JP3022104B2 - Printer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer for forming an image based on print data transmitted from a host computer or the like, and more particularly to a print job process when a plurality of print jobs are input to the printer. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, it has been known that a host device such as a plurality of computers and a printer device are connected to each other via a network such as a local area network to share the printer device.

(1) In such a shared state of printer devices, for example, when a user of a certain host device performs printing of a large amount of data or printing of a large number of copies using the printer device, another host device may be used. Even if the user of the apparatus attempts to print the print data using this printer apparatus, the printing process is delayed. When a large amount of print processing is performed, this prolonged waiting time is a major problem in sharing a printer device.

[0004] In order to overcome the above problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H2-225067 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
A technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 70 is known. According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H2-225067, when print data transmitted from a plurality of host computers is received by a plurality of interfaces, the priority is manually switched and set for each of the interfaces. Yes, it is constituted by switching means for switching the priority and print control means for controlling the print processing of print data.

The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-112070 is for manually interrupting / interrupting / automatically returning print processing when other print data is input during execution of print processing. It comprises a print permitting means for permitting interruption of a print process being executed in accordance with a print designation condition, a print suspending means, an interrupt print executing means, and a print resuming means.

(2) Conventionally, when an image is formed in accordance with print data transmitted from a host computer or the like, the printer device has only a single interface and can be connected to only one host computer. And the price was expensive. In order to solve the above problems, a buffer device and a printer having a plurality of interface ports are known.

However, in the case of such a printer having a plurality of interfaces, there is a possibility that a plurality of print data from each of the interfaces may compete with each other. Is provided in each interface. In this case, there is a problem that it takes a long time until print data input from an interface with a low priority is printed. In order to overcome such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos.
The techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 67-235, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-235767, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-175922 are known. The technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2-113327 and 2-25067 includes means for setting priorities corresponding to a plurality of interfaces, and storage means for storing the priorities. Print processing is performed in accordance with the priority order of the interface, etc., thereby making it easy to change the priority order of the interface and the like.

In the interface control method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-235767, priorities are set in advance for a plurality of interfaces, and print data is not sent to an interface unit having a higher priority. If it has continued for a certain period of time, the service for the interface unit is released.

In the data output control system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-175922, the host device makes an inquiry about output availability before transmitting print data to the printer device, and sends the inquiry about output availability. The printer that has received the message sets the priority corresponding to the inquiry and stores the priority in the queue. Then, when the order of printing has come to an end, an output permission response is returned to the host device, and the host device receiving the output permission response controls the printing order by sending print data to the printer device. is there.

[0010]

However, the above-mentioned conventional image processing apparatus has the following problems.

(1) In the conventional image processing apparatuses described in (1) of the above-mentioned conventional technique, since a manual switching operation is required, the processing state is sequentially monitored in order to perform an interrupt processing. Therefore, there is a problem that work efficiency is reduced. That is, the user must detect that the desired print processing is not being executed and perform an operation to interrupt the print data and execute the print processing. Therefore, between the time when the user issues a print request from the host device and the time when the desired print processing is completed, the user must sequentially check whether his or her own print data is being executed or is in a waiting state and perform interrupt processing. .

The above problem may occur, for example, when a user is away from the host device and the printer device, makes a print request, and retrieves the printed document after a predetermined time to the printer device. There are cases.

(2) In the conventional image processing apparatus shown in (2) of the above-mentioned prior art, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2-113327, 2-2-225067, and 3 The prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 235767 has a problem that, even though a plurality of host devices share a printer device, priority cannot be set for each host device. That is, the priority can be set / changed for each of the plurality of interfaces, but the print jobs sent from the same interface can acquire only the same priority. For example, an interface is a local area network (hereinafter referred to as LA).
N), there is a possibility that a plurality of print jobs are sent from a plurality of host terminal devices connected to the LAN to this interface, and the priority order is set between the print jobs. This is because it cannot be set. Further, in the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-175922, priorities can be set for each print data of each host terminal, but the host terminal supports the print control protocol of the printer. It is necessary to implement this protocol for all the host terminal devices sharing the printer, and there is a problem that a large cost is required.

When the printer has a plurality of interfaces corresponding to different LANs, the printer is disclosed in
In the prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 75922, it is difficult to provide a uniform priority setting method between these interfaces. For example, in the case of a LAN known as Novell's product name NetWare, since the file server spools the print data and sends it to the printer, it is impossible to disguise the output permission response to the host, Also meaningless.

In view of the above, the present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and when a plurality of print data compete with the printer device, it is possible to reduce the work efficiency caused by the user sharing the printer device waiting for the printing process. The aim is to minimize it.

Another object of the present invention is to minimize a decrease in work efficiency due to print processing waiting caused by print data that has been waiting for print processing that requires a long time.

