JP3037536B2 - Scanner / printer server system and its interrupt print control method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scanner / printer server system capable of supplying a printer function to a plurality of client users on a network, and a method of controlling an interrupt print.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been proposed a system in which documents and images created and converted on a plurality of computers are output to a printer on a network to which the documents and images are connected, and can be shared by a plurality of client users. Have been.

[0003]

However, in a system composed of a file server having a spooling function for document / image data created and converted on a plurality of computers and a print server for outputting the data, It is very difficult to efficiently manage and print a plurality of large-capacity images such as color raster images.

Further, even if such image data is centrally managed on a file server, there is a problem in the spool capacity of the server that manages the image data, and a print request exceeding the maximum spool capacity of the file server cannot be realized. There was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and compares an interrupt request from a client computer with an output priority of a file server requesting job execution to compare an interrupt request from a client. By accepting requests directly, printers on the network can withstand requests from multiple client users, even if they exceed the capacity of the file server when printing large amounts of color raster image data as image data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a scanner / printer server system and an interrupt printing method thereof.

[0006]

A first scanner / printer server system according to the present invention has a scanner / printer network print processing request having a scanner unit for executing a scanner function and a printer unit for executing a print function process. , A plurality of client computers capable of setting the order of access to the scanner / printer, queued raster image data and predetermined commands input from each client computer, and communicate with the print server. The queued raster image data and the file server for transferring the command are communicably connected to a predetermined network, respectively, and an interrupt determining means for determining whether there is a direct print interrupt request from each client computer. And the access priority in the command from the client computer requesting the interrupt and the access priority requested to output from the file server are compared with reference to the set priority information, and based on the comparison result, The print server is provided with an interrupt control means for controlling switching between an output request from the file server and an output request from a client computer which makes a direct print request.

In a second scanner / printer server system according to the present invention, the file server has a management table for registering and managing raster image data requested from each client computer and a state of a predetermined command. is there.

[0008] In a third scanner / printer server system according to the present invention, the print server is configured to take in queuing print information and raster image data registered in a management table in the file server via a network. Things.

In a fourth scanner / printer server system according to the present invention, the print server captures, via a network, queuing print information and raster image data registered in a management table in the file server, and captures the rasterized image data. It has image storage means for storing raster image data.

In a fifth scanner / printer server system according to the present invention, the print server captures, via a network, queuing print information and raster image data registered in a management table in the file server, and captures the rasterized image data. There is provided layout means for allocating and editing raster image data based on the queuing print information.

[0011] In a sixth scanner / printer server system according to the present invention, the print server manages the plurality of scanners / printers and the plurality of printers based on identification information for uniquely identifying the plurality of printers.

A seventh scanner / printer server system according to the present invention is characterized in that the scanner / printer or the printer can output any of a color raster image, a monochrome binary image, and a monochrome grayscale raster image. The scanner / printer server system according to claim 1.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an interrupt print control method for a scanner / printer server system, wherein a network print processing request of a scanner / printer including a scanner unit for executing a scanner function and a printer unit for executing a print function process is provided. A print server to control,
A plurality of client computers capable of setting the order of access to the scanner / printer; queued raster image data and a predetermined command input from each client computer; and communication with the print server for the queued raster image data And a file server that transfers commands to a scanner / printer server system in which each server is communicably connected to a predetermined network. In the interrupt print control method, the presence / absence of a direct print interrupt request from each client computer is determined. Refer to the set priority information for the access priority in the command from the client computer requesting the interrupt and the access priority requested for output from the file server. And al comparison, controls the switching of the output request from the client computer to output demand request and direct print request from the file server based on the comparison result.

[0014]

In the first invention, the determining means determines whether or not there is a direct print interrupt request from each client computer, and in accordance with the determination result, the interrupt control means determines whether an access request during a command from the client computer to which the interrupt request has been made. A client computer that compares a priority with an access priority requested to be output from a file server while referring to set priority information, and, based on the comparison result, requests an output request from the file server and a direct print request. Control the switching of output requests from the network, so that interrupt access to the print server can be directly realized on the network without using the spool function of the file server depending on the situation, and output requests exceeding the registered capacity on the file server Multiple clients It is possible to distribute efficiently to cement.

In the second invention, since the raster image data requested to be output from each client computer and the status of a predetermined command are registered and managed in the management table of the file server, the job request from each client computer can be accurately determined. It becomes possible to grasp.

In the third aspect, the print server takes in the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server via the network, so that the print server receives the request from the scanner / printer side. Accordingly, whether or not a new job has been registered on the file server can be reliably grasped.

In the fourth invention, the print server fetches the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server via a network, and stores the fetched raster image data in the image storage means. Is stored, the original raster image data can be retained, and various edited images can be processed and output on the scanner / printer side.

[0018] In the fifth invention, the layout means on the print server side fetches the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server via a network, and obtains the fetched raster image data. Is edited based on the queuing print information, so that various edited images can be processed and output on the scanner / printer side while laying out.

In the sixth aspect, the printer server manages the plurality of scanners / printers based on the identification information for uniquely identifying the plurality of printers. Therefore, the configuration of the scanner / printer and the printer on the system is changed. However, it is possible to update the relative system environment only by adding or modifying the identification information for only the changed scanner / printer and printer.

In the seventh invention, since the scanner / printer or the printer outputs any one of a color raster image, a monochrome binary image, and a monochrome grayscale raster image, the color raster image, the monochrome binary image,
Even if a situation occurs in which the data exceeds the allocation on the file server according to the amount of each data of the monochrome grayscale raster image, direct output can be performed by selecting a scanner / printer or a printer and interrupting it.

In the eighth invention, the presence / absence of a direct print interrupt request from each client computer is determined. Based on the determination result, the access priority in the command from the client computer to which the interrupt request is made and the output request from the file server. The access priority is compared with the set priority information with reference to the set priority information, and based on the comparison result, switching between the output request request from the file server and the output request from the client computer that issues the direct print request is controlled. Depending on the situation, interrupt access to the print server can be directly realized on the network without using the spool function of the file server side, and output requests exceeding the registered capacity on the file server can be efficiently distributed to multiple clients. It becomes possible.

[0022]

【Example】

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a scanner / printer server system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system according to the present embodiment has a digital color image reading unit (hereinafter, simply referred to as a color scanner) 100 at the top and a digital color image printing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a color scanner) for printing out a digital color image. A digital copier 1000 including a color printer 300, a scanner / printer server (scanner / print server) 200 connected on the network 1, and a file server 500 supporting a file system on the network 1. ,
It is composed of computers 400 of a plurality of client users.

