JP5910193B2 - Printing system, information processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a print control technique, and more particularly to a printing system, an information processing apparatus, and a method for dynamically changing an output destination of print data.

  Conventionally, in a system using a plurality of network printers, a technique for dynamically changing an output destination of print data has been proposed.

  As an example of such a technique, Patent Document 1 discloses a data processing apparatus that distributes and prints print data according to the security level of the printing apparatus that is the output destination of the print data. The data processing apparatus determines the output destination associated with the client computer that generated the print data or the user and distributes the print data to print, thereby leaking confidential information such as personal information included in the print data. I'm trying to prevent it.

  However, in the data processing device disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the output destination of the printed matter is distributed to a specific printing device, when a document including confidential information is output by the printing device not intended by the user and the document is left unattended, Confidential information may be viewed and consumed by a third party. In order to prevent this, there is a method of preventing the leakage of confidential information by modifying the document to be printed, such as black painting. However, in such a method, modification that is not desired by the user is forcibly performed. There is a problem of end.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and when the print data is dynamically distributed and printed, the user can change the output destination of the print data and the modification contents to be applied to the print data. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system, an information processing apparatus, and a method capable of confirming in advance, and enabling a user to select an output destination printing apparatus.

  The present invention determines a printing apparatus that prints out print data to be printed, determines the attributes of the printing apparatus, and indicates whether or not the print data is modified and the contents of modification when the printing apparatus prints out the print data A user interface that generates information and displays print data and modification information, displays a user interface that can select the print device, and transmits the print data to the print device selected by the user A printing system for printing is provided.

  In the present invention, by adopting the above configuration requirements, the user can confirm in advance the output destination of the data to be printed and the modification contents to be applied to the data, and the user selects the output destination printing apparatus. can do.

1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a printing system of the present invention. The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the print server shown in FIG. The figure which shows the function structure of the print server and client PC which are shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a printing process executed by the printing system shown in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing print processing executed by the print server shown in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing alteration necessity determination processing executed by the print server shown in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart showing drawing data modification processing executed by the print server shown in FIG. 1. The figure which shows one Embodiment of the mapping information and determination information which the print server shown in FIG. 1 uses. The figure which shows one Embodiment of the output destination selection screen which the information processing apparatus of this invention displays. The figure which shows another embodiment of the printing system of this invention. The figure which shows the function structure of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, although this invention is demonstrated with embodiment, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned later. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a printing system of the present invention. The printing system 100 includes client PCs 110a and 110b connected via a network 130, a print server 112, and printing devices 120, 122, and 124.

  The client PCs 110a and 110b are information processing apparatuses that transmit various document data and image data created by the user to the print server 112 and cause the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 to print them. The client PCs 110a and 110b transmit document data and / or image data to be printed together with a print request to the print server 112 according to a print instruction from the user. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, desktop PCs are employed as the client PCs 110a and 110b. However, in other embodiments, information processing apparatuses such as notebook PCs, tablet PCs, and smartphones can be employed.

  The print server 112 is an information processing apparatus that processes data received from the client PCs 110a and 110b and causes the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 to execute printing. When the print server 112 receives a print request from the client PCs 110a and 110b, the print server 112 generates print data using the print request received from the client PC and document data and / or image data, and outputs the print data. Are determined, and the printing apparatus is caused to execute printing.

  The printing devices 120, 122, and 124 are printing devices that print the print data received from the print server 112 on a print medium such as paper. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, an MFP (Multiple Function Printer) or a laser printer is employed as the printing devices 120, 122, and 124. However, in other embodiments, other printing devices such as an ink jet printer may be employed. .

  The network 130 is a network that can be configured to include a wireless network of a standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark), an optical network, and IEEE 802.11. The network 130 may include a wide area network such as the Internet constructed in a secure environment such as a VPN (Virtual Private Network) in addition to the LAN.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the print server according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, the hardware configuration of the print server 112 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The print server 112 includes a processor 200, a ROM 202, a RAM 204, a hard disk device (HDD) 206, an external device connection interface 208, and a network interface 210.

