JPH1139117A - Printer control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To print and output kinds of printing documents to be stored in a printer controller at high speed by selectively storing document data expressed in a printing description language and bit map data formed by converting the document data into dots. SOLUTION: The document generated by using an application 103 on a client terminal 101 is transmitted on a line LAN with a printer driver 104 and received by a controller 230 of a printer system. The registered kinds specified by a user are discriminated by a document data interpretation part 232 and when the registered kinds are specified as registration and storage in the bit map data, only the bit map data is transmitted from the document data interpretation part 232 to a temporary file 234 with a data compression part 233. In addition, when the registration and storage in the printing description language are specified as the registered kinds, only the document data in a form of the printing description language is transmitted from a discrimination part of the registered kinds.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a printer control device,
For example, the present invention relates to an improvement of a printer control device that prints a document received from a client terminal via a line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a document created by a document creation device such as a personal computer or a word processor is printed by a printer locally connected to such a document creation device. However, in this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the document creation device and the printer, and the operating efficiency of the printer is reduced.

In recent years, a system has been proposed in which a printer is connected to a LAN or the like and a document can be printed from a plurality of personal computers similarly connected to the LAN in order to perform print processing efficiently by sharing the printer. ing. Such LA
When a document created by a personal computer is printed by a shared printer in an N-connected printing system, a print document is designated from the personal computer and printing is instructed.
The designated print document is sent to the printer via the LAN, and the printer converts the document into bitmap data and prints it. If a plurality of copies are specified at the time of printing designation, a document having the same print content is subjected to a plurality of copies printing process.

When printing is completed, the document data in the printer is deleted. Therefore, when printing the document again, it is necessary to give a similar instruction to the printer from the personal computer. That is, every time a document needs to be printed, the document data is transmitted from the personal computer to the printer, and the printer converts the document data into bitmap data and prints it.

However, a print description language (for example, Po
Processing for converting document data expressed in the stScript language or the PCL language into bitmap data suitable for a printing apparatus requires a lot of time. That is,
It is said that the length of time used for the conversion process to the bitmap data affects the length of printing time from when printing is instructed to when a printing result is actually output.

As described above, transmitting document data from a personal computer to a printer every time a print request is generated and converting the data into bitmap data increases the processing time required for printing. Therefore, the document data from the personal computer is converted into bitmap data and printed, and the converted bitmap data is stored, so that when a subsequent print request is made, the printout is output using the bitmap data. Thus, it is conceivable to reduce the printing time by the time required for data conversion.

[0007]

However, registering and storing the converted bitmap data is advantageous in the event that there is a request for printing again for the printer, but it is advantageous to print it on another printer. I am not satisfied with the demand for output. In other words, although the document data expressed in the print description language is not related to the type, performance, and specifications of the printer, the converted bitmap data is converted depending on the type, performance, and specifications of the printer. Become. Therefore, bitmap data converted for one type of printer cannot be printed on a different type of printer. Specifically, bitmap data converted for a printer having a resolution of 400 DPI (dots / inch) cannot be printed even if supplied as it is to a printer having a resolution of 600 DPI.

Further, in a printer system in which bitmap data is stored as print data, the amount of the data is large. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer the bitmap data via a line for printing by another printer. Increases the amount of data transfer, and increases the load on the line.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the type of a print document stored in a printer control device can be selected according to the type of the print document. Print documents are stored and registered in a bitmap data format. On the other hand, for print documents of the type to be transferred to another printer and subjected to print processing, only document data in a print description language format is stored and registered. A document having both characteristics registers and stores both data in a print description language format and data in a bitmap data format.

That is, the printer control device according to the present invention can selectively store document data expressed in a print description language and bitmap data obtained by converting the document data into dots. A printer control device that receives a document data in a print description language format via a line such as a LAN, a document data reception processing unit, an interpretation processing unit that converts the document data in the document data reception processing unit into bitmap data, A data storage unit for storing print data, a discrimination processing unit for discriminating a designated registration type, and selectively storing the document data and the bitmap data according to the registration type discriminated by the discrimination processing unit Store in the department.

