JP4092996B2 - Printing instruction apparatus and printing instruction method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a printing instruction device such as a personal computer (PC), a cellular phone, and a portable terminal device, a printing device such as a printer, and a printing instruction method, and in particular, simplifies setting of printing conditions and improves user operability. The present invention relates to a printing instruction apparatus, a printing apparatus, and a printing instruction method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when printing is performed by a printing device such as a printer, print data is generally transmitted from a host device such as a personal computer (PC) connected to the printing device via a printer driver included in the host device. Has been done. In this case, for example, when a user instructs printing of print data created on a desired application on the host device side, a printer driver corresponding to an arbitrary printer to be output by the user is called, and the printer can be interpreted. The print data is converted into a predetermined control code such as a PDL (Page Discription Language) language and output to the printer. In addition, the user can specify printing conditions such as the paper size, the number of output sheets, the number of copies, double-sided / single-sided printing, presence / absence of sorting, and the like by the printer driver. As a result, the print data can be output in a desired format.
[0003]
However, on the UI (User Interface) screen at the time of setting the printing conditions in the printer driver as described above, it is common to set a printing condition by switching a plurality of screens by tabs or the like. It is very difficult to determine the position on the UI screen of the printer driver where the setting location for setting the desired function is. Furthermore, since the UI screen configuration of the printer driver is different for each printer manufacturer, it is even more so when operating a printer driver that is not familiar to the user. Further, when a printer driver used in a conventional PC or the like is applied to a mobile terminal device such as a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) device as it is, the display screen of the mobile phone or the mobile terminal device is much smaller than that of the PC. The entire UI screen of the printer driver cannot be properly displayed in the display screen area, and the operability may be extremely deteriorated. Therefore, it may be possible to divide the screen configuration more finely than the printer driver for PC so that it can be displayed on a mobile phone or a mobile terminal device. However, the screen configuration becomes too fine, and in this case too, In some cases, the operability may be poor.
[0004]
In view of such circumstances, the present applicant can be applied not only to a PC but also to a print instruction from a mobile phone or a mobile terminal device with a small display screen, and in addition to a print setting folder in which printing conditions are set. Patent application 200 discloses a printing apparatus, a printing instruction method, and a printing instruction apparatus provided with a folder type printer UI that performs printing processing under printing conditions set in a print setting folder by inserting print data. 2 -0532218. Thereby, the operability for the user can be greatly improved.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to the conventional print instruction apparatus, printing apparatus, and print instruction method, in the folder-type printer UI, a large number of print function folders set for each print condition item have a tree structure. Since printing cannot be executed unless the items are sequentially selected, many operations may be required before printing is started. For example, even for a user who has a combination of settings that are normally used (“A4 size, 1 copy, single-sided printing, 1-UP (= 1 screen per sheet), no sorting”, etc.), this is the default value. Unless it is, it is necessary to select the desired print setting folder ("Size setting", "Copies setting", "Double-sided / single-sided selection", "N-UP", "Sort operation"). Cannot be printed. Of course, the more items that need to be selected, the more operations are required. In addition, when the setting item is one-way due to the hierarchical structure, normally, when the setting that needs to be changed is at the lowest level, it is not always necessary to set all the items. Since printing cannot be executed unless it is completed, the operation becomes very complicated.
[0006]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a print instruction device that simplifies the setting of printing conditions and improves user operability. Placement And providing a printing instruction method.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the first invention provides For each printing condition item Display means for displaying, on the same screen, a first folder with the most frequently used printing condition as a folder name and a plurality of second folders with a plurality of printing condition items having a hierarchical structure as respective folder names; Selection means for selecting any one of the first folder and the plurality of second folders displayed on the screen of the display means as a print data print condition; and the folder selected by the selection means Control means for instructing to print the print data in accordance with the printing conditions set in the above, and causing the display means to display the first folder updated according to the selection frequency of the plurality of second folders. A print instruction apparatus characterized by the above is provided.
