JPH07325726A - Memory resources management method for printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the memory efficiency for a printing device by acquiring all memory areas for the system processes when the printing device is started and then releasing the memory that is secured for an unnecessary system process when an application process is carried out. CONSTITUTION:A 1st deciding process is carried out for decision of the starting state of each application process, together with a step S30 where an unnecessary system process that is never started in response to the application process whose starting state is decided in the 1st deciding process is notified to a printing device management mechanism, a step S31 where the assignment of the memory resources already acquired is canceled based on the management information corresponding to the notified unnecessary system process, and a step S32 where the management information on the stored memory resources acquired in each process are updated after the canceling process of the step S31 is finished.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a memory resource management of a printing device for analyzing a plurality of types of print information input from a data source such as a host computer to a printing device and managing a memory resource for print processing. It is about the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional memory management mechanism of a printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram for explaining the control configuration of this type of printing apparatus.

In the figure, 10 is a hardware device for conveying printing paper in the printing device, 11 is a hardware device for drawing on the paper, 12 is an external storage device such as a hard disk, and 13 is a printing command to the printing device. It is the hardware for input / output.

It is the system process 15 that controls such various hardware. The print data taken into the printing device by the input / output device is passed to the application process 14. One application process corresponds to one printing device control command group for printing that can be input to the printing device.

That is, in order for the printing apparatus to support a plurality of printing apparatus control commands, the same number of application processes is required. Each application process converts the print control command into a common format 16 and passes it to the system process 15. It is also the role of the system process 15 to draw on the paper according to this common format.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a printing device management mechanism, which performs generation and deletion of each system process and application process, communication between each process, and memory management.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a memory management system for memory resources of a conventional printing apparatus.

In the figure, 20 is a print management function, 30,
Reference numeral 31 is a system process, 40 and 41 are application processes, and 50 is a memory that can be used by the printing device managed by the printing device management function. The number of system processes and the number of application processes may be more than this.

In the conventional method, the memory required for all the system processes 30 and 31 is acquired as the system process memory by using the print management mechanism 20 when the printing apparatus is activated. This memory area remains fixed until the printing device is finished.

On the other hand, the application processes 40 and 4
In No. 1, the printer does not secure the memory area required at the time of starting the process due to the limitation of the memory capacity installed in the printing apparatus, but controls the printing apparatus each time it is necessary during the process execution. The function acquires the required amount of memory and releases it when it is no longer needed.

If the memory cannot be acquired, a correct print result cannot be obtained. Therefore, it is important to guarantee the execution of the system process and allocate a large amount of memory to the application process.

[0013]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the system memory is collectively acquired when the printing apparatus is started. This is to avoid a serious problem that the printing apparatus does not operate normally if the memory cannot be acquired when the system process is started.

However, depending on the application process, the memory of the system process that is not used is also secured, which reduces the usable memory of the application process among the memory resources, and there is a problem in terms of memory efficiency. It was

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the first to third inventions is to obtain an application process after acquiring all the memory areas for system processes when the printing apparatus is started. To provide a memory resource management method for a printing apparatus, which can release memory reserved for unnecessary system processes at the time of execution and improve memory efficiency in the printing apparatus.

[0016]

A first aspect of the present invention has a plurality of system processes for analyzing and processing input print information, and corresponds to any application process to be activated. In the memory resource management method of the printing device, wherein the printing device management mechanism that executes the printing device control manages the allocation and allocation of the memory resources necessary for executing one of the system processes, the printing device management mechanism is A first notifying step of notifying the system process of the setting of the printing device, and a deriving step of deriving a memory amount used by the system process for the memory resource necessary for the process execution by the first notifying step, A second notifying step of notifying the printing device management mechanism of the memory amount derived in the deriving step;
And an acquisition step of acquiring an initial allocation amount usable by each system process from the memory resources according to the memory amount of each system process notified by the notification step of And a storage step of storing the stored management information of the memory resources as a database.

