JP2015141561A - Data processing device, program, and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute time prediction processing on RIP processing with high accuracy and at high speed.SOLUTION: Raster image data is generated in a second resolution lower than a first resolution. At that time, processing time to generate raster image data in the second resolution is measured from print data. Then, processing time for the generation means to generate raster image data in the first resolution is predicted from the measured processing time.

Description

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

  The time required for RIP processing of print data performed by the printing apparatus depends on the contents of the input print data. Therefore, depending on the contents of the print data created by the user, it may take a very long time to output the print. It is useful for the user to know in advance how long it will take to print such print data. Therefore, a time prediction method for predicting the time required for RIP processing based on the number of drawing objects included in the print data and the data size is known (Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-88366 A

  In the RIP process, in addition to the drawing process of each drawing object, the sorting process is performed according to the position of the drawing object, thereby performing the drawing process more efficiently. Therefore, it is difficult to perform time prediction processing with high accuracy from the accumulation of the number of drawing objects and the data size as in the prior art.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism capable of executing a time prediction process for RIP processing with higher accuracy and at high speed.

The data processing apparatus of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following configuration.
Generating means for generating raster image data at a second resolution lower than the first resolution;
Measuring means for measuring a processing time required for the generating means to generate at the second resolution;
Predicting means for predicting processing time for the generating means to generate raster image data at the first resolution from the processing time measured by the measuring means;
It is characterized by providing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to execute the time prediction process for the RIP process with high accuracy and at high speed.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a printing system to which a printing apparatus can be applied. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a print controller. FIG. It is a figure explaining the flow of the printing process of a printing apparatus. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a flow of print processing of the information processing apparatus. It is a figure which shows the outline of the RIP process part shown in FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of the printing system. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling the printing apparatus. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of the printing system. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of the printing system. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control method of the 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 printing system to which the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment can be applied. In this example, two data processing apparatuses, an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus, are connected using a network and configured to be capable of bidirectional communication.

  In FIG. 1, the printing system includes a host computer 101, a LAN (Local Area Network) 102, and a printer 103. The printer 103 includes a user panel 104, a print controller 105, and a print engine 106. The user transmits print data described in PDL (Page Description Language) together with a print instruction from the host computer 101 via the LAN 102 to the printer 103.

  A print request and print data from the host computer 101 are received by the print controller 105. The print controller 105 starts a print job in response to a print request, forms image data from the print data, and passes the image data to the print engine 106. The print engine 106 prints out a paper medium based on the image data.

  The print job ends when the print engine 106 prints out the print job. The user panel 104 can change parameter settings used in the print controller 105 in response to a request from the user, and can execute various services provided in the printer such as printing and copying.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the print controller 105 shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 201 denotes a system bus for data transmission inside the controller. Reference numeral 202 denotes an interface for allowing the host computer 101 and the print controller 105 to exchange data via a network I / F (Interface).

  Print data transmitted from the host computer 101 via the LAN 102 can be received by the print controller via the network I / F 202). A general-purpose CPU (Central Processing Unit) 203 has a role of executing processing in accordance with ROM (Read Only Memory) data developed in a RAM (Random Access Memory). Reference numeral 204 denotes an interface for allowing the user panel 104 and the print controller 105 to exchange data with the panel I / F.

  A request made by the user from the user panel 104 can be received by the print controller via the panel I / F 205. Reference numeral 206 denotes an interface through which the print engine 106 and the print controller 105 exchange data with the engine I / F. Image data generated inside the print controller is passed to the print engine 106 via the engine I / F 206.

  A ROM 204 stores software modules such as a job control processing unit 211, a PDL interpretation processing unit 212, a RIP processing unit 213, and a time prediction processing unit 214. These are developed on the RAM 207 by software modules and executed by the CPU 203, thereby realizing processing corresponding to each function. Here, the PDL interpretation processing unit 212 interprets the print data (PLD data) received from the host computer 101, and the RIP processing unit 213 generates the interpreted object as raster image data.