Further, according to the present invention, work efficiency is reduced by waiting for print processing due to print data being in a waiting state due to contention of print data sent from a plurality of hosts with respect to a plurality of interfaces having different protocols. It is an object of the present invention to control the print processing order with the optimum priority without changing the protocol on the host side and to minimize the order.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of interfaces for receiving print data transmitted from a plurality of host devices, and a plurality of interfaces for managing the print data in print job units. Print job management means, print order setting means for setting the priority of print processing for each print job managed by the plurality of print job management means, and storing the attributes of the plurality of print jobs together with the priorities. A queue management unit for escalating the priority of a print job stored in the queue according to the length of a waiting time or the number of times that another print job is interrupted A priority changing unit configured to execute a print process from a print job having a higher priority among the plurality of print jobs by using the set or changed priority. Characterized by comprising a printing control unit for.

The control means repeats the interrupt processing when the print processing execution time of the other print data exceeds a predetermined value, and stops the repetition when the number of repetitions exceeds the predetermined number. is there.

[0020]

[0021]

[0022]

The queue management means sets the priority set by the priority setting means, a timer for measuring time, a priority setting means, and a validity period of the priority set by the timer means. It has a function to hold only within the validity period set by the priority validity period setting means.

The queue management means stores the reception time of the print job, the print job attribute, and the priority, and determines the priority stored in the queue management means from the reception time based on timing information obtained from a timer. It is provided with priority changing means for changing after a predetermined time has elapsed.

The queue management means stores the reception time of the print job, the print job attribute, and the priority, and the priority stored in the queue management means is such that the print job is started when the print job is received. A printer including counter means for counting the number of times interrupted by another print job, and priority changing means for changing the stored priority when the number counted by the counter means exceeds a predetermined number It is.

[0026]

According to the present invention, print data transmitted from a plurality of host devices is received by a plurality of interfaces, the print data is managed for each print job by a plurality of print job management means, and a plurality of print data is managed by a print order setting means. The priority of the printing process is set for each print job managed by the print job management means, the queue management means stores the attributes of the plurality of print jobs together with the priority, and is stored in the queue by the priority change means. The priority of the print job being set is gradually increased in accordance with the length of the waiting time or the number of times the print job is interrupted by another print job, and the priority is set by the print processing control unit or changed thereafter. The print job is executed from the print job with the highest priority among the plurality of print jobs using the given priority.

The control means repeats the interrupt processing when the print processing execution time of the other print data is equal to or longer than a predetermined value, and stops the repetition when the number of times of the repetition becomes equal to or more than the predetermined number.

[0028]

[0029]

Further, the queue management means is adapted to compare the priority set by the priority setting means with a timer for measuring time, a priority setting means, and a priority for setting a validity period of the priority set by the timer means. It is held only during the validity period set by the rank validity period setting means.

Further, the queue management means uses the priority change means to change the print job reception time, print job attributes,
And the priority stored in the queue management means is changed after a predetermined time has elapsed from the reception time, based on timing information obtained from a timer.

The queue management means stores the reception time of the print job, the print job attribute, and the priority, and the priority stored in the queue management means by the counter means from the time when the print job is received. It counts the number of times a print job is interrupted by another print job, and changes the stored priority when the number of times counted by the counter by the priority changing unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined number. .

[0033]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment (Configuration of Printer) First, the configuration of a printer according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

The printer apparatus 1 has an interface port (hereinafter, referred to as an I / F port) 7, and is connected to, for example, a network 9 through the I / F port 7, and a plurality of printers connected to the network 9. It is connected to host devices 10 and 11 such as a host computer. In addition to the I / F port 7, the printer device 1 has host devices 10, 1 input through the I / F port 7.
A memory 3 for temporarily storing the print data from 1,
A data amount measuring unit 5 for measuring a data amount of the print data when the print data is stored in the memory 3; a printing unit 6 for performing a printing process on recording paper or the like using the print data stored in the memory 3; The printing means 6 has a timer 4 for measuring the time required for executing the printing process, and a control means 2 for controlling each of these means. The system bus 8 transmits and receives data to and from each other. It is connected.

(Data Structure) Next, the data structure of print option data and print data stored in the memory 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

The memory 3 includes a header section 34 for storing information on jobs and data, a data section 35 for storing print data such as character codes and image data, and a data save area 36.

The header section 34 includes a job attribute area 31 for managing print data as a print job.
And an option information area 32 for storing print option data, and a data information area 33 for storing data information of print data. The job attribute 31 of the header section 34 includes a job ID 31-1 as an identifier for managing a print job by assigning a series of numbers to each transmitted print request, and a host ID 31 for identifying a transmission source host device. -2, and a user ID 31-3 for identifying the requester.

