JP3284457B2 - Printer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a printer used in a computer system, and more particularly to a technique for canceling a print job.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a computer system, a printer is connected to a host computer. The printer receives print job data sent from the host computer, interprets the data, and performs a printing operation. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a printer in which a print job sent from a host computer to a printer can be canceled by a command from a control panel of the printer.

[0003]

When a print job is canceled by operating the control panel in the above-described conventional printer, all data of the print job remaining in the memory in the printer at that time are deleted. It will be erased. Therefore, the following problem occurs.

That is, if data of a plurality of print jobs is already stored in the printer, canceling the job deletes all of the data, so that only a specific job cannot be canceled. Similarly, it is not possible to cancel only a specific part (for example, a specific page) in one job.

Further, in the case of a job having a large data amount, since all of the data does not fit in the memory in the printer, printing of the previously entered data portion is performed.
In some cases, the subsequent part is put into the printer from the host computer. in this case,
If a portion of data that has not yet entered the printer remains in the host computer when the job is canceled, the remaining data enters the printer after the job is canceled. Is also processed, and meaningless printing is performed.

In order to erase such data remaining in the host computer, it is necessary to cancel the job on the host computer side. However, it is practically impossible for a user to perform a job cancel operation on both the printer and the host computer at the same time. If the job is canceled only on the host computer side, the data already sent to the printer before the job cancellation is processed by the printer and printed.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fine-grained printer capable of canceling printing of a specific job among a plurality of received print jobs or a specific portion of one print job. It is to provide a job cancel function.

Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to perform such a detailed job cancellation only by canceling either the control panel of the printer or the host computer.

[0009]

A printer according to the present invention is a printer capable of processing print jobs from a plurality of users. The printer includes an input unit for receiving an input of a print cancel command from one of the users, and a print job data command from a plurality of users. Each receiving, interpreting and generating image data for printing, and control means for notifying the imaging means a specific user who has input the cancel command received by the input means, the imaging means, It is configured to omit the generation of image data for all print jobs from a specific user notified from the control unit among the data commands of the print jobs received from a plurality of users.

In a preferred embodiment, the input means includes a printer control panel and a communication interface with a host computer. Communications interface, a first switch <br/> catcher down channel to transmit data command for the print job, the first tea down channel different physical or logical, second tea transmitting a cancel command and a down Ne <br/> Le.

In a preferred embodiment, the input means further comprises:
A cancel start command to instruct the start of canceling the print job, and a cancel end command to instruct the end of the cancel are input, and the control unit further notifies the imaging unit of the input of the cancel start command and the cancel end command, The imaging unit starts omitting the generation of image data based on the data command of the received print job in response to the cancel start command, and ends omitting the generation of image data in response to the cancel end command.

[0013]

[0014]

According to the present invention, there is provided a program medium for receiving a print cancel command from one of a plurality of users, receiving a print job data command from the plurality of users, interpreting the print job data command, and printing. A procedure for generating image data for printing, a procedure for notifying a specific user who has input the cancel command received in the receiving procedure, and a specific command notified among print command data commands received from a plurality of users. A program for causing a computer to execute a procedure for omitting image data generation for all print jobs from a user is carried in a form that the computer can read and understand.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a printer according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The printer 5 is connected to the host computer 1 via the interface cable 3 as shown in FIG. 1, and includes a control buffer 7, a print queue (data buffer) 9, a control panel 11, a command It includes an interpretation unit 13, an image buffer 15, and a print engine 17.

The control buffer 7 is connected to the host computer 1
Alternatively, it is a memory for storing commands other than the printing operation (hereinafter, referred to as control commands) sent from the control panel 11. The print queue 9 is a memory for temporarily storing a data command (hereinafter, referred to as a print data command) sent from the host computer 1. The reason why the print queue 9 is provided is that the speed of the data command of the print job output by the host computer 1 is different from the speed at which the command interpreter 13 interprets the print data command. The control panel 11 is an operation panel for transmitting commands such as control commands on the printer 5.