FIG. 2 shows the digital copying machine 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a 000. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation will be described.

In the color scanner 100, the scanner controller 101 performs the following control at the center of the control.

The original on the platen is scanned for each color of R, G, B
The exposure system controller 103 performs color separation by the contact type CCD line sensor and converts it into a point-sequential analog image signal. This analog image signal is converted into an 8-bit digital image signal for each color by an A / D conversion unit, and RG which is luminance
Each of the B colors is output as a line-sequential signal. This image signal (digital) is converted by the image processing unit 102 into R / G
The luminance level of B is converted to a level corresponding to the amount of toner of four colors of C, M, Y, and K (corresponding to yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, and black K).
At the same time, color correction calculation is performed by the image processing unit 102, and various image processes such as synthesis, scaling, and movement are performed.

In the color printer 300, each digital image signal of yellow Y, magenta M, cyan C, and black K sent from the color scanner 100 is converted into a lighting signal of a semiconductor laser unit.
The laser is controlled, and the lighting signal of the laser is output as a pulse width corresponding to the level of the digital image signal. The laser lighting level is 256 levels (corresponding to 8 bits). In accordance with the digital image signal to be output, the color image is limited for each color of CMYK, and when the photosensitive drum 315 is sequentially exposed in a digital dot format, the charging unit 313 is controlled by the surface potential control unit 312 to control the charging unit 313. Photoconductive drum 31 uniformly charged
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the dot corresponding to the blinking of the laser is formed on the image 5, visualized as a toner image by the developing unit 314, and a toner image of each color is adsorbed on the transfer drum 319 by the transfer unit 316. When the four-color image transfer is completed, the transfer drum 3 is
19, the recording paper adsorbed on the transport unit 321 is separated.
Is sent to the fixing unit 322, and is thermally fixed by the fixing unit 322.
The paper is discharged to the paper discharge tray 324. Reference numeral 311 denotes a polygon mirror scanner drive unit which rotates a polygon mirror (not shown) at a specified speed. A printer controller 301 communicates with the scanner controller 101 to receive print data and controls the driving of the image forming unit 302 and the paper supply / discharge unit 303 as a whole. And the like. A paper cassette 323 feeds recording paper to the transfer drum 319 in accordance with an instruction from the paper feed control unit 318.

The color scanner 100 and the color printer 300 shown in FIG. 2 can also function as a color digital copying machine 1000 by controlling the color printer 300 by the controller of the color scanner 100. . Then, the digital copier 100
When functioning as 0, an original image is set on the original platen of the color scanner 100, a copy start key is pressed, an image is read from the color scanner 100 according to the above-described process, image processing is performed, and An image is formed through the processes of exposure, development, transfer, and fixing, and is output as a color copy. Reference numeral 104 denotes an interface controller, and 317 denotes a drum cleaning unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the client computer 400 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation will be described.

The host computer 400 has a scanner /
A network controller 420 for controlling a protocol on a network with the printer server (printer server) 200 and the file server 500, and a CPU 40 for central control of a client computer.
5. Hard disk (HD) 451 for temporary registration of image data and storage of various data, hard disk (HD) controller 450 for controlling it, main memory 46
0, a pointing device (mouse) 431, a keyboard 441, a color display 412 for layout / editing / menu display, a display memory 411, an image on a display controller 410, and an image on a display memory 411 as instruction input means from an operator. Image editing controller 4 for layout and editing
13. 406 is a ROM, and a CPU
A control program to be executed by 405 is stored. 4
An input controller (keyboard / mouse controller) 30 controls a key input from the pointing device 431 and the keyboard 441.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the detailed configuration of the scanner / printer server 200 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main controller 210, a network controller 220 for controlling the protocol processing on the network 1, the analysis of the contents of the packets extracted by the protocol, the separation of the image data, etc. Network server controller 221, which stores / manages color multi-valued raster image data and its position / attribute information based on the separated image data / command data, and performs a layout and the like, and the like. ing.

As an interface, a color digital interface controller 7 for exchanging image data and commands with the digital color copying machine 1000 is used.
90, a pointing device 244 as a means for inputting instructions from a server administrator, a keyboard 245, and a color display 24 for displaying a layout / edit menu.
2, a display memory 241 and a display controller 240 are also provided. A hard disk (HD) 231 controls writing / reading of a raster image file or the like via a hard disk controller 230. Reference numeral 261 denotes a ROM in which a control program executed by the main controller 210 is stored. Reference numeral 262 denotes a client priority table in which information on the client computer 400 is stored. 243 is a keyboard / mouse controller, and 260 is a main memory.

In the first aspect of the scanner / printer server system configured as described above, the determining means determines whether or not there is a direct print interrupt request from each client computer 400, and the interrupt controlling means determines the presence or absence of the direct print interrupt request according to the determination result. The access priority in the command from the client computer 400 to which the interrupt is requested is compared with the access priority requested to be output from the file server while referring to the set priority information, and based on the comparison result, File server 50
Since the switching between the output request request from the client computer 400 and the output request request from the client computer 400 for direct print request is controlled, the printer server 20 is directly used without using the spool function of the file server 500 depending on the situation.
This makes it possible to realize interrupt access to 0 on the network and efficiently distribute output requests exceeding the registered capacity on the file server 500 to a plurality of clients.

In the second invention, the status of the raster image data requested to be output from each client computer 400 and the status of a predetermined command are registered and managed in the management table (table 562 described later) of the file server 500. It is possible to accurately grasp the job request from each client computer 400.

In the third invention, the printer server 200 takes in the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server 500 via the network 1, so that the printer / server 200 Can be reliably grasped whether a new job is registered on the file server 500 in response to the request.

In the fourth invention, the print server fetches the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table of the file server 500 via the network, and stores the fetched raster image in the image storage means. Since the data is stored, the original raster image data can be held, and various edited images can be processed and output on the scanner / printer side.

In the fifth invention, the layout means (the image editing controller 730 and the layout controller 750, which will be described later) on the side of the print server 200 transmits the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server 500. And the edited raster image data is allocated and edited based on the queuing print information, so that the scanner / printer can process and output various edited images while laying out the edited images. Become.