  The processor 200 is a device that calculates processing executed by the print server 112, and various processors such as a CPU such as PENTIUM (registered trademark) and AMD Athlon (registered trademark), and an MPU can be employed. The ROM 202 is a non-volatile memory that stores a boot program such as BIOS.

  The RAM 204 is a nonvolatile memory that provides an execution space for executing the program of the present invention. The print server 112 is an assembler, C, C ++, Java (registered) under the management of an OS such as WINDOWS (registered trademark) series, Mac (registered trademark) OS (Operating System), UNIX (registered trademark), LINUX (registered trademark). By developing and executing the program of the present invention described in a program language such as trademark (registered trademark), JavaScript (registered trademark), PERL, RUBY, or PYTHON, each functional unit to be described later is realized on the print server 112.

  The HDD 206 is a large-capacity nonvolatile memory, and stores various data such as the program of the present invention. The program of the present invention can be stored and installed in a device-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, MO, flexible disk, EEPROM, EPROM, or the like, and can be installed via a network.

  The external device connection interface 208 is an interface for connecting an input device such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a touch panel, and a display device, and is a physical interface such as a USB port or a VGA port. The network interface 210 is an interface connected to an external network, and is a physical interface such as a LAN cable connector or a modular cable connector.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the client PC and the print server shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the functional configuration of the client PC 110a and the print server 112 will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the functional configuration of the client PC 110b is the same as that of the client PC 110a, and is omitted.

  The client PC 110a includes an application program 300. The application program 300 is a program that generates document data and image data to be printed. In the present embodiment, various application programs such as document creation software, spreadsheet software, image creation software, and presentation software are employed. When the application program 300 receives a print instruction issued by the user, the application program 300 transmits document data and / or image data to be printed to the print server 112 together with a print request. In addition to information for identifying the print request, the print request includes identification information of the client PC 110a such as the host name, IP address, and login user name of the client PC 110a, and print setting information.

  In the present embodiment, the application program 300 generates document data and image data to be printed. However, in other embodiments, a program such as a business application program or a web browser may generate data to be printed.

  The print server 112 includes a virtual printer driver 302, an intermediate data storage unit 310, and a shipping processing unit 320.

  The virtual printer driver 302 is a printer driver that generates intermediate data using the print request received from the client PC 110 a and image data and / or document data, and spools the intermediate data in the intermediate data storage unit 310. The virtual printer driver 302 includes a drawing unit 304 and an extraction unit 306.

  The drawing unit 304 is a functional unit that generates drawing data to be printed from document data and / or image data generated by the application program 300 of the client PC 110a. When the drawing unit 304 receives a print request from the client PC 110 a, the drawing unit 304 generates drawing data to be printed from the document data and / or image data, and buffers the drawing data in the storage device 312 of the intermediate data storage unit 310. In the present embodiment, the drawing data generated by the drawing unit 304 is raster data, and a data format such as a BMF format and an EMF format can be employed as the data format of the drawing data.

  The extraction unit 306 is a functional unit that generates job data including identification information and print setting information of the client PC from the print request issued by the client PC 110a. Upon receiving the print request, the extraction unit 306 extracts the client PC identification information and print setting information such as the host name, IP address, and login user name of the client PC 110a included in the print request, and generates job data. The drawing data is buffered in the storage device 314 of the intermediate data storage unit 310.

  The intermediate data storage unit 310 is a storage unit that temporarily stores drawing data and job data, which are intermediate data. When the virtual printer driver 302 saves the drawing data and job data in the storage devices 312 and 314, the intermediate data storage unit 310 notifies the shipping processing unit 320 to that effect.

  The dispatch processing unit 320 is a functional unit that determines a printing apparatus that performs printing, generates print data by selectively modifying drawing data that is intermediate data, and transmits the print data to the printing apparatus. The shipping processing unit 320 includes a print control unit 322, an output destination determination unit 324, a storage device 326, a modification control unit 328, and a notification unit 338.

  The print control unit 322 is a functional unit that controls the output destination determination unit 324, the modification control unit 328, and the notification unit 338. The print control unit 322 calls these function units as appropriate, determines a printing apparatus to execute printing, and modifies the drawing data to be printed according to the printing apparatus to generate print data. The print control unit 322 transmits print data to the printing apparatus.