The option information area 32 includes a print copy number 32-1, a recording paper specification 32-2, and a double-sided print specification 32.
-3 is an area in which print option data required when the printing unit 6 performs a printing process is stored.

The data information area 33 stores a data head address 33-1 of the data section 35 in which the print data is stored, and a data amount (the number of bytes) 33-2 of the print data. At this time, the value measured by the data amount measuring means 5 is stored in the data amount storage area 33-2.

For example, the job ID 31-
When the value of “1” is “1”, the value of the data start address 33-1 of the data information area 33 is “0xa00”.
0 ", the value of the data amount 33-4 is" k ", indicating that the job having the job number 1 has K bytes of data from the address" 0xa000 "of the data section 35. I have.

(Operation of First Embodiment) Next, the operation of the printer having the configuration of the first embodiment will be described.

First, the user operates the host devices 10 and 11
And the like, the print data is transmitted together with the print option data in which the user designates the number of print copies, etc.
Print request. In response to the print request, the print option data and the print data are input to the I / F port 7 via the network 9. The input print option data and print data are temporarily stored in a predetermined area of the memory 3 through the system bus 8 from the I / F port 7 according to a control signal from the control unit 2. The control unit 2 activates the data amount measuring unit 5 when writing the print data from the I / F port 7 to the memory 3. The activated data amount measuring means 5 monitors the system bus 8 to connect the memory 3 to the I / F port 7.
Counts the amount of data moved to the device in bytes. When the writing to the memory 3 is completed, the counted number of data bytes is written to the data amount 33-2 of the data information area 33 in the memory 3. Further, the control means 2 controls the data head address 33 of the data information area 33 in the memory 3.
Write the address at which data writing has started to -1.

By the above operation, for example, in the data structure diagram of FIG. 2, the print data registered as job ID 1 is K bytes from the address “0xa000”, and the print data registered as job ID 2 is “0xc
L bytes starting from the address 000 "are stored.

Next, the flow of control of the printing process according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart described below is a flow in which print data already stored in the memory 3 is printed by the printing unit 6 under the control of the control unit 2 in accordance with the above operation. The description will be made with reference numerals.

Step S1: The control means 2 determines whether a print job is stored in the memory 3. This determination can be made, for example, by detecting the job ID 31-3 in the job attribute area 31 of the header section 34, but is not limited to this, and it is also possible to make a determination using other information. If a print job is stored in the memory 3, the process proceeds to the next step S 2 in order for the printing unit 6 to perform a printing process. On the other hand, if no print job is stored in the memory 3, there is no print data to be printed by the printing means 6, and the process proceeds to step S5 where the printing process is terminated.

Step S2: If a print job exists in the memory 3, a print job to be subjected to print processing is selected from the print job, and print option data and print data of the selected print job are extracted. I do.

Step S3: The job attributes, the print option data and the print data of the print job selected in the step S2 are read out from the memory 3, and the printing means 6 is activated based on the print option data to print the print data. Start processing.

Step S4: At the start of the printing process of the print data in the step S3, the timer 4 is set to start measuring the time required for executing the printing process.

Step S5: It is determined whether or not the printing process of the print data has been completed. When the printing process is completed, the control unit 2 receives the printing end signal transmitted from the printing unit 6, ends the printing process of the print data,
Returning to the step S1, it is determined whether there is a print job to be processed next.

On the other hand, in this step, the printing means 6
If the print end signal is not transmitted from the printer and the printing process of the print data is not completed, the process is continued and the determination in the step S6 is performed.

Step S6: The control means 2 waits until an interrupt signal is transmitted from the timer 4, and determines an interrupt by the timer. The timer 4 operates to transmit an interrupt signal to the control means 2 when a preset time has elapsed. This interrupt operation is to execute a print process of another print job in a waiting state if the print process is not completed even after a preset time has elapsed, and the control means 2 issues this timer interrupt signal. By transmitting the print processing end signal earlier than the print processing end signal from the printing means 6, an interrupt processing routine of the next step S7 is entered.

Step S7: In this step of the interrupt processing routine, the printing process of another print job in the waiting state is performed.

Next, the interrupt processing routine of the step S7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4 and FIG. Hereinafter, the flow of control of the interrupt processing routine will be described with reference to reference numerals in the tens starting from step S10.

Step S10: First, print processing data such as font data and bitmap development data that are currently being executed are saved in the data saving area 36 in the memory 3. The execution of the data saving process is performed at a timing when it is easy to save a page cut or the like in the print data being executed. Therefore, the printing process that is currently being executed is continued until the timing at which the save process is executed.

Step S11: In the step S10, the print processing data currently being executed is stored in the memory 3.
When the saving to the data saving area 36 is completed, an empty area for receiving data for performing the next process is prepared in the data section 35. Therefore, next, the header section 34 in the memory 3 is searched for a print job to be interrupted.