In the sixth aspect, the printer server manages the plurality of scanners / printers based on the identification information for uniquely identifying the plurality of printers. Therefore, the configuration of the scanner / printer and the printer on the system is changed. However, it is possible to update the relative system environment only by adding or modifying the identification information for only the changed scanner / printer and printer.

In the seventh aspect, the scanner / printer or printer outputs any one of a color raster image, a monochrome binary image, and a monochrome grayscale raster image.
Even if a situation occurs in which the data exceeds the allocation on the file server according to the amount of each data of the monochrome grayscale raster image, direct output can be performed by selecting a scanner / printer or a printer and interrupting it.

As described above, the system shown in the present embodiment queues print raster image data and print commands created based on the above information, which are obtained by creating color documents and images and laying out the documents. In a system (see FIG. 1) in which there are at least two client computers requesting print output, and a print server having means for controlling the printing means of the copying machine, Means for retaining information for determining the output priority of the queued image data; first, an output request from the first client computer is retained on the file server, and then an output request from the second client computer is retained. Upon request, the scanner / print server The result is communicated to the client computer 400 by means of determining whether there is no queue registration capacity on the file server for responding to the request of the client computer or whether there is no print image data capacity. The second client stops the print request to the file server and switches the print request directly to the scanner / print server to determine the request. The scanner / print server determines the output priority level of the first client, Means for comparing the output priority level of the client, means for switching the output to the higher priority level of the first output request on the file server and the output request of the second client based on the comparison; Means for forming and outputting an image by a copying machine Although it is characterized in that, the system configuration is not limited to this embodiment, ISDN
It is also possible to apply the present invention to a system via a public line network.

The client computer 400
Need not be configured by the same OS, and different OSs (DOS system, UNIX) through various routers.
The present invention can be applied even when a computer is connected.

Further, the scanner / printer may be constituted by a color digital copying apparatus for executing an electrophotographic process, or may be constituted by a color digital copying apparatus such as an ink jet.

In the scanner / printer, raster image data that can be output is transmitted to the file server 50 by communication.
0, the compressed data (color image data in JEPEG format) may be transferred and expanded in a scanner / printer that can be expanded and output by the scanner / printer, thereby greatly reducing the transfer time. Can be shortened.

FIG. 5 shows the file server 5 shown in FIG.
It is a block diagram explaining the structure of 00. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation will be described.

As shown in this figure, a network controller 520 for roughly controlling protocol processing on the network 1 and control of the entire file server 500 such as analysis of contents of packets extracted by the protocol and separation of image data. , A hard disk (HD) controller 530 that controls one or more hard disks (HD) 531-1 to 531-3, and the like.

The pointing server 544, keyboard 545, color display 542 for displaying menus, display memory 541, and display controller 540 are provided as instruction input means from the file server manager. 561 is RO
At M, a control program executed by the file server main controller 510 is stored. Reference numeral 562 denotes a client priority table.
0 is stored. A queue management controller 550 controls reading / writing of the queue table data 551. 543 is a keyboard /
The mouse controller 560 is a main memory.

FIG. 6 shows the raster image storage unit 7 shown in FIG.
It is a block diagram explaining the structure of 00. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation will be described.

As shown in this figure, the raster image storage unit 7
Reference numeral 00 denotes a memory management controller 720 for efficiently arranging and managing color raster image data in a raster image memory 760, centering on an image main controller 710 for controlling the entire raster image data, and a position / attribute as a management table. An information table 770, an image editing controller 730 that performs image conversion and enlargement / reduction / deformation editing for colors when registering images in already registered image data or memory, and real-time layout editing when outputting to a printer unit And a layout controller 750, etc., which is performed by the controller.

When outputting image data in the memory, the color digital interface controller 7
The image data can be transferred to the color printer unit 300 via the printer 90 to obtain a color printer image.

Image data and instructions between the raster image storage unit 700 and the main bus of the scanner / print server 200 are based on a specific format, and are transmitted via the bus controller 740 to the image main controller 710 and the scanner / printer. Print server 200
Is configured to communicate with the main controller.

The raster image storage unit 700 can manage image data in two modes, a file management mode and a page mode.

The first file management mode is a function of storing / managing a plurality of image data. The stored image data is stored in a plurality of registered image data according to a command from the main controller 210 of the scanner / printer server. The data is laid out and output to the color printer 300 via the color digital interface controller 790 to obtain a color print image.

At this time, the plurality of image data are managed by dividing the raster image 760 into a plurality of pieces as image files, respectively. The start address on the memory and the image data length, the attribute of the image data, the image data The position information and the like of the data layout output are registered in the position / attribute information table 770, and are stored in the memory management controller 72.
0 will be managed.

Then, at the time of actual output, the image is edited with the image editing controller 730 which performs image conversion on the color of the registered image data.
The position and size are designated by the layout controller 750 that performs reduction / deformation editing, and are output to the color printer 300 via the color digital interface controller 790.

Therefore, since the original image data is always stored in the memory, it is possible to change the layout output.

In the page mode, which is another memory management mode, the raster image memory 760 is treated as one sheet, and the memory width (WIDTH) / height (H)
IGHT), and each of the plurality of image data is
When laying out on the memory, the image editing controller 730 performs enlargement / reduction / deformation and image conversion on the color of the image data, and fits in the designated layout position on the memory.

As described above, the layout controller 750
Are output to the color printer 300 via the color digital interface controller 790.

Client computer 400, file server 500, scanner / print server 200
In order to perform communication on each of the networks, a group of data strings called packets as shown in FIG. 7 is exchanged with each other using one block.

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the data structure of the network packet section in the scanner / printer server system of the present invention.

As shown in this figure, the packet structure (packet base 10001) has a destination (recipient) network address at the top, a source (sender) network address at the beginning, and a packet type and packet type. The actual packet data (packet data part 10002) follows the information such as the frame size of the data, and finally a CRC called a tailor to improve the reliability of data transfer.
Error check is attached.

The packet data section 10002 includes a header section 10003, a data block section 10004, and the like.
19, function code part 10020, continuous packet ID 10030, total packet ID 10031,
It has a data length of 10032, and the function code section 10020 further includes a function ID 100
21, job type ID 10022, job ID 100
23 and the like.

