JP6583381B2 - Image forming apparatus, program, and image forming method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a program , and an image forming method .

  In recent years, with the introduction of a plurality of printers, which can be regarded as printing apparatuses connected to a network, in a vast office, the problem of information leakage via printed matter is becoming apparent. In other words, because the printer now accepts the print output of many employees, the confidential information described in the printed matter output by one employee is often seen by other unintended employees. .

  Therefore, a mechanism for user authentication is adopted in the printer to cope with information leakage. With this user authentication, the printer does not immediately execute printing when it receives print data, but temporarily holds (spools) it in the internal hard disk. After the user transmits the print data to the printer, the user goes to the place where the printer is installed, executes a login operation and a print instruction operation on the printer, and printing is executed for the first time. Henceforth, in this specification, such a utilization form is described as on-demand printing. Such on-demand printing is an excellent printing method that can not only prevent information leakage due to misplacement or misplacement of printed matter, but also reduce wasteful printing and abandoned paper documents.

  A well-known specific example of user authentication without using an IC card is well-known password authentication. When password authentication is performed by a printer, a user ID and a password are input using a touch panel provided on the operation screen of the printer. However, the act of inputting a large number of characters on the touch panel is complicated. Therefore, as a method for reducing the trouble of inputting the user ID, there is a method of displaying a plurality of users on the touch panel and selecting a button indicating the user from among them. At that time, in order to select a desired user from a large number of users, the user names are rearranged in alphabetical order or alphabetical order and selected by initials. It is a management format like a well-known address book.

  An example of an information system including a printer is shown in Patent Document 1 as a prior art document, and an example of on-demand printing is shown in Non-Patent Document 1 as a reference document.

  However, the conventional techniques as described above have the following problems. In the on-demand printing shown in Non-Patent Document 1, an IC card is used for user authentication. The IC card is excellent in that it requires a minimum of key operations as a user authentication method and is simple. However, the introduction cost of the IC card and the card reader is expensive. In addition, it is necessary to register user information to be used in the printer in advance, and this requires a dedicated information system person in charge. For this reason, customers who use user authentication using IC cards are limited to relatively large companies.

  Although it is well known that on-demand printing is superior in today's office environment, the user authentication mechanism has been a drag on introduction to small and medium-sized businesses and business entities. Now, it is demanded to realize on-demand printing by simple user authentication that can be used without using an IC card and without a dedicated information system person in charge.

  Furthermore, in the method of reducing the trouble of inputting the user ID, when both the alphabetical order and the alphabetical order exist, a large area is required to display the tabs of all the initial letters on the touch panel. . In such a case, it is necessary to switch between a screen in alphabetical order and a screen in alphabetical order. That is, the trouble of selecting a screen increases, which is complicated. In addition, since there are many cases where the number of users is not so large as to manage users in alphabetical order in small and medium-sized companies and business entities, the user management method in alphabetical order and alphabetical order is, It was not suitable for on-demand printing with a small number of users.

  As described above, there is a problem of improving the convenience for the user with respect to a technique for providing output data such as print data in accordance with a user operation.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to improve user convenience when providing output data corresponding to a user operation.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention holds image data including user identification information transmitted by a terminal via a network, and forms an image for controlling printing and deletion of the print data. an apparatus, if the storage means for storing the print data transmitted from the terminal, user identification information included in the print data transmitted from the terminal is determined to be a new user, the Creation means for creating display data for displaying a first selection screen including a selection button corresponding to user identification information of a new user and including the selection button on which the user identification information is displayed; A first display control unit for displaying the first selection screen on a display unit; and a second display unit for displaying a list screen of the print data including the selected user identification information on the display unit. And having a display control unit, a printing unit for printing the print data.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention has an effect of improving user convenience when using a terminal connected via a network.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a printing system connected via a network. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the multifunction peripheral in FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing functions of the software of the multifunction machine. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating details of the print data control unit and the user information generation unit. FIG. 5 is a chart showing the structure of the user information table. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the directory structure of the spool area. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating print data reception processing. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a post office box ID confirmation process. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process for displaying a post office box selection screen. FIG. 10 is a state transition diagram illustrating the display state of the LCD display unit. FIG. 11 is a post office box selection screen displayed on the LCD display unit. FIG. 12 is a post office box selection screen displayed on the LCD display unit. FIG. 13 is a post office box selection screen displayed on the LCD display unit. FIG. 14 is an on-demand print screen displayed on the LCD display unit.

