JP2008112333A - Print management device, print control method and print control program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print management device which, when materials required by conference participants are printed in a batch cooperatively with a conference management service, tallies print setting desired by each conference participant and enables printing to be performed by print setting desired by each conference participant for each of the conference participant. <P>SOLUTION: A server 15 is connected through a network 19 to a manager PC 11 to be used by a conference manager, user PC 12 to 14 to be used by conference participants and printers 16 to 18, and is provided with a conference information control part 151, a print control part 152 and a conference information DB 153. The conference information control part 151 registers the conference information and conference participant information received from the manager PC 11 in a conference information DB 153, and delivers conference invitation based on the conference information to each user PC 12 to 14 corresponding to the registered conference participant information. The print control part 152 causes the printers 16 to 18 to print conference materials included in the conference information based on the print information accepted by each user PC 12 to 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print management apparatus, a print control method, and a print control program. More specifically, the present invention relates to a print management apparatus and print control method for managing printing of conference materials required by a conference participant in cooperation with a conference management service. And a print control program.

  Conventionally, for example, a print management system described in Patent Literature 1 is known as a technology for managing the number of copies of conference material in cooperation with a conference management service for managing conferences. In the system described in Patent Document 1, when a conference organizer registers conference information and conference materials with respect to the conference management service, the conference management service makes a convening notification to the conference participants based on the registration information. . Upon receiving the convening notice, the prospective participant of the conference makes a request for printing the conference material to the administrator within the date set by the administrator. The administrator counts the material printing requests sent from the conference participants and performs batch printing of the materials for the total number of copies.

According to the above-described conventional system, the number of copies required for the conference participant is printed, and the number of copies that can be printed by the conference participant himself / herself is managed, so that the number of copies required for the conference can be printed. It is possible to keep the confidentiality of the conference material at the same time.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-222467

  However, in the case of the invention described in Patent Document 1, the batch printing of materials is performed with the print settings (color setting / allocation setting / duplex setting, etc.) set by the administrator, and the print settings for the materials are set on the conference participant side. I can't hope freely.

  For example, in order to prevent excessive use of consumables in the department, for conference participants who have restrictions on the number of copies to be printed, color settings / allocation settings are used to reduce the number of printed materials as much as possible. -It is conceivable that the user wants to properly select the print setting such as the duplex setting. However, if the administrator performs batch printing as described above, printing as desired becomes impossible.

  However, in the case of Patent Document 1, it is also possible to permit printing by the conference participants themselves. However, since the number of copies of the material is managed by the administrator, the conference participant cannot print a desired number of copies within the print number limit set for himself / herself. For example, if there is a conference participant who wants to prepare two copies of material instead of setting the allocation to 2 up, it will be impossible if only one copy is set.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and when the materials required by the conference participants are collectively printed in cooperation with the conference management service, the print settings desired by the individual conference participants are set. An object of the present invention is to provide a print management apparatus, a print control method, and a print control program that can be aggregated and can print to each conference participant with print settings desired by the conference participant.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a first technical means of the present invention is a print management apparatus that can be connected to a conference manager terminal, a conference participant terminal, and a printing apparatus via a network, and the conference manager Conference information registration means for registering conference information and conference participant information received from the terminal, and conference guidance distribution means for delivering conference guidance based on the conference information to each conference participant terminal corresponding to the registered conference participant information And the meeting material included in the meeting information is printed on the printing apparatus based on the print setting received from each meeting participant terminal.

  The second technical means is the first technical means, wherein the conference guidance distribution means can download the conference material by each conference participant terminal when delivering the conference guidance to each conference participant terminal. It is characterized by being attached in such a state.

  According to a third technical means, in the first technical means, print setting information acquisition means for acquiring information on print settings that can be set in the printing apparatus based on the identification information of the printing apparatus received from the conference manager terminal. The printing setting information of the printing apparatus acquired by the printing setting information acquisition unit is transmitted to each conference participant terminal.

  In a third technical means, in the third technical means, when there are a plurality of the printing apparatuses, based on the print setting information of each printing apparatus acquired by the print setting information acquiring means, from each conference participant terminal It is characterized by comprising printing device search means for searching for a printing device that can set the received print setting information.

  According to a fifth technical means, in the first technical means, print setting information for acquiring print setting information that can be set for each printing device based on the identification information of each printing device received from the conference manager terminal A printing device that includes an acquisition unit and that prints the conference material is determined based on the print setting information received from each conference participant terminal and the print setting information of each printing device acquired by the print setting information acquisition unit. It is characterized by that.

  A sixth technical means includes a job generation means for generating a print job in response to a print instruction in the first technical means, wherein the job generation means includes the print setting information received from each conference participant terminal. If there are a plurality of print settings that share the same bitmap development processing, the bitmap development data is stored based on the common print settings, and the prints having the common print settings are stored using the stored bitmap data. It is characterized by generating a job.