The keys used for searching for a print job to be interrupted include, for example, the following method.

A search is performed using the job ID 31-1 in the job attribute area 31 of the header section 34 in the memory 3 as a key.
The interrupt printing process is executed in order from the print job with the smallest job ID 31-1.

Normally, the job IDs 31-1 are sequentially assigned numbers in the order in which the print requests are received, so that according to this search method, interrupt printing can be performed preferentially starting from the one with the longest waiting time. There is.

The print job is searched using the data amount 33-2 in the data information area 33 of the header section 34 in the memory 3 as a key, and the interrupt print processing is executed in order from the print job with the smaller data amount.

A print job is searched by using the data amount 33-2 in the data information area 33 of the header section 34 in the memory 3 as a key, and the print job having a data amount equal to or smaller than a predetermined threshold is sequentially executed in the interrupt printing process. Execute

According to the above-described method, when print data to be interrupted has a large amount of data, it is possible to avoid a problem that the interrupted printing process itself causes another print job to wait for a long time. There is.

A print job is searched by using the number of print copies 32-1 in the option information area 32 of the header section 34 in the memory 3 as a key, and interrupt print processing is executed in order from the print job with the smallest number of print copies.

A print job is searched by using the number of prints 32-1 in the option information area 32 of the header section 34 in the memory 3 as a key, and interrupt print processing is performed in order from the print jobs having the number of prints equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. Execute

According to the above method, when the print data to be interrupted has a large number of print copies, it is possible to avoid the problem that the interrupted print processing itself causes another print job to wait for a long time. There is.

A print job is searched for by using the user ID 31-3 in the job attribute area 31 of the header section 34 in the memory 3 as a key, and the interrupt print processing is performed in such an order that the print jobs of the specific user ID 31-3 are not concentrated. Execute.

According to this search method, when print requests of a specific user are continuously stored in the memory 3, another print job of the specific user is processed in a concentrated manner. This has the effect of avoiding the adverse effect that the user is kept waiting for a long time.

Step S12: According to the search method,
The print job in the memory 3 is searched for a print job to be subjected to the interrupt printing process. If there is a corresponding print job, the process proceeds to the next step S13. If there is no corresponding print job, the process proceeds to step S15. The process proceeds to the return process.

Step S13: Interrupt print processing of the print job extracted in the steps S11 and S12 is performed.

Step S14: It is determined whether the interrupt printing process has been completed. When the interrupt printing process is completed,
In order to perform the next interrupt printing process, the above-described step S11 is performed.
Return to step.

Step S15: If there is no print job to be subjected to interrupt printing, the process exits from the interrupt processing routine in this step and returns to the original print processing step. In this step, the print processing data saved in the data save area 36 in the memory 3 is returned to the data section 35 to restart the print processing.

When the interrupt processing is completed and the print processing of the interrupted print job is restarted, the control means 2 sets the timer again (step S4 in FIG. 3) and returns the print processing end signal or the timer interrupt signal again. Wait until you receive.

(Effects of the First Embodiment) Next, the effects of the first embodiment will be described. According to the first embodiment, it is possible for the printer apparatus 1 to automatically and appropriately perform interrupt print processing during execution of print processing of a print job in which print processing is performed for a long time. Can solve the problem of waiting for printing of another print job caused by the execution of. For example, the user of the printer device 1 can predict the print end time of the print job from the total time of the interrupt time and the interrupt processing time preset in the timer 4.

(Embodiment 2) Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described.

(Configuration of Printer Apparatus and Configuration of Data Structure) The configuration and data structure of the printer apparatus of the second embodiment are the same as those shown in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted here.

(Operation of Second Embodiment) Next, the operation of the printer having the configuration of the second embodiment will be described. The operation of the printer device itself is the same as the operation of the first embodiment, and differs only in the control of the printing process. The difference between the first embodiment and the second embodiment is that the print processing time during the execution of the interrupt print processing is not measured in the first embodiment, whereas the print processing time of the second embodiment is different from the execution of the interrupt print processing. Regarding the time, the execution time is measured by a timer, and when this time exceeds a predetermined value, a timer interrupt signal is generated,
Another point is that an interrupt printing process is performed. Therefore,
Hereinafter, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
Only the control flow of the printing process will be described.

The flowchart described below is
This is a flow in which print data already stored in the memory 3 is printed by the printing unit 6 under the control of the control unit 2 in accordance with the above-described operation. The description will be made with reference numerals.

Steps S21 to S24: The steps S21 to S24 are the same as the steps S1 to S4 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and the description is omitted here.

Step S25: It is determined whether or not the printing process of the print data has been completed. When the printing process is completed, the control unit 2 receives the printing end signal transmitted from the printing unit 6, ends the printing process of the print data, and proceeds to the step S31.

