JPH08305517A - Printer control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a printer control system adjusting the sequence of outputs automatically in response to the amount of output data. CONSTITUTION: This system is provided with a print job division section 22 dividing a print job, a spooler setting section 23 storing the print job to a spool file 24, a management table managing a print job stored in a spool file 23, and a printer control section 26 reading a print job from the spool file 24 to control a printer 30. When print jobs sent from one and same client 10 are consecutively registered, the spooler setting section 23 skips print jobs preceding to a first print job among consecutive print jobs to decide a print job sent from a different client as a print job to be executed next.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer control system in which a printer prints out in response to a print request from a plurality of clients connected to a network, and particularly the order of output is adjusted according to the amount of printing. Printer control system

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a network in which terminal devices such as workstations, personal computers and their peripheral devices are connected by communication lines, a printer connected to the network may be shared by a plurality of terminal devices (clients). As a conventional printer control method in such a case, it is general that the printer executes print output in the order in which the print request is received from the client.

Even when a plurality of printers are connected to the network and the client designates the printer to print out or distributes the print request to each printer by a predetermined method, the print request is issued by each printer. Similarly, the print output is performed in the order in which is received. As a technique for allocating a print request to a plurality of printers, there is a technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 59-87539 “Printer management system”. In this publication, a configuration is provided in which a plurality of printers are grouped in a printing device management mechanism that manages the operations of the plurality of printers, and a means for selecting an optimal printing device according to the order of selection of the printing devices and the output amount. Has been described.

However, when the print output is always executed in the order in which the print requests are received as described above, information other than the order in which the print requests are received, such as the data amount of the output data and the importance, is never considered. Absent. Therefore, when multiple print requests overlap, regardless of the amount of data or the content of the output data, the print output of other data cannot be executed until the output of the data according to the previously received print request is completed. There was an inconvenience.

In order to avoid the above-mentioned inconvenience, there has been proposed a means for designating an output order when print requests from a plurality of clients overlap. As this type of technology, there is a technology described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-123953, “Peripheral Device Sharing Method”. This publication discloses a configuration including means for setting an urgency level of the usage when using a peripheral device and allowing the peripheral device to prioritize the usage of the urgency level added to the usage request. Has been described.

[0006]

As described above, according to the conventional printer control method in the network, when the print output is executed in the order in which the print requests are received, the print output according to the print request received first is completed later. The print output cannot be executed according to the received print request. Therefore, if a print request to print out a large amount of data is received from a predetermined client, and then a print request to print out a small amount of data from another client is received, the previously received large amount of data is printed. There is a drawback that the efficiency is poor because it is necessary to wait for the printing output of a small amount of data received later until the output is completed.

Further, even when the urgency is added to the print request and the execution order of the print output is determined according to the urgency,
There is a drawback in that it requires a procedure for the user to judge and add the urgency of the data to be printed out, which is troublesome.

Further, if a high degree of urgency is added to the print request from each client, the print output will be executed in the order in which the print requests are received, and the efficiency cannot be sufficiently improved. was there.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a printer control system that automatically adjusts the output order according to the amount of output data.

[0010]

To achieve the above object, the present invention connects a server to which a printer is connected and a plurality of clients via a network, and operates the printer in response to a print request from the client. In the printer control method for controlling a print job, the server divides a print job sent from a client into preset predetermined sizes, storage means for storing the print job in a spool file, and
A print job management unit that registers and manages print jobs stored in the spool file, and a printer control that sequentially reads print jobs from the spool file by referring to management information of the printer management unit and controls operations of the printer. And the print job management unit registers the print jobs divided by the print job dividing unit as a plurality of print jobs, and the print jobs sent from the same client are continuously registered. In this case, the first print job among the continuous print jobs is skipped over the print jobs subsequent thereto, and the print job sent from a different client is determined as the print job to be executed next.

