JPH04245525A - Print system and information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select a printer that can perform a print-out operation in the least waiting time among plural printers. CONSTITUTION:A print request of an information processor set at a work stations 12, etc., is sent to 8 control server 18. The server 18 decides the unprocessed value of each print server 14 and also performs the collation of the processing ability among those servers 14 to calculate the waiting time of each server 14. Then a server (printer) 14 having the least waiting time is selected and reported to the station 12.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing device such as a workstation or a word processor, and a printer system for printing out documents created by this information processing device. The present invention relates to a printing system in which one printer is selected for printing, and an information processing apparatus used in this system.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Documents created and managed in offices are increasingly being digitized. A computerized office is equipped with multiple workstations, word processors, or computers. In these offices, in order to share printers and data files, these information processing devices and input/output devices such as printers are often connected using the same cable.

FIG. 9 shows an example of such a communication system. On the cable 11, a plurality of work stations (WS) 12-1, 12-2, ... 12
-N, a file server (FS) 13, and print servers (PS) 14-1, 14-2, and 14-M are arranged. Here, for example, the first print server 14-1
is a color printer, the second and third print servers 14-2 and 14-3 (not shown) are laser printers for monochrome printing, and the fourth print server (also not shown) is a dot printer for monochrome printing. , the M-th print server is a thermal transfer printer for monochrome printing.

Assume that an operator of a certain workstation, for example, the first workstation 12-1, prints out a document. Conventionally, this operator looked at the icons (pictograms) of each printer displayed on the screen of the workstation, selected the printer that he thought was most suitable, and printed out the document. That is, if the document requires color printing, the first print server consisting of a color printer is selected. In other cases, a printer is selected because its installation location is close to its own workstation 12-1 or its print quality is good, and print data is sent to that print server.

[0005] If you want to get printed matter in a hurry, you can choose a print server that can print out quickly based on experience, or you can inquire about the amount of unprocessed prints from each print server individually. Print data was sent by selecting a printer with a low throughput.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Such conventional printing systems have the following problems. (1) As the number of printers and print servers (hereinafter simply referred to as printers, unless specifically referred to as print servers) connected to a cable increases, it is difficult for all workstation operators to accurately recognize them. It becomes impossible. Therefore, usage is concentrated on some printers, making it impossible to equalize the usage of printers. For this reason, printers that are used intensively have a large amount of unprocessed data, and the waiting time until printout becomes long.

(2) For this reason, operators at individual workstations sometimes inquired about the amount of unprocessed work from each printer, but since operators only inquire about printers that they know, , it was not possible to equalize the load on the entire printer. Furthermore, inquiring about each printer one by one when printing is in a hurry places an excessive burden on the operator.

(3) Furthermore, among the plurality of printers, there may be some that are out of operation because they are out of order or undergoing periodic inspection. Therefore, if such a printer is specified, the waiting time may become extremely long. When specifying a printer that is not currently in use due to device replacement, etc., printing may become impossible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing system or a printer that can select a printer that can print out in the shortest waiting time while reducing the burden on the operator. Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing system that can manage all printers as a system as a whole. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus such as a workstation that is capable of selecting an optimal printer by excluding printers located too far away from candidates according to the convenience of the own apparatus. It is about providing.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problem] The invention as claimed in claim 1 provides a printer registration means for registering a plurality of printers to be used, and a time required from a new request for printout to completion for each of these printers. a storage means for storing data for calculation; a calculation means for calculating a printer that prints out in the shortest time using the data stored in the storage means when a printout is requested; A printing system is provided with a printer setting means for setting a printer to be used by a device that has made a printout request.

[0011] That is, in the invention as claimed in claim 1, printers to be used are registered, data for each of these printers is stored, and when a printout is requested, the printout is performed in the shortest possible time. To perform printout in the shortest waiting time by calculating and determining a printer to use and using this printer.

In the invention according to claim 2, a plurality of information processing apparatuses connected on the same cable, a plurality of printers connected on this cable, and each information processing apparatus connected on the above cable. The printing system is equipped with a printer management server that accepts print requests from the printers and selects a printer that can print out in the shortest time using data regarding the throughput and unprocessed print amount of these printers.

That is, in the invention as claimed in claim 2, a printer management server that manages printing is placed on a cable such as a local area network, and this printer management server accepts print requests all at once and prints out the prints in the shortest possible time. By selecting a printer that can print, you can manage the entire print process.

[0014] In the invention as claimed in claim 3, there is provided an inquiry means for inquiring the unprocessed print amount of a plurality of printers connected to the same cable when there is a print request, and processing capacity of these printers. A printer selection means for selecting an optimal printer using a table storing data regarding usage priority, an inquiry result of the inquiry means and the table, and a print data sending means for sending print data to the selected printer. Provided in the information processing device.

In other words, the invention as claimed in claim 3 includes means for inquiring the target printer about the amount of unprocessed prints when a print request is received within the information processing apparatus itself such as a workstation, and the result of this inquiry. The information processing device is configured to select the most suitable printer using its own accumulated data. Here, the optimal printer is not limited to a printer that can process in the shortest time. For example, it may be the optimal printer after considering the time and effort required to pick up printed matter.

