JP2018018120A - Printing system, information processing system, method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printing system that allows a user to recognize existence of a printing request being possible to prioritize.SOLUTION: A printing system is provided that transmits a printing request transmitted from a client terminal to an image formation device to print, the system comprising printing management means that stores the printing request transmitted by the client terminal, and transmits printing data corresponding to the printing request to the one image formation device responsive to receiving a print start request corresponding to the printing request from one image formation device of a plurality of image formation devices, priority relation information storage means that stores priority relation information indicating a priority relation between users, and alarm information transmission means that, when the print start request is received from the one image formation device, transmits predetermined alarm information to the one image formation device if there is the printing request of other user having the higher priority relation than the user of the print start request among the printing requests stored.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing system, an information processing system, a method, and a program.

  In recent years, in a large-scale office environment where a large number of desks are lined up on one floor, an arbitrary output destination can be selected from a plurality of printing devices installed in the office after a print request is input from a personal computer to the management server. A so-called “location-free printing method”, which is selected and output, is widely used.

  In this regard, in Patent Document 1, a management server stores a print target file and print setting information based on a print command from a user, and in response to a printer being designated by user authentication, the designated printer A location-free printing system that transmits spool data generated from a file to be printed is disclosed.

  In such a location-free printing method, a plurality of print requests submitted by different users wait for a print start request in the management server. Instead of printing in the order of submission, the printing device is occupied first. The user who has done this prints ahead of other users. For this reason, with the conventional location-free printing method, it is not possible to preferentially handle a print request of a specific user, for example, a situation where a boss waits long behind a subordinate who previously occupied the printing device. Had occurred.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that allows a user to recognize the presence of a print request that may have priority.

  As a result of intensive studies on the configuration of a printing system that allows a user to recognize the presence of a print request that may be prioritized, the present inventor has conceived the following configuration and arrived at the present invention.

  That is, according to the present invention, there is provided a printing system that includes one or more information processing apparatuses and transmits a print request transmitted from a client terminal to one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses for printing. In response to receiving a print start request corresponding to the print request from one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses. A print management unit that transmits print data corresponding to a print request to the one image forming apparatus; a priority relationship information holding unit that stores priority relationship information indicating a priority relationship between users; and When there is a print request of another user having a higher priority than the user of the print start request among the print requests held when the print start request is received, Including a warning information transmitting means for transmitting a predetermined warning information to the image forming apparatus, a printing system is provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a printing system that allows a user to recognize the presence of a print request that may have priority.

1 is a system configuration diagram of a printing system according to a first embodiment. 1 is a functional block diagram of a printing system according to a first embodiment. The figure which shows a user information management table. The figure which shows a printing request management table etc. The figure which shows a priority relationship information management table. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing executed by the printing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen displayed on the operation panel of the image forming apparatus. The flowchart which shows the warning condition determination process of 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows warning information. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing executed by the printing system according to the first embodiment. The flowchart which shows the warning condition determination process of 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the warning condition determination process of 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing executed by a printing system according to a third embodiment. The flowchart which shows the warning condition determination process of 3rd Embodiment. The figure which shows warning mail. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment.

  Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated with embodiment, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned later. In the drawings referred to below, the same reference numerals are used for common elements, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a printing system 1000 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The printing system 1000 according to the present embodiment is constructed as a system that transmits a print request transmitted from a client terminal to one image forming apparatus among a plurality of image forming apparatuses for printing. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 1000 according to the present embodiment includes an information processing system 100, a plurality of image forming apparatuses 200, and a client terminal 20. The information processing system 100 and other apparatuses are included. Are connected to each other via a network 50 referred to as the Internet or the like.

  The information processing system 100 of this embodiment is responsible for receiving print requests from the client terminal 20 and transmitting corresponding print data in response to a print start request from the image forming apparatus 200. The so-called “location free printing” is realized by the system 100 playing the role.

  In FIG. 1, the information processing system 100 is illustrated as one information processing apparatus. However, the information processing system 100 may be configured as a system including one or more information processing apparatuses. In the case of two or more information processing devices, each device may be distributed on the network. Hereinafter, all these forms are collectively referred to as an information processing system 100.

  The client terminal 20 according to the present embodiment is a personal computer (PC), and a user operates the client terminal 20 to transmit a print request to the information processing system 100. 1 illustrates a notebook PC as the client terminal 20, the client terminal 20 may be a desktop PC, a tablet PC, a smartphone, or the like.

  The image forming apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment is a network-compatible printing apparatus. A user operates the image forming apparatus 200 to download print data corresponding to a previously transmitted print request from the information processing system 100. Print out. FIG. 1 shows an MFP (Multi Function Peripheral) as a suitable example of the image forming apparatus 200.

  The system configuration of the printing system 1000 according to the present embodiment has been described above. Next, the functional configurations of the information processing system 100 and the image forming apparatus 200 will be described based on the functional block diagram shown in FIG.

  The information processing system 100 includes a user authentication unit 102, a print management unit 103, a warning condition determination unit 104, a warning information transmission unit 105, a warning necessity setting unit 106, and a storage area 108. .