  A seventh technical means is a print control method by a print management apparatus that can be connected to a conference manager terminal, a conference participant terminal, and a printing apparatus via a network, the conference information received from the conference manager terminal, A conference information registration step for registering conference participant information, a conference guidance distribution step for delivering conference guidance based on the conference information to each conference participant terminal corresponding to the registered conference participant information, and each conference participant And a printing step for causing the printing apparatus to print the meeting material included in the meeting information based on the print setting received from the terminal.

  According to an eighth technical means, in the seventh technical means, the conference guidance distribution step allows the conference material to be downloaded by each conference participant terminal when the conference guidance is distributed to each conference participant terminal. It is characterized by being attached in such a state.

  The ninth technical means is the seventh technical means, wherein the print setting information acquisition step of acquiring information of print settings that can be set in the printing apparatus based on the identification information of the printing apparatus received from the conference manager terminal. And a print setting information transmission step of transmitting the acquired print setting information of the printing apparatus to each conference participant terminal.

  In the ninth technical means, when there are a plurality of the printing apparatuses, the tenth technical means, based on the print setting information of each printing apparatus acquired in the print setting information acquisition step, from each conference participant terminal. It has a printing apparatus search step for searching for a printing apparatus that can set the received print setting information.

  The eleventh technical means is the seventh technical means, wherein print setting information for acquiring print setting information that can be set for each printing device based on the identification information of each printing device received from the conference manager terminal. Printing that determines the printing device that prints the conference material based on the acquisition step, the print setting information received from each conference participant terminal, and the print setting information of each printing device acquired in the print setting information acquisition step And an apparatus determining step.

  A twelfth technical means includes a job generation step of generating a print job in response to a print instruction in the seventh technical means, wherein the job generation step includes each print setting information received from each conference participant terminal. If there are a plurality of print settings that share the same bitmap development processing, data that has undergone bitmap development is stored based on the common print settings, and the common print settings are stored using the stored bitmap data. It is characterized by generating a print job.

  A thirteenth technical means is a print control program for executing the print control method in any one of the seventh to twelfth technical means.

  According to the present invention, it is possible for an administrator to perform printing with a print setting desired by a conference participant on behalf of the conference participant, and to save the labor of the conference participant printing materials for the conference. Become. In addition, the user can freely set the print settings and allow the required number of copies to be printed.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a print management apparatus, a print control method, and a print control program according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of a print management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a conference manager terminal (hereinafter referred to as manager PC) used by the person in charge of holding the conference, and 12 to 14 are conference participants scheduled to be convened in a conference held by the conference organizer (manager) ( A conference participant terminal (hereinafter referred to as a user PC) used by a user), 15 is a server for conference management / print management corresponding to the print management device of the present invention, and 16 to 18 are printing devices for printing conference materials ( Printers A, B, and C), 19 indicate a network. The administrator PC 11, user PCs 12 to 14, server 15, and printers 16 to 18 are connected to be communicable via a network 19. The server 15 includes a conference information control unit 151, a print control unit 152, and a conference information DB 153 as main components.

  The conference information control unit 151 registers the conference information and the conference participant information received from the administrator PC 11 in the conference information DB 153, and provides conference guidance based on the conference information to each of the user PCs 12 to 14 corresponding to the registered conference participant information. To deliver. In addition, the print control unit 152 causes the printers 16 to 18 to print the conference material included in the conference information based on the print settings received from the user PCs 12 to 14. As a result, it is possible for the conference participant to save the trouble of preparing and bringing the printed material before the conference, and the conference participant can select the print setting according to his / her convenience when requesting printing. It becomes possible.

  In FIG. 1, a meeting is held by the meeting organizer, and the meeting organizer uses the administrator PC 11 for meeting information such as meeting name / date and time, attached materials, and a printer used for batch printing for the scheduled meeting. Input to the server 15 on the network 19 (S1). However, when the administrator inputs a printer to be used for batch printing, the print control unit 152 on the server 15 searches for a registered printer on the network 19 (S2), and the administrator can select an available printer. Present (S3).

  Next, when the server 15 receives input of conference information such as a conference name and date / time from the administrator, the conference information control unit 151 registers the input content in the conference information DB 153. At this time, information on possible print settings inquired to the printer registered by the administrator by the print control unit 152 (that is, information on print settings that can be set in the printer, see FIG. 7 described later) is also registered in the conference information DB 153. (S6, S7).

  After registering information in the conference information DB 153, the conference information control unit 151 sends guidance to the user PCs 12 to 14 (S4). The user who has received the guidance via the user PCs 12 to 14 inputs to the server 105 whether he / she wants to participate in the conference, needs the material, or what print setting is desired if the material is necessary (S5 ). At this time, the conference information control unit 151 refers to the conference information DB 153, and prompts the user to input again if the user's desired print settings cannot be input by the registered printer.

  The server 15 accepts input from this user until the due date set by the administrator. When the due date set by the administrator comes, the conference information control unit 151 notifies the administrator PC 11 that the due date set has come (S8). The administrator who has received the notification accesses the conference information DB 153 through the administrator PC 11 to refer to the conference information, and if there is no problem, issues an instruction for batch printing (S9). In response to the batch print instruction from the administrator PC 11, the print control unit 152 transmits a print job to the designated printer, and printing is performed from each printer (S10).