In another aspect, the print job management means skips a continuous print job sent from the same client as the print job being printed and then executes a print job sent from a different client. When the print job is determined, the storage unit stores the print information regarding the print job being printed as the print information regarding the subsequent skipped print job, and the print control unit executes the print job in the storage unit. When print information regarding the printer is stored, the print information is read to control printer settings.

In another aspect, the print job management means deletes the registration of the print job that has been executed.

Further, in another aspect, when the print job management means executes a print job which has only print jobs sent later from the same client, the print job registered first is executed next. The print job is determined.

[0014]

According to the present invention, the print job dividing unit divides the print job into preset print capacity sizes, and the print job managing unit divides the divided print jobs into a plurality of prints. When the print jobs are managed as jobs, and when print jobs from the same client are continuous, skip print job executions other than the first print job, and set print job executions from different clients to be prioritized. Can be controlled.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the printer control system according to the present embodiment has a server computer 2 connected to a network.
0 (hereinafter, referred to as server 20). A printer 30 is connected to the server 20. Also,
Multiple client computers 10 on the network
(Hereinafter, referred to as client 10) is connected.
Although only one printer 30 is connected to the server 20 in the figure, a plurality of printers 30 may be connected. In the following description, for simplicity, only one printer 30 is connected to the server 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, the server 20 has a print capacity inspection unit 21 for inspecting the number of pages printed by a print request.
A print job dividing unit 22 that divides a print job according to a requested print amount, a spool file 24 that stores information regarding print processing, a spooler setting unit 23 that generates the spool file 24, and a spool file 24. A print information storage unit 26 that stores managed print information and a print control unit 25 that controls the operation of the printer 30 are provided.

The print capacity checking unit 21 is realized by a program-controlled CPU and a memory such as a RAM, receives a print request packet sent from a client, and inspects the requested print amount. In the print capacity inspection unit 21,
The print capacity (number of pages, etc.) is set and stored in advance. Then, the information on the number of print pages included in the print request packet from the client is detected and compared with the set print capacity. When the requested number of print pages is larger than the set print capacity, a print request packet is sent to the print job dividing unit 22, and when the requested number of print pages is less than or equal to the set print capacity, the print request is issued. The packet is sent to the spooler setting unit 24.

The print job dividing unit 22 is realized by a program-controlled CPU, receives packets from the print capacity inspection unit 21, and mechanically divides the print job into print capacities set by the print capacity inspection unit 21. To do. Then, each divided print job is sent to the spooler setting unit 24.

The spooler setting unit 23 is realized by a program-controlled CPU and a memory such as a RAM, and a management table 231 for printer control based on a print job is output from the print capacity inspection unit 21 or the print job dividing unit 22. To generate. The management table 231 registers, for each print job, the client name of the client that has transmitted the print job, and the presence or absence of various information such as the job status indicating the progress status of the print processing and printer settings at the time of print output. And print information indicating that the item is a setting item. An example of the management table 231 is shown in FIGS. After generating the management table 231, the spooler setting unit 23 stores the print job in the spool file 24. The generated management table 231 is sequentially updated as the execution status of the print job progresses.

The spool file 24 is realized by a storage device such as a magnetic disk device, temporarily stores an input print job, and outputs the sequentially stored print jobs according to the progress of the printing process.

The print information storage unit 25 is realized by a memory such as a RAM, and stores information such as printer settings such as paper size and font and page value to be printed as print information for each print job. The print information stored is managed by the management table 231.

The printer control unit 26 is realized by a program-controlled CPU, operates the printer 30 according to the management table 231 of the spooler setting unit 23 and the print job of the spool file 24, and prints out print data. To do. As a general rule, the printer control unit 26 executes print jobs in the order registered in the spool file 24, but when print jobs from the same client are consecutive, priority is given to print jobs from different clients. .