  The user authentication unit 102 is a unit that executes authentication processing for a user who logs in via the image forming apparatus 200 based on user information held in the storage area 108.

  The print management unit 103 holds the print request received from the client terminal 20 in the storage area 108, and in response to receiving the print start request corresponding to the print request held from the image forming apparatus 200, the print management unit 103 This is means for transmitting print data corresponding to the request to the image forming apparatus 200. In the present embodiment, the print management unit 103 holds the print request received from the client terminal 20 in the storage area 108 by associating it with a user ID that is identification information of the print request source user.

  When the warning condition determination unit 104 receives a print start request from the image forming apparatus 200, the warning condition determination unit 104 determines another request source of the print request held in the storage area 108 based on the priority relationship information indicating the priority relationship between users. It is determined whether or not the user is higher in priority than the requesting user of the print start request, and the success or failure of the warning condition for the requesting user of the print start request is determined based on the determination result. It is means to do.

  The warning information transmitting unit 105 is means for transmitting predetermined warning information to the user.

  The warning necessity setting unit 106 is a means for setting whether or not to send warning information in response to a user request.

  The storage area 108 includes a user information management table for managing user information, a print request management table for managing print requests received from the client terminals 20, and priority relationship information for storing priority relationship information representing priority relationships between users. Means for holding the table.

  FIG. 3A shows the user information management table 400. As shown in FIG. 3A, the user information management table 400 includes a field 401 for storing a user ID, a field 402 for storing a user name, and authentication information such as a login password. Field 403.

  FIG. 4 shows a print request management table 500. As shown in FIG. 4, the print request management table 500 includes a field 501 for storing the user ID of the print request source user, a field 502 for storing a file name related to the print request, and a request for print request. A field 503 for storing the date and time, a field 504 for storing the print status, and a field 505 for storing a device ID which is identification information of the image forming apparatus 200 that is the output destination of the print data included in the print request. With.

Here, the print management unit 103 manages the following printing states (1) to (3) in the field 504 regarding the print request received from the client terminal 20.
(1) Unprinted: A state in which a print start request corresponding to a print request received from the client terminal 20 has not been received from the image forming apparatus 200 and print output related to the print request has not yet started.
(2) During printing: A state in which print output relating to a print request received from the client terminal 20 is being executed.
(3) Suspended: A state in which, after starting print output related to a print request received from the client terminal 20, this is temporarily suspended.

  FIG. 5A shows a priority relationship information table 600. As shown in FIG. 5A, the priority relationship information table 600 is a table for managing the priority of a user regarding print output and the user ID of the user, and a field 601 for storing the user ID. And a field 602 for storing the priority. In the present embodiment, the priority of each user is determined in advance according to a predetermined rule.

  FIG. 5B shows a priority relationship information table 700 which is another aspect of the priority relationship information table. As shown in FIG. 5B, the priority relationship information table 700 is a table that manages a user ID of a user and a user who is higher in the priority relationship than the user (hereinafter referred to as a higher user). And a field 701 for storing the user ID and a field 702 for storing the user ID of the upper user. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that one or more objects that should be prioritized from the viewpoint of each user are registered in advance as an upper user. For example, a subordinate registers a boss as an upper user, or a nurse It is conceivable to register a doctor as an upper user. In this embodiment, this registration may be performed by an administrator, or may be performed by the user himself / herself.

  Although the functional configuration of the information processing system 100 has been described above, in the present embodiment, the information processing system 100 functions as each unit described above when a computer configuring the information processing system 100 executes a predetermined program. .

  On the other hand, the image forming apparatus 200 includes an authentication information transmission unit 202, a print control unit 204, and a warning information display unit 206.

  The authentication information transmission unit 202 is means for transmitting authentication information of a user who logs in via the image forming apparatus 200 to the information processing system 100.

  The print control unit 204 is a unit that controls printing based on various commands received from the user via the operation panel.

  The warning information display unit 206 is a means for displaying warning information received from the information processing system 100.

  In the present embodiment, the image forming apparatus 200 functions as each unit described above when a computer mounted on the image forming apparatus 200 executes a predetermined program.

  The functional configurations of the information processing system 100 and the image forming apparatus 200 have been described above. Subsequently, this is executed when the information processing system 100 receives a print start request from the image forming apparatus 200 during location-free printing. The processing will be described based on the sequence diagram shown in FIG.

  The user operates the client terminal 20 to select a file to be printed, performs necessary print settings, and then instructs printing (S1). In response to this, the client terminal 20 generates print data including the file name of the file selected by the user, the print target file created from the file, print setting information, and the user ID. The print request including the request is transmitted to the information processing system 100 (S2). In response to this, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 stores the received print request in the storage area 108 and updates the print request management table 500 (FIG. 4) (S3).

  Specifically, the print management unit 103 adds a new record to the print request management table 500, stores the user ID and file name included in the received print request in the fields 501 and 502 of the record, respectively. In the field 503, the received date / time of the print request is stored as the requested date / time, and “unprinted” is stored in the field 504 as the print status. Since the output destination device is undecided at this time, the field 505 is blank.

