JP3183867B2 - Information processing apparatus, output device, information output system, and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving information between an information processing apparatus and an output device, an output device, an information output system, and an information processing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a recording apparatus of this type analyzes output information manually input from a host computer and develops bitmap data as output data of a printer engine, for example, a laser beam printer. The photosensitive drum is scanned and exposed with the modulated laser beam to record an image.

[0005] Further, a recording apparatus capable of outputting data subjected to WYSIWYG processing based on page editing data by a host computer has been put to practical use.

In this case, the recording apparatus is of a type that develops bitmap data WYSIWYG processed by the host computer into a bitmap memory and outputs the data, and a rasterization function provided in the recording apparatus by receiving data to be rasterized from the host computer. There is a type in which output bitmap data is generated by processing, developed into a bitmap memory, and output.

[0005]

Since the conventional recording apparatus or recording system is configured as described above, the type in which the host computer develops bitmap data WYSIWYG processed into a bitmap memory and outputs the bitmap data, The time from when the host computer starts developing the bitmap of the output information to when the printing process is started by the printer engine is determined depending on the rasterization processing time of the host computer.

In a type in which data to be rasterized is received from a host computer, output bitmap data is generated by rasterization function processing provided in a recording apparatus, and the output bitmap data is developed and output to a bitmap memory. The time required to transfer the output information to the printer is short, but the processing time for the rasterizing function of the recording device itself is long, and the image writing with the printer engine is out of synchronization, and the received information cannot be accurately recorded. And so on.

In particular, as a recording apparatus in the field of DTP in which pages are edited by making full use of figures, images, outline fonts, etc., there has been a strong demand for a reduction in output processing time in recent years. There is a need for an improved printer control system.

[0008] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the first invention to eighth aspect of the invention according to the present invention, the capability information of Information processing apparatus output device side By controlling the transfer of the data to the output device while selectively changing the content of the data to be transferred to the output device by the information processing device, or the content of the data transferred from the information processing device by the output device. The data conversion processing on the output device side for the data transferred from the information processing apparatus is reduced and the data is transferred from the information processing apparatus by controlling the generation of the data to be finally output while selectively performing the data conversion processing according to An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, an output device, an information output system, and an information processing method capable of efficiently processing data in a short time.

[0009]

A first invention according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) for transferring data to an output device (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 4). Acquisition means for acquiring capability information of the output device (CPU 1 shown in FIG.
3. Execute the control program stored in the hard disk 11, the floppy disk 12, etc. to perform the acquisition processing.
And for the data to be output by the output device stored in the information processing device and to be rasterized by the output device, transferred to the output device based on the capability information acquired by the acquisition unit. (A CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4 has a ROM 2, a RAM 3, a ROM 3, a RAM 3, The control program stored in the hard disk 11, the floppy disk 12, etc. is executed to select data to be transferred to the printer 1500 or data converted from the data (which can be output as it is) to control the transfer). is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control means (by the data analysis unit 102 shown in FIG. 5) determines which of the data to be transferred is to be rasterized based on the capability information. Is determined.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, various windows can be opened to execute various data processing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the obtaining means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4) obtains capability information of the output device from the output device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the acquisition of the capability information of the output device by the acquisition means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4) is performed at a timing at which communication between the information processing device and the output device is possible. Is what is done.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the acquisition of the capability information of the output device by the acquisition means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4) is performed prior to an output instruction.

In a seventh aspect according to the present invention, the control by the control means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4) changes a load ratio of a rasterizing process in the information processing apparatus in accordance with capability information of the output device. It is.

An eighth invention according to the present invention is characterized in that the control by the control means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4) performs a rasterizing process in the information processing apparatus according to the capability information of the output device when an output job occurs. This is to determine the burden ratio.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the control by the control means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4) is variable for each job.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the control by the control means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4) is variable for each page.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the capability information of the output device obtained by the obtaining means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4) is stored as a temporary file (FIG. (On the RAM 3 shown).

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the output device is a laser printer (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 1).
It is something that is.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, the output device is an ink jet printer (IJRA shown in FIG. 2).
It is something that is.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, the output device and the information processing device perform parallel processing in accordance with processing controlled by the control means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 4). .

In a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, the processing in the information processing apparatus is performed by a printer driver.

In a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the output device and the information processing device are connected via a network.

In a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the capability information includes time data required for a rasterizing process.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, the output device is a printer, and the obtaining means and the control means are constituted by a host computer.

In a nineteenth aspect according to the present invention, the data is a character code.

[0029] In a twentieth aspect according to the present invention, the control means performs the control based on capability information of the output device stored in the information processing device.

A twenty-first invention according to the present invention relates to an output device (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 4) for outputting based on data input from an information processing device (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4). Based on the capability information of the output device, for data to be output by the output device stored in the information processing device, data to be rasterized by the output device is transferred to the output device and converted. The data is transferred from the information processing apparatus based on a control result by a control unit (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) for controlling a rasterizing process of data to be processed and a process of transferring the rasterized data to the output device. Conversion processing means (printing unit shown in FIG. 4) for performing rasterization processing of the data which has not been rasterized. 1500 of CPU14 is ROM1
5, a control program stored in a RAM 16 and a memory resource (not shown) is executed to perform a conversion process. Specifically, a rasterizer 202) shown in FIG. An output control unit (a print control unit 205 shown in FIG. 4) for controlling an output based on data and a result of the control unit and on data rasterized by the information processing apparatus. .

In a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus is a host computer (100 shown in FIG. 4), and the conversion processing means and the output control means are a printer (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 4). It is composed of

In a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, the capability information indicates a data processing time.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, the result of the control by the control means is information indicating that a character code input from the information processing apparatus is to be rasterized by the conversion processing means in the output device. It is something that is.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, the result of the control by the control means is information indicating that the conversion processing means in the output device processes bitmap data input from the information processing device. It is something that is.

In a twenty-sixth aspect according to the present invention, the output device notifies the information processing device of capability information of the output device via a bidirectional interface.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, the processing in the information processing apparatus is performed by a printer driver.

According to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, the output device and the information processing device are connected via a network.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, the capability information includes time data required for data processing.

A thirtieth invention according to the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) for transferring data to an output device (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 4).
And, based on data input from the information processing device,
An information output system capable of communicating with an output device that performs output, wherein the information processing apparatus includes an acquisition unit that acquires capability information of the output device (the CPU 1 illustrated in FIG.
RAM 3, hard disk 11, floppy disk 1
2 to execute the control program stored in the information processing device) and the data to be output from the output device stored in the information processing device based on the capability information obtained by the obtaining unit. Control means for controlling a process of transferring data to be rasterized by the output device to the output device, a process of rasterizing data to be converted, and a process of transferring data after the rasterization to the output device (FIG. CPU 1 shown in FIG.
M2, a RAM 3, a hard disk 11, a floppy disk 12, and the like to execute a control program), and the output device stores the information in the information processing device based on the capability information of the output device. For the data to be output by the output device, the data to be rasterized by the output device is transferred to the output device, the rasterization process of the data to be converted, and the data after the rasterization is performed by the output device. Conversion processing means for performing rasterization processing of the data which has not been subjected to the rasterization processing and which is transferred from the information processing apparatus, based on the result of the control by the control means for controlling the processing to be transferred to the printer 1500 (see FIG. 4). CPU
14 executes a conversion program by executing a control program stored in the ROM 15, the RAM 16, and a memory resource (not shown). Specifically, the rasterizer 20 shown in FIG.
2)) and output control means for controlling the output based on the data rasterized by the conversion processing means and the result of the control means and on the data rasterized by the information processing apparatus (FIG. And a print control unit 205) shown in FIG.

According to a thirty-first aspect of the present invention, the control means (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) determines which of the data to be transferred is to be rasterized based on the capability information. Is what you do.

According to a thirty-second aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, various windows can be opened to execute various data processing.

According to a thirty-third aspect of the present invention, the acquiring means (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) acquires capability information of the output device from the output device.

According to a thirty-fourth aspect of the present invention, the acquisition of the capability information of the output device by the acquisition means (the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) enables the communication between the information processing device and the output device. It is performed at the timing.

According to a thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention, the acquisition of the capability information of the output device by the acquisition means (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) is performed prior to an output instruction.

According to a thirty-sixth aspect of the present invention, in the control by the control means (the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4), the rasterizing processing burden ratio in the information processing apparatus is changed according to the capability information of the output device. That is what it is.

According to a thirty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the control by the control means (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) is performed in accordance with the capability information of the output device when an output job occurs. This is to determine the processing load ratio.