[0008]
In order to achieve the above object, the second invention A print instruction method for a print instruction apparatus comprising a display means, a selection means, and a control means, wherein the display means A first folder having the most frequently used printing condition as a folder name and a plurality of second folders having a plurality of printing condition items having a predetermined hierarchical structure as folder names are displayed on the same display screen. And The selecting means is Selecting any one of the first folder and the plurality of second folders displayed on the display screen as print data print conditions; The control means is Instructing printing of the print data according to the printing conditions set in the selected folder, and displaying the first folder updated according to the selection frequency of the plurality of second folders on the display screen. A characteristic print instruction method is provided.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a printing instruction apparatus and a printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The print instruction devices 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D as host devices (or host devices) (in this case, 10 is actually an arbitrary number) include, for example, personal computers (PCs), PDA devices, and cellular phones. These may be connected to printing apparatuses 20A, 20B, and 20C (in this case, there are three, but an arbitrary number) via a LAN (Local Area Network) 30, for example. The printing apparatuses 20A to 20C (PRINTER 1 to 3) are printers such as optical printers and electrophotographic printers. Here, the print instruction devices 10A to 10D (HOSTs 1 to 10) have the same configuration, and the print devices 20A to 20C have the same configuration. However, if they are compatible and can exchange data on the system, Any manufacturer or model is acceptable.
[0013]
The print instruction apparatus 10A is configured around a print instruction control unit 11 by a CPU. A program storage unit 12, a data storage unit 13, an operation unit 14, an operation detection unit 15, a communication interface 16, and a display unit 17 are connected to the print instruction control unit 11. Since the print instruction devices 10B, 10C, and 10D have the same configuration as the print instruction device 10A, description thereof is omitted.
[0014]
The program storage unit 12 and the data storage unit 13 are secured in a part of a storage medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory, and an OS (operating system), an application program, etc. are stored in the program storage unit 12 and are generated during processing. The data such as the input data and the input contents / setting contents are stored in the data storage unit 13. The data storage unit 13 has an area for storing files created by application programs on the program storage unit 12 and print data created by PDL. The file stored in the data storage unit 13 is created by an application program of the print instruction apparatus 10A, for example, sent from another host print instruction apparatus as an attached document of an e-mail, or from a file server Includes downloads.
[0015]
The operation unit 14 is a mouse, a keyboard, a touch pen, or the like, and a mouse is mainly used in the present invention. The operation detection unit 15 detects mouse cursor coordinates. The communication interface 16 communicates with a selected one of the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C via the LAN 30. The display unit 17 is a display device using a liquid crystal display, a CRT, or the like, and is built in the main body or connected externally.
[0016]
The print instruction devices 10 </ b> A to 10 </ b> D transmit the data file designated by the user among the data files stored in the data storage unit 13 to one of the other designated printing devices via the LAN 30. In this transmission, a general FTP (File Transfer Protocol), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), or the like can be used as a file transfer protocol.
[0017]
Also, the print instruction devices 10A to 10D receive information about the folder configuration of the printing conditions in the data storage unit 23 in the printing devices 20A to 20C from the printing devices 20A to 20C via the communication interface 16, and display the information on the display unit. 17 is displayed. On the display unit 17, the folder configuration stored in the data storage unit 23 of the printing apparatuses 20 </ b> A to 20 </ b> C is displayed as an icon, and further, print condition items corresponding to the folder are displayed as the folder name. Thereby, the user can visually recognize and grasp the folder structure related to the printing conditions stored in the data storage unit 23 of the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C. When the user selects a folder, the print condition item set in the folder is selected.
[0018]
In the print instruction devices 10A to 10D, information about the folder configuration is received from the printing devices 20A to 20C and displayed on the display unit 17, but information about the folder configuration of the printing devices 20A to 20C is displayed on a CD-ROM or floppy. You may make it install in print instruction | indication apparatus 10A-10D beforehand, such as downloading from a disk (registered trademark) or the homepage of the maker of printing apparatus 10A-10D.
[0019]
The display on the display unit 17 is performed by file operation software (software for operating folders and files) provided in advance by the OS. In addition, for example, a web server is provided on the printing devices 20A to 20C side, and the Internet It is also possible to display information on printing conditions that can be set by the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C through the list on the display unit 17. In this case, the print instruction devices 10A to 10D perform display via browser software for browsing a Web site.
[0020]
Next, the configuration of the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C will be described. Here, since the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C have the same configuration, only the printing apparatus 20A will be described. The printing apparatus 20A is configured by using a CPU and mainly includes a print control unit 21 that performs general control of the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C. The print control unit 21 is connected to a data receiving unit 22, a data storage unit 23, a counter 24, a parser unit 25, a PDL processing unit 26, a drawing processing unit 27, and a printing unit 28.
