JP2005343085A - Printing system and printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to find out easily objects desired for printing from the printing data stored in a printing device. <P>SOLUTION: If search-instructing data including a searching keyword 702 are sent from a host computer 100, a printing device 101 scans the printing data in a receiving buffer 613. and lists the printing data to which a character code of a character string matching to the keyword has been added, and prepares the data for returning its result to the host computer 100, and then transfers it to the host computer 100. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system comprising a host computer that generates print data, and a printing device that receives the print data from the host computer, forms an image, and prints on a recording medium such as paper. , A printing method, a computer program, and a computer-readable recording medium.

  Conventionally, not only a primary storage device such as a memory but also a secondary storage device having a relatively large capacity such as a hard disk is installed in the printing device, and a large number of font data for printing is stored. It was used for. In recent years, taking advantage of the large capacity and non-volatility of the secondary storage device, an interrupt print function and a print data temporary storage function have been provided.

  In the case of a printing system that realizes such a function, when sending print data from the host computer, the print command is executed after setting the function to be used. Information indicating that a specific function is used is added. The printing apparatus is appropriately operated based on the added information.

  For example, when it is desired to temporarily store the print data in the printing apparatus, when the user issues a print command, the print command is issued after setting to use the temporary save function. When the host computer generates print data, information indicating that the print data is print data for temporary storage is added and transferred to the printing apparatus. The printing apparatus determines that the data is temporarily stored based on the added information, and stores the print data in the storage device. Thereafter, the printing apparatus is used such that it waits for a print command issued from the host computer to the stored print data, and performs a print operation based on the command.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-143654

  However, as the storage capacity of the storage device mounted on the device increases, the size and amount of print data stored in the device tends to increase, and when the user wants to print, which is the desired print data? It has become difficult to find out if there is.

  Information such as the file name, document title, owner, and save date / time is added to the saved print data, and it is possible to display the list on the host computer. In many cases, it is difficult to determine whether the print data is the desired print data, and it is often confirmed by performing a print operation by predicting which file is to be printed.

  It is also possible to display and check the image data of each document before printing on the host computer based on the print data in the printing device, but to issue a print command, but there are many documents. As it turns out, it can be easily imagined that the confirmation work alone will take a very long time.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 8A, when a general image forming apparatus interprets a character drawing command 301, a character indicated by a character code 302 that follows is generated as drawing data. In this case, the processing on the printing apparatus side takes a long time, and it may take time to obtain a printed matter.

  Therefore, in recent years, when drawing a character, drawing data corresponding to the character is generated in advance on the host computer side having high processing capability, and as shown in FIG. Are generally used.

  However, if this method is used, the print data (graphic drawing command 303 and graphic information 304) does not include information on characters, and it cannot be determined whether the data to be printed is just an image or a character. For this reason, even if the user wants to perform a search, the keyword used for the search cannot be extracted and the search becomes impossible.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily find what is desired to be printed from print data stored in a printing apparatus.

