KR20060079072A - Method and apparatus for printing latest fie in image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a method and apparatus for printing a latest file of an image forming apparatus. The method includes the steps of authenticating the image forming apparatus by sending a user name and password to an application running on a user computer; If authentication is performed, the image forming apparatus transmits a file name indicating a complete path that can be recognized on the network and a storage date and time to the application to confirm whether the file is modified; If the file has been modified, requesting the user to input whether to obtain a modified version; If the user requests a modified version, the image forming apparatus sends a FETCH request to the application; And upon receiving the FETCH request, the application transmits the latest version to the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus overwrites the latest version of the file with the old version of the file and transmits it for printing.

According to the present invention, whether to store the latest version of the job stored in the multifunction device and print the latest file or continue with the old version of the same file stored in the multifunction device based on user input without directly contacting the actual source of information. And reduce network bandwidth and storage space by reducing unnecessary transmission of documents.

Description

Method and apparatus for printing the latest file of the image forming apparatus {Method and apparatus for printing latest fie in image forming apparatus}

1 is a configuration of a conventional printing system used in the present invention.

2 shows a more detailed configuration of the printing controller 120 in a block diagram.

3 shows user information.

4 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure for accessing a stored job of a user via a control panel to access and print a document.

5 is a flow chart of a task selection process after accessing a stored task of a user.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing an overview of the latest file printing method using INSYNC.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the latest file printing apparatus in the multifunction apparatus according to the present invention.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a latest file printing method in a multifunction apparatus according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to a job (JOB) management of the image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to print the latest file of the image forming apparatus requesting the job execution unit to schedule the job request generated from the terminal on the network and perform the print job. A method and apparatus are disclosed.

The popularity of printing systems is rapidly increasing due to the growth of electronic devices capable of generating data to be printed in document form, for example, computers, fax machines, and copiers. Printing systems are commonly used in networked computer systems. A typical printing system includes a print control system, such as a print server, and a plurality of client devices connected to a network. The print control system includes a processing device, a user interface, a data storage device, and one or more printers connected directly or via a network. When the print control system receives the print data from the client device, the print control system processes the received print data and sends the processed image data of each page to the print engine.

Print data from each client device is called a print job. Print jobs are usually encoded in the Page Description Language (PDL) and consist of job attributes that contain digitized image data and job placement information, as well as job identification information such as job names. U. S. Patent No. 5,923, 013 discloses a print control system that manages print jobs on a job basis and page basis, and a method of controlling the system. According to this US patent, when a print job is interpreted, a job description file and page data for each page are generated.

A job processing system that can improve the processing efficiency of a job when outputting a plurality of jobs having the same content can be known from US Patent 6,213,652 entitled Job Scheduling System for Printer Processing. According to this patent, the user equipment instructs the printing system one task for a plurality of documents in one operation and assigns the attribute to this task. These attributes include page collation details, processing start instruction wait specifications, exclusive processing specifications, password input wait specifications, and so on. The printing system includes a document corresponding to an attribute of the plurality of documents under the control of a job scheduling apparatus that performs interruption of documents included in a job, modification of an attribute, addressing a document reception failure, and retrieval of a document whose format should be switched. This can affect the printing of documents, enabling efficient printing of a plurality of documents.

Prior art network printers can permanently store print jobs for future printing on mass storage devices (MSDs), such as hard disk drives, so that copies can be made later. Thus, the user can save the most frequently printed document in the printer and print it without experiencing network transfer delay. The printer can print a number of copies therefrom when a copy of the document is sent, stored in one document and executed by a command indicating the desired placement of the document. The document can be printed at any time by selecting a specific ID associated with the document.

Multi-copy printers with the maintenance of printer jobs are described in US Pat. No. 6,160,629. The printer has a user interface, a controller having a data storage device, and a print engine connected to the controller. The controller is electrically connected to the user interface, which receives data indicative of the document to be printed and an electronic transmission of the desired batch of documents and allows the printer to perform one of the following three operations in response to the transmission. It is composed. Three operations include: printing the document at least once and storing the printed document in the data storage device (a), storing the document in the data storage device until the document is released for printing through the user interface. (B) copying the document to the data storage device and maintaining the storage until the document is released for printing with the input of a predefined privacy code.

A job stored in the data storage device is called a stored job. These stored tasks can be controlled through the user panel or through a specific application running on the client device. In the latter case, specific commands sent from the client device to the printing controller are used. In addition, confidential documents can be managed using privacy codes. Information about stored jobs is displayed in the form of a list and the user can view the displayed stored job list and release the stored job for printing or delete the stored job from the data storage device. To perform a desired action on a stored task, the user must select a task from the stored task list (and enter the correct privacy code for the secret task) and assign the appropriate attributes to this desired action.