  The output destination determination unit 324 is a functional unit that determines a printing apparatus that prints print data. The output destination determination unit 324 acquires job data from the storage device 314 of the intermediate data storage unit 310, and displays mapping information in which the identification information of the client PCs 110a and 110b and the identification information of the printing devices 120, 122, and 124 are associated with each other. With reference to this, the printing apparatus associated with the identification information of the client PC included in the job data is determined. Further, the output destination determination unit 324 refers to the mapping information, acquires identification information of printing apparatuses that can be output by the client PCs 110a and 110b, and generates output destination list information including the identification information of the printing apparatuses. .

  The modification control unit 328 is a functional unit that determines whether to modify the drawing data and modifies the drawing data based on a user instruction. The modification control unit 328 includes a determination unit 330, a storage device 332, and modification units 334 and 336. In the present embodiment, two modification units 334 and 336 are provided. However, in another embodiment, one modification unit or three or more modification units may be provided.

  The determination unit 330 is a functional unit that determines the attributes of the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124. The attributes of the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 are information indicating attributes such as security levels of the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124, for example. In this case, the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 can be classified into a printing apparatus with a high security level, a printing apparatus with a medium security level, and a printing apparatus with a low security level.

  The storage device 332 stores determination information in which printing device identification information and printing device attributes are associated with each other. The determination unit 330 refers to the determination information and specifies the printing device specified by the print control unit 322. Determine the attribute. In this embodiment, the security level is adopted as the attribute of the printing apparatus. However, in other embodiments, various other information that defines the attribute of the printing apparatus can be adopted.

  The modification units 334 and 336 are functional units that selectively modify drawing data. The modification units 334 and 336 use the attributes and / or drawing data of the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 to which the print data is transmitted to determine whether or not the drawing data is to be modified. For example, in an embodiment that employs a security level as an attribute of a printing device, the modification unit 334 modifies drawing data transmitted to a medium-level printing device, and the modification unit 336 has a low security level printing device. Can be configured to modify the drawing data transmitted to the.

  When the modification necessity determination request for determining whether or not the drawing data needs to be modified is received from the print control unit 322, when the print data is transmitted to a printing apparatus having a medium security level, the modification unit 334 performs the printing. The drawing data constituting the data is determined as a modification target, and modification information indicating that a watermark character indicating confidential information is combined with the drawing data is generated. On the other hand, when the drawing data is transmitted to a printing apparatus with a low security level, the modification unit 334 generates modification information indicating that the modification is not performed.

  Further, when the print data is transmitted to a printing apparatus with a low security level, the modification unit 336 determines that the drawing data constituting the print data is to be modified, and synthesizes a black image on the entire surface with the drawing data. The modification information indicating that it is to be generated is generated. On the other hand, when the drawing data is transmitted to a printing apparatus with a high security level, the modification unit 336 generates modification information indicating that the modification is not performed. The modification control unit 328 merges the modification information generated by the modification units 334 and 336 and provides the merged information to the print control unit 322.

  When a modification request for drawing data is received from the print control unit 322, when the print data is transmitted to a printing device with a medium security level, the modification unit 334 sets the drawing data constituting the print data as a modification target. It is possible to determine and synthesize watermark characters indicating confidential information with the drawing data. On the other hand, when the print data is transmitted to a printing apparatus with a low security level, the modification unit 336 determines that the drawing data constituting the print data is to be modified, and synthesizes a black image over the entire drawing data. can do.

  In addition, the modification units 334 and 336 determine whether the drawing data constituting the print data includes specific characters, numbers, symbols, or the like corresponding to confidential information, and whether the drawing data is to be modified. It can be determined whether or not.

  In this embodiment, a specific character is added to the drawing data or a specific image is combined to modify the drawing data. However, in other embodiments, for example, the drawing data is discarded or the drawing data is added to the drawing data. Various modifications such as addition of a plurality of characters are possible. In the embodiment employing the Windows (registered trademark) OS, the modification unit described above can be realized by a DLL (Dynamic Link Library).