As shown in FIG. 7, the header 10003 of the packet data section 1002 first has a header code indicating header information at the beginning, and then has what function the packet data has. A function code portion 10020 indicating whether the data is a continuous No. when one data is composed of a plurality of packets. , A continuous packet ID 10030 indicating the total packet number, a total packet ID 10031 indicating the total number of packets, and a data length 10032 indicating the data length of the data block 10004 in which actual data is stored. The function code portion 10020 includes a function ID 10021 indicating the type of the scanner / printer server and a job type ID 1010 indicating the type of the job for the server.
022, Job ID 100 for identifying a job to be executed
23.

FIG. 8 shows the data block unit 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed data structure of 0004.

As shown in this figure, the data block 1
0004 is a command block 10005, a status block 10006, an image data block 10007,
It is composed of an image information block 10008 and the like.

As described above, the packet data section 10002
The data block portion 10004 of the
Type I of function code part 10020 of
According to the content of D10022, the command block 1000
5, status block 10006, image data block 10007, and image information block 10008.

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, FIG.
The data structure of the queuing entry table 10200 and the queuing table 10300 stored in the queue table data 551 shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 shows the queuing entry table 1 stored in the queue table data 551 shown in FIG.
FIG. 10 is a view for explaining the data structure of the data 0200.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a queuing table of a queuing entry table shown in FIG. 9.

As shown in FIG. 9, the queuing entry table 10200 has a queue entry table ID 1
0207, queue type 10202, total queue number 10208, queuing table 10209, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 10, the queuing table 10300 includes a server ID 10301, a maximum number of registered queues 10312, a remaining queuing file capacity 10313, a device type 10302, a queue type 10303, a queue status 10304, a total queue 10306, It is composed of an execution queue 10307, job data 10320 and the like.

The job data 10320 includes a job ID 10308 and a queuing file ID 1030.
5, Job status 10309, Total print 1
0310, a printed number 10311, a client network ID 10315, a priority level 10314, and the like.

As described above, the configuration of the queue table data is such that the queuing table 10300 is managed for each scanner / print server in the queuing entry table 10200 so as to be compatible with a plurality of scanners / print servers. In each queuing table, a plurality of print / scan jobs requested by the client are registered.

The queue management controller 55 shown in FIG.
0 refers to the contents of the queuing table 10300 registered in the queuing entry table 10200, checks the queue type in each queuing table 10300, and specifies the designated function ID.
A search for 10021 is performed. As a result, if it exists, the queuing table 10300
Create overall status information from the data.

On the other hand, when it is determined that a plurality of objects exist, the whole status information for a plurality of objects is created.

The data of the overall status information is a queue corresponding to the designated function ID 10021,
Registration queue ID 10209, server ID / network ID 10301 of the target print server, registrable capacity 10313 of queuing file data allocated to the queue table, total number of queues currently registered 10306, maximum number of queues that can be registered 10312, a client priority level 10314 for each registered queue, a network ID 10315 of the client that registered the job, an error code, and the like.

Hereinafter, the print processing operation in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. [Layout Processing on Client Computer] FIGS. 11 to 14 are flowcharts showing an example of a print processing procedure in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention. In addition, STEP1, STEP2 ...
Indicates each step. [Layout Processing on Client Computer] On the client computer 400, DTP (desktop publishing) software is loaded from the hard disk (HD) 451 onto the main memory 460 (STEP 1). Is executed (STEP 2). Next, the user operates the pointing device 431 and the keyboard 441.
Is used to lay out a document image and various image data (illustrations formed by vectors / multi-valued images such as natural images captured by a scanner or the like) (STEP 3).
This is performed directly while checking on the display 412.

When a multi-valued natural image is laid out on a document image, the image can be subjected to mask processing and cropped by a binary bit map image.

The processing procedure / multi-valued image data / binary bitmap image of an arbitrary document image created in the meantime is as follows:
The image editing controller 413 registers on the main memory 460 as needed (STEPs 4 and 5), and when the appearance of one page is completed, the hard disk (HD) controller 45
0 to determine whether the layout has been completed in one page format on the hard disk (HD) 451 (STEP 6). If NO, return to step STEP 3. If YES, return to the hard disk (HD) for one page. The appearance information is registered (STEP 7). Next, it is determined whether or not a series of these editing / layout operations has been completed for all pages (STEP 8). If NO, the process returns to Step STEP 3, and if YES, the raster image generating process is executed. [Generation of Raster Image] During the above processing, the document image developed on the display memory 411 based on each step processing is displayed on the display 412, and when completed, the document image is laid out on the hard disk (HD). ROM based on various information of document image
The document or image created by layout is converted / registered into a multi-value raster image by the device driver software in the step (STEP 9). At that time, the width and height of the image data and the type of image data (RGB, CMYK, b
Itmap, 8Palette), position information for layout output, and color correction information are converted / registered on the hard disk (HD) together with image data as command data (STEP 10).

The multi-valued raster image thus converted includes vector-based information such as characters and illustrations, data of a multi-valued raster image such as a laid-out natural image, mask commands for mask processing, and masks for the mask processing. It is created by device driver software based on binary bitmap image data of data.

Hereinafter, the status request processing for the print queue will be described with reference to FIG. [Status Request for Print Queue] Here, the client computer 400 communicates with the network controller 420 with the network controller 520 of the file server 500.

Therefore, based on the network address 453 of the file server registered in the client computer in advance, the network controller 420
Sets the destination address of the packet base 10001 (see FIG. 7), sets the ID for the color printer uniquely determined as the ID for identifying the function in the function ID 10021 of the header 10003, and sets the execution mode to color. Specify that it is a print. The job ID (job ID 10023) is set to “0” since the job has not yet been determined, and the job type ID 10
As 022, an ID of a uniquely determined command indicating that the data block is a command data block is set.

At this time, the data block 10004
Set the print queue status request command to obtain the current print queue status information on the file server side. Based on the command data previously registered on the hard disk (HD), the type of image data to be registered (RGB, CMYK, bitm
ap, 8Palette) and the width and height of the image data are set as parameters (STEP 1).
1).

Next, the client computer 400
Transfers the packet data to the file server 500 via the network controller 420.
On the file server side, the file server main controller 500 sends the contents of the packet to the header section 10.
003 and the data block unit 10004, and analyzes that the content of the data block unit 10004 is a command, and performs processing according to the command.

Since the request from the client side is a command for a print queue status request of the file server, the file server main controller 500
Requests the queue management controller whether there is queue information of the printer corresponding to the designated function ID 10021 (STEP 12).

