JP4836193B2 - Image forming apparatus and image forming method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method that can be connected to a plurality of host devices, and in particular, when print data from another host device is detected while establishing a session for communicating with the host device, The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method which can be cut or invalidated to receive and print the print data.

  Conventionally, a host device such as multiple PCs (Personal Computers) and an image forming device such as one or more laser printers are connected via a LAN (Local Area Network), etc., and print data is sent from the host device. Thus, a network system capable of printing with an image forming apparatus is known.

In such a network system, when a plurality of image forming apparatuses are installed, when a print request is transmitted by sending print data from one host apparatus, the user can immediately start from the plurality of image forming apparatuses. It is possible to select an image forming apparatus that can print, that is, an image forming apparatus that has few waiting print jobs.
However, even if an image forming apparatus that can be printed immediately is selected, print data is transmitted, and a print request is made, if a print process before the print request causes out of paper or toner, it is actually immediately Cannot print. That is, there is a problem that it is difficult for the user to reliably select an image forming apparatus that can be printed immediately.

  Therefore, a response request for confirming whether or not printing is possible is issued from the host device to a plurality of image forming apparatuses, and a plurality of print data is transmitted by transmitting only print data to the image forming apparatus that has returned a response that can be printed first. Information processing apparatus, print control apparatus, data processing method, and storage medium that can automatically select an image forming apparatus that can be printed immediately from among the image forming apparatuses on the stand and eliminate the printing waiting time are proposed (See Patent Document 1).

However, when a plurality of image forming apparatuses are not installed, that is, when one image forming apparatus is used by a plurality of host apparatuses, the image forming apparatus cannot be selected. If there are a large number of print requests such as a plurality of pages or a plurality of jobs, a print request from another host device can be executed only after the large amount of print processing is completed.
Therefore, there is a problem that even when a print request from another host device is an urgent print or when printing a small amount of pages, it is necessary to wait for the large-scale printing to end.

Therefore, the user can set the priority for each print data. When the image forming apparatus receives print data with a higher priority while printing certain print data, the job being printed is interrupted, There has been proposed a printing system capable of printing high-priority print data first (see Patent Document 2).
According to this printing system, even when the image forming apparatus is performing mass printing, high-priority print data can be interrupted without waiting for mass printing to be completed, and urgent printing or the like can be performed first. Can be processed.

  By the way, in printing PDL (Page Description Language), which is a programming language for instructing the image forming apparatus, for example, the character position and character type of a document when the document created by the host device is printed in page units, the host device Converts the print data into PDL data (print data described in PDL) by the printer driver and transmits it to the image forming apparatus, a session (two devices for exchanging data) between the host device and the image forming apparatus. There are PDLs that need to be established and maintained.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a PDL that needs to keep a session.
The straight line connecting the PC 102 and the printer 101 shown in the drawing represents an established session, and the PC 102 and the printer 101 communicate with each other while continuing the session. On the other hand, this indicates that the PC 103 is attempting to transmit print data converted into other PDL (hereinafter referred to as other PDL data) (arrow in the figure).
Since the session when this PDL is used always maintains a connection state, it does not accept other PDL data from other host devices or the like even when printing is not being performed. For this reason, other PDL data transmitted by the PC 103 is not received by the printer 101 and printing is not performed unless the session between the PC 102 and the printer 101 is disconnected, which is very inefficient.

By the way, when a plurality of host devices use this PDL, the image forming apparatus can connect this session with a plurality of host devices.
FIG. 11 illustrates an image forming apparatus that has established sessions with a plurality of host devices.
As shown in the figure, the printer 101 establishes a session by using the same PDL for all the six PCs 106 to 111. However, there is one session that can be communicated. For example, when communicating with the PC 106, the printer 101 does not receive PDL data from other PCs.

