JP2015090667A - Print control unit, data processing method of print control unit, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To let a print job be printed on a printer with a password set by a device driver even when a password set by an application and a password set by the device driver are set to be different in range of the number of digits.SOLUTION: A print control unit capable of setting print properties using a first setting screen managed by an application generating a print ticket or a second setting screen managed by a device application corrects information input on the second setting screen according to a range of the number of digits set on the first setting screen, when the range of the number of digits set in information to be input to common print properties is different between the first setting screen and the second setting screen. Further, the print control unit generates restoration information for restoring the corrected information to the information input on the second setting screen. Then the print control unit generates a print ticket including the corrected information and the restored information and passes it to the application.

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, a data processing method for the print control apparatus, and a program.

Recently, in offices, MFPs (Multi Function Peripherals) connected to a network are often used as shared printers. In an environment where a plurality of people share a printer, there is a concern that others can see the printed matter that they output. A secure print function is used as a method for reducing such concerns. The secure print function is a function for temporarily storing a print job with a password added to the printer, and outputting the stored print job by inputting the password added to the job with the printer input device. . By using this function, it is possible to prevent the printed material from being left unattended and to output the printed material only to those who know the password.
In order to use the secure print function, it is necessary to use software such as a printer and a printer driver (hereinafter referred to as a driver unless otherwise specified) and an application (hereinafter referred to as an application) corresponding to this function.
Generally, it is possible to set print attributes when printing with an application, but if software compatible with secure printing is used, a secure print password can be set as one of the print attributes. When the print command is executed, the print command is transmitted to the printer as a secure print print job.

  The restrictions on passwords that can be used for secure printing differ depending on the printer. The characters that can be used in the password are often only numeric values from 0 to 9, but there are cases where alphabetic characters or symbol characters are possible. A password with only a numerical value is also called a PIN code. A password shorter than the predetermined minimum number of digits or longer than the predetermined maximum number of digits cannot be used. On the other hand, when the number of password digits that can be set (for example, 4 to 8 digits) is narrower than the number of digits that can be used by the output destination printer (for example, 1 to 9 digits) There is. The main reasons are that it is difficult to cope with the number of digits of the password for each printer, and that the security deterioration due to a short password is avoided. In that case, the password of the number of digits that can be used in the printer cannot be set by the application. When the password to be used is short, the user has to enter "0" before the number of digits that are insufficient. Patent Document 1 discloses a centralized meter-reading device that automatically complements a digit that is insufficient when a part of a long ID number is input with a predetermined numerical value such as “0”. It is possible to omit.

JP 2007-228123 A

  However, when the number of digits is changed by automatically complementing the secure print password, the user does not notice that the password has been changed and enters the password that he / she has entered using the printer. Then, it does not match the password added to the print job, and the user cannot output the print job.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to create a secure print job by using the number of digits of a password set by an application and a password set by a device driver. This is to provide a mechanism that allows a print job to be printed with a password set by a device driver in a printing apparatus even if the range of the number of digits is set to be different.

The print control apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.
A first setting unit that sets a print attribute using a first setting screen managed by an application that generates a print ticket, and a second that sets a print attribute using a second setting screen managed by a device application When the range of the number of digits set in the information to be input with respect to the printing attribute common to the setting means and the first setting screen and the second setting screen is different, the information is input on the second setting screen. For correcting the received information in accordance with the range of the number of digits set on the first setting screen, and for restoring the correction information corrected by the correcting means to the information input on the second setting screen Generating means for generating the restoration information, and generating means for generating a print ticket including the correction information and the restoration information and delivering it to the application.

  According to the present invention, when a secure print job is generated, even if the number of digits of the password set by the application and the range of the number of digits of the password set by the device driver are set to be different, A print job can be printed with the password set in the device driver.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a module configuration of the print control apparatus in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an example of UI screen displayed on the monitor shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of UI screen displayed on the monitor shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data processing method of the print control apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data processing method of the print control apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of PT produced | generated with a printing control apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data processing method of the print control apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data processing method of the print control apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of PT produced | generated with a printing control apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data processing method of the print control apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a data processing method of the print control apparatus. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system.

Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Description of system configuration>
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to the present exemplary embodiment. The present embodiment corresponds to a printing system in which a printing control apparatus and a printing apparatus communicate with each other to perform printing processing. Here, Windows (registered trademark) of Microsoft Corporation is taken as an example as an operating system (OS) in the print control apparatus. It should be noted that the present invention can be applied regardless of the configuration of the device as long as the functions of the present invention are executed unless otherwise specified. It may be a single device, a system composed of a plurality of devices, or a system in which processing is performed through a network such as a LAN or WAN.

