JP2006139377A - Image forming device with function of printing e-mail, image forming method, and program for executing image forming method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing process system that enables an e-mail printer without the function of a receiving spool to perform printing processes in accordance with priority and level of importance using an existing e-mail system, and that makes it possible to report the end and errors in a print job for which reports about arrival and opening are designated. <P>SOLUTION: Only header parts are received from a mail server and a list of various print job processes is created. A printing process is performed while text parts and attached file parts are received from the mail server in accordance with the list. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is a printing system and method for controlling printing processing using e-mail received via an existing e-mail system on the Internet as print data, and in particular, includes an e-mail “header” and “text”. This is a system that uses a printing apparatus that can receive a divided data.

  Conventionally, electronic mail is transmitted and received between a host computer or a mobile terminal (client) connected to a network such as the Internet. This e-mail is sent and received using an e-mail address owned by each user, and is stored by a user ID or password set in advance in the client after being temporarily stored in a mail server in the Internet. The e-mail of the destination e-mail address is transferred and output.

  In addition, printing apparatuses that use the above-described electronic mail system to transmit and receive print data, develop images, and perform printing have become widespread.

As another conventional example, when a facsimile apparatus having an e-mail receiving function receives an e-mail, if it is not desired to see the contents other than the recipient specified on the transmitting side, the facsimile image of the transmission original It is composed of a data-encoded main body, “From:” indicating a transmission source, “To:” indicating a transmission destination, and header information to which “Subject:” indicating arbitrary information can be added. Communication, if a predetermined information is included in the “Subject:” of the received e-mail, or if the “From:” of the received e-mail is registered in advance A communication terminal device having an e-mail receiving function for printing out only management information (see, for example, Patent Document 1) can be given.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-320320

  However, in the above conventional example, the entire electronic mail including the “header part” needs to be temporarily stored in the printing apparatus or the print server and then processed as a print job.

  For this reason, the printing apparatus or the print server includes a memory capable of spooling the entire print job including the “header part” in addition to the “text part” and “attached file part” to be actually printed. There was a need.

  In addition, the entire print job including “priority” and “importance” information in the “header portion” needs to be spooled and then rearranged in units of print jobs.

  In addition, since “arrival notification” and “open notification” are analyzed after spooling the entire print job, it may take time to return “notification”.

  Therefore, the present invention receives only the “header part” from the mail server, generates a list of various print job processes, and prints while receiving the “text part” and “attached file part” from the mail server according to the list. By using an existing e-mail system, it is possible to perform print processing according to “priority” and “importance” in an e-mail printing apparatus without a reception spool function. It is an object of the present invention to provide a print processing system that allows the user to perform “end notification” and “error notification” for a print job designated with “open notification”.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, in a print processing system for printing out a print job received as an e-mail, a means for confirming whether an e-mail addressed to its own address has arrived at a mail server, and Means for receiving only the header part of the email, means for generating a print job processing list from the information of the header part, means for receiving the email body part and attached file from the mail server according to the print job processing list, It is characterized by being configured.

  The information of the header part is “priority” and “importance”, and the print job processing list is created by rearranging “priority” and “importance” in descending order, and “priority”. The e-mail body part and the attached file are received from the mail server in descending order of “importance”, and are printed.

  The information of the header part is “arrival notification” and “open notification”, and the print job processing list is set to “end notification” for the destination specified by “arrival notification” and “open notification”. It is characterized in that it is additionally created and an “end notice” is sent after the printing process is completed.

  The information of the header part is “arrival notification” and “open notification”, and the print job processing list is set to “error notification” for the destination specified by “arrival notification” and “open notification”. It is created by adding, and an “error notification” is sent when an error occurs during the printing process.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform print processing according to “priority” and “importance” in an electronic mail printing apparatus that does not have a reception spool function by using an existing electronic mail system. In addition, it is possible to provide a print processing system capable of providing user convenience that enables “end notification” and “error notification” for a print job in which “arrival notification” and “open notification” are designated.

Example 1
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the overall configuration of the e-mail print processing system assumed in this embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the host computer 1 on the transmission side in this embodiment is connected to a mail server 3 and a network router 4 via a local area network (LAN) 2.

