JP2010228172A - Image forming apparatus, image forming system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming system etc., capable of confirming printing results obtained by various controls while suppressing an increase in printing cost resulting from trial printing. <P>SOLUTION: The image forming system includes: a control parameter determination part 103 configured to, in the case a document printing instruction includes an instruction to exceptionally control the specified page of the document, determine printing control setting information in accordance with the instruction; an image forming part 10 configured to form a document image in accordance with the printing instruction and the setting information determined by the control parameter determination part 103; and a confirmation mode execution part 104 configured to, in the case a confirmation instruction is given to the printing instruction, form a document which shows the contents of the setting information, instead of the formation of the document image by the image forming part 10; and a report output part 106 configured to output the document which shows the contents of the setting information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, an image forming system, and a program.

  When printing is performed by the image forming apparatus, control different from other pages may be performed on a specific page of a printed document by adding a control command to the print job. For example, when outputting only a specific page with a paper size and quality different from other pages, printing only a specific page with a different number of copies from other pages, or printing only a specific page with duplex printing There is. In some cases, a slip sheet is inserted at a specific position in the document (before or after a specific page).

  Here, the page designation in the print job control command is a page number in a document (output on paper) as a print result. Therefore, when a cover or slip sheet is inserted into a printed document, it is necessary to replace the page number of the printed document with the page number to be inserted. However, depending on the printing mode, it may be difficult to grasp the page number of the document of the print result before actually printing. This is the case where the printed document is printed from an application that does not have the concept of a page (web browser, spreadsheet software, text editor, etc.), or the layout of the page changes depending on the settings of the printer driver at the time of printing. In such a case, it is necessary to check whether or not a test result is actually obtained by performing trial printing. If the result of the trial printing does not become the printing result desired by the user, the procedure of changing the instruction content and performing the trial printing again is repeated.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique that enables trial printing of a spooled print job. According to this technique, intermediate data of a print job executed on a spool file is held. When the intermediate data is designated and trial printing is performed, the intermediate data is converted into a command to be sent to the printer and the trial printing is performed. When trial printing is performed, one copy is subtracted from the number of copies set in the print job.