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of each device constituting the print management system shown in FIG. The print management system includes an administrator PC 11, a user PC 12, a server 15, and printers 16 to 18 connected via a network 19.

  The administrator PC 11 includes a setting input unit 111, a setting display unit 112, a control unit 113, and an I / F 114. The setting input unit 111 is an I / F for an administrator to input, and includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The setting display unit 112 is an I / F for displaying various types of information, and includes a display. The control unit 113 includes a conference information input unit 113a and a conference information reception unit 113b, and includes a CPU, a memory, and the like. The memory stores a program for executing functions as the conference information input unit 113a and the conference information reception unit 113b, and is read and executed as appropriate by the CPU. The conference information input unit 113a receives input from the administrator and registers information in the server 15 via the I / F 114. The conference information receiving unit 113 b receives information from the server 15 via the I / F 114 when the administrator refers to information on the server 15.

  The user PC 12 includes a setting input unit 121, a setting display unit 122, a control unit 123, and an I / F 214. The setting input unit 121 is an I / F for a user to input, and includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The setting display unit 122 is an I / F for displaying various types of information, and includes a display. The control unit 123 includes a conference participation input unit 123a and a conference contact reception unit 123b, and includes a CPU, a memory, and the like. In this memory, a program for executing functions as the conference participation input unit 123a and the conference contact reception unit 123b is stored, and is read and executed as appropriate by the CPU. The conference participation input unit 123 a accepts input from the user and registers information in the server 15 via the I / F 124. The conference contact receiving unit 123b receives the conference contact from the server 15 via the I / F 124. Also, necessary information is received from the server 15 via the I / F 124 in accordance with the user information reference.

  The server 15 roughly includes a control unit 150, a storage unit 154, and an I / F 155. The control unit 150 includes a conference information control unit 151 and a print control unit 152, and includes a CPU, a memory, and the like. In this memory, a program for executing functions as the conference information control unit 151 and the print control unit 152 is stored, and is appropriately read and executed by the CPU. The storage unit 154 includes a conference information DB 153 and includes a hard disk or the like.

The conference information control unit 151 includes an input management unit 151a, a conference information registration unit 151b, a conference information contact unit 151c, a conference information reference unit 151d, and a conference information transmission unit 151e. The input management unit 151a receives inputs from the administrator PC 11 and the user PC 12, determines which functional block is to be processed according to the input content, and distributes the processing.
The conference information registration unit 151b corresponds to the conference information registration unit of the present invention. In response to input of conference information from the administrator PC 11 and the user PC 12, the conference information and conference participant information are written and registered in the conference information DB 153. To do.

The conference information contact unit 151c corresponds to the conference guidance distribution unit of the present invention, and distributes conference guidance to each user PC corresponding to the conference participant information in the conference information DB 153. When the conference information contact unit 151c distributes the conference guidance to each user PC, the conference information included in the conference information may be attached in a state where it can be downloaded by each user PC. In this case, instead of requesting a print request from the conference management service, the conference material can be downloaded to the user PC and printed by the user's registered printer. Meeting materials can be printed according to the situation.
The conference information reference unit 151d refers to the conference information DB 153 and extracts various types of information registered in the conference information DB 153.
The meeting information transmission unit 151e transmits meeting information in response to a meeting information reference request from the administrator PC 11 and the user PC 12.

The print control unit 152 includes a print printer management unit 152a, a printer information reference unit 152b, a print instruction unit 152c, and a job generation unit 152d. The print printer management unit 152a determines whether or not the user's printable printer can be extracted and the user's desired print settings can be set.
The printer information reference unit 152b corresponds to the print setting information acquisition unit of the present invention, refers to a registered printer on the network 19, and refers to possible print settings of each printer. That is, the printer information reference unit 152b acquires, from the registered printer, information on print settings that can be set for the registered printer, based on the registered printer identification information received from the administrator PC 11. In this case, the acquired print setting information of the registered printer may be transmitted to each user PC. As a result, the user can make print settings within the settable range of the registered printer.

  The print printer management unit 152a corresponds to the printing device search unit of the present invention. When there are a plurality of registered printers, the print printer management unit 152a receives from each user PC based on the print setting information of each registered printer acquired by the printer information reference unit 152b. A function to search for a printing apparatus that can set the print setting information. Thus, if there are a plurality of printers registered by the administrator PC 11, a printer that matches the user's desired print settings can be found.

  Further, the print printer management unit 152a selects a printer that prints the conference material included in the conference information based on the print setting information received from each user PC and the print setting information of each printer acquired by the printer information reference unit 152b. It may be determined. Thus, since it takes time to print on many printers, the same or similar print settings can be printed on the same printer as much as possible, and the number of printers to be printed can be reduced.

