JP2013037547A - Print server, print data providing method, and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in which a paper error may occur because information on a printer as a request source is not present on a print server when pull printing of print data on the server is performed by the printer.SOLUTION: Paper size information on a printer is added to a pull-print request from the printer. A print server 104 compares a paper size of submitted print data with the paper size information added to the pull-print request. When they do not match, it is determined that a paper error is to occur in the printer, and in this case, the paper size of the print data is converted to a paper size available in the printer.

Description

  The present invention relates to a print server, a print data providing method, and a print system, which execute until printing is completed without causing a paper error when performing pull printing in a printing system, particularly a pull printing system.

  In recent years, business has been developed by publishing services on the Internet as cloud services. The print server is also required to provide a function as a print service on the Internet. Providing services as a cloud service eliminates the need for hardware management for each customer by arranging print servers on a large data center. In addition, there are various merits that it is easy to add resources according to the load of the server. Therefore, there is a need for an environment for performing pull printing, which is a form in which a printer acquires print data from the print server via the Internet. In the case of pull printing, since the printer is the starting point of printing, the printer information does not exist on the print server in advance. For this reason, when a pull print is executed, a print job stored in the print server may not be printed by the printer.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228688 discloses a technique for converting print data in accordance with printer capability information in a state where printer information is registered in advance in a print server.

JP 2002-169671 A

  However, as described above, when the print server is provided as a service on the Internet, there is a possibility of pull printing from all printers that can be connected to the print server. It is not possible. Therefore, print data cannot be converted in advance according to the capability information of the printer. For example, there is a problem that a paper error occurs because the paper size that can be printed by the printer does not match the paper size of the submitted print data.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and even in an environment where the printer-specific state such as the paper size information of the printer is not stored in the print server in advance, the print server holds the state specific to the printer. An object of the present invention is to provide a print server, a print data providing method, and a printing system that do not cause an error in print settings caused by not performing, for example, a paper error

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following configuration.

  According to the present invention, even in a network printing system in which information unique to a printer is not stored in advance in the print server, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an error due to the fact that the print server does not hold information unique to the printer. There is an effect. For example, it is possible to provide a printing system that does not cause a paper error even in an environment where the paper size information of the printer is not stored in the print server in advance. As a result, when the user tries to perform pull printing, it is possible to prevent printing from being disabled due to a paper error.

Block diagram showing network configuration Hardware diagram of print server, client terminal and printer Module diagram of print server, client terminal, and printer Software configuration diagram of print server and pull print application Confirmation of submission from the web browser to the print server Diagram of conversion history table managed by print history management unit of print server FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of the print server and the Web browser in the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of the print server and the pull print application according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a print data selection screen displayed by the pull print application according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of the print server and the pull print application according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a paper size conversion confirmation screen displayed by the pull print application according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an operation flow of the print server and the pull print application according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the operation flow of the print server and the Web browser according to the fourth embodiment.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, client terminals 101 to 103, a print server 104, and printers 105 to 108 are connected via networks 109 to 111. In the figure, a print server 104 provides print data for providing print data to a printer. Although it is assumed that a plurality of client terminals 101 to 103 and printers 105 to 108 are connected, one each may be used. The networks 109 to 111 are, for example, a LAN such as the Internet, a WAN, a telephone line, a dedicated digital line, an ATM, a frame relay line, a cable television line, a data broadcasting wireless line, or the like. It is a so-called communication network realized by a combination of these. The networks 109 to 111 only need to be able to transmit and receive data. The communication means from the client terminals 101 to 103 to the print server 104 and the printers 105 to 108 and the communication means from the printers 105 to 108 to the print server 104 may be different. The client terminals 101 to 103 are, for example, a desktop personal computer, a notebook personal computer, a mobile personal computer, a PDA (personal data assistant), or the like, but may be a mobile phone with a built-in program execution environment. Each of the client terminals 101 to 103 includes an environment for executing a program such as a Web browser (Internet browser, WWW browser, browser used for World Wide Web).

  When the print server 104 receives a submission request from the Web browser of the client terminals 101 to 103, the print server 104 stores the document data. When a pull print request is received from the printers 105 to 108, the document data is transmitted.

