JP2013239204A - Data processing apparatus, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a data processing apparatus, a program, and a recording medium for causing an output destination device to print a print job according to specific conditions.SOLUTION: A data processing apparatus 200 of the present invention includes: virtual printer driver means 218 that receives job data from application execution means, generates image data 236 for each page, for example, and describes print settings extracted from the job data to generate print setting data 232; output condition control means 242 that re-writes the pieces of data (230, 236) generated by the virtual printer driver means 218 in accordance with a rule 246 that determines conditions on selection of an output destination and change of an output content, and determines an output destination; and issuing means 244 that selects a printer driver corresponding to the determined output destination taking the image data 236 and the print setting data 232 after the re-writing as a job having changed content, and issues a print instruction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a data processing technique for print output, and more particularly to a data processing apparatus, a program, and a recording medium for causing an output destination apparatus to print a print job according to specific conditions.

  In recent years, with the spread of network technology and increasing interest in information security, in office environments such as corporations, hospitals, inspection institutions, and government offices, remote communication via a network from a client terminal having only a minimum number of functions A so-called thin client environment in which an application is used by connecting to a server is becoming widespread.

  In an office environment, an MFP (Multi-Function Peripheral), a laser printer, a print server, and the like are often connected to a network and a plurality of output devices can be used. However, in such an environment where a plurality of output devices can be used from a plurality of locations, when selecting a desired output destination from a plurality of printers on the network, a problem may occur due to a mistake in specifying the output destination. It is a problem. In particular, when handling personal information and confidential information, a mistake in specifying the output destination of a document can lead to a serious problem such as information leakage.

  In addition, there is a demand for automatically switching output destinations according to types of forms, documents, etc., or in accordance with document contents, in relation to output destination sorting. In order to meet this demand, for example, software is provided that automatically switches the output device according to the number of sheets in the Windows (registered trademark) environment and distributes the output device to the optimum output device (Non-Patent Document 1). There is also a technique for analyzing print data, detecting a specific keyword in a document, determining the form, document type, and security level, and automatically switching output conditions and printing ( Non-patent document 2).

  In addition, as a technique for managing the output destination of a document, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-140867 (Patent Document 1) automatically distributes printers that output in response to the printer status such as printer power off or no paper. Techniques to do this have been proposed.

  As described above, various techniques for automatically selecting an output device from among a plurality of available output devices and assigning output destinations have been provided so far. However, the above prior art can only sort output destinations, and there has been a demand for development of a technique for controlling output conditions more flexibly including print settings and contents in addition to output destinations. In addition, the conventional distributed printing system supports only a specific printer language or only a printer of a specific manufacturer, and is used in an office environment in which printers of a plurality of manufacturers are mixed. There was a problem when using it.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the present invention can be applied to information regarding terminals, printing, etc., even in an environment in which printers from a plurality of vendors are mixed, regardless of vendor differences. Provided are a data processing device, a data processing method, a program, and a recording medium for changing and determining not only the output destination but also the output contents in accordance with the defined conditions and causing the image forming apparatus to determine the output destination. The purpose is to do.

  In the present invention, in order to cope with the above-described problem, a data processing apparatus that receives job data from the application execution unit and issues a print instruction receives the job data from the application execution unit, for example, in a higher-order image format. In addition to generating image data, it includes virtual printer driver means for generating print setting data by describing print settings extracted from job data. In addition, the data processing apparatus rewrites the data generated by the virtual printer driver means, that is, the image data and / or the print setting data, according to the rules that condition the selection of the output destination and the change of the output contents, and outputs the data. Output condition control means for determining the destination is selected, and the printer driver corresponding to the determined output destination is selected and printed as a job whose contents have been changed corresponding to the rewritten image data and print setting data. Includes shipping means to command. With this configuration, according to a predetermined rule, not only the output destination but also the output content itself can be flexibly changed, and printing can be instructed to an appropriate output destination. As a result, work in office environments where multiple output devices can be used Efficiency can be improved.

  In the present invention, the rule can include a condition for identifying a job to be combined and a condition for triggering the integration target to be output. Further, the output condition control means can temporarily save the image data and print setting data of the job in response to detecting the job to be combined. The output condition control means, on the other hand, detects other jobs to be combined and reads the saved print setting data in response to the triggering condition being satisfied and saves it. The print setting data of the other job can be rewritten so as to combine the stored image data, and then the job can be sent as a job to which the shipping means is combined. The output by the combination can be performed, for example, in a predetermined order when all jobs are completed. In addition, when the designated job is detected, it can be performed regardless of whether or not the job is ready. With this configuration, it is possible to combine and output a job registered in advance as a combination target as a change in the print contents, and it is possible to further improve work efficiency in the office environment.

  Further, in the present invention, the change of the output contents includes designation of double-sided printing, designation of monochrome printing, designation of aggregate printing, designation of tint block printing, designation of digital watermark, designation of confidential printing, and substitution of character strings in image data. At least one functional limitation selected from the group can be included. In the present invention, the rule is selected from the group consisting of terminal-specific information related to a terminal accessing the application execution means, user-specific information related to a logged-in user of the application execution means, job print setting information, and job content information. The change of the output destination and the output content may be conditioned on at least one conditioning information. With this configuration, it is possible to condition various changes to various information in the print job.

  In the present invention, the output condition control means can determine change of the output destination and the output contents by referring to the history data of the database that records the job execution history by the user. The output condition control means of the present invention can instruct the application execution means of a user inquiry waiting for the approval of the change of the output contents, or can notify the user of the change of the output contents. Further, according to the present invention, the rule can be provided as a data structure that defines a condition for selecting an output destination and changing an output content. In the present invention, the output condition control means and the sending means can be activated before the image data of all pages is generated with the same execution authority as the application execution means. The terminal-specific information may include a network address or a terminal name, and the user-specific information may include a user name, a group to which the user belongs, a user, and authority given to the user. The above print setting information includes color mode specification, single-sided printing or double-sided printing specification, stapling / punching / stamping specification, paper size / media type specification, paper feed direction / paper feed / discharge port specification, printing Quality specifications can be included. The job information may include a document name, a job issue time, an individual name, and the presence / absence of a specific term. The virtual printer driver means can generate image data for each page, and the print setting can include imposition information. As the image data, those having a sharability and a higher-order data format can be adopted.

  The present invention further provides a computer-executable program and a recording medium for causing a computer to function as the functional means.