The printing system of the present invention is a printing system including a host computer that generates print data, and a printing device that receives the print data from the host computer, forms an image, and prints on a recording medium. The host computer includes additional information adding means for adding additional information indicating whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage, and prints the print data when the print data is generated. And a character information adding means for adding character information that can be searched for a printed document so as not to affect the print data.
According to another feature of the printing system of the present invention, the printing apparatus determines whether the print data received from the host computer is normal print data or accumulated print data based on additional information. Identification means for identifying, storage means for storing the accumulated print data, search means for searching by referring to character information added to the print data in the storage means, and printing the print data in the storage means And a printing means for performing.
Another feature of the printing system according to the present invention is that at least one of the host computer and the printing apparatus has a search instruction means for issuing a search instruction together with a search keyword, and a search by the search means. A search result notification means for notifying the user of the result and a print instruction means for issuing a print instruction for desired print data among the print data stored in the storage means are provided.
Another feature of the printing system of the present invention is that the searchable character information is a character code.
The host computer of the present invention is a host computer that can generate print data, form an image, and send it to a printing apparatus that prints on a recording medium. The print data is normal print data or stored. Additional information adding means to add additional information as to whether it is the intended accumulated print data, and when printing data is generated, character information that can be searched for the printed document is added to the print data so as not to affect printing And character information adding means.
The printing apparatus according to the present invention includes an additional information adding unit for adding additional information indicating whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage, and the print data when the print data is generated. A recording medium connected to a host computer having character information adding means for adding searchable character information of a printed document so as not to affect printing on the data, receiving print data from the host computer and forming an image An identification device for identifying whether the print data received from the host computer is normal print data or accumulated print data, based on additional information, and accumulated print Storage means for storing data, search means for performing a search with reference to character information added to print data in the storage means, and the storage means Having said print data of the inner to the point and a printing means for printing.
The printing method of the present invention is a printing method using a printing system comprising a host computer that generates print data and a printing device that receives the print data from the host computer, forms an image, and prints on a recording medium. The host computer adds a procedure for adding additional information as to whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage, and when the host computer generates print data. In addition, the printing data is characterized in that a procedure for adding searchable character information of the printed document is performed so as not to affect the printing.
The computer program according to the present invention is a computer program for causing a computer to execute a process of generating print data, forming an image, and transmitting the print data to a recording device, and whether the print data is normal print data. Adds additional information as to whether it is stored print data for storage purposes, and adds print information searchable character information to the print data so as not to affect the print data when it is generated It is characterized in that it causes a computer to execute the processing to be performed.
The computer program according to the present invention includes additional information adding means for adding additional information indicating whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage, and the print data when the print data is generated. A recording medium connected to a host computer having character information adding means for adding searchable character information of a printed document so as not to affect printing on the data, receiving print data from the host computer and forming an image A computer program for controlling a printing device capable of printing on a printer, and identifies whether the print data received from the host computer is normal print data or accumulated print data based on additional information Added to the print data in the storage means, the process for storing the accumulated print data in the storage means, That has text information with reference to the process for searching, characterized in that to execute a process of printing by the print means print data in the storage unit to the computer.
The computer-readable recording medium of the present invention is characterized in that the computer program of the present invention is recorded.

  According to the present invention, print data that matches an arbitrary search keyword can be identified from the accumulated print data, so that desired print data to be printed can be easily found, Convenience is greatly improved.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment and a configuration example of an electrophotographic printer as a printing apparatus. As shown in the figure, the electrophotographic printer 101 connected to the host computer 100 is composed of a controller board 111 and a print engine 112.

  An external interface 122 in the controller board 111 receives print data from the host computer 100. The received data is processed by the CPU 121 executing a program (firmware) in the ROM 124 or RAM 123, and image data is formed in the RAM 123.

  The formed image data is sent to the print engine 112 via the engine interface 125. The print engine 112 includes a thermal fixing device (not shown). In addition to this, the print engine 112 includes toner, a photosensitive drum, and the like. The laser is scanned on the photosensitive member based on the image data formed in the RAM 123 to electrostatically A latent image is formed, the electrostatic latent image is developed with toner, transferred and fixed on a recording sheet, and a printed matter is output.

  The secondary storage device 126 is used in an auxiliary manner to store received data received from the external interface 122 during the above-described process and to store image data formed by the CPU 121.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of firmware mounted on the electrophotographic printer shown in FIG. 1, and 601 corresponds to the controller board 111 shown in FIG.

  The I / F driver control unit 611 receives data from the host computer 100. The pre-processing unit 612 analyzes the header of the data sent from the host computer 100 and informs the operation command unit 615 whether it is normal print data or accumulated print data intended for storage. At the same time, the reception data is stored in the reception buffer 613. The data stored here is PDL (page description language) data before image expansion.

  When the sent data is normal print data, the operation command unit 615 instructs the reading unit 614 to read the data from the reception buffer 613 and send it to the subsequent drawing data generation unit 616. The drawing data generation unit 616 generates drawing data based on the PDL data sent from the reading unit 614 and stores the drawing data in the image buffer 617. Then, the print engine control unit 618 sends the data stored in the image buffer 617 to the print engine 112 so that a printed matter can be finally obtained.

  On the other hand, when the sent data is accumulated print data, the operation command unit 615 only recognizes that the accumulated print data has been received, and does not give any command to the reading unit 614. Thus, when the accumulated print data is received, only the data is accumulated in the reception buffer 613, and the actual print processing can be prevented from being performed.

  Here, a method for adding searchable character information to print data sent from the host computer 100 will be described. In general, as a command of print data to be processed by the drawing data generation unit 616, there is an annotation command that does not perform any drawing operation. When the drawing data generation unit 616 finds an annotation command in the print data, the drawing data generation unit 616 skips the data up to the next command to be processed.

  Taking advantage of the operation feature of the annotation command of the drawing data generation unit 616, the host computer 100 that generates print data inserts the character code of the character to be printed by the graphic command together with the annotation command into the print data.