  Reference numeral 207 denotes a RAM (Random Access Memory). The RAM 207 includes a print data storage area 221, an intermediate data storage area 222, an image data storage area 223), a measurement data storage area 224, and a predicted data storage area 225.

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating the flow of print processing of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 3A shows an example of an operation concept in printing performed by the print controller 105. When the job control processing unit 211 receives a print instruction from the host computer 101 received via the network I / F 202, the job control processing unit 211 stores the received print data in the print data storage area 221.

  Upon receiving a print instruction from the host computer 101, the job control processing unit 211 starts a print job and requests the PDL interpretation processing unit 212 to start print data interpretation processing. When the PDL interpretation processing unit 212 receives a start request from the job control processing unit 211, the PDL interpretation processing unit 212 interprets the print data stored in the print data storage area 221 and generates intermediate data.

  The PDL interpretation processing unit 212 stores the generated intermediate data in the intermediate data storage area 222. When the interpretation processing of the print data stored in the print data storage area 221 is completed, the job control processing unit 211 is notified of the completion of the process. Do.

  When the job control processing unit 211 is notified of the end of processing from the PDL interpretation processing unit 212, the job control processing unit 211 requests the RIP processing unit 213 to start drawing processing. When the RIP processing unit 213 receives a drawing processing start request from the job control processing unit 211, the RIP processing unit 213 generates image data according to the intermediate data stored in the intermediate data storage area 222 and stores the image data in the image data storage area 223. To do. When the generation of the image data is finished, the RIP processing unit 213 notifies the job control processing unit 211 of the end of processing.

  When the job end is notified from the RIP processing unit 213, the job control processing unit 211 transmits the image data stored in the image data storage area 223 to the print engine 106 via the engine I / F 205. To do. When the print engine 106 finishes printing, the job control processing unit 211 is notified of the end of processing via the engine I / F 106. When the job control processing unit 211 is notified of the end of the print engine processing, the job control processing unit 211 ends the print job.

FIG. 3B is a diagram for explaining the flow of print processing of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 3B shows an example of an operation concept related to time prediction processing for RIP processing in printing performed by the print controller 105. When the job control processing unit 211 receives a print instruction from the host computer 101 received via the network I / F 202, the job control processing unit 211 stores the received print data in the print data storage area 221.

  Upon receiving a print instruction from the host computer, the job control processing unit 211 starts a print job and requests the PDL interpretation processing unit 212 to start the print data interpretation process. When the PDL interpretation processing unit 212 receives a start request from the job control processing unit 211, the PDL interpretation processing unit 212 interprets the print data stored in the print data storage area 221 and generates intermediate data.

  At this time, the PDL interpretation processing unit generates intermediate data that can be subjected to RIP processing at a resolution (for example, 150 dpi, 75 dpi) lower than the resolution (for example, 600 dpi) applied in the actual print processing. The PDL interpretation processing unit 212 stores the generated intermediate data in the intermediate data storage area 222, and when the interpretation processing of the print data stored in the print data storage area 221 ends, notifies the job control processing unit 211 of the end. When the job control processing unit 211 receives an end notification from the PDL interpretation processing unit 212, it requests the RIP processing unit 213 to start drawing processing.

  Upon receiving a drawing process start request from the job control processing unit 211, the RIP processing unit 213 first acquires a start time. Next, in the RIP process, image data is generated according to the intermediate data stored in the intermediate data storage area 222, and the image data is stored in the image data storage area 223.

  When the generation of the image data is finished, the RIP processing unit 213 finally obtains the end time, and stores the difference between the start time and the end time in the predicted data storage area 224 as the measurement data, which is the time taken for the RIP process. . When the storage of the measurement data is completed, the RIP processing unit 213 notifies the job control processing unit 211 of the end. When the job control processing unit 211 is notified of the end of processing from the RIP processing unit 213, the job control processing unit 211 causes the PDL interpretation processing unit 212 to perform PDL interpretation processing and the RIP processing unit 213 again to perform RIP processing.

