JPH1158892A - Server and printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a server to be selected easily compared with other servers on the network, and a printer. SOLUTION: A network 4 is connected with a plurality of workstations 1 and printers 3, and a print manager 2. A user 5 makes a document on the workstation 1 as well as makes a printing job showing the conditions for printing the document so as to pass it to the print manager 2. The print manager 2 selects a printer 3 fitted with the printing job. The printer 3 selects another printer having the same function as itself as a counter part printer and sends, for example, time-consuming printing data or commands to it. Since the counterpart printer which received them starts the process thereof, the possibility of the counterpart printer being selected by the print manager 2 will be small thereafter so that the self server will be selected easier.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a server, such as a scanner, an image processing server, and a printer, which provides similar services on a network, and a printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a network environment in which similar services are provided by a plurality of servers (service providers),
It is necessary to select one server from a plurality of servers, and systems provided with various selection mechanisms have been conventionally proposed. An example of such an environment is a print system. For example, JP-A-6-18310
No. 5, JP-A-6-183106, JP-A-6-183106
No. 183109 proposes a system for realizing this selection function.

[0003] In the above-mentioned JP-A-6-183105,
A system for selecting a printer having a function necessary to execute a print job has been proposed. JP-A-6
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 183106 proposes a system in which an operator displays the operation status of a printer device, looks at the status, and selects a device that can end a job as soon as possible. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 6-183109 proposes a system in which a print server selects a device that can end a job as soon as possible. By combining these proposals, it is possible to select a device capable of ending a job at the earliest from a plurality of devices having functions necessary for executing a given job and execute the job.

[0004]

However, in such a system, only a specific device, that is, a device having the highest function, is preferentially selected. For example, in an environment in which there are a plurality of double-sided printable apparatuses, each of which has a slightly different printing speed, a job requiring double-sided printing is preferentially given to the fastest double-sided printable apparatus. Other duplex capable devices are used only when a faster duplex capable device is unavailable during job execution or failure. In this case, there is a problem that the use frequency of the device changes greatly with a slight difference, and only the high-performance device wears out quickly.

In order to solve this problem, a "service providing apparatus capable of changing the quality of service according to the environment"
The proposal has been made. This means that the device itself reports the functions it offers as better than it actually is, thereby preventing a certain device from being unevenly consumed due to a slight difference in function. .

However, in order to change the function information to be reported as described above, the consumption of computational resources and storage resources for examining other devices and for storing the results of the investigation and comparison is not small and the problem arises. there were.

[0007] It is an object of the present invention to provide a server and a printer having a function of selecting its own server by making it difficult for other servers to be actively selected.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a network printer according to the present invention comprises:
It is characterized in that means for requesting a service to another server which provides a similar service existing on the network is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a means for issuing a processing request that does not produce a useful result even if the processing is performed on another server that provides a similar service on the network.

[0010] A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a means for issuing a request whose processing is not completed forever is provided to another server which provides a similar service existing on the network.

[0011] Claim 4 is characterized in that means for issuing a large amount of requests to another server which provides similar services existing on the network is provided.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a means for issuing an instruction to stop providing a service to another server which provides a similar service existing on the network.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist, a means for requesting another printer to perform processing is provided.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist, a means for inputting a job which takes a certain time or more and does not generate a print output to another printer is provided.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist, a means for inputting a job which does not end forever and does not generate a print output to another printer is provided.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist, a means for inputting a large number of jobs having a short processing time in which no printout occurs to other printers is provided.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist, a means for sending a command to switch another printer to offline is provided.

According to the eleventh aspect, the means according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects preferably submits a job to be submitted to another printer using a protocol not used by the client.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a server and a printer according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8, there is shown an embodiment of a server and a printer according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of a printing system constituted by using a printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printing system includes a plurality of workstations 1, a print manager 2, a plurality of printers 3,
And a network 4.

The workstation 1 is a computer directly operated by a user. There are a plurality of workstations in the system. One or more workstations have one user 5.

The user 5 is a person who operates the workstation 1, creates a document on the workstation 1, creates a print job for printing the document, and passes the print job to the print manager 2. One user 5 may use a plurality of workstations 1. A print job is a set of data and print data for selecting an apparatus, selecting paper and a paper supply / discharge tray, setting double-sided printing, setting the number of copies, setting a resolution, and setting a completion request time.

The print manager 2 is a device that receives a print job from the user 5 and distributes the print job to an appropriate printer 3, and one or more print managers exist in the system. The print manager 2 can be realized only by software. In this case, the print manager 2 operates on the workstation 1 or the printer 3.

