JPH07121324A - Job processing execution system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To perform effective processing such as the processing of various jobs including the successive processing requested from a user or maintaining the system from a system manager. CONSTITUTION:The system is provided with an object management part 10d managing the required information for various processings such as job processing in a job control part 3 and in a job execution part 4, the processing of eliminating the register of the job execution part, charging processing, and history processing or the like as an object taking it as one integrated form information, object file 9 storing the object as a file, and object processing part 8 connected to the job control part 3 and to the job execution part 4 and taking out the required information at the time of performing various processings of the job control part 3 and the job execution part 4 from the object file 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention accepts jobs for conversion, transfer processing or output processing such as printing of documents sent from a plurality of workstations via a network and processes or outputs the jobs in parallel. Job processing execution system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a network system, when a file server, a print server or the like is connected to the network and a document or the like stored as a file from a workstation (client) is output from a printer or the like, the file server is once used. The document to be output from the printer is taken out, the taken-out document is then transferred to the print server, and the document is output from an output device such as a printer. Further, when various conversion processes are required for the extracted document or the like, after performing this conversion process, the document is transferred to an output device such as a printer and printed out.

In such a network system, a plurality of terminals (clients) and a plurality of output devices such as printers are connected. However, multiple terminals
In some cases, data may be created in different data formats and output to an output device that can output data in a format different from this data format. In this case, edit the data format again and output the data from the terminal. Must be sent to the device. This data editing becomes very complicated when terminals having different data formats and output devices having different data formats are connected to the same system, and a large number of editing programs must be prepared.

For this reason, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-51005 discloses that an empty state of a printer is managed in units of output, and when an output request is made from a terminal, an empty printer among printers that can output in a designated format. Describes a data output control method in which document data is edited and output.

According to this, even if terminals of various data formats are connected to the system, control of the terminals does not become more complicated than necessary, and limited hardware resources can be effectively utilized. In this case, output control is performed only for documents having the same data format.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-2342 discloses that
An information transmission device is described in which a plurality of code conversion means corresponding to a plurality of terminals are provided, and the output of the code conversion means is selectively switched by the selection means.

According to this, information from a plurality of terminals having different command systems can be output by the output device of different command systems. In this case, the code conversion means corresponds to the terminal, and therefore it is not easy to add the code conversion means.

Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-7923 discloses that
In response to print requests from multiple workstations connected to the network, a program for controlling print operation is provided in the station controller, and print requests from this workstation are sent to the workstations connected to the printer via the station controller. A printing scheme is described which can be transmitted and printed by this printer.

According to this, even a workstation to which a printer is not connected can issue a print request and print. In this case, it is impossible to print the document specified only by the reference data such as the document name and the storage location. Also, when code conversion is necessary, it cannot be printed out.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-251915, the print server is provided with at least one type of print data conversion function, so that the printer simply outputs the data without considering the model of the printer. There is described a print server capable of printing out from a printer at a desired position only by sending a printer model name corresponding to a printer format in advance of outputting data.

On the other hand, regarding registration / deletion processing of a printer or the like in the network, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-164828, the output printer determination means determines the printer information registration means and printer name for each terminal from the input output printer information. The printer of the corresponding terminal is determined as the output printer by referring to the registration means.

According to this, it is only necessary to partially change the contents of the printer information registration means for each terminal and the printer name registration means. It is not necessary to change each separately, and the trouble of this change is reduced.

[0013]

As described above, conventionally, in a network system in which a plurality of terminal devices and output devices are connected, data of a data format different from the data format sent from a workstation, which is a terminal, is used. In some cases, the data must be output to an output device capable of outputting, and in this case, conversion processing of the data format had to be performed. Then, the terminal device and the output device connected to the network process in various data formats, and if there are many types of this data format, the conversion processing of the data format must be performed correspondingly, and the conversion processing is performed. There was a problem that it became complicated.

On the other hand, in order to simplify this conversion processing, processing is performed only for documents having the same data format, code conversion means is provided separately for each terminal, station controller. Some of them have a print operation control program installed therein to output data to an optimum printer, and some have a print data conversion function in the print server to allow a printer at a desired position to perform print output.

However, these are fixed ones limited to printer output and data format conversion.
It is impossible to perform continuous processing of various conversion processing, for example, processing to retrieve a document to be output from a file on the network, convert the format of the document, and print out the same by one instruction. The user was required to perform many operations, and the system lacked efficiency, flexibility, and expandability.

On the other hand, when a new printer or the like is registered or deleted in the network, the conventional system is fixed as described above, and thus it is difficult to construct a flexible system.