1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a printer network including a data processing apparatus of the present invention. The functional block diagram of the data processor of this embodiment. The flowchart (1/2) of the process which the data processor of this embodiment performs. The flowchart (2/2) of the process which the data processor of this embodiment performs. The figure which shows rule definition data as an example. The figure which illustrates the data which the output condition control part of this embodiment uses for determination of an output condition. The functional block diagram of the data processor of other embodiments. The flowchart of the process which the data processor of other embodiment performs. The flowchart of the process which the data processor of other embodiment performs. The figure which shows GUI displayed on the screen on a client by the user inquiry by the data processor of other embodiment.

  Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated with embodiment, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned later. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a printer network 100 that includes a data processing device 110 of the present invention. The printer network 100 is configured by connecting a plurality of clients 112, 114, 116, and 118 arranged in an office or the like to a network 130. In addition to the data processing apparatus 110, a printer server (not shown) may be connected to the network 130, and the printer server may manage print requests from the clients 112, 114, 116, and 118.

  In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, an MFP 122, laser printers 124 and 126, an inkjet printer 128, and the like are connected as a remote printer. In the present embodiment, the above-described MFP 122 and the printers 124 to 128 are hereinafter collectively referred to as remote printers. In FIG. 1, areas 140, 150, and 160 surrounded by a dotted line represent bases that are regarded as the same location.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the data processing apparatus 110 acquires the print request from the clients 112 to 118 and the print data corresponding to the print request, changes the output content according to various conditions, and performs an appropriate process. A remote printer as an output destination is determined, and a printer driver corresponding to the remote printer is activated. Thereafter, the data processing apparatus 110 sends to the remote printer data in a format that can be processed at the output destination, and RAW data corresponding to the print data. The generated RAW data is subjected to, for example, PDL (Page Description Language) command addition processing and the like, and is output as output data, which is sent to the specified remote printers 122 to 128. The remote printers 122 to 128 that are output destinations can be determined in correspondence with the clients 112 to 118, and the print processing can be executed by a remote printer such as a location where the client is installed or a location near the client. it can. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the client 112 and the remote printer 122 constitute a location 140, and each client and each printer are associated with each other to constitute the locations 150 and 160. There may be a plurality of clients in the locations 140 to 160, and there may be a plurality of remote printers in each location, and there may be a location of only the client or only the remote printer.

  In a preferred embodiment, the data processing device 110 is implemented as a server device, and includes a single-core, multi-core CPU, ROM, RAM that provides an execution space, a hard disk device, and the like, and a Windows (registered trademark) 200X server, UNIX (registered). Under the control of an operating system (OS) such as trademark (trademark), LINUX (registered trademark), or Solaris (registered trademark), the output contents of print data are changed and the output destination is controlled. Further, a transaction can be performed between the data processing apparatus 110 and the clients 112 to 118 using an appropriate remote connection protocol such as RDP. Further, the functions of the data processing apparatus 110 can be implemented as client functions when the clients 112 to 118 are implemented as fat clients.

  In this embodiment, when a printer server is connected to the printer network 100 to manage print requests, the data processing apparatus 110 can create print data in a format that can be processed by the printer server and send it to the printer server. . The printer server can send the RAW format print data to the determined output destination remote printers 122 to 128 and execute the print job. When the printer server is used, the printer server can have the same configuration as that of the data processing apparatus 110 with respect to the hardware configuration and the OS configuration.

  Each of the clients 112 to 118 has the same configuration, and can be implemented as a so-called thin client. The thin client exclusively implements functions such as a network connection module, a user authentication function, and a session generation module that issue a service request to the data processing apparatus 110, receive a processing result, and request a printout. When the clients 112 to 118 are implemented as thin clients, each of the clients 112 to 118 includes a single-core and multi-core CPU, includes a RAM, a ROM, a network interface card (NIC), Windows (registered trademark), and UNIX. Under the appropriate OS such as (Registered Trademark), LINUX (Registered Trademark), or Mac OS (Registered Trademark), the application terminates the processing, and then issues a print request to the data processing apparatus 110.

  In another embodiment, the clients 112 to 118 can be composed of fat clients, for example, personal computers or workstations that each implement an application program and complete various processes. The clients 112 to 118 implemented as fat clients read application programs and data from a hard disk device or the like into a RAM, and the CPU executes the application programs, whereby documents, images, multimedia, or a combination of these are combined. A document file to be printed is generated as electronic data, and the remote printers 122 to 128 are requested to perform printing processing.

  The data processing apparatus 110 passes the data created in response to the client request to the virtual printer driver, and enables selection of an output destination and change of output contents for each job. Note that the details of the change in the output contents of this embodiment will be described later. However, the change in the output contents includes a change that combines a plurality of jobs, a change in various print settings of the job, a change in the job page contents itself, and the like. Can be included. These output conditions, including changing the output contents and selecting the output destination, include terminal-specific information such as the client's MAC address (Media Access Control Address) and IP address (Internet Protocol Address), and the login user name and user authority. It is determined according to various conditioning information such as user specific information, job print setting information, job content information such as document name, number of pages, presence / absence of confidential keyword, and the like. The created output data is sent to a remote printer corresponding to the determined output destination, and print processing is executed. A detailed description of the virtual printer driver will be described later.

  The network 130 can be configured to include a wireless network of a standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark) such as 1000Base-TX, an optical network, IEEE802.11, etc., and can communicate with each other by packet communication based on a frame or TPC / IP protocol. I do. The network 130 may include a wide area network such as the Internet constructed in a secure environment such as a VPN (Virtual Private Network) in addition to the LAN.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block 200 of the data processing apparatus 110 of this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the data processing device 110 is configured to include a plurality of functional means. These functional means read the program into a RAM or the like, and the CPU executes the program on the computer. It has been realized.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the data processing device 110 includes a data processing unit 210, an application execution unit 212, and a print processing unit 250. The data processing unit 210, the application execution unit 212, and the print processing unit 250 of the data processing apparatus 110 can be integrally configured as shown in FIG. However, in other embodiments, it is not necessary to implement each functional unit shown in FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. 2, and either one or both of the broken lines shown in FIG. 2 can be separated and implemented as a network boundary. . For example, the right hand side print processing unit 250 may be implemented as a print server, and the left hand side application execution unit 212 and the inner data processing unit 210 may be separately implemented as a terminal server. Alternatively, the right hand side print processing unit 250 and the inner data processing unit 210 may be mounted as a server, and the left hand side application execution unit 212 may be separately mounted as another server. In addition, the data processing unit 210, the application execution unit 212, and the print processing unit 250 can be separated and mounted as independent servers.

  In still another embodiment, the function of the data processing apparatus 110 may be implemented on the client. For example, the clients 112 to 118 have the functions of the application execution unit 212, the data processing unit 210, and the print processing unit 250, respectively. Alternatively, the application execution unit 212 and the data processing unit 210 may be included, or only the application execution unit 212 may be implemented as a so-called fat client. These specific mounting formats can be changed as appropriate according to the environment in which the printer network 100 is installed and the specific usage of the user.

