JP2001236187A - Information processing apparatus and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To enable a user to easily select an optimum printing device from a plurality of printing devices at the time of printing with a data processing device connected to a network. SOLUTION: When a print request is made, a print document is stored in a print data storage unit, and performance information of a printing apparatus including print speed, resolution indicating print quality, and the like for each printer connected to a network. By determining the priority of each printer with respect to the print document based on the printing speed and resolution, setting an icon of a size according to the determined priority, and displaying the set icon, Select the best printer from the icons displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of easily printing a print document from a plurality of printing apparatuses by one data processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional information processing apparatus and information processing method, there is one described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-295766.

In this conventional example, a transfer time required to transfer input information to an output device, an output processing time required to generate output information based on the input information, and a waiting time for transferring to the output device. The output completion time of the other input information is derived for each output device, and the output device to which the input information is transferred is selected based on the derived transfer time, output processing time, and output completion time.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional information processing apparatus and information processing method, an output device to which input information is transferred is selected based on a transfer time, an output processing time, and an output completion time. By this, the output device can be automatically selected and the printing process can be performed, but since the output device is automatically selected based on the processing time, the print quality, paper size, text data or image data, etc. There is an unsolved problem that a user cannot select an optimal printing device based on the content of the print data, and cannot select an optimal print finish intended by the user.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned unsolved problems of the prior art, and allows a user to easily select an optimum printing apparatus when printing print data with a data processing apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method that can perform the information processing.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus, comprising: a data processing device and a plurality of printing devices connected to a network; In the information processing apparatus, the data processing apparatus is configured to print at least performance information of each of the printing apparatuses, and the printing apparatus information obtained by the printing apparatus information obtaining section. And a priority order display unit for displaying the priority order determined by the printing device order determination unit.

In the invention according to the first aspect, when printing the print data by the data processing apparatus, the printing apparatus information obtaining means obtains the performance information of each printing apparatus connected to the network, and prints the printing apparatus rank. The determining unit determines the priority order of the printing device based on the performance information of the printing device, for example, in order of printing speed, printing size, printing quality, and the like, and the printing order display unit determines the priority order, for example, font or icon size. By changing the visibility such as the display, the user can select an optimal printing apparatus according to the displayed priority.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus wherein a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected on a network so that print data of the data processing apparatus is printed by the printing apparatus. In the apparatus, the data processing device includes at least printing device information obtaining means for obtaining performance information of each printing device, data analysis means for analyzing the print data, and printing device information obtained by the printing device information obtaining means. A printing device ranking determining unit that determines an optimum priority order of the printing device based on an analysis result of the data analysis unit; and a priority order displaying unit that displays the priority determined by the printing device ranking determining unit. It is characterized by having.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the performance information of each printing apparatus connected to the network is obtained, the print data is analyzed, and the printing data is analyzed based on the performance information of the printing apparatus and the analysis result of the print data. Setting the priority of the most suitable printing device, so that the priority of the most suitable printing device for the content of the print data can be determined, and the user can easily select the most suitable printing device for the content of the print data. it can.

Further, an information processing apparatus according to claim 3 is
In an information processing apparatus in which a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected on a network and print data of the data processing apparatus is printed by the printing apparatus, the data processing apparatus has at least the performance of each of the printing apparatuses. A printing device information acquisition unit for acquiring information and operation information; a data analysis unit for analyzing the print data; and a performance information and operation information acquired by the printing device information acquisition unit and an analysis result of the data analysis unit. And a priority order display means for displaying the priority order determined by the printing device order determination means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the performance information of each printing device, operating information such as the number of documents waiting to be printed is acquired as printing device information. The priority order of the printing devices can be determined in the order of shorter printing completion time, and the user can easily select a more optimal printing device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, the printing device ranking determining means includes at least one of a printing speed ranking and a printing quality of each printing device. It is characterized in that it is configured to determine one of them.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the user can easily select an optimum printing apparatus according to the contents of print data by displaying the print speed rank and / or the print quality rank. be able to.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the priority order displaying means has a priority in accordance with the priority order determined by the printing device order determining means. It is characterized in that the display of the printing apparatus is set so that the visibility increases as the order increases.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the visibility increases as the priority order increases, that is, as the printing optimality increases. Therefore, by selecting a printing device with a high visibility, the optimal printing device is selected. Can be easily selected.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the visibility is set so as to be displayed as a larger icon as the priority order increases. .

