JP6094442B2 - Print management apparatus, program, and printing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a print management apparatus, a program, and a printing system.

  In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the print control unit performs dot development on print data from the host by each sub-processor, sends it to each print mechanism unit, and supplies paper to each print mechanism unit from the parallel paper feeder Then, printing processing is performed in each printing mechanism unit. The printed sheets are rearranged in the page order by the paper discharge integration device and are collectively stored in the stacker basket. If a failure occurs in any of the print mechanism units, the print data is distributed to the remaining print mechanism units and the printing process is continued. When the failure is recovered, the print data is distributed to all the print mechanism units. Continue the printing process.

  In the system disclosed in Patent Document 2, the image forming apparatus main body is provided with means for sending information related to the recording medium conveyance characteristics unique to the image forming apparatus main body to each additional apparatus, and each additional apparatus has an image forming apparatus main body. Means for sending information relating to the recording medium conveyance characteristics determined by being attached to the image forming apparatus main body, and the information relating to the recording medium conveyance characteristics sent out by the image forming apparatus main body and each additional device, respectively. To determine the recording medium conveyance control performance of the system.

  In the system disclosed in Patent Document 3, there are a passive mode and an active mode as modes for generating raster data in the preliminary printing device when the raster data generation processing in the main printing device is reduced. In the passive mode, the main printing device monitors the raster data generation processing status in the input data spool unit, and if it is larger than a predetermined threshold, the preliminary printing device performs raster data generation processing. A decrease in processing capacity can be compensated. Further, in the active mode, the preliminary printing apparatus periodically monitors the accumulation status of the input data spool unit of the main printing apparatus, and when it is larger than a predetermined threshold, the preliminary printing apparatus The generation of raster data in can compensate for the decrease in processing capability.

  Patent Document 5 discloses a mechanism for converting print data in a page description language (hereinafter referred to as “PDL”. PDL is an abbreviation of Page Description Language) into image data such as a bitmap that can be handled by a printing apparatus. An intermediate data generation unit that converts from intermediate data to intermediate data and a drawing data generation unit that converts intermediate data into image data, and a system that operates a plurality of intermediate data generation units and multiple drawing data generation units in parallel are disclosed. Yes.

JP-A-8-212233 JP-A-2-120066 JP 2009-26231 A JP 2004-192507 A JP 2011-070337 A

  The present invention assigns each part of print data to a plurality of interpretation devices, interprets them, and in a printing system that performs printing using the interpretation results of each interpretation device, if any of the interpretation devices fails Another object of the present invention is to allow the printing system to continue printing the print data.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assigning means for assigning and interpreting a part to be interpreted in print data to a plurality of interpreting devices that interpret print data, and a failure for detecting a failure of the interpreting device. When a failure of any of the detection means and the plurality of interpretation devices is detected, if the number of pages that have been interpreted by the plurality of interpretation devices of the print data exceeds a predetermined threshold, said failure detecting means has been assigned to the interpreter that faults detected portion of the print data, reassignment to be interpreted to the rest of the interpreter excluding the failed interpreter of the plurality of interpreter, the if the resolved number of pages is less than the threshold value, the reassignment means you stop processing the print data by the plurality of interpreter without the reallocation, Yes, and the threshold value, the interpreted remaining interpreter number of pages, except for the interpreter that the failure of the plurality of interpreter pages group uninterpreted of the print data equal to or smaller than the threshold value The print management apparatus is defined so that a print result of the print data can be obtained earlier when the print data is reprinted from the beginning with another printing system than when the print data is reassigned to be interpreted .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the plurality of interpretation devices send interpretation result data obtained by interpreting the portion allocated by the allocation means to one print control device, and the print control device When the printing apparatus performs printing in accordance with the interpretation result data corresponding to each part of the print data received from the interpretation device, the reassignment unit is configured to detect a failure of any of the interpretation devices. Acquiring printed information indicating the portion printed by the printing device from the printing control device, and excluding the printed portion indicated by the acquired printed information from the reassignment target. The print management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print management apparatus is a print management apparatus.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assigning means for assigning and interpreting a portion of the print data to be interpreted for each of a plurality of interpretation devices for interpreting the print data, and a failure for detecting a failure of the interpretation device. Reassigning a part of the print data assigned to the failed interpretation device detected by the failure detection means to the remaining interpretation devices excluding the failed interpretation device among the plurality of interpretation devices. Re-assignment means for interpreting, and the plurality of interpretation devices send interpretation result data obtained by interpreting the portion assigned by the assignment means to one print control device, the printing control apparatus to perform the printing to the printing apparatus in accordance with the interpretation result data corresponding to each portion of the print data received from said plurality of interpreter, Serial reallocation means, when said failure detecting means detects a failure of any of the interpreter acquires printed information from said print control apparatus indicates a printed said portion of at the printing apparatus, acquires The printed portion indicated by the printed information is excluded from the reassignment target , and at least one of interpretation devices corresponding to the other print management device is borrowed from another print management device, and borrowed performing the reallocation against interpretation apparatus, it is print management device you said.

  In the invention according to claim 4, the reallocation means cannot supply interpretation result data to the printing speed of the printing apparatus in the remaining interpretation apparatuses excluding the failed interpretation apparatus among the plurality of interpretation apparatuses. The print management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an interpretation apparatus is borrowed from the other printing apparatus only in the case.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assigning means for causing a computer to assign and interpret a part to be interpreted in a plurality of interpretation devices that interpret print data, and detecting a failure of the interpretation device. In the case where a failure of any of the plurality of interpretation devices is detected, if the number of pages already interpreted by the plurality of interpretation devices of the print data exceeds a predetermined threshold, Of the print data, the portion assigned to the failed interpretation device detected by the failure detection means is reassigned to the remaining interpretation devices other than the failed interpretation device among the plurality of interpretation devices, and interpreted . if the interpreted the number of pages is less than the threshold, reassigning the you stop processing the print data by the plurality of interpreter without reallocation A program for functioning unit as, Te, the threshold value, the failure of the plurality of interpreter pages group uninterpreted of the print data if the interpreted the number of pages is less than or equal to the threshold value Rather than reassigning and interpreting the remaining interpretation devices except for the interpretation device, the print data is printed again from the beginning with another printing system so that the print result of the print data can be obtained earlier. It is a program .

The invention according to claim 6 includes a plurality of interpretation devices for interpreting print data and a print management device, and the print management device is in charge of interpretation of the print data for each of the interpretation devices. An assignment unit for assigning and interpreting a power part; a failure detection unit for detecting a failure of the interpretation device ; and a plurality of interpretations of the print data when a failure of any of the plurality of interpretation devices is detected. If the number of pages interpreted by the device exceeds a predetermined threshold, the portion of the print data assigned to the failed interpretation device detected by the failure detection means is the portion of the plurality of interpretation devices. failed interpreter remaining interpreter reassignment to be interpreted by the excluding, the interpreted page count is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, the multiple solutions without the reassignment Possess a reallocation means you stop processing the print data by the apparatus, wherein the threshold value, the plurality of pages groups uninterpreted of the print data if the interpreted the number of pages is less than the threshold value Printing of the print data is faster when the print data is reprinted from the beginning with a different printing system, rather than being reassigned to the remaining interpretation devices other than the failed interpretation device. The printing system is characterized in that the result is determined so that the result can be obtained quickly .

