JPH07134638A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable printing in a priority order matched with the using environment of a printer. CONSTITUTION:This printer capable of changing the printing priority order of spooled printing data is provided with an applying condition setting means 14 for setting the applying conditions of plural priority order deciding factors by setting the priority contents of the respective plural priority order deciding factors and setting an order for evaluating the plural priority order deciding factors and a priority order deciding means 12 for setting the priority order of the printing data based on the applying conditions set by the applying condition setting means 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device shared by a plurality of hosts, and more particularly to a printer device capable of setting a priority for print data spooled (temporarily stored) and outputting based on the priority. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Normally, in a printer device connected to a plurality of hosts, the printer device is exclusively used by the same host so that print output from other hosts can be performed unless the transmission of the data currently being printed is stopped. Even if the data is once spooled in the printer, the spooled data is not printed until the preceding print output is completed.

Conventionally, in order to solve this, as an example of a printer device capable of changing the print priority of spooled print data, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 233028/1992 is known. This is because the spooled print data is printed out in the order received by the host I / F according to the priority order of first-come-first-served basis, or the host I / F is given a priority order in advance and is printed out according to the priority order. I'm trying to do.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, the method of determining the priority order is fixed, and in some cases, the priority order may not be output in an environment suitable for the environment in which the printer device is used. was there. For example,
If the sender user has a large number of print requests, you want to give priority to print output, or if the print data size is small, give priority to print output. It was impossible for the need to prioritize.

Therefore, in order to improve such a problem, the present invention enables setting and changing the method of determining the printing priority order, thereby printing in the priority order according to the usage environment of the printer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device that enables the above-mentioned, and can be efficiently used according to the usage environment.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention sets a priority content for each of a plurality of priority determining factors in a printer capable of changing the print priority of spooled print data. And by setting the order in which multiple priority determinants are evaluated,
And an application condition setting means for setting application conditions of a plurality of priority order determination factors, and a priority order determination means for setting the priority order of the print data based on the application conditions set by the application condition setting means. Characterize.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the received print data is stored in the print data recording means, and the priority determination means receives the I / F.
The output priority is set based on the information about the source user, the size of print data, the number of print requests / time of occurrence, and the applicable conditions set by the applicable condition setting means for each of those information, and the priority order Print based on.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows an example of a network to which the present invention is applied, including a printer device 1 and a workstation 2.
a and 2b are connected to the network cable 4, and
A personal computer (PC) 3 is connected to the printer device 1.

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a printer device according to the present invention. The present invention is based on the print data storage means 11 for storing print data transmitted from the workstations 2a and 2b of FIG. 2 or the PC 3, the priority determining factors of the stored print data, and the application conditions for the priority. Priority determining means 12 for setting
And an applicable condition setting means 14 for setting and holding the applicable condition.
A print data management means 13 for sending print data from the print data storage means 11 based on the priority order of the print data received from the priority order determination means 12; and a print processing by receiving data from the print data storage means 11. And a data output means 15 for performing.

First, the application condition setting means 14 will be described. In the present embodiment, the above-mentioned priority determining factors are the I / F data when the print data is received, the information about the source user, the size of the print data, and the time when the print request is generated. Here, the information regarding the transmission source user is information held in the printer apparatus for each user, and is the frequency of print requests to the printer apparatus by the user, and specifically represents the number of print requests. The priority order determining factors are not limited to those described in the present embodiment. Table 1 below shows a summary of priority settings for each of the priority determining factors.

[0011]

[Table 1] The application condition represents how to apply the priority determining factor when setting the priority, and the application condition includes two elements of an application type and an application level. There are three types of application: INGORE, NORMAL, REVERSE, IGN
ORE means that the corresponding priority-determining factor is not considered when setting the priority, NORMAL means that the priority shown in Table 1 is applied as it is, and REVERSE means the reverse order of the priority shown in Table 1. It means to apply. For example, if the data size is REVERSE, the print data with a larger data size is given a higher priority. The application level is LEVEL1 to LEVEL4, which defines the order in which each priority determining factor is evaluated, and LEVEL4 is evaluated first. The applicable condition setting means 1 is shown in Table 2 below.
An example of the application conditions set in No. 4 will be shown. The setting of the application condition is a setting in which priority is set in advance for each I / F, a print request from a user having a small data size and a small print request frequency is given priority.

[0012]

[Table 2] The application condition setting means 14 sets the application type and the application level for each priority determining factor. Specifically, the application type and the application level are set from the U / I for each priority determining factor and stored in the table. The setting change of the application condition is limited to the user who is given the special authority, and the privileged user is judged by the password or the like.

Further, in the present embodiment, the application conditions are set from the U / I, but it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the application conditions can be set from a remote host via a network. It sends the applicable conditions from the host to the printer device in a certain defined format,
It is realized by storing it in a table. In this case, the privileged user is determined based on the user name and host ID.

Next, the print control method in this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the print data received in step 1a is stored in the print data storage means 11, and the priority order setting means 12 generates a user identifier, print data size, and print request from all the print data stored in step 1b. Extract and retain time information. In step 1c, the priority order setting means 12 extracts from the application condition setting means 14 and holds the application conditions for each of the priority order determining factors extracted in step 1b. In step 1d, priorities are set based on the information extracted in steps 1b and 1c, and the priorities set in step 1e are sent to the data management means 13. In step 1f, the print data is output from the print data storage means 11 based on the received priority order.
Then, the printing process is performed in step 1g.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, a description will be given of a method of setting the priority order based on the priority order determining factors and the application conditions with respect to step 1d of FIG. First, step 2a
Then, the priority determining factors of all the print data stored in the print data storage unit 11 are extracted and held. In step 2b, the applicable condition is extracted and held from the applicable condition setting means 14. In step 2c, the priority determining factor with the highest application level in the application conditions (LEVE in the case of the settings in Table 2
The I / F of L4) is compared between the print data stored in the print data storage means 11. In step 2d, priorities are set according to the adaptation type in the adaptation conditions. For example, when the priority determining factor is the data size shown in Table 2, higher priority is set from the smallest print data size. Next, in step 2e, if there is no print data having the same priority order in the priority order set in step 2d, the setting of the priority order ends. Step 2e
If print data having the same priority exists, the priority determining factor of the next highest application level is compared between the data having the same priority in step 2f, and it is set up to this point in step 2g. Similar to step 2d, priorities are set for print data having the same priority according to the adaptation type in the adaptation conditions. In step 2h, if the priority setting is completed for all applicable levels (up to LEVEL1), the priority setting is completed, and if print data having the same priority exists at this point,
The priorities are considered equal (printing order optional). The data management unit 13 sequentially transmits the print data to the data output unit 15 based on the priority order set in the above procedure.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A method of storing print data in the print data storage means and determining the print priority of the print data in the print data storage means on the printer side and printing it. It is possible to change the applicable conditions considered when setting the priority order. With this, it is possible to set the print priority order according to the usage environment of the printer device, which contributes to efficient use of the printer.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a printer device connected to a network.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the entire printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a means for setting priority order according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Printer device, 2a, 2b ... Workstation,
3 ... PC 4 ... Network cable, 11 ... Print data storage means 12 ... Priority determination means, 13 ... Print data management means 14 ... Application condition setting means, 15 ... Data output means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printer device capable of changing the print priority of spooled print data, sets priority contents for each of a plurality of priority determining factors, and sets an order for evaluating a plurality of priority determining factors. Accordingly, the application condition setting means for setting the application conditions of the plurality of priority order determining factors, and the priority order determining means for setting the priority order of the print data based on the application conditions set by the application condition setting means. A printer device comprising: