JP6147064B2 - Information processing apparatus, control method, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a print job management technique in print ordering work.

  An information processing apparatus (for example, a printer) that performs printing by performing a special imposition process called ganging has been proposed. The imposition means that image data to be printed is arranged and data for printing is created in accordance with the convenience of printing, cutting, and bookbinding. Ganging is imposing print data that was originally separate as one print data. A series of work units that handle ganged print data is called a ganging job. By printing using the print data imposed by ganging, a plurality of print orders can be processed simultaneously. As a result, it is possible to reduce paper waste and to reduce the load and mistakes in print setting work.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing apparatus that performs ganging according to the number of cutting lines of layout candidates and the number of rotations of a printing sheet that are required at the time of cutting processing.

JP 2007-299286 A

  In the information processing apparatus that performs ganging, the following problems exist. Ganging prints one or more prints with different order quantities in the same print data, so when the execution of a ganging job is completed, In some cases, excess or deficiency in the number of print orders may occur. If the number of manufactured items is larger than the number of print orders, paper is wasted. If the number of manufactured items is smaller than the number of print orders, additional shortage needs to be printed. However, according to the conventional technology, it is impossible to notify how many prints to be ganged are printed or how much excess or deficiency occurs with respect to the number of orders depending on the number of ganging jobs printed. Further, in the conventional technology, it is not possible to manage a job that covers the shortage of a printed matter in which the shortage has occurred.

  In other words, conventionally, when printing by performing ganging, an information processing apparatus has been proposed for notifying the excess or deficiency of the number of individual printed products produced with respect to the number of print orders, or for managing print jobs corresponding to insufficient printed materials. It has not been.

  The present invention has been made to solve at least one of the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for managing a print job corresponding to a shortage of printed matter when the number of individual printed matters is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders when printing is performed by ganging. .

An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a receiving unit that receives an instruction to place and print first print data corresponding to a plurality of print jobs in second print data corresponding to one print job; Management means for creating and managing print job management information corresponding to the second print data as first management information. The management means associates the information related to the print data ordered for printing with the information related to the print data corresponding to the print job, stores the information in the storage means as print job management information, and stores the set second print data Based on the number of prints and the management information of the print job stored in the storage unit, it is determined whether the number of output of the first print data is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders, and the first Management information of the print job corresponding to the shortage of the first print data when the output number of the first print data due to the execution of the print job corresponding to the management information is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders Is created and managed as second management information.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to manage print jobs corresponding to a shortage of printed matter when the number of individual printed matters is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders when printing is performed by ganging. .

It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of information processing apparatus. It is an example of a functional block diagram of an information processor. It is a figure explaining the logical structure of the management data stored in a database. It is a figure which shows an example of a printing work list screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a printing order information input screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a printing order table, a printing work table, and an order correspondence work table. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of operation processing of the information processing apparatus. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for describing creation processing of ganging job data and insufficient print job data. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a ganging candidate selection screen. It is a figure which shows an example of the print data printed by a ganging job. It is a figure which shows the state of a database. It is a figure which shows an example of a printing number setting screen. It is a figure which shows the result of a database update process. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement process of information processing apparatus after execution of a ganging job is completed. It is a figure which shows the result of a database update process.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 100 includes a CPU 101 through a pointing device 107. The CPU 101 controls the entire information processing apparatus according to a control program (computer program) stored in the RAM 102. RAM is an abbreviation for Random Access Memory. The RAM 102 is an internal storage unit that stores data such as a control program, application, and document image executed by the CPU 101.

  A network I / F (Interface) 103 is connected to a network and transmits / receives data and the like under the control of the CPU 101. The external storage device 104 is a storage device that stores data. The external storage device 104 is a magnetic disk, for example. The display 105 displays various information. The keyboard 106 and the pointing device 107 input information corresponding to a user operation to the information processing apparatus 100.

