JP5464283B2 - Print data processing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a print data processing method for processing print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus in a host device connected to the printing apparatus such as a printer apparatus.

  Today, a printing device such as a printer device receives print data from a host device connected to a network such as a LAN (local area network) or prints from a host device connected in a peer-to-peer network environment. Receives data and prints. In this case, a printer driver is mounted on a host device, for example, a personal computer (PC), and print data is converted into an intermediate command corresponding to the printing apparatus and transmitted to the printing apparatus.

  FIG. 30 is a configuration diagram of a printing system centered on a printer driver mounted on a personal computer (PC). The printer driver 30 includes a PDL conversion unit 31, an image data forming unit 32, an image data compression unit 33, a spool output unit 34, a PDL buffer 35, and an image data memory 36. A document file created by an application program (APL) such as word processing software or spreadsheet software is supplied to the PDL conversion unit 31, converted into a PDL command by the PDL conversion unit 31, and stored in the PDL buffer 35. This PDL command is, for example, a command for instructing creation of lines and circles, creation of characters, and the like, and is a command corresponding to the printing apparatus.

  The image data forming unit 32 reads the PDL command stored in the PDL buffer 35, converts it into, for example, bitmap format image data, and stores it in the image data memory 36. In this manner, the image data stored in the image data memory 36 is subjected to compression processing in the image data compression unit 33, output from the spool output unit 34 to the spooler 38, and from the spooler 38 to the printer device (printing device) 40. Is output.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 has been proposed as a print control method that uses a plurality of processors and processes print data in units of pages. The present invention is a print control method in which a print command for a plurality of pages is stored in a buffer, the print command is read from the buffer by a plurality of processors, and drawing processing is performed by the processor for each page.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-201077

  The invention of Patent Document 1 uses a plurality of processors. Basically, a line or a circle is created, and one page of PDL data for generating characters is received and temporarily accumulated while analyzing the PDL data (empty). drawing). After one page of PDL data is prepared, an image forming task is generated, a processor is assigned, and the temporarily stored PDL data is analyzed and executed again to form an image (actual drawing). At the same time, PDL data of the next page is received and temporarily stored while being analyzed. When the PDL data of the next page is ready, a new image forming task is generated and an image is similarly formed. This is a control method in which processors are assigned to print data in units of pages and parallel processing is performed. Therefore, the faster the printer engine, the more processors are required and the more expensive it becomes. Moreover, it is necessary to analyze the PDL data received for empty drawing once, which is not efficient. Furthermore, one task is required for this empty drawing, and one processor is also required. When the number of processors is small, the number of pages on which images can be simultaneously formed becomes very small, and there is a limit to speeding up the printing process.

  Therefore, the present invention uses a plurality of CPUs as few as possible, or a multiple core CPU having a plurality of cores in one CPU, and sequentially outputs stream type print data (PDL data) instead of page units. The present invention provides a print data processing method that performs multi-threaded parallel processing of image forming processing as it is, and processes print data at high speed.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print data processing apparatus comprising at least one processing means for processing print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus,
Image data generating means for converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, and further compressing the image data;
Transmitting means for transmitting the compressed image data to the printing apparatus;
Command storage means for storing the PDL command;
Image data storage means for storing the image data;
System control means for activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation means;
Measuring means for measuring the processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads;
Storage means for recording an average processing time calculated based on the processing time for each number of the image data generation threads;
Including
The system control means can be achieved by providing a print data processing apparatus that determines the number of the image data generation threads to be the number that makes the average processing time the shortest .
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print data processing apparatus comprising at least one processing means for processing print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus,
Image data generating means for converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, and further compressing the image data;
Means for transmitting the compressed image data to the printing device;
Command storage means for storing the PDL command;
Image data storage means for storing the image data;
System control means for activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation means;
Measuring means for measuring the processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads;
Storage means for recording an average processing time calculated based on the processing time for each sheet size and for each number of image data generation threads;
Including
The system control means can be achieved by providing a print data processing apparatus that determines the number of the image data generation threads to be the number that makes the average processing time the shortest.
Preferably, in the print data processing apparatus according to claim 1, the image data generation unit includes a first image data generation unit that converts the print data into the PDL command, and the image data from the PDL command. A second image data generating means for generating the image data, and a third image data generating means for compressing the image data and outputting the compressed image data to the transmitting means. A first image data generation thread that realizes the first image data generation means; a second image data generation thread that realizes the second image data generation means and the third image data generation means; When three image data generation threads are activated, a first image data generation thread that implements the first image data generation means is provided. A first image data generation thread that realizes the second image data generation means, and a third image data generation thread that realizes the third image data generation means. The second or second or first to third image data generation threads are different threads that can operate in parallel with each other.
Preferably, in the print data processing apparatus according to claim 3, the command storage unit includes a first command storage unit and a second command storage unit, and a plurality of the image data generation threads are activated. In the period during which the first image data generation thread outputs the PDL command to the first command storage means, the second image data generation thread acquires the PDL command from the second command storage means. During the period when the first image data generation thread outputs the PDL command to the second command storage means, the second image data generation thread acquires the PDL command from the first command storage means. .
Preferably, in the print data processing apparatus according to claim 4, when a plurality of the image data generation threads are activated, the first image data generation thread requests processing from the second image data generation thread. Each time, the first command storage means and the second command storage means are alternately switched and used.
Preferably, in the print data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5, the image data storage means includes a first image data storage means and a second image data storage means, and the image data generation thread. , When the second image data generation thread outputs the image data to the first image data storage means, the third image data generation thread outputs the image data to the first image data storage means. The second image data generation thread obtains the image data from the second image data storage means, and the second image data generation thread outputs the image data to the second image data storage means. Obtained from the first image data storage means.
Preferably, in the print data processing apparatus according to claim 6, when the three image data generation threads are activated, the second image data generation thread performs processing to the third image data generation thread. Whenever requested, the first image data storage means and the second image data storage means are alternately switched and used.
Preferably, in the print data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the number of the image data generation threads is determined according to the number of processing units included in the host device.
Preferably, in the print data processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the number of the image data generation threads depends on a storage capacity of a memory used for processing by the print data processing device. decide.
Preferably, in the print data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the number of the image data generation threads is determined according to the resolution and the number of gradations of the image data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus on a host device including a processing unit having at least one core.
Converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, further compressing the image data,
Sending the compressed image data to the printing device;
Storing the PDL command;
Storing the image data;
Activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation process;
Measure the processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads,
An average processing time calculated based on the processing time is recorded for each number of the image data generation threads,
This can be achieved by providing a print data processing method characterized in that the number of the image data generation threads is determined to be a number that minimizes the average processing time.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for processing print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus on a host device provided with processing means having at least one core.
Converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, further compressing the image data,
Sending the compressed image data to the printing device;
Storing the PDL command;
Storing the image data;
Activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation process;
Measure the processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads,
The average processing time calculated based on the processing time is recorded for each paper size and for each number of the image data generation threads,
This can be achieved by providing a print data processing method characterized in that the number of the image data generation threads is determined to be a number that minimizes the average processing time.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing the processing means to process print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus on a host device having processing means having at least one core.
In the processing means,
Converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, further compressing the image data,
Sending the compressed image data to the printing device;
Storing the PDL command;
Storing the image data;
Activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation process;
The processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads is measured,
The average processing time calculated based on the processing time is recorded for each number of the image data generation threads,
This can be achieved by providing a program characterized in that the number of the image data generation threads is determined such that the average processing time is the shortest.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a processing unit to process print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus on a host device having a processing unit having at least one core.
In the processing means,
Converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, further compressing the image data,
Sending the compressed image data to the printing device;
Storing the PDL command;
Storing the image data;
Activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation process;
The processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads is measured,
The average processing time calculated based on the processing time is recorded for each paper size and for each number of image data generation threads,
This can be achieved by providing a program characterized in that the number of the image data generation threads is determined such that the average processing time is the shortest.

