JPH03257616A - Print output control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To output demanded output data most speedily and efficiently by calculated time required for outputting the output data based on the number of sheets to be printed-out and a printer attribute respectively to plural printers and outputting the output data to the printer which output time is made minimum. CONSTITUTION:A sheet remaining amount detecting means 7 detects the respective sheet remaining amounts of plural printers 25a-25c. A printer attribute storing means 5 stores the printer attributes such as the sheet remaining amounts or printing speeds of the respective printers 25a-25c. Based on the number of sheets to be printed-out calculated by an output number calculating means 2 and the printer attributes stored in the printer attribute stored in the printer attribute storing means 5, an output time calculating means 4 respectively calculates the time required for outputting the output data in respect to the plural printers 25a-25c. Thus, an output means 6 outputs the output data to the printer, which output time is made minimum out of the output time calculates by the output time calculating means 6, and the demanded output data can be efficiently outputted.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a print output method in which a printer is determined according to the load and output capacity of the printer in a host computer or the like to which a plurality of printers are connected. This concerns the control method.

[Conventional technology]

Examples of this type of conventional print output control method include:
r UN IX System V User Reality Manual 2nd Edition Release 3.0P,
177, October 1985, published by AT&T Unix Pacific Co., Ltd." (hereinafter referred to as the first conventional example), and as shown in Special Publication No. 16769 of 1983 (hereinafter referred to as the second conventional example). There was something to be shown.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the print output control system in the first conventional example. In the figure, 1 is an input means for receiving data output instructions from an input/output device such as a terminal device, and 3 is for receiving output data. 26 is an output light checking means for checking the busy state of the printer, which is output light; and 6 is an output means for outputting data to the printer.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data processing device that executes the print output control method. In Figure 3, 2
1 is an input/output device such as a terminal device, 22 is a CPU (central processing unit) that executes a print output control method, 23 is a memory in which a program for the print output control method is stored, and 24 is used to store output data. magnetic disk device,
25 a, 25 b, and 25 c are printers connected to the CPU 22. Input means 1 in Figure 4
, the data storage means 3, the output light check means 26, and the output means 6 are included in, for example, the CPU 22 in FIG. The data storage means 3 in FIG. 4 stores output data read from the magnetic disk device 24 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a print output control method in a second conventional example. In FIG. 5, components corresponding to those shown in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals,
The explanation will be omitted. In FIG. 5, 2 is an output sheet number calculation means that reads the output tab from the data storage means 3 and calculates the number of sheets required for printout, and 7 is a paper remaining amount detection means that detects the remaining amount of paper in each of a plurality of printers. It is a means. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data processing apparatus that executes the print output control method of the second conventional example, and components corresponding to those shown in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals.

Next, the operation of the first conventional example will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 3. A data output request from the input/output device 21 is received by the input means l, and the magnetic disk device 24
It is checked which of the data stored by the data storage means 3 is requested for output. Next, the output destination checking means 26 checks the printers 25a, 25b, 25c.
Find the first printer that is not busy. Next, the output means 6 reads the data from the data storage means 3 and outputs it to the printer determined by the output destination check means 26.

Next, the operation of the second conventional example will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The processing by the input means 1 is the same as in the first conventional example. Next, the output sheet number calculation means 2 reads data from the data storage means 3, and calculates the number of sheets required for output based on, for example, line feed information and output format information in the data. Next, the remaining amount of paper in the printer is determined by the remaining amount of paper detecting means 7, and compared with the number of output sheets determined above to check whether or not the output data can be completely output with the current remaining amount of data. If the output cannot be completed, for example, the output request is made an error, or the output is output to the printer 25, but a warning message is displayed to the output requester. If it can be outputted, the output means 6 outputs it to the printer 25 using the same process as in the first conventional example.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As explained above, the first conventional example can support multiple printers, but even if the connected printers have different capabilities, the output will not be sent to the first printer recognized as free. Therefore, for example, a huge amount of data may be output to a printer with a low printing speed, and it may take a lot of time to output the data. Also,
In the second conventional example, it does not support multiple printers, and even if it supports multiple printers, it only takes into account the amount of paper remaining in the printer. There was a problem in that it took a considerable amount of time to output.