[0021]
The data receiving unit 22 has a communication interface function with the LAN 30, and receives print data transmitted from the print instruction devices 10A to 10D. Further, the data receiving unit 22 can identify the file type of the print data received from the print instruction devices 10A to 10D, and whether the received print data is PDL data represented by a predetermined PDL or a predetermined application. It has a function that can automatically determine whether it is a file. Instead of this automatic determination, the user may manually specify the print data file type.
[0022]
The data storage unit 23 sets the print data received by the data receiving unit 22 and a plurality of print condition items necessary for printing the print data in folders as folder names. The parser unit 25 interprets the raw file data created by the application and processes the data so that it can be printed by the printing unit 28. The PDL processing unit 26 interprets and processes print data expressed in PDL. The drawing processing unit 27 develops the print data acquired via the data receiving unit 22 into image data. The printing unit 28 prints the print data on the specified size paper based on the image data generated by the drawing processing unit 27. The counter 28 is provided for each printing area selected to display a frequently used one for each storage area in the data storage unit 23 as an individual folder, and updates each time the number of uses increases.
[0023]
FIG. 2 shows a part of the storage area of the data storage unit 23. As shown in FIG. 2, the data storage unit 23 includes a printing condition storage area (1 to n) (n is a natural number) 23a and a high-frequency order printing condition storage area (1 to N) (N is a natural number) 23b. A plurality of predetermined areas are set, and predetermined print condition items 23c are defined in advance in the print condition storage areas (1 to n) 23a. The printing condition storage area (1 to n) 23a is preset (default value), and the high-frequency order printing condition storage area (1 to N) 23b increases every time the printing condition is changed. That is, the setting items of the high-frequency order printing condition storage areas 1 to N are changed depending on the use frequency, and the storage area is increased every time the printing conditions are changed. For example, the most frequently used printing condition storage area (1) 23b stores the printing conditions of “A4, 1 copy, 1-sided, 1-UP, no sort” that are most frequently used. The storage area (2) 23b stores the printing conditions of “A4, 1 copy, 1-sided, 1-UP, no sorting”, which is the next most frequently used, and the high-frequency order printing condition storage area (N) 23b. The frequency of use is getting lower toward the.
[0024]
Each storage area is defined as a folder, and the folder name has a predetermined printing condition, for example, paper size, number of copies, duplex / single-sided printing, sorting, N-UP (how many images are printed on one print sheet) For example). The folder structure of the data storage unit 23 can be referred to on the print instruction apparatus 10A to 10D side.
[0025]
FIG. 3 shows a storage configuration of the storage area of the counter 24 in the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C. The counter 24 has a paper size storage area 24a, a copy number storage area 24b, a double-side storage area 24c, an N-UP storage area 24d, and a sort storage area 24e, and initial values of set values in the storage areas 24a to 24e. Is 0. Sheet sizes A4, A3, B4,... Are set in the sheet size storage area 24a, and the number of copies of 1, 2, 3,... Is set in the copy number storage area 24b. “Double-sided” and “Single-sided” are set in the N-UP storage area 24d, 1-UP, 2-UP, 4-UP... Are set in the sort storage area 24e, “No sort”, “Sort” is set. Each time an item is selected, a count up is performed. For example, if A4 is selected for each print condition setting, the count value of A4 increases each time. The count result of the counter 24 shown in FIG. 3 is reflected in the contents of the high-frequency order printing condition storage area (1 to N) 23b of FIG. 2, and for example, the sheet size has the largest count value of “A4”. A4 is set in the high-frequency order printing condition storage area (1) 23b, and the number of copies is set to the high-frequency order printing condition storage area (1) 23b because the count value of “1 copy” is the largest. Yes.
[0026]
Next, the PDL processing unit 26 and the parser unit 25 of the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C will be described. The print data received by the printing apparatus 20A (or 20B, 20C) is identified by the data receiving unit 22 as the file type. When the file type is an application file format supported by the printing apparatuses 20 </ b> A to 20 </ b> C, the print data is transferred to the parser unit 25. The parser unit 25 performs file analysis of the received print data based on the format of the corresponding application. When the PDL data created by any of the print instruction devices 10A to 10D is received, the print data is determined to be PDL data by the data receiving unit 22, and as a result, transferred to the PDL processing unit 26, Interpreted by the processing unit 26.