The data of the entire status information is set in the data block portion of the packet data, and the job type ID in the header is set to the status block ID.
Return to the client computer that issued the status request.

At this time, the type of image data (RGB, C
MYK, bitmap, 8 Palette) and the size of the width and height of the image data The size of the actually required image data is calculated and compared with the value of the registerable capacity 10313 of the queuing file data allocated to the queue table. . At this time, if the required capacity of the image data cannot be secured, an insufficient capacity error code is set.

The maximum number of queues that can be registered is 10312.
Is equal to the total number of queues 10306 currently registered, it is not possible to register any more jobs, and an error code indicating that the queue allocation is insufficient is set.

If the target queue information does not exist, an error code in which a uniquely determined target printer cannot be found is set in the data block portion of the packet data, and is returned to the client computer 400 that issued the status request. . Hereinafter, the check processing of the queuing table will be described. [Check of Queuing Table] Next, the client computer 400 divides / analyzes the contents of the packet data returned from the file server in the same manner as the file server described above (STEP 13), and registers the currently valid scanner / print server. Queue I
Obtain D.

Next, it is determined whether or not the queue / registered capacity is full (STEP 14). If NO, the processing shifts to the processing shown in FIG. 14. If YES, an error code is checked at this time, and an error code indicating insufficient capacity is obtained. If an error code indicating that the queue allocation is insufficient is set, the queue 10307 currently being executed is determined based on the data of the overall status information.
Is compared with the value of the priority level preset in the client computer 400 to determine whether the priority level of the client is higher than the priority level of the currently executing job (STEP 15). . Note that this priority level is a value for deciding the order of execution when performing queue registration or printing on the file server, and assigns a priority of 1 to 10 to each client computer. , Are registered as tables 562 and 262 in the file server and the scanner / printer server.

If the priority level on the client side is lower than that of the queue currently being executed in the determination in STEP 15, the device driver on the client side displays a warning message that the job cannot be executed to the user (STE).
P151) After a predetermined period of time, the above-described operation is repeated, and after a space is made available on the file server (STEP 152), a step STEP is performed.
Return to 11.

On the other hand, the case where the priority level on the client side is higher than that of the queue currently being executed in the judgment of STEP15. That is, before registering a queue, the above-mentioned overall status information of the file server 500 side is obtained, the error code is checked, and if an error code of insufficient capacity or an error code of insufficient queue allocation is set, the scanner is thereafter scanned. / Perform interrupt processing to the print server. [Interrupt to Scanner / Print Server] If determined as described above, the client computer 400
Is determined from the overall status information of the packet data returned from the file server 500 from the target scanner /
The network ID 10301 of the print server is fetched from the queuing table 10300. The client computer is the scanner / print server 200
, An interrupt request command is set in the packet-based data block portion, and the packet is transferred in the above-described procedure.

As the parameter of the interrupt request command, the value of the job priority level 452 registered in advance on the hard disk (HD) of the client computer is set as described above (STEP 1).
6).

Next, the client computer sends an interrupt request command to the scanner / print server at regular intervals, repeats the command a certain number of times, and checks if there is no connection response, that is, if the scanner / printer server is in the BUSY state. It is determined whether there is (STE
P17). If the determination is YES, it is determined whether the connection request has exceeded the number of retries (STEP 17).
1) If NO, return to step STEP16, YES
If so, the device driver displays a warning message to the user that the job cannot be executed (STEP 172), and after a lapse of a predetermined time (STEP 173), the device driver proceeds to STEP 1.
Returning to step 1, the operation of issuing the entire status request command to the file server side is repeated, and waits for a free space on the file server.

On the other hand, if the determination in step STEP 17 is NO,
Is connected to the scanner / printer server (ST
EP18), the scanner / printer server executes the procedure of receiving the image data of the currently executed job from the file server and sequentially registering the image data in the raster image data section as described above during this period. The network server controller 221 checks whether a print request from another client is directly sent to the scanner / print server, and checks an interrupt request. [Check of Interrupt Request] Here, the scanner / print server 200, which has received the packet of the interrupt request command from the client side, first determines from the client priority level table 262 the priority level at which the interrupt request was issued and the currently executing level. Is compared with the priority of the client job (STEP 19).

Next, the processing shifts to the procedure shown in FIG. 13, and it is determined whether or not the priority of the currently executed job is high (STEP 20). If NO, an error code indicating that the priority of the job is low is transmitted to the packet base. Set to
Return to client as status information. Next, on the client side, since the status information from the scanner / print server 200 is an error, the error processing is performed as described above (STEP 2).
01 to 203), and returns to step STEP11.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step STEP 20 that the priority of the job of the interrupt request is higher, a uniquely determined job ID for the interrupt is set in the status packet, and as described above, Return to client. [Issuance of Job Interruption Command] Then, the scanner / print server 200 issues a job interruption command to the file server 500 to interrupt the currently executing job (STEP 21). Note that the parameters of the job suspension command include the job ID of the target job.

Next, a job reset process is started. [Job Reset] The file server 500 detects the target queue table from the job ID obtained from the command packet, and changes the queue status to a value that is uniquely determined and has a meaning during execution of the interrupt. It is changed (STEP 22). As a result, the client that has executed this job can determine from the queue status 10304 that the execution job has been interrupted by the monitoring method described above. Hereinafter, the direct registration / image data transfer processing to the scanner / printer server will be described. [Direct Registration / Image Data Transfer to Scanner / Printer Server] Next, the device driver of the client computer 400 uses the status packet returned from the scanner / printer server 200 based on the status packet.
It is determined whether or not the interruption has been acknowledged. If the interruption has occurred, the client computer 40 is determined based on the interruption job ID set in the status packet.
The rasterized image data registered on the hard disk (HD) 451 and the command data containing the layout information are read, and the packet base 10 is read.
The job ID 10023 of 001 is set to the same value as that obtained by the status, and the job type ID 1023 is set.
022 is set as the command type.