  The CPU 101 performs the following operations by executing a control program stored in the RAM 102. The CPU 101 uses an OS (Operating System) function stored in the RAM 102 as necessary. The CPU 101 reads / writes the contents of internal data temporarily stored in the RAM 102. In addition, the CPU 101 transmits and receives data to and from other information processing apparatuses through the network interface 103. The CPU 101 reads and writes data on the external storage device 104. Further, the CPU 101 displays visual information such as a user interface and a processing result on the display 105. In addition, the CPU 101 receives user input from the keyboard 106 and the pointing device 107.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The information processing apparatus 100 includes an order data input unit 201, a ganging candidate determination unit 202, a data display unit 203, a ganging availability determination unit 204, and a print data generation unit 205. The information processing apparatus 100 also includes a data acquisition / update unit 206, a database 207, a print number input unit 208, and a work status change input unit 209.

  The order data input unit 201 receives print order information from the user via the keyboard 106 and the pointing device 107 or from the external system via the network interface 103.

  The ganging candidate determination unit 202 determines a ganging candidate printing operation in accordance with an instruction received from the user. The ganging candidate determination unit 202 may automatically determine a ganging candidate printing operation without an instruction from the user. As described above, ganging means imposing print data that was originally separate as one print data. In other words, ganging is to arrange and print a plurality of print data (first print data) as print data (second print data) corresponding to one print job.

  The data display unit 203 displays information in the database on the display 105. The ganging availability determination unit 204 determines whether the determined ganging candidate can be ganged. The print data generation unit 205 generates print data. The print data generation unit 205 generates ganging job print data for ganging candidates determined to be ganged. The data acquisition / update unit 206 acquires information from the database or updates information in the database.

  The database 207 holds various types of information (management data) necessary for the information processing apparatus 100 to manage print jobs. A print number input unit 208 inputs and sets the number of prints of a ganging job. The work status change input unit 209 receives a change in the work status of the printing work.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the logical structure of management data stored in the database 207. The management data includes print order data stored in the print order table 301, print work data stored in the print work table 302, and an ER diagram (entity relation diagram) in FIG. And order corresponding work data stored in the order corresponding work table 303.

A record of print order data stored in the print order table 301 is associated with a print order ID. The print order data includes, for example, data relating to individual orders such as paper name, paper size, print data, delivery date, order quantity (number of print orders), and printed quantity.

  A record of print work data stored in the print work table 302 is associated with a print order ID. The print work data includes, for example, data related to a print work for manufacturing a printed material, such as a paper name, paper size, print data, number of printed sheets, work status, and ganging flag. As shown in FIG. 3B, the work status is, for example, any one of waiting for printing, during printing work, and completion of work.

  The ganging flag indicates whether the printing work corresponds to the ganging job. A ganging flag value “0” indicates that the printing operation is not ganged. A ganging flag value “1” indicates that the printing operation is ganged.

  The order correspondence work data stored in the order correspondence work table 303 indicates the correspondence relationship with which print work the ordered printed matter is manufactured. Specifically, the order handling work data includes correspondence information of the print order ID, the print work ID, and the number of arrangements. The number of arrangements indicates how many pieces of print data of the print order corresponding to the print order ID are arranged in the print data of the print work corresponding to the print work ID. By associating the print order ID and the print work ID in the order correspondence work table 303, the record of the print order table and the record of the print work table are associated with each other.

  For a printing job without ganging, since one printing order is associated with one printing work, there is no need to separate the printing order and the printing work as a table. However, for a printing job that performs ganging, a plurality of printing orders may be associated with one printing job due to ganging. In addition, for a certain print order, a part of the number of orders may be ganged, and the rest may be produced with a normal imposition, so one print order may be associated with a plurality of printing operations. Therefore, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment divides the print order and the print work as the tables (301, 302) as described above, and further has an order corresponding work table 303 indicating the relationship between them. In addition to the above, there are various types of data necessary for managing the printing job, such as the name of the orderer's address, but this data is not necessary for describing this embodiment. Is omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print work list screen. The print work list screen is a user interface for instructing to create a print order or a ganging job. The user interface for giving an instruction to create a print order or a ganging job is not limited to that shown in FIG. The data display unit 203 displays the print work list screen as an initial screen.

  The print work list display column 401 displays the contents of the print work table 302 in the database 207. The “new print order information input” button 402 is a button for calling a print order information input screen for inputting new print order information. The “create ganging job” button 403 is a button for instructing ganging job creation.

