JP4482526B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having two or more functions among copy, print, scan, and facsimile functions.

  A multifunction peripheral, which is a kind of image forming apparatus, uses a common hardware resource for a plurality of functions, so that the cost can be reduced as a whole and space can be saved.

  In Patent Document 1 below, a general-purpose operating system (general-purpose OS) such as UNIX is used, and common functions of each application of copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile are summarized and a platform is configured with the general-purpose OS. It is disclosed that the number of program steps is reduced to improve program development efficiency.

  However, because each job type has an application and only the common functions of each application are listed, a unique job generation module is used for each application, and the relationship between the job steps of each job is low. Are inconsistent, complicated, and reduce application development efficiency.

In addition, since the relevance between job steps of each job is low, detailed job status display processing for the user is complicated.
JP 2002-84383 A

In view of these problems, the object of the present invention is to divide a job into job steps and associate and unify job steps regardless of job types, and to efficiently execute a plurality of jobs with simpler control. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing the above.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of simplifying detailed job status display processing to a user.

In a first aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, the image forming apparatus has two or more functions of a copy, print, scan, or facsimile reception function.
A processor that operates according to a program;
Storage means coupled to the processor for storing the program;
Image data input means coupled to the processor and used in the two or more jobs;
Instruction input means coupled to the processor for inputting instructions;
Image data output means coupled to the processor and used in the two or more jobs;
Display means coupled to the processor;
And the program
For each function, an input job step for inputting image data from the image data input means, an image processing job step for processing the image data input in the input job step, and the output of the processed image data A functional module group including functional modules executed in each job step when divided into output job steps supplied to the means;
A job execution control unit that selectively executes the function modules of each job step in response to a job selection and activation instruction from the instruction input unit.

In a second aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in the first aspect,
The storage means further stores a job identification code queue as job control information,
The job execution control unit assigns a job identification code according to a job selection and activation instruction from the instruction input unit, adds the job identification code to the job identification code queue, and sequentially retrieves the job identification code from the job identification code queue. The function module of each job step of the job is selectively executed.

  In a third aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in the second aspect, the job execution control unit includes a job identification code queue for each page in each of the image processing job step and the output job step. The job identification codes are referred to in the order of job execution, and if there is a job step of the job identification code that can be executed unprocessed, the corresponding function module is executed.

In a fourth aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in the third aspect,
The storage means further includes, for each job step, job step control information that associates the page number of the page to be processed with the processing state of the page number,
The job execution control unit refers to the job step control information to determine whether there is a job step having a job identification code that can be executed in the unprocessed state.

In a fifth aspect of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects,
Further comprising display means coupled to the processor;
The job step control information further includes, for each job step, information that associates a job identification code related to an unfinished job with information related to the number of processed pages,
The program further refers to the job identification code queue and the job step control information in response to a job status display instruction from the instruction input unit, and displays information on a job identification code related to an unfinished job on the display unit. And a job status display processing unit for displaying job status information for each job identification code including job status information including job status information for each job step in the job execution order.

  According to the configuration of the first aspect, each function job is uniformly classified into an input job step, an image processing job step, and an output job step, and the function module executed in each job step is controlled by job execution control. Are selectively executed in accordance with job selection and activation instructions from the instruction input means, so that applications capable of executing a plurality of types of jobs are integrated into one, and there are a plurality of job types between job steps. As a result, the application configuration is organized and simplified, and the application development efficiency can be improved.

  According to the configuration of the second aspect, the job execution control unit assigns a job identification code according to a job selection and activation instruction from the instruction input unit, adds the job identification code to the job identification code queue, and Since job identification codes are sequentially extracted from the identification code queue and the function modules of each job step of the job are selectively executed, the job execution order can be changed in units of jobs by simply changing the order of the job identification codes in the job identification code queue. It can be changed.

  According to the configuration of the third aspect, the job execution control unit executes the job identification code in the job identification code queue for each page in each of the image processing job step and the output job step. If there is a job step having a job identification code that can be referred to in sequence and can be executed, the corresponding functional module is executed, so that a plurality of jobs can be executed efficiently.