JP 2001-158159 A

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system or the like that can confirm printing results by various controls while suppressing an increase in printing cost due to trial printing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a print command for a document includes a command for performing exception control for a specific page of the document, the print control setting information is reflected by reflecting the command. A determination unit for determining, an image forming unit for forming a document image in accordance with the print command and the setting information determined by the determination unit, and the image formation when a confirmation instruction is given for the print command. An image forming apparatus comprising: output means for outputting a document indicating the contents of the setting information, instead of forming a document image by the means.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the image forming unit cannot form a document image according to the setting information, the image forming unit further includes a detecting unit that detects a factor that hinders the formation of the document image, The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs information indicating the factor detected by the detection unit in addition to a document indicating the content of the setting information.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, when there is a factor that hinders the formation of a document image according to the setting information by the image forming unit, the command specifying that specifies a command for performing exception control that can eliminate the factor Means for outputting the document indicating the specified instruction in addition to the document indicating the contents of the setting information when the instruction for performing the exception control is specified by the instruction specifying means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image according to the first or second aspect, the output unit returns the electronic data of the document to an external device that is a transmission source of the print command. Forming device.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the output means stores the electronic data of the document in a storage device as an electronic file in a data format used by the external device, and in response to an access from the external device, The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electronic file stored in the storage device is transmitted to the external device.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, an image forming apparatus that forms a document image based on a document print command, and a print instruction that is connected to the image forming apparatus, generates the print command, and transmits the print command to the image forming apparatus. When the print command includes a command for performing exceptional control for a specific page of the document, the image forming device reflects the command and sets the print control setting information. A determination means for determining the image, an image forming means for forming a document image in accordance with the print command and the setting information determined by the determination means, and a confirmation instruction for the print command. Instead of forming a document image by the forming means, generating means for generating electronic data indicating the contents of the setting information, and transmitting the electronic data indicating the contents of the setting information to the print instruction apparatus A transmission unit that is an image forming system comprising: a.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, when the image forming apparatus cannot form a document image according to the setting information by the image forming unit, the detection is performed to detect a factor that hinders the formation of the document image. Means for transmitting the information indicating the factor detected by the detecting unit in addition to the document indicating the content of the setting information, and the print instruction device can exclude the factor. 7. The image forming system according to claim 6, further comprising command specifying means for specifying a command for performing exception control.
The invention according to claim 8 reflects the instruction when the computer that controls the image forming apparatus includes an instruction for performing exceptional control for a specific page of the document in the document print instruction. And processing for determining setting information for print control, and a document indicating the contents of the setting information instead of forming a document image by the image forming means when a confirmation instruction is given for the print command. And a process for outputting the program.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to confirm the printing results by various controls without performing the test printing as compared with the case where the configuration of the present invention is not applied.
According to the invention of claim 2, it is possible to detect an error caused by the exception control and take into account the response to the error.
According to the invention of claim 3, it is possible to support measures for dealing with errors caused by exception control.
According to the invention of claim 4, the print result can be confirmed in the external device.
According to the invention of claim 5, the print result can be confirmed in the external apparatus accessing the image forming apparatus.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to confirm the print results by various controls in the print instructing apparatus without performing the test printing.
According to the invention of claim 7, in the printing instruction apparatus, it is possible to support measures for dealing with errors caused by exception control.
According to the invention of claim 8, in the image forming apparatus using this program, it is possible to confirm the printing results by various controls without performing the test printing.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image forming system according to an exemplary embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the computer which implement | achieves the printing instruction | indication apparatus of this embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the printing instruction | indication apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of an electronic document and its printing result. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating parameters of a control command for printing the electronic document in FIG. 6 with the configuration illustrated in FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a document configuration of a print job and a print result based on the examples of FIGS. 6 and 7. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a control unit in the image forming apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the printing result notification report of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the error avoidance measure hold | maintained at the database used by the error handling process of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the content of the error handling process by the error handling process part of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the function structure of the printing instruction | indication apparatus in the case of performing an error handling process in a printing instruction | indication apparatus.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
<System configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an image forming system according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the system of this embodiment includes an image forming apparatus 100 and a print instruction apparatus 200.

  The image forming apparatus 100 creates a document image to be printed based on a print job (print command), prints it on a medium such as paper, and discharges it. Here, the document image is an electronic image of a document (document) to be printed on a medium. Further, although the word “document” is used, the content of the document image is not limited to text, and includes a case where the document is composed only of an image by a photograph or computer graphics.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus 100.
The image forming apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 2 includes an image forming unit 10 that forms an image corresponding to the image data of each color, and a control unit 20 that controls the operation of the entire image forming apparatus 100. The control unit 20 is connected to the print instruction apparatus 200, receives a print job input from the print instruction apparatus 200, creates a document image, performs other processing, and sends it to the image forming unit 10.

  The image forming unit 10 includes four image forming units 11 (11Y, 11M, 11C, and 11K for each color) corresponding to each color of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). An image forming unit. In addition, the image forming unit 10 includes a transport belt 16 that transports a sheet (print medium) that is a target of multiple transfer of toner images of each color formed on each photosensitive drum 12 of each image forming unit 11, and a transport belt. A driving roll 17 for driving 16, a transfer roll 18 for transferring the toner image on the photosensitive drum 12 to the paper, and a fixing device 19 for fixing the unfixed toner image on the paper after the transfer by heating and pressing. In the present embodiment, the printing method is not limited. That is, in addition to the electrophotographic method shown in FIG. 2, the image forming unit 10 of the present embodiment can be configured by various types of printing means such as an inkjet method and a thermal method.