[0016]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be explained in detail with reference to Examples below. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a printing system in one embodiment of the present invention. Components that are the same as those in FIG. 9 are given the same reference numerals, and their descriptions will be omitted as appropriate.

In the printing system of this embodiment, a new server called an administration server (AS) 18 is connected to the cable 11. The management server 18 has a function of managing the use of the print servers 14-1, 14-2, . . . , 14-M.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of this management server. The management server 18 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 21. The CPU 21 is connected to a working memory 23 such as a random access memory (RAM) through a bus 22 such as a data bus. In addition, the keyboard 24,
It is connected to a disk control device 25, a display control device 26, and a communication control device 27.

Here, the keyboard 24 is an input device on which a large number of keys are arranged, and a mouse 31 as a pointing device is connected thereto. The disk control device 25 is connected to a magnetic disk 32 that stores programs and the like for controlling this device, and is configured to control input and output of data. The display control device 26 is designed to control the display of the CRT. The communication control device 27 is a device for communicating with the management server 18 and the workstation 12 and print server 14 shown in FIG. 1 via the cable 11.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of control when one of the workstations makes a print request. Here, the first workstation 1 shown in FIG.
2-1 makes a print request. When the print request is received by the management server 18 (step S101;
Y), the CPU 21 checks whether this request specifies a specific printer (step S10).
2). For example, when printing out in color is desired, the first print server 14-1 in this example is designated. If a specific printer is specified (Y), the first print server 14-1 is selected unconditionally (step S103). Then, the first print server 14- is connected to the first workstation 12-1.
1 is selected (step S104). Based on this, the first workstation 12-1 sends print data to the first print server 14-1 and requests printout.

Next, the first workstation 12-1
A case will be explained in which a print request is made without specifically specifying a printer. In this case, the CPU 21 uses the working memory 23
first workstation 1 with reference to the first area within
2-1, the range of print servers to be selected is determined (step S105). The first area stores the ranges for limiting the selection range of print servers for each of the workstations 12-1 to 12-N. For example, if the operator wants to select only print servers that exist on the same floor of a building, or if the operator wants to print out only by using a laser printer as the printing mechanism, the selection range is memorized to a limited extent. If there is no particular selection target, all monochrome printers are selected.

[0022] Once the selection range of print servers 14 has been determined, the CPU 21 then selects target print servers from the second area in the working memory 23 and extracts data regarding their processing capabilities (step S10).
6).

Table 1 below shows data regarding the processing capacity of each print server 14-1, 14-2, . . . , 14-M stored in the second area.

[Table 1]

The processing capacity of the printing system of this embodiment represents the capacity when converted to A4 paper size. In Table 1, for example, "1/9" refers to the ability to print out 9 sheets of A4 size paper in one minute, and "1/25" similarly refers to the ability to print out 22 sheets in one minute. refers to the ability to

[0024]The CPU 21 then uses the working memory 23.
Refer to the third area within. In the third area, the number of requested prints for each print server 14-1, 14-2, . . . , 14-M is stored in A4 size converted form.

FIG. 4 shows the flow of control for managing the number of requested prints. CPU21 is shown in Figure 3.
When the printer selection operation described in (Step S201; Y) is performed, the print volume of the workstation 12 that made the print request is converted to A4 size, and the value is stored in a predetermined area of the work memory 23. (Step S)
202). The value is then added to the unprocessed data for the selected printer (step S203).

For example, when starting this print system, which print servers 14-1, 14-2, . . . , 14-
Since M also has no unprocessed data, the converted value of the print amount at the time of the print request is stored as is in the corresponding memory area. On the other hand, if the next print request is received before the processing has finished, the A4 size conversion value of the new print amount is added to the currently stored data value for that print server 14. will be done.

When data regarding the end of printing is received from any of the print servers 14-1, 14-2, . . . , 14-M instead of the printer selection operation (step S
204; Y), the scheduled printing amount of this print server 14 is read from the area stored in step S202 and subtracted from the unprocessed data (step S205). In this way, the management server 18 knows the unprocessed amount of each print server 14-1, 14-2, . . . , 14-M. Note that instead of calculating the unprocessed amount in this way, it is also possible to measure the time from the start of the process and perform a correction such that the unprocessed amount is reduced over time accordingly.

Returning to FIG. 3, the explanation will be continued. The CPU 21 refers to the third area and selects the print server 14 in the selected range.
Data regarding the unprocessed amount is extracted for each of (step S107 in FIG. 3). Then, the waiting time until the start of printing is calculated for each print server 14 (step S108).

Assuming that the waiting time is T, it can generally be calculated using the following equation 1. Here, α is the printing capacity of the print server 14, and P(n) is the number of pens for the n-th print object stored in the spool of the print server. m refers to the total number of print objects stored in the spool in terms of A4 size.

[0030]

[Math 1]

For example, the second print server 14-2 stores 3 prints in A4 size in the spool with n=1, and stores 10 prints in A4 size in the spool with n=2. I was doing it. In this case, T is 1/9×
(3+15), which becomes "2".