<Hardware configuration>
FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the client terminals 101 to 103, the print server 104, and the printers 105 to 108 of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, a CPU 202 that controls the entire apparatus executes an application program, an OS, and the like stored in a hard disk (HDD) 205, and temporarily stores information, files, and the like necessary for executing the program in a RAM 203. Take control. The ROM 204 as a storage unit stores therein various data such as a program such as a basic I / O program, print data used in print processing, and printer information. A RAM 203 as temporary storage means functions as a main memory, work area, and the like of the CPU 202. The HDD 205 is one of external storage means and is a hard disk that functions as a large-capacity memory. An application program such as a Web browser, a print server program, an OS, and related programs are stored. A display 206 serving as a display means displays commands input from the keyboard 207, printer status, and the like. An I / F 208 is an external device I / F, and is an interface for connecting a printer, a USB device, and a peripheral device. A keyboard 207 is a keyboard as instruction input means. The system bus 201 is a bus that manages the flow of data in the print server of the printing system. A network interface card (NIC) 209 exchanges data with external devices via the NIC 209 and the networks 109 to 111. Note that the configuration of the computer is an example thereof, and is not limited to the configuration example of FIG. For example, the storage location of data and programs can be changed by ROM, RAM, HDD, etc. according to the characteristics.

  A controller 209 of each of the printers 105 to 108 is a device that controls a printer control system. A CPU 210 that controls the entire apparatus centrally controls access to various devices connected to the system bus 218. This control is based on a control program or the like stored in the ROM 212 or a control program or resource data (resource information) stored in the external memory 223 connected via the disk controller (DKC 216). A RAM 211 that functions as a main memory, work area, and the like of the CPU 210 is configured such that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The external storage unit 213 that functions as a large-capacity memory stores a pull print application program and related programs. An operation panel (operation unit) 221 is provided with a user interface for performing a pull print operation and a pull print switching button. In addition, buttons for performing operations such as setting of operation modes of the printers 105 to 108, display of operation states of the printers 105 to 108, and designation of copying, and display units such as a liquid crystal panel and LEDs 214 are also arranged. A network interface card (NIC) 219 exchanges data with an external device via the NIC 219. The print engine 220 shown in the figure uses a known printing technique, and examples of suitable implementation systems include an electrophotographic system (laser beam system), an ink jet system, and a sublimation method (thermal transfer) system. . The raster controller 215 is a controller that converts print data in PDL language / PDF language into image data. The device I / F 217 is a connection I / F with an external device that can be connected by USB or the like.

<System configuration>
FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The print server 104 includes a print job management service 306 that manages print jobs. The print job management service 306 is realized by a program executed by the print server 104, for example. This service manages document data and the like input from the Web application 302 or another service in the storage 307 as print data. The data format of the print data is, for example, a format such as PDL or PDF. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as it is a format commonly known in this network printing system and is compatible with a printer or a client terminal. Note that the print data stored and managed by the print server 104 can be immediately downloaded to the printer and printed, and therefore is specifically referred to as a print job in this embodiment. The storage 307 is a storage device such as an HDD built in the information processing apparatus of the print server 104, an externally connected HDD, or a network storage. The web application 302 creates a web page that can be displayed by the web browser 301 operating on the client terminals 101 to 103, responds to the request from the web browser 301, and returns the created web page to the request. A user submits document data to the print server 104 via the Web application 302. In response to a pull print request from the pull print application 304 of the printers 105 to 108, the Web service 303 returns a print data download pointer. The download pointer is information describing the location of print data in a format that can be specified by a computer, for example. As one example, a method of expressing with a URL (Unified Resource Locator) is conceivable. In response to a download request from the pull print application 304, print data is returned. The pull print application 304 of the printers 105 to 108 receives a print request from the user. A print request from the user is input via a user interface such as a printer operation panel. The pull print application is a program for requesting print data to be printed from a server or the like that provides the print data, receiving print data downloaded in response to the request, and printing the received print data. . The print job management service 306, the web application 302, and the web service 303 are independent programs, and can be arranged in different information processing apparatuses. Each of these programs is arranged in an information processing apparatus connected to a network, and communicates between the programs. It is also possible to place these programs in the information processing apparatus.