  According to the first, fifth, or sixth aspect of the invention, in the printing system in which each part of the print data is assigned to and interpreted by a plurality of interpretation devices, and printing is performed using the interpretation result of each interpretation device. When a failure occurs in the interpretation device, printing of the print data can be continued in the printing system.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, it is possible to eliminate the waste of interpreting the printed part again.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to compensate for the decrease in the interpretation processing speed of the printing system due to the removal of the failed interpretation device.

  According to the invention according to claim 4, by borrowing the interpretation device from another print management device only when it is not in time for printing of the printing device, another print management device than when not using this invention. Can reduce the influence on the printing system managed.

It is a figure for demonstrating the printing system to which control of embodiment is applied. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a printing system to which control according to an embodiment is applied. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the data content of apparatus management information. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of data contents of printing system management information. It is a figure for demonstrating the flow of the normal printing process in the printing system to which control of embodiment is applied. It is a figure for demonstrating the conventional system behavior when one interpretation apparatus fails in the printing system shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the system behavior in this embodiment when an interpretation apparatus fails. It is a figure which shows an example of a function structure of the management apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the process sequence of the management apparatus when one of the interpretation apparatuses in a printing system fails. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the inquiry screen used for inquiring to a user whether repair processing is performed at the time of failure detection. It is a figure for demonstrating the method of the calculation of the insufficient page at the time of failure detection in accumulation | storage print mode. It is a figure for demonstrating how to calculate the shortage page at the time of failure detection in on-the-fly printing mode. It is a figure for demonstrating the process of a modification. In a modification, it is a figure which shows an example of the process sequence of the management apparatus when any interpretation apparatus fails.

  With reference to FIG. 1, an outline of a functional configuration of a system to which the control of the embodiment is applied will be described.

  The printing system according to the present embodiment includes one management device 10, one or more interpretation devices 20, one or more print control devices 30, and one or more printing devices 40. That is, one management apparatus 10 manages one or more interpretation apparatuses 20, print control apparatuses 30, and printing apparatuses 40, respectively, thereby configuring one printing system. The user can select which management device 10, interpretation device 20, print control device 30, and printing device 40 are combined in the printing system. As shown in FIG. 1, in an environment where a plurality of management apparatuses 10 exist, the maximum number of printing systems can be configured as the number of management apparatuses 10.

  FIG. 1 shows a so-called super system provided in, for example, one office. The user can construct one or more printing systems according to the purpose by combining components (management device 10, interpretation device 20, printing control device 30, printing device 40) in the super system. In addition, the configuration of each printing system can be changed in accordance with addition or deletion of components, changes in the situation, and the like.

  Next, individual components will be described.

  The management device 10 receives a print job from a client computer (not shown) or a portable recording medium, controls the interpretation device 20, the print control device 30, and the printing device 40 under its management, and executes the print job. Execute (ie print). Here, a print job is a print instruction from a user including print data in which an image of each page of a document to be printed is described in a page description language (hereinafter abbreviated as “PDL”; PDL is an abbreviation of Page Description Language). That is.

  The management apparatus 10 includes a job management function that manages the execution order of print job groups sent from various users.

  Further, the management device 10 transmits print data to the interpretation device 20 in the same printing system to be processed. In a configuration in which a plurality of interpretation devices 20 exist in the printing system, the management device 10 assigns different pages in the print data to each interpretation device 20, for example, and interprets the plurality of pages to the plurality of interpretation devices 20. Are executed in parallel.

  The interpretation device 20 interprets the PDL description of the print data received from the management device 10, and generates intermediate data representing the image of each page represented by the print data according to the interpretation result.

  The intermediate data is data in a data format with an intermediate granularity between PDL data generated by the client and print image data in a data format (for example, raster format) that can be handled by the printing apparatus 40. As the intermediate data format, for example, an image object described in PDL is expressed by subdividing it into microelements having a simple shape. As an intermediate data format, for example, a display list format is known. Other examples of the intermediate data format include those described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-150535 by the applicant and those described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-129948 by the applicant. The interpretation processing performed by the interpretation device 20 may be a conventional one, and will not be described here.

  The interpretation device 20 generates intermediate data for each page, which is the interpretation result of the print data, and transmits the generated intermediate data for each page to the print control device 30 in the same printing system.

  The print control device 30 supplies print image data to the printing device 40, and controls the printing device 40 to print the print image data. In this example, the print control apparatus 30 processes the intermediate data of each page received from the interpretation apparatus 20 and generates print image data of each page. The print image data is data representing an image of each page to be printed in a format that can be handled by the printing apparatus 40, such as a raster format. Further, the print control apparatus 30 may have an imposition function. The imposition function is a function for allocating a plurality of pages (logical pages) represented by PDL data (and thus intermediate data) on one page (physical page) of the print recording medium. For example, when two logical pages are imposed on one physical page, print image data in which images of two logical pages are arranged on one physical page is obtained. Note that the conversion process from the intermediate data to the print image data and the imposition may be performed using a conventional method, and thus the description thereof is omitted here. The print control device 30 supplies the generated print image data of each page to the printing device 40 to print it.

  The printing apparatus 40 receives print image data supplied from the print control apparatus 30, and prints an image represented by the print image data on a recording medium such as paper.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the combination of the management device 10, the interpretation device 20, and the print control device 30 configuring the printing system can be changed, whereas the print control device 30 and the printing device 40 are associated one-to-one. ing. This is because the print control device 30 and the printing device 40 are connected by a high-speed interface capable of high-speed data transfer in order to transfer print image data having a large amount of data at high speed for high-speed printing. It is. In this example, when the print control device 30 incorporated in the printing system is determined, the printing device 40 incorporated in the printing system is also automatically determined. On the other hand, the management device 10, the interpretation device 20, and the print control device 30 are connected by a data communication network such as a normal local area network, and the combination can be flexibly changed.

  As another example, a system configuration in which the printing apparatus 40 is connected to a data communication network and print image data is received from the corresponding print control apparatus 30 via the network is also possible. In this case, the printing device 40 incorporated in the printing system can be selected independently of the printing control device 30.

  Further, even when the printing control apparatus 30 and the printing apparatus 40 are fixedly connected, the fixed connection relationship is not limited to one-to-one. For example, one printing control device 30 may be connected to a plurality of printing devices 40 and control the plurality of printing devices 40. In addition, for one printing apparatus 40 capable of duplex printing on continuous form paper, the printing control apparatus 30 that generates print image data for the front surface and print image data for the back surface are generated. A configuration in which a plurality of printing control devices 30 are connected to one printing device 40 is also conceivable, such as connecting the printing control devices 30 to be connected.

