JP6191272B2 - Printing program, information processing apparatus, and printing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing program, an information processing apparatus, and a printing system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to reduce a user's operation burden when performing printing, there is known a technology that enables batch setting of multiple items such as aggregate printing, duplex printing, black / white / color, stapling, and punching. It has been. For example, Patent Document 1 stores print job setting information for each use purpose variation, and when the user selects a use purpose, the print job setting information corresponding to the selected use purpose is applied to the print job. Is described.

  On the other hand, for example, in an office environment, it is desired that an administrator can restrict the print settings and print job output destinations from the viewpoint of saving resources and maintaining confidentiality. . However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, a history of print jobs executed in the past is stored as print job setting information, and print settings for each purpose of use are applied based on this history. For this reason, although the operation burden on the user can be reduced, the administrator cannot limit the applied print settings or limit the output destination.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and a printing program, an information processing apparatus, and a printing that can apply a restriction to a print setting to be applied and an output destination of a print job while reducing a user's operation burden. The purpose is to provide a system.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a printing program according to the present invention stores a setting file in which a print setting to be applied and an output destination priority condition are described for each attribute to be printed. A setting file acquisition function for updating the setting information acquired from the print management apparatus at an arbitrary timing and stored in the storage unit based on the setting file acquired from the print management apparatus, and a user operation for specifying an attribute to be printed A designation reception function for receiving a print job, a job generation function for generating a print job by applying a print setting according to a specified attribute of a print target based on the setting information updated based on the setting file , and the printing Output that determines the output destination of the print job according to the output destination priority condition corresponding to the specified attribute of the print target among the candidate output destinations of the job And determining function, the a job transmitting function of transmitting a print job, to realize the determined destination.

  According to the present invention, for each attribute to be printed, the print setting corresponding to the attribute to be printed is applied based on the setting file in which the print setting to be applied and the output destination priority condition are described. Since the output destination of the job is determined, it is possible to limit the applied print settings and the output destination of the print job while reducing the operation burden on the user.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the print management server. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of print settings input by the administrator for each print purpose of a document to be printed. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of print settings input by the administrator for each document type of a document to be printed. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output destination priority condition that is input by the administrator for each item relating to the confidentiality of a document to be printed. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the print management server. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the client PC. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an attribute designation screen displayed on the display device by the UI control unit. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output confirmation screen displayed on the display device by the UI control unit. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the client PC until the print job of the document created by the document creation application is output. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating details of processing in which the output destination determination unit determines the output destination of the print job. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration of the client PC.

  Exemplary embodiments of a printing program, an information processing apparatus, and a printing system according to the present invention are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printing system according to the present embodiment. The printing system shown in FIG. 1 includes a print management server 10, a plurality of client PCs 20A and 20B, a shared printer 30, a print server 40, a local printer 50, and an administrator PC 60.

  The print management server 10, the plurality of client PCs 20 </ b> A and 20 </ b> B, the shared printer 30, the print server 40, and the administrator PC 60 are each connected to the network 70 and can communicate with each other via the network 70. Each element connected to the network 70 may be in the same subnet, or may have a configuration in which a network device such as a router or a switch is sandwiched therebetween. The local printer 50 is locally connected to the client PC 20A. For the local connection between the client PC 20A and the local printer 50, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) is used.

  The local printer 50 is a printing apparatus that can be used only by the client PC 20A connected to the local printer 50 as an output destination of the print job. The local printer 50 has a lower printing processing capability than the shared printer 30 and the types of optional functions to be provided are often limited. Note that the local printer 50 may be a multifunction machine that combines not only the print function but also other functions such as a scanner function, a copy function, and a facsimile function.

  The shared printer 30 is a printing apparatus that can use any of a plurality of client PCs 20A and 20B connected to the network 70 as an output destination of a print job. Although only one shared printer 30 is illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of shared printers 70 may exist in the network 70. The shared printer 30 generally has a higher processing capability than the local printer 50, and a printer equipped with various optional functions is used. When a plurality of shared printers 30 are used, the processing capability of each shared printer 30 and the installed optional functions are often different. Note that the shared printer 30 may be a multifunction device that combines not only the print function but also other functions such as a scanner function, a copy function, and a facsimile function.

  The print server 40 can use any of the plurality of client PCs 20A and 20B connected to the network 70 as an output destination of the print job, but does not have a function of actually printing, and is a server device for storing the print job. is there. The print job stored in the print server 40 is transmitted to the shared printer 30 in response to a request from the shared printer 30 and is printed out in the shared printer 30 in the presence of the user. As a result, it is possible to realize a printing process with higher security than printing directly from the client PCs 20A and 20B to the shared printer 30.

