JP4274450B2 - Printing system, information storage medium, printing method, and print server - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  The present invention, KuA printing system for outputting an electronic document from a client to a print server installed on the network and outputting the document to at least one printing device installed on the network in accordance with an instruction for printing the document.,Information storage medium, Printing method and print serverAbout.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, network computing represented by the Internet or Intranet has been regarded as important, and various information is stored on a server computer and can be accessed and viewed from a client computer.
[0003]
Also in the printing system, in recent years, a print server and a plurality of printing apparatuses are installed on a network, a plurality of desired document files are transmitted from a client computer to the print server, and this is queued by the print server. There has also been proposed a system that efficiently outputs to a plurality of printing apparatuses according to print scheduling.
[0004]
Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-216606, an example of a system for transferring a job ticket having a program command to be printed together with a document file to be printed to a print server, and processing and editing the document according to the command. There is also a proposal.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when considering the application scale of this type of conventional printing system, it is limited to a certain range, for example, within a certain department of a certain company. In other words, in the case of a conventional networked printing system, security of the user who uses the print server and the printing apparatus and management of the user are not particularly considered. The scale of operation is limited, for example, in a security-free environment.
[0006]
Similarly, since the security and document management are not particularly taken into consideration for the document to be printed, the scale of operation is limited from the viewpoint of the document.
[0007]
Therefore, the present invention can widen the operation scale in a state in which the security of each user can be secured in response to a print request from an unspecified number of users by a Web browser or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system and an information storage medium that can be applied to a center or the like.
[0008]
Furthermore, with the widening of the scale of operations, assuming a system configuration for business use in which a printing company performs printing upon receiving a print request from a user, it responds to an estimate request or trial print request at the time of printing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing system having an obtained system configuration.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  The printing system of the invention according to claim 1, KuClient?RaneIn a printing system for outputting to at least one printing apparatus installed on the network in accordance with transmission of an electronic document to a print server installed on the network and an instruction for printing the document, the printing system is used through the client Registering means for registering user identification information in the memory, and system use restriction means for permitting use of the printing system only when user identification information that matches the user identification information registered in the memory is input. ,Prior to printing of the document instructed to be printed by the printing apparatus, an estimation unit for estimating a chargeable item related to the printing, and a feedback unit for feeding back an estimation result by the estimation unit to the client corresponding to the user who instructed to print is fed back. Order determining means for designating whether or not printing is actually performed according to the estimation result, storage means for storing an electronic document transmitted and instructed to be printed by the client, and electronic data stored by the storage means A registered document search providing means for searching a desired document from the document through the client and providing browsing / acquiring of the document;WithThe registered document search providing means searches the electronic document stored in the storage means based on a print instruction, and the searched electronic document can be repeatedly printed.The
[0010]
  Therefore, even if the system configuration has a wide operational range open to an unspecified number of users, the corresponding user can be any user who has previously registered user identification information in the printing system using a registration unit through a client. It is permitted to use the printing system by logging in by specifying identification information. However, in the case of an unregistered user, the user does not have the corresponding user identification information and cannot log in properly through the client. Use of the system is not permitted, and thus security for the user can be ensured. As a result, it is possible to construct a system whose operation scale is not particularly limited.
  In addition, the user who can use the printing system estimates the chargeable items related to the printing by the estimating means before deciding the order to actually print through the client, and the estimated result corresponds to the user corresponding to the printing instruction. Since it is fed back to the client, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not to place an order, as in the case of requesting printing from a normal printer.
  In addition, since the electronic document instructed to be printed through the client by the registered user of the printing system has a function of saving by the saving means, when the same document needs to be printed again, it can be printed without sending the printed document again. This makes it possible to perform an efficient and quick printing process.
[0011]
The present invention is also realized by causing a print server to execute a program stored in an information storage medium. That is, the information storage medium of the invention according to claim 11 is provided with at least one or more units installed on the network in accordance with reception of an electronic document from a client installed on a network or a remote place and a print instruction for the document. An information storage medium storing a program readable by the print server that causes a print server installed on the network to execute output to a printing apparatus, the user identification for using the printing system through the client A registration function for registering information in the memory, a registration management function for grouping and managing users in at least one hierarchical structure when registering user identification information by the registration function, and user identification information registered in the memory Only when user identification information that matches is entered Program for executing a system using limit function that allows use of the system, to the print server are stored.