The printer control device has a data compression section for compressing bitmap data, and the bitmap data is compressed and stored in the data storage section. The data storage unit includes a temporary file for temporarily storing print data, and a document file for storing print data of the temporary file. And the storage from the temporary file to the document file is not the user,
The document file is reliably maintained by the system administrator.

The client specifies the registration type according to the type of document, and the printer control unit selectively registers and stores data in print description language format, bitmap data, or both, according to the specified registration type. . Therefore, when printing by the printer is expected a plurality of times, by registering and storing the document data in the bitmap data format, the printing process can be performed without conversion to the bitmap data. It is possible to print out at high speed.

For a document expected to be printed out by another printer, the print data is registered in a print description language format so that the print data in the print description language format can be transmitted via a line or The transfer medium can be diverted to another printer for printing. Further, when a plurality of print requests for the same printer are expected and a print request for a printer in another location is also expected, print data in both the print description language format and the bitmap data format are registered.

When print data is stored as bitmap data, the data is compressed and stored to reduce the memory capacity.

[0015]

FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a printing system. The LAN is a line, and a plurality of client terminals 101 are connected to the line. Line LAN
Is connected to the print system 200. The printing system 200 includes a management terminal 201, a control device 2
30, a printing device 250 and a scanner 280.

The print system 200 can be viewed as a print server from each client terminal 101, and can send a print request to the print system 200 by a printer driver provided in each client 101 and send document data. it can. The print system 200 has a document registration function for registering and storing document data, and a document printing function for printing stored document data. Each function will be described in detail below. <Document Registration Function> The document registration function will be described with reference to FIG.

A document created at the client terminal 101 is sent to the printer system 200 as a file, and a paper document is printed as image data (TIFF format) optically read by a scanner 102 connected to the client terminal 101. System 2
00 is considered. The print system 200 converts the document data received via the line LAN into
The information is stored in a temporary file of the printer control device 230. Thereafter, the document data stored in the temporary file is stored and stored in the document cabinet 231 according to an instruction from the management terminal 201 by the administrator.

As the document cabinet 231, an optical disk library device 232 and a hard disk device 233 are used. The details of the <document registration function> will be described with reference to FIG. Application 1 on client terminal 101
03 created by using the printer driver 1
The data is sent out on the line LAN via the network 04. The document data sent to the line is sent to the control device 2 of the printer system 200.
It is received at 30. The received document data is temporarily stored in the document data reception processing unit 231 and sent to the document data interpretation processing unit 232.

This document data interpretation processing unit 232
Document data described in a print description language format such as stScript is interpreted and converted into bitmap data. The determination processing unit 232 that determines the registration type
Judge the registration type specified by the user. The designation of the registration type can be designated as one of the series of designation information when sending the document data from the client terminal 101. For example, one of "printer name 1/2/3" can be designated. Specify the printer name. Printer name 1/2 /
The type of registration 3 can be set and changed in the system initialization menu.

As a result of the determination of the registration type, if the designation is registration / storage in bitmap data, that is, if the printer name is designated as “printer 2”, the document data interpretation unit 232 sends a bitmap Only the data is sent to the temporary file 234 via the data compression unit 233. In this case, the document data in the print description language format is not sent.

When registration / storage in the print description language is specified as the registration type, that is, when “printer 1” is specified as the printer name, the registration type determination unit 232 outputs Only the document data in the description language format is sent to the temporary file 234. In this case, transmission of bitmap data is suppressed. Further, when the type of the registration type specifies both the print description language and the bitmap data, that is, when the user specifies the printer name as “printer 3”, the bitmap data is stored in the data compression unit. At the same time, the document data in the print description format is also sent to the file 234.

