JPH08305520A - Print instruction device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a print instruction device that allows the user to confirm the processing state of is own job publicated to one or plural different print-out devices connecting to a communication network in addition to the state of a print output device being a publication destination. CONSTITUTION: A print job publicated for one or plural print-out devices 301-303 is stored as a table in cross reference to a print-out device being a publication destination. The processing state of the publicated print job and the operating state of the print-out device of the publication destination of the print job are inquired about on the table. A discrimination means 107 decides an information content to be informed to the user in accordance with the inquiry result of the job processing state and the operating state of the print-out device. A discrimination means 107 instructs an icon generating means 109 to display an icon in response to the decided information content. An icon with a form is response to the decided information content is displayed on a display device 105.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, one or a plurality of print output devices connected to a communication network (in this specification, printing includes copying, and print output devices include printers and copying machines). The present invention relates to a print instruction apparatus suitable for use when a print job is issued via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art LAN (Local Area Network)
There is known a distributed network printing system in which a plurality of print output devices are distributedly arranged on a communication network, and the user can switch and select the print output devices from among them.

In this type of distributed network printing system, when a user selects a print output device, for example, a printer, sets print instructions, and performs a print request operation, the print instruction device operates as a print instruction device. , A print job consisting of print instruction information (for example, paper size, enlargement / reduction ratio, single-sided / double-sided designation, number of prints, use / non-use of optional function, etc.) and print data for the selected printer (hereinafter Simply called a job).

The issued job is sent to the selected printer via a print server which is connected to the printer or is built in the printer and is composed of a personal computer, and the printer executes printing.

Therefore, if the printing system as described above is used, the user can use the printing output device without having to go to the printing output device even if the printing output device is at a remote place. It is possible and very convenient.

By the way, in this kind of network printing system, it is possible for the user to know the current status of the issued job and the current status of the printer. Is important for its usability.

Conventionally, a print manager of Windows is known as a print instruction device for instructing printing while switching a plurality of printers connected via a print server on the network as described above. However, in this conventional print instruction device, when the window is open, a mechanism for displaying the printer operating status and the printer status such as a paper jam, and the status of the issued job are classified for each printer. There is a function to display the issued job list represented by. Further, regarding the job status, there is a mechanism for notifying the completion of the job / feeding request to the manual feed tray by blinking the message or the icon displayed corresponding to the closing of the window.

[0008]

However, in the case of the above-described conventional print instruction apparatus, when the window is closed and iconized, the user knows the concrete state of the printer to which the job is issued. I couldn't.

Further, the issued job list is not managed and displayed for each job issued by the user. Therefore, when it is desired to know whether all issued jobs have been completed, the window is displayed. It is necessary to open all the jobs and check all issued job lists that are displayed separately for each printer, which inconveniences the user.

Further, in a distributed network printing system in which a plurality of printers connected to a network are shared and used by a plurality of users, the printer may fail while a job of another user previously issued is being processed. Occurs,
There is a case where one's own job remains in the processing waiting state and is not processed. However, in the case of the conventional print instruction device, as described above, simply checking the job status by opening the window shows Since only the "waiting" status is displayed, the user may continue to wait for the job to be processed by the printer that is substantially stopped.

In view of the above points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a print instruction device capable of making an appropriate notification to a user by comprehensively judging the status of a job or a printer.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A print instruction apparatus according to the present invention makes print jobs issued to one or a plurality of print output apparatuses correspond to reference numerals of functional blocks of an embodiment shown in FIG. A storage unit (106) for storing the print output device of the issue destination in association with the print output device, and a job processing state of the issued print job in the print output device of the issue destination, based on the contents of the storage unit. Based on the contents of the storage means (107) and the storage means,
A means (107) for inquiring the operating status of the print output apparatus to which the issued print job is issued, and an inquiry result of the job processing state and the operating status of the print output apparatus determine the information content to be notified to the user. Means (1
07) and notification means (104, 105) for notifying the user according to the determined information content.
And characterized in that:

As the notification means, means for changing the display form of the icon related to the print instruction displayed on the display screen according to the information content to be notified to the user, and the display screen according to the information content It is preferable that either of the means for displaying the notification by a message, the means for executing the notification according to the information content by voice, or a combination of the above means.

[0014]

In the print instruction device according to the present invention having the above-described configuration, for each issued print job, the job processing state of the print output device of the issue destination and the operating status of the print output device of the issue destination are set. The combination determines the information content to be notified to the user. For example, if the processing of all issued jobs is completed, the information content notified to the user is “completed” regardless of the operating status of the print output device, and the job processing status is “waiting for processing”. If the operating status of the print output device is "stop", the information content to be notified is determined to be "warning (printer stop)".