In the invention according to the sixth aspect, the priority of the most suitable printing apparatus is displayed by the size of the icon, so that the most suitable printing apparatus can be easily selected.

Further, the information processing apparatus according to claim 7 is
The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the visibility is set so as to be displayed in a larger font as the priority becomes higher.

In the invention according to the seventh aspect, the priority order of the most suitable printing device is displayed by the font size, so that the most suitable printing device can be easily selected.

Further, in the information processing apparatus according to claim 8, in the invention according to claim 5, the visibility is set so as to be displayed with a large icon and a large font as the printing order increases. It is characterized by.

In the invention according to the eighth aspect, the priority of the most suitable printing apparatus is displayed by the size of the icon and the font, so that the most suitable printing apparatus can be easily selected.

Still further, in the information processing apparatus according to the ninth aspect, in the invention according to the fifth aspect, the visibility is set so as to change the display color density according to the priority in the printing order. It is characterized by:

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the priority order of the printing apparatuses is displayed based on the density of the display colors of icons and fonts, so that an optimum printing apparatus can be easily selected.

Further, an information processing apparatus according to claim 10 is
The data processing device and the plurality of printing devices are configured to construct a network using a short-range wireless communication interface.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected to each other via a short-range wireless communication interface to form a network. Alternatively, a network can be easily formed by carrying the portable device and moving it to the vicinity of the printing apparatus.

Further, in the information processing method according to claim 11, a data processing device and a plurality of printing devices are connected on a network, and print data of the data processing device is printed by the selected printing device. In the information processing method, the data processing apparatus acquires at least performance information of each of the printing apparatuses when printing print data, and determining an optimum priority order of the printing apparatuses based on the acquired performance information. Displaying the priority order of the printing devices.

According to the eleventh aspect, the same operation as that of the first aspect can be obtained.

Further, in the information processing method according to a twelfth aspect, a data processing device and a plurality of printing devices are connected on a network, and print data of the data processing device is printed by the selected printing device. In the information processing method, the data processing device obtains at least performance information of each printing device when printing print data,
Analyzing the print data, determining an optimum priority of the printing device based on the acquired performance information and the analysis result of the print data, and displaying the determined priority of the printing device. It is characterized by having.

According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, the same function as that of the second aspect can be obtained.

[0030] Still further, according to the information processing method of the present invention, a data processing device and a plurality of printing devices are connected on a network, and print data of the data processing device is printed by the selected printing device. In the information processing method, the data processing apparatus obtains at least performance information and operation information of each printing apparatus when printing print data, a step of analyzing the print data, and printing the obtained performance information and operation information. It is characterized by comprising a step of determining the priority of the most suitable printing apparatus based on the analysis result of the data, and a step of displaying the determined priority of the printing apparatus.

According to the thirteenth aspect, the same operation as the third aspect can be obtained.

[0032]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a plurality of personal computers PC1 to PC3 as data processing devices and a portable information terminal PDA are shown.
And a plurality of printers PR1 to PR3 as printing devices are connected to a wired or wirelessly constructed local area network LAN.
A local printer LP is connected to C3 via, for example, a printer cable CA.

The printer PR1 is a laser printer capable of printing up to A0 size, for example, the printer PR2 is a laser printer capable of printing up to A3 size, and the printer PR3 is a color inkjet printer capable of printing up to A4 size, for example. Printers, each of which is a personal computer PC1 to PC
3 and the personal computer PC1 to PC3 or the portable information terminal to which performance information such as its own size data, printing speed data, and resolution data representing print quality are queried in response to the inquiry about the performance information from the portable information terminal PDA. It is configured to transmit to a PDA.

Then, each personal computer PC1
2, the printer information is registered by installing the communication control unit 1 connected to the local area network LAN and the printer driver for each of the printers PR1 to PR3, as shown in FIG. Printer information registration unit 2, a printing device information storage unit 3 for storing performance information such as a printing speed and a resolution indicating print quality collected from each of the printers PR1 to PR3, and printing as print data requested to be printed. A print data storage unit 4 for storing a document, and a print document stored in the print data storage unit 4 are stored in a printer PRn (n = 1, 2, 2) selected via the communication control unit 1.
3) a print control unit 5 for transferring the information to the printer, an icon setting unit 6 for setting a printer icon, and a display control unit 8 for controlling the display 7 to display the icon set by the icon setting unit 6. These are collectively controlled by the system control unit 9.