The command interpreter 13 reads a print data command from the print queue 9 and interprets it to generate image data to be printed, or reads a control command from the control buffer 7 and interprets it. It has a function of interrupting the generation of image data. The image buffer 15 is a memory for temporarily storing image data. The reason why the image buffer 15 is provided is that the command interpreter 13 reads the print data command from the print queue 9 and develops it into image data to be printed, and the print engine 17 reads this image data and develops it into a visible image. This is because the speed is different.
The print engine 17 is a printing mechanism for reading image data from the image buffer 15 and forming a visible image on a recording medium such as recording paper.

The communication protocol between the host computer 1 and the printer 5 has two physically or logically different channels, a control channel 3C and a data channel 3D. In the control channel 3C, a control command for requesting the printer 5 to perform a special operation different from the printing operation from the host computer 1 is sent to the control buffer 7. As one of the control commands, there is a cancel command for canceling a job (the details will be described later). On the other hand, in the data channel 3D, a print data command of a print job is sent from the host computer 1 to the print queue 9. In addition, from the control panel 11,
A control command such as a cancel command can be input to the control buffer 7.

The print data command stored in the print queue 9 is read out by the command interpreter 13, and here, image data to be printed is generated. At this time, when a control command, for example, a cancel command is sent from the control buffer 7, the command interpretation unit 13 temporarily omits generation of image data. And the print engine 17
However, by reading this image data from the image buffer 15, it is possible to obtain a print (hard copy) in which unnecessary portions and pages are deleted.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing another transmission method of the present invention for transmitting two types of commands. In this example, a print data command D and a cancel command C are sent from the host computer 1 to the printer 5 on the same channel. Then, in the printer 5, the print data command D is distributed to the print queue 9 and the cancel command C is distributed to the control buffer 7, and thereafter, generation and omission of image data are performed as in FIG.

Next, the operation of the command interpreter 13 to temporarily omit the generation of image data by a cancel command will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the command interpreter 13 shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the command interpreting section 13 has a control section 21, an imaging section 29, a cancel switch flag (C) 23, a skipping flag (F) 25, and a cancel condition register 27.

The control section 21 reads a control command from the control buffer 7 and performs control according to the read command. In particular, when a cancel command is received, the cancel switch flag (C) 23 and the cancel condition register 27 are operated in accordance with the content of the command.

The imaging unit 29 sequentially reads the print data commands stored in the print queue 9, interprets them, generates image data, and generates the image data.
5 is performed. During this imaging process, the imaging unit 29 refers to the cancel switch flag (C) 23 to determine whether or not a job cancel has been requested, and if so, performs a job cancel operation. That is, a skipping operation is performed. Then, the reading skip flag (F) 25 is notified of this fact.

Here, the type of the cancel command will be described with some examples.

FIG. 4 shows the cancel command 3 described above.
It is a figure showing an example of a kind.

In FIG. 4, a cancel command (A)
Is added with a parameter indicating a cancel condition after the instruction code "CANCEL". This command (A)
Indicates that a print job or a portion in a print job that satisfies the cancellation condition is cancelled.
Hereinafter, this command is referred to as “condition cancellation”.

The cancel commands (B) and (c) correspond to the instruction codes “CENCEL-ON” and “CENCE”, respectively.
L-OFF ”and the instruction code“ CENCEL-O ”.
N "is a location where the job currently being printed is sharp (for example,
This is a command for starting the job cancellation from the top of the next page). On the other hand, the instruction code “CENCEL-OF
F "is a command for instructing a restart of printing from a point where the job being cancelled is clear (for example, the top of the next page). Hereinafter," CANCE "of the cancel command (B) will be described.
L-ON ”command,“ Cancel switch on ”
"CANCEL" of the cancel command (C)
The command of “EL-OFF” is called “cancel switch off”.

Next, the cancellation conditions of the condition cancellation include the following, for example.