The stored tasks are primarily controlled from a remote client device. The printing system supports the means for receiving and processing special control commands issued at the client device. In order to process a user's stored tasks, the appropriate command must include the correct user's attributes (user name and user privacy code). The user can specify a stored job for processing by providing a list of job names.

A more secure option for keeping a document confidential is to give the user group permission to share the document with others with limited permission (eg, only read). This gives the user the advantage of choosing who the members of the user's group should be, rather than creating a global task visible to all users.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to store the latest version of the job stored in the MFP and print the latest file without directly contacting the actual source of information, or to print the latest file, The present invention provides a method and apparatus for printing an up-to-date file of an image forming apparatus which can save network bandwidth and storage space by determining whether to continue with an old version and reducing unnecessary transmission of documents.

The latest file printing method of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the technical problem, the file stored in the image forming apparatus in a system having a user computer and an image forming apparatus connected to the user computer via a network A method comprising: (a) an image forming apparatus authenticating by sending a user name and password to an application running on a user computer; (b) upon authentication, the image forming apparatus sends a file name indicating a complete path and a storage date and time to be recognized on the network to confirm that the file has been modified; (c) if the file has been modified, requesting the user to input whether to obtain a modified version; (d) if the user requests a modified version, the image forming apparatus sends a FETCH request to the application; And (e) upon receiving the FETCH request, the application sends the latest version to the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus overwrites the latest version of the file with the older version of the file and sends it for printing. do.

The latest file printing method may further include checking whether the INSYNC flag is enabled by setting an INSYNC flag when printing a file stored in an image forming apparatus, and when the INSYNC flag is enabled, the ( Preferably, step a) is performed.

The latest file printing apparatus of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the technical problem, a file stored in the image forming apparatus in a system having a user computer and an image forming apparatus connected to the user computer via a network An apparatus comprising: an authentication request unit for requesting authentication by sending a user name and a password to an application running on a user computer; If the authentication, the latest file check unit for confirming whether the file has been modified by transmitting the file name indicating the complete path and the storage date and time that can be recognized on the network; A user confirmation unit requesting a user to input whether to obtain a modified version if the file has been modified; And if the user wants a modified version, and receives the latest version from the application, characterized in that it comprises a latest file processing unit for overwriting the old version of the file and sending for printing. The latest file printing apparatus further includes an INSYNC check unit for checking whether the INSYNC flag is enabled by setting an INSYNC flag when printing a file stored in an image forming apparatus, and authenticating when the INSYNC flag is enabled. It is preferred that addition be performed.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples of the invention and the invention may be embodied in many different forms. The description and drawings that follow are not to be construed as limiting the invention, and numerous specific details are set forth as a basis for claiming and as a basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art how to make and / or use the invention. It is provided in order to explain the invention more completely. In some cases, however, well-known or related art details are not described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention. In the present invention, the image forming apparatus may be a printer, a multifunction printer, a fax, a scanner, or the like. In the present invention, a multifunction apparatus is used as an example of a typical image forming apparatus.

Before describing the various forms and details of the present invention, the background of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration of a conventional printing system used in the present invention, and briefly illustrates FIG. 1.

Print jobs from the plurality of client devices 100 and 110 are processed by the printing controller 120, and are inputted to the print engine 140 corresponding to the job execution unit and output. Image data generation for a print job, management of requests from other client devices, and the like are efficiently handled by the printing controller 120.

2 shows a more detailed configuration of the printing controller 120 in a block diagram. 2, the printing controller 120 includes a user interface unit 200, a processing unit 220, and a job storage unit 240. The job storage unit 240 stores a print job received from other users and transmits the print job to the processing unit 220 when a printing request is requested. The processor 220 processes the job and sends the result to the print engine 140 for printing. In addition, the processing unit 220 is connected to the user interface unit 200 in charge of the central control of all activities in the printing controller 120.

All jobs from a particular user can be stored in the job storage 240 and can be printed many times just by passing a command. Users can give their personal code to see what's stored and what's shared. You can also delete shared work if permission is given.

The printing system stores in the job storage unit 240 a user information file consisting of user information records for the client devices 100, 110. 3 illustrates the user information, and the user information 300 includes a user attribute 310, a stored job number 320, and a stored job list 330. The user attribute 310 has a username, a user personal code, and a user priority. The username is used by the user to access the stored job, and the user priority is used to determine the order of job processing. A user private key is needed to access secret work.

The printing system also supports a means for maintaining the user information file. The means includes a function of adding a new user, a function of changing some user information records, and a function of deleting some user information records. The functions may be performed through the user interface 200 of the printing controller or through an application running on the client device.

