outputted by an output management part 105 is changed so that each print job generated from each print data after division is regarded as the print job generated from the print data before division and is outputted to one or a plurality of printers that match the setting of substitute distributed printing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a print management system that divides print data received from a client device into a plurality of print data and performs print processing, a control method for the print management system, a program, and a recording medium.

  When printing application programs that hold data with different data types, such as form printing or characters, tables, images, etc., the job may be divided in the middle of the print settings.

  At that time, if the settings you want to make for the document can only be made on a job basis, for example, if saddle stitching (designation for stapling at the center of the paper, hereinafter simply referred to as stapling designation) is made, There is a restriction that only one stapling can be performed for one print job, and when print output is performed on such a device, the divided job must be determined as one job.

  However, in a printing system that generates a plurality of print jobs that reflect print settings, printing can be performed according to the settings, but the number of print jobs is generated in a form that does not necessarily correspond to the number of data. .

  For this reason, for example, even if the job queue status is displayed by the function provided by the operating system or the job monitoring function by the job management utility so that the user can monitor the printing status, the user can view the displayed print job. It is conceivable that it is not possible to specify whether the printing is being performed.

  This makes it difficult to specify which data is to be reprinted, especially when a failure occurs during printing, and reduces the operability of the printing system.

  In addition, since the print job and the data cannot be managed in association with each other from the application, it is conceivable that the print job cannot be handled in units of data. For example, when one of the divided jobs is deleted, it is possible that such a process cannot be performed although it is desirable to delete other jobs generated from the same data.

  Therefore, in the conventional technology, a document file to be printed and a print job generated from the document file are associated and managed by assigning a job identifier that can identify the correspondence and the order of each data. By doing so, it is possible for an application program or user that handles the document to recognize the correspondence between the document and the print job. There exists patent document 1 in this kind of literature.

  Even if distributed / proxy printing is set, if a user issues a print job that has a defect when it is divided as specified in bookbinding, including stapling or double-sided printing, distributed printing is automatically suppressed. The print job can be processed by selecting the optimum printing means from the output destination candidate group.

In addition, even if a failure such as an error occurs in the printing means that processes the print job, instead of substituting for another printing means from the middle of the page, you can choose to continue or substitute instead Can search for an appropriate proxy destination without stress and process a print job.
JP 2003-91386 A

  However, in the above-described conventional technique, distributed / proxy printing is also performed for a single job in the form intended by the user, but when a divided job is sent to a printer set for distributed printing or proxy printing, There is no module that manages the data before the division and the data after the division in association with the data that has been divided, and it does not correspond to the module that instructs distribution / substitution, so the situation is not intended by the user There was a problem that the problem of being output with the.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to manage the correspondence between print data before division and each print data after division, and to perform printing before the division. When predetermined print settings (proxy print setting / distributed print setting) are specified for the data, each print job generated from each print data after the division is determined from the print data before the division. By changing the output destination of each print job generated from each divided print data so that it is regarded as a generated print job and output to one or more printing apparatuses according to the predetermined print setting The divided jobs can be managed as one original job, and the same print result is always displayed regardless of the presence or absence of division without making the user aware that the print data was divided during printing. It is to provide a control method and a program and recording medium of the print management system and printing management system which can construct a good split printing environment can.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data dividing unit (data dividing unit 102 shown in FIG. 1) for dividing print data received from a client device into a plurality of print data, and each print data divided by the data dividing unit. Generating means (job generating unit 103 shown in FIG. 1) for generating each print job from the output, and output for outputting each print job generated by the generating means to one or a plurality of printing devices according to designated print settings Management means (output management section 105 shown in FIG. 1) and information management means (information management section 104 shown in FIG. 1) for managing the correspondence between the print data before division by the data division means and the print data after division. And the information management means generates from the print data after the division when a predetermined print setting is specified for the print data before the division. After the division by the output management unit, each print job is regarded as a print job generated from the print data before division and is output to one or a plurality of printing apparatuses according to the predetermined print setting. The output destination of each print job generated from each print data is controlled to be changed (steps S206 to S210 in FIG. 19, steps S305 and S306 in FIG. 20, and steps S404 to S406 in FIG. 25).

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, when an error occurs in a printing apparatus that processes a print job with respect to the print data before the division, the information management unit processes the print job to another printing apparatus. If proxy print settings to be substituted are specified, each print job generated from each divided print data is substituted for the corresponding print data before the division at the time of the substitute printing. The output management unit changes and controls the output destination of each print job generated from each divided print data by the output management means (steps S206 to S210 in FIG. 19).

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the information management means designates a first distributed print setting that causes any one of the printing apparatuses to process a print job for each print job for the print data before the division. In the case where each of the print jobs generated by the divided print data is processed by the output management unit, the print management unit processes the print jobs generated from the divided print data in units of the print data before the division. The output destination of each print job generated from the print data is controlled to be changed (steps S305 and S306 in FIG. 20).

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the information management means designates a second distributed print setting that causes a plurality of printing apparatuses to process a print job at a predesignated ratio for the print data before the division. If so, the output management unit causes each of the print jobs generated from the divided print data to be processed by a plurality of printing apparatuses at the pre-specified ratio in the print data unit before the division. The output destination of each print job generated from each divided print data is changed and controlled (steps S404 to S406 in FIG. 25).

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the output management means monitors the end of the job output to the printing apparatus and notifies the information management means (step S407 in FIG. 25). The information management means The notification of the end of each print job notified from the output management means is notified to the client in units of print data before the division (step S408 in FIG. 25).

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a data dividing unit that divides print data received from a client device into a plurality of print data, and a generation unit that generates a print job from each print data divided by the data dividing unit. An output management unit that outputs each print job generated by the generation unit to one or a plurality of printing apparatuses according to a specified print setting, before the division by the data dividing unit Information management step (step S104 in FIG. 5) for managing the correspondence between the print data and each divided print data, and when a predetermined print setting is specified for the print data before the division Each of the print jobs generated from the print data after the division is regarded as a print job generated from the print data before the division. An output destination changing step for changing the output destination of each print job generated from the divided print data by the output management means so as to output to one or a plurality of printing apparatuses according to a predetermined print setting (FIG. 19 steps S206 to S210, steps S305 and S306 in FIG. 20, and steps S404 to S406 in FIG. 25).