  According to the configuration of the fourth aspect, for each job step, the job execution control unit refers to the job step control information that associates the page number of the processing target page with the processing state of the page number, Since it is determined whether or not there is a job step having a job identification code that can be executed unprocessed, job step execution control by the job execution control unit is facilitated.

  According to the configuration of the fifth aspect, since the job status is displayed based on the information of the job unit and job step unit necessary for efficiently controlling the job, the detailed job status can be displayed by simple processing. Is possible.

  Other objects, configurations and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment of the invention.

  The image forming apparatus 10 has copy, print, scan, facsimile transmission and facsimile reception functions. The processor 11 is connected to a memory 13, a hard disk device 14, expansion cards 15 to 18, a network interface card (via a chipset 12). NIC) 19 and communication modem 20 are coupled, and operation / display panel 25, transport device 26, print engine 27, and scan engine 28 are coupled to expansion cards 15-18, respectively. For example, the expansion cards 15 to 17 are PCI cards, and the expansion card 18 is a PCI interface SCSI interface card. The NIC 19 and the communication modem 20 are coupled to an external communication modem 20 and a public line 31, respectively. The transport device 26 includes a paper transport device, a fixing device, a finisher, and the like.

  The hard disk device 14 includes a general-purpose operating system (OS) having a multi-thread function, an application for an image forming apparatus that operates on the OS, and a device driver that operates on the OS.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the overall configuration of the main part of the application 40.

While the cited document 1 has an application for each job, one of the features of the first embodiment is that each function of copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile transmission is processed by one integrated application, and By dividing the job of each function into input, image processing, and output job steps in a unified manner, the software configuration of the image forming apparatus can be simplified and the software development efficiency can be improved.

Each function of each image forming apparatus is performed by sequentially executing one selected from the function module group 41. The function module group 41 corresponds to these three job steps, the input function module group 410 as the first job step processing unit group, the image processing function module group 411 as the second job step processing unit group, and the third job. It is classified into an output function module group 412 as a step processing unit group .

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the functional module group 41. Each functional module is given a code that is identified in job control and job step control. Each of the function modules of the codes 10 and 12 performs a plurality of types of compression processing and a plurality of types of decompression processing, but in FIG.

The input function module group 410 includes function modules (processing units) of codes 00, 01, and 02 as first to third processing unit identification codes , respectively, from the scan engine 28, the NIC 19, and the communication modem 20 of FIG. Data is acquired and stored in the memory 13.

The image processing function module group 411 includes function modules (processing sections) of codes 10, 11, and 12 as first to third processing section identification codes. 1 page of image data stored in the image data is converted into the data format of the output device. The function module of code 10 compresses the data, the function module of code 11 performs RIP processing, and the code Twelve functional modules perform decompression processing of the compressed data. The image processing function module group 411 may further include a function module that performs an editing process such as pagination or a process for collecting document images for a plurality of pages into one sheet size.

The output function module group 412 includes function modules (processing units) of codes 20, 21 and 22 as first to third processing unit identification codes, which are supplied to the print engine 27, the hard disk device 14, and the communication modem 20, respectively. To do.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the GUI module 42 changes the display screen according to the operation of the operation / display panel 25 by the user, and stores the input data corresponding to the user's operation in the memory 13 as setting information. When the user selects a job of copy, print, scan, or facsimile transmission from the main menu, the GUI module 42 displays a setting screen for the job. When the user presses the start key after making various settings for this job (including using the default setting value), the GUI module 42 performs job control on the code and setting information of the selected job. Supply to module 43.

As shown in FIG. 3, the function identification codes for copying, printing, scanning, facsimile transmission and facsimile reception are 0 to 4, respectively. In the following, job step control is expressed as JSC for simplification.

In response to receiving the function identification code and the setting information, the job control module 43 generates job step control blocks (JSC blocks) 440 to 442 as job step control information, and fills them with the job step control blocks. Further, the job generation completion notification including the job serial number JSNo as the job identification information is sent to the input JSC module 450.

  Programmatically, generation of a JSC block corresponds to, for example, generation of an instance of a class that does not include a method, and the “notification” from module A to module B is, for example, module A assigning a value to a variable This means that module B sees the value of the variable.

  FIG. 5A shows the configuration of the JSC block. This block includes a control information field including a function module code FMC, a job serial number JSNo, and a page number PNo, and a setting information field delivered when the function module is activated.

