JP3752867B2 - Document processing device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a document processing apparatus, and more particularly to icon display processing.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The document processing apparatus includes a computer as hardware and a document processing program. For the created document, an output destination (printer) and various printing conditions are set by the user, and printing of the document is executed according to the setting contents. The printing conditions include, for example, single-side / double-side designation, monochrome / color designation, finishing designation, and the like. In recent document processing apparatuses, icons (for example, thumbnail icons) representing each document are displayed in a list on the screen. For example, a document to be printed can be selected by selecting any icon on the list display.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above list display, whether or not the printing attributes (output destination, printing conditions, etc.) have already been set for each document, and what kind of contents have been set if the printing attributes have already been set. It is not possible to immediately recognize whether or not is set. In the conventional apparatus, in order to confirm the presence / absence of print attributes and the contents thereof, it is necessary to first select an icon and then open a predetermined window (for example, a property window). It is very complicated to perform this operation for each icon.
[0004]
On the other hand, in recent years, with the spread of network technology, there are increasing cases of obtaining and using documents created by others. Generally, a print attribute is not added to a document transferred on a network, and the print attribute is reset on the receiving side. However, for the above reasons, it is not possible to intuitively determine a document for which print attribute setting has not been completed on the list display. Further, in order to reduce the burden on the user, there is a demand for simplification of the operation for setting the printing conditions.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems. The purpose of the present invention is to allow a user to intuitively recognize whether or not a print attribute has been set for each document and its contents in a state where a document icon is displayed. There is in doing so.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(1) To achieve the above object, the present invention includes a document icon display means for displaying the document icon representing the document, on the document icon, a smaller form than the document icon, print on the document Attribute icon display means for displaying an attribute icon representing an attribute , and means for allowing a user to select one of the attribute icons when a plurality of attribute icons are displayed on the document icon. seen including, by selecting an attribute icon from among the plurality of attribute icons on the document icon may be selectively set print attributes the attribute icon represents, characterized in that.
[0007]
According to the above configuration, an attribute icon (a pictorial symbol or a mark representing a printing attribute) is displayed together with the document icon, thereby confirming that the printing attribute is set for the document. Further, if the form of the attribute icon is changed according to the type of attribute, it is possible to grasp part or all of the contents of the set attribute from the form.
[0008]
The attribute icon is usually attached to the document icon. When a transmission operation is performed on the document icon, the attribute icon may be transmitted with the print attribute attached to the document. Moreover, you may enable it to operate an attribute icon independently (for example, transfer).
[0009]
(2) Preferably, the attribute icon has a form smaller than the document icon, and the attribute icon is displayed so as to be superimposed on the document icon. According to this configuration, it is possible to intuitively understand the correspondence and dependency between the document body and the printing attributes.
Preferably, the document icon is a thumbnail icon as a document reduced image, and the attribute icon is displayed in a frame of the document icon.
[0010]
(3) Preferably, the attribute icon to display the output destination of the document may select the output destination of the document on the document icon. In this case, the form of the attribute icon is changed for each type of output destination. The form of the attribute icon may be customized by the user.
[0011]
(4) Preferably, it includes status acquisition means for acquiring the status of the output destination, and form change means for changing the display form of the attribute icon according to the status. For example, a mark “x” is added on the attribute icon when the printer that is the output destination is suspended. According to this configuration, the user can intuitively recognize that the document cannot be printed on the screen.
[0012]
(5) Preferably, the attribute icon to display the output destination of the document may select the printing condition of the document on the document icon. The concept of the printing condition includes image processing and finishing.
[0013]
(6) Preferably, it includes function acquisition means for acquiring the current function of the output destination of the document, and form change means for changing the display form of the attribute icon according to the current function. According to this configuration, it is possible to intuitively recognize that there is a problem in part or all of the printing conditions due to a change in the form of the attribute icon.
[0014]
(7) A document processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a document icon display unit for displaying a document icon representing a document, and an attribute icon display unit for displaying an attribute icon representing a printing attribute set for the document together with the document icon. When a plurality of attribute icons are displayed on the document icon so as to overlap each other, the priority order of the printing attributes represented by the attribute icons is determined according to the overlapping order.