In the print control apparatus shown in FIG. 1A, the CPU 101 controls the entire apparatus according to a program stored in the ROM 1021 or RAM 1022 of the main storage apparatus 102 or the auxiliary storage apparatus 105. The RAM 1022 is also used as a work area when the CPU 101 performs various processes. The auxiliary storage device 105 stores an application 1051, a device application 1052, a device driver 1053, an operating system (OS) 1054, and the like. The application 1051, device application 1052, device, and driver 1053 can be added to the auxiliary storage device 105 via a CD-ROM or USB memory (not shown) or the network 112. An input device such as a pointing device 109 typified by a keyboard 108 and a mouse / touch panel is a device for the user to give various instructions to the computer through the input I / F 103.
The output I / F 104 is an interface for outputting data to the outside, and outputs data to output devices such as the monitor 110 and the printer 111. The printer 111 may be connected not only through the local I / O directly connected but also through the network 112 connected through the communication I / F 106. Reference numeral 107 denotes a common data system bus for exchanging data between modules.

  In the printer 111 shown in FIG. 1B, a printer CPU (CPU) is connected to the system bus 123 on the basis of a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 122 or the auxiliary storage device 129. An image signal as output information is output to the printing unit (printer engine) 127 via F125. The ROM 122 stores a control program for the CPU 120 and the like. The font ROM of the ROM 122 stores font data used for generating the output information.

  Further, the data ROM of the ROM 122 stores information used on the host computer in the case of a printer that does not include the auxiliary storage device 129 such as a hard disk. The CPU 120 is capable of bidirectionally communicating with the host computer via the input I / F 124 and configured to notify the host computer of information in the printer 111 and the like. Here, the information includes a status of the printer engine, network setting information, a device name, a resource name, and the like. The RAM 121 functions as a main memory, a work area, and the like of the CPU 120, and is configured such that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). The RAM 121 is used for an output information expansion area, an environment data storage area, NVRAM, and the like. Access to the auxiliary storage device 129 such as the hard disk (HD) and IC card described above is controlled by the external memory I / F 126. The auxiliary storage device 129 is connected as an option and stores font data, an emulation program, and the like.

  The number of auxiliary storage devices 129 is not limited to one, and at least one auxiliary storage device 129 is provided so that an optional font card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages with different language systems can be connected in addition to the built-in font. It may be configured. Further, an NVRAM (not shown) may be provided to store printer mode setting information from the operation unit 128. The operation unit 128 is provided with an operation switch, an LED display, and the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a module configuration of the print control apparatus of FIG.
The printing system 201 is a subsystem of the operating system 1054. The printing system 201 loads a device application (device application) 1052 and a driver 1053 prepared for each printer 111 from the auxiliary storage device 105 to the RAM 1022, and sets the output destination of the application (application) 1051 in the device application 1052 and the driver 1053. To do. The printing system 201 receives a PrintTicket (hereinafter referred to as “PT print ticket”) from the application 1051 and outputs it as print attribute data to the device application 1052. PT represents print attributes as data in XML format.

  Also, the printing system 201 receives a print capability acquisition request from the application 1051, and returns PrintCapabilities (hereinafter, PC) acquired from the driver 1053 to the application 1051. The PC expresses the capabilities of the printer 111 in the XML format, and lists all print attribute items and attribute values that can be specified in the printer 111. The PT describes only the current setting values necessary for printing among the setting items and attribute values listed in the PC, and the PT can be generated if there is a PC. The application 1051 can know the print attributes that can be specified by the printer 111 by acquiring the PC from the printer 111 and interpreting it. Also, the printing system 201 receives XPS data from the application 1051 and outputs it as print data to the driver 1053.

XPS data is an XML-based document format that can be used as document data, and is an abbreviation for XML Paper Specification. A document format developed by Microsoft and standardized by ECMA-388. The document structure has a three-level tree structure of “Fixed Document Sequence (hereinafter referred to as FDS)”, “Fixed Document (hereinafter referred to as FD)”, and “Fixed Page (hereinafter referred to as FP)” representing each job / document / page. . The FP is further composed of a plurality of drawing objects. Further, XPS data can have a printing attribute PT inside, and only a part of printing attributes can be specified in units of jobs / documents / pages.
The application 1051 is loaded from the auxiliary storage device 105 to the RAM 1022 and executed. When the application 1051 performs printing, the printing system 201 is used to display an output destination printer selection screen (not shown), select the printer 111 as the printing destination, and set and output (draw) the printing attributes. Do.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a UI screen displayed on the monitor 110 shown in FIG. This example is an example of the print attribute setting screen 300.
3, the print attribute setting screen 300 includes a return button 301, various attribute setting controls 302, a secure print setting button 303, a secure print setting value text 304, a password input box 305, a detailed setting link 306, a print button 307, and the like. included.
Various attribute setting control 302, secure print setting button 303, secure print setting value text 304, and password input box 305 are displayed based on the PC acquired from the driver 1053 via the printing system 201. The application 1051 interprets the acquired PC, selects a necessary Feature and its Option as the application specifications, and arranges them as controls on the print attribute setting screen 300.