[0027]
In FIG. 1, the printing apparatuses 20 </ b> A to 20 </ b> C are configured to include both the PDL processing unit 26 and the parser unit 25, but may be configured to include only one of them. For example, when only the parser unit 25 is provided, the number of processing steps is reduced compared to normal printing via an application, so that the printing processing time can be reduced. Incidentally, in the configuration in which the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C include the PDL processing unit 26 and the parser unit 25, in the case of printing from an application, printing is executed through the following steps.
・ Launch of application
・ Opening files
・ Execute print settings and instructions,
-Communication between GDI (Graphic Device Interface) and printer driver,
・ Create PDL compatible data
-Data transmission to the printing device.
[0028]
On the other hand, in the configuration in which the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C do not have the PDL processing unit 26, data transmission is realized by the following steps.
・ File specification,
・ Execute print settings and instructions,
・ Attaching print information
-Data transmission to the printing device.
[0029]
As described above, in the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C having the parser unit 25, processing with a long processing time such as launching of an application and opening of a file is omitted, so that the time for printing is greatly reduced.
[0030]
FIG. 4 shows the processing of the printing apparatus of the present invention (“S” in the figure represents a step). FIG. 5 shows a display screen displayed on the display unit 17 of the print instruction apparatuses 10A to 10D when a print instruction is given. Furthermore, FIGS. 6 to 9 show screens on the display unit 17 that change sequentially with the progress of the print instruction process. Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9, a process until the print data instructed to be printed by the print instruction apparatus 10 </ b> A is printed by the printing apparatus 20 </ b> A will be described.
[0031]
When the printing apparatus 20A (PRINTER1) is designated by the printing instruction apparatus 10A (HOST1) and printing of print data is performed, the user operates the operation unit 14 to perform a predetermined input operation. A display screen 50 is displayed on the display unit 17 of the print instruction apparatus 10A. In the display screen 50, icons 50b and icon names 50a of a plurality of printing apparatuses (PRINTER 1 to 3) are displayed in the same manner as other printing instruction apparatuses (HOSTs 2 to 10) and file servers connected to the LAN 30. .
[0032]
Here, the user operates the operation unit 14 (mouse), double-clicks “PRITER1” of the icon name 50a on the display screen 50, and selects the printing apparatus 20A. Then, the display screen on the display unit 17 is switched from FIG. 5 to FIG. The display screen 51a of FIG. 6A displays six folders 52b with the folder name 52a as the category of printing conditions (paper size, number of copies, double-sided printing, N-UP, sorting, automatic printing). When the paper size folder 52b is selected by double clicking the mouse, the screen is switched to the screen shown in FIG. The display screen 51b in FIG. 6B displays six folders 52b having the print condition item “automatic printing” as the folder name 52a. The paper size is a plurality of paper sizes (A3, A4, B4, B5, postcards) handled by the printing apparatus 20A, and “automatic printing” is a printing condition that is frequently used (for example, “A4 size, number of copies 1, one side” “Print, 1-UP, no sort” setting).
[0033]
In FIG. 6B, for example, when the “A4 size” folder 52b is double-clicked, the screen is switched to a screen (not shown) for prompting selection of the number of copies, and the desired number of copies from 1 to 9 is selected. You can select one. Thereafter, each time the selection operation is performed, the screen is sequentially switched from the double / single side selection screen to the N-UP selection screen and from the N-UP selection screen to the sort selection screen. Then, by dragging and dropping the print data icon to the “sorted” or “no sort” folder and selecting the “print” icon 58, printing is executed with the print conditions of the folder selected before that. In this way, an instruction is sent to the printing apparatus 20A.
[0034]
On the screens of FIGS. 6A and 6B and other screens including the item “Random Print”, a print data icon 58 is dragged and dropped to the “Random Print” folder 52b. When selected with the mouse, printing is executed according to the default printing conditions. In this case, if a certain printing condition has been set before being dragged and dropped into the “automatic printing” folder 52b, the setting is valid, and the remaining printing conditions not set are the default printing conditions. Printing is executed at.