  The control unit 20 is realized by a CPU, a ROM that stores a program executed by the CPU, a RAM that is a working memory, and the like. The control unit 20 performs various operation controls such as an operation control of the image forming unit 10 based on a preinstalled program and various settings. In addition, the control unit 20 receives a print job from the print instruction apparatus 200, generates an image to be printed, and performs various image processing such as changing and correcting the size and arrangement of the image.

  The print instruction apparatus 200 generates a print job for instructing printing by the image forming apparatus 100. The print instruction apparatus 200 is realized by a computer such as a personal computer. The print job generated by the print instruction apparatus 200 includes print data that is document image data, and a control command (command) in which settings in print processing are described. The print data is described using, for example, PDL (Page Description Language), and the control command is described using various job control languages.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a computer that implements the print instruction apparatus 200.
The computer 30 shown in FIG. 3 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 30a that is a calculation means, a main storage device (main memory) 30b that is a storage means, and an external storage device 30c. In general, a magnetic disk device (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) is used as the external storage device 30c. 3 has a network I / F (interface) 30d for connection to an external device via a network, a display mechanism 30e for performing display output to the display device, and a sound output. And an audio mechanism 30f. Furthermore, an input device 30g such as a keyboard or a mouse is provided. A chip set and a bridge circuit (not shown) are interposed between the CPU 30a and other components.

  In FIG. 3, each component is connected through various buses such as a system bus and an input / output bus. For example, the CPU 30a and the main storage device 30b are connected via a system bus or a memory bus. Further, between the CPU 30a and the external storage device 30c, the network I / F 30d, the display mechanism 30e, the sound mechanism 30f, the input device 30g, etc., PCI (Peripheral Components Interconnect), PCI Express, serial ATA (AT Attachment), USB ( It is connected via an input / output bus such as Universal Serial Bus) or AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port).

  3 merely illustrates a hardware configuration of a computer suitable for realizing the print instruction apparatus 200, and it is needless to say that the configuration is not limited to the illustrated configuration. For example, in addition to the external storage device 30c, a drive using a flexible disk or an optical disk as a medium or a USB memory may be provided as an auxiliary storage device. The USB memory is connected to the bridge circuit via the USB. Further, the display mechanism 30e and the sound mechanism 30f may be provided as a function of a chipset without being configured independently.

<Function of Control Unit 20 of Image Forming Apparatus 100>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the control unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 100.
As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 100 includes a job interpretation unit 101, a drawing processing unit 102, a control parameter determination unit 103, a confirmation mode execution unit 104, an error handling processing unit 105, And a report output unit 106. These functions are functions realized by the CPU of the control unit 20 executing a program stored in the ROM, and are means realized by cooperation of software and hardware resources. FIG. 4 shows only the characteristic functions in the present embodiment. Actually, the control unit 20 has a function of controlling the operation of the image forming unit 10 and a function of controlling data exchange with the print instruction apparatus 200 via a network interface in addition to the illustrated functions.

  The job interpretation unit 101 receives a print job from the print instruction apparatus 200 and interprets a control command and print data included in the print job. Then, the control command interpretation result is sent to the control parameter determination unit 103. The interpretation result of the print data is sent to the control parameter determination unit 103 and the drawing processing unit 102.

  The drawing processing unit 102 generates a raster image for each page based on the print data received from the job interpretation unit 101. The generated raster image is sent to the image forming unit 10 shown in FIG. 2 and formed (printed) on a sheet. Further, when processing in a confirmation mode described later is executed, the raster data is sent to the confirmation mode execution unit 104.

  The control parameter determination unit 103 is a determination unit that determines final control parameters for actual image formation based on the control command and print data received from the job interpretation unit 101. The control parameters are parameters according to print settings for a document, parameters for performing exceptional control (hereinafter referred to as exception control) different from other pages for a specific page, and print data obtained by processing of the job interpretation unit 101. Print control setting information determined based on the number of pages information. Examples of the setting information described in the control parameter include paper size, paper quality, paper feed tray designation information, number of copies, information on double-sided printing or single-sided printing, and the like. The determined control parameter is normally used by the control unit 20 to control the image forming unit 10, but when a confirmation mode for confirming the print result before printing is designated, It is sent to the confirmation mode execution unit 104.