  Among the components shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 40 requires hardware for printing on a physical medium in addition to a computer that performs control and the like. On the other hand, the management device 10, the interpretation device 20, and the print control device 30 need only be able to execute data processing, and need only exist as logically separate modules. There are various variations in the physical implementation of the management device 10, the interpretation device 20, and the print control device 30. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the management device 10, the interpretation device 20, and the print control device 30 may be installed in separate computers connected to the data communication network 60. In addition, the computer may function as a plurality of similar devices by executing a plurality of processes representing the functions of the same type of device (for example, the interpretation device 20 in the case of the interpretation device 20) with one computer. In addition, by executing the process of a plurality of different devices (for example, a combination of the management device 10 and the interpretation device 20 or a combination of the management device, the interpretation device 20 and the print control device 30) with one computer, The computer may function as a plurality of different devices.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the configuration management database 50 is connected on the data communication network 60. The configuration management database 50 is a database that manages information on each device (component) included in the super system and information on the printing system configured in the super system. An example of device management information and printing system management information held in the configuration management database 50 is shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the device management information includes, for each device (management device 10, interpretation device 20, and print control device 30) connected to the data communication network 60 in the super system, a device ID, a device type, and Contains communication address information. The device ID is identification information for uniquely identifying each device in the super system. The device type is information indicating whether each of these devices is a management device, an interpretation device, or a print control device. The communication address is the address of each device on the data communication network 60. When these devices communicate with each other, the source and destination devices are represented by the communication address. In the illustrated example, an IP (Internet Protocol) address is used as the communication address, but another type of address may be used. The example in FIG. 3 corresponds to the example in FIG. 2 in which each device is mounted on a separate computer, and the communication addresses of the devices are different from each other. As another example, when a plurality of devices are installed in one computer on the data communication network 60, the device IDs have different values for the plurality of devices, but the communication addresses have the same value. .

  The printing system management information shown in FIG. 4 includes, for each configured printing system, a system ID that is identification information for uniquely identifying the system, and a management device, an interpretation device, and a printing control device that configure the system. And a device ID list. One printing system includes only one management device 10, whereas a plurality of interpretation devices 20 and a plurality of print control devices 30 may be included.

  Each device (the management device 10, the interpretation device 20, and the print control device 30) included in the super system holds its own device ID and device type information. Further, each of these devices refers to the printing system management information in the configuration management database 50 to identify the communication address of the device that it should communicate with for print processing, and uses that communication address to store data. Communicate for delivery. Also, instead of each device referring to the configuration management database 50, the information in the configuration management database 50 is notified to each device as needed so that each device always holds the latest device management information and printing system management information. It may be.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the configuration management database 50 is provided as an independent device on the data communication network 60, but instead, any device on the data communication network 60 such as the management device 10 is It may also serve as the configuration management database 50

  An example of the flow of processing of a print job by the printing system will be described with reference to FIG. In the example of FIG. 5, the printing system 80 includes one management device 10, two interpretation devices 20, and one print control device 30 (and printing device 40).

  (1) The management apparatus 10 receives a print job including PDL data from the client 70. The received PDL data of the print job is held in the management apparatus 10 as an input job 100, and (2) is also transferred to the two interpretation apparatuses 20, respectively. The entire input job 100 is transferred to each interpretation device 20 in consideration of the case where the input job 100 is described in page-independent PDL. In the case of page-independent PDL, when an instruction for a certain page also affects a print image of another subsequent page, the interpretation device 20 generates only intermediate data of some pages of the input job 100 However, in order to correctly generate the intermediate data, it is necessary to interpret the entire input job 100 in order from the top. Conversely, when the input job 100 is described in page-independent PDL, each interpretation device 20 has only the PDL data of the page for which the interpretation device 20 of the input job 100 should generate intermediate data. May be supplied. In addition, as another reason for transferring the entire input job 100 to each interpretation device 20 in the example of FIG. 5, once the entire input job 100 is transferred, a page (to be assigned to the interpretation device 20 later for some reason ( That is, even if the intermediate data generation target page is changed from the schedule, it may be easy to deal with. That is, the management device 10 only needs to notify the interpretation device 20 of the number of the allocation target page, and if the allocation target is changed, the management device 10 only needs to notify the number of the allocation target page after the change. . On the other hand, in the method of providing only the PDL data of the allocation target page to the interpretation device 20, when the allocation is changed from the schedule, the PDL data of the allocation target page after the change is sent to the interpretation device 20. There is a need.

  (3) The management device 10 instructs the two interpretation devices 20 to generate intermediate data for different pages. In the illustrated example, one interpretation device 20 is instructed to generate intermediate data of odd pages, and the other interpretation device 20 is instructed to generate even pages. For example, at first, one interpreter 20 is instructed to generate intermediate data for the first page, and the other interpreter 20 is to generate intermediate data for the second page, and then the third, fourth, fifth, sixth,.・ Instruct generation. (4) With such a parallel instruction, the two interpretation devices 20 execute the intermediate data generation of the two pages in parallel. When the input job 100 is described in page-independent PDL, each interpretation device 20 interprets the input job 100 in order from the top, and changes the internal state according to the interpretation. And about the page instruct | indicated from the management apparatus 10, intermediate data are produced | generated according to the internal state. The interpretation device 20 includes an intermediate data storage unit 22 that stores generated intermediate data, and a management table 24 that records information of pages for which intermediate data has been generated. The interpretation device 20 stores the generated intermediate data of the page in the intermediate data storage unit 22 and adds information specifying the page to the management table 24 as information indicating the generated page. The information for specifying a page is, for example, a set of identification information of the input job 100 and a page number of the page in the input job 100.

  The intermediate data of each page stored in the intermediate data storage unit 22 is sequentially transferred to the print control device 30 when the timing of print output comes. (5) The print control apparatus 30 rasterizes (i.e., converts to a raster image) after imposing physical data according to imposition conditions designated by the user on the received intermediate data, and obtained by rasterization. Print image data is printed by the printing apparatus 40. In the illustrated example, two logical pages are imposed on one physical page.

  Now, let us consider a case where, in such a printing system 80, one of the interpretation devices 20 in the printing system 80 cannot operate normally due to a failure. For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, it is assumed that a failure has occurred in the interpretation device 20 in charge of the even page of the job being executed among the interpretation devices 20 included in the printing system 80-1. It is assumed that there is another printing system 80-2 in the super system to which the printing system 80-1 belongs, but no job is executed at that time.

  In such a case, if no countermeasure is taken, intermediate data of even pages assigned to the failed interpretation device 20 in the printing system 80-1 is not generated as shown in FIG. (1) Printing by the printing control device 30 and the printing device 40 stops halfway. (2) As a result, the entire printing system 80-1 cannot be used. When this happens, (3) the user re-submits the job that has been executed so far from the client 70 to the currently unused printing system 80-2 in the same super system, and (4) the first page again. (5) Printing is started again from the first page. Although it is conceivable to perform reprinting from a page after a printed page in the stopped printing system 80-1, it is often complicated to find a printed page, so that printing is performed again from the beginning. There are many. In this case, intermediate data that has already been generated by the normally operating interpretation device 20-1 is discarded.