According to a thirty-eighth aspect of the present invention, the control by the control means (the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) is variable for each job.

According to a thirty-ninth aspect of the present invention, the control by the control means (the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) is variable for each page.

According to a fortieth aspect of the present invention, the capability information of the output device obtained by the obtaining means (the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) is stored in the information processing apparatus in advance.

According to a forty-first aspect of the present invention, the output device is a laser printer (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 1).
It is something that is.

[0052] In a forty-second aspect according to the present invention, the output device is an ink jet printer (IJRA shown in FIG. 2).
It is something that is.

According to a forty-third aspect of the present invention, the output device and the information processing apparatus perform parallel processing in accordance with processing controlled by the control means (the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4). is there.

According to a forty-fourth aspect of the present invention, the processing in the information processing apparatus is performed by a printer driver.

According to a forty-fifth aspect of the present invention, the output device and the information processing device are connected via a network.

According to a forty-sixth aspect of the present invention, the capability information includes time data required for data processing.

According to a forty-seventh aspect of the present invention, the output device is a printer (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 4),
The acquisition means and the control means are constituted by a host computer (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4).

In a forty-eighth aspect of the present invention, the data is a character code.

According to a forty-ninth aspect of the present invention, the information processing apparatus is a host computer (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4), and the conversion processing means and the output control means are a printer (printer shown in FIG. 4). 1500) stored in a storage medium by a computer-readable program.

According to a fiftieth aspect of the present invention, the result of the control by the control means (the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) is that the character code input from the information processing device is converted into the conversion processing means in the output device. (For example, the rasterizer 202 shown in FIG. 5).

According to a fifty-first aspect of the present invention, the result of the control by the control means (the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) is that the bitmap data input from the information processing device is converted into the conversion process in the output device. This is information instructing processing by means.

[0062] In a fifty-second invention according to the present invention, the output device notifies the information processing device of capability information of the output device via a bidirectional interface.

[0063] In a fifty-third aspect of the present invention, the control means performs the control based on capability information of the output device stored in the information processing apparatus.

In a fifty-fourth aspect according to the present invention, the control by the control means is performed based on capability information of the output device stored in the information processing device.

A fifty-fifth invention according to the present invention relates to an information processing method in an information processing apparatus (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4) for transferring data to an output device (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 4). An acquisition step (not shown) for acquiring the capability information of the device; and the output device for data to be output from the output device stored in the information processing device based on the capability information acquired in the acquisition step. Performs distributed control of the process of transferring data to be rasterized to the output device, the process of rasterizing the data to be output in the information processing device, and the process of transferring the rasterized data to the output device. It has a control step (steps (1) to (6) shown in FIG. 6).

In a fifty-sixth aspect according to the present invention, in the control step, which of the data to be transferred is to be rasterized is determined based on the capability information.

According to a fifty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, various windows can be opened to execute various data processing.

[0068] In a fifty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the obtaining, the capability information of the output device is obtained from the output device.

According to a fifty-ninth aspect of the present invention, the acquisition of the capability information of the output device in the acquiring step is performed at a timing at which communication between the information processing device and the output device is possible.

According to a sixty aspect of the present invention, the acquisition of the capability information of the output device in the acquiring step is performed prior to an output instruction.

According to a sixty-first aspect of the present invention, the control in the control step is to change a load ratio of a rasterizing process in the information processing apparatus according to capability information of the output device.

According to a sixty-second aspect of the present invention, in the control in the control step, a load ratio of a rasterizing process in the information processing apparatus is determined according to capability information of the output device when an output job occurs. is there.

According to a sixty-third aspect of the present invention, the control in the control step (steps (1) to (6) shown in FIG. 6) is variable for each job.

According to a sixty-fourth aspect of the present invention, the control in the control step (steps (1) to (6) shown in FIG. 6) is variable for each page.

According to a sixty-fifth aspect of the present invention, the capability information of the output device obtained in the obtaining step is:
The information is stored in advance in the information processing apparatus.

According to a sixty-sixth aspect of the present invention, the output device is a laser printer (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 1).
It is something that is.

According to a sixty-sixth aspect of the present invention, the output device is an ink jet printer (IJRA shown in FIG. 2).
It is something that is.

According to a sixty-eighth aspect of the present invention, the control step (steps (1) to (6) shown in FIG. 6)
The output device and the information processing device perform parallel processing in accordance with the distributed data processing.

According to a sixty-ninth aspect of the present invention, the processing in the information processing device is performed by a printer driver.

In a seventy-seventh aspect of the present invention, the output device and the information processing device are connected via a network.

According to a seventy-first aspect of the present invention, the capability information includes time data required for a rasterizing process.

[0082] In a seventy-second aspect of the present invention, the data is a character code.

[0083] In a seventy-third aspect of the present invention, the control step is performed based on capability information of the output device stored in the information processing device.

According to a seventy-fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method for an output device (printer 1500 shown in FIG. 4) for performing output based on data input from an information processing device (host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4). And for data to be output from the output device stored in the information processing device based on the capability information of the output device, data to be rasterized by the output device is transferred to the output device. The rasterizing process transferred from the information processing apparatus based on the result of control by a control unit that controls a process of performing rasterization of data to be converted and a process of transferring the rasterized data to the output device. A conversion process step (step (11) shown in FIG. 6) for performing a rasterizing process on the unprocessed data; Based on the results of the rasterized data and the control unit by the conversion processing step, based on the rasterized data processed by the information processing apparatus, an output control step of controlling the output (FIG. 6
(14)) shown in FIG.

In a seventy-fifth aspect of the present invention, the capability information indicates a data processing time.

According to a seventy-sixth aspect of the present invention, as a result of the control by the control means, a character code input from the information processing apparatus is converted into the conversion processing step (step (11) shown in FIG. 6) in the output device. ) Performs rasterization processing.

According to a seventy-seventh aspect of the present invention, the result of the control by the control means is that the bitmap data input from the information processing apparatus is converted into the conversion processing step (step (12) shown in FIG. 6) in the output device. )) Is information instructing processing.

In a seventy-eighth aspect of the present invention, the output device notifies the information processing device of capability information of the output device via a bidirectional interface.

In a seventy-ninth aspect according to the present invention, the processing in the information processing apparatus is performed by a printer driver.

[0090] In an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, the output device and the information processing apparatus are via a network.

In an eighty-first aspect of the present invention, the capability information includes time data required for data processing.

[0092]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment to which the present invention can be applied.
1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an output device (recording device) of FIG. 1, for example, in the case of a laser beam printer (LBP).

In the figure, reference numeral 1500 denotes an LBP main body (printer), which is print information (data) supplied from an externally connected host computer (information processing apparatus).
And the like are input and stored, and a corresponding bitmap image or the like is created according to the information to form an image on recording paper as a recording medium. Reference numeral 1501 denotes an operation panel on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged. Reference numeral 1000 denotes a printer control unit that controls the entire LBP body 1500 and analyzes print information and the like supplied from a host computer.

The printer control unit 1000 converts the signal into a video signal of a bit pattern corresponding to print information and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 1502. The laser driver 1502 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1503.
The laser beam 1504 emitted from the 503 is turned on / off. The laser beam 1504 is oscillated in the horizontal direction by the rotary polygon mirror 1505 to scan and expose the electrostatic drum 1506.

As a result, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 1506. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 1507 provided around the electrostatic drum 1506, and then transferred to a recording sheet.
A cut sheet is used for the recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is a paper cassette 150 mounted on the LBP body 1500.
8 and feed roller 1509 and transport roller 1
By 510 and the transport roller 1511, it is taken into the device and supplied to the electrostatic drum 1506.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing the configuration of a second output device (recording apparatus) to which the present invention can be applied, and shows, for example, the case of an ink jet recording apparatus (IJRA).

In the figure, a spiral groove 5004 of a lead screw 5005 that rotates via driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with forward and reverse rotation of a driving motor 5013
The carriage HC that engages with a pin (not shown)
And is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. An ink jet cartridge IJC is mounted on the carriage HC. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate, which presses the paper P against the platen 5000 in the carriage movement direction.

Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which function as home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this area and switching the rotation direction of the drive motor 5013. 501
6 is a cap member 50 for capping the entire surface of the recording head.
Reference numeral 5015, a member for supporting the nozzle 22, sucks the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through the cap opening 5023. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade which can be moved in the front-rear direction by a member 5019. Reference numeral 5018 denotes a main body support plate that supports the cleaning blade 5017 and the member 5019. Reference numeral 5012 denotes a lever for starting suction for recovery of suction. The lever 5012 moves with the movement of the cam 5020 that engages with the carriage, and the driving force from the drive motor 5013 is movement-controlled by known transmission means such as clutch switching. You.