That is, when there is a print job divided by the print job dividing unit 22, the divided print job is not continuously executed but one of the divided print jobs is executed and then The print job registered from the other clients after the print job is registered is executed first. After the print jobs of different clients are sequentially executed in this manner, the remaining one of the print jobs is executed again. This operation is repeated when the print job is divided into three or more.

The client is compared with the client of the print job being printed and the client of the print job registered thereafter. Therefore, when a print job from a different client is registered next to a print job from a predetermined client, and further a print job from the predetermined client is registered next, a print job from the predetermined client is registered. Never skip a print job.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3 and FIGS. 4 and 5. When the print request process is executed by the client 10 on the network, the print job is transmitted to the server 20 in the form of a packet. The packet includes print data and various information such as the client name and the number of printed pages.
When the server 20 receives the print job (step 2)
01), first, the print capacity inspection unit 21 detects the number of print pages of the print data from the print job and compares it with a preset print capacity (steps 202, 2).
03).

When the number of print pages detected from the print job is smaller than the print capacity set in the print capacity inspection unit 21, the print job is processed by the spooler setting unit 2
Sent to 3. Then, the spooler setting unit 23 registers the client name in the management table 231, and sets the job status and print information (step 2).
04). Here, initially, the job status is set to pending and the print information is set to indicate that no print information is stored. After that, the print job is stored in the spool file 24 by the spooler setting unit 23 (step 205).

When the number of print pages detected from the print job is larger than the print capacity set in the print capacity inspection unit 21, the print job is sent to the print job dividing unit 22. Then, the print job is divided according to the size of the print capacity set in the print capacity inspection unit 21 (step 206). Each divided print job is sent to the spooler setting unit 23, registered in the management table 231 (step 204), and stored in the spool file 24 (step 205).

An example of the management table 231 created as described above is shown in FIG. In the figure, the client "xx
A state in which a print job is input from the three persons of “x”, “yyy”, and “zzz” and registered in the management table 231 is shown. In the figure, the order of registration is “xxx”, “yy”
The order is “y” and “zzz”. The execution of the print job is the one registered earlier (the one registered above in the figure).
It is performed in order from. The print jobs from the client “xxx” and the client “zzz” are divided into two by the print job dividing unit 22 and registered. Further, as shown in the figure, for the first print job of the client “xxx” that is executed first, there is no need to wait for the start of execution, so the job status is set to printing.

Next, when the print job is spooled in the spool file 24, the printer control unit 26
The print job is executed at a predetermined timing, and the printer 30 prints out the print data. Then, the spooler setting unit 23 determines the print job to be executed next and updates the management table 231.
The operation at this time is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

When the printing process is started according to the first print job (step 301), the spooler setting section 23 first prints the print job whose job status is printing at the end of the spool file 24. It is determined whether the job is a job (step 30)
2). If it is not the last registered print job, the client name of the print job is compared with the client name of the next registered print job (step 303). If the client names of both print jobs are the same, the print job registered next is searched (steps 304, 30).
5) The client name is compared with the client name of the print job being printed (step 303).

When the client name comparison is repeated and a print job having a client name different from the client name of the print job being printed is detected, the print job is determined to be the next print job to be executed (step 306). Then, after the print output of the print job being printed is completed, the job status of the print job to be executed next is changed from hold to printing (step 30).
7, 308).

The registration of the print job for which printing has been completed is deleted from the management table 231.
(Step 309). Here, when the same print job is registered in the client immediately after the print job being printed and the print job of another client is skipped and selected as the print job to be executed next, the spooler setting unit 23 The print information of the print job for which printing has been completed is stored in the print information storage unit 25, and the item of the print information of the skipped print job in the management table 231 is set to "present" (steps 310 and 311).

From the state of FIG. 4, the first print job of the client "xxx" is executed, and the spooler setting unit 2
5 shows the state in which the management table 231 is updated by
Shown in Here, since the second print job of the client “xxx” is registered immediately after the first print job of the client “xxx”, the print job of the client “yyy” is executed next by skipping this. Determined by the print job. Then, the first print job of the client “xxx” is deleted. Further, since the second print job of the client “xxx” is skipped, the item of the print information is set to “present”.