Exemplary embodiments of an image forming apparatus, a program , and an image forming method according to the present invention will be explained below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment)
In this embodiment, a printer connected to a network will be described as an example. The printer according to the present embodiment is used by a plurality of client PCs and performs on-demand printing. Conventionally, in order for a network compatible printer to perform on-demand printing, it is necessary to perform user registration in advance. The printer according to the present embodiment provides a mechanism for reducing the labor of user registration. Further, when the print instruction operation is executed on the printer, the more the number of users increases, the more troublesome it is to search for the print data of the user. The printer according to the present embodiment provides a mechanism for reducing the trouble of searching for own print data. Hereinafter, a specific configuration / operation will be described.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a printing system connected via a network. The printing system 101 is a general corporate network system. The terminals 102a, 102b, and 102c are personal computers assigned to employees in the company. These terminals 102 a, 102 b, and 102 c use a common MFP 105 through the network 104 when printing a document. The multifunction machine 105 has a copy function, a facsimile function, a scanner function, and a printer function. When the user uses the printer function of the multifunction machine 105, user authentication is required. In the user authentication, the user goes to the installation place of the multi-function peripheral 105, selects a print job instructed by the user, and inputs a password or the like as necessary.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the multifunction machine 105 in FIG. The multifunction machine 105 is substantially the same as a computer from the viewpoint of an information processing apparatus. The bus 202 includes a CPU 203, ROM 204, RAM 205, a hard disk device (hereinafter referred to as “HDD”) 206, which is a nonvolatile storage, an LCD display unit 207 and an operation unit 208 that constitute a liquid crystal touch panel, and printing that provides a printer function. A mechanism 209, a scanner 210 that provides a scanner function and a facsimile function, a NIC (Network Interface Card) 211 for receiving print data, and a modem 212 for facsimile transmission / reception are connected. In the present embodiment, the scanner 210 and the modem 212 are techniques that are generally known and are not directly related to each other, so further explanation is omitted.

  Print data transmitted from the terminal is stored in the HDD 206 via the network 104 and the NIC 211. Thereafter, the user operates the operation unit 208, confirms the display content of the LCD display unit 207, selects its own print job, and instructs execution of printing. For the first time, print data in the HDD 206 is supplied to the printing mechanism 209 and printing is executed.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating software functions of the multi-function peripheral 105. The HDD 206 of the multi-function peripheral 105 stores a network OS and a program for realizing a printing function, a user authentication function, and the like, and the functions realized by the program are shown in FIG.

  Print data transmitted from the terminal is sent to the spooler 302 via the network 104. The spooler 302 stores the received print data in the spool area 303 in the HDD 206. Further, the spooler 302 sends out print data stored (held) in the spool area 303 to the printing mechanism 209 in accordance with an instruction from a print data control unit 304 described later.

  The spool area 303 is under a specific directory in the HDD 206. In the present embodiment, since the network OS operating in the multifunction machine 105 is an OS that conforms to POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface UNIX (registered trademark)), it is “/ spool /”. Alternatively, “/ var / spool /” may be used.

  The print data control unit 304 realizes several functions. One is to read the header information of the print data received by the spooler 302 and send it to the user information generation unit 305 described later as the print data attribute information. The other is that the spooler 302 moves the received print data to the directory of the user in the spool area 303, and rewrites the file name of the print data (rename: rename). Furthermore, in order to execute printing of predetermined print data in the spool area 303, which is instructed from an on-demand print screen creation unit 306, which will be described later, the spooler 302 sends the print data to the print mechanism 209. Direct output. Further, deletion of predetermined print data stored (held) in the spool area 303 instructed from an on-demand print screen creation unit 306 described later is executed.