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired operations can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the home position side area. It is sufficient if the device is configured to perform a desired operation.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the second recording apparatus shown in FIG.

In the figure, 1700 is an interface for inputting a recording signal, 1701 is an MPU, 1702 is a program ROM for storing a control program executed by the MPU 1701, and 1703 is a DRAM. Recording data). A gate array (G.1704) controls supply of print data to the print head 1708.
A. ), The interface 1700, the MPU 1701,
Data transfer between the DRAMs 1703 is also controlled. 171
0 is a carrier motor for transporting the recording head 1708, 1709 is a transport motor for transporting the recording paper,
1705, a head driver for driving the recording head 1708; 1706, a motor driver for driving the transport motor 1709; 1707, the carrier motor 171;
0 is a motor driver.

In each of the recording apparatuses configured as described above, when a recording signal is input from a host computer 100 described later via the interface 1700, the recording signal is transmitted between the gate array 1704 and the MPU 1701 to the recording data for printing. Is converted to Then, the motor drivers 1706 and 1707 are driven, and the recording head 1708 is driven according to the recording data sent to the head driver 1705 to execute printing.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a printer control system to which an information processing apparatus and output devices according to an embodiment of the present invention can be applied. Here, a laser beam printer (see FIG. 1) will be described as an example.

As long as the functions of the present invention are executed, even a single device, a system including a plurality of devices (for example, the output device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the information processing device shown in FIG. 4) It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to an information output system or the like that includes an apparatus) and a system in which processing is performed via a network such as a LAN.

In the figure, a host computer 100 includes a CPU 1 for executing document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed based on a document processing program stored in a ROM 2. Each device connected to the system bus 4 is generally controlled. Further, the ROM 2 stores a control program of the CPU 1 shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a RAM, which functions as a main memory and a work area of the CPU 1. A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls a key input from a keyboard (KB) 9. Reference numeral 6 denotes a CRT controller (CRTC).
The display of the RT display (CRT) 10 is controlled. 7
Is a disk controller (DKC) for controlling access to a hard disk (HD) 11 and a floppy disk (FD) 12 for storing a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, and the like.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a printer controller (PRTC)
And the printer 150 via the predetermined interface 13.
0 to execute communication control processing with the printer 1500. The CPU 1 executes, for example, a process of developing (rasterizing) the outline font in the display information RAM set on the RAM 3, and executes WY on the CRT 10.
SIWYG may be enabled. Further, the CPU 1
Various registered windows may be opened based on a command specified by a mouse cursor or the like on the RT 10 to execute various data processing. Reference numeral 18 denotes an input unit.

Further, the document processing program may be stored on the hard disk 11 or the floppy disk 12, and may be configured to be loaded on the RAM 3 via the DKC 7 and executed at the time of execution.

In the printer 1500, reference numeral 14 denotes a printer CPU (CPU), which comprehensively controls access to various devices connected to the system bus 17 based on a control program stored in the ROM 15; Image signal VDO as print data to a printing unit (printer engine) 20 connected via
Is output. A RAM 16 is used for a work area of the CPU 14, storage of recording information, and the like. Also, RAM
16 is an option R connected to an unillustrated expansion port
The configuration may be such that the memory capacity can be expanded by the AM.

The printing section interface 19 converts the print data into a form conforming to the mechanism of the printing section 20.
This is a part for outputting, for example, performing processing such as converting parallel data to serial data.

The ROM 15 may store a plurality of dot font data groups having different sizes and outline font data as printer fonts. Further, the host computer 10
Assigned from 0, for example, outline font,
A rasterization program for processing the vector graphics data in the bitmap development process in the rasterization area of the RAM 16 in parallel with the rasterization process on the host computer 100 is stored.

As a result, the rasterization sharing processing ratio is dynamically switched in accordance with the analysis result of the rasterization information in the output information output from the host computer 100 to the printer 1500. Printer 1500 or host computer 1
In some cases, one of the 00s may perform the rasterizing process.

Further, at least one card slot (not shown) may be provided so that an optional font card and a control card (emulation card) of a different language system can be connected in addition to the built-in font. Further, an NVRAM for storing printer mode setting information from an operation unit (not shown) may be provided.

In the printer control system thus configured, the host computer 100
00, resource determination data is acquired from the first rasterizer (functional processing of the CPU 1) and the second rasterizer when the print job is generated, the determination means (CPU1) analyzes the print job based on the resource data of the printer 1500. (The functional processing of the CPU 14), and dynamically determines the parallel processing share ratio.
The first rasterizer or the first rasterizer performs the parallel processing of the rasterized information in the print job, thereby enabling the print job to be efficiently processed while equalizing the data processing load on the printer and the host computer. .

Further, the determining means analyzes the font size in the print job based on the resource data of the printer and dynamically determines the parallel processing sharing ratio between the first rasterizer and the second rasterizer. The function of rasterizing processing corresponding to the font type can be shared between the host computer and the printer.

Further, the determining means analyzes the amount of outline interpolation information in the print job based on the resource data of the printer, and dynamically determines the parallel processing sharing ratio between the first rasterizer and the second rasterizer. Accordingly, it is possible to share the functions of the rasterizing process corresponding to the number of interpolations in the outline information between the host computer and the printer.

In this embodiment, the resource data is
Resources such as presence / absence of a drawing function for each drawing unit such as a straight line and a circular arc of the printer by referring to a definition file on the host computer 100 and referring to a definition file on the host computer 100, drawing processing time, presence / absence of a rasterizing function of an outline font, and rasterizing time. It includes processing capability information and the like, and a part or all of the information is analyzed, and the determining means dynamically determines the parallel processing sharing ratio between the first rasterizer and the second rasterizer. At this time, the determining means dynamically switches the parallel processing sharing ratio for each page of the output editing information (characters, graphics, tables, images).

As an example of the analysis of the resource data by the host computer 100, for example, the printer 150
The time data required for rasterizing an outline font having a predetermined size of 0 is stored in advance as table data. If the size of the outline font of the recorded data matches the stored size, the table data is stored. Is to determine the rasterization processing load on the host computer 100 and the printer 1500 by correcting the outline font table data of the recording data and integrating the rasterization processing time of each character.

Further, when calculating the rasterization processing time, if the number of interpolation points for interpolating each point (for example, interpolation using a Bezier curve) is taken into consideration, a more accurate processing time can be calculated.

Further, when calculating the rasterization processing time, if the printer 1500 has a plurality of languages that can be processed, or if the printing processing can be performed at a plurality of resolutions, a plurality of tables for calculating the rasterization processing time are provided. Needless to say, it is possible to accurately calculate the rasterization processing time in consideration of the above-described language difference and resolution difference.

Thus, for example, if the printer 1500 has a font rasterizer (in the present embodiment, based on the functional processing of the CPU 14), the host computer 10
0, it is possible to perform rasterization of fonts in a distributed manner in accordance with the performance of the printer 1500. A certain font is transferred to the printer 1500 in a bitmap format while being subjected to rasterization processing of the host computer 100, and the remaining fonts are outlined. Printer 15 in format
00 and rasterized by the CPU 14.

On the other hand, when the printer 1500 is provided with outline data, for example, in the ROM 15, the host computer 100 transfers only the character codes and character attributes to the printer 1500, and transfers the data from the host computer 100. Is completed promptly to reduce the time until the host computer is released.

Further, when the printer 1500 executes the banding process of the print data within the predetermined memory capacity, when the printer 1500 performs the rasterizing process, the band of the band may be overrun. Part or all of the processing can be entrusted to the host computer 100, and a print error of the printer 1500 due to a change in the load on the recording information processing can be avoided.

Hereinafter, the characteristic configuration of the present embodiment will be described.

The first feature is that the output device (printer 150
0) which outputs data to the host computer 100, wherein the acquisition means (CPU 1 is a ROM)
2, the control program stored in the RAM 3, the hard disk 11, the floppy disk 12, etc. is executed and the acquisition process is performed), and when the capability information of the output device is acquired, distribution is performed according to the acquired capability information of the output device. Control means (CPU 1 is ROM 2, RAM 3, hard disk 1
1, a control program stored in the floppy disk 12 or the like is executed to perform distributed processing).
And the host computer 100 can perform distributed processing.