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for executing the printing management system control method according to the sixth aspect.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a program for executing the control method of the print management system according to the sixth aspect is stored in a recording medium so that the computer can read the program.

  According to the present invention, the correspondence between print data before division and each print data after division is managed, and predetermined print settings (substitute print settings / distributed print settings) are set for the print data before division. Is specified, each print job generated from the divided print data is regarded as a print job generated from the pre-split print data, and 1 or according to the predetermined print setting. Batch management of job information before division and job information after division by changing the output destination of each print job generated from each print data after division so as to output to a plurality of printing devices Even if multiple jobs are generated, it is possible to detect the correspondence between the generated job and the original job, and the user can confirm the end of printing and the printing status of the job without being aware of the division. Even if printing is requested to a printer with functions such as distribution and substitution, the job before division and the job after division are associated with each other, and it is the same as when printing without dividing into users The printing result can be provided.

  First, proxy printing and distributed printing, which are the premise of the present invention, will be described.

<Substitute printing>
(Automatic proxy printing)
Automatic proxy printing means that when a print job is waiting to be sent, if an error that cannot be printed occurs on the device, or if sending is impossible while the print job is being sent, or if a print job is sent to the device When the device detects that an error has occurred on the device before sending the print end notification, the print system first changes the print destination to another device that the user has previously specified for substitution. Indicates to do.

(Manual proxy printing)
Manual substitution printing is a printing system when automatic substitution printing is not set when the error / problem described above has occurred, or when printing cannot be performed even with automatic substitution printing. Tells the user that the user has explicitly specified another device to change the print destination (manual proxy printing), waits to print to the original device, or cancels the job This indicates that the printing system executes the process selected by the user.

<Distributed printing>
[Printer distribution]
Printer distribution refers to distributed printing that distributes jobs to available printers one after another, or distributed printing that is set so that the load is evenly calculated by calculating the load relationship. When the number or job size reaches the set value, it can be determined that the printer is busy, and the load can be distributed to other printers for printing, making it possible to use printer resources more efficiently. It can greatly improve the form printing business.

[Sheet unit distribution (also called page distribution or percentage distribution)]
Sheet unit distribution indicates a function of distributing to a plurality of printers in units of pages based on a preset ratio when there are a plurality of sheets in one job.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

<System configuration and operation>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a print management system showing an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the print management system according to this embodiment includes one or a plurality of client apparatuses (hereinafter referred to as clients) 101, a print management server 100, and a plurality of printers 106 (1) to 106 (n). (For example, Ethernet (registered trademark)).

  The client 101 has a general application 101a installed. The application 101a is an application program that provides functions such as word processing, spreadsheet, photo retouching, drawing or painting, presentation, and text editing, and has a printing function. These applications use a predetermined interface provided by the operating system (OS) of the client 101 when printing the created application data such as document data and image data.

  In other words, in order to print the created data, the application 101a transmits a predetermined output command depending on the OS to the OS output module that provides the interface. Upon receiving the output command, the output module of the OS converts the command into a format that can be processed by an output device such as a printer, and outputs it.

  The format that can be processed by the output device differs depending on the type, manufacturer, model, etc. of the device, so a device driver is provided for each device, and the OS uses the device driver to convert commands. . Note that when using Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation as the OS, the aforementioned output module corresponds to a module called GDI.

  The print management server 100 generates a print job based on print data transmitted from the client 101, and causes the printers 1 to n to execute print processing. The print management server 100 includes a data division unit 102, a job generation unit 103, and information management. A unit 104 and an output management unit 105. 1 shows a configuration in which the data dividing unit 102, the job generating unit 103, the information managing unit 104, and the output managing unit 105 are mounted on one apparatus (print management server 100), the data dividing unit 102 is shown. , The job generation unit 103, the information management unit 104, and the output management unit 105 are mounted on different devices such as a data division server, a job generation server, an information management server, and an output management server so that each server can communicate via a network. You may comprise with the connected system.

  Hereinafter, functions of each unit will be described.

  The data division unit 102 is a module that divides data sent from the user. Here, the data division unit 102 determines whether or not the data sent by the user is divided, and divides the data when division is necessary. Then, a name obtained by adding a unique ID in order to the name of the original data is given. The data dividing unit 102 informs the information management unit 104 of information such as sent data, presence / absence of division of the data, name of the data after division, order of divided data, presence / absence of distribution / proxy. Further, the data dividing unit 102 transmits the divided data to the job generating unit 103.

  The job generation unit 103 is a module that converts the data sent from the data division unit 102 into a print job. The job converted by the job generation unit 103 is sent to the output management unit 105.

  The information management unit 104 stores the information sent from the data division unit 102 as management information in a storage medium such as a hard disk as shown in 14 of FIG. The recording medium such as a hard disk may be a local drive provided in a computer that implements the system of this embodiment, or a drive provided on the network when connected to the network. May be. Further, the part that holds the information may be a file or a database.

  The information management unit 104 assumes that when the divided jobs are distributed in proportion, the pre-division job is distributed at the proportion from the distribution ratio set in the output management unit 105, and the divided data The information management unit 104 can change the distribution / proxy ratio set in the output management unit 105 (details will be described later).

  Further, the information management unit 104 can issue a print command to a job for which output destination information is transmitted from the output management unit 105. As a result, the output management unit 105 transmits the print job to the printer.

  The information management unit 104 manages the data before the division and the data after the division in association with each other, and when the client 101 inquires about the status of the print job, It is possible to notify the client 101 by replacing it with the print status of the job before division, or to notify the print status of both the job before division and the job after division.