Therefore, the present invention eliminates such problems, and efficiently performs various kinds of processing such as processing of various jobs including continuous processing requested by the user or processing related to system maintenance by the system administrator. An object is to provide a job processing execution system that can perform.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a job acceptance unit that accepts one or a plurality of job requests input via a network and various job execution processes such as job output processes and conversion processes are performed. Alternatively, each unit independently has a plurality of job execution units and a job control unit that controls a job request received by the job reception unit and a process for the job execution unit, and executes the job request execution processes in parallel. In the job processing execution system for performing the above, information necessary for various processes such as job processing in the job control unit and the job execution unit, registration deletion process of the job execution unit, billing process, history process, and the like is one unified format information. Management means for managing the information, storage means for storing the information in the unified format, and the job control section and the job execution section. Are being connected, characterized in that the information required for each of the various processes of the job control unit and the job execution unit equipped with a processing means for processing to retrieve from the storage means.

Further, the job control section is provided between the job execution section and the first control means for controlling the job reception section and the management section for controlling the job processing execution system. Second control means for controlling, and the first
And a third control means for performing control between the control means and the second control means.

[0020]

According to the present invention, a job receiving unit that receives one or a plurality of job requests input via a network, and one or a plurality of job executing units that perform various job execution processes such as job output processing and conversion processing. And a job control unit for controlling the job request accepted by the job accepting unit and the process for the job executing unit, and the managing unit when the respective units independently execute the job request executing processes in parallel. Provides information necessary for various processes such as job processing in the job control unit and the job execution unit, registration deletion process of the job execution unit, billing process, history process, etc.
Information in one unified format, for example, an object consisting of an attribute and its value, is managed by a storage means for storing the information in the unified format, and a processing means is provided in each of the job control section and the job execution section. When connected, the job control unit and the job execution unit perform a process of extracting information necessary for the various processes from the storage unit.

Further, the job control section is provided between the job execution section and the first control means for controlling the job reception section and the management section for controlling the job processing execution system. Second control means for controlling, and the first
And the third control means for performing control between the second control means and the second control means.

As a result, the distributed job control section and the job execution section can perform various processes based on one common format of information, and the job control section has three parts. Since the functions are distributed in the above, efficient control can be performed.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a job processing execution system which is an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the job processing execution system includes a plurality of job receiving units 1 connected to a network N.
a to 1c, management unit 2, management input / output control unit 2a, job control unit 3, multiple job execution units 4a to 4c, account
Logging utilities 5a-5c, log file 6,
It has an account file 7, an object processing unit 8 and an object file 9. The job control unit 3, account logging utilities 5a to 5c,
The log file 6, the account file 7, the object processing unit 8, and the object file 9 are collectively referred to as a job management unit M as a plurality of job reception units 1a to 1c, a plurality of job execution units 4a to 4c, and a plurality of account files.
The logging utilities 5a to 5c are collectively referred to as a job reception unit 1, a job execution unit 4, and an account logging utility 5, respectively.

The job control unit 3 is a job control basic unit 1
0, event processing unit 10a, logging processing unit 10b, account processing unit 10c, and object management unit 10
have d.

The job acceptance unit 1 accepts jobs input via the network, normalizes them, and supplies them to the job control basic unit 10 of the job control unit 3. Here, normalization means unifying the jobs sent in various formats into the job formats defined by this system. In addition, in FIG. 1, the job receiving units 1a to 1c have three configurations, but this is an example of a plurality, and a plurality is provided so that various job formats to be sent can be supported. This is because

The management unit 2 accepts an operation from the system administrator, requests the job control unit 3 for processing via the management input / output control unit 2a which is an interface, or causes the job control unit 3 to generate a request. An event is received from the event processing unit 10a. In addition, utility 5a for account (billing) and logging (history) processing
Control of 5c is performed. In FIG. 1, the management unit 2
Is locally connected to the management input / output control unit 2a, but may be remotely connected via a network, for example, the network N.

In this way, a control request for a job such as print processing or management is input to the job control unit 3 from the above-described job receiving unit 1 and management 2.

The job control unit 3 analyzes the contents of a job or the like input from the management unit 2 via the job reception unit 1 or the management input / output control unit 2a, and processes the job or the like in the job execution unit 4. Let it run.

The job execution section 4 is either a job processing section or a job output section. The job processing section performs processing such as document format conversion, image processing, and notify, and the job output section outputs the job. Record to output medium or redirect. Note that the execution instruction from the job control unit 3 to the job execution unit 4 is not limited to one, but the execution instruction is repeated a necessary number of times depending on the content of the job. What is a redirect?
If the job execution unit 4 in this job execution processing system cannot process the job or if the corresponding job execution unit 4 is not operating, this job is sent to the job execution units of other job execution processing systems connected to the network N. It means to transfer.

The event processing unit 10a includes a job control unit 3
Process the event that occurs in the management input / output control unit 2a and receive the event control input from the management input / output control unit 2a.
The event is notified to the management unit 2 via a.

The logging processing unit 10b stores the processing contents of the event processing unit 10a in the log file 6 as a history.

The account processing unit 10c collects account information about the job from the object file 9 via the object processing unit 8 and the object management unit 10d and stores it in the account file 7.