  According to the present invention, since a plurality of CPUs or CPU cores are used, and a plurality of PDL buffers and an image data memory are used to execute print data processing by a multi-thread method, print data processing can be performed at high speed. And can be realized with a small number of CPUs or CPU cores. In addition, by measuring and setting the number of threads to be used, the number of CPUs or cores, or the memory capacity, the resolution / gradation number, or the actual number of threads, it is automatically set to each condition. Corresponding optimum and high-speed print data processing can be performed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram specifically illustrating a configuration of a printer driver. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a client PC having a print data processing apparatus (printer driver) used in the present embodiment. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example in which a printer driver is configured by a CPU instead of a core. 6 is a flowchart for explaining initial setting processing of a printer driver. 6 is a flowchart for explaining initial setting processing of a printer driver. 6 is a flowchart for explaining initial setting processing of a printer driver. It is a flowchart explaining the process of a PDL conversion part (thread 1). It is a flowchart explaining the process of an image data formation part (thread 2). It is a flowchart explaining the process of an image data compression part and a spool output part (thread 3). FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating print data processing according to the present embodiment. (B) is a schematic diagram illustrating conventional print data processing. It is a figure which shows the system configuration example at the time of using a core of 2 use instead of a core of 4 use. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to the second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to the third embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the fourth embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram of a client PC used in the fifth embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a processing time memory | storage means. 14 is a flowchart for explaining processing of a thread 1 according to the fifth embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining a measurement start process. It is a flowchart explaining a measurement end process. 14 is a flowchart for explaining processing of a thread 2 according to the fifth embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining a measurement start process. It is a flowchart explaining a measurement end process. 14 is a flowchart for explaining processing of a thread 3 according to the fifth embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining a measurement start process. It is a flowchart explaining a measurement end process. It is a flowchart explaining the update process of processing time. It is a flowchart explaining the update process of the processing time of the thread 2 configuration. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a modification of the fifth embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the conventional printing process.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a client PC as a host device having a print data processing apparatus (printer driver) used in the present embodiment. A printer driver as a print data processing apparatus is a program that allows a client PC to perform a print processing operation on a printing apparatus connected to the client PC via a LAN or the like. The printer manufacturer prepares in advance.
After a printing device to be used by the client PC is selected, a printer driver corresponding to the printing device is installed in the client PC using a storage medium or a Web line, and then processed by the CPU in the client PC. It is executed and functions as a print data processing apparatus.
In FIG. 2, the client PC includes a quad-core CPU 7 (hereinafter simply referred to as CPU 7), a RAM 8, a ROM 2, a disk device 3, a LAN circuit 4, an LCD (liquid crystal display) 5, a keyboard (KB) 6, and the like. . The printer driver 1 serving as a print data processing apparatus operates on a quad core CPU 7, and the CPU 7 includes four cores 7a to 7d therein. Each of the cores 7a to 7d is a processing unit that can independently generate a PDL command and generate drawing data and execute a thread described later. The RAM 8 is also used as a work area during print data processing by the cores 7a to 7d.

  The ROM 2 stores a system control program for the client PC and a print data processing program to be described later. The disk device 3 may be configured to store the program and necessary data. A necessary screen is displayed on the LCD (liquid crystal display) 5 under the control of the CPU 7 (cores 7a to 7d), and a keyboard operation signal based on a user operation is input from the keyboard (KB) 6. The LAN circuit 4 outputs image data created by the client PC to the printer device 10.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the client PC including the print data processing apparatus is configured by a plurality of CPUs (processing means) instead of the cores 7a to 7d, and other circuit configurations are the same as those in FIG. is there.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for specifically explaining the functional configuration of the printer driver (print data processing apparatus) of this example. The printer driver 1 includes a PDL conversion unit 11 (thread 1), an image data generation unit (rendering unit, thread 2) 12, an image data compression unit 13 and a spool output unit 14 (thread 3), a PDL buffer 15, and an image data memory 16. It is configured.

The PDL conversion unit 11 has a function of converting commands instructing creation of lines and circles included in the print data, creation of characters, and the like into commands corresponding to the printer device 10 used in this example. The created document file is converted into a PDL command.
The PDL buffer 15 is a double buffer that stores the PDL command converted by the PDL conversion unit 11, and includes PDL buffers 15a and 15b.