  Thereafter, the user moves to the installation location of the desired image forming apparatus 200 among the plurality of installed image forming apparatuses 200, and performs a login operation for inputting authentication information to the image forming apparatus 200 (S4). . In response to this, the authentication information transmitting unit 202 of the image forming apparatus 200 transmits an authentication request including the input authentication information to the information processing system 100 (S5). The present embodiment does not limit the user authentication method, but is a known method such as property authentication based on an IC card or the like, knowledge authentication based on a user ID / password, biometric authentication based on biometric information such as a fingerprint. Can be adopted.

  On the other hand, the user authentication unit 102 of the information processing system 100 compares the authentication information received from the image forming apparatus 200 with the authentication information stored in the field 403 of the user information management table 400 held in the storage area 108 to perform user authentication. Is executed (S6). Thereafter, the print management unit 103 reads the file name of the print data associated with the user ID of the user who has succeeded in authentication from the field 502 of the print request management table 500, and generates a print file list that displays these in a selectable manner. The image is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 200 (S7). In response to this, the image forming apparatus 200 displays the print file list on the display of the operation panel. FIG. 7A exemplarily shows a print file list screen displayed on the display of the operation panel.

  In response to this, when the user selects a file from the print file list and touches the “print” button to instruct the image forming apparatus 200 to start printing (S8), the print control unit 204 displays the image. A print start request including the device ID of the forming apparatus 200, the user ID of the login user, and the file name selected by the user is generated and transmitted to the information processing system 100 (S9).

  In response to receiving the print start request from the image forming apparatus 200, the warning condition determination unit 104 of the information processing system 100 executes “warning condition determination processing” (S10). Hereinafter, the content of the “warning condition determination process” executed by the warning condition determination unit 104 in S10 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step S <b> 10, the warning condition determination unit 104 first repeatedly executes the processing of steps 101 to 103 below for each record in the print request management table 500.

  In step 101, it is determined whether or not the print state stored in the field 504 of the record of interest is “unprinted”. As a result, if the print state is not “unprinted” (No in step 101), the process for the record of interest ends. On the other hand, when the print state is “unprinted” (step 101, Yes), in the subsequent step 102, the user whose print state is “unprinted” is received from the requesting user of the received print start request. Also, it is determined in the following procedure whether or not it is higher in the priority relationship.

  Here, first, a case where the priority relationship information table 600 shown in FIG. 5A is adopted as the priority relationship information will be described.

  In this case, in the print request management table 500, the field 601 of the priority relationship information table 600 is searched using the user ID stored in the field 501 of the record of interest whose print state is “unprinted”. The priority α associated with the user ID is acquired, and the field 601 of the table is searched using the user ID included in the print start request received from the image forming apparatus 200 as a key, and associated with the user ID. Get the priority β. Then, the priority α of the “unprinted” user is compared with the priority β of the user who has requested printing. As a result, when priority α> priority β, it is determined that the “unprinted” user is higher in priority than the print requesting user, and priority α ≦ priority β. In this case, it is determined that the “unprinted” user is not higher in the priority relationship than the user who has requested printing.

  Next, a case where the priority relationship information table 700 shown in FIG. 5B is adopted as the priority relationship information will be described.

  In this case, using the user ID included in the print start request received from the image forming apparatus 200 as a key, the field 701 of the priority relationship information table 700 is searched to obtain the user ID of the upper user associated with the user ID. Then, it is determined whether or not the acquired user ID of the upper user matches the user ID stored in the field 501 of the record of interest. As a result, if the user IDs match, it is determined that the “unprinted” user is higher in priority than the print start requesting user, and if the user IDs do not match, It is determined that the user “print” is not higher in the priority relationship than the user who requested the print start.

  Returning to FIG.

  As a result of the determination in step 102, if it is determined that the “unprinted” user is not higher in the priority relationship than the print start requesting user (No in step 102), the process for the record of interest is terminated. On the other hand, when it is determined that the “unprinted” user is higher in the priority relationship than the user who requested the print start (Yes in step 102), the “unprinted” determined as higher in the subsequent step 103. Identify users.

  After executing the above-described steps 101 to 103 for all the records in the print request management table 500, the process proceeds to step 104. In step 104, it is determined whether or not the number of users determined to be higher in the previous step 103 is greater than or equal to a threshold value N (N is an integer equal to or greater than 1. The same applies hereinafter). Note that an appropriate value is set in advance as the value of the threshold N.

  As a result, when the number of users is not N or more (step 104, No), it is determined that the warning condition is not satisfied for the user who requested the print start, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, when the number of users is N or more (step 104, Yes), it is determined that the warning condition is satisfied for the user who is the print start request source, and the process ends.

  Thereafter, the warning condition determination unit 104 stores the device ID of the image forming apparatus 200 used by the user of the print start request source who has determined that the warning condition is satisfied (that is, stored in the field 505 of the record specified in the previous step 103). Device ID) to the warning information transmission unit 105.

  As described above, the warning condition determination process executed by the warning condition determination unit 104 in S10 has been described, so the description will be continued by returning to FIG.