The job control module 43 enters the function module code corresponding to the function identification code in the function module code FMC column of the JSC blocks 440, 441 and 442 according to the table shown in FIG.

The job control module 43 includes a job counter 430 and a job ID queue 431. The value of the job counter 430 is entered in the job serial number JSNo column of the JSC blocks 440 to 442 and at the head of the value of the job counter 430. After adding the function identification code to the job ID queue 431 (see FIG. 9), the job counter 430 is incremented by one. The job control module 43 also writes the initial value 1 in the page number PNo column of the JSC blocks 440 to 442.

  The job control module 43 sorts the setting information from the GUI module 42 into the setting information necessary for each job step by a predetermined method, and enters them in the setting information fields of the JSC blocks 440 to 442, respectively.

  FIG. 5B shows a specific example of the input JSC block 440, and shows that the scan input setting information is black and white, single-sided, A4 portrait, 400 dpi, and brightness 128. FIG. 5C shows a specific example of the image processing JSC block 441. The pagination setting information included in the image processing is centered, the margin is 10 mm, and the format is-? -(? Is a page number), the font is MS Gothic, standard and italic, and the character spacing is 0 mm.

  As will be described later, each of the job step control modules (JSC modules) 450 to 452 activates the corresponding functional module in the functional module group for each page (however, the JSC module 450 is for all pages) (generates a thread). In response to the end of execution of the functional module, the page number PNo of each of the JSC blocks 440 to 442 is incremented by 1, and a thread control block to be described later is generated for the right-side (downstream-side) JSC module.

  The JSC modules 450 to 452 together with the job control module and the GUI module 42 are activated every 20 msec, for example, and are subjected to a round process. On the other hand, when the function module is activated by the JSC modules 450 to 452, the function module operates as a thread independently of the JSC modules 450 to 452. Note that the same result is obtained when the GUI module 42, the job control module, and the JSC modules 450 to 452 are operated as threads.

  Here, the application 40 includes a scan engine management module 46, a NIC management module 47, and a MODEM management module 48 of FIG. 6 in addition to the configuration of FIG.

  The scan engine management module 46, the NIC management module 47, and the MODEM management module 48 respond to instructions from the function modules FMC = 00, 01, and 02, respectively, and scan engine drivers 56 that are device drivers via the general-purpose OS 50, respectively. , Data is exchanged with the NIC driver 57 and the MODEM driver 58, and the scan engine 28, the NIC 19 and the communication modem 20 of FIG. 12 are controlled. The general-purpose OS 50 causes the memory management module 501 to manage the image data of each page input from the scan engine 28, the NIC 19, and the communication modem 20. The scan engine management module 46, the NIC management module 47, and the MODEM management module 48 all confirm that the memory management module 501 has stored the image data for one page in the memory 13 in FIG. At the same time, the storage start address and the storage end address are obtained, and these addresses are transferred to the functional module in response to an instruction from the corresponding functional module.

  While the above-described JSC block is control information common to all pages in the corresponding job step, the image processing JSC module 451 and the output JSC module are both page-by-page as shown in FIG. Thread control blocks 451a and 452a are used as control information.

  This thread control block has fields of a job serial number 60, a page number 61 to be processed by the functional module, a thread control state 62, and a storage start address 63 and a storage end address 64 of image data of this page number. . The job serial number 60 is for associating with the JSC block, and is used in determining the job execution order as described later. The function module instance processes the image data in this address range.

  As shown in FIG. 7B, the thread control state 62 includes READY indicating that execution is possible, RUN indicating execution, and END indicating execution end. The thread control block is generated in the READY state by the JSC module adjacent to the upstream side. The function module is activated by the JSC module to which this thread control block belongs, and the thread control state 62 is set to RUN. This functional module sets the thread control state 62 to END as post-processing immediately before the end of execution. The JSC module to which this thread control block belongs deletes the END thread control block.

  Next, the operation of the input JSC module 450 will be described.