At this time, the data block portion 10100
A print execution command is set (STEP 23), and parameters of position information of the layout to be printed, color balance information, print information such as the number of prints, and image size (width,
Height), image data type (RGB, CMYK, bi
tmap, 8Palette), and parameters such as the transfer unit of image data (line-sequential, plane-sequential, dot-sequential). At this time, similarly to the procedure described above, the number of packets of the entire image data block after the command block is set in the total packet ID 10031 of the header 10020. These packets are sequentially transferred to the scanner / printer server 200 in the same manner as the packet transfer described above, and the contents of the command packet are checked (STEP).
24) Then, the scanner / printer server 200
Are the command packets 1005 / image data packets 1000 from the client computer 400.
7 is converted from the file server 500 into a raster image data storage unit 700 on the scanner / printer server 200 as a series of image data by a continuous packet ID on the scanner / printer server 200 side.
In order to register the new image data in the raster image memory 760, a request is made to the memory management controller for a new image data registration file ID (STEP 60), and print information such as layout is registered in a position information table corresponding to the designated image file (STEP 61). .

Next, the designated image data portion is divided and transferred to the scanner / pudding server in a plurality of packets (STEP 62). Next, the divided image data is registered in the raster image memory, and it is determined whether or not all the image packets have been transferred (STEP 63). If NO, the process returns to STEP 62. If YES, the scanner / printer server determines the layout information and the number of prints. Are set in the layout controller (STEP 64), and the raster image of the designated image file ID is enlarged / reduced / deformed (STEP 65). Next, a printout is performed by the printer unit of the digital color copying machine (STEP 66). Next, information on the number of prints during printing / error information is written in the job status of the file server (STEP 6).
7) The client computer checks the job status of the scanner / printer server to determine whether printing is completed (STEP 68). If NO, the process returns to STEP 65; if YES, the job interrupted by the file server is executed (STEP 69). ), Check the contents of the queue table on the file server (STEP 70), and return to step STEP 11.

As described above, according to the interrupt print control method of the scanner / printer server system, the presence / absence of a direct print interrupt request from each client computer 400 is determined. The access priority in the command and the access priority requested to be output from the file server 500 are compared with reference to the set priority information, and an output request request from the file server 500 is compared with the output priority based on the comparison result. Client computer 40 requesting direct print
Since the switching of the output request from 0 is controlled, interrupt access to the print server can be directly realized on the network 1 without using the spool function of the file server depending on the situation, and the registered capacity on the file server 500 can be reduced. It is possible to efficiently distribute output requests that exceed the number of requests to a plurality of clients.

The structure of a continuous network packet and the structure of a queuing file will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 15 is a view for explaining the data structure of the queuing file managed by the file server 500 shown in FIG.

As shown in this figure, the queuing file 10200 has a header section and a data block section 1010.
4, a next header section, and a data block section corresponding to the next header section.
Header code 10203, function code section 10
104, total header 10231, status section 10
240, a data block part data length 10232, etc., and a queuing function code part 1010
4 is a function ID, a job type 10222,
The job ID includes a job ID 10223.

The data block 10104 includes a command block 10105 and a status block 101.
06, an image data block 10107, an image information block 10108, and the like.

FIG. 16 is a view for explaining a packet structure at the time of continuous packet transfer from the client computer 400 to the file server 500 shown in FIG.

As shown in this figure, at the time of continuous packet transfer, the data portion of packet base 10001 is divided into packet data portions 10001-2 to 10001-4.
Consists of

Hereinafter, a case where a job is registered in the queuing table 10300 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 17 to 19 show a scanner / scanner according to the present invention.
6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a system processing procedure in the printer server system.

Incidentally, STEP30 and STEP3 in the figure
1,... Indicate each step.

If the job can be registered in the queuing table without any error code, the device driver on the client computer 400 executes the same procedure as that of issuing the overall status request command described above to execute the A destination address is set, and an ID for a color printer uniquely determined as an ID for identifying a function is set in the function ID of the header portion, thereby clearly indicating that the execution mode is a color printer. The job ID is set to “0” since the job has not yet been determined, and the job type I
As D, the ID of a uniquely determined command indicating that the command is a data block is set.

At this time, the data block section sets a job registration command for registering a new print job in the print queue on the file server side, and also sets the parameter of the determined registration queue ID in the command section, as described above. This packet is issued to the file server (STEP 30). Then, the process proceeds to a new job ID issuing process of the file server. [Issuance of New Job ID of File Server] First, on the file server 500 side, the file server main controller 510 separates the content of the packet into a header portion and a data block portion as described above, and the content of the data block portion is The command is analyzed, and processing according to the job registration command is performed. The file server main controller 510 includes the queue management controller 5
For 50, a new job is registered in the queuing table of the printer corresponding to the registration queue ID specified in the job registration command, and the job ID at that time is newly issued. At that time, the job ID is set in the status block of the packet to be returned as the status, and the packet is returned to the client computer in the above-described procedure. Thereafter, scan / print processing is performed within the network using the job ID as the identification keyboard.

The client print job registration / image data transfer is performed based on the status packet returned from the file server 500 and the rasterized image data registered on the hard disk (HD) for obtaining the job ID, and the layout thereof. The command data containing the information is read, the packet-based job ID is set to the same value as that obtained, and the command type is set as the job type ID. At this time, the data block portion sets a print execution command, and in the command portion, print information such as the position information parameter of the layout to be printed, color balance information, the number of prints, and the image size (width, height) of the image data. ), Image data type (RGB, CMYK, bitmap, 8Pal)
ette), image data transfer unit (line-sequential, plane-sequential,
Parameters such as dot-sequential) (STEP 31,
32). At this time, the number of packets to be sent in the entire image data block after the command block is calculated from the image data size and the image type, and the total number of packets (including the command packet) is calculated as the total number of headers. Set to packet ID. These packets are transmitted to the client computer 40 by the above-described procedure.
From 0, continuous transfer (split transfer) to the file server is performed (STEP 33).

In the continuous transfer of packets in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16, some command packets are transferred first, followed by the image data packets. The command, the image data, and the job type ID in the header at the time of transfer are set to the respective types, and the job ID is registered in the queue. In order from the packet from the head, the continuous packet ID of the header part returns to step STEP33 from “0” to total packet ID−1 in order, and is repeatedly transmitted (STEP34).

On the file server 500 side, the command packet / image data packet is received from the client computer 400 described above, and the designated job I
It is checked whether D exists, and if it exists, it is sequentially registered as a queuing file on the hard disk (HD) in the file server (STEP 3).
5). The queuing file 1020 registered in the hard disk (HD) in the file server is stored in the queue of the job ID obtained from the command packet.
Register the ID of 0. The job ID and the queuing file ID are managed as one set in the queuing table.

