JP2008004052A - Information processing system, information processing method, information processing program and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing system and an information processing method, for improving the quality of print and the convenience by changing printing methods according to the device state. <P>SOLUTION: The information processor 1 comprises a status monitor 18 capable of acquiring device information in printing. The status monitor 18 includes a device information receiving part 31 periodically acquiring the device information; a setting information input part 32 setting an operation applied to the acquired device information; a command transmission determination part 33 determining whether printing method change is instructed to a printing device 3 or not based on the device information and information stored by the setting information input part 32; and a command transmission part 34 transmitting a printing method change instruction to the printing device 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system in which an information processing apparatus (client personal computer), a print server, and a printer (printing device, hereinafter simply referred to as a device) are network-connected and an information processing method therefor.

For example, in Patent Document 1, in an information processing system in which a client personal computer, a print server, and a printer are connected to a network, a device driver obtains device information before executing printing with a printer driver included in the client personal computer, and prompts the user to change the printing method. There is something known. As a function on the device (printer) side, there is known a function that automatically switches to a duplex mode when the remaining amount of paper is low.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-316123

As described above, conventionally, there is a known function for acquiring device information by a printer driver of a client personal computer before executing printing and prompting a change in the printing method. However, a job that is already being printed does not print as intended. There is a case.
In addition, regarding the function to automatically switch to duplex mode when the remaining amount of paper is low, this setting is effective for all users for devices that are shared on the network, so it is easy to use. Absent.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system and an information processing method capable of improving print quality and usability by changing a printing method according to a device state.

In order to achieve the above object, an invention according to claim 1 is an information processing system in which an information processing device, a print server, and a printing device are connected to a network, and the information processing device can acquire device information at the time of printing. The status monitor includes a device information receiving unit that periodically acquires device information, a setting information input unit that sets what operation is performed on the acquired device information, and the device A command transmission determination unit that determines whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction to a printing device from information stored in the information and the setting information input unit; and a command transmission unit that issues a printing method change instruction to the printing device And.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the status monitor has a function of determining whether or not a printing method change condition is met when determining whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus has a correspondence table of device information and printing method change contents, and the printing device has a correspondence table of user and printing method change contents.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the correspondence table of the information device further includes a threshold value of an apparatus state for issuing a print method change instruction.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the status monitor has a function of confirming whether a job being printed is its own job, and instructing a printing method change only when it is its own job. .

  The invention according to claim 6 is an information processing method of an information processing system in which the information processing device, the print server, and the printing device are connected to a network, and the information processing device can acquire device information at the time of printing. A status monitor, a device information step for periodically acquiring device information, a setting information input step for setting what operation is performed on the acquired device information, device information and setting A command transmission determination step for determining whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction to the printing device from information stored in the information input unit; and a command transmission step for issuing a printing method change instruction to the printing device. It is characterized by.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the information processing program of an information processing system in which the information processing apparatus, the print server, and the printing device are connected to a network, the information processing device can acquire device information at the time of printing. A status monitor, which is a device information module that periodically acquires device information, a setting information input module that sets what operation is performed on the acquired device information, device information and settings A command transmission determination module that determines whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction to the printing device from information stored in the information input unit, and a command transmission module that issues a printing method change instruction to the printing device. It is made to perform.
The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that a computer-readable recording medium storing the information processing program according to claim 7 is the main feature.

  The status monitor of the information processing apparatus of the information processing system according to the present invention includes a device information receiving unit that periodically acquires device information, and a setting information input unit that sets what operation is performed on the acquired device information. A command transmission determination unit that determines whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction to the printing device from the device information and the information stored in the setting information input unit; and a command transmission unit that issues a printing method change instruction to the printing device. Prepare. Therefore, it is possible to change the printing method according to the device state to improve the printing quality and the usability.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing system includes a plurality of client PCs 1 (1-1, 1-2, 1-3), a plurality of print servers 2 (2-1, 2-2), and a plurality of printers 3 (3-1, 3-2 and 3-3) are connected by the network 4.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the information processing apparatus (client PC shown in FIG. 1) according to the embodiment of the present invention.
The client PC 1 employs Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation as basic software, and the software operates on Windows (registered trademark).

The storage medium reading device 11 reads a storage medium. The storage device 12 includes a nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk and a volatile storage device such as a RAM. The input device 13 includes a keyboard, a touch panel, a pointing device such as a mouse, a voice input device, and the like. The display device 14 is composed of a CRT, LCD, LED, or the like.
The application software 15 is document creation software, image creation / editing / processing software, spreadsheet software, or the like. The spooler 16 is a software module that manages the printing function of the basic software, and the printer driver 17 operates as a part of the spooler 16.