  With respect to such a problem, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7A, when one interpretation device 20-2 in the printing system 80 fails, the management device 10 detects the failure. Also in this case, as shown in FIG. 7B, (1) since the intermediate data of the even-numbered pages is not supplied, printing is temporarily stopped.

  (2) However, in this embodiment, when a certain amount of intermediate data has already been generated by the interpretation device 20-1 that has not failed, the printing system 80-1 does not stop, and the management device 10 therein Performs the relief process. In the relief processing, the failed interpretation device 20-2 is at least temporarily disconnected from the printing system 80-1 so that it is excluded from the page group allocation target. Then, a page that has not been printed out among pages assigned to the failed interpretation device 20-2 is identified, and the identified page group is reassigned to the remaining interpretation devices 20-1 that are operating normally. Let (3) This reassignment is performed by the management apparatus 10 of the printing system 80-1 having the data of the print job being processed, so that when another printing system 80-2 performs printing from the beginning. Thus, there is no need to re-enter print job data from the client to the printing system. (4) In the example of FIG. 7, the non-failed interpretation device 20-1 holds the already generated odd-page intermediate data, but the management device 10 further receives the failed interpretation device 20-. Even-numbered page processing that 2 was in charge of is also assigned. (5) When the interpretation device 20-1 executes the interpretation of the even-numbered pages and generates the intermediate data, the suspended printing can be resumed, and the printing is resumed from the subsequent page by the same printing system 80.

  In order to realize the above processing, the management apparatus 10 includes, for example, a functional module shown in FIG.

  The allocating unit 12 performs processing for allocating and interpreting the page of the print job being executed to each interpretation device 20 in the same printing system 80. The failure detection unit 14 detects the occurrence of a failure when a failure occurs in each interpretation device 20 in the same printing system 80. A specific example of how to detect a failure will be described later. When the failure detection processing unit 16 detects a failure of the interpretation device 20 with the failure detection unit 14, the failure response processing unit 16 performs processing for continuing the print job in response to the failure. That is, the failure handling processing unit 16 disconnects the interpretation device 20 from the printing system 80, identifies the page assigned to the failed interpretation device 20, and identifies the identified page (or an unprocessed print job including these pages). All pages) are reassigned to the remaining normal interpreter 20.

  The outline of the control of this embodiment when the interpretation device 20 in the printing system 80 has failed has been described above. Next, the control of this embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

  The procedure shown in FIG. 9 is executed when it is detected that a failure has occurred in any of the interpretation devices 20 in the printing system 80 under the management of the management device 10. There are roughly two ways to detect a failure.

  One is a case where the management apparatus 10 can no longer communicate with the (failed) interpretation apparatus 20. Examples include the case where the interpretation device 20 crashes, the power is turned off, or a failure occurs in the network connecting the management device 10 and the interpretation device 20. Since the management device 10 and each interpretation device 20 in the same printing system 80 are constantly communicating inquiries and responses between each other for execution of a print job, for example, a response to the inquiry is returned from the interpretation device 20. If not, it is determined that the interpretation device 20 has failed.

  Another aspect of failure detection is a case where the control unit in the interpretation device 20 detects a logical or physical failure in the interpretation device 20 and notifies the management device 10 to that effect. As a logical failure, for example, management information in the interpretation device 20 is damaged, an abnormal program is being executed, or the like. As the physical failure, for example, there is a failure of a physical module such as a hard disk included in the interpretation device 20. In this aspect, the management device 10 can communicate with the interpretation device 20, and the management device 10 notifies the management device 10 that an abnormality has occurred in the interpretation device 20 itself, so that the management device 10 fails in the interpretation device 20. Is detected.

  When the management device 10 detects that a failure has occurred in any of the interpretation devices 20 in the printing system 80 during execution of a certain print job, the interpretation devices 20 in the printing system 80 have completed the interpretation processing. It is determined whether the number of pages (that is, generation of intermediate data has been completed) is greater than a threshold value (S10).

  When the number of interpreted pages is equal to or smaller than the threshold (the determination result in S10 is No), the management apparatus 10 can perform the printing because the print result can be obtained earlier if the print job is re-executed from another printing system. The job is interrupted (S12). Thereafter, the user submits the same job from the client 70 to another printing system 80 and requests printing.

  As described above, in the example of FIG. 9, the above-described relief process is not performed when the print result can be obtained earlier by re-execution of the print job from another printing system. The threshold value of the number of pages used for the determination in S10 may be a fixed value regardless of the total number of pages of the print job, or a value proportional to the total number of pages (that is, a certain percentage of pages with respect to the total number of pages) The number may be a threshold). The number of pages that have been interpreted may be determined from the page number assigned to each interpretation device 20 by the management device 10.

  If it is determined in S10 that the number of interpreted pages is greater than the threshold, the management apparatus 10 inquires of the user who has submitted the print job whether to disconnect the failed interpretation apparatus 20 and continue the print job ( S14). This inquiry may be performed by displaying, for example, the inquiry screen 200 illustrated in FIG. 10 on the display device connected to the management device 10 or the client 70. The inquiry screen 200 includes a message indicating which device (“interpretation device 2” in the illustrated example) has failed while executing which job (“job 1” in the illustrated example) is being executed. Also, the inquiry screen 200 shows information on the number of pages already interpreted in the print job and the number of uninterpreted pages. This information is a judgment material for the user to determine whether to disconnect the troubled interpretation device 20 and continue the processing with the printing system 80 or to restart the processing with another printing system 80 from the beginning. As a determination material, in addition to the example illustrated in FIG. 10, for example, a ratio of interpreted pages to the number of pages of the entire print job may be used. In response to this inquiry, if the user has not selected to continue processing in the printing system 80 (No in S14), the management apparatus 10 interrupts execution of the print job (S12).

  When the user selects to continue processing in the printing system 80 in response to the inquiry (the determination result in S14 is Yes), the management device 10 disconnects the failed interpretation device 20 from the printing system 80 (S16). That is, the management device 10 accesses the configuration management database 50 and deletes the device ID of the failed interpretation device from the list of interpretation devices of the information entry of the system to which the management device 10 belongs. Instead of deleting the ID of the failed interpretation device, attribute information indicating “temporarily invalid” may be added to the ID. In response to this change in the system configuration, each device in the printing system does not recognize the failed interpretation device 20 as a device in the same system.

  Next, the management apparatus 10 acquires an interpreted page list from each interpretation apparatus 20 in the printing system 80 (the failed interpretation apparatus 20 is not already included in the printing system) (S18). The interpreted page list is a list of page numbers of pages interpreted by the interpretation device 20 (that is, generated intermediate data). The interpreter 20 manages the page numbers that have already been assigned and interpreted by the management device 10, and provides the list of the page numbers to the management device 10.