  For example, when the user transmits a print job from the client PC 20A to the print server 40, the print server 40 uses the print job received from the client PC 20A as the user identification information (for example, user identification information such as a user name and user ID). Save in association. When the print job stored in the print server 40 is printed out by the shared printer 30, the user inputs, for example, user identification information and a password at the shared printer 30. The shared printer 30 performs user authentication by collating the input user authentication information with a password, and transmits user identification information of a user who has been successfully authenticated to the print server 40. The print server 40 transmits only the print job associated with the user identification information received from the shared printer 30 to the shared printer 30, and printing is executed in the shared printer 30. In this way, since the user needs to go to the shared printer 30 to print the print job, the risk of the printed matter being taken away by others is reduced. The user identification information transmitted from the client PCs 20A, 20B, etc. to the print server 40 together with the print job may use the user login name of the user who has already logged in at the client PCs 20A, 20B, etc. An input screen for inputting identification information may be displayed, and user identification information input using this display screen may be used.

  The client PCs 20A and 20B (hereinafter, collectively referred to as the client PC 20 if they are not particularly distinguished) are personal computers used by users who perform printing using the printing system of the present embodiment. The client PC 20 has a hardware configuration as a normal computer system. That is, the client PC 20 includes a control device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a storage device such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk drive, a CD (Compact Disc) drive, and a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). ) Auxiliary storage devices such as a drive and a flash memory, and a bus for connecting them.

  The client PC 20 has an operation system, various document creation application programs (hereinafter referred to as a document creation application), and a print application program (print target) for printing a document (print target) created by the document creation application. Hereinafter, it is referred to as a printing application), and various software such as a driver corresponding to each connected peripheral device is installed. In FIG. 1, two client PCs 20A and 20B are illustrated, but the number of client PCs 20 in the network 70 is arbitrary, and there may be only one client PC 20, or three or more clients. PC20 may exist.

  The administrator PC 60 is a personal computer used by the administrator of the printing system, and has a hardware configuration as a normal computer system, similar to the client PC 20. The administrator PC 60 is mainly used by a printing system administrator (hereinafter simply referred to as an administrator) to register print settings and output destination priority conditions for each attribute of a document to be printed in the print management server 10. Used for. Note that the document here includes not only text data but also image data such as photographs.

  The print management server 10 is a server device that stores (registers) and manages information input by an administrator as a setting file, and distributes the setting file to the client PC 20 in response to a request from the client PC 20. The print management server 10 has a hardware configuration as a normal computer system, like the client PC 20 and the administrator PC 60. One print management server 10 only needs to exist in the network 70, but a plurality of print management servers 10 may exist in the network 70 when setting files are backed up.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the print management server 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the print management server 10 includes, as functional components, a network I / F unit 101, a UI control unit 102, a setting file management unit 103, a setting file storage unit 104, and an acquisition request. A response unit 105. It should be noted that these functional components are only extracted portions related to the present embodiment. In practice, these functional components are realized in addition to the functions of a general server device. The print management server 10 is connected to an input device 110 such as a mouse and a keyboard and a display device 120 such as a liquid crystal display.

  The network I / F unit 101 is an interface that manages communication via the network 70. Information from the network 70 is received by the network I / F unit 101. Information to be transmitted to the network 70 is transmitted from the network I / F unit 101.

  The UI control unit 102 provides the administrator with a UI (user interface) for registering print settings and output destination priority conditions for each attribute of a document to be printed. Also, the UI control unit 102 acquires information input by the administrator using this UI, and passes it to the setting file management unit 103. The UI provided by the UI control unit 102 may be a GUI application that operates on the print management server 10 or a Web application that is accessed by a Web browser. In this case, the Web application server is included in the function of the print management server 10.

  The attributes of the document to be printed include, for example, the purpose of printing the document, the document type, and the presence / absence of confidentiality. As an example, an administrator who uses the administrator PC 60 uses the UI provided by the UI control unit 102 to perform printing that should be applied to printing a document for each printing purpose and document type of a document to be printed. Enter the settings, and enter the output destination priority conditions according to the presence or absence of confidentiality.

  The UI control unit 102 can also provide a UI to an administrator who directly uses the print management server 10. In this case, the administrator uses the input device 110 and the display device 120 connected to the print management server 10 to input the information described above.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of print settings input by the administrator for each print purpose of a document to be printed. Examples of the printing purpose include “distribution material”, “storage filing”, “document proofreading”, and the like. The setting items of the print setting include, for example, the presence / absence and method of aggregate printing, the presence / absence and method of double-sided printing, black / white / color selection, presence / absence of staples, presence / absence of punch, and the like. Note that the example illustrated in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and what items are provided for the purpose of printing may be arbitrarily determined according to the environment in which the printing system is used. The print setting item may be arbitrarily determined according to the function of the printing apparatus included in the printing system.

  In the example of FIG. 3, for example, “aggregation: ON (2 in 1)”, “double-side: ON (left open)”, “monochrome / color” are set as print settings to be applied when “distribution material” is specified as the print purpose. : Black and white, “staple: yes”, and “punch: no” are entered. “Others” in FIG. 3 indicates print settings to be applied when a print purpose other than “distributed material”, “storage filing”, and “document proofing” is designated. “(Standard)” indicates a standard print setting that is considered desirable from the viewpoint of resource saving regardless of the printing purpose.

  For example, the administrator inputs print settings to be applied to each print purpose item as shown in FIG. However, it is not always necessary to input print settings for all items. For items for printing purposes for which print settings have not been entered by the administrator, for example, the setting items corresponding to the above “(standard)” are applied.