A second invention according to the present invention is to start corresponding to a first judging step for judging a starting state of each application process and an application process judged to be in a starting state by the first judging step. It has already been acquired by referring to the third notification step for notifying the printing apparatus management mechanism of an unnecessary system process that has never occurred, and the management information corresponding to the unnecessary system process notified by this third notification step. It has a releasing step of releasing the allocation of the memory resources, and an updating step of updating the management information of the memory resources acquired by each system process accumulated after the releasing step.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the printing device management mechanism is notified of the second determination step of determining the end state of each application process and the application process determined to be in the end state by the second determination step. 4th
And the notification process of the application process end by the fourth notification process, and then, referring to the accumulated management information, it is determined whether or not there is a system process unnecessary when the application process is started. When it is determined that there is an unnecessary system process by the step and the third determination step, the management information corresponding to each system process is referred to, and the allocation of the unnecessary system process from the memory resource is performed. It has a reacquisition step of reacquisition.

[0019]

In the first aspect of the present invention, when the printing device is activated, the printing device management mechanism notifies the setting of the printing device to the system process, and the system process uses the memory resource necessary for executing the process by the notification. An amount of memory to be allocated, notify the derived memory amount to the printing device management mechanism, and make an initial allocation that can be used by each system process from the memory resources according to the notified amount of memory for each system process. Then, the management information of the memory resources acquired in each system process is stored in a database and accumulated, and the allocation allocation of the acquired memory resources to any system process is managed reliably.

In the second aspect of the invention, the activation status of each application process is determined, and an unnecessary system process that is not activated corresponding to the application process determined to be activation status is notified to the printing device management mechanism. Then, by referring to the management information corresponding to the notified unnecessary system process, the allocation of the memory resource already acquired is released, and after completion of the release, the memory resource acquired by each system process is accumulated. The management information of is updated to quickly release the memory resources secured in the system process group other than the necessary system processes,
The released memory resources are used to efficiently process the print information, and the allocation state of the memory resources is correctly managed.

In the third invention, the end state of each application process is determined, the application process determined to be in the end state by the determination is notified to the printing apparatus management mechanism, and after the application process termination notification is notified by the notification, the application process is accumulated. The management information is referenced to determine whether there is a system process that is no longer needed when the application process is started, and if it is determined that there is a system process that is no longer needed, then each system process is handled. By re-acquiring the allocation to the unnecessary system process from the memory resource by referring to the management information, the allocation state to the system process initialized in the memory resource is reproducibly reproduced at each end of each application process. Manage and ensure that any system process It is, make effective use of the finite memory resources.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

The present invention may be applied to the case where the printing device outputs from one information device, or may be applied to a system which outputs from a plurality of information devices. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to the printing apparatus. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the arrangement of a printing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

In the figure, reference numeral 60 is a host device that sends print data and the like to a controller 70, and 70 is a controller that performs necessary data processing on the print data from the host device 60 that is composed of a workstation and a personal computer, and prints it. It is output to the in-function control unit 80. 80 is a print mechanism (printer engine),
The print data from the controller 70 is printed out in the specified format and resolution. The printer engine 80 may be an inkjet printer engine or a laser beam printer engine, and the number of printable colors is applicable from monochrome to full color. Further, the host device 60 and the controller 70 may be connected via a predetermined interface, or the present invention can be applied to a structure connected via a predetermined network.

In the controller 70, 71 is an input / output unit for receiving data and the like from the host device 60 and sending data to the host device 60, and 72 is the input unit 7.
1 is an interpretation storage unit that analyzes data (for example, data based on a predetermined page description language (CaPSL, Postscript, etc.) from the host device 60 and separates control commands and print data, and 73 is a page buffer. , Store print data.

Reference numeral 74 is a pattern information storage unit in which a print pattern (character pattern or the like) corresponding to print data is stored for one page or for a predetermined band, and 75 is an expansion control unit.
The print pattern from the pattern information section 74 or the image pattern data from the page buffer 73 is developed in the frame memory 76.