The print instruction unit 152c receives a batch print instruction from the administrator and issues a print instruction to the job generation unit 152d.
The job generation unit 152d receives a print instruction from the print instruction unit 152c, generates a print job, and transmits the generated print job to each printer. At this time, control is performed so that printing is performed as efficiently as possible in the printer set by the administrator. For example, if there are a plurality of print settings (color settings, assignment settings, etc.) that share bitmap development processing among the print setting information received from each user PC, the job generation unit 152d is based on the common print settings. Alternatively, the bitmap-expanded data may be stored, and a print job having a common print setting may be generated using the stored bitmap data. As a result, when performing batch printing, if there are multiple print settings that can use the same bitmap, a print job having a common print setting is generated from the same bitmap. Therefore, it is possible to perform processing efficiently without developing a bitmap.

  The conference information DB 153 is stored in the storage unit 154 such as a hard disk, and registers conference information input from the administrator and information input from the user as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the overall processing operation when the administrator aggregates material print requests from the user and performs batch printing with the system configuration shown in FIG. In this example, the print control method of the present invention is executed by a print management system including the server 15.
First, the input management unit 151a in the conference information control unit 151 monitors whether or not an input from the administrator is performed (step S11).
Here, when the administrator performs conference information input processing for the server 15 through the administrator PC 11 (in the case of YES), this conference information registration processing is started. If there is no input of meeting information from the administrator (in the case of NO), the process shifts to an input waiting state in step S11.

  The input management unit 151a that has received the conference information input process from the administrator notifies the conference information registration unit 151b, and the received conference information registration unit 151b registers the conference information in the conference information DB 153 (Step S1). S12).

Next, based on the conference information registered by the administrator, the conference information communication unit 151c transmits conference guidance to the user who is scheduled to participate in the conference (step S13).
And the input management part 151a receives the input from a user, and requests the meeting information registration part 151b to update the meeting information DB 153 based on the input contents (step S14).

Next, the input management unit 151a monitors whether or not the reply registration time limit set by the administrator has elapsed (step S15).
Here, when the reply registration time limit set by the administrator has passed (in the case of YES), the input from the user is stopped, and the conference information transmission unit 151e indicates that the time limit set for the administrator PC 11 has come. Notification is made (step S16). On the other hand, when the reply registration time limit set by the administrator has not elapsed (in the case of NO), the process returns to step S14 and the process is repeated.

  In the case of YES in step S15, the administrator who has received the notification refers to the conference information DB 153 through the setting display unit 112 of the administrator PC 11, confirms the user's conference participation status, desired print settings of the print material, and the like, and performs batch printing. An instruction is input through the setting input unit 111. The input management unit 151a receives a batch printing instruction through the conference information input unit 113a, and issues a printing instruction to the print control unit 152. In response to the instruction, the print control unit 152 performs batch printing of the materials using the registered printer (step S17). When all requested printing is completed, the entire process ends.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the process (step S12) for registering the input content by the administrator in the conference information DB 153 in the overall process flow shown in FIG. 5 shows an example of a conference information input screen when the administrator inputs conference information, FIG. 6 shows an example of conference information registered in the conference information DB 153 by the administrator, and FIG. It is a figure showing an example of a function list which a registered printing use printer has. The processing shown in FIG. 4 will be described using these.

  The administrator uses the setting input unit 111 and the setting display unit 112 of the administrator PC 11 to input conference information for the conference setting item 201 in the conference information input screen shown in FIG. The input content is sent to the server 15 by the conference information input unit 113a. The input management unit 151a of the server 15 receives the input content, and the conference information registration unit 151b registers in the conference information DB 153 (step S21).

  Next, the administrator uses the setting input unit 111 and the setting display unit 112 of the administrator PC 11 to set the conference caller (conference guide destination) setting item 202 in the conference information input screen shown in FIG. Enter the information of the person to be called. The input content is sent to the server 15 by the conference information input unit 113a. The input management unit 151a of the server 15 receives the input content, and the conference information registration unit 151b registers in the conference information DB 153 (step S22).

  Next, the administrator selects a printer to be used for batch printing from the printers displayed in the setting item 203 of the printer to be used in the conference information input screen. The printer displayed in the setting item 203 of the used printer is a printer that can be used by an administrator on the network 19 searched by the print printer management unit 152a. The input management unit 151a of the server 15 receives the input content, and the conference information registration unit 151b performs registration in the conference information DB 153 (step S23).

  Next, the print printer management unit 152a extracts all the print setting items that can be printed by the input printer for use through the printer information reference unit 152b (step S24).

  Then, a printer having the maximum number of print setting items among the print setting items is registered as a default printer (step S25). Thus, the process of inputting the administrator's input content to the conference information DB 153 is completed. As an example of conference information input, conference information as shown in FIG. 6 is registered in the conference information DB 153 when it is performed as shown in FIG.