  The application execution unit 212 receives processing requests and print requests from the clients 112 to 118 via the network 130, executes processing, and creates an execution result. The execution result is a print job (hereinafter simply referred to as a job) via an API call such as GDI in response to the occurrence of a print command event by the print command unit 216, and then the job data is sent to the data processing unit 210. Send it. The data processing unit 210 includes a virtual printer driver 218, a job storage unit 226 that temporarily stores job data sent from the application 214 when the virtual printer driver 218 is called, and a change in output destination and output content according to a predetermined process. A dispatch processing unit 240 that sends data to be printed out to the printer driver 252 of any one of the determined remote printers 122 to 128 while controlling according to the rules. The virtual printer driver 218 receives job data sent from the application 214 in response to a call from the print command unit 216 mounted as a print command module of the application execution unit 212, and uniquely identifies the job that has started at present. A process ID for generating the print ID is generated, notified to the print command unit 216, and the process is started.

  The print command unit 216 uses the received process ID as an argument to cause the shipping processing unit 240 to execute processing for determining an output condition and shipping processing for each job. The dispatch processing unit 240 determines an output condition including change of output contents and selection of an output destination for each job. When the output condition is determined, the high-order image format data generated in the work space 230 is acquired, and a print command is issued to the printer driver 252 corresponding to the determined output destination.

  In the present embodiment, the job processing function of the data processing unit 210 is separated into the virtual printer driver 218 and the shipping processing unit 240, an instance of the shipping processing unit 240 is generated for each job, and the remote printer of the shipping destination for each job. As a result, the print stop when the remote printer error occurs is minimized. In this embodiment, the reason why the dispatch processing unit 240 is generated as an independent instance for each job is this point. Therefore, the dispatch processing unit 240 is not necessarily limited to the embodiment in which the dispatch processing unit 240 is generated as an independent instance. is not. For example, in another embodiment, a multi-thread (multi-task) instance in which independent processing is performed for each job may be used. Further, the virtual printer driver 218 outputs the print setting data and the image data of the higher-order image format, so that the rendering process due to the difference in the attribute and the model can be provided as much as possible, and the final print quality can be increased. It is possible to keep. In the embodiment to be described, the virtual printer driver 218 and the shipping processing unit 240 are described as being mounted on the same computer. However, these are separated on separate computers and communicated via a network. It can also be implemented in the form.

  As a result, even if a specific remote printer has an error, the dispatch processing unit 240 can limit the failure due to the error to only the job of the remote printer that has caused the error. Further, since the print command unit 216 is loaded into an application process for each user, the dispatch processing unit 240 is activated with the same authority as that of the application process, and can properly realize appropriate notification and confirmation described later. The In the present embodiment, the reason why the dispatch processing unit 240 is activated with the same authority as that of the application process is that the dispatch processing unit 240 transfers the authority of the application displaying to the print request source to the print request source. This is to enable display, and as long as various displays to the print request source can be realized, the mounting method is not limited. In another embodiment, for example, instead of starting with the same authority, it is possible to display the print request source from the dispatch processing unit 240 by passing the thread ID of the print request source. Note that when the data processing apparatus 110 can receive input from the user and control processing, the print command unit 216 can receive a mouse event and issue a print command.

  In the embodiment to be described, it is assumed that the virtual printer driver 218 generates a process ID, notifies the print command unit 216, and passes it as an argument when starting from the print command unit 216 to the dispatch processing unit 240. The specific implementation is not particularly limited as long as the job can be uniquely identified between the printer driver 218 and the shipping processing unit 240 and the data used for the processing can be specified. In other embodiments, the process ID may be sent from the virtual printer driver 218 to the dispatch processing unit 240.

  In the present embodiment, job data includes image data and job information data. The image data preferably includes higher order image data such as EMF (Enhanced Metafile), PDF (Portable Document Format), PostScript (registered trademark), XPS (XML paper Specification) including a drawing code, but a bitmap. , JPEG, GIF, etc. can be included, and in other embodiments, both low and high order image data can be included. Further, it is preferable that the image data is of a format having a common property that does not depend on a specific printer for processing. The job information data includes job identification information that uniquely identifies the print request issuer, image data imposition information, color mode specification, aggregate print specification, margin, size setting, number of pages, document name, etc. It is data. When the dispatch processing unit 240 is activated with the same authority as that of the application, it is possible to uniquely identify the issuer from the environment information associated with the login user of the application and to acquire various associated information. Since it is possible, it is not always necessary to include the identification value for uniquely identifying the issuer in the job information data.

  More specifically, the virtual printer driver 218 includes a virtual print management unit 220, a job information data extraction unit 222, and a virtual drawing unit 224. When receiving the job data, the virtual printer driver 218 calls the virtual print management unit 220 and stores the job data in the job storage unit 226. On the other hand, the virtual print management unit 220 calls the virtual drawing unit 224, and the virtual drawing unit 224 is a work area for processing image data included in job data currently stored in the job storage unit 226 in association with a job. Is secured as a work area 230. The work area 230 can be provided as a storage area such as an HDD or a memory of the data processing apparatus 110 that can be accessed from the virtual printer driver 218 and the shipping processing unit 240. Alternatively, the work area 230 can be provided as a storage area such as a shared folder of another computer device that can be accessed from the virtual printer driver 218 and the shipping processing unit 240. The virtual print management unit 220 calls the data extraction unit 222, and the data extraction unit 222 extracts job information data from the job data temporarily stored in the job storage unit 226 and passes it to the corresponding instance of the shipping processing unit 240. The print setting data 232 including the contents of the job information data is stored in the work area 230. For example, in the case of a Windows (registered trademark) system according to a specific embodiment, storage of print setting data can be realized by a print processor or a graphic module writing the contents of the print setting structure DEVMODE.

  Further, the virtual drawing unit 224 moves the image data included in the job data from the job storage unit 226 to the work area 230 in a predetermined unit such as a page unit, and generates image data in a higher-order image format in the work area 230. . For example, in the case of a Windows (registered trademark) system which is a specific embodiment, the image data is moved by dividing the EMF file generated by the spooler into predetermined unit units such as page units, and working areas. It can be realized by copying to 230, or can be realized by the graphic module generating EMF for each page in the work area 230. When the job storage unit 226 becomes empty, the virtual print management unit 220 notifies the application execution unit 212 of the end of image processing. Note that the job data described above preferably uses higher-order image data having a smaller capacity than the lower-order image data, thereby making the processing of the job information data extraction unit 222 and the virtual drawing unit 224 more efficient, RTA (Return to Application) can be shortened.