In the printing system described in Patent Document 2, priority can be set for print data. However, when the session is established between the host device and the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus displays the print data itself. Since it cannot be received, even if the priority is set in the print data, interrupt printing cannot be performed using the priority.
Therefore, when one image forming apparatus is used by a plurality of host apparatuses, communication is performed using PDL that needs to continue this session. When the image forming apparatus is not printing, the other Even if the host device transmits the PDL data, printing cannot be performed unless the session in communication is disconnected, and printing efficiency is poor.
JP 2002-202874 A JP 2005-267176 A

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and its purpose is to use the PDL even when the session needs to be maintained, when the printing process is not performed. It is possible to perform printing using PDL data from another host device, thereby reducing the time for which the user waits for the printing process and thus improving the printing efficiency.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus including a communication unit that establishes and communicates with a host apparatus and a control unit that controls the communication unit, and print data transmitted to the image forming apparatus is received. Detecting whether or not the detection means to detect and the protocol for transmitting the print data detected by the detection means during the session establishment between the host device and the communication means and the protocol used to establish the session are inconsistent A protocol determination unit, and when the detection unit detects print data during the establishment of a session between the host device and the communication unit, the control unit disconnects or invalidates the session with the host device. means controls so as to receive the print data, when said protocol determining means determines a mismatch, the control unit of the host device And controls so as to disconnect or disable the cushion.
Invention 請 Motomeko 2, in the image forming apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a host determining means, said host determining means, when said protocol determining means determines a match, detected by said detecting means When it is determined whether the print data is from the host device or from another host device, and it is determined that the print data is from the other host device, the control means disconnects the session with the host device. Alternatively, the control is performed so as to be invalidated.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect , the host determination unit determines whether the print data detected by the detection unit is from the host device or another host device. The determination is made based on the IP address or the MAC address.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, priority setting means for setting the priority of the protocol input to the image forming apparatus, and the set priority Storage means for storing; priority determination means for determining the priority of a protocol used when establishing the session; and priority of a protocol for transmitting print data detected by the detection means; and the priority determination When the means determines that the priority of the print data transmission protocol detected by the detection means is higher than the priority of the protocol used when establishing the session, the control means disconnects or invalidates the session and controlling the communication means so as to.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming method for receiving print data and forming an image of the received print data, the step of establishing a session with a host device, and detecting print data transmitted to the image forming device A detection step for disconnecting or invalidating a session with the host device when print data is detected in the detection step during session establishment with the host device, and the detection during session establishment with the host device. A protocol determination step for determining whether or not the protocol of the print data detected in the process matches the protocol used when establishing the session, and disconnecting or invalidating the session with the host device when the mismatch is determined And a step of making it .
Invention 請 Motomeko 6, in the image forming method according to claim 5, when it is determined that coincides with the protocol determining step, the other or printing data detected by said detection step is from a said host device A host determination step of determining whether the data is from a host device, and a step of disconnecting or invalidating a session with the host device when it is determined in the host determination step that the print data is from another host device; , comprising: a.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to the fifth or sixth aspect , a priority setting step for setting a priority of a protocol input to the image forming apparatus, and a memory for storing the priority of the set protocol And a priority determination step for determining the level of priority between the protocol used when establishing the session and the protocol used in the print data detected in the detection step; When the priority determination step determines that the priority of the protocol used for the print data detected in the detection step is higher than the priority of the protocol used when establishing the session characterized in that it comprises the the steps of the cutting or disable session with.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming method according to any one of the fifth to seventh aspects, when the session with the host device is disconnected, the image formation of the print data transmitted to the image forming device is completed. after, further comprising a step of re-establishing the session.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to print PDL data from another host device even when using PDL that needs to continue a session, thereby reducing the time for the user to wait for print processing and thus improving printing efficiency. Can be made.

Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment.
The image forming apparatus includes a CPU 1, a RAM 2, a ROM 3, an image memory 4, an I / F (interface) unit 5, an operation panel control unit 6, and an operation panel 7. The CPU 1 is a control unit that reads a protocol determination program or a priority determination program, which will be described later, stored in a memory, for example, and executes print control.
The RAM 2 is a temporary program storage location when the CPU 1 executes the program, and stores various setting data of the image forming apparatus. The ROM 3 stores various programs executed by the CPU 1. The image memory 4 is an area for temporarily storing image data received from a host device or the like. The I / F unit 5 is a communication unit for the image forming apparatus to communicate with the host device.
The operation panel 7 is a display unit and an input unit for displaying a message or the like as an external display function, or for inputting information or the like by a user. The operation panel control unit 6 is a CPU 1 that processes information input from the operation panel 7. This is a setting means for setting information input to the operation panel 7 in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment and a plurality of PCs are connected.
The image forming apparatus 10 is connected to three PCs 11 to 13 via a network 14, and can establish communication between each of the PCs 11 to 13 and the image forming apparatus 10 to perform communication.