  As a result of the “warning condition determination process” in S10, when it is determined that the warning condition is satisfied for one or more image forming apparatuses 200, the warning information transmission unit 105 starts printing that is used by the user who is determined that the warning condition is satisfied. Predetermined warning information is transmitted to the requesting image forming apparatus 200 (S11). In response to this, the warning information display unit 206 of the image forming apparatus 200 displays the warning information received from the information processing system 100 on the display of the operation panel (S12).

  FIG. 7B exemplarily shows the warning information displayed in S12. In the example shown in Fig. 7 (b), "There is a print request from [Sato], your boss. We recommend that you start printing after [Sato] has finished printing." A dialog screen displaying a “print cancel” button and a “print continue” button is displayed.

  In response to the dialog screen shown in FIG. 7B being displayed, when the user touches the “print stop” button and instructs the image forming apparatus 200 to stop printing (S13), the print control unit In step S9, the print start request issued to the information processing system 100 in step S9 is canceled (S14), and printing is stopped.

  On the other hand, when the user touches the “continue printing” button and instructs the image forming apparatus 200 to continue printing (S15), the print control unit 204 transmits a print continuation request to the information processing system 100. (S16). In response to this, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 reads the print request associated with both the user ID and the file name included in the print start request received in S9 from the storage area 108, and prints the print request. The print data included in the request is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 200 that is the printing start request source (S17), and the print control unit 204 of the image forming apparatus 200 starts print output of the print data received from the information processing system 100 ( S18). At this time, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 updates the value (printing state) of the field 504 of the record relating to the print request in the print request management table 500 to “printing” (S19).

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the warning condition is not satisfied as a result of the “warning condition determination process” in S10, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 prints a print request corresponding to the print start request received in S9. Is read from the storage area 108 and transmitted to the image forming apparatus 200 that is the print start request source (S20), and the print control unit 204 of the image forming apparatus 200 receives the print data received from the information processing system 100. Printing output is started (S21). At this time, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 updates the value (printing state) of the field 504 of the record relating to the print request in the print request management table 500 to “printing” (S21).

  Although not shown in FIG. 6, after the image forming apparatus 200 starts print output and when this is normally completed, the print control unit 204 of the image forming apparatus 200 notifies the information processing system to that effect. Upon receiving the notification, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 deletes the corresponding record from the print request management table 500.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the user can recognize the presence of a print request of another user to be prioritized (for example, his / her superior) before starting printing. At that time, the printing that he was trying to cancel can be canceled and the image forming apparatus 200 can be given to another user who should be given priority.

  Note that even when a print request of another user to be prioritized exists in the information processing system 100 when the user transmits a print start request from the image forming apparatus 200, the other user's If the number of image forming apparatuses 200 corresponding to the number of people is not used, it is not always necessary to issue a warning. In this regard, in the present embodiment, it is preferable to set an appropriate value for the above-described threshold N (step 104 in FIG. 8) in light of the number S of installed image forming apparatuses 200 provided for common use. N = S−1 can be set.

  Also, in location-free printing, the user who submitted the print request does not always start printing immediately, and if it is clear that other users who should have priority do not start printing immediately, it is necessary to stop printing. There is no. In consideration of this point, in this embodiment, the dialog screen illustrated in FIG. 9A may be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 200. In the example shown in Fig. 9 (a), the dialog screen says "There is a print request for [Sato] who is your supervisor. If [Sato] is near you, stop printing and print. "We recommend that you give up the device." Is displayed. The user who received this warning information looks around, and if [Sato] is absent or is waiting for customers, it is clear that [Sato] will not start printing immediately. You can continue printing.

  The processing executed when the information processing system 100 receives a print start request from the image forming apparatus 200 during location-free printing has been described above. Subsequently, the information processing system 100 performs processing during location-free printing. Processing executed when a print request is received from the client terminal 20 will be described with reference to a sequence diagram shown in FIG.

  The user operates the client terminal 20 to select a file to be printed, performs necessary print settings, and then instructs printing (S1). In response to this, the client terminal 20 generates print data including the file name of the file selected by the user, the print target file created from the file, print setting information, and the user ID. The print request including the request is transmitted to the information processing system 100 (S2). In response, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 saves the received print request in the storage area 108 and updates the print request management table 500 (FIG. 4) (S3).

  After updating the print request management table 500, the warning condition determination unit 104 of the information processing system 100 executes “warning condition determination processing” (S4). Hereinafter, the content of the “warning condition determination process” executed by the warning condition determination unit 104 in S4 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In step S <b> 4, the warning condition determination unit 104 first repeatedly executes the processes of steps 201 to 204 below for each record in the print request management table 500.

  First, in step 201, it is determined whether or not the printing state of the field 504 of the record of interest is “printing”. As a result, when the printing state is not “printing” (No in step 201), it is determined in step 204 that the warning condition is not satisfied for the user related to the record of interest. On the other hand, when the printing state is “printing” (step 201, Yes), in the subsequent step 202, the user related to the record of interest (that is, the user currently printing) receives the request source of the received print request. It is determined in the following procedure whether or not the user is in a lower priority relationship than the user.

  Here, first, a case where the priority relationship information table 600 shown in FIG. 5A is adopted as the priority relationship information will be described.

