JPH04287114A - Document preparing device with print waiting time display function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To estimate time for waiting for the end of printing a document requested printing or time for waiting for the completion of printing all the documents in a print waiting time at present by picture display. CONSTITUTION:When the printing of the document is requested by operating a KB 4 by a user, a CPU 1 calculates the predictive value of time required for printing the document based on the document data of the requested document and when no document in printing or waiting for printing is present thereon, the predictive value is displayed on a current document printing end waiting time counter 24 and an all printing end waiting time counter 25. The contents of the counters 24 and 25 are displayed on a display while being decremented one by one fixed value at every fixed time during a document printing period. On the other hand, when the document in printing or waiting for printing is present in the case of requesting the printing of the document, the predictive value of time for printing the requested document is added to the contents of the counter 25 at this time, and the contents are updated.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document creation device having a printing waiting time display function for displaying the waiting time until the printing of a document is completed.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In order to print a document being edited or a document stored on a floppy disk or hard disk using a printer built into a document creation device or connected externally, it is necessary to It is common to request a document to be printed by specifying the document using the document name or the like.

[0003] Some recent document creation devices are capable of performing the above-described print request operation even while printing another document. In such document creation devices, a stack (queue) of document names waiting to be printed is prepared, and when printing of a document is requested, the document name of the requested document is placed in the stack of document names waiting to be printed. . Then, when printing of one document (in the case of a document for which page printing is specified, printing of the corresponding page) is completed, the document name is generally taken from the top of the stack, and
Print the corresponding document.

As described above, in the conventional document creation apparatus, even if there are many documents waiting to be printed, if a print request operation is performed, the requested documents will be printed someday. However, it is not known at all when printing will end, which is particularly inconvenient when a document creation device is dedicated to printing and is shared by many users.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, conventional document creation devices are inconvenient because they do not know how long it will take to print the document they are trying to print. This was particularly problematic when used.

[0006] The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to reduce the waiting time until the printing of a document requested to be printed is completed, or the waiting time until the printing of all documents currently waiting to be printed is completed. The object of the present invention is to provide a document creation device that can display a time estimate on a screen.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a printing time prediction means for calculating and predicting the time required to print a document based on the document data of the document requested to be printed; counter means for counting the waiting time until the end of printing of the document; means for decrementing the contents of the counter means by a fixed value at fixed intervals during the document printing period; and means during printing when printing is requested. means for setting the predicted value calculated by the print time prediction means in the counter means when there are no documents or documents waiting to be printed; and means for updating the contents of the counter means by adding the predicted value calculated by the printing time prediction means to the contents of the counter means, and based on the contents of the counter means, the predicted value calculated by the printing time prediction means is updated. The feature is that the waiting time is displayed.

Further, in the present invention, when the printing of the document being printed is completed while there is a document waiting to be printed, the content of the counter means is calculated as a predicted value of the printing time of the document waiting to be printed. The present invention is characterized in that it further includes a correction means for performing a correction process to match the cumulative value.

[0009]

[Operation] According to the above configuration, when a document is requested to be printed, a predicted value of the time required to print the requested document is calculated based on the document data of the requested document, If there is no document, its predicted value is set in the counter means. The contents of this counter means are displayed on the screen and are decremented by a fixed value at fixed intervals during the document printing period, so that the predicted time until the printing of the requested document is dynamically indicated.

[0010] Furthermore, if there is a document being printed or a document waiting to be printed when a document printing is requested, the predicted value of the printing time of the requested document is added to the contents of the counter means at that time, and the same Because the contents are updated, the estimated time until printing is completed for the document for which printing is requested (for devices that allow interrupt printing, the estimated time until printing is completed for the last document that is in the print waiting state) ) is displayed dynamically.

[0011] Furthermore, in the configuration provided with the correction means, when the printing of the document being printed is completed while there is a document waiting to be printed, the content of the counter means is changed to the printing time of the document waiting to be printed. Since the correction process is performed to match the cumulative value of predicted values, even if the predicted value deviates from the true value, errors are prevented from accumulating.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a document creation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the case where document printing processing (particularly print request receiving processing) is performed will be mainly described.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a CPU, and 2 and 3 are memories (RAM, RO, etc.) accessed by the CPU 1.
M).

[0014] The CPU 1 controls the entire device, accesses the RAM 2 and ROM 3, starts a program that follows input instructions, performs the well-known kana-kanji conversion process for creating documents, and other processes directly related to the present invention. It executes various processes including receiving a document print request.