  Further, as shown in the registered printer list 401 shown in FIG. 7, the printers registered by the administrator are printer A: color setting (2 types) × Nup (4 types) × double-sided setting (2 types) × Staple setting (2 ways) x Punch setting (2 ways) = 64 ways, Printer B: Color setting (2 ways) x Nup (4 ways) x Duplex setting (2 ways) = 16 ways, Printer C: Color setting (1 Street) x Nup (4 ways) x Duplex setting (2 ways) x Punch setting (2 ways) = 16 kinds of print settings, so printer A with the maximum number of print settings is selected as the default printer The default printer item 301 shown in FIG. 6 is determined.

  FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an operation of the process (step S13) in which the conference information contact unit 151c distributes the conference information input / registered by the administrator to the prospective participants in the overall processing flow shown in FIG. FIG. Further, FIG. 9 shows that the person who is scheduled to attend the meeting confirms the details of the meeting information through the user PC 12, enters / does not participate in the meeting, and inputs desired print settings when he / she wants to print materials. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen.

First, the conference information contact unit 151c extracts a conference participant who is registered in the conference information DB 153 shown in FIG. 6 through the conference information reference unit 151d (step S31).
Next, the default initial setting of the default printer registered in the conference information DB 153 shown in FIG. 6 is extracted (step S32). Here, the initial print setting of the default printer is a default setting of the printer.

Based on the two pieces of information, a screen for entering a conference participant shown in FIG. 9 is generated (step S33). This conference participation prospect input screen is composed of the following items: conference details 501, participation registration 502, and print setting registration 503.
Next, the conference information communication unit 151c transmits a guide for accessing the screen for inputting a prospective participant in the conference, and ends the process (step S34).

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of processing (step S14) in which the conference information registration unit 151b updates the conference information DB 153 in accordance with an input from a conference participant in the overall processing flow shown in FIG. is there. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the conference information DB 153 that is updated in accordance with the input of a conference participant. The conference information DB 153 reflects the conference name 601, the conference date and time 602, the conference location 603, the reply deadline 604, and the remaining days 605 that are conference information input by the administrator. Some conference participation information 606 and presence / absence 607 of a material print request are reflected. The print item 608 of the material indicates whether the administrator has finished printing.

First, the input management unit 151a in the conference information control unit 151 monitors whether or not an input from a conference participant is performed (step S41).
Here, when the prospective participant of the conference performs conference information input processing for the server 15 through the user PC 12 (in the case of YES), update processing of the conference information DB 153 is started. On the other hand, if there is no input of conference information from the prospective participant (in the case of NO), the process proceeds to an input waiting state in step S41.

  The prospective participant of the conference accesses the user input screen (shown in FIG. 9) generated by the processing shown in FIG. 8, and first confirms the conference detail item 501. The attached file in the conference detail item 501 is a material registered by the administrator and used in this conference, and can be downloaded to the user PC 12. Next, the prospective participant of the conference inputs participation / non-participation in the registration item 502 of participation, and, in the case of participation, inputs whether he / she wants to print the material. The input management unit 151a branches the process as follows according to the input contents from the conference participant (steps S42 to S47).

  First, the input management unit 151a branches the process depending on whether the input from the prospective participant is a conference participation input (step S42). If the input from the prospective participant of the meeting is an input of participation (YES in step S42), the process branches depending on whether the input from the prospective participant in the meeting is an input for which document printing is desired (step S45). When the input from the prospective participant is a non-participation input (NO in step S42), the non-participant item is increased by one in the conference participation information item 606 of the conference information DB 153 shown in FIG. Further, the number of unanswered persons is reduced by 1 (step S43), and the process is terminated (step S44).

  Next, in step S45, when the input from the person who plans to attend the meeting is an input for which document printing is desired (YES in step S45), the process branches depending on whether the desired print setting has been changed (step S48). . Further, when the input from the prospective participant of the conference is an input that does not wish to print the material (in the case of NO in step S45), the participant item is increased by 1 in the conference participation information item 606 of the conference information DB 153 shown in FIG. The process is terminated (step S47).

  Next, the person who intends to participate in the conference inputs the registration of participation on the user input screen shown in FIG. 9, and then inputs the desired print setting from the registration item 503 of the print setting when he / she wants to print the material. . The print setting item 503 can be input only when the user desires to print the material in the registration item 502 for participation. Settings such as the required number of copies, Color setting, Nup, duplex printing setting, staple, and punch can be made. By default, the initial print setting of the printer set as the default printer is displayed.

The input management unit 151a branches the process as follows in response to the input of the desired print setting from the conference participant (steps S48 to S57).
First, when a prospective participant changes the desired print setting from the default setting (YES in step S48), the process branches depending on whether the setting can be printed by the default printer (step S51). When printing is possible (in the case of YES in step S51), the changed input is accepted, and the conference information registration unit 151b increases the participant item by 1 in the conference participation information item 606 of the conference information DB 153. The print request item 607 is updated to “present” (step S53).

  If printing is impossible (NO in step S51), the process branches depending on whether printing is possible with another registered printer (step S52). When the desired print setting is possible with another registered printer (YES in step S52), the changed input is accepted, and the conference information registration unit 151b increases the number of participants in the conference information DB 153 by one, or The material print request item 607 is updated to “present” (step S54). In step S53 and step S54, the changed print setting is registered in the conference information DB 153 (step S56), and the process returns to step S48 to repeat the process.