  In response to the job generation completion notification from the job control module, the input JSC module 450 refers to the input JSC block 440 and gives the setting information in the JSC block 440 to the function module IFM identified by the FMC. The module IFM is activated (an instance of the function module IFM is generated). The functional module IFM causes the corresponding input device to input image data for one page via the management module 46, 47 or 48, receives the storage start and end addresses, and passes them to the input JSC module 450. In response to this, the input JSC module 450 causes the image processing JSC module 451 to generate an image processing thread control block 451a as shown in FIG. 7A in the READY state.

  When the input page is the last page, the input JSC module 450 notifies the job control module 43 in FIG. 1 of the page number PNo as the last page number PENo.

  Next, the operation of the image processing JSC module 451 will be described with reference to FIG. In the following, the step identification codes in the figure are shown in parentheses.

  (S10) If there is a thread control block (SBC) in the RUN state in the corresponding job step, the process is terminated. As a result, the image processing of different pages or jobs is not performed in time-division parallel processing, so that the overhead of program switching does not occur and the throughput is improved. If there is no SRUN in the RUN state, the process proceeds to step S11.

  (S11) If there is an SBC in the END state, the process proceeds to step S16, and if not, the process proceeds to step S12.

(S12, S13) One next (first head) job serial number JSNo is referred to in the order of arrangement in the job ID queue 431, and the thread control block (SCB) in the READY state including this job serial number JSNo is displayed. If there is, the process proceeds to step S15, and if not, the process proceeds to step S14.

(S14) If there is no job serial number JSNo to be referred to next in the job ID queue 431, the processing is terminated.

  (S15) The image described in the READY state thread control block including the setting information described in the image processing JSC block 441 including the job serial number JSNo and the page number PNo described in the JSNo and image processing JSC block 441 The data storage start address and the image data storage end address are given to the function block of the function module code FMC described in the image processing JSC block 441, the function block is activated, the thread control state is set to RUN, and the process is ended. To do.

  By this activation, the functional module processes the image data in this address range independently of the operation of the JSC module, stores it in the memory 13 via the OS, and sets the storage start and end addresses as the image processing JSC module 451. In addition, the thread control state of the control block 451a is set to END, and the process ends.

(S16) As post-processing, the page number PNo of the corresponding JSC block is incremented by 1, the control block 451a whose thread control state is END is extinguished, and the output JSC module 452 is as shown in FIG. the output thread control block 452a of the READY state Ru is generated.

  The operation of the output JSC module 452 is the same as that in FIG. In this case, upon activation of the functional module in step S15, the functional module outputs image data in the given address range from the corresponding output device. In step S16, the page number PNo of the corresponding JSC block is incremented by 1, and the control block 452a of the thread in the END state is extinguished.

The job control module 43 in FIG. 1 discards the JSC blocks 440 to 442 having the job serial number JNo in response to the output thread control block erasing process of the final page number PENo by the output JSC module 452 and the job ID. The line ( function identification code + job serial number JNo) including the job serial number JNo is deleted from the queue 431 (see FIG. 9). As a result, this job is completed.

  With such simple processing, jobs are executed in the order of job serial numbers stored in the job ID queue 431 and in the order of page numbers PNo for the same job serial numbers. If the job serial number order is changed, the job execution order is changed in units of jobs accordingly.

  Next, the job execution order will be described.

As described above, when a job is generated, the job serial number JSNo is added to the job ID queue 431 along with the function identification code , and when all pages of one job are output in the output job step, the job serial number JSNo is included. Since the row is deleted from the job ID queue 431, when a plurality of jobs remain, the contents of the job ID queue 431 are as shown in FIG. 9A, for example. Correspondingly, there are JSC blocks 440 to 442 corresponding to the respective job serial numbers in the job ID queue 431.

  The contents of the job ID queue 431 and the JSC blocks 440 to 442 can be easily used for the GUI. That is, when the user presses the job status display key on the operation / display panel 25, the GUI module 42 inquires the job control module 43 about the job status, and the job control module 43 responds to the job ID queue 431. The page number PNo written in the JSC blocks 440, 441 and 442 is read for each job serial number JSNo, the estimated output completion time is roughly calculated based on the page number PNo, and these are output to the GUI module 42. hand over. The GUI module 42 displays this on the operation / display panel 25.