  FIG. 3 shows the structure of PDL data for printing characters in this embodiment. The graphic drawing command 401 and the graphic information 402 are for actually drawing a graphic as described above. By adding an annotation command 403 and a character code 404 to the data, it can be determined that a character is actually drawn instead of a figure.

  As a result, character data can be replaced with graphic commands for high-speed printing, and character data can be included in the data, so that print data that enables extraction of character information can be generated. .

  Next, a method for storing print data sent from the host computer 100 in the secondary storage device 126 without printing, and a method for printing print data stored in response to a print command from the host computer will be described. .

  FIG. 4 shows the structure of print data sent from the host computer 100. The print data 502 corresponds to a set of data actually used for printing by a print command from the host computer 100, and a print control header 501 is added in front of the print data 502. The print control header 501 includes information indicating normal print data or information indicating accumulated print data. When information indicating that the print data is stored is included, as described above, the print operation is not performed even if the print data is received, and only the storage process is performed on the secondary storage device 126.

  Next, a method for extracting only data including a specific keyword from print data stored in the printing apparatus 101 according to an instruction from the host computer 100 will be described. When it is desired to search for print data including a specific keyword from print data stored in the printing apparatus 101, a search keyword 702 is displayed from the host computer 100 together with a print control header 701 as shown in FIG. Search instruction data is sent in the added form.

  When this search instruction data is received, the pre-processing unit 612 determines that it is search instruction data, and notifies the operation command unit 615 to that effect together with the search keyword 702. In response to this, the operation command unit 615 instructs the reading unit 614 to search the data in the reception buffer 613 together with the search keyword 702 and transmit the search result.

  When receiving the search instruction, the reading unit 614 scans the print data in the reception buffer 613, lists the print data to which the character code of the character string matching the keyword is added, and sends the result to the operation command unit 615. Notify them.

  The operation command unit 615 that has received the search result creates data for returning the search result to the host computer 100 and transmits the data to the preprocessing unit 612 so as to return the data. Receiving this, the preprocessing unit 612 issues a transmission request to the I / F driver control unit 611.

  With the above processing, when there is a search instruction from the host computer 100, data stored in the printing apparatus 101 is searched, and print data including an arbitrary keyword is returned to the host computer 100 from the search. Is possible.

  When specific data is desired to be printed out of the print data stored in the printing apparatus 101, print instruction data for only the print control header 801 as shown in FIG.

  When this print instruction data is received, the pre-processing unit 612 determines that it is print instruction data, and notifies the operation command unit 615 to that effect. In response to this, the operation command unit 615 instructs the reading unit 614 to read data from the reception buffer 613 and send the data to the subsequent drawing data generation unit 616.

  The drawing data generation unit 616 generates drawing data based on the PDL data sent from the reading unit 614 and stores the drawing data in the image buffer 617. Then, the print engine control unit 618 sends the data stored in the image buffer 617 to the print engine 112 so that a printed matter can be finally obtained.

  As a result, any print data stored in the printing apparatus 101 can be printed by issuing a command from the host computer 101.

  Next, processing will be described using a flowchart relating to a program executed by the printer of FIG. In step S901, the print control header is analyzed to determine whether the print data is normal print data.

  If it is determined in step S901 that the print data is normal print data, the process advances to step S902 to perform drawing processing for storing an image generated based on the input PDL in the image buffer 617. Details of the drawing process will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In step S903, the image stored in the image buffer 617 is transferred to the print engine 202, and the print engine 202 performs printing.

  If it is determined in step S901 that the print data is not normal print data, the flow advances to step S904 to analyze the print control header and determine whether the print data is accumulated print data.

  If it is determined in step S904 that the print data is stored print data, the process advances to step S905 to perform a process of storing the print data in the reception buffer. If it is determined in step S904 that the print data is not accumulated print data, the process advances to step S906 to determine whether search instruction data has been received. If it is determined in step S904 that the search instruction data has been received, the process advances to step S907 to search whether there is accumulated print data stored in the reception buffer including the keyword specified by the search instruction data, and in step S908. Advances the search result and returns it to the host.

  If it is determined in step S906 that the search instruction data has not been received, the process advances to step S909 to determine whether it is a stored print data print command.

  If it is determined in step S909 that the command is a print command for accumulated print data, the process proceeds to step S910, where the designated accumulated print data is read from the reception buffer, and the process proceeds to step S911, where an image is drawn in the image buffer based on the read accumulated print data. Then, the process proceeds to step S912, where the image stored in the image buffer 617 is transferred to the print engine 202, and the print engine 202 performs printing.