Reference numeral 76 is a frame memory, and 77 is an output control section for outputting the print pattern data from the page buffer 73 or the image data in the page buffer to the print function 80. Further, the print function 80 includes a print mechanism control unit 81. In addition, in FIG.
The memory resource corresponds to the frame memory 76 and the output control unit 77, which is a part of the memory resource equipped in the main body. Also, the above 71, 72, 74, 75, 77, 8
Reference numeral 1 denotes all user processes or system processes, all of which are configured to use memory resources.

Further, in the memory information database according to the present embodiment, the printing device management mechanism includes a memory management function, and the memory information database is attached to the memory management function. Output unit 71, interpretation storage unit 72, pattern information storage 74, expansion control unit 75,
The output control unit 77 and the print function control unit 81 control (start and end) each process and perform memory management, and so to speak, control the entire process.

2 to 5 are flowcharts for explaining a series of processes of the memory resource management method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 corresponds to the main processing procedure of the memory resource management method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention. 3 corresponds to the detailed procedure of the printing device activation process in the main process shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 corresponds to the process activation process procedure in the main process shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. This corresponds to the process termination processing procedure in the main processing shown in 2.

The memory resource management method of the printing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the memory information database shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 and FIGS.
Note that FIG. 6 shows the initial state, FIG. 7 shows the state during execution, and FIG. 8 shows the state at the time of termination. For the memory resources shown in this embodiment, unnecessary processes are executed when the application process is executed. The memory resource allocation is managed so that the corresponding amount of memory is not allocated.

Note that FIG. 6 corresponds to an example of the contents of the memory information database after the printing apparatus starting process in step P10 of FIG. 2, and FIG. 7 shows the memory information database after the process starting process in step P11 of FIG. 8 corresponds to the example of the contents of the memory information database after the process termination processing in step P12 of FIG.

First, in step S10 of FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the printing apparatus is activated, and it is monitored whether the printing apparatus is activated and an initialization request is generated. When the initialization request is detected by the activation state determination of the printing apparatus, the printing apparatus setting state is notified to each system process and the information of the printing apparatus is notified in step S20 of FIG.
This information includes data necessary for calculating the memory capacity required by each system process side, such as the memory capacity available on the printing device and the printing resolution.

Next, in step S21 of FIG. 3, each system process executes memory capacity acquisition processing based on this information, and calculates the required memory amount for the memory management mechanism. After that, in step S22 of FIG. 3, a memory information notification process is executed to notify the memory management mechanism of the required memory amount.

In the memory management mechanism, step S2 in FIG.
In 3, the system memory is initially allocated according to the notified required memory amount, and the memory is allocated through the printing device management mechanism. Then, in step S24 of FIG. 3, memory information storage processing is performed, and initial values are registered in the memory information database.

In this database, as shown in FIG. 8, the process identifier, whether the process is started, the memory start address, and the memory size are described. After the printing device activation process P10 is completed, as shown in FIG. 6, all the system processes are activated, and the memories for them are respectively acquired. In this example, the system process corresponds to a total of 6 media.

Next, in step S11 shown in FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the application process is activated, and the activation of the application process is monitored. When it is detected in step S10 that the application process is started, the process process is started in step S11, and the process notification process for notifying an unnecessary system process is executed and started in step S30 in FIG. An unnecessary process is notified to the memory management mechanism by the application process.

Since one application process knows in advance which process is not used in the system process based on the specifications of one printer control command defined in advance, it is possible to perform the notification by the unnecessary process notification process of step S30 in FIG.

When this notification is transmitted to the memory management mechanism, the unnecessary memory is released in step S31 of FIG. 4, that is, the printing device management mechanism is used to release the unnecessary memory. Then, in step S32 of FIG. 4, the memory information update process is started to update the memory information database.

As a result, in the case of the database example shown in FIG. 7, for example, the database state shown in FIG. 6 does not require activation of the system process 2 and the system process 3 when the application process 1 is executed. A memory area (addresses "000H to 31" other than the area currently used by the current system process, including the area acquired in advance for the system process 3)
FFH ") can be used.

Next, in step S12 of FIG. 2, the termination of the application process is monitored to determine whether the application process has terminated.
When the end of the application process is detected,
In step P12, the process end processing is started, and in step S40 shown in FIG. 5, the process end notification processing is started, and the memory management mechanism is notified of the process end from the application process. With this notification and the memory information database, step S41 of FIG.
In step 1, it is determined whether there is an unnecessary process, and the system process that was determined to be unnecessary is recognized.