  The image data generation unit (rendering unit) 12 alternately reads commands stored in the PDL buffers 15 a and 15 b, generates image data, and stores the image data in the image data memory 16. The image data memory 16 is also composed of two image data memories 16a and 16b of a double buffer system, and each can store image data for one page.

  The image data compression unit 13 alternately reads the image data stored in the image data memories 16a and 16b and outputs the image data to the spool output unit 14 using a known compression technique. The spool output unit 14 outputs the compressed image data to the spooler 17, and supplies the compressed image data from the spooler 17 to the printer device 10. The printer apparatus 10 performs an expansion process on the image data and performs a print process on the recording medium.

  Here, the threads 1 to 3 shown in FIG. 1 indicate processing that any one of the cores 7a to 7d shown in FIG. 2 is in charge. For example, the core 7a creates a document file by an application program. The core 7b is in charge of processing of the thread 1, the core 7c is in charge of processing of the thread 2, and the core 7d is in charge of image data compression processing by the image data compression unit 13 and image data output processing by the spool output unit 14. To do. However, the core for executing the application processing and the processing of the threads 1 to 3 is not limited to the core, and free cores 7a to 7d are used when each processing is necessary.

  In the above configuration, the processing operation of this example will be described below.

  4 to 6 are flowcharts for explaining the initial setting process of the printer driver (print data processing apparatus) 1. First, in accordance with the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, multithread initialization processing of this example is performed (step (hereinafter referred to as S) 1), and further initialization processing in the printer driver 1 other than multithreading is performed (S2). .

The flowchart shown in FIG. 5 is a flowchart specifically explaining the multithread initialization process. First, the number of threads is determined (S3). The number of threads is determined by setting the number of threads to “3” as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 (S4).
Next, an area of the PDL buffer 15 and an area of the image data memory 16 are secured (S5). Specifically, the storage area of the PDL buffer 15a is secured in the RAM 8 shown in FIG. 2, and the storage area of the image data memory 16a is further secured.

  Next, the PDL buffer 15a is selected as the buffer selected during PDL command generation by the PDL conversion unit 11, and the buffer selected during drawing data generation by the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 is also initialized to the same PDL buffer 15a ( S6). Further, the image data memory selected by the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 during the generation of the drawing data is the image data memory 16a, and the image data memory selected by the image data compression unit 13 during the compression of the drawing data is the same image data. Initial setting is made in the memory 16a (S6).

  Next, the image formation request flag is set to OFF, and the compression / spool output request flag is also set to OFF (S7). That is, a flag indicating a state in which the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12, the image data compression unit 13, and the spool output unit 14 are not operating is set to an off state.

  Next, it is determined whether the set number of threads exceeds “1” (S8). In this case, as described above, the number of threads is set to “3”, the determination (S8) is YES (yes), and the PDL buffer 15b is secured as a storage area of the PDL buffer 15 (S9). A thread 2 is generated and activated (S10). If the number of threads is set to “1” in the above process (S4) (S8 is NO), the process immediately proceeds to the next determination.

  Next, in the determination (S11), it is determined whether the number of threads exceeds “2”. In this example, the number of threads is set to “3” in this example as described above, the determination (S11) is YES, and the image data memory 16b is secured as an area of the image data memory 16. (S12) The thread 3 is generated and activated (S13). If the number of threads is “2”, the area of the image data memory 16b is not secured (NO in S11). If the number of threads is “1”, the PDL buffer 15b and the image data memory 16b Are not secured (NO in S8, NO in S11).

  After the initial setting process is completed as described above, the print data created by the application program is supplied to the printer driver 1. FIG. 7 to FIG. 9 are flowcharts for explaining the subsequent processing, and explain the processing performed by the threads 1, 2, and 3.

  FIG. 10A is a diagram schematically showing the processing of this example.

  First, the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 explains the processing of the thread 1 by the PDL conversion unit 11, and takes out the request requested by the application program in accordance with the supplied document file. For example, a corresponding PDL command is generated according to a line or circle generation request or a character generation request (steps (hereinafter referred to as ST) 1 and 2).

  Next, the generated PDL command is buffered in the aforementioned PDL buffer 15a (ST3). “A” shown in FIG. 10A indicates this processing, and the PDL command of the first print data of the first page of the document file is stored in the PDL buffer 15a. Moreover, the said process is performed by the core 7a, for example.

  Next, the PDL conversion unit 11 determines whether the generated PDL command is a page break command (ST4). Normally, this first process is NO, and it is determined whether the PDL command has been buffered to the full capacity of the PDL buffer 15a (ST5). Here, if there is room in the PDL buffer 15a, the process returns to the above process (ST1) to repeat the generation of the PDL command according to the request requested by the application program and the storing process in the PDL buffer 15a (ST1 to ST5). .

  After that, when the PDL command is buffered to the full capacity of the PDL buffer 15a (ST5 is YES), or when a page break command is detected (ST4 is YES), whether the number of threads setting exceeds “1”. Judgment is made (ST6). In this example, as described above, the number of threads is set to “3” (YES in ST6), and it is further determined whether the image formation request flag is on (ST7). This image formation request flag is set to OFF by the above-described initial setting process (S7) (NO in ST7), and the PDL buffer 15a storing the PDL command is subsequently sent to the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 Is set in the PDL buffer to be read (ST8).

  Next, an image formation request flag is set on (ST9), and an image formation request is issued to the thread 2 (ST10). That is, the PDL conversion unit 11 outputs an image formation request to the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12.

  Thereafter, the PDL conversion unit 11 sets the PDL buffer 15a or 15b for storing the PDL command generated from the document file. In this case, if the currently selected PDL buffer is 15a (ST11 is YES), it is changed to the PDL buffer 15b (ST12), and if the currently selected PDL buffer is 15b (ST11 is NO), PDL Change to buffer 15a (ST13).

  If the image formation request flag is on in the above-described determination (ST7), the image data formation section (rendering section) 12 waits for the image formation process to end and turns off the image formation request flag (ST7). YES, ST14, ST15). This process is performed when the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 finishes the process later, and will be described later.