In the second feature, the output device is a printer 1500, and the obtaining means and the distribution control means are constituted by a host computer, and the obtaining means of the host computer 100 transmits the capability information to the host computer. When the data is acquired from the printer 1500, the distribution control means stores the data in the data processing means (stored in the ROM 2, the RAM 3, the hard disk 11, the floppy disk 12, etc.) according to the acquired capability information of the printer 1500.
And the data processing can be distributed between the printer 1500 side and the host computer 100 side.

In the third feature, when the CPU 1 obtains the data processing time of the printer 1500 as the capability information, the CPU 1 sets the C in accordance with the obtained data processing time of 1500.
The PU 1 causes the data to be processed by the data processing means, and the data processing on the output device side can be distributedly processed between the printer 1500 side and the host computer 100 side.

According to a fourth feature, when the CPU 1 acquires the capability information of the printer 1500, the acquired 150
0, the CPU 1 causes the data to be processed by rasterizing, and the rasterizing process is performed by the printer 150.
It is possible to perform distributed processing on the 0 side and the host computer 100 side.

In the fifth feature, when the CPU 1 acquires the capability information of the printer 1500, the CPU 1 causes the data processing means to perform the character code sharing process in accordance with the acquired capability information of the output device. Processing can be distributed between the printer 1500 side and the host computer 100 side.

In the sixth feature, when the data processing means is present in the printer 1500, the CPU 1 determines whether the data processing means and the printer in the host computer 100 correspond to each other in accordance with the acquired capability information of the printer 1500. The data is distributed and processed by the data processing unit in 1500, and the data processing time by the data processing unit can be reduced.

In the seventh feature, when the CPU 1 acquires the capability information of the printer 1500 through communication via the bidirectional interface, the CPU 1 processes the data by the data processing means in accordance with the acquired capability information of the printer 1500. Thus, the data processing can be distributed between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100.

According to the eighth feature, the CPU 1 determines whether the data processing means in the host computer 100 and the printer 150 correspond to the acquired capability information of the printer 1500.
By changing the ratio of the load for distributing the data by the data processing means of 0, it is possible to process the output efficiently while equalizing the data processing load between the host computer 100 and the printer 1500.

According to the ninth feature, various windows can be opened on the CRT 10 to execute various data processing, and various data processing can be instructed by a simple operation.

According to the tenth feature, the acquisition of the capability information of the printer 1500 by the CPU 1 is performed at a timing at which communication between the host computer 100 and the printer 1500 is possible, thereby reducing the communication load for acquiring the capability information. Is possible.

In the eleventh feature, the acquisition of the capability information of the printer 1500 by the CPU 1 is performed before the output instruction, so that the communication load for acquiring the capability information can be reduced.

In the twelfth feature, the CPU 1 acquires the capability information of the printer 1500 stored in the RAM 3 in the host computer 100, and
00 can be obtained without fail.

In the thirteenth feature, the distributed control by the CPU 1 determines the load ratio corresponding to the capability information of the printer 1500 in accordance with the capability information of the printer 1500, and determines the optimal load for equalizing the data processing load. Allows ratios to be determined.

In the fourteenth feature, the distributed control by the CPU 1 determines the sharing ratio in accordance with the capability information of the printer 1500 when an output job occurs, and timely determines the optimum load ratio for equalizing the data processing load. Can be determined.

In the fifteenth feature, the distributed control by the CPU 1 is variable for each job, and it is possible to determine a load ratio for equalizing the data processing load for each job.

In the sixteenth feature, the distributed control by the CPU 1 is variable for each page, and it is possible to determine a load ratio for equalizing the data processing load for each page.

In the seventeenth feature, the capability information of the printer 1500 obtained by the CPU 1 is stored as a temporary file in the host computer 1500 to reduce the communication load for obtaining the capability information.
Hereafter, it is possible to refer to anytime without communication.

The eighteenth feature is that the printer 150
0 indicates a laser beam printer, and it is possible to determine a data processing load corresponding to the capability information of the laser beam printer.

In the nineteenth feature, the printer 150
0 indicates an ink-jet printer, which makes it possible to determine a data processing load corresponding to the capability information of the ink-jet printer.

In the twentieth feature, the CPU 1500 controls the printer 1500 according to the distributed data processing.
And the host computer 100 perform parallel processing so that the printer 1500 and the host computer 100 can efficiently perform the same data processing.

According to a twenty-first feature, the present invention is an output device (printer 1500) for processing data input from an information processing device (host computer 100), wherein a notifying means (CPU 14 is a control program stored in ROM 15, RAM 16, etc.) In response to an inquiry from the information processing apparatus (host computer 100), the capability information including the presence or absence of a data processing unit of the output device (printer 1500) is transmitted to the host computer 100.
Then, based on the data processing information determined by the host computer 100 in accordance with the notified capability information, the CPU 1 distributes the data by the data processing means, and the printer 1500 notified to the host computer 100 side. Host computer 1 according to the capability information of
00 makes it possible to efficiently process data processing corresponding to the ability determined.

In the twenty-second feature, the information processing apparatus is a host computer 100, and the output device is a printer 1500.
500 notification functions (CPU 14 is ROM 15, RAM 1
6) executes the control program stored in the host computer 100 and notifies the host computer 100 of the capability information for data processing in response to the inquiry from the host computer 100. Based on the data processing information determined by the host computer 100, the CPU 14 causes the data to be processed by the data processing means, and the capability determined by the host computer according to the capability information of the printer 1500 notified to the host computer 100 side. It is possible to effectively process data that matches.

The information processing apparatus is a host computer 100, and the output control means and the conversion processing means are constituted by a printer 1500.
Printer 1500 for data to be output at
Computer 10 that controls the transfer of data to be transferred to printer 1 and the transfer of converted data to printer 1500.
0 based on the result of the control by the host computer 1
00, the CPU 14 of the printer 1500 receives the converted data based on the unconverted data and the result of the host computer 100, based on the transferred data to be transferred. The output process is controlled based on the data content.

In the twenty-third feature, the CPU 14 sets the data processing time for processing data in response to an inquiry from the host computer 100 to the host computer 1.
00, the CPU 14 causes the data processing means to perform data processing on the data based on the data processing time determined by the host computer 100 in accordance with the notified data processing time of the data processing means. It is possible to efficiently process data corresponding to the capability determined by the host computer 1000 according to the notified data processing time of the printer 1500.

According to the twenty-fourth feature, when the CPU 14 notifies the host computer 100 of the capability information in response to the inquiry from the host computer 100, the data processing determined by the host computer 100 in accordance with the notified capability information. Based on the information, the CPU 14 causes the data to be processed by the rasterizer, and the host computer 1
It is possible to efficiently process data corresponding to the capability determined by the host computer 100 according to the capability information of the printer 1500 notified to the 00 side.

In the twenty-fifth feature, when the CPU 14 notifies the host computer 100 of the capability information of the printer 1500 in response to an inquiry from the host computer 100, the CPU 14 determines the capability information of the printer 1500 in accordance with the notified capability information. The CPU 14 causes the character processing to be processed by the data processing means based on the data processing information obtained by the CPU 14 and the host computer 10 according to the capability information of the printer 1500 notified to the host computer 100 side.
0 enables efficient data processing of a character code corresponding to the determined ability.

In the twenty-sixth feature, when the CPU 14 notifies the host computer 100 of the capability information in response to an inquiry from the host computer 100, the data processing determined by the host computer 100 in accordance with the notified capability information. The CPU 14 causes the data processing means to process the bitmap data based on the information, and the printer 1500 notified to the host computer 100 side.
It is possible to efficiently process bitmap data corresponding to the ability determined by the information processing apparatus according to the ability information of the information processing apparatus.

In the twenty-seventh feature, when the CPU 14 notifies the host computer 100 of the capability information of the printer 1500 via the bidirectional interface 13 in response to an inquiry from the host computer 100, the CPU 14 responds to the notified capability information. Based on the data processing information determined by the host computer 100, the CPU 14 causes the data to be processed by the data processing means, and the capability determined by the host computer 100 according to the capability information of the printer 1500 notified to the host computer 100 side. It is possible to process appropriate data efficiently.

In the twenty-eighth feature, the printer 150
It is possible to acquire the capability information of the data processing means of 0, disperse the data according to the acquired capability information, perform the data processing, and perform the distributed processing on the output device side and the information processing device side. And

In the twenty-ninth feature, when the capability information of the printer 1500 is notified to the printer driver in response to an inquiry from the printer driver in the host computer 100, the printer driver determines the capability information in accordance with the notified capability information. CPU 1 based on the data processing information
4 allows the data to be distributed and processed by the data processing means so that the data processing corresponding to the capability determined by the printer driver according to the capability information of the output device notified to the printer driver can be efficiently processed.