Until the end of one page (this is to cancel from the beginning to the end of one page) In a job for printing a plurality of copies, until the end of K part (K can be set arbitrarily) (this is For example, when the total number of print copies is 10, 5 copies are canceled.) Until the end of the print job (for example, when there are several print jobs, the start of a certain print job All the print jobs from the user (= host computer) that issued the cancel command (for example, when a plurality of computers are connected to the printer, (This cancels all print jobs from the user (host computer) that issued the job.) All print jobs (including other users) For example, when a plurality of computers are connected to the printer, a cancel command is issued from the control panel of the printer and all users (host computers) are issued.
Cancels all print jobs from

The condition can be canceled, for example, by designating a job, the number of copies to be canceled, a cancellation range, and the like.
From a plurality of print jobs already sent to the printer 5,
This is convenient for accurately canceling only a specific job or only a specific portion in one job. When canceling the condition, it is necessary to input a cancel condition. Therefore, the printing operation of the printer 5 is temporarily stopped, and then the condition cancellation is performed from the keyboard (not shown) of the host computer 1 or the control panel 11 of the printer 5. It would be better to enter the command
As an example, there is a method of operating a pause button (not shown) on the control panel 11 and then inputting a cancel command and a cancel condition.

On the other hand, the cancel switch on / off is
Since the job is canceled only between the input of the cancel switch ON and the input of OFF, it is useful for roughly canceling the unprinted remaining portion of the currently printed job or several unprinted pages. In order to issue the cancel switch on / off, a special cancel button (for example, a stop key or a clear key) may be prepared on the control panel 11 of the printer 5 or the keyboard (not shown) of the host computer 1. .
When the cancel button is pressed, a cancel switch on is issued, and when the button is released, a cancel switch off is issued. Then, as will be understood from the following operation description, during the period from when the cancel button is pressed to when it is released, the printer 5 is in the meantime.
Will be canceled. For example, if the cancel button is pressed once briefly, only the next page of the page currently being printed can be canceled, and if this is repeated n times continuously, n pages from the next page of the current page can be canceled. If you hold down the cancel button for a long time, you can cancel until the end of the job.

Next, the processing operation of the control unit 21 shown in FIG. 3 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In FIG. 5, first, the control unit 21 reads one control command from the control buffer 7 (step S5).
1). Next, it is checked whether or not the read control command is a cancel command (step S52). If it is determined that the read command is not a cancel command, a process corresponding to the control command read in step S51 is executed (step S5).
3).

On the other hand, when it is determined that the control command read in step S51 is a cancel command,
The type of the cancel command is checked (step S54). As a result of the check, if it is determined that the condition is canceled, any one of the above-described five types of parameter cancellation conditions is set in the cancellation condition register 27 (step S55). On the other hand, as a result of the check in step S54, when it is determined that the cancel switch is on / off, the cancel switch flag (C) 23 is set when the cancel switch is on.
Is set, and not set when it is off. That is, the cancel switch flag (C) 23 is set during the period from when the cancel command is turned on to when the cancel command is turned off. Thus, the cancel switch flag (C)
23 and the cancel condition register 27 so that the state of the content of the cancel command can be understood.

Next, the processing operation of the imaging section 29 shown in FIG. 3 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Prior to performing the processing operation shown in FIG. 6, the cancel switch flag (C) 23, the skipping flag (F) 25, and the cancel condition register 27 are all initialized. In this state, the imaging unit 29 reads one print data command from the print queue 9 (Step S61).

Next, in order to confirm the cancel switch on / off command, it is checked whether or not the cancel switch flag (C) 23 is set (step S62). As a result of this check, if it is not set, it is determined that the cancel switch is off, and it is checked whether or not the skipping flag (F) 25 is set (step S63). As a result of this check, if the skip flag (F) 25 is not set, it is next checked whether or not the cancel condition register 27 is set (step S64). As a result of this check, if the cancel condition register 27 is not set, the print data command read from the print queue 9 is interpreted to generate image data (step S65).

Next, it is checked whether the generation of image data for one page is completed (step S66). As a result of this check, if the generation has not been completed, the print data commands are successively read, and one page of data is read by referring to the flags (C) 23 and (F) 25 and the condition register 27 as described above. (Steps S66, S68, S61 to S66).

If it is determined in step S66 that one page of image data has been completed, the print engine 17 reads the image data through the image buffer 15 and executes print processing (step S67). Then, it is checked whether or not there is a print data command for the following page (step S68). On the other hand, step S68
When it is determined that there is no print data command, the printing process is terminated.