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, it can be seen that the system process 2 and the system process 3 are unnecessary processes. Next, in step S42 of FIG. 5, the memory acquisition process is started and the printing device management mechanism is used to acquire the memory area required by this process. After the application process ends, the memory for the application is released, so it is possible to acquire the memory without fail. After that, in step S43 of FIG. 5, when the process of updating the memory information database is started and the memory information database is updated ,. The memory information database is updated to the state shown in FIGS.

Comparing the state of the updated memory information database shown in FIG. 8 with the state of the memory information database shown in FIG. 6, all the memory locations (addresses) allocated to each system process are different, but Required memory is allocated for system processes. Even if a new user process is started after that,
This can be dealt with by repeatedly executing the process after the application process activation determination process in step S11 of FIG.

Correspondence between the present embodiment and the respective steps of the first to third inventions and their actions will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The first invention according to the present invention has a plurality of system processes for analyzing and processing the input print information, and any system corresponding to any application process to be activated. In a memory resource management method for a printing device, which is managed by a printing device management mechanism (in this embodiment, by an operating system (OS)) that executes the printing device control, the allocation of memory resources necessary for process execution is controlled when the printing device is started. A first notification step (step S20 in FIG. 3) in which the printing device management mechanism notifies the setting of the printing device to the system process, and the memory resource necessary for the system process to execute the process by the first notification step. Derivation process (step S21 in FIG. 3) for deriving the memory amount to be used for Second notification step of notifying the amount of memory in the printing device management mechanism (step S22 in FIG. 3)
And an acquisition step (step S23 in FIG. 3) of acquiring an initial allocation amount usable by each system process from the memory resource according to the memory amount of each system process notified by the second notification step. After this acquisition step, a storage step (step S24 in FIG. 3) of converting the management information of the memory resources acquired by each system process into a database and accumulating is executed to acquire the system resource for any system process. Reliably manage allocation of memory resources.

A second aspect of the present invention is a first determination step (step S11 in FIG. 2) for determining the activation state of each application process, and an application determined to be in the activation state by the first determination step. A third notification step (step S30 in FIG. 4) of notifying the printing apparatus management mechanism of an unnecessary system process that does not start corresponding to the process, and the unnecessary system process notified by this third notification step A releasing step (step S31 in FIG. 4) of releasing the already allocated memory resource allocation by referring to the management information corresponding to the memory, and a memory obtained by each system process accumulated after the releasing step. By executing the updating process (step S32 of FIG. 4) for updating the resource management information, the system process required in the system process group is executed. Memory resources secured in outer immediately released, as well as efficiently process print information using the freed memory resources, to properly manage the allocation state of the memory resources.

A third aspect of the present invention is the second determination step (step S12 in FIG. 2) for determining the end state of each application process, and the application process determined as the end state by the second determination step. To the printing device management mechanism (step S40 in FIG. 5), and after the application process end notification by the fourth notification process, referring to the accumulated management information, at the time of starting the application process. A third determination step (step S41 in FIG. 1) for determining whether or not there is an unnecessary system process, and each of the steps when it is determined by this third determination step that there is an unnecessary system process Allocating from the memory resource to the unnecessary system process by referring to the management information corresponding to the system process The re-acquisition step (step S43 in FIG. 5) of re-acquiring is executed to reproducibly manage the allocation state of each system process initialized in the memory resource at each end of each application process. Even if the process is executed, the limited memory resources are effectively used. [Second Embodiment] This embodiment is applied to a case where it is guaranteed that only one type of application process is started from the time when the printing apparatus is activated until the time when the printing apparatus is terminated.

That is, in the process when it is first activated, the printing device activation determination process of step S10 of FIG. 2, the printing device activation process of subsequent step P10, the application process activation determination process of step S11, and the process activation of step P11. Up to the processing, it is the same as in the first embodiment.