In a thirtieth feature, the printer 150
0 and the host computer 100 can communicate with each other via a network, exchange capability information with the host computer 100 on the network, and share data processing via the network.

In a thirty-first feature, the printer 150
0 notifies the optimum time data for calculating the data processing load,
It is possible to properly calculate the data processing burden between 0 and the information processing device.

According to the thirty-second feature, the printer 150
0 notifies the optimal time data for calculating the rasterization processing load, and enables the information processing apparatus to properly calculate the rasterization processing load between the output device and the information processing apparatus.

Hereinafter, the flow of a print job process of the printer control system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a data processing path between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100 shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes a running application for performing, for example, DTP processing. A data analysis unit 102 analyzes a print job in page units and classifies the print job into figures, outline fonts, and the like (see FIG. 7 described later).
Then, the rasterizing process sharing is determined, and the font 103,
Each processing data is instructed to a font rasterizer (functioning as a first rasterizer) 104, a graphics rasterizer (functioning as a first rasterizer) 105, and a page data synthesizing unit 106. The page data combining unit 106 combines output data from the data analyzing unit 102, the graphics rasterizer 105, the font 103, and the font rasterizer 104.

Reference numerals 107 and 201 denote input / output handlers for controlling human output between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100. Reference numeral 202 denotes a rasterizer that performs a bitmap development process based on the rasterized data. Reference numeral 203 denotes a font rasterizer that executes font rasterizing processing by referring to the received outline font data or by referring to a memory 204 that stores outline font data according to the received character code. 205
Denotes a print control unit which prints the bitmap data output from the rasterizer 202 (second rasterizer).
(See FIG. 4). A to N indicate data processing paths.

As shown in this figure, the data analysis unit 1
02, when the rasterizer 202 and the font rasterizer 203 of the printer 1500 are present as a result of the analysis of the print job, for example, the rasterization of the font can be performed in a distributed manner according to the performance of the host computer 100 and the printer 1500. The fonts are transferred to the printer 1500 in a bitmap format in accordance with the rasterizing process of the host computer 100 (path C → path H → path J → path K), and the remaining fonts are transferred to the printer 1500 in an outline format (path). D →
(Path G → Path J → Path K), rasterization is performed by the rasterizer 202 and the font rasterizer 203.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the procedure of the font rasterization parallel processing between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100 shown in FIG. In addition,
(1) to (6) show steps of the host computer 100, and (11) to (14) show steps of the printer 1500. Also, the printer 15
When the rasterizing process is left to 00, the steps after step (3) and after step (11) are simultaneous progress steps, and the font rasterizing process is performed in parallel.

First, a routine for analyzing and classifying font data in a print job is executed in accordance with a flowchart shown in FIG. 7 described later (1), and processing sharing is determined according to processing capacity (2). If rasterization to the printer 1500 has been determined, the printer 1500
, The outline data of the font or the character code of the outline font is transmitted (3). Thus, the process of step (11) is started at the same time. For the sake of explanation, the processing operation of the host computer 100 will be described below.

Next, a rasterizing process (scaling) for the font data assigned to the host computer 100 is executed (4), and the developed bitmap font is sent to the printer 1500 (5). Thereby, the process of step (12) is started at the same time.

Next, the page data is transferred to the printer 1500.
(6), and the process ends.

On the other hand, when the printer 1500 receives the assigned font data from the host computer 100 in step (3), the printer 1500 scales (rasterizes) the received font and registers it in the RAM 16 (11).

On the other hand, when bitmap data is received from the host computer 100 in step (5), the received bitmap data is registered in the RAM 16 (1).
2).

On the other hand, when the page data is received from the host computer 100 in step (6), the received page data is stored in the RAM 16 (13), and the rasterizer 202 executes page rasterization by referring to the data in the RAM 16, The page-rasterized printer data is transferred to the print control unit 205 (14), and the process ends.

As described above, the host computer 100 acquires the resource data of the printer 1500, analyzes the print job based on the resource data, and determines the ratio of the rasterization processing load of the printer and the host computer to the rasterization information of the print job. The host computer and / or the printer concurrently rasterize the rasterized information extracted from the print job according to the determined rasterizing processing load ratio, thereby equalizing the rasterizing information processing load between the printer and the host computer. can do. The resource data processing program analyzed by the host computer 100 is stored in the hard disk 11 of the host computer 100 by the floppy disk 12, and if the printer driver can execute the above processing procedure, the resource data processing program need not be stored in the ROM 2 in advance. Good.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the detailed procedure of the font rasterization analysis / classification processing routine shown in FIG. Note that (1) to (11) indicate each step.

First, when a print job is generated from the application, the data analysis unit 102 searches the font data of the print job (1) and determines whether or not the data still exists (2). Is determined, if YES, it is determined whether the retrieved data matches the bitmap font of the printer 1500 (3), and if YES, the font is copied to the printer 1500.
(8), and step (1)
Return to

On the other hand, if the determination in step (3) is NO, it is determined whether or not the searched data matches the outline font in printer 1500 (4), and YES
If so, the font is classified as an outline code of the printer 1500 (9), and the process returns to step (1).

On the other hand, if the determination in step (4) is NO, it is determined whether the retrieved data can be scaled by the rasterizer of the printer 1500 (5). If the determination is YES, the font is classified into outline data of the printer 1500. (10) Return to step (1).

On the other hand, if the determination in step (5) is NO, it is determined whether or not the searched data is an outline font (6).
(11) and returns to step (1). If NO, the searched data is classified into bitmap data (7) and the procedure returns to step (1). .

According to the flowchart of FIG. 7, the font data in the print job is classified into five types as described below.

The font data classified into the bitmap code in step (8) has the bitmap font data in the printer 1500. Therefore, the character code, the attribute, and the like are sent from the data analysis unit 102 to the printer 1500. Processed by the rasterizer 202 (path B →
Route J → Route K).

Since the font data classified into the outline code in step (9) has the outline font data in the printer 1500, the character code and the attribute are transmitted from the data analysis unit 102 to the printer 1500. Font rasterizer 20 above
3 is converted into bitmap font data and processed by the rasterizer 202 (path B → path J → path K).
→ path M → path N) or host computer 1
After being converted to bitmap font data by the font rasterizer 104 on 00, the converted bitmap font data is sent to the printer 1500 and processed by the rasterizer 202 (path C → path H → path J).
→ Path K) or one of the two processing modes is selected.

The font data classified into the outline data in step (10) has the font rasterizer 203 in the printer 1500 but does not have the outline font data.
The character code, attributes, etc. are passed to font 103 from 2
The corresponding outline font data is stored in the printer 150
0, is converted to bitmap font data by the font rasterizer 203 on the printer 1500, and is processed by the rasterizer 202 (path D → path G →
Path K → path M) or the host computer 10
After being converted to bitmap font data by the font rasterizer 104 on 0, the converted bitmap font data is sent to the printer 1500 and processed by the rasterizer 202 (path C → path H → path J →
Path K) or one of the two processing modes is selected.

At step (11), the font data classified as host scaling is
0 has no font rasterizer, the font rasterizer 104 on the host computer 100 converts the bitmap data into bitmap data, and then sends the converted bitmap data to the printer 1500 for processing by the rasterizer 202 (path). C → Route H → Route J →
Path K).

Since the font data classified into bitmap data in step (7) does not have bitmap font data in the printer 1500, the bitmap font data on the host computer 100 is sent to the printer 1500 and the rasterizer Processed by 202.

When the font rasterizing process of the outline font is to be shared among the five types of font data, the font data classified by the host scaling (step (11)) is subjected to font rasterizing by the host computer 100. The font data that has been processed and classified into the outline code (step (9)) and the outline data (step (10)) are stored in the host computer 100 and the printer 1.
The host computer 100 or the printer 150 according to the 500 font rasterization processing resources (capabilities).
0 means that the font is rasterized.

Hereinafter, the characteristic structure of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In the thirty-third feature, the capability information of the data processing means of the electronic device (printer 1500) is acquired (step (2) in FIG. 6), and the data is distributed according to the acquired capability information. Then, the data processing (steps (3) to (6) in FIG. 6) is performed, and the data processing can be distributed and processed between the electronic device (printer 1500) and the information processing apparatus (host computer 100).