  In addition, regarding the setting items of print settings, the administrator may be able to specify items to be forcibly applied and items that can be arbitrarily changed. In addition, the administrator may be able to specify an adjustable range for the setting items to be forcibly applied. For example, when “aggregation: ON” is forced, the administrator can specify that it is possible to adjust “aggregation: ON (4 in 1)” or “aggregation: ON (2 in 1)”. It may be.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of print settings input by the administrator for each document type of a document to be printed. Examples of the document type include “internal document”, “external document”, “estimate”, “official document”, and the like. Note that the example illustrated in FIG. 4 is merely an example, and what items are provided as document types may be arbitrarily determined according to the environment in which the printing system is used.

  The example of FIG. 4 indicates that “monochrome / color: monochrome” has been input as the print setting to be applied when “in-house document” is designated as the document type, for example. “Other” in FIG. 4 indicates print settings to be applied when a document type other than “internal document”, “external document”, “estimate”, and “official document” is designated.

  For example, the administrator inputs print settings to be applied to each item of the document type as shown in FIG. However, it is not always necessary to input print settings for all items. For the item of the document type for which the print setting has not been input by the administrator, for example, the print setting corresponding to the print purpose specified together with the document type is applied.

  Further, similarly to the setting items of the print setting corresponding to the printing purpose, the administrator may be able to specify the items to be forcibly applied and the items that can be arbitrarily changed. In addition, the administrator may be able to specify an adjustable range for the setting items to be forcibly applied.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output destination priority condition that is input by the administrator for each item relating to the confidentiality of a document to be printed. In the example of FIG. 5, the case of confidentiality is classified into two levels (high and low) according to the level of confidentiality, and the case of no confidentiality is classified into two levels (X pages or more, X (Less than pages), and four items are provided regarding confidentiality.

  The output destination priority condition is a condition that indicates which output destination is given priority among print job output destination candidates. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that a shared printer 30, a print server 40, and a local printer 50 exist in the printing system. 40 and the output priority of the local printer 50 are determined. A print job output destination candidate is a device that can be a print job transmission destination among the shared printer 30, print server 40, and local printer 50 in the printing system. That is, it is a device connected to the client PC 20 that generated the print job.

  In the example of FIG. 5, as the output destination priority condition when “Yes: High” is specified for the presence / absence of confidentiality, the output destination priority condition with the local printer 50 as the priority 1 and the print server 40 as the priority 2 is input. It has been shown. Since a highly confidential document needs to reduce the risk of information leakage to the maximum, it is desirable to print the document in a state in which the user can monitor the snooping of others. From this point of view, the administrator sets the local printer 50 that the user uses exclusively as priority 1 as the output destination priority condition when “Yes: High” is specified regarding the presence / absence of confidentiality, and witnesses the user. In this case, an output destination priority condition with the priority 2 being the print server 40 that is to be printed by the shared printer 30 is input.

  According to this output destination priority condition, if the local printer 50 is connected to the client PC 20, a print job is transmitted to the local printer 50. If the local printer 50 is not connected to the client PC 20 and the print server 40 is connected, a print job is transmitted to the print server 40. Further, if neither the local printer 50 nor the print server 40 is connected to the client PC 20, even if the shared printer 30 is connected, the print job is not transmitted. This is because careless printing of highly confidential documents with the shared printer 30 shared with other users increases the risk of information leakage.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the local printer 50 is given priority 1, the print server 40 is given priority 2, and the shared printer 30 is given priority as an output destination priority condition when “Yes: low” is specified for the presence / absence of confidentiality. This indicates that an output destination priority condition of degree 3 has been input. In other words, if the level is low even if there is confidentiality, the administrator inputs the above output destination priority condition from the viewpoint that the document should be able to be printed while reducing the risk of information leakage. .

  According to this output destination priority condition, if the local printer 50 is connected to the client PC 20, a print job is transmitted to the local printer 50. If the local printer 50 is not connected to the client PC 20 and the print server 40 is connected, a print job is transmitted to the print server 40. If neither the local printer 50 nor the print server 40 is connected to the client PC 20 and the shared printer 30 is connected, a print job is transmitted to the shared printer 30.

  In the example of FIG. 5, as the output destination priority condition when “None: X pages or more” is specified regarding the presence / absence of confidentiality, the shared printer 30 is priority 1, the local printer 50 is priority 2, and the print server 40. Indicates that an output destination priority condition having a priority of 3 is input. Further, regarding the presence / absence of confidentiality, local printer 50 is given priority 1, shared printer 30 is given priority 2, and print server 40 is given priority 3 as output destination priority conditions when “none: less than X pages” is designated. This indicates that the output destination priority condition has been input.