  The confirmation mode execution unit 104 performs an operation according to the confirmation instruction when a confirmation mode is designated (confirmation instruction) for confirming the print result before executing printing in the print job. In the confirmation mode, the confirmation mode execution unit 104 acquires the final control parameter determined by the control parameter determination unit 103 and the raster image generated by the drawing processing unit 102, and the user outputs the print result based on these. Create a report to check (print result notification report). In this print result notification report, the content of the final control parameter determined by the control parameter determination unit 103 is described in a list format, for example. That is, the print result notification report shows the overall configuration of the document that is output when the image forming unit 10 actually prints. The confirmation mode execution unit 104 also functions as a detection unit that detects a processing error based on a print job, which will be described later. Details of the operation by the confirmation mode execution unit 104 and the print result notification report will be described later.

  If the error handling unit 105 cannot print according to the control parameters generated from the print job due to the configuration of the image forming apparatus 100, the error handling unit 105 treats the process based on the print job as an error, and processes corresponding to the error I do. Specifically, the error handling processing unit 105 determines whether or not the error can be avoided by means such as a setting change of the image forming apparatus 100 or a control parameter change based on the content of the error. If an error can be avoided, an error handling report describing a control command for avoiding the error is created. That is, the error handling processing unit 105 functions as an instruction specifying unit that specifies a control instruction for avoiding an error. Details of the operation by the error handling processing unit 105 will be described later.

  The report output unit 106 is an output unit that outputs the print result notification report created by the confirmation mode execution unit 104. When an error handling report is created by the error handling processing unit 105, this error handling report is output. As a report output method by the report output unit 106, there are a method of printing by the image forming unit 10, a method of displaying on a display device provided on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus 100, and a method of transmitting to the print instruction apparatus 200. Further, an error handling report may be created in a file format that can be downloaded and used by an external apparatus such as the print instruction apparatus 200 and held in a storage device provided in the image forming apparatus 100.

<Function of Print Instruction Device 200>
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the print instruction apparatus 200.
As shown in FIG. 5, the print instruction apparatus 200 includes an application execution unit 210 for creating a document to be printed and a printer driver 220 for creating a print job. The application execution unit 210 reads an electronic document (data of a document to be printed), specifies page setting information and a drawing object included in the electronic document, and issues a print instruction (including a page setting instruction and a drawing instruction). It is generated and sent to the printer driver 220. The printer driver 220 combines the print data and the control command with the print data generation unit 221 that generates the print data, the print setting reception unit 222 that receives the input of the print setting, the control command generation unit 223 that generates the control command. A print job output unit 224 for generating and outputting a print job.

  These functions of the print instruction apparatus 200 are realized by, for example, the program-controlled CPU 30a and the main storage device 30b of the computer 30 shown in FIG. The print job output unit 224 outputs a print job via, for example, the network I / F 30d. The program is stored in a storage means such as a magnetic disk or a semiconductor memory, and these functions are realized by the CPU 30a reading and executing the program.

  The print data generation unit 221 receives a print instruction from the application execution unit 210 and generates print data for page setting based on the page setting instruction included in the print instruction. Further, print data for drawing is generated based on the drawing instruction. The generated print data is sent to the print job output unit 224.

  The print setting reception unit 222 receives input of document print settings and exception control settings. The setting is input, for example, when the user operates the input device 30g shown in FIG. The print setting accepting unit 222 accepts page settings in addition to the page settings in the application execution unit 210. That is, the user may perform page setting in the application or the printer driver 220. The print setting reception unit 222 sends the received setting information to the print data generation unit 221 and the control command generation unit 223.