In the thirty-fourth feature, the data is processed by the data processing means in accordance with the acquired data processing time of the printer 1500, and the data processing in the printer 1500 is distributed between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100. Processing.

According to a thirty-fifth feature, the data is rasterized by the data processing means in accordance with the acquired data processing time of the printer 1500, and the rasterization is distributed between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100. Is possible.

According to a thirty-sixth feature, the data is subjected to character code processing by the data processing means in accordance with the acquired data processing time of the printer 1500, and the character code processing in the electronic device is performed by the printer 1500 and the host computer 100. And can perform distributed processing.

The thirty-seventh feature is that the printer 150
If the data processing means exists in the host computer 100, the data processing means in the host computer 100 and the printer 150
The data processing unit within 0 performs distributed processing of the data, thereby making it possible to reduce the data processing time by both data processing units.

In the thirty-eighth feature, the printer 150
When the capability information of the printer 1500 is obtained through communication via the bidirectional interface, the data is processed by the data processing means in accordance with the acquired capability information of the printer 1500, and the data processing is performed between the printer 1500 and the host computer 1.
It is possible to perform distributed processing with the 00 side.

According to a thirty-ninth feature, the host computer 1 is controlled according to the acquired capability information of the printer 1500.
00, the ratio of the burden of distributing the data between the data processing means of the printer 1500 and the data processing means of the printer 1500 is changed.
It is possible to process the output efficiently while equalizing the data processing load with 0.

According to the fortieth feature, the capability information of the printer 1500 stored in the host computer 100 can be acquired, and the capability information of the printer 1500 can be reliably acquired.

In the forty-first feature, various windows can be opened to execute various data processing, and various data processing can be instructed by a simple operation.

In the forty-second feature, the printer 150
Acquisition of the capability information of 0 is performed at a timing at which communication between the host computer 100 and the printer 1500 is possible, so that the communication load for acquiring the capability information can be reduced.

In the forty-third feature, the acquisition of the capability information of the host computer 100 is performed prior to the output instruction, and the communication load for acquiring the capability information can be reduced.

In the forty-fourth feature, the data processing distribution can determine the optimum load ratio for equalizing the data processing load by determining the load ratio according to the capability information of the printer 1500. And

In the forty-fifth aspect, the distribution of the data processing is performed by determining a sharing ratio according to the capability information of the printer 1500 when an output job is generated, and determining an optimum load ratio for equalizing the data processing load. Enables timely decisions.

In the forty-sixth feature, the distribution of the data processing is variable for each job, and a load ratio for equalizing the data processing load for each job can be determined.

According to a forty-seventh feature, the distribution of the data processing is variable for each page, and a load ratio for equalizing the data processing load for each page can be determined.

In the forty-eighth feature, the acquired capability information of the printer 1500 is
In this case, the information is stored as a temporary file to reduce the communication load for acquiring the capability information, and thereafter, can be referred to at any time without communication.

[0200] In the forty-ninth feature, the printer 150
0 indicates a laser beam printer, and it is possible to determine a data processing load corresponding to the capability information of the laser beam printer.

The fiftieth feature is that the printer 150
0 indicates an ink-jet printer, and it is possible to determine a data processing load corresponding to the capability information of the ink-jet printer.

In the fifty-first feature, in response to the distributed data processing, the printer 1500 and the host computer 100 perform parallel processing, and the printer 1500 and the host computer 100 efficiently process the same data processing. Is possible.

[0203] In a fifty-second feature, in response to an inquiry from the information processing device (host computer 100), the capability information of the electronic device is notified to the information processing device (step (2) in FIG. 6). The data is distributed (steps (11) to (14) in FIG. 6) based on the data processing information determined by the host computer 100 according to the notified capability information, and the host computer 100
The host computer 100 can efficiently process data corresponding to the capacity determined according to the data processing time of the printer 1500 notified to the side.

In the fifty-third feature, when a data processing time for processing data in response to an inquiry from the host computer 100 is notified to the host computer 100, the host computer is notified in accordance with the notified data processing time of the data processing means. Based on the data processing time determined by the computer 100, the data is processed by the data processing means of the printer 1500, and the host computer 1
The host computer 100 can efficiently process data corresponding to the capacity determined according to the data processing time of the printer 1500 notified to the 00 side.

In the fifty-fourth feature, when the capability information is notified to the host computer 100 in response to the inquiry from the host computer 100, the data processing information determined by the host computer 100 is determined according to the notified capability information. The printer 150 is processed by the rasterizer based on the
It is possible to efficiently process data corresponding to the capability determined by the host computer 100 according to the capability information of 0.

According to a fifty-fifth feature, when the capability information of the printer 1500 is notified to the host computer 100 in response to an inquiry from the host computer 100, the host computer 10 responds to the notified capability information.
0, the character code is subjected to data processing by the data processing means based on the data processing information determined at 0, and a character code matching the capability determined by the host computer 100 according to the capability information of the printer 1500 notified to the host computer 100 side. This enables efficient data processing.

According to a fifty-sixth feature, when the capability information is notified to the host computer 100 in response to an inquiry from the host computer 100, the data processing information determined by the host computer 100 is determined according to the notified capability information. Data processing means for processing bitmap data based on the capability information of the printer 1500 notified to the host computer 100 based on the capability information of the printer 1500. Make it possible.

According to the fifty-seventh feature, when the capability information of the printer 1500 is notified to the host computer 100 via the bidirectional interface in response to an inquiry from the host computer 100, the host computer is notified in accordance with the notified capability information. The data is processed by the data processing means based on the data processing information determined by the host computer 100, and the host computer 100 is notified of the capability information of the printer 1500 by the host computer 100.
Can efficiently process data corresponding to the determined ability.

[0209] In the fifty-eighth feature, when the capability information of the printer 1500 is notified to the printer driver in response to an inquiry from the printer driver in the host computer 100, the printer driver determines the capability information in accordance with the notified capability information. The data is distributed by the data processing means of the printer 1500 based on the received data processing information, and the printer 1500 notified to the printer driver side.
It is possible to efficiently process data processing corresponding to the capability determined by the printer driver according to the capability information of the printer driver.

In the fifty-ninth feature, the printer 150
0 and the host computer 100 can communicate with each other via a network, exchange capability information with the host computer 100 on the network, and share data processing via the network.

In the sixtieth feature, the host computer 100 notifies time data optimal for calculating the data processing load, and the host computer 100 properly calculates the data processing load between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100. It is possible to do.

In the sixty-first feature, the host computer 100 notifies time data optimal for calculating the rasterization processing load, and the host computer 100 properly calculates the rasterization processing load between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100. It is possible to do.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a rasterizing process sharing ratio between the printer 1500 and the host computer 100 shown in FIG. 4. For example, the rasterizer 202 capable of processing the rasterized data by the printer 1500, and a font based on the outline font data. This shows the state of the font rasterizing process when a font rasterizer 203 capable of performing rasterization is provided.

In the figure, reference numeral 30 denotes a font rasterizing process in a print job, for example, which is composed of a host scaling 31 for scaling by the host computer 100, outline data 32 (including figures and fonts) which can be rasterized by the printer 1500, and an outline code 33. .

For example, in the state of FIG. 8, the outline data 32 is divided into outline data 32-H processed by the host computer 100 and outline data 32-P processed by the printer 1500, and the outline code 33 is stored in the font rasterizer of the printer 1500. 203 directly performs the processing.

First, the host rasterizing process 30 in the print job is assigned to the host scaling 31 and the remaining outline data 32 and outline code 33 are converted to the host scaling 31 according to the host processing capability and the printer processing capability. Is divided into a host scaling process portion and a printer scaling process portion.

Although the outline data 32 is divided in FIG. 8, when the outline data 32 is small and the outline code 33 is large, the outline code 33 may be divided.

The host computer 1 is connected to the printer 1500.
If the font rasterizer 203 capable of processing the outline font data on 00 is not provided,
The font information is classified into a host scaling 31 and an outline code 33. The printer 1500 has no outline font data, and the host computer 10
When the font rasterizer 203 capable of processing the outline font data on 0 is provided, the font information is classified into the host scaling 31 and the outline data 32. In both cases, the font information is classified according to the host processing capability and the printer processing capability. , Host scaling 31
Are divided into a host scaling process portion and a printer scaling process portion.

As described above, the host computer 100 obtains the resource data of the printer 1500 and dynamically variably sets the rasterization processing sharing ratio for each printer job, so that the data processing load on the host computer 100 and the printer 1500 can be equalized. Thus, the time from the input of the print command to the start of paper feeding from the printer 1500 can be shortened.

