JP3250345B2 - Printer control device and 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 printer control apparatus and a printer control method, and more particularly to a printer control apparatus and method for determining whether a certain job can be processed. It is possible to delegate the processing to another printer control device in the printer, and when the processing is delegated to another printer control device, the relevant job is not transferred at one time, but the relevant job is The present invention relates to a printer control apparatus and method for transferring information including at least information necessary and sufficient to determine whether the job can be processed and information indicating the existence of the job.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a case where a plurality of print servers are connected to a predetermined network, if it becomes impossible to execute print (job) processing by a designated print server, the print server is connected to the network. In this case, the rejected job is transferred to another print server, and the processing is left to the job. In such a case, as means for selecting a print server for transferring the job, the states of a plurality of print servers connected to the network are mutually monitored, and the respective states are stored in appropriate holding means. A print server that is held and can be processed is selected. Examples of this type of conventional technology include, for example, JP-A-1-213713 [printing system] and JP-A-3-65720 [print server].

[0003]

However, in the above-described conventional technology, information relating to the above-mentioned status is printed so that the status of a plurality of print servers connected to the network can be mutually known. It is necessary to implement a predetermined protocol for the exchange. And
Since it is necessary to always exchange such information, there is a problem that the traffic volume in the network is disadvantageously increased.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate and improve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. It is an object of the present invention to store information relating to the status of a plurality of print servers connected to a network. An object of the present invention is to provide a printer control apparatus and method which do not require the implementation of a protocol for exchange and do not unnecessarily increase the traffic volume for exchanging the information.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to fulfill the above-mentioned object, and a printer control apparatus according to the present invention can process a job transferred from a client or another printer control apparatus. Is determined, and when it is determined that the job cannot be processed, the transferred job is a request job from a client in a printer control device configured to transfer the job to another printer control device. Means for determining whether or not the job is a transfer job transferred from another printer control apparatus, and extracts information necessary for determining whether or not a job requested by a client can be processed. Means (11A) for extracting information necessary for determining whether a transfer job from another printer control device can be processed ( 1B) The further printer control including at least information necessary for determining whether the requested job can be processed when it is determined that the requested job from the client cannot be processed. Means (11C, 1) for configuring a transfer job for the device
6) means for extracting data necessary for printing when it is determined that the transfer job from the other printer control device can be processed (11D). Further, the printer control method according to the present invention determines whether a job transferred from a client or another printer control device can be processed,
In the printer control method for transferring the job to another printer control device when it is determined that the job cannot be processed, the transferred job is a job requested from a client or transferred from another printer control device. It is determined whether or not the requested job is a transfer job, and for the requested job from the client, it is determined whether or not the requested job can be processed. In response to the determination that the requested job from the client cannot be processed, A transfer job for the further printer control device, including at least information necessary to determine whether the requested job can be processed, and for a transfer job from another printer control device, It is determined whether or not the transfer job can be processed, and it is determined that the transfer job from the other printer control device can be processed. Corresponding to the cross-sectional, retrieve the data necessary for printing, it is characterized in.

[0006]