  An example of processing until the information processing apparatus accepts input of print order information and constructs data corresponding thereto will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

  First, the order data input unit 201 receives input of print order information. In this example, the received data is a paper name, paper size, print data, order quantity, and delivery date. The order data input unit 201 may accept input of print order information via a graphical user interface such as a dialog box, or may accept input of print order information via a command-based user interface. Further, the application may have an interface for receiving input from another application, and the input of print information may be received from another application using the interface.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print order information input screen. The print order information input screen is a graphical user interface that is called when the user presses the “input new print order information” button 402 in FIG. 4.

  The print order information input screen includes a paper name input unit 501, a paper size input unit 502, a print data input unit 503, an order quantity input unit 504, and a delivery date input unit 505. The user inputs a value in each input unit and presses an OK button 506 to determine print order information. As a result, the order data input unit 201 receives an input of print order information. The user can also cancel the input by pressing a cancel button 507.

  Next, the data acquisition / update unit 206 creates a record of each table shown in FIG. 3A based on the print order information received by the order information input unit 201 and stores it in the database 207. Hereinafter, rules when the data acquisition / update unit 206 creates a record of each table illustrated in FIG. 3A will be described.

  For the print order table, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets a value in each field of the record according to the following rules. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets a unique value in the print order table for the “print order ID”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “paper name” of the print order information received by the paper name input unit 501 in “paper name”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “paper size” of the print order information received by the paper size input unit 502 in “paper size”. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “print data” of the print order information received by the print data input unit 503 in “print data”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “delivery date” of the print order information received by the delivery date input unit 505 in “delivery date”. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “order number” of the print order information received by the order number input unit 504 in “order number”. Further, since the data acquisition / update unit 206 has not yet performed the printing operation, “0” is set in the “number of printed sheets”.

  FIG. 6A is an example of a record of the print order table created from the print order information input on the print order information input screen of FIG. Actually, the print data is stored in the database as binary data. However, in order to make the concept easy to understand, the file name is expressed in FIG. 6A. The data acquisition / update unit 206 may store the print data in a file server or the like, and store only the URI and path name in the database.

  For the print work table, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets a value in each field of the record according to the following rules. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets a unique value in the print work table for the “print work ID”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “paper name” of the print order information received by the paper name input unit 501 in “paper name”. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “paper size” of the print order information received by the paper size input unit 502 in “paper size”. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “print data” of the print order information received by the print data input unit 503 in “print data”. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the “order number” of the print order information received by the order number input unit 504 in “number of prints”. In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “waiting for printing” as an initial value in “work status”. In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “0” indicating that ganging is not performed as an initial value in the “gaming flag”.

  FIG. 6B is an example of a record in the print work table created from the print order information input on the print order information input screen of FIG. Actually, the print data is stored in the database as binary data. However, in order to make the concept easy to understand, the file name is expressed in FIG. 6A. The data acquisition / update unit 206 may store the print data in a file server or the like, and store only the URI and path name in the database.

  For the order correspondence work table, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets a value in each field of the record according to the following rule. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as the “print order ID” generated when creating the record of the print order table in the “print order ID”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as the “printing work ID” generated when creating the record of the printing work table in the “printing work ID”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “1” to “Number of arrangements”. This is because ganging is not instructed in the initial state, and the input print data is used as it is for the printing operation.

  FIG. 6C shows an example of a record in the order correspondence work table created from the print order information input on the print order information input screen of FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of operation processing of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. With reference to FIG. 7, a procedure for creating a ganging job and a job for manufacturing a shortage that cannot be manufactured by the ganging job will be described.

  First, the ganging candidate determination unit 202 receives an instruction to create a ganging job from the user (step S701). For example, when the user depresses the “Create Gaming Job” button 403 on the print job list screen of FIG. 4, an instruction to create a ganging job is issued.

