JP2006338443A - Filter device driver, duplication printing control method and its control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filter device driver that can make a printer connected to one communication port simultaneously execute printing by accessing another communication port. <P>SOLUTION: The filter device driver 33 is provided between a processing part being the closest to a user layer of an OS (operating system) kernel layer and a processing part being the closest to a hard layer, a print data acquiring part 50 of the filter device driver 33 acquires print data to be output to a printer from the user layer through the OS kernel layer, and a duplication processing part 51 duplicates the acquired print data and outputs the print data to low-order device drivers 35 and 36 of a communication port to which a duplication printer is connected. Thus, it is possible to perform duplication printing by the printer connected to a different port without changing applications. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a filter device driver, a duplication printing control method, and a control program thereof that enable printing by a plurality of printers connected to a plurality of communication ports at the same time by a print command for one printer.

  When a plurality of printers are respectively connected to different communication ports, the print application designates one of the plurality of printers to perform printing. In Patent Document 1, when a plurality of printers are connected to a plurality of different communication ports, an output management driver is registered in the operating system (OS), and a specific printer is not designated by an application. A technique is disclosed in which an optimum printer is selected from a plurality of printers according to print contents and printed by an output management driver. As a result, it is possible to perform printing with an optimum printer without specifying a printer by an application.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-187393

  However, the technique of Patent Document 1 is to select one of the printers connected to a plurality of communication ports and execute printing, and when the same contents are to be printed in large quantities, the same contents are used. Printing cannot be performed simultaneously by a plurality of printers connected to other communication ports.

  Examples of a case where a plurality of printers are desired to simultaneously print the same contents include a case where a large number of coupons having the same contents are to be issued, or a case where it is desired to create a copy of the coupon at the same time as the coupon is issued. In such a case, it is possible to duplicate the same by changing the application program so that the same printing process is executed a plurality of times. However, this requires a change in the application and continuously prints with a single printer, resulting in a problem that the printing speed becomes slow.

  In order to add a journal function to a checkout application (hereinafter referred to as “POS application”) to which only a receipt printer is connected, printing is usually performed by two printers, a receipt printer and a journal printer. It is necessary to change the POS application to do so. However, changing the POS application that is already in operation requires new application development cost and introduction cost. In addition, there is a need to pause the system or cause troubles during the transition to a new application. Therefore, it is desirable that the journal function can be added without changing the POS application as much as possible.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art. By accessing one communication port without changing an application program, a printer connected to another communication port can be simultaneously accessed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a print control method capable of executing printing.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing control method capable of providing a journal printing function without changing the POS application in a POS application that has only a receipt printing function and does not have a journal printing function. That is.

  The present invention obtains output data for a predetermined communication port by interposing a filter device driver in the OS kernel layer, and outputs it to a plurality of printers connected to other ports to print the same contents. Thus, simultaneous printing by a plurality of printers is enabled to solve the above problem.

  The filter device driver according to the first aspect of the present invention is interposed in the OS kernel layer of the host device having a plurality of communication ports to which a printer can be connected, and is output from the user layer to the printer via the OS kernel layer. A print data acquisition unit that acquires print data, and a copy processing unit that copies the acquired print data and outputs the copy data to another port. According to this aspect, print data is acquired in the OS kernel layer, copied, and output to another port, so that it is possible to perform duplicate printing without interfering with the original printing process and without changing the application at all. Become.

  The filter device driver according to another aspect of the present invention further includes a parameter setting unit capable of designating a master communication port that receives the print data serving as a duplication source and an output communication port that outputs the duplicated print data, The duplication processing unit outputs the duplicated print data to a set communication port. The parameter setting unit can specify, for example, a printer (port) as a source for duplicate printing, a printer to be duplicated, a data to be deleted from the duplicated print data, a data to be added to the print data, an error processing Settings such as selection are possible. It is also possible to fix the master communication port and specify only the output port.

  A filter device driver according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the duplication processing unit can output the duplicated print data to a plurality of output communication ports. By outputting the duplicated print data to a plurality of output communication ports, the same contents can be duplicated and printed by a duplicate printer connected to each port.

  In the filter device driver according to another aspect of the present invention, the duplication processing unit deletes a predetermined character string, symbol, or image data from the print data, or adds a predetermined character string, symbol, or image data to the print data. It is characterized by adding and duplicating. For example, by setting and registering the character string, symbol, image data to be deleted from the duplicated print data, or the position to add the character string, symbol, image data, etc. to be added to the print data in the parameter setting unit, If the same data as these registered data exists in the print data, it is deleted from the print data and copied, or these registered data are added and copied. This makes it possible to save paper for journal printing.