The status monitor 18 starts resident on the client PC 1 and periodically monitors the state of the device (printer 3). The parallel I / F 19 is an input / output interface based on the IEEE1284 specification. The USB I / F 20 is an input / output interface based on the USB 1.0 or USB 2.0 specification. The network I / F 21 is an input / output interface such as Ethernet (registered trademark).
The program of the status monitor 18 is supplied as one or more files stored in a storage medium represented by a CDROM or a floppy (registered trademark) disk, read from the storage medium reading device 11 at the time of installation, and stored in the storage device 12. Copied in the required format. However, the printer driver program can be supplied by a transfer means such as a communication line or a network as long as the OS can understand it.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the status monitor shown in FIG. The status monitor 18 is software that is resident and activated on the client PC 1.
The status monitor 18 includes a device information receiving unit 31 that periodically acquires a device state (device information), a setting information input unit 32 that sets what operation is performed on the acquired device information, device information, A command transmission determination unit 33 that determines whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction to the device from information stored in the setting information input unit 32, and a command transmission unit 34 that issues a printing method change instruction to the device. The

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the printer shown in FIG. The printer 3 includes a printer controller 41 and an engine 42, and the printer controller 41 is connected to the LAN 43 and the USB device 44.
The printer controller 41 includes an HDD 51, a host I / F 52, a ROM 53, a network I / F 54, a USB I / F 55, a print setting management unit 56, a panel I / F 57, a CPU 58, an NVRAM 59, an engine I / F 60, and an image conversion unit 61.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printing method change instruction table set in the status monitor. The device status (device information) threshold value corresponds to the contents of the printing method change.
Here, a case where there is a toner near end and a paper near end as triggers for instructing a printing method change is shown, the setting of a threshold value determined to be each near end, and the contents of the printing method change in the printer 3 are shown.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managing a printing method change instruction from the status monitor in the printer. The user ID corresponds to the print contents.
A user creates a document to be printed by using document creation application software or spreadsheet application software on any client PC 1, and prints using the application software 15 when printing is necessary. To start.
The application software 15 on the client PC 1 sends drawing information to the printer driver 17. The printer driver 17 interprets the printer 3 and creates information commands (printer data for printer) necessary for generating an actual print image.

The printer print data created by the printer driver 17 is sent to the printer 3 via an appropriate input / output interface based on the printer configuration information held by the spooler 16. When the printer 3 is connected via a network, the data is sent from the network I / F 21 to the printer 3 via the network 4.
The printer 3 interprets the received printer print data and creates an appropriate image on a medium such as paper, thereby realizing printing.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the device status monitoring process of the status monitor, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the printing process of the printer.
<Example 1>
The first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
In the first embodiment, the status monitor 18 is set to enter the toner save mode at the time of toner near-end, and there is no job being printed on the printer 3, and printing is performed in the toner near-end state.
On the setting screen of the toner status monitor 18, a threshold value for determining toner near-end and a setting for entering the toner save mode at the time of toner near-end are set (see FIG. 5).
Printing is performed from the general-purpose application via the printer driver 17 on the client PC 1. At this time, it is assumed that the printer driver 17 adds a user ID to the print job and registers the same user ID in the status monitor 18.

The status monitor 18 acquires device information and user ID information of the job being printed from the device (printer 3) (S1). At this time, if the user ID is different from that registered in the status monitor 18 (No in S2), only the update of the status display is completed and the process ends. If the user IDs match (Yes in S2), the process proceeds to the next step.
The status monitor 18 refers to the setting table shown in FIG. 5 based on the device information acquired from the device (S3). In the case of the first exemplary embodiment, the toner near-end is determined to have occurred because the toner near-end is below the threshold value, and a command for setting the toner save mode and the user ID are notified to the device as the printing method change content. (S4).
Upon receiving the print method change instruction, the device registers the user ID and the print setting change content in the management table shown in FIG. 6 in the print setting management unit 56 shown in FIG. The device refers to the management table in FIG. 6 for each page processing unit in the print processing flow.

When the printing user ID is registered in the management table of FIG. 6 (Yes in S11), the printing method corresponding to the ID is referred to. In this embodiment, since the toner save mode is registered, the printing process is changed to process in the toner save mode (S12), and the page printing process is performed (S13).
Until all pages are printed (No in S14), the processes in S11 to S13 are repeated. When all pages are printed, the currently processed user ID item registered in the management table of FIG. 6 is deleted. (S15).