During execution of the above-described printing process, when it is recognized that the cancel condition register 27 has been set due to the application of the condition cancel command (step S64), the contents of the cancel condition (ie, the job Confirm the range and number of copies (step S6)
9). Then, a cancel operation according to the confirmed cancel condition (that is, skipping of the print data command in the designated range) is started (step S70), and the cancel condition register 27 is reset together with the end of the cancel operation (step S71). ).

Next, when it is recognized that the cancel switch flag (C) 23 has been set by giving the cancel switch ON command during the printing process (step S62), the printing of the print data command is terminated. The skip of the print data command is started from a good place (for example, the head of the next page), and at the same time, the skip flag (F) 25 is set (step S72). This skipping is continued while the cancel switch flag (C) 23 is set (steps S72 to S6).
1, S62, S72).

On the other hand, when it is recognized that the cancel switch flag (C) 23 has been reset by giving the cancel switch off command (step S62), it is determined whether or not the skipping flag (F) 25 has been set. Is checked (step S63). At this time, since the skipping has been performed immediately before, if the skipping flag (F) 25 is set, the skipping is performed after skipping to a well-cut portion (for example, the end of the next page) during skipping. Is completed, and the skip flag (F) 25 is reset (step S73).

That is, if the cancel switch is turned on and off during the printing of the first page, the skipping is started at the beginning of the second page, the skipping is completed at the end of the second page, and the printing is started from the third page. Will be resumed. Therefore, only the second page is not printed. Also, if the cancel switch is turned on during the printing of the first page and turned off at the second page, the skipping starts at the beginning of the second page and ends at the end of the third page. The third and third pages are cancelled. Similarly, turn on the cancel switch during printing of the first page,
If the button is turned off by releasing the button on the (n-1) th page, the second to nth pages are canceled.

Next, how to execute the condition cancellation will be described in detail. Prior to that, the configuration of the print data command of each job in the print queue 9 will be described.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the structure of a print data command of each job stored in the print queue 9.
The print data command of each job starts with a job start mark JS indicating the start of the job and ends with a job end mark JE indicating the end of the job.

Job definition information follows the job start mark JS. The job definition information includes a host computer name for specifying the host computer that has sent the job, the number of copies to be printed indicating how many copies are to be printed, double-sided or single-sided printing, and the following page data command. A printer control language or the like that defines whether the language is written in such a language is defined. The printer control language is written in a language unique to each printer, and the job definition information is written in a job language common to all printers.

After the job definition information, a page data command representing image data of each page follows, separated by a page break mark. The page data command is expressed in the previously defined printer control language.

The print job configured in this manner is a job given first in the print queue 9 (first job), a next given job (second job), and a third job. Are stored in order. Then, the imaging unit 29 sequentially reads the print data commands in the print queue 9 from the first job, and performs print processing according to the processing procedure as shown in FIG.

Next, how to execute the condition cancellation will be described in detail.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure for executing the condition cancellation. Here, the following three conditions are assumed as cancellation conditions.

The condition is that one copy and one page are skipped, and the number of print copies K = 1 and the number of pages n = 1 specified in the job definition.
And Next, the condition is K for printing multiple copies.
In this case, the number of copies is skipped, and the number of copies K = set value, and n = the number of last pages. Further, the condition is that the entire job is skipped from the beginning to the end, where K = the number of print copies of the job and n = the number of last pages.

In FIG. 8, first, when any one of the above conditions (1) and (2) is set (step S81), the image buffer 15 clears the image data of the next page (step S82). This cancels printing of the next page.

Next, page data commands written in the printer control language (that is, page data commands of each page shown in FIG. 7) are sequentially read one by one into the print queue 9 (step S83). However, the imaging unit 29 does not create image data by ignoring (skipping) the read page data command (step S84). Next, while checking whether or not one page has been skipped (step S85), step S85 is performed until one page is skipped.
Through steps S83 and S84, and again
The processing operation up to 85 is repeated.

When it is confirmed that one page has been skipped (step S85), it is checked whether n pages have been skipped (step S86). At this time, in the case of the condition, since n = 1, it is considered that skipping of n pages has been completed, and it is checked whether or not the K portion has been skipped (step S87). even here,
In the case of the condition, since the number of copies K = 1, it is considered that the skipping of the K portion has been completed, and the cancel execution process ends.