  For example, in the divided jobs A1, A2, and A3 divided from the job A, when A2 is currently printing, the client 101 is notified that one third is being printed as the printing status of A. You can also

  Further, the information management unit 104 can finally notify the client 101 of the print end notification of the data after the division transmitted from the output management unit 105 as the print end notification of the data before the division.

  The output management unit 105 is a module that can manage the state transition from the generation of a print job to the completion of paper discharge, and can manage the state transition of the job even when the print job is divided in the middle. In this print management system, the output management unit 105 can manage job status transitions from print job generation to spool, data transmission, and paper discharge, and exchanges information with the information management unit 104. Thus, it is possible to provide (notify) normal print job information (for original jobs that are not divided) to the user.

  Also, the output management unit 105 distributes jobs in a preset format when distributing or substituting jobs. The output management unit 105 can send the job status to the information management unit 104, receive a command at the time of distribution and substitution, and convert the received output command into a device command that can be interpreted and executed by the printer 106 using a device driver. it can. This device command is transmitted to the printer 106, and the printer 106 prints a command corresponding to the command.

  The distribution / proxy setting method is described below.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a distribution / proxy setting screen.

  An administrator or a user can set a printer at the time of distribution / substitution in the output management unit 105 using the distribution / substitution selection screen as shown in FIG. This setting is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk of the output management unit 105.

  Note that by selecting “printer name” and pressing the edit button 2001, it is possible to perform detailed settings for distribution and substitution. The detailed setting for the proxy sets the priority. Further, the detailed setting for the dispersion sets a dispersion ratio and the like. FIG. 3 shows a setting screen for this ratio division distribution.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a setting screen for ratio division distribution.

  An administrator or a user can set the printer ratio at the time of the ratio division distribution in the output management unit 105 by using the ratio division distribution setting screen as shown in FIG. This setting is stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk of the output management unit 105.

  This setting can be performed directly by the print management server 100, or can be set by logging in to the print management server 100 from the client 101.

  Further, the user can register the same setting in the information management unit 104 as default management information for each user. The information management unit 104 manages this distribution / proxy setting as a default for each client device or user (stores and manages in a storage medium such as a hard disk).

  In addition, when printing from the client 101, the user designates the printer name “dist” for which distribution is set and the printer name “auto” for which substitution is set, and issues a print instruction, thereby performing distributed printing and proxy printing. It can be carried out. It should be noted that the user can perform distribution / proxy settings for print data each time printing is performed, and can also change the distribution / proxy detailed settings at that time.

  Then, the information management unit 104 performs control so that when the user resets the default setting at the time of printing, the setting is temporarily overwritten and returned to the default setting at the end of printing.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the print management server 100 shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a CPU, which recognizes hardware by a BIOS or the like stored in a ROM 13 and loads system software (operating system (OS) (OS) from a storage medium (recording medium) 14 such as a hard disk (HD) into the RAM 12 )) Is used to collectively control various input / output processes (including processes shown in the flowcharts described later) that use devices connected to the system bus. By the processing executed by the CPU 11, the data division unit 102, job generation unit 103, information management unit 104, output management unit 105, and the like shown in FIG. 1 are realized.

  A communication interface 19 is connected to a network cable for connecting to the communication network 21 and controls communication processing with an external device using a predetermined protocol. Reference numeral 17 denotes a display device which can display a display reflecting the operation of the input device 16 such as a keyboard and a mouse and various processing results by the CPU 11. Note that the display device 17 and the input device 16 are not necessarily provided.

  The processing operation at the time of job division in the print management system of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  5 and 6 are flowcharts showing an example of a first control processing procedure in the print management system of the present invention, which corresponds to the processing operation at the time of job division. This corresponds to the processing procedure at the time of job division in the print management server 100 shown in FIG. Note that S101 to S119 indicate steps, and are executed under the control of the CPU 11 shown in FIG.

  First, in step S101, when the data dividing unit 102 receives print data transmitted from the general application 101a of the client 101, whether or not the data dividing unit 102 divides the data received in step S101 in step S102. In step S 103, the data dividing unit 102 divides the print data into a form suitable for printing, and outputs the divided print data to the job generation unit 103.

  In step S104, the data dividing unit 102 displays information such as data before division, data after division, data division presence / absence, data name, data order, and distribution / proxy setting from the user. 104 (information management unit 104 stores these pieces of information in a RAM or a hard disk) and sends the divided print data to job generation unit 103, and the process proceeds to step S106.

  On the other hand, if the data dividing unit 102 determines in step S102 that the data received in step S101 is not to be divided, the process proceeds to step S105, where data is divided, the name of the data, the distribution / proxy setting from the user, and the like. Is transmitted to the information management unit 104 (the information management unit 104 holds the information in a RAM or a hard disk), and the print data is sent to the job generation unit 103, and the process proceeds to step S106.

  In step S106, the information management unit 104 determines whether the distribution / proxy setting is made based on the data received from the data dividing unit 102 (distribution / proxy setting from the user). If it is determined that the proxy setting has been made (that is, the user has distributed / divided data support), the process proceeds to step S107, and the information management unit 104 sets the distribution / proxy setting of the information management unit 104. The flag is changed from the default proxy / distribution setting (distribution or proxy: 1, distributed or proxy: 0), and the process proceeds to step S108.

  On the other hand, if the information management unit 104 determines in step S106 that the distribution / proxy setting has not been set for the data received from the data division unit 102, the process directly proceeds to step S108.

  The management data of the information management unit 104 at this time is shown in FIGS.

  In step S108, the job generation unit 103 converts the print data into a print job. In step S109, the job generation unit 103 sends the converted job to the output management unit 105.

  In step S <b> 110, the output management unit 105 determines the distribution / proxy on the basis of the arrived job, information on the arrived job (such as a name), and the distribution distribution preset in the output management unit 105. Information on the ratio and proxy printer designation is transmitted to the information management unit 104.

  In step S <b> 111, the information management unit 104 changes the management data setting based on the information received from the output management unit 105 and outputs a print command to the output management unit 105.

  The management information of the information management unit 104 at this time is shown in FIGS.