[0035]
By selecting the icon 58 on the display screen, a transmission instruction to the printing apparatus 20A is automatically performed, and the print data created by the printing instruction apparatus 10A and dropped in the folder is transmitted to the LAN 30, and the printing apparatus is transmitted via the LAN 30. Sent to 20A. In the printing apparatus 20A, the data receiving unit 22 receives the print data from the print instruction apparatus 10A (S101), and stores it in the data storage unit 23 of the printing apparatus 20A (S102). The storage location is a storage area designated by the user with the print instruction apparatus 10A among the storage areas corresponding to the printing conditions.
[0036]
Next, the print control unit 21 of the printing apparatus 20A determines the print condition corresponding to the area where the print data is stored (S103). Here, the print control unit 21 updates (+1) the counter 24 in order to display the frequently used items for each storage area as individual folders (S104). By the updating process of the counter 24, the most frequently used printing condition is determined and changed from the display screen 51 with the content in FIG. 6A to the display screen 52 with the content in FIG. The display screen 51 in FIG. 6A is a screen in a default state (when all the print condition items in the counter 24 are 0), and the display screen 52 in FIG. 7 corresponds to the high-frequency order print condition storage area 23b. In this screen, a plurality of display fields 53 are added in descending order of frequency of use. This change is notified to the print instruction apparatus 10A and displayed on the display unit 17.
[0037]
As shown in FIG. 8, a folder 55 in which a plurality of areas such as “frequently used settings” are gathered is prepared, and the “frequently used settings” folder 55 is added to the display content of FIG. Also good. In this case, the display screen 56 is provided with a plurality of folders 52b (contents arranged in order of frequency of printing conditions) having frequently used printing conditions as shown in FIG. To be selectable by the user. The selection procedure in this case will be described. When the “usually used settings” folder 55 is selected on the operation unit 14 on the display screen 54 in FIG. 8, the display screen 56 in FIG. 9 is displayed. You can double-click one item with the mouse.
[0038]
In any of the display screens of FIGS. 7 to 9, if the “print” icon 58 is double-clicked with the mouse at that time, the operation information is transmitted to the printing apparatus 20A, and the printing conditions set at the present time are displayed. Printing by the printing apparatus 20A is immediately executed according to the default. Further, the display screens of FIGS. 6 to 9 may be displayed after the printing is executed, as well as being displayed before the printing is performed.
[0039]
When the process of step S104 is completed, the print control unit 21 activates the parser unit 25 or the PDL processing unit 26, and interprets the print data based on the print condition corresponding to the print data storage area (S105). The interpreted print data is developed into image data by the drawing processing unit 27 (S106). The print control unit 21 controls the printing unit 28, and the printing unit 28 executes printing based on the image data obtained by the drawing processing unit 27 (S107).
[0040]
In this printing, if the data storage unit 23 has the configuration shown in FIG. 2 and the print data is stored in the printing condition storage area (1) 23a, the printing corresponds to the printing condition storage area (1) 23a. Printing is performed under the condition “A4, 1 copy, single-sided printing, 1-UP”. Also, assuming that print data is stored in the print condition storage area (2) 23a, printing is performed with “A3, two copies, duplex printing, 2-UP”. It is determined whether or not printing has been normally completed for the print data that has been printed (S108). When normal printing is confirmed, the print data is stored from the area storing the print data in the data storage unit 23. It is erased (S109).
[0041]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, the hierarchical structure to be displayed can be changed according to the frequency of use.
[0042]
FIG. 10 shows a hierarchical structure of folders in the data storage unit 23. Since the printing apparatuses 20A to 20C have a UI capable of setting printing conditions, the data storage unit 23 is set with areas corresponding to a plurality of categories (paper size, number of copies, double-sided, N-UP, and sorting). Each area is defined as a folder. In FIG. 10, a hierarchical structure is formed in the order of “paper size”, “number of copies”, “both sides”, “N-UP”, and “sort”. That is, in the hierarchical structure, first, an area related to the paper size and an area related to the number of copies are provided as a lower hierarchy. Printing conditions for duplex / single-sided printing are provided in the lower layer of the number of copies, printing conditions for N-UP printing are provided in the lower layer of duplex / single-sided printing, and sort printing is further performed in the lower layer. An area for is provided.