According to the printer control device of the present invention, the following operations are sequentially performed. (1) When the print server, which is the processing means of the print job, cannot respond to the print processing for some reason (for example, because it does not have an appropriate font), the transfer is performed. For another print server that is previously selected in advance, information that forms basic data for determining whether or not the print job in which the print processing is not possible is to be processed is created. The transmitted information is transmitted to the another print server. (2) The other print server that has received the information as the determination material determines whether or not required processing is possible based on the received information. (3) As a result of this determination, when it is determined that the processing cannot be performed, the received information is transmitted to another print server. (4) On the other hand, as a result of the judgment,
When it is determined that the print job can be processed, all the data related to the print job is accepted from the original print server, and the necessary print processing is executed. (5) By doing so, only when a certain print server becomes unable to perform print processing, information necessary for determining whether or not the print processing is possible is stored in advance in advance. It is only necessary to transmit the order to another designated print server, and all the data related to the relevant print job may be transmitted after the above-described determination. (6) A protocol for constantly exchanging information about the status of the several print servers without unnecessarily increasing the traffic in the network to which the several print servers are connected is implemented. The advantage is that, by simply implementing a protocol for transmitting the information as the judgment data, a print server having sufficient processing capacity can be selected and the required print processing can be performed quickly and accurately. Is obtained.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a system including a printer control device according to the present invention. This figure 1
, A plurality of print servers (here, three #
1 is illustrated as having a print server 1, a # 2 print server 2, and a # 3 print server 3.)
Are provided with corresponding printers.
That is, # 1 print server 1, # 1 printer 6, # 2
The print server 2 is provided with a # 2 printer 7, and the # 3 print server 3 is provided with a # 3 printer 8. In addition, a plurality of print clients (for example, data processing devices such as personal computers and workstations that perform required data processing and request print jobs for intermediate results and final results of the processing) are provided. Have been. In this embodiment, two print clients (# 1 print client 4 and # 2 print client 5) are exemplified. Then, these means are provided with an appropriate L
It is connected to a communication medium 9 such as an AN.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the printer control device according to the present invention in more detail. In FIG. 2, the print server corresponding to the printer control device includes the following units. Note that the plurality of print servers (# 1 print server 1, # 2
The print servers 2 and # 3 print servers 3) have the same configuration. A communication unit 10 for exchanging necessary data (here, related to a print job) with a required print server or print client via a communication medium 9; Job determination unit 11 for determining whether the requested job is a transfer job from another print server or a transfer job from another print server; necessary for determining whether the requested job from the client can be processed. Requested job related information extraction unit (11A) for extracting information; transfer job related information extraction unit (11B) for extracting information necessary to determine whether a transfer job from another printer control device can be processed ); When it is determined that the job requested by the client cannot be processed, another printer control device of a predetermined order A transfer job forming unit (11C) for forming a transfer job corresponding to the print job; a print data extracting unit (11D) for extracting data necessary for printing when it is determined that a transfer job from another printer control device can be processed; A job registration unit 12 for registering the accepted job; a printer failure detection unit 13 for detecting whether or not there is a failure with respect to the printer corresponding to the current print server; a response based on information from the printer failure detection unit 13 Printer management unit 14 for grasping and managing the status of the printer to be executed; printer management unit 1
4 receives a report on the status of the corresponding printer, and controls the processing of the corresponding job.
5; Reference creation unit 16 for creating reference data including information on the specified job and the address, file name and file path name of the spooled print server; Data specified in the print server at the specified address A data transfer unit 17 for transferring the print job to another via the communication unit 10; and a spool file unit 18 for holding a predetermined print job and print data corresponding to the print job. . Note that the job control unit 15 is connected to a corresponding printer.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an example of a job format applied to the printer control device of the above embodiment. First, in FIG. 3A, ID 31 and print control data 32 constitute a # 1 print job format 30A. Here, the ID 31 is an item for identifying whether or not the target job is a transfer job. For example, one specified bit is “logic 1” or “logic 0”. The required identification is performed depending on whether The print control data 32
Is an item representing control information necessary for printing the target print data.For example, the type of page description language to be used, the size of print paper, the required number of copies, etc. are specified. You. Next, in FIG. 3B, the print control data 32 and the print data 33 constitute the # 2 print job format 30B.
Here, the print data 33 is page information necessary for printing, and stores, for example, information for printing described in a predetermined page description language. Although the print control data 32 here is the same as that in FIG. 3A, the relationship between the two is uniquely determined so that the corresponding print data 33 can be grasped reliably. It has been decided. That is, a print control index 32A is set in the print control data 32, and a print data index 33A is set in the print data 33. By checking the matching relationship between the two, the required # 2 printing is performed. The job format 30B can be configured reliably.