  Then, the output management unit 105 sends a print command to the printer according to the command transmitted from the information management unit 104.

  Next, in step S112, the output management unit 105 determines whether the printing has been normally completed. If the output management unit 105 determines that the printing has been normally completed, in step S113, the output management unit 105 performs the information management. A print end notification is output to the unit 104.

  In step S114, the information management unit 104 determines whether or not the notification returned from the output management unit 105 is an end notification for the divided print job, and is not an end notification for the divided print job. If it is determined, the process directly proceeds to step S116, and the information management unit 104 instructs the data dividing unit 102 to output a print end notification to the client 101.

  On the other hand, if the information management unit 104 determines in step S114 that the notification returned from the output management unit 105 is an end notification for the divided print job, the notification of the divided job is performed in step S115. In step S118, the original job and the divided job are printed until all of the divided job notifications are returned in step S118. Control is performed so as not to issue an end notification, and the process returns to step S115.

  It should be noted that even if some trouble occurs in the job and one of the divided print jobs disappears, it is possible to determine this and issue an instruction to send the print job again.

  On the other hand, if the information management unit 104 determines in step S115 that all notifications of the divided jobs have been returned, the process proceeds to step S116.

  In step S116, the information management unit 104 instructs the data division unit 102 to output a print end notification to the client 101, and the process proceeds to step S117. The information management unit 104 sets the proxy / distribution setting to default. Return and finish the process.

  On the other hand, if the output management unit 105 determines in step S112 that printing has not ended normally, in step S119, the output management unit 105 notifies the information management unit 104 to that effect, and proxy printing described later. Transition to processing.

  Hereinafter, the management data of the information management unit 104 before receiving the distribution / proxy information from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the default settings for distribution and substitution are “not distributed” and “no substitution”.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the management data of the information management unit 104 before receiving distribution / proxy information from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. 6, and in particular, the user specifies distribution / proxy for the data. Corresponding to the case where it is not.

  In the case of FIG. 7, since the change of the distribution / proxy setting in step S107 of FIG. 5 is not performed, the default is kept before step S110, and as shown in 1301, 1302, all of the distribution flag and proxy flag are all set. It is “0”.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing management data of the information management unit 104 before receiving distribution / proxy information from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. 6, and in particular, the user distributes the print data A and C. Corresponding to the case where substitution is designated for the print data A, B, and C.

  In the case of FIG. 8, since the distribution / proxy setting is changed in step S107 of FIG. 5, the default is changed before step S110 of FIG. 6 (and after step S107), as shown by 1401, 1402 In addition, the distribution flag of the print data A and C is “1”, and the proxy flag of the print data A, B, and C is “1”.

  The management data of the information management unit 104 after receiving the distribution / proxy information (page distribution ratio) from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. 6 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing management data of the information management unit 104 after receiving distribution / proxy information (page distribution ratio) from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. This corresponds to the case where page distribution (percentage distribution) is performed.

  In the case of FIG. 9, since the user distributes pages (ratio distribution) with respect to print data, the output management unit 105 notifies the information management unit 104 of the page division ratio and sets the information in the information management unit 104. Is done. At this time, as shown in 1501, the divided jobs A1, A2, and A3 are determined to be divided into the printer 1, the printer 2, and the printer 3 at a ratio of 1: 1: 2, respectively. Yes.

  FIG. 10 shows after the information management unit 104 recalculates the page distribution ratio after receiving the distribution / proxy information (page distribution ratio) shown in FIG. 9 from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. It is a figure which shows management data.

  In the case of FIG. 10, for example, the information management unit 104 determines that jobs A1 to A3 and jobs B1 to B4 are divided from jobs A and B, and each of jobs A1 to A3 and jobs B1 to B4 is 1 The page distribution ratio is recalculated so as to be regarded as one job and page distribution (percent distribution) is performed and set as indicated by 1601. A detailed description of the processing during page distribution (ratio distribution) will be described later.

  The management data of the information management unit 104 after receiving distribution / proxy information (printer distribution information) from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. 6 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing management data of the information management unit 104 after receiving distribution / proxy information (printer distribution ratio) from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. Corresponds to the case where the printer is distributed.

  In the case of FIG. 11, since the user distributes the printer to the print data, the information of the printer distribution is notified from the output management unit 105 to the information management unit 104 and is set in the information management unit 104. At this time, as indicated by reference numeral 1701, it is determined that the divided jobs A1, A2, and A3 are output by the printer 1, the printer 2, and the printer 3 as independent jobs.

  FIG. 12 shows after the information management unit 104 resets the printer distribution information after receiving the distribution / proxy information (printer distribution information) shown in FIG. 11 from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. It is a figure which shows management data.

  In the case of FIG. 12, for example, the information management unit 104 determines that the jobs A1 to A3 and the jobs B1 to B4 are divided from the jobs A and B, and sets the jobs A1 to A3 and the jobs B1 to B4 to 1 respectively. The printer distribution information is reset as indicated by 1702 so that it is regarded as one job and the printer is distributed. A detailed description of the processing when distributing the printer will be described later.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 13, the management data of the information management unit 104 after receiving the distribution / proxy information (proxy printing information) from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. 6 will be described.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram showing management data of the information management unit 104 after receiving the distribution / proxy information (proxy printing information) from the output management unit 105 in step S110 of FIG. This corresponds to the case where proxy printing is performed for.

  In the case of FIG. 13, since the user has set proxy printing for the print data, the output management unit 105 notifies the information management unit 104 of information on proxy printing, and an information management unit 1801 as shown in 1801. 104. Here, it is determined that all the jobs A1 to A3, B1 to B4, and C are output by the printer 1. A detailed description of the proxy printing process will be described later.

  Hereinafter, proxy printing processing, printer distributed printing processing, and ratio distributed printing processing in the present embodiment will be described. These descriptions correspond to the descriptions after the determination of distribution / proxy by the output management unit 104 shown in step S110 of FIG.

  As an example, the following situation is assumed.

-Data A was divided into A1, A2, A3-Data B was divided into B1, B2, B3, B4-Data C was not divided. It is not limited to the situation.