  In this case, the field 504 of the priority relationship information table 600 is searched using the user ID stored in the field 501 of the record of interest whose “printing” is stored in the field 504 as a key, and is associated with the user ID. In addition to acquiring the priority α, the field 601 of the table is searched using the user ID included in the print request received from the client terminal 20 as a key, and the priority β associated with the user ID is acquired. Then, the priority α of the “printing” user is compared with the priority β of the user of the print request source. As a result, if priority α <priority β, it is determined that the “printing” user is lower in priority relationship than the print requesting user, and priority α ≧ priority β. In this case, it is determined that the “printing” user is not lower in the priority relationship than the print requesting user.

  Next, a case where the priority relationship information table 700 shown in FIG. 5B is adopted as the priority relationship information will be described.

  In this case, using the user ID stored in the field 501 of the record of interest whose “printing” is stored in the field 504 as a key, the field 701 in the priority relationship information table 700 is searched and associated with the user ID. The user IDs of one or more higher-order users that have been acquired are acquired. Then, it is determined whether or not the acquired user ID of the upper user matches the user ID included in the print request received from the client terminal 20. As a result, if the user IDs match, it is determined that the “printing” user is lower in priority than the print requesting user, and if the user IDs do not match, “printing” It is determined that the user "" is not lower in the priority relationship than the user who has requested printing.

  Returning to FIG. 11, the description will be continued.

  As a result of the determination in step 202, when it is determined that the “printing” user is not lower in the priority relationship than the print requesting user (No in step 202), in the subsequent step 204, the “printing” user Is determined that the warning condition is not satisfied. On the other hand, if it is determined that the “printing” user is lower in priority than the print requesting user (step 202, Yes), in the subsequent step 203, a warning condition is set for the “printing” user. Is determined.

  The warning condition determination unit 104 ends the “warning condition determination process” after executing the above-described steps 201 to 204 for all the records in the print request management table 500. Thereafter, the warning condition determination unit 104 reads out the device ID of the image forming apparatus 200 used by the “printing” user who has determined that the warning condition is satisfied from the field 505 of the record related to the user, and outputs the warning information transmission unit 105. To pass.

  As described above, the processing executed by the warning condition determination unit 104 in S4 has been described, so the description will be continued by returning to FIG. 10 again.

  As a result of the “warning condition determination process” in S4, when it is determined that the warning condition is not satisfied for the user who uses all the image forming apparatuses 200, the warning information transmission unit 105 does nothing particularly. On the other hand, when it is determined that a warning condition is satisfied for a user who uses one or more image forming apparatuses 200, the warning information transmitting unit 105 sends predetermined warning information to the image forming apparatus 200 used by the user. Transmit (S5). In response to this, the warning information display unit 206 of the image forming apparatus 200 displays the warning information received from the information processing system 100 on the display of the operation panel (S6).

  FIG. 9B illustrates the warning information displayed in S6. In the example shown in Fig. 9 (b), with warning information "Your boss [Sato] has made a print request. If printing takes a long time, we recommend that you interrupt it." A dialog screen that displays a “print interruption” button and a “print continue” button is displayed as warning information.

  In response to the dialog screen shown in FIG. 9B being displayed, when the user touches the “continue printing” button, the print control unit 204 continues printing without interrupting printing. On the other hand, when the user touches the “print interruption” button and instructs the image forming apparatus 200 to interrupt printing (S7), the print control unit 204 immediately interrupts printing (S8), and the output is output. A print interruption notification including information indicating the remaining pages that have not been completed (hereinafter referred to as remaining page information) is generated and transmitted to the information processing system 100 (S9).

  In response to this, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 associates the remaining page information included in the print interruption notification with the print data for which printing has been interrupted, and then the corresponding record field 504 in the print request management table 500. The value of (printing status) is updated to “suspended” (S10).

  Although not shown in FIG. 10, a user who has stopped printing and left the bottom of the image forming apparatus 200 returns to the image forming apparatus 200 again after a while, and the printing is interrupted. When a print start request relating to data is transmitted, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 refers to the remaining page information associated with the print data and prints out only the remaining pages that have not been output. .

  Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7A, a check box for setting “warning unnecessary” is displayed on the print file list screen, and when the user checks it, information is displayed. The warning necessity setting unit 106 of the processing system 100 performs setting so as not to issue a warning. In this case, the warning condition determination unit 104 and the warning information transmission unit 105 do not execute the above-described processing. Yes.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, after starting printing, the user can recognize that a print request of another user (for example, his / her superior) to be given priority has occurred. At that time, the user's own printing can be temporarily interrupted and the image forming apparatus 200 can be given to another user who should be given priority.

  In this case as well, if it is clear that the user to be prioritized does not immediately start printing, there is no need to cancel printing. In this embodiment, the dialog screen (warning information) shown in FIG. ) May be transmitted to the image forming apparatus 200. In the example shown in Fig. 9 (c), the dialog screen displays "Your boss [Sato] -san's print request. If [Sato] -san appears nearby, printing is interrupted. "We recommend that you give up the device." Is displayed. The user who receives this warning information looks around and can continue printing if it is clear that Mr. [Sato] will not start printing immediately.