The printing system stores a list of active users in RAM. Here, the active users mean users who have a job currently stored in the job storage unit 330. The active users list can reduce the management time of stored jobs. The job to be output from the client devices 100 and 110 to be stored in the printing system includes user identification information such as a user name and a user personal code. Once the job is saved, the stored job is added to the job list of the appropriate user.

When the user selects the desired user name from the active users list, the user can access the user's saved work list through the control panel (not shown). The user enters the correct user personal code and accesses all jobs from the user's stored worklist. Otherwise, the user can only access non-confidential tasks from the user's saved task list.

4 and 5 show flowcharts of a method for accessing and printing a document, and FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a procedure for accessing a stored job of a user through a control panel, and FIG. 5 shows a stored job of a user. The process of selecting a job after accessing it is shown in a flowchart.

Referring to FIG. 4, the user is in the ready state and selects the ACTIVE USER LIST menu (step 400). The name of the first user is displayed from the list, followed by other users (step 410). For example, if the first user is selected (step 420), the printing system will prompt for a user privacy code (password) (step 430). The user may move to the user (step 440). In order to access the user's stored work list, the password must be correct (step 460). The job may be stored or acquired only when the correct password is input. Otherwise, you will only see public jobs in the saved worklist. This means that if the password is correct, the first task is displayed in the user's task list (step 470). If the password is not correct, the first public task is displayed (step 480).

There are two main actions in handling stored jobs. That is, printing additional copies and deleting jobs stored in the job storage. Each of the above operations can be performed on a number of tasks. Tasks that are supposed to perform the same action must first be selected by the user. Each selected task will be added to the processing list.

FIG. 5 illustrates operations such as adding a new job to a process list, releasing the listed job for printing, removing the job from the process list, sharing the job, deleting the shared job, and the like. By the SELECT operation (step 500), the job is added to the processing list (step 505), and by the UNSELECT operation (step 510), the job is removed from the processing list (step 515). In step 520, all the jobs can be added to the processing list (step 535). When the print command is issued (step 530), the jobs in the processing list are released for printing (step 535). Username must be given. This process is repeated until another user is selected. You can remove shares with the UNSHARED command. In addition, deleting the shared task (step 540) is possible only after the share is removed (step 545).

In addition, as described above, after the SELECT, UNSELECT, and the like are completed, the user moves from the user's stored job list to the next job or the previous job (step 550). (Step 555)

The great advantage of the present invention is that the stored worklist is reduced to the worklist belonging to a particular user so that once the user's stored worklist is accessed, the particular user enters a privacy code for that secret work to process each secret work. There is no need to do it. Thus, by selecting this operation only once, the user can perform the same operation on several jobs, thus significantly reducing the time for processing the stored job. In fact, if the user does not know the correct personal code, the user cannot get any information about the secret work of another user. However, some users at the highest priority, such as system administrators, can control all stored tasks, and these users do not need to enter a private key to access the user task list.

In the present invention, prior to adding a task to the treatment list, it is possible to easily retrieval the latest information through the network without directly contacting the actual source of the information. To do this, one or more options called INSYNC are provided through the user interface of the client device. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an overview of a method of printing a latest file using INSYNC.

Referring to FIG. 6, whenever a user sends a print command using a client device, it is checked whether the INSYNC feature of the job is enabled (step 600). If enabled, the user PC is contacted (step 610). If it is up-to-date, i.e., changed after presentation of the job for storage in the multifunction device (step 620), the user is required to decide whether to print the latest file or continue with an older version of the same file on the multifunction device. In operation 630, operations are performed according to a user's selection. If the user does not accept the syntax as it is, the latest version of the job is taken from the client device and stored in the MFP and the stored latest version will be used for further processing (step 640). Older versions of files stored on the MFP will be processed. This is done by the user when the user invokes the feature, a field of JOB ATTRIBUTES stores this selection as TRUE and requires the user to provide the full path of the file to be recognized on the network.

If the user processes the same job from the all-in-one panel, the same series of steps can be applied. An application running on the user's PC receives all the requirements generated by the multifunction device and receives the information necessary to process the requirements.

User computers and multifunction devices are the main physical components of the present invention, and applications running on user PCs receive and process all requirements generated by the multifunction device, and multifunction devices provide the information necessary for the application to process the requirements. .

Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the latest file printing apparatus in the multifunction apparatus according to the present invention, the INSYNC check unit 700, the authentication request unit 710, the latest file check unit 720, the user confirmation unit 730 And the latest file processor 740.