[0043]
In FIG. 10, only the lower hierarchy for the paper size A3 is shown, but for the other paper sizes of A4, B4, B5, and postcards, lower hierarchies relating to the number of copies or less are provided as in A3. Other categories (1 copy, 3 copies to 9 copies), single-sided printing, and N-UP (2-UP to 16-UP) categories also have lower layers.
[0044]
FIG. 11 shows the configuration of the counter 24 according to the second embodiment. This counter 24 has a plurality of change counters 240 to 244 (change counters (1) to (5)), and is different from the default value for each category (paper size, number of copies, double-sided, N-UP, sort). Updates are made when selections are made. When all of the change counter (1) to the change counter (5) are initial values, the hierarchical structure in FIG. 10 is based on default values.
[0045]
When printing is performed in the environment having the configuration shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, when print data is stored in the data storage unit 23, the PDL processing unit 26 or the parser unit 25 of the printing apparatus 20 </ b> A stores the print data stored therein. The print data is interpreted based on the print condition corresponding to the area, and the print data developed into the image data by the drawing processing unit 27 is printed by the printing unit 28 under the control of the print control unit 21. In this case, when print data is stored in the area of the lowest hierarchy, printing is performed according to all the printing conditions corresponding to the higher hierarchy. For example, if the print data is stored in an area corresponding to “Do not sort” shown in FIG. 10, printing is performed with “A3 size, two copies, both sides, 1-UP, no sorting” as shown in FIG. .
[0046]
After printing is performed, when the printing conditions at that time are different from the default settings, the change counters (1) to (5) in FIG. 11 are updated. This update is displayed as a higher hierarchy from the one with the highest count. In the case of FIG. 11, if the default of each item is “A4 size, 1 copy, 1 side, 1-UP, no sort”, the three categories of “paper size”, “number of copies”, and “duplex” are the default. Since there is no change, the change counters (1) to (3) are updated. If the initial value is “0” and the update value is “+1”, the update is as follows. If the change counter has been updated but the count value is the same, it is appropriate to apply the default hierarchy order, so there is no need to change the hierarchy of printing conditions.
Change counter (1) = 0 (default) to 1 (update)
Change counter (2) = 0 (〃) to 1 (updated)
Change counter (3) = 0 (〃) to 1 (update)
Change counter (4) = 0 (〃) to 0 (late update)
Change counter (5) = 0 (〃) to 0 (late update)
[0047]
FIG. 12 shows a display screen displayed when the printing condition is set differently from the default (A4 size, 1 copy, 1 side, 1-UP, no sort). In FIG. 12, (a) is a display screen 59A corresponding to the paper size, and (b) is a display screen 59B corresponding to the number of copies.
[0048]
On the other hand, when the print data is stored in an area other than the lowest layer of the hierarchical structure in FIG. 10, all the print condition items 23c corresponding to the hierarchy higher than that hierarchy are left as they are, and the hierarchy of the hierarchy lower than that hierarchy is left as it is. The print condition item 23c is printed using a predetermined default. Specifically, assuming that print data is stored in the storage area of “single-sided printing” in FIG. 10, printing is performed in “A4 size, two copies, single-sided”, and N-UP and sorting are preset as defaults. Printing is performed with a default value such as “1-UP, no sorting”. At this time, in the change counter, only the item “number of copies” is updated by default (= 1 copy) (= 2 copies), and the update result is “1, 2, 1, 0, 0”. In this case, the “number of copies” is changed most, and the hierarchical structure of the print conditions is as shown in FIG.
[0049]
FIG. 13 shows a hierarchical structure of folders when printing conditions are displayed in a layer different from the default layer in FIG. In this case, since the one with a large count value by the counter 24 comes to the uppermost layer, as apparent from FIG. 10, the paper size and the number of copies are interchanged.
[0050]
In the above embodiment, the printing condition options are folders and the folder names are displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to folders. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, a display including a plurality of categories (size, number of copies, double-sided printing, N-UP, sorting, automatic printing) 72a and a radio button 71 for selecting one of the categories 72a. The configuration of the screen 72 may be used. In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, by selecting a desired category 72a and then pressing a “next” button 73, it is possible to select printing conditions for the next layer.