  Further, the management device 10 determines whether or not the current operation mode is an on-the-fly printing mode (S20). In this example, the operation mode of the printing system includes an on-the-fly print mode and a storage print mode, and in S20, it is determined which of the current operation modes is. The accumulated print mode is a mode in which interpretation and printing of one print job are separately designated and executed. In other words, in this mode, first, the interpretation of the print job is instructed, the intermediate data of the print job is generated and stored in the print system 80, and then the intermediate data of all pages of the print job is completed, for example The intermediate data is printed out. This mode is used, for example, in an operation mode in which only interpretation of a print job is executed outside business hours such as at night, and intermediate data of the interpretation result is printed out when the business time comes. On the other hand, the on-the-fly printing mode is a mode in which interpretation of a print job and printing of the interpretation result (intermediate data) are executed in a series of flows. When the user starts a print job, the user designates in which mode the job is to be processed.

  When the determination result in S20 is No (accumulation print mode), the management apparatus 10 identifies the missing page from the interpreted page list acquired from each interpretation apparatus 20 in S18 (S22). Missing pages (hereinafter also referred to as “missing pages”) refer to the remaining pages of the print job, excluding the interpreted pages included in the interpreted page list. . As another example, among the pages already assigned to the interpretation device 20 group, the remaining pages other than the pages included in the acquired interpreted page list may be used as insufficient pages.

  On the other hand, when the determination result in S20 is Yes (on-the-fly printing mode), the management apparatus 10 acquires the number of printed pages from the print control apparatus 30 in the same printing system 80 (S24). Then, the management device 10 calculates the missing pages from the interpreted page list acquired from each interpretation device 20 in S18, the number of printed pages acquired from the print control device 30 in S24, and the imposition designation information of this print job. Is specified (S26). In the on-the-fly printing mode, there may be pages that have already been printed, but such printed pages do not need to be included in the missing pages (which need to be interpreted again due to a failure of the interpreter). Also, a printed page (physical page) may have multiple logical pages impositioned, so by referring to the imposition specification information, how many pages are included in the printed physical page group You can see whether the logical page up to the eye is printed. Therefore, a shortage page can be identified by combining the interpreted page list obtained from each interpretation device 20 with information on the number of printed pages and imposition designation. For example, among the remaining pages obtained by removing the interpreted pages (logical pages) from all the pages of the print job, the remainder obtained by further subtracting the logical pages printed on the printed pages (physical pages) is calculated as a missing page. In another example, the remainder obtained by further subtracting the logical page printed on the printed page from the remainder obtained by removing the interpreted page from the pages already assigned to the interpretation device 20 group is specified as the missing page. Is done.

  After S22 or S26, the management device 10 reassigns the specified missing page group to each interpretation device 20 (the failed interpretation device 20 has been deleted) in the printing system, and executes interpretation processing (S28). ). If only one normal interpretation device 20 remains in the printing system 80 after the defective interpretation device 20 is deleted, all the missing pages are reassigned to that single interpretation device 20. If there are a plurality of remaining normal interpretation devices 20, the shortage page group is distributed to the plurality of interpretation devices 20. The interpretation processing of the missing page group need not be all assigned to a plurality of normal interpretation devices 20, but may be assigned to only one interpretation device 20 determined based on a predetermined rule. It may be assigned to a part of the interpreter 20.

  After S28, it is determined whether the print job mode is the on-the-fly print mode (S30). If the print job mode is the on-the-fly print mode, printing is performed on the first physical page of the unprinted portion of the print job by the reassignment of S28. When the generation of the intermediate data of the logical page to be completed is completed, the printing process is resumed (S32).

  Although omitted in FIG. 9, when there is only one interpretation device 20 in the printing system 80 and the failure of the interpretation device 20 is detected, the management device 10 proceeds to the processing after S <b> 10. Without interrupting the current print job.

  Next, specific examples of calculation of insufficient pages (S22 and S26) at the time of failure detection in the accumulation print mode and the on-the-fly print mode will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, respectively. The example of FIGS. 11 and 12 is a case where a failure occurs in the interpretation device 20-2 of the printing system 80 having the two interpretation devices 20-1 and 20-2 illustrated in FIG.

  First, the case of the accumulation print mode will be described with reference to FIG. Here, description will be made assuming that the relief process is performed regardless of S10 and S14 in the procedure of FIG.

  In this example, it is assumed that the management apparatus 10 alternately assigns pages to the two interpretation apparatuses 20-1 and 20-2 in order from the first page of a print job having a total number of 10 pages. To do. Therefore, odd pages are assigned to the former, and even pages are assigned to the latter. Before the failure occurs, the management device 10 assigns the first, third, and fifth pages of a job to the interpretation device 20-1 and the second, fourth, and sixth pages to the interpretation device 20-3 in that order. It is assumed that a failure of the interpretation device 20-2 is detected when the interpretation devices 20-1 and 20-2 have finished interpreting the assigned page group and are about to receive the next page assignment. . At this time, the intermediate data storage unit 22 of the interpretation device 20-1 stores the first, third, and fifth page intermediate data, and the management table 24 stores the interpreted page numbers 1, 3, and 5. Yes. Similarly, the intermediate data of the second, fourth, and sixth pages are accumulated in the intermediate data accumulation unit 22 of the interpretation device 20-2, and the interpreted page numbers 2, 4, and 6 are registered in the management table 24. .

  (1) The management device 10 that has detected the failure of the interpretation device 20-2 disconnects the interpretation device 20-2 from the printing system 80, and with respect to a normal (non-failed) interpretation device 20-1 in the printing system 80. To request an interpreted page list.

  (2) The interpreting device 20-1 that has received the request refers to the management table 24 to recognize that the currently interpreted pages are the first, third, and fifth pages, and the page as an interpreted page list. A list of numbers 1, 3, 5 is created. (3) Then, the created interpreted page list is returned to the management apparatus 10 as a response to the request.

  (4) The management apparatus 10 uses the interpreted page list received from the normal interpretation apparatus (in this case, only 20-1) and, for example, information on the currently executing print job (the total number of pages is 10 pages). Identify missing pages. In this example, of the first to tenth pages of the print job, the remainder obtained by removing the page numbers 1, 3, and 5 in the interpreted page list received from the only normal interpretation device 20-1, that is, the second, fourth, and fourth pages. , 6-10 pages are identified as missing pages. As another example, the management device 10 includes the remaining second, except for the interpreted pages 1, 3, and 5 among the first to sixth pages already assigned to the interpreting devices 20-1 and 20-2. Pages 4 and 6 may be specified as missing pages. Of the specified missing pages, pages that have already been allocated to the normal interpretation device 20 (however, the interpretation process has not been completed) are omitted from the missing pages.