  Since the application 1051 cannot interpret the private keyword of the driver 1053, only the public keyword is selected. In this example, the paper size, paper orientation, and the like are separately managed as document page information. Therefore, on the print attribute setting screen 300, the number of copies, Nup, double-sided printing, and secure printing among the public features are printed. A control for the attribute is placed. The user operates these controls with the keyboard 108, mouse 109, etc. to select items from the list or enter a character string in the input box to set print attributes.

  A secure print setting button 303 associated with a secure print request for starting a printing process by collating with a password is a toggle button, and is switched ON / OFF when clicked with the mouse 109, and the set value is set as a secure print setting. The value text 304 is displayed in characters. If the secure print setting button 303 is ON, the password input box 305 can be input.

  In the password input box 305, a password character string added to the secure print job can be input, but the characters and the number of digits that can be input are limited. In this example, only numeric values from 0 to 9 can be input. Further, only 4 to 7 digits can be set, and if it is 3 digits or less or 8 digits or more, it is determined that the setting is invalid in a verification process at the time of printing described later.

When the detailed setting link 306 is pressed, the application 1051 generates a PT reflecting the currently set printing attribute, outputs the generated PT to the device application 1052 via the printing system 201, and displays the printing attribute setting screen 300. close up.
When the device application 1052 receives the PT, a detailed print attribute setting screen 400 described later with reference to FIG.
When the detailed print attribute is set on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 and the screen is closed, the application 1051 receives the PT generated by the device application 1052, stores it in the work area secured in the RAM 1022, and displays the print attribute setting screen 300. A transition is made to display again on the monitor 110. Then, the received PT is interpreted and reflected in the display of each control on the print attribute setting screen 300. Furthermore, the setting of the print attribute setting screen 300 can be changed. When PT generation is required, such as when the detailed setting link 306 or the print button 307 described later is pressed, the PT is reflected by reflecting the currently set print attribute based on the PT stored in the work area secured in the RAM 1022. Generate.

When the print button 307 is pressed, the application 1051 generates a PT reflecting the print attributes currently set on the print attribute setting screen 300, and verifies the generated PT. As a result of the PT verification process, when it is determined that all setting values are valid, the printing process is performed using the printing system 201 and the printing attribute setting screen 300 is closed.
On the other hand, if it is determined that there is an invalid set value as a result of the PT verification process, the print process is not performed and the print attribute setting screen 300 is kept open. Here, a setting value that is not valid may be changed to a valid setting value, or a mark may be displayed so that an item that has been changed to a valid setting value can be easily recognized.

In the PT verification process in the application 1051, first, a PT verification is requested to the driver 1053 via the printing system 201. The driver 1053 verifies the validity of the received PT by a PT verification unit 205 (to be described later), generates a PT in which an invalid print attribute value is changed to a valid value, and returns the PT to the application 1051 via the printing system 201.
After receiving the verification result PT by the driver 1053, the application 1051 further performs a unique PT verification process to obtain the overall verification result. If there is a difference in the attribute value between the PT after the verification process and the PT before the verification process, it is determined that the point is an invalid attribute value.
In the printing process, XPS data in which the PT reflecting the currently set printing attribute is associated with the FDS is created and output to the driver 1053 via the printing system 201.

  When the return button 301 is pressed, the print attribute setting screen 300 is closed and the screen returns to an output destination printer selection screen (not shown). If the mouse 109 is clicked on the display screen of the application 1051 while the output destination printer selection screen or the print attribute setting screen 300 is displayed, the output destination printer selection screen or the print attribute setting screen 300 is closed.