Thereby, for example, a display as shown in FIG. In the figure, No. Is the job serial number JSNo. The column indicates the JSNos of the job ID queue 431 in FIG. 9A in that order. The input, processing, and output are values obtained by subtracting 1 from the page number PNo described in the corresponding JSC blocks 440, 442, and 442, respectively, and indicate the number of processed pages.

  The operation / display panel 25 includes a touch panel, which displays an up key 66, a down key 67, a priority key 68, and a cancel key 69, which are used as follows when changing the job execution order. It is done.

For example, in FIG. Job No. 3 2 to press the down key 67 twice, no. No. 1 is a rectangular frame. 3 and the priority key 68 is pressed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10B, lattice points are displayed in the rectangular frame, and the movement target is selected. Next, when the up key 66 is pressed once, the rectangular frame moves up by one as shown in FIG. 11A, and when the priority key 68 is pressed in this state, the movement is confirmed, and FIG. ) Disappears as shown in FIG. At the same time, the GUI module 42 makes a No. in this order. The combination of the function identification code in the column is overwritten in the job ID queue 431, and the contents are as shown in FIG. It corresponds to the column. If the cancel key 69 is pressed instead of the priority key 68, the initial state shown in FIG.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, since the configuration of the application 40 for the image forming apparatus is simple and uniform for all jobs, the development efficiency of this application is increased.

  In addition, since a function module group is provided and the function module is selectively activated according to the job type by the control module, each job is handled in an equal relationship with respect to the job execution order, while the control module uses the control module. Since the job status is displayed using information and the job execution order is changed using this information, the execution order can be changed in units of jobs with a simple configuration.

  In addition, since the job steps of each job are unified, the job numbers in the job number queue are referred to in order in the image processing job step as well as in the output job step, and the job number that can be executed unprocessed. If there is a job step, the corresponding function module can be easily executed in units of pages, and with a simple software configuration, it is possible to preferentially process and output urgent jobs while maintaining high throughput. Become.

  Unlike Cited Document 1, memory resource management can be left to the general-purpose OS, and the configuration is simplified.

  Note that the present invention includes various other modifications.

  For example, although the logical configuration of the application 40 has been described in the above embodiment, this logical configuration can be realized by various methods. For example, when the control block becomes READY, an event is generated to activate the functional module. It can be realized with an event-driven program.

Alternatively, only the job serial number may be placed in the job ID queue 431 and the job serial number and the function identification code may be tabulated. The JSC tables 440 to 442 may be configured such that the function module code is not entered using the function identification code in the job ID queue 431 and the table shown in FIG. The job serial number as the job number may be a function identification code and a serial number for each function identification code . In other words, job type information may be added to the job number. The JSC blocks 440 to 442 can also be represented by the class attributes of the JSC control modules 450 to 452 or the job control module 43 as the JSC control unit in terms of programs. That is, various modifications are included in the way of giving job control information to the control module.

1 is a schematic block diagram showing an overall configuration of application software that constitutes an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; It is a block diagram which shows the several functional module classified into 4 groups selectively performed according to the kind of job. It is explanatory drawing of the table used with a job control module, Comprising: Correspondence relation between the function identification code of copy, print, scan, facsimile transmission and facsimile reception and the code of the function module other than editing selected in each job It is explanatory drawing of the table shown. (A) to (E) are schematic sequence diagrams showing functional modules that are sequentially activated when a job of copying, printing, scanning, facsimile transmission and facsimile reception is executed. (A) is a diagram showing a configuration of a job step control (JSC) block, (B) is a diagram showing a specific example of information described in an input JSC block, and (C) is a diagram showing information described in an image processing JSC block. It is a figure which shows a specific example. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware resource management part regarding an image input. It is explanatory drawing of the thread | sled control block as control information for every page handled with an image processing JSC module and an output JSC module. It is a flowchart which shows the process of an image process JSC module or an output JSC module according to the job order which a job ID queue shows. (A) and (B) are diagrams for explaining the contents of the job ID queue before and after changing the job execution order, respectively. (A) And (B) is a job execution order change operation explanatory drawing. FIG. 11 is a job execution order change operation explanatory diagram illustrating the continuation of FIG. 10. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 11 Processor 12 Chip set 13 Memory 14 Hard disk device 15-18 Expansion card 19 NIC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Communication modem 25 Operation / display panel 26 Conveying device etc. 27 Print engine 28 Scan engine 30 Host computer 31 Public line 40 Application 41 Function module group 410 Input function module group 411 Image processing function module group 412 Output function module group 42 GUI module 43 Job control module 430 Job counter 431 Job ID queue 440 Input JSC block 441 Image processing JSC block 442 Output JSC block 450 Input JSC module 451 Image processing JSC module 452 Output JSC module 46 Scan engine management module 47 NIC management module 48 MODEM management Module 50 General-purpose OS
501 Memory management module 56 Scan engine driver 57 NIC driver 58 MODEM driver 60 Job serial number 61 Page number 62 Status 63 Storage start address 64 Storage end address 66 Up key 67 Down key 68 Priority key 69 Cancel key FMC Function module code JSNo Job serial Number PNo Page number