Next, the operation of the printer control apparatus according to the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Now, for example, from the # 1 print client 4 to the # 1 print server 1 via the communication medium 9,
Assuming that a job for printing has been sent, the communication unit 10 of the # 1 print server 1 receives data from the # 1 print client 4. Then, in the job determination unit 11 following the communication unit 10, the job corresponding to the data is from another print server (that is, # 2 print server 2 or # 3).
(From any of the print servers 3). If the result of this determination is that the job was not a job transferred from another print server,
That is, when the job is a job (request job) issued from the # 1 print client 4, the request job related information extraction unit (11A) determines whether the request job from the client can be processed. Extract necessary information. The information required here is:
[1] Type of page description language used (eg, Interpress); [2] Type of print medium used (eg, gravure-colored (eg, light pink) paper;
[3] character format used (for example, Mincho type);
[4] Size of paper to be used (for example, A4 size); [5] Number of papers to be used (for example, the number of pages per copy of a document requiring printing and the desired number of copies). Will be extracted. [1] Whether the prepared page description language meets the condition; [2] Whether a print medium that meets the condition is prepared; [3] The character format that meets the condition [4] Whether print media (paper) of a size that meets the conditions is prepared; [5] The amount of print media (the number of papers that meet the conditions) that meets the conditions Whether or not it is provided;
Are sequentially determined to determine whether the job requested by the client can be processed. If it is determined that the job requested from the client cannot be processed, the transfer job forming unit (11
In C), a transfer job for another printer control device of a preset order is configured. On the other hand, when it is determined as a result of the determination by the job determination unit 11 that the job is a job (transfer job) issued from another print server, the transfer job related information extraction unit (1)
In 1B), information necessary to determine whether a transfer job from another printer control device can be processed is extracted. When it is determined that the transfer job from the other printer control device can be processed, data necessary for printing is extracted by the print data extracting unit (11D). In the job registration unit 12,
Registration as a request job or a transfer job is performed, and at the same time, print-related data (see FIG. 3) corresponding to the request job or the transfer job is stored and held in the spool file unit 18. On the other hand, the job control unit 1
5, the job to be processed next depends on the status of the corresponding printer notified from the printer management unit 14 (here, the status of the corresponding # 1 printer 6 detected by the printer failure detection unit 13). Is notified to the printer management unit 14. The job control unit 1
In the case of # 5, #
When the printer management unit 14 is notified of the failure state of the first printer 6, the # 1 printer 6 depends on the degree of the failure.
It is determined whether the function recovery is possible. And
When it is determined that the function recovery of the # 1 printer 6 is impossible, the reference generation unit 16 cooperates with the transfer job configuration unit 11C to transfer the data from the # 1 print client 4 to another printer (here, Then, a transfer job required to transfer the data to the # 2 printer 7) is created. That is, the reference generation unit 16 cooperates with the transfer job configuration unit 11C to determine the locations of the print control data 32 and the print data 33 of the corresponding job by using the corresponding print server (here, # 1). A transfer job including the address of the print server 1), the associated file path name and the file name is created. Then, the transfer job created in this way is transferred to the data transfer unit 17 under the control of the job control unit 15. In this data transfer unit 17,
The transfer jobs accepted as described above are arranged in a predetermined order (for example, by a system communication manager) (for example,
Arbitrary order such as the order of # 1 print server 1 → # 2 print server 2 → # 3 print server 3 and the order of # 1 print server 1 → # 3 print server 3 → # 2 print server 2 can be set. ) According to the communication medium 9
To be forwarded over. Now, it is assumed that the transfer job from the # 1 print server 1 has been sent to the # 2 print server 2. By the determination operation of the job determination unit 11 of the # 2 print server 2, it is determined that the currently accepted job is a transfer job from the # 1 print server 1. Various attributes included in the print control data of the transfer job (items representing control information necessary for printing the target print data, such as the type of page description language used, , The required number of copies, etc.), it is determined whether the current # 2 print server 2 can print. As a result, when it is determined that printing is possible in the # 2 print server 2, the job registration unit 12
In (2), the request job received from # 1 print server 1 is registered as its own print job, and the address and file of the transfer source print server (here, # 1 print server 1) included in the received request job are registered. Based on the path name and the file name, the relevant print data is transferred from the spool file unit 18 on the transfer source print server side via the data transfer unit 17 and taken into the # 2 print server 2 side. Then, a normal print processing operation is performed on the print data thus fetched. On the other hand, when it is determined that printing is not possible in the # 2 print server 2,
The transfer job from the previous stage is further transferred from the # 2 print server 2 to the next following # 3 print server 3 via the communication medium 9. Subsequent processing in the # 3 print server 3 is described below.
Is similar to that described above. However, in this example, since it is assumed that the number of print servers included in the system is three, if it is determined that the processing in the # 3 print server 3 is impossible, the corresponding Is notified to the print client (here, the # 1 print client 4) that the print processing of the print data is impossible in any of the print servers, and then the next work is started. The same processing is performed when the previous print request is issued from the # 1 print server 1 itself.