In this example, the print attribute setting screen 300 is displayed and processed by the application 1051, but can be displayed and processed using a function of the printing system 201.
Similar to the driver 1053, the device application 1052 is software corresponding to the printer 111, and can interpret PT and PC private keywords. The device application 1052 includes a print setting display unit 202 and a PT generation unit 203. When the detailed setting link 306 on the print attribute setting screen 300 is pressed, the print setting display unit 202 receives the PT from the application 1051 via the print system 201 and displays the interpreted print attribute on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400. The PT generation unit 203 is called from the print setting display unit 202 and generates a PT by reflecting the currently set print attributes based on the received PT.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a UI screen displayed on the monitor 110 shown in FIG. This example is an example of the detailed print attribute setting screen 400.
4, the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 includes various attribute setting controls 402, a secure print check box 403, a password input box 404, and the like, and attributes that cannot be set on the print attribute setting screen 300 shown in FIG. Is possible. The user operates these controls with the keyboard 108, mouse 109, etc., and selects detailed items from the list or sets values in the input box to set detailed print attributes.

  The secure print check box 403 is a toggle button, and is switched ON / OFF when clicked with the mouse 109. If the secure print check box 403 is ON, the password input box 404 can be input.

  A password character string to be added to the secure print job can be input in the password input box 404, but the number of digits that can be input is different from the password input box 305 in the print attribute setting screen 300. In this example, the password input box 305 can be set to 4 to 7 digits, but the password input box 404 can be set to 1 to 9 digits. The input value limit of the password input box 305 is a specification of the application 1051, but the input value limit of the password input box 404 conforms to the specification of the printer 111 and may not match.

When the return button 401 is pressed, the print setting display unit 202 calls the PT generation unit 203 to generate a PT reflecting the currently set print attributes. When the print setting display unit 202 performs verification processing on the generated PT and determines that all setting values are valid, the print setting display unit 202 passes the print system 201 to the application 1051 and closes the detailed print attribute setting screen 400. The device application 1052 ends.
In this example, when it is determined that there is a setting value that is not valid as a result of the PT verification process, the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 is kept open. Here, a setting value that is not valid may be changed to a valid setting value, or a mark may be displayed so that an item that has been changed to a valid setting value can be easily recognized.
Similar to the verification process of the application 1051, the PT verification process by the device application 1052 requests the driver 1053 to perform the PT verification via the printing system 201, and whether there is a difference in attribute value between the verification result PT and the PT before verification. Judge with.

When the return button 401 is pressed to return to the print attribute setting screen 300, any control for each print attribute is reflected in the set value. For example, when a one-digit password is input in the password input box 404, the one-digit password is also set in the password input box 305. However, since the password input box 305 cannot accept a one-digit password, it is determined as an invalid setting at the time of printing and cannot be printed.
Therefore, the PT generation unit 203 corrects the password input in the password input box 404 to the number of digits that can be set in the password input box 305, and adds a private PT representing the corrected character string. The added private PT is interpreted by the driver 1053, and the password before correction is restored and output to the printer 111. Detailed processing will be described later.

The driver 1053 receives the XPS data from the printing system 201 and converts it into a control command that can be recognized by the printer 111, for example, a page description language (PDL). The converted printer control command is sent as print data to the printer 111 via the output I / F 104 via the system spooler 210 loaded into the RAM 1022 by the operating system 1054. The driver 1053 includes a PC generation unit 204, a PT verification unit 205, an XPS analysis unit 206, an output data generation unit 207, a PT analysis unit 208, and a secure print PT analysis unit 209.
When requested via the printing system 201, the PC generation unit 204 generates a PC according to the capabilities of the printer 111 and returns it to the request source.

  The PT verification unit 205 reads and analyzes the received PT, verifies whether all elements of the PT are valid attribute values, and determines that there is an invalid attribute value. And return it to the request source. The PT verification process is requested from the application 1051 via the printing system 201 or the printing system 201, or is called from the driver 1053.

  The XPS analysis unit 206 reads and analyzes the XPS data received from the printing system 201, sequentially calls the output data generation unit 207 according to the document structure (FDS / FD / FP), and generates a printer control command.

  The output data generation unit 207 performs rendering according to the drawing object included in the XPS data received from the XPS analysis unit 206, and calls the PT analysis unit 208 to analyze the PT. When analyzing a PT, the PT verification unit 205 performs a PT verification process in advance to change to a valid PT, and then calls the PT analysis unit 208.

