JP2014235687A - Job ticket inspection device and inspection program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a new defective print setting item to be easily extracted when inspecting whether or not there is a defect in print setting items by comparing a print setting value of the print setting item included in a job ticket with an expectation value.SOLUTION: A JDF inspection part 4 reads a JDF file from a group of JDF files 101, makes a comparison with a corresponding expectation value of a group of expectation value files 103, inspects whether or not there is a defect in a print setting item, and outputs it to an inspection result file 104. An inspection exemption part 404 excludes a setting item present in an inspection exemption item setting file 102 from the read JDF file as an inspection object. A wildcard comparison part 405 performs comparison inspection along a designated wildcard expression when a wildcard character string is set to an expectation value to be compared of setting items that are not excluded.

Description

  The present invention relates to a job ticket inspection apparatus and an inspection program.

  JDF (Job Definition Format) that describes the processing required to print a specific print job in many printing environments, including print shops (large and small printers), production printing, and even smaller workgroup environments It is generally known to generate information.

  JDF is an international standard that defines a set of keywords and file structures to be used for general tasks in the printing process, in particular job ticket and device function file configurations.

  JDF is described in XML (Extensive Markup Language) and has elements and attributes. Print setting items (hereinafter, print setting items) are elements indicated by JDF tags, their attributes, and print setting values (hereinafter, print setting values). ) Is represented by an attribute value.

  This job ticket is generated by a client (for example, a driver and / or an application program). The generated job ticket includes print setting items and print setting values as print setting information of the printer, but the JDF tag of the print setting specified by the job ticket may not be correct. An inspection method for detecting a JDF tag as such illegal print setting information is already known.

  That is, in Patent Document 1, if there is a character string that cannot be interpreted by the JDF parser in the job ticket, it is determined that there is invalid print setting information, and the user is notified that the print setting is not processed correctly. An image forming apparatus is described.

  Although not described in the literature, there is the following inspection method (hereinafter referred to as a first conventional method) as a job ticket inspection method for outputting a list of JDF tag information that is a defective print setting item of a job ticket. That is, if it is already known that some print setting items of the job ticket are defective and it is desired to check whether the print setting items other than the known defective print setting items are normal, all of the job tickets After checking the print setting items, output the list of defective print setting items, select the known defective print setting items and the new defective print setting items, remove the known defective print setting items, and print the new defective print This is a method for extracting setting items.

  Although not described in the literature, as a method for inspecting job tickets, several patterns of job ticket generation test cases and expected values (numerical values) corresponding to print setting values of job tickets corresponding to the test cases are described. Or a character string) in advance, and there is an inspection method (hereinafter referred to as a second conventional method) in which each print setting value of a job ticket in each test case is compared with an expected value uniformly. Here, the expected value is set by the test case setter with reference to the design specification of the printer.

  However, the first conventional method has a problem that the operation becomes complicated when there are many known defective print setting items. In addition, when a plurality of job tickets are inspected collectively, there is a problem that the extraction work becomes more complicated.

  In the second conventional method, the job ticket may include the date and time when the job ticket is generated and the user account name acquired from the OS, and these values vary depending on the date and time when the job ticket is generated and the user. There is a problem that it is difficult to prepare the expected value in advance.

  Instead of comparing each print setting value and the expected value uniformly, it is also possible to control such that a specific print setting item is excluded from the comparison target. However, in this case, since these print setting items cannot be inspected at all, there is a problem that the user account name cannot be inspected if it can be inspected if the user is specified.

  Depending on the printer model, there are print setting items with the same character other than the date and user account name. Therefore, the control to exclude specific print setting items from the comparison target is an algorithm or program depending on the model. There is a problem that management becomes complicated.

  These problems cannot be solved even by an illegal print setting detection method described in the image forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1 described above.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and its purpose is to compare a print setting value of a print setting item included in a job ticket with an expected value, thereby causing a defect of the print setting item. This is to make it possible to easily extract a new defective print setting item when inspecting the presence or absence of a print.

  The present invention relates to a job ticket inspection apparatus that inspects whether there is a defect in a print setting item by comparing the print setting value of the print setting item included in the job ticket with an expected value, and holds the expected value Expected value holding means, inspection exclusion item holding means for holding print setting items excluding comparative inspection, reading means for reading job tickets to be checked, and print setting items included in the job ticket read by the reading means Among them, the print setting item extracting means for extracting print setting items other than the print setting items held in the inspection exclusion item holding means, and the print setting values of the print setting items extracted by the print setting item extracting means A job ticket inspection apparatus having inspection means for inspecting compared with an expected value held in an expected value holding means.