  Next, the ganging candidate determination unit 202 determines ganging candidates (step S702). A ganging candidate is a record of a print work table that is a ganging candidate. For example, the ganging candidate determination unit 202 displays a ganging candidate selection screen. The ganging candidate selection screen is a user interface for selecting a ganging candidate. Then, the ganging candidates are determined according to the user's operation on the ganging candidate selection screen.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a ganging candidate selection screen. The ganging candidate determination unit 202 displays a print job ID and print data associated with a print job that is currently “waiting for printing” and not a ganging job (having a ganging flag of “0”) on the ganging candidate selection screen. When the user checks a check box 901 corresponding to a print job to be a ganging candidate and presses an OK button 902, the ganging candidate determination unit 202 determines the checked print job as a ganging candidate. The user can cancel the input with a cancel button 903. Note that the ganging candidate determination unit 202 may automatically determine ganging candidates according to a predetermined rule.

Examples of the predetermined rule include the following rules (1) to (3).
(1) Status is “Waiting for printing” (2) Ganging flag is “0” (3) Paper names of ganging candidates are the same

  When there are many that apply to the above rules, the ganging candidate determination unit 202 may, for example, set n (n is 2 or more) as ganging candidates in order from the shortest time from the present to the delivery date.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the ganging possibility determination unit 204 determines whether or not the ganging candidate determined in step S702 can be ganged (step S703). In this example, the process for determining whether or not ganging is possible uses a known technique (for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2), and detailed description thereof is omitted. As an example, the ganging possibility determination unit 204 determines whether the ganging candidate print sheets are the same, and determines that the ganging candidate can be ganged when the print sheets are the same. When it is determined that the ganging candidate is not gangable, the ganging availability determination unit 204 notifies the user that ganging is not possible.

  When it is determined that the ganging candidate is gang-capable, the processes in steps S704, S705, and S706 are executed. First, the print data generation unit 205 and the data acquisition / update unit 206 create data (ganging job data) related to a newly generated ganging job (step S704).

  Next, the data acquisition / update unit 206 performs data related to the printing work for producing a shortage for a print order in which the number of manufactured sheets (number of outputs) does not reach the order number even when the ganging job is completed (shortage print job). Data) is generated (step S705).

  Next, the data display unit 203 updates the user interface in accordance with the updated contents of the print work table (step S706).

  Thus, a series of processes for creating a ganging job and a job for manufacturing a shortage that cannot be manufactured by the ganging job are completed. In this series of processing, the job for manufacturing the shortage created in step 705 is treated as a normal job without ganging. Therefore, after the above series of processing is completed, a ganging job may be created using the job for manufacturing the shortage created in step 705 as a ganging candidate.

  FIG. 8A is a flowchart for explaining the ganging job data creation process in step S704 of FIG.

  First, the print data generation unit 205 generates print data to be printed by a ganging job (step S801).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of print data to be printed by a ganging job. In this example, three types of print data 1001 to 1003 are ganged and arranged in one print data. Specifically, one piece of print data 1001 is arranged, five pieces of print data 1002 are arranged, and twelve pieces of print data 1003 are arranged.

  In the following, each print data subject to ganging is described as “child print data”, and print data for a ganging job in which a plurality of child print data is arranged is described as “parent print data”. In the parent print data creation process (step S801 in FIG. 8A), the placement algorithm of the child print data on the parent print data uses a known technique (for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). Detailed description will be omitted.

  Returning to FIG. 8A, the print number input unit 208 receives the number of prints of the ganging job from the user (step S802). In the case of a ganging job, since one or more child print data are arranged in the parent print data, the number of manufactured individual printed matter corresponding to the child print data obtained as a result of the number of parent print data printed Is different. Since the number of sheets to be printed in the ganging job differs depending on the situation, the user sets it using the user interface. For example, when it is desired to minimize paper waste, the user sets the number of printed ganging jobs so that one of the printed materials corresponding to the arranged child print data reaches the ordered number.

  Also, for example, when it is desired to reduce the occurrence rate of mistakes, in order to reduce the number of printing operations, the user can change the ganging job so that all the printed materials corresponding to the arranged child print data reach the order number. Set the number of copies to be printed. The user interface presented to the user in step S802 will be described in detail later with reference to FIG.

  Next, the data acquisition / update unit 206 creates management information (first management information) for the ganging job (S803). Specifically, the data acquisition / update unit 206 creates (adds) one new record in the print work table 302 corresponding to the ganging job. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 creates (adds) and manages records corresponding to each child print data to be ganged in the order correspondence work table 303.