On the other hand, in this step, the printing means 6
If the print end signal is not transmitted from the printer and the print processing of the print data is not completed, the processing is continued as it is, and the determination in the step S26 is performed.

Step S26: The control means 2 waits until an interrupt signal is transmitted from the timer 4, and judges an interrupt by the timer. The timer 4 operates to transmit an interrupt signal to the control means 2 when a preset time has elapsed.

This interrupting operation is to execute a printing process of another print job in a waiting state if the printing process has not been completed even after a preset time has elapsed, and the control means 2 uses this timer. By transmitting the interrupt signal earlier than the print processing end signal from the printing means 6, the process proceeds to the next step S27. Step S27: In this step, interrupt processing is performed until the number of interrupt processing reaches a preset number. If the total number of interrupt processing does not reach the preset upper limit, Is
The process proceeds to the next step S28.

Step S28: In this step, the interrupt count value is increased. By this processing, the number of times of the interruption processing is accumulated, and the comparison with the set upper limit in the step S27 can be performed.

Step S29: Next, as in the first embodiment, the execution data of the interrupted print job is saved in the data saving area 36.

Step S30: An interrupt job is searched for in the same manner as in step S11, and the flow advances to step S23 to start an interrupt execution process. Then, step S
At 24, a timer is also set for this interrupt print execution process. In step S26, if a timer interrupt signal is received during the execution of the interrupt printing process, the processes from step S23 to step S26 are repeated.

If the preset upper limit of the number of repetitions is reached during this repetition, no further interrupt processing is performed (step S27), and the process proceeds to step S31 (step S25).

Step S31: It is determined that the interrupt printing process has been completed. If the process has been completed, the process proceeds to step S32. If the interrupt printing process has not been completed, the process returns to step S21.

Step S32: When the interruption processing is completed, the interruption count value is decreased.

Step S33: The process of restoring the interrupted print job is performed.

(Effect of Second Embodiment) Next, the effect of the second embodiment will be described. According to the second embodiment, it is possible to avoid a state in which another print job is waited even when the execution time of the print job that has performed the interrupt printing is long.

Embodiment 3 (Configuration of Printer) Next, the configuration of a printer according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

The printer device 20 includes a plurality of host devices 7
N interface ports (hereinafter, I / O ports) for receiving print data transmitted by various protocols from 1 to 7n.
First interface port 4 which is called F port)
1 to n-th I / F port 4n and first print job management means 51 to 51 corresponding to the n-th print job management means
A print data input unit 28 including an n-th print job management unit 5n and first to n-th priority order setting units 61 to 6n, which are n priority order setting units; Queue management means 24 for temporarily storing incoming print jobs in a queue (memory) 23, and a timer 2 for determining the priority of each job in the queue.
5, a priority changing means 27 for changing the print order based on the value of the counter 5 and the value of the counter 26, a printing means 21 for printing on recording paper based on print data, and a print processing control means 22 for controlling the whole of them. And print processing control means 2
2. The printing means 21 and the print data input unit 28 are connected by a system bus 29 and mutually transmit and receive data.

Here, the first I / F port 41 receives print data from the host device according to a printer protocol having no spooling function such as RS232-C, Centronics, or AppleTalk, which is a product name of Apple Inc. And the second I / F port 42
ovell's product name is NetWare or UNIX T
Host 7 connected by LAN 70 such as CP / IP
It is assumed that print data from printers 2, 73 is received.
By this assumption, the printer device 20 of the present invention has a plurality of I / F ports of different protocols.

Each control of the print data input unit 28 and the print processing control means 22 is performed by a task operating on a multitasking operating system.
The transmission and reception of information between the tasks is synchronized using message communication.

(Operation of the Third Embodiment) Next, the operation of the printer having the configuration of the second embodiment will be described.

Hereinafter, the processing procedures of the print data input unit 28, the print processing control unit 22, the queue management unit 24, and the priority change unit will be described in order.

(Operation of Print Data Input Block) First, the operation of the print data input unit 28 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 when the print data input unit requests a print job.

Step S41: Each unit of the print data input unit 28 receives print data from any of the host devices 71 to 7n through the I / F ports 41 to 4n.

Step S42: I / F ports 41 to 4n
The print data received by the print job management unit 5
Registration is performed for each print job by 1 to 5n. In this registration, a job ID, which is a unique identifier, is assigned to each job unit. In the embodiment of the present invention, a job unit is defined as a unit in which a user operating a certain host terminal makes one print request to the printer of the present invention. At this time, in the case of RS232-C or Centronics as in the case of the first I / F port 41, it is difficult to divide print data received according to the protocol that defines them into job units. If a unit time elapses during a period in which print data is not received, this time is set in advance as a time-out value as a break between jobs, and the print data is transmitted from the stage at which reception of print data is started until the time-out. The incoming print data is defined as one job unit.