  Then, the RIP processing unit 213 stores the time required for the RIP processing at that time in the predicted data storage area 224 as measurement data. When the job control processing unit 211 receives a notification of the end of processing from the RIP processing unit 213, the job control processing unit 211 requests the time prediction processing unit 214 to start time prediction processing for the RIP processing time required for printing. When the time prediction processing unit 214 receives a start request. The time required for RIP processing at the time of printing is calculated and predicted from the measurement data stored in the predicted data storage area 224. At this time, the time prediction processing unit 214 performs RIP processing a plurality of times for each resolution at a resolution lower than the resolution requested in the print data. At this time, a process for determining whether or not the prediction process is possible is performed based on the number of objects included in the print data, as will be described later.

  The time required for the RIP processing predicted by the time prediction processing unit 214 is stored in the prediction data storage area 225 as prediction data. The time prediction processing unit 214 notifies the job control processing unit 211 of the end when the prediction processing ends. When the job control processing unit 211 receives an end notification from the time prediction processing unit 214, the job control processing unit 211 transmits the prediction data stored in the prediction data storage area to the host computer 101 from the network I / F 202 via the LAN 102.

FIG. 4A is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. This example corresponds to an example of a hardware configuration inside the host computer 101.
In FIG. 4A, reference numeral 401 denotes a system bus for data transmission inside the host computer. Reference numeral 402 denotes an interface for connecting an input device such as a keyboard and a pointing device with the input I / F.

  Reference numeral 403 denotes an interface for connecting an output device such as a display with the output I / F. Reference numeral 404 denotes an interface for the host computer 101 and the print controller 105 to exchange data via the network I / F. A general-purpose CPU (Central Processing Unit) 405 has a role of executing processing in accordance with an OS, an application program, and a printer driver that are expanded in a RAM (Random Access Memory).

  Reference numeral 406 denotes an area for reading and writing out programs and data executed by the CPU in the RAM. Reference numeral 407 denotes a storage device in which an application program 408, a printer driver 409, and an OS 410) and other files (not shown) are stored.

FIG. 4B is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the printer driver shown in FIG.
In FIG. 4B, reference numeral 411 denotes a UI processing unit that receives a print instruction from the user, acquires information from the printer 103, and displays the information on the display via the output I / F 403.

  In addition to the UI processing unit 411, the job control processing unit 412, the PDL generation unit 413, the PDL interpretation processing unit 414, the RIP processing unit 415, and the time prediction processing unit 416 are configured as software modules. It is further composed of a drawing command storage area 421, a print data storage area 422, an intermediate data storage area 423, a measurement data storage area 424, a predicted data storage area 425, sample print data 426, and an individual printer registration information storage area 427. .

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the flow of print processing of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example shows an example of an operation concept related to time prediction processing of RIP processing in print processing executed by the printer driver 409.
In FIG. 5, when the UI processing unit 411 receives a print instruction from the user, the job control processing unit 412 starts a print job.

  The job control processing unit 412 stores a drawing command of the OS 410 such as Windows (registered trademark) GDI used by the application program 408 in the drawing command storage area 421. The job control processing unit 412 requests the PDL generation unit 413 to start print data generation processing from a drawing command.

  Upon receiving a print data generation start request from the job control processing unit 412, the PDL generation unit 413 generates print data described in PDL from the drawing command stored in the drawing command storage area 421, and the print data storage area 422. To store. When the PDL generation unit 413 ends the print data generation, the PDL generation unit 413 notifies the job control processing unit 412 of the end.

  When the job control processing unit 412 receives an end notification from the PDL generation unit 413, the job control processing unit 412 requests the PDL interpretation processing unit 414 to start print data interpretation processing. When the PDL interpretation processing unit 414 receives a start request from the job control processing unit 412, the PDL interpretation processing unit 414 interprets the print data stored in the print data storage area 422 and generates intermediate data. At this time, the PDL interpretation processing unit generates intermediate data that can be subjected to RIP processing at a resolution (for example, 150 dpi, 75 dpi) lower than the resolution (for example, 600 dpi) applied in the actual print processing. Here, between the resolution of 600 dpi and the resolutions of 150 dpi and 75 dpi, there is a specific relationship in which the squares of 150 dpi and 75 dpi described later are proportional to the resolution of 600 dpi. Therefore,

  The PDL interpretation processing unit 414 stores the generated intermediate data in the intermediate data storage area 423, and when the interpretation processing of the print data stored in the print data storage area 422 is completed, notifies the job control processing unit 412 of the completion. When the job control processing unit 412 receives an end notification from the PDL interpretation processing unit 414, the job control processing unit 412 requests the RIP processing unit 415 to start drawing processing.

