JP4321499B2 - Information collection technology from devices - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for collecting information from a device, and more particularly, to collecting information about a job being processed in a device.

  In recent years, a usage form in which a printing apparatus is connected to a network for use has become widespread. Along with this, provision of paid printing services via networks is also being put into practical use. In such a service, a technique for the service provider to correctly grasp the print history in the printing apparatus is important. For example, a technique is known in which a non-volatile memory is provided in a printing apparatus, and a history of abnormal termination is recorded in the nonvolatile memory when printing is terminated abnormally (for example, Patent Document 1). With the above technique, it is possible to grasp a history of abnormal termination of printing, for example, when the power is turned off after a paper jam occurs during printing.

JP 2000-229461 A

  However, the above technique only records the history of abnormal termination, and there is a possibility that the history of the print already completed before the abnormal termination cannot be grasped. Furthermore, in the above technique, since it is necessary to mount a non-volatile memory in all the printing apparatuses, there is a risk that the cost of the printing apparatus may be increased, and that an existing printing apparatus having only a volatile memory cannot be used. was there. Such a problem is not limited to the printing apparatus, but is a problem common to devices that process predetermined jobs.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a technique for collecting job information being processed in a device.

  In order to solve at least a part of the above problem, a first aspect of the present invention is a device for processing a predetermined job, and records job information including information on a job being processed in a volatile memory. An information collecting apparatus connected to one or a plurality of devices having one recording means is provided. An information collection apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a nonvolatile storage unit, a first detection unit that detects an abnormal state of the device, and a first unit that detects that the device is processing a job. And obtaining information related to the job being processed from the job information recorded in the volatile memory when the device is processing a job and in an abnormal state And a second recording unit that records information on the acquired job being processed in the non-volatile storage unit.

  According to the information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the device is processing a job and is in an abnormal state, the information about the job being processed is recorded in the nonvolatile storage means. It is possible to save information about a job being processed that has entered an abnormal state.

  In the information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the information regarding the job being processed may include information for specifying a part of the job being processed that has been processed. In this way, it is possible to specify the part of the job processed before the device enters the abnormal state from the information recorded in the nonvolatile storage means.

  In the information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the first recording unit further stores the information in the volatile memory when a job corresponding to the information on the job being processed is completed normally. The recorded information relating to the job being processed is updated to information relating to the job for which processing has been completed, and the acquisition means further includes a job for which processing has been completed from the job information recorded in the volatile memory. Information about the job that has been processed for the job corresponding to the information about the job being processed is acquired, the second recording means It is also possible to delete information related to the current job and record information related to the job for which the acquired processing has been completed. In this way, it is possible to prevent the capacity of the nonvolatile storage unit from being used wastefully.

  The information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention further includes third detecting means for detecting that the job corresponding to the information on the job being processed recorded in the non-volatile storage means has ended abnormally. May be provided. In this way, it is possible to determine that the recorded information regarding the job being processed is the final information of the job.

  In the information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the third detecting means is means for detecting that the device is turned off before the job being processed is normally terminated. If the information collecting device and the device have a common power source, the third detecting unit may be configured to store the nonvolatile storage unit when the information collecting device is turned on. May be determined that the job corresponding to the information regarding the job being processed recorded in the non-volatile storage means has ended abnormally. In such a case, it is possible to appropriately detect that the job being processed has ended abnormally.

  In the information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the second recording unit records the acquired information on the job being processed as intermediate information that can be updated, and information on the job being processed If the job corresponding to is abnormally terminated, the acquired information on the job being processed may be recorded as final information that is not updated. In this way, it is possible to easily determine whether or not the information on the job being processed recorded in the nonvolatile storage means is information that can update the intermediate information.

  In the information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the second recording unit records information on the job being processed as intermediate information that can be updated, and information on the job for which the processing has been completed. It may be recorded as final information that is not updated. The intermediate information is information associated with a first identifier indicating the intermediate information, and the final information is information associated with a second identifier indicating the final information. There may be. In this way, it can be easily determined whether the information about the job is intermediate information or final information.

  In the information collection apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the device records status information including an abnormal state of the device and that the device is processing a job, and the first detection unit The detection by the second detection unit may be executed by acquiring the recorded status information. In this way, it is possible to easily detect an abnormal state of the device or that the device is processing a job.

  In the information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the abnormal state detected by the first detecting means is that the device interrupts job processing because an error has occurred in the device. It may also include a state in which the device cannot continue job processing because the device is powered off.

  In the information collection apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the information collection apparatus is connected to a management server that manages the device, and the information collection apparatus further stores information about the recorded job being processed. You may provide the communication part transmitted to the said management server. In this way, the management server can collect information about a job in an abnormal state.

  In the information collection apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the device may be a printing apparatus, and the job may be a print job. In such a case, when the print job is in an abnormal state, information regarding the print job being printed can be stored.