Then, the contents to be notified to the user are decided according to this decision, and the contents are notified by the notifying means.

If the notification means is, for example, an icon when the window for printing instruction is closed, the form of the icon is various such as "normal", "warning", "waiting for processing", "processing", and "error". The information changed according to the information content is prepared, and the information corresponding to the determined information content is displayed to inform the user. In the case of a voice or a message displayed on the screen, the above-mentioned information content is notified to the user directly and simply, for example.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, a general outline of an information processing system to which an embodiment of a print instruction device according to the present invention is applied will be described together with an outline of a print instruction device of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the overall configuration of the information processing system of this example, in which LA as a communication network is used.
A plurality of print output devices are distributed and connected on the N10. As described above, the print output device can be configured not only by the printer but also by a copying machine or a facsimile machine with a copying function.

In the example of FIG. 2, on the LAN 10,
A plurality of end systems A to D are distributed and arranged.
The end system A includes a computer 11A and two printers 12a and 12b as print output devices. The end system A includes a display 16 and a mouse 17 as an example of a pointing device that gives an input instruction through the display screen. The end system A also has a function as a print processing execution unit and a function as a print instruction device.

The end system B is the computer 1
1B and a copying machine 1 that constitutes a print output device, respectively.
3 or a copying machine 14. This end system B also has a display 16 and a mouse 1.
7, and the computer 11B also has a function as a print instruction device. Also, this end system B is
It also has a function as a print processing execution unit, and a function as an input unit for a paper original as print processing data and an input unit for an electronic original.

The end system C is composed of a computer 11C, has a display 16 and a mouse 17, and has a function as a print instruction device and a function as an input section for an electronic manuscript.

The end system D comprises a computer 11D and a scanner 15, and has a display 16 and a mouse 17. The end system D has a function as a print instruction device and also functions as an input unit for a paper document by the scanner 15.

In FIG. 2, the computer is the printer 12a or 12a in any of the end systems.
b, the copying machines 13 and 14, and the scanner 15 are separated from each other, but it is also possible to form each of these devices 12 to 15 into a computer.

In the case of this example, the computer 11A of the end system A in particular has all the print output devices (computer 11A) distributed and arranged on the LAN 10.
(Including printers 12a and 12b connected to the network LAN 10 via the), job information of the print output device, equipment functions and operating status (power-on state) of the print output device, failure, out of toner, out of paper , Device status (operating status) such as stop status due to power off
Functions as a print management device that comprehensively manages device information related to other devices (hereinafter referred to as print management device function unit)
And has identifier information from all print output devices,
The job information and the device information are acquired, and the acquired information can be provided to all print instruction devices on the LAN 10 of the network.

Further, the end system having the print output device has a function of notifying the print management device function section of the identifier of the print output device, job information, and device information.

In this case, the two printers 12a,
Since 12b is connected to the computer 11A, the above various information can be easily obtained from the printers 12a and 12b. However, the copiers 13 and 14 that are other print output devices that are not directly connected to the computer 11A can handle only the information determined by the communication protocol corresponding to these devices. The end system A is provided with a communication interface for communicating with these devices as required.

All the print requests accompanied by the print data from the functional unit of the print instruction device are once received by the print management device functional unit so that the difference in the communication protocol between the print instruction device and the print output device can be absorbed. I have to. In other words, from the print instruction device to the print management device function unit, communication is performed using the same communication protocol, and print requests to other print output devices with different communication protocols are judged by the print management device function unit and are matched. It is converted into a communication protocol for use and passed to the target print output device. Therefore, the user can make a print request without being aware of the difference in communication protocol.

The print output device identifier information is an identifier for identifying each print output device from the others. The print management device function unit corresponds to this identifier and is the LA of each print output device.
It knows the network address and location on N10. The identifier of the print output device may be a model name of the print output device or a specific name given by the user. Further, a number or the like given to the print output device may be used as long as it can identify a plurality of print output devices distributed on the LAN 10.

The information of the identifier of the print output device is notified to the computer 11A of the end system A when it is connected to the LAN 10 and registered in the print management device function section. Alternatively, the print management apparatus function unit of the computer 11A of the end system A may inquire of the end system including each print output apparatus to obtain the identifier of each print output apparatus.