Next, the condition (that is, the case where the designated K portion of the plurality of copies is skipped) will be described.

In this case, after checking whether or not one page has been skipped in step S85, it is checked whether or not skipping has been completed up to the last n pages for one print copy (step S86). This operation is continued until it is determined that the operation has been performed. Then, when it is determined that the reading has been completed, it is checked whether or not the skipping of the designated K portion has been completed (step S87), and when it is determined that the reading has been completed, the cancel execution processing is terminated.

Next, the condition (that is, the case where the entire job is skipped from the beginning to the end) will be described.

In this case, after checking whether or not one page has been skipped in step S85, it is checked whether or not the skipping has been completed up to the last n pages for one copy of the number of print copies of the job. (Step S86) This operation is continued until it is determined that the operation is completed. If it is determined that the job has been completed, it is checked whether or not the skipping of the copy number K portion of the job has been completed (step S87). If it is determined that the process has been completed, the cancel execution process ends.

Although the case of printing one copy of all pages and proceeding to the next copy has been described above, the case of repeatedly printing the same page for the number of copies and then proceeding to the next page is also described. If the skipping check of page n is performed after the skipping check of, the same result as described above can be obtained.

Next, a case where only a print data command from a host computer which has transmitted a cancel command when all jobs have come from each host computer will be described.

In this case, the imaging unit 29 interprets the job definition information shown in FIG. 7 while reading each job, and specifies the host computer which has transmitted the cancel command. Then, a job start mark JS of the job from the corresponding host computer is searched, and the job start mark JS is skipped at a stroke. As a result, the print data command of the host computer that has transmitted the cancel command is skipped, but the print processing is performed for the print data command from another host computer. Similarly, when canceling all the jobs of all the host computers waiting for printing, the job is skipped at a stretch while searching for the job start mark JS and the job end mark JE.

The contents described above relate to one embodiment of the present invention, and do not mean that the present invention is not limited to only the above contents.

[0068]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A fine-grained job canceling function can be provided so that the printer can cancel printing of only a specific job among a plurality of received print jobs or a specific portion of one print job.

It is also possible to perform such a detailed job cancellation only by canceling either the control panel of the printer or the host computer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a command transmission method according to a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a command interpreting unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing types of cancel commands according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a control unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of an imaging unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a print data command of each job stored in a print queue.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for executing condition cancellation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 host computer 3 interface cable 3C control channel 3D data channel 5 printer 7 control buffer 9 print queue (data buffer) 11 control panel 13 command interpreter 15 image buffer 17 print engine 21 controller 23 cancel switch flag (C) 25 skipping Flag (F) 27 Cancel condition register 29 Imaging unit JS Job start mark JE Job end mark

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/12 B41J 5/30 B41J 29/38

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printer capable of processing print jobs from a plurality of users, an input unit receiving an input of a print cancel command from any of the users, and receiving a print job data command from the plurality of users, respectively. An imaging unit that interprets and generates image data for printing; and a control unit that notifies the imaging unit of a specific user who has input the cancel command received by the input unit. A printer for omitting the generation of image data for all print jobs from the specific user notified from the control unit, among the data commands of the print job received from the plurality of users. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein said input means includes a control panel of the printer. 3. The printer according to claim 1, wherein said input means includes a communication interface with a host computer. 4. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the communication interface sends a first command channel for transmitting a data command of a print job and a cancel command that is physically or logically different from the first channel. A second channel for transmission. 5. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the input unit further inputs a cancel start command for instructing start of print job cancellation and a cancel end command for instructing cancellation of print job. However, further, the cancel start command,
Notifying the imaging unit of the input of the cancel end command, the imaging unit starts omitting the generation of image data based on the data command of the received print job in response to the cancel start command, and A printer ending the omission of generation of the image data in response to an end command. 6. A procedure for receiving an input of a print cancel command from any one of a plurality of users, and receiving and interpreting print job data commands from the plurality of users, respectively, and an image for printing. A step of generating data; a step of notifying a specific user who has input the cancel command received in the receiving step; and a step of notifying the specific command notified among print job data commands received from the plurality of users. A program medium having a procedure for omitting generation of image data for all print jobs from a user, and a program for causing a computer to execute the program in a form that the computer can read and understand.