JPH09282120A - Printing controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the access control of whether or not utilization is possible for each user with respect to information relating to a printing processing related to a printer. SOLUTION: Access control information for indicating whether or not a using right is present for each user is set beforehand by an access control information setting means 5 for respective objects preserved in an object data storage means 3 relating to a job related to the printer. When a job control means 2 delivers the job received in a job reception means 1 to the printer 6, by requesting an access control information judgement means 4, whether or not the using right of the user who issues the job is set as the access control information to the corresponding object preserved in the object data storage means 3 is judged for the object required for the printing processing indicated in the job and the printer 6 performs the printing processing by using the object whose use is permitted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print controller, and more particularly to a print controller for processing a print job issued from a plurality of users through a network and outputting the print job from a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a network printing system for processing a print job issued by a plurality of users through a client connected to a network, with respect to an operation to a print server, a certain operation is permitted for a specific person, Access control is performed such that the operation is denied to other users. For example, ISO / IE
C 10175-1 (Document Printi
According to the “Document Printing Abstract Model” described in Chapter 6 of the ng Application), there are two types of ports for accessing the server, and the operations that can be accessed differ according to the port type. Specifically, the user operation that can access the user port is "pri
nt "," Modify-job "," Cancel- "
"Administrator-Job" and "Interrupt" are available as administrator operations that can access the administrator port.
-Job "," Resume-job ", and the like. Therefore, if a person is a user, the "print" operation can be instructed, but "Interup-jo"
b "operations cannot be directed. In this way, the unit of access control is an operation.

On the other hand, there is an output method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-148996 regarding access control so that only a specific user can use special paper. According to this output method, the target of access control is paper, and when using that paper,
Access control to the user is performed by entering and checking the key code.

[0004]

In the conventional network printing system, it is the access control that is performed for the issued operation, and it is disclosed in JP-A-7-148996.
In the technique described in the publication, access control to the user is performed by using the key code, but more detailed access control is desired as a usage mode of the printing apparatus. For example, access control is desired so that only a specific user can perform color printing, can use OHP paper, and can use fonts with the official company logo mark. However, the conventional printing apparatus has a problem that such access control is impossible.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a print control apparatus capable of more finely setting user's access control relating to print processing.

[0006]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of a print control apparatus according to the present invention. A print control apparatus according to the present invention is a job receiving unit 1 that receives print jobs issued from a plurality of users via a network.
A job control means 2 for scheduling the received job, and an object data storage means 3 for storing information about objects necessary for print processing.
And access control information determining means 4 for determining whether the user can access the object from the access control information added to the object, and access control information setting means 5 for setting the access control information for each object. A printer 6 for outputting a job is connected to the job control means 2. The job acceptance unit 1 is also associated with a user confirmation unit that determines the validity of the user who issued the print job.

According to the print control apparatus having the above structure, first, the administrator or the like uses the access control information setting means 5 to store the object stored in the object data storage means 3 in association with the printer. Access control information representing user information that can be used for is set in advance. Here, when the job receiving unit 1 receives a print job issued by a user,
The legitimacy of the user is judged by the user confirmation means associated with this. The accepted job is scheduled by the job control means 2. Then, when the order of processing the job comes, the job control unit 2 requests the printer 6 to process the job. The printer 6 requests the access control information determination means 4 through the job control means 2 to determine whether or not the object required for the print processing indicated in the job is available to the user. Then, the access control information determination means 4 refers to the corresponding object stored in the object data storage means 3, and whether or not the user is permitted to use the object based on the access control information added to the object. And the result is notified to the printer 6 through the job control means 2. Printer 6
Executes the output process of the job using the available objects according to the result. As a result of the judgment by the access control information judging means 4, if there is an object which is not permitted to be used by the user, the access control information judging means 4 does not use the object,
The printer 6 determines whether to use the alternative object or cancel the printing, and the printer 6 performs the processing according to the determination.

Therefore, since access control information indicating whether or not the user has the authority to use is added in advance to the object having the attribute relating to the print processing associated with the printer, the cost can be reduced for a specific user. It is possible to perform fine control as to whether or not each user can use such a color printing, use of OHP paper, or cover of a printed document.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described as an example in which it is applied to a network printing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the network printing apparatus. In the figure, a plurality of clients 30, 31, 32, ... Are connected to the print server 10 via a network 20. In addition, a plurality of printers 40, 41, which actually perform print processing,
42, ... Are connected to the print server 10.

Here, the print server 10 includes a job acceptance unit 11 that accepts jobs, a user confirmation unit 12 that confirms user information, and an object database 1.
3, an object management unit 14 that manages the object database 13, a job control unit 15 that manages jobs and issues a print instruction to a printer, and determines whether the confirmed user has the authority to use the object. And an access control unit 16.

The job acceptance unit 11 accepts a print job from the clients 30, 31, 32, ... Via the network 20, and requests the user confirmation unit 12 to confirm the user who issued the print job. As a result of the user confirmation in the user confirmation unit 12, if the user's legitimacy is confirmed, the print job can be accepted. If the user's legitimacy is not confirmed, the acceptance of the print job is invalid.