  If the document to be printed is not confidential, it is desirable to determine the print job output destination with emphasis on printing efficiency. In general, the shared printer 30 has a higher printing speed than the local printer 50, but is often installed at a position away from the client PC 20. Therefore, it is considered that printing with the shared printer 30 is more efficient when the number of print pages is large, and printing with the local printer 50 is more efficient when the number of print pages is small. From this point of view, the administrator inputs an output destination priority condition that prioritizes the shared printer 30 over the local printer 50 as an output destination priority condition when “None: X pages or more” is specified for the presence or absence of confidentiality. Then, as the output destination priority condition when “None: Less than X pages” is specified for the presence / absence of confidentiality, an output destination priority condition that prioritizes the local printer 50 over the shared printer 30 is input. Note that the value of X may be set to an arbitrary number of pages by an administrator or the like according to the actual use environment.

  Note that the example shown in FIG. 5 is merely an example, and the types of items relating to the confidentiality of the document and the contents of the output destination priority conditions can be appropriately determined by the administrator from various viewpoints.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the setting file management unit 103 acquires information input by the administrator using the UI from the UI control unit 102, and stores the acquired information in the setting file storage unit 104 as a setting file of a specified format. . In addition, the setting file management unit 103 reads the setting file from the setting file storage unit 104 in accordance with a command from the acquisition request response unit 105 and passes the setting file to the acquisition request response unit 105.

  The setting file storage unit 104 stores the setting file generated by the setting file management unit 103. The setting file stored in the setting file storage unit 104 is updated each time a new input is made by the administrator and a new setting file is generated by the setting file management unit 103. When a plurality of client PCs 20 included in the printing system have different printing applications installed, the setting file storage unit 104 stores setting files for each printing application.

  The acquisition request response unit 105 requests the setting file management unit 103 to read the setting file in response to the setting file acquisition request from the client PC 20. Then, the read setting file is transmitted from the network I / F unit 101 to the requesting client PC 20 via the network 70.

  In the present embodiment, the print management server 10 distributes the setting file as a response to the request from the client PC 20. However, the print management server 10 may actively distribute the setting file to the client PC 20 periodically or whenever the setting file is updated.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the print management server 10. When the administrator accesses the print management server 10, first, the UI control unit 102 provides a UI for inputting information to the administrator (step S101). When the administrator inputs print settings and output destination priority conditions for each attribute of the document to be printed using this UI, the setting file management unit 103 acquires the input information from the UI control unit 102. (Step S102), a setting file is generated (Step S103). Then, the setting file management unit 103 stores the generated setting file in the setting file storage unit 104 (step S104).

  Thereafter, when there is a setting file acquisition request from the client PC 20, the acquisition request response unit 105 requests the setting file management unit 103 to read the setting file, and the setting file management unit 103 receives the setting file from the setting file storage unit 104. Read (step S105). Then, the acquisition request response unit 105 transmits the setting file read from the setting file storage unit 104 by the setting file management unit 103 from the network I / F unit 101 to the requesting client PC 20 via the network 70 ( Step S106).

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example of the client PC 20. As illustrated in FIG. 7, the client PC 20 includes, as functional components, a communication I / F unit 201, a setting file acquisition unit 202, a setting information storage unit 203, a UI control unit 204, and a job generation unit 205. And an output destination determination unit 206 and a job transmission unit 207. Note that these functional components are extracted only from the part related to the present embodiment (the part related to the printing application described above). In practice, these functional components are realized in addition to the functions of a general personal computer. The client PC 20 is connected to an input device 210 such as a mouse and a keyboard and a display device 220 such as a liquid crystal display.

  The communication I / F unit 201 is an interface that manages communication via the network 70 and communication with peripheral devices using USB or the like. Information from the network 70 is received by the communication I / F unit 201, and information to be transmitted to the network 70 is transmitted from the communication I / F unit 201. Information from a peripheral device connected by USB or the like is received by the communication I / F unit 201, and information to be transmitted to the peripheral device is transmitted from the communication I / F unit 201.

  The setting file acquisition unit 202 transmits a setting file acquisition request from the communication I / F unit 201 to the print management server 10 via the network 70, and receives the setting file distributed from the print management server 10 as a response to the acquisition request. get. The setting file is generated based on the administrator's input as described above, and describes the print settings to be applied and the output destination priority conditions for each attribute of the document to be printed.

  The setting file acquisition unit 202 reflects the setting file acquired from the print management server 10 in the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203. As a result, the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 is replaced with information input by the administrator using the UI provided by the print management server 10.

  Note that the timing at which the setting file acquisition unit 202 requests the print management server 10 to acquire a setting file is not particularly limited. For example, when the client PC 20 is activated or a document to be printed is specified, the print management server 10 can be requested to acquire a setting file at an arbitrary timing. Further, as described above, the configuration may be such that the print management server 10 actively transmits the setting file to the client PC 20 connected to the network 70. Also in this case, the setting file acquisition unit 202 reflects the setting file transmitted from the print management server 10 in the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203.

  The setting information storage unit 203 stores setting information such as print settings and output destination priority conditions for each attribute of the document to be printed. That is, the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 includes, for example, the value of each setting item of the print setting applied for each printing purpose, like the input information of the administrator shown in FIG. Further, the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 includes, for example, the values of the setting items of the print settings applied for each document type, like the administrator input information shown in FIG. Further, the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 includes, for example, output destination priority conditions for each item relating to the presence / absence of confidentiality, similarly to the input information of the administrator illustrated in FIG.