A plurality of printers 3 managed by the print manager 2 are registered in the print manager 2 in advance. The printer 3 communicates with the printers 3 and communicates information on functions and performance of each printer 3 and status of the printers 3. Always know. That is, upon detecting that the function of the printer 3 has been changed due to a change in the configuration or a failure, the status and function of the printer 3 are re-examined, and the data referred to by itself is updated. A change in the function or state of the printer 3 can be detected by a notification from the printer 3 or by periodically checking the state and configuration of the printer 3.

The printer 3 receives settings such as paper, a paper supply / discharge tray, both sides, and the number of copies, and prints a print content defined by print data on a medium such as paper according to the settings. Also, a function inquiry request can be received and a function inquiry response can be transmitted. The former is called a print operation, and the latter is called an inquiry response operation.

The printer 3 is managed by one print manager 2.
Is set in advance when setting up the printer 3. Thereafter, the printer 3 notifies the print manager 2 that the power is turned on every time the power is turned on,
Be able to provide print services. However, by realizing a plurality of virtual printers with one printer 3 and registering the virtual printers as separate printers in the print manager 2, one physical printer can realize a plurality of logical printers. It is possible. In this case, the logical printer operates in the same manner as the printer described individually.

<Print Operation of Print System and Print Operation of Printer> Next, the print operation of the print system and the print operation of the printer will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the user 5 creates a document using a word processor, database software, or the like (step S21). When printing the document,
Configure job settings. Here, selection of a device, selection of paper and a paper supply / discharge tray, setting of double-sided printing, setting of the number of copies, resolution, and completion request time are specified (step S22).

The job print set in step 22 is submitted to the print manager 2 (step S23). The print manager 2 that has received the print job selects the printer 3 that executes the job, and allocates the job to the printer 3 (step S24). The printer 3 to which the job is assigned executes the job.

The print manager 2 determines whether the selected printer 3 is capable of executing a print job (step S25). When it is determined that the selected printer is usable (step S25 / YES), the printer job setting is transmitted to the selected printer 3.

If it is determined that the selected printer 3 cannot execute the print job (step S25 / NO),
After waiting for the next print job to be executable (step S26), the printer job setting is sent to the printer 3. The printer job settings are obtained by removing conditions used only for device selection (namely, device designation, completion request time designation, etc.) from the job settings. That is, it is a collection of selection of paper and a paper supply / discharge tray, setting of double-sided printing, and setting of number of copies.

The printer 3 changes its own settings according to these settings, and when the change is completed, reports this to the print manager 2. Print Manager 2
Upon receiving the report of the completion of the setting, the transfer of the print data is started.

The printer 3 starts processing the print data (step S27), and every time one sheet is discharged, the printer 3 sets the page number defined by the PDL of the print job and the printer job setting. The print manager 2 is notified of the designated number of copies as the print job progress. At the time of double-sided printing, information indicating whether printing has been completed on the front or the back is also notified at the same time. When the processing of the print data is completed, the print manager 2 is notified of the print end, and the print job ends (step S).
28).

<Printer Selection Method by Print Manager> Next, a printer selection method by the print manager 2 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
FIG. 3 shows the flow of the entire process, and FIGS. 4 to 8 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of each item in FIG. 3 in more detail.

First, an operation in which the print manager 2 selects a printer having necessary functions will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The selection of the printer depends on the conditions set for the job and the operation state of the printer.
When a specific printer 3 is selected in the job condition, that printer is selected. However, when a specific printer is not selected or when a plurality of printers are selected, the print manager 2 selects an optimum printer. First, a job executable print list for selecting a printer having a function necessary for executing the job from a plurality of printers managed by the print manager 2 is created.

The print manager 2 checks the functions of the printers to be managed one by one. Items to be checked include whether necessary media are provided (step 44), whether the job requires a double-sided mechanism and the apparatus supports both sides (step S45), and whether the job requires color printing. , Whether the device supports color printing (step S46), whether the job specifies multiple copies and the device supports multiple copies (step S47), and whether the device supports the print data format (step S47). (Step S48), whether the job specifies a plurality of copies and the apparatus supports the plurality of copies (Step S49), whether the number of waiting jobs of the printer is less than three (Step S50), and if the job is processing, the job ends. Is the schedule within one minute (step S5
1) and so on. When all the above items are satisfied, the print manager 2 additionally registers a printer satisfying all the items in the job executable printer list (step S52).

The above check items are a set of printers having the minimum necessary functions. As shown in FIG. 4, the conditions at this time include having a requested medium and having a mechanism (such as a double-sided mechanism) required to realize the requested item. Also, printers that already have a large number of jobs waiting to be processed or that are executing jobs that take a long time to process are excluded from this set. Furthermore, one is selected from this set under some conditions. This condition is selected by the administrator of the print system, and one policy is selected from an algorithm such as "printer that can print fastest" or "printer that can print cheapest".