  A second aspect of the present invention provides a device. A device according to a second aspect of the present invention is one of the one or more devices, and includes the information collecting apparatus according to the first aspect described above. In this way, the above-described effects can be obtained with a simple configuration without installing the information collecting apparatus separately.

  Note that the present invention can be realized in the form of a method invention such as a method of collecting the information in addition to the above-described information collecting apparatus and device configuration. Further, aspects as a computer program for constructing those methods and apparatuses, aspects as a recording medium recording such a computer program, data signals embodied in a carrier wave including the computer program, etc. It can also be realized in various ways.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a printing apparatus according to the invention will be described based on examples with reference to the drawings.

A. First embodiment:
・ Configuration of printing system:
The configuration of the printing system in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of each device constituting the printing system in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system includes a computer (hereinafter simply referred to as a client) CL as a client, a plurality of printers PRT1 to PRT3, and a management server SV. The client CL and the printers PRT1 to PRT3 are connected to each other via the local area network 1 (LAN1). The LAN 1 is connected to the Internet INT via the firewall FW. On the other hand, the management server SV is connected to the local area network 2 (LAN2). The LAN 2 is connected to the Internet INT. The number of printers and clients constituting the printing system is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1 and may be any number. In the following, when it is not necessary to distinguish the printers PRT1 to PRT3, numerals at the end of the reference numerals are omitted, and the printers are also referred to as printers PRT.

  Since communication between devices is performed using the TCP / IP protocol, each device is assigned an IP address. Strictly speaking, these IP addresses are not set in the client CL and the printers PRT1 to PRT3 themselves, but are nodes when viewed from the TCP / IP network (that is, specifically TCP / IP). For example, a network board connected to a network for performing IP communication).

  Among these printers, a custom network board 100 is attached to the printer PRT1. A standard network board 200 is attached to each of the printers PRT2 and PRT3. As will be described later, the custom network board 100 has an information collecting function for collecting various information from each printer PRT, and corresponds to an information collecting device in claims.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printer PRT1 includes a printer main body PRB and the custom network board 100 described above.

  The printer main body PRB mainly includes a printer engine 80 and a printer controller 90. The printer engine 80 is a mechanism portion that actually performs printing. In this embodiment, the printer engine 80 is a so-called laser type printer engine that forms an image on printing paper by utilizing a phenomenon that toner powder adheres due to static electricity. The printer controller 90 receives a print job from the custom network board 100, controls the printer engine 80 according to the print job, and executes printing.

  The custom network board 100 mainly includes a CPU 20, a flash memory 30, a RAM 40, and a ROM 50. In addition, although a communication interface for actually performing network communication is also provided, it is omitted for convenience of explanation.

  The CPU 20 reads the program for executing the information collecting function, data communication, and the like from the ROM 50 and executes the program, thereby realizing each functional block shown in the figure as software.

  Functional blocks realized by the CPU 20 include a TCP / IP unit 10, an information collection unit 60, and a communication control unit 70. The TCP / IP unit 10 interprets the TCP / IP protocol and performs communication with the outside mainly via the network. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol) are protocols that perform transport layer processing in the TCP / IP protocol. TCP is a protocol for realizing highly reliable connection-type communication. On the other hand, UDP is a protocol that realizes high-speed connectionless communication. The TCP / IP unit 10 performs communication of a print job to be described later using TCP, and performs communication by SNMP to be described later using UDP.

  The information collection unit 60 includes a server communication unit 62, a job information recording unit 64, and an SNMP manager 66. The SNMP manager 66 can acquire information on each printer PRT, for example, by communicating with an SNMP agent 74 described later using the SNMP protocol. The job information recording unit 64 records job information (described later) among the information regarding each printer PRT acquired by the SNMP manager 66 in the job information storage unit 34 (described later). The server communication unit 62 communicates with the management server SV. For example, the server communication unit 62 transmits the content recorded in the job information storage unit 34 to the management server SV.

  The communication control unit 70 includes a data reception processing unit 72 and an SNMP agent 74. The data reception processing unit 72 receives print job data and supplies it to the printer controller 90 described above. The SNMP agent 74 communicates with the SNMP manager 66 described above. Note that communication between the SNMP agent 74 and the SNMP manager 66 will be described later.

  The flash memory 30 is a nonvolatile and rewritable memory, and includes an OID information storage unit 32 and a job information storage unit 34. The OID information storage unit 32 is an area for storing an OID described later. The job information storage unit 34 is a directory for storing job information as a file. The RAM 40 is a volatile memory and is used for temporarily storing data and the like when the CPU 20 executes a program. The ROM 50 mainly stores programs for the CPU 20 to realize functions including each functional block.