The PT analysis unit 208 analyzes the PT received from the output data generation unit 207, and generates a printing attribute and a drawing attribute according to the document structure. If there is a secure print-related PT, the secure print PT analysis unit 209 is called.
The secure print PT analysis unit 209 generates a secure print command corresponding to the printer 111 according to the PT. Detailed processing of the secure print PT analysis unit 209 will be described later.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the data processing method of the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example corresponds to the entire flow for explaining the PT generation processing of the PT generation unit 203 of the device application 1052 in the print control apparatus shown in FIG. Each step is realized by the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 1A executing a control program (module shown in FIG. 2) loaded into the RAM 1022. In the following description, the module shown in FIG. 2 will be mainly described.
First, the PT generation unit 203 writes the generated header portion of the PT in the work area secured in the RAM 1022 (S501). Since PT is an XML document, an XML declaration or a root element corresponds to the header part. Next, the next print attribute to be processed is selected in order from the print attribute list that can be processed by the device application 1052 (S502), and it is determined whether there is a next print attribute to be processed (S503). For example, in the present embodiment, the document size, the output paper size, the number of copies, the paper direction, Nup, double-sided printing, the binding direction, and secure printing are processed in this order.
Here, when the device application 1052 determines that the processing target print attribute remains, the type is determined (S504), and when it is determined that the processing target print attribute is the print attribute of the secure print, the secure print is performed. PT generation processing is performed (S505). Otherwise, PT generation processing for other printing attributes is performed (S506), and the process returns to S502.

In addition, the PT generation for each print attribute is obtained by acquiring items related to the print attributes to be processed from the print attributes listed on the PC, and specifying the current setting values on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 in the RAM 1022. This can be done by adding to the work area. When PT is added to the work area of the RAM 1022 in the PT generation processes in S505 and S506, the process returns to S502.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S503 that there are no print attributes to be processed, a PT closing process is performed (S507), and this process ends. Here, the PT closing process is to write an end tag for the header written in S501.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the data processing method of the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example corresponds to the detailed procedure of the secure print PT generation process shown in S505.
Each step is realized by the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 1A executing a control program (module shown in FIG. 2) loaded into the RAM 1022. In the following description, the module shown in FIG. 2 will be mainly described.
First, the device application 1052 determines whether or not the secure print check box 403 is ON. If the device application 1052 determines that the secure print check box 403 is OFF, the device application 1052 exits the process.
On the other hand, if the device application 1052 determines in S601 that the secure print check box 403 is ON, the input character string of the password input box 404 is stored in the variable SI (input character string) secured in the RAM 1022 (S602).
Next, the device application 1052 compares the character string length (L) of the SI with the number of digits of the password valid in the application 1051 (S603), and if the L is within the range of the number of significant digits, the device application 1052 If it is determined, the secure print PT is added based on the SI (S604), and the process is exited. If the device application 1052 determines that L <Min (the minimum number of digits) in S603, “0” for (Min−L) digits is stored in the variable SC (corrected character string) secured in the RAM 1022 (S605).

The character used for correction may be a character other than “0” as long as it can be used as a password. Then, the device application 1052 adds a secure print PT based on a character string (corrected character string) obtained by concatenating the SC and the SI (S606), and adds a password correction PT to be correction information based on the SC. (S607), the process is exited.
On the other hand, if it is determined in S603 that L> Max (maximum number of digits), a character string for the last (L-Max) digits of SI is stored in the variable SC (corrected character string) secured in the RAM 1022 (S608). . A character string for the first (L-Max) digits of SI may be stored. Then, the device application 1052 adds the secure print PT based on the character string (corrected character string) obtained by deleting the SC from the end of the SI (S609), and adds the password correction PT based on the SC (S607). , Exit the regeneration process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PT generated by the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is an example of a PT generated by the secure print PT generation process (S505) when “1” is input in the password input box 404 shown in S505.
In FIG. 5, the public “JobSecuredPrint” and “JobSecuredPrintString” are the secure print attributes generated in S606. This PT indicates that the secure print is ON and the password (after correction) is “0001”. Private “JobSecuredPrint Correcting String” and “Job Secured Print Correcting Position” are the password correction PTs generated in S607. This PT represents that “000” is added to the head of the password. The PT generated by the device application 1052 is passed to the application 1051 via the printing system 201, and is included in the XPS data as the FDS PT at the time of printing, and is output to the driver 1053 via the printing system 201.