[Substitute printing process]
Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 14 to FIG. 19, an example of a situation in which an error has occurred in the printer 1 immediately after the end of printing in the printer 1 of A1 in the proxy printing process according to the present embodiment as compared with the conventional proxy printing process. I will explain.

  First, in a state where the user has set proxy printing on the distribution / proxy selection screen as shown in FIG. When the printer 1 cannot be used temporarily due to a malfunction of the printer 1 (for example, out of paper, paper jam, toner out, etc.) immediately after the printing of A1 is completed, for example, in the conventional technique, proxy printing is set. As shown in FIG. 14, the job A2 and the job A3 are substituted for another printer (for example, the printer 2). This causes a problem when the stapling function is set in the print data A.

  On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, first, the output management unit 105 notifies the information management unit 104 of the print job information and the information of the substitute printer. Based on this information, the changed management data of the information management unit 104 is as shown in FIG. 13, and the printer 2 is designated as a substitute printer for A2 and A3.

  Further, the information management unit 104 is configured such that A1, A2, and A3 are divided from A (A1, A2, A3 → A), and B1, B2, B3, and B4 are divided from B (B1, B2, B3). , B4) → B and C hold job division information that is not divided. Therefore, the job information notified from the output management unit 105 is associated with the job before division and the job after division. Can think.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 15, when the information management unit 104 is notified by the output management unit 105 that the job A2 is output on behalf of the printer 2, the information management unit 104 also outputs the information to the printer 2 to A1. Change settings. The management data after the change is shown in 1901 of FIG.

  Even if the output management unit 105 notifies the printer 2 that the job A2 is output to the printer 2 as a substitute, there is a case where it is not desired to substitute another printer (“reject proxy” by manual substitution). In such a case, as shown in FIG. 17, even if the information management unit 104 is notified by the output management unit 105 that the job A2 is output on behalf of the printer 2, both the A1, A2, and A3 printers 1 Change settings to output to. That is, the setting is changed so that A2 and A3 are output to the printer 1 after the printer 1 is returned. The management data after this change is shown at 1901 in FIG.

  Whether the information management unit 104 substitutes another printer (FIG. 15) / does not substitute another printer (FIG. 17) is determined by the user's judgment in the case of manual substitution. It is configured to inquire the user at the time of printing. In the case of automatic substitution, it is substituted for another printer.

  Then, the information management unit 104 notifies the information of the changed information management unit 104 to the output management unit 105, and the output management unit 105 substitutes A1, A2, and A3 for the printer 2 accordingly (FIG. 15). Or waits for the printer 1 to recover and executes printing (FIG. 17).

  In addition, B1, B2, B3, and B4 are set so that the printer 1 can substitute for the priority of substitution printing at first. However, since an error occurred in the printer 1, the printer 2 having the next highest priority was substituted.

  First, since the printer 1 failed for B1 and B2, printing was performed by the printer 2.

  However, the printer 1 may be able to print here. In this case, conventionally, B3 and B4 are output by the printer 1.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when receiving the information that B3 is output to the printer 1 from the output management unit 105, the information management unit 104 outputs B1 and B2 from the printer 2, so The setting is changed so that it is output to the printer 2 instead of 1. The same applies to B4.

  The information management unit 104 notifies the output management unit 105 of this information, and the output management unit 105 outputs B3 and B4 to the printer 2.

  In addition, the job C that is not divided is output according to the setting of the output management unit 105 or the setting newly made by the user for the data.

  As described above, the job before the division and the job after the division can be associated and substituted. As described above, when manual substitution is set, the user is informed of a printing error, and the user determines whether to output A to the same printer or to substitute another printer.

  Further, when proxy printing is performed, the user can quickly know the proxy status of his or her print job by notifying the user that the proxy printing has been performed and the printer that has been proxyed. .

  The proxy printing processing operation in the print management system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of a second control processing procedure in the print management system of the present invention, and corresponds to the proxy printing processing procedure at the time of job division in the print management server 100 shown in FIG. S201 to S210 indicate steps, and are executed under the control of the CPU 11 shown in FIG. This flowchart is also described assuming the above-described situation, but is not particularly limited to this situation.

  First, in step S201, when the output management unit 105 detects that an error has occurred in the printer 1 during printing (or during job transmission), the output management unit 105 sets proxy printing for the printer in which the error has occurred. It is determined whether the printer is a printer that has been set, and if it is determined that the printer is not a printer for which proxy printing has been set, the processing is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the output management unit 105 determines in step S201 that the printer in which the error has occurred is a printer for which proxy printing has been set, the process proceeds to step S203. In the following description, a situation where an error has occurred in the printer 1 immediately after completion of A1 printing (when A2 job transmission starts) will be described as an example.

  In step S <b> 203, the output management unit 105 determines proxy printing (a printer to perform proxy printing is determined based on the priority order of the set printers).

  Next, in step S <b> 204, the output management unit 105 notifies the information management unit 104 that the job A <b> 2 is substituted for the printer 2.

  When the information management unit 104 obtains information for substituting the printer 2 for the job A2 from the output management unit 105, in step S205, the information management unit 104 determines whether to perform substitution. This determination is made when the proxy is specified or when the manual proxy inquiry result is a proxy instruction, and when the proxy proxy query result is proxy rejection, the proxy is determined not to proxy. .

  When the information management unit 104 determines to substitute, the information management unit 104 determines that A1, A2, and A3 are divided from A (A1, A2, A3 → A), and A1, A3 Also, the management data is rewritten so as to be substituted for the printer 2 (1901 in FIG. 16), and a print command is output to the output management unit 105.

  In step S207, the output management unit 105 causes the set printer 2 to perform A1, A2, and A3 as proxy printing, and ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the information management unit 104 determines not to substitute in step S205, the information management unit 104 determines that A1, A2, and A3 are divided from A (A1, A2, A3 → A). Then, the printer 2 is not substituted for A2 and A3, and a command is issued to the output management unit 105 so as not to output until the error of the printer 1 is corrected.