In the case of this example, the job information includes a job identifier, an identifier of print data, an identifier of a print output device which is an output destination of the job, and a processing state.

The job identifier is, for example, a number given to the job. In this example, it is given in each print output device as described later. If this job identifier is unique to each print instruction device that issues a job, it is convenient when finding the job information of the job issued by each print instruction device from the information from the print management device function unit. However, as described later, the print instruction device
Since the issued job is managed in association with the print output device of the issue destination, it is possible to identify which job it is by the job identifier assigned to each print output device.

The print data identifier is a file name or the like. In this example, a print output device name such as a printer name is used as the print output device identifier. In the case of this example, the job processing status is “processing (printing)”, “processing waiting”, “completion”, “interruption (error)”, “abnormal termination”, or the like.

Each print output device receives a job for itself, assigns a job identifier to manage the processing state of each job, and executes each job, for example, in the order of receipt.

When any one of the job processing states changes, the print output apparatus notifies the print management apparatus function section of job information of all the jobs, for example. Upon receiving this notification, the print management device function unit updates the job information of the corresponding print output device to new information, and transfers the updated information to all print instruction devices.

The information sent from the print output device to the print management device functional unit when the processing state of the job is changed is only the information about the changed job, and the print management device functional unit itself prints the corresponding print output. The job information about the corresponding job of the device may be updated. Information regarding the job transferred from the print management apparatus function unit to the print instruction apparatus is similarly set only for the changed job, and the print instruction apparatus identifies the acquired new information and updates only the information portion. You may do it.

The job information can be appropriately acquired by the print management apparatus function unit (computer 11A) by inquiring the end system including each print output apparatus, but as in this example, from each print output apparatus. The notification can always notify the print management apparatus function unit of the latest job processing state without timing deviation.

The device information of the print output device is information on the face designation function of single-sided printing / double-sided printing, enlargement / reduction function, paper size selection function and optional equipment such as a sorter and stack equipped with the print output device. And running, waiting, processing, stopped (power not turned on, etc.), stopped (paper out), paper jam, paper out warning, door open,
It is made up of information about the status (operating status) of the device such as running out of toner, warning of running out of toner, and hardware failure.

Initially, the device information of the print output device is the same as the identifier information of each print output device, and when each print output device is connected to the LAN 10, the print output device prints the computer 11A. Notify the management device function section. Further, as described above, the print output device has an optional function that can be added later. When the optional function is added, when the optional function is added, the additional function is printed by the computer 11A. Notify the management device function section.

The status information on the operating status of the print output device is updated whenever the abnormal condition such as the above-mentioned paper shortage or paper jam occurs or the operating status changes from each print output device. The information of the state of is notified to the print management apparatus function section.

The print management device function unit of the computer 11A also obtains the acquired device information including the identifier information of each print output device, the job information, and the status information, from the function unit of the print instruction device of the end system (hereinafter, referred to as a function unit). The print instruction device function unit).

That is, the print instruction device functional unit of each end system issues a request to acquire the above-mentioned identifier information, job information, and device information to the print management device functional unit at regular intervals or at an appropriate timing. . Note that this acquisition request is asynchronous with the user's operation,
At least, the request to obtain the job information and the status information of the print output device is issued not only when the window of the print instruction operation panel is open, but also when the window is closed and iconized, as described later. Is executed.

In response to this request, the print management device function unit sends the identifier information, job information and device information of all print output devices to the requested print instruction device function unit via the LAN 10. The print management device function unit also receives a change in the operating status from each print output device, such as a change from the standby status to the processing status described above, or a change in the operating status due to the occurrence of an abnormal state such as paper shortage or paper jam. When the latest status information is notified, it is acquired, and at that time, the status information is transferred and notified to all the print instruction device functional units.

Therefore, the print instruction device functional unit of each end system itself has the same management information as the print management device functional unit, that is, the identifier information of all print output devices distributed on the communication network LAN 10. The job information and the device information are held and managed.

In each print instruction device function unit, the user selects a print output device to be used from a plurality of print output devices distributed on the LAN 10, and the selected print output is selected. Various print instruction setting items are set for the apparatus, and a print request (issue of a print job) is issued.

The embodiment of the print instruction apparatus according to the present invention is applied as the print processing apparatus functional section in the information processing system described above. Next, an embodiment in which the print instruction apparatus according to the present invention is applied to the print instruction apparatus function unit of the above-described information processing system will be described.
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the above-mentioned information processing system configuration part centering on the print instruction apparatus of this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a print instruction device, 2
Reference numeral 00 denotes a print management apparatus, which are connected to the LAN 10 of the communication network as described above. In this example, the print output devices 301 and 302 are connected to the print management device 200, and the print output device 303 is directly connected to the LAN 10. Here, being directly connected includes the case where the print output device is connected via a computer.