Claims (3)

A processor;
Storage means coupled to the processor for storing programs and data;
A plurality of image data input means coupled to the processor;
Instruction input means coupled to the processor for inputting instructions;
A plurality of image data output means coupled to the processor;
In an image forming apparatus having a plurality of functions,
In order to achieve each of the plurality of functions, the program includes a first job step process including each processing unit that stores image data supplied from each of the plurality of image data input units in the storage unit. A second job step processing unit group including a group of units, a plurality of types of processing units for processing the image data stored in the storage unit, and each of the plurality of output units outputting the processed data. A third job step processing unit group including the processing units,
The data includes first to third processing unit identification codes that identify processing units to be selectively executed from the first to third job step processing unit groups for each of the job queue and the plurality of functions. Has a function associated with it,
The program further includes
First to third job step control units;
In response to the function selection instruction and the activation instruction from the instruction input unit, the processor generates a job identification code and places it in the job queue, and first to third processing unit identification codes corresponding to the selected function From the storage unit, and for each of i = 1 to 3, the job identification code, the i-th processing unit identification code, and the setting information designated via the instruction input unit are processed in the first to third processes. Storing the i-th job step control information including the i-th setting information assigned to the first to third setting information corresponding to each of the units in the storage unit, and the first job step control unit A job control unit for notifying completion of job generation including a job identification code;
Have
In response to the job generation completion notification, the first job step control unit, based on the first processing unit identification code of the first job step control information including the job identification code included in the notification, One processing unit is selected from a plurality of processing units of one processing unit group, the selected processing unit is executed based on the first job step control information, and the selected processing unit performs processing for one page. 2, second processing target information including a job identification code included in the job start information, a page number for which the processing has been completed, and status information indicating a ready status is sent to the second job step control unit. On the other hand, when the page is the last page number, the page number is notified to the job control unit as the last page number.
For each of i = 2 to 3, the i-th job step control unit holds in the job queue if the i-th processing target information whose status information indicates the run status does not exist in the storage unit. The job identification codes that have been referred to are sequentially referred to, and each time one is referred to, it is determined whether or not the status information is ready for the i-th processing target information including the referenced job identification code. Based on the i-th processing unit identification code of the i-th job step control information including this job identification code, one processing unit is selected from a plurality of processing units in the i-th processing unit group, and this i-th job step control information and this Based on the i-th setting information, the selected processing unit is executed, and the state information is changed so that the ready state indicates a run state. Each time processing is completed, the (i + 1) th job step includes (i + 1) th processing target information that includes the same job identification code and page number included in the i th setting information and includes status information indicating the ready state. Causing the control unit to generate the i-th processing target information from the storage unit,
In response to the disappearance of the third processing target information having the same page number as the final page number, the job control unit performs the first job identification code having the same job identification code as that of the third processing target information. ~ 3 job step control information is deleted from the storage means;
An image forming apparatus. The first to third job step control information generated by the job control unit further includes a page number with an initial value of 1,
The first to third job step control units further provide the processor with page numbers of the first to third job step control information each time the selected processing unit completes processing for one page. Increment by one,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. A display means;
The control means responds to a job status display instruction from the instruction input means, and includes a job identification code included in the existing first to third job step control information and the first to third job step control information. Information including the number of processed pages, which is a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the page number included in each of the above, is displayed on the display unit as a job status
The image forming apparatus according to claim 3 .

Images