  In step S209, the printer 1 waits until the printer 1 recovers. If it is determined that the printer 1 has recovered, the information management unit 104 sends A2 and A3 to the set printer 1 in step S210. The output management unit 105 is instructed.

[Distributed printer processing]
Hereinafter, the printer distributed printing process of the present embodiment will be described. Note that printer distributed printing refers to distributed printing in which jobs are assigned to available printers one after another.

  First, a state in which the user has set distributed printing on the distribution / substitute selection screen as shown in FIG. 2 in the print data, or a state in which printer distributed printing has been set as a default setting in the information management unit 104 in advance, or output management When the setting of the printer distributed printing is set in the unit 105, it is not preferable for the user to distribute the jobs A1, A2, and A3 generated by dividing the print data A.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, in such a case, when the output management unit 105 determines printer distribution for A1, the output management unit 105 distributes the print job information to the information management unit 104 and the printer to which the job is distributed. (1701 in FIG. 11).

  The information management unit 104 determines that A1, A2, and A3 are divided from A (A1, A2, A3 → A) from the management data held. Then, since the distribution destination set to the job A1 having the highest rank among A1, A2 and A3 is the printer 1, the information management unit 104 outputs the print information of the remaining jobs (A2, A3) to the output management unit. When notified from 105, even if the other job (A2, A3) is output to another printer, the printer 1 is reset (1702 in FIG. 12), and a print command is sent to the output management unit 105. Put out.

  Here, even if the print information (output destination) of A2 is notified before A1, the information management unit 104 has not yet received the information of A1 having the highest rank, so that the output management unit 105 receives a print command. Does not give out. After the print information of A1 is notified and A2 and A3 are set again to be distributed to the same printer as A1, a print command is first issued to the output management unit 105 from A1.

  When receiving a print command from the information management unit 104, the output management unit 105 distributes it to an appropriate printer as it is.

  If the output management unit 105 is notified of information about a job that is not the same as the job before the division, the job that is not the same as the job before the division may be distributed to different printers. For example, B1, B2, B3, and B4 may be distributed to different printers from A1, A2, and A3.

  As described above, the information management unit 104 associates the pre-division job with the post-division job and performs printer distribution control. Therefore, the user is notified of the fact that distributed printing has been performed and the distributed printer. can do.

  Further, the information management unit 104 can prevent the divided jobs from being distributed to different printers.

  Hereinafter, the processing operation of printer distributed printing in the print management system of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an example of a third control processing procedure in the print management system of the present invention, and corresponds to the printer distributed printing processing procedure at the time of job division in the print management server 100 shown in FIG. Note that S301 to S307 indicate steps, and are executed under the control of the CPU 11 shown in FIG. This flowchart is also described assuming the above-described situation, but is not particularly limited to this situation.

  First, in step S301, the output management unit 105 determines whether or not the printer distribution is set. If it is determined that the printer distribution is not set, the process proceeds to another process.

  On the other hand, if the output management unit 105 determines in step S301 that the printer distribution is set, in step S302, the output management unit 105 sends the information about the print job and the job to the information management unit 104. Communicate information indicating whether to distribute to printers. For example, the output management unit 105 receives the A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, B4, and C jobs and informs the information management unit 104 which printer each job is distributed to (see FIG. 11). 1701).

  Next, in step S303, the information management unit 104 determines from the management data held by the information management unit 104 which data before the division corresponds to which data before the division. For example, jobs A1, A2, A3 after division correspond to data A before division (A1, A2, A3 → A), and jobs B1, B2, B3, B4 after division correspond to data B before division. (B1, B2, B3, B4 → B), it is determined that the job C is not divided.

  Next, in step S304, the information management unit 104 determines whether or not the distribution setting is made on the data (before division) set in the information management unit 104 (determination is made from 1502 in FIG. 9). If it is determined that the setting has been made, in step S305, it is determined whether the printer that distributes the current job is the same printer as the first job. The process proceeds to S307.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S305 that the printer to be distributed is not the same printer as the first job, the setting of the printer to be distributed with respect to the divided data in the information management unit 104 is set to the first data in step S306. The distribution setting is made to the same printer (1702 in FIG. 12), and the process proceeds to step S307.

  As described above, when the distribution destination set in the highest-order job A1 among A1, A2, and A3 is the printer 1, the information management unit 104 prints the remaining jobs (A2, A3). Is notified, even if the output destination of the remaining jobs (A2, A3) is another printer, control for resetting the printer 1 is performed.

  On the other hand, if the information management unit 104 determines in step S304 that the distribution setting has not been made on the data set in the information management unit 104 (before division), the process proceeds directly to step S307.

  In step S307, the information management unit 104 outputs a print command to the output management unit 105, and the process ends.

  Finally, in step S307, the information management unit 104 issues a print command to the output management unit 105 and ends the process.

  As described above, it is possible to prevent a job divided from one print data from being distributed and output to different printers.

[Page distribution (ratio distribution) print processing]
Hereinafter, the page distribution (ratio distribution) printing process according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that page distribution (ratio distribution) printing refers to printing in which the load on each printer is calculated and distributed so that the load is uniform.

  First, a state in which the user has set distributed printing on the distribution / substitution selection screen as shown in FIG. 2 in the print data, or a state in which page distribution (ratio distribution) printing has been set as a default setting in the information management unit 104 in advance. Or, when page distribution (ratio distribution) printing is set in the output management unit 105, for example, page division is set at a ratio of 1: 1 to 2 for the printer 1, the printer 2, and the printer 3. Suppose that

  In this case, if the pre-division job A and the post-division jobs A1, A2, A3 are not managed, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22, each of the division jobs A1, A2, A3 is one-to-one. The page is divided at a ratio of 2 to 2. As a result, the order of the printed materials becomes strange.