  The extracted / separated job information data is stored in the work area 230 as print setting data that can be specified from the process ID. In the embodiment to be described, the file name or the like of the print setting data 232 is uniquely obtained from the process ID, and the print setting data 232 of the job is specified from the process ID between the virtual printer driver 218 and the dispatch processing unit 240. Will be described. However, in another embodiment, the print setting data corresponding to the job may be specified by managing the process ID in association with the job information ID for identifying the print setting data.

  In the embodiment to be described, the virtual drawing unit 224 sequentially writes the file name of the image data 236 moved to the work area 230 in the print setting data 232. That is, the print setting data 232 describes the file name of image data for each page, its print settings, and imposition information. Then, the image data used in each job is specified from the file name of the image data described in the print setting data. In another embodiment, the image data corresponding to the process ID may be specified by further managing the process ID in association with the image ID for identifying the image data. Further, as described above, since the print setting data has a property of being accessed from a plurality of functional means, it is preferable that the writing is exclusively controlled.

  Upon receipt of the image processing end notification, the application 214 can cancel the exclusive management for the job storage unit 226 and execute the subsequent print request processing. Various methods can be used for exclusive management, and can be implemented using a semaphore, a synchronization class, or the like. In another embodiment, exclusive control can be easily performed by changing and displaying a GUI (Graphical User Interface) that provides the print command unit 216 of the application execution unit 212 to a format that does not receive an event. it can.

  The job storage unit 226 can be implemented as a storage area for storing a printer buffer or a spool file according to the embodiment of the data processing unit 210, and is not limited to a specific OS implementation format. Further, in a specific embodiment, the data processing unit 210 may include an image processing unit 234 that acquires the image data 236 and the print setting data 232 of the work area 230 and executes processing such as page allocation and imposition. . In this case, the image data moved to the work area 230 is acquired by the image processing unit 234 of the data processing unit 210.

  In this embodiment, the image processing unit 234 can be implemented as an image processing module such as a drawing module including a remote printer driver 252 and a drawing processor. More specifically, in the case of high-order image data including drawing control codes and vector images such as EMF, PDF, PostScript (registered trademark), and XPS, the image processing unit 234 calls a drawing processor to execute processing. be able to. If the image data to be processed is low-order image data such as BMP, the remote printer driver 252 is called to perform image conversion, and processing is performed with the work area 230 until creation of a raster image from the image data is completed. It is also possible to generate RAW format output data by iterating.

  In the present embodiment, low-order image data not including drawing codes such as bitmap, JPEG, JPEG2000, PNG, and GIF can be included as image data. Even when low-order image data is included, the work area 230 is generated, and the process can be repeated using the work area 230 until generation of the RAW data of the called remote printer driver 252 is completed. Note that in the case of a job in which low-order image data and high-order image data are mixed, the drawing processor and the remote printer driver 252 are appropriately called to execute processing. After the image processing unit 234 generates output data, the output data is acquired from the work area 230 by the data sending unit 244.

  When the output destination is determined to be a specific remote printer, and the printer driver 252 of the determined remote printer has page assignment and imposition functions, the image processing unit 234 generates a higher-order image format. The converted image data 236 is converted into a format that can be received by the printer driver 252, the print setting data 232 is designated as a function setting value of the printer driver 252, and is converted into the printer driver 252 to create RAW data It is also possible to do. For example, in a specific embodiment, since most printer drivers can receive EMF in a Windows (registered trademark) printer driver, if the image data 236 is EMF, no data conversion is necessary, and print settings If the data 232 is set in the print setting structure DEVMODE, the printer driver 252 can create target RAW data. If the printer driver 252 does not have a page allocation or imposition function, the target RAW data can be obtained by dividing the EMF into EMFs for each page and switching the page order or designating the drawing position.

  Hereinafter, the shipping processing unit 240 will be described. The dispatch processing unit 240 according to the present embodiment is generated as an instance for each job, and more specifically, includes an output condition control unit 242 and a data dispatch unit 244. The data sending unit 244 detects the print setting data specified from the process ID, and makes an inquiry to the output condition control unit 242 with the process ID or the file name of the print setting data. The output condition control unit 242 refers to the rule definition data 246 and the history data 248 as appropriate (or the aggregated data aggregated from the history data), and includes changes in the output destination and output contents corresponding to various conditioning information. Determine the output conditions. The output condition control unit 242 identifies the print setting data from the process ID or file name, rewrites the print setting data and the image data according to the determined output condition, and determines the output contents. Thereafter, the output condition control unit 242 returns the determined output destination to the data sending unit 244. Note that the output condition control unit 242 is preferably provided as a plug-in module that can be incorporated into the shipping processing unit 240 according to a specific application.

  The rule definition data 246 conditions the selection of an output destination remote printer and the change of the output contents. The rule definition data 246 is preferably provided as a user-definable file according to a specific application. The history data 248 is configured as a database for managing the job execution history executed by the user. From the history information, for example, the number of printed sheets of color for the most recent month for each user is aggregated to determine the output condition. Served for. Details of output condition control such as change of output destination and output contents executed by the output condition control unit 242 will be described later. It should be noted that the rule definition data 246 and the history data 248 do not necessarily have to be held inside the dispatch processing unit 240 as long as they can be appropriately accessed from the output condition control unit 242. For example, it can be arranged in a form that is easy to use, such as on a shared file server accessible by the administrator. With this configuration, for example, in an environment where a plurality of data processing devices 110 operate, it is possible to improve maintainability by making the rule definition data 246 a common file. Furthermore, security can be suitably ensured by setting a change authority only to the administrator for the file of the rule definition data 246.

  The data sending unit 244 receives the notification of the output destination from the output condition control unit 242 and sets the output destination. The data sending unit 244 instructs the printer driver 252 of the determined output destination to print the high-order format image data in the work area 230 according to the contents of the print setting data 232. Upon receiving the print command, the determined output destination printer driver 252 sends output data in RAW format to a port monitor or the like, and enables printing from any one of the determined output destination remote printers. To do. Then, the instance of the dispatch processing unit 240 activated for each job ends upon receiving a notification of completion of printing.