  According to the present invention, by comparing the print setting value of the print setting item included in the job ticket with the expected value, a new defective print setting item can be easily obtained when checking the presence or absence of the defect of the print setting item. Can be extracted.

It is a functional block diagram for demonstrating the software structure of the job ticket inspection apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the execution management screen in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the setting screen in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the JDF file in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the inspection exclusion item setting file in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the expectation value file in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the test result file in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the comparison test | inspection process in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed content of the test | inspection exclusion process in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed content of the wild card comparison process in FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<Job ticket inspection device software>
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram for explaining a software configuration of the job ticket inspection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  This job ticket inspection apparatus is realized by installing a job ticket inspection program in a general-purpose computer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, HDD (hard disk drive) and the like.

  A computer 1 as a job ticket inspection device includes basic software 2, a JDF generation unit 3, a JDF inspection unit 4, and a text editor 5 as software.

  Further, the computer 1 stores a JDF file group 101, an inspection exclusion item setting file 102 as an inspection exclusion item holding unit, an expected value file group 103 as an expected value holding unit, and an inspection result file 104 as files. .

  The JDF file group 101 is a JDF file generated by the JDF generation unit 3, and here, three JDF files 101A, 101B, and 101C are illustrated. The JDF file includes print setting items and print setting values as print setting information. The inspection exclusion item setting file 102 is a list of print setting items that exclude inspection, and is composed of JDF element names and attribute names. This file is edited by the text editor 5.

  The expected value file group 103 includes expected value files 103A, 103B, and 103C, which are files for comparing and inspecting the JDF files 101A, 101B, and 101C of the JDF file group 101. The element value and attribute value corresponding to are stored. The inspection result file 104 is a file for storing the result of comparison inspection of each file in the JDF file group 101.

  The JDF inspection unit 4 includes an execution management screen 401, a setting screen 402, a comparison inspection unit 403 as an inspection unit, an inspection exclusion unit 404 as a print setting item extraction unit, a wild card comparison unit 405, and a setting holding unit 406. The

  The execution management screen 401 performs registration of a JDF file for executing inspection, registration of an expected value file to be compared, and execution of inspection. The file registration content is held in the setting holding unit 406. The setting screen 402 is used to specify the inspection exclusion item setting file 102. The setting contents are held in the setting holding unit 406.

  The comparison inspection unit 403 reads the JDF file and the expected value file registered on the execution management screen 401 when performing the inspection, and performs a comparison inspection. The inspection result is output to the inspection result file 104.

  The inspection exclusion unit 404 reads the inspection exclusion item setting file 102 during the comparative inspection by the comparative inspection unit 403. If the comparison target is a comparison of JDF elements and attributes that are excluded from comparison, the comparison is not performed.

  The wild card comparison unit 405 reads the expected value file at the time of the comparison inspection by the comparison inspection unit 403, and if a wild card character string is set in the element value and attribute value of the expected value, the wild card comparison unit 405 follows the specified wild card expression. Perform a comparative inspection.

  The setting holding unit 406 holds the settings of the execution management screen 401 and the setting screen 402, and the setting contents are referred to by the comparison inspection unit 403.

<Execution management screen>
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the execution management screen 401 in FIG.
The execution management screen 401 displays an inspection execution list 4010, a JDF file registration button 4011, an expected value file registration button 4012, an inspection execution button 4013, and a setting button 4014.

The inspection execution list 4010 is a list of JDF inspection targets, and displays JDF files, expected value files, and inspection results as items.
The item of the JDF file in the inspection execution list 4010 displays the file name of the JDF file to be inspected (here, JDF101a.jdf, JDF101b.jdf, JDF101c.jdf). Registration of a JDF file is executed by pressing a JDF file registration button 4011 and displaying and selecting a general file selection screen.

  In the expected value file item in the inspection execution list 4010, the file name of the expected value to be compared with the JDF file in the left column is displayed. Registration of the expected value file is executed by pressing the expected value file registration button 4012 to display and select a general file selection screen. The inspection result item in the inspection execution list 4010 displays the inspection result in OK / NG after the inspection execution.