  Since the printer PRT2 and the printer PRT3 have the same configuration, only the printer PRT2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the printer PRT2 includes a printer main body PRB and the network board 200 described above. The configuration of the printer main body PRB has the same configuration as that of the printer main body PRB of the printer PRT1 described above. To do. The network board 200 includes the communication control unit 70 and the TCP / IP unit 10 among the functions of the custom network board 100 described above. Since these functional blocks are the same as the functional blocks having the same names in the custom network board 100, the same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted.

  Here, as will be understood from the above description, the custom network board 100 mounted on the printer PRT1 has all the functions of the network board 200 mounted on the printer PRT2 and the printer PRT3. Here, as viewed from the information collection unit 60 of the custom network board 100, the printers PRT1 to PRT3 are all equivalent. As a result, in the information collection process described later, the information collection unit 60 can treat the printers PRT1 to PRT3 as equivalent to the monitoring target printers.

  The client CL and the management server SV are well-known computers. The client CL memory stores a printer driver and application software, and has a function of transmitting a print job to the printer. A system management program including a function of communicating with the custom network board 100 described above is stored in the memory of the management server SV. Description of these details is omitted.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 6, a mechanism of information collection executed using the SNMP protocol will be briefly described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a configuration for realizing collection of information related to the printer. 4 to 6 are tables showing examples of items recorded as MIBs.

  The printer controller 90 described above includes a CPU 91, a ROM 92, and a RAM 93. The ROM 92 mainly stores a control program 95 for realizing the control function of the printer engine 80. The control program 95 includes an MIB recording unit 96 that records an MIB (Management Information Base) 97 in a RAM 93 that is a nonvolatile storage unit.

  The MIB 97 stores, for each object, information that is preliminarily standardized with respect to the printer body and information that is uniquely defined by the manufacturer. This object is managed in a tree structure, and an object ID (hereinafter referred to as OID) is assigned to each object so that they can be identified. This OID is a number delimited by periods such as “1.4.2.2.1.3”.

  Items recorded as objects in the MIB include information relating to print jobs (hereinafter referred to as job information) and information relating to errors occurring in the printer PRT (hereinafter referred to as error information). As shown in FIG. 4, the job information includes information regarding the progress of the print job. These pieces of information are recorded for each print job, and in the OID “1.3.6.1.4.1.2699.1.1.1.3 ..... ab” assigned in FIG. "Is a number assigned to each print job, and the last one-digit ID" b "is a number assigned to each piece of management information (item). Information recorded by such an OID includes, for example, a job index, a progress status of a print job, the number of finished pages, and the number of finished copies. The job index is an index for identifying a print job. The progress status of the print job includes, for example, that printing has been completed normally (normal termination), printing is being executed by the printer engine 80 (printing), and the like. The number of finished pages and the number of finished copies are updated by the above-described MIB recording unit 96 as the print job process proceeds. Therefore, by referring to these values, it is possible to specify how far printing has been completed in the print job. For example, the MIB shown in FIG. 4 indicates that the print job with job number a = 1 is currently being printed and has been printed up to “second page of the third copy”.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the job information includes information for specifying the sender of the print job. These pieces of information are recorded for each print job in the same manner as the information shown in FIG. 4, and are assigned to the OID “1.3.6.1.4.1.2699.1.1.1.4 .... ab” assigned in FIG. ID “a” (second digit) “b” (first digit) is the same number as the information shown in FIG. Information recorded by such OID includes, for example, a client name and a user name in addition to a job index. The client name is information for specifying the client CL, and the user name is information for specifying the user who has logged into the client.

  For example, the error information is recorded for each change in the error status as shown in FIG. The change in the error situation includes occurrence of an error and elimination of the error. Regarding the error information, in the OID “1.3.6.1.2.1.43.18.1.1..ab” assigned in FIG. 5, the lower second digit ID “a” is the error number, and the lower one digit ID. “B” is a number assigned to each management information (item). The information recorded by such OID includes an error status (for example, occurrence and resolution) and error contents (for example, out of paper, paper jam) in addition to the error number.

  Returning to FIG. 3, the description will be continued. The SNMP manager 66 specifies the above-described OID and makes an inquiry to the SNMP agent 74. The SNMP manager 66 can periodically inquire about the status of each printer PRT and monitor the status of each printer PRT. Further, the SNMP manager 66 can make an inquiry for acquiring job information to be recorded in the flash memory 30 as necessary. The OID information storage unit 32 stores the above-described OID in advance, and is referred to when the SNMP manager 66 specifies an OID for an inquiry.

  The SNMP agent 74 includes a polling processing unit 77 that processes an inquiry from the SNMP manager 66 described above. When receiving an inquiry from the SNMP manager 66, the polling processing unit 77 reads an object corresponding to the specified OID from the MIB 97. The polling processing unit 77 describes the read object value (management information) in the response to the inquiry, and returns the response to the SNMP manager 66.

  Note that the UPS 99 and the trap processing unit 78 indicated by broken lines in FIG. 3 are necessary configurations in the second embodiment, and will be described in detail in the description of the second embodiment.