For example, Printer A: Both sides are possible. 20ppm (one side), 18ppm (both sides), 1200dpi, 3 yen / sheet, 8 yen / both sides Printer B: Both sides are possible. 17 ppm (one side), 16 ppm (both sides), 800 dpi, 3 yen / sheet, 8 yen / both sides Printer C: Both sides are not possible. 19ppm (one side), 600dpi,
2 yen / sheet In addition, ppm (pages per minutes) is a unit of printing speed,
dpi (dots per inch) is a unit of resolution.

In the printing system having the above configuration, a job requiring double-sided printing is first executed by the printer A, and the printer B is selected by the printer A.
Only when is not available. In the case of a job requiring one-sided printing, the printer A is given priority, followed by the printer C, and the printer C is selected only when it cannot be used.

<Self Function Investigation (Actual Function DB Creation), Step S31> Next, a function inquiry response operation of the printer will be described with reference to an operation flow of FIG. Printer 3
Receives an inquiry from the user 5 or the print manager 2, first checks its own actual function, and checks the actual function DB.
Is created (step S55). This can be done by detecting whether the user is currently equipped with optional equipment such as a duplexer, color ink, image improvement circuit, or by detecting the type of media set in his paper tray and reading the value of the actual function DB. Set up. Actual function DB completed in this way
Is transmitted as a response to the function inquiry request (step S56), thereby completing the inquiry processing. However, the printer 3 continues the next competing printer information collecting operation.

The data format of the printer function inquiry request and response will now be described. The inquiry request is a text file in the following format. One line includes a parameter name and values of zero or more parameters. Parameter names and parameter values are separated by white space, such as spaces and tabs. "#"
Lines beginning with a symbol are comments and are ignored by the printing system. Here, the format and data are used for explanation. # Printer capability inquiry request request-printer-capability # end

The function inquiry response returned by the printer which has received this is a text file and has the following format. One line includes a parameter name and values of zero or more parameters. Parameter names and parameter values are separated by white space, such as spaces and tabs. Lines beginning with the "#" symbol are comments and are ignored by the printing system. Here, the format and data are used for explanation. # Response to printer function inquiry reply-printer-capability Details are omitted below.

<Survey of Competitive Printer Function, Step S3
2> Next, information on this printer and other competing printers is collected. This operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This includes a step of finding a competing printer and a step of collecting the information, and either step may be performed first. If the conflicting printer is known in advance, it is sufficient to collect the function information only from that printer, but if there is a possibility that there is an unknown printer, a step of finding the conflicting printer is necessary. Further, since it is necessary to collect the functions of the unknown printer once to determine whether or not there is a conflict, it is conceivable to collect all the information at the same time.

In order to find another competing printer, first, the printer manager managing itself is inquired about what printer is connected. Then, a printer list is obtained from the printer manager as a response (step S61).

The function inquiry request is transmitted to all the printers registered in the obtained printer list in order. In step S65, it is confirmed whether or not there is information on the competing printer in the printer list. If not (step S65 / NO), a function inquiry request is transmitted to the competing printer (step S66). When there is a response from the competing printer (step S67),
Analyze the response and register the function. If there is no response after waiting for a certain period of time (step S70 / NO), a preparation operation for checking the next printer without waiting for a response from the printer is started (step S71).

The above operation is repeated until the end of the printer list (step S63 / YES), and the collection of the counterpart printer function is completed (step S64). As another means for finding a competing printer, a directory service available on the network can be used instead of inquiring the print manager.

<Competing Printer Group Creation, Step S33>
Next, an operation flow for compiling information on competing printers obtained by one or both of the above means and creating a function list of printer resources on the network will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

If a conflict printer is searched in step S82 (step S82 / YES), a group of competing printers is created based on the following selection criteria. First, it is determined whether the printing speeds are similar (step S84), and if they are similar, the resolutions are compared (step S85). If it is determined that the resolutions are similar (step S85 / YES),
Next, the printing costs are compared (step S86). If it is determined that the printing costs are similar (step S86 / YE
S), it is determined whether the two-sided functions are similar (step S87). If it is determined that all of the above selection criteria are similar, a competing printer is added to the rival printer group (step S88). If at least one of the above selection criteria is different, it is determined that the competing printer is not the competing printer, and the next competing printer is selected (step S81).