The print instruction apparatus 100 corresponds to the print instruction apparatus functional section of each end system in FIG. 2, and the print management apparatus 200 corresponds to the print management apparatus functional section of the computer 11A of the end system A in FIG. . The print output devices 301 and 302 correspond to the two printers 12a and 12b in FIG. 2, and the print output device 303 corresponds to the end system including the copying machine 13 or 14.

The print management apparatus 200 includes a network information providing means 201 and a job / apparatus information providing means 20.
2 and the print processing unit 203. As described above, the print management apparatus 200 receives the respective identifier information, job information, and apparatus information from the print output apparatuses 301 and 302 directly connected to the print management apparatus 200 and the print output apparatus 303 connected to the LAN 10. Are collected and the information is provided to the print instruction device 100 in response to a request from the print instruction device 100.

Further, information about a change in the operating status of an urgent printout device, such as fault information such as running out of toner, running out of paper, or occurrence of a failure, and changed job information are output from the print management device 200. The print instruction device can be directly notified. In addition, the print management apparatus 200
Receives a print job from the print instruction device 100,
It also has a role of delivering to the print output device. Print processing means 2
03 is for that purpose.

The network information providing means 201 and the job and device information providing means 202 collect information from the print output devices 301 to 303 and the print instruction device 1 described above.
Providing information to 00. That is, the network information providing unit 201 collects and holds information on identifiers such as the name and model name of the printout device connected to the LAN 10.

In the case of the example of FIG. 1, the print management apparatus 200
And the information about the print output devices 301, 302, 303 is registered in the network information providing means 201, and in response to a request from the print instructing device 100, the network information providing means 201 determines the identifier information of these devices and The network address of each print output device is provided to the requested print instruction device 100. In the case of this example, the device name (model name) is used as the identifier.

The job and device information providing means 202
The job information is acquired from the print output devices 301, 302, 303, and the option information (sorter, HCS) is acquired.
(High-capacity stack = large-capacity stack), offset stack (including the function to discharge the printed paper by a fixed amount in a specified unit in the specified direction (front-back or left-right)) Equipment information including equipment function information and paper size information (for example, A3, A4, B4, B5, letter, legal, MSI (multi-sheet inserter)) and the above-mentioned paper jam, paper out, paper out warning, toner out, malfunction, etc. Status information of the print instruction device 100 and provide the information to the print instruction device 100 upon request.

The print processing means 203 is the print instruction device 10.
A print request (job) including print data from 0 and print instruction information including setting information such as a print format and a used function is received, converted into a format corresponding to a print method of a print output device as an output destination, and output. Have a function. The print processing unit 203 also plays a role of transferring the received job to a print output device having a different communication protocol.

Next, the configuration of the print instruction device 100 will be described.

The print instruction device 100 comprises printer information management means 101 and job information management means 102. As described above, the printer information management unit 101 uses the network information providing unit 201 and the job / device information providing unit 202 of the print management apparatus 200 through the communication unit 130 to display the identifier information, the device information indicating the equipment and the device state. Get, update and manage from time to time. Also,
The job information management unit 102 acquires the identifier information and the job information from the network information providing unit 201 and the job / apparatus information providing unit 202, and updates and manages them at any time. Therefore, in the case of this example, the printer information management unit 101 includes the network information providing unit 201 and the device information providing unit 202 of the print management apparatus 200.
It holds almost the same information as.

In this case, of the device information, the information about the equipment is, for example, as shown below. That is, output resolution (for example, 400 dpi), model name of print output device, type of paper size that is currently set (for example, tray 1 = B4, tray 2 = A3, tray 3 = A4, manual feed = postcard) Range of reduction ratio (for example, 25% to 400%) • Whether double-sided printing is possible, and if yes, whether short-side binding / long-side binding is possible • Number of Nup functions that can be set (for example, None / 2up / 4up /
9up) -The type of paper discharge tray (for example, upper surface / sorter / HCS). The Nup function is a function of displaying and printing a plurality of (N) pages on one sheet.

The trigger for issuing a request from the print instruction apparatus 100 to the print management apparatus 200 in order to acquire the information is, as described above, at the start of execution of the print instruction apparatus 100 or at regular time intervals. It may also be when the user gives an instruction. The trigger for sending the information acquisition request can be set according to the usage status of the system.