  Upon receiving the print data attribute information from the print data control unit 304, the user information generation unit 305 refers to a user information table 307, which will be described later, and determines whether or not the user information included in the print data is a new user. Judging. If the result of this determination is that the user is a new user, a new record is added to the user information table 307 and then a subdirectory for the new user is created in the spool area 303.

  As described above, the spooler 302, the print data control unit 304, and the user information generation unit 305 are functional blocks that operate in response to reception of print data.

  In FIG. 3, a spool area 303 has a function of a print data storage unit, a spooler 302 has a function of a receiving unit, and a user information generation unit 305 has an identification information acquisition unit, a registered determination unit, and an identification information. The print data control unit 304 has a function of a print data storage unit.

  The LCD display unit 207 is a known color liquid crystal display. In order to display color tabs and color marks, which will be described later with reference to FIG. 11, the display element needs to be capable of multicolor display. The operation unit 208 includes a touch panel made of a known resistive film or the like superimposed on the LCD display unit 207 and various operation buttons. The display control unit 308 controls the display operation of the LCD display unit 207 based on display data sent from an input / output control unit 309 described later.

  The input / output control unit 309 selects one of a post office box selection screen creation unit 310, an on-demand print screen creation unit 306, and a post office box setting screen creation unit 311, which will be described later, and displays the display control unit 308 and the operation unit 208. Connecting. The input / output control unit 309 receives display data from a selected one of the post office box selection screen creation unit 310, the on-demand print screen creation unit 306, and the post office box setting screen creation unit 311, and passes the display data to the display control unit 308. The operation information of the operation unit 208 by the user is received and sent to a selected one of the post office box selection screen creation unit 310, the on-demand print screen creation unit 306, and the post office box setting screen creation unit 311. Further, the input / output control unit 309 also performs an operation of switching the selection of the post office box selection screen creation unit 310, the on-demand print screen creation unit 306, and the post office box setting screen creation unit 311 according to the operation information of the operation unit 208 by the user.

  The post office box selection screen creation unit 310 provides a function of displaying a post office box selection screen described later on the LCD display unit 207. In order to provide this function, the post office box selection screen creation unit 310 receives operation information of the operation unit 208, reads a user information table 307, which will be described later, and creates display data to be displayed on the LCD display unit 207.

  The on-demand print screen creation unit 306 provides a function for displaying an on-demand print screen, which will be described later, on the LCD display unit 207. In order to provide this function, the on-demand print screen creation unit 306 receives the operation information of the operation unit 208, reads the user information table 307, and exchanges necessary information with the print data control unit 304, which will be described later. Display data to be displayed on the display unit 207 is created.

  The post office box setting screen creation unit 311 provides a function of displaying the post office box setting screen on the LCD display unit 207. In order to provide this function, the post office box setting screen creation unit 311 receives operation information of the operation unit 208 and reads a user information table 307 described later to create display data to be displayed on the LCD display unit 207.

  As described above, the display control unit 308, the input / output control unit 309, the post office box selection screen creation unit 310, the on-demand print screen creation unit 306, and the post office box setting screen creation unit 311 are functional blocks that operate in accordance with user operations.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating details of the print data control unit 304 and the user information generation unit 305. Here, focusing on the print data control unit 304 and the user information generation unit 305 in FIG. 3, their internal configurations are shown.

  The print data control unit 304 has three functional blocks: an attribute information extraction unit 402, a spool file movement processing unit 403, and a print processing unit 404.

  The attribute information extraction unit 402 receives print data header information from the spooler 302 and sends it to the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 described later as print data attribute information. The spool file movement processing unit 403 receives a post office box ID from a post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 to be described later, and print data that the spooler 302 has received is received by the user (post office box ID) in the spool area 303. Move to the directory and rewrite the print data file name.

  The print processing unit 404 outputs the print data to the print mechanism 209 to the spooler 302 in order to execute printing of predetermined print data in the spool area 303 instructed from an on-demand print screen creation unit 306 described later. Instruct. In addition, deletion of predetermined print data in the spool area 303, which is instructed from an on-demand print screen creation unit 306 described later, is executed.

  The user information generation unit 305 has two functional blocks, a post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 and a post office box ID confirmation unit 406.