This invention was made to solve the above problems, and it selects the printer that can output the fastest based on the number of sheets of paper required for the output data, the amount of paper remaining in the printer, the printing speed, etc., and then prints the requested output. The object of the present invention is to obtain a print output control method that can output data efficiently.

[Means to solve the problem]

The print output control method according to the present invention includes a remaining paper amount detection means 7 for detecting the remaining amount of paper in each of a plurality of printers 25a, 25b, and 25c;
Based on the printer attribute storage means 5 which stores printer attributes such as the remaining amount of paper and printing speed in 25c, the number of print output sheets calculated by the output sheet number calculation means 2, and the printer attributes stored in the printer attribute storage means 5. an output time calculation means 4 for calculating the time required to output output data for each of the plurality of printers 25a, 25b, and 25c;
This is characterized in that the output data is outputted by the output means 6 to the printer 25a, 25b, or 25c for which the output time is the shortest among the output times calculated in the above.

[Effect]

The paper remaining amount detection means 7 includes a plurality of printers 25a.

The remaining amounts of paper 25b and 25C are detected. The printer attribute storage means 5 includes each printer 25a, 25b.

25c, printer attributes such as remaining paper amount and printing speed are stored. The output time calculation means 4 calculates the time required to output the output data from the plurality of printers 25a based on the number of printouts calculated by the output number calculation means 2 and the printer attributes stored in the printer attribute storage means 5.
, 25b.

25c. Therefore, the output data is the printer 25a or 25b or 2 that has the minimum output time among the output times calculated by the output time calculation means.
5c is outputted by the output means 6.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a print output control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 1, 1
3 is an input means for receiving data output instructions from an input/output device such as a terminal device, 3 is a data storage means for storing output data, and 2 is a data storage means for reading output data from the data storage means 3 to calculate the number of sheets of paper required for printout. 7 is a paper remaining amount detection means for detecting the remaining paper amount of each of the plurality of printers; 5 is each printer 25a;

Printer attribute storage means 25b and 25c store printer attributes such as remaining amount of paper and printing speed; There are seven output time calculation means for calculating the time required for outputting output data for a plurality of printers based on the seven printers.

It should be noted that the data processing apparatus that executes the print output control method of this embodiment has a configuration as shown in FIG. 3 described above. The CPU 22 in FIG. 3 includes, for example, the input means 1, the output number calculation means 2, the data storage means 3, the output time calculation means 4, the printer attribute storage means 5, the output means 6, and the remaining paper amount detection means in FIG. Contains 7th grade.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3. The data output instruction from the input/output device 21 is received by the input means 1, and the output number calculation means 2
The number of sheets required for output is calculated from the data stored in the data storage means 3. The output time calculation means 4 sequentially compares the number of output sheets obtained by the output number calculation means 2 and the remaining number of printer paper sheets stored in the printer attribute storage means 5, and determines whether there is more paper than the number of output sheets. Select the printer (with the least output time).

As a result, the output means 6 outputs the data in the data storage means 3 to the selected printer.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when the input/output device 21 requests output of data stored in the magnetic disk device 24, the program of this print output control method stored in the memory 23 starts. That is, in step S1, the input means 1 analyzes the request from the input/output device 21,
Among the data stored in the magnetic disk device 24,
Determine which data the output request is for.