MIB Recording Process Next, a process for recording the above-described MIB 97 in the printer controller 90 (referred to as MIB recording process) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing routine of the MIB recording process.

  The printer controller 90 is waiting for a print job to be transmitted from the client CL while the power is on (step S102). When a print job is received (step S102: YES), the MIB recording unit 96 of the printer controller 90 creates MIB data for the received print job and records it in the MIB 97 (step S104). Specifically, MIB data for recording information related to the print job described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 is created.

  The MIB recording unit 96 updates various MIB data in accordance with the progress of the print job processing and the status of the printer (step S106). For example, each time printing for one page is completed, the value of the number of pages for which printing has been completed (FIG. 4) is updated, and each time printing for one copy is completed, the value for the number of copies for which printing has been completed (see FIG. 4). Update 5). When the printer runs out of paper, the error information is added to the MIB data (FIG. 6) in which the error information is recorded.

  The MIB recording unit 96 repeatedly executes this step until the print job is completed, and when the print job is completed (step S108: YES), an item of MIB data indicating the progress of the print job (FIG. 4: item number b). = 2) is updated to “normal end” (step S110), and the MIB recording process for this print job is terminated.

  By executing this MIB recording process for each print job, the MIB 97 includes a job for a print job for which the print process has been completed, in addition to job information for a print job being processed for which the print process has not been completed. Information is accumulated. The accumulated job information may be deleted sequentially from the job information relating to the previously processed print job when the number exceeds a predetermined number, or when a predetermined period has elapsed since the end of the print processing It may be erased.

Information Collection Processing Next, processing (hereinafter referred to as information collection processing) executed by the information collection unit 60 of the custom network board 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the processing routine of the printer monitoring process. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing routine for job monitoring processing. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of job information recorded in the flash memory 30. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing routine of processing executed when the power is turned on.

  The information collection process includes three processes: a printer monitoring process, a job monitoring process, and a process executed when the power is turned on. First, a printer monitoring process that is always performed when the custom network board 100 is activated will be described with reference to FIG. The information collection unit 60 acquires the IP address of each monitored printer (step S202). In this embodiment, the printers PRT1 to PRT3 shown in FIG. The SNMP manager 66 of the information collection unit 60 makes an inquiry using broadcast in the LAN 1 and acquires the IP address of each printer PRT as a response to the inquiry.

  Subsequently, the information collection unit 60 monitors the status of each monitored printer. Specifically, the SNMP manager 66 of the information collection unit 60 makes an inquiry to each monitored printer by multicast using the IP address acquired in step S202. In addition to the MIB data described above, MIB data indicating the printer status is recorded in the MIB 97 of each monitored printer. The printer status includes a standby state for waiting for an incoming print job, a reception state for receiving a print job, and a print state for which the printer engine 80 is executing printing. In each monitored printer that has received the inquiry, the polling processing unit 77 of the SNMP agent 74 returns an object indicating the printer status as a response. The information collection unit 60 can monitor the status of each monitored printer by periodically executing such an inquiry.

  Next, the information collection unit 60 determines whether any of the monitoring target printers has received a new print job (step S206). Specifically, when the printer status acquired in step S204 is in the receiving state, the information collecting unit 60 determines that the printer has received a new print job.

  If it is determined that none of the monitoring target printers has received a new print job (step S206: NO), the information collecting unit 60 returns to step S204 and again monitors each monitoring target printer. . On the other hand, if any of the monitoring target printers determines that a new print job has been received (step S206: YES), the information collection unit 60 adds the newly received print job to the monitoring target (step S206). S208). Thereafter, the information collection unit 60 returns to step S204 and again monitors each monitored printer.

  Next, the job monitoring process will be described with reference to FIG. The job monitoring process is a process executed when any of the monitoring target printers has a print job that is a monitoring target in step S208 described above. First, the information collection unit 60 determines whether or not there is a print job to be monitored (step S302), and when there is a print job to be monitored (step S302: YES), starts the processing from step S304 onward. .

  If there is a print job to be monitored, the information collection unit 60 monitors the print job to be monitored and the error status of the printer that is processing the print job (step S304). Specifically, the SNMP manager 66 sends the print job described with reference to FIG. 4 to the SNMP agent 74 of the printer PRT that has received the print job to be monitored (hereinafter referred to as a print job reception printer). Regularly inquire about progress information. When there are a plurality of receiving printers for the print job, an inquiry is made to each receiving printer by multicast. Thereby, the SNMP manager 66 can acquire such information as a response. The acquired information may be all items shown in FIG. 4 or a part of the items shown in FIG. 4, but at least the progress status shown in item number b = 2 in FIG. Need to get. By referring to the progress status, it is possible to detect whether the print job to be monitored is being printed. Also, the SNMP manager 66 inquires of the print job processing printer about the error information described with reference to FIG. Thus, the SNMP manager 66 can periodically acquire error information and detect whether the receiving printer of the print job is in an offline state or an online state.