<Software configuration of print server and pull print application>
FIG. 4 is a software configuration diagram of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. A print data management unit 401 of the print job management service 306 installed in the print server 104 manages print data. When a print data acquisition request is received from the Web service 303, specified print data is acquired from the storage 307 and passed to the Web service 303. A print job information management unit 402 manages print job information of print data managed by the storage 307. Job information includes a job identification ID that identifies print data, a document name, a data type that identifies a data format such as PDL and PDF (job type), reception date and time, last print date and time, user name, number of pages, and paper It consists of information such as print settings such as size and download pointer for print data.

  The paper size conversion history management unit 403 of the paper size optimization service 305 associates the user information managed by the authentication service 308 with the paper size conversion history, and the paper size conversion history table 600 illustrated in FIG. Manage with. A paper size conversion unit 404 converts the paper size of the print data managed by the print data management unit 401. When the paper size is converted, enlargement / reduction is performed so that the print area of the print data before the conversion is entirely within the print area of the print data after the conversion. For example, when the print data is PDF, the paper size is converted by scaling the vector data. In addition, the paper size included in the job information is rewritten with the converted size. When the paper size conversion is performed, the paper size conversion unit 404 notifies the paper size conversion history management unit 403 of the print data ID, the paper size before and after conversion, and the like. As the paper size conversion history, the paper size conversion history management unit 403 associates, for example, the print data ID, the paper size before and after conversion, the user ID, and the download destination of the print data with the user information in the paper size conversion history table 600. save. In the present embodiment, the above paper size will be described as a print setting. However, for print setting items that cause an error if the print setting does not match the printer status, the present invention is similar to the paper size. Applicable.

  The session management unit 405 of the Web application 302 manages a request from the Web browser 301 of the client that has been authenticated by the authentication service 308 as a session. In response to the request from the Web browser 301, the page generation unit 406 creates a Web screen such as a submission screen 500 shown in FIG. 5 described later, and sends it back to the Web browser 301. The request reception unit 407 receives a submission request from the Web browser 301.

  A request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 receives a print job acquisition request from the pull print application 304 of the printer. When the request reception unit 409 receives the print job acquisition request, the print job acquisition unit 408 issues a print data acquisition request to the print job management service 306 described above.

  A pull print reception unit 410 of the printer pull print application 304 receives a print request by a user's screen operation. The web service transmission unit 411 notifies the print service acquisition request to the web service 303 of the print server 104. Upon receiving a print request or the like from the Web browser 301, the print job acquisition 412 acquires a print job from the Web service 303 through the Web service transmission unit 411 and sends it to the print job transmission unit 416. The print job transmission unit 416 transmits print data to the controller 209. The pull print controller 413 manages the operation of the entire pull print application 304, and gives operation instructions to each unit via this controller. The paper size information management unit 414 is installed in the printer and detects information on the currently available paper size by a sensor or the like, and saves and manages it. The paper size is detected periodically, for example, or whenever a paper cassette replacement is detected. The print control unit 415 monitors the status of the print job being executed by the printer. For example, when there is no paper size of the print job to be executed among the available paper sizes mounted on the printer, the print control unit 415 monitors the state and outputs an error.

<Submission user interface>
FIG. 5 is an example of a web screen that is created by the web application 302 of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention and displayed on the web browser 301 of the client terminals 101 to 103.

  In FIG. 5, a web screen 500 is a screen of a general web browser. A reference button 503 is a button for acquiring a document data path of the client terminals 101 to 103 used in a general Web application. A text box 502 displays the path of the document data selected by the browse button 503. A submission button 504 is a button for confirming submission and uploading document data to the Web application 302. A cancel button 505 is a button for canceling the submission.

  The user designates the path and file name to the document data to be submitted using the reference button 503 or text box 502 on the screen of FIG. 5 and presses the submission button 504. The designated document data is transferred to the print server 104, converted into a common format such as PDF if necessary, and stored in the storage 307 as print data. Of course, job information including a print data ID, a paper size, and the like is additionally stored. The job information can also include the document creator, version, creation date and time, access restrictions, and the like. In addition to the paper size, information dependent on the printer can also be included. In this embodiment, the print server 104 manages print data. However, print data can be managed by another server. In this case, of course, the server is the destination of the document to be registered.

