JPH05216604A - Information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make an effective use of a printer by automatically selecting the usable printer from among all printers connected to the terminals. CONSTITUTION:The system consists of printers 5 to 8 outputting the form dimension information corresponding to the form dimension and the operation information showing the printing operation, terminals 1 and 2 outputting a printing instruction and printing data to the printers 5 to 8, and printer retrieval devices 3 and 4 outputting the printing data from the terminal to the selected printer based on the form dimension information included in the printing instruction from the terminals 1 and 2 and the operation information of the printers 5 to 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing system, and more particularly to an information processing system in which a plurality of printers are connected to a plurality of terminals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional information processing system, when two printers 5-8 are connected to two terminals 1 and 2, as shown in FIG.
It is connected to the printer 6, the printer 7, and the printer 8.

Next, the operation of the conventional example will be described.

When the print information of the terminal 1 is printed by the printer 1, the printer is designated and printed by the terminal 1 before execution of the print command. Similarly, when printing with the printers 6, 7 and 8, the printer is designated in advance and printed.

[0005]

In this conventional information processing system, a printer must be designated before printing, and even if a printer other than the designated printer can be used at the time of print instruction, the designated printer can be used. However, if it is in use due to a request from another terminal, it cannot print. Further, when the required paper format and the paper size of the designated printer are different, the designated printer must be changed or the paper of the designated printer must be changed.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An information processing system according to the present invention includes a plurality of printers for outputting sheet size information corresponding to a loaded sheet size and operation information indicating whether or not a printing operation is in progress, and the printers. A plurality of terminals for outputting print commands and print data, and a printer searcher for outputting the print data to the printer selected based on the paper size information and the operation information included in the print commands output from the terminals. Have.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a plurality of printers 5 to 8 for outputting sheet size information corresponding to the loaded sheet size and operation information indicating whether or not a printing operation is in progress, and printers 5 to 8
Multiple terminals that output print commands and print data to
2 and printer searchers 3 and 4 for outputting print data from the terminals to the printer selected based on the paper size information included in the print command output from the terminals 1 and 2 and the operation information of the printers 5 to 8. Consists of

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

Both terminals 1 and 2 are connected to printer 5, printer 6, printer 7 and printer 8 through printer searchers 3 and 4. For example, printers 5, 6
Is loaded with B4 (horizontal) paper, and the printer 7 is A4
It is assumed that (vertical) paper is loaded, the printer 8 is loaded with A4 (horizontal) paper, and the printer 8 is printing data from the terminal 2.

When printing the data of the terminal 1, if the format of the data of the terminal 1 is A4 (vertical), the printer searcher 3 searches the printer 7 by the paper size information and operation information from each printer, After printing by the printer 7, the print result (which printer was output) is output to the terminal 1.

The data format of the terminal 1 is A4 (horizontal).
If so, it is determined from each printer that all printers are unusable based on the paper size and operation information, and the paper size information and operation information of each printer is output to the terminal 1. The operator of the terminal 1 changes the vacant printer paper as necessary and executes the print command again.

In this embodiment, the terminal and the printer searcher are separate, but the same can be done by replacing them with a terminal with a printer search function.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of printers that output sheet size information corresponding to the loaded sheet size and operation information indicating whether or not a printing operation is in progress,
The printer has a plurality of terminals for outputting print commands and print data to the printer, and a printer searcher for outputting the print data to the printer selected by the paper size information and operation information included in the print commands output from the terminals. As a result, a printer capable of printing is automatically selected, so that the printer can be effectively used. Further, since the type of the loaded paper is monitored, it is possible to prevent the erroneous operation of printing on the paper by mistake.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of a conventional information processing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Terminals 3, 4 Printer search machine 5, 6, 7, 8 Printer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of printers that output sheet size information corresponding to the loaded sheet size and operation information indicating whether or not a printing operation is in progress, and a plurality of terminals that output print commands and print data to the printers. An information processing system comprising: a printer searcher that outputs the print data to the printer selected based on the paper size information and the operation information included in the print command output from the terminal.