In step S2, data in the magnetic disk drive 24 is read by the data storage means 3, and the number of sheets X necessary for outputting the data is determined by the output sheet number calculation means 2. Steps S3 to S12 are processing steps of the output time calculation means 4. In step S3, for example, the printing speed S of the printer 25a is obtained from the printer attribute storage means 5. Next step S
4, the printer 25a is also selected from the printer attribute storage means 5.
Obtain the remaining paper amount A. Next, in step S5, the number of sheets X required for output is divided by the printing speed S of the printer 25a, and this value is entered into the printing time TO.

Next, in step S6, the number of sheets of paper X required for output is compared with the remaining amount of paper A of the printer 25a.

If the current paper can be used to print (X≦A),
In step S9, the printing time To obtained in step S5 is directly set as the output time T. If the current paper cannot be used for all output (X>A), the average paper replenishment time M of the printer 25a is obtained from the printer attribute storage means in step S7, and the average paper replenishment time M is set to the printing time TO in step S8. The output time T is the sum of the paper replenishment time M. Next, in step SIO, it is checked whether the output time T has been calculated for all the printers 25a to 25c connected to the CPU 22. If it has not been checked, the process returns to step S3 and the processes of steps 33 to S10 are repeated for the remaining printers 25b and 25c. If all printers 25a to 25C have been checked, the process moves to step S11. In step Sll, the printer with the minimum output time is determined among the output data output times for each of the printers 25a to 25c determined in steps 83 to 510. Next, in step S12, the above step S stored in the printer attribute storage means 5
From the remaining amount of paper in the printer found in ll, step S2
Subtract the number of sheets of paper required for the output obtained in step X. Next, step S13 is a processing step of the output means 6, which reads the data to be output from the data storage means 3, connects the read data to the end of the output queue for the printer obtained in step Sll, and executes this program. Processing ends.

As described above, in the above embodiment, the output time calculation means 4 selects the printer with the smallest value of the value obtained by dividing the number of sheets of paper required for the output data by the printing speed of the printer plus the output delay time depending on the attributes of the printer. In other words, it is possible to select the printer that takes the least amount of time to output data, thereby achieving the effect of efficiently printing out data.

Note that in the above embodiment, the connected printers 24a to
Although the case where there are three printers 24c has been described, any number of printers may be connected. Further, instead of the terminal device, a computer connected via a network may be used, and the same effects as in the above embodiment can be obtained. In addition, in the above embodiment, the printer attributes include the amount of paper remaining in the printer, the printing speed,
Although the average paper replenishment time is shown, the total amount of data connected to the output queue of the printer may be added as a printer attribute.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the time required to output output data is calculated for each of a plurality of printers based on the number of printouts and printer attributes, and the output data is sent to the printer that has the shortest output time. Since the printer is configured to output the data, even if a plurality of printers having different performance such as printing speed are connected to the data processing device, the effect that the requested output data can be outputted as quickly and efficiently as possible can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a print output control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a print output control method of this embodiment and a conventional example. A block diagram showing the configuration of a data processing device that executes the output control method, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first conventional print output control method, and FIG. 5 shows the second conventional print output control method.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a second conventional print output control method. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data processing device that executes the second conventional print output control method. 1... Input means, 2... Output number calculation means, 3...
・Data storage means, 4... Output time calculation means, 5...
- Printer attribute storage means, 6... Output means, 7...
Remaining paper amount detection means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] an input means that receives a data output instruction from an input device; a data storage means that stores the output data; an output sheet number calculation means that reads the output data from the data storage means and calculates the number of sheets required for printout; In a print output control method comprising an output means for reading output data from a data storage means and outputting it to one of the plurality of printers, the amount of paper remaining is detected for each of the plurality of printers. a detection means, a printer attribute storage means for storing printer attributes such as the remaining amount of paper and printing speed in each of the printers, and a number of printed sheets calculated by the output sheet number calculation means and stored in the printer attribute storage means. output time calculation means for calculating the time required to output output data for each of the plurality of printers based on the attributes of the printers installed, and calculating the minimum output time among the output times calculated by the output time calculation means. A print output control method characterized in that output data is outputted to a printer using the output means.