  The control command generation unit 223 generates a control command based on the setting information received from the print setting reception unit 222. The generated control command is sent to the print job output unit 224. In addition, the control command generation unit 223 receives the confirmation mode setting, and adds a command indicating a print job in the confirmation mode to the control command. The confirmation mode is an operation mode for confirming a print result before actually forming an image on a sheet in execution of a print job. When the confirmation mode is set in the print job, the image forming apparatus 100 does not perform image formation by the image forming unit 10 and creates a print result notification report by the confirmation mode execution unit 104 of the control unit 20. The input of the confirmation mode setting is performed, for example, by the user operating the input device 30g, similarly to the input of the print setting.

  The print job output unit 224 generates a print job by combining the print data acquired from the print data generation unit 221 and the control command acquired from the control command generation unit 223. Then, the generated print job is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100.

<Relationship between control commands and print data and print results>
Here, the relationship between a control command and print data in a print job and a document (print result) printed based on the control command and print data will be described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an electronic document and its printing result.
FIG. 6A shows a configuration example of an electronic document. In the illustrated example, the electronic document is composed of four pages of A4 size text.

  FIG. 6B shows an example of the print result of the electronic document shown in FIG. In the illustrated example, an A4 size cover, one A4 size body page (single-sided printing), two A4 size slip sheets, two A3 size body pages (double-sided printing), one A4 size slip sheet, A4 One page of size text and A4 size back cover are output in this order.

  Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the first page of the electronic document is the text of the second page of the print result, and the second and third pages of the electronic document are the fourth and fifth pages of the print result. The fourth page of the electronic document is the seventh page of the print result. Further, according to the printing result shown in FIG. 6B, the first page (front cover), the fourth and fifth pages (A3 size, duplex printing), the sixth page (insert paper), and the eighth page (back). Colored paper is used for the (cover), and cardboard is used for the seventh page. White plain paper is used for the other pages.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing parameters of a control command for printing the electronic document of FIG. 6A with the configuration shown in FIG. 6B.
FIG. 7A shows print setting parameters for the entire electronic document. In the illustrated example, white plain paper is used, and single-sided printing is set with a paper size specified by print data. The paper size specified by the print data is specified by a print instruction (page setting instruction) from the application execution unit 210.

  FIG. 7B shows parameters for setting exception control. In the example shown in the figure, it is shown that a front cover is inserted into the first page, two slip sheets are inserted into the third page, a slip sheet is inserted into the sixth page, and a back cover is inserted into the eighth page. The 4th and 5th pages should be printed on both sides in A3 size regardless of the print settings shown in FIG. 7A, and the 7th page should be loaded with cardboard regardless of the print settings shown in FIG. It is shown to print using. Further, it is shown that the first page, the fourth page, the fifth page, the sixth page, and the eighth page use sheets with respective colors.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a document configuration of a print job and a print result based on the examples of FIGS. 6 and 7.
FIG. 8A shows the configuration of a print job generated by the print job output unit 224. In the illustrated example, a print job includes a control instruction group 801 describing parameters shown in FIG. 7A, a control instruction group 802 describing parameters for exception control shown in FIG. 7B, and FIG. It consists of print data 803 of the electronic document shown in a). When this print job is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 100, the control parameter determination unit 103 of the image forming apparatus 100 determines the final control parameters based on the contents of the control command group 801, the control command group 802, and the print data 803. To decide. That is, the contents of the control instruction group 802 are rewritten with the contents of the control instruction group 801 (paper type, whether single-sided printing or double-sided printing, etc.) and the contents of the print data 803 (page order, paper size, etc.).

  FIG. 8B shows a configuration of a print result by the print job of FIG. In the illustrated example, based on the contents of the control instruction group 802, the cover page is the first page, the first page of the electronic document is the second page, the slip sheet is the third page, the electronic document is the fourth page and the fifth page. A slip sheet is output on the second, third, and sixth pages, a fourth page of the electronic document is output on the seventh page, and a back cover is output on the eighth page. This configuration is the same as the printing result shown in FIG.