  The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the following values in each field of the record of the print work table 302 to be newly created. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets a unique value in the print work table 302 for the “print work ID”. In the ganging, child print data to be printed on the same sheet is impositioned together. Therefore, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same paper name as the paper name of the print order to be ganged in “paper name”.

  In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the paper size of the parent print data created in step S801 in “paper size”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the parent print data created in step S801 in “print data”. In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the number of prints received from the user in step S <b> 802 to “number of prints”. In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “waiting for printing” as an initial value in “work status”. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “1” indicating a ganging job in the “ganging flag”.

  In the order correspondence work table 303, the data acquisition / update unit 206 creates a new record in which the following values are set for each print order corresponding to the child print data. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as the “print order ID” of the record of the print order table 301 corresponding to the child print data in the “print order ID”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as the “print work ID” of the record of the new print work table 302 created above in the “print work ID”. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the number of child print data arranged on the parent print data created in step S801 in “Number of arrangements”.

  Returning to the description of the flowchart in FIG. The data acquisition / update unit 206 deletes the print job management information that becomes unnecessary due to the creation of the ganging job management information (step S804). The management information of the unnecessary print job includes a record in the print work table 302 corresponding to the print job that becomes unnecessary and a record in the order response work table 303. The unnecessary printing job is a ganging candidate printing job determined in step S702 of FIG. Therefore, the data acquisition / update unit 206 deletes the record in the print work table 302 corresponding to the ganging candidate. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 deletes the record of the order correspondence work table 303 having “print work ID” as the print work ID of the record of the print work table 302 to be deleted.

  FIG. 8B is a flowchart for describing the process for creating the deficient print job data in step S705 of FIG.

  First, the data acquisition / update unit 206 extracts a print order record that needs to be printed in a shortage (step S805). The data acquisition / update unit 206 selects a record in the print order table 301 corresponding to a print order that is a ganging target, in which the number of manufactured sheets by the ganging job is less than the value obtained by subtracting the number of printed sheets from the number of printed orders. Extract.

  The number of printed ganging jobs and the number of individual child print data arranged in the parent print data are determined by the processing in step S704 in FIG. Therefore, the data acquisition / update unit 206 calculates the number of manufactured printed materials corresponding to each child print data manufactured by the ganging job by the following equation (1).

Number of printed products produced by a ganging job = number of printed ganging jobs × number of child print data arrangements (1)
If the production quantity calculated by Expression (1) does not reach the value obtained by subtracting the number of printed sheets from the order quantity of the print order, the data acquisition / update unit 206 determines that the insufficient amount of printing is necessary.

  Next, the data acquisition / update unit 206 creates management information (second management information) for the shortage print job for each print order extracted in step S805 (steps S806 and S807). Specifically, the data acquisition / update unit 206 creates a new record in the print work table 302 corresponding to the work for printing the shortage and a new record in the order response work table 303. In the following description, 301 records in the print order table corresponding to the print order of interest are described as “target print order”.

  The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the following values in each field of the newly created record of the print work table 302. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets a unique value in the print work table 302 for the “print work ID”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as the “paper name” of the target print order in the “paper name”. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as the “paper size” of the target print order in the “paper size”. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as “print data” of the target print order in “print data”.

Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 calculates the number of sheets that is insufficient even after the ganging job is completed as the number of printed sheets using the following formula (2), and sets the calculated number of sheets to “number of printed sheets”. To do.
Number of printed sheets = number of printed orders of the target print order-number of printed sheets of the target print order-number of printed products produced by a ganging job (2)

  In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “waiting for printing” as an initial value in “work status”. In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “0” indicating that the job is not a ganging job in the “ganging flag”.

  The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the following values in each field of the record of the newly created order correspondence work table 303. The data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as the “print order ID” of the target print order in the “print order ID”. In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets the same value as the “printing work ID” of the record of the new printing work table 302 created above in the “printing work ID”. In addition, the data acquisition / update unit 206 sets “1” to the “arrangement number”.

  Next, specific examples of processing according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.