The object processing unit 8 stores or retrieves various objects in the object file 9 as attributes and values. The job execution unit 4 accesses the object processing unit 8 to take out the attributes of the job requested by the job control unit 3 and execute the respective processes.

Further, the detailed structure of the job control unit 3 will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the job control section 3.

In FIG. 2, the job control unit 3 comprises a job control basic unit 10, an event processing unit 10a, a logging processing unit 10b, an account processing unit 10c, an object management unit 10d and a memory 10e.

The job control basic unit 10 further comprises request control units 11a to 11c, a job scheduling unit 12, a job execution unit control unit 13, and a queue management unit 14.
Then, the job receiving unit 1 or the management input / output control unit 2a
The processing with the management unit 2 via the request control unit 11a to
11c, and processing with the job execution unit 4 is performed by the job execution unit control unit 13. The plurality of request control units 11
a to 11c are collectively referred to as the request control unit 11.

The job scheduling unit 12 uses the queue management unit 14 to create dedicated queues corresponding to the job execution units 4 and manages the queues, and schedules job processing requests from the request control unit 11. Do queuing. Also, the job schedule section 1
2 requests the job execution unit 4 to process the job via the job execution unit control unit 13. The queuing is executed by the queue management unit 14 according to an instruction from the job scheduling unit 12.

Since the request control unit 11 is generated each time a job request is received from the job receiving unit 1 or the management unit 2 via the management input / output control unit 2a, it is possible to receive the requests at the same time. Then, the request control unit 11 includes the job schedule unit 12 or the job execution unit control unit 13.
When a processing request is made to, the processing control of “completion return” is performed, in which the processing is waited until the processing request is completed. On the other hand, the job schedule unit 12 and the job execution unit control unit 13 simply request a process to other related processing units, and wait for the next process request without waiting for the completion of the process. Perform processing control. In addition, the completion of the process is notified in the same way as the request of the process to the request source of the process.

The job execution unit control unit 13 includes the request control unit 1
1 or a processing request from the job scheduling unit 12,
It is passed to the job execution unit 4.

The object management unit 10d writes / reads various objects used in the job control unit 3 into / from the object file 9 by using the memory 10e or the object processing unit 8. in this case,
By temporarily storing a part of the object in the memory 10e, the speed of object processing is increased. As the object class of this object, besides the job, a job control unit (server), a job output unit (printer),
Classes include media, fonts, resources, and transfer methods.

Next, the processing of each section in the job control section in response to a job processing request will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing when a job processing request is generated.

In FIG. 3, when the request control unit 11 receives a job processing request, it creates this job object using the object management unit 10d and requests the job scheduling unit 12 to process the job. The job scheduling unit 12 that has received the processing request for this job
Retrieves the object of the job execution unit 4 related to the relevant job object from the object management unit 10d, schedules the job, and uses the queue management unit 14 to queue this job.
Then, the process returns to the request control unit 11. After that, the job scheduling unit 12 takes out the job from the queue management unit 14 and passes the job to the job execution unit 4 via the job execution unit control unit 13. Then, when the job scheduling unit 12 receives a processing completion notification from the job execution unit 4 via the job execution unit control unit 13, the job scheduling unit 12 may change the state of the object of this job, and if the job needs to be subsequently processed. For example, the job is passed to the next job execution unit 4 that performs the processing.

The change of the state of the object of this job is not only notified to the above-mentioned object management section 10d,
The event processing unit 10a and the account processing unit 10c are also notified and the respective processes are executed.

Next, a case where a control request is issued to the job executing section 4 will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing when a control request is issued to the job executing section 4.

In FIG. 4, when the request control unit 11 receives a control request, the job execution unit 4 is directly requested to perform processing via the job execution unit control unit 13. Request control unit 11
Waits until it receives the processing result from the job execution unit control unit 13 and returns the control to the calling source, and performs the "completion return" process control.

Next, management of object files will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the flow of object inquiry and change processing.

In FIG. 5, when the request control unit 11 receives an object inquiry request, the state of the inquired object is retrieved from the object file 9 or the memory 10e via the object management unit 10d and the object processing unit 8. , Return this to the caller. When the job execution unit 4 changes the state, the job control unit 10 is informed of the state, and the job execution unit control unit 13 receives this notification and sends the object file 9 via the object management unit 10d. Alternatively, the state of the corresponding object in the memory 10e is updated. The information such as the processing status of the job execution unit 4 is
All one object file 9 or memory 10e
The job schedule unit 12 stores
When scheduling a job, the state of the object relating to the job can be grasped by making an inquiry to the object management unit 10d.

The outline of the job processing execution system has been described above. In this job processing execution system, the job control basic unit 10 of the job control unit 3 is replaced by the request control unit 11
(11a to 11c), the job scheduling unit 12, and the job execution unit control unit 13 are divided into
The load is averaged and the processing is balanced, and efficient job execution / control processing can be performed.