Here, as the print document, text data created by a word processor function, C
It consists of drawing data created by AD application software, image data input from an image scanner or a digital still camera, and other print data. Then, when a print document is generated and a print request for printing the print document is issued, the system control unit 9 determines the print speed of each of the printers PR1 to PR3, the resolution indicating print quality, the paper size, the color / monochrome, and the like. Collects performance information that represents printer performance, determines the priority of the printer that is most suitable for the print data for which a print request has been made, and displays this priority in terms of the size of the icons and the size of the font, depending on the visibility. The user selects the most suitable one of the printers PRn (n = 1, 2, 3) from the printers PR1 to PR3 based on the priority order display, and the print data is transmitted to the selected printer PRn. The data is transferred via the LAN and printed.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 showing an example of a print control processing procedure executed by the system control section 9 of the personal computers PC1 to PC3 and the portable information terminal PDA.

The print control process of FIG. 3 is started when a print document is generated and a print request is issued. First, in step S1, the print document is stored in the print data storage unit 4, and then in step S2. To
Printers PR1 to PR registered in the printer information registration unit 2
A request for transmitting the performance information of the printing apparatus is transmitted to R3, and then the process proceeds to step S3, where all the printers PR1 to PR1 are transmitted.
It is determined whether or not the performance information of the printing apparatus has been received from PR3. If there is a printer that has not received the performance information, the process returns to step S2. If the performance information has been received from all the printers PR1 to PR3, the process returns to step S4. Transition.

In this step S4, each printer PR1
Based on the performance information of the printers PR3 to PR3, priorities are determined in the order of print speeds, for example, and priorities are determined in the order of resolutions. Set the largest icon for the next, set the smaller icon for the next fastest printer, set the smallest icon for the slowest printer, and , Set the largest icon for the highest resolution printer, then set the smaller icon for the highest resolution printer, and set the icon for the lowest resolution printer. The icon of the smallest size is set, and each set icon data is stored in the icon data setting unit 6.

Next, the process proceeds to step S6, in which the display data of the icons stored in the icon data setting unit 6 is output to the display 7 via the display unit 8, and the optimum printer is displayed as a large icon. The process proceeds to step S7 to determine whether any of the icons has been selected by, for example, a mouse operation. If not, the process waits until the icon is selected. If the icon is selected, the process proceeds to step S8 to select the icon. After the print data stored in the print data storage unit 4 is transferred to the printer corresponding to the icon, the process ends.

In the print control process of FIG. 3, the processes of steps S2 and S3 and the print information storage unit 3 correspond to the printing device information obtaining means, the process of step S4 corresponds to the printing device ranking determining means, and the process of step S5 And the processing of S6 and the icon data setting section 6 correspond to the priority display means.

Therefore, if there is a print request to print a print document at any of the personal computers PC1 to PC3 and the portable information terminal PDA,
The print control process shown in FIG. 3 is started. First, the print document is stored in the print data storage unit 4 and a transmission request of the performance information of the printing apparatus is transmitted to the printer registered in the printer information registration unit 2. .

Thus, each of the printers PR1 to PR3
When the performance information including at least the printing speed and the resolution is received from the printers and the reception of the performance information from all the printers PR1 to PR3 is completed, the process proceeds to step S4 to determine the priority of the printers.

Here, for example, the printer PR1 is set at a printing speed of 50 sheets per minute and a resolution of 600 dpi.
Assuming that the printer PR2 has a printing speed of 30 sheets per minute and a resolution of 1200 dpi, and the printer PR3 has a printing speed of 15 sheets per minute and a resolution of 300 dpi, the priority of the printing speed is given. The higher order is PR1, PR2, and PR3, and the order of priority with respect to resolution is PR2, PR1, and PR3.

For this reason, the process proceeds to step S5, where an icon is set for the printing speed in the order of printers PR1, PR2 and PR3, and an icon is set for the resolution in the order of the printers PR2, PR1 and PR3. The set icon data is stored in the icon data setting unit 6.

Next, the process proceeds to step S6, where the set icon data is output to the display 7 via the display control unit 8, so that the print speed is displayed on the display screen 7a of the display 7 as shown in FIG. Is displayed in the order of smaller printer PR1, PR2 and PR3, and the resolution is
Icon display is performed in the order of 2, PR1, and PR3.