  The inspection is executed in response to pressing of the inspection execution button 4013. The inspection is executed sequentially from the first line of the inspection execution list 4010. A setting screen 402 is displayed in response to pressing of the setting button 4014.

<Setting screen>
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the setting screen 402 in FIG.
The setting screen 402 is a setting screen related to the inspection execution of the JDF inspection unit 4, and displays an exclusion setting file name input area 4020, an OK button 4021, and a cancel button 4022.

  The exclusion setting file name input area 4020 is an input area for setting a file indicating JDF elements and attribute items to be excluded in the JDF inspection. By pressing an OK button 4021, the setting contents of this screen are determined. In addition, when the cancel button 4022 is pressed, the setting contents on this screen are canceled.

<Configuration of JDF file>
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the JDF file in FIG.
The JDF file is described in XML and includes an element 1010 indicated by an XML tag, an element attribute 1011, and an attribute value 1012. Although the JDF file 101A is illustrated here, the basic configuration of the other JDF files 101B and 101C is the same.

  Element 1010 and attribute 1011 are defined as print setting items. In the example of this figure, “StitchingParams” of the element 1010 indicates a staple print setting, and “NumberOfStitches” of the attribute 1011 indicates the number of staples. An attribute value 1012 as a print setting value indicates an attribute value, and in the example of this figure, the number of staples is two.

<Configuration of inspection exclusion file>
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the inspection exclusion item setting file 102 in FIG.
The inspection exclusion item setting file 102 specifies a JDF attribute to exclude inspection by XPath. Since XPath is a general attribute designation notation in XML, it will not be described here.

  In the example of the figure, regarding the staple, it is indicated that the “WireBrand” attribute and the “WireGauge” attribute are specified to exclude the inspection. The inspection exclusion file is a text file and can be edited with a general text editor 5.

<Configuration of expected value file>
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the expected value file in FIG. Here, the print settings of StitchingParams in the expected value file 103A are shown.

  The expected value file specifies the JDF attribute and attribute value by XPath and its value. In this example, there are two print settings for stapling, and the attribute values for “ID”, “NumberOfStitches”, “StapleShape”, “StitchPositions”, “StitchWidth”, “WireBrand”, and “WireGauge” are set. Indicates that it is specified.

  However, the expected value described in FIG. 6 is excluded if there is an attribute registration in the exclusion file in FIG. For example, taking FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 as an example, the expected values of “WireBrand” and “WireGauge” are described in FIG. 6, but the attributes of “WireBrand” and “WireGauge” are described in the exclusion file of FIG. Therefore, these tests are excluded.

  The expected value file is a text file and is created and edited by a general text editor 5. Since these expected values are numerous, they may be created by another program or system. The above example is an example using XPath, but other specified character strings may be used as long as other print settings can be specified.

<Configuration of inspection result file>
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the inspection result file in FIG.
The inspection result file indicates a comparison result between the JDF file and the expected value file. In this figure, the comparison results 1041, 1042, and 1043 are JDF101a.jdf, JDF101b.jdf, and JDF101c.jdf, respectively, and details of inspection contents of the corresponding expected value files 101a.dat, 101b.dat, and 101c.dat Indicates.

  The inspection contents are common to each JDF file, and the attribute values of the attributes “NumberOfStitches”, “StapleShape”, “StitchPositions”, “WireBrand”, and “WireGauge” are compared with the expected values. The attributes “ID” and “StitchWidth” are excluded from the comparison inspection.

  Here, the attribute value of the attribute “WireGauge” in JDF101a.jdf is 10411, the expected value is 10412, the attribute value of the attribute “WireGauge” in JDF101b.jdf is 10421, the expected value is 10422, and the attribute “WireGauge” in JDF101c.jdf "Has an attribute value of 10431 and an expected value of 10432.

  OK / NG of each inspection result 10410, 10420, 10430 is added to the lower left corner of the comparison results 1041, 1042, 1043. Here, JDF101a.jdf and JDF101b.jdf are OK, and JDF101c.jdf is NG. For JDF101c.jdf that has become NG, “×” 10433 indicating an attribute that does not match the expected value is added. Also, the number of OKs and NGs of the inspection results of all the JDF files that have been inspected are calculated and stored as a total of 1040.

<Comparison inspection process>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a comparison inspection process in the embodiment of the present invention. This comparison inspection process is executed by the comparison inspection unit 403.

  First, an examination exclusion file name is acquired from the setting holding unit 406 and read into the examination exclusion unit 404 (step S101). Next, the OK and NG counts for recording in the inspection result are cleared (step S102).

  The presence or absence of an unprocessed JDF file is determined with reference to the list of JDF files registered in the setting holding unit 406 (step S103). If there is no unprocessed JDF file (step S103: No), the number of OKs and the number of NGs are output as inspection results (step S122), and this comparison inspection process is terminated.

  If there is an unprocessed JDF file (step S103: Yes), inspection OK is set as an initial value (step S104), and a set of JDF file name and expected value file name is acquired from the setting holding unit 406 (step S105). ).

  The presence or absence of an unprocessed element is determined with reference to the element (tag) of the acquired JDF file (step S106). If there is no unprocessed element (step S106: No), OK / NG is output as the inspection result (step S108), the number of inspection OK or NG is updated according to the inspection result (step S109), and step S103. Migrate to

  If there is an unprocessed element (step S106: Yes), one element (tag) is acquired from the JDF file (step S107). Next, the presence / absence of an unprocessed attribute is determined with reference to the acquired element (step S110). If there is an unprocessed attribute in the element (step S110: Yes), one attribute is acquired from the element (step S111). If there is no unprocessed attribute in the element (step S110: No), the process proceeds to step S106.

  After acquiring one attribute from the element in step S111, the process proceeds to step S200, and whether or not the acquired attribute is an exclusion item is checked by the inspection exclusion process of the inspection exclusion unit 404 (attribute exclusion check).

<Examination process>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing detailed contents of the examination exclusion process (step S200) in FIG.
It is searched from the list of inspection exclusion file names read in step S101 (hereinafter referred to as inspection exclusion list) whether or not the inspection target attribute is registered (step S201), and it is determined whether or not it is registered in the inspection exclusion list (step S201). S202).

  If it is registered in the examination exclusion list (step S202: Yes), the exclusion target True is set as the return value (step S204), and the examination exclusion process is terminated. If it is not registered in the examination exclusion list (step S202: No), the exclusion target False is set as the return value (step S203), and the examination exclusion process is terminated.

  For example, if the exclusion list is the file of FIG. 5, when the attribute “WireBrand” is searched in step S201, a branch of Yes is made in step S202, and True is set as an exclusion target in step S204.

  Returning to the description of FIG. After step S200 is completed, based on the result of step S200, it is determined whether or not the attribute is an exclusion target (step S112). Here, when the return value of Step S200 is True, it is determined that the attribute is an exclusion target, and when it is False, it is determined that the attribute is not an exclusion target.

  If the attribute is an exclusion target (step S112: Yes), the comparison process is not performed and the process proceeds to step S110. When the attribute is not an exclusion target (step S112: No), the process proceeds to step S300, and the expected value is compared by the wild card comparison process of the wild card comparison unit 405.

《Wild card comparison processing》
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing detailed contents of the wild card comparison process (step S300) in FIG.
First, it is determined whether or not the attribute value of the expected value to be compared is “@@@@@” (step S301). Here, “@@@@@” in the wild card character string indicates that it is excluded from inspection and handled as an excluded item.

  If the attribute value of the comparison target expected value is “@@@@@” (step S301: Yes), “PASS” is set as the comparison exclusion target status in the return value (step S307), and the wild card The comparison process ends.

  If the attribute value of the comparison target expected value is not “@@@@@” (step S301: No), the process proceeds to step S302, and the attribute value of the comparison target expected value is “??????”. It is determined whether there has been (step S302). Here, “????” in the wild card character string represents an arbitrary character string of five characters or more. That is, only the number of characters (character string length) is checked as an inspection target.

  If the expected value to be compared is “??????” (step S <b> 302: Yes), the number of characters in the JDF attribute value and? It is determined whether or not the number of characters matches (step S303).

  What is the number of characters in the JDF attribute value? If the number of characters matches (step S303: Yes), “OK” is set as the “wild card comparison OK” status in the return value (step S306), and the wild card comparison processing is terminated.

  What is the number of characters in the JDF attribute value? If the number of characters does not match (step S303: No), “NG” is set as the “wildcard comparison result NG” status in the return value (step S305), and the wildcard comparison processing is terminated.