Step S43: The priority order of the print jobs registered as described above is set by the priority order setting means 61 to 6n. At this time, when a priority is specified from the host devices 72 and 73 accompanying the print job by a network protocol such as the LAN 70, the specified priority is set.

Step S44: On the other hand, step S4
In the determination of 3, if no priority order is specified from the host devices 72 and 73, a predetermined default priority order is set.

Steps S45 and S46: Then, in step S45, it is determined whether or not the priority valid period is to be set. If the priority valid period is to be set,
Set the time value to set the validity period.

Step S47: Thereafter, the print output input unit 2
Reference numeral 8 designates the job request message 80 as the print processing control unit 2.
2 and wait until the start of the job.

With respect to the job request message 80,
This will be described with reference to a model diagram showing the configuration of the job request message in FIG. The job request message 80 includes a message ID indicating a job request message, a job ID indicating a number assigned when the job is registered as a print job, and an input port ID indicating an I / F port to which print data has been input. , A priority setting value, a time value indicating the validity period of the priority, and an option area for specifying settings of services that can be added at the time of printing, such as banner sheet output and page number addition.

(Operation of Print Processing Control Unit) Next, the operation of the print processing control unit 22 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The description will be made using reference numerals in the 50's.

Step S51: The job request message 80 transmitted from the print data input unit 28 is taken into the print processing control unit 22 upon receipt of the message.

Step S52: It is determined whether the message content is a job request from the message ID in the job request message 80 shown in FIG.

Step S55: If it is determined in step S52 that the message ID in the message is a job request, the queue management unit 24 is activated to store the print job in the queue 23.

Step S53: On the other hand, when the timer message 90 is received, it is determined from the message ID whether the message is a printable message.

Step S54: If it is determined in step S53 that the message is not a printable message, it is determined from the message ID whether the content of the message is a timer interrupt.

Step S56-1: If it is determined from the message ID that the content of the message is a timer interrupt, the priority changing means 27 is activated. At this time,
The print processing control unit 22 sends the contents of the timer message 90 to the priority change unit 27 as a parameter. Upon receiving the timer message 90, the priority changing means 27 performs the processing shown in FIG.

Step S56-2: If it is determined in step S53 that the message is a printable message, a process of selecting a print job to be processed next from the queue 23 is performed. At this time, if the print jobs are in conflict with each other and a plurality of print jobs are stored in the queue, the print processing control unit 22 needs to perform the processing in the order of higher priority. However, in the case of a print job with a low priority set at the time of transmission of the job request message 80, the print jobs with a high priority stored in the queue 23 are interrupted one after another, and the print processing is performed. There is a possibility that a phenomenon of not being executed may occur. Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of such a phenomenon, a print job that is not printed even after a predetermined time has elapsed from the job request reception time and is stored in the queue 23 is printed. By increasing the priority step by step, the priority can be raised in accordance with the length of the waiting time, and the occurrence of a print job in which print processing is not performed for a long time can be prevented.

The priority can be raised not only by the waiting time, but also by the number of times a print job is stored in a queue and interrupted by another print job. In this case, the number of times that a print job of a certain print job is overtaken by another print job is counted, and if the number of times is equal to or more than a predetermined number, a process of increasing the priority is performed.

In order to realize this operation, the print processing control means 22 sets a predetermined time value and a predetermined number of interrupts (hereinafter referred to as a hop number) as parameters and activates the priority changing means 27. .

Step S57: Print processing control means 22
Searches for the node with the highest priority in the queue 23 based on the priority changed by the priority changing means 27.

Step S58: From the I / F port ID in the node obtained by the search in step S57, the I / F
Select F port.

Step S59: A print processing start message is issued to the printing means 21 through the selected I / F port. In this printing process, the process of the queue management unit 24 is performed in step S6 of FIG.
Steps S67 and S68 are performed.

(Operation of Queue Management Unit) Next, the operation of the queue management unit 24 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The description will be made with reference numerals in the 0's.

Step S61: It is determined whether or not the printing process of the print job in the queue 23 has been started.

Steps S62 and S63: The reception time is set and the initial value is set using the time information obtained by the timer 25. At the step S55 in the operation of the print processing control means, the print processing of the print job has not been started.
Set the reception time and the initial value.

Here, the contents of the initial values will be described with reference to the model diagram of the queue shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows the contents of the queue stored in the memory 23 of the queue.
This queue indicates the attributes and priorities of the print jobs, the priority obtained from the job request message 80, the job ID and the I / F port ID, and step S62.
, The number of hops indicating the number of interruptions of other jobs after being stored in the queue 23 (the initial value is set to “0”), and whether or not the validity period of the priority is set. The validity period flag includes an option and a function area associated with the print job.