<Paper size conversion history management table>
FIG. 6 is a paper size conversion history management table 600 managed by the paper size conversion history management unit 403 of the paper size optimization service 305. A user ID 601 is an ID corresponding to the user ID managed by the authentication service 308. The pre-conversion paper size 602 is the paper size of print data before conversion when the user with the user ID 601 converts the paper size via the paper size optimization service 305. The converted paper size 603 is the paper size of the print data after conversion when the user with the user ID 601 converts the paper size via the paper size optimization service 305. A print data ID 604 is a print data ID of the original print data converted by the paper size optimization service 305. The paper size optimization service 305 refers to the paper size conversion history of the print job by searching the print data ID 604. The post-conversion data URL 605 is the URL of the download destination of the print data after paper conversion. The paper size optimization service 305 refers to the paper size conversion history management table managed by the paper size conversion history management unit 403 when determining whether the received print data is to be converted into paper size.

<Submission process flow by printing system>
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a flow in which the print server 104 of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention receives a submission request from the Web browser 301 of the client terminals 101 to 103. In the figure, S701, S704-S706, S710-S711 are executed by the web browser of the client terminal, and other steps are executed by the print server 104.

  In step S <b> 701, the Web browser 301 such as the client terminal 101 transmits a submission screen request to the request reception unit 407 of the print server 104.

  In step S <b> 702, the request reception unit 407 of the print server 104 receives a submission screen request from the web browser 301. In step S <b> 703, the page generation unit 406 of the print server 104 generates the submission screen 500. Subsequently, the print server 104 transmits data describing the submission screen 500 (see FIG. 5) to the Web browser 301 (hereinafter simply referred to as the submission screen). The print server 104 transmits the submission screen 500 as HTML format data.

  In step S <b> 704, the web browser 301 receives the submission screen 500 from the request reception unit 407 of the print server 104. In step S <b> 705, the web browser 301 displays the submission screen 500. In S706, the user presses the reference button 503, and print data to be submitted is selected. When the user selects print data, a print data path is displayed in a text box 502. Subsequently, when the user presses the submission button 504, the Web browser 301 transmits print data to the request reception unit 407 of the print server 104.

  In step S <b> 707, the request reception unit 407 of the print server 104 receives the print data transmitted from the web browser 301. In step S <b> 708, the request reception unit 407 of the print server 104 stores the print data in the print data management unit 401 of the print job management service 306. In step S709, the page generation unit 406 of the print server 105 generates a submission confirmation screen (not shown). Subsequently, the request reception unit 407 of the print server 105 transmits a submission confirmation screen to the Web browser 301.

  In step S <b> 710, the web browser 301 receives a submission confirmation screen (not illustrated) from the request reception unit 407 of the print server 105. In step S711, the Web browser 301 displays a submission confirmation screen.

  Through the above procedure, the user can designate desired document data and upload it to the print server 104. The print server 104 registers the received document data in a document database constructed in the storage 307 or the like as print data in a predetermined format such as PDF.

<Print execution flow by the printing system>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a flow in which the pull print application 304 of the printers 105 to 108 of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention acquires print data of an appropriate paper size and executes printing. At this time, it is assumed that the user has previously logged in with a user ID managed by the authentication service 308 in order to use the printers 105 to 108. In the drawing, S801, S804-S807, and S813-S818 are executed by the printer pull print application 304, and other steps are executed by the print server 104.

  In step S <b> 801, the pull print reception unit 410 of the pull print application 304 calls the Web service transmission unit 411 according to the pull print operation performed by the logged-in user. The Web service transmission unit 411 transmits a print job list acquisition request to the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104. At this time, the print job list acquisition request includes the user ID.

  In step S <b> 802, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 receives a print job list acquisition request. In step S <b> 803, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 acquires the print job list information of the corresponding user ID from the print job information management unit 402. Subsequently, a print job list is transmitted to the Web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304. The print job list information is described in XML format, for example. Note that print jobs displayed in a list are not limited to those with the same user ID, and there may be other ways of selection, for example, targeting within a range determined by access restrictions provided in advance. In step S804, the Web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304 receives the print job list. In step S <b> 805, the pull print reception unit 410 of the pull print application 304 displays the print job selection screen 900 illustrated in FIG. 9 on the operation panel 221. The print data name 901 for printing on the print job selection screen 900 is the name of the print data to be pull-printed, that is, the print data ID. The paper size 902 of the print job selection screen 900 is the paper size of the print data. The print job selection screen 900 print submission date and time 903 is the date and time when the user submitted a print job from the Web browser 301. Note that the list of print jobs displayed on the job selection screen 900 is the list of print jobs acquired in step S802.

