KR20000033393A - System for preventing print error and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for preventing print error is provided to immediately stop printing when an image to output is not in concord with a host image by comparing a certain part of the image to output with a host image. CONSTITUTION: A method for preventing print error includes a first steps of storing sample data for checking print errors and transmitting the position data of the sample data and PDL(page description language) stream of a document to print to a printer, a second step of receiving the PDL stream and forming an image thereof to extract a sample data with reference to the position information, a third step of transmitting the extracted sample data to a host after encoding, a fourth step of decoding the received sample data, and a fifth step of comparing the data decoded in the fourth step with the sample data stored in the first step and determining whether or not to print the image formed in the second step according to the comparison result.

Description

Print error prevention system and method

The present invention relates to a printer, and more particularly to a print error prevention system and method thereof.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a general printing process between a conventional host and a printer. The device shown in FIG. 1 includes an application 10, a host 12, and a printer 14. The host 12 also includes a graphics device interface (GDI) 120, a SPOOL file unit 122, a print processor 124, and a printer driver 126. The printer 14 also includes a PDL interpreter (Page Description Language Interpreter) 142 and a print engine 144. Hereinafter, the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

When the user issues a print command in the application 10 (eg, a word processor), the application 10 calls the GDI 120 of the host 12. The GDI 120 calls the printer driver 126 to determine in what format the various figures, images and characters being displayed in the application 10 should be sent to the printer 14. In addition, the GDI 120 writes page data from the printer driver 126 to the SPOOL file unit 122.

The printer driver 126 is a program module for converting graphics data (graphics, images, and characters) in the application 10 into a page description language (PDL, generally PostScript or PCL) that can be understood by a printer. Is supplied by the printer manufacturer. For example, the PostScript printer driver sends various figures, images, and characters in the application 10 to the GDI 120 according to the PostScript language specification, and the PCL printer driver sends the GDI 120 according to the PCL language specification. give.

The print processor 124, which is one of the modules of the OS, transmits the page data in the SPOOL file unit 122 to the printer 14.

The printer 14 receives the page data transmitted from the host 12, drives the corresponding PDL interpreter 142 to generate an image, and then prints the generated image in the print engine 144, which is a printing device inside the printer 14. To get the output printed on paper.

However, the conventional print system shown in FIG. 1 is an image due to a malfunction of the controller software or an incorrect data (for example, when sending PostScript page data to a printer having a PCL decoder) when outputting from a host to a printer (especially, a network printer). There is a problem that can not prevent the output of a large number of invalid pages in the case of incorrectly generated. In particular, in the case of a network computer, since the printer is often far from the computer, there is a problem in that it is not possible to immediately check whether a print error has occurred and prevent it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve a problem as described above, and to designate a specific portion of the image to be output to the host, and after comparing with the host image, the print error prevention system for stopping the print output if it does not match To provide a way.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a general printing process between a conventional host and a printer.

2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a system for preventing print errors in accordance with the present invention.

3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for preventing a print error in accordance with the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, in a system for controlling a print operation from a host to a printer, the host includes a sample memory for storing sample data to check for print errors, and a host for data transmitted from the print. A location of the sample data, including a decoder for decoding so that the user can recognize the pattern and a pattern matching unit for determining whether to start printing according to whether the sample data stored in the sample memory and the pattern of the data decoded in the decoder match. Information and a PDL stream of a document to be printed to the printer, and the printer receives the PDL stream from the host to generate an image, and then stores the page memory for storing in units of pages and in the page memory with reference to the position information. Extract Sample Data to Host The system for preventing the print error, characterized in that for transferring the sample data encoded by an encoder for encoding to be recognized by the host is provided.

In order to achieve the above another object, in a method for controlling a print operation from a host to a printer, designating and storing sample data to check for a print error, and storing location information on the sample data and a PDL of a document to be printed. Transmitting a stream to the printer; A second step of receiving a PDL stream transmitted in the first step, forming an image thereof, and extracting sample data with reference to the position information in the first step; A third step of encoding the sample data extracted in the second step so that the host can recognize and transmitting the encoded sample data to the host; A fourth step of receiving and decoding the sample data transmitted in the third step; And a fifth step of comparing the data decoded in the fourth step with the sample data stored in the first step, and determining whether to start printing on the image formed in the second step according to the comparison result. A method for preventing a print error is provided.