  The notification unit 338 is a functional unit that notifies a user of the client PCs 110a and 110b of a printing apparatus that prints print data and modification information. The notification unit 338 is a GUI (Graphical Use Interface) that displays the output destination list information generated by the output destination determination unit 324 and the modification information generated by the modification control unit 328, and includes a printing apparatus that prints print data. Information (hereinafter referred to as “output destination selection screen configuration information”) that constitutes an output destination selection screen that is a GUI that can be specified is generated. The notification unit 338 transmits the output destination selection screen configuration information to the client PCs 110a and 110b that transmitted the print request, and causes the display device of the client PC to display the output destination selection screen.

  When the user designates a print data output destination print device using the output destination selection screen displayed on the display device of the client PC 110a or 110b, the client PC 110a or 110b identifies the output destination print device specified by the user. (Hereinafter referred to as “output destination designation information”) is transmitted to the print server 112. The notification unit 338 receives the output destination designation information and provides it to the print control unit 322.

  In the above-described embodiment, the print server 112 includes the virtual printer driver 302. However, in other embodiments, the client PCs 110a and 110b may be configured to include the virtual printer driver 302.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a printing process executed by the printing system shown in FIG. Hereinafter, a print processing sequence when the print server 112 modifies the drawing data will be described.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the client PC 110a transmits a print request to the print server 112 in step S400. When receiving the print request, the virtual printer driver 302 of the print server 112 generates drawing data from the document data and / or image data transmitted together with the print request in step S401 and saves the drawing data in the storage device 312 of the intermediate data storage unit 310. In step S402, job data is generated from the print request and stored in the storage device 314.

  Next, the print control unit 322 of the dispatch processing unit 320 acquires job data from the storage device 314 in the FIFO format in step S403, and determines a printing device on which drawing data related to the job data is to be printed in step S404. An output destination determination request that is a request is transmitted to the output destination determination unit 324. In step S405, the output destination determination unit 324 refers to the mapping information stored in the storage device 326, determines the output destination of print data including the drawing data, using the job data, The print control unit 322 is notified.

  Next, in step S406, the print control unit 322 specifies the printing device in order to determine whether or not the drawing data is modified when the printing device that is the output destination executes printing. The modification necessity determination request is transmitted to the modification control unit 328. In step S <b> 407, the modification control unit 328 acquires the drawing data from the storage device 312, generates modification information using the attributes of the printing apparatus that is the output destination and the drawing data, and provides the modification information to the printing control unit 322. .

  Next, the print control unit 322 sends an output destination list information request to the output destination determination unit in step S408 in order to acquire output destination list information indicating a printing apparatus to which the client PC that has transmitted the print request can output print data. To 324. In step S <b> 409, the output destination determination unit 324 generates output destination list information with reference to the mapping information stored in the storage device 326, and provides it to the print control unit 322.

  Next, in step S410, the print control unit 322 determines whether the rendering data is to be modified when printing is performed by each printing device indicated by the output destination list information. The printing device indicated by the information is designated, and a modification necessity determination request is transmitted to the modification control unit 328. In step S 411, the modification control unit 328 acquires the drawing data from the storage device 312, generates modification information using the attributes and drawing data of each printing device that is the output destination, and provides the modification information to the printing control unit 322. To do.

  Next, the print control unit 322 transmits the modification information together with the output destination selection screen display request to the notification unit 338 in step S412 to display the output destination selection screen on the client PC that has transmitted the print request. In step S413, the notification unit 338 generates output destination selection screen configuration information using the modification information, and transmits the output destination selection screen configuration information to the client PC. When receiving the output destination designation information from the client PC, the notification unit 338 provides the output destination designation information to the print control unit 322.

  Next, the print control unit 322 transmits the output destination designation information to the modification control unit 328 together with the modification request in step S414. In step S415, the modification control unit 328 acquires the drawing data from the storage device 312, determines whether or not modification is necessary using the attribute of the printing device indicated by the output destination designation information, and modifies the drawing data. Apply. Then, the print control unit 322 generates print data including the modified drawing data and the print setting information included in the print request, and transmits the print data to the printing apparatus indicated by the output destination designation information in step S416. The printing apparatus executes printing.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a printing process executed by the print server shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the print processing executed by the print server 112 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The process shown in FIG. 5 starts from step S500 when the print server 112 receives a print request from the client PCs 110a and 110b. In step S <b> 501, the virtual printer driver 302 of the print server 112 generates drawing data and job data and stores them in the storage devices 312 and 314 of the intermediate data storage unit 310.