  In step S <b> 806, when the user selects a print job on the print job selection screen 900, the pull print reception unit 410 calls the Web service transmission unit 411. The Web service transmission unit 411 generates a pull print request for the selected print job. The pull print request is described in, for example, an XML format. At this time, the pull print request includes a paper size usable by the requesting printer, that is, paper size information managed by the paper size information management unit 414. The usable paper size is, for example, the size of the paper set in the printer when the pull print request is created. If multiple sizes of paper are set, all of them are included in the pull print request. The pull print request includes information indicating that the request is a pull print request, information for specifying target print data, and the like. In step S <b> 807, the Web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304 transmits a pull print request to the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104.

  In step S808, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 receives the pull print request. In step S809, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 reads the paper size information of the printers 105 to 108 included in the pull print request. In step S <b> 810, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 calls the paper size optimization service 305. The paper size optimization service 305 reads the paper size information of the print job requested by the pull print request from the print job information management unit 402 of the print job management service 306. Here, the paper size information of the printers 105 to 108 read in S809 is compared with the paper size information of the selected print job. At this time, if none of the paper size information of the printers 105 to 108 matches the paper size information of the print job, the process branches to S811, and if there is a match, the process branches to S812. In other words, it is possible to execute printing with the print settings stored in association with the print data ID included in the received pull print request, that is, the paper size, in the state of the printer included in the received pull print request, that is, the paper size. If it is possible, the process branches to S812, and if not, the process branches to S811.

  In step S811, the paper size conversion unit 404 of the paper size optimization service 305 executes paper size conversion. At this time, the paper size is converted from the paper size information of the printers 105 to 108 to the paper size closest to the paper size of the print job. The closest paper size is a paper size that requires the smallest enlargement / reduction ratio before and after conversion. Since the paper size is standardized, the scaling factor between the paper sizes can be tabulated in advance. In this embodiment, for example, when the print data is PDF, the paper size is converted by simply scaling the vector data. However, the paper size conversion method is not limited to this. For example, if a size larger than the paper size for the print job is available on the printer, only the paper size is changed without scaling the data, and only when the size larger than the paper size for the print job is not available It is also possible to make a change. It is also possible to trim the data without reducing it. In any case, when the paper size to be used is smaller than the paper size of the print job, it is necessary to change the paper size and process the print data to match the paper size. When the paper size to be used is larger than the paper size of the print job, it is necessary to change the paper size to the size, but it is optional to match the print data to the paper size. However, if the data is a bitmap or the like, processing such as filling in margins may be necessary without scaling the data. Subsequently, the paper size conversion unit 404 stores the converted data in the print data management unit 401 and registers the print job information of the converted print data in the print job information management unit 402.

  In step S <b> 812, the request reception unit 409 of the web service 303 of the print server 104 transmits a download pointer indicating the download source of the print job to the web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304. The download pointer is, for example, a URL. At this time, the URL transmitted as the download pointer is the URL of the print job after the paper size conversion if the paper size has been converted in S811. If the paper size is not converted in S811, the URL is the original print job.

  In step S813, the web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304 receives a download pointer from the request reception unit 409 of the web service 303 of the print server 104. In step S <b> 814, the print data acquisition unit 412 of the pull print application 304 designates the received download pointer and transmits a download request to the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104.

  In step S815, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 receives a print data download request designated by the download pointer from the print data acquisition unit 413 of the pull print application 304. In step S <b> 816, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 reads the designated print data from the print data management unit 401 and transmits the print data to the print data acquisition unit 412 of the pull print application 304.

  In step S817, the print data acquisition unit 412 of the pull print application 304 receives the print data. In step S <b> 818, the print job transmission unit 416 of the pull print application 304 transmits print data to the controller 209. Subsequently, printing is executed by the controller 209. At this time, since the print data is converted into the paper size previously managed by the paper size information management unit 414, a paper error due to the size mismatch does not occur.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, pull printing can be executed without causing a paper error.

