JP2005222462A - Print request apparatus, print request program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print request apparatus, a print request program, and a recording medium capable of appropriately managing information relating to a print job.
A print requesting apparatus that makes a print data print request to a printing apparatus connected to a network, the identifying means for identifying the print request source of the print data, and the identified print request source being accessible The above-described problem is solved by including a determination unit that determines a spooler and a distribution unit that distributes the print data to a spooler that can be accessed by the print request source.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a print request apparatus, a print request program, and a recording medium, and more particularly to a print request apparatus, a print request program, and a recording medium that make a print request for print data to a printing apparatus connected to a network.

  In an office or the like, a printer is generally shared by a plurality of users. Also, since the printing process in the printer takes some time, other print requests are often made during printing. Therefore, when a print request is made, the print job is not always processed in a timely manner. On the other hand, various tools for displaying the status of the print job are provided, and the user can check the status of the print job related to the print request made by the user using the tool.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes an invention that displays the status of a print job for each client or each user. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151561 describes an invention that classifies and manages print job history information by purpose. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228688 describes an invention that prevents the disappearance of print job history information due to machine trouble or the like by finely storing job management data.
JP 2000-231468 A JP 2001-92617 A JP 2002-108593 A

  However, conventionally, since a print job is managed for each client PC (Personal Computer) that issues a print request to a printer, each print job cannot be distinguished for each user, or patent literature Even if the status display of the print job can be switched for each user as in 1 etc., the status of the print job related to the other user is displayed, so that the personal information of the other user may be leaked. There was.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a print request apparatus, a print request program, and a recording medium that can appropriately manage information about a print job.

  Accordingly, in order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a print requesting device that makes a print request for print data to a printing device connected to a network. An identification unit for identifying a source; a determination unit that determines a spooler that can be accessed by the identified print request source; and a distribution unit that distributes the print data to a spooler that can be accessed by the print request source. And

  In such a print request device, each print data can be managed in a spooler corresponding to the print request source. Therefore, when there is a request for displaying information related to print data, the information can be displayed for each print request source.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a print request method in the print request apparatus, a print request program for causing the print request apparatus to execute the print request method, or a recording medium on which the print request program is recorded. It is good.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a print request apparatus, a print request program, and a recording medium that can appropriately manage information about a print job.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 1 according to the present embodiment includes one or more client PCs such as client PCs 10a and 10b (hereinafter collectively referred to as “client PC 10”), printers 20a and 20b, and the like. (Hereinafter collectively referred to as “printer 20”) and one or more printers, which are connected to each other via a network 30 such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The client PC 10 is a computer such as a PC (Personal Computer) that generates print data based on document data to be printed and requests the printer 20 to print the print data. The client PC 10 can correspond not only to a terminal directly used by a user, but also to a printer server that issues a print request to the printer 20 in response to a request from the terminal. The printer 20 is a so-called printer, and prints the print data received from the client PC 10.

  Next, details of the client PC 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the client PC according to the embodiment of the present invention. The client PC 10 in FIG. 2 includes a drive device 100, an auxiliary storage device 102, a memory device 103, an arithmetic processing device 104, a network I / F (interface) device 105, which are mutually connected by a bus B, An input device 106 and a display device 107 are included.

  A program for realizing processing in the client PC 10 is provided by a recording medium 101 such as a CD-ROM. When the recording medium 101 on which the program is recorded is set in the drive device 100, the program is installed from the recording medium 101 to the auxiliary storage device 102 via the drive device 100. The auxiliary storage device 102 stores the installed program and also stores necessary files and data.

  The memory device 103 reads the program from the auxiliary storage device 102 and stores it when there is an instruction to start the program. The arithmetic processing unit 104 executes functions related to the client PC 10 in accordance with a program stored in the memory device 103. The network I / F device 105 includes, for example, a modem and a router, and is used for connecting to the network 30 in FIG.

  The input device 106 includes a keyboard and a mouse, and is used to input various operation instructions. The display device 107 displays a GUI (Graphical User Interface) or the like by a program. Note that when the client PC 10 is used as a printer server, the input device 106 and the display device 107 are not necessarily required.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the client PC according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the client PC 10 includes a print data generation unit 11, a spooler 12, a port monitor 13, a print data management unit 14, a printed job display unit 15, a print history storage unit 16, and a print history display unit 17. Etc. are comprised.

  The print data generation unit 11 is a function configured by an application such as word processing software that generates document data, a printer driver that converts document data into print data in a format that can be interpreted by the printer 20 in accordance with an instruction from the application, and the like. is there. The spooler 12 is a function for temporarily storing the print data generated by the print data generation unit 11. The port monitor 13 is a function for receiving print data from the spooler 12 and transmitting the print data to an appropriate output destination (printer 20). When the port monitor 13 is set to leave a print job after printing, the print data is stored in the print data storage unit 14 in association with user identification information such as a user ID as a printed print job. Control access to stored print data.