  In this embodiment, in S6, the dialog screen for the print management unit 10 of the information processing system 100 to forcibly suspend printing as illustrated in FIG. 9D for the image forming apparatus 200. May be transmitted. In the example shown in Fig. 9 (d), the dialog screen displays a warning message stating "Your boss [Sato] 's print request has been issued. Sorry to suspend printing." "Button is displayed. In response to this, when the user touches the “confirm” button, the print control unit 204 of the image forming apparatus 200 immediately suspends printing.

  The first embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, below, description of the part which is common in the content of 1st Embodiment is abbreviate | omitted, and only the difference from 1st Embodiment shall be demonstrated.

(Second Embodiment)
When it is clear that the user to be prioritized does not immediately start printing even if another user's print request to be prioritized exists in the information processing system 100 when the user starts printing Does not necessarily need to be warned. The second embodiment considers this point, and in the second embodiment, whether or not the warning information is necessary is determined based on the elapsed time since the other user to be prioritized issues a print request.

  In this regard, in the second embodiment, the user information management table 420 shown in FIG. 3B is used as the user information management table. As shown in FIG. 3B, the user information management table 420 includes a field 401 for storing a user ID, a field 402 for storing a user name, a field 403 for storing authentication information, And a field 404 for storing a time threshold related to the elapsed time since the user sent the print request.

In the present embodiment, the print management unit 103, the user is monitored from time to time the time interval until the start of printing after inputting a print request, the representative value T _R of the recorded time intervals for each user the calculated, so as to store in the field 404 a value that is by subtracting a predetermined margin from the representative value T _R as the time threshold T _th.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart of “warning condition determination processing” executed by the warning condition determination unit 104 in the second embodiment. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 12, the same step numbers as in FIG. 8 are assigned to the steps that perform the same processing as in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 12, the “warning condition determination process” executed by the warning condition determination unit 104 of the second embodiment in S10 of FIG. 6 will be described.

  In the second embodiment, the warning condition determination unit 104 repeatedly executes the following processing of step 101 → step 102 → step 110 → step 103 for each record of the print request management table 500.

  In step 101, it is determined whether or not the print state stored in the field 504 of the record of interest is “unprinted”. As a result, if the print state is not “unprinted” (No in step 101), the process for the record of interest ends. On the other hand, when the printing state is “unprinted” (Yes in step 101), in the subsequent step 102, a user related to the user ID stored in the field 501 of the record of interest (hereinafter referred to as an unprinted user). Then, it is determined whether or not it is higher in the priority relationship than the requesting user of the received print start request.

  As a result of the determination in step 102, if it is determined that the “unprinted” user is not higher in the priority relationship than the print start requesting user (No in step 102), the process for the record of interest is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the unprinted user is higher in the priority relationship than the user who requested the print start (Yes in Step 102), the process proceeds to Step 110.

In step 110, the elapsed time T from the time when the unprinted user determined to be higher in the priority relationship than the user who issued the print start request in step 102 sent the print request is the time related to the user. Whether the threshold value _Tth has been reached is determined by the following procedure.

Specifically, first, the user information management table 400 (FIG. 3A) is searched using the user ID stored in the field 501 of the record of interest as a key, and the field of the record storing the user ID is stored. The time threshold value T _th is read from 405. Next, the print request management table 500 (FIG. 4) is searched using the same user ID as a key, and the request date and time is read from the field 503 of the record in which the user ID is stored. Finally, the difference between the read request date and the current time is calculated as an elapsed time T, and the calculated elapsed time T is compared with the read time threshold value T _th .

As a result, when the elapsed time T has not reached the time threshold value _Tth (step 110, No), the process for the record of interest is terminated. On the other hand, if the elapsed time T has reached the time threshold value T _th (step 110, Yes), in the subsequent step 103, an unprinted user that is higher in the priority relationship than the user of the print start request source is identified as an upper user. To do.

  After executing Step 101 → Step 102 → Step 110 → Step 103 for all the records in the print request management table 500, the process proceeds to Step 104, where the unprinted user is higher in priority than the user who requested the print request. It is determined whether or not the number is equal to or greater than a threshold value N. As a result, when the number of users is not N or more (step 104, No), it is determined that the warning condition is not satisfied for the user who requested the print start, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, when the number of users is N or more (step 104, Yes), it is determined that the warning condition is satisfied for the user who is the print start request source, and the process ends.

As described above, in the present embodiment, since the elapsed time after the user to be prioritized submits the print request reaches the user's time threshold T _th , the user is counted as an upper user. A warning will be given at a practical timing.

  The second embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Next, the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following, description of parts common to the contents of the above-described two embodiments will be omitted, and only differences from the two will be described.

(Third embodiment)
In the third embodiment, an e-mail address (hereinafter referred to as a registered address) registered in advance by a lower-level user (hereinafter referred to as a lower-level user) in a priority relationship over the user who has requested the print request or the print start request. The second embodiment is different from the above-described two embodiments in that “warning mail” including warning information is transmitted. In this regard, in the third embodiment, a user information management table 430 shown in FIG. 3C is used as the user information management table. As shown in FIG. 3C, the user information management table 430 includes a field 401 for storing a user ID, a field 402 for storing a user name, a field 403 for storing authentication information, A field 405 for storing a registered address and a field 406 for storing a setting related to a warning mail are provided.