The output destination selecting means 103 operates when the user designates or changes the print output destination. That is,
When there is a request from the user to specify / change the print output destination, the output destination selecting means 103 causes the output device information managing means 10 to operate.
1 to a list list of identifiers of all print output devices on the LAN 10, or a list list of identifiers of print output devices selected in advance from a plurality of print output devices on the LAN 10, the device name in this example. The list list is acquired, display data of the list list is created, the display data is passed to the display / instruction control unit 104 described later, and the device name list is displayed on the screen of the display 105 by the display / instruction control unit 104. To be displayed.

By deleting or adding a print output device in the device name list window, the user can select in advance a desired one of the plurality of print output devices on the LAN 10.

Then, when the user selects, for example, one print output device in the window of the list of identifiers of the print output devices, the output destination selection means 103 is selected from the display / instruction control means 104. The information of the device name of the printed output device is acquired, and the selected print output device name is used as an identifier to output the device information such as the print output device name, the installed function, and the device status information from the output device information management unit 101. It is acquired and passed to the display / instruction control means 104 together with the switching instruction.

The display / instruction control means 104, when there is a switching instruction for the print output device which is the output destination from the output destination selection means 103, uses the device name information passed from the output destination selection means 103 as a key. From the output device information management means 101, information regarding the equipment function and performance of the selected print output device is acquired and analyzed, and the function (for example, double-sided printing / copying possible, usable paper size, reduction / enlarging possible, It is possible to determine whether or not a sorter can be used) and its performance (for example, numerical input or paper designation can be reduced / enlarged). The display / instruction control unit 104 also acquires and analyzes the status information of the selected printout device to determine the device status.

Then, the print instruction operation panel for the newly selected print output device is reconfigured from the result of the determination and displayed on the display 105. An example of this print instruction operation panel is shown in FIG.

In the print instruction operation panel 30 of FIG. 3, the display column 31 is a menu display section for calling various menus, and the display column 32 is a display section of the device status of the selected print output device. is there. In addition, the display column 33
Is a setting display section for various functions, and the display field 34 is a display section for a job list.

The display / instruction control unit 104 operates the print instruction for the selected print output device in a state where the user can set all the functions prepared in advance for all the print output devices. Rather than reconfiguring the panel 30, the function provided by the selected print output device is determined,
The function that is not provided is disabled and the display information of the print instruction operation panel 30 is reconfigured in a state where the user cannot input the setting.

For example, as a means for displaying that the function cannot be set because it is not an equipment function, a method of not displaying the print instruction setting item relating to the equipment function that cannot be used on the print instruction operation panel, or a mark indicating that it is not usable is added. To display or disabling the setting input, shade display (displayed with a lower density than the display of other print instruction setting items), and setting of this shade display to the print instruction setting items There is a method of disabling or invalidating.

In the display / instruction control means 104,
Accept the setting input of each item from the user. Then, the information of the set print instruction items is stored in the setting information storage means 11
1 and is used when a print request is issued (print job issuance).

In FIG. 3, a circle indicates a setting button of each print instruction setting item. When the setting button is designated by the mouse and the print instruction setting item is set, the setting button is displayed. Changes to the display of a thick circle as shown in the figure, and the user is informed that it has been set.

The output destination selecting means 103 also sends to the printer driver 110 an instruction to switch the print output device using the print output device name selected by the user as an identifier.

The printer driver (software) 110 installed in the print instruction apparatus 100 of this embodiment is a conventional printer driver such as Windows (Microsoft Windows ver.3.1).
Unlike the operating system function guide (see Chapter 5), it does not require a display processing function for setting print instruction setting items, and print data processing that converts print data to that for the selected print output device. It only needs to have a function. In other words, the printer driver 110 of each print instruction device 100 has a plurality of print data processing functions in order to convert the print data into print data suitable for all print output devices existing on the network LAN 10. The data processing function is automatically switched according to the user's selection of the print output device according to a switching instruction from the output destination selecting means.

That is, the user may select a print output device to be used, set instruction setting items for a print request, and issue a print job to issue a print request. It is not necessary for the user to identify the printer driver suitable for the printer and switch between the print instruction operation panel and the print data processing unit.

Then, the printer driver 110 issues a print output device switching notification message to the operating application program 120 in response to a switching instruction accompanied by the selected print output device name from the output destination selection means 103.