Further, since the job control unit and the job execution unit are provided with a common object file and perform the processing independently through the object processing unit, there is no direct dependence between them and efficient distributed processing is possible. It can be performed.

Next, the expression of the attribute and the method of referring to the attribute will be described.

In this job processing execution system, the attribute type, the attribute value, and the syntax of the attribute are represented by a 32-bit ID.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing formats of the attribute type ID and the attribute value ID.

In FIG. 6, the attribute type is 1 bit indicating an attribute type ID, a 10-bit attribute class (class-id) to which this attribute type belongs, and an identifier in the 10-bit attribute class to which this attribute type belongs. (Attribute-id), a flag indicating whether this attribute type can hold multiple attribute values, this 2-bit attribute type type, and 8-bit syntax identifier (syntax-id) of this attribute are included. Be done.

The flag (multivalue flag) indicates that this attribute is a plurality of attributes (1: multivalue) or a single attribute (0: s).
Ingle value), the type of the 2-bit attribute type has a meaning as a combination of the two, and indicates that it is a job attribute when "00" and a document attribute when "01". "10" indicates that the attribute is another attribute, and "11" indicates that this value is unused.

The attribute value has 1 bit indicating the attribute value ID,
The 15-bit attribute value class (value
class-id) and an identifier (value-id) within this attribute value class consisting of 16 bits.

By the way, the attribute type and the attribute value are described in text. An example thereof is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing attribute types described in text, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing attribute values described in text. The attribute type and attribute value IDs shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are stored in the object file as an object by the attribute ID generation function.

The job control basic unit 10 has an ID conversion function for mutually converting the ID of the attribute type, the ID of the attribute value, and the ID of the attribute syntax, and using this ID conversion function, You can get the required ID.

For example, to obtain the attribute value of the attribute type "A", by using this ID conversion function,
It can be known that the syntax ID of "A" is "B". Therefore, the user knows that "A" is an attribute having a structure of "B", and can obtain a desired attribute value.

Specifically, when a new attribute is to be added by the job execution unit 4, if the syntax definition of this new attribute already exists, the attribute type and the attribute value are created in the text description format described above, and the attribute is created. An ID of an attribute type and an attribute value is created by the ID generation function. This allows
It is possible to perform operations such as referencing and modifying this attribute.

Therefore, if the attribute syntax defined in the job processing execution system is used, the attribute type and the attribute value can be easily added without changing the job control unit 3.

9 and 10 are views showing a part of the printer object. This object is
This is an object relating to a printer when the printer is connected as one of the job execution units 4.

Here, the job control unit 3 of the job execution unit 4
The registration and deletion processing to and from will be described in detail.

First, the registration process will be described.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the registration processing procedure of the job executing section 4.

In FIG. 11, the management unit 2 first creates a profile describing the name, various performances, and functions of the job execution unit 4 to be registered (step 100). This profile is a performance description according to the definition of DPA which is a print protocol.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the profile. In this profile, the job execution unit 4
Is a printer, the printer name is printer A, the number of media surfaces is 1, that is, single-sided output, the supported document format is PS, that is, Postscript, and the printer is a physical printer.

Now, it is judged whether or not the job execution unit 4 to be registered is on the same machine as the management unit 2, that is, whether it is local or remote (step 101). It is transferred to another running job processing execution system via the network N (step 102), and the process proceeds to step 103. On the other hand, if the profile is local, the profile is input to the job control unit 3 and a registration operation is issued (step 103).

Upon receiving this profile and the registration operation, the job control unit 3 reads this profile and develops it into an expression used in the job control unit 3 (step 104). Then, this profile is registered in the object management unit 10d (step 105). Further, it is determined whether or not a queue for the job execution unit for which the registration request has been made is necessary (step 106), and if it is necessary,
The queue management unit 14 creates a queue for this job execution unit 4, that is, the printer "A" (107), and ends the registration operation (Step 108).
If the queue is not required, the registration operation is terminated without creating the queue (step 108).

Here, the job execution unit that requires a queue is, for example, a physical printer, a converter, a transfer, etc., and the job execution unit that does not require a queue is, for example, a logical printer. In this case, the dedicated queue is Will not be created.

Then, it is judged whether or not the job executing unit program is necessary (step 109). Here, when the job execution unit program is required, it corresponds to the case where a job execution unit that requires a queue such as a physical printer is registered. When the job execution unit program is not required, it is dedicated like a logical printer. This is the case when it is not necessary to create a queue.

In step 109, when the job execution part program is required, the job execution part program is started from the management part 2 (step 110), and the start notification of this job execution part program is given (step 11).
1) Since the job control unit 3 stores the information (flag) indicating that the job execution unit program has not been activated at the end of the registration operation in step 108 in the object management unit 10d, This flag is updated (step 112). By changing this flag, information in which the job execution unit program has not been started is deleted and stored in the object management unit 10d as a flag indicating that it has been registered.