  In this embodiment, the print server 104 indirectly transfers the print data by temporarily transferring the download pointer to the printer. However, the print data can be directly downloaded in step S812.

[Embodiment 2]
As the second embodiment, an embodiment in which the user selects whether or not to convert the original print data when it is determined in S810 of the first embodiment that the paper size is not appropriate will be described. If print data is received as it is when the paper size is not appropriate, a paper error occurs during printing. However, some users and print data may not want to convert the original print data. In the second embodiment, it is possible to respond to the user's request more flexibly by adopting a configuration in which the user can intervene and select whether or not conversion is possible.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a flow in which the pull print application 304 of the printers 105 to 108 of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention acquires print data of an appropriate paper size and executes printing in accordance with a user instruction. is there.

  1 to 7 and 9 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted. Also, S1001 to S1010 and S1017 to S1024 in FIG. 10 are the same as S801 to S810 and S811 to S818 in FIG.

  If it is determined in S1010 that the paper size that matches the paper size of the print job is not usable by the printer, in S1011, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 transmits the Web service of the pull print application 304. A paper size conversion enable / disable request is transmitted to the unit 411.

  In step S <b> 1012, the Web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304 receives a paper size conversion permission request from the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104. In step S <b> 1013, the Web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304 calls the pull print reception unit 401. The pull print accepting unit 401 displays a paper size conversion availability screen shown in FIG. 11 on the operation panel 221. In FIG. 11, the pull print accepting unit 401 indicates that the print data does not match the paper size held by the printers 105 to 108 to be printed. In step S1013, the user presses the OK button 1102 or the Cancel button 1101 on the operation panel 221 of the printers 105 to 108 to instruct whether or not the paper size can be converted. In step S <b> 1014, the pull print reception unit 401 of the pull print application 304 calls the Web service transmission unit 411. The Web service transmission unit 411 transmits whether or not the paper size can be converted to the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104. For example, it transmits that conversion is possible if the OK button is pressed, and conversion is impossible if the cancel button is pressed.

  In step S <b> 1015, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 receives the paper size conversion availability from the Web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304. In step S1016, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 branches the process according to whether or not the paper size conversion is transmitted in step S1014. If the paper size conversion is possible, the process branches to S1017, and if it is impossible, the process branches to S1018.

  As described with reference to FIG. 10, in the second embodiment, whether or not to perform paper size conversion can be switched according to the user's request for paper size conversion. According to the second embodiment, by adopting a configuration in which the user can select whether conversion is possible or not, the user's request can be handled more flexibly.

  Note that, in the present embodiment, when it is specified that the paper size is not converted even though the paper size of the print job cannot be used by the printer, in this embodiment, the print data is downloaded to the printer as it is. Therefore, in this case, an error indicating that the paper sizes do not match before printing occurs in the printer. In response to this error, the user can change the paper and continue printing.

[Embodiment 3]
As the third embodiment, an embodiment in which the converted print data is held when the paper size of the print data is converted in S811 of the first embodiment will be described. According to the third embodiment, the print server 104 can immediately transmit print data regarding the print data that has been converted into the paper size without performing the paper size conversion.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a flow of storing the paper size conversion result when the pull print application 304 of the printers 105 to 108 of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention performs paper size conversion. .

  1 to 7 and 9 are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

  12 are the same as S801 to S810 and S812 to S818 in FIG.

  In step S <b> 1211, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 calls the paper size conversion history management unit 403. The paper size conversion history management unit 403 determines whether the designated print data has been converted to paper size before. The paper size conversion history management unit 403 refers to the conversion history table illustrated in FIG. 6 and searches for a record in which the print data ID matches the converted paper size, thereby enabling the use of the print data. Determine if there are records converted to size. Subsequently, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 proceeds to S1214 when there is data converted to the corresponding paper size of the print server 104, and proceeds to S1212 when there is no converted data. Branch. In step S1212, the paper size conversion unit 404 converts the paper size. The conversion method is as described in Example 1. In step S1213, the request reception unit 409 of the Web service 303 of the print server 104 stores the paper size conversion history in the conversion history table 600 illustrated in FIG. In addition, the print data whose paper size has been converted is stored in the print data management unit 401. In step S <b> 1214, the request reception unit 409 of the web service 303 of the print server 104 transmits a download pointer indicating the download source of the print job print job to the web service transmission unit 411 of the pull print application 304. The download pointer is, for example, a URL. At this time, the URL transmitted as the download pointer is the URL of the original print data if the paper size is determined to be appropriate in S1210. If it is determined in S1211 that there is converted data, it is the URL of the converted data. The URL of the converted data is stored in the conversion history table 600 shown in FIG. When the paper size conversion is performed in S1212, the URL of the print data after the paper size conversion is obtained.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, the print server 104 can immediately transmit print data without performing paper size conversion on print data that has been converted into paper size.