  In the present embodiment, the printing apparatus 5 is assumed as the receiving side. The receiving-side printing device 5 is a laser beam printer (LBP), a digital multi-function peripheral, or the like, and is connected to an in-house mail server 7 and a network router 8 via the LAN 6 like the transmitting-side host computer 1. It has a configuration.

  The host computer 1 and the printing apparatus 5 are configured to be able to send and receive e-mails via the Internet 9 via network routers 4 and 8 connected to the respective LANs 2 and 6.

  The mail servers 3 and 7 fulfill the functions of a POP3 server (Post Office Protocol Server) and an SMTP server (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Server).

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of e-mail data showing an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 2, an e-mail data 201 is a message exchanged between a header part 202 including information for transmission / reception of the e-mail data 201 between the mail server 3 and the mail server 7 and a user who transmits / receives the e-mail. It is composed of a body part 203 which is a main body, and an attachment file part 204 which encodes and attaches image data, audio data, other e-mail data to be transferred, etc., as necessary, separated from the message body. .

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing main keywords included in the e-mail header section 202.

  In FIG. 3, message identifiers 301 are individual electronic mail identifiers for transmitting / receiving electronic mail data 201 between the host computer 1 and the mail server 3, the mail server 3 and the mail server 7, and the mail server 7 and the printing device 5. Used as.

  The priority 302 describes the priority for the e-mail recipient arbitrarily added by the user when the e-mail data 201 is created in the host computer 1 as numerical values in several stages.

  The opening notification destination 303 describes the e-mail address of the opening notification destination that is notified when the e-mail recipient arbitrarily added by the user opens the e-mail when the e-mail data 201 is created in the host computer 1. .

  It should be noted that, after the e-mail data 201 is transmitted from the host computer 1 with the priority 302 or the opening notification destination 303, the mail server 3 or the mail server 7 automatically sets the e-mail data 201 depending on the transmission source or the transmission destination. It is also possible to add.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the printer control apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 4, the printer control apparatus 1000 is connected to the mail server 7 via the network 6 by a network I / F 401.

  The network I / F 401 performs two-way communication with the mail server 7 in accordance with an instruction from the job list management unit 402 and receives the e-mail header unit 202, the body unit 203, and the attached file unit 204.

  The job list management unit 402 adds an arbitrary job ID with the received email header unit 202 as a job unit. The job list management unit 402 also accepts user operation instructions for print jobs from the operation unit 405, and performs unified management of jobs processed in the printer control apparatus 1000.

  In response to an instruction from the job list management unit 402, the header analysis unit 403 analyzes the e-mail header unit 202 to which the job ID is added, and registers it in the print job processing list.

  In response to an instruction from the job list management unit 402, the RIP processing unit 404 converts the received print data of the body part 203 and the attached file part 204 into bitmap data.

  The print control unit 406 transfers bitmap data converted in synchronization with the image forming process and paper feed process of the printing unit 20, and performs output processing of print data on paper.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a print job processing list managed by the job list management unit 402 based on the information analyzed by the header analysis unit 403.

  In the print job processing list 500, three print data are managed as job IDs 501, 504, and 506 here.

  The job IDs 501, 504, and 506 identify the body part 203 and the attached file part 204 that are received later by the message identifiers 502, 505, and 507 added to the e-mail header part 202. By the instruction, the network I / F 401 notifies the mail server 7.

  The keyword information that is set in advance and can be processed is managed in the print job processing list 500 as opening notification destinations 503 and 508.

  Next, in the print processing system configured as described above, processing for receiving the email header section 202 by the printing apparatus main body, generating the print job processing list 500, and printing out according to the print job processing list 500 will be described with reference to FIGS. This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows a process for generating the print job processing list 500 from the information in the email header part 202.

The network I / F 401 uses the POP3 protocol to inquire of the mail server 7 whether e-mail data addressed to its own address has been received. (S601)
When it is notified that the e-mail data addressed to its own address has been received, it requests the mail server 7 to transfer only the e-mail header part 202. (S602)
When the e-mail header unit 202 is received, the job list management unit 402 generates a print job processing list 500 and instructs the header analysis unit 403 to analyze the e-mail header unit 202. (S603)
Next, the header analysis unit 403 determines whether there is keyword information that is set in advance and can be processed. (S604)
When the “priority” key is included in the e-mail header section 202, the job IDs are rearranged in the print job processing list 500 in descending order of the “priority” value. (S605)
When the “open notification” key is included in the e-mail header unit 202, an error occurrence notification from the network I / F 401 is received when the RIP processing unit 404 and the print control unit 406 receive an error occurrence notification and a job end notification. The notification destination for notifying the job end notification is set. (S606)
FIG. 7 is a process for printing out according to the print job processing list 500.