  In step S502, the print control unit 322 of the dispatch processing unit 320 calls the output destination determination unit 324, and the output destination determination unit 324 acquires job data from the storage device 314, and uses the job data and mapping information. A printing apparatus that is an output destination of print data is determined. In step S503, the print control unit 322 calls the modification control unit 328, and the modification control unit 328 executes the modification necessity determination process illustrated in FIG. 6 for the printing apparatus that is the output destination determined in step S502, and performs modification information. Is generated.

  In step S504, the print control unit 322 determines whether the rendering data needs to be modified using the modification information generated in step S503. If it is determined that there is no need to modify the drawing data (no), the process branches to step S505. In step S505, the print control unit 322 acquires drawing data from the storage device 312 to generate print data, transmits the print data to the printing apparatus that is the output destination determined in step S502, and the process ends in step S512. To do.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S504 that the drawing data needs to be modified (yes), the process branches to step S506. In step S506, the print control unit 322 calls the output destination determination unit 324, and the output destination determination unit 324 generates output destination list information. In step S507, the print control unit 322 calls the modification control unit 328, and the modification control unit 328 performs the modification necessity determination process illustrated in FIG. 6 for the printing apparatus that is the output destination indicated by the output destination list information generated in step S506. To generate modification information.

  In step S508, the print control unit 322 calls the notification unit 338, and the notification unit 338 generates output destination selection screen configuration information and transmits it to the client PC that has transmitted the print request. In step S509, the notification unit 338 determines whether output destination designation information has been received from the client PC. If the output destination designation information has not been received (no), the process of step S509 is repeated. On the other hand, if the output destination designation information has been received (yes), the process branches to step S510.

  In step S510, the print control unit 322 calls the modification control unit 328, and the modification control unit 328 executes rendering data modification processing illustrated in FIG. In step S511, the print control unit 322 generates print data including drawing data and print setting information, transmits the print data from the client PC to the printing apparatus indicated by the output destination designation information, and the process ends in step S512. .

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the alteration necessity determination process executed by the print server shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the alteration necessity determination process executed by the alteration control unit 328 in steps S503 and S507 in FIG. 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The processing in FIG. 6 starts from step S600. In step S601, the determination unit 330 of the modification control unit 328 refers to the determination information and determines the attribute of the printing apparatus designated by the print control unit 322. In step S602, the modifying unit 334 uses the printing apparatus attribute determined in step S601 to determine whether or not the drawing data transmitted to the printing apparatus needs to be modified. If it is determined that no modification is necessary (no), the process branches to step S603 to generate modification information indicating that modification of the drawing data is not necessary. On the other hand, if it is determined that modification is necessary (yes), the process branches to step S604.

  In step S604, the modification unit 334 acquires drawing data related to the print request from the storage device 312 and determines whether the drawing data includes specific characters, numbers, symbols, or the like corresponding to confidential information. If the confidential information is included (yes), the process branches to step S605, and the modification unit 334 includes the confidential information in the attribute of the output destination printing apparatus and the rendering data. The modification information indicating that the watermark character indicating is added is generated. On the other hand, if the confidential information is not included (no), the process branches to step S606, and the modifying unit 334 adds a watermark character indicating the confidential information to the drawing data according to the attribute of the output destination printing apparatus. The modification information indicating that the

  In step S607, the modifying unit 336 uses the printing apparatus attribute determined in step S601 to determine whether the rendering data transmitted to the printing apparatus needs to be modified. If it is determined that no modification is necessary (no), the process branches to step S608, and the modification unit 336 generates modification information indicating that modification of the drawing data is not necessary. On the other hand, if it is determined that modification is required (yes), the process branches to step S609.