  In the present embodiment, a user's personal address can be registered as a registration address, and a group address can also be registered. In the present embodiment, the setting related to the warning mail may be performed by the administrator or the user himself / herself, and the value set by the administrator or the user (required / not required) is warned. The necessity setting unit 106 stores it in the field 406.

  Hereinafter, the contents of the processing executed in the third embodiment will be described based on the sequence diagram shown in FIG.

  The user operates the client terminal 20 to select a file to be printed, performs necessary print settings, and then instructs printing (S1). In response to this, the client terminal 20 transmits a print request including the print data of the file selected by the user to the information processing system 100 (S2). In response, the print management unit 103 of the information processing system 100 saves the received print request in the storage area 108 and updates the print request management table 500 (FIG. 4) (S3).

  The warning condition determination unit 104 of the information processing system 100 executes “warning condition determination processing” in response to receiving a print request from the client terminal 20 (S4). Hereinafter, the content of the “warning condition determination process” executed by the warning condition determination unit 104 in S4 will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

  In S <b> 4, the warning condition determination unit 104 repeatedly executes the following steps 301 to 304 for each record in the user information management table 430.

  First, in step 301, it is determined whether or not the value of the field 406 of the record of interest is “necessary”. As a result, if it is not “necessary” (No in step 301), the process for the record of interest is terminated. On the other hand, if it is “necessary” (step 301, Yes), the process proceeds to step 302.

  In the subsequent step 302, the priority relationship information table 600 shown in FIG. 5A indicates whether or not the user of the record of interest is lower in priority relationship than the user who requested the print request received from the client terminal 20. Or based on the priority relationship information table 700 shown in FIG.5 (b), it determines with the procedure similar to the above-mentioned.

  As a result of the determination in step 302, if it is determined that the user of the record of interest is not lower in priority relationship than the user of the print request source (step 302, No), in the subsequent step 304, a warning is given to the user of the record of interest. It is determined that the condition is not satisfied, and the processing for the record is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that the user of the record of interest is lower in priority than the user of the print request source (step 302, Yes), in the subsequent step 303, the warning condition is satisfied for the user of the record of interest. Determination is made, and the process for the record is terminated.

  The warning condition determination unit 104 ends the “warning condition determination process” after executing the above-described steps 301 to 304 for all the records in the user information management table 430. Thereafter, the warning condition determination unit 104 reads the registered address of the user who has determined that the warning condition is satisfied from the field 405 of the record related to the user, and passes it to the warning information transmission unit 105.

  Returning again to FIG. 13, the description will be continued.

  As a result of the “warning condition determination process” of S4, when it is determined that the warning condition is satisfied for one or more users, the warning information transmission unit 105 sends a predetermined address to the registered address of the user for which the warning condition is determined to be satisfied. A warning mail (electronic mail) is transmitted (S5). FIG. 15 exemplarily shows the contents of a warning mail transmitted by the warning information transmission unit 105.

  In this embodiment, the user information management table 440 shown in FIG. 3D may be used as the user information management table so that the user can freely set whether or not a warning mail is necessary. As shown in FIG. 3D, the user information management table 440 includes a field 401 for storing a user ID, a field 402 for storing a user name, a field 403 for storing authentication information, And a field 406 for storing the setting of necessity of warning. In this case, the warning condition determination unit 104 determines the success or failure of the warning condition according to the result of the determination process described above for the user whose field 406 is set to “necessary”. On the other hand, for users for whom “unnecessary” is set in the field 406, it is always determined that the warning condition is not satisfied.

  As described above, in this embodiment, a warning mail is transmitted to the lower user in response to the upper user submitting the print request. As a result, the lower user can know that the upper user has submitted a print request before logging in to the image forming apparatus 200, and accordingly appropriately measures the timing at which he / she prints while watching the trend of the upper user. Will be able to.

  Finally, the hardware configuration of each apparatus constituting the printing system 1000 of the present embodiment will be described based on FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 16A, the information processing apparatus constituting the information processing system 100 of this embodiment includes a processor 12 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus, a ROM 13 that stores a boot program, a firmware program, and the like, and a program RAM 14 that provides an execution space, an auxiliary storage device 15 for storing a program or operating system (OS) for causing the information processing system 100 to function as each of the above-described means, and an input for connecting an external device. An output interface 16 and a network interface 17 for connecting to the network 50 are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 16B, the image forming apparatus 200 includes a processor 22 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus, a ROM 23 that stores a boot program, a firmware program, and the like, a RAM 24 that provides a program execution space, and an image. An auxiliary storage device 25 for storing a program for causing the forming apparatus 200 to function as each of the above-described units, an operating system (OS), an input / output interface 26 for connecting the operation panel 21 and the like, and a printing process. A printer engine 27 to execute, a scan engine 28 to execute scan processing, and a network interface 29 to connect to the network 50 are provided.

