JPH0675980A - Business form managing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically manage the output of a business form, and to attain the high speed and the labor saving of processing by providing a daily number management file, and holding its daily information in a delivery management file by adding it to printing control information, and retrieving periodically its contents, and executing scheduling in prescribed outputting order. CONSTITUTION:After a business form editing part 1 generates or edits the business form, it divides the form into printing data and output requested information, and delivers the output requested information to a delivery managing part 2, and starts it. The delivery managing part 2 determines what day of what numbered week of the month or the day of the moth-end or the day of a weekend on the data held in the information by using a data changing function. Besides, it retrieves the daily number management file 3, and extracts information showing how many pieces of that business form are required for what distribution destination, and stores this information in the delivery management file 4 as a delivery management table by adding it to the output requested information. A scheduling part 5 retrieves periodically the delivery management file 4, and if there is the corresponding one, it executes the scheduling successively.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is used for output management of a form edited / created using a computer. The present invention relates to a form management device capable of automatically performing output management of a form without excess or deficiency.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of form output management, by inputting a date into a form editing unit that edits and creates a form including a date, the date change unit causes the characteristic of the date (the week of the month Of which day, the end of the month, the weekend, etc.) is calculated, but the operator intervenes to operate asynchronously and determines how many copies of each form are required for each distribution destination according to date characteristics, and The number of copies was distributed by.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional form output management is usually performed as a daily process in the final stage of daily work, so that it often takes place at night. There was an excess or deficiency in the output form due to the determination and decision of distribution.

In order to prevent such excess and deficiency, a plurality of operators have to be arranged, which causes a problem of increasing the number of personnel.

The present invention solves such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of automatically managing a form output and performing a reliable form output at high speed without excess or deficiency. To do.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an operation management unit for performing operation management of form editing / creation by operation input, and a form in which a date is added to print data according to an instruction of the operation management unit and combined with a format are used. In a form management device that includes a form editing unit that edits / creates and outputs print control information, and a printing device that prints according to the print control information from the form editing unit and outputs the form, , A date-by-date information including the term end date, and a daily number-of-copies management file that pre-stores the number of forms output for each distribution destination, and information by date is imported from this daily-number-of-copies management file A delivery management unit that adds the print control information and outputs it as a delivery management table, and a delivery management unit that holds the contents of the delivery management table from this delivery management unit. File, a schedule section for periodically searching the delivery management file, reading the contents thereof, and scheduling the print data in a predetermined output order, and outputting print data to the printing device; and output completion information from the schedule section and the delivery management section. And a form output result management file that stores the form output results obtained from the output schedule information from.

[0007]

[Operation] The form editing unit outputs the output request information to the delivery management unit after creating and editing the form. The characteristics of the date that the delivery manager holds on its output request information (for example,
What day of the month, what day of the week, etc.) is searched, the distribution management file by day is searched, the distribution destination and the required number of the form are extracted, and it is added to the output request information and stored in the delivery management file. At the same time, the planned output number is stored in the form output result management file. The schedule unit periodically searches the delivery management file, sequentially reads when there is the corresponding content, performs scheduling, passes print data corresponding to the output request to the printing apparatus, and outputs the required number of copies.

As a result, the required number of copies to the distribution destinations can be automatically and reliably managed even if there are many kinds of forms, and the processing speed can be increased and the number of personnel can be reduced accordingly.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration and operation flow of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, an operation management section 7 which is connected to the center console 9 and receives operation input from the center console 9 and manages the operation of editing and creating forms, and an instruction of the operation management section 7. Therefore, a form editing unit 1 that adds a date to print data, edits and creates a form in combination with a format, and outputs print control information, and this form editing unit 1
And a printing device 6 that outputs a form according to the print control information from the printer. Further, as a feature of the present invention, date-specific information including month / day, day of the week, end-of-term date, and form-output for each distribution destination are provided. Number-of-day circulation management file 3 that stores the number
The delivery management unit 2 which takes in the date-specific information from the daily number-of-copies management file 3 and adds it to the print control information from the form editing unit 1 and outputs it as a delivery management table.
And a delivery management file 4 for holding the contents of the delivery management table from the delivery management unit 2, and a periodic search of the delivery management file 4 to read the contents and perform scheduling in a predetermined output order to print the print data. The printer 6 includes a schedule unit 5 for outputting to the printer 6, a form output result management file 8 for storing the form output results obtained from the output completion information from the schedule unit 5 and the output schedule information from the delivery management unit 2. Includes means for printing the print data from the schedule section 5 in accordance with the print control information. The operation management section 7 monitors the operation status of the schedule section 5 and displays the execution status on the center console 9. Including means.

The form editing unit 1 edits or creates a form, divides it into print data and print control information, passes the print control information to the delivery management unit 2, and starts the delivery management unit 2. The delivery management unit 2 has the functions of date conversion, daily number management file search, and store number management, and converts the date based on the print control information received from the form editing unit 1 to obtain characteristics. At the same time, the required number of copies is calculated for each store, added to the print control information, and stored in the delivery management file 4.

