JP2009265994A - Print control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify a configuration for determining propriety of concatenation for each printer in job concatenation control. <P>SOLUTION: A print controller system 14 is divided into two hierarchies, a client job processing section 140 and engine controller sections 150a, 150b. The client job processing section 140 generates image data from a job coming from a client, passes the generated image data to an engine controller section 150, and then, upon completing the passing of the data, sends a first stage completion instruction to the engine controller section 150. Unless a next job is received during a predetermined time period afterwards, a second stage completion instruction is sent to the engine controller section 150. The engine controller section 150 passes the received image data to a print engine 16 to print the image data. When the job can be concatenated, the engine controller section 150 notifies the print engine 16 of job completion only after receiving the second stage completion instruction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control system.

  Some print engines that print on paper have specifications that accept only one print job at a time. When this type of print engine transmits a plurality of print jobs sequentially from the print controller, the print engine is cycled down every time one job is completed and cycled up for execution of the next job. Become. Processing such as a reduction in the rotational speed of a rotating member such as a photosensitive drum in the engine is performed in the cycle down, and processing such as increasing the rotational speed once lowered to the movable speed is performed in the cycle up. For this reason, if the cycle down and cycle up are performed for each job, the processing efficiency of continuous jobs decreases. Also, some print engines that can accept a plurality of print jobs perform cycle down and cycle up between jobs, and have the same problem of lower processing efficiency.

  On the other hand, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-260260, in view of the fact that the printer needs to be temporarily stopped when the printer operation mode is switched in accordance with a change in print attribute, print jobs having common attributes are collected in the same batch. A printer control device that causes a printer to print in batch units is disclosed. This device has a data structure called a batch queue for managing batch groups. When a new print job is received, a batch having the same attribute as the print attribute of the print job is found in the batch queue. Add the print job to the found batch.

  Further, the system disclosed in Patent Document 2 resets a printing apparatus by connecting a plurality of continuous jobs and sending them to a printing apparatus (print engine) even if a plurality of continuous jobs are continuously input from an application. To maintain throughput (see summary). In this system, the print control unit does not immediately transfer the end identification information to the printing apparatus even if it detects the end identification information of the job after transferring the drawing data of the first job to the printing apparatus. Wait for a predetermined safety time. When the second job arrives within the safety time, the drawing data of the second job is transferred to the printing apparatus without transferring the end identification information and the start identification information of the second job to the printing apparatus. To do. If the subsequent job does not arrive within the safety time, the print control unit transfers the end identification information of the first job to the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus (see paragraph 0047). Further, Patent Document 2 describes that the same processing is possible even when a host computer having such a print control unit functions as a print server for another host computer ( (See paragraph 0048).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-212739 JP 2004-342026 A (see abstract, paragraphs 0047 and 0048)

  Even if a plurality of print jobs are linked, the conditions under which the print jobs can be linked differ depending on the model of the printing apparatus (print engine). For example, there are printing apparatuses that cannot connect a double-sided printing job with other jobs because of a mechanism for counting the number of printed sheets, and there are printing apparatuses that can connect a double-sided printing job with other jobs. Therefore, when the print control apparatus is compatible with a plurality of types of printing apparatuses, it is inefficient to mount a control mechanism for job connection for each model.