In the above embodiment, the font rasterizing process of the outline font is performed by the host computer 1.
00 and the printer 1500 have been described,
Rasterization processing other than fonts, such as rasterization of vector graphics and enlargement / reduction of bit images, may be similarly shared.

Although the above embodiment does not particularly mention the acquisition timing of the resource data (for example, table data), the host computer 100
A method of storing the resource data on the hard disk 11 as a temporary file at a timing at which communication with the resource data 00 is possible, or a method of downloading the resource data from the printer 1500 and storing it as a temporary file when a print command is issued may be used. , The host computer 10 in advance
0 may be stored in the HDll.

According to the above embodiment, the host computer acquires the resource data of the printer, analyzes the print job based on the resource data, and determines the ratio of the rasterization processing burden of the printer and the host computer to the rasterization information of the print job. Since the rasterizing information extracted from the print job in accordance with the determined rasterizing processing load ratio is configured to be rasterized by the host computer or / and the printer in parallel, the rasterizing information processing between the printer and the host computer is performed. The burden can be equalized.

Further, since the rasterizing information including the font data and the vector graphics data is shared and processed in parallel, the print job can be efficiently processed while equalizing the data processing load between the printer and the host computer. Can be.

Further, in the printer control system according to the embodiment of the present invention, the host computer acquires the resource data of the printer, analyzes the print job based on the resource data of the printer when the print job occurs, and performs the first processing. Dynamically determines the parallel processing sharing ratio between the rasterizer and the second rasterizer, and the second rasterizer or the first rasterizer parallelizes the rasterization information in the print job according to the determined parallel processing sharing ratio. As a result, the print job can be efficiently processed while equalizing the data processing load between the printer and the host computer.

Further, since rasterization information including font data and vector graphics data is shared and processed in parallel, it is possible to efficiently process print jobs while equalizing the data processing load on the printer and the host computer. It is possible to easily construct a system capable of performing the above.

The determining means is configured to analyze the font size in the print job based on the resource data of the printer and to dynamically determine the parallel processing sharing ratio between the first rasterizer and the second rasterizer. Therefore, the rasterizing process corresponding to the font type can be shared between the host computer and the printer.

Further, the determining means analyzes the amount of outline interpolation information in the print job based on the resource data of the printer, and dynamically determines the parallel processing sharing ratio between the first rasterizer and the second rasterizer. Therefore, the function of rasterizing corresponding to the number of interpolations in the outline information can be shared between the host computer and the printer.

The present invention may be applied individually to a single device (information processing device or output device), or may be combined into a single system as a system, that is, the information processing device and the output device are combined. You may apply to the information output system which can communicate. Further, in this case, the control program stored in the storage medium may be installed in each device and constructed, or each control program may be configured as a single unit stored in advance.

[0229]

As described above, according to the information processing apparatus according to the present invention, before the information processing apparatus transfers data to the output device, the information is transferred based on the capability information obtained from the output device. The data to be transferred or the data obtained by converting the data to be transferred is transferred to the output device, so that the output device itself can freely output the data accompanying the output processing or the converted data that can be output directly from the output device according to the capability of the output device. And can be selectively transferred to an output device.

Further, according to the output device of the present invention, the conversion data converted based on the data to be converted from the data determined and transferred under the control of the information processing device and the other data. If it is, the data output process is controlled so that it is output as it is, and if the data requires conversion, it is converted and then output, so that the data received from the information processing device is converted into data that can be output by the output device. , And the data received from the information processing apparatus can be output efficiently and in a short time.

Further, according to the information output system of the present invention, the data itself to be subjected to the output processing on the output device side or the data can be directly output from the output device according to the capability of the output device from the data to be transferred to the output device. The conversion data can be freely distributed and selectively transferred to the output device, and the processing load for converting data received from the information processing device into data that can be output by the output device can be reduced. The data received from the processing device can be output efficiently and in a short time.

Further, according to the information processing method of the present invention, the data to be transferred to the output device can be directly output from the output device according to the capability of the output device. The converted data can be freely distributed and selectively transferred to the output device.

Further, the processing load for converting data received from the information processing device into data that can be output by the output device is reduced, and data received from the information processing device can be output efficiently and in a short time.

Therefore, the data conversion process on the output device side for the data transferred from the information processing device is reduced, and the data transferred from the information processing device can be processed efficiently and in a short time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a first output device (recording device) to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is an external view showing a configuration of a second output device (recording device) to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of a second output device illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer control system to which an information processing apparatus and an output device according to an embodiment of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a data processing path between the printer shown in FIG. 1 and a host computer.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a font rasterizing parallel processing procedure between a printer and a host computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a detailed procedure of a font rasterization analysis / classification processing routine illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a rasterizing process sharing ratio between the printer shown in FIG. 1 and a host computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1CPU 2R0M 3RAM 14CPU 15R0M 16RAM 100 Host computer (information processing device) 1500 printer (output device)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshifumi Okamoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Toshiya Mitsuhashi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon (72) Inventor Satoshi Nagata 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Masaki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Takanori Nishijima 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/12