The RAM 2 includes a document buffer 21 for storing documents (document data), and a print-waiting document name stack 22 in which document names of documents waiting to be printed are stacked.
area etc. will be secured. The RAM 2 also includes a printing document name register 23 in which the name of the document currently being printed is set, a current document print completion waiting time counter 24 for counting the waiting time until the printing of the document currently being printed is completed, and a document currently being printed. Also, a total print completion waiting time counter 25 for counting the waiting time until printing of all the documents waiting to be printed is completed (all print completion waiting time), and a wait time counter 25 for counting the waiting time until printing of all the documents waiting to be printed is completed, and a wait time counter 25 for counting the waiting time until printing of all the documents waiting to be printed is completed, and a counter 25 for counting the waiting time until printing of all the documents waiting to be printed is completed (all print completion waiting time), and when printing of one document starts, the same document and printing An area is reserved for the all printing completion waiting time register 26 in which the waiting time until all waiting documents are printed is set.

The ROM 3 stores a program area 31 for storing a control program that defines all operations of the document creation device, a dictionary area 32 for storing dictionary data referred to in kana-kanji conversion, and font data. A character pattern area 33 and the like are provided.

The program area 31 includes a kana-kanji conversion program area 34 for storing a kana-kanji conversion program, a print processing program area 35 for storing a print processing program that controls document printing processing including the process of accepting document printing requests, and the like. is provided.

4 is a keyboard (KB), and 5 is a keyboard interface (KB-IF). 6 is a display, 7
is the display controller (display-CNT), 8 is the display RA
It is M. 9 is a floppy disk device (FDD), 1
0 is a hard disk device (HDD), 11 is an FDD interface (FDD-IF), and 12 is an HDD interface (HDD-IF). 13 is a printer device (P
RT), 14 is a printer interface (PRT-IF
).

The KB (keyboard) 4 receives key operations from the user and sends input information necessary for document creation/editing, document storage/retrieval, document printing, etc. to the CPU 1 via the KB-IF (keyboard interface) 5. This is what is output to. In addition to character keys, up/down/left/right cursor keys, etc., this KB4 has [conversion/next candidate] for instructing conversion from "kana" (reading) to kanji and instructing execution of next candidate processing.
key, [Select/Execute] to instruct to confirm various settings.
key, [Cancel] key to interrupt processing or cancel input before confirmation, [Delete] key and [Insert] key used for creating, editing, proofreading, etc. of documents and figures, instructing to print documents. Various function keys are provided, including a [print] key for instructing to create ruled lines, a [ruled line] key for instructing the creation of ruled lines, and the like. Furthermore, the [Function 1] key and [Function 2] key can realize various functions by combining with other character keys.
A special function key called the ] key is also provided.

[0020] The display device 6 is composed of a CRT, a liquid crystal display, or the like. The display CNT 7 controls the display of the display 6 using the display RAM 8 under the control of the CPU 1.

[0021] The FDD 9 and the HDD 10 are operated by the FDD-IF 11 and the HDD-IF 12, respectively, under the control of the CPU 1.
It is used to store various processing programs and documents (document data), and to record external characters (characters, symbols, marks, etc. other than JIS 1st level characters and 2nd level characters). In this example, the above FDD9, H
In addition to being equipped with a DD10 as an auxiliary storage device, one FDD can be added if necessary.

The PRT 13 receives, via the PRT-IF 14, a newly created document on the document buffer 21, a document edited on the document buffer 21, and further the FDD 9.
, read into the main body from the HDD 10 and stored in the document buffer 21.
Printing is performed based on the document information stored in the . PRT13 is, for example, a laser beam printer (LBP)
In this embodiment, it is used by being connected externally.

Next, the document printing acceptance process and the document print completion waiting time display process in the document creation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2 to 4.

[0024] First, when the user needs to print a document, he presses the [Print] key on the KB4 to specify the print mode. Next, the user specifies whether to print the document currently being proofread (i.e., the document on the document buffer 21) or a saved document, and in the case of printing a saved document, select the storage source (media). is FDD9, HDD10 or additional FD
Specify which one is D.

[0025] When the CPU 1 detects that the [Print] key has been pressed, it enters the print mode, and according to the print processing program stored in the print processing program area 35,
First, the print acceptance process described below is performed.

In this print reception process, the CPU 1 causes the user to specify the document to be printed as described above (further specifies the page range to be printed, the font to be used, etc.), and prints the document of the specified document. The name (and accompanying information necessary for printing) is stacked on the print-waiting document name stack 22, and printing is accepted (step S1 in FIG. 2).

Next, the CPU 1 uses a well-known print image display function to develop a display print image of (the designated page range of) the document received in step S1, and measures the development time. (Step S2 in FIG. 2). The print image display function is used to display the print image (print image for display) in order to preview the print result on the screen before actually printing the document. It is a function to expand and display on screen in the form of . This embodiment utilizes the image expansion function of the print image display function.