  The setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 is updated based on the setting file acquired from the print management server 10 by the setting file acquisition unit 202 as described above. That is, if there is a difference between the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 and the setting file acquired from the print management server 10, the difference is rewritten with the value described in the setting file.

  The UI control unit 204 provides a UI for receiving user operations and presenting information when printing a document created by the document creation application 250 in conjunction with the document creation application 250. Specifically, the UI control unit 204 displays an attribute designation screen as shown in FIG. 8 or an output confirmation screen as shown in FIG. 9 on the display device 220, and the user uses these screens using the input device 210. The user operation performed above is accepted. The type of the document creation application 250 is not particularly limited, and general word processing software, spreadsheet software, presentation creation software, and the like can be used.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of an attribute designation screen displayed on the display device 220 by the UI control unit 204. This attribute designation screen is a screen for the user to designate attributes of a document to be printed. Using the input device 210, the user selects one of the options presented on the attribute designation screen for each of the printing purpose, document type, and confidentiality of the document to be printed one by one. . If there is no mistake in the selected printing purpose, document type, and confidentiality, the “Confirm” button is pressed. As a result, the designation of the print purpose, document type, and confidentiality is confirmed, information about the print purpose and document type is passed to the job generation unit 205, and information about the confidentiality presence is passed to the output destination determination unit 206. If there is an error in the selected printing purpose, document type, and confidentiality, the operation can be redone by pressing the “Cancel” button.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of an output confirmation screen displayed on the display device 220 by the UI control unit 204. This output confirmation screen is a screen that presents the user with print settings and print job output destinations that are applied according to the document attributes specified on the attribute specification screen. On this output confirmation screen, the user confirms the print settings and output destination applied to the print job, and if there is no problem, the user can execute printing by inputting the number of copies and pressing the “print” button. When the “Cancel” button is pressed, the display returns to the attribute designation screen.

  The output confirmation screen in FIG. 9 illustrates the case where each setting item of the print setting is forcibly applied. However, as described above, the output confirmation screen is designated by the administrator as a setting item that can be arbitrarily changed. When an item is included, a user operation for changing the value of the setting item may be received on the output confirmation screen. In addition, as described above, the setting item is forcibly applied, but when an item for which the adjustable range is specified by the administrator is included, the value of the setting item is displayed on the output confirmation screen. A user operation to be adjusted within a specified range may be accepted. Further, the display content of the output confirmation screen may be displayed not only with characters but also with a preview screen when the print setting is applied.

  The job generation unit 205 reads out the print settings corresponding to the print purpose and document type designated by the user on the attribute designation screen from the setting information storage unit 203, and applies the print settings to print the document to be printed. A print job is generated. As described above, the print settings stored in the setting information storage unit 203 as the setting information are updated based on the setting file corresponding to the input from the administrator. Therefore, the print setting generated by the administrator is reflected in the print job generated by the job generation unit 205.

  For example, the administrator inputs the print settings for each print purpose as shown in FIG. 3, inputs the print settings for each document type as shown in FIG. 4, and based on the setting file corresponding to this input. It is assumed that the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 has been updated. In this case, for example, when the user designates “distribution material” as the print purpose and “internal document” as the document type, the print settings applied as a result are, for example, “aggregation: ON (2 in 1), duplex: ON ( Left open), black and white / color: black and white, staple: yes, punch: no ". If the value of the setting item according to the printing purpose is different from the value of the setting item according to the document type, a rule for determining which setting item has priority is determined in advance. Good. For example, a rule may be considered in which priority is given to those with stricter restrictions in terms of resource reduction or priority to those with less strict restrictions. Also, priorities may be set for the setting items according to the printing purpose and the setting items according to the document type, and the higher priority may be given priority.

  The output destination determination unit 206 determines the output destination of the print job according to the output destination priority condition corresponding to the presence / absence of confidentiality designated by the user from among the output destination candidates of the print job. Candidate output destinations for print jobs are devices to which the client PC 20 can send print jobs, that is, devices connected to the client PC 20. In the configuration example of the printing system shown in FIG. 1, the output destination candidates for the print job of the client PC 20 </ b> A are the shared printer 30, the print server 40, and the local printer 50. On the other hand, only the shared printer 30 and the print server 40 are candidates for the output destination of the print job of the client PC 20B.

  Whether or not the client PC 20 is connected to the shared printer 30 or the print server 40 on the network 70 can be determined based on, for example, confirmation of connection to the network 70 and whether or not a corresponding printer driver is installed. The shared printer 30 and the print server 40 can be identified by the type of printer driver. Whether or not the client PC 20 is connected to the local printer 50 can be determined, for example, based on confirmation of USB connection or the like and whether or not a corresponding printer driver is installed.