  A filter device driver according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the duplication processing unit includes a status processing unit that processes a status received from the output communication port. For example, nothing is performed when printing by the duplicating printer is normally completed, and error processing by the status processing unit is performed only when an error occurs. As an example of error processing, if the duplicate printer runs out of print paper or ink, print data is stored until the printer returns to normal, and the print data stored when the printer returns to normal is printed out. It is possible to set a processing procedure such as. In addition, when an unrecoverable error occurs, it is possible to define an error processing procedure for displaying an error separately from an error display by a normal application.

  In the duplicate print control method according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the OS kernel layer, (a) a step of acquiring print data received from an application, (b) a step of replicating the acquired print data, (c) And a step of outputting the duplicated print data to another communication port.

  The duplicate printing control method according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the step (c) outputs the duplicated print data to a plurality of preset communication ports.

  The duplicate printing control method according to another aspect of the present invention further includes (d) an error processing step of displaying an error when receiving an error status from another port to which the duplicated print data is output. It is characterized by.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a duplicate printing control program that causes a computer to execute each step of any one of the above duplicate printing control methods.

  According to the present invention, the print data output to the printer is picked up and acquired within the OS kernel layer, copied, and output to another printer. Therefore, the same printing can be performed without changing the application. The contents can be printed simultaneously by a plurality of printers. Therefore, it is possible to increase the printing speed in proportion to the number of connected printers.

  Further, by simply connecting a journal printer to the communication port and incorporating the filter device driver of the present invention, it is possible to add a journal printing function without changing the conventional POS application. As a result, a POS system without a journal function can be transferred to a POS system with a journal function while reducing labor, time, and cost.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a duplicate printing control method according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a connection example of a printer and a host apparatus 10 having a duplicate printing control function according to the present invention. In the following description, three printers # 1 to # 3 are connected to the communication ports 41 to 43 of the host device 10. However, even if two printers are connected, It may be 4 or more.

  The host device 10 reads and executes an OS (Operating System), which is basic software, on hardware including a storage device such as a CPU, RAM, and ROM, various interface boards, and a driver circuit. RAM management, operation control of various devices, and the like are performed, and basic operations of the host device (computer) 10 are performed. A device driver corresponding to the additional device can be incorporated in the OS, and control according to the additional device can be executed by these device drivers.

  In the storage device, various application programs for realizing predetermined functions such as a POS system are stored. By executing these application programs under the operating environment of the OS, the host device 10 functions as a computer for realizing a predetermined purpose (for example, a POS system).

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of the internal configuration of the host device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The host device 10 is interposed in the kernel layer 30 of the operating system (hereinafter referred to as “OS kernel layer 30”). The relationship between the filter device driver 33 of the present invention and the application, and the outline of the function are shown. The host device 10 includes an application layer 20 including a plurality of applications 20a and 20b, an OS kernel layer 30, and a hardware layer 40. Although the OS has various functions, only the communication control part of the OS kernel layer is shown here. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the print data input by designating the communication port A is duplicated and output to the communication port B and the communication port C. In the following description, it is assumed that print data corresponding to the printer # 1 connected to the communication port A is input from the application layer 20 to the OS kernel layer 30.

  Normally, the print data for printer # 1 input from the application 20a via the application program interface (API) 31 is a common upper device driver 32 common to the communication port ABC that controls communication, and the lower device for A. After being processed by the driver 34, the data is transmitted from the communication port A in the hardware layer to the printer # 1. The common upper device driver 32 performs a process common to the printers connected to each port ABC..., For example, to secure a memory for print data. The lower device driver 34 performs various processes for transmitting the print data from the application 20a to the printer # 1 connected to the communication port A.

  In the present embodiment, a filter device driver 33 is interposed between the common upper device driver 32 and the lower device driver 34. The filter device driver 33 is a filter that performs interrupt processing in the OS kernel layer 30. The filter device driver 33 is incorporated between various processes from the uppermost API 31 of the OS kernel layer 30 to the lower-level device drivers 34, 35, and 36 that perform processing specific to each port, and is transmitted to the printer # 1. The print data of communication port A is monitored. When the print data is detected, the print data is output as it is to the lower device driver 34 for the communication port A, and the print data is copied to the lower device drivers 35 and 36 for the other communication ports (communication ports B and C). Is also output.

<Filter device driver>
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the filter device driver 33 according to the present invention. The filter device driver 33 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a print data acquisition unit 50, a duplication processing unit 51, an output unit 57, and a parameter setting unit 60. Further, the duplication processing unit 51 includes a duplication print control unit 52, a print data duplication unit 53, and two print data storage units 54 and 55. A parameter setting unit 60 includes a parameter setting processing unit 61 and a parameter storage unit 62. It has.