[0032] Once the waiting time for each print server 14 has been determined in this way, the CPU 21 selects the print server 14 having the minimum waiting time among them (step S109). Then, printer selection information is sent to the corresponding workstation 12-1 (step S104).

Note that there is a possibility that a plurality of print servers 14 that take the shortest time will be selected in step S109. In such a case, the print server with the largest processing capacity among these print servers 14 may be selected. In addition, selecting the print server closest to the workstation that made the print request (in this case, the first workstation 12-1),
It is also possible to select the print server with the best print quality.

[0034]

[Modification] In the embodiment described above, the management server 18 uses only the data passing through itself to estimate the unprocessed amount of each print server 14-1, 14-2, . . . , 14-M and optimize it. The print server 14 can be selected. In addition, the unprocessed amount of each print server 14-1, 14-2, . . . , 14-M may be inquired every time there is a print request.

FIG. 5 shows this modification. In this modification, the first workstation 12-1 sends a print request 41 and output information 42 for printing to the management server 18. The management server 18 includes each print server 14-1, 14-2, ..., 14-M.
An unprocessed amount response request 43 is made to the unprocessed amount response request 43.

FIG. 6 shows the first workstation 12-
1 represents a similar operation when the selection target is limited to a specific workstation. That is, in this example, the first workstation 12-
Data for selecting a print server is stored in the second to fourth print servers 14-2 to 14-4.
The unprocessed amount response request 43 is sent only to the unprocessed amount.

FIG. 7 shows how each print server responds in the case shown in FIG. 6. Each of the selected print servers 14-2 to 14-4 checks its own unprocessed status and returns an unprocessed amount response signal 45 converted to A4 size to the management server 18. The management server 18 is the workstation 14 with the shortest latency.
, and send the output information 42 in response to the selection.

FIG. 8 shows how data is sent and received when one print server is finally selected. The output information 42 sent to the first workstation 12-1 is sent from there to the corresponding print server 14-X and printed out. When the printout is completed, a completion signal 47 is output from the print server 14-X and sent back to the management server 18. The management server 18 assembles this information as printer information 48 and sends it back to the first workstation 12-1.

[0039] This allows the operator of the first workstation 12-1 to know the print server 14-X on which the printout was performed, and also to confirm the fact that the printout has occurred.

In the embodiments and modifications described above, the management server 18 is provided independently on the cable. Alternatively, each workstation 12-1, 12-2, . . . 12-N may have this function. In this case, each time there is a printer request, the workstation 12 checks each print server 14 for unused capacity, and selects the print server with the shortest waiting time or the most appropriate print server that combines various conditions. 14 is selected and output information 42 is sent to it.

[0041] In the embodiments described above, the management of print servers has been explained, but the present invention can be similarly applied to ordinary printers as long as they can recognize the amount of unprocessed printers. Of course it can be done.

[0042]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the invention as claimed in claim 1, a plurality of printers to be used are registered, the shortest time to complete printing is calculated, and the printer is activated. This choice equalizes the usage of the entire printer and enables efficient use of them. Therefore, the number of printers used can be substantially reduced compared to the case where some printers are used intensively, and an economical system can be constructed. Further, according to the invention as claimed in claim 2, since a dedicated printer management server is provided, there is no need to place a burden on each information processing device and to access each print server frequently. This has the advantage that printing can be managed by understanding the unprocessed amount. Furthermore, according to the third aspect of the invention, since the printer is selected using the usage priority determined by the distance between the operator and the printer, etc., the printer with the shortest waiting time is not only selected; This has the effect that the operator can select the printer that he or she most desires to use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing a printing system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a management server used in this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of control when one of the workstations makes a print request in this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of control for managing the number of requested prints in this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of each part when a print request is made in a modified example.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of each part when the workstation limits the selection range of print servers in this modification.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing how each print server responds in this modification example shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing how data is transmitted and received in a state where one print server is finally selected in this modification.

FIG. 9 is a system configuration diagram showing an example of a conventionally proposed communication system.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Cable 12 Workstation 14 Print server 21 CPU 23 Working memory 27 Communication control device 32 Magnetic disk

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Printer registration means for registering a plurality of printers to be used; storage means for storing data for calculating the time required from a new printout request to completion for each of these printers;
Calculating means for calculating a printer that prints out in the shortest time using the data stored in the storage means when a printout is requested; 1. A printing system comprising: printer setting means for setting a printer. 2. A plurality of information processing apparatuses connected on the same cable, a plurality of printers connected on this cable, and a print request from each of the information processing apparatuses connected on the cable. Using data on printer throughput and print backlog,
A print system comprising: a printer management server that selects a printer that can print out in the shortest time. 3. Inquiry means for inquiring the unprocessed amount of printing from a plurality of printers connected to the same cable when a print request is received, and data regarding the processing capacity and usage priority of these printers. The present invention is characterized by comprising a printer selection means for selecting an optimal printer using a stored table, an inquiry result of the inquiry means, and the table, and a print data sending means for sending print data to the selected printer. Information processing device.