  The output destination determination unit 206 specifies output destination priority conditions corresponding to the presence / absence of confidentiality designated by the user on the attribute designation screen after specifying the output destination candidates of the print job as described above from the setting information storage unit 203. read out. Then, the output destination determination unit 206 determines the output destination of the print job generated by the job generation unit 205 from the output destination candidates of the print job according to the output destination priority condition read from the setting information storage unit 203. . In other words, the output destination determination unit 206 determines the output destination of the print job that has the highest priority in the output destination priority conditions read from the setting information storage unit 203 from the output destination candidates of the print job. As described above, the output destination priority condition stored as the setting information by the setting information storage unit 203 is updated based on the setting file corresponding to the input of the administrator. Therefore, the output destination determination unit 206 determines the output destination according to the output destination priority condition intended by the administrator.

  For example, the administrator inputs the output destination priority condition for each item relating to the presence / absence of confidentiality as shown in FIG. 5, and the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 is updated based on the setting file corresponding to the input. Suppose that In this case, for example, if the user using the client PC 20A specifies “Yes: High” regarding the presence / absence of confidentiality, the local printer 50 with priority 1 is connected to the client PC 20A, and therefore the output destination of the print job is the local printer 50. To be determined. On the other hand, if the user using the client PC 20B specifies “Yes: High” regarding the confidentiality, for example, the local printer 50 with priority 1 is not connected to the client PC 20B, and the print server 40 with priority 2 is Since it is connected to the client PC 20B, the output destination of the print job is determined by the print server 40.

  Further, when the user using the client PC 20A specifies “None: Less than X pages” regarding the presence or absence of confidentiality, since the local printer 50 with the priority 1 is connected to the client PC 20A, the output destination of the print job is The local printer 50 is determined. Further, when the user using the client PC 20B specifies “None: Less than X pages” regarding the presence / absence of confidentiality, the local printer 50 with the priority 1 is not connected to the client PC 20B, and the shared printer with the priority 2 is used. Since the printer 30 is connected to the client PC 20B, the output destination of the print job is determined by the shared printer 30.

  When there are a plurality of shared printers 30 on the network 70 and the client PC 20 is connected to each of the plurality of shared printers 30, there are a plurality of output destination candidates having the same priority. It will be. In this case, the output destination determination unit 206 predetermines the output destination candidates having the same priority, such as giving priority to the one installed near the client PC 20 or giving priority to the one with a high printing speed. What is necessary is just to determine the output destination of a print job according to a rule. Also, a plurality of candidates may be presented to the user, and the one selected by the user may be determined as the print job output destination. Further, if the option functions provided by the output destination candidates having the same priority are different, the output destination determination unit 206 determines the one that matches the print settings applied to the print job as the output destination of the print job. Good.

  The job transmission unit 207 transmits the print job generated by the job generation unit 205 from the communication I / F unit 201 to the output destination determined by the output destination determination unit 206 via the network 70.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the client PC 20 until the print job of the document created by the document creation application 250 is output. In the client PC 20, it is assumed that the setting file acquisition unit 202 obtains the setting file and reflects it in the setting information storage unit 203 as appropriate, apart from the series of processes shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  When the user performs an operation to instruct printing of a document on the screen of the document creation application 250, first, the UI control unit 204 causes the display device 220 to display an attribute designation screen as shown in FIG. 8 (step S201). . Then, when the user performs an operation for specifying the attributes of the document to be printed (in this embodiment, the purpose of printing, the document type, and the presence / absence of confidentiality) on the attribute specifying screen, the UI control unit 204 performs the user operation. (Step S202), the designated print purpose and document type are passed to the job generation unit 205, and the designated confidentiality is passed to the output destination determination unit 206. In the present embodiment, the user designates both the print purpose and the document type. However, the document type is automatically determined by analyzing the document to be printed without being designated by the user. It is good also as a structure.

  When the job generation unit 205 receives the print purpose and document type designated by the user from the UI control unit 204, the job generation unit 205 reads the print settings corresponding to the print purpose and document type from the setting information storage unit 203 and sets the read print settings. The applied print job is generated (step S203). Also, when receiving the presence / absence of confidentiality designated by the user from the UI control unit 204, the output destination determination unit 206 determines the output destination of the print job according to the output destination priority condition corresponding to the presence / absence of confidentiality (step S204). .

  When the print job is generated by the job generation unit 205 and the output destination of the print job is determined by the output destination determination unit 206, the UI control unit 204 displays an output confirmation screen as shown in FIG. (Step S205). When the user presses the “print” button on the output confirmation screen, the job transmission unit 207 transmits the print job generated by the job generation unit 205 to the output destination determined by the output destination determination unit 206. (Step S206).

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating details of the process (step S204 in FIG. 10) in which the output destination determination unit 206 determines the output destination of the print job.

  First, the output destination determination unit 206 performs connection confirmation to the network 70, confirmation of USB connection, confirmation of the printer driver, and the like, and specifies output destination candidates for the print job (step S301). Then, the output destination determination unit 206 reads the output destination priority condition corresponding to the presence / absence of confidentiality designated by the user from the setting information storage unit 203 (step S302).

  Next, the output destination determination unit 206 determines whether or not a device with the highest priority is included in the output destination candidates specified in step S301, according to the output destination priority condition read in step S302. (Step S303). If the device with the highest priority is included (step S303: Yes), the device is determined as the output destination of the print job (step S304).