  The present invention relates to a client instruction processing unit that receives a print instruction from a client device and performs processing for generating image data based on the print instruction, and for causing the printing device to print the image data generated by the client instruction processing unit. A printing apparatus control unit that performs control, and when the client instruction processing unit receives a print instruction from the client apparatus, the printing apparatus control unit sets a print condition of the print instruction data to the printing apparatus control unit. A notifying means for notifying, a means for transmitting a first-stage end instruction when image data generated based on the print instruction has been transferred to the printing apparatus control unit, and a first-stage end instruction being transmitted After that, the client device separates from the client device until the timing at which the printing device completes the printing of the image data generated based on the printing instruction. Means for transmitting a second-stage end instruction when a print instruction is not received, and the printing apparatus control unit prints the print condition of the print instruction notified from the client instruction processing unit, and the print A determination unit that determines whether or not the notified print instruction can be connected to the print instruction during the printing process based on a comparison between the printing instruction of the printing instruction during the printing process by the apparatus and the determination unit can be connected In the case where it is determined that the image data corresponding to the notified print instruction is sent to the printing apparatus without sending an end notification even when printing for the print instruction during the printing process is completed. When the second instruction is received from the client instruction processing unit and when the determination means determines that the connection is impossible, the client Means for the cement instruction processing unit sends a completion notification to the printing apparatus when receiving the end instruction of the first step, a print control system comprising a.

  In one aspect, the client instruction processing unit is implemented by causing a computer to execute a program, and the printing apparatus control unit is implemented as a control board connected to the computer.

  An example of a network system including the print controller system of the embodiment will be outlined with reference to FIG.

  This system includes clients 12a, 12b,... (Hereinafter collectively referred to as clients 12 when there is no need to distinguish) and a print controller system 14 connected to a network 10 such as a local area network. Connected to the print controller system 14 are one or more print engines 16a, 16b,... (Hereinafter collectively referred to as the print engine 16 when there is no need to distinguish them).

  The client 12 is a computer device such as a personal computer operated by a user. The user operates the client 12 to give a print instruction to the print controller system 14. This print instruction typically includes print conditions such as the paper size and the number of output copies, and print data in which an image to be printed is described in PDL (page description language). The print instruction is also called a “job”.

  The print controller system 14 spools the job received from the client 12 and causes the print engine 16 to print in order.

  The print engine 16 prints the image data given from the print controller system 14 on a sheet. In the following example, it is assumed that all the print engines 16 connected to the print controller system 14 are of a type that accepts only one job at a time.

  Next, the internal configuration of the print controller system 14 according to the embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  In the illustrated example, the print controller system 14 includes one client job processing unit 140 and one or more engine controller units 150a, 150b,... (Hereinafter collectively referred to as the engine controller unit 150 if it is not necessary to distinguish). I have.

  The client job processing unit 140 stores a job received from the client 12 via the network 10 in the spool 142 and performs queue management. A queue (not shown) is prepared and managed for each print engine 16. When a job specifying a print engine as an output destination arrives, the client job processing unit 140 inserts the job into a queue corresponding to the print engine 16. The jobs in the queue are transmitted to the corresponding print engine 16 in order from the top. The client job processing unit 140 includes a RIP (Raster Image Processor) unit that interprets PDL data of a job and generates raster image data for printing. Raster image data generated by the RIP unit is sent to the print engine 16 via the engine controller unit 150.

  In the job management table 144, management information of each job registered in the spool 142 (and queue) is registered. FIG. 3 shows an example of the data structure of the job management table 144. In this example, in the job management table 144, client-side job identification information 20, job identification information 22 in the controller, and status 24 information are registered for each job.

  The client-side job identification information 20 is identification information given to the job by the client 12 and is transmitted from the client 12 to the print controller system 14 together with the job.

  The job identification information 22 in the controller is identification information given by the print controller system 14 to the job. In this embodiment, each engine controller unit 150 provides the job identification information 22. The job identification information 22 includes a job ID and a connection number. In this embodiment, the print controller system 14 virtually concatenates a plurality of received jobs (referred to as real jobs) and causes the print engine 16 to recognize them as one job (referred to as a virtual job). This reduces the cycle down between real jobs. The job ID in the job identification information 22 in the controller is identification information used when identifying a job (that is, a virtual job) to the print engine 16, and the connection number is an individual real job in the virtual job. Identification information (typically a serial number) for identifying.

  When the job is received from the client 12, the job identification information 22 in the controller is empty. When a job ID and a connection number are acquired later from the engine controller unit 150, these values are written in this field.