  As described above, the present embodiment is configured to be capable of combining and outputting a plurality of jobs. When a combination of a plurality of jobs is determined as a change in the output contents, the output condition control unit 242 performs processing of the image data 236 and the print setting data 232 stored in the work area 230 when processing subsequent jobs. In order to output in combination with the data, it is saved in a storage area (not shown). In this case, the output condition control unit 242 notifies the data sending unit 244 that there is no output destination, and the data sending unit 244 ends the process without performing the sending process. On the other hand, when a subsequent job is requested, for example, when the conditions that trigger the combined output are satisfied, for example, all the jobs to be combined are prepared, the output condition control unit 242 saves the image. The data is moved to the work area 230, the print setting data of the subsequent job is rewritten so that the saved image data is combined in a specified order, and the output contents are determined. Then, the output condition control unit 242 notifies the data output unit 244 of the determined output destination. Then, the data sending unit 244 issues a print instruction for the combined job to the determined output destination printer driver 252 in accordance with the contents of the rewritten print setting data 232.

  In this embodiment, it is preferable that the application 214 sends the job to the virtual printer driver 218 in a format that includes as high-order image data as possible. The reason for this is that by sending image data as high-order image data, the amount of data per image can be reduced, especially for color images, and as a result, the data processing unit 210 can respond to more printing requests. It is to become. Further, when the virtual printer driver 218 receives the data, the output destination is not determined. Therefore, if the data is received with data lower than the output destination capability, the output destination capability cannot be fully utilized. Become. For this reason, it is desirable that the virtual printer driver 218 reports the drawing capability to the application as having a sufficiently high level.

  Hereinafter, the details of the processing executed by the data processing apparatus 110 of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart. 3 and 4 are flowcharts of processing executed by the data processing apparatus 110 of this embodiment. Note that in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, processing flows are linked by point A in the figure. The processes shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 start from step S300, and in step S301, the virtual printer driver 230 is selected and various settings are registered. This registration can be performed by a manager or user of the data processing apparatus 110 using a dedicated GUI (Graphical User Interface). In the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the execution result is created by the application 214 in response to the request of the clients 112 to 118 and is passed to the virtual printer driver 218. In step S <b> 302, the virtual printer driver 218 receives a job from the application 214.

  In step S303, the print command unit 216 generates an instance of the dispatch processing unit 240 with the same authority as the application process, and passes the process ID as an argument. In step S304, the virtual printer driver 218 separates and extracts job information data and image data from the job data, moves or generates the image data 236 to the work area 230, and generates the print setting data 232 described above. More specifically, in step S304, the virtual drawing unit 224 moves or generates the image data stored in the job storage unit 226 to the work area 230 in a predetermined unit unit such as a page unit, and simultaneously prints the print setting file. And the file name of the image data for each unit is written in it. On the other hand, the job information data extracting unit 222 writes the job information data in the print setting file according to the print settings of the job information data separated and extracted from the job data.

  After step S304, the process proceeds to step S401 shown in FIG. In step S401 in FIG. 4, the data sending unit 244 of the sending processing unit 240 activated in step S303 detects that the print setting data specified from the process ID passed as an argument has been generated in the work area 230. , Start the shipping process.

  In step S402, the data sending unit 244 inquires of the output condition to the output condition control unit 242. The inquiry can be made by the process ID or the file name of the print setting data obtained from the process ID. In step S403, the output condition control unit 242 acquires various conditioning information, references and compares the rule definition data 246, and searches for matching conditions. In step S404, the output condition control unit 242 reads the setting corresponding to the matched condition, and rewrites the print setting data. In addition, when image data content change is specified in the setting corresponding to the matched condition, the image data is also changed.

  Hereinafter, the output condition determination process will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows rule definition data as an example. In the rule definition data shown in FIG. 5, various conditions are defined in [Condition 1] and [Condition 2], and various settings for changing output contents are defined in [Setting 1] and [Setting 2]. And the said conditions and setting are linked | related in the location shown by [Command]. In the example shown in FIG. 5, when User A prints a document of two pages or more, the function is limited to duplex printing and monochrome printing, and a rule is defined so that Printer A should be the output destination. Further, when printing a document including a confidential keyword in Client A, a rule is defined that a warning that the document is a confidential document is issued and that Printer B should be the output destination.

  Note that the data structure of the rule definition data 246 shown in FIG. 5 is for illustrative purposes, and it goes without saying that various rules can be defined according to a specific application. The rule definition data will be described below. Conditional information that can be defined includes the above user name and client name, other user-specific information such as the role, group, and authority assigned to the user, as well as the MAC address, IP address, and IP address range of the client. Terminal-specific information. In addition to the number of pages and the presence / absence of confidential keywords, the conditioning information includes color mode specification, single-sided printing or double-sided printing specification, staple, punch, stamp, etc. specification, paper size and media type specification, It can include print settings such as paper feed direction, paper feed / discharge port designation, and print quality designation, and job content information such as document name, job issue time, personal name and presence / absence of specific terms.

  The conditioning information described above can be used alone for conditioning, but can also be used in combination as shown in FIG. Note that the terminal-specific information and the user-specific information can be easily obtained as information associated with the login user when the shipping processing unit 240 is activated with the same authority as the application. Alternatively, the terminal specific information, user specific information, and the like can be described in the print setting data.

  The setting information that can be defined includes double-sided printing restrictions, monochrome mode restrictions, output destination restrictions, copy-forgery-inhibited pattern printing restrictions, stamp addition restrictions, digital watermark addition restrictions, and confidential documents. In addition to performing warnings, it may include restrictions on aggregate printing of a predetermined layout, implementation of notification of print setting change, implementation of confirmation of print setting change, and the like. The setting information can also be used singly or in combination as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, an example of output condition control using these conditioning information and setting information will be described.

  As an example of changing the output contents using the user-specific information, for example, a rule such that an administrator user is permitted to perform color printing and a general user is limited to monochrome printing can be exemplified. As an example of changing the output contents using the terminal-specific information, for example, a rule may be given in which only a confidential document belonging to a predetermined base is permitted to be printed for a client belonging to the predetermined base. As an example of changing the output contents using the print setting information, when printing in the color mode is designated, when the number of pages is equal to or larger than the predetermined number of pages, the printing is performed in 2in1, and when the number is equal to or larger than the predetermined number of pages. A rule such as collective printing with 4 in 1 can be given. Examples of changing the output contents using the job contents include a combined output which will be described later, and a rule such as duplex printing when the number of sheets exceeds a predetermined number.

  Further, as an example of selecting an output destination using the print setting information, when a color mode is designated, a rule such that an output destination registered as being capable of color printing is selected. . As an example of the selection of the output destination using the job contents, a rule that, when the number of pages is a predetermined number or more, an output destination registered as being capable of high-speed printing can be listed.

  FIG. 6 illustrates other data used by the output condition control unit 242 of this embodiment to determine the output condition. The rule definition data shown in FIG. 6A conditions the combined output. In FIG. 6A, the condition of the target document name is defined in the [Condition 3] and [Condition 4] locations, the corresponding processing is defined in the [Setting 3] and [Setting 4] locations, and [Command] The above conditions and settings are associated with each other.