  Note that each function of the above-described embodiment can be realized by a program described in C, C ++, C #, Java (registered trademark), etc., and the program of this embodiment includes a hard disk device, a CD-ROM, an MO, a DVD, and the like. It can be stored in a recording medium such as a flexible disk, EEPROM, EPROM and distributed, and can be transmitted via a network in a format that can be used by other devices.

  As described above, the present invention has been described with the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and as long as the operations and effects of the present invention are exhibited within the scope of embodiments that can be considered by those skilled in the art. It is included in the scope of the present invention.

12 ... Processor 13 ... ROM
14 ... RAM
15 ... Auxiliary storage device 16 ... Input / output interface 17 ... Network interface 20 ... Client terminal 21 ... Operation panel 22 ... Processor 23 ... ROM
24 ... RAM
25 ... auxiliary storage device 26 ... input / output interface 27 ... printer engine 28 ... scan engine 29 ... network interface 50 ... network 100 ... information processing system 102 ... user authentication unit 103 ... print management unit 104 ... warning condition determination unit 105 ... warning Information transmission unit 106 ... Warning necessity setting unit 108 ... Storage area 200 ... Image forming apparatus 202 ... Authentication information transmission unit 204 ... Print control unit 206 ... Warning information display units 400, 420, 430 ... User information management tables 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406 ... field 500 ... print request management table 501, 502, 503, 504, 505 ... field 600 ... priority relationship information table 601, 602 ... field 700 ... priority relationship information table 701, 702 ... field 1000 ... Printing system

JP 2009-294889 A

Claims (11)

A printing system that includes one or more information processing apparatuses and that transmits a print request transmitted from a client terminal to one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses and prints the print request.
In response to receiving a print start request corresponding to the print request from one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses while holding the print request transmitted from the client terminal Print management means for transmitting print data corresponding to the one image forming apparatus;
Priority relationship information holding means for holding priority relationship information indicating a priority relationship between users;
When the print request that is held when the print start request is received from the one image forming apparatus is a print request of another user having a higher priority than the user of the print start request Warning information transmitting means for transmitting predetermined warning information to the one image forming apparatus;
including,
Printing system. When the print start request is received from the one image forming apparatus, the print request that is held based on the priority relationship information is another higher priority than the user of the print start request. Warning condition determination for determining whether or not there is a print request from the user, and determining that a warning condition is satisfied for the user of the print start request when it is determined that there is a print request from another user having a higher priority Including means,
The warning information transmitting means includes
Transmitting predetermined warning information to the one image forming apparatus when it is determined that a warning condition is satisfied for the user of the print start request;
The printing system according to claim 1. The warning condition determination means includes
Determining that a warning condition is satisfied when the number of other users whose priority relationship is determined to be higher than the user of the print start request has reached a predetermined number;
The printing system according to claim 2. The warning condition determination means includes
When a print request is received from a client terminal, based on the priority relationship information, whether or not the user who is printing using the image forming apparatus has a lower priority relationship than the user of the print request If it is determined that it is a lower rank, it is determined that the warning condition is satisfied for the user who is printing,
Warning information transmission means
When it is determined that the warning condition is satisfied, predetermined warning information is transmitted to the image forming apparatus used by the user who is printing.
The printing system according to claim 2 or 3. The warning information transmitting means includes
Transmitting a screen for accepting the interruption of printing to the image forming apparatus used by the user who is determined that the warning condition is satisfied;
The printing system according to claim 4. The warning information transmitting means includes
Transmitting a screen for forcibly interrupting printing to the image forming apparatus used by the user who has been determined that the warning condition is satisfied;
The printing system according to claim 4. The warning condition determination means includes
When a print request is received from a client terminal, based on the priority relationship information, a user having a lower priority relationship than the user of the print request is determined, and a warning condition is determined for the lower user,
The warning information transmitting means includes
A warning mail including predetermined warning information is sent to the registered address of the subordinate user;
The printing system according to any one of claims 2 to 6. The warning information is
Indicates that there is a print request for a higher priority user.
The printing system according to any one of claims 2 to 7. A warning necessity setting means for setting necessity of transmission of the warning information in response to a user request;
The printing system as described in any one of Claims 1-8. A computer connected to a plurality of image forming apparatuses via a network;
In response to receiving a print start request corresponding to the print request from one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses, the print request transmitted from the client terminal is retained. Print management means for transmitting corresponding print data to the one image forming apparatus;
Priority relationship information holding means for holding priority relationship information indicating a priority relationship between users;
When the print request that is held when the print start request is received from the one image forming apparatus is a print request of another user having a higher priority than the user of the print start request Warning information transmitting means for transmitting predetermined warning information to the one image forming apparatus,
Program to function as. A warning method executed in a printing system that includes one or more information processing apparatuses and transmits a print request transmitted from a client terminal to one image forming apparatus among a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and prints the print request.
In response to receiving a print start request corresponding to the print request from one of the plurality of image forming apparatuses while holding the print request transmitted from the client terminal Transmitting print data corresponding to the one image forming apparatus;
Holding priority relationship information indicating a priority relationship between users;
When the print request that is held when the print start request is received from the one image forming apparatus is a print request of another user having a higher priority than the user of the print start request Transmitting predetermined warning information to the one image forming apparatus;
Run the
Warning method.