  The parameter setting unit 60 sets designation of a communication port to be a duplication source and designation of a printer (communication port) to be duplicated. The parameter setting processing unit 61 displays a parameter setting screen 63 (see FIG. 4) as desired, receives a setting input indicating which communication port input is to be duplicated by which printer, and stores the contents of the setting input in the parameter storage unit 62. Remember.

  The print data acquisition unit 50 acquires print data from the upper device driver 32 for the communication port A and outputs the print data to the lower device driver 34 for the communication port A via the output unit 57. Thus, printing according to the application 20a is performed by the printer # 1. In addition, the print data acquisition unit 50 transmits the print data to the copy print control unit 52 of the copy processing unit 51 at the same time. The duplicate print control unit 52 refers to the setting contents of the parameter storage unit 62 and determines whether or not the print data needs to be duplicated. The print data duplicating unit 53 duplicates the print data when it is determined that duplication is necessary. The duplicated print data is transmitted to the lower device drivers 35 and 36 for the communication ports B and C to which the printer that performs duplicate printing is connected.

  The status from the printer # 1 is processed as it is in the same manner as the normal printing process. The status from the printer # 2 or # 3 is processed by the duplicate printing control unit 52 and the status processing unit 56. When the printing of the printer # 2 and the printer # 3 is normally completed, all the duplication is normally completed, so that no special processing is performed and the processing is ignored. When a paper out or other recoverable status is received from printer # 2 or printer # 3, the printer waits for the printer that has run out of paper, and in the case of an unrecoverable error, the status processing unit 56 displays an error. To do.

<Filter device driver settings>
Next, setting of the filter device driver will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows an example of a communication port setting screen 63 for designating a communication port that is a duplication source of the filter device driver and a communication port for performing duplication printing. In the example of FIG. 4, COM1 to COM4 that are serial ports are used as communication ports, and these correspond to the communication ports A to D of FIGS. The operator designates a communication port as a replication source by setting the master communication port. The master communication port is designated by putting a check mark in the check boxes 65a to 65d.

  In the example of FIG. 4, check boxes 65a and 65d are given check marks, and COM1 and COM4 are designated as master communication ports. When the master communication port is designated, it is possible to designate a printer (output communication port) to be duplicated by drawing an arrow from the COM1 and COM4 that have become the master communication ports to the lower COM port. In FIG. 4, arrows 66a to 66c are drawn from the master communication port COM1 to the output communication ports COM1 to COM3 (printer # 1 to printer # 3), and the print data of COM1 is printed by the printers # 1 to # 3. It is set to be. Here, if one master communication port (for example, COM1) is first designated as an output communication port (printer for duplication), the same output communication port cannot be designated from another master communication port (for example, COM4). It is preferable to make it. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, it is not possible to designate the output communication port COM3 (printer # 3) as indicated by the arrow 67b so as to overlap the master communication port COM4. This is because if duplicate designation is made, one of the duplicate prints cannot be performed when there is a print request simultaneously from COM1 and COM4. For the same reason, it is not possible to cause the replication printers # 2 to # 3 connected to the output communication port to execute a print command from the application.

<Operation of filter device driver>
The duplicate printing operation will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 to FIG. 9 are diagrams schematically showing an operation when the print data of the printer # 1 connected to the master communication port is duplicate-printed by the printer # 2 and the printer # 3. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state in which three printers # 1 to # 3 are executing printing, and FIG. 6 is a diagram in which all three printers # 1 to # 3 perform normal printing. It is a figure which shows the completed state.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, when the filter device driver 33 receives the print data 70a from the print application, the filter device driver 33 outputs the print data to the printer # 1 via the COM1. At the same time, the print data is duplicated and stored for output to the output communication ports COM2 and COM3. The duplicated print data is output to printers # 2 and 3 via COM2 and COM3, and duplicate printing is executed by each printer.

  When printing is normally completed in all the printers # 1 to # 3, as shown in FIG. 6, the printer completion status is transmitted from each of the printers # 1 to # 3. Is returned to the application, and no processing is performed for the normal end statuses of the printers # 2 and # 3. The application ends normally from printer # 1 according to the status, and three copies of the same content are created.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example in which the printer # 2 runs out of paper only during printing, and the other printers # 1 and # 3 have finished printing normally. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the printer # 2 continuously receives print data from the COM 1 while the paper is out of paper, and FIG. 9 is a diagram after the paper out of the printer # 2 is resolved. It is a figure which shows the example of the recovery process of. As shown in FIG. 7, when the printer # 2 runs out of paper, printing of the printer # 2 is stopped until the printing paper is replenished. Therefore, even if the printer # 1 and the printer # 3 complete printing normally, the printer # 2 remains in the middle of printing. Even in this state, based on the normal end status of the printer # 1, the status indicating that printing has ended normally is returned to the application. Therefore, the application transmits the next print data as shown in FIG. The subsequent print data is also sequentially printed by the printers # 1 and # 3. However, since the printer # 2 cannot print, the subsequent print data is duplicated and stored. Thereafter, when the printer # 2 is replenished with printing paper, all the stored print data is duplicated and printed from the printer # 2, as shown in FIG.