  In the example shown in FIG. 6A, when a job having a document name of doc_cover is detected, it is defined that the job is saved in a storage location indicated by BackuplocationA and no shipping process is performed. Also, it is defined that when a job with a document name of doc_body is detected, a document called doc_cover saved in the storage location indicated by BackuplocationA and a document called doc_body of the job are combined and sent to Printer B. . The condition for the document name can be defined for a document having a specific pattern name by expressing it using a regular expression or a pattern dictionary.

  Note that the combined output condition shown in FIG. 6A is an example, and any other expression method can be used to define a condition for specifying a job to be combined and a condition for triggering the combined output. For example, it is possible to define that all documents to be merged are prepared as a trigger condition for combined output, or that a specific document is detected even if all documents to be merged are not prepared. It can also be defined as a condition.

  The rule definition data shown in FIG. 6B defines an arbitrary keyword such as a confidential keyword. In FIG. 6B, confidential keywords such as “Confidential” and “In-house secret” are defined. In the rule definition data, a character string to be redacted such as a personal name may be defined. The extraction of the confidential keyword and the character string to be redone is performed by accessing the work area 230 and analyzing the image data if the image data has a format such as EMF, PDF, or PostScript (registered trademark). These character strings can be extracted. Further, the character string in the image data may be replaced. Examples of output condition determination using such extracted character strings include a copy-forgery-inhibited pattern print when a confidential keyword is included, or information to be protected such as a personal name such as a predetermined character string (for example, ■ or X). .)) Can be used for printing and replacing.

  In addition, the conditioning information may include a total value calculated from the job execution history held in the history data 248. FIG. 6C illustrates the total data. Such tabulated data is generated by tabulating the history of the history data 248 regularly or irregularly. The total data shown in FIG. 6C includes a total value of the number of color printing and monochrome printing for the past month for each user. As an example of the determination of the output condition using the total value, for example, when a specific user exceeds the upper limit value of color printing per month, there is a rule that the function is limited to monochrome.

  Referring to FIG. 4 again, in step S405, the output condition control unit 242 determines whether or not the above-described combination condition is met. In the embodiment to be described, when a backup and a merge are specified during the setting corresponding to the matching condition, it is determined that the combination condition is met. If it is determined in step S405 that the combination condition is not met (NO), the process proceeds to step S406. In step S406, the output condition control unit 242 notifies the data sending unit 244 of the output destination specified during the setting corresponding to the matched condition as a response to the inquiry. At this stage, the output destination and output contents are determined. In the embodiment using the image processing unit 234, the image processing unit 234 can appropriately perform imposition processing of image data, print size, margin, and the like according to the rewritten print setting data. At this stage, for example, the printing user, the color mode, and the number of copies are accumulated as a history, and the history data 248 is updated.

  In step S407, the data sending unit 244 issues a print command according to the contents of the rewritten print setting data and image data to the printer driver 252 of the notified output destination remote printer. Upon receiving the print command, the output destination printer driver 252 sends the output data to a port monitor or the like, and causes the determined output destination remote printer to print out the output data. Then, the instance of the dispatch unit processing unit 240 receives the job completion notification and ends the processing in step S408. When the image processing unit 234 is used, the data sending unit 244 acquires the output data from the work area 230 and sends it to the output destination after completion of the processing by the image processing unit 234. The image processing unit 234 includes a function for generating an image included in job data as a high-order image format. The remote printer driver 252 automatically uses a plug-and-play function such as UPnP or Bonjour, for example. To be acquired. As a result, a page printer that is connected to the printer network 100 and can use plug and play, that is, an automatic driver transfer protocol, without using a page printer of a specific mounting format of a specific manufacturer can be used. Processing can be performed without depending on the manufacturer.

  Further, in the Windows (registered trademark) system which is a specific embodiment, the printer driver corresponding to the determined output destination has a page assignment and imposition function, and the image data 236 is data in the EMF format. When the data conversion is not necessary, the data sending unit 244 sets the print setting data 232 in the print setting structure DEVMODE, and the image data of the high-order image format in the work area 230 corresponds to the output destination. It can also be passed to the printer driver to cause the remote printer driver 252 to create RAW data.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S405 that the combination condition is met (YES), the process proceeds to step S409. In step S409, the output condition control unit 242 determines whether or not a merge is specified, that is, whether or not a condition that triggers output is satisfied. If it is determined in step S409 that the conditions for output are not satisfied (NO), the process branches to step S412. In step S412, the output condition control unit 242 saves the print setting data and image data of the job in the designated save destination storage area. In step S413, the output condition control unit 242 notifies the data sending unit 244 that there is no output destination, and the process ends in step S408.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S409 that the conditions for triggering the output are satisfied (YES), the process branches to step S410. In step S410, the output condition control unit 242 reads the print setting data saved in the designated save destination, and rewrites the print setting data of the current job so as to combine the saved job image data in the designated order. At the same time, the saved image data is moved to the work area 230. In step S411, the output condition control unit 242 notifies the data shipping unit 244 of the shipping destination specified in the setting corresponding to the matching condition. At this time, the output destination and output contents are determined.

  Subsequently, in step S407, the data sending unit 244 executes a print command according to the contents of the combined print setting data and image data to the printer driver 252 of the notified output destination remote printer. Upon receiving the print command, the output destination printer driver 252 sends the output data to a port monitor or the like, and causes the determined output destination remote printer to print out the output data. The instance of the dispatch processing unit 240 receives the job completion notification and ends the process in step S408.

  Hereinafter, processing executed by the data processing apparatus according to another embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 7 to 10. In the process of the embodiment described below, when there is a change in the output content, an inquiry about whether or not to accept is generated to the user. Whether or not to generate an inquiry to the user can be changed according to a specific application. Alternatively, the administrator of the data processing device 110 can be configured to set whether or not to generate an inquiry according to a specific application, and may be set in the rule definition data. In the embodiment to be described, an inquiry about whether or not to accept is generated to the user. However, the result of the change of the output content may be notified without making the inquiry.

  FIG. 7 shows a functional block 300 of a data processing apparatus according to another embodiment. It should be noted that the functional units shown in FIG. 7 are given the same reference numerals in the last two digits of those having the same functions as those in FIG. Since the functional block 300 has the same configuration as that of the functional block shown in FIG.

  FIG. 7 shows a functional block 300 of the data processing apparatus in a state where a plurality of clients 302a and 302b are connected, and an application A 314a and an application B 314b operate corresponding to the client A 302a and the client B 302b, respectively. Each of the applications 314a and 314b has a print command unit 316, and each of the print command units 316a and 316b responds to the print request with the same authority as that of the applications 314a and 314b. And a process ID for identifying the job and a display method for inquiring are notified.