An apparatus having a double-sided function is compared as two kinds of apparatuses, one for double-sided printing and the other for single-sided printing. As for the printing speed, an apparatus in which the number of prints per minute is +/− 20% is compared. In terms of resolution, a device having an effective resolution of +/- 40% is to be compared. This is because the effective resolution may be higher than the physical resolution due to high resolution processing or the like. Color printing apparatuses and black-and-white printing apparatuses are two types of apparatuses that can perform color printing, and color printing apparatuses and black-and-white printing apparatuses are compared, respectively. Media and page description languages are intended for devices equipped with equivalents. Although the numerical values are listed here as an example,
Other criteria may be employed. From this list, select printers that are close to their actual functions, and use them as a counter printer group.

<Comparison of functions and self-function adjustment (step S36), and transmission of contents of public function DB as response (step S37)> Next, the operation of request data transfer is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the operation flow of FIG. When the competing printers are found (step S91), print data and instructions are sent to them. Then, the control language supported for each printer included in the competing printer group is determined. There is a stop command suitable for the competing printer stored in the storage device in advance (step S93), print data including a permanent loop (step S94), and a complicated command that takes about one minute to process. (Step S95). It is desirable that the data does not generate a printed matter as a processing result. This is in order to avoid consuming paper and the like and being charged.

The device does not always have all these types of data and instructions. However, when a plurality of types are stored in the storage device, one of the data / instructions is selected by referring to the setting parameters. If there is no appropriate data, the data / instruction is not transferred (step S95 / NO).

The selected data is transferred to the print server as a job designated to be executed by the printer (step S96). When the permanent loop print data and the service stop command are transferred, the printer returns to the normal operation since there is no need to transfer the data after one service request. However, in the case of data that takes about one minute to process, multiple jobs are transferred at once. The print server transfers the received data to a printer, and the printer that receives the data starts appropriate processing. This reduces the possibility that another printer will be selected in the future.

In the present embodiment, a series of operations for sending data and instructions are started by examining other printers with a function inquiry request as a trigger. However, this may be started at any timing. Timings such as at regular time intervals, when another printer receives a job, and the like can also be used.

Although the present embodiment is a system in which a printer is provided on a network, the present invention is also applicable to a system in which another server such as a scanner and an image processing server is provided on a network.

[0054]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the client selects a server by requesting a service from another server to use another device. Sometimes other devices can be prevented from being selected.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent another server from being selected by setting another server in use without consuming resources other than the computational power of the other server. it can.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent another device from being selected with a small number of instructions by permanently using another server.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, while another server is being used by requesting a large amount of small services, while other clients still have room for requesting services from other servers, other clients are allowed to use other servers. Servers can be less likely to be selected.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to disable another server and prevent another server from being selected only by a simple command.

Further, according to the invention of claim 6, it is possible to set another printer in use and to prevent another printer from being selected.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the other printer is kept in use for a long time without consuming resources such as paper and ink other than the calculation ability, so that another printer is not selected. Can be.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, other printers are not selected by using a simple data without consuming resources such as paper and ink other than the calculation ability in other printers and by using the printer for a long time. You can do so.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to make it difficult for another printer to select the printer while leaving other clients still requesting a service to the printer while the other printer is almost in use.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to disable other printers by simple commands and prevent other printers from being selected.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to transfer an instruction or data so that it is not directly visible from the client.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a printing operation of the printing system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a printer selection operation of a print manager.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of searching for a printer having a necessary function.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a function inquiry operation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an information collection operation of a competing printer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an opposing printer selection operation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a service request transfer operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 workstation 2 print manager 3 printer 4 network

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G06F 15/00 310 B41J 29/00 A

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A server having means for requesting a service from another server which provides a similar service existing on a network. 2. A server having means for issuing a request that does not produce a useful result even when processed by another server that provides a similar service existing on the network. 3. A server having means for issuing a request that does not end processing forever to another server that provides a similar service existing on the network. 4. A server having means for issuing a large amount of requests to another server which provides a similar service existing on a network. 5. A server having means for issuing an instruction to stop providing a service to another server which provides a similar service existing on a network. 6. A printer comprising means for requesting another printer to perform processing in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist. 7. A printer, characterized in that it has means for submitting a job that does not produce print output to another printer in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist and that takes a certain time or longer. 8. A printer comprising means for submitting a job that does not end forever and does not generate print output to another printer in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist. 9. A printer having means for submitting a large number of jobs with a short processing time, in which printout does not occur, to another printer in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist. 10. A printer comprising means for sending an instruction to switch another printer to offline in a network environment in which a plurality of printers exist. 11. The printer according to claim 7, wherein each of the units submits a job to be submitted to the other printer using a protocol not used by a client.