The printer control unit 26 refers to the management table 231 updated as described above, reads the print job to be executed next (the print job whose hold has been released) from the spool file 24, and sets the printer 30. Then, the print output is executed (step 312).

The above process is repeated while the print job is registered in the spool file 24 (step 313). When print jobs of different clients are sequentially executed and the print job registered at the end of the spool file 24 is executed, the print job registered at the beginning of the spool file 24,
That is, the first skipped print job is determined as the print job to be executed next (steps 302 and 314).

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the present embodiment, since the print output is performed according to the print job from the client which is different for each predetermined print capacity, the trays individually set for each client are provided so that the printed documents can be easily distinguished. The output documents may be sorted.

Further, even if the document exceeds the set print capacity, it is desirable to continuously output it in an emergency, so in such a case, print jobs from the same client are skipped. Means may be provided to prevent this. As such means, it is possible to employ a means such as adding a flag indicating an emergency to the print job and inspecting the presence or absence of the flag when searching for a print job to be executed next.

When a plurality of print jobs are continuously transferred from the same client, the management table 2
Although print jobs with the same client name are continuously registered in 31, it is possible to distinguish from the case where a single print job is divided by adding a flag etc. when transferring the print job. The print job can be prevented from jumping over or the print information can be prevented from being stored.

[0040]

As described above, the printer control method according to the present invention divides a print job into preset print capacity sizes and manages the divided print jobs as a plurality of print jobs. However, when print jobs from the same client are consecutive, output data is output by controlling the printer so that the print jobs other than the first print job are skipped and the print jobs from different clients are prioritized. The output order can be automatically adjusted according to the amount of.

Therefore, even if a print request for printing out a small amount of data is received from another client after a print request for printing out a large amount of data from a predetermined client, a large amount of the previously received large amount of data is received. It is possible to print out a small amount of data received later without waiting until the printout of data is completed, and it is possible to improve the printing efficiency.

Since the print jobs from different clients are searched and executed each time the execution of one print job is completed, the clients of the print jobs to be executed are not biased to one client. For this reason, print output is performed according to the print requests of all clients without requiring a long waiting time. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform special procedures such as adding urgency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printer control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a management table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a management table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 client 20 server 21 print capacity inspection unit 22 print job dividing unit 23 spooler setting unit 24 spool file 25 print information storage unit 26 printer control unit 30 printer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A printer control method in which a server to which a printer is connected and a plurality of clients are connected via a network, and the operation of the printer is controlled in response to a print request from the client, wherein the server is sent from the client. A print job dividing unit that divides the print job into a predetermined size, a storage unit that stores the print job in a spool file, and a print job that registers and manages the print job stored in the spool file Management means; and printer control means for sequentially reading print jobs from the spool file by referring to management information of the printer management means and controlling operation of the printer, wherein the print job management means includes the print job dividing means. Divided by When a print job sent from the same client is registered in succession, the print job subsequent to the first print job among the continuous print jobs is skipped, A printer control method characterized in that a print job sent from a different client is determined as a print job to be executed next. 2. The print job management means determines a print job sent from a different client as a print job to be executed next, skipping a continuous print job sent from the same client as the print job being printed. In this case, a storage unit for storing print information regarding a print job being printed as print information regarding a subsequent skipped print job, wherein the printer control unit stores print information regarding the print job to be executed in the storage unit. 2. The printer control method according to claim 1, wherein the print information is read to control printer settings when the printer information is set. 3. The printer control method according to claim 1, wherein the print job management unit deletes the registration of the print job that has been executed. 4. When the print job management means executes a print job which has only print jobs sent later from the same client, the print job registered first is determined as the print job to be executed next. The printer control method according to claim 3, wherein