On the other hand, in step 109, if the job execution unit program is not required, the main registration processing is ended as it is.

By performing the registration process of the job execution unit as described above, for example, when the printer is registered, the print instruction job can be executed thereafter.

Next, the deletion process will be described.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the deletion processing procedure of the job execution unit.

In FIG. 13, a delete request operation is first issued from the management section 2 to the job control section 3 with the name of the job execution section 4 to be deleted specified (step 20).
0).

Then, the job control unit 3 which has received this deletion request operation judges whether or not there is a dedicated queue in the job control unit 3 (step 201), and if there is no dedicated queue, step 205. If there is a dedicated queue, it is further determined whether this dedicated queue is empty (step 202). If it is not empty in step 202, the management unit 2 is notified that the deletion request operation has failed (step 204), and the process is terminated.

On the other hand, if the queue is empty in step 202, this queue is deleted (step 20
3), shift to step 205.

In step 205, the registration information of the corresponding job execution part of the object management part 10d is deleted (step 205), the completion notification of the deletion request operation is sent to the management (step 206), and this deletion processing is executed. finish.

The process for the job executing unit deleted by this deleting process becomes impossible thereafter.

The deletion process of the job execution unit program is performed by the management unit 2 in response to an instruction to stop the job execution unit.

In this way, the registration / deletion processing of the job execution unit can be performed by the same operation. Further, since it is not necessary to stop the job control unit during the registration / deletion process of the job execution unit, the influence on the entire job processing execution system is reduced. In addition, since the profile of the description is unified for the job execution unit, the labor of the administrator of the job processing execution system can be reduced.

Next, the present job processing execution system will be described by showing a more specific configuration.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a specific job processing execution system.

In FIG. 14, a job acceptance unit 31 corresponds to the job acceptance unit 1 and corresponds to the OSI (Open System Inteconn).
It is possible to accept DPA, which is a print protocol that is being standardized as a standard. The management input / output control unit 32 corresponds to the management unit input / output control unit 2a, is a terminal user interface (TTY-UI), and is connected to the management unit 2. In addition, the print server 33
Corresponds to the job management unit M. The converter 34, the transfer 35, the printer 36, and the redirector 37 correspond to the job execution unit 4, the converter 34 and the transfer 35 function as a job processing unit, and the printer 36 and the redirector 37 function as a job output unit.

The converter 34 is a format converter for converting the print standard control language (ESC / P) into Postscript which is a page description language. In addition, the transfer 35 takes out a file in a remote file server (not shown) by a file transfer protocol (FTAM) defined by OSI and transfers the file.

The printer 36 is a Postscript printer, and the redirector 37 redirects to a remote printer (not shown). This printer is an interpress (Interpress) which is one of page description languages. ) It is a compatible printer.

Next, the object registration processing will be described.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the object registration processing of the job executing section. Here, since the internal configuration of the printer server 33 is the same as that of the job management unit M of FIG. 1, the internal configuration of the printer server 33 is illustrated in FIG.
Alternatively, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 2 are used.

In FIG. 15, first, when an initialization request is input from the management unit 2 to the print server 33 via the management input / output control unit 32 when the job processing execution system is started up, the request control unit 11 Object management unit 10d
Request initialization. On the other hand, the object management unit 10d registers its own print server 33 as a server object. This registration execution is registered by reading the server object file in the object file 9 via the object processing unit 8 and expanding it in the memory 10e. Here, only the outer frame of the object is registered, that is, the area is secured, and the actual contents of this object are registered by the job execution units 34 to 37.

That is, when the job execution units 34 to 37 are activated and the registration request is input to the print server 33,
The job execution unit control unit 13 controls the job execution units 34 to 37.
The object management unit 10d is requested to register the object. The object management unit 10d reads the object file 9 of each of the job execution units 34 to 37,
It is expanded in the memory 10e. Registration is performed by such processing.

Next, the job processing request of the request control unit 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing the job processing request procedure of the request control unit 11.

In FIG. 16, the job reception unit 31 receives the print job request by the print protocol DPA, and the normalized print job request is passed to the print server 33. The request control unit 11 in the print server 33 checks the validity of the print job attribute attached to this print job (step 301) and generates a print job ID (step 302). Then, the job object is registered using the object management unit 10d (step 303). After that, the job schedule section 1
The print job is requested to 2 (step 304), the print job ID is returned to the calling source when the job returns, and the job returns (step 305).

Next, the job processing request of the job scheduling section 12 will be described with reference to the flowchart.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing the job processing request procedure of the job scheduling section 12.