  The status 24 is information indicating the status of the job. The value of the status 24 includes, for example, “waiting for execution”, “running”, “execution complete”, or “failure”. The value of the status 24 is updated in accordance with the progress of processing in the client job processing unit 140 and notification from the engine controller unit 150. Since such job status management is a well-known technique, further explanation is omitted.

  Returning to FIG. 2 again, the client job processing unit 140 sequentially RIPs the received jobs (that is, converts them into raster image data), and requests output from the engine controller unit 150 corresponding to the print engine 16 that is the output destination of the jobs. To do.

  The engine controller unit 150 is provided for each print engine 16 connected to the print controller system 14. The engine controller unit 150 receives a real job from the client job processing unit 140 and determines whether the received job can be linked to a real job that is currently being executed. If it is determined that the connection is possible, the engine controller unit 150 continues the image data of the received job without sending a job completion notification to the print engine 16 even when the execution of the currently executing actual job is completed. It is sent to the print engine 16 for printing.

  The engine controller unit 150 includes a queue 152 and a connection condition storage unit 154. The queue 152 is a queue in which real jobs received from the client job processing unit 140 are registered. The connection condition storage unit 154 stores a determination condition for determining whether or not the received actual job can be connected to a job currently being executed in the print engine 16 connected to the engine controller 150.

  Whether the received actual job can be linked to the job currently being executed is determined by the relationship between the former and latter printing conditions. However, even if the relationship between the former and the latter printing conditions is the same, whether the connection between the former and the latter is permitted differs depending on the model of the print engine 16. For example, if either the received actual job or the job currently being executed is a double-sided printing job, the connection between the two is not allowed in one print engine, but the connection between the two is allowed in another print engine. There is. As another example, when either the received actual job or the job currently being executed includes a stapling designation, the connection between the two is not permitted in one print engine, but the connection between the two is not permitted in another print engine. There is a difference that is recognized. For example, in one example, the determination condition stored in the connection condition storage unit 154 includes a received actual job and a job that is currently being executed for each print condition item value (for example, duplex printing, stapling, etc.). Describes whether or not to allow job connection when either of them contains the item. For example, the determination condition for a certain print engine 16 is that the job connection is permitted even if one or more of the received actual job and the job currently being executed is duplex printing, but one or more includes stapling. Indicates that job connection is not allowed. The determination conditions exemplified above are merely examples. More specifically, for example, a determination condition that describes when the connection between the values of the print condition items between the received actual job and the job currently being executed is allowed (or not allowed). May be used.

  For example, the engine controller unit 150 acquires model identification information from the print engine 16 during an initialization process (also referred to as a power-on sequence) performed when the print engine 16 is powered on. What is necessary is just to memorize | store the determination conditions according to model identification information in the connection condition memory | storage part 154. FIG. In this case, the engine controller unit 150 only needs to hold a table in which determination conditions corresponding to each model identification information are registered. Note that a software module for managing the table may be provided in the print controller system 14, and the engine controller unit 150 may inquire of the software module about a determination condition corresponding to the model identification information. Further, an engine controller unit 150 having a connection condition storage unit 154 in which determination conditions for the corresponding print engine 16 are written in advance may be used.

  The print controller system 14 exemplified above can be constructed based on a general-purpose computer device such as a personal computer or a workstation. In the print controller system 14, the client job processing unit 140 can be implemented as application software on an operating system that controls the print controller system 14.

  On the other hand, the engine controller unit 150 can be implemented as a control board connected to the computer device. The control board is configured as a board compliant with a bus standard such as PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect). The control board includes an interface circuit with the computer device, an interface circuit with the print engine 16, a ROM (Read Only Memory) or an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) that stores a program that describes a control procedure executed by the control board. ), A processor that executes the program, a work memory (for example, RAM (random access memory)) that is used when the program is executed, and the like.

  Next, an example of a processing procedure of the client job processing unit 140 will be described with reference to FIG. This procedure is executed for each print engine 16 connected to the print controller system 14 (that is, for each engine controller unit).