Further, the printer driver 110 receives print processing data from the application program 120 based on an instruction from the application program 120, and print data corresponding to the selected print output device (for example, a page description language such as Postscript). Is generated and passed to the print data storage means 112. At this time, the printer driver 110 is required to generate print data.
For example, information such as output resolution is output destination selection means 103.
Through the output device information management means 101.

The application program 120 is composed of one or a plurality of application programs for issuing a print instruction to the print instruction apparatus 100.

The print data storage means 112 receives the print data from the printer driver 110 and stores it, and also passes the print data to the job issuing means 113. The print data is stored in the print data storage unit 112 until the transmission of the print request from the job issuing unit 113 is completed.

The job issuing means 113 acquires the print instruction information from the setting information storage means 111 based on the print job issue request instruction from the user through the display / instruction control means 104, and from the print data storage means 112. The print data is acquired, the print instruction information and the print data are included in the print request, and the print request is transmitted to the print output device designated as the output destination through the communication unit 130.

The print processing means 203 of the print management apparatus 200
Receives this job and issues this job to the designated print output device as described above.
The print output device receives this job, assigns a job identifier, and registers it in the job queue (job queue).

The print processing unit 203 also returns the job identifier assigned by the print output device to the print instruction device 100 that issued this job. Print instruction device 10
The job issuing unit 113 of 0 acquires this job identifier. Then, the job issuing unit 113 registers the job identifier of the issued job and the assigned print output device name in the corresponding column of the job / print output device table ST of the job / print output device table storage unit 106.

Job / print output device table storage means 1
FIG. 4 shows an example of the job / print output device table ST stored and managed by 06. As shown in FIG. 4, the job / print output device table ST includes, for each issued job, a job number (No) indicating the issuing order, an assigned print output device name, and a job assigned to the job. Of the identifier, the processing status of the job, the status (operating status) of the assigned print output device, and the status of the display job,
It has each column.

Here, the display job status is determined from the job processing status and the status of the assigned print output device, as will be described later, and indicates the information content to be notified to the user regarding the current status of each issued job. It is shown.

The display job status determination unit 107 is activated at a timing asynchronous with the user's operation, such as at regular time intervals or at timings when a change notification of the job processing status or the status of the print output device is issued. For each of the issued jobs recorded in the print output device table ST, the above-described display job state determination is performed.

On the other hand, the judgment table storage means 108 stores
A combination of job status and print output device status,
The determination table JT showing the correspondence with the display job state is stored in advance.

FIG. 5 shows an example of this judgment table JT. In the example of FIG. 5, the job processing state includes “waiting for processing”, “processing in progress”, “completed”, “interruption (error)”, and the like, and the state of the print output device is “waiting”.
"Processing""Stopped (out of paper)""Stopped (power off)"
Are listed.

The display job status to be determined by the combination of each job processing status and the status of the assigned print output device is as shown in FIG.
Examples include "processing in progress", "waiting for processing", "warning", "error", etc.

According to the determination table JT of FIG. 5, for example, when the job processing status is "waiting for processing" and the status of the assigned print output device is "standby" or "processing", the display job status is displayed. Is "waiting for processing", if the status of the assigned print output device is "stopped (out of paper)", the display job status is "warning (printer stopped)", and the status of the assigned print output device is "stopped (power off)" , The display job status is instructed to be judged as “error”.

The display job status judging means 107 judges the display job status of each already issued job with reference to this judgment table JT. That is, first, the display job status determining unit 107 acquires the job processing status of an already issued job from the job information managing unit 102, and the status of the assigned print output device of the job from the output device information managing unit 101. It is acquired and registered in the corresponding column of the job / print output device table ST, respectively.

Next, the display job status judging means 107
Based on the job processing state of each issued job registered in the job / print output device table ST and the state of the assigned print output device, the determination table JT of the storage unit 108.
Is searched to determine the current display job status for each issued job, and the display job status of the determination result is registered in the corresponding column of the job / print output device table ST.

The display job status judging means 107 also
Among the display job states of the already issued jobs obtained as described above, the one having the highest notification priority to the user is selected. This notification priority is predetermined, and in this example, from the highest priority, "Error">"Warning">"Processingwait">"Processing">"Completed"
Are defined in that order.

The display job status determination means 107 notifies the icon generation means 109 of the information on the display job status with the highest notification priority selected as described above.