[0012]
  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the first aspect, the user identification information is registered by the registration unit.Under the corresponding corporationRegistration management means is provided for managing users by grouping them in a hierarchical structure of at least one hierarchy.
[0013]
Therefore, for example, in the case of an individual user belonging to a corporate user, the individual user is managed in a hierarchical structure in which the corporate user is hierarchized under the corporate user, and the user is easily managed by grouping the users by corporate unit. It can be performed.
[0014]
  The invention of claim 3 is the printing system according to claim 1 or 2.,in frontAn access right setting unit that sets an access right for the electronic document in correspondence with the user identification information of the user when the electronic document is stored by the storage unit, and a search for a desired document by the registered document search providing unit or corresponding Access restriction means for permitting browsing / acquisition of documents only when user identification information set with the access right or user identification information in a group to which the user belongs is input;furtherPrepare.
[0015]
  Therefore, KeepFor an existing document, an access right is set by the access right setting means in correspondence with the user identification information of the user, and the user identification information for which the access right is set or the user identification information in the group to which the user belongs is stored. By permitting search of the document or browsing / acquiring of the document by the access restriction means only when it is input, it is possible to secure the security regarding the document.
[0016]
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided the printing system according to the third aspect, further comprising designation means for designating whether or not the electronic document transmitted by the client and instructed to be printed is to be saved by the saving means.
[0017]
Accordingly, since the user who has instructed printing can arbitrarily select and specify whether or not to save the electronic document instructed to be printed in the printing system, if there is a high possibility that the same document will be printed again, specify the storage. By saving, if it is necessary to print again for the same document, it can be printed using the saved document without sending the printed document again, enabling efficient and rapid printing processing. It becomes. In particular, when the storage is not required, the storage fee is not paid by not specifying the storage.
[0018]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the third or fourth aspect, there is provided designation means for designating whether or not the access right setting means sets an access right for the electronic document stored by the storage means. Prepare.
[0019]
Accordingly, since the user who has instructed printing can arbitrarily select and specify whether or not to set the access right when saving the electronic document for which printing has been instructed, the user or the group to which the user belongs can be specified by specifying the access right setting. Only the user can access, and security regarding the document can be secured. On the other hand, in the case of a document that does not have security, if the access right setting is not specified, all logged-in users who can use the printing system can access the document. Can do. That is, it is possible to adopt a storage form corresponding to the presence or absence of the security of the document.
[0020]
  The invention of claim 6 is the printing system according to claim 1 or 2,The chargeable item is a cost and a schedule related to the printing..
[0021]
  Therefore, before a user who can use the printing system determines an order to actually perform printing through a client, the cost, schedule, and the like related to the printing are estimated by the estimation unit.LeSince the estimation and the estimation result are fed back to the client corresponding to the user who has instructed printing, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not to place an order, as in the case of requesting printing from a normal printer.
[0022]
The invention according to claim 7 is the printing system according to claim 6, wherein the estimation means includes elements relating to printing paper such as paper quality, paper size, number of printed sheets, etc., elements relating to finisher processing in the printing apparatus such as staples and punches, And a main calculation means for performing an estimation calculation with respect to an element related to a schedule such as urgent printing and date / time designation printing, and a sub-calculation means for performing an estimation calculation with the storage cost of the electronic document stored by the storage means as a charging target. Prepare.
[0023]
Therefore, it is possible to appropriately estimate the chargeable item.
[0024]
The invention according to claim 8 is the printing system according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the feedback means outputs the estimation result to an external file.
[0025]
Accordingly, by outputting the estimation result as an external file in a format such as CSV (Comma Separated Value), the data can be corrected and processed, and information such as discounts according to the user can be easily added. And estimate correction can be done easily.