  In this procedure, the client job processing unit 140 determines whether there is an unprocessed job in the spool 142 (S100). When a plurality of print engines 16 are connected, a queue is formed for each engine 16 in the spool 142, and in step S100, it is checked whether there is a job in the queue of the engine 16 corresponding to the procedure.

  If it is determined in step S100 that there is a job in the queue, the client job processing unit 140 acquires the first job in the queue (S102). At this time, if the RIP processing of the PDL data of the job has not been performed yet, the RIP processing is started. When the first job is acquired, a job start notification is transmitted to the engine controller unit 150 targeted by the procedure (S104). This job start notification includes information on printing conditions.

  In response to the job start notification, the engine controller unit 150 returns a job start response. This job start response includes the job ID and connection number assigned by the engine controller unit 150. The client job processing unit 140 receives the job start response (S106), and displays the job ID and the connection number included in the response in the job identification information 22 field in the controller of the job in the job management table 144. Store (S108).

  After receiving the job start response, the client job processing unit 140 sequentially passes the image data of each page of the job obtained by the RIP processing to the engine controller unit 150. Then, when the image data of all pages constituting the job has been passed to the engine controller unit 150 (the determination result in step S110 is affirmative (Y)), the client job processing unit 140 sends a request to the engine controller unit 150. A job end notification is transmitted (S112).

  In this embodiment, there are two types of job end notifications sent from the client job processing unit 140 to the engine controller unit 150: a first stage and a second stage. The first-stage job end notification indicates that a subsequent job may actually exist or may appear soon. In step S112, the first stage job end notification is transmitted. The engine controller unit 150 does not transmit a job end notification to the print engine 16 only upon receiving the first-stage job end notification. Furthermore, the engine controller unit 150 transmits a job end notification to the print engine 16 only after receiving the second stage job end notification.

  After step S112, the client job processing unit 140 shifts to the connection mode for the print engine 16 that is the processing target of the procedure (S114). If the print engine 16 is already in the connection mode, the connection mode is maintained. Thereafter, the process returns to step S100 to check whether there is a job addressed to the print engine 16 in the spool 142.

  If there is no job addressed to the print engine 16 in the spool 142 in step S100, the client job processing unit 140 determines whether the mode related to the print engine 16 is the linked mode (S120). If the connection mode is not selected, the process returns to step S100, and after a predetermined time elapses, it is checked again whether there is a job addressed to the print engine 16 in the spool 142.

  If it is determined in step S120 that the connection mode is selected, the client job processing unit 140 discharges the last page of the print result of the actual job currently output by the print engine 16 (referred to as discharge end timing). Is determined (S122). In this embodiment, since the engine controller unit 150 notifies the print engine 16 of job separation in units of virtual jobs instead of units of actual jobs, the print engine 16 recognizes virtual jobs. The real job is not recognized. Therefore, the client job processing unit 140 determines whether or not the discharge end timing has come.

  In this determination, for example, after issuing the job end notification (S112), time measurement is started by the timer, and it is determined that the discharge end timing has arrived when the time measured by the timer is equal to or greater than the threshold time. May be. The threshold time may be a fixed value, or may be a value corresponding to the total number of pages to be printed in the job (number of pages in job × number of copies).

  In addition, the timing of the timer measurement start is not limited to the time when the job end notification is issued. For example, when the print engine 16 transmits a discharge end notification to the print controller system 14 every time one print result is discharged, the client job processing unit 140 counts the discharge end notification to thereby determine the total number of pages of the job. It is possible to grasp how many pages of the discharge have been completed. Therefore, for example, the time measurement by the timer may be started from the point in time when the completion of the discharge of a page a predetermined number of pages before the last discharge page of the job is detected. In this case, the threshold time may be a fixed value.

  In either case, the timer is reset to the initial value 0 when it is determined in step S100 that there is a job in the spool 142.