  The post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 receives the print data attribute information from the attribute information extraction unit 402, and determines the post office box ID of the print data received by the spooler 302. Then, the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 passes the post office box ID to the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 and confirms whether or not the post office box ID is registered in the user information table 307. The post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 updates the spool number and spool time of the corresponding record in the user information table 307 when the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 finishes the confirmation process of the post office box ID.

  The post office box ID confirmation unit 406 receives the post office box ID confirmed by the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 from the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405, searches the user information table 307 by the post office box ID, and registers the post office box ID in the user information table 307. Check whether it has been completed. If the user is a new user, the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 creates a directory of the post office box ID in the spool area 303.

  FIG. 5 is a chart showing the configuration of the user information table 307. The “post office box ID” field is information for uniquely identifying the user who uses the multi-function peripheral 105 included in the header of the print data. In other words, it can be said to be a “user ID”. The “display name” field is a name that the user wants to display on the LCD display unit 207 of the multi-function peripheral 105 instead of his / her own post office box ID. This is arbitrarily set by the user by the post office box setting screen creation unit 311. In the “password” field, a password set arbitrarily by the user by the post office box setting screen creation unit 311 is stored. In the “post office box color” field, post office box setting screen creation unit 311 stores information on the color of the post office box arbitrarily set by the user. The “number of spools” field stores the number of print data existing in the spool directory of the user. The “latest spool date / time” field stores the creation date / time of the latest print data existing in the user's spool directory.

  The “latest spool date” field is used as a key field for sort processing in the post office box selection screen display processing described later with reference to FIG. This is because the latest print data is displayed at the top when the post office box selection screen is displayed on the LCD display unit 207 of the multifunction machine 105.

  The “latest spool date / time” field is also used as an index when deleting a record of a user that is not used at all in the user information table 307. For example, if a record of a user who has not been used for a month or more is kept, the user information table 307 continues to expand every time personnel changes or the like, and the reference speed of the user information table 307 becomes slow. Therefore, for example, if a process for deleting a record of a user who is not used is automatically executed regularly on the basis of 30 days, the labor of user management becomes unnecessary. When deleting a user, the corresponding spool directory in the spool area 303 is also deleted at the same time.

  The above-described user deletion process may be executed periodically about once a day using a scheduler such as cron well-known in the POSIX OS. Although not shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the current date / time information is acquired from a known calendar clock, the contents of the “latest spool date / time” field of the user information table 307 are confirmed, and the user deletion process is executed. A processing unit will be provided.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the directory structure of the spool area 303. A subdirectory having a name equal to the post office box ID is created under “/ spool /” which is a directory of the spool area 303. The file name is text having a comma (') as a field separator (column separator). In the order of fields from the left end, “job number”, “spool date / time”, “number of pages”, “type of color printing or monochrome printing”, “paper size”, and “document name” follow. As described above, since the file name represents the specification of the print data, the detailed information can be obtained only by reading the file name of the print data file existing in the directory of the specific user.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating print data reception processing. An operation flow of the spooler 302, the print data control unit 304, and the user information generation unit 305, which starts when the spooler 302 receives print data, is shown.

  When the spooler 302 receives print data from the terminal, the spooler 302 first automatically generates a unique file name and flows the print data into the file (step S701). Along with this processing, the print data received by the spooler 302 is also passed to the print data control unit 304. Subsequently, the attribute information extraction unit 402 of the print data control unit 304 reads the attribute information of the print data from the header of the received print data (step S702).

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not reception of print data is completed (step S703). If the reception of the print data is not completed here, the print data control unit 304 waits until the spooler 302 completes the reception of the print data (NO in step S703). On the other hand, when the spooler 302 completes reception of the print data and completes the print data file closing process (YES in step S703), the attribute information extraction unit 402 of the print data control unit 304 sends the print data attribute to the user information generation unit 305. Deliver information. Upon receiving the print data attribute information, the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 executes a post office box ID confirmation process described later (step S704), and acquires the post office box ID of the print data received by the spooler 302. Then, the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 delivers the post office box ID.