  (5) The management device 10 assigns the specified insufficient pages to the normal interpretation device 20-1 in the page order, and instructs generation of intermediate data. In the illustrated example, pages 2, 4, 6 to 10 are allocated in page order. The interpretation device 20-1 executes the interpretation processing of pages assigned in order. It should be noted that when the management device 10 tries to assign a shortage page to the interpretation device 20-1, the page (for example, the seventh page) that the interpretation device 20-1 has already assigned before the failure (of the interpretation device 20-2) occurs. Page) may still be in process. In such a case, after the interpretation device 20-1 finishes processing the page being processed, the insufficient page is allocated. Alternatively, a shortage page may be assigned during the processing of the page, but the processing of the shortage page to which the interpretation device 20-1 is assigned is started after the processing of the currently processed page is finished.

  When the remaining pages 2, 4, and 6 except for the interpreted pages 1, 3, and 5 are identified as missing pages among the first to sixth pages that have been assigned to the interpretation devices 20-1 and 20-2. The management apparatus 10 assigns the insufficient pages 2, 4, and 6 to the normal interpretation apparatus 20-1, and then assigns the remaining seventh to tenth pages of the print job to the interpretation apparatus 20-1.

  Since the above description relates to the accumulation print mode, the interpretation result (intermediate data) of the page is accumulated in the intermediate data accumulation unit 22, and a separate output instruction is awaited.

  Next, the case of the on-the-fly printing mode will be described with reference to FIG. In this example as well, a description will be given assuming that relief processing is performed regardless of S10 and S14 in the procedure of FIG. This example is also an example under the same assumption as in FIG.

  (1) The management device 10 that has detected the failure of the interpretation device 20-2 disconnects the interpretation device 20-2 from the printing system 80, and collects the interpreted page list from the normal interpretation device 20-1 in the printing system 80. . This process is the same as in the case of FIG.

  (2) The management apparatus 10 requests the number of printed pages from the print control apparatus 30 in the printing system 80. In this example, it is assumed that printing of two physical pages has been completed at this point. Therefore, the print control apparatus 30 returns “2” as the number of printed pages to the management apparatus 10.

  (3) The management apparatus 10 acquires the acquired interpreted page list, the number of printed pages, and this print text imposition designation (in the illustrated example, so-called 2-up designation that prints two logical pages on one physical page). For example, the missing pages are identified from the information of the currently executing print job (the total number of pages is 10 pages).

  In this example, out of all pages 1 to 10 of the print job, the remaining pages except the page numbers 1, 3, and 5 in the interpreted page list received from the only normal interpreter 20-1, that is, second, fourth, , 6 to 10 pages are candidates for insufficient pages. On the other hand, since the number of printed pages is 2 and the imposition is 2-up, the first to fourth pages (logical pages) are printed. Therefore, the remainder obtained by removing the printed pages from the above-mentioned candidates, that is, the sixth to tenth pages is specified as the missing page.

  As another example, the management device 10 includes the remaining second, except for the interpreted pages 1, 3, and 5 among the first to sixth pages already assigned to the interpreting devices 20-1 and 20-2. The sixth and sixth pages, which are the remaining pages obtained by subtracting the printed pages 1 to 4 from the candidates, may be specified as the missing pages.

  (4) The management device 10 assigns the specified insufficient pages to the normal interpretation device 20-1 in page order, and instructs generation of intermediate data. In the illustrated example, the sixth to tenth pages are allocated in the page order. The interpretation device 20-1 executes the interpretation processing of pages assigned in order.

  (5) Then, when the intermediate data of the sixth page is generated, it is supplied to the print control apparatus 30 together with the intermediate data of the already generated fifth page, and the third page in which these fifth and sixth pages are arranged. A physical page is printed out. Thereafter, every time interpretation of two pages is completed in order of pages, a physical page in which they are arranged is printed.

  In the examples of FIGS. 11 and 12, it has been described that all pages of the print job are printed. However, only some pages of the print job may be designated as print targets. For example, there may be an instruction that pages 101 to 200 of the print job are to be printed. In this way, when there is an instruction to print (or only interpret) a part of the print job, the insufficient pages can be obtained from a part of the page group to be printed.

  Further, in the above example, the management device 10 calculates the missing page based on the interpreted page list acquired from each interpretation device 20, but this is only an example. Since the management device 10 assigns a page to each interpretation device 10, if the page assigned to each interpretation device 10 is stored, the page of the page assigned to the failed interpretation device 10 can be determined from the stored information. The missing page can be identified from the information.

  In the above example, the print control device 30 provides the number of printed pages indicating the number of printed physical pages to the management device 10 for the calculation of insufficient pages at the time of failure in the on-the-fly print mode. Is just an example. Since the print control device 30 receives the intermediate data of each logical page from each interpretation device 20 and performs imposition, the print control device 30 recognizes which logical page is impositioned on the printed physical page. Therefore, the print control device 30 generates a list (or the number of logical pages) of the logical pages printed on the printed physical pages and provides the list to the management device 10, and the management device 10 has printed the information from the information. A logical page may be specified.

  Next, a modification of the above embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In this modification, as shown in FIG. 13, when a failure occurs in the interpretation device 20-2 in a certain printing system 80-1, the interpretation device 20-3 from another printing system 80-2 belonging to the same super system. Is temporarily borrowed to compensate for a decrease in interpretation processing capability of the printing system 80-1.

  FIG. 14 shows an example of the processing procedure of this modification. When the management apparatus 10 of the printing system 80-1 detects that a failure has occurred in the interpretation apparatus 20-2 in the system, the management apparatus 10 starts the process shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the processing procedure of FIG. 14 will be described with reference to FIG.

  In this process, the management apparatus 10 first determines whether or not the mode of the print job currently being executed is the on-the-fly print mode (S40).

  When it is not the on-the-fly printing mode (that is, when it is the accumulation printing mode), the management device 10 disconnects the failed interpretation device 20-2 from the printing system 80-1 (S42). Then, the shortage page specified by the method described in the above embodiment is allocated to the interpretation device 20-1 remaining in the printing system 80-1 (S52), and the printing that was temporarily stopped when the failure was detected is resumed (S54). ). In this case, the printing system 80-1 interprets the missing page with one interpretation device 20-1.

  In the accumulation print mode, it is not necessary to make the print job interpretation process in time for the progress of printing in the printing apparatus 40. For this reason, even if the missing page (and the remaining pages after that) is processed in a state where the interpreter 20-2 is disconnected and the interpretation processing capability is reduced, there is generally no problem. Therefore, in the procedure of FIG. 14, in the accumulation print mode, the interpreter 20-3 is not borrowed from another print system, but the failed interpreter 20-2 is simply disconnected from the print system 80-1. Missing pages are being processed.