  If it is determined in step S122 that the discharge end timing has not arrived, the process returns to step S100.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that it has arrived, the client job processing unit 140 transmits a second-stage job end notification to the engine controller unit 150 (S124). This job end notification in the second stage indicates that there is no subsequent job, and the engine controller unit 150 that has received this notification transmits a job end notification to the print engine 16.

  After step S124, the client job processing unit 140 cancels the connection mode of the print engine 16 (S126). Then, the process returns to step S100.

  Next, an example of the processing procedure of the engine controller unit 150 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6, and 7. First, an example of job acceptance control will be described with reference to FIG.

The engine controller unit 150 waits for a job start notification from the client job processing unit 140 (S200). When the job start notification arrives, the print engine 16 determines whether there is a job currently being executed (S202).
If not present, the engine controller unit 150 generates a new job ID and resets the connection number to an initial value (for example, 1) (S204). Then, a job start response including the job ID and the connection number is returned to the client job processing unit 140 (S210), and the incoming job (a combination of the job ID and the connection number) is added to the end of the queue 152 (S212). ).
If it is determined in step S202 that there is a job being executed by the print engine 16, the engine controller unit 150 determines whether the arrived job can be linked to the job being executed (S206). This determination is performed based on the print condition of the incoming job, the print condition of the job being executed, and the determination condition stored in the connection condition storage unit 154 included in the job start notification.

  If it is determined in step S206 that connection is possible, the engine controller 150 increases the connection number by 1 without changing the job ID (S208). Then, a job start response with the job ID and the connection number is returned to the client job processing unit 140 (S210), and the combination of the job ID and the connection number is added to the end of the queue 152 (S212).

  When it is determined in step S206 that connection is not possible, the engine controller unit 150 determines whether or not the first-stage job end notification has been received from the client job processing unit 140 (S214). This determination may be made with reference to the first stage flag that is set in step S242 of the procedure of FIG. 7 and reset in step S246. If the first-stage job end notification has not been received, the determination in step S214 is performed again after waiting for a predetermined time. When the first stage job end notification is received, the job end notification is sent to the print engine 16 (S216). This job end notification includes the job ID of the job being executed by the print engine 16. At this point, the “job being executed” is “execution” because the print engine 16 has not yet completed printing, but the client job processing unit 140 has finished processing.

If it is determined in step S206 that the connection is not possible, the engine controller 150 generates a new job ID and resets the connection number (S204), and sends a job start response with the job ID and the connection number to the client job. It returns to the processing unit 140 (S210). Further, the combination of the job ID and the connection number is added to the end of the queue 152 (S212).
Next, an example of job execution control will be described with reference to FIG. In this process, the engine controller unit 150 periodically checks whether there is a job in the queue 152 while the print engine 16 is not executing a job (virtual job) (S220). If there is, the first job in the queue is acquired (S222). Then, it is determined whether there is a job currently being executed by the print engine 16 (S224). If there is no job, a job start notification is transmitted to the print engine 16 (S232). The job start notification transmitted at this time includes the job ID information of the job. However, information on the connection number is not included. In addition, printing condition information is also sent to the print engine 16. After this job start notification, the image data of each page of the job is sequentially transmitted to the print engine 16 (S234).

  If it is determined in step S224 that there is a job being executed, the engine controller unit 150 waits for the print engine 16 to finish the job being executed (here, an actual job) (S226). For example, when the print engine 16 notifies the print end for each sheet (that is, discharge of one print result is completed), the engine controller unit 150 counts the number of times the notification is received, and the count value is the client job process. It may be determined that the job is completed when the number of output sheets of the job received from the section 140 (this may be calculated by the engine controller section 150 based on the printing conditions) is reached. If the image data transfer of the next actual job is started after the count value reaches the output number, if the idling time of the print engine 16 becomes too long, the count value is obtained by subtracting the predetermined number from the output number. The end timing of the job may be estimated based on the time when the time reaches (for example, the end of the job is estimated when a predetermined time elapses from that time).