The fifth step may include: (a) obtaining a comparison error value (t) by pattern matching the data decoded in the fourth step and the sample data stored in the first step; (B) comparing the comparison error value t obtained in step (a) with a predetermined error limit value m; In the step (b), when the comparison error value (t) is smaller than the predetermined error limit value (m), the print operation is started, and the comparison error value (t) is larger than the predetermined error limit value (m). If large, it comprises the step (c) of canceling the print job.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a block diagram of a system for preventing a print error in accordance with the present invention.

The system shown in FIG. 2 includes an application 10, a host 20, and a printer 30. The host 20 also includes a GDI 202, a SPOOL file unit 204, a print processor 206, a sample memory 208, a printer driver 210, a pattern matching unit 212, and a decoder 214. . The printer 30 also includes a PDL interpreter 302, a page memory 304, an encoder 306, and a print engine 144.

The GDI 202 calls the printer driver 210 to determine in what format the various figures, images and characters being displayed in the application 10 should be sent to the printer 30.

The printer driver 210 converts the graphics data (graphics, images and characters) in the application 10 into a PDL that can be understood by the printer 30 wishing to use it.

The SPOOL file unit 204 stores the PDL page data changed by the printer driver 210. Then, the sample data designated by the user to check for a print error is sent to the sample memory 208.

The sample memory 208 stores sample data specified by the user. Here, the sample size can be appropriately selected in consideration of the processing speed.

The print processor 124 outputs the PDL stream to the print processor 206 together with the location information of the designated sample data.

PDL interpreter 302 forms an image for the PDL stream sent from host 20.

The page memory 304 stores images formed by the PDL interpreter 302 in units of pages.

The encoder 306 refers to the position information of the sample data transmitted from the host 20, and encodes the sample data so that the host 20 can recognize the transmitted data to the host 20.

The decoder 214 decodes sample data encoded and transmitted by the printer 30.

The pattern matching unit 212 determines whether to start printing according to whether the pattern of the sample data stored in the sample memory 208 and the data decoded in the decoder 214 match. That is, when both patterns match, the print processor 206 is controlled to transmit the PDL stream to the printer 30 to start printing. On the other hand, if the patterns do not match, the print job is canceled. And even if both patterns do not match, a printing job may be canceled according to the extent and printing may continue according to a forced printing command by a user.

The print engine 144 prints the data stored in the page memory 304 on paper.

3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for preventing a print error in accordance with the present invention.

Start the host driver (step 310).

A sample to be compared, that is, sample data to be checked for print errors is designated (step 312). This is designated by the user in the preview menu of the host 20.

The PDL stream of the document to be printed is transmitted to the printer 30 together with the location information of the designated sample (step 314).

In step 314, an image of the PDL stream transmitted from the host 20 is formed.

The image formed in step 316 is stored in units of pages (step 318).

The sample data is extracted by referring to the location information of the sample transmitted in step 314 and then encoded so that the host can recognize it (step 320).

In step 320, the encoded sample data is transmitted to the host 20 (step 322).

In step 322, the sample data transmitted from the printer 30 is decoded.

A comparison error t is obtained by pattern matching the sample data designated in step 312 and the sample data decoded in step 324 (step 326). That is, a degree of mismatch is obtained by matching patterns of both data.

It is determined whether the comparison error t is smaller than the error limit value (m) (step 328). Here, the error limit value (m) means a range that can tolerate a print error and can be set appropriately at the beginning of the system operation. have.

If the comparison error t is less than the error limit m in step 328, printing starts for the document to be output (step 334).

If the comparison error t is greater than the error limit value m in step 328, it is determined whether a print command by the user has been applied (step 330), that is, the comparison error t is greater than the error limit value m. Even if it is large, it is not to cancel the print job immediately, but to check whether the user wants to continue printing even in such a case.