  Therefore, in the above case, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 23, the output management unit 105 first sets the print information of the job in the information management unit 104 and the print ratio set in the output management unit 105 (1501 in FIG. 9). )

  When the information management unit 104 determines that A1, A2, and A3 are jobs divided from A and receives all print information of A1, A2, and A3, the output management unit 105 outputs the job A before division. Assuming that the jobs are distributed at a distribution ratio given by (1), as shown in FIG. 24, for each of the divided jobs A1, A2, and A3, the ratio to be output to the printer is calculated.

  The information management unit 104 issues a print command to the output management unit 105 together with the calculation result (1601 in FIG. 10).

  Then, the output management unit 105 performs output to the printer, and notifies the information management unit 104 of a print end notification of the distributed job from each printer.

  The information management unit 104 determines the print end of the divided jobs A1, A2, and A3 from the print end notification of the distributed job returned from the output management unit 105 and the result calculated above.

  When the information management unit 104 determines that all the print end notifications of the jobs A1, A2, and A3 after the division of the job A before the division are notified, the information management unit 104 outputs the print end notification of the job A before the division to the client. Thereby, when distributed printing is performed, the user can be notified of the distributed printer.

  As described above, the printer is not distributed to a printer that is not intended by the user when the ratio is distributed.

  If the setting is made so that the data is not newly distributed, the information management unit 104 sets the information management unit 105 to the information management unit 104 so as not to distribute all the divided data (or Output to a printer without distributed settings).

  Hereinafter, with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 25, the processing operation of page distribution (ratio distribution) printing in the print management system of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing an example of a fourth control processing procedure in the print management system of the present invention, and corresponds to the printer distributed printing processing procedure at the time of job division in the print management server 100 shown in FIG. S401 to S411 indicate each step, and are executed under the control of the CPU 11 shown in FIG. This flowchart is also described assuming the above-described situation, but is not particularly limited to this situation.

  First, in step S401, the output management unit 105 determines whether or not the ratio distribution is set, and if it is determined that the printer distribution is not set, the process proceeds to another process.

  On the other hand, if the output management unit 105 determines in step S401 that the ratio distribution is set, in step S402, the output management unit 105 first sets the printing ratio (set in the output management unit 105). 9 is transmitted to the information management unit 104.

  Next, in step S403, the information management unit 104 determines whether the job is a job that has been divided from the management data held, and if it is determined that the job is a job that has been divided. In step S404, the division ratio is calculated for each job after division so that the job before division is distributed at the distribution ratio given from the output management unit 105, and the calculation result (1601 in FIG. 10) is calculated. Change (reset) the management data based on the original.

  In step S405, the information management unit 104 notifies the output management unit 105 of the distribution ratio changed for the divided job, and issues a print command.

  In step S <b> 406, the output management unit 105 causes the divided jobs to be distributed and output at the distribution ratio notified of the change.

  In step S407, when the output management unit 105 receives a print notification of the distributed ones, the output management unit 105 notifies the information management unit 104 of the end of printing.

  In step S408, when the information management unit 104 receives all the print end notifications of the divided jobs, the information management unit 104 issues a print end notification of the jobs before the division (for example, A and B), and determines the distribution ratio in the management data. Return to default and end processing.

  On the other hand, if the information management unit 104 determines in step S403 that the job is an undivided job from the management data held, the distribution set in the printer is performed in step S409 (distribution). Print order without changing the ratio).

  In step S410, when the output management unit 105 receives a print notification of the distributed ones, the output management unit 105 notifies the information management unit 104 of the end of printing.

  Then, the information management unit 104 outputs a print end notification for an undivided job (for example, C) (S411).

  As described above, the information management unit 104 receives the print job information from the output management unit 105 having an output management function for managing distribution and substitution, and if the job is divided, The setting of the output management unit 105 can be changed by making a determination by associating the job information with the divided job information.

  Since the information management unit 104 can manage the job before the division and the job after the division in association with each other, even if the job is sent to a printer for which distribution or proxy printing is set, an output unintended by the user is performed. Can be prevented.

  Furthermore, since the information can be exchanged between the output management unit 105 and the information management unit 104, when a failure occurs during printing or the user wants to check the printing status, not only the data after the division but also the data before the division. It is possible to display so that the status of the data can be confirmed instantly.

  In addition, the information management unit 104 can associate the job before the division and the job after the division with a file or the like in cooperation with the data division unit 102 to associate them.

  Furthermore, the information management unit 104 can hold job information in cooperation with the job generation unit 103, and can issue a command to re-send a job when an unintentional job deletion is performed. .

  In addition, the information management unit 104 cooperates with the output management unit 105 so that even if a job is divided in the middle, or the proxy job / distribution setting is set for the divided job, it can be applied to an application program or a user. Since the print end notification before division can be issued, the number of sent data and the number of print end notifications returned do not differ.

  Therefore, since the information management unit 104 securely manages information, it is possible to save an accurate print processing log.

  Furthermore, it can cope with various print patterns and failures such as proxy printing when distributed printing fails and proxy printing when proxy printing fails.

  Even when the user checks the job status, the data dividing unit 102 transmits the print information to the information management unit 104 that associates the data before the division and the data after the division, and the information management unit 104 sends the information to the user. The respective printing statuses for the divided data A1, A2, A3, the printing status for the data A before the division (in this case, for example, the printing status of the divided data currently being executed, and at what rate printing progresses). For example, as shown in FIG. 26, can be displayed on the display unit of the client 101. (It can be displayed for any OS).

  Therefore, the number of data sent by the user and the number of notifications returned at the end are the same, and the user can check the print status of the data before the division without worrying about the divided job. Furthermore, it is possible to check the printing status by associating the data before division and the data after division.

  Therefore, even if the distribution / substitution setting is made, the information management unit 104 collectively manages the jobs before the division and the jobs after the division, thereby generating a plurality of jobs by division from one print data. Even in this case, the correspondence between the generated job and the original job can be detected, and the end of printing and confirmation of the print status of the job should be performed in the same way as a job that has not been divided without making the user aware of the division. Can do.

  Therefore, even when printing is requested to a printer having functions such as distribution and substitution, it is possible to prevent unintentional printing that is not intended by the user, and it is the same as a job that is output without being divided. Printing results can be obtained.