  The application 1051 can interpret the secure print PT and reflect it in the secure print setting button 303, the secure print setting value text 304, and the password input box 305 on the print attribute setting screen 300. However, since the application 1051 cannot interpret the password correction PT, it cannot be displayed or set on the print attribute setting screen 300.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the data processing method of the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is a secure print PT analysis processing example of the secure print PT analysis unit 209 of the driver 1053. Each step is realized by the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 1A executing a control program (module shown in FIG. 2) loaded into the RAM 1022. In the following description, the module shown in FIG. 2 will be mainly described.
First, the secure print PT analysis unit 209 analyzes the received PT, acquires the secure print PT, determines whether the secure print is ON (S801), and the secure print PT analysis unit 209 determines that the secure print is OFF. If so, the process ends.
On the other hand, when the secure print PT analysis unit 209 determines that secure print is ON, the secure print PT analysis unit 209 stores the character string of the secure print PT in the variable SP (password character string) secured in the RAM 1022 (S802). ), It is determined whether there is a password correction PT (S803).
In the example of FIG. 7, S801 is determined based on whether the “Job Secured Print” Feature Option is “On” or not, and S803 is determined based on the presence of “Job Secured Printing Correcting String” Parameter. Here, when it is determined that the password correction PT exists, the secure print PT analysis unit 209 determines the correction position of the password correction PT (S804), and the secure print PT analysis unit 209 determines that it is “added to the top”. If the secure print PT analysis unit 209 determines that “added to the end” is “from the beginning of the SP”, the password correction PT correction character string (SC) is deleted from the end of the SP (S805, S806). .
If it is determined that “delete from the head”, the correction character string (SC) of the password correction PT is added to the head of the SP (S807). If it is determined that “delete from the end”, the correction character string (SC) of the password correction PT is added to the end of the SP (S808).
In the example of FIG. 7, S <b> 804 is determined by the Option of “JobSecuredPrint CorrectingPosition” Feature. If it is determined in S803 that there is no password correction PT, S804 to 808 are skipped. Then, the secure print PT analysis unit 209 outputs a secure print command that can be processed by the printer 111 based on the SP (S809), and ends the process.

When the password having the number of digits that cannot be set on the print attribute setting screen 300 is input and printed on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 through the above steps, the application 1051 generates XPS data including the private password correction PT generated by the device application 1052. Output.
Then, the driver 1053 restores the password input by the user using the public secure print PT and the private password correction PT, adds it to the secure print job, and outputs it to the printer 111. When a password having the number of digits that can be set on the print attribute setting screen 300 is input and printed on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400, the password correction PT is not output, and only the public secure print PT is used for the secure print job. Append. As a result, even if the password entered on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 cannot be set by the application 1051, the printer 111 can input the password and output a print job.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, an example in which a private PT representing a corrected character string is used has been described. In the second embodiment, an example in which a private PT representing a character string input by a user is used will be described.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a data processing method of the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example corresponds to the detailed procedure of the secure print PT generation process (S505) of the PT generation unit 203 of the device application 1052. Each step is realized by the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 1A executing a control program (module shown in FIG. 2) loaded into the RAM 1022. In the following description, the module shown in FIG. 2 will be mainly described. Furthermore, the same step numbers as those in FIG. Details will be described below.
After adding the secure print PT in S606 and S609, the PT generation unit 203 adds the password input value PT based on the SI (S901) and exits the process.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a PT generated by the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is an example of the PT generated by the secure print PT generation process (S505) when “1” is input in the password input box 404.
In FIG. 10, a private Parameter “JobSecuredPrintInputString” has been generated, and the input value of the user is “1”.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a data processing method of the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example corresponds to a secure print PT analysis processing example of the secure print PT analysis unit 209 of the driver 1053. Each step is realized by the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 1A executing a control program (module shown in FIG. 2) loaded into the RAM 1022. In the following description, the module shown in FIG. 2 will be mainly described.
If the secure print PT analysis unit 209 determines that secure print is ON in S801, the secure print PT analysis unit 209 determines whether the password input value PT exists (S1101). In the example of FIG. 10, the determination is made based on the presence of “JobSecuredPrintInputString” Parameter. If there is a password input value PT to be restored information, the character string of the password input value PT is stored in the variable SP (password character string) reserved in the RAM 1022 (S1102), and if the password input value PT does not exist The character string of the secure print PT is stored (S802). Then, a secure print command that can be processed by the printer 111 based on the SP is output (S807), and the process ends.

  Through the above steps, the password input by the user is restored using the private PT representing the character string input by the user, added to the secure print job, and output to the printer 111. As a result, even if the password entered on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 cannot be set by the application 1051, the printer 111 can input the password and output a print job.

[Third Embodiment]
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, after setting a password on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 and returning to the print attribute setting screen 300, the password set in the password input box 305 is further changed and printed. be able to. In this case, a PT reflecting the currently set printing attribute is generated based on the PT received from the device application 1052, but an unintended password is output to the device if the password correction PT or the password input value PT remains as it is. It may be done. For example, in the first embodiment, when “1” is input as the password on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400, a password correction PT with the correction character string “000” is generated, and when returning to the print attribute setting screen 300, the password is “0001”. Is set to ". However, since the password input box 305 is displayed as “***” as an abbreviated character, the user does not directly recognize the set value.