  On the other hand, if the device with the highest priority is not included in the output destination candidates (step S303: No), the output destination determination unit 206 determines that the device with the next highest priority is among the output destination candidates. It is determined whether it is included (step S305). If a device with the next highest priority is included (step S305: Yes), that device is determined as the output destination of the print job (step S306).

  On the other hand, if the next highest priority device is not included in the output destination candidates (step S305: No), the output destination determination unit 206 determines whether the priority level determined in step S305 is the lowest level. (Step S307). If the priority level determined in step S305 is not the lowest level (step S307: No), the process returns to step S305 and is repeated. On the other hand, if the priority level determined in step S305 is the lowest level (step S307: Yes), it is indicated to the user that printing cannot be performed (step S308), and the process ends.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a software configuration of the client PC 20 that realizes the above functions. The client PC 20 executes a program to execute an application (plug-in) 21, a platform 22, an OSGi (Open Service Gateway Initiative) 23, a Java (registered trademark) VM 24, a platform API (Application Programming Interface) 25, a storage unit 26, Is realized.

  The application 21 is a program for the user to perform various processes on the client PC 20. In the present embodiment, the print application described above is included as one of the applications 21.

  The platform API 25 is an interface for the application 21 to use the platform 22. The platform API 25 is a predefined interface provided for the platform 22 to receive a request from the application 21, and is configured by, for example, a function or a class.

  The platform 22 includes a display control unit 31, an application management unit 32, a setting unit 33, and a communication unit 34.

  The display control unit 31 is a module that controls the display of the display device 220 based on a request from the application 21, for example, and corresponds to the UI control unit 204 described above.

  The application management unit 32 is a module that manages the application 21. The application management unit 32 manages the setting of operation in addition to the activation and termination of the application 21 and installation / uninstallation / update.

  The setting unit 33 is a module that performs processing related to setting information such as setting information management, acquisition of a setting file from the print management server 10, and change of setting information based on the acquired setting file. The setting file acquisition unit 202 described above. It corresponds to.

  The communication unit 34 is a module that executes communication via the network 70 and local connection communication using USB or the like, and corresponds to the communication I / F unit 201 described above.

  The OSGi 23 is an infrastructure system (OSGi framework) for managing the dynamic addition and execution of plug-ins. A Java VM (Virtual Machine) 24 is a plug-in execution environment. Since OSGi 23 and Java VM 24 are existing technologies, description thereof is omitted. The storage unit 26 is a storage device (storage area) that stores information necessary for the client PC 20 such as setting information, and corresponds to the setting information storage unit 203 described above.

  As described above, the printing system according to the present embodiment generates a setting file that describes the print settings to be applied and the output destination priority conditions for each attribute of the document to be printed based on the input from the administrator. And stored in the print management server 10. Based on this setting file, the setting information stored in the setting information storage unit 203 of the client PC 20 is updated. When the user using the client PC 20 specifies an attribute of a document to be printed, a print job corresponding to the specified attribute is applied to generate a print job, and output destination priority according to the specified attribute The output destination of the print job is determined according to the conditions. As described above, according to the printing system and the client PC 20 of the present embodiment, the print setting applied to the print job and the output destination of the print job are determined by the administrator only by the user specifying the attribute of the document to be printed. Therefore, it is possible to limit the print settings to be applied and the output destination of the print job while reducing the operation burden on the user.

  The program executed on the client PC 20 of the above-described embodiment is, for example, an installable or executable file, such as a CD-ROM, flexible disk (FD), CD-R, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). It is provided by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium.

  Further, the program executed by the client PC 20 of the above-described embodiment is configured to be provided by being stored on a computer (for example, the print management server 10) connected to a network such as the Internet and downloaded via the network. May be. Further, the program executed on the client PC 20 of the above-described embodiment may be configured to be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet. Furthermore, the program executed by the client PC 20 of the above-described embodiment may be configured to be provided by being incorporated in advance in a ROM or the like.

  The program executed by the client PC 20 of the above-described embodiment includes a module configuration including the above-described units (setting file acquisition unit 202, UI control unit 204, job generation unit 205, output destination determination unit 206, job transmission unit 207, and the like). As actual hardware, the CPU (processor) reads the device management program from the recording medium and executes it, so that the respective units are loaded onto the main storage device, and the above-described units are loaded onto the main storage device. It is to be generated.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied with various modifications and changes in the implementation stage without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the print setting and the output destination to be applied are determined individually according to the attribute of the document to be printed. For example, the confidentiality level and the output destination specified as the attribute are determined. Depending on the optional function provided in the candidate printing apparatus, a combined process such as adjusting the applied print setting and the output destination may be performed. Specifically, for example, in the client PC 20A to which the local printer 50 is connected, when “duplex: ON (left open)” is included in the applied print settings, the confidentiality designation is “Yes: High”. If so, it is changed to “both sides: OFF”, and the output destination of the print job is the local printer 50. On the other hand, if the designation of confidentiality is “Yes: Low”, adjustments such as changing the output destination of the print job to the print server 40 may be performed without changing “Double-sided: ON (left open)”. Good.