If the print command is not authorized in step 330, the print job of the document to be printed is canceled (step 332).

If the print command is authorized in step 330, printing starts for the document to be output.

Meanwhile, embodiments of the present invention can be written as a program that can be executed on a computer. And it can be implemented in a general-purpose digital computer for operating the program from a medium used in the computer. The media includes recording media such as magnetic storage media (e.g. ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), optical read media (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD, etc.) and carrier waves (e.g., transmitted over the Internet). .

The recording medium, in a method for controlling a print operation from a host to a printer, designates and stores sample data for checking a print error, and stores the location information on the sample data and a PDL stream of a document to be printed. Transmitting to the first step; A second step of receiving a PDL stream transmitted in the first step, forming an image thereof, and extracting sample data with reference to the position information in the first step; A third step of encoding the sample data extracted in the second step so that the host can recognize and transmitting the encoded sample data to the host; A fourth step of receiving and decoding the sample data transmitted in the third step; And a fifth step of comparing the data decoded in the fourth step with the sample data stored in the first step, and determining whether to start printing on the image formed in the second step according to the comparison result. Save the program code.

The program may include: (a) obtaining a comparison error value (t) by pattern matching the data decoded in the fourth step and the sample data stored in the first step; (B) comparing the comparison error value t obtained in step (a) with a predetermined error limit value m; In the step (b), when the comparison error value (t) is smaller than the predetermined error limit value (m), the print operation is started, and the comparison error value (t) is larger than the predetermined error limit value (m). If large, it comprises a program code to perform step (c) to cancel the print job.

In addition, the program may execute a program code for performing a step of starting a print operation when a print command is applied by a user despite the comparison error value t being greater than a predetermined error limit value m. It includes more.

In addition, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the present invention can be easily inferred by programmers in the art to which the present invention belongs.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and of course, modifications may be made by those skilled in the art within the spirit of the present invention.

According to the present invention, after designating a specific portion of the image to be output to the host and then comparing the host image, if it does not match by stopping the print output, it is possible to prevent the problem of wasting a large amount of paper by wrong printing. . In particular, even for a network printer that is often far from the computer, it is possible to immediately confirm that a print error has occurred and prevent it.

Claims (4)

In a system for controlling a print operation from a host to a printer, The host includes a sample memory for storing sample data to check for print errors, a decoder for decoding so that the host can recognize data transmitted from the print, and sample data stored in the sample memory and decoded at the decoder. Transmitting the position information of the sample data and the PDL stream of the document to be printed to the printer, including a pattern matching unit for determining whether to start printing according to whether the patterns of the data match. The printer receives the PDL stream from the host, generates an image, and then extracts the sample data stored in the page memory by encoding the page memory and the location information with reference to the location information and encodes the host for recognition. And transmitting the encoded sample data to the host. In the method for controlling the print operation from the host to the printer, A first step of designating and storing sample data to check for a print error, and transmitting location information on the sample data and a PDL stream of a document to be printed to the printer; A second step of receiving a PDL stream transmitted in the first step, forming an image thereof, and extracting sample data with reference to the position information in the first step; A third step of encoding the sample data extracted in the second step so that the host can recognize and transmitting the encoded sample data to the host; A fourth step of receiving and decoding the sample data transmitted in the third step; And And a fifth step of comparing the data decoded in the fourth step with the sample data stored in the first step, and determining whether to start printing on the image formed in the second step according to the comparison result. To prevent print errors. The method of claim 2, wherein the fifth step (A) obtaining a comparison error value (t) by pattern matching the data decoded in the fourth step and the sample data stored in the first step; (B) comparing the comparison error value t obtained in step (a) with a predetermined error limit value m; In the step (b), when the comparison error value (t) is smaller than the predetermined error limit value (m), the print operation is started, and the comparison error value (t) is larger than the predetermined error limit value (m). And (c) canceling the print job if it is large. The method of claim 3, Preventing a print error, wherein the print operation is initiated when a print command by the user is applied despite the comparison error value t being greater than a predetermined error threshold value m. Way.