  When the actual job being executed by the print engine 16 ends, the engine controller unit 150 transmits a job end notification to the client job processing unit 140 (S228). This notification includes a combination of the job ID and the connection number of the actual job.

  Further, the engine controller unit 150 determines whether or not the job ID of the first job acquired in step S222 is the same as the job ID of the job determined to have ended in step S226 (S230). If it is not the same, it means that the head job is a job that cannot be linked to the job being executed, so a job start notification including the job ID of the head job is transmitted to the print engine 16 (S232), and then the job The image data of each page is sequentially transmitted to the print engine 16 (S234).

  If the job IDs of the first job and the completed job match in step S230, the engine controller 150 skips step S232 (that is, does not send a job start notification), and the image data of each page of the job Are sequentially transmitted to the print engine 16 (S234). In this case, the print engine 16 recognizes the completed job and the first job as the same job.

  Next, an example of processing in which the engine controller unit 150 sends a job end notification to the print engine 16 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this procedure, the engine controller unit 150 waits to receive a first-stage job end notification from the client job processing unit 140 (S240). When the first stage job end notification is received, the first stage flag is set (turned on) (S242). Then, it waits to receive a second-stage job end notification from the client job processing unit 140 (S244). When the second-stage job end notification is received, a job end notification including the job ID of the job is sent to the print engine 16 (S246). Then, the first stage flag is reset (turned off) (S246), and the process returns to step S240.

  The example of the processing procedure executed by the client job processing unit 140 and the engine controller unit 150 has been described above.

  Next, a specific example of the operation of the system including the client job processing unit 140 and the engine controller unit 150 will be described.

  In the example of FIG. 8, (1) First, the client 12a (see FIG. 1) transmits a job to the print controller system. At this point, it is assumed that the print controller system 14 and the print engine 16 are not executing a job. Then, the client job processing unit 140 registers the job in the spool 142 and the job management table 144, and (2) transmits a job start notification to the engine controller unit 150. This notification includes the print conditions of the job. Upon receiving this notification, the engine controller unit 150 assigns a value N as a new job ID to the job, and (3) sends a job start response including job ID = N and connection number = 1 to the client job processing unit. Return to 140. Note that the engine controller unit 150 stores the printing conditions received together with the job start notification for the determination of whether or not connection is possible later. At this point, since the print engine 16 is not executing a job, the engine controller unit 150 sends a job start notification including (4) job ID = N to the print engine 16, and then, for each page of the job. The images are sequentially transmitted to the print engine 16 to be printed.

  When the client job processing unit 140 completes the RIP processing of the job (job ID = N, connection number = 1) and finishes transferring the images of all pages of the job to the engine controller unit 150, (5) the subsequent job Is sent to the engine controller unit 150, indicating that there is a possibility that the first stage job end is present.

  Thereafter, (6) the client 12b transmits the job to the client job processing unit 140. It is assumed that this job has reached the client job processing unit 140 by a timing at which image data of the next job can be supplied when the print engine 16 completes print output of the job being executed. In this case, (7) the client job processing unit 140 transmits a job start notification to the engine controller unit 150. The engine controller unit 150 determines whether the job being executed is based on the print condition sent together with the notification, the stored print condition of the job being executed, and the determination condition stored in the connection condition storage unit 154. On the other hand, it is determined whether or not the job arrived this time can be connected. In the example of FIG. 8, it is assumed that it is determined that connection is possible.

  In this case, the engine controller unit 150 changes the connection number to 2 while keeping the job ID as N, and (8) returns a job start response including the job ID and the connection number to the client job processing unit 140.

  (9) When the engine controller unit 150 determines that the print output of the actual job being executed (job ID = N, connection number = 1) has been completed based on the print completion notification for each sheet from the print engine 16, (10) The engine controller unit 150 transmits a job end notification for the job to the client job processing unit 140. Further, the engine controller unit 150 sends the image data of the next actual job (job ID = N, serial number = 2) that has already arrived to the print engine 16.