  When the RIP processing unit 415 receives a drawing processing start request from the job control processing unit 412, the RIP processing unit 415 first acquires the start time. Next, the RIP processing unit 415 generates image data according to the intermediate data stored in the intermediate data storage area 423, and stores the image data in the image data storage area 424. When the generation of the image data is finished, the RIP processing unit 415 finally obtains the end time, and stores the difference between the start time and the end time in the predicted data storage area 425 as the measurement data, which is the time taken for the RIP process. .

  When the storage of the measurement data is completed, the RIP processing unit 415 notifies the job control processing unit 412 of completion. Upon receiving the end notification from the RIP processing unit 415, the job control processing unit 412 causes the PDL generation unit 413 to perform the PDL interpretation processing and the RIP processing unit 415 again to perform the RIP processing.

  The RIP processing unit 415 stores the time taken for the RIP processing at that time in the predicted data storage area 425 as measurement data. When the job control processing unit 412 receives a processing end notification from the RIP processing unit 213, the job control processing unit 412 requests the time prediction processing unit 416 to start the time prediction processing of the RIP processing time required for printing.

  When the time prediction processing unit 416 receives a start request. The time required for RIP processing at the time of printing is calculated and predicted from the measurement data stored in the predicted data storage area 425. The time required for the RIP process predicted by the time prediction processing unit 416 is stored in the predicted data storage area 425 as predicted data. The time prediction processing unit 416 notifies the job control processing unit 412 of the end when the prediction processing ends.

  When the job control processing unit 412 receives the notification of the end of the prediction process from the time prediction processing unit 416, the job control processing unit 412 transmits the print data stored in the print data storage area 422 from the network I / F 404 to the printer 103 via the LAN 102. . In addition, the UI processing unit 411 displays the prediction data stored in the prediction data storage area 425 on the printer driver UI screen on the display through the output I / F, and ends the print job.

FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating an outline of the RIP processing unit 213 illustrated in FIG.
In FIG. 6A, the RIP processing unit 213 is roughly divided into a RIP pre-processing unit 601 and a RIP post-processing unit 602. In the pre-RIP process, the intermediate data is read and sorted in order to properly arrange the drawing objects in units of scan lines per page, and the positions of the drawing objects are controlled.

  On the other hand, in the post-RIP process, a color is assigned to a correctly placed drawing object, and the image data is generated by combining the colors of the drawing objects in units of pixels and stored in the image data storage area. ing.

Since the post-RIP processing is involved in pixel generation, the processing time required for the change in resolution is proportional to the square of the change. On the other hand, the pre-RIP process performs position control between drawing objects independent of the resolution, and requires unique processing time for each print data. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6B, the processing time required for the RIP processing satisfies the relationship Y = aX ² + b when the x-axis is the resolution and the Y-axis is the processing time.
[First data processing]

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the printing system according to the present embodiment. 7A corresponds to the processing on the host computer 101 side, and each step is realized by the CPU 405 executing a control program stored therein. 7B corresponds to processing on the printer 103 side, and each step is realized by the CPU 203 executing a control program stored therein. Hereinafter, a series of processes related to the time prediction process of the RIP process in the printing system will be described. Steps S701a to S704a indicate processing performed by the CPU 405 in the host computer 101, and steps S701b to S704b indicate processing performed by the CPU 203 in the printer 103.
In step S <b> 701 a, the CPU 405 generates print data from the application data, and stores the print data in the print data storage area 422.

  In step S <b> 702 a, the CPU 405 transmits the print data stored in the print data storage area 422 together with the print instruction to the printer 103. In step S <b> 703 a, the CPU 405 enters a waiting state until the estimated RIP time is received from the printer 103.