  In many cases, before the above-mentioned page break command is supplied, the PDL buffer 15a is filled with the PDL command, and the PDL command of the subsequent document file is buffered in the next selected PDL buffer 15b ( For example, the process from e1 to en in FIG.

  Next, the processing of the thread 2, that is, the processing of the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12, is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 8, and first waits for the generation of an image forming request from the PDL converting unit 11 (ST16). When an image formation request is input to the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12, the PDL commands stored in the PDL buffer 15a are sequentially extracted, and it is determined whether the extracted PDL command is a page break command (ST17, ST18). .

  Normally, the first process is NO, the PDL command extracted from the PDL buffer 15a is analyzed, an image forming process corresponding to the PDL command is performed, and the image data is expanded in the image data memory 16a (ST19). This process is b shown in FIG.

  Next, it is determined whether all the PDL commands stored in the PDL buffer 15a have been processed (ST20), and the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 performs processing until all the PDL commands stored in the PDL buffer 15a are processed. The analysis of the drawing data and the expansion process to the image data memory 16a are repeated (ST20 is NO, ST16 to ST19).

  Thereafter, when the analysis processing of all the PDL commands in the PDL buffer 15a is completed and the development of the drawing data in the image data memory 16a is completed (YES in ST20), image formation is performed for the PDL conversion unit 11 (thread 1). The end of the process is notified (ST21). This notification is supplied to the PDL conversion unit 11, and the image forming request flag is turned off (the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 (ST14, ST15)).

Thereafter, the above processing is repeated, and if the extracted PDL command is a page break command (S18 is YES), the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 determines whether the setting of the number of threads is greater than 2 (ST22). In this example, the number of threads is set to “3” (YES in ST22), and it is next determined whether the compression / spool output request flag is on (ST23).
Here, the compression / spool output request flag is set to OFF in the above-described initial setting (NO in ST23), and the image data compression unit 13 reads out the image data developed in the image data memory 16a. The image data memory to be set is set (ST24).
Next, the compression / spool output request flag is set ON (ST25), and a compression / spool output request is issued to the image data compression unit 13 (thread 3) (ST26). In other words, the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 outputs a compression / spool output request to the image data compression unit 13.

  Thereafter, the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 sets the image data memory 16a or 16b for storing image data next. For example, if the currently selected image data memory is 16a (ST27 is YES), it is changed to the image data memory 16b (ST28), and if the currently selected image data memory is 16b (ST27 is NO). The image data memory 16b is changed (ST29).

  If the compression / spool output request flag is ON in the above determination (ST23), the image data compression unit 13 and the spool output unit 14 wait for the compression / spool output processing to end, and then the compression / spool output request is made. The middle flag is turned off (ST23 is YES, ST30, ST31). This process is a process performed when the image data compression unit 13 and the spool output unit 14 start processing later and the image data compression process and the spool output are finished, which will be described later.

  Next, the processing of the thread 3, that is, the processing of the image data compression unit 13 will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image data compression unit 13 waits for a compression / spool output request (ST32), and performs compression processing of the image data expanded in the image data memory 16a (ST33).

  Next, the image data compressed by the above processing is sent to the spool output unit 14, and the spool output unit 14 outputs the compressed image data to the spooler 17. This process is a process indicated by c in FIG. The spooler 17 transmits the compressed image data to the printer device 10 via a LAN or the like (ST34). This processing is processing indicated by d in FIG. 10A, and printing processing is performed by the printer apparatus 10.

  Next, the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 is notified of the compression of the compression target image data and the end of the spool output process (ST35). This notification is sent to the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 and the compression / spool output request flag is turned off. (Processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 (ST30, ST31)).

  The above process is repeated in the same manner, and the document file of the first page is alternately input to the PDL buffers 15a and 15b by the PDL conversion unit 11, and is alternately read by the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12, and converted into image data. After the conversion, the image data is stored in the image data memory 16a. The document file of the next page is also alternately buffered in the PDL buffers 15a and 15b, converted into image data by the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12, and stored in the image data memory 16b. The image data compression unit 13 alternately reads out image data from the image data memories 16a and 16b, performs compression processing of image data indicated by c and g in FIG. 10A, and the spool output unit 14 performs FIG. 10A. The data transfer process indicated by d and f is performed, and the image data is output to the printer device 10 via the spooler 17.

  In the meantime, for the threads 1 to 3, the idle cores 7a to 7d are selected at the corresponding time points, and the print data processing is sequentially executed. (Although not shown, regarding CPU core allocation (CPU core dispatch), the CPU kernel allocation (CPU core) is assigned to a task or thread in which an OS kernel such as Windows (registered trademark) is ready. Dispatch).)

  As described above, according to this example, in the case of a three-thread configuration / Quad core CPU (cores 7a to 7d), as shown in FIG. 10A, PDL conversion processing, image formation (rendering) processing, image compression & spool output The three processes and the transfer process of the compressed image data by the spooler can be performed in parallel, and the processing time can be significantly reduced. FIG. 10B shows an example in which the same document file is processed by a conventional single thread process. By comparing both processes, it can be seen that the process of this example is performed faster than the conventional example.

  In the above description, the example of the CPU 7 having the four cores 7a to 7d shown in FIG. 2 has been described. However, as described above, the configuration shown in FIG.

  In the above example, the case where the number of threads is “3” has been described. For example, when the number of threads is “2”, the following processing is performed. That is, the determination of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 (ST22) is NO, and as the processing of the thread 2, the image data compression unit 13 reads the image data stored in the image data memory 16a and performs the compression processing of the image data (ST36). . Further, the image data compressed by the spool output unit 14 is output to the printer device 10 via the spooler 17 (ST37).

FIG. 11 shows an example of a system configuration when two cores are used, and is applicable when the print data processing of the present invention is performed with the number of threads set to “2”.
On the other hand, when the number of threads is “1”, the following processing is performed. That is, the determination (ST6) in the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is NO, and the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 sequentially extracts the PDL commands stored in the PDL buffer 15 (ST38), and the extracted PDL command is the page break command. Until it is, the generated image data is written in the image data memory 16a (YES in ST39, ST40, ST41).