In this embodiment, when the image forming apparatus 10 communicates with one or a plurality of PCs using a PDL that needs to continue a session, the image forming apparatus 10 is different from the PC that communicates with the session. When PDL data is transmitted from a PC (hereinafter referred to as another PC), the established session is disconnected or only transmission / reception with a PC communicating with the session without disconnecting is disabled. Thus, PDL data can be received from another PC and printed.
In this embodiment, it is possible to set from the operation panel 7 whether the established session is disconnected or in a state where only reception is possible without disconnecting, and the operation panel control unit 6 inputs the operation session 7. Setting information is stored in the RAM 2.

FIG. 3 shows that the image forming apparatus 10 is set to disconnect the established session when PDL data is transmitted from another PC to the image forming apparatus 10 while establishing a session with the PC. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining processing of the image forming apparatus 10 in the case of
This process is performed on the network 14 shown in FIG. 2, and the same applies to the processes described below.
FIG. 3A shows a state in which PDL data is transmitted from the PC 12 when the PC 11 and the image forming apparatus 10 perform communication using PDL that needs to continue a session.
When the PDL data is transmitted from the PC 12 to the image forming apparatus 10, the detecting unit in the CPU 1 that detects the PDL data transmitted to the image forming apparatus 10 detects the PDL data, and the image forming apparatus 10 is established. A process for disconnecting the session is executed, and PDL data is received from the PC 12. In the figure, the scissors mark schematically shows the process of cutting the session.

FIG. 3B shows a state where the print processing of the PDL data transmitted from the PC 12 is completed in the setting for disconnecting the established session.
When the printing process of the PDL data transmitted from the PC 12 is completed, the image forming apparatus 10 executes a process for reestablishing a session with the disconnected PC 11. In the figure, the band aid mark schematically shows processing for reestablishing a disconnected session.

FIG. 4 shows that when an image forming apparatus 10 establishes a session with a PC and PDL data is transmitted from another PC to the image forming apparatus 10, the established session is invalidated without being disconnected. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining processing of the image forming apparatus 10 in a setting in which only transmission / reception with a PC that has established a session cannot be performed.
FIG. 4 shows a state in which PDL data is transmitted from the PC 12 when the PC 11 and the image forming apparatus 10 perform communication using the PDL that needs to continue the session as in FIG. 3A. .
When the PDL data is transmitted from the PC 12 to the image forming apparatus 10, the detection unit described above detects the PDL data, and the image forming apparatus 10 invalidates transmission / reception with the PC 11 without disconnecting the established session. The PDL data from the PC 12 is received.
When transmission / reception with the PC 11 is invalidated and PDL data is transmitted from the PC 11 to the image forming apparatus 10, the image forming apparatus 10 does not receive the PDL data and returns an error message or the like to the PC 11.

Here, in the processing of the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 3, when the PDL data is transmit from another PC to the image forming apparatus 10, in the set to disconnect the session established with the PC, PC12 When the PDL data is transmitted from the PC 12 to the image forming apparatus 10, when the printing of the PDL data transmitted from the PC 12 is completed, the image forming apparatus 10 prints the PDL data from the PC 11 without establishing a session with the PC 11 again. Processing cannot be resumed.

In the processing of the image forming apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 4, when the PDL data is transmit from another PC to the image forming apparatus 10, the session that is established with PC only transmission and reception with the PC without cutting Since the session is not disconnected when printing of PDL data transmitted from the PC 12 has been set to invalid, communication with the PC 11 is immediately performed when printing of PDL data from the PC 12 is completed. You can resume.
In other words, if you do not disconnect the session, there is no need to reconnect the session, so the speed to resume communication is faster, but if you disconnect the session, data can be wiretapped while the session is connected. There is no security in terms of security. Therefore, whether to set to disconnect the session or to set to disable only transmission / reception with the PC without disconnecting the session depends on the user's judgment.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing of the image forming apparatus and each PC when PDL data is transmitted from another PC while the image forming apparatus establishes a session with the PC and performs communication.
This sequence diagram shows processing when the PC 11 shown in FIG. 2 establishes a session with the image forming apparatus 10 and the PC 12 transmits PDL data there. Note that the image forming apparatus 10 at this time is set to disconnect the session when receiving PDL data from another PC (a PC for which no session has been established).