Therefore, when the user attaches importance to the printing speed, the user selects the largest icon in the item of the printing speed with the mouse, and the print document stored in the print data storage unit 4 is transmitted to the communication control unit 1. Then, the data is transferred to the printer PR1 via the local area network LAN to perform high-speed printing.

On the other hand, when the user attaches importance to the print quality, that is, the resolution, the user selects the largest icon in the item of the resolution with the mouse, and the print document stored in the print data storage unit 4 is transferred to the printer PR2. The data is transferred and high-resolution printing is performed.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, when each of the personal computers PC1 to PC3 and the portable information terminal PDA receives a print request for a print document, the system control unit 9 executes the processing shown in FIG. Is executed, and the priority of each printing speed and resolution is represented by the size of the icon, so that the most suitable printer can be easily selected according to the user's preference.

In the first embodiment, the case where the size of the icon is changed according to the priority has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. As the same size, a number indicating the priority order may be displayed in the icon. As shown in FIG. 6, the icons have the same size and the size of the font indicating the printer name is displayed in descending order of the priority order. The size of the icon may be changed in accordance with the priority, and the size of the font may be changed, as shown in FIG. The density of the display color of the icon and / or the font may be changed. In short, the priority may be displayed with the visibility that can be identified by the user.

In the first embodiment, the case where the priority is displayed for both the printing speed and the resolution has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any one of the printing speed and the resolution may be displayed. The priority may be displayed, and the priority of the printing speed and / or resolution may be displayed for both color printing and monochrome printing. Further, the printing paper size and the sharpness of color printing may be displayed. A priority may be set for the degree.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the second embodiment, the most suitable printer priority is displayed by referring to the contents of a print document.

That is, in the second embodiment, each of the personal computers PC1 to PC3 and the portable information terminal P
As shown in FIG. 7, the print control process executed by the system control unit 9 in the DA is the same as the process shown in FIG. 3 in the first embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 3 in which the contents of the print document are analyzed between steps S3 and S4. Is inserted, and in step S4, step S11
Of the print document analyzed by the printer and each printer PR1
3 except that the priority order is determined based on the performance information of the printing apparatus from PR3 to PR3. The same processes as those in FIG. Detailed description is omitted.

Here, the priority order determination processing in step S4 analyzes whether the print document is text data or image data, and if the print document is text data, determines the priority order with emphasis on the printing speed. If the data is data, a priority is determined with emphasis on the resolution, so that an optimum priority is determined according to the content of the print document.

In the print control process of FIG. 8, the processes in steps S2 and S3 and the print information storage unit 3 correspond to the printing device information acquisition unit, the process in step S11 corresponds to the data analysis unit, and the process in step S4. Corresponds to the printing device order determination means, and the processing of steps S5 and S6 and the icon data setting unit 6 correspond to the priority order display means.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, when the print document is text data, the icon of the printer is displayed in a size corresponding to the priority in which the printing speed is emphasized, and the image data is displayed. In some cases, the icon of the printer can be displayed in a size corresponding to the priority order with an emphasis on resolution, and the user can very easily select an optimal printer.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the third embodiment, the priority of the printer is determined based on the contents of the print document and the printing device information including the performance information and the operation information of the printing device.

That is, in the third embodiment, a printing server for managing each of the printers PR1 to PR3 is provided, and the step S11 in the second embodiment is performed.
Between step S5 and step S5 to acquire operation information of each of the printers PR1 to PR3 from the print server, that is, data on the amount of documents being printed and the amount of documents waiting to be printed.
21 is provided, and the priority order determination processing in step S4 determines whether the content of the print document is text data or image data. Except that the print completion time is estimated and priorities are determined in the order of shortest print completion time, and when the image data is image data, the priority is determined with emphasis on resolution regardless of the print completion time. Performs the same processing as in FIG. 8, and the same steps as those in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same step numbers, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

In the print control process of FIG. 8, the processes in steps S2, S3, and S21 and the print information storage unit 3 correspond to the printing device information acquisition unit, the process in step S11 corresponds to the data analysis unit, and the process in step S4 Corresponds to the printing device order determination means, and the processing of steps S5 and S6 and the icon data setting unit 6 correspond to the priority order display means.