  Subsequently, the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 of the user information generation unit 305 compares the post office box ID received from the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 with the user information table 307, and the post office box ID is already registered in the user information table 307. It is determined whether or not there is (step S705). If it is an unregistered post office box ID (NO in step S 705), the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 adds a new record of the post office box ID to the user information table 307 and stores the spool directory of the post office box ID in the spool area 303. Create (step S706).

  On the other hand, if the post office box ID received by the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 from the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 is already registered in the user information table 307 in step S705 (YES in step S705), or step S706 is executed. After that, the post office box ID of the received print data is fixed. Therefore, the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 passes the post office box ID to the print data control unit 304. The spool file movement processing unit 403 of the print data control unit 304 receives the post office box ID from the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405, moves the print data temporarily held at the time of step S703 to the directory of the post office box ID, The file name is updated based on the print data attribute information acquired in step S702 (step S707).

  Finally, the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 updates the record of the post office box ID in the user information table 307. Specifically, the number of print data files existing in the directory of the post office box ID is viewed, the “number of spools” field of the post office box ID is updated, and the file name of the latest print data file created in step S707 is updated. Based on the attached “spool date and time”, the “latest spool date and time” field is updated (step S708). Then, a series of processing ends.

  At the time of new user registration executed in step S706, the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 sets the post office box color to “紺” as the default value (default: default) for the new user. Set. The value of the post office box color can be arbitrarily changed by the user on the post office box setting screen described later with reference to FIG.

  As described above, when the MFP 105 receives print data, the user information generation unit 305 determines whether the user is an existing user. As a result of this determination, if it is determined that the user is a new user, it is immediately registered in the user information table 307. Then, a spool directory for the new user is created, and the print data file of the received print data is moved to the directory.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the post office box ID determination process, and shows details of the process in step S704 of FIG. When the process is started, the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 first determines whether the authentication user name exists in the print data attribute information received from the attribute information extraction unit 402 of the print data control unit 304. Is determined (step S801). The authentication user name is an arbitrary user name set by inputting from the setting screen of the printer driver installed in the terminal. If the authentication user name exists (YES in step S801), the authentication user name is extracted and passed to the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 (step S802), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if there is no authenticated user name in step S801 (NO in step S801), the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 is designated in the post office box ID designation format set in advance during the installation work of the multifunction machine 105. Is confirmed (step S803). If it is “user name” (YES in step S803), the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 extracts the logon user name from the print data attribute information and passes it to the post office box ID confirmation unit 406. (Step S804), the process ends. “User name” is a login ID used for user authentication when using an OS running on a terminal. The OS is, for example, Windows (registered trademark). When the printer driver installed in the terminal generates print data, the login ID is included in the header of the print data as a user name.

  If the designation format of the post office box ID confirmed by the post office box ID confirmation processing unit 405 of the user information generation unit 305 is “computer name + user name” in step S803 (NO in step S803), the post office box ID of the user information generation unit 305 The confirmation processing unit 405 extracts the computer name and the logon user name from the print data attribute information, passes them to the post office box ID confirmation unit 406 in a combined form (step S805), and ends the processing.

  “Computer name” is an arbitrary machine name given by an installation operator when an OS running on a terminal is installed. When the printer driver installed in the terminal generates print data, the machine name is included in the header of the print data as a computer name.

  As described above, the user information generation unit 305 reads the print data attribute information included in the header of the print data, and first checks whether there is an authenticated user name. If there is an authentication user name, it is acquired as a post office box ID for uniquely identifying the user with the highest priority. Next, if there is no authentication user name, it is checked whether the PO box ID format set in advance in the multi-function peripheral 105 is set to “user name” or “computer name + user name”. If the result of the confirmation is “user name”, the user name is acquired as the post office box ID from the print data attribute information. If “computer name + user name”, the computer name and user name are acquired from the print data attribute information, and these are combined to form a post office box ID.

  That is, as soon as print data is received from the user, a post office box ID that uniquely identifies the user is read from the header in the print data.

  The post office box ID format depends on how the terminals existing on the network 104 are managed. Windows (registered trademark) is divided into a “domain management” method and a “workgroup management” method.

  In the case of the “domain management” method, a domain management server exists on the network 104. Since the user name is guaranteed to be unique by the domain management server, the user can be identified only by the user name.