First, the PC 11 issues a session connection request to the image forming apparatus 10 (S101). The image forming apparatus 10 responds to the session connection request (S102) and establishes the session.
When the session is established, the PC 11 transmits PDL data to the image forming apparatus 10 (S103). Note that this PDL data is PDL data that needs to be kept in session.
The image forming apparatus 10 prints the PDL data received from the PC 11 (S104). Note that PDL data from other PCs is not received while the image forming apparatus 10 is performing printing processing.

When the printing process is completed, the PC 12 transmits the PDL data to the image forming apparatus 10. When the detection unit detects the PDL data, the image forming apparatus 10 does not perform the printing process, so the session is disconnected (S106), and the PDL data received from the PC 12 is printed (S107).
Although not shown in the figure, the image forming apparatus 10 reestablishes a session with the PC 11 after the printing process is completed.
With the above processing, when PDL data is transmitted from another PC during session establishment, printing processing of PDL data from the other PC is performed.

In this embodiment, when the PC establishes a session with the image forming apparatus and PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus, the PDL used by the PC establishing the session with the PDL. Can be determined by determining whether or not the same and different PDL, session disconnection or transmission / reception invalidation processing (hereinafter referred to as session disconnection) can be executed, and print processing of the transmitted PDL data can be performed. .
Since the image forming apparatus uses a specific protocol (communication procedure) different for each PDL for communication with the PC, the same PDL is used if the protocol is the same, and is used if the protocol is different. PDL is different.
Therefore, in order to determine whether or not the PDL is the same, it is determined based on whether or not the protocol used for transmitting the PDL data is the same, and whether or not the protocol is the same is determined by the protocol determination means in the CPU 1. However, the protocol identification information (for example, LPR: Line PRinter daemon protocol) is read to determine which protocol is used.

Also, a PC that has established a session with an image forming apparatus cannot transmit PDL data using a plurality of protocols. Therefore, when it is determined in the above-described determination that the PDL is different, that is, the protocol used by the PC communicating with the image forming apparatus by establishing a session is different from the protocol used for the transmitted PDL data. Is determined to be PDL data transmitted from a PC different from the PC that has established a session with the image forming apparatus.
On the other hand, when it is determined that the PDL is the same in the above-described determination, that is, the protocol used by the PC that establishes a session with the image forming apparatus and communicates with the protocol used for the transmitted PDL data is the same. In such a case, the source of the PDL data may be a PC that has established a session with the image forming apparatus. In this case, it is not necessary to perform processing such as session disconnection, and printing processing can be executed as it is. Therefore, it is determined whether or not the transmission source of the PDL data is the same as the PC that has established a session with the image forming apparatus. There is a need.

  Whether the transmission source of the PDL data is the same as the PC that has established the session is determined by the host determination means in the CPU 1 by an IP (Internet Protocol) address or a MAC (Media Access Control) address included in the PDL data. Such information is read and judged. That is, whether the PC is the same depending on whether the IP address or MAC address included in the PDL data of the PC establishing the session is the same as the IP address or MAC address included in the transmitted PDL data Determine whether or not.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining PDL and transmission source determination processing when PDL data is transmitted to an image forming apparatus that has established a session.
FIG. 6A illustrates that the PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 10 when the PC 11 and the image forming apparatus 10 perform communication using PDL (A-PDL in the illustrated example) that needs to continue a session. Indicates a transmitted state.
The image forming apparatus 10 uses, for example, protocol A in communication with the PC 11 that has established a session, and PDL uses A-PDL. The type of protocol is determined by the protocol determination unit from the identification information of the protocol used when the image forming apparatus 10 and the PC 11 establish a session.
As shown in the figure, when the PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 10 while the PC 11 and the image forming apparatus 10 establish a session and communicate with each other, the detection unit described above detects the PDL data, The protocol determination unit described above determines whether the protocol used for the PDL data transmitted to the image forming apparatus 10 is the same as the protocol A.
FIG. 6B shows a state in which it is determined that the protocol used by the PDL data transmitted to the image forming apparatus is the same as the protocol A.
At this time, based on information such as an IP address included in the PDL data transmitted to the image forming apparatus, whether the host determination unit described above is the same as the PC 11 and the transmission source of the PDL data transmitted to the image forming apparatus. Determine.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing performed by the image forming apparatus when PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus during session establishment.
The CPU 1 reads a protocol determination program stored in the ROM 3 and executes a protocol determination process described below.
First, the image forming apparatus determines whether or not the above-described detection unit has detected PDL data (S201). If it is determined that the PDL data has not been detected (S201, NO), the process of step S201 is repeated. That is, step S201 indicates processing for waiting for detection of PDL data.
When PDL data is detected (S201, YES), it is determined whether or not the image forming apparatus is printing (S202). That is, it is determined whether the PDL data transmitted from the host apparatus that has established the session is being printed. If the image forming apparatus is in the printing process (S202, YES), the printing process is terminated without performing the printing process.