  In addition, when the setting is such that printing cannot be performed with another registered printer (NO in step S52), the input management unit 151a notifies the conference participant who has input that the printing setting is not possible with the registered printer. However, the conference information DB 153 is not updated, and the conference information registration unit 151b registers the desired print setting immediately before the change in the conference information DB 153 (step S57), and returns to step S48 to repeat the process. The above steps S48 to S57 are performed until the input from the prospective participant is completed.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen when the conference information DB 153 registered with details about a certain conference generated by the processing flow shown in FIG. 10 is displayed through the setting display unit 122 of the user PC 12. In this way, the conference information detail item 701 and the information 702 of each conference participant are registered. Among the information 702 of each prospective conference participant, the contents entered by the prospective conference participant in the processing flow shown in FIG. 10 are reflected in the Name 703, the participation 704, the material 705, and the print setting 706. The items of the printable printer 707 and the print printer 708 reflect the result of the print printer management unit 152a extracting an appropriate printer using the conference information DB 153.

The extraction of the printable printer 707 and the print printer 708 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for extracting a printer capable of printing with a print setting desired by a conference participant.
First, the print printer management unit 152a reads out the desired print setting of the prospective conference participant from the print setting 706 of the conference information DB 153 through the conference information reference unit 151d (step S61). Also, the printer information registered for use in batch printing and the default printer information are read out. Here, it is assumed that the registered printer functions and default printer settings are those shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, for example.

Next, the print printer management unit 152a branches the process depending on which of the registered printers can read the read desired print setting (steps S62 to S81).
First, the print printer management unit 152a determines whether or not the read desired print setting is printable in the printer A (step S62). If the print setting is possible in the printer A (in the case of YES), the printer B It is determined whether printing is possible (step S63). In step S62, if the print setting is not possible with the printer A (NO), it is determined whether the print is possible with the printer B (step S64).

  Next, in step S63, if the print setting is possible in the printer B (YES), it is determined whether the print is possible in the printer C (step S65). In step S63, if the print setting is not possible in the printer B (NO), it is determined whether the print is possible in the printer C (step S66).

  In step S65, if the print setting is possible in the printer C (YES), the printer A / B / C is detected as a printable printer (step S68), and the printer A / B / C counter is counted. It is incremented (step S75), and it is determined whether or not the check for all the prospective participants is finished (step S82). When the check for all members is completed (in the case of YES), the process is ended as it is, and when the check for all members is not completed (in the case of NO), the process returns to Step S61 and is repeated.

  If the print setting is not possible in the printer C (NO) in step S65, the printer A / B is detected as a printable printer (step S69), and the printer A / B counter is incremented (step S69). S76), the process proceeds to step S82.

  Next, in step S66, if the print setting is possible in the printer C (YES), the printer A / C is detected as a printable printer (step S70), and the printer A / C counter is incremented (step S70). S77), the process proceeds to step S82.

  If the print setting is not possible in the printer C (NO) in step S66, the printer A is detected as a printable printer (step S71), the counter of the printer A is incremented (step S78), The process proceeds to S82.

  Next, in step S64, if the print setting is possible in the printer B (YES), it is determined whether the print is possible in the printer C (step S67). If the print setting is not possible in printer B (NO), printer C is detected as a printable printer (step S74), the counter of printer C is incremented (step S81), and the process proceeds to step S82. .

  Next, in step S67, if the print setting is possible in the printer C (YES), the printer B / C is detected as a printable printer (step S72), and the printer B / C counter is incremented (step S72). S79), the process proceeds to step S82. If the print setting is not possible in the printer C (NO), the printer B is detected as a printable printer (step S73), the counter of the printer B is incremented (step S80), and the process proceeds to step S82. .

  By the above processing, for example, the print setting of the user 1 is color / 1 up / double-sided / staple / 1 copy, and therefore, only A can be printed. Since the print setting of the user 2 is mono / 1 up / single side / 2 copies, the printable printer is A / B / C. Further, since the print setting of the user 5 is mono / 2 up / single side / punch, only C can be printed.

  The print printer management unit 152a holds a counter for each registered printer, and increments the counter value of the corresponding printer by 1 for the extracted printer (steps S75 to S81). In the above example, the counter value of the printer A is “2”, the printer B is “1”, and the printer C is “2”. Then, a check is made for all the prospective participants who are registered in the conference information DB 153 (step S82), and when the check for all the members is completed, this process ends.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing when extracting which printer is to be printed from the printable printers extracted by the processing shown in FIG. 13 and registering it in the conference information DB 153. is there.
The print printer management unit 152a refers to the printer counter value calculated by the process shown in FIG. 13, and sorts the registered printers in descending order of the counter value (step S91). In the above example, the printers are sorted in the order of printers A-C-B. Here, the process is started with i = 1 (step S92).