  In the case of the “workgroup management” method, the uniqueness of the user name cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, the computer name is added to the user name to ensure uniqueness.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process for displaying a post office box selection screen. A flow of operations of the post office box selection screen creation unit 310, the input / output control unit 309, the display control unit 308, and the LCD display unit 207, which starts when the user operates the operation unit 208, is shown.

  When the process is started, the post office box selection screen creation unit 310 acquires information on the “tab color” to be displayed and the “number of pages” to be displayed from the arguments (parameters) passed at the time of activation (step S901). ). Next, the post office box selection screen creation unit 310 performs a narrowing search of the user information table 307 based on the “tab color” acquired in step S901 (step S902). In this narrowing search, the records in the “number of spools” field are narrowed down to one or more.

  Next, the post office box selection screen creation unit 310 performs descending sort on the narrowed records in the user information table 307 based on the value of the “latest spool date” field in the user information table 307 (step S903). Finally, the post office box selection screen creation unit 310 sends the information of nine records in the designated range to the display control unit 308 through the input / output control unit 309 based on the information of “number of pages”. The display control unit 308 controls the LCD display unit 207 to display information for nine cases (step S904). Then, a series of processing ends.

  FIG. 10 is a state transition diagram for explaining the display state of the LCD display unit 207. When the power is off or in the sleep state (state S1001), nothing is displayed on the LCD display unit 207. When returning from the power-on or sleep state from state S1001, a post office box selection screen is displayed (state S1002). On the post office box selection screen, the contents of the display change with the state of the post office box selection screen by pressing an update button or a color selection tab button described later.

  When a specific post office box is selected from the state S1002 and a predetermined login procedure is performed, an on-demand print screen is displayed (state S1003). In the on-demand print screen, a list of print data is displayed on the LCD display unit 207, and it is individually specified whether to print or to delete without printing. When a predetermined button is pressed from state S1003, a post office box setting screen is displayed (state S1004). On the PO Box setting screen, the user can set the display name, password, display color, etc.

  11, 12, and 13 are post office box selection screens displayed on the LCD display unit 207. On the post office box selection screen 1101 displayed as the display content of the touch panel, a color tab 1102 for selecting users by color and an “all” tab 1103 for selecting all users are displayed. From the left side of FIG. 10, the color tab 1102 is arranged with a dark blue tab 1102a, a blue tab 1102b, a green tab 1102c, a pink tab 1102d, a red tab 1102e, and a black tab 1102f.

  Under the color tab 1102 and the “all” tab 1103, there is a user display area 1104 for displaying a maximum of nine users. A PO box button 1105 is displayed in the user display area 1104. The post office box button 1105 includes a combination of a color mark 1106 and a user name display field 1107.

  In the example shown in FIG. 11, the post office box buttons 1105 of all users who have print data in the spool area 303 are displayed for three people. The user display area 1104 can display up to nine post office box buttons 1105 for users. If there are 10 or more users who have print data in the spool area 303, it is necessary to display the 10th and subsequent users on a separate screen. For this purpose, a previous page button 1109 and a next page button 1110 are displayed at the lower right of the post office box selection screen 1101.

  If the number of all users who have print data in the spool area 303 is 9 or less, the previous page button 1109 and the next page button 1110 are displayed in a light color, and the buttons cannot be operated.

  If the number of all users who have print data in the spool area 303 is 10 or more and 18 or less, the user display area 1104 displays the post office box button 1105 on two screens. When the first nine items are displayed in the user display area 1104, the previous page button 1109 is displayed in a light color and the button cannot be operated, but the next page button 1110 is displayed in a dark color and the button operation is not performed. Ready to go. When the second and subsequent 10th minutes are displayed in the user display area 1104, the previous page button 1109 is displayed in a dark color and the button can be operated, but the next page button 1110 is displayed in a light color. The button cannot be operated.

  The previous page button 1109 and the next page button 1110 correspond to the designation of “what page” in step S901 in FIG.

  In the state of FIG. 11, the “all” tab 1103 is pressed, and the post office box buttons 1105 of all users who have print data are listed in the user display area 1104. “User 1” is displayed in blue, “User 3” is displayed in black, and “Administrator” is displayed in red.