  Here, the offline state refers to a state in which the printer cannot execute print processing for a print job due to an error. Conversely, the online state means a state in which the printer is normal and printing can be continued. If the printer goes offline during printing, the processing of the print job being printed is interrupted.

  As a result of the inquiry, the information collection unit 60 determines whether there is an offline printer among the printers that have received the print job (step S306). In step S304, the information collection unit 60 acquires information indicating the occurrence of an error that causes an offline state (for example, information indicated by error number a = 2 in FIG. 6) from any of the receiving printers of the print job. If the information indicating that the error has been resolved (for example, the information indicated by error number a = 3 in FIG. 6) is not acquired, it is determined that the receiving printer is offline. If it is determined that there is an offline printer (step S306: YES), the information collection unit 60 determines whether the monitored print job in the offline printer is being printed (step S308). ). Specifically, in step S304, the information collection unit 60 determines whether the progress status item (item number b = 2 in FIG. 4) acquired for the monitored print job is “printing”. Judgment by

  If it is determined that the print job to be monitored in the offline printer is printing (step S308: YES), that is, the printer receiving the print job is printing the print job and is offline. If the information collection unit 60 determines that the print job is present, the information collection unit 60 acquires job information for the corresponding print job (step S310). The acquired job information includes information related to the progress status of the print job shown in FIG. 4 and information for specifying the sender of the print job shown in FIG. The job information is acquired by the SNMP manager 66 of the information collecting unit 60 inquiring of the SNMP agent 74 of the printer in the offline state. If all the information related to the progress of the print job shown in FIG. 4 is acquired in step S304, the information shown in FIG. 4 is not acquired in this step, and the already acquired information is used. Also good.

  The job information recording unit 64 of the information collecting unit 60 records the acquired job information as an intermediate file in the job information storage unit 34 (step S312). The intermediate file refers to a file associated with an identifier indicating intermediate information that can be updated. In this embodiment, the intermediate file refers to a file with an extension “.tmp” at the end of the file name. FIG. 10 shows an example of a job information file recorded in the job information storage unit 34 in this step. The job information file 500 shown in FIG. 10 stores the job information acquired in step S310 together with an ID for identifying the printer that has received the print job corresponding to the job information (hereinafter referred to as a printer ID). I understand that it is.

  If it is determined in step S306 that there is no offline printer (step S306: NO), or if it is determined in step S308 that the offline printer is not printing (step S308: NO). Alternatively, after step S312, the information collection unit 60 determines whether there is a completed print job among the print jobs to be monitored (step S314). If the print job ends, it is simultaneously determined whether the print job ends normally or abnormally. Specifically, in step S304, when the item of the progress status of the acquired print job (the item of FIG. 4: item number b = 2) is normal completion, the information collection unit 60 determines that the print job Is determined to have been successfully completed. If there is no response within a predetermined period in spite of making an inquiry to obtain job information in step S304, the information collecting unit 60 will end the print job normally for the inquired printer PRT. It can be determined that the power was turned off before being turned on. In such a case, the information collection unit 60 determines that the print job in the printer PRT has ended abnormally. If it is determined that there is no print job that has ended normally and no print job that has ended abnormally (step S314: NO), the information collection unit 60 returns to step S304 and repeats the processing from steps S306 to S312 described above.

 If it is determined that there is a normally ended print job, the information collecting unit 60 proceeds to step S316 and acquires job information for the completed print job. The job information items acquired in this step are the same as the job information items acquired in step S310. Subsequently, the acquired job information is recorded as a final file in the job information storage unit 34 (step S318). The final file indicates a file associated with an identifier indicating that the final information is not updated. In this embodiment, the final file is a file with an extension “.xml” at the end of the file name. At this time, if an intermediate file in which job information for the same print job is recorded is already recorded in the job information storage unit 34, the final file is overwritten on the intermediate file in this step. In other words, the already-recorded job information being printed is erased, and the job information after printing is left as a record.

  If it is determined that there is an abnormally terminated print job, the information collecting unit 60 proceeds to step S320, and if there is an intermediate file in which the job information of the abnormally ended print job is recorded, the intermediate file is finalized. Change to a file. That is, an identifier indicating that the information is final information that is not updated is associated with the file in which the job information is recorded, instead of an identifier indicating that the information is intermediate information that can be updated. In this embodiment, the extension at the end of the file name is changed from “.tmp” to “.xml”.

  When the process of step S318 or S320 is completed, the information collection unit 60 excludes a print job that has been normally or abnormally terminated from the monitoring target. Thereafter, the information collecting unit 60 returns to step S302. That is, if there are other print jobs to be monitored, the above-described processing (step S304 and subsequent steps) is repeated, and if there are no more print jobs to be monitored, the print job to be monitored is added (FIG. 8). Wait until see).