In FIG. 17, the job schedule section 1
2 retrieves the job object (attribute) for which a processing request has been made from the object management unit 10d (step 401). Then, the printer is specified from the requested printer name (printer-name-requested) of this job object (step 402), and queuing is performed using the queue management unit (step 403). Then, it is determined whether the document of this job is remote and needs to be retrieved (step 404). When it is necessary to retrieve, the job execution unit control unit 13
The transfer process is requested to the transfer 34 via the server (step 405). The job schedule unit 12
Asks the transfer 34 for retrieve processing,
Immediate recovery is performed as described above.

On the other hand, when there is no need to retrieve,
Further, it is judged whether or not the format conversion, that is, the format conversion is necessary because the document format of the job cannot be interpreted by the designated printer (step 406), and when the format conversion is necessary, the job scheduling unit 12 executes the job execution. A format conversion process is requested of the converter 35 via the control unit 13 (step 407), and an immediate restoration is performed. On the other hand, if the format conversion is not necessary, the process proceeds to step 408.

Then, in step 408, the job scheduling section 12 gives an end notification to the job processing request. Further, it is determined whether the corresponding printer 36 or the printer via the redirector 37 can be processed (step 409). The determination in this case is performed by extracting the status of the printer object via the object management unit 10d. If the printer cannot process the process, the process ends. On the other hand, if the printer can process the job, it is determined whether the job to be processed is stored in the dedicated queue of the printer of the queue management unit 14 (step 410). If the job is not queued, When the process is completed and queued, the printer is requested to perform the process through the job execution unit controller 13 (step 411), and the immediate return is performed to complete the process.

Here, the job scheduling unit 12 sends a request from the transfer 34 to the transfer 34 when there is an end notification of the requested processing for each job, for example, when the transfer processing is requested to the transfer 34 in step 405. When the end processing of the retrieve processing is received, the processing of the job of the job scheduling unit 12 starts from the terminal T11, and when the converter 35 is requested to perform the format conversion processing in step 407, the end notification of the format conversion is received. In this case, the processing of the job in the job schedule section is started from the terminal T12, and in step 411, when the printer 36 or the redirector 37 is requested to perform the print processing and the print processing end notification is received, the terminal Job schedule from T13 Processing starts for the job of Yuru portion. Therefore, even when a new job processing request is received, the processing for the new job is started from the terminal T10.

Therefore, when the print processing end notification is received (T13), the corresponding job is removed from the dedicated queue of the printer that has performed this print processing (step 412), and the document body is deleted (step 413). ), To perform the next process, the process proceeds to step 409 to continue the process.

When the printer is in the unprocessable state, the process is started from the terminal T14 when the printer changes to the processable state.

In this way, the job schedule section 1
2 can perform parallel processing on a plurality of jobs.

Next, the job execution unit controller 13 will be described in detail.

The job execution unit control unit 13 receives registration requests and status notifications from the job execution units 34 to 37, and job processing requests and job execution unit control requests from the job scheduling unit 12.

The registration requests from the job execution units 34 to 37 are made when the job execution units 34 to 37 are activated. In this case, the correspondence relation is not necessarily one job execution unit per one process, but may be plural correspondence relations per process.

Here, when each of the job execution units 34 to 37 is registered as an object, a registration request for the number of job execution units is made.

When the job execution unit control unit 13 receives the registration request from the job execution units 34 to 37, the object corresponding to the requested job execution unit has already been registered in the object management unit 10d. If
The requested job execution unit is notified of this object ID. After that, the job execution unit control unit 10d identifies and communicates with the job execution unit based on this object ID.

On the other hand, when the object corresponding to the requested job execution unit is not registered in the object management unit 10d, the job execution unit control unit 10d sends this request to the requested job execution unit. Notify that the job execution unit has not been registered, and thereafter do not make a processing request to this job execution unit.

Here, job processing requests and control requests from the job execution unit control unit 10d to the job execution units 34 to 37 are performed only by six types of control instructions regardless of the types of job execution units.

That is, a "DOIT" instruction for instructing execution or resumption of job processing, a "SUSPEND" instruction for instructing suspension or interruption of job processing, and an instruction for stopping acceptance of a processing request in the job execution unit. "STOP" instruction, "START" instruction for instructing the job execution unit to start accepting a processing request, and "MODIFY" for instructing correction of the attribute value held by the job execution unit and related to processing
Instructions and “COM” that can be understood only by the job execution unit to cause the job execution unit to perform unique processing or control
The six control instructions are the "MAND" instruction.

Next, the control instruction will be described.

First, in the "DOIT" instruction, a job ID to be processed, a document number included in the job, a type indicating the processing start position of the job, and a flag indicating whether this document is the first, the last, or the middle. Is included. This type includes "Normal", "Resume", and "Reco
There are three types of "ver".