[0011]

As described above in detail, according to the printer control apparatus and method according to the present invention, it becomes impossible for the print server, which is the processing means of the print job, to respond to the print processing for some reason. At this time, information forming basic data for determining whether or not there is a possibility of processing the print job in which the print processing is not possible is created for another print server previously selected as a transfer destination. Then, this information is transmitted to the another print server. Then, in another print server that has received the information as the determination data, it is determined whether or not required processing is possible based on the received information.
As a result of this determination, [1] when it is determined that processing is not possible, the accepted information is transmitted to still another print server. [2] On the other hand, when it is determined that the print job can be processed as a result of the determination, all the data related to the print job is accepted from the original print server, and the necessary print processing is executed. Let me move. For this reason, only when a situation in which print processing cannot be performed in a predetermined print server occurs, information necessary for determining whether or not the print processing is possible or not is determined in advance by another designated print order. , And all the data related to the print job should be transmitted after the above-described determination. Thus, without increasing the traffic on the network to which several print servers are connected, and without implementing a protocol for constantly exchanging information about the state of the several print servers, By simply implementing a protocol for transmitting the information as the judgment data, it is possible to select a print server with sufficient processing and perform the required print processing quickly and accurately. That is, according to the printer control apparatus and method of the present invention, it is necessary to monitor the status of a print server other than the print server provided in the system and to provide a mechanism for storing and holding the status. And the traffic of the network in which the print server is included is not increased. Moreover,
Without the need to implement such a protocol, the existing data transfer function is skillfully used to transfer print data to a print server that can process the data, so that the required data can be transferred more quickly. And the continuation of such print processing has the effect of greatly improving the throughput capacity and reliability of the system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a system including a printer control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a printer control device according to the present invention in more detail.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram of a job format applied to the printer control device of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,2,3-# 1, # 2, # 3 print server; 4
5 ---- # 1, # 2 print client; 6, 7, 8-
# 1, # 2, # 3 printers; 9--communication medium;
-Communication unit; 11-Job determination unit; 11A-Requested job related information extraction unit; 11B-Transfer job related information extraction unit; 11C-Transfer job configuration unit; 11D-Print data extraction unit; Job registration unit; 13—Printer failure detection unit; 14—Printer management unit; 15—Job control unit; 16—Reference generation unit; 17—Data transfer unit; 18—Spool file unit.

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/12

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] The present invention determines whether a job transferred from a client or another printer control device can be processed, and if the job cannot be processed, transfers the job to another printer control device. Means for determining whether the transferred job is a request job from the client or a transfer job transferred from another printer control device, and the job requested from the client Means for extracting information necessary for determining whether or not processing is possible, and means for extracting information required for determining whether a transfer job from another printer control device is capable of processing When it is determined that the requested job from the client is not processable, at least whether or not the requested job can be processed Means for forming a transfer job to the further printer control device including information necessary for the determination; and necessary for printing when it is determined that the transfer job from the other printer control device can be processed. Means for extracting important data; and a printer control device comprising: 2. A printer for determining whether a job transferred from a client or another printer control device can be processed, and when determining that the job cannot be processed, further transferring the job to another printer control device. In the control method, it is determined whether the transferred job is a request job from a client or a transfer job transferred from another printer control device, and the requested job is processed for the requested job from the client. Information necessary to determine whether or not the requested job can be processed, in response to the determination that the requested job from the client cannot be processed, including,
Forming a transfer job for the further printer control device, determining whether or not the transfer job from the other printer control device can be processed; and transferring the transfer job from the other printer control device. A printer control method for extracting data necessary for printing in response to the determination that the printer can be processed.