  It should be noted that the configuration and contents of the management data in FIGS. 7 to 13, 16, and 18 are not limited to this, and needless to say, the management data may be configured in various configurations and contents depending on the application and purpose. Yes.

  Although one embodiment has been described above, the present invention can take an embodiment as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium, and specifically includes a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to a system including a single device.

  Hereinafter, the configuration of a data processing program that can be read by an apparatus constituting the print management system according to the present invention will be described with reference to a memory map shown in FIG.

  FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining a memory map of a recording medium (storage medium) that stores various data processing programs that can be read (read) by an apparatus constituting the print management system according to the present invention.

  Although not specifically shown, information for managing a program group stored in the recording medium, for example, version information, creator, etc. is also stored, and information depending on the OS on the program reading side, for example, a program is identified and displayed. Icons may also be stored.

  Further, data depending on various programs is also managed in the directory. In addition, when a program or data to be installed is compressed, a program to be decompressed may be stored.

  The functions shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 19, 20, and 25 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 an information group including a program is supplied to the output device from a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external recording medium via a network. Is.

  As described above, a recording medium in which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is recorded is supplied to the system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is stored in the recording medium. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the recording medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

  As a recording medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD-R, DVD-ROM, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM, A silicon disk or the like can be used.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) or the like running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a case where the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by performing part or all of the actual processing and the processing is included.

  Furthermore, after the program code read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted in 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 the case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Needless to say, the present invention can be applied to a case where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to a system or apparatus. In this case, by reading a recording medium storing a program represented by software for achieving the present invention into the system or apparatus, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  Furthermore, by downloading and reading out a program represented by software for achieving the present invention from a server, database, etc. on a network using a communication program, the system or apparatus can enjoy the effects of the present invention. It becomes.

  The print settings designated by the information management unit 104 as print data are not limited to proxy / distribution, and even if other print settings are designated, the print settings are similarly generated from the divided print data. From the print data after division by the output management unit 105 so that each print job is regarded as a print job generated from print data before division and output to one or a plurality of printing apparatuses according to print settings. By changing and controlling the output destination of each generated print job, it can also be applied to processing according to various print settings of the divided data.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of a distribution agency selection screen. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the setting screen of ratio division distribution. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print management server illustrated in FIG. 1. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first control processing procedure in the print management system of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a first control processing procedure in the print management system of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. It is a schematic diagram which shows the conventional proxy printing sequence. It is a schematic diagram which shows the substitution printing sequence of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. It is a schematic diagram which shows the substitution printing sequence of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the management data which an information management part hold | maintains. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a second control processing procedure in the print management system of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a third control processing procedure in the print management system of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the conventional ratio dispersion | distribution printing sequence. It is a schematic diagram explaining the conventional ratio dispersion | distribution printing. It is a schematic diagram which shows the ratio dispersion | distribution printing sequence of this invention. It is a schematic diagram explaining the ratio dispersion | distribution printing of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the 4th control processing procedure in the printing management system of this invention. It is a schematic diagram showing an example of a print job confirmation screen in the print management system of the present invention. It is a figure explaining the memory map of the recording medium (storage medium) which stores the various data processing program which can be read (read) with the apparatus which comprises the printing management system which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Print management server 101 Client 102 Data division part 103 Job generation part 104 Output management part 105 Information management part 106 Printer

Claims (8)

Data dividing means for dividing the print data received from the client device into a plurality of print data;
Generating means for generating a print job from each print data divided by the data dividing means;
Output management means for outputting each print job generated by the generating means to one or a plurality of printing devices in accordance with designated print settings;
Information management means for managing the correspondence between the print data before division by the data division means and each print data after division;
The information management means, when a predetermined print setting is specified for the print data before the division, prints each print job generated from the print data after the division, Each print job generated from each print data after the division by the output management means is regarded as a print job generated from data and output to one or a plurality of printing apparatuses according to the predetermined print setting. A print management system characterized by changing and controlling an output destination.   The information management means designates a substitute print setting for substituting another print device for processing of the print job when an error occurs in the print device that processes the print job for the print data before the division. In the case of the proxy printing, the output management means causes the print job generated from the divided print data to be substituted by the same printing apparatus for each corresponding print data before the division. The print management system according to claim 1, wherein the output destination of each print job generated from each divided print data is controlled to change.   If the first distributed print setting for causing the printing apparatus to process a print job in units of print jobs is specified for the print data before the division, the information management means Each print job generated from each print data after the division by the output management means so as to cause each print device to process each print job generated from each print data in units of the print data before the division The print management system according to claim 1, wherein the output destination is controlled to be changed.   If the second distributed print setting that causes a plurality of printing apparatuses to process a print job at a predesignated ratio is specified for the print data before the division, the information management means Generated from each print data after the division by the output management means so that each print job generated from each print data is processed by the plurality of printing devices at the prespecified ratio in the print data unit before the division The print management system according to claim 1, wherein an output destination of each printed job is changed and controlled. The output management means monitors the end of the job output to the printing apparatus and notifies the information management means,
5. The information management unit according to claim 1, wherein the end of each print job notified from the output management unit is notified to the client in units of print data before the division. The print management system described. Data dividing means for dividing the print data received from the client device into a plurality of print data, generation means for generating a print job from each print data divided by the data dividing means, and each of the data generated by the generating means In a control method of a print management system comprising output management means for outputting a print job to one or a plurality of printing devices in accordance with designated print settings,
An information management step for managing the correspondence between the print data before division by the data division means and each print data after division;
When predetermined print settings are specified for the print data before division, each print job generated from each print data after division is printed from the print data before division. Output for changing the output destination of each print job generated from each divided print data by the output management means so as to be regarded as a job and output to one or a plurality of printing apparatuses according to the predetermined print setting The change process,
A control method for a print management system, comprising:   A program for executing the control method of the print management system according to claim 6.   A recording medium storing a computer-readable program for executing the control method of the print management system according to claim 6.

Images