The icon generating means 109 generates an icon to be displayed on the display 105 when the window of the print instruction operation panel 30 is closed, and corresponds to the display job state stored in the icon display information storing means 109M. Then, the display information of the icon corresponding to the notified display job state is read out from the display information of the icons having different display forms, and passed to the display / instruction control means 104. The display / instruction control means 104 displays the icon of the display form at a predetermined position on the display screen of the display 105.

In the case of this example, as described above, the icon display information storage means 109M previously stores the display information of the icons having different forms according to the display job state. FIG. 6 shows an example of the display form of the icons corresponding to each display job state.

That is, FIG. 6A shows an icon indicating a normal state (normal icon), which is displayed when the highest priority display job state selected by the display job state determining means 107 is "completed". . FIG. 6B is an icon (error icon) indicating that an error has occurred in any of the jobs issued by itself, and this indicates that the highest priority display job state selected by the display job state determination means 107 is " It is displayed when there is an error. FIG. 6C is an icon (processing icon) indicating that the job is being processed, which is displayed when the highest priority display job status selected by the display job status determination unit 107 is “processing”. To be done. FIG. 6D is an icon (warning icon) indicating that one of the print output devices that has issued a job is in a stopped state due to paper clogging, paper shortage, or the like, which is selected by the display job state determination unit 107. Displayed when the highest priority display job status is "Warning". FIG. 6E is an icon (processing waiting icon) indicating that the job is waiting for processing, which is displayed when the highest priority display job status selected by the display job status determining unit 107 is “processing waiting”. To be done.

FIG. 6D shows an invalid icon indicating an invalid state, which means that the job processing state is “processing” and the print output device state is “standby” in the determination table JT of FIG. As shown in FIG.
Then, "???" is displayed.

As described above, the present status is checked for all jobs issued by the user to a plurality of different print output devices, the information contents to be notified for each of them are determined, and the notification priority among them is determined. For the highest ranking, the icon displayed on the display of the terminal device used by the user informs the current state, so the user should take appropriate action from the display of this icon. can do.

That is, after the user gives a print instruction using the print instruction operation panel, the user closes the window of the print instruction operation panel to make it an icon, and displays the icon even if other work is being performed. The change in the status makes it possible to know that the processing of all jobs has been completed, and at the same time, the print output device may stop and you may not notice that the print job waiting for processing has become unexecutable. Can be prevented.

In FIG. 1, the print management apparatus 200 is
The network information providing unit 201, the device information providing unit 202, and the print processing unit 203 are all provided, but the network information providing unit 201 and the print processing unit 203 are incorporated in another device connected to the LAN 10. It may be incorporated in the print instruction apparatus 100. In addition, the end system A in FIG.
In this case, the computer 11A includes both functions of the print management apparatus 200 and the print instruction apparatus 100. That is, the print management apparatus 200 and the print instruction apparatus 10
0 may exist in the same end system. Further, the network information providing unit 201 of the print management apparatus 200
The job and device information providing unit 202 may also have the role of the output device information management unit 101 of the print instruction device.

Next, the operation relating to the display job status update processing for determining the display job status and determining the form of the display icon of the print instruction apparatus 100 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. To do.
As described above, the processing routine of FIG. 7 is asynchronous with the user's operation, for example, at fixed time intervals by a timer, or through the LAN 10 for job status,
At the timing when the status change of the print output device is notified,
It is called and activated.

That is, when it is time to update the display job status, first, from the table shown in the display example of FIG. 4 held in the job / print output device table storage means 106, the job identifier of one job is displayed. And the print output device name (step S1).

Then, it is judged whether or not the retrieved job identifier and print output device name are for the last job in the table (step S2). If it is not the last, the processing status of the job of the extracted job identifier and the status of the print output device name are acquired from the job information management unit 102 and the output device information management unit 101, respectively, and the job / print output device table ST is obtained. Is recorded in the corresponding column (step S3).

Then, based on the job processing state and the state of the print output device obtained in step S3, the storing means 108
Then, the display job status is obtained by referring to the determination table JT of FIG. 2 and recorded in the corresponding column of the same job / print output device table ST (step S4). Next, returning to step S1, the job identifier of the next job and the print output device name are extracted, and the above steps are repeated.

When it is determined in step S2 that the processes of steps S3 and S4 have been completed for all jobs in the job / print output device table ST, the process proceeds to step S5, and the job / print output device table ST is executed.
It is determined whether or not some of the display job states of (1) are "error". If there is an "error", the process proceeds to step S9, and the "error icon" shown in FIG. 6B is selected as the icon to be displayed.