  Next, the print printer management unit 152a extracts conference participants scheduled to be printed by the i-th printer through the conference information reference unit 151d (step S93). Next, the print printer of the prospective conference participant is set as the i-th printer, and the printer information is registered in the conference information DB 153 through the conference information registration unit 151b (step S94). Next, i = i + 1 is set (step S95), and the above process is repeated.

  It is checked whether the print printers of all the prospective participants are set (step S96), and when the check for all the members is completed (in the case of YES), this process ends. If the check for all members is not completed (in the case of NO), the process proceeds to step S93 and the process is repeated. In the above example, when i = 1, user 1 and user 2 are extracted as users who use printer A. Next, when i = 2, the user 5 is extracted as a user who uses the printer C, and the process ends.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the overall processing flow shown in FIG. 3, when the administrator issues a batch printing instruction, the print instruction unit 152c instructs the job generation unit 152d to perform batch printing. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation example when performing S17).
First, the print instruction unit 152c monitors an instruction for batch printing by the administrator (step S101). When the print instruction unit 152c receives a batch print instruction from the administrator through the input management unit 151a (YES in step S101), the print printer management unit 152a passes through the conference information reference unit 151d and prints and print settings of the person who plans to participate in the conference Is read from the conference information DB 153 (step S102). If there is no batch printing instruction from the administrator (NO in step S101), the process shifts to an instruction waiting state in step S101.

  Next, the print printer management unit 152a checks whether or not a bitmap that can be printed with the specified color setting and assignment setting is already stored among the read print settings (step S103). When the bitmap is already stored (YES in step S103), the duplex setting / staple setting / punch setting (additional information) is read out of the print settings (step S104). Then, the bitmap and additional information are transmitted to the print printer (step S105).

  On the other hand, in step S103, if a bitmap that can be printed with the specified color setting and allocation setting is not yet stored among the read print settings (NO in step S103), the job generating unit 152d A bitmap for the printing is generated and stored (step S106). Of the print settings, double-sided settings / staple settings / punch settings (additional information) are read (step S107), and a bitmap and additional information are transmitted to the print printer (steps S108 and S109).

  Next, the print printer prints the material using the transmitted bitmap and additional information (step S110). In this way, a user's print job having the same color setting and assignment setting can be generated using the same bitmap data, thereby reducing the processing burden.

  Next, it is monitored whether or not all the prospective participants have been checked (step S111). If the check for all the prospective participants has not been completed (NO in step S111), the process returns to step S102. The processes in steps S102 to S111 are repeated. When the check for all the prospective participants is completed (YES in step S111), a print end notification is given (step S112), and the batch printing process ends.

  As described above, each embodiment has been described centering on each function in the print management apparatus of the present invention. However, the present invention can also be configured as a print control method as described as a method for executing each step in the print management apparatus. Can take. Similarly to the print management apparatus having each function, a form as a print control program for causing a computer to function as a print management apparatus, or a form as a recording medium on which the print control program is recorded is possible. .

  An embodiment of a recording medium storing a program and data for realizing a print control function according to the present invention will be described. Specific recording media include CD-ROM (-R / -RW), magneto-optical disk, DVD-ROM (-R / -RW / -RAM), FD, HD, BD, flash memory, memory card. In addition, a memory stick and various other ROMs and RAMs can be assumed, and the recording medium stores a program for causing the computer to execute the functions of the above-described embodiments of the present invention and realizing the print control function. To facilitate the realization of the function. Then, the recording medium as described above is mounted on an information processing apparatus such as a computer and the program is read by the information processing apparatus, or the program is stored in a storage medium provided in the information processing apparatus. By reading, the print control function according to the present invention can be executed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the administrator prints the document with the print settings desired by the conference participant on behalf of the conference participant, and the conference participant prints the document for the conference. Can be omitted. In addition, the user can freely set the print settings and allow the required number of copies to be printed.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of a print management system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of devices included in the print management system illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the entire processing operation when the administrator aggregates material print requests from users and performs batch printing with the system configuration shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of a process (step S12) of registering input contents by an administrator in a conference information DB in the overall process flow shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the meeting information input screen when an administrator inputs meeting information. It is a figure which shows the example of the meeting information registered into meeting information DB by the administrator. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a function list of a printing printer registered by an administrator. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of a process (step S13) in which the meeting information communication unit distributes meeting information input / registered by an administrator to a prospective participant in the entire process flow shown in FIG. . The figure which shows the example of a screen for the meeting prospective person who received the contact to confirm the details of meeting information, to participate in a meeting, to not participate in a meeting, and to input a desired print setting when printing a document is desired through a user PC It is. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of a process (step S14) in which the conference information registration unit updates the conference information DB in accordance with an input from a conference participant in the overall processing flow shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of meeting information DB updated according to the input of a meeting prospective person. It is a figure which shows the example of a screen when displaying the meeting information DB which registered the detail about a certain meeting produced | generated by the processing flow shown in FIG. 10 through the setting display part of user PC. It is a flowchart for demonstrating an example of the process which extracts the printer which can be printed with the print setting which a meeting prospective participant desires. FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing when extracting which printer performs printing from the printable printers extracted by the processing shown in FIG. 13 and registering it in the conference information DB. In the overall processing flow shown in FIG. 3, when the administrator instructs batch printing, the print instruction unit instructs the job generation unit to perform batch printing and performs batch printing processing (step S17). It is a flowchart for demonstrating an operation example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Administrator PC, 12-14 ... User PC, 15 ... Server (print management apparatus), 16-18 ... Printer, 19 ... Network, 111, 121 ... Setting input part, 112, 122 ... Setting display part, 113, 123, 150 ... control unit, 113a ... conference information input unit, 113b ... conference information reception unit, 114, 124, 155 ... I / F, 123a ... conference participation input unit, 123b ... conference contact reception unit, 151 ... conference information control 151a ... input management unit, 151b ... conference information registration unit, 151c ... conference information contact unit, 151d ... conference information reference unit, 151e ... conference information transmission unit, 152 ... print control unit, 152a ... print printer management unit, 152b ... Printer information reference unit, 152c ... Print instruction unit, 152d ... Job generation unit, 153 ... Conference information DB, 154 ... Storage unit.