  Next, processing executed when the printer PRT1 including the custom network board 100 is turned on, that is, when the custom network board 100 is activated will be described with reference to FIG.

  When the custom network board 100 is activated, the information collection unit 60 first determines whether or not an intermediate file in which job information is recorded exists in the job information storage unit 34 (step S402). Specifically, the information collection unit 60 searches the job information storage unit 34 for a file with the extension “.tmp”. As a result, when the intermediate file exists (step S404: YES), the intermediate file is changed to the final file (step S404). Specifically, the extension of the file with the extension “.tmp” is changed to “.xml”. The reason why such a process is executed is that the printer PRT1 incorporating the custom network board 100 shares the power supply with the custom network board 100. That is, when the printer PRT1 is turned off, the custom network board 100 is also turned off, so that it cannot be detected that the printer PRT1 is turned off. Therefore, unlike the case of the other printers PRT2 and PRT3, it cannot be determined whether or not the print job has been terminated abnormally by detecting that the power has been turned off. However, when the printer PRT1 is turned on, the intermediate file of job information exists because the printer PRT1 is turned off before the print job is normally completed when the printer PRT1 was previously activated. It has been shown that. Accordingly, it can be determined that the print job corresponding to the job information recorded in the intermediate file existing when the power is turned on is abnormally terminated. For this reason, the intermediate file is changed to the final file as in FIG. 9: Step S320 described above.

  The server communication unit 62 of the information collection unit 60 transmits the final file of job information stored in the job information storage unit 34 to the management server SV at regular intervals, for example, every 30 minutes. The job information recording unit 64 deletes the final file of job information transmitted to the management server SV from the job information storage unit 34. The management server SV can grasp the print history of each managed printer PRT by referring to the final file of the transmitted job information. Such a print history is used, for example, to determine a charge amount for a paid print service and a charge target person.

  As can be understood from the above description, the SNMP manager 66 in this embodiment corresponds to the first detection means, the second detection means, the third detection means, and the acquisition means in the claims. Further, the MIB recording unit 96 in this embodiment corresponds to the first recording means in the claims. Further, the job information recording unit 64 in the present embodiment corresponds to a second recording unit in the claims.

  In the printing system described above, the custom network board 100 can store job information of a print job that is being printed by a printer that is in an offline state. Further, since this job information is stored in the nonvolatile flash memory 30, when the printer in the offline state is turned off and the print job is terminated abnormally, the MIB 97 of the printer in the offline state disappears. However, job information of the print job can be left in the custom network board 100.

  Furthermore, since the file in which the job information is recorded includes the number of pages and the number of copies that have been printed, the print history before the printer PRT goes offline can be specified by referring to this file. it can.

  Further, since the intermediate file in which the job information being printed is recorded is updated to the job information after completion of printing when the corresponding print job is normally completed, a large amount of intermediate files are stored in the job information storage unit 34. It will never be done.

  Furthermore, the intermediate file (extension .tmp) in which the job information being printed is recorded is changed to the final file (extension .xml) when the corresponding print job ends abnormally. As a result, it can be determined from the extension whether the recorded file is intermediate information that can be updated or final information that is not updated.

  Furthermore, by detecting that the printer PRT has been turned off based on the presence or absence of a response to the inquiry, it is possible to appropriately detect that the print job being printed has ended abnormally. For the printer PRT1 sharing the power supply with the custom network board 100, when the printer PRT1 is turned on, it is appropriately detected that the print job being printed has ended abnormally depending on whether or not an intermediate file exists. be able to.

  Furthermore, since the custom network board 100 is built in the printer PRT1, which is one of the printers PRT constituting the printing system, the above-described effects can be obtained with a simple configuration without installing a separate information collecting device. be able to.

  Further, since it is not necessary to provide a non-volatile memory for each printer PRT, the above-described effects can be obtained while suppressing an increase in manufacturing cost of each printer PRT and an increase in the number of parts. In addition, the above-described effects can be obtained by using an existing printer that does not include a nonvolatile memory.

B. Second embodiment:
A second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a processing routine for interrupt processing when a power-off notification is received.