  If it is determined in S40 that the printer is in the on-the-fly printing mode, the management apparatus 10 further determines whether or not on-the-fly printing is satisfied when the failed interpretation device 20-2 is disconnected from the printing system 80-1 (S44). “On-the-fly printing is realized” means that the interpretation processing speed of the interpretation device 20 group in the printing system 80-1 is equal to or higher than the printing speed of the printing device 40 in the printing system 80-1. In contrast, it means that the interpretation result of each page can be supplied without delay. The management device 10 holds or can obtain information on the processing speed of each interpretation device 20 in the printing system 80-1 and the printing speed of the printing device 40, and from that information, the failed interpretation device. It is determined whether or not the processing speed of the remaining normal interpretation devices 20-1 excluding 20-2 is equal to or higher than the printing speed of the printing device 40. If the result of this determination is affirmative (interpretation processing speed is equal to or higher than the printing speed), the determination result in S44 is “On-the-fly printing is established”. When a plurality of normal interpretation devices 20 remain, it is considered that the total processing speed of these devices is substantially equal to the interpretation processing speed of the printing system 80-1 as a whole. Compare.

  If it is determined in S44 that “it is satisfied” (the determination result is Yes), the management device 10 simply disconnects the failed interpretation device 20-2 from the printing system 80-1 (S42) and remains in the printing system 80-1. Insufficient pages are allocated to the interpretation device 20-1 (S52), and printing is resumed (S54).

  When it is determined in S44 that it does not hold (the determination result is No), the management apparatus 10 checks whether an interpretation apparatus can be borrowed from another printing system 80-2 in the same super system (S46).

  In this step, for example, the management device 10 accesses the configuration management database 50 to obtain information on other management devices 10 in the super system, and sets the interpretation device 20 to these other management devices 10. Ask if you can't borrow. The other management device 10 that has received the inquiry includes a plurality of interpretation devices 20 in the printing system 80 managed by the management device 10, and the lending prohibition is set in the plurality of interpretation devices 20. If there is one or more items that are not present and there is one that is not currently being interpreted in the interpretation devices 20 that are not prohibited from lending, a reply that the interpretation device 20 can be lent is returned. This answer includes information (for example, device ID) of the interpretation device 20 that can be lent (that is, the device that is not banned and is not currently being processed). Also,

  When the management device 10 of the printing system 80-1 receives a reply that it can be lent from any of the management devices 10 in the super system (the determination result in S48 is Yes), the failed interpretation device 20-2 is replaced with the printing system 80. 1 is incorporated into the same system as the interpretation device 20 that has been disconnected from the other management device 10 and answered that it can be lent (S50). At this time, the other management apparatus 10 that has answered that the interpretation apparatus 20 can be lent temporarily disconnects the interpretation apparatus 20 from its printing system 80.

  After such a system reconfiguration, the management apparatus 10 of the printing system 80-1 assigns the missing page group to the interpretation apparatus 20 group of the system including the borrowed interpretation apparatus 20 and executes interpretation (S52). . Then, the print output process that has been temporarily stopped is resumed (S54).

  If it is determined in S48 that no response is obtained from any of the management devices 10 in the super system (determination result is No), the management device 10 of the printing system 80-1 provides some interpretation to the user. It is notified that the printing speed is reduced due to the failure of the apparatus (S56), and an inquiry is made as to whether or not to continue the print job (S58). Note that if the on-the-fly printing does not hold, there is a problem in the printing process of the printing apparatus 40 (for example, in the printing of continuous form paper, the interval between pages printed on the continuous form paper is increased due to a delay in the supply of print image data. ) May be notified that such a failure will occur and allow the user to determine whether to continue.

  When the user replies to the inquiry that the printing is continued, the management device 10 disconnects the failed interpretation device 20-2 from the printing system 80-1 (S42) and remains in the printing system 80-1. Insufficient pages are allocated to the interpretation device 20-1 (S52), and printing is resumed (S54). Conversely, when the user replies to the inquiry that printing is to be continued, the management apparatus 10 interrupts the print job (S59) and ends the processing for the print job.

  Returning to FIG. 13, a specific example of the process of this modification will be described. In this modification, when a failure of the interpretation device 20-2 in the printing system 80-1 is detected, (1) the management device 10 in the system disconnects the interpretation device 20-2 from the system, and (2) others The borrowed interpretation device 20-3 is borrowed from the printing system 80-2. Thereby, the printing system 80-1 has a system configuration having the same two interpretation devices 20 as before the failure occurrence, and can achieve an interpretation processing speed equivalent to that before the failure. The management apparatus 10 transfers the data of the currently executing print job to the borrowed interpretation apparatus 20-3. (3) Since the print job is not re-executed from the beginning by another print system 80-2, it is not necessary to re-enter the print job from the client 70 to the print system 80-1. (4) The management device 10 reassigns the missing pages to the interpretation device 20 in normal operation in the printing system 80-1. (5) In this reassignment, page processing is assigned not only to the existing interpretation device 20-1, but also to the borrowed interpretation device 20-3. As a result, the cancellation devices 20-1 and 20-3 execute the interpretation of the insufficient pages in parallel.

  In the above modification, it is a precondition that all the interpretation devices 20 have the same processing speed. On the other hand, when the processing speeds of the interpretation devices 20 are different from each other, the processing speed that exceeds the processing speed of the failed interpretation device 20-2 among the interpretation devices 20 notified by other management devices 10 that it can be lent. Select and borrow ones with In addition, when there is no interpreter 20 that can be lent that has a processing speed equal to or higher than the processing speed of the interpretation apparatus 20-2 that has failed alone, it is equal to or greater than the combination of a plurality of interpreters 20 that can be lent. It is determined whether the processing speed can be achieved. If a combination that can achieve a processing speed equal to or higher than that is found, each interpretation device 20 included in the combination is borrowed and incorporated into the printing system 80-1.

  In the above modification, when the management apparatus 10 of the printing system 80-1 completes the execution of the print job using the borrowed interpretation apparatus 20-3, the printing apparatus 80-3 originally belonged to the interpretation apparatus 20-3. Return to system 80-2. More specifically, the management apparatus 10 deletes the apparatus ID of the interpretation apparatus 20-3 from the management information of the printing system 80-1 to which the management apparatus 10 belongs in the printing system management information (see FIG. 4) in the configuration management database 50. To do. Further, the management device 10 notifies the lending source management device 10 of the return of the device ID, and the lending source management device 10 receives the notification, and the device ID belongs to itself in the printing system management information. It is added to the management information of the printing system 80-2.

  In the example of FIGS. 13 and 14, borrowing the interpretation device 20 from another printing system 80 is limited to the on-the-fly printing mode only (S44 in FIG. 14), but this is only an example. Even in the accumulation print mode, the interpretation device 20 may be borrowed from another system. However, as described above, in the on-the-fly printing mode, the demand for the interpretation processing speed is generally higher, so it is significant to borrow the interpretation device 20 from another system.

  The embodiments of the present invention and the modifications thereof have been described above. These embodiments and modifications are merely examples of the configuration according to the present invention. Various modifications are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment and the modification, the interpretation device 20 converts the PDL data into intermediate data, and the print control device 30 converts the intermediate data into print image data such as a raster format. Absent. Instead, the interpretation device 20 converts the PDL data into print image data, and the print control device 30 arranges the print image data transferred from the one or more interpretation devices 20 in the order of printing or impositions the printing device. It is also possible to provide a configuration of 40.