[0015]
(8) Preferably, when the plurality of attribute icons are dragged and dropped from one document icon onto the other document icon, a plurality of printing attributes are copied from one document to the other document , and conditions for the priority order is also Ru copied.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0017]
FIG. 1 shows a display example in document processing according to the present invention.
[0018]
In FIG. 1, a plurality of document icons 12A to 12E are displayed in a window 10 on the display screen. Each of the document icons 12A to 12E is an icon that symbolizes a document. In the present embodiment, the document icons 12A to 12E are thumbnail icons that represent the document as a reduced image. A plurality of document icons 12A to 12E are displayed in a list in the window 10 as shown in the figure, and a document to be processed can be selected by selecting one of the document icons using a mouse or the like.
[0019]
In the present embodiment, attribute icons 14A to 14J representing print attributes (print properties) are displayed on all or part of the plurality of document icons 12A to 12E. Specifically, an attribute icon 14A smaller than that is displayed while being superimposed on the document icon 12B. Such a combination display of two icons allows the user to intuitively understand that the printing attribute symbolized by the attribute icon 14A is set for the document symbolized by the document icon 12B. Each of the attribute icons 14A to 14J has a form corresponding to the print attribute that it represents. Therefore, the user can intuitively grasp the attribute contents by looking at the form of the attribute icon.
[0020]
In the display example shown in FIG. 1, each attribute icon 14 </ b> A to 14 </ b> J represents the type of printer as an output destination. Therefore, the user can grasp to which printer each document is output by looking at the form of the attribute icon.
[0021]
Two attribute icons 14C and 14D are displayed side by side on the document icon 12C, indicating that one of the two output destinations can be selected for the document.
[0022]
On the document icon 12D, an attribute icon 14B to which a “x” mark is added is displayed. This mark indicates that the output destination is not operating or that printing cannot be executed under the set printing conditions. Therefore, such a mark enables the user to grasp whether or not printing can be executed for each document or whether or not the printing conditions are appropriate.
[0023]
Incidentally, in this embodiment, the status is monitored for each output destination by a status monitor function described later. For example, when a certain output destination is in an operation stop state, the mark is added to the corresponding attribute icon.
[0024]
When either one of the two attribute icons 14C and 14D is selected on the document icon 12C, as shown by reference numeral 12C ′, the attribute icon 14C ′ that has not been selected is displayed as “ “×” is added. Thereby, it is possible to easily grasp the selection state of the output destination.
[0025]
Two attribute icons 14I and 14J are represented on the document icon 12E, and they are represented in a superposition relationship with each other. The order of superimposition corresponds to the priority order among the print attributes, and the print attribute on the upper side has priority over the print attribute on the lower side. For example, when the print attribute on the upper side cannot be realized, printing according to the print attribute on the lower side is executed. Of course, three or more attribute icons can be superimposed.
[0026]
When setting print attributes for a document, the following two methods can be used in this embodiment. According to the first technique, as indicated by reference numeral S1 in FIG. 1, the attribute icon 14A is dragged and dropped onto the target document icon. As a result, a new attribute icon 14E having the same print attribute is set on the target document icon. According to the second method, the menu window 18 is opened by clicking a predetermined button, and by selecting any one of the plurality of attribute icons 14F to 14H displayed in the menu window 18, Alternatively, by performing drag & drop on any icon, a new attribute icon 14E can be set as described above. This operation is indicated by reference numeral S2.
[0027]
When one of the attribute icons is clicked, the property window 20 is opened, whereby the details of the print attribute can be confirmed.
[0028]
FIG. 2 shows another display example in the document processing according to the present invention. In this display example, the attribute icons 22A to 22I particularly represent printing conditions among the printing attributes. In FIG. 2, a menu window 24 is shown. In the menu window 24, an attribute icon 22F representing double-sided printing, an attribute icon 22G representing staple processing, an attribute icon 22H representing punch processing, and two icons per page are displayed. An attribute icon 22I representing Nup designation for assigning an image is shown. By selecting one or a plurality of attribute icons from such a plurality of attribute icons, it is possible to set printing conditions for each document. Specifically, an attribute icon 22A corresponding to double-sided printing is added to the document icon 12F. Two attribute icons 22B and 22C are added to the document icon 12G. Further, two attribute icons 22D and 22E are displayed on the document icon 12H while being superimposed.