  If it is determined in step S909 that the print command is not a print command for accumulated print data, the process advances to step S913 to perform other processing.

  Next, drawing processing will be described with reference to a flowchart relating to a program executed by the printer with reference to FIG. In step S1001, it is determined whether the command to be processed is the annotation command 403. If it is determined in step S1001 that the command is an annotation command 403, the process proceeds to step S1002, and the character code 404 is skipped.

  If it is determined in step S1001 that the command is not the annotation command 403, the process advances to step S1003 to determine whether the command to be processed is the character drawing command 301. If it is determined in step S1003 that the character drawing command 301 is detected, the process advances to step S1004 to draw a character pattern corresponding to the character code 302 in the image buffer. The character pattern may be drawn from an outline font or may be drawn from a bitmap font.

  If it is determined in step S1003 that the command is not the character drawing command 301, the process proceeds to step S1005. Draw a shape in the buffer. If it is determined in step S1005 that it is not the figure drawing command 301, the process proceeds to step S1007 to perform other processing.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computer system that can configure the host computer 100 described above. In FIG. 7, reference numeral 1200 denotes a computer PC. The PC 1200 includes a CPU 1201, executes device control software stored in the ROM 1202 or the hard disk (HD) 1211, or supplied from the flexible disk drive (FD) 1212, and collects all devices connected to the system bus 1204. To control.

  Each means referred to in the present invention is configured by a program stored in the CPU 1201, ROM 1202, or hard disk (HD) 1211 of the PC 1200.

  A RAM 1203 functions as a main memory, work area, and the like for the CPU 1201. Reference numeral 1205 denotes a keyboard controller (KBC), which controls to input a signal input from the keyboard (KB) 1209 into the system main body. Reference numeral 1206 denotes a display controller (CRTC) which performs display control on the display device (CRT) 1210. A disk controller (DKC) 1207 is a hard disk (boot program (start program: a program that starts execution (operation) of personal computer hardware and software)), a plurality of applications, editing files, user files, a network management program, and the like. HD) 1211 and flexible disk (FD) 1212 are controlled.

  Reference numeral 1208 denotes a network interface card (NIC) that performs bidirectional data exchange with a network printer, another network device, or another PC via the LAN 1220.

  As described above, when character data is converted into an image when generating print data in the host computer 100, the character code corresponding to the image data is always affected so as not to affect the actual print operation. By adding, searchable character information can be added. Thus, even when characters are developed into images on the host computer 100 and data is sent, it can be determined that the print data includes character information.

  Further, the host computer 100 can issue a search command to the printing apparatus 101 together with the given keyword.

  On the other hand, the printing apparatus 101 can scan and search the print data stored in the secondary storage device 126 based on an arbitrary keyword given from the host computer 100.

  Further, the search result obtained by the search can be returned to the host computer 100 to the printing apparatus 101.

  With the above configuration, print data matching an arbitrary keyword can be identified from a large amount of print data stored in the printing apparatus 101, and the result can be returned to the host computer 100. Desired print data can be easily found, and the convenience for the user is greatly improved.

  Next, processing will be described with reference to a flowchart relating to a program executed by the host computer of FIG. In step S1101, it is determined whether the instruction from the user is a search processing instruction. If it is determined that the instruction is a search processing instruction, the process advances to step S1102 to input a keyword input from the user using the keyboard 1209. In step S1103, search instruction data including the input keyword 702 and a print control header 701 indicating a search instruction is created and transferred to the printer. In step S1104, the printer search result based on the search instruction data is received from the printer. In step S1105, the received search result is displayed on the CRT 1210. In step S1106, it is determined whether there is a print instruction for the accumulated print data selected by the user from the displayed search result list. In step S1107, when there is a print instruction from the user, an accumulated print data print command for printing the accumulated print data designated by the user is transferred to the printer.

  If it is determined in step S1101 that the instruction from the user is not a search processing instruction, the process advances to step S1108 to determine whether the instruction from the user is a print instruction. If it is determined that the instruction is a print instruction, the process advances to step S1109 to create normal print data and transfer it to the printer.

  If it is determined in step S1108 that the instruction is not a print instruction, the process advances to step S1110 to determine whether the instruction from the user is an accumulation instruction. If it is determined that the instruction is an accumulation instruction, the process proceeds to step S1111 to determine whether or not a keyword has been input by the user. If it is determined that a keyword has been input, the process proceeds to step S1112, and the character code 404 and the annotation command 403 corresponding to the input keyword are determined. The accumulated print data including and is generated and transferred to the printer. If it is determined that no keyword has been input, the process advances to step S1113 to create accumulated print data and transfer it to the printer.