Thereafter, in step S12 of FIG.
When the application process end determination process determines that the application process has ended, the process start process of step P11, that is, the process end notification process of step S40 of FIG. 5, the unnecessary process determination process of step S41, and the step S42 of FIG. The memory acquisition process and the memory information database update process in step S43 are not performed.

In addition, after the second time, step S11 in FIG.
When the application process activation is detected by the application process activation determination process of FIG. 2, the process activation process of step P11 of FIG. 2, that is, the unnecessary process notification process of step S30, the unnecessary memory release process of step S31, and step S32 of FIG. The memory information update process of is not performed. Similarly, the step P1 of FIG.
The process termination process of 2 is also not executed.

Since there is only one application process, it is guaranteed that the application process will be activated by passing the first application process activation determination, and the system processes that are not used are always the same. This is because it is not necessary to acquire memory for the system process that was not done.

In other words, if it is guaranteed that only one type of application process will be activated from the time the printing apparatus is activated until the time the printing apparatus is terminated, the processing is simplified and faster memory management can be realized. is there. [Third Embodiment] In the present embodiment, in the printing apparatus, the printing apparatus is equipped with sufficient memory, and it is possible to start any application process even after the memory required for all system processes is acquired. Adapted when guaranteed.

In the process when it is first started, the printing device starting judgment process of step S10, the printing device starting process of step P10, the application process starting judgment process of step S11, and the process starting process of step P11 in FIG. 1 Same as Embodiment 1.

After that, when it is determined by the application process end determination processing of step S12 of FIG. 2 that the application process is terminated, the process activation processing of step P11 of FIG. 2, that is, step S of FIG.
The process end notification process of 40, the unnecessary process determination process of step S41, the memory acquisition process of step S42, and the memory information database update of step S43 are not performed.

Further, from the second time onward, step S11 in FIG.
If the application process activation determination process of FIG. 4 detects the activation of the application process, and if the unnecessary process is transmitted to the memory management mechanism by the unnecessary process notification process of step S30 of FIG. 4, the process of step S31 of FIG. By the unnecessary memory release process, unnecessary memory is released by referring to the memory information database,
New memory is acquired for the newly required system process.

Thereafter, the memory information database updating process of step S32 of FIG. 4 is performed. After that, the process termination processing of step P12 of FIG. 2 for the second time and thereafter is not executed.

This is possible because the memory is sufficient and the activation of the application process is guaranteed. In other words, if the printing device has sufficient memory and it is guaranteed that any application process can be started even after obtaining the memory required by all system processes, the process will be simplified, and more High-speed memory management can be realized.

According to each of the above-described embodiments, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a printing device setting notification step in which the printing device management mechanism notifies the system process of the setting of the printing device when the printing device is activated, and the notification of the printing device setting According to the memory information notification step in which the system process determines the memory amount required for process execution and notifies the printing device management mechanism, and in accordance with the requests from all processes, the memory information for each process is made into a database (memory information database). Since the system includes the memory information storage step and the system memory initial allocation step for allocating memory to each system process, it is possible to reliably manage the allocation allocation of the acquired memory resource to any system process.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, an unnecessary process notification step for notifying the print management function of a system process that does not need to be started when an application process is started, the notification, and a memory information database. Based on the unnecessary memory release step that releases the memory already allocated to unnecessary processes, and the memory information update step that describes the released memory in the memory information database. Besides, the memory resources secured can be promptly released, the memory capacity necessary and sufficient for the application process activated from the released finite memory resources can be secured, and the memory resources can be effectively used.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, at the time of starting the application, a process end notifying step for notifying the print management mechanism when the application process ends and this notification and the memory information database are used. Ends each application process because it has an unnecessary process determination step that determines whether there is a system process that is determined to be unnecessary and a system memory acquisition step that reserves memory for the unnecessary process when there is an unnecessary process. Each time, the allocation state for each system process initialized in the memory resource is managed with good reproducibility, and whichever system process is executed,
Limited memory resources can be effectively used.