  Assume that the database 207 is in the state shown in FIGS. That is, there are five print orders with print order IDs 001 to 005, which correspond to the print works with print work IDs 001 to 005, respectively. The print job 001 is already “work completed”, and the other print jobs are in the “waiting for printing” state.

  When the information processing apparatus 100 receives an instruction to create a ganging job from the user (step S701 in FIG. 7), the information processing apparatus 100 displays the ganging candidate selection screen in FIG. 9 and determines a ganging candidate (step S702). In this example, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the information processing apparatus 100 determines records having print job IDs 002, 003, and 005 as ganging candidates. The information processing apparatus 100 determines that the extracted printing work can be ganged because the printing paper is the same (step S703). In this example, the information processing apparatus 100 determines whether or not ganging is possible as a condition that the printing paper is the same, but the determination method varies depending on the specifications of the module to be ganged.

  Next, the information processing apparatus 100 creates parent print data for a ganging job that uses the print data corresponding to the three printing operations as child print data (step S801 in FIG. 8A).

  FIG. 10 shows one piece of print data with print job ID = 002 (1001), five pieces of print data with print order ID = 003 (1002), and twelve pieces of print data with print order ID = 005 (1003). It is an example of print data for a ganging job arranged.

  Returning to FIG. 8A, the information processing apparatus 100 displays a print number setting screen and accepts the number of printed ganging jobs in response to a user operation on the print number setting screen (step S802). The print number setting screen is a user interface for setting the number of prints of a ganging job.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the print count setting screen. The print number setting screen has a number input field 1201 and a print order information field 1202. The number input column 1201 is a column for inputting how many sheets the user prints. The print order information column 1202 is a column that displays a list of information on print orders that are targets of ganging.

In the number input field 1201, the user selects a method for determining the number of printed ganging jobs from the following three methods. The information processing apparatus 100 receives the number of printed ganging jobs according to the selected method.
-Print the number of sheets for which all print jobs are completed-Print the number of sheets for which at least one print job is completed-Print any number of input sheets In the print order information column 1202, the information processing apparatus 100 stores the number in the database 207 And a value calculated from the number of printed ganging jobs received from the user. Specifically, the information processing apparatus 100 displays “print order ID”, “remaining number of sheets”, and “arrangement number”. For the “print order ID”, the information processing apparatus 100 displays the record value of the corresponding print order table 301 as it is. As for “remaining number of sheets”, the information processing apparatus 100 displays a value obtained by subtracting “number of printed sheets” from “ordered number of sheets” of the record of the corresponding print order table 301. As for the “number of arrangements”, the information processing apparatus 100 displays the number arranged in the parent print data in step S801 in FIG.

  In addition, the information processing apparatus 100 displays “manufactured sheets” and “over and shortage” as values calculated from the number of printed ganging jobs. When the user inputs the number of printed ganging jobs, the information processing apparatus 100 uses the input as a trigger to calculate the “manufactured number” and “over / short” of each print order that is the target of ganging. Update the user interface.

  The information processing apparatus 100 sets a value obtained by multiplying the “manufactured number” by the number of prints input by the user and the “arrangement number” of each print order. Further, the information processing apparatus 100 sets a value obtained by subtracting the “remaining number of sheets” from the “manufactured number” for the “over / shortage”.

  When the user confirms the “manufactured number” and the “over / shortage number” of each print order after the completion of the ganging job, and presses an OK button 1203, the information processing apparatus 100 sets the number of ganging jobs to be printed. decide.

  FIG. 12A shows a print number setting screen in a state where the method “print the number of prints completed for all print jobs” is selected in the number input field 1201. According to this method, the number of sheets produced as a result of ganging printing is set to be equal to or greater than the number of orders in all print orders. Accordingly, the “over / shortage number” columns (1204, 1205, 1206) all have values of zero or more.

  In this example, printing 209 sheets produces 209, 1045, and 2508 print orders that are ganging targets. Therefore, the information processing apparatus 100 displays +9, +45, +8, which are values calculated by subtracting the respective order numbers, in the “over / shortage” column.

  FIG. 12B shows a print number setting screen in a state in which the method “print the number of completed at least one print job” is selected in the number input field 1201. According to this method, the number of sheets produced as a result of ganging printing is set to exceed the order quantity in at least one print order. Therefore, the “over / shortage number” column (1207, 1208, 1209) may be less than zero (minus).