[Embodiment 4]
As a fourth embodiment, an embodiment in which a paper size conversion history is also stored for each user, and a user who has previously had a paper size conversion history performs paper size conversion in advance when submitting print data. According to the fourth embodiment, when a user having a paper size conversion history needs to perform paper size conversion again, print data can be immediately transmitted without performing paper size conversion. Note that the present embodiment is characterized by a process at the time of submission, and a printing system can be configured in combination with any one of the first to third embodiments described above.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a flow of storing the paper size conversion result when the pull print application 304 of the printers 105 to 108 of the printing system according to the embodiment of the present invention performs paper size conversion. . At this time, it is assumed that the conversion history for each user is stored in the conversion history table 600 in advance as shown in the third embodiment. FIG. 13 is used instead of FIG. 7 in the first to third embodiments.

  1 to 6 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted. Further, any of FIGS. 8, 10, and 12 may be applied to the pull print processing.

  13 are the same as S701 to S708 and S709 to S711 in FIG.

  In step S1309, the request reception unit 409 of the print server 104 calls the paper size optimization service 305. The paper size optimization service 305 calls the paper size conversion history management unit 403 and refers to the conversion history table 600. Here, the conversion history associated with the user who transmitted the print data is referred to.

  In step S <b> 1310, the request reception unit 409 of the print server 104 branches the process to step S <b> 1311 if the paper size conversion history exists, and to step S <b> 1313 if the paper size conversion history exists.

  In step S <b> 1311, the request reception unit 409 of the print server 104 calls the paper size optimization service 205. Subsequently, the paper size conversion unit 404 of the paper size optimization service 305 executes paper size conversion. Note that the conversion means is the same as S811, and is therefore omitted. As the converted paper size, one of the converted paper sizes recorded in the history is selected for a print job of the same user as the user. If there is only one size, convert it to that size. If there are a plurality of converted sizes, the size closest to the paper size of the submitted print data is selected and converted to that size. Even if there is a conversion history, conversion is not necessary if the converted paper size recorded in the history matches the paper size specified in the submitted print data.

  In step S1312, the request reception unit 409 of the print server 104 stores the conversion history for each user in the conversion history table 600 illustrated in FIG.

  As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, when a user having a paper size conversion history needs to perform paper size conversion again, print data can be immediately transmitted without performing paper size conversion.

[Other Examples]
If the paper size usable by the printer is an integral multiple of the paper size of the print job, especially 2 or 4 times, it can be dealt with by changing the layout without scaling. For example, if the printer can use B4 size and the paper size specified in the job information is B5, the print server 104 converts the layout of the print data into so-called 2-in-1 in which two pages are stored in one sheet. Then, the paper size is changed to B4. The print server 104 can also cope with such converted print data by transmitting it to the requesting printer.

  In each embodiment of the present invention, when it is determined that printing with the saved print setting is not executable, the print setting associated with the print data ID is converted into an executable setting. However, the print setting associated with the print data ID may be replaced with a print setting that allows printing. Since print settings that cannot be printed are discarded and new print settings that can be printed are used, the same effect can be obtained as a result.

  In each of the embodiments of the present invention, the description is based on the paper size. However, as described above, the present invention is applicable not only to the paper size but also to other information. For example, a system is conceivable in which print settings can be registered simultaneously with print data registered for pull printing. The registered print data and print settings will be associated with each other and managed as a print job. For example, it is assumed that the print setting registered at this time is a setting for stapling, and the output printer is a printer that cannot be stapled. The output printer will send non-stapling information to the server as information about the printer status. The server performs processing for changing the print setting for instructing stapling included in the print job to the print setting for not instructing stapling based on the information on the print job and the output printer. In this way, the print settings stored in association with the print data ID included in the received request can be appropriately corrected. As a result, the discrepancy between the output printer for pull printing and the registered print job is eliminated, so that the user can use the pull printing environment in which the occurrence of errors is suppressed.