According to the third embodiment, each of the personal computers PC1 to PC3 and the portable information terminal PD
A, when a print document is requested to be printed in any of A, the print document is analyzed, and when the print data is text data, the document is taken into account by taking into account the number of documents being printed and waiting to be printed managed by the print server. The priority of the printer that completes the printing of the print document at the highest speed is determined, and an icon is displayed according to the priority. Therefore, when the print document is text data, the user can quickly print the printer. Can be selected very easily.

In the first to third embodiments, a case has been described in which icons and fonts having a size indicating priority are displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In addition to the display, the printing device information may be displayed in a list, or only the priority list display may be displayed.

In the first to third embodiments, the case where the printer driver is installed in each of the personal computers PC1 to PC3 and the portable information terminal PDA has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The printers PR1 to PR3 are managed by the print server, and the personal computers PC1 to PC3 and the portable information terminal PDA first transfer the print document to the print server. The printer may be transferred to a print request destination and a printer may be selected.

Furthermore, in the first to third embodiments, each time the print control process is executed, each printer PR
Although the case where the performance information of the printers PR1 to PR3 is acquired has been described, the present invention is not limited to this. When the printers PR1 to PR3 are fixed to the local area network LAN, the own data processing device is connected to the network. When connected, performance information of each printer may be acquired and stored in the printing device information storage unit 3.

Further, in the first to third embodiments, the case where the network is the local area network LAN has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other ISM (for example, 2.4 GHz) may be used. Ind
A network using a short-range wireless communication interface that uses an ustrial Scientific Medical) band as a carrier frequency may be constructed. In this case, simply placing a personal computer or a personal digital assistant on the floor where the printing device is installed enables a network to be easily constructed, and eliminates complicated settings such as when constructing a local area network. It is possible to monitor the status of each other's network and shift to the power saving mode. This has the effect of saving power and simplifies the configuration of the communication means, reducing manufacturing costs. can do.

Further, in the first to third embodiments, a case has been described in which a personal computer and a portable information terminal are applied as data processing devices. However, the present invention is not limited to these, and other computers may be used. And various other data processing devices can be applied.

[0068]

As described above, according to the first and eleventh aspects of the present invention, when print data is printed by the data processing device, each of the devices connected to the network by the printing device information obtaining means. The performance information of the printing device is acquired, and the printing device ranking determining means determines the priority of the printing device, for example, in the order of printing speed, printing size, printing quality, etc. based on the performance information of the printing device, and displays the priority Since the priority is displayed by means of font or icon size by means,
The effect is obtained that the user can easily select the optimum printing device in consideration of the priority displayed by his / her own will.

According to the second and twelfth aspects of the present invention, the performance information of each printing apparatus connected to the network is obtained, the print data is analyzed, and the performance information of the printing apparatus and the print data are obtained. Since the optimum printing device ranking is set based on the analysis result of the printing data, the printing device optimum for the printing data content is determined and displayed, so that the user can select the printing device optimum for the printing data content. Can be easily selected.

Further, according to the third and thirteenth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the performance information of each printing apparatus, operation information such as the number of documents waiting to be printed is acquired. Accordingly, the priorities of the printing apparatuses can be determined in ascending order of the printing completion time, and the user can easily select the most suitable printing apparatus.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by displaying the print speed rank and / or the print quality rank, or by displaying both, the user can easily select the most suitable printing apparatus according to the print data contents. Is obtained.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the visibility increases as the priority order increases, that is, as the printing optimality increases. Thus, an effect is obtained that a suitable printing device can be easily selected.

Further, according to the invention of claim 6, since the priority order of the most suitable printing device is displayed by the size of the icon, an effect is obtained that the most suitable printing device can be easily selected.

Further, according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since the priority order of the optimum printing device is displayed by the font size, the effect that the optimum printing device can be easily selected can be obtained.

Further, according to the invention of claim 8, since the priority of the optimum printing device is displayed by the size of the icon and the font, the optimum printing device can be selected more easily. Is obtained.