  The print data storage unit 14 is a function for storing and managing print data for each user. In the print data storage unit 14, the storage area for each user is referred to as a “personal spooler”. FIG. 3 illustrates three personal spoolers: a personal spooler 141 for user A, a personal spooler 142 for user B, and a personal spooler 143 for user C. The personal spooler may be realized, for example, by generating a folder whose name is information for identifying each user (for example, a login name).

  The printed job display unit 15 is a function for acquiring and displaying the print job of the user who is a display request from the print data storage unit 14 when a display request for a printed print job is made. The print history storage unit 16 and the print history display unit 17 are not essential elements in the first embodiment, and will be described in the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, the processing procedure of the printing system 1 in FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of printing in the first embodiment.

  In step S <b> 101, the port monitor 13 acquires, from the spooler 12, print data generated by the print data generation unit 11 based on a print request from the user and stored in the spooler 12. Progressing to step S102 following step S101, the port monitor 13 acquires information for identifying the current user, for example, a login name in the OS (Operating System), in order to identify the user (current user) of the print request source. To do. Progressing to step S103 following step S102, the port monitor 13 accesses the print data storage unit 14 to determine whether there is a personal spooler accessible to the current user (corresponding to the current user). The print data storage unit 14 determines whether or not access to the personal spooler is possible. For example, when the current user is “user A”, this corresponds to a personal spooler accessible by the personal spooler 141.

  If there is an accessible personal spooler (hereinafter referred to as “target spooler”), the process proceeds to step S104 following step S103, and the port monitor 13 stores the print data in the target spooler as a printed print job. (Sorting) and transmitting to the printer 20 designated as the printing destination (S105). On the other hand, if the target spooler does not exist, the process proceeds to step S106 following step S103, and the port monitor 13 newly generates a personal spooler (for example, a folder) corresponding to the current user and accesses only the current user. The permitted access authority is set in the personal spooler (S107). Thereafter, the port monitor 13 saves (sorts) the print data in a newly generated personal spooler as a printed print job (S104), and transmits it to the printer 20 designated as the print destination (S105).

  Next, processing when a display of a print job stored by the processing of FIG. 4 is requested will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of displaying a print job in the first embodiment.

  In step S201, when the printed job display unit 15 receives a print job display request from the user, the printed job display unit 15 accesses the print data storage unit 14 and corresponds to the currently logged-in user (current user). A personal spooler (target spooler) is searched (S202). Progressing to step S203 following step S202, the print data storage unit 14 confirms the presence of the target spooler and determines whether the current user has access authority to the print job in the target spooler. If the target spooler does not exist or if the target spooler exists but the current user does not have access authority to the print job in the target spooler, the process ends.

  On the other hand, if the target spooler exists and the current user has access authority to the print job stored in the target spooler, the process proceeds to step S204 following step S203, and the printed job display unit 15 displays the target spooler. The print job is acquired from the printer and the acquired print job is displayed (S205). In addition, in the claims, “acquisition” includes literally not only acquiring a print job from the target spooler but also displaying the acquired print job.

  As described above, according to the client PC 10 in the first embodiment, since print data is managed for each user, even when a plurality of users use the same client PC, the print job of each user Can be displayed separately. In addition, since access rights are set for each print data for each user, each user cannot operate a print job of another user other than himself / herself, thus preventing leakage of the user's personal information. Security can be expected.

  Next, an example of managing print history data for each user will be described as a second embodiment. Here, the print history data refers to data relating to a print processing history, for example, data including information such as a document name, a user name, a printing date and time, and a machine name.

  The print history storage unit 16 and the print history display unit 17 will be described. The print history storage unit 16 is a function for storing the print history data as a file for each user after the end of the printing process and controlling access to the print history data. For example, the print history storage unit 16 stores the print history data of each user in a folder generated for each user (hereinafter referred to as “print history folder”). The print history display unit 17 has a function of acquiring and displaying the user's print history data related to the display request from the print history storage unit 16 when there is a print history data display request. In the second embodiment, the print data management unit 14 and the printed job display unit 15 are not essential elements.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of printing in the second embodiment. FIG. 6 shows processing executed following transmission of print data to the printer 20.

  In step S301, the port monitor 13 acquires print history data by accessing print data or the like. In step S302 following step S301, the port monitor 13 accesses the print history storage unit 16 to search for a print history folder (hereinafter referred to as “target folder”) for storing print history data of the current user. To do. If the print history data in the folder can be accessed, the print history folder is the target folder. If there is no print history folder that can access the print history data, there is no target folder.

  If the target folder exists, the process proceeds to step S303 following step S302, and the port monitor 13 saves the print history data in the target folder. On the other hand, if the target folder does not exist, the process proceeds to step S304 following step S302, and the port monitor 13 newly generates a print history folder corresponding to the current user, and has access authority to permit access only to the current user. Network sharing is set in the generated print history folder (S305). Thereafter, the port monitor 13 stores the print history data in the newly generated print history folder (S303).

  Next, a process when the display of the print history data saved by the process of FIG. 6 is requested will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of displaying print history data in the second embodiment.