[0029]
Therefore, according to the display example shown in FIG. 2, the user can immediately grasp the printing conditions set for each document on the list display of document icons. Of course, the display example shown in FIG. 1 and the display example shown in FIG. 2 may be combined.
[0030]
Next, a configuration for realizing the icon display processing shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0031]
FIG. 3 shows a specific configuration example of the document processing apparatus 30 according to the present embodiment.
[0032]
The document processing apparatus 30 is configured by a computer, for example, and the computer is connected to a network 32. A print server 34 and a plurality of printers 36 and 38 are connected to the network 32. The document processing apparatus 30 as a client can select one of the printers 36 and 38 to execute print processing under the control of the print server 34.
[0033]
In the document processing apparatus 30, a CPU 42 that performs program execution and data calculation is connected to the internal bus 40. The interface unit 44 functions as a communication unit with the network 32. The input unit 46 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The display unit 48 is a display device. The program storage unit 50 and the data storage unit 52 are constituted by recording devices such as a RAM, a ROM, and a hard disk, for example. In FIG. 3, the entire storage device is represented as the program storage unit 50 and the data storage unit 52 for convenience. Has been.
[0034]
The program storage unit 50 stores an OS and application programs. In the present embodiment, the program storage unit 50 particularly includes an attribute management program 54, an icon display processing program 56, and a status management program 58. A print driver 60 is also stored. The attribute management program is a program for managing print attributes for each document, and the specific control contents will be described in detail later. The icon display processing program 56 is a program for realizing icon display processing on the windows shown in FIGS. The status management program 58 is a program for detecting the statuses of the printers 36 and 38 connected to the network 32 and the functions set for them. The status monitoring is executed according to a user operation or periodically. The print driver 60 is a program that is provided for each type of printer and performs data conversion, setting of printing conditions, and the like when printing a document.
[0035]
In the data storage unit 52, a document file is stored in the document storage area 62 for each document. The print attribute storage area 64 stores print attributes shown later in FIG. 4 for each document. The status storage area 66 stores the status of each printer. The storage area 66 is sequentially updated by the status management program 58.
[0036]
FIG. 4A shows a specific configuration example of the print attribute storage area 64. In this example, print attribute data 72 is associated with each document ID (pointer) 70. Specific contents of the print attribute data 72 are shown in FIG. The print attribute 72 is roughly divided into a printer name 74, an attribute 76 related to image processing, an attribute 78 related to finishing, and a priority 80. That is, the print attribute storage area 64 manages various data such as output destinations and print conditions for each document. Furthermore, when printing attributes that conflict with each other are set, the priority (priority order) between them is also stored. This priority order corresponds to the order of the attribute icons described above.
[0037]
5 to 7 show control examples of the attribute management program 54 shown in FIG. Here, FIG. 5 shows a routine related to attribute registration, correction, and deletion, FIG. 6 shows processing at the time of document transmission, and FIG. 7 shows processing at the time of printing. .
[0038]
In FIG. 5, if it is determined in S101 that the print attribute is newly registered, the menu windows 18 and 24 as shown in FIG. 1 or 2 are opened in S102. In S103, one of the printing attributes is selected by the user by clicking the attribute icon or by dragging and dropping. In S104, the print attributes input in this way are registered in the print attribute storage area 64 shown in FIG. Although FIG. 5 shows the case where the printing attribute is input using the menu window, it is of course possible to specify the printing attribute by inputting from a keyboard or the like.
[0039]
In S105, it is determined whether or not there has been a drag and drop operation as indicated by reference numeral S1 in FIG. When such an operation is performed, in S106, the print attribute symbolized by the original attribute icon is set for the destination document.
[0040]
In S107, it is determined whether or not a document is received from the outside via the network. In S108, it is determined whether or not an attribute icon, that is, a printing attribute is attached to the received document. If attached, the attached printing attribute is registered in the printing attribute storage area 64 in S109. .
[0041]
In S110, when there is a print attribute correction request from the user, the property window 20 is displayed in S111. In S112, correction of the print attribute by the user is accepted, and in S113, the corrected print attribute is registered.
[0042]
In S114, it is determined whether or not the user has performed an operation for deleting the print attribute. If such an operation has been performed, the print attribute is deleted. For example, when an attribute icon is deleted, this process is executed.