Next, the CPU 1 multiplies the development time of the display print image for the received document by a certain coefficient determined by the printing speed of the PRT 13, and prints the document on the PRT 13.
A predicted value of printing time when printing is calculated (step S3 in FIG. 2). Then, the CPU 1 adds the calculated predicted value of the printing time to the document name of the corresponding document stacked at the end of the print-waiting document name stack 22 (step S4 in FIG. 2). Note that instead of developing a print image for display and calculating a predicted printing time based on the development time, character data, graphic data,
It is also possible to predict the printing time for each data type based on the amount of data for each of the ruled line data, character modification data, image input data, etc., and use the sum as the predicted value of the printing time. be.

When the CPU 1 completes step S4, it checks whether there is a document currently being printed or a document already waiting to be printed (step S5 in FIG. 2). Depending on the result of this check, the processing of the CPU 1 differs as follows.

[0030] First, a case will be described in which, when a document print request is accepted, there is neither a document currently being printed nor a document already waiting to be printed. In this case, since the currently accepted document can be printed immediately, the CPU 1 displays a message indicating the start of printing (print start message) on the display 6 (step S6 in FIG. 2). Then, the CPU 1 retrieves the document name and print time prediction value (i.e., the document name and print time prediction value of the currently accepted document) that are stacked at the top (in this case, top = last) of the print waiting document name stack 22. This print time prediction value is set in the current document printing completion waiting time counter 24, all printing completion waiting time counter 25, and all printing completion waiting time register 26, respectively (FIG. 2). Steps S7, S8)
.

After executing steps S7 and S8, the CPU 1 displays a message indicating that printing is in progress (printing message) (step S9 in FIG. 2). This message includes the current document printing completion waiting time indicated by the current document printing completion waiting time counter 24 and the total printing completion waiting time indicated by the total printing completion waiting time counter 25. Here, since there is neither a document currently being printed nor a document already waiting to be printed, step S8 is performed, and both counters 24 and 2 are
Since the predicted printing time for the document received this time is set in 5, the waiting time until the printing of the document received this time is displayed as the current document printing completion waiting time and all printing completion waiting time. become.

After executing step S9 above, the CPU 1 activates the PRT 13 to print the received document (step S10 in FIG. 2). As a result, the data of the received document (document data) is transferred to PRT1.
3, and is expanded into a print image and printed at the PRT 13. Note that it is also possible to develop the image into an actual print image in the CPU 1 and pass it to the PRT 13. When this method is applied, printing time can be predicted using this development time, so it is not necessary to develop a print image for display using the print image display function described above.

In this embodiment, a timer interrupt mechanism (not shown) is provided which operates during document printing and generates an interrupt every fixed period of time, for example, every 30 seconds. When the CPU 1 receives an interrupt from the timer interrupt mechanism, it checks whether the waiting time indicated by the current document print completion waiting time counter 24 is less than a predetermined time, for example, 30 seconds (step S13 in FIG. 4). Then, the CPU 1 sets each of the contents of the current document printing completion waiting time counter 24 and all printing completion waiting time counter 25 to 30 seconds or less, only if the time is not less than 30 seconds.
It is updated to a value decremented by seconds, and at the same time, the current document printing completion waiting time and all printing completion waiting time in the print-in-progress message are updated to the times indicated by the counters 24 and 25 (step S14 in FIG. 4).

Next, a description will be given of the operation when there is a document being printed or a document waiting to be printed when a document print request is accepted. Here, when a print document with a print time prediction value of, for example, 4 minutes is received, there are both documents being printed and documents waiting to be printed, and the current document printing completion waiting time counter 24 and all printing completion waiting time counter 25 indicate It is assumed that the printing completion waiting times are 3 minutes and 30 seconds and 12 minutes, respectively. The printing message displayed on the display 6 at this time is shown in FIG. 5(a).

When the CPU 1 receives a document print request, if there is a document being printed or a document waiting to be printed, the CPU 1 proceeds from step S5 in FIG. 2 to step S11 in FIG.
The print time prediction value (here, 4 minutes) added to the document name stacked at the end of the print waiting document name stack 22 (the document name of the currently accepted document) is stored in the all print completion waiting time counter 25 and in the register. 26 values respectively.

Next, the CPU 1 updates the contents of the all printing completion waiting time counter 25 and the register 26 to the corresponding addition results, and at the same time updates the all printing completion waiting time in the printing message to the all printing completion waiting time counter. The time is updated to the time indicated by the updated value (added value) of 25 (here, 12 minutes+4 minutes=16 minutes) (step S12 in FIG. 4).