  If the expected value to be compared is not “???” (step S302: No), “NO” is set as the “not wild card” status in the return value (step S304), and wild card comparison processing is performed. Exit.

  Note that the above wild card character strings (“@@@@@”, “??????”) are examples, and may be specified by other character strings. Moreover, you may test | inspect matching of the pattern of a part of character string.

  Returning to the description of FIG. After step S300 is completed, based on the result, whether or not the expected value is a wild card, that is, whether or not the return value of step S300 is other than “NO” (“OK”, “NG”, “PASS”). Is determined (step S113).

  If the expected value is a wild card (step S113: Yes), it is determined whether or not the return value of step S300 is “PASS” (step S118). If it is “PASS” (step S118: Yes), since it is an excluded item, the process proceeds to step S110.

  If the return value is not “PASS” (step S118: No), it is determined whether or not the return value in step S300 is “OK” (step S119). If it is “OK” (step S119: Yes), an inspection OK is output as a comparison result (step S120), and the process proceeds to step S110. When it is not “OK” (step S119: No), the inspection NG as the comparison result and the cross mark as the NG mark are output, and the process proceeds to step S110.

  When the expected value is not a wild card (step S113: No), that is, when the return value of step S300 is “NO”, the JDF attribute value is compared with the expected value, and is OK (both match)? It is determined whether or not (step S115).

  If the comparison result is OK (step S115: Yes), an inspection OK is output as the comparison result (step S116), and the process proceeds to step S110. If the result of the comparison is NG (step S115: No), the inspection NG as the comparison result and the x mark as the NG mark are output, and the process proceeds to step S110.

  As described above in detail, according to the job ticket inspection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to specify a print setting item to be excluded from the inspection target, thereby easily creating a new defective print setting item. Can be extracted. In addition, regarding the comparison of the date and time and the user account name, a wild card character string is specified for the expected value, and in this case, an algorithm that does not perform the comparison is used to check / do not check for each test case and each setting item. By making controllable, it is possible to flexibly perform comparison inspection with expected values.

  The job ticket inspection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is useful for a printer driver degradation test. For example, in the first release, all functions (all print setting items) are tested, and when a new function is incorporated in the second release, only the new function part may be tested due to man-hours or the like. In this case, it is determined that the new function does not affect the existing function. However, a malfunction may occur in the existing function due to some mistake. This is called degradation. Since the expected value after testing all functions in the first release should be the correct value with a track record, by using this expected value in the test of the second release, you can find the degraded defect .

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Computer, 4 ... JDF inspection part, 101 ... JDF file group, 102 ... Inspection exclusion item setting file, 103 ... Expected value file group, 104 ... Inspection result file, 403 ... Comparison inspection part, 404 ... Inspection exclusion part, 405 ... Wildcard comparison part.

JP 2010-167710 A

Claims (7)

A job ticket inspection device that inspects whether there is a defect in the print setting item by comparing the print setting value of the print setting item included in the job ticket with an expected value,
Expected value holding means for holding the expected value;
Inspection exclusion item holding means for holding print setting items excluding comparison inspection;
A reading means for reading a job ticket to be inspected;
A print setting item extracting unit for extracting print setting items other than the print setting items held in the inspection exclusion item holding unit among the print setting items included in the job ticket read by the reading unit;
An inspection unit that inspects the print setting value of the print setting item extracted by the print setting item extraction unit by comparing it with an expected value held in the expected value holding unit;
A job ticket inspection apparatus. In the job ticket inspection apparatus according to claim 1,
When the expected value to be compared with the print setting value of the print setting item extracted by the print setting item extraction unit includes a predetermined first character string, the inspection unit does not inspect the print setting value. Ticket inspection device. In the job ticket inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
When the expected value to be compared with the print setting value of the print setting item extracted by the print setting item extracting means includes a predetermined second character string, the inspection means is designated in advance for the second character string. A job ticket inspection device that inspects a part of print setting values. In the job ticket inspection device according to claim 3,
The job ticket inspection apparatus, wherein the inspection relating to a part of the print setting value is an inspection of a match of a character string length of the print setting value or a part of a pattern. In the job ticket inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The job ticket inspection apparatus, wherein the print setting item includes a JDF attribute, and the print setting value includes a JDF attribute value. In the job ticket inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A job ticket inspection apparatus having means for outputting the inspection result of the inspection means as a file. A program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the job ticket inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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