  In step S401, when receiving a print history data display request from the user, the print history display unit 17 accesses the print history storage unit 16 and searches for a print history folder in which the print history data is stored (S402). ). In step S403 following step S402, the print history display unit 17 accesses the print history storage unit 16, and the current user accesses the searched print history folder (hereinafter referred to as "current folder"). Determine if you can. The print history storage unit 16 determines whether the current user has access authority to the current folder. If the current user has access authority, the process proceeds to step S404 following step S403, and the print history display unit 17 acquires print history data from the current folder. On the other hand, if the current user does not have access authority, the process returns to step S402 to search for another print history folder.

  As described above, when the processes from step S402 to step S404 are executed for all the print history folders (S405), the process proceeds to step S406, and the print history table unit 17 displays the print history data acquired in step S404. Let

  As described above, according to the client PC 10 in the second embodiment, the print history data is managed for each user. Therefore, even when a plurality of users use the same client PC, printing of each user is performed. History can be displayed separately. In addition, since access rights are set for each user in each print history data, each user cannot refer to the print history of other users other than himself / herself, thus preventing leakage of the user's personal information. Security can be expected.

  In the second embodiment, the print history display unit 17 displays the print history data stored in the print history management unit 16 in the same machine. However, the print history display unit 17 stores the print history data in another machine. The printed print history data may be displayed. Hereinafter, an example in which the print history display unit 17 displays print history data stored in another machine will be described as a third embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of display of print history data in the third embodiment. For example, it is assumed that the process shown in FIG. 6 has already been executed in the client PC 10a and the process shown in FIG. 8 is executed in the client PC 10b. In the following description, in order to avoid confusion between the component in the client PC 10a and the component in the client PC 10b, “a” is added to the former component and “b” is added to the latter component. Append.

  In step S501, when the print history display unit 17b of the client PC 10b accepts a print history data display request from the user, by issuing a broadcast (S502), there is a computer accessible to the current user in the network 30. It is determined whether or not to perform (S503). If there is no accessible computer, the print history display unit 17b issues a broadcast again (S502).

  On the other hand, if there is an accessible computer, the process proceeds to step S504 following step S503, and the print history display unit 17b searches for a print history folder on the network computer. Here, it is assumed that the client PC 10a has been searched as an accessible computer. Accordingly, the print history display unit 17b searches for a print history folder in the client PC 10a.

  In step S505 following step S504, the print history display unit 17b determines whether the current user has access authority to the searched print history folder (hereinafter referred to as “current folder”). The determination is made via the print history storage unit 16a of the PC 10a. If the current user has access authority, the process proceeds to step S506 following step S505, and the print history display unit 17b acquires print history data from the current folder. On the other hand, if the current user does not have access authority, the process returns to step S504 to search for another print history folder.

  As described above, the processing from step S504 to step S506 is executed for all the print history folders (S507). Furthermore, in order to obtain print history data from other computers than the client PC 10a, the processing from steps S502 to S507 is repeated for other computers (S508). When acquisition of print data from another accessible computer is completed, the print history display unit 17b displays the acquired print history data (S509).

  As described above, according to the client PC 10 in the third embodiment, in addition to the effects of the client PC 10 in the second embodiment, print history data in other client PCs can be acquired and displayed. The user can simultaneously refer to not only a certain printer server or client PC but also print history data managed by a printer server or client PC connected via a network.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

It is a figure which shows the structural example of the printing system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of client PC in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the function structural example of client PC in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process at the time of printing in 1st embodiment. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of browsing a print job in the first embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process at the time of printing in 2nd embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process at the time of the browsing of the printing history data in 2nd embodiment. 14 is a flowchart for explaining processing at the time of browsing print history data in the third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Printing system 10, 10a, 10b Client PC
11 Print Data Generation Unit 12 Spooler 13 Port Monitor 14 Print Data Storage Unit 15 Printed Job Display Unit 16 Print History Storage Unit 17 Print History Display Units 20, 20a, 20b Printer 30 Network 100 Drive Device 101 Recording Medium 102 Auxiliary Storage Device 103 Memory device 104 Arithmetic processing device 105 Interface device 106 Input device 107 Display device 141, 142, 143 Personal spooler B bus

Claims (6)

A print requesting device that issues a print data print request to a printing device connected to a network,
Identifying means for identifying a print request source of the print data;
Determining means for determining a spooler accessible by the identified print request source;
A print requesting apparatus comprising: a distribution unit that distributes the print data to a spooler accessible by the print request source. The print requesting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit further generates a new spooler when there is no spooler accessible by the print request source. 3. The print request apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the determination unit further sets an authority for the print request source identified by the identification unit to access the new spooler. The determination unit further searches for a spooler that can be accessed by the print request source when there is a print data acquisition request from the print request source, and if there is an accessible spooler, the printed print 4. The print request apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print request apparatus acquires data. To a print request device that makes a print data print request to a printing device connected to the network,
An identification procedure for identifying a print request source of the print data;
A determination procedure for determining a spooler accessible by the identified print request source;
A print request program for executing a distribution procedure for distributing the print data to a spooler accessible by the print request source. A computer-readable recording medium on which the print request program according to claim 5 is recorded.

Images