  When the client job processing unit 140 finishes passing the images of all pages of the job with the job ID = N and the connection number = 2 to the engine controller unit 150, (11) a first-stage job end notification is transmitted to the engine controller unit 150. To do.

  Thereafter, when the print engine 16 completes the print output of the job being executed (job ID = N, serial number = 2), the next job is processed by the client job processing unit by the timing at which image data of the next job can be supplied. Suppose that it did not arrive at 140. In this case, (12) the client job processing unit 140 sends a second-stage job end notification to the engine controller unit 150. (13) Upon receiving this, the engine controller 150 transmits a job end notification including the job ID = N of the job being executed to the print engine 16.

  Thereafter, the engine controller unit 150 (14) completes the print output of the actual job being executed (job ID = N, connection number = 2) based on the print completion notification for each sheet from the print engine 16. (15) A job end notification for the job is transmitted to the client job processing unit 140.

  Next, another example will be described. The flow of (1) to (7) in the example of FIG. 9 is the same as the example of FIG. In this example, it is determined that the job related to the start notification in the step (7) cannot be linked to the job being executed. In this case, (8) the engine controller unit 150 transmits a job end notification including the job ID = N of the job being executed to the print engine 16. (9) Also, a new job ID = M is assigned to the job related to the start notification in the stage (7), and the connection number is reset to 1, and the job ID = M and the connection number = 1 are included. A job start response is returned to the client job processing unit 140.

  When the engine controller unit 150 determines (10) that all the print outputs of the actual job (job ID = N, connection number = 1) are complete based on the print end notification from the print engine 16, (11) A job end notification for the job is transmitted to the client job processing unit 140. (12) The engine controller unit 150 also sends a job start notification including the job ID of the next actual job (job ID = M, serial number = 1) that has already arrived to the print engine 16, and then the job Are sent to the print engine 16.

  When the client job processing unit 140 finishes passing the images of all pages of the job with the job ID = M and the connection number = 1 to the engine controller unit 150, (13) transmits a first stage job end notification to the engine controller unit 150. To do.

  After that, when the print engine 16 completes print output of the job being executed (job ID = M, serial number = 1), the next job is processed by the client job processing unit by the timing at which image data of the next job can be supplied. Suppose that it did not arrive at 140. In this case, (14) the client job processing unit 140 sends a second-stage job end notification to the engine controller unit 150. (15) Upon receiving this, the engine controller 150 transmits a job end notification including the job ID = M of the job being executed to the print engine 16.

  Thereafter, the engine controller 150 (16) completes the print output of the actual job being executed (job ID = M, connection number = 1) based on the print completion notification for each sheet from the print engine 16. (17) A job end notification for the job is transmitted to the client job processing unit 140.

  In this embodiment, the client job processing unit 140 uses the information in the job management table 140 to generate a screen that displays the job that is displayed separately from the jobs that are linked as a job status display screen. Can do. That is, in the job management table 140, for each job, a combination of a job ID assigned by the engine controller unit 150 and a connection number is registered, and it can be determined that jobs having the same job ID are connected. it can. Therefore, jobs having the same job ID are displayed in the same display form (but different from the display forms of other jobs) as illustrated in FIG. In the example of FIG. 10, it can be seen that document 1 and document 2 are connected. This display screen is displayed on a display device attached to the print controller system 14, for example.

  In the embodiment described above, the function of the print controller system 14 is divided into two layers of the client job processing unit 140 and the engine controller unit 150, and whether or not connection is possible depending on the model of the print engine 16 is determined by the engine controller unit 150. It was made to run with. Therefore, the client job processing unit 140 need not be aware of the model of the connected print engine 16. That is, even when a plurality of types of print engines 16 are connected, the client job processing unit 140 may execute common processing.