  If the image forming apparatus is not in the printing process (S202, NO), whether the protocol used for transmitting the PDL data is the same as the protocol used for communication with the PC that has established the session. Is determined by the protocol determination means described above (S203). When it is determined that the protocols are different (S203, NO), processing such as disconnection of the established session is performed (S206), and PDL data print processing is performed (S205).

When it is determined that the protocols are the same (S203, YES), the above-described host determination means determines whether or not the host device that is the source of PDL data is the same as the host device that has established the session. (S204). If it is determined that the host devices are different (S204, NO), the established session is disconnected (S206), and the received PDL data is printed (S205).
When it is determined that the host devices are the same (S204, YES), PDL data is received and printing processing is performed without performing processing such as disconnection of the established session (S205).

  In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus sets a priority for a protocol used for communication of PDL data, so that a priority determination unit in the CPU 1 uses a protocol used for communication with a PC that has established a session. If the priority of the protocol used in the communication of PDL data is higher than the priority of the protocol used in the communication of PDL data transmitted during the session establishment, and the protocol used in the communication of PDL data is higher It is possible to perform control so that the printing process is not performed when it is low.

FIG. 8A shows an example of a protocol priority setting screen of the image forming apparatus.
As shown in the figure, as an example of setting the priority displayed on the operation panel 6, the highest priority “1” is protocol C, the priority “2” is protocol A, and the priority “3” is protocol B. Is set. That is, protocol C, protocol A, and protocol B are set in descending order of priority.
Each protocol set for each priority can be set by the user on this setting screen.
The priority set here is controlled by the operation panel control section 6 (priority setting means) shown in FIG.

FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram for explaining a printing process when PDL data is transmitted to an image forming apparatus that has established a session in a state where the priority of the protocol illustrated in FIG. 8A is set in the image forming apparatus. It is.
As shown in the figure, the PC 11 establishes a session with the image forming apparatus 10 to communicate A-PDL data using the protocol A, the PC 12 uses the protocol B to transmit the B-PDL data, and the PC 13 The C-PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus 10 using the protocol C.
At this time, since protocol B has a lower priority than protocol A, B-PDL cannot be printed even if the image forming apparatus is not in the printing process (marked with x in the figure). On the other hand, since the priority of protocol C is higher than that of protocol A, C-PDL is printed unless the image forming apparatus is in the printing process (marked with a circle in the figure).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of processing of the image forming apparatus when PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus that is establishing a session in a state where priority is set in the protocol.
The CPU 1 reads a priority determination program stored in the ROM 3 and executes a priority determination process described below.
The processing in step S301 and step S302 is the same as the processing in step S201 and step S202 already described in FIG.
If it is determined in step S302 that the image forming apparatus is not printing (S302, NO), the protocol determination unit described above determines the priority of the protocol of the transmitted PDL data and the protocol used in session communication. It is determined whether the priorities are the same (S303).

If the protocol determination means determines that the protocol priorities are the same (S303, YES), then it is determined whether the PDL data transmission source (host device) is the same as the host device connected to the session ( S304).
Whether or not the host devices are the same is determined by reading the IP address or the like included in the PDL data by the host determination unit as described above.
If it is determined that the host devices are different (S304, NO), the process ends without performing the printing process.
When it is determined that the host devices are the same, the process of disconnecting the session or the like is not performed, and the printing process of the transmitted PDL data is executed (S305).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S303 that the protocol priority is different (NO in S303), the protocol priority of the transmitted PDL data is higher than the protocol priority used in the session communication. It is determined whether or not (S304).
When it is determined that the priority of the protocol of the transmitted PDL data is lower (S306, NO), the process ends without performing the printing process.
When the protocol priority of the transmitted PDL data is higher (S306, YES), the established session is disconnected (S307), and the transmitted PDL data is printed (S305).