  If it is determined in step S1110 that the instruction is not an accumulation instruction, the process advances to step S1114 to perform other processing.

  In the above embodiment, only the case where the search instruction data is sent from the host computer 100 with the search keyword 702 added is described. However, for example, the keyword 702 is directly input from the operation unit of the printing apparatus 101. The search instruction data may be input in an added form.

  An object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and store the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus in the storage medium. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code itself and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, 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 (basic system or operating system) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, 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.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written to a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that the CPU or the like provided in the board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system and a hardware configuration of an electrophotographic printer. It is a figure which shows the software structure of an electrophotographic printer. It is a figure which shows the structure of the PDL data in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the print data in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the search instruction data in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the print instruction data in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of a host computer. It is a figure which shows the structure of the conventional PDL data. 6 is a flowchart relating to a program executed by a printer. It is a flowchart which shows a drawing process. It is a flowchart in connection with the program run with a host computer.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Host computer 101 Printing apparatus 111 Controller board 112 Print engine 121 CPU
122 External interface 123 RAM
124 ROM
125 engine interface 126 secondary storage device 601 controller board 611 I / F driver control unit 612 preprocessing unit 613 reception buffer 614 reading unit 615 operation command unit 616 drawing data generation unit 617 image buffer 618 print engine control unit

Claims (10)

A printing system comprising: a host computer that generates print data; and a printing device that receives the print data from the host computer, forms an image, and prints on a recording medium,
The host computer
Additional information adding means for adding additional information as to whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage;
A printing system comprising: character information adding means for adding searchable character information of a printed document so that the print data is not affected when the print data is generated. The printing device is
Identification means for identifying whether the print data received from the host computer is normal print data or accumulated print data based on the additional information;
Storage means for storing accumulated print data;
Search means for performing a search with reference to character information added to the print data in the storage means;
2. A printing system according to claim 1, further comprising printing means for printing the print data in the storage means. At least one of the host computer and the printing device is
Search instruction means for issuing a search instruction together with the search keyword;
A search result notifying means for notifying a user of a search result by the search means;
The printing system according to claim 2, further comprising: a print instruction unit that issues a print instruction for desired print data among the print data stored in the storage unit.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the searchable character information is a character code. A host computer capable of generating print data, sending an image to a printing device that forms an image and prints on a recording medium;
Additional information adding means for adding additional information as to whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage;
A host computer comprising: character information adding means for adding searchable character information of a printed document so that the print data is not affected when the print data is generated. Additional information adding means for adding additional information on whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage, and when the print data is generated, the print data has no effect on printing In this way, it is connected to a host computer having character information adding means for adding searchable character information of a printed document, and can receive print data from the host computer, form an image, and print on a recording medium. A printing device,
Identification means for identifying whether the print data received from the host computer is normal print data or accumulated print data based on the additional information;
Storage means for storing accumulated print data;
Search means for performing a search with reference to character information added to the print data in the storage means;
A printing device comprising printing means for printing the print data in the storage means. A printing method using a printing system comprising a host computer that generates print data and a printing device that receives the print data from the host computer, forms an image, and prints on a recording medium,
A procedure in which the host computer adds additional information as to whether the print data is normal print data or accumulated print data for storage;
A printing method characterized in that when the host computer generates print data, a procedure for adding searchable character information of a print document to the print data so as not to affect printing is performed. A computer program for causing a computer to execute a process of generating print data, forming an image, and transmitting the print data to a printing apparatus for printing on a recording medium
A process for adding additional information as to whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage;
A computer program that, when generating print data, causes a computer to execute a process of adding searchable character information of a print document so that the print data is not affected. Additional information adding means for adding additional information on whether the print data is normal print data or stored print data for storage, and when the print data is generated, the print data has no effect on printing In this way, it is connected to a host computer having character information adding means for adding searchable character information of a printed document, and can receive print data from the host computer, form an image, and print on a recording medium. A computer program for controlling a printing apparatus,
A process of identifying whether the print data received from the host computer is normal print data or accumulated print data based on the additional information;
A process of storing the accumulated print data in the storage means;
A process of performing a search with reference to character information added to the print data in the storage means;
A computer program for causing a computer to execute a process of printing print data in the storage means by a printing means.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the computer program according to claim 8 or 9 is recorded.

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