When the INSYNC check unit 700 is to print a file stored in the multifunction apparatus, the INSYNC check unit 700 checks whether the INSYNC flag is enabled by placing an INSYNC flag. When the INSYNC flag is enabled, the authentication requesting unit 710 sends a user name and password to an application running on a user computer to request authentication. When the latest file checker 720 authenticates the authentication request, the latest file checker 720 sends a file name indicating a complete path and a storage date and time that can be recognized on the network to confirm that the file has been modified. If the file is modified, the user confirmation unit 730 requests the user to input whether to obtain the modified version. If the user wants a modified version, the latest file processor 740 receives the latest version from the application, overwrites the old version of the file, and transmits the file for printing.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a latest file printing method in a multifunction apparatus according to the present invention. Referring to Figure 8 will be described the present invention. First, check whether INSYNC is enabled to print the desired file through the MFP (step 800). If INSYNC is enabled, the MFP will send a user name and password to an application running on your computer. In operation 810, the application running on the user computer receives the user name and password for authentication, and if the authentication is successful, transmits a SUCCESS message indicating the successful authentication to the multifunction apparatus (step 820).

The MFP sends the file name along with the complete path and save date and time (step 830). The application receives the file name and checks if the file has been updated (step 840), sends MODIFIED if it has been updated, and if not, Send NOT-MODIFIED. The MFP asks the user to see the message and decide whether to get the latest version if it has been updated (step 850). If the user presses YES, the MFET sends a FETCH request to an application running on the computer (step 860). When the user receives the latest version and shows it to the multifunction device for processing, the multifunction device overwrites the old file with the old file and sends it for processing (step 870) .If the user does not want the latest file, the old file is used as it is. If the file has not been modified, that is, a NOT-MODIFIED message is received, the current file is printed as it is (step 890). The MFP finally sends a CLOSE command.

These features are made and installable by software running on a PC. The service installed in the user's PC receives a request from the MFP. The service receives the complete document path, document name and date of last change of document from the multifunction device as described in the previous step. Then, the Service checks whether the document content is changed based on a time stamp. If the document changes and the device requests the latest version, the service initiates the connection with the device and sends the latest document.

In addition, as indicated by the above description and the accompanying drawings, other control methods and devices may be derived from the combination of various methods and devices of the present invention, and other control devices and methods may also be considered within the scope of the invention. It will be obvious to those with average knowledge in the art. Thus, explanations of these combinations and variations are omitted.

The present invention can be embodied as code that can be read by a computer (including all devices having an information processing function) in a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording devices include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disks, optical data storage devices, and the like.

So far I looked at the center of the preferred embodiment for the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

According to the method and apparatus for printing the latest file in the image forming apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to store the latest version of a job stored in the multifunction apparatus and print the latest file without directly contacting an actual source of information or to print the latest file. To determine whether to continue with an older version of the same file stored on the MFP.

In addition, by sending the file name with its full path and its storage date and time, you can check whether the document is updated or not, and save network bandwidth and storage space by reducing unnecessary transmission of the document.

Claims (4)

A method of printing a file stored in an image forming apparatus in a system having a user computer and an image forming apparatus connected to the user computer via a network, (a) authenticating the image forming apparatus by sending a user name and password to an application running on a user computer; (b) upon authentication, the image forming apparatus sends a file name indicating a complete path and a storage date and time to be recognized on the network to confirm that the file has been modified; (c) if the file has been modified, requesting the user to input whether to obtain a modified version; (d) if the user requests a modified version, the image forming apparatus sends a FETCH request to the application; And (e) upon receiving the FETCH request, the application transmits the latest version to the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus overwrites the latest version of the file with the old version of the file and transmits it for printing. The latest file printing method in the image forming apparatus. The method of claim 1, In the case of printing a file stored in an image forming apparatus, the method may further include checking whether the INSYNC flag is enabled by placing an INSYNC flag. If the INSYNC flag is enabled, step (a) is performed, the latest file printing method of the image forming apparatus. An apparatus for printing a file stored in the image forming apparatus in a system having a user computer and an image forming apparatus connected to the user computer via a network, An authentication request unit for requesting authentication by sending a user name and a password to an application running on a user computer; If the authentication, the latest file check unit for transmitting a file name indicating the complete path and the storage date and time that can be recognized on the network to confirm that the file has been modified; A user confirmation unit requesting a user to input whether to obtain a modified version if the file has been modified; And If the user wants a modified version, the latest file printing apparatus in the image forming apparatus, characterized in that it comprises a latest file processing unit for receiving the latest version from the application to overwrite the old version of the file and send for printing. The method of claim 3, In order to print a file stored in the image forming apparatus, an INSYNC check unit for checking whether the INSYNC flag is enabled by placing an INSYNC flag is further provided. And the INSYNC flag is enabled, the authentication unit is performed, the latest file printing apparatus in the image forming apparatus.

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