Further, according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the priority of the printing apparatus is displayed based on the density of the display colors of icons and fonts, so that an optimum printing apparatus can be easily selected. can get.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, a data processing apparatus is arranged near a printing apparatus by constructing a network between the data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatuses via a short-range wireless communication interface. Or by moving the mobile device to the vicinity of the printing apparatus, a network can be easily constructed without performing complicated settings for communication control, and the communication control unit is simplified to reduce manufacturing costs. Is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a data processing device applicable to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print control processing procedure executed by a system control unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen used for explaining an operation in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of a display screen similar to that of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing still another example of the same display screen as that of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing still another example of the same display screen as that of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print control processing procedure according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a print control processing procedure according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 PC1 to PC3 Personal computer PR1 to PR3 Printer PDA Portable information terminal LAN Local area network 1 Communication control unit 2 Printer information registration unit 3 Printing device information storage unit 4 Print data storage unit 5 Print control unit 6 Icon data setting unit 7 Display 8 Display control unit 9 System control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 13/00 357 G06F 13/00 357A (72) Inventor Toru Miyamoto 3-5-5 Yamato, Suwa-shi, Nagano Prefecture No. Seiko Epson Corporation F-term (reference) 2C061 AP01 HH03 HJ08 HM07 HN05 HN26 HP06 HQ14 HR09 5B021 AA01 BB01 BB10 EE04 PP04 5B089 GA13 HA06 JA35 KA05 KB12 LB14 5E501 AA06 AC25 AC35 BA03 EB14 BA05 FB05 FB44

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus in which a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected on a network so that print data of the data processing apparatus is printed by the printing apparatus. A printing device information obtaining unit for obtaining performance information of each printing device; a printing device order determining unit for determining an optimum printing device priority order based on the printing device information obtained by the printing device information obtaining unit; An information processing apparatus comprising: a priority order display unit that displays the priority order determined by the device order determination unit. 2. An information processing apparatus wherein a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected on a network so that print data of the data processing apparatus is printed by the printing apparatus. A printing device information acquiring unit for acquiring performance information of each printing device, a data analyzing unit for analyzing the print data, and a printing device information acquired by the printing device information acquiring unit and based on an analysis result of the data analyzing unit. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a printing apparatus order determining unit that determines the priority order of the printing apparatus by using the printing apparatus; and a priority order displaying unit that displays the priority order determined by the printing apparatus order determining unit. 3. An information processing apparatus in which a data processing apparatus and a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected on a network so that print data of the data processing apparatus is printed by the printing apparatus. A printing device information acquisition unit that acquires performance information and operation information of each printing device, a data analysis unit that analyzes the print data, and performance information and operation information acquired by the printing device information acquisition unit and the data analysis unit. The printing apparatus further comprises: a printing apparatus order determining unit that determines an optimum order of priority of the printing apparatus based on the analysis result; and a priority order displaying unit that displays the order of priority determined by the printing apparatus order determining unit. Information processing device. 4. A printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said printing apparatus rank determining means is configured to determine at least one of a printing speed rank and a printing quality of each printing apparatus. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 5. The priority display means is configured to set the display of the printing device so that the visibility increases as the priority increases according to the priority determined by the printing device priority determining means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the visibility is set so as to be displayed as a larger icon as a printing order increases. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the visibility is set so as to be displayed in a larger font as the printing order increases. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the visibility is set so that a larger icon and a larger font are displayed as the printing order becomes higher. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the visibility is set so as to change a display color density according to a priority in a printing order. 10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data processing device and the plurality of printing devices are configured to construct a network using a short-range wireless communication interface. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 11. An information processing method in which a data processing device and a plurality of printing devices are connected on a network, and print data of the data processing device is printed by the selected printing device. A step of obtaining at least the performance information of each of the printing apparatuses at the time of printing the print data; a step of determining an optimum priority of the printing apparatuses based on the obtained performance information; and displaying the determined priorities of the printing apparatuses. An information processing method comprising the steps of: 12. An information processing method in which a data processing device and a plurality of printing devices are connected on a network and print data of the data processing device is printed by the selected printing device. A step of obtaining at least the performance information of each of the printing apparatuses when printing the print data; a step of analyzing the print data; and determining an optimum priority order of the printing apparatuses based on the obtained performance information and an analysis result of the print data. And a step of displaying the determined priority order of the printing apparatuses. 13. An information processing method in which a data processing device and a plurality of printing devices are connected on a network, and the print data of the data processing device is printed by the selected printing device. A step of acquiring at least performance information and operation information of each of the printing devices when printing the print data, and a step of analyzing the print data;
It is characterized by comprising a step of determining an optimum priority order of the printing apparatus based on the acquired performance information and operation information and an analysis result of the print data, and a step of displaying the determined priority order of the printing apparatus. Information processing method.