Claims (13)

A print management device connectable to a conference manager terminal, a conference participant terminal, and a printing device via a network,
Conference information registration means for registering the conference information and conference participant information received from the conference manager terminal, and delivering conference guidance based on the conference information to each conference participant terminal corresponding to the registered conference participant information A meeting guide distribution means,
A print management apparatus that causes the printing apparatus to print meeting materials included in the meeting information based on print settings received from each meeting participant terminal.   2. The print management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conference guide distribution unit is configured to download the conference material by the conference participant terminals when distributing the conference guide to the conference participant terminals. A print management apparatus attached. The print management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising print setting information acquisition means for acquiring print setting information that can be set in the printing apparatus based on the identification information of the printing apparatus received from the conference manager terminal.
A print management apparatus that transmits print setting information of a printing apparatus acquired by the print setting information acquisition unit to each conference participant terminal.   4. The print management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when there are a plurality of printing apparatuses, the printing received from each conference participant terminal based on the printing setting information of each printing apparatus acquired by the printing setting information acquisition unit. A printing management apparatus comprising a printing apparatus search unit for searching for a printing apparatus capable of setting setting information. The print management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a print setting information acquisition unit configured to acquire print setting information that can be set for each printing apparatus based on the identification information of each printing apparatus received from the conference manager terminal. Prepared,
A printing device that prints the conference material is determined based on the print setting information received from each conference participant terminal and the print setting information of each printing device acquired by the print setting information acquisition unit. Print management device. The print management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising job generation means for generating a print job in response to a print instruction,
When there are a plurality of print settings that share the same bitmap development processing among the print setting information received from each conference participant terminal, the job generation means generates data that has undergone bitmap development based on the common print settings. A print management apparatus for storing and generating a print job having the common print setting using the stored bitmap data. A print control method by a print management device connectable to a conference manager terminal, a conference participant terminal, and a printing device via a network,
A conference information registration step for registering conference information and conference participant information received from the conference manager terminal, and delivering conference guidance based on the conference information to each conference participant terminal corresponding to the registered conference participant information A printing control method comprising: a meeting guidance distribution step; and a printing step for causing the printing apparatus to print meeting material included in the meeting information based on a print setting received from each meeting participant terminal.   The print control method according to claim 7, wherein the conference guidance distribution step is configured such that when the conference guidance is distributed to each conference participant terminal, the conference material can be downloaded by each conference participant terminal. A printing control method, comprising: attaching.   The print control method according to claim 7, wherein a print setting information acquisition step for acquiring print setting information that can be set in the printing apparatus based on the identification information of the printing apparatus received from the conference manager terminal; A print control method comprising: a print setting information transmission step of transmitting the acquired print setting information of the printing apparatus to each conference participant terminal.   10. The print control method according to claim 9, wherein when there are a plurality of printing apparatuses, the printing received from each conference participant terminal based on the printing setting information of each printing apparatus acquired in the printing setting information acquisition step. A printing control method comprising a printing device search step for searching for a printing device capable of setting setting information.   The print control method according to claim 7, wherein the print setting information acquisition step acquires print setting information that can be set for each printing device based on the identification information of each printing device received from the conference manager terminal. A printing device determination step for determining a printing device for printing the meeting material based on the print setting information received from each conference participant terminal and the print setting information of each printing device acquired in the print setting information acquisition step And a printing control method. The print control method according to claim 7, further comprising a job generation step of generating a print job in response to a print instruction,
In the job generation step, when there are a plurality of print settings that share the same bitmap development processing among the print setting information received from each conference participant terminal, the bitmap development data based on the common print settings is displayed. A print control method, comprising: storing and generating a print job having the common print setting using the stored bitmap data.   A print control program for executing the print control method according to any one of claims 7 to 12.

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