<Operation of Control Unit 20 of Image Forming Apparatus 100>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the control unit 20 of the image forming apparatus 100.
When a print job is transmitted from the print instruction apparatus 200 to the image forming apparatus 100, the print job is first interpreted by the job interpretation unit 101. Then, based on the obtained control command and print data, the control parameter determination unit 103 determines a control parameter (step 901). In addition, the drawing processing unit 102 performs drawing processing based on the print data, and generates a raster image (step 902). Next, the control parameter determination unit 103 determines whether or not a confirmation mode is designated in the print job (step 903). If the confirmation mode is not designated, the raster image generated in step 902 is printed on a sheet as usual according to the control parameter determined in step 901 (step 904).

  If the confirmation mode is designated in step 903, the control parameter determination unit 103 sends the control parameter to the confirmation mode execution unit 104, and the process proceeds. The confirmation mode execution unit 104 first checks whether there is an error that occurs due to the control parameter, in other words, whether there is a factor that hinders image formation by the image forming unit 10 in this control parameter (step 905). ). Here, specific examples of detected errors include the following.

When printing cannot be performed as specified by the control parameter due to printer specification restrictions, for example, when the paper feed capacity of the tray of the image forming apparatus 100 does not correspond to the paper size specified in the print job.
A paper size or quality that cannot be output with the current settings of the image forming apparatus 100 is specified.
When output is started as it is, it is predicted that paper and consumables (for example, image forming materials such as toner and ink) are insufficient during output.
-When a page size specified in the exception control and the paper size specified by the print data are different, the image is missing or blank in the page.

  Next, the confirmation mode execution unit 104 creates a list of control parameters for each page (step 907). If an error as described above is detected, this error information is added to the control parameter to create a control parameter list (steps 906 and 907). Thereafter, the report output unit 106 creates and outputs a print result notification report based on the control parameter list generated by the confirmation mode execution unit 104 (step 908).

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a print result notification report.
The printing result notification report shown in FIG. 10 includes, for each page of a document to be printed, paper size, designation information of a tray for supplying paper, paper quality and color, distinction between double-sided printing and single-sided printing, the surface to be printed, and the number of copies to be printed , The presence / absence and type of error are described. In addition, a thumbnail image 1001 indicating an image at the time of printing each page is displayed. The print result notification report may be generated for the entire document to be printed, or may be generated only for a page for which exception control is set. Further, when a specific page in the document is designated and a print instruction is given, it may be created only for the print page. Note that a stylized icon may be displayed instead of the thumbnail image 1001 displayed in the print result notification report. By selecting an appropriate thumbnail image 1001 or icon design, it becomes possible to easily visually confirm double-sided printing, document binding, and the like.

  If the confirmation mode execution unit 104 does not detect the error, the confirmation mode process ends after the print result notification report is output (step 909). On the other hand, when the confirmation mode execution unit 104 detects the above error, the error handling processing unit 105 performs processing for handling this error (error handling processing) (steps 909 and 910). Details of the error handling process will be described later.

  If the error handling processing unit 105 determines that the error can be avoided as a result of the error handling process, the error handling processing unit 105 creates an error handling report indicating a control instruction effective for avoiding the error. The created error handling report is output by the report output unit 106 (steps 911 and 912). On the other hand, if it is determined that the error cannot be avoided, the information itself related to the error is output as a print result notification report, so the confirmation mode process ends (step 911).