  The configuration of the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the configuration shown by the wavy line in FIG. 3 is provided in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment. That is, a UPS (Uninterruptible Power System) 99 is provided for the power source of each printer PRT. The SNMP agent 74 includes a trap processing unit 78. The UPS 99 is a device that includes a backup battery (or generator) inside and supplies power to the printer PRT for a predetermined time (for example, several seconds to several minutes) even after the printer PRT is turned off. . The trap processing unit 78 is a functional block that asynchronously notifies the SNMP manager 66 that a predetermined event has occurred regardless of an inquiry from the SNMP manager 66 when a predetermined event occurs. In this embodiment, when the printer PRT is turned off, the trap processing unit 78 notifies the SNMP manager 66 that the printer PRT has been turned off. This notification is hereinafter referred to as a power off notification. The SNMP manager 66 can detect that the power of the monitored printer has been turned off by receiving the power-off notification. The case where the power of the monitoring target printer is turned off includes, for example, the case where the power switch of the monitoring target printer is turned off or the case where the power outlet of the monitoring target printer is pulled out. When the printer that is printing is turned off, it is natural that the printer cannot continue processing the print job. Since the other configurations of the printing system and the components of the system are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the processing executed by the information collecting unit 60 is different from the first embodiment in that when the SNMP manager 66 receives the above-mentioned power off notification in the job monitoring process (FIG. 9), FIG. The interrupt process shown in FIG.

  Such interrupt processing will be described with reference to FIG. When the interrupt process is started, the information collecting unit 60 determines whether the print job to be monitored in the printer PRT whose power is turned off is being printed (step S502). In the job monitoring process, since the monitored print job is constantly monitored, the progress status of the print job acquired in the monitoring process (see step S304 in FIG. 9) executed immediately before the interrupt process is started is shown. By referring to the item (FIG. 4: item number b = 2), it is possible to determine whether or not the print job to be monitored is being printed in the same manner as the determination in FIG. 9: Step S308. .

  If it is determined that the print job to be monitored in the printer PRT whose power has been turned off is not being printed (step S502: NO), the interruption process is ended as it is. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print job to be monitored in the printer PRT whose power is turned off is being printed (step S502: YES), job information is acquired for the corresponding print job (step S504). The acquired job information is the same as the information acquired in FIG. 9: Step S310. Also, the acquisition of job information is performed by an inquiry by the SNMP manager 66, similar to the acquisition of job information in FIG. 9: Step S310. The printer PRT whose power is turned off is supplied with power for a predetermined time by the function of the UPS 99 even after the power is turned off. For this reason, the SNMP agent 74 of the printer PRT whose power is turned off can return a response to the inquiry from the SNMP manager 66.

  The job information recording unit 64 of the information collecting unit 60 records the acquired job information as a final file in the job information storage unit 34 (step S506). Here, unlike FIG. 9: Step 312, the acquired job information is recorded as a final file because the print job corresponding to this job information has been supplied with power by UPS 99 after a predetermined time has elapsed. This is because it is clear that the process is abnormally terminated at that time. Thereafter, the interrupt process is terminated.

  The processing performed by the information collection unit 60 in the second embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment except that the above-described interrupt processing is added, and thus description of other processing is omitted.

  According to the second embodiment described above, the following actions / effects can be obtained in addition to the actions / effects of the first embodiment. That is, even when the printer PRT is turned off without going offline, the job information of the print job being printed in the printer PRT can be saved. As can be understood from the above description, the offline state and the power-off state in the first and second embodiments correspond to the abnormal state in the claims.

C. Variations:
In the above embodiment, the printer PRT has been described as an example of a device for processing a predetermined job. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the same effect can be obtained even when applied to a pay copier managed via a network.

  In the above embodiment, each part of the printer PRT and the management server SV may be configured as hardware instead of being configured as software, or may be configured as software. You may make it comprise.

  Various types of printer engine 80 in the above embodiment can be used. For example, not only a laser type but also any type of printer engine such as an ink jet type, a sublimation type, a dot impact type, and a thermal transfer type can be used.

  The flash memory 30 provided in the custom network board 100 may be a non-volatile storage unit. For example, instead of the flash memory 30, another EEPROM or a magnetic disk device represented by a hard disk device can be used.

  In the above embodiment, the OID is stored in the OID information storage unit 32 in advance, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the management server SV may transmit the OID to the information collection unit 60 as a response to the inquiry from the information collection unit 60. In such a case, the information collection unit 60 may receive it, update the previously stored OID, and store it in the OID information storage unit 32. In this way, even if the OID is changed due to a standard update or the like, it is possible to deal with the changed OID.

  In the above embodiment, the extension of the final file of job information uses `` .xml '' regardless of whether it ended normally or abnormally. A different extension may be attached. In this way, it is possible to immediately determine whether the print job corresponding to the file of the job information has ended normally or abnormally by simply examining the file name.

  As mentioned above, although the Example and modification of this invention were demonstrated, this invention is not limited to these Example and modification at all, and implementation in a various aspect is possible within the range which does not deviate from the summary. It is.