[0043]
That is, the attribute icon usually has an accompanying property to the document icon, but when a predetermined operation is performed, only the attribute icon can be operated separately from the document icon. If this is viewed in the relationship between the document file and the print attribute data, a link is usually established between the document file and the print attribute data. If necessary, the link is cut or the print attribute data is changed. Processing such as associating with other document files can be performed freely.
[0044]
FIG. 6 shows processing at the time of document transmission. If it is determined in S201 that the print attribute is attached, the document is transmitted in S202 while attaching the print attribute. On the other hand, in S203, the document is transmitted without attaching the print attribute.
[0045]
FIG. 7 shows the printing process. In S301, when a competitive relationship as shown by the attribute icons 14A and 14J in FIG. 1 has occurred, a printing attribute is selected in S303 according to the overlapping order of the icons, that is, the priority. In step S304, printing is executed according to the selected print attribute. On the other hand, in S302, if there is no conflict between print attributes, printing is executed according to the registered print attributes.
[0046]
In the above embodiment, for example, when a plurality of superimposed attribute icons are copied together, the conditions for the priority order are also copied.
[0047]
In the above embodiment, it is desirable that the form of each attribute icon can be customized. Furthermore, the display or non-display of the attribute icon may be selected by the user's selection.
[0048]
When another person's document is received and the print attribute is attached to the document, the print server 34 automatically determines whether or not a printer designated as the print attribute or an equivalent printer exists on the network. You may be asked to contact. If there is a printer of the same model, the printing attribute is maintained as it is. On the other hand, if there is a printer with the same performance without the printer of the same model, the printer is automatically set as the printing attribute. Alternatively, a message may be displayed once for the user, and the printer may be set as a print attribute after the user confirms it.
[0049]
Incidentally, when the status management program 58 confirms the function of each printer, since the print driver 60 normally knows the function of each printer, the status management program 58 asks the print driver 60 about the function of each printer. It may be.
[0050]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the user can intuitively recognize whether or not the print attribute is set for each document and the content thereof in a state where the document icon is displayed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first example of display processing according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a second example of display processing according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a preferred embodiment of a document processing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific configuration example of a print attribute storage area.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing for registering, correcting, and deleting print attributes.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing during document transmission.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing when printing is executed.
[Explanation of symbols]
12A-12H Document icon, 14A-14J, 22A-22I attribute icon, 30 document processing device, 32 network, 34 print server, 36, 38 printer, 50 program storage unit, 52 data storage unit, 54 attribute management program, 56 icon Display processing program, 58 status management program, 62 document storage area, 64 print attribute storage area.

Claims (8)

A document icon display means for displaying a document icon representing a document;
On the document icon, a smaller form than the document icon, the attribute icon display means for displaying overlapping attribute icon representing the print attributes of the document,
In the case where a plurality of attribute icons are displayed on the document icon, means for causing the user to select any attribute icon;
Only including,
By selecting an attribute icon from the plurality of attribute icons on the document icon, a print attribute represented by the attribute icon can be selectively set.
A document processing apparatus. The apparatus of claim 1.
The document icon is a thumbnail icon as a document reduced image,
The document processing apparatus , wherein the attribute icon is displayed within a frame of the document icon . The apparatus of claim 1.
The attribute icon, display the output destination of the document,
An apparatus for processing a document , wherein an output destination of the document can be selected on the document icon . The apparatus of claim 3.
Status acquisition means for acquiring the status of the output destination;
Form changing means for changing the display form of the attribute icon according to the status;
A document processing apparatus comprising: The apparatus of claim 1.
The attribute icon, display the print condition of the document,
A document processing apparatus , wherein a printing condition of the document can be selected on the document icon . The apparatus of claim 1.
Function acquisition means for acquiring the current function of the output destination of the document;
Form changing means for changing the display form of the attribute icon according to the existing function;
A document processing apparatus comprising: A document icon display means for displaying a document icon representing a document;
Attribute icon display means for displaying, along with the document icon, an attribute icon representing a printing attribute set for the document;
Including
When a plurality of attribute icons are displayed superimposed on each other on the document icon, a priority order of printing attributes represented by the attribute icons is determined according to the overlapping order. The apparatus of claim 7 .
When the plurality of attribute icons are dragged and dropped from one document icon onto the other document icon, a plurality of printing attributes are copied from one document to the other document , and the priority order condition document processing apparatus according to claim Rukoto also copied.

Images