Claims (81)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus for transferring data to an output device, comprising: an acquiring unit for acquiring capability information of the output device; and
For the data stored in the information processing device to be output by the output device , the output device performs rasterization.
Data to be processed is transferred to the output device
Processing and data to be output in the information processing apparatus.
The rasterizing process and the data after the rasterizing are output as described above.
Control means for performing distributed control of processing transferred to the input device. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines which data of the data to be transferred is to be rasterized based on the capability information. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus can open various windows and execute various data processing. 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition unit acquires capability information of the output device from the output device. 5. The information according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition of the capability information of the output device by the acquisition unit is performed at a timing at which communication between the information processing device and the output device is possible. Processing equipment. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acquisition of the capability information of the output device by the acquisition unit is performed prior to an output instruction. 7. The control by the control means is performed by a raster processor in the information processing apparatus according to capability information of the output device.
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a load ratio of the rise processing is changed. 8. The control by the control means is performed when the output job occurs , in accordance with the capability information of the output device.
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a load ratio of a rasterizing process in the processing apparatus is determined. 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control by the control unit is variable for each job. 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein control by said control means is variable for each page. 11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the capability information of the output device acquired by the acquisition unit is stored in the information processing apparatus in advance. 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output device is a laser printer. 13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output device is an ink jet printer. 14. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the output device and the information processing apparatus perform parallel processing according to the processing controlled by the control unit. 15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing in the information processing apparatus is performed by a printer driver. 16. The output device and the information processing device,
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is connected via a network. 17. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said capability information includes time data required for a rasterizing process. 18. The output device is a printer,
The acquisition means and the control means are constituted by a host computer
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
Place. 19. The data is a character code.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 20. The information processing apparatus according to claim 20 , wherein
Performing based on the stored capability information of the output device
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 21. An information processing apparatus based on data input from an information processing apparatus.
An output device for performing output , and the information processing device
Data to be output by the output device stored in the
Data should be rasterized by the output device.
The data is transferred to the output device and converted
Data rasterization processing and data after the rasterization
Control means for controlling processing transferred to the output device.
From the information processing device based on the result of control by the
The raster of the unrasterized data to be sent
Conversion processing means for performing stallization processing, and data rasterized by the conversion processing means
And the information processing device based on the result of the
Output based on the rasterized data
Output control means for controlling the output device. 22. The information processing apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the information processing apparatus is a host computer.
The conversion processing means and the output control means are
22. The printer according to claim 21, wherein the printer is formed of a linter.
On-board output equipment. 23. The capability information indicates a data processing time.
The output device according to claim 21 or 22, wherein
vessel. 24. The result of control by said control means is
The character code input from the information processing device is output to the output device.
Indicates that rasterization processing is to be performed by the conversion processing means.
22. The information to be displayed.
The described output device. 25. The result of the control by the control means is
The bitmap data input from the information processing device is
Indicate processing by the conversion processing means in the output device
22. The information according to claim 20, wherein
Output equipment. 26. The device according to claim 26, wherein the output device is a bidirectional interface.
The capability information of the output device via the
22. The method according to claim 20, wherein
Output equipment. 27. The information processing apparatus according to claim 27, wherein
請, characterized in that to carry out me by the printer driver
22. The output device according to claim 20 or 21. 28. The output device and the information processing device,
21. The apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the apparatus is connected to a network.
Or the output device of 21. 29. The capability information relates to data processing.
22. Time data is included.
Output device as described. 30. Information processing for transferring data to an output device
Device, and based on data input from the information processing device.
Information output system that can communicate with output devices
The information processing apparatus acquires capability information of the output device.
Acquisition means , based on the capability information acquired by the acquisition means,
In the output device stored in the information processing device,
Data to be output to the output device
Data to be processed is transferred to the output device
Processing and rasterization of data to be converted and the rasterization
Process in which the data after the rise is transferred to the output device.
Control means to control , the output device, based on the capability information of the output device,
In the output device stored in the information processing device,
Data to be output to the output device
Data to be processed is transferred to the output device
Processing and rasterization of data to be converted and the rasterization
Process in which the data after the rise is transferred to the output device.
Based on the result of the control by the control means for controlling,
Rasterized processing transferred from the information processing device
Conversion processing means for performing rasterization processing of missing data
And the data rasterized by the conversion processing means.
And the information processing device based on the result of the
Output based on the rasterized data
Output control means for controlling the information output system. 31. The control means, based on the capability information,
Which of the data to be transferred is rasterized
4. A method for determining whether or not to perform a noise reduction process.
0 information output system. 32. In the information processing apparatus, various types of
Open the window and note that various data processing can be performed.
32. The information output system according to claim 30, wherein 33. The apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the obtaining means is provided in front of the output device.
Acquiring capability information of the output device
Item 30. The information output system according to Item 30 or 31. 34. A function of said output device by said obtaining means.
Acquisition of force information is performed between the information processing device and the output device.
A contract that is performed at a time when communication is possible.
30. The information output system according to claim 30 or 31. 35. A function of said output device by said obtaining means.
Acquisition of force information is performed prior to output instructions.
32. The information output system according to claim 30, wherein 36. The control by the control means, wherein
According to the capability information of the device, the
The feature is to change the stallization processing burden ratio
32. The information output system according to claim 30, wherein: 37. The control by the control means, comprising :
When a job occurs, the information is output according to the capability information of the output device.
Determines the burden ratio of rasterization processing in the report processor
The information output according to claim 30 or 31, wherein
Power system. 38. The control by the control means is performed for each job.
32. The method according to claim 30, wherein
Information output system. 39. The control by the control means is possible for each page.
32. The information according to claim 30, wherein the information is strange.
Information output system. 40. The method according to claim 40, wherein
The capability information of the output device is
32. A memory which is stored in advance.
Information output system described. 41. The output device is a laser printer.
32. The information output according to claim 30, wherein the information is output.
system. 42. The output device is an ink jet printer.
32. The method according to claim 30, wherein
Information output system. 43. A process controlled by said control means.
Accordingly, the output device and the information processing apparatus perform parallel processing.
32. The information according to claim 30 or 31 , wherein
Output system. 44. The processing in the information processing apparatus comprises :
Contractor characterized by being performed by a linter driver
30. The information output system according to claim 30 or 31. 45. The output device and the information processing device,
31. The device according to claim 30, wherein the device is connected via a network.
Or the information output system of 31. 46. The capability information relates to data processing.
32. Time data including time data.
Information output system described. 47. The output device is a printer,
The acquisition means and the control means are constituted by a host computer
31. The information output according to claim 30, wherein the information is output.
system. 48. The data is a character code
The information output system according to claim 30 or 31, wherein
M 49. The information processing apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the information processing apparatus is a host computer.
The conversion processing means and the output control means are
31. The printer according to claim 30, wherein the printer is constituted by a linter.
Information output system. 50. The result of control by said control means is:
The character code input from the information processing device is output to the output device.
Indicates that rasterization processing is to be performed by the conversion processing means.
32. The information to be indicated.
Information output system described. 51. The result of control by said control means is
The bitmap data input from the information processing device is
Indicate processing by the conversion processing means in the output device
32. The information as claimed in claim 30, wherein
Information output system. 52. The output device includes a bidirectional interface.
The capability information of the output device via the
32. The method according to claim 30 or 31, wherein
Information output system. 53. The information processing apparatus according to claim 53 , wherein:
Performing based on the stored capability information of the output device
The information output system according to claim 30 or 31, wherein
M 54. The control by the control means, wherein the information
Based on the capability information of the output device stored in the processing device
32. The method according to claim 30 or 31, wherein
Information output system. 55. Information processing for transferring data to an output device
An information processing method in an apparatus , comprising: an acquiring step of acquiring capability information of the output device; and
The output device stored in the information processing device.
Data to be output at the output device
The data to be tarized is transferred to the output device.
Processing and the data to be output to the information processing device.
Rasterization processing and the data after the rasterization
A control step for decentralized control of the process transferred to the output device.
And an information processing method comprising: 56. The control method, comprising:
Based on the data to be transferred,
Request to determine whether or not to perform
Item 55. The information processing method according to Item 55. 57. In the information processing apparatus, various types of
Open the window and note that various data processing can be performed.
57. The information processing method according to claim 55 or 56, wherein 58. The method according to claim 58, wherein the obtaining step is performed by the output device.
Acquiring the capability information of the output device from the
The information processing method according to claim 55 or 56. 59. The output device according to the obtaining step
Acquisition of the capability information of the information processing device and the output device
Communication is performed at a time when communication with the
57. The information processing method according to claim 55 or 56. 60. The output device according to the obtaining step.
Acquisition of the ability information of the
The information processing method according to claim 55 or 56, wherein: 61. The control in the control step, wherein
According to the capability information of the output device,
That changing the burden ratio of rasterization
57. The information processing method according to claim 55 or 56. 62. The control according to the control step, comprising :
At the time of the occurrence of the job, according to the capability information of the output device,
Determine the burden ratio of rasterization processing on the information processing device.
57. The information according to claim 55 or 56, wherein
Processing method. 63. The control according to the control step, wherein
55. The method according to claim 55, wherein the setting is variable for each step.
6. The information processing method according to item 6. 64. The control in the control step is performed for each page.
57. The method according to claim 55, wherein the distance is variable.
Information processing method. 65. An image obtained by the obtaining step
The capability information of the output device is
55. It is stored in advance, 55 or
56. The information processing method according to 56. 66. The output device is a laser printer.
The information processing according to claim 55 or 56, wherein
Method. 67. An ink jet printer according to claim 67, wherein :
55. The method according to claim 55, wherein
Information processing method. 68. The method according to claim 68, wherein the control step
The output device and the information processing device according to data processing
55 performs parallel processing.
6. The information processing method according to item 6. 69. A process in the information processing apparatus, wherein
Contractor characterized by being performed by a linter driver
55. The information processing method according to claim 55 or 56. 70. The output device and the information processing device,
56. The device of claim 55, wherein the device is connected to a network.
Or the information processing method according to 56. 71. The capability information is subjected to a rasterizing process.
55. Such time data is included.
Is an information processing method according to 56. 72. The data is a character code
The information processing method according to claim 55 or 56, wherein: 73. The information processing apparatus according to claim 73 , wherein:
Based on the capability information of the output device stored in the device
57. An information processing apparatus according to claim 55, wherein the information processing is performed.
Method. 74. A method based on data input from an information processing apparatus.
Information processing method for an output device that performs output.
The information processing device based on the capability information of the output device.
Data to be output by the output device stored in the
Data should be rasterized by the output device.
The data is transferred to the output device and converted
Data rasterization processing and data after the rasterization
Control means for controlling processing transferred to the output device.
From the information processing device based on the result of control by the
The raster of the unrasterized data to be sent
A conversion processing step for performing a stallization processing; and a data rasterized by the conversion processing step.
The information processing device based on the results of the data and the control means.
Output based on the rasterized data
And an output control step of controlling the information processing. 75. The capability information indicates a data processing time.
The information processing method according to claim 74, wherein: 76. The result of the control by the control means is
The character code input from the information processing device is output to the output device.
Performing rasterization processing in the conversion processing step
74. The information according to claim 74, wherein the information is for instructing the user.
Information processing method. 77. The result of the control by the control means is
The bitmap data input from the information processing device is
Specifies that processing is performed in the conversion processing step in the output device.
75. The information according to claim 74, wherein the information is information to be displayed.
Information processing method. 78. The output device includes a bidirectional interface.
The capability information of the output device via the
75. The information processing according to claim 74, wherein the notification is made to the user.
Method. 79. A process in the information processing apparatus, wherein
Contractor characterized by being performed by a linter driver
74. The information processing method according to claim 74. 80. The output device and the information processing device,
75. The device is connected via a network.
The information processing method described. 81. The capability information is related to data processing.
Information of claim 74, wherein it to contain time data
Information processing method.