Even when the host apparatus and the image forming apparatus are communicating with each other by the process described above, if the printing process is not being performed, the PDL data transmitted from the other host apparatus by disconnecting the session is performed. Can be printed.
Also, by determining the host device from the IP address of the transmitted PDL data, etc., transmission of PDL data from the host device that has already established a session, that is, additional session disconnection, etc. It can be avoided.
Furthermore, since the priority order can be set in the protocol, PDL data that the user wants to prioritize can be printed with priority, and the usability of the image forming apparatus can be improved.

1 is a block diagram of a main part of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state where an image forming apparatus and a plurality of PCs are connected. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining processing of the image forming apparatus in a setting for cutting an established session. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining processing of the image forming apparatus in a setting in which only transmission / reception with a PC can be performed without disconnecting an established session. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing of the image forming apparatus and each PC when PDL data is transmitted from another PC. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining PDL and transmission source determination processing when PDL data is transmitted to an image forming apparatus. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of processing performed by the image forming apparatus when PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing an example of a protocol priority setting screen. FIG. 8B is a schematic diagram for explaining a printing process when PDL data is transmitted to an image forming apparatus in which a priority is set and a session is established. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of processing of the image forming apparatus when PDL data is transmitted to the image forming apparatus in a state where priority is set in the protocol. It is a figure for demonstrating PDL which needs to keep extending a session. 2 is a diagram illustrating an image forming apparatus that has established sessions with a plurality of host devices. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU, 2 ... RAM, 3 ... ROM, 4 ... Image memory, 5 ... I / F part, 6 ... Operation panel control part, 7 ... Operation panel, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10, 101 ... Image forming apparatus, 11-13, 102, 103, 106-111 ... PC, 14 ... Network, 112 ... PDL data.

Claims (8)

An image forming apparatus comprising a communication unit that establishes and communicates with a host device and a control unit that controls the communication unit,
Used to establish a session for detecting print data transmitted to the image forming apparatus, a protocol for transmitting print data detected by the detection means during a session establishment between the host device and the communication means, and the session. Protocol determination means for determining whether or not the protocol matches,
When the detection unit detects print data during session establishment between the host device and the communication unit, the control unit disconnects or invalidates the session with the host device and the communication unit receives the print data. When the protocol determination unit determines that there is a mismatch, the control unit controls the session with the host device to be disconnected or invalidated . The image forming apparatus according to claim 1,
A host determination unit that determines whether the print data detected by the detection unit is from the host device or another host device when the protocol determination unit determines that they match. When determining that the print data is from the other host device , the control unit controls the session with the host device to be disconnected or invalidated. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2,
The image forming apparatus , wherein the host determination unit determines whether the print data detected by the detection unit is from the host device or another host device based on an IP address or a MAC address . The image forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Priority setting means for setting the priority of the protocol input to the image forming apparatus, storage means for storing the set priority, priority of the protocol used when establishing the session, and the detection means A priority determination unit that determines the priority level of the print data transmission protocol detected in step S3, and the priority determination unit establishes the session with the priority of the print data transmission protocol detected by the detection unit. When it is determined that the priority is higher than the protocol used for the protocol, the control unit controls the communication unit to disconnect or invalidate the session . An image forming method for receiving print data and forming an image of the received print data,
A step of establishing a session with the host device, a detection step of detecting print data transmitted to the image forming device,
Disconnecting or invalidating a session with the host device when print data is detected in the detection step during session establishment with the host device;
A protocol determination step for determining whether the protocol of the print data detected in the detection step during session establishment with the host device matches the protocol used when establishing the session;
When it is determined that the mismatch, the image forming method characterized by and a step of the cutting or disable a session with the host device. The image forming method according to claim 5, wherein
A host determination step for determining whether the print data detected in the detection step is from the host device or another host device when the protocol determination step determines that they match, the host determination step; And a step of disconnecting or invalidating a session with the host device when it is determined that the print data is from another host device . In the image forming method according to claim 5 or 6,
A priority setting step for setting the priority of a protocol input to the image forming apparatus; a step of storing the set protocol priority in a memory; and a priority of a protocol used when establishing the session; Used in the priority determination step for determining the level of priority with the protocol used in the print data detected in the detection step, and for the print data detected in the detection step in the priority determination step And a step of disconnecting or invalidating the session with the host device when it is determined that the priority of the protocol is higher than the priority of the protocol used when establishing the session. Method. The image forming method according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
An image forming method comprising: reestablishing the session after image formation of print data transmitted to the image forming apparatus is completed when the session with the host device is disconnected .

Images