<Error handling process>
Next, details of error handling processing by the error handling processing unit 105 will be described.
Here, some error avoidance measures are set in advance, and control commands for executing these error avoidance measures are held in the database. The database is realized by a storage device (such as a magnetic disk device) provided in the image forming apparatus 100. In addition, priorities are set for error avoidance measures, and they are sequentially applied according to the priorities. Then, each time each error avoidance measure is applied, it is determined whether or not errors can actually be avoided.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an error avoidance measure stored in the database.
In the example shown in FIG.
1. The size of the paper loaded in the paper feed tray of the image forming apparatus 100 is prioritized.
2. The paper quality of the paper loaded in the paper feed tray of the image forming apparatus 100 is prioritized.
3. Cancel double-sided printing (change to single-sided printing).
4). Priority is given to the paper size specified for each page of print data.
The error workaround and its priority are set.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the contents of error handling processing by the error handling processing unit 105.
Referring to FIG. 12, the error handling processing unit 105 first sets the priority of the error avoidance measure to the highest as an initial setting (step 1201). Then, a control command for executing the error avoidance measure with the set priority is read from the database (DB) (step 1202). Here, it is assumed that the error avoidance measure having the highest priority (priority 1) in FIG. 11 is selected.

  Next, the error handling processing unit 105 changes the content of the control parameter according to the read control command. Initially, the control parameter is set so as to give priority to the size of the paper loaded in the paper feed tray of the image forming apparatus 100 based on the control command for executing the priority 1 error avoidance measure in FIG. Is changed (steps 1203 and 1204).

  Next, the error handling processing unit 105 determines whether or not all errors are avoided by the changed control parameter (step 1211). If all errors are avoided, a print job control command reflecting the above change is generated (step 1212). The generated control command is described and output in the error handling report in step 912 of FIG.

  On the other hand, if an error that cannot be avoided remains, the error handling processing unit 105 lowers the priority of the error avoidance measure by one level (steps 1211 and 1213). Then, it is determined whether or not all error avoidance measures have been selected (step 1214). If all error avoidance measures have been selected, the error cannot be avoided and the processing is terminated (step in FIG. 9). No. 911 is determined).

  If an unselected error avoidance measure remains, the error handling processing unit 105 returns to step 1202 and reads a control command for executing the error avoidance measure again. In the second processing cycle, the control command for executing the priority 2 error avoidance measure in FIG. 11 is read, and the paper quality of the paper loaded in the paper feed tray of the image forming apparatus 100 is prioritized. The control parameters are changed (steps 1205 and 1206). In the third processing cycle, a control command for executing the priority 3 error avoidance measure in FIG. 11 is read, and the control parameters are changed so as to cancel double-sided printing (steps 1207 and 1208). In the fourth processing cycle, a control command for executing the priority 4 error avoidance measure in FIG. 11 is read, and the control parameter is set so as to give priority to the paper size specified for each page of the print data. It is changed (steps 1209 and 1210).

  If the control command read from the database does not correspond to any error avoidance measure (No in step 1209), the process is terminated as an error in the error handling process itself (also in this case, as shown in FIG. 9). In step 911, it is determined No).

<Another functional configuration example of the print instruction apparatus 200>
In the above embodiment, the image forming apparatus 100 includes the error handling processing unit 105, and an error handling report is created when there is an error that occurs due to a control parameter. On the other hand, as a report output mode from the image forming apparatus 100, only the print result notification report may be output and the print instruction apparatus 200 may perform error handling processing.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the print instruction apparatus 200 when an error handling process is performed in the print instruction apparatus 200.
A print instruction apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 13 includes an error handling unit 225 in the printer driver 220 in addition to the print instruction apparatus 200 shown in FIG. The error handling processing unit 225 is realized, for example, by the program-controlled CPU 30a and the main storage device 30b of the computer 30 shown in FIG. In addition, the error handling processing unit 225 acquires a print result notification report transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100 via the network I / F 30d.

  The error handling processing unit 225 performs processing corresponding to this error when an error that occurs due to the control parameter is described in the print result notification report acquired from the image forming apparatus 100. The specific operation is the same as the operation of the error handling processing unit 105 of the image forming apparatus 100 described with reference to FIG. The database for error avoidance measures used for the error handling processing of the error handling processing unit 225 is realized by, for example, the external storage device 30c shown in FIG. Further, when an effective error avoidance measure is obtained in the error response processing of the error response processing unit 225, a control command for executing this error avoidance measure is sent to the print job output unit 224, and this error avoidance measure is reflected. A new print job may be generated and output again.