Thereafter, if the retrieved PDL command is a page break command (YES in ST39), the image data compression unit 13 reads out the image data recorded in the image data memory 16a, performs compression processing, and is compressed by the spool output unit 14. The obtained image data is output to the printer device 10 via the spooler 17 (ST42, ST43).
(Embodiment 2)

  Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. In the second and subsequent embodiments described below, examples of setting the number of threads under different conditions are shown on the premise of the processing of the first embodiment.

  In this example, the setting of the number of threads is determined by the number of cores of the CPU 7, and the configuration of the client PC, the configuration of the printer driver, and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing of this example will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.

  This process is a routine called by the above-described multithread initialization routine (S3) in FIG. 5, and first acquires the number of cores of the CPU 7 that is the multi-CPU (step (hereinafter referred to as STP) 1 ). The information on the number of cores is read from, for example, basic system setting information in the client PC.

  Next, an initial value “3” is set as the number of threads (STP2). Next, based on the read information on the number of cores, it is determined whether the number of cores exceeds 2 (ie, STP3 is YES). Here, when the number of cores is “3” or more, the initially set thread number “3” is set as the set thread number (YES in STP3).

  On the other hand, if the number of cores does not exceed “2”, the number of threads is changed to “2” (STP3 is NO, STP4). Further, it is determined whether the number of cores exceeds “1”. If the number of cores does not exceed “1”, the number of threads is set to “1” (STP5 is NO, STP6).

  As described above, this example is a configuration in which the number of threads is set according to the number of cores of the client PC, and the number of threads corresponding to the number of cores of the client PC can be set, which matches the performance of the client PC. The number of threads can be automatically set.

In this example, the example of the CPU 7 having a plurality of cores has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the example of FIG. 3 having a plurality of CPUs as described above.
Further, when the number of CPUs of the client PC is one, the number of threads is set to “1” similarly to the above and the same control is executed.
(Embodiment 3)

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In this example, the setting of the number of threads is determined according to the memory size, and the configuration of the client PC, the configuration of the printer driver, and the like are the same as those in the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the processing of this example will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.

  The processing of this example is also a routine called by the processing (S3) of FIG. 5 which is the above-described multithread initialization routine, and first acquires memory size information (step (hereinafter referred to as W) 1). This memory size information is also read from, for example, basic system setting information in the client PC.

  Next, also in this example, “3” is set as the initial value of the number of threads (W2). Hereinafter, the number of threads is set according to the acquired memory size information. That is, when the read memory size is larger than 1 GB, the above-mentioned initially set thread number “3” is maintained and set to this thread number (“3”) (W3 is YES).

  On the other hand, when the memory size is not larger than 1 GB, “2” is set as the number of threads (W3 is NO, W4). Further, it is determined whether the memory size is larger than 512 MB (W4). If not larger, the number of threads is set to “1” (W5 is NO, W6).

As described above, in this example, the optimum number of threads / image data memory / PDL buffer can be set corresponding to the memory size, and the memory size of the client PC is automatically set without being conscious of the memory size. The number of threads can be set to speed up the printing process.
(Embodiment 4)

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In this example, after the thread number is set to “1”, the thread number is set in accordance with the resolution and the number of gradations specified by the application (APL) for printing the document file.
Hereinafter, the processing of this example will be described using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.

First, according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 14, the number of threads is set to “1” (step (hereinafter, indicated by U) 1). Next, processing is started according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 15. First, in the same manner as described above, a request requested by the application program is extracted according to the supplied document file, and a corresponding PDL command is generated (U2, U3).
Next, the generated PDL command is buffered in the PDL buffer 15 as described above (U4), and it is determined whether the generated PDL command is a resolution / gradation command (U5). (U5 is NO), the document file is sequentially converted into a PDL command until a page break command is detected (U6, U7, U2-U5).

  On the other hand, when a resolution / gradation command is detected (U5 is YES), it is first determined whether the resolution is 600 dpi or more (U8). If the resolution is 600 dpi or more (U8 is YES), the gradation value is set to 2. It is determined whether or not it exceeds (U9). Here, if the resolution is not 600 dpi or more (U8 is NO), or if the resolution is 600 dpi or more and the gradation value is 2 or less (U9 is NO), the number of threads is set to “2” ( U10).

  Next, it is determined whether the resolution is 300 dpi (U11). If the resolution is 300 dpi, the number of threads is set to “3” (U12). On the other hand, if the resolution is not 300 dpi (U11 is NO), it is determined whether the resolution is 600 dpi (U13). If the resolution is 600 dpi and the gradation value is not 16 or more (U13 is YES, U14 is NO). ), The number of threads is set to “3” (U12).

  After the number of threads is set to “1” to “3” by the above processing, the above processing is executed. That is, as in the first embodiment, the image formation request flag is set to OFF, the compression / spool output request flag is also set to OFF (U15), the PDL buffer 15b is secured, and the generation of the thread 2 is started. (U16, U17). Then, it is determined whether the set number of threads exceeds “2” (U18), and if the number of threads exceeds “2” (U18 is YES), the image data memory 16b is further secured and the thread 3 is set. Start (U19, U20).

  Thereafter, the same processing as the flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is performed, and when the number of threads “3” is set, the PDL buffers 15a and 15b and the image data memories 16a and 16b are alternately used to generate a document file. Can be efficiently transmitted to the printer 10 (U21 to U36). When the thread number “2” is set, the PDL buffers 15a and 15b are alternately used, and the image data memory 16 is used to efficiently transmit image data based on the document file to the printer apparatus 10. (U21 to U36). Note that this processing (U21 to U36) is the same processing as that in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

As described above, in this example, the optimum number of threads can be set according to the resolution / the number of gradations, and the optimum number of threads corresponding to the resolution and the number of gradations of the printer 10 is automatically set. The printing process can be speeded up.
(Embodiment 5)

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In this example, the processing time is calculated for the number of threads “1” to “3”, and the number of threads with the shortest average processing time is set. This will be specifically described below.

  FIG. 16 is a system configuration diagram of the client PC used in this example. 2 is basically the same as the system configuration shown in FIG. 2 described above, but includes a time measuring means 20 and a processing time storage means 21 in the printer driver (print data processing apparatus) 1. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG. 2 described above, and the same circuits as those in FIG.