When the job executing unit receives this "DOIT" instruction, the job executing unit executes the object managing unit 10
The designated job attribute is read from d, and processing according to this type is performed. For example, if the job execution unit is a local printer, this type is "Normal".
If is specified, this document is printed from the beginning. Further, if "Resume" is specified as the type, it means that the job is resumed after being interrupted, and this job execution unit uses the interruption information recorded when the job is suspended from the object management unit 10d. Read
Printing resumes from where it left off. Furthermore, when "Recover" is specified as the type, this job execution unit prints the job that was being processed from the beginning.

[0121] The job ID is specified in the "SUSPEND" instruction.
And the document number included in the job, and the job execution unit receives this “SUSPEND” instruction, the job being processed is interrupted. At this time, if the “Resume” instruction of the “DOIT” instruction is received, this job execution unit
The interrupt information is stored in the job object via the object management unit 10d so that the interrupted job can be restarted from this interrupt point.

The "STOP" instruction suspends the reception of the processing request in the designated job execution unit. Here, if there is a job being processed, the same interruption processing as the “SUSPEND” instruction is performed.

The "START" instruction starts the acceptance of the processing request by the job executing unit whose acceptance of the processing request has been suspended. When the job execution unit is a local printer, if there is a job interrupted by the "STOP" instruction up to that point, the job scheduling unit 12 causes the "DOIT"
Since the “Resume” instruction or the “Recover” instruction can be performed by the instruction, the interrupted job can be output from the middle or from the beginning.

In the "MODIFY" instruction, a correction operation, an attribute to be corrected and its attribute value are designated. This is the correction of the attribute and the attribute value related to the processing in the job execution unit, and the corresponding attribute is also updated via the object management unit 10d.

The "COMMAND" instruction is used to instruct a unique function of the job execution unit. This "C
The job control basic unit 10 cannot interpret the “OMMAND” instruction, but can transmit it to the designated job execution unit. Therefore, even if the new job execution unit has a unique function, if the user specifies the unique function, the job control basic unit 10 can give an instruction to the designated job execution unit. .

When such a job processing request or control request instruction is output to the job execution unit, this job execution unit must respond to the job execution unit control unit.
This response is a "DOIT" indication and a "SUSPEN"
In the case of the "D" instruction, "accepted" or "rejected" is transmitted, and the "STOP" instruction, the "START" instruction, the "M"
In the case of the "ODIFY" instruction and the "COMMAND" instruction, "completed" or "aborted" is transmitted. In addition to the synchronous response to such an instruction, the job execution unit asynchronously notifies the status of the job execution unit and the status of the job. And this synchronous or asynchronous response,
The status of the job execution unit and the status of the job can be notified individually or simultaneously.

By thus defining the control instructions common to each job execution unit in order to control the job execution unit, it is possible to provide a job control basic unit that does not depend on the job execution unit, and also to control this control. For operations unique to the job execution unit that cannot be done with instructions, the job control basic unit only communicates with the above-mentioned arrangement between the operation requester and the job execution unit. The unknown function of the job execution unit can be operated without modifying the job control basic unit. Further, regarding a new attribute, a mechanism that can be easily added without modifying the job control basic unit is provided.

Next, the account processing will be described.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing the flow of writing and reading an account. The same components as those shown in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals for convenience of explanation.

In FIG. 18, the job attribute and its value received by the job receiving unit 1 are passed to the job control unit 3 as a job object. This job attribute and its value are written in the object file 9 from the request control unit 11 via the object management unit 10d and the object processing unit 8.

From the job schedule section 12, for example, the job management information such as the owner name of the job, the job name, the processing request time, the processing end time, and the like, and their values are sent from the object management section 10d through the object processing section 8 to the object file 9 Written in.

From the job execution unit 4, for example, the number of output sheets,
Information such as the number of errors is written as a job attribute and its value in the object file via the job processing unit 8.

When writing the account information of the job to be processed in the end sheet or the like, the job execution unit 4 retrieves the necessary account information from the object file 9 via the object processing unit 8.

When the job processing is completed, the job scheduling section 12 requests the account processing section 10c to record the account. On the other hand, the account processing unit 10c retrieves the job attribute corresponding to the job attribute for the account to be collected and its value from the memory 10e via the object management unit 10d and stores it in the account file 7 as account information.

Further, the account processing will be described in detail.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the detailed structure of the account processing unit 10c.

In FIG. 19, first, when the job control unit 3 is initialized, the object management unit 10d reads the collection account designation file 7a and stores it in the memory 10e. The collection account specification file 7a may be included in the server object file of the object file 9.

Here, the collection account designation file 7a
In, for example, a job attribute related to an account having the following format is written.

-Job name (-job-name) -Owner name (-job-owner) -Processing request time (-submittion-time) -Processing end time (-completion-time) -Number of output pages (-pages-completed) -Normal termination (-job-state-reasons) Furthermore, when all the processing of the job is completed as described above, the job scheduling unit 12 to the account processing unit 1
There is a request for account recording processing at 0c, but in this case,
The account recording unit 61 of the account processing unit 10c retrieves the above-mentioned job attribute for an account to be collected from the memory 10e via the object management unit 10e. Then, the job attribute corresponding to this job attribute and its value are retrieved from the object file 9 or the memory 10e via the object processing unit 8 and the object management unit. Further, the account recording unit 61 passes the retrieved job attribute and its value to the account operating unit 70, and the account operating unit 70 normalizes the attribute and its value and writes them in the account file 7.