10 Print management server 20, 20A, 20B Client PC
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 Shared printer 40 Print server 50 Local printer 70 Network 202 Setting file acquisition part 203 Setting information storage part 204 UI control part 205 Job generation part 206 Output destination determination part 207 Job transmission part

JP 2008-284832 A

Claims (12)

For each attribute to be printed, a setting file in which print settings to be applied and output destination priority conditions are described is acquired from the print management apparatus at an arbitrary timing, and setting information stored in the storage unit is acquired from the print management apparatus. A configuration file acquisition function for updating based on the acquired configuration file;
A designation reception function that accepts a user operation for designating attributes to be printed;
Based on the setting information updated based on the setting file , a job generation function that generates a print job by applying a print setting according to a specified attribute of the print target;
An output destination determination function for determining an output destination of the print job according to an output destination priority condition according to a specified attribute of a print target among the output destination candidates of the print job;
A print program for causing a computer to realize a job transmission function for transmitting the print job to a determined output destination. The attributes to be printed include the presence or absence of confidentiality,
The printing program according to claim 1, wherein the setting file acquisition function acquires the setting file in which different output destination priority conditions are described depending on the presence or absence of confidentiality. The output destination candidates of the print job include a shared printer connected to the computer via a network, and a local printer connected locally to the computer,
The setting file describes a condition for giving priority to the local printer over the shared printer as an output destination priority condition corresponding to a confidential print target.
The printing program according to claim 2, wherein the output destination determination function determines the output destination of the print job as the local printer when the confidentiality is specified as an attribute of a print target to be printed. . An output destination device that is a candidate for an output destination of the print job includes a shared printer connected to the computer via a network, and a print sent from the computer connected to the computer and the shared printer via the network. A print server that saves a job and sends a print job saved in response to a request from the shared printer to the shared printer;
The setting file describes a condition for giving priority to the print server over the shared printer as an output destination priority condition corresponding to a confidential print target.
The printing program according to claim 2, wherein the output destination determination function determines the output destination of the print job to the print server when the confidentiality is specified as the attribute of the print target to be printed. . In the setting file acquisition function, different output destination priority conditions are described according to the level of confidentiality when there is confidentiality, and different output destination priority conditions are described according to the number of print pages when there is no confidentiality. The printing program according to claim 2, wherein the setting file is acquired. The print target attribute comprises a print object and a document type,
The setting file acquisition function acquires the setting file in which different print settings for each print purpose and different print settings for each document type are described ,
The job generation function generates the print job to apply the print setting corresponding to the print setting and document type corresponding to the designated print target print purposes, to any one of claims 1 to 5 The printing program described. The job generation function sets a value of a setting item to be prioritized according to a predetermined rule when a value of a setting item corresponding to a printing purpose of a designated print target is different from a value of a setting item corresponding to a document type. The printing program according to claim 6, wherein the printing program is determined. The printing program according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , further causing the computer to realize a print setting presentation function for presenting a user with print settings applied in accordance with a specified print target attribute. The setting file acquisition function acquires the setting file in which a range that can be adjusted with respect to print settings applied for each attribute to be printed is further described,
The printing conditions that are applied in accordance with the attributes of the specified print target, the adjustment reception function for receiving a user operation for adjusting an adjustable range described in the configuration file, further implemented to the computer, according to claim 8 The printing program described in 1. The output destination presenting function for presenting to the user the output destination of the print job determined according to the output destination priority condition corresponding to the specified attribute of the print target is further realized in the computer . The printing program according to one item . For each attribute to be printed, a setting file in which print settings to be applied and output destination priority conditions are described is acquired from the print management apparatus at an arbitrary timing, and setting information stored in the storage unit is acquired from the print management apparatus. A setting file acquisition unit for updating based on the acquired setting file;
A designation receiving unit for accepting a user operation for designating an attribute to be printed;
A job generation unit that generates a print job by applying a print setting according to a specified attribute of a print target based on the setting information updated based on the setting file;
An output destination determination unit that determines an output destination of the print job according to an output destination priority condition corresponding to a specified attribute of the print target among the output destination candidates of the print job;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a job transmission unit that transmits the print job to the determined output destination. A printing system in which a print management apparatus and an information processing apparatus are connected via a network,
The print management apparatus includes:
A setting file created by an administrator, comprising a setting file storage unit for storing the setting file in which print settings to be applied and output destination priority conditions are described for each attribute to be printed;
The information processing apparatus includes:
A setting file acquisition function that acquires the setting file from the print management apparatus at an arbitrary timing, and updates setting information stored in a storage unit based on the setting file acquired from the print management apparatus ;
A designation receiving unit for accepting a user operation for designating an attribute to be printed;
A job generation unit that generates a print job by applying a print setting according to a specified attribute of a print target based on the setting information updated based on the setting file;
An output destination determination unit that determines an output destination of the print job according to an output destination priority condition corresponding to a specified attribute of the print target among the output destination candidates of the print job;
And a job transmission unit that transmits the print job to the determined output destination.

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