  In this example, by printing 200 sheets, 200, 1000, and 2400 print orders that are subject to ganging are produced, so the print orders with ID 002 and ID 003 are the same as the order quantity. And is displayed as ± 0. However, since there is a shortage of 100 sheets for the print order with ID 005, the information processing apparatus 100 displays -100 in the “over / shortage number” column. In addition, when the information processing apparatus 100 highlights, for example, when the value of the excess / deficiency number field 804 is negative, the information can be more attracted to the user.

  Although not shown in FIG. 12, the user can set an arbitrary number of prints by selecting “print any number of input sheets” in the number input field 1201. Also in this case, the information processing apparatus 100 calculates and displays the “manufactured number” and the “excess / shortage number” of each print order to be ganged by using the user's input of the number of printed sheets as a trigger. In the following description, it is assumed that the user has pressed the OK button in the state of FIG. Thereafter, the information processing apparatus updates data by the processing from step S803 to step S806 (FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B).

  FIG. 13 shows a state where the database receives the instruction to create a ganging job from the user in the state shown in FIG. 11, and further receives an instruction to print 200 sheets from the user via the print number setting screen shown in FIG. The results of the database update process (S803 to S806) are shown.

FIG. 13A shows the data in the updated print work table. In step S803, a record 1301 of “printing work ID = 006” corresponding to the ganging job is newly added. Further, in step S804, the record 1302 with the print work ID 002, the record 1303 with the print work ID 003, and the record 1304 with the print work ID 005 are unnecessary for the print work with “print work ID = 006”. Deleted.
Also, in step S806, a record 1305 “print work ID = 007” corresponding to the shortage print job is newly added.

  FIG. 13B shows data in the order correspondence work table after the update. In step S803, records 1306, 1307, and 1308 corresponding to the ganging job are newly added. In step S804, the record 1309 with the print work ID 002, the record 1310 with the print work ID 003, and the record 1311 with the print work ID 005 are unnecessary and are deleted. In step S806, a record 1312 of “print order ID = 005” and “print work ID = 007” corresponding to the shortage print job is newly added. There is no data update for the print order table 301.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining an operation process of the information processing apparatus after execution of a ganging job is completed. The information processing apparatus 100 detects whether or not the execution of the ganging job has been completed based on a status change instruction from the user.

  First, the work status change input unit 209 receives a status change instruction for one print job from the user (step S1401). Subsequently, the work status change input unit 209 determines whether the changed status received from the user is “work completed” (step S1402).

  If the status after the change is “work completed”, the data acquisition / update unit 206 extracts the corresponding print order information (step S1403). Specifically, the data acquisition / update unit 206 extracts the same record as the print work ID of the print work whose “print work ID” has undergone the status change in the order correspondence work table 303. Further, the data acquisition / update unit 206 extracts a record of the print order table 301 corresponding to the “print order ID” of each extracted record.

Next, the data acquisition / update unit 206 updates the printed number information for each of the print order information extracted in step S1403 (steps S1404 and S1405). Specifically, the data acquisition / update unit 206 updates the value of the “printed number” field of the record of the target print order table 301 with the new “printed number” calculated by the following equation (3). To do.
New “number of printed sheets” = current “number of printed sheets” + number of printed sheets of status change target printing work × number of arrangements (3)

  The number of arrangements in the above formula (3) is an order having the “print order ID” of the record of the print order table 301 corresponding to the print order of interest, and the “print work ID” of the print job whose status is to be changed. This is the value of “number of arrangements” of the records in the corresponding work table 303.

  Next, the data acquisition / update unit 206 updates the value of the “work status” field of the record of the print work table 302 whose status is to be changed to the status received in S1401 (step S1406).

  FIG. 15 shows the result of the database update processing (S1404 to S1406) when the user changes the status to “work completed” for the print work with “print work ID = 006” corresponding to the ganging job.

  FIG. 15A shows data in the print order table 301 after the update. In step S1405, the “printed number” of the record 1501 with the print work ID 002, the record 1502 with the print work ID 003, and the record 1503 with the print work ID 005 is updated.