  In the above description, the case where the print engine 16 connected to the engine controller unit 150 accepts only one job at a time has been described as an example, but this is only an example. Even when a print engine 16 of a type that accepts a plurality of jobs (that is, a type that can accept other jobs while executing a job) is connected to the print controller system 14, the print engine 16 is cycle-down and cycled between jobs. The same processing may be performed as long as it is to be increased. In the case where the connected print engine 16 is of a type that accepts a plurality of jobs and does not perform cycle down and cycle up between jobs, such processing may not be performed.

  The print controller system 14 in the embodiment exemplified above is realized, for example, by causing a general-purpose computer to execute a program representing the processing of each functional module described above. Here, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, the computer includes a microprocessor such as a CPU 1000, a memory such as a random access memory (RAM) 1002 and a read only memory (ROM) 1004 (primary storage). ), An HDD controller 1008 that controls an HDD (hard disk drive) 1006, various I / O (input / output) interfaces 1010, a network interface 1012 that performs control for connection to a network such as a local area network, etc. The circuit configuration is connected via a bus 1014. In addition, for example, a disk drive 1016 for reading from and / or writing to a portable disk recording medium such as a CD or a DVD, a portable memory of various standards, such as a flash memory via the I / O interface 1010 to the bus 1014. A memory reader / writer 1018 for reading from and / or writing to the nonvolatile recording medium may be connected. A program in which the processing contents of each functional module exemplified above are described is stored in a fixed storage device such as a hard disk drive via a recording medium such as a CD or DVD, or via a communication means such as a network, and stored in a computer. Installed. The program stored in the fixed storage device is read into the RAM 1002 and executed by a microprocessor such as the CPU 1000, whereby the functional module group exemplified above is realized. Some or all of these functional module groups are used as hardware circuits such as dedicated LSI (Large Scale Integration), ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). It may be configured.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a network system including a print controller system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a print controller system according to an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the data structure of a job management table. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of a client job process part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the job acceptance control of an engine controller part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the job execution control of an engine controller part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of the job completion notification process of an engine controller part. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of operation | movement of the system which consists of a client job process part and an engine controller part. It is a figure for demonstrating another specific example of operation | movement of the system which consists of a client job process part and an engine controller part. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the display screen of a job status. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of a computer.

Explanation of symbols

  10 network, 12a, 12b client, 14 print controller system, 16a, 16b print engine, 140 client job processing unit, 150a, 150b engine controller unit.

Claims (2)

A client instruction processing unit that receives a print instruction from the client device and generates image data based on the print instruction;
A printing apparatus control unit that performs control for causing the printing apparatus to print the image data generated by the client instruction processing unit;
With
The client instruction processing unit
A notification means for notifying the printing apparatus control section of the printing conditions of the printing instruction data when receiving a printing instruction from the client apparatus;
Means for transmitting an end instruction of the first stage when image data generated based on the print instruction has been transferred to the printing apparatus control unit;
When the printing apparatus has not received another print instruction from the client apparatus until the timing at which the printing apparatus completes printing of the image data generated based on the print instruction after transmitting the end instruction of the first stage, Means for transmitting a second stage termination instruction;
With
The printing apparatus control unit
Based on the comparison between the print condition of the print instruction notified from the client instruction processing unit and the print condition of the print instruction being printed by the printing apparatus, the notified print instruction is changed to the print instruction being printed. Determining means for determining whether or not connection is possible;
If the determination unit determines that the connection is possible, the print apparatus responds to the notified print instruction without sending an end notification to the print apparatus even when printing for the print instruction being printed is completed. Means for printing the image data on the printing apparatus, and then sending a termination notice to the printing apparatus when receiving a second-stage termination instruction from the client instruction processing unit;
Means for sending an end notification to the printing apparatus when the end instruction of the first stage is received from the client instruction processing unit when the determining means determines that the connection is impossible;
A printing control system comprising: The client instruction processing unit is implemented by causing a computer to execute a program,
The printing apparatus control unit is mounted as a control board connected to the computer.
The print control system according to claim 1.

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