  The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (10)

A storage unit that stores the print data, the print data ID, and the print settings in association with each other;
Receiving means for receiving a request including the status of the printer and the target print data ID from the requesting printer;
A determination unit that determines whether printing with a print setting stored in the storage unit in association with the print data ID included in the received request is executable in the state of the printer included in the received request;
If the result of determination by the determination means is not executable, conversion means for converting print settings associated with the print data ID into executable settings;
If the print setting has been converted by the conversion means, the converted print setting is stored by the storage means in association with the print data ID included in the request, if the conversion is not converted. And a means for delivering the print data directly or indirectly to the printer together with the print data. And a means for inquiring of the requesting printer whether or not to perform conversion by the conversion means when the determination means determines that the conversion is not possible,
If there is a response that the conversion is performed in response to the inquiry, the conversion is performed by the conversion unit, and if there is a response that the conversion is not performed, the conversion is not performed regardless of the result of the determination by the determination unit. The print server according to claim 1. The storage unit stores a paper size as the print setting,
The receiving means receives the currently available paper size as the status of the printer,
The determination unit determines whether printing with a paper size included in the received request is executable,
If the result of determination by the determination means is not executable, the conversion means converts the paper size into one of the paper sizes available to the printer included in the received request,
The hand-over means associates the paper size after conversion if the print setting has been converted by the conversion means, and associates the paper size before conversion if not converted with the print data ID included in the request. 3. The print server according to claim 1, wherein the print server is directly or indirectly delivered to the printer together with the print data stored in the storage unit. In addition to the conversion of the paper size by the conversion unit, the image forming apparatus further includes a scaling unit for scaling the print data stored in the storage unit in association with the paper size according to the converted paper size.
4. The print server according to claim 3, wherein if the paper size is converted by the conversion unit, the transfer unit transfers the converted paper size to the printer together with the scaled print data. History storage means for storing the print data scaled by the scaling means together with the paper size after conversion by the conversion means;
If it is determined that the print data cannot be executed by the determination unit, if the print data can be executed with the paper size after conversion of the print data stored by the history storage unit, the scaling unit performs scaling. 5. The print server according to claim 1, wherein the print data is delivered to the requesting printer. Means for receiving print data uploaded from a client terminal;
It is determined whether the print data of the same user as the user who uploaded the received print data is stored by the history storage unit. If stored, the print data is stored in the history storage unit. 6. The print server according to claim 5, further comprising means for storing the converted paper size after conversion. A print data providing method executed by a print server including a storage unit that stores print data, a print data ID, and a print setting in association with each other, a reception unit, a determination unit, a conversion unit, and a transfer unit.
A receiving step for receiving a request including the status of the printer and the target print data ID from the requesting printer;
The determination unit determines whether printing with the print settings stored in the storage unit in association with the print data ID included in the received request can be executed in the state of the printer included in the received request. A determination process;
If the conversion unit is not executable as a result of the determination by the determination step, the conversion unit converts the print setting associated with the print data ID into an executable setting; and
The hand-over means associates the print setting after conversion if the print setting has been converted by the conversion step, and stores the print setting before conversion if the print setting has not been converted in association with the print data ID included in the request. A print data providing method comprising: means for directly or indirectly handing over the print data stored in the means to the printer. A storage unit that stores the print data, the print data ID, and the print settings in association with each other;
Receiving means for receiving a request including the status of the printer and the target print data ID from the requesting printer;
A determination unit that determines whether printing with a print setting stored in the storage unit in association with the print data ID included in the received request is executable in the state of the printer included in the received request;
If the result of determination by the determination means is not executable, conversion means for converting print settings associated with the print data ID into executable settings;
If the print setting is converted by the conversion means, the converted print setting is stored in the storage means in association with the print data ID included in the request, and the print setting before conversion is stored if not converted. A program for causing a computer to function as means for handing over directly or indirectly to the printer together with the print data.   A printing system comprising the print server according to claim 1 and a printer connected to the print server.   The printing system according to claim 9, further comprising a client terminal connected thereto.

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