  Here, when “0002” is re-entered in the password input box 305 and printing is performed, the password of the secure print job becomes “2” due to the influence of the password correction PT, and even if the user inputs “0002” on the printer 111. The print job cannot be output. In order to input “0002” input by the user with the printer 111 and output the print job, the print job must be generated by deleting the password correction PT.

In this embodiment, when the secure print setting button 303 or the password input box 305 of the print attribute setting screen 300 is changed, the currently held password correction PT (or password input value PT) of the PT is deleted.
For this purpose, the application 1051 generates a PT in which the secure print PT of the held PT is changed to secure print OFF, and requests verification from the driver 1053 via the printing system 201. The PT verification unit 205 of the driver 1053 analyzes the received PT, and if the secure print PT is secure print OFF, the secure print PT and the password correction PT (or password input value PT) are deleted and returned. The application 1051 stores the returned PT in the work area secured in the RAM 1022, and generates the PT by reflecting the currently set printing attributes based on the received PT.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining a data processing method of the print control apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is a secure print PT verification process example of the PT verification unit 205. Each step is realized by the CPU 101 shown in FIG. 1A executing a control program (module shown in FIG. 2) loaded into the RAM 1022. In the following description, the module shown in FIG. 2 will be mainly described. This process is executed whether or not the secure print PT is detected in the PT verification process of the PT verification unit 205.
The PT verification unit 205 first determines whether there is a secure print PT (S1201). If it is determined that there is no secure print PT, the PT verification unit 205 determines whether there is a password correction PT (S1202). If the PT verification unit 205 determines that there is a password correction PT, the PT verification unit 205 deletes the password correction PT because it has no meaning (S1213) and exits the process. If the PT verification unit 205 determines in S1202 that there is no password correction PT, the process directly exits.

On the other hand, if it is determined in S1201 that the secure print PT exists, the PT verification unit 205 determines whether the secure print PT is secure print ON (S1203). If it is determined that the secure print is OFF, both the secure print PT and the password correction PT are meaningless, so both are deleted (S1204, 1213) and the process is exited.
On the other hand, when the secure print ON and the PT verification unit 205 determine in step S1203, this is not relevant in the present embodiment, but will be described just in case.
If the secure print ON and the PT verification unit 205 determine in S1203, it is verified whether the password character string of the secure print PT is the number of valid digits of the driver 1053.
First, the PT verification unit 205 stores the password character string of the secure print PT in the variable SP secured in the RAM 1022 (S1205), and compares the number of digits (L) of the SP with the number of significant digits of the password of the driver 1053 (S1206). ). If the PT verification unit 205 determines that L is large, the PT verification unit 205 deletes the number of significant digits after the maximum valid digit of the password character string of the secure print PT (S1207), and if L is small, the PT verification unit 205 In step S1208, the PT verification unit 205 sets the password character string of the secure print PT to “0” corresponding to the minimum number of digits of the password of the driver 1053. If it is determined that L is within the range of the number of significant digits, nothing is done and the process proceeds to S1209.

Next, it is verified whether the password correction PT is consistent with the secure print PT. First, the PT verification unit 205 determines whether there is a password correction PT (S1209).
For example, when “0001” input by returning to the print attribute setting screen 300 described above is manually input to “0002”, the password correction PT has been deleted, and therefore NO is determined in S1209.
Here, when it is determined that the password correction PT exists, the minimum number of digits (Min) of the password that is valid for L and the application 1051 is compared (S1210), and the PT verification unit 205 determines that L> = Min. In this case, the PT verification unit 205 adds a secure print PT based on the SI (S604).
On the other hand, if it is determined in S603 that L <Min, the correction character string of the password correction PT is stored in the variable SC secured in the RAM 1022 (S1211). Then, the PT verification unit 205 determines whether the SP includes SC at the correction position of the password correction PT (S1212). Specifically, when the correction character string of the password correction PT is “000” and the correction position is “AppendingToTop”, for example, if the SP is “0002”, it is determined that it is included, and if it is “0012” or “1000”, it is determined that it is not included. To do.

  If the correction position is “DeletingFromTop” or “DeletingFromBottom”, it is determined that the correction position is included. If it is determined in S1212 that the SP does not include the SC, the secure print PT and the password correction PT are inconsistent, so the password correction PT is deleted (S1213), and the process is exited.