When the time value indicating the validity period in the job request message 80 is set to a value larger than “0”, the validity period flag is set to “1”.

Step S64: Next, the print jobs for which the initial values have been set are stored in the memory of the queue 23 in ascending order of priority.

Step S65: In this step, it is determined whether a valid period is set. This determination is made by determining the presence or absence of a validity period flag.

Step S66: In the above-mentioned process, if the valid period flag is set, the timer 25 is set so that the timer interrupt message is issued after the valid period in the job request message 80. Do.

In response to this, the timer 25 issues a timer message 90 to the print processing control means 22 after the lapse of the set time. FIG. 13 is a model diagram of the timer message. A message I indicating that the timer message 90 is a message from the timer 25 is shown.
D and a job ID.

Step S67: If the print job for which the printing process has started is present in the queue 23, the node of the corresponding print job is deleted from the queue 23.

Step S68: Then, the number of hops of another node is incremented.

(Operation of Priority Changing Unit) Next, the operation of the priority changing unit 27 will be described with reference to the 70's reference numerals in step S using the flowchart of the processing of the priority changing unit in FIG. .

Step S71: At startup, it is determined whether or not the parameter is a timer message.

Step S72: If the parameter is a timer message, the job I
The node in the corresponding queue 23 is deleted from D. For example, when the job ID in the timer message 90 is 1, the node in the first line in the queue 23 is deleted.

Further, the printing means 21 ends the printing process,
When the next print job can be processed, a print processing possible message 100 is issued. The printable message 100 will be described with reference to a model diagram showing the structure of the printable message in FIG. 14. The printable message 100 has a message ID indicating that print processing is possible, and which print job is And a job ID indicating whether the job has been completed.

Step S73: If the parameter is not a timer message, i = 1 is set, and thereafter, step S7
From step 4, a loop process of searching each node in the queue 23 in step S78 is performed.

Step S74: The current time acquired from the timer 25 is compared with the reception time of each node, and it is determined whether a predetermined time has elapsed.

Step S76: The priority order is raised for the node that has passed the predetermined time or more given by the parameter.

Step S75: The number of hops is further determined for the node within the predetermined time given by the parameter, and the priority is raised to the node having the hop number equal to or more than the predetermined number of times given by the parameter.

Step S77: The steps S74 to S76 are performed for all print job nodes in the queue 23.

Step S78: The nodes in the queue 23 are sorted based on the changed priority.

When the priority order is raised, an upper limit value is determined, and when the priority value is higher than the upper limit value, the priority order is not changed. This is because if there is an I / F port for which a job request is to be made with the highest priority, no priority equal to or higher than that of the re-priority print job is generated. Can be added.

For example, in this process, in FIG. 11, the upper limit of the priority order is set to “0”, the upper limit that can be increased in the process of increasing the priority order is set to “1”, and “1” is changed to “0”. , Or the like. By this process, a print job that needs to be subjected to print processing with the highest priority is protected without being interrupted even when there is a conflict with another print job by setting the priority to “0” when the job is requested. Will be.

(Example of Processing) For example, the following processing can be performed by the printer device 20 performing the above operation.

(1) Product name NetWa of Novell
The print request transmitted from the host device 72 or 73 using the protocol of the LAN 70 such as re or TCP / IP of UNIX is a print request after the print data is once spooled in a file server or the like (not shown) on the network. In this case, the priority set by the priority setting units 61 to 6n is set in advance to a low level unless otherwise specified, and the job request message 80 is issued. Further, when a designation that printing has been preferentially performed is transmitted from the host devices 72 and 73 together with a print request using a network protocol or the like, the priority is increased by a predetermined amount accordingly.

(2) When a print request is sent from the host device 71 according to RS232-C, Centronics, Apple Inc. product name without spooling function, etc., a print request from the host device 71 is sent. On the other hand, if the printing unit 21 is in a busy state during the printing process and cannot immediately respond to the print request, a certain timeout value is set on the protocol. Need to be returned. In such a case, it is necessary to assign print processing priorities over other print jobs during the period until the timeout occurs, and to give higher priority than other competing print jobs. For this reason, the job request message 80 is issued with the highest priority set and the priority valid period value corresponding to the timeout value according to the protocol. Thus, when a printing request is issued from the host device 71, the host devices 72, 73
When a plurality of print jobs such as are held in the queue 23, the print job of the host device 71 is processed in preference to those. At this time, if the printing unit 21 finishes the processing within the validity period and becomes ready to print the next print job, the print processing of the print job from the host device 71 is started.

However, if the printing means 21 does not become ready for printing within the validity period, the print job from the host 71 is deleted from the queue 23, and the first I / F port 41 is Signals that the device is busy. By doing so, it is possible to respond within the timeout value specified by the protocol between the first I / F port 41 and the host device 71,
In addition, even if there is a conflict with another print job within that time, it is possible to increase the chances of performing a printing process as much as possible.