  After acquiring the predicted time in S703a, the CPU 405 temporarily stores the acquired predicted time in the predicted data storage area 425. In step S <b> 704 a, the CPU 405 displays the predicted time stored in the predicted data storage area 425 on the UI screen of the printer driver on the display through the output I / F 403.

In step S <b> 701 b, when the CPU 203 receives the print instruction, the CPU 203 stores print data following the print instruction in the print data storage area 221. In step S <b> 702 b, the CPU 203 performs time prediction processing (see FIG. 8), and calculates the predicted time required for the RIP processing. In step S <b> 703 b, the CPU 203 transmits prediction data describing the prediction time required for the RIP processing stored in the prediction data storage area 225 to the host computer 101.
In step S704b, the CPU 203 performs PDL interpretation processing and RIP processing at the print resolution in order to perform print output.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment. This example is an example of RIP time prediction processing performed by the CPU 203 of the printer 103. Each step is realized by the CPU 203 executing a stored control program. In the figure, Res indicates the resolution when print output is performed. Res1 and Res2 are resolutions for performing PDL interpretation processing and RIP processing for predicting the RIP time, and indicate a resolution lower than Res.
The values of Res1 and Res2 are different. T1 indicates the time taken when the RIP process corresponding to the resolution Res1 is performed. Similarly, T2 corresponds to Res2. T is a predicted time required for the RIP process at the print resolution Res.

  In step S <b> 801, the CPU 203 performs PDL interpretation processing and RIP processing at the resolution Res <b> 1, acquires the time T <b> 1 taken at that time, and stores it in the predicted data storage area 224. In step S <b> 802, the CPU 203 performs PDL interpretation processing and RIP processing at the resolution Res <b> 2, acquires the time T <b> 2 taken at that time, and stores the time T <b> 2 in the prediction data storage area 224.

In step S803, the CPU 203 obtains a prediction formula. From the description of FIG. 6, since there is a relationship of the quadratic function Y = aX ² + b between the RIP processing time and the resolution, (x, y) = (Res1, T1) and (x, y) = (Res2, A and b are obtained from T2), and the predicted time T required for RIP at the resolution R is calculated. It is possible to obtain a and b by solving simultaneous equations relating to a and b.

In step S804, the CPU 203 calculates the predicted time T required for RIP at the resolution R by substituting Res for x of the quadratic function y = aX ² + b for which a and b are obtained in step S803. In the present embodiment, the quadratic function y = aX ² + b is used as the prediction formula, but it is possible to replace the prediction formula with another function depending on how much accuracy of the prediction time is pursued. For example, if a temporal prediction result with a certain degree of accuracy is desired, y = aX ² can be used as a prediction formula, and if one point information of (x, y) = (Res1, T1) can be acquired, The prediction formula is obtained.

In this case, the time prediction process of the RIP process can be performed at a higher speed in exchange for a certain degree of accuracy regarding the time prediction result. In a special situation, when a more general quadratic function y = aX ² + bx + c is used as a prediction formula, (x, y) = (Res1, T1), (x, y) = (Res2, T2), A prediction equation can be obtained by solving a three-variable simultaneous equation based on information of three points (x, y) = (Res3, T3). As described above, the number of sets of time required for RIP processing with a resolution lower than the print resolution necessary for time prediction processing of RIP processing can be changed according to the prediction formula to be used.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the printing system according to the present embodiment. This example is a series of processing examples regarding time prediction processing of RIP processing (page unit) for print data composed of a plurality of pages. Note that steps S901a to S908a indicate processing performed by the CPU 405 in the host computer 101, and steps S901b to S905b indicate processing performed by the CPU 203 in the printer 103. 9A corresponds to the processing on the host computer 101 side, and each step is realized by the CPU 405 executing a control program stored therein. 9B corresponds to the processing on the printer 103 side, and each step is realized by the CPU 203 executing a control program stored therein.