  When the blue tab 1102b is pressed in the state of FIG. 11, the blue tab 1102b is displayed so as to protrude to the front as shown in FIG. 12, and in the user display area 1104, a post office box of “user 1” belonging to “blue” Only the button 1105 is displayed. This is a result of the operation when “blue” is designated as an argument in the post office box selection screen display processing of FIG.

  Assume that a user “user 2” transmits print data in the state of FIG. When “User 2” looks at the touch panel of the multi-function peripheral 105, “User 2” does not exist in the PO box button 1105 displayed as a list in the user display area 1104. Therefore, “User 2” presses the update button. Then, as shown in FIG. 13, a PO Box button 1105d of “User 2” with a green tab 1102c appears. This is a result of the operation when nothing is specified as an argument in the post office box selection screen display processing of FIG. In other words, when the update button is pressed, the post office box selection screen display process is executed, and the presence of the print data of “user 2” that was not displayed until immediately before the update button was pressed is displayed.

  Even if there are a large number of users registered in the multi-function peripheral 105, if only one user has print data, the user display area 1104 of the post office box selection screen 1101 in FIG. Only 1105 is displayed. Since the corresponding user only has to select and press the button, it is not necessary to select and press the color tab 1102 in this case.

  The color tab 1002 is provided in order to more easily narrow down the users when the number of users having print data increases and the “all” tab 1103 cannot be displayed in the user display area 1104. It has been.

  FIG. 14 is an on-demand print screen displayed on the LCD display unit. Now, when the “user 2” presses his / her post office box button 1105d in the state of FIG. 13, the display contents are changed as shown in FIG. If a password is required, a screen for that is displayed, but details are omitted.

  The initial state of the on-demand print screen 1401 is a state in which a “print” tab 1402 is protruding. In this state, a print data column 1404 is displayed in the print data display area 1403 together with information such as the document name and date. When the print data field 1404 on the touch panel is pressed, the print data is designated, and the display color is highlighted. When a “print” button 1405 at the lower right of the screen is pressed, printing of designated print data is executed. On the other hand, when the “delete” tab 1406 is pressed, the print data designated by the same operation can be deleted.

Application examples listed below can be considered for this embodiment.
(1) Although the present embodiment has been described by taking a multifunction peripheral as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and a single-function printer having no copy function, facsimile function, and scanner function may be used.
(2) It is also possible to provide the terminal with a user interface equivalent to the PO Box setting screen by providing the multifunction device with a web server function and accessing the multifunction device from the terminal with a web browser.
(3) The field separator of the print data file name shown in FIG. 6 is not limited to a comma. For example, the URL encoding method described in RFC3986 (http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986) or RFC3548 (http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3548) If the rules for conversion with alphanumeric characters and limited symbol characters, such as the Base64 encoding method described in, are used, characters that are not used in these encoding methods or characters that are unlikely to appear may be used as field separators. it can.

  In the present embodiment, the printer function of the multifunction machine has been described as an example. Whether the MFP has extracted information that uniquely identifies the user from the “authentication user name” or “user name” and “computer name” included in the print data header, and has already been registered in the internal user information table. Confirm whether or not. If it is determined that the user is a new user, it is registered immediately and a spool directory unique to the user is created. Therefore, manual user registration work required for conventional on-demand printing is eliminated, and on-demand printing that does not require user management can be realized.

  Further, in the MFP according to the present embodiment, in order to easily narrow down the users registered in the user information table, users having print data files are displayed on the touch panel. Since the user only has to select a button indicating himself / herself from a list of buttons of the user having print data displayed on the touch panel, the users holding the print data can be easily narrowed down.

  In addition, in order to make it easier to narrow down users, a “PO Box Color” field is provided in the user information table. By selecting and registering any color, the user can identify each user by color, and by selecting and pressing the color tab displayed on the touch panel, the user holding the print data can be easily Can be narrowed down to.