  From the above description, according to the present invention, the journal printing function can be easily added to the POS application for the receipt printing function. That is, in the receipt printing application, the receipt printer communication port is designated as the master communication port, the journal printer is connected to an unused communication port, and the communication port is designated as the output communication port. The contents can be copied and printed on a journal printer. Therefore, it is possible to add a journal printing function without changing the POS application at all. When a duplicate printer is used as a journal printer, recording paper can be saved by deleting useless line feed data from print data in the duplicate print control unit. As an example of deleting unnecessary line breaks, for example, when two line breaks continue, it is possible to perform processing such as deleting one line break data. It is also possible to add a function of registering a character string or logo image as a specific keyword in the filter device driver and deleting the registered data from the print data.

  In the case of mass printing, it is possible to increase the printing speed in proportion to the number of printers by connecting a plurality of the same printers to different ports of the host device and specifying them as duplicate printers. . For example, it is useful when printing brochures, issuing coupon tickets, issuing event admission tickets, printing business cards, and the like. In such duplicate printing, it is also possible to give a serial number (serial number) of a printed matter to print data by using a character string as a keyword, printing start, and paper cutting as a trigger. In this case, serial number assignment management for each printer is required. Furthermore, contrary to journal printing, it is also possible to register character strings and logo information as keywords and insert the character strings and logo data at predetermined positions in the print data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a connection example between a host device having a duplicate printing control function and a printer according to the present invention. It is a block diagram showing typically an internal configuration of a host device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the filter device driver concerning this invention. An example of a communication port setting screen for designating a communication port as a copy source of a filter device driver and a printer (communication port) for performing copy printing is shown. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an operation state as an image when one master printer and two duplicating printers are executing printing. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a state where all three printers have completed printing normally. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example in which out of paper occurs only in the printer # 2 during printing, and the other printers # 1 and # 3 normally finish printing. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which printer # 2 continues to receive print data from COM1 while the paper is out of state. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a recovery process after the printer # 2 has run out of paper.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Host apparatus 20 Application layer 20a, 20b Application 30 OS kernel layer 31 Application program interface (API)
32 Port A upper device driver 33 Filter device driver 34 Port A lower device driver 35 Port B lower device driver 36 Port C lower device driver 40 Hardware layer 41 Communication port A
42 Communication port B
43 Communication port C
50 Print Data Acquisition Unit 51 Duplicate Processing Unit 52 Duplicate Print Control Unit 53 Print Data Duplication Units 54 and 55 Print Data Storage Unit 56 Status Processing Unit 57 Output Unit 60 Parameter Setting Unit 61 Parameter Setting Processing Unit 62 Parameter Storage Unit 70a Print Data 70b 70c Duplicate print data

Claims (9)

A filter device driver interposed in an OS kernel layer of a host device having a plurality of communication ports to which a printer can be connected,
A print data acquisition unit that acquires print data output from the user layer to the printer via the OS kernel layer;
A duplication processing unit for duplicating the acquired print data and outputting it to another communication port;
A filter device driver comprising: And a parameter setting unit capable of designating a master communication port that receives the print data serving as a duplication source and an output communication port that outputs the duplicated print data, and the duplication processing unit includes the communication port set to the set communication port. The filter device driver according to claim 1, wherein the duplicated print data is output. The filter device driver according to claim 2, wherein the duplication processing unit can output the duplicated print data to a plurality of the output communication ports. The copy processing unit deletes a predetermined character string, symbol, or image data from the print data, or adds a predetermined character string, symbol, or image data to the print data for copying. The filter device driver according to any one of 1 to 3. 5. The filter device driver according to claim 1, wherein the duplication processing unit includes a status processing unit that processes a status received from the output communication port. 6. In the OS kernel layer,
(A) acquiring print data received from an application;
(B) copying the acquired print data;
(C) outputting the duplicated print data to another communication port;
A duplicate printing control method comprising:   7. The duplicate print control method according to claim 6, wherein the step (c) outputs the duplicated print data to a plurality of preset communication ports. further,
8. The duplicate printing control according to claim 6, further comprising an error processing step of displaying an error when receiving an error status from another port to which the duplicated print data is output. Method. A duplication printing control program for causing a computer to execute each step of the duplication printing control method according to any one of claims 6 to 8.

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