  In step S609, the modification unit 336 acquires drawing data related to the print request from the storage device 312 and determines whether the drawing data includes specific characters, numbers, symbols, or the like corresponding to confidential information. If confidential information is included (yes), the process branches to step S610, and the modification unit 336 includes the confidential information in the attribute of the output destination printing apparatus and the drawing data, so that the confidential information is included in the drawing data. The modification information indicating that the watermark character indicating is added is generated. On the other hand, if the confidential information is not included (no), the process branches to step S611, and the modifying unit 336 adds a watermark character indicating the confidential information to the drawing data according to the attribute of the output destination printing apparatus. The modification information indicating that the

  In step S612, the modification control unit 328 merges the modification information generated by the modification units 334 and 336 and provides the merged information to the print control unit 322, and the process ends in step S613. In the present embodiment, since the modification control unit 328 includes the two modification units 334 and 336, these modification units execute the above-described processing. However, in other embodiments, each modification unit included in the modification control unit 328 includes The process described above is executed.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing drawing data modification processing executed by the print server shown in FIG. Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 7, the rendering data modification process executed by the modification control unit 328 in step S510 of FIG. 5 will be described.

  The process of FIG. 7 starts from step S700. In step S701, the determination unit 330 of the modification control unit 328 refers to the determination information, uses the output destination designation information, and the user uses the output destination selection screen. Determine the attributes of the specified printing device.

  In step S702, the modifying unit 334 uses the attributes of the printing apparatus determined in step S701 to determine whether it is necessary to modify the drawing data transmitted to the printing apparatus. If it is determined that no modification is necessary (no), the process branches to step S704. On the other hand, if it is determined that modification is necessary (yes), the process branches to step S703, and the modification unit 334 performs predetermined modification on the drawing data.

  In step S704, the modifying unit 336 uses the printing apparatus attribute determined in step S701 to determine whether or not the drawing data transmitted to the printing apparatus needs to be modified. If it is determined that no modification is necessary (no), the process ends in step S706. On the other hand, if it is determined that modification is necessary (yes), the process branches to step S705, and the modification unit 336 performs predetermined modification on the drawing data, and the process ends in step S706.

  In the present embodiment, since the modification control unit 328 includes the two modification units 334 and 336, these modification units execute the above-described processing. However, in other embodiments, each modification unit included in the modification control unit 328 includes The process described above is executed.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an embodiment of mapping information and determination information used by the print server of the embodiment shown in FIG.

  The mapping information 800 is information for assigning a printing apparatus that executes a printing process to the client PCs 110a and 110b of the printing system 100. In the mapping information 800, identification information “UserX”, “UserY”, and “UserZ” of the client PC and identification information “PrinterX”, “PrinterY”, and “PrinterZ” of the printing apparatus are associated with each other. The mapping information 800 of the present embodiment is text data described in the JSON (JavaScript (registered trademark) Object Notation) format. However, as long as the identification information of the client PC and the identification information of the printing apparatus can be associated with each other, any other information is possible. Descriptive data can be used.

  The determination information 810 is information used to determine the attributes of the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 of the print system 100. In the determination information 810, the identification information “PrinterX”, “PrinterY”, and “PrinterZ” of the printing apparatus are associated with the attributes “AttributeA”, “AttributeB”, and “AttributeC” of the printing apparatus. For example, the printing device attribute “Attribute A” defines an attribute indicating that the security level is high, the printing device attribute “Attribute B” defines an attribute indicating that the security level is medium, and the printing device attribute “Attribute B”. Attribute C ”defines an attribute indicating that the security level is low.

  The determination information 810 of the present embodiment is text data described in the JSON format, similar to the mapping information 800, but data in any other description format is adopted as long as the identification information and attributes of the printing apparatus can be associated with each other. be able to.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment of an output destination selection screen displayed by the information processing apparatus of the present invention. On the output destination selection screen 900, identification information 910 of the printing apparatus that is the output destination and modification information 912 are displayed in association with each other. The user may designate a printing apparatus that prints the print data after confirming the printing apparatus of the output destination and the contents of the modification performed when printing by the printing apparatus via the output destination selection screen 900. it can. In this embodiment, the content of the modification (for example, addition of a watermark character or blacking) is displayed as the modification information 912. In other embodiments, the reason for modification (for example, the output destination) is displayed as the modification information 912. The attribute of the printing apparatus and the drawing data may be modified by including confidential information).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the printing system of the present invention. The printing system 1000 includes an information processing apparatus 1010 and printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 connected via a network 130. Since this embodiment has the same configuration as the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9, the following description will focus on the differences.