[0051]
In the above embodiment, when print data is stored in an area (for example, a folder) provided in the data storage unit 23 on the printing apparatus side having a hierarchical structure with respect to the print condition, the print condition corresponding to the area is set. However, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which information relating to the hierarchical structure of print conditions is received from the print instruction devices 10A to 10D (host devices) and the print data is printed according to the information.
[0052]
Further, in the above embodiment, the print data is created by the print instruction devices 10A to 10D. However, the present invention is a print created by another device (for example, a dedicated word processor, another PC, etc.). Needless to say, the case where the data is read into the print instruction devices 10A to 10D is also included. Examples of the print data reading source include a network and a storage medium (magnetic disk, CD-ROM, CD-RW, memory card, etc.).
[0053]
Further, a hierarchical structure of printing conditions corresponding to the printing apparatus may be stored on the printing instruction apparatus side. In addition, when a folder in which printing conditions are set is provided in the printing apparatus, the printing instruction apparatus simply transmits print data to the folder in which printing conditions are set, and the selected printing condition item is print data. At the same time, it may not be transferred to the printing apparatus.
[0054]
【The invention's effect】
As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, when setting printing conditions, a plurality of printing condition items are displayed on the screen in a hierarchical structure, and the hierarchical structure is updated according to the selection frequency of the printing condition items. Therefore, it is possible to arrange frequently used printing condition items so that the user can easily select them, so that the printing condition setting operation is simplified and the operability for the user is improved. This is particularly effective when the print instruction device is a mobile terminal device with a small screen, such as a mobile phone or PDA.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing instruction apparatus and a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a data storage unit in FIG. 1; FIG.
3 is a configuration diagram showing a storage configuration of a storage area of the counter in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing of the printing apparatus and print instruction method of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display screen that is first displayed on the display unit of the print instruction apparatus during print instruction processing;
FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an initial screen and a paper size setting screen, respectively, at the time of print instruction processing.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a printing condition list screen after the counter according to the present invention functions.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a printing condition list screen according to the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing print condition display contents when “setting frequently used” in FIG. 8 is selected.
FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a hierarchical structure of folders in a data storage unit of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram showing a configuration of a counter according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a display screen displayed when the printing condition is set with a setting different from the default value.
13 is a configuration diagram showing a hierarchical structure of folders when printing conditions are displayed in a hierarchy different from the default hierarchy of FIG.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing still another configuration example of a printing condition list screen according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
10A, 10B, 10C, 10D Print instruction device (HOST)
11 Print instruction control unit
12 Program storage
13 Data storage
14 Operation unit
15 Operation detector
16 Communication interface
17 Display
20A, 20B, 20C Printer (PRINTER)
21 Print control unit
22 Data receiver
23 Data storage
23a Print condition storage area
23b High-order printing condition storage area
23c Printing condition items
24 counter
24a-24e storage area
25 Parser part
26 PDL processor
27 Drawing processor
28 Printing Department
30 LAN
50, 51, 52, 54, 56, 59A, 59B Display screen
50a Icon name
50b icon
52a Folder name
52b folder
53 Display column
55, 57 Setting item
58 icons
71 radio button
72 Display screen
72a Category
73 “Next” button
240-244 change counter

Claims (2)

A first folder whose folder name is the most frequently used printing condition of each printing condition item and a plurality of second folders whose folder names are a plurality of printing condition items having a hierarchical structure are displayed on the same screen. Display means for displaying;
Selecting means for selecting any folder as a print condition of print data from the first folder and the plurality of second folders displayed on the screen of the display means;
According to the printing conditions set in the folder selected by the selection unit, the print data is instructed to print, and the first folder updated according to the selection frequency of the plurality of second folders is displayed on the display unit. A printing instruction apparatus comprising: control means for displaying. A print instruction method of a print instruction apparatus comprising a display means, a selection means, and a control means,
The display means uses a first folder whose folder name is the most frequently used printing condition for each printing condition item, and a plurality of second conditions whose folder names are a plurality of printing condition items having a predetermined hierarchical structure. Are displayed on the same display screen.
The selection means selects any one of the first folder and the plurality of second folders displayed on the display screen as print data print conditions,
The control means issues a print instruction for the print data according to a print condition set in the selected folder, and the display screen displays the first folder updated according to the selection frequency of the plurality of second folders. A printing instruction method characterized by displaying on the screen.

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