  FIG. 15B shows the data in the print work table 302 after the update. In step S1406, the “work status” of the record 1504 of “print work ID = 006” corresponding to the ganging job is updated to “work completed”.

  In this embodiment, the status change is accepted from the user, but an input may be accepted from an external application. Acceptance of input from an external application can be realized if the work status change input unit 209 has an interface for accepting input from an external application via the network interface 103.

(Other examples)
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed. In this case, the program and the storage medium storing the program constitute the present invention.

101 CPU
102 RAM
103 Network interface 104 External storage device

Claims (11)

Receiving means for receiving an instruction to arrange and print a plurality of first print data as second print data corresponding to one print job;
Management means for creating and managing print job management information corresponding to the second print data as first management information;
The management means includes
Information relating to the print data ordered for printing and information relating to the print data corresponding to the print job are linked and stored in the storage means as print job management information;
Based on the set number of prints of the second print data and the management information of the print job stored in the storage unit, the output number of the first print data is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders. Determine whether
Further, when the output number of the first print data due to execution of the print job corresponding to the first management information is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders, it corresponds to the first print data for the shortage. An information processing apparatus that creates and manages print job management information as second management information. The management unit deletes the information about the first print data arranged as the second print data from the information about the print data corresponding to the print job stored in the storage unit. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 . The management information of the print job includes the number of printed data of the print data ordered for printing, the number of print orders of print data corresponding to the print job, and the print corresponding to the print job for the print data ordered for print. Including the number of data arrangements,
The management means refers to the management information of the print job, based on the set number of prints of the second print data and the number of arrangements of the first print data in the second print data When the number of output of the first print data determined in this way does not reach the number of printed orders out of the number of print orders of the first print data, the number of output of the first print data is larger than the number of print orders. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information processing apparatus is determined to be insufficient. Receiving means for receiving an instruction to arrange and print a plurality of first print data as second print data corresponding to one print job;
Display means for displaying a setting screen for setting the number of prints of the second print data ;
Management means for creating and managing print job management information corresponding to the second print data as first management information ;
The display means displays an excess or deficiency number on the setting screen when an excess or deficiency of the output number of the first print data due to execution of the print job corresponding to the first management information occurs with respect to the print order number. display and,
The management means further provides management information of a print job corresponding to the shortage of the first print data when the number of outputs of the first print data is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders. Create and manage as management information
An information processing apparatus characterized by that . The display means sets, as the print order number, at least one of the number of completed print jobs, the number of completed at least one print job, and an arbitrary number of the second print data. 5. An information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a setting screen for displaying is displayed. Comprising display means for displaying a setting screen for setting the number of copies of the second print data, said display means further screen for selecting the first print data is arranged in the second print data the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that display. The management unit creates, as first management information, management information of a print job corresponding to the second print data in which the first print data determined according to a predetermined rule is arranged. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A receiving step of receiving an instruction to arrange and print a plurality of first print data as second print data corresponding to one print job;
A management step of creating and managing print job management information corresponding to the second print data as first management information;
In the management process,
Information relating to the print data ordered for printing and information relating to the print data corresponding to the print job are linked and stored in the storage means as print job management information;
Based on the set number of prints of the second print data and the management information of the print job stored in the storage unit, the output number of the first print data is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders. Determine whether
Further, when the output number of the first print data due to execution of the print job corresponding to the first management information is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders, it corresponds to the first print data for the shortage. A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising: creating and managing print job management information as second management information. A receiving step of receiving an instruction to arrange and print a plurality of first print data as second print data corresponding to one print job;
A display step for displaying a setting screen for setting the number of prints of the second print data;
A management step of creating and managing print job management information corresponding to the second print data as first management information;
In the display step, if the output number of the first print data is excessive or insufficient with respect to the number of print orders due to execution of the print job corresponding to the first management information, the excessive or insufficient number is displayed on the setting screen. Display
In the management step, when the output number of the first print data is insufficient with respect to the number of print orders, the management information of the print job corresponding to the shortage of the first print data is stored in the second Create and manage as management information
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus. A computer program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 8 . A computer program for causing a computer to execute the control method according to claim 9.

Images