  The time measuring means 20 has a function of measuring the processing time when each of the cores 7a to 7d executes thread processing, and specific measurement processing will be described later. Further, the processing time storage unit 21 includes, for example, a processing time table shown in FIG. 17, and stores each accumulated processing time, the number of accumulated pages, and an average processing time per page in the 1-thread configuration to the 3-thread configuration. . Hereinafter, the process of this example is demonstrated concretely.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of this example. First, in order to measure the processing time of the thread 1, the measurement processing is started (step (hereinafter referred to as V) 1). Specifically, it is executed according to the processing shown in FIG. 19, and it is first determined whether or not the time measuring flag of the thread 1 is off (V2). As will be described later, the time measurement flag for threads 1 to 3 is initially set to OFF (V2 is YES), and the time measurement flag for thread 1 is set to ON to set time measurement means 20 (timer 1 ) Starts time measurement (V3, V4).

  Then, returning to the flowchart shown in FIG. 18, the PDL conversion unit 11 takes out a request requested by the application program and generates a corresponding PDL command (V5, V6). Further, the generated PDL command is buffered in the PDL buffer 15a as described above (V7), and it is determined whether the generated PDL command is a page break command (V8). If it is not a page break command (V8 is NO). It is determined whether the PDL buffer 15a is full (V9), and the above processing is repeated until the PDL buffer 15a is full.

  When a page break command is detected (V8 is YES), if the setting of the number of threads is “3” or “2” (V10 is YES), measurement of the processing time of the thread 1 is ended (V11). Specifically, the processing is executed according to the processing shown in FIG. 20, and first, the measurement processing of the time measuring means 20 (timer 1) is stopped (V12), the value of timer 1 is read (V13), and the processing time of the thread 1 is Temporarily store (V14) and reset the timer 1 (V15). Then, the time measuring flag of the thread 1 is turned off (V15-2).

Next, after detecting a page break command (V10, V11) or when the PDL buffer 15a is full (V9 is YES), the number of threads is “2” or more (V16 is YES), and an image It is determined whether the formation request flag is ON (V17). The image formation request flag is initially set to OFF (V17 is NO), and the PDL buffer 15a storing the PDL command is stored in the image data thereafter. The forming unit (rendering unit) 12 is set as a PDL buffer to be read (V18).

  Next, in the same manner as described above, the image formation request flag is set to ON (V19), and an image formation request is output to the thread 2 (V20). Thereafter, the PDL conversion unit 11 generates from the document file next. PDL buffers 15a and 15b for storing PDL commands are set. That is, as described above, if the selected PDL buffer is 15a (V21 is YES), it is changed to the PDL buffer 15b (V22), and if the selected PDL buffer is 15b (V21 is NO), Change to the PDL buffer 15a (V23). In the determination (V17), the processing when the image formation request flag is on is the same as described above (V17 is YES, V24, V25).

  Next, the time measurement in the process of the thread 2, that is, the process of the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12, is performed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, an image formation request from the PDL conversion unit 11 is waited (V26), and when there is an image formation request, measurement of the processing time of the thread 2 is started (V27). Specifically, it is executed according to the processing shown in FIG. 22, and it is first determined whether or not the time measuring flag of the thread 2 is off (V28). As described above, the time measurement flag for threads 1 to 3 is initially set to OFF (V28 is YES), the time measurement flag for thread 2 is set to ON, and time measurement means 20 (timer 2 ) Is started (V29, V30).

  After that, as described above, when there is an image formation request in the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12, the PDL commands stored in the PDL buffer 15a are sequentially retrieved, and it is determined whether the retrieved PDL command is a page break command ( If it is not a page break command, the PDL command is analyzed, the image data is generated and stored in the image data memory 16a, and all the PDL commands stored in the PDL buffer 15a are processed as described above. (V34 is YES), the end of the image forming process is notified to the PDL conversion unit 11 (thread 1) (V35).

  If the extracted PDL command is a page break command (V32 is YES), it is determined whether the number of threads exceeds “2” (V36). If the number of threads is “3” (V36 is YES), threads The measurement of the processing time 2 is terminated (V37). Specifically, it is executed in accordance with the processing shown in FIG. 23. First, the measurement processing by the time measuring means 20 (timer 2) is stopped (V38), the value of the time measuring means 20 (timer 2) is read (V39), and the thread The processing time of 2 is temporarily stored (V40). Further, the value of timer 2 is reset (V41), and the time measuring flag of thread 2 is turned off (V41-2).

  Thereafter, the same processing as described above is performed to determine whether the compression / spool output requesting flag is on (V42). If the compression / spool output requesting flag is set to off (V42 is NO), the above processing is performed. The image data developed in the image data memory 16a is set as an image data memory to be read by the image data compression unit 13 (V43), the compression / spool output request flag flag is set to ON (V44), A compression / spool output request is issued to the data compression unit 13 (V45), and then, if the selected image data memory is 16a (V46 is YES), it is changed to the image data memory 16b (V47) and selected. If the stored image data memory is 16b (V46 is NO), it is changed to the image data memory 16b (V48). The processing when the compression / spool output request flag is ON is the same as described above (V49, V50).

  Next, in order to measure the processing time of the thread 3, the process shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. 24 is executed. First, the image data compression unit 13 waits for a compression / spool output request (V51). When there is a compression / spool output request, it starts measuring the processing time of the thread 3 (V52). Specifically, it is executed in accordance with the processing shown in FIG. 25, and it is first determined whether or not the time measurement flag of the thread 3 is off (V52-1). It is set (V52-1 is YES), the time measurement flag of the thread 3 is set to ON, and time measurement by the time measurement means 20 (timer 3) is started (V52-2, V52-3).

  Thereafter, the image data compression unit 13 performs compression processing of the image data expanded in the image data memory 16b (V53), and outputs the compressed image data to the spooler 17 (V54). Then, the measurement of the processing time of the thread 3 is finished (V55). Specifically, the process is executed according to the process shown in FIG. 26. First, the measurement process by the time measurement unit 20 (timer 3) is stopped (V56), the value of the time measurement unit 20 (timer 3) is read (V57), and the thread 3 is temporarily stored as processing time (V58). Thereafter, the timer 3 is reset (V59), and the time measuring flag of the thread 3 is turned off (V59-2).