1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of each device that configures the printing system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an outline of a configuration for realizing collection of information regarding a printer. The 1st table which shows an example of the item currently recorded as MIB. The 2nd table which shows an example of the item currently recorded as MIB. The 3rd table which shows an example of the item currently recorded as MIB. The flowchart which shows the processing routine of MIB recording processing. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a processing routine for printer monitoring processing. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing routine for job monitoring processing. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of job information recorded in a flash memory. The flowchart which shows the process routine of the process performed at the time of power activation. The flowchart which shows the process routine of the interruption process at the time of receiving a power-off notification.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... TCP / IP part 20 ... CPU
30 ... Flash memory 32 ... OID information storage unit 34 ... Job information storage unit 40 ... RAM
50 ... ROM
60 ... Information collection unit 62 ... Server communication unit 64 ... Job information recording unit 66 ... SNMP manager 70 ... Communication control unit 72 ... Data reception processing unit 74 ... SNMP agent 77 ... Polling processing unit 78 ... Trap processing unit 80 ... Printer engine 90 ... Printer controller 91 ... CPU
92 ... ROM
93 ... RAM
95 ... Control program 96 ... MIB recording part 97 ... MIB
99 ... UPS
100 ... Custom network board 200 ... Network board PRT ... Printer CL ... Client SV ... Management server FW ... Firewall PRB ... Printer body

Claims (10)

An information collecting apparatus connected to one or a plurality of devices having a first recording unit that processes a predetermined job and records job information including information about the job being processed in a volatile memory via a network. And
Non-volatile storage means;
First detecting means for acquiring error information from the device and detecting an error of the device ;
Second detection means for detecting that the device is processing a job;
When the device is processing a job and an error of the device is detected by the first detection unit, the processing is being performed from the job information recorded in the volatile memory of the device. An acquisition means for acquiring information about the job;
A second recording unit that records information about the acquired job being processed in the nonvolatile storage unit;
Third detecting means for detecting that the device has been turned off before the job being processed normally is terminated abnormally before the device is turned on again;
With
The second recording unit records the acquired information on the job being processed as intermediate information that can be updated, and when the third detection unit detects the abnormal end, the job being processed An information collection device that determines that the job corresponding to the information related to the information has ended abnormally and changes the information related to the job being processed recorded as the intermediate information to the final information that is not updated. In the information gathering device according to claim 1,
The information about the job being processed includes an information collection device including information for identifying a portion of the job being processed that has been processed. In the information gathering device according to claim 1 or 2,
When the job corresponding to the information related to the job being processed has been completed normally, the first recording unit can further process the information related to the job being processed recorded in the volatile memory. Update to information about finished jobs,
The acquisition unit further acquires information on the job for which the processing has been completed from the job information recorded in the volatile memory,
The second recording means is further in the process of acquiring information related to a job for which processing has been completed for a job corresponding to information relating to the job being processed recorded in the nonvolatile storage means. An information collecting apparatus that erases information about a job and records information about the job for which the acquired processing is completed as the final information in the nonvolatile storage unit. The information collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The intermediate information is information associated with a first identifier indicating the intermediate information,
The information collection device, wherein the final information is information associated with a second identifier indicating the final information. The information collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The device records status information including an abnormal state of the device and that the device is processing a job,
Detection by the first detection unit and the second detection unit is an information collection device that is executed by acquiring the recorded status information. The information collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The information collection device is connected to a management server that manages the device,
The information collecting device further includes:
An information collection device comprising a communication unit that transmits the final information to the management server. The information collection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The device is a printing apparatus;
The information collecting apparatus, wherein the job is a print job. One of the one or more devices,
A device incorporating the information collecting apparatus according to claim 1. A device for processing a predetermined job, a method for collecting information via a network from one or more devices that record job information including information about a job being processed in a volatile memory,
Obtain error information from the device to detect errors in the device ,
Detects that the device is processing a job,
When the device is being processed and an error of the device is detected by acquiring the error information, the job being processed from the job information recorded in the volatile memory of the device Information about
Record the acquired information about the job being processed in a nonvolatile storage means,
Detecting that the device has been powered off before the job being processed is terminated normally as an abnormal termination before the device is powered on again;
Recording the acquired information about the job being processed as intermediate information that can be updated,
When the abnormal end is detected, it is determined that the job corresponding to the information regarding the job being processed has ended abnormally,
Changing the information related to the job being processed recorded as the intermediate information to final information that is not updated;
Method. A computer program that collects information from one or more devices that process a predetermined job and that records job information including information about the job being processed in a volatile memory via a network. ,
A first function of acquiring error information from the device and detecting an error of the device ;
A second function for detecting that the device is processing a job;
When the device is being processed and an error of the device is detected by the first function, the job being processed from the job information recorded in the volatile memory of the device A third function to obtain information about,
A fourth function for recording information on the acquired job being processed in a nonvolatile storage unit;
A fifth function for detecting that the device has been turned off before the job being processed normally ends as an abnormal end before the device is turned on again;
Is realized on a computer,
The fourth function records information about the acquired job being processed as intermediate information that can be updated, and information about the job being processed when the abnormal end is detected by the fifth function. A computer program that causes the computer to realize that the job corresponding to is abnormally terminated and change the information related to the job being processed recorded as the intermediate information to final information that is not updated.

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