  The case where the password correction PT of the first embodiment is used has been described above. However, when the password input value PT of the second embodiment is used, the password correction PT verification process of S1209 to S1212 is verified. Change to processing.

  Through the above steps, after setting the password on the detailed print attribute setting screen 400 and further changing the password on the print attribute setting screen 300 and printing, a print job without a private password correction PT (or password input value PT) is generated. be able to. As a result, the password re-input on the print attribute setting screen 300 can be input by the printer 111 and a print job can be output.

[Fourth Embodiment]
In the first to third embodiments, the XPS data output from the application 1051 is an example of processing the XPS data by the driver 1053, but the XPS data may be processed by the printer 111.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the printing system according to the present embodiment. This example corresponds to an example of a module configuration included in the print control apparatus and the printing apparatus. 2 denote the same components as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. Details will be described below. The printer 111 includes an XPS analysis unit 206, a PT analysis unit 208, a drawn image generation unit 1301, and a secure print PT analysis unit 209. Similar to the output data generation unit 207 in FIG. 2, the drawing image generation unit 1301 performs rendering according to the drawing object included in the XPS data received from the XPS analysis unit 206 and calls the PT analysis unit 208 to analyze the PT. However, the output data generation unit 207 generates PDL, whereas the drawing image generation unit 1301 generates a drawing image that can be processed by the engine of the printer 111.

  Each process of the present invention can also be realized by executing software (program) acquired via a network or various storage media by a processing device (CPU, processor) such as a personal computer (computer).

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications (including organic combinations of the embodiments) are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and these are excluded from the scope of the present invention. is not.

101 CPU
102 Main memory

Claims (10)

First setting means for setting print attributes using a first setting screen managed by an application that generates a print ticket;
A second setting means for setting print attributes using a second setting screen managed by the device application;
When the range of the number of digits set in the information to be input with respect to the print attribute common to the first setting screen and the second setting screen is different, the information input on the second setting screen is Correction means for correcting in accordance with the range of the number of digits set on the first setting screen;
Creating means for creating restoration information for restoring the correction information corrected by the correction means to the information input on the second setting screen;
Generating means for generating a print ticket including the correction information and the restoration information and delivering it to the application;
A printing control apparatus comprising:   The application generates a print ticket to be transferred to the device driver based on the print ticket transferred by the generation unit when the application transitions from the display of the second setting screen to the display of the first setting screen. The print control apparatus according to claim 1. When the print ticket generated by the application is received, the correction information is set by input to the second setting screen, and the received information to be input falls within the range of the number of digits set on the first setting screen. A judgment means for judging whether it fits,
When the correction information is set on the first setting screen and it is determined that the information to be input for the common print attribute falls within the range of the number of digits set on the first setting screen, The print control apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a deletion unit that deletes the correction information and transfers the correction information to the application.   The print control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the application receives a print ticket from which the correction information has been deleted by the deletion unit, and regenerates a print ticket to be output to a device driver.   The common print attribute is an attribute associated with a secure print request for starting a print process by collating a print job held by a printing apparatus with a password entered. 5. The print control apparatus according to claim 1.   When the range of the number of digits set in the information to be input with respect to the print attribute common to the first setting screen and the second setting screen is different between the first setting screen and the second setting screen, the correction unit is input on the second setting screen. The printing according to claim 1, wherein the information is corrected so that the number of digits is added to the range of the number of digits set on the first setting screen or the number of digits is deleted. Control device.   The restoration information is information for deleting the number of digits when the number of digits is added according to the range of the number of digits set on the first setting screen from the information input on the second setting screen. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is provided.   The restoration information is information for adding the number of digits when the number of digits is deleted in accordance with the range of the number of digits set on the first setting screen from the information input on the second setting screen. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is provided. A data processing method for a print control apparatus,
A first setting step for setting print attributes using a first setting screen managed by an application that generates a print ticket;
A second setting step for setting print attributes using a second setting screen managed by the device application;
When the range of the number of digits set in the information to be input with respect to the print attribute common to the first setting screen and the second setting screen is different, the information input on the second setting screen is A correction process for correcting according to the range of the number of digits set in the first setting screen;
A creation step for creating restoration information for restoring the correction information corrected in the correction step to the information input on the second setting screen;
A generation step of generating a print ticket including the correction information and the restoration information and delivering it to the application;
A data processing method for a print control apparatus, comprising:   A program for causing a computer to execute the data processing method of the print control apparatus according to claim 9.

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