  Thereafter, the processing time of the 3-thread configuration is updated (V60). This process is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the data of the cumulative number of pages in the three-thread configuration is incremented by 1 (V61). That is, the data in the area of the cumulative number of pages of the three-thread configuration shown in FIG. 17 is incremented by one.

  Next, among the processing times of the threads 1, 2, and 3 temporarily stored, the longest one is selected and accumulated in the accumulated processing time of the three-thread configuration. First, it is determined whether the processing time of the thread 2 is longer than the processing time of the thread 1 (V62). That is, it is determined whether the processing in the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 takes more time than the processing in the PDL conversion unit 11, and when the processing time of the thread 2 is longer than the processing time of the thread 1 (V62 is YES) The processing time of 1 is set as the processing time of the thread 2 (V63). That is, the processing time of the process that requires more time is set as the processing time of the thread 1.

  Next, it is determined whether the processing time of the thread 3 is longer than the processing time of the thread 1 (V64). In this case, the processing time of the thread 1 is the time set by the above processing (V63), and a comparison process between this time and the processing time of the thread 3 is performed. If the processing time of the thread 3 is longer than the processing time of the thread 1 (V64 is YES), the processing time of the thread 3 is set to the processing time of the thread 1 (V65). That is, the processing time of the thread that took the longest time among the processing times of the threads 1 to 3 is set as the processing time of the thread 1.

  Next, the processing time of the thread 1 is accumulated in the cumulative processing time of the three-thread configuration (V66). This cumulative processing time is recorded in the cumulative processing time area of the three-thread configuration shown in FIG. Then, the average processing time of the three-thread configuration is calculated (cumulative processing time of the three-thread configuration / accumulated number of pages of the three-thread configuration), and recorded in the average processing time per page area of the processing time table shown in FIG. Then, it writes in the processing time storage means 21 (V67, V68).

  In the above example, the case of a three-thread configuration has been described. For example, in the case of a two-thread configuration, the following processing is performed. That is, the determination (V36) in the flowchart shown in FIG. 21 is NO, and as the processing of the thread 2, the image data compression unit 13 reads the image data stored in the image data memory 16 and performs the compression processing of the image data ( V70), and output the compressed image data to the printer device 10 via the spooler 17 (V71).

  Next, measurement end processing of the processing time of the thread 2 is performed (V72). This process is the same as the process described with reference to FIG. Thereafter, the processing time of the 2-thread configuration is updated (V73).

  This process is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the data of the accumulated number of pages in the 2-thread configuration is incremented by 1 (V74), and it is determined whether the processing time of the thread 2 is longer than the processing time of the thread 1 (V75). This process is the same as the above process, and the processing time of the process that requires more time is set as the processing time of the thread 1.

  If the processing time of the thread 2 is longer than the processing time of the thread 1 (V75 is YES), the processing time of the thread 1 is set to the processing time of the thread 2 (V76). Next, the processing time of the thread 1 is accumulated in the cumulative processing time of the two-thread configuration (V77), and the average processing time of the two-thread configuration is calculated (the cumulative processing time of the two-thread configuration / 2 the cumulative number of pages of the two-thread configuration) The average processing time is recorded in the corresponding area of the processing time table and written in the processing time storage means 21 (V78, V79).

  On the other hand, in the case of a single thread configuration, the following processing is performed. That is, the determination (V16) in the flowchart shown in FIG. 18 is NO, and the image data forming unit (rendering unit) 12 sequentially extracts the PDL commands stored in the PDL buffer 15a (V80), and the extracted PDL command is the page break command. The generated image data is written in the image data memory 16a until V is (V80 is YES, V81 to V83).

  Thereafter, if the retrieved PDL command is a page break command (V81 is YES), the image data compression unit 13 reads the image data recorded in the image data memory 16a, performs compression processing, and is compressed by the spool output unit 14. The image data is output to the printer device 10 via the spooler 17 (V84, V85).

  Next, measurement end processing of the processing time of the thread 1 is performed (V86). This process is the same as the process described with reference to FIG. 20, and thereafter, a process time update process for one thread configuration is performed (V87).

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart for explaining the above-described processing. The data of the accumulated number of pages of one thread configuration is incremented by 1 (V88), and the processing time of the thread 1 measured in the accumulated processing time of one thread configuration is accumulated (V89). The average processing time of one thread configuration is calculated (cumulative processing time of one thread configuration / accumulated number of pages of one thread configuration), and the average processing time is recorded in the corresponding area of the one thread configuration of the processing time table (V90, V91). ). Thereafter, the processing time of the threads 1 to 3 is reset to “0” (V92).

In this way, the processing time table for each thread configuration is updated. Next, when a print request is issued from the application, the printer driver reads this processing time table, selects a thread configuration having the shortest average processing time per page, and performs PDL conversion, image formation processing, etc. according to the number of threads. To do. The thread number determination routine will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. This processing is a routine called by the processing (S3) of FIG. 5 which is the above-described multithread initialization routine. First, the average processing time per page of the 1-thread configuration to 3-thread configuration from the processing time storage means 21. Are read and compared (V93, V94).
In this case, first, the thread number “3” is set (V95). Next, as a result of comparing the above average processing times, when the average processing time per page in the case of three threads is the shortest (V96 is YES), “3” is set as the number of threads as described above.
On the other hand, if the determination (V96) is no, the number of threads is set to “2”, and it is determined whether the average processing time per page in the case of the two-thread configuration is the shortest (V98). Here, when the average processing time per page in the 2-thread configuration is the shortest (V98 is YES), the 2-thread configuration is used. Further, when the determination (V98) is NO, the number of threads is set to “1”, and a one-thread configuration is set (V99).

  Thereafter, the time measuring flag of threads 1 to 3 is turned off, the processing time of threads 1 to 3 is reset to zero, and the time measuring means 20 (timers 1 to 3) is reset (V100 to V102).

  By processing in this example as described above, an appropriate number of threads can be automatically set without being aware of the CPU capability, memory size, resolution / gradation command, etc. described in the second to fourth embodiments. Can be set.