The object database 13 manages attributes relating to jobs and documents associated with printers under the control of the print server 10 as objects 131, respectively. Access control information 131a that permits only a specific user to access each of the objects 131 related to the printer is set in advance. The access control information 131a is set by the administrator when the print server 10 is installed or when the printer is changed or added, and the administrator uses the object management unit 14 to make this setting. The object database 13 also saves and manages, as objects, attributes related to print jobs and documents for which reception by the job reception unit 11 is valid, in addition to the objects related to printers described here.

The object management section 14 is responsible for overall management of the object database 13. That is, the process of setting access control information for an object in the object database 13, the process of generating the object of the received job and the document which constitutes this job, the inquiry of the state and existence of the stored object, the content of information, etc. The object management unit 14 performs all processing and the like.

The job control unit 15 manages the print job accepted by the job acceptance unit 11 and confirmed by the user confirmation unit 12. That is, the job control unit 15 manages the queue of the received job, assigns a printer, and issues a print instruction to the assigned printer. Further, the job control unit 15
In response to a request from the printer, the inquiries are made to the object management unit 14 regarding the object indicated in the print job and the access control information set in the object, and the access control unit 16 issues an instruction regarding the object. Tell.

The access control unit 16 receives the data regarding the object retrieved by the object management unit 14, and issues an instruction to the job control unit 15 according to the access control information added to the object. Here, the object obtained from the object management unit 14 is a reply to an inquiry about the object necessary for the print processing performed by the job control unit 15 to the object management unit 14, and the access control unit 16 accesses the object. The control information determines whether the user who is the owner of the print job is permitted to access the object indicated in the print job. If the access control information indicates that the user is permitted to use the access control information, the access control unit 16 instructs the job control unit 15 to perform print processing using the object indicated in the print job. If the access control information does not indicate that the user is permitted to use the processing control unit 161 causes the processing determination unit 161 to determine how to perform the printing process, and outputs the determination result to the job control unit 15 as an instruction.

The process determination unit 161 is included in the access control unit 16 and determines how to perform the print process when the access control information does not instruct the user's permission for use. That is, the process determination unit 161 determines whether to execute the print job without using the corresponding object, select and use the alternative object to execute the print job, or cancel the print job itself.

Next, the clients 30, 31, 32, ...
.. will be described, but since these configurations are almost the same, only the client 30 will be described, and description of the other clients 31, 32, ... Will be omitted.

The client 30 includes a user information acquisition unit 301 that acquires user information of a user who issues a print job, and a print data generation unit 30 that generates print data.
2 and a job generation unit 303 that generates a print job from user information and print data.

The user information acquisition unit 301 has a function of acquiring user information indicating the owner of the print job passed from the client to the print server. The acquisition of the user information is performed using, for example, a user authentication mechanism such as a name server, or an authentication mechanism included in the operating system of the client environment.

The print data generation unit 302 converts the text, PostSc, from the document created by the user.
generate print data such as ript (registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.) and bitmap, for example, Windows (registered trademark of Microsoft, US)
It is composed of an application having a conversion function called a printer driver used in the environment.

The job generation unit 303 adds the user information acquired by the user information acquisition unit 301 to the generated print data to generate a print job. In this print job, information indicating various attributes of the print data generated by the print data generation unit 302, for example, information regarding a print data processing method such as designation of the number of prints, designation of double-sided / single-sided printing, and resolution. , Information about characteristics of print data such as black and white, color, and scan size.

Next, the printers 40, 41, 42, ...
However, they also have basically the same configuration. For example, the printer 40 includes a printer controller 401 that controls the printer 40 itself,
It is composed of a printer engine 402 that performs actual printing.

When the printer controller 401 receives a print job from the job control unit 15 of the print server 10, the printer controller 401 extracts the object indicated by the print job, and the object control unit 1 through the job control unit 15.
4 inquires if the object exists, and if so, if the user is allowed to access the object. The result of the inquiry is sent from the access control unit 16 to the printer controller 401 via the job control unit 15, where a control code corresponding to the printer engine 402 is generated according to the object to which the access is permitted. The printer engine 402 executes the actual imaging process.