  The information processing apparatus 1010 is an information processing apparatus that generates print data from various document data and image data created by a user, and transmits the print data to the printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 for printing. The information processing apparatus 1010 generates print data, determines printing apparatuses 120, 122, and 124 that are output destinations of the print data, and causes the printing apparatus to execute printing. The information processing apparatus 1010 has a hardware configuration similar to that of the print server 112 shown in FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 10. The information processing apparatus 1010 includes an application program 300, a virtual printer driver 302, an intermediate data storage unit 310, and a shipping processing unit 320.

  When the application program 300 receives a print instruction issued by the user, the application program 300 transmits document data and image data to be printed together with the print request to the virtual printer driver 302. The virtual printer driver 302 generates intermediate data using the print request and image data and / or document data, and spools the intermediate data in the intermediate data storage unit 310. The dispatch processing unit 320 notifies the user of the printing apparatus that performs printing and the modification information of the print data, selectively modifies the drawing data to be printed, and causes the printing apparatus designated by the user to print the print data.

  Although the present embodiment has been described so far, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the constituent elements of the present embodiment are changed or deleted, or the constituent elements of the present embodiment are changed to other configurations. It can be changed within a range that can be conceived by those skilled in the art, such as adding an element, and any aspect is included in the scope of the present invention as long as the effects of the present invention are exhibited.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Printing system, 110a, 110b ... Client PC, 112 ... Print server, 120, 122, 124 ... Printing apparatus, 130 ... Network, 1000 ... Printing system, 1010 ... Information processing apparatus

JP 2010-157208 A

Claims (8)

A printing system including a plurality of printing devices connected to a network, the printing system comprising:
Output destination determining means for determining a printing device that prints out print data to be printed;
Determination means for determining attributes of the printing apparatus;
A modification unit that generates modification information indicating content related to modification to print data when the printing apparatus prints out print data using the attribute of the printing apparatus;
An output means for displaying the printing apparatus and the modification information and outputting a screen capable of selecting a printing apparatus for printing the print data;
Look including a print data transmitting means for transmitting the print data to the selected printing device, the modification information includes modifications reason of the print data, the printing system. The modification means includes
The printing system according to claim 1, wherein print data is modified according to an attribute of the printing apparatus.   The printing system according to claim 1, wherein the printing system includes a plurality of modifying units, and each modifying unit performs different modification on print data. An information processing apparatus that causes a plurality of printing apparatuses connected to a network to execute printing, and the information processing apparatus includes:
Output destination determining means for determining a printing device that prints out print data to be printed;
Determination means for determining attributes of the printing apparatus;
Modification means for generating modification information indicating contents relating to modification to print data when the printing apparatus prints out print data using the attribute of the printing apparatus;
An output means for displaying the printing apparatus and the modification information and outputting a screen capable of selecting a printing apparatus for printing the print data;
Look including a print data transmitting means for transmitting the print data to the selected printing device, the modification information includes modifications reason of the print data, the information processing apparatus. The modification means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein print data is modified according to an attribute of the printing apparatus. The information processing apparatus includes a plurality of said changing means performs different modifications for each modification means print data, the information processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5. A method executed by an information processing apparatus that causes a plurality of printing apparatuses connected to a network to execute printing, wherein the information processing apparatus includes:
Determining a printing device that prints out print data to be printed;
Determining the attributes of the printing device;
Using the attribute of the printing device to generate modification information indicating the content related to the modification of the print data when the printing device prints out the print data;
Displaying the printing device and the modification information, and outputting a screen capable of selecting a printing device for printing the print data;
Transmitting print data to a selected printing device , wherein the modification information includes a reason for modification of the print data . In the method, the information processing apparatus
The method of claim 7 , further comprising modifying print data according to attributes of the printing device.