As a result of the above, the printing message displayed on the display screen of the display device 6 changes from the state shown in FIG. 5(a) to the state shown in FIG. 5(b), and the user who requested document printing can The time it takes to finish printing the document currently being printed, and the time it takes to finish printing all documents, including the document being printed and the requested document (documents accepted this time) (here, documents are printed in the order requested). Therefore, it is possible to know from the printing-in-progress message that the waiting time until printing of the requested document is completed.

Now, in this embodiment, 1 in PRT13
When printing of the document is completed, an interrupt (one document end interrupt) is sent from the PRT 13 to the CPU 1. In response to this interrupt, the CPU 1 checks the print waiting document name stack 22 to check whether there is a print waiting document (step S15 in FIG. 4), and if there is a print waiting document, the value of the all print completion waiting time register 26 is The predicted printing time value (predicted printing time value of the document that was being printed until just before) in the currently printing document name register 23 is subtracted from (step S16 in FIG. 4). The result of this subtraction matches the sum of the predicted printing times for all documents waiting to be printed, until all the documents waiting to be printed are printed (until the last document to be printed among the documents waiting to be printed is finished printing). (waiting time for all printing to be completed).

After the CPU 1 performs the subtraction process in step 16, the process proceeds to step S17. In this step S17,
The contents of the total print completion waiting time counter 25 and the register 26, as well as the total print completion waiting time in the printing message are updated to the subtraction result obtained in step S16. By updating the contents of the all-print completion waiting time counter 25, even if the predicted printing time of the document that was printed until just before differs from the actual printing time, the error is prevented from accumulating. Further, in step S17, the current document print completion waiting time in the printing message is set to "0". Note that step S13 when receiving a timer interrupt
If it is determined that the current document printing completion waiting time indicated by the current document printing completion waiting time counter 24 is 30 seconds or less, the current document printing completion time (by the counter 24 and) in the printing message is may be set to "0".

[0040] When the CPU 1 executes step S17,
The document name and print time prediction value stacked at the top of the print waiting document name stack 22 are taken out and set in the printing document name register 23, and the predicted value is also set in the current document print completion waiting time counter 24. (Figure 4 step S18)
.

Next, the CPU 1 calculates the current document printing end time in the printing message by using the current document printing end waiting time counter 2.
4, and activates the PRT 13 to print the document indicated by the currently printing document name register 23 (step S19 in FIG. 4).

[0042] The above has described the case where documents are printed in the order of requests, but the present invention can also be applied to cases where interrupt printing is allowed. In this case, it is more convenient to display the print completion waiting time for the document for which interrupt printing has been requested.

In addition to document printing, the present invention is also applicable to printing only one page, that is, page printing (and even interrupt page printing).

[0044]

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention,
Predicts the printing time of a document that is requested to be printed, and based on the prediction result, estimates the waiting time until the printing of that document is completed, or the waiting time until all printing of documents currently waiting to be printed is completed. is dynamically displayed on the screen, so the user can see on the screen the waiting time until the printing of the document they are requesting starts, and the waiting time from the request to the end of printing. This is convenient when the apparatus of the present invention is shared by an unspecified number of users for printing documents.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a document creation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a part of a flowchart for explaining print reception processing in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the rest of the flowchart for explaining the print reception process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining timer interrupt processing that is periodically performed during a document printing period and interrupt processing that is performed at the end of printing one document (one document end interrupt processing) in the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of a printing message in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...CPU, 2...RAM, 3...ROM, 4...KB (keyboard), 6...display, 13...PRT (printer device)
, 21...Document buffer, 22...Printing document name stack, 23...Printing document name register, 24...Current document printing completion waiting time counter, 25...All printing completion waiting time counter, 26...All printing completion waiting time register, 31 ...Program area, 35...Print processing program area.

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: Printing time prediction means for calculating and predicting the time required to print a document based on the document data of the document requested to be printed, and a waiting time until the printing of the document requested to be printed is completed. counter means for counting, means for decrementing the contents of this counter means by a fixed value at fixed time intervals during a document printing period, and when there is no document currently being printed or document waiting to be printed when printing is requested; means for setting the predicted value calculated by the printing time prediction means in the counter means; means for updating the same content by adding the predicted value calculated by the time prediction means, and the waiting time until the printing of the document requested to be printed is determined based on the content of the counter means. A document creation device characterized by displaying a document. 2. When the printing of the document being printed is completed while there is a document waiting to be printed, the content of the counter means is set to the cumulative value of the predicted printing time of the document waiting to be printed. 2. The document creation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a correction means for performing a correction process for matching.