The daily number management file 3 holds the number of output copies for each distribution destination for each date characteristic, and passes the number of output copies for each distribution destination to the search by the delivery management unit 2. The delivery management file 4 holds the print control information processed by the delivery management unit 2, and delivers the print control information each time the schedule unit 5 in the subsequent stage makes a request. Further, the schedule section 5 periodically searches the delivery management file 4 by a built-in timer, creates an output schedule if there is print control information, and issues a print request for the print data created by the form editing section 1 to the printer 6 Issue to. At that time, in order to increase the efficiency of processing in the printing device 6, optimization is performed so that the same type of form is continuously output. The printing device 6 prints the print data in response to the output request issued from the schedule section 5, and can cope with a large number of output requests by increasing the number of devices.

The operation management section 7 constantly monitors the status of the schedule section 5 to display the output execution status, and when the output priority is changed, the operator gives an instruction from the external input device. It can be changed or manages the operation management function that enables issuance to the direct output request from the operator and the output result of the form, and it is possible to restart the operation from the system stop point when a system failure occurs. It has a form record management function. The form output result management file 8 manages the output result of the form by receiving the planned output number of copies from the delivery management unit 2 and checking it with the output number of copies from the schedule unit 5. The center console 9 serves as a console of the computer system as well as a console of the computer system, displays a delivery execution state, and starts, terminates, stops, restarts, and restarts the system by an external input device such as an attached keyboard. Operations such as changing the priority of each delivery, direct output instruction from an external device, and output instruction of form output result management from the form output result management file 8 can be performed.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention thus constructed will be described. FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an operation flow of the delivery management unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

The form editing unit 1 separates print data and output request information after creating or editing the form, and passes the output request information to the delivery management unit 2 for activation. The delivery management unit 2 uses the date conversion function to determine the date held in the output request information, such as the day of the week of the month, the end of the month, or the weekend, and the like. By searching the daily number management file 3, how many copies of that form are needed for which distribution destination is extracted, and this is added to the output request information and stored in the delivery management file 4 as a delivery management table and output. The number of copies information is stored in the form output result management file 8 as the planned number of copies.

The schedule section 5 periodically searches the delivery management file 4, and if there is a corresponding delivery management table, sequentially performs read scheduling. This scheduling makes it possible to select three types of priority order of FiFO, paper name, and paper name format name. FiFO is a system that sequentially outputs from the one that has been requested to output,
As the paper name and the paper name format name, those of the same paper are collectively output, and those of the same paper are collectively output.

The delivery management table group scheduled in any one of the above formats is put in the output queue for the printer 6 as an output request according to the output schedule, and is sequentially output. When shifting from the output waiting state to the execution, the scheduling unit 5 takes out the print data corresponding to the output request, passes it to the printing device 6, and notifies the form output result management file 8 as the output number of copies and registers it.

During the above series of operations, the operation management unit 7
Mainly monitors the operation for the schedule unit 5,
The delivery execution state is displayed, and when the need arises, the center console 9 gives an instruction to change the output priority. Further, when it becomes necessary to print the print data created externally, an instruction can be given from the center console 9 to directly issue an output request to the printer 6. Further, by giving an instruction from the center console 9, it is possible to compare the delivered output and the unoutput delivery at the time of giving the instruction.

When the system is stopped due to a failure or the like, the operation management unit 7 extracts the delivery information that has already been output from the form output result management file 8 and restarts the scheduling unit 5 from where it was last stopped. You can give instructions.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, when printing a large amount of various forms, it is possible to manage the required number of copies for each distribution destination and automatically perform a series of processes from distribution to printing. Therefore, the processing speed can be increased and the number of personnel can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration and operation flow of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations of a delivery management unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Form editing part 2 Delivery management part 3 Daily number of copies management file 4 Delivery management file 5 Schedule part 6 Printing device 7 Operation management part 8 Form output result management file 9 Center console

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An operation management unit that manages the operation of editing / creating a form by operation input, and a print control is performed by adding a date to print data and combining it with a format to edit / create a form according to an instruction from the operation management unit. In a form management device equipped with a form editing unit that outputs information, and a printing device that prints according to the print control information from this form editing unit and outputs a form, date-based information including month, day, and end date , And the number of copies output for each distribution destination is stored in advance, and a date-based number management file is provided, and date-based information is imported from this date-based number management file and added to the print control information from the form editing section for delivery. The delivery management unit that outputs as a management table, the delivery management file that holds the contents of the delivery management table from this delivery management unit, and this delivery A schedule section for periodically retrieving the contents of the re-management file, reading out its contents, and performing scheduling in a predetermined output order to output print data to the printing device, output information from this schedule section, and an output schedule from the delivery management section. A form management apparatus comprising: a form output result management file that stores a form output result obtained from information.