  In step S901a, the CPU 405 generates print data from the application data, and stores the print data in the print data storage area 422. In step S <b> 902 a, the CPU 405 transmits the print data stored in the print data storage area 422 together with the print instruction to the printer 103. In step S903a, the CPU 405 initializes the counter by writing zero to the counter Cnt that counts the number of pages for which time prediction processing has been completed in the print data. In S904a, the processing from S905a to S908a is loop-controlled, and this loop is repeatedly executed as many times as the number of pages included in the print data.

  In step S <b> 905 a, the CPU 405 shifts to a waiting state until the estimated RIP processing time is received from the printer 103. When the predicted time required for the RIP process is acquired in S905a, the CPU 405 stores the acquired predicted time in the predicted data storage area 425. In step S906a, the CPU 405 increments Cnt. In step S907a, the CPU 405 determines whether Cnt is divisible by a predetermined number of pages Nunit.

  In S907a, the CPU 405 proceeds to S908a if divisible, and proceeds to S904a if not divisible. In step S <b> 908 a, the CPU 405 displays the sum of the Cnt value and the predicted time required for Cnt RIP processing stored in the predicted data storage area 425 on the UI screen of the printer driver on the display through the output I / F 403. In step S <b> 901 b, when the CPU 203 receives a print instruction, the CPU 203 stores print data following the print instruction in the print data storage area 221.

  In S902b, the CPU 203 controls a processing loop from S903b to S904a, and this loop is repeatedly executed as many times as the number of pages included in the print data. In S903b, the CPU 203 performs a process for predicting the time required for RIP (see FIG. 8). In step S <b> 904 b, the CPU 203 transmits the predicted RIP time stored in the predicted data storage area 225 to the host computer 101. In step S905b, the CPU 203 performs PDL interpretation processing and RIP processing at a resolution for printing out all pages included in the print data.

[Third Embodiment]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the printing system according to the present embodiment. 10A corresponds to the processing on the host computer 101 side, and each step is realized by the CPU 405 executing a control program stored therein. FIG. 10B corresponds to the processing on the printer 103 side, and each step is realized by the CPU 203 executing a stored control program.

If the RIP process does not take much time, the time prediction process for the RIP process is not necessary. Therefore, in this embodiment, a simple determination is made as to whether or not the time prediction process is necessary by checking the number of drawing objects included in the print data. An example in which the time prediction process is performed only when it is determined to be necessary will be described. Also, S1001a to S1009a indicate processing performed by the CPU 405 in the host computer 101, and S1001b to S1005b indicate processing performed by the CPU 203 in the printer 103.
In step S1001a, the CPU 405 generates print data from the application data, and stores the print data in the print data storage area 422.

  In step S1002a, the CPU 405 obtains the number of drawing objects Nobj that counts the number of drawing objects included in the print data. In S1003a, the CPU 405 determines whether Nobj is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold Nth. If it is determined that Nobj is less than Nth, the CPU 405 advances the process to step S1004a. On the other hand, when it is determined that Nobj is equal to or greater than Nth, the CPU 405 advances the process to step S1005a. In S1004a, the CPU 405 writes False to the flag.

  In step S1005a, the CPU 405 writes True to the flag. In step S <b> 1006 a, the CPU 405 transmits print data and a flag together with a print instruction to the printer 103. In S1007a, the CPU 405 determines whether the value of Flag is True or False. When the value of Flag is False, the RIP time prediction is not displayed, so the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the value of Flag is True, the process proceeds to S1008a to perform RIP time prediction. In step S <b> 1008 a, the CPU 405 enters a waiting state until the estimated RIP time is received from the printer 103. After acquiring the predicted time in S1008a, the CPU 405 temporarily stores the acquired predicted time in the predicted data storage area 425.

  In step S1009a, the CPU 405 displays the predicted time stored in the predicted data storage area 425 on the UI screen of the printer driver on the display through the output I / F 403. In step S1001b, when the CPU 203 receives the print instruction, the CPU 203 stores the print data following the print instruction in the print data storage area 221. In step S1002b, the CPU 203 determines whether the value of the flag received along with the print instruction is True or False. If the value of Flag is False, the RIP time prediction is not displayed, and the process proceeds to S1005b.