  In the above functional configuration example, the error handling processing unit 225 acquires the print result notification report transmitted from the image forming apparatus 100. On the other hand, the report output unit of the image forming apparatus 100 holds the print result notification report in a storage device in a file format that can be used by the print instruction apparatus 200, and the error handling processing unit 225 accesses the image forming apparatus 100 to print the print result. The notification report may be downloaded and acquired.

  As mentioned above, although this embodiment was described, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the confirmation mode is designated in the print instruction apparatus 200. However, in the image forming apparatus 100, before the printing is performed, the operation of the operation panel by the user is accepted and the confirmation mode is designated. May be performed. In addition, what added various change or improvement to the said embodiment is also contained in the technical scope of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Image formation part, 20 ... Control part, 100 ... Image formation apparatus, 101 ... Job interpretation part, 102 ... Drawing process part, 103 ... Control parameter determination part, 104 ... Confirmation mode execution part, 105 ... Error handling process part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 106 ... Report output part 200 ... Print instruction | indication apparatus 210 ... Application execution part 220 ... Printer driver 221 ... Print data generation part 222 ... Print setting reception part 223 ... Control command generation part 224 ... Print job output part

Claims (8)

A determination unit that determines setting information for print control by reflecting the instruction when the instruction to perform exception control for a specific page of the document is included in the print instruction of the document;
Image forming means for forming a document image according to the print command and the setting information determined by the determining means;
An output means for outputting a document indicating the contents of the setting information instead of forming a document image by the image forming means when a confirmation instruction is given for the print command;
An image forming apparatus comprising: A detection unit that detects a factor that hinders the formation of the document image when the document image cannot be formed according to the setting information by the image forming unit;
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs information indicating the factor detected by the detection unit in addition to a document indicating the content of the setting information. When there is a factor that hinders the formation of the document image according to the setting information by the image forming unit, further comprising a command specifying unit that specifies a command for performing exception control that can eliminate the factor,
The output means outputs a document indicating the specified instruction in addition to a document indicating the contents of the setting information when the instruction for performing the exception control is specified by the instruction specifying means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output unit returns the electronic data of the document to an external apparatus that is a transmission source of the print command.   The output means stores the electronic data of the document in a storage device as an electronic file in a data format used by the external device, and the electronic device stored in the storage device in response to an access from the external device The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the file is transmitted to the external apparatus. An image forming apparatus for forming a document image based on a document print command;
A print instruction device connected to the image forming apparatus and generating the print command and transmitting the print command to the image forming apparatus;
The image forming apparatus includes:
A determination unit that, when the print command includes a command for performing exception control on a specific page of the document, determines setting information for print control by reflecting the command;
Image forming means for forming a document image according to the print command and the setting information determined by the determining means;
A generation unit that generates electronic data indicating the content of the setting information instead of forming a document image by the image forming unit when a confirmation instruction is given for the print command;
Transmitting means for transmitting electronic data indicating the content of the setting information to the print instruction device;
An image forming system comprising: The image forming apparatus further includes a detecting unit that detects a factor that hinders the formation of the document image when the image forming unit cannot form the document image according to the setting information.
The transmission means transmits information indicating the factor detected by the detection means in addition to a document indicating the content of the setting information,
The image forming system according to claim 6, wherein the print instruction apparatus includes an instruction specifying unit that specifies an instruction for performing exceptional control that can eliminate the factor. In the computer that controls the image forming apparatus,
Processing for determining setting information for print control by reflecting the instruction when a print instruction for the document includes an instruction for performing exception control on a specific page of the document;
A process of outputting a document indicating the contents of the setting information instead of forming a document image by the image forming unit when a confirmation instruction is given for the print command;
A program characterized by having executed.

Images