  Further, in the above example, the management apparatus 10 assigns a responsible portion in units of pages to a plurality of interpretation apparatuses 20 in the same printing system 80, but instead assigns in units other than pages, for example, bands and tiles. May be performed. The band is a band-like region obtained by equally dividing a page by a straight line parallel to the main scanning line in the printing process of the printing apparatus 40, and the tile is parallel to the main scanning line and the sub-scanning line of the printing process. This is a rectangular area obtained by equally dividing a page vertically and horizontally with a straight line.

  The management device 10, the interpretation device 20, and the print control device 30 exemplified above are realized by causing a general-purpose computer to execute a program representing processing of each functional module of the device. The computer referred to here includes, for example, a microprocessor such as a CPU, a memory (primary storage) such as a random access memory (RAM) and a read only memory (ROM), an HDD (hard disk drive), and an SSD (solid state drive). ), A secondary storage controller for controlling secondary storage such as a flash memory, various I / O (input / output) interfaces, a network interface for controlling connection to a wireless or wired network, etc. via, for example, a bus Connected to each other. In addition, various standards such as a disk drive and a flash memory for reading and / or writing to a portable disk recording medium such as a CD, a DVD, and a Blu-ray disk are connected to the bus via, for example, an I / O interface. A memory reader / writer for reading from and / or writing to the nonvolatile recording medium may be connected. A program in which the processing content of each functional module exemplified above is described is stored in a secondary storage device such as a flash memory via a recording medium such as a CD or DVD, or via a communication means such as a network, and the computer To be installed. The program stored in the secondary storage device is read into the RAM and executed by a microprocessor such as a CPU, thereby realizing the functional module group exemplified above. Further, some of the functions of the management device 10, the interpretation device 20, and the print control device 30 may be implemented as a hardware circuit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Management apparatus, 12 Allocation part, 14 Failure detection part, 16 Failure handling process part, 20, 20-1, 20-2, 20-3, 20-4 Interpretation apparatus, 22 Intermediate data storage part, 24 Management table, 30 Print control device, 40 printing device, 50 configuration management database, 60 data communication network, 70 client, 80 printing system.

Claims (6)

An assigning means for assigning and interpreting a portion of the print data to be interpreted for each of a plurality of interpretation devices that interpret the print data;
A failure detection means for detecting a failure of the interpretation device;
If a failure of any of the plurality of interpretation devices is detected, if the number of pages interpreted by the plurality of interpretation devices of the print data exceeds a predetermined threshold, The portion assigned to the failed interpretation device detected by the failure detection means is reassigned to the remaining interpretation devices other than the failed interpretation device among the plurality of interpretation devices to be interpreted, and the interpreted page if the number is less than the threshold value, the reassignment means you stop processing the print data by the plurality of interpreter without the reallocation,
Have a, the threshold value, the remaining interpretation the interpreted the number of pages, except for the interpreter that the failure of the plurality of interpreter pages group uninterpreted of the print data equal to or smaller than the threshold value A print management apparatus that is set so that a print result of the print data can be obtained earlier when the print data is reprinted from the beginning in a different printing system, rather than being reassigned to the apparatus for interpretation . The plurality of interpretation devices send interpretation result data obtained by interpreting the portion assigned by the assignment means to one print control device, and the print control device receives the print data received from the plurality of interpretation devices. Let the printing device perform printing according to the interpretation result data corresponding to each part of
The reallocation unit acquires, when the failure detection unit detects a failure of any of the interpretation devices, acquires printed information indicating the portion printed by the printing device from the print control device, and acquires the information The printed portion indicated by the printed information is removed from the reassignment target.
The print management apparatus according to claim 1. An assigning means for assigning and interpreting a portion of the print data to be interpreted for each of a plurality of interpretation devices that interpret the print data;
A failure detection means for detecting a failure of the interpretation device;
A portion of the print data assigned to the failed interpretation device detected by the failure detection means is reassigned to the remaining interpretation devices other than the failed interpretation device among the plurality of interpretation devices for re-interpretation. Assigning means;
A print management apparatus having
The plurality of interpretation devices send interpretation result data obtained by interpreting the portion assigned by the assignment means to one print control device, and the print control device receives the print data received from the plurality of interpretation devices. Let the printing device perform printing according to the interpretation result data corresponding to each part of
The reallocation unit acquires, when the failure detection unit detects a failure of any of the interpretation devices , acquires printed information indicating the portion printed by the printing device from the print control device, and acquires the information The printed portion indicated by the printed information is excluded from the reassignment target , and at least one of interpretation devices corresponding to the other print management device is borrowed from another print management device, and borrowed The reassignment is also performed on the interpretation device.
Print management device you wherein a.   The re-assignment unit is configured so that the remaining interpretation devices other than the failed interpretation device among the plurality of interpretation devices cannot supply the interpretation result data in time for the printing speed of the printing device. The print management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an interpretation apparatus is borrowed from the apparatus. Computer
An assigning means for assigning and interpreting a portion of the print data to be interpreted for each of a plurality of interpretation devices for interpreting the print data;
Failure detection means for detecting a failure of the interpretation device,
If a failure of any of the plurality of interpretation devices is detected, if the number of pages interpreted by the plurality of interpretation devices of the print data exceeds a predetermined threshold, The portion assigned to the failed interpretation device detected by the failure detection means is reassigned to the remaining interpretation devices other than the failed interpretation device among the plurality of interpretation devices to be interpreted, and the interpreted page if the number is less than the threshold, the reallocation means you stop processing the print data by the plurality of interpreter without the reallocation,
And the threshold value is an uninterpreted page group in the print data if the number of interpreted pages is equal to or less than the threshold value. Rather than reassigning and interpreting to the remaining interpretation devices except for, it is determined that the printing result of the printing data can be obtained earlier if the printing data is reprinted from the beginning with another printing system. , Program . A plurality of interpretation devices for interpreting print data;
A print management device;
Have
The print management apparatus includes:
Assigning means for causing the interpreting device to assign and interpret a portion of the print data to be interpreted;
A failure detection means for detecting a failure of the interpretation device;
If a failure of any of the plurality of interpretation devices is detected, if the number of pages interpreted by the plurality of interpretation devices of the print data exceeds a predetermined threshold, The portion assigned to the failed interpretation device detected by the failure detection means is reassigned to the remaining interpretation devices other than the failed interpretation device among the plurality of interpretation devices to be interpreted, and the interpreted page if the number is less than the threshold value, the reassignment means you stop processing the print data by the plurality of interpreter without the reallocation,
Have a, the threshold value, the remaining interpretation the interpreted the number of pages, except for the interpreter that the failure of the plurality of interpreter pages group uninterpreted of the print data equal to or smaller than the threshold value Rather than being reassigned to an apparatus for interpretation, it is determined that a print result of the print data can be obtained earlier by reprinting the print data from a different printing system from the beginning. Printing system.

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