If there is no "error" in the display job status in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6, and it is determined whether or not there is any "warning" in the display job status. If there is a "warning", step S1
Going to 0, the "warning icon" shown in FIG. 6D is selected as the icon to be displayed.

If there is no "warning" in the display job status in step S6, the process proceeds to step S7, and it is determined whether or not there is any display job status in "waiting for processing".
Then, if there is an item that is "waiting for processing", the process proceeds to step S11, and the icon to be displayed is shown in FIG.
Select the "waiting for processing icon" shown in.

In step S7, if there is no "waiting for processing" in the display job status, the process proceeds to step S8, and it is determined whether or not there is any "under processing" in the display job status.
Then, if there is a "processing in progress", the process proceeds to step S12, and the "processing in progress" shown in FIG. 6C is selected as the icon to be displayed.

In step S8, if the display job status does not include "processing", the process proceeds to step S13, and the "normal icon" shown in FIG. 6A is selected as the icon to be displayed.

In the above example, the output device information management means 101 and the job information management means 10 of the print instruction device.
2, the job information is always sent from the print output device through the print management device 200, and the output device information management unit 101 and the job information management unit 102 always print as the destination of the latest issued job. Although the status of the output device and the job information thereof are held, the print instruction device itself does not have the output device information management means 101 or the job information management means 102, and the display job status determination means 107 is provided.
May inquire the print management unit 200 via the network about the status of the print output device and the job processing status.

When the window of the print instruction operation panel 30 is displayed, the state of the selected print output device is displayed in the display column 32 of the print instruction operation panel 30, so that the above icon is displayed. There is no need to give such a warning. However, if the user is notified of the display job status of the notification priority level by the method described below, the print instruction operation panel 3 can be used.
Even during the printing instruction through 0, the user can surely grasp the processing status of the job and the status such as the stop of the print output device.

That is, for example, the display job status of the job / print output device table ST is "error" or "warning".
When a situation occurs that requires user intervention, it is displayed as a pop-up message. FIG. 8 shows a display example of this pop-up message.

Also, the job / print output device table ST
When "error" or "warning" occurs in the display job state of, and a state requiring user intervention occurs, the state is notified by voice.

With the above arrangement, even when the print instruction is issued through the print instruction operation panel 30,
It is possible to prompt the user to take an appropriate action for another print output device of the print output devices designated for the job for which a print instruction is issued through the print instruction operation panel 30. Further, if the notification is made by voice, the user can be surely notified of the occurrence of the warning or the error even when the user is not looking at the icon display.

[0110]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a user issues a job to a print output device such as a printer or a copying machine at a remote place, each use is performed. The user can know the information content determined by the job processing status of the job issued by himself and the status of the print output device of the issuing destination at the terminal used by the user. With respect to the above, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the print output device is interrupted and there is no possibility that it will be processed, and the like.

Further, by notifying the information content determined by the job processing state and the state of the print output device of the issuing destination, the user can take appropriate measures.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall functional block diagram of an information processing system including an embodiment of a print instruction device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of an overall configuration of an information processing system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a window of a print instruction operation panel in a print instruction apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a table used in an embodiment of a print instruction apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a table used in an embodiment of a print instruction apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display icon as an example of notification means used in an embodiment of the print instruction apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a processing operation of a main part in an embodiment of the print instruction apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the notifying means used in the embodiment of the print instruction apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 print instruction device 101 output device information management means 102 job information management means 103 output destination selection means 104 display / instruction control means 105 display (display means) 106 job / print output device table storage means 107 display job status determination means 108 determination table Storage unit 109 Icon generation unit 110 Printer driver 111 Setting information storage unit 112 Print data holding unit 113 Job issuing unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A storage unit for storing a print job issued to one or a plurality of print output devices in association with a print output device to which the print job is issued, and the print job issued based on the contents of the storage unit. A unit for inquiring the job processing state of the print output device of the print destination device, and a unit for inquiring the operating status of the print output device of the issue destination of the issued print job based on the contents of the storage unit. A means for determining the information content to be notified to the user from the result of the inquiry about the job processing status and the operating status of the print output device, and for notifying the user according to the determined information content And a print instruction device. 2. The notification means includes means for changing a display form of an icon related to a print instruction displayed on the display screen according to the information content to be notified to the user. 1. The print instruction device according to 1. 3. The print instruction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit includes a unit that displays the information content as a message on the display screen to notify the user. 4. The informing means includes means for audibly informing in accordance with the information content.
The print instruction device described in 1.