<Example 2>
In the second embodiment, the status monitor 18 is set to enter double-sided printing at the time of paper near-end, and there is already a job being printed by another person in the printer 3, and the paper near-end state is entered during printing of the job. Shows the case.
On the setting screen of the toner status monitor 18, a threshold value for determining paper near-end and a setting for duplex printing at the time of paper near-end are set (see FIG. 5).
Printing is performed from the general-purpose application via the printer driver 17 on the client PC 1. At this time, it is assumed that the printer driver 17 adds a user ID to the print job and registers the same user ID in the status monitor 18.

The status monitor 18 acquires device information and user ID information of the job being printed from the device (printer 3) (S1). At this time, the acquired user ID is compared with the registered user ID in the status monitor 18 (S2). In this embodiment, since the job of another person is being printed, the status display only ends without updating. Loop in the process. When your print job starts, go to the next step.
The status monitor 18 refers to the setting table shown in FIG. 5 based on the device information acquired from the device (S3). In the case of the second embodiment, since it is below the threshold value for determining the paper near-end, it is determined that the paper near-end has occurred, and a command for printing the surface and the user ID are notified to the device as the printing method change content ( S4).
Upon receiving the print method change instruction, the device registers the user ID and the print setting change content in the management table shown in FIG. 6 in the print setting management unit 56 shown in FIG. The device refers to the management table in FIG. 6 for each page processing unit in the print processing flow.

When the printing user ID is registered in the management table of FIG. 6 (Yes in S11), the printing method corresponding to the ID is referred to. In the present embodiment, since the duplex printing mode is registered, the printing process is changed to duplex printing (S12), and the page printing process is performed (S13).
Until all pages are printed (No in S14), the processes in S11 to S13 are repeated. When all pages are printed, the currently processed user ID item registered in the management table of FIG. 6 is deleted. (S15).

It is a block diagram of the information processing system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the information processing apparatus (client PC shown in FIG. 1) which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the status monitor shown in FIG. It is a block diagram of the printer shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printing method change instruction table set on a status monitor. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table managing a printing method change instruction from a status monitor in a printer. It is a flowchart of the apparatus state monitoring process of a status monitor. 6 is a flowchart of print processing of a printer.

Explanation of symbols

1 Client PC (information processing device)
2 Print server 3 Printer (printing equipment)
18 Status Monitor 31 Device Information Receiving Unit 32 Setting Information Input Unit 33 Command Sending Determination Unit 37 Command Sending Unit

Claims (8)

In an information processing system in which an information processing device, a print server, and a printing device are connected to a network,
The information processing apparatus includes a status monitor capable of acquiring device information at the time of printing,
The status monitor includes a device information receiving unit that periodically acquires device information, a setting information input unit that sets an operation to be performed on the acquired device information, the device information, and the setting information input. A command transmission determination unit that determines whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction to the printing device from information stored in the printing unit, and a command transmission unit that issues a printing method change instruction to the printing device. A featured information processing system.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the status monitor has a function of determining whether or not a printing method change condition is met when determining whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction.   The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus has a correspondence table of device information and printing method change contents, and the printing device has a correspondence table of user and printing method change contents.   The information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the correspondence table of the information device further includes a threshold value of a device state for issuing an instruction to change a printing method.   2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the status monitor has a function of confirming whether a job being printed is its own job and instructing a printing method change only when the job is its own job. . In the information processing method of the information processing system in which the information processing apparatus, the print server, and the printing device are connected to a network,
The information processing apparatus includes a status monitor capable of acquiring device information at the time of printing,
The status monitor stores a device information step for periodically acquiring device information, a setting information input step for setting what operation is performed on the acquired device information, and a device information and setting information input unit. And a command transmission determining step for determining whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction to the printing device from a received information, and a command transmission step for issuing a printing method change instruction to the printing device. Processing method. In an information processing program of an information processing system in which the information processing apparatus, the print server, and the printing device are connected to a network,
The information processing apparatus includes a status monitor capable of acquiring device information at the time of printing,
The status monitor stores a device information module that periodically acquires device information, a setting information input module that sets what operation is performed on the acquired device information, and a device information and setting information input unit. A command transmission determination module that determines whether or not to issue a printing method change instruction to the printing device and a command transmission module that issues a printing method change instruction to the printing device from the received information. Information processing program.   A computer-readable recording medium storing the information processing program according to claim 7.

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