  On the other hand, when the value of Flag is True, the process proceeds to S1003b to perform RIP time prediction. In S1003b, the CPU 203 performs a time prediction process (see FIG. 8) and calculates a predicted time required for the RIP process. In step S <b> 1004 b, the CPU 203 transmits the predicted time required for the RIP process stored in the predicted data storage area 225 to the host computer 101. In step S1005b, the CPU 203 performs PDL interpretation processing and RIP processing at the print resolution in order to perform print output.

[Fourth Embodiment]
FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a control method of the printing system according to the present embodiment. This example is an example in which time prediction processing of RIP processing is performed by a host computer. 11A corresponds to processing on the host computer 101 side, and each step is realized by the CPU 405 executing a control program stored therein. 11B corresponds to the processing on the printer 103 side, and each step is realized by the CPU 203 executing a control program stored therein.
In step S1101a, the CPU 405 generates print data from the application data, and stores the print data in the print data storage area 422.

  In S1102a, the CPU 405 performs a time prediction process (see FIG. 8) and calculates a predicted time T required for the RIP process. In step S1103a, the CPU 405 multiplies the prediction time T by the conversion coefficient A in order to convert the prediction time T predicted on the host computer 101 into the prediction time T ′ predicted on the printer 103. In S1104a, the CPU 405 displays the predicted time stored in the predicted data storage area 425 on the UI screen of the printer driver on the display through the output I / F 403.

  In step S <b> 1105, the CPU 405 transmits the print data stored in the print data storage area 422 together with the print instruction to the printer 103. In step S1101b, when the CPU 203 receives the print instruction, the CPU 203 stores the print data following the print instruction in the print data storage area 221. In step S1102b, the CPU 203 performs PDL interpretation processing and RIP processing at the print resolution in order to perform print output. The conversion coefficient A is calculated when the printer driver 409 is installed in the host computer 101 and the printer 103 is registered. When installing the printer driver, the host computer 101 and the printer 103 perform PDL interpretation processing and RIP processing on the sample print data 426, and hold the ratio of the RIP time taken at that time as the conversion coefficient A. It is stored in the printer registration information storage area 427.

  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 Host computer 103 Printer

Claims (11)

Generating means for generating raster image data at a second resolution lower than the first resolution;
Measuring means for measuring a processing time required for the generating means to generate at the second resolution;
Predicting means for predicting processing time for the generating means to generate raster image data at the first resolution from the processing time measured by the measuring means;
A data processing apparatus comprising:   The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit configured to display a predicted time predicted by the prediction unit.   The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines whether to perform a prediction process based on the number of objects included in the print data. The generating means generates a plurality of raster image data at a plurality of resolutions lower than the first resolution;
4. The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measurement unit measures a processing time required for generating the plurality of raster image data for each resolution. 5. Obtaining means for obtaining the print data from an information processing apparatus;
Transmitting means for transmitting the processing time predicted by the prediction means to the information processing apparatus;
The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: Generating the raster image data at a second resolution lower than the first resolution;
A measuring step for measuring a processing time required for generating at the second resolution in the generating step;
A prediction step of predicting a processing time for generating raster image data at the first resolution in the generation step from the processing time measured by the measurement step;
A program comprising:   The program according to claim 6, further comprising a display step of displaying the predicted time predicted by the prediction step.   The program according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising a determination step of determining whether to perform a prediction process based on the number of objects included in the print data. The generating step generates a plurality of raster image data at a plurality of resolutions lower than the first resolution,
The program according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the measuring step measures a processing time required for generating the plurality of raster image data for each resolution. An acquisition step of acquiring the print data from a computer;
A transmission step of transmitting the processing time predicted in the prediction step to the computer;
The program according to any one of claims 6 to 8, further comprising: Generating the raster image data at a second resolution lower than the first resolution;
A measuring step for measuring a processing time required for generating at the second resolution in the generating step;
A prediction step of predicting a processing time for generating raster image data at the first resolution in the generation step from the processing time measured by the measurement step;
A control method comprising:

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