  In the present embodiment, the generated dispatch processing unit instances 340a and 340b are added to the data sending unit 344, the output condition control unit 342, the rule definition data 346, and the history data 348 described with reference to FIG. The display unit 345 is further included. The display unit 345 receives the display contents from the output condition control unit 342 when the output condition control unit 342 makes an inquiry or notification to the user, and the same method and method as the corresponding application 314 displays at the print request source. With authority, display processing is performed for the print request source. The display method here is a method for displaying with sufficient authority for display on the terminal screen operated by the print request source that the application 314 has received a print command. The dispatch processing unit instance 340 is achieved by taking over the authority of the application 314. As described above, in this embodiment, since the instance 340 of the shipping processing unit is generated with the same authority as that of the application 314, the application 314 can be displayed with the same method and authority as that displayed at the print request source. Therefore, the display to the print request source is correctly achieved.

  On the other hand, the virtual printer driver 318 exclusively manages print requests from the application 314 corresponding to each client 302, for example, first receives job data from the client A 302a, and separates job information data and image data from the job data. Extracting, moving or generating the image data 336 to the work area 330a, and generating the print setting data 332 described above. Similarly, after the processing for the client A 302a is completed, the virtual printer driver 318 receives the job data, for example, if there is a print request from the client B 302b, and moves or generates the image data in the work area 330b. The print setting data described above is generated. The data in each of the work areas 330a and 330b are accessed from the corresponding dispatch processing unit instances 340a and 340b, respectively. The dispatch processing unit instances 340a and 340b activated for each job determine output conditions including change of output contents and selection of an output destination, respectively. At the stage of determining the output conditions, high-order image format data generated in the work spaces 330a and 330b are acquired, and a print command is sent to the printer driver 352 corresponding to the determined output destination according to the contents of the print setting data. To do.

  8 and 9 are flowcharts of processing executed by the data processing apparatus according to another embodiment. The processing up to point A shown in FIG. 8 is the same as that shown in FIG. Note that FIGS. 8 and 9 are connected to each other by points B to D in the figure. After passing through the same processing flow as in FIG. 3, the processing proceeds to step S801 shown in FIG. In step S801 in FIG. 8, the data sending unit 344 of the sending processing unit activated in step S303 detects that the print setting data specified from the process ID has been generated, and starts the sending process.

  In step S802, the data sending unit 344 inquires of the output condition control unit 342 about the output condition. In step S <b> 803, the output condition control unit 342 acquires the various conditioning information, refers to and compares the rule definition data 346, and searches for matching conditions. In step S804, the output condition control unit 342 determines whether there is a change in the print setting based on the setting corresponding to the matching condition. If it is determined in step S804 that there is a change (YES), the process branches to step S805. In step S805, the output condition control unit 342 passes display content for inquiring that the print setting is requested to be changed to the display unit 345, and notifies that the print setting is requested to be changed. A user inquiry as to whether or not the approval is accepted is generated by the activation source application 314 via the display unit 345.

  FIG. 10 shows a GUI displayed on the screen on the client in response to a user inquiry by the data processing apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 10A shows a GUI that proposes a change from color printing to monochrome printing. When the “Yes” button or the “No” button is clicked, approval / disapproval is returned to the output condition control unit 342 via the display unit 345. Subsequent to step S805, in step S806, the output condition control unit 342 determines whether the change has been approved. In step S806, for example, if the “Yes” button is clicked and approved, the process proceeds to step S807.

  In step S807, the output condition control unit 342 rewrites the print setting data with the setting corresponding to the matched condition, and also when the content change of the image data is designated in the setting corresponding to the matched condition, Make changes. On the other hand, if there is no change in step S804 (NO) and if it is not accepted in step S806 (NO), the process proceeds to step S808 as it is. In the embodiment to be described, the description will be made assuming that the output content is not changed in step S806 when it is not approved (NO). However, in the case where the output is not approved in other embodiments (NO), it is uniform. The rule definition data 346 describes a response when the job execution is canceled or not approved, and it is possible to decide whether to continue or cancel the job execution according to the rule.

  In step S808, the output condition control unit 342 determines whether or not the above-described combination condition is met. If it is determined in step S808 that the combination condition is not met (NO), the process proceeds to step S809. In step S809, the output condition control unit 342 notifies the data sending unit 344 of the output destination specified during the setting corresponding to the matched condition. In step S810, the data sending unit 344 appropriately performs processing such as imposition of the image, print size, margin, and the like according to the contents of the rewritten print setting data and image data, and the printer driver of the determined output destination remote printer. A print command is issued to 352. Upon receiving the print command, the determined output destination printer driver 352 sends output data in RAW format to a port monitor or the like, and causes the determined output destination remote printer to print out. The data sending unit 344 receives the job completion notification and ends the process in step S811.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S808 that the combination condition is met (YES), the process proceeds to step S901 shown in FIG. In step S901, the output condition control unit 342 determines whether or not a condition for triggering output is satisfied. If it is determined in step S901 that the conditions for output are not satisfied (NO), the process branches to step S905. In step S905, the output condition control unit 342 saves the print setting data and image data of the job in the work area 330 to a specified save destination. In step S906, the output condition control unit 342 notifies the data sending unit that there is no output destination. In step S907, the output condition control unit 342 displays a display content for notifying that the currently requested job has been saved as a combination target. The information is transferred to the display unit 345, and a user notification is generated to the effect that the application has been saved to the activation source application via the display unit 345. FIG. 10B shows a GUI for notifying that the document has been saved. Then, after passing through point D, the process ends in step S811 in FIG.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S901 that the conditions for triggering the output are satisfied (YES), the process branches to step S902. In step S902, the output condition control unit 342 reads the print setting data saved in the designated save destination, and rewrites the print setting data of the current job so as to combine the saved job image data in the designated order. At the same time, the saved image data is moved to the work area 330. In step S903, the output condition control unit 342 notifies the data shipping unit 344 of the shipping destination specified in the setting corresponding to the matching condition. At this time, the contents of the output destination and the print setting data are determined. Subsequently, in step S904, a notification indicating that the currently requested job is to be combined and output by combining with the job saved so far is generated via the display unit 345 to the activation source application. FIG. 10C shows a GUI for notifying that the documents have been combined. Thereafter, after passing through point C, in step S810 in FIG. 8, the data sending unit 244 outputs the combined print setting data and output data according to the image data to the determined output destination remote printer as a job. In response to the job completion notification, the process ends in step S811.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, even in an environment in which printers from a plurality of vendors coexist, information regarding users, terminals, printing, etc. is defined regardless of vendor differences. A data processing device, a data processing method, a program, and a recording medium are provided that change and determine not only the output destination but also the output contents in accordance with the conditions, and output them to the image forming apparatus.

  Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, in a current network print environment in which a personal computer or a thin client can access a plurality of image forming apparatuses, user-specific information, terminal-specific information, print settings, and job contents The job output destination and output contents can be changed and restricted flexibly in accordance with the rules defined in relation to, and it is possible to output from an appropriate printer, improving the management of each output job and improving information security. It becomes possible to make it possible. Further, according to the embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a data processing device, a program, and a storage medium capable of controlling an output destination and output contents at a minimum cost without adding an application module to the application server. it can.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to manage the output destination of the print output while eliminating the additional mounting of the printer driver of the remote printer to be printed to the thin client, and supporting a more flexible network configuration. A data processing device, a program, and a storage medium can be provided.

  The above functions of the present embodiment can be realized by a device executable program described in an object-oriented programming language such as C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark), etc. It can be stored and distributed on a device-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, MO, DVD, flexible disk, EEPROM, EPROM, etc., and can be transmitted via a network in a format that other devices can.

  Although the present embodiment has been described so far, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and other embodiments, additions, changes, deletions, and the like can be conceived by those skilled in the art. As long as the effects of the present invention are exhibited in any aspect, the present invention is included in the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Printer network, 110 ... Data processing apparatus, 112, 114, 116, 118 ... Client, 122 ... MFP, 124 ... Laser printer, 126 ... Laser printer, 128 ... Inkjet printer, 130 ... Network, 140, 150, 160 ... Location, 200, 300 ... Functional block, 210 ... Data processing unit, 212 ... Application execution unit, 214, 314 ... Application, 216, 316 ... Print command unit, 218, 318 ... Virtual printer driver, 220, 320 ... Virtual print management , 222, 322 ... job information data extraction unit, 224, 324 ... virtual drawing unit, 226, 326 ... job storage unit, 230, 330 ... work area, 232, 332 ... print setting data, 234 ... image processing unit, 236 336: Image data, 240, 340: Shipment processing unit, 242, 342 ... Output condition control unit, 244, 344 ... Data dispatch unit, 246, 346 ... Rule definition data, 248, 348 ... History data, 250 ... Print processing unit 252 352 Printer driver 302 Client 345 Display unit

JP 2003-140867 A

"Chanjiro", [online], Ricoh Co., Ltd., product information, office products, digital printing press, Priport series, PC Controller [searched on May 22, 2009], Internet <URL; http: // www .ricoh.co.jp / opp / priport / option / control / change_ro / ＞ "Ridoc IO DataSelectorVersion 4.4", [online], Ricoh Co., Ltd., product information, products for offices, printers, printing solutions [searched on May 22, 2009], Internet <URL; http://www.ricoh.co .jp / IPSiO / related_goods / dataselector / ＞

Claims (14)

A data processing apparatus that receives job data from an application execution unit and issues a print instruction, and the data processing apparatus includes:
Virtual printer driver means for receiving the job data from the application execution means, generating image data, describing print settings extracted from the job data, and generating print setting data;
In accordance with the rules that condition the selection of the output destination and the change of the output contents, the output condition control means for rewriting the data generated by the virtual printer driver means and determining the output destination;
A data processing unit that includes: a sending unit that selects a printer driver corresponding to the determined output destination and issues a print instruction as a job whose contents are changed corresponding to the image data and the print setting data after being rewritten. apparatus.   The rule includes a condition for identifying a job to be merged and a condition for triggering the merge target to be integrated and output, and the output condition control means responds to the detection of the job to be merged in response to the job. The image data and the print setting data of the print job are temporarily saved, while the print job saved in response to the detection of another job to be combined and the triggering condition being satisfied. The data processing according to claim 1, wherein setting data is read, the print setting data of the other job is rewritten so as to combine the saved image data, and the sending unit sends the job as a combined job. apparatus.   The output content change is selected from the group consisting of double-sided printing designation, monochrome printing designation, aggregate printing designation, tint block printing designation, digital watermark designation, confidential printing designation, and character string replacement in image data. The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one function limitation.   The rule is at least one selected from the group consisting of terminal-specific information regarding a terminal accessing the application execution unit, user-specific information regarding a logged-in user of the application execution unit, print setting information of the job, and content information of the job. The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a change of the output destination and the output content is conditioned on the conditioning information.   5. The output condition control unit according to claim 1, wherein the output condition control unit further determines a change in the output destination and the output content with reference to history data in a database that records a job execution history by a user. Data processing equipment.   The output condition control means instructs the application execution means to make a user inquiry waiting for approval of the change of the output contents, or notifies the user of the change of the output contents. The data processing device according to item.   The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rule is provided as a data structure that defines a condition for selecting the output destination and changing the output content.   The output condition control unit and the sending unit are activated before the image data of all pages is generated with the same execution authority as the application execution unit. Data processing equipment.   The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data generated by the virtual printer driver unit is generated for each page, and the print setting includes imposition information. A computer-executable program for causing a computer to function as a data processing apparatus that receives job data from an application execution unit and instructs printing, the program comprising:
Virtual printer driver means for receiving the job data from the application execution means, generating image data, and describing print settings extracted from the job data to generate print setting data;
Output condition control means for rewriting the data generated by the virtual printer driver means and determining the output destination according to a rule for conditioning output destination selection and output content, and
Computer-execution functioning as a sending unit that selects a printer driver corresponding to the determined output destination and issues a print instruction as a job whose contents have been changed corresponding to the image data and the print setting data after being rewritten Possible program.   The rule includes a condition for identifying a job to be merged and a condition for triggering the merge target to be integrated and output, and the output condition control means responds to the detection of the job to be merged in response to the job. The image data and the print setting data of the print job are temporarily saved, while the print job saved in response to the detection of another job to be combined and the triggering condition being satisfied. The computer-implemented method according to claim 10, wherein the setting data is read, the print setting data of the other job is rewritten to combine the saved image data, and the sending unit sends the combined data as a combined job. Possible program.   The output content change is selected from the group consisting of double-sided printing designation, monochrome printing designation, aggregate printing designation, tint block printing designation, digital watermark designation, confidential printing designation, and character string replacement in image data. The computer-executable program according to claim 10 or 11, comprising at least one function limitation.   The computer-executable program according to claim 10, wherein the image data generated by the virtual printer driver unit is generated for each page, and the print setting includes imposition information.   The computer-readable recording medium which recorded the program as described in any one of Claims 10-13.