[0060]

As described above, the first aspect of the present invention
According to the invention, when the printing device is activated, the printing device management mechanism notifies the setting of the printing device to the system process, and the amount of memory used by the system process for the memory resource necessary for the process execution by the notification. And notify the printing device management mechanism of the derived memory amount, and according to the notified memory amount of each system process, an initial allocation amount usable by each system process from the memory resource, respectively. Since the management information of the memory resources acquired by each system process is stored as a database, the allocation allocation of the acquired memory resources to any system process can be reliably managed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the activation status of each application process is determined, and an unnecessary system process that is not activated corresponding to the application process determined as the activation status by the determination is used as a printing device management mechanism. Is notified, the management information corresponding to the notified unnecessary system process is referred to, the allocation of the already acquired memory resource is released, and after the completion of the release, the accumulated system process is acquired. Since the management information of the memory resource is updated, the memory resource secured in the system process group other than the necessary system process is quickly released, and the memory necessary and sufficient for the application process activated from the released finite memory resource. It is possible to secure the capacity and effectively use the memory resource.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the end state of each application process is determined, the application process determined to be in the end state by the determination is notified to the printing device management mechanism, and after the application process termination notification by the notification, By referring to the accumulated management information, it is determined whether there is a system process that is no longer needed when the application process is started, and if it is determined that there is a system process that is no longer needed, each system process Since the allocation for the unnecessary system process is re-acquired from the memory resource by referring to the management information corresponding to, the allocation state for the system process initialized in the memory resource is reproduced at the end of each application process. Manage any system process Be executed, it is possible to effectively utilize a finite memory resources.

Therefore, after the memory area for the system process is acquired when the printing apparatus is started, the memory reserved for the unnecessary system process is released when the application process is executed, and the memory efficiency of the printing apparatus can be improved. And so on.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a series of processes of a memory resource management method for a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a series of processes of a memory resource management method for a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a series of processes of a memory resource management method for a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a series of processes of a memory resource management method for a printing apparatus according to the present invention.

6 is a diagram showing an example of a memory information database for managing memory resources of the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a memory information database for managing memory resources of the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

8 is a diagram showing an example of a memory information database for managing memory resources of the printing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration in a printing apparatus of this type.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a memory management system for memory resources of a conventional printing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 60 host device 70 controller 71 input / output unit 72 interpretation storage unit 73 page buffer 74 pattern information storage unit 75 development control unit 76 frame memory 77 output control unit 80 printer mechanism 81 printer mechanism internal control unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A system comprising a plurality of system processes for analyzing and processing input print information, and of a memory resource required for executing one of the system processes corresponding to one of the application processes to be started. In a memory resource management method for a printing device in which a printing device management mechanism that executes allocation control of printing devices manages the allocation, the printing device management mechanism notifies the system process of the setting of the printing device when the printing device is activated. A notification step, a derivation step of deriving a memory amount used by the system process for the memory resource required for process execution by the first notification step, and a memory amount derived by the derivation step for the printing device management. The second notification step for notifying the mechanism, and the memory amount for each system process notified by this second notification step Accordingly, an acquisition step of acquiring an initial allocation amount that can be used by each system process from the memory resource, and a storage step of, after this acquisition step, storing the management information of the memory resource acquired by each system process in a database. A memory resource management method for a printing apparatus, comprising: 2. A first determination step of determining the activation state of each application process, and an unnecessary system process that is not activated corresponding to the application process determined to be in the activation state by the first determination step. A third notification step of notifying the printing apparatus management mechanism, and the third notification step
The release step of releasing the already allocated memory resource allocation by referring to the management information corresponding to the unnecessary system process notified by the notification step of 2. The memory resource management method for a printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an updating step of updating the acquired management information of the memory resource. 3. A second determination step of determining the end state of each application process, and a fourth notifying step of notifying the printing apparatus management mechanism of the application process determined to be in the end state by the second determination step. After the application process end notification by the fourth notifying step, a third judging step of referring to the accumulated management information and judging whether or not there is a system process unnecessary when the application process is started, When it is determined by the determination step 3 that there is an unnecessary system process, the management information corresponding to each system process is referenced to reacquire the allocation of the unnecessary system process from the memory resource. The method according to claim 1, further comprising a step.