  The processing time management table set in the processing time storage means 21 may be configured to correspond to the paper size. FIG. 29 shows an example of a processing time management table for recording the cumulative processing time, the number of accumulated pages, and the average processing time per page of threads 1 to 3 for each paper size, and selecting an optimal thread configuration according to the paper size. FIG.

  Data is recorded in the table according to the process of the fifth embodiment described above, and the same process as described above is performed to obtain the average image formation time per page for each thread configuration and for each sheet. The optimum number of threads can be set accordingly.

1 ... Printer driver 2 ... ROM
3. Disk device 4. LAN circuit 5. LCD (liquid crystal display)
6 ... Keyboard (KB)
7 ... CPU 7
8 ... RAM
10.. Printer device 11.. PDL conversion unit 12.. Image data forming unit (rendering unit)
13. Image data compression unit 14 Spool output units 15, 15a, 15b PDL buffers 16, 16a, 16b Image data memory 17 Spooler 20 Time measuring unit 21 Processing time storage unit

Claims (14)

A print data processing apparatus comprising at least one processing means for processing print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus,
Image data generating means for converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, and further compressing the image data;
Transmitting means for transmitting the compressed image data to the printing apparatus;
Command storage means for storing the PDL command;
Image data storage means for storing the image data;
System control means for activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation means;
Measuring means for measuring the processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads;
Storage means for recording an average processing time calculated based on the processing time for each number of the image data generation threads;
Including
The system control means determines the number of the image data generation threads to a number that makes the average processing time the shortest. A print data processing apparatus comprising at least one processing means for processing print data to be transmitted to a printing apparatus,
Image data generating means for converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, and further compressing the image data;
Means for transmitting the compressed image data to the printing device;
Command storage means for storing the PDL command;
Image data storage means for storing the image data;
System control means for activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation means;
Measuring means for measuring the processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads;
Storage means for recording an average processing time calculated based on the processing time for each sheet size and for each number of image data generation threads;
Including
The system control means determines the number of the image data generation threads to a number that makes the average processing time the shortest. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The image data generating means
First image data generation means for converting the print data into the PDL command;
Second image data generation means for generating the image data from the PDL command;
Third image data generating means for compressing the image data and outputting the compressed data to the transmitting means;
Including
When two image data generation threads are activated,
A first image data generation thread for realizing the first image data generation means;
A second image data generation thread for realizing the second image data generation means and the third image data generation means;
Including
Also, When three image data generation threads are activated,
A first image data generation thread for realizing the first image data generation means;
A second image data generation thread for realizing the second image data generation means;
A third image data generation thread for realizing the third image data generation means;
Including
The print data processing apparatus, wherein the first to second or the first to third image data generation threads are different threads that can operate in parallel with each other. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 3.
The command storage means includes
First command storage means;
Second command storage means,
When a plurality of image data generation threads are activated,
During the period when the first image data generation thread outputs the PDL command to the first command storage means, the second image data generation thread acquires the PDL command from the second command storage means,
During the period in which the first image data generation thread outputs the PDL command to the second command storage means, the second image data generation thread acquires the PDL command from the first command storage means. A print data processing apparatus. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 4.
When a plurality of image data generation threads are activated,
Each time the first image data generation thread requests the second image data generation thread to perform processing, the first command storage means and the second command storage means are alternately switched and used. A print data processing apparatus. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:
The image data storage means includes
First image data storage means;
Second image data storage means,
When three image data generation threads are activated,
During the period when the second image data generation thread outputs the image data to the first image data storage means, the third image data generation thread acquires the image data from the second image data storage means. ,
During a period in which the second image data generation thread outputs the image data to the second image data storage unit, the third image data generation thread acquires the image data from the first image data storage unit. A print data processing apparatus. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 6.
When three image data generation threads are activated,
The second image data generation thread alternately uses the first image data storage means and the second image data storage means each time a process is requested to the third image data generation thread. A print data processing apparatus. The print data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The number of the image data generation threads is determined according to the number of processing units included in the host device. The print data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The number of image data generation threads is determined according to a storage capacity of a memory used for processing by the print data processing apparatus. The print data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The number of image data generation threads is determined according to the resolution and the number of gradations of the image data. A method of processing print data for transmission to a printing apparatus on a host device having processing means having at least one core,
Converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, further compressing the image data,
Sending the compressed image data to the printing device;
Storing the PDL command;
Storing the image data;
Activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation process;
Measure the processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads,
An average processing time calculated based on the processing time is recorded for each number of the image data generation threads,
A print data processing method, wherein the number of image data generation threads is determined to be a number that minimizes the average processing time. A method of processing print data for transmission to a printing apparatus on a host device having processing means having at least one core,
Converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, further compressing the image data,
Sending the compressed image data to the printing device;
Storing the PDL command;
Storing the image data;
Activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation process;
Measure the processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads,
The average processing time calculated based on the processing time is recorded for each paper size and for each number of the image data generation threads,
A print data processing method, wherein the number of image data generation threads is determined to be a number that minimizes the average processing time. A program for causing the processing means to process print data for transmission to a printing apparatus on a host device having processing means having at least one core,
In the processing means,
Converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, further compressing the image data,
Sending the compressed image data to the printing device;
Storing the PDL command;
Storing the image data;
Activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation process;
The processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads is measured,
The average processing time calculated based on the processing time is recorded for each number of the image data generation threads,
A program for causing the number of image data generation threads to be determined so as to minimize the average processing time. A program for causing the processing means to process print data for transmission to a printing apparatus on a host device having processing means having at least one core,
In the processing means,
Converting the print data into a PDL command, generating image data from the converted PDL command, further compressing the image data,
Sending the compressed image data to the printing device;
Storing the PDL command;
Storing the image data;
Activating at least one image data generation thread for realizing the image data generation process;
The processing time per page of each of the image data generation threads is measured,
The average processing time calculated based on the processing time is recorded for each paper size and for each number of image data generation threads,
A program for causing the number of image data generation threads to be determined so as to minimize the average processing time.

Images