Next, the flow of job control in the print server 10 will be described. Here, as an example, we want to use black and red toner, double-sided printing, and use the font of the official logo of the company name as the information added in the job generation unit of the client. Consider a case where information is added that the printing is stopped when the font is unavailable.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the flow of processing of the print server. In the figure, the number following S indicates a step number, and the process flow of the print server will be described according to this step number. [S1] The job accepting unit 11 accepts a job issued from an arbitrary client via the network 20. [S2] The job reception unit 11 extracts user information,
The user confirmation unit 12 is requested to confirm. If the legitimacy of the user is confirmed, the process proceeds to step S3 to continue the printing process. If the legitimacy of the user is not confirmed, the job is discarded and this process ends. [S3] When the job acceptance unit 11 notifies the job control unit 15 of acceptance of the job, the object management unit 14
Creates a job object for the accepted job and stores it in the object database 13. At this time, the user who created this job becomes the owner of this job. [S4] The job control unit 15 assigns the received job to the printer. After that, when it becomes the order to process the received job, the job control unit 15 transfers the job to the assigned printer. Hereinafter, for the sake of explanation, it is assumed that the printer to which the job is assigned is the printer 40. [S5] Upon receiving the job, the printer controller 401 inside the printer 40 confirms the additional information indicated in the job and determines whether the user who is the owner of the job has permission to use the object required for printing. The object management unit 14 is inquired via the job control unit 15. Considering the additional information of the job given above as an example, the user who is the owner of the job is permitted to use the black and red toner objects, the double-sided printing object, and the font object of the company name logo. An inquiry will be made as to whether or not there is. [S6] Object management unit 14 that received the inquiry
Searches the object database 13, and if the corresponding object exists, passes the data to the access control unit 16. Access control unit 16 to which data is passed
From the access control information set in the object,
Determines whether the user who owns the job is authorized to use the object. If it is determined that the use of the object is permitted, the access control unit 1
6 passes the use permission regarding the object to the printer controller 401 via the job control unit 15, and the process proceeds to step S10. If it is determined that the use of the object is not permitted, the process proceeds to step S
Proceed to 7. [S7] Since the user who is the owner of the job does not have permission to use the inquired object, the access control unit 16 causes the process determination unit 161 to determine what to do with the print process. Processing determination unit 161
If it is determined that the printing is stopped, this process ends. If the processing determination unit 161 does not cancel the printing, the process proceeds to step S8. Here, considering the additional information of the job given as an example, if the object that is not permitted is the font object of the company name logo, the processing determination unit 161 determines to cancel the printing, and the printing is canceled. The job ends without processing. [S8] The process determination unit 161 selects a substitute object that can be used in place of the object that is not permitted to use, or gives up the print process for the object, and continues the print process only with the use-permitted object. I will judge. If the alternative object is selected, the process proceeds to step S9. If the print processing for the object is given up, the processing proceeds to step S10. Here, considering the additional information of the job given as an example, if the object not permitted is the double-sided printing object, the double-sided printing is given up and the single-sided printing is executed. [S9] The processing determination unit 161 selects a substitute object that can be used instead of the object that is not permitted to use, and the use permission regarding the selected substitute object is given to the printer controller 4 via the job control unit 15.
Pass it to 01. Here, considering the additional information of the job given in the example, if the font object of the company name logo has permission to use and the red toner object does not have permission to use, the black toner object is replaced with the black toner object. Will be selected. In this case, it does not matter whether the double-sided printing object is used or not. [S10] In the determination processing in the processing determination unit 161, it is determined whether the inquiry and the reception of the response have been completed for all the objects shown in the job. If the inquiry process for all the objects is completed, the process proceeds to step S11. If there are still objects to be inquired about, the process proceeds to step S5 again. [S11] The printer controller 401 determines the printer engine 402 according to the object of which the use is permitted.
A control code corresponding to the printer engine 40
2 causes the actual imaging process to be performed.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, the access control information of the user is added to the object necessary for executing the printing process and stored, and the user who requests the printing at the time of executing the printing uses the object. It is configured to perform access control on whether or not it is possible. As a result, access control can be performed for each user on an object-by-object basis, and access control associated with printing can be performed in accordance with the required environment from coarse control to fine control. That is, it is possible to perform a rough control so that only a specific user can use a specific printer, or a fine control such that only a specific user is allowed to perform full-color printing on OHP paper.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of a print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a network printing device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a print server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 job acceptance means 2 job control means 3 object data storage means 4 access control information determination means 5 access control information setting means 6 printer 10 print server 11 job acceptance section 12 user confirmation section 13 object database 131 object 131a access control information 14 object management Part 15 Job control part 16 Access control part 161 Processing determination part 20 Network 30, 31, 32, ... Client 301 User information acquisition part 302 Print data generation part 303 Job generation part 40, 41, 42, ... Printer 401 Printer controller 402 Printer engine

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a print control device for processing a print job issued by a plurality of users through a network and outputting the print job from a printer, a job acceptance unit for accepting a print job issued by a user, and an object required for print processing. Object data storage means for storing information; access control information setting means for setting access control information specifying a user who is permitted to access an object stored in the object data storage means; Upon receiving the notification of the object required for the print processing shown, the user who issued the print job from the access control information set in the corresponding object among the objects stored in the object data storage means. Access control information judging means for judging whether or not there is authority to use, queuing of accepted jobs, allocation of printers to be used, inquiry processing of access control information to the access control information judging means, and printer A print control apparatus comprising: a job control unit that issues a print instruction to the print control unit. 2. The job acceptance means includes a user confirmation means for determining the legitimacy of a user who has issued a print job and confirming the legitimacy of the user as the user determined by the access control information determination means. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print control apparatus is related. 3. The access control information determining means does not use the object shown in the job if the object required for the print processing does not have the authority to use the object, uses the alternative object, or The print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unit that determines whether or not to stop printing.