The command packet / image data packet registered on the hard disk (HD) is managed as one file data on the file server 500 as shown in FIG. 15 (STEP 36).

[0116] Subsequently, the processing proceeds to the procedure shown in FIG. 18, and the main controller 210 of the scanner / printer server 200 connected to the network 1 transmits the data at regular intervals registered in the ROM 206 on the server.
The file server 50 based on the network ID of the file server registered on the main memory 260
Access to the 0 side (STEP 37).

Next, the scanner / printer server 20
A value of 0 sets an ID for a color printer that is uniquely determined as an ID for identifying a function in the function ID of the header section based on the packet base described above, and specifies that the execution mode is color printing. Then, a server queue status request command is set in the data block (STEP 38).

In this embodiment, the status request command is a command for obtaining information of the queuing table for the scanner / printer server among all the information of the queue status on the file server side. As a unique scanner /
The printer server ID and the network ID are set.

The scanner / printer server 200 transmits the packet data to the network controller 220.
Through the file server 500. At this time, on the file server side, the file server main controller 510 similarly separates the content of the packet into a header portion and a data block portion, analyzes that the content of the data block portion is a command, and follows the command. Perform the following processing. Since the request from the scanner / printer server side is a request for all information of the queue corresponding to the scanner / printer server ID, the file server main controller 510 determines the queue information of the printer corresponding to the designated scanner / printer server ID. A request is made to the queue management controller 550 as to whether or not there is (STEP 39).

As a result, the scanner / printer server can obtain the information of the queuing table assigned to itself. From the information in this queuing table, it is determined whether a newly registered job has been found (STEP 40).
Returning to the TEP 37, based on the newly registered queuing job file ID, a command packet for command reading the file information is issued to the file server 500 side. Note that the command read in the present embodiment is a process of extracting and reading only the command packet portion from the file information.

On the other hand, YE is determined in step STEP40.
If determined to be S, the file server 500 requests the file information of the designated queuing job file ID from the issued command packet to the hard disk (HD) controller 530 of the file server 500 (STEP 41). ) And corresponding file information (in which packet data from the client is registered as a file) is stored in a hard disk (HD) 53.
1 and extracts only the command packet portion from the file information and transfers it to the scanner / printer server 200 as packet data (STEP 4).
2). This extraction process is performed by the file server main controller 510.

Subsequently, the scanner / printer server 20
0 is a parameter of positional information of a layout to be printed, color balance information, print information such as the number of prints, an image size (width, height) of image data, and an image data of image data. Type (RGB, CMYK, bitmap, 8P
alt.) and parameters such as transfer units of image data (line-sequential, plane-sequential, dot-sequential).

Next, the scanner / printer server 20
The 0 main controller 210 sets up the image controller 710 of the raster image storage unit 700 via the bus controller 740 so as to operate in the above-described file management mode.

As a result, the image controller initializes the memory management controller to manage the raster image memory in the file management mode, and transfers the queued image data to the raster image memory 76.
In order to register the image data to 0, an arbitrary file ID of the image data to be registered is set in the memory management controller. The memory management controller uses this as an image file ID for management / identification (STEP 4).
3).

The print information / image attribute parameter of the queuing image data obtained from the file server 500 is set in the position / attribute information table 770 (STEP 44).

Subsequently, the process proceeds to the procedure shown in FIG. 19, and the main controller 210 issues a command packet to the file server as described above to read the next queued image data. This command packet is an image data reader command, which extracts only the image data packet portion from the previously obtained keyboarding file information on the file server and converts it into packet data, and converts it into packet data.
(Step 45).

Subsequently, the scanner / printer server 20
On the 0 side, the image data obtained by the transfer is transferred as a series of image data packets by the continuous packet ID (STEP 46). As soon as the packet is obtained from the network controller 220, the image data is stored in the raster image data storage. It is registered in the raster image memory 760 of the unit 700 (STEP 47).

At the time of registration, the image data is managed as an image file by dividing the raster image memory 760 into a plurality of parts. The start address and its image data length in the memory, the attributes of the image data, the image data The position information of the layout output of the image file I is described above.
Registered in the position / attribute information table 770 corresponding to D,
The image data transferred from the file server is registered in the raster image memory 760 based on the information (STEP 48).

When the registration of all the image data packets is completed in this way, the main controller 210 returns to the position /
When outputting the number of prints and the layout information of the attribute information table in the layout, the layout controller 75
It is set to 0 (STEP 49), and the layout controller performs enlargement / reduction / deformation editing to the designated position and size (STEP 50). Then, the raster image data is transferred via the color digital interface controller 790, output to the color printer unit 300, and the image requested by the client can be printed (STEP 51).

In this way, the status executed by the scanner / printer server is notified to the queue management controller of the file server at any time and can be monitored.

Subsequently, the command packet for setting the status information on the scanner / printer server side on the file server side issues a status set command (STEP 52). In this embodiment, the status command is the job ID of the execution queue of the current print output.
, The current number of output sheets, and the output end flag are set in the corresponding queuing table.

Next, by status information monitoring described later, it is determined whether or not the job status in the queuing table of the file server has been printed (STEP 53). If NO, the process returns to STEP 50, and if YES, the process ends.

When the command parameters are registered in the raster image storage unit by the command read in this embodiment, the job to be executed is executed by the status set command in the execution queue 10307 of the corresponding queuing table on the file server side. Is set, the job status 10309 is set to data transfer,
Print total number of prints 10310
In addition, the number of printed sheets is set to “1”.

When the raster image storage unit 700 starts print output, the main controller 210 of the scanner / printer server 200 sets the job status of the job data in the corresponding queuing table of the file server to "printing". .

At the time when printing is started, the main controller 210 inquires the status of printing to the raster image storage unit 700 at regular intervals, thereby confirming the current number of printed sheets and error status such as no paper. This information is set by the status set command in the queuing table 10311 on the file server side to the number of printed sheets obtained from the raster image storage unit 700.

Hereinafter, the status information monitoring processing operation by the client computer 400 will be described.

After issuing the print execution packet and issuing all the command packets and the image data packets, the client computer 400 monitors the status of the queuing table on the file server side. CPU 405 of client computer 400
Issues a command packet of a job status request command via the network controller 420. This command packet returns the job information of the queuing table of the job ID specified as a parameter to the client side, so that the information of the current job can be monitored.