[0026]
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, the trial printing of the print image of the document instructed to be printed is performed by the printing apparatus before the set number of sheets are printed. Output means are provided.
[0027]
Accordingly, when a user who can use the printing system gives a print instruction, for example, when the number of printed sheets is large, whether the print image is as desired by outputting the print image by the trial output unit in advance. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a large amount of misprints from occurring.
[0028]
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the printing system according to the ninth aspect, the trial output means includes a hard trial output means for causing the printing apparatus to actually print and output a print image on a print sheet, and a screen on the display device. The software trial output means for displaying and outputting the print image is freely selectable, and is provided with a designation means for selecting and designating which output form is used.
[0029]
  Accordingly, the output form of the print image can be arbitrarily selected from a form that is actually printed on a print sheet and a form that is displayed and output on the screen of the display device, and can be checked in a desired form.
  The invention according to claim 11 is that the print server installed on the network outputs to at least one printing apparatus installed on the network in accordance with the reception of the electronic document from the client and the print instruction of the document. An information storage medium storing a program readable by the print server to be executed by a registration function for registering user identification information for using the printing system through the client in a memory; and a registration function registered in the memory A system usage restriction function that permits the use of the printing system only when the user identification information that matches the user identification information that is present, and the chargeable items related to the printing prior to printing by the printing device of the document instructed to print Estimate function to estimate and estimate result obtained by this estimate function A feedback function for feeding back to the client corresponding to the user who has instructed printing, a storage function for storing the electronic document transmitted by the client and instructed to print in the storage unit, and the client from among the electronic documents stored by the storage unit A registered document search providing function for searching for a desired document and providing browsing / acquisition of the corresponding document, and a search for an electronic document stored in the storage unit by the registered document search providing function based on a print instruction; A program for causing the print server to execute a function of repeatedly printing the retrieved electronic document is stored.
  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing method in which an electronic document is transmitted from a client to a print server installed on the network and output to at least one printing apparatus installed on the network in accordance with a print instruction for the document. Only when a registration step of registering user identification information for using the printing system through the client in the memory and user identification information that matches the user identification information registered in the memory is input. Prints the system usage restriction process that permits the use of the printing system, the estimation process for estimating the chargeable items related to the printing prior to printing by the printing apparatus of the document instructed to print, and the estimation result obtained in this estimation process Feedback that is fed back to the specified client An order determination step for designating whether or not printing is actually performed in accordance with the estimated result fed back, and a storage step for storing in the storage means an electronic document transmitted by the client and instructed to be printed. A registered document search providing step of searching for a desired document from the electronic document stored in the storing step through the client and providing browsing / acquiring of the document, and the registered document search providing step based on a print instruction The electronic document stored in the storage means can be searched for, and the searched electronic document can be repeatedly printed.
  According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in accordance with transmission of an electronic document from a client to a print server installed on the network and a print instruction for the document, the print is output to at least one printing apparatus installed on the network. Only when a registration means for registering user identification information for using the printing system through the client in the memory and user identification information that matches the user identification information registered in the memory is input to the server Prior to printing the document instructed to be printed by the printing apparatus, the system usage restriction means for permitting the use of the printing system, the estimation means for estimating the chargeable item relating to the printing, and the estimation result by the estimation means are instructed to be printed. Fees fed back to the client Back means, storage means for saving an electronic document transmitted by the client and instructed to print, and searching for a desired document through the client from the electronic documents stored by the storage means, and browsing / acquiring the corresponding document A registered document search providing means for providing, the electronic document stored in the storage means is searched by the registered document search providing means based on a print instruction, and the searched electronic document can be printed repeatedly It is characterized by that.
[0030]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The printing system according to the present embodiment is a system that is intended mainly for printers and copy centers with an expanded operation range. In general, a user can print information about a print job through a client (information about the user (name about the user). Company name, etc.), information related to printing (number of copies, finisher processing, etc.), information related to distribution destination (distribution destination name, distribution form, etc.), etc. In a printing system, submitted job information and documents are checked for receipt through a reception client, and the submitted documents are scheduled for printing by a print