First, the job list management unit 402 reads the print job processing list 500 and performs print processing according to the job ID from the top of the print job processing list 500. (S701)
Next, the electronic mail message identifier 301 is read according to the read job ID, and the network I / F 401 is instructed to receive the electronic mail body part 203 corresponding to the electronic mail message identifier 301. (S702)
Subsequently, the network I / F 401 receives the e-mail body part 203 from the mail server 7 in accordance with the e-mail message identifier 301. (S703)
Next, the e-mail body part 203 is analyzed to determine whether or not print output is possible. (S704)
When printing out the e-mail body part 203, the e-mail body part 203 is sent to the RIP processing unit 404 to instruct rendering processing. (S705)
Next, the electronic mail message identifier 301 is read according to the job ID, and the network I / F 401 is instructed to receive the electronic mail attached file unit 204 corresponding to the electronic mail message identifier 301. (S706)
Next, if there is an e-mail attachment file unit 204, the e-mail attachment file unit 204 is analyzed to determine whether printing output is possible. (S707)
When printing out the electronic mail attachment file unit 204, the electronic mail attachment file unit 204 is sent to the RIP processing unit 404 to instruct rendering processing. (S708)
Next, it is determined whether or not the “open notification” key is included in the print job processing list 500. (S709)
When the “open notification” key is included in the print job processing list 500 (when the job being processed is the job ID 501 or 506 in FIG. 5), a job end notification is sent to the set notification destination. The network I / F 401 is instructed. (S710)
If the registered job ID remains in the print job processing list 500, the same processing is repeated. (S711)
(Example 2)
In the first embodiment, the print job processing list 500 is generated by the processing program for keyword information preset in a ROM (not shown) of the printer control apparatus 1000 and the keyword information incorporated in advance. The keyword information and a processing program for the keyword information can be downloaded from an external memory device that can be connected to the operation panel 114 so that processing for a new keyword can be added.

  Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, a new e-mail header part 202 keyword is registered from the operation panel 114. (S801)
Next, the corresponding processing program is downloaded from the external memory device. (S802)
(Example 3)
In the second embodiment, the keyword information and the processing program for the keyword information are downloaded from the external memory device that can be connected to the operation panel 114, but to the email attachment file portion 204 of the email data 201 transmitted from the host computer 1. It is also possible to add a process for a new keyword by encoding.

1 is a structural diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an e-mail print processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the email data which shows the Example of this invention. It is the schematic which shows the main keywords contained in the email header part which shows the Example of this invention. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printer control apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention. 7 is an example of a print job processing list in an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for generating a print job processing list according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for printing out according to a print job processing list in the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence which registers the process program with respect to keyword information and keyword information in Example 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 Printing apparatus 7 Mail server 401 Network interface 402 Job list management part 403 Header analysis part 404 RIP processing part 405 Operation part 406 Print control part

Claims (5)

In a print processing system that prints out a print job received as an email,
Means for confirming whether an e-mail addressed to its own address has arrived at the mail server, means for receiving only the header part of the e-mail addressed to its own address,
Means for generating a print job processing list from information in the header part;
Means for receiving an email body part and an attached file from a mail server according to the print job processing list;
A print processing system comprising: The print processing system according to claim 1,
The information of the header part is “priority” and “importance”, and the print job processing list is created by rearranging the “priority” and “importance” in descending order. A print processing system that receives e-mail text and attachments from a mail server in descending order of importance and prints them. The print processing system according to claim 1,
The information of the header part is “arrival notification” and “open notification”, and the print job processing list adds “end notification” setting to the destination specified by “arrival notification” and “open notification”. A print processing system that sends an “end notification” after print processing is completed. The print processing system according to claim 1,
The information of the header part is “arrival notification” and “open notification”, and the print job processing list adds “error notification” setting to the destination specified by “arrival notification” and “open notification”. A print processing system that sends an “error notification” when an error occurs during print processing. The print processing system according to claim 1,
A print processing system, wherein a processing program for generating a print job processing list from information in a header part can be registered from outside the printing apparatus.

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