The data stored in the temporary file 234 via the data compression unit 233 is such that the data amount of the bitmap data itself becomes large and does not adversely affect the data processing time, storage capacity, or data transfer time. To do that. The document data temporarily stored in the temporary file 234 is then stored in the document cabinet 231 in accordance with an instruction from the management terminal 201 for a formal registration operation. By restricting formal storage in the document cabinet 231 to instructions from the management terminal 201 and restricting storage in the document cabinet 231 using the client terminal 101, the document cabinet 231 is stored.
Document data can be accurately maintained.
Further, the security of the document data in the document cabinet 231 can be further improved by specifying the administrator by setting a password or the like on the management terminal 201.

Next, the <document printing function> will be described with reference to FIGS. The document printing function is a function of printing out a document stored in the document cabinet 231 by the printing device 250. The printing operation of the stored document uses the management terminal 201 of the printer system 200, and a list of the stored and registered documents is displayed on the interactive display screen of the management terminal 201. One or a plurality of documents are selected from the screen, printing attributes (paper size, number of copies, selection of single-sided / double-sided printing, etc.) are specified, and a printing device to be used (up to three printing devices 250 are connected in series). Connection is possible, and specify).

When a document printing instruction is issued at the management terminal 201, the control device 230 takes out the corresponding document data from the document cabinet 231 and prints it at the printing device 250. The flow of the document printing process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. When a search for a document list is instructed from the management terminal 201, the search request is transferred to the control device 230, and the control device 230 reads the document data information from the document cabinet 231 and stores the document information for display in the management terminal 201. To send to.

The management terminal 201 displays a list of folders and document names of the documents received from the control device 230.
The administrator designates a document to be printed from the list display. At this time, a plurality of documents can be specified. Next, the print attributes for the specified document are set, and an instruction to print the document is issued, thereby completing the print instruction for one document. When a plurality of documents are designated, print attributes for the next document and instructions for printing the document are sequentially issued. The print request processing in the management terminal 201 is completed by ending the designation of the print attributes and the instruction of the document print for all the documents that need to be printed.

When the print request at the management terminal 201 is completed, the print instruction information is transferred to the control device 230, and the control device 230 reads the first document from the document cabinet 231 and executes the editing process specified at the time of the print request. Done. The editing processing includes segment data processing, automatic numbering processing, page rearrangement processing, print document synthesizing processing, and the like specified at the time of printing.

When the editing process is completed, a print request process is performed to request spooling of document data. The spooling process creates a print queue for document data and prepares an environment in which print control can be executed. In the print control, document data having a high priority is taken out of the documents in the queue, and a command is issued to the printing device 250 to start printing.

Each time spooling of one document is instructed, it is confirmed whether all print requests have been completed. If there is document data to be printed next, the corresponding document data from the document cabinet 231 is sent. And the above-described processing is repeated.

[0029]

As described above, the printer control device can selectively register the document data in the bitmap data format and the document data in the print description language format. Accordingly, it is possible to register in an optimal format, and it is possible to efficiently perform print processing, document transfer, and the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a printing system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a device configuration at the time of a document registration function.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing flow of a document registration function.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a device configuration at the time of a document printing function.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a processing flow of a document printing function.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101: client terminal 200: print system 201: management terminal 230: printer control device 250: printing device 231: document cabinet

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shunjiro Izumi 4-1-1 Kamikadanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fujitsu Limited (72) Inventor Akihiko Nakamaru 4-chome, Kamiodanaka, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa No. 1 in Fujitsu Limited

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Document data expressed in a print description language,
A printer control device capable of selectively storing bitmap data obtained by converting the document data into dots. 2. A document data reception processing unit for receiving document data created in a print description language, an interpretation processing unit for converting document data into bitmap data, a data storage unit for storing print data, A discriminating processing unit for discriminating the registered type, and the document data and the bitmap data are selectively stored in the data storage unit according to the registered type discriminated by the discriminating processing unit. . 3. The printer control device according to claim 2, further comprising a data compression section for compressing the bitmap data, wherein the bitmap data is compressed and stored in the data storage section. 4. The printer control device according to claim 2, wherein the data storage section comprises a temporary file for temporarily storing print data and a document file for storing print data from the temporary file.