In this embodiment, job monitoring is performed by the CPU 40 of the client computer 400.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a job ID of print data, a file server ID of a registration destination, and a scanner / printer server ID of a digital color copying machine to be printed based on the status information obtained from the file server 500.
And the queuing table is displayed on the display controller 410.

Each ID can be displayed in comparison with a unique name managed on the file server / client computer, thereby making it possible to easily identify the server. Also,
The displayed queuing table of the file server can display the total number of sheets in the queuing table, the current execution process of the scanner / print server, the number of printed sheets, and the error status. Get information.

The client side can also determine whether the job status is print completion by using this monitor function.

[0141]

As described above, the first embodiment according to the present invention is described.
According to the invention of the above, the determination means determines the presence or absence of a direct print interrupt request from each client computer,
According to the determination result, the interrupt control means compares the access priority in the command from the client computer to which the interrupt is requested with the access priority requested to be output from the file server while referring to the set priority information. Further, based on the result of the comparison, switching between the output request from the file server and the output request from the client computer requesting the direct print is controlled, so that the print server is directly used without using the spool function of the file server depending on the situation. Can be realized on a network, and an output request exceeding the registered capacity on a file server can be efficiently distributed to a plurality of clients.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the raster image data requested to be output from each client computer and the state of a predetermined command are registered and managed in the management table of the file server, a job request is issued from each client computer. Can be accurately grasped.

According to the third aspect, the print server takes in the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server via the network, so that the request from the scanner / printer side can be obtained. Thus, it is possible to reliably determine whether a new job has been registered on the file server.

According to the fourth aspect, the print server fetches the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server via the network, and stores the fetched raster image in the image storage means. Since the data is stored, the original raster image data can be retained, and various edited images can be processed and output on the scanner / printer side.

According to the fifth aspect, the layout means on the print server side fetches the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server via the network, and obtains the fetched raster image. Since the data is allocated and edited based on the queuing print information, various edited images can be processed and output on the scanner / printer side while laying out.

According to the sixth aspect, the printer server manages the plurality of scanners / printers and the plurality of printers based on the identification information for uniquely identifying the plurality of printers. Even so, the relative system environment can be updated only by adding or modifying the identification information for the changed scanner / printer or printer.

According to the seventh aspect, since the scanner / printer or the printer outputs any one of a color raster image, a monochrome binary image, and a monochrome grayscale raster image, the color raster image, the monochrome binary image, the monochrome Even if a situation occurs in which the data exceeds the allocation on the file server according to the data amount of the grayscale raster image, it is possible to directly output by selecting a scanner / printer or a printer and interrupting it.

According to the eighth aspect, the presence / absence of a direct print interrupt request from each client computer is determined, and the access priority in the command from the client computer to which the interrupt request is made and the output request from the file server are determined based on the determination result. And compares the set access priority with reference to the set priority information, and controls switching between an output request request from the file server and an output request from a client computer for direct print request based on the comparison result. Therefore, depending on the situation, interrupt access to the print server can be directly realized on the network without using the spool function on the file server side, and output requests exceeding the registered capacity on the file server can be efficiently distributed to multiple clients. Door can be.

[0149] Therefore, the present invention has an effect that output requests from each client computer exceeding the registered capacity on the file server can be efficiently distributed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a scanner / printer server system according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the digital copying machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a client computer shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the scanner / printer server shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a file server illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a raster image storage unit illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a network packet unit in the scanner / printer server system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a detailed data structure of a data block unit illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the data structure of a queuing entry table stored in the queue table data shown in FIG.

10 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a queuing table of the queuing entry table shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing procedure in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing procedure in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing procedure in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print processing procedure in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of a queuing file managed by the file server shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a packet structure at the time of continuous packet transfer from the client computer shown in FIG. 1 to the file server.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a system processing procedure in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a system processing procedure in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a system processing procedure in the scanner / printer server system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Network 200 Scanner / Printer Server 220 Network Controller 400 Client Computer 500 File Server 1000 Digital Color Copier

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A print server for controlling a network print processing request of a scanner / printer having a scanner unit for executing a scanner function and a printer unit for executing print function processing, and an access order to the scanner / printer can be set. A plurality of client computers and a file server that queues raster image data and a predetermined command input from each client computer and communicates with the print server to transfer the queued raster image data and the command are respectively provided by the predetermined number. Determining means for determining whether or not there is a direct print interrupt request from each client computer, and an action in a command from the client computer requesting the interrupt. A client that compares the access priority and the access priority requested to be output from the file server with reference to the set priority information, and based on the comparison result, requests the output request from the file server and the direct print request. A scanner / printer server system, wherein the print server is provided with interrupt control means for controlling switching of an output request from a computer. 2. The scanner / printer server according to claim 1, wherein the file server has a management table for registering and managing raster image data requested from each client computer and a status of a predetermined command. system. 3. The scanner / printer server system according to claim 1, wherein the print server takes in the queuing print information and the raster image data registered in the management table in the file server via a network. 4. The print server has image storage means for fetching queuing print information and raster image data registered in a management table in the file server via a network, and storing the fetched raster image data. The scanner / printer server system according to claim 1, wherein: 5. A print server fetches queuing print information and raster image data registered in a management table in a file server via a network, and fetches the fetched raster image data based on the queuing print information. 2. The scanner / printer server system according to claim 1, further comprising layout means for layout editing. 6. The printer server includes a plurality of scanners /
2. The scanner / printer server system according to claim 1, wherein the printer and the plurality of printers are managed based on identification information for uniquely identifying the plurality of printers. 7. A scanner / printer or printer,
2. The scanner / printer server system according to claim 1, wherein any one of a color raster image, a monochrome binary image, and a monochrome grayscale raster image can be output. 8. A print server for controlling a network print processing request of a scanner / printer having a scanner unit for executing a scanner function and a printer unit for executing print function processing, and an access order to the scanner / printer can be set. A plurality of client computers and a file server that queues raster image data and a predetermined command input from each client computer and communicates with the print server to transfer the queued raster image data and the command are respectively provided by the predetermined number. In the interrupt print control method of the scanner / printer server system communicably connected to the network, the presence / absence of a direct print interrupt request from each client computer is determined. The access priority in the command from the client computer requesting the interrupt is compared with the access priority requested to be output from the file server while referring to the set priority information, and the file is determined based on the comparison result. An interrupt print control method for a scanner / printer server system, which controls switching between an output request request from a server and an output request from a client computer that requests direct printing.