  By the way, the printing apparatus of the present embodiment includes a control device such as a CPU, a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM, an external storage device such as an HDD and a CD drive device, and a display device such as a display device. And an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and has a hardware configuration using a normal computer. A program executed by the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment is a file in an installable format or an executable format, and is a computer such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R, or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). It is recorded on a readable recording medium and provided.

  The program executed by the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment may be configured to be stored by being stored on a computer connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. The program executed by the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Further, the program according to the present embodiment may be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Unless it deviates from the summary of this invention described in the claim, other modifications, Application examples are included.

101 Printing System 102a-c Terminal 104 Network 105 Multifunction Machine 202 Bus 203 CPU
204 ROM
205 RAM
206 HDD
207 LCD display unit 208 operation unit 209 printing mechanism 210 scanner 211 NIC
212 Modem 302 Spooler 303 Spool Area 304 Print Data Control Unit 305 User Information Generation Unit 306 On-Demand Print Screen Creation Unit 307 User Information Table 308 Display Control Unit 309 Input / Output Control Unit 310 PO Box Selection Screen Creation Unit 311 PO Box Setting Screen Creation Unit 402 Attribute information extraction unit 403 Spool file movement processing unit 404 Print processing unit 405 PO box ID confirmation processing unit 406 PO box ID confirmation unit 1101 PO box selection screen 1102 color tab 1102a dark blue tab 1102b blue tab 1102c green tab 1102d pink tab 1102e red tab 1102f black tab 1103 "All" Tab 1104 User Display Area 1105a-d PO Box Button 1106 Color Mark 1107 User Name Display Field 1108 Update Button 1 09 previous page button 1110 next page button 1401 on-demand printing screen 1402 "print" tab 1403 print data display area 1404 print data column 1405 button 1406 "Delete" tab

JP 2003-274064 A

Product Information / imagio / IPSiO Personal Authentication Kit | Ricoh Japan: [Search September 18, 2009], Internet <URL: http://www.ricoh.co.jp/imagio/mfp-sol/ic-card/function /function2.html>

Claims (5)

An image forming apparatus that holds print data including user identification information transmitted by a terminal via a network and controls printing and deletion of the print data,
Storage means for storing the print data transmitted from the terminal ;
When it is determined that the user identification information included in the print data transmitted from the terminal is a new user, the user identification information is a selection button corresponding to the user identification information of the new user. Creating means for creating display data for displaying a first selection screen including the selection button on which information is displayed;
First display control means for displaying the first selection screen on a display means;
Second display control means for causing the display means to display a list screen of the print data including the selected user identification information;
Printing means for printing the print data;
An image forming apparatus comprising: The print data further includes terminal identification information for identifying the terminal that has transmitted the print data,
The creation means is a selection button corresponding to a combination of the user identification information and the terminal identification information included in the print data stored in the storage means, and the user identification information, the terminal identification information, Creating display data for displaying a first selection screen including the selection button on which is displayed,
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1. The creation means creates display data for displaying a first selection screen including the selection button for each group of additional information associated with the user identification information.
The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus. A program for receiving print data including user identification information transmitted from a terminal via a network and causing a computer included in an image forming apparatus provided with a printing unit to print the print data to control printing and deletion of the print data Because
A storage step of storing the print data transmitted from the terminal in a storage unit;
When it is determined that the user identification information included in the print data transmitted from the terminal is a new user, the user identification information is a selection button corresponding to the user identification information of the new user. A creation step for creating display data for displaying a first selection screen including the selection button on which information is displayed;
A first display control step for causing the display means to display the first selection screen;
A second display control step for causing the display means to display a list screen of the print data including the selected user identification information;
For causing the computer to execute. An image forming method executed by an image forming apparatus that includes print means for receiving print data including user identification information transmitted from a terminal via a network and printing the print data, and controls printing and deletion of the print data Because
A storage step of storing the print data transmitted from the terminal in a storage unit;
When it is determined that the user identification information included in the print data transmitted from the terminal is a new user, the user identification information is a selection button corresponding to the user identification information of the new user. A creation step for creating display data for displaying a first selection screen including the selection button on which information is displayed;
A first display control step for causing the display means to display the first selection screen;
A second display control step for causing the display means to display a list screen of the print data including the selected user identification information;
An image forming method comprising:

Images