(Effect of Third Embodiment) According to the third embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to set a priority order for a plurality of print data transmitted by various protocols for each print job. It is also possible to add a change to the assigned priority later.

Furthermore, in setting the priority, it is possible to set a time value indicating a period in which the priority is valid. Therefore, it is possible to set an optimum priority according to a plurality of interfaces having different protocols on a print job basis, and to determine an optimum print processing order in a process of conflicting print jobs in a shared printer. It is possible to provide an optimum printing environment for a user using a host terminal using a host terminal sharing a printer.

In the third embodiment of the present invention, the host device 7
2, 73 etc., print jobs requesting a higher priority are continuously sent, and other print jobs having a lower priority remain stored in the queue 24 due to interruption of the print processing. Even if the print job is accepted for a predetermined time from the reception time, or when the number of hops is equal to or more than a predetermined number of times, the priority order is gradually increased, so that printing is not performed any time. Can be avoided.

(Modifications) The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various modifications are possible based on the spirit of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to use other attributes other than those described in the embodiment as a key for searching for a print job in the memory at the time of interrupt processing. It is also possible to set the processing order. For example, if a host ID is used as a key, a print request from a specific host can be preferentially interrupted for print processing.

In the third embodiment of the present invention, the print job is deleted from the queue 23 by the priority changing means 27 using the timer message 90 as a parameter. However, it is necessary to delete the print job in accordance with the protocol or the like. If not, it may be possible to stop the change such as lowering the priority without deleting.

[0151]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a plurality of print data compete with the printer device, it is possible to minimize the decrease in work efficiency due to the waiting for the printing process of the user sharing the printer device, and to wait for the printing process that takes a long time. It is possible to minimize a decrease in work efficiency due to a print processing wait caused by print data in a state.

Further, according to the present invention, the work efficiency is reduced by waiting for print processing due to print data being in a waiting state due to contention of print data sent from a plurality of hosts with respect to a plurality of interfaces having different protocols. Can be minimized by controlling the print processing order with the optimum priority without changing the protocol on the host side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a data structure in a memory according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of control of print processing according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating control of interrupt printing processing according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of control of print processing according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart when a print job is requested in the print data input unit according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating control of a print processing control unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process performed by a queue management unit according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process of a priority changing unit according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a model diagram of a queue according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a model diagram showing a configuration of a job request message according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a model diagram illustrating a configuration of a timer message according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a model diagram showing a configuration of a print-processable message according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer apparatus, 2 ... Control means, 3 ... Memory, 4 ... Timer, 5 ... Data amount measuring means, 6 ... Printing means, 7 ... I /
F port, 8: system bus, 9: network, 1
0, 11: Host device, 20: Printer device, 21: Printing means, 22: Print processing control means, 23: Queue (memory), 24: Queue management means, 25: Timer, 26
... Counter, 27 ... Priority change means, 28 ... Print data input unit, 29 ... System bus, 41-4n ... Interface ports, 51-5n ... Print job management means, 6
1 to 6n: priority setting means; 71 to 7n: host device.

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. (a) a plurality of interfaces for receiving print data transmitted from a plurality of host devices; (b) a plurality of print job management means for managing the print data in print job units; Print order setting means for setting the priority of print processing for each print job managed by the plurality of print job management means; and (d) queue management means for storing the attributes of the plurality of print jobs together with the priorities. And (e) for print jobs stored in the queue.
And depending on the length of the waiting time or other print jobs
Gradually increase priority according to the number of times interrupted
Priority order changing means; and (f) print processing control means for executing print processing from the plurality of print jobs with a higher priority order using the set or changed priority order. Printer device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The print processing control means according to claim 1, further comprising :
If the print processing execution time of the
Process is repeated and the number of repetitions is
It is characterized by stopping repetition when it becomes above
The printer device according to claim 1. 3. The queue management means according to claim 2, wherein
Measures the priority set by the setting means
Timer, priority setting means, and timer means
Priority validity that sets the validity period of the set priority
Retain only within the validity period set by the period setting means
The pre-printer according to claim 1, wherein the pre-printer has a function.
Device. 4. The queue management means according to claim 1, wherein
Store the reception time, print job attributes, and priority
The priority stored in the queue management means is obtained from the timer.
After a predetermined time has passed since the reception time,
Note that it is equipped with priority changing means for changing
2. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein: 5. The print server according to claim 1, wherein the queue management unit is configured to
Store the reception time, print job attributes, and priority
The priority stored in the queue management means is
Print job interrupts another print job
Counter means for counting the number
The number of times counted by the step exceeds the specified number
Priority change to change the priority stored in case
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said means is provided with means.
Printer device.