The account file operation unit 70 is
It has a record search unit 71, a record writing unit 72, a record reading unit, and a file control unit 74, and is required from the account file 7 by using the account utilities 52a and 52b of the account logging utility 50 according to an instruction from the management unit. You can perform various record searches, record writing, record reading, etc. Further, not only the account but also the history utility 51 can be used to retrieve the print output history, and display the print output history.
You can save and print out.

In this way, a flexible account system for dynamically changing account information of a plurality of job executing units and the like is constructed. In addition, the account file can be edited at high speed, and the history processing of each job can be performed using this account system.

[0142]

As described above, according to the present invention, a job receiving unit that receives one or a plurality of job requests input via a network and various job execution processes such as job output processing and conversion processing are provided. Each of the units independently executes a job request execution process including one or a plurality of job execution units that perform the job request, and a job control unit that controls the job request received by the job reception unit and the process for the job execution unit. When performed in parallel, the management unit forms a unified format of information necessary for various processes such as job processing in the job control unit and the job execution unit, registration deletion process of the job execution unit, billing process, and history process. Information, for example, an object consisting of an attribute and its value, and the storing means stores and stores the information in the unified format. Means, respectively connected to the job controller and the job execution unit performs a process of taking out the information required for each of the various processes of the job control unit and the job execution unit from said storage means.

Further, the job control section is provided between the job execution section and the first control means for controlling the job reception section and the management section for controlling the job processing execution system. Second control means for controlling, and the first
And the third control means for performing control between the second control means and the second control means.

That is, since various processes are performed based on one unified format information that is shared by each distributed section, that is, the job control section and a plurality of job execution sections, a job is created using this unified format information. This has an advantage that registration / deletion processing of the execution unit and the like becomes easy.

Further, each of the distributed parts can acquire one unified format information only through the processing means,
Since it does not depend on the processing of each distributed part and does not affect the essential processing of each part, there is an advantage that the processing of each part becomes efficient.

Further, the job control section is largely composed of a request control section (first control means) and a job scheduling section (third control section).
Control unit), a job execution unit control unit (second control unit)
Since the functions are distributed in, there is an advantage that efficient processing can be performed. Further, since the job execution unit control unit uses the control instruction information common to all the job execution units, there is an advantage that efficient processing can be performed for a plurality of job execution units.

Further, the processing such as charging processing and history processing is also 1
This is performed based on one unified information, and has an advantage that efficient processing can be performed as a billing processing system or a history processing system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a job processing execution system that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a job control unit 3.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing when a job processing request is generated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing when a control request is issued to the job execution unit 4.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of object inquiry and change processing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing formats of an attribute type ID and an attribute value ID.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an attribute type described in text.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing attribute values described in text.

FIG. 9 is a diagram (1) showing a part of a printer object.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a part of a printer object (No. 2).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a registration processing procedure of the job execution unit 4.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a profile.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a deletion processing procedure of a job execution unit.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a specific job processing execution system.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an object registration process of a job execution unit.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a job processing request procedure of the request control unit 11.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a job processing request procedure of the job scheduling unit 12.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a flow of writing and reading an account.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of an account processing unit 10c.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 1a to 1c Job reception unit 2 Management unit 2a Management input control unit 3 Job control unit 4, 4a to 4c Job execution unit 5, 5a to 5c Account logging utility 6 Log file 7 Account file 8 Object processing unit 9 Object file 10 job control basic unit 10a event processing unit 10b logging processing unit 10c account processing unit 10d object management unit M job management unit N network

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Toshiya Nakazawa 3-2-1, Sakado, Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture KSP R & D Business Park Building Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A job acceptance unit that accepts one or more job requests input via a network, and one or more job execution units that perform various job execution processes such as job output processing and conversion processing. In a job processing execution system, which has a job request accepted by the job accepting section and a job control section for controlling processing for the job execution section, and in which each section independently executes the execution processing of the job request in parallel, Management means for managing information necessary for various processes such as job processing in the job control part and the job execution part, registration deletion process of the job execution part, billing process, history process, etc. by one unified format information; A storage unit that stores information in a unified format, and the job control unit and the job execution unit, A job processing execution system, comprising: a processing unit that retrieves information necessary for each of the various processes of the control unit and the job execution unit from the storage unit. 2. The job control unit includes a first control unit that controls the job reception unit and a management unit that controls the job processing execution system, and a connection between the job execution unit and the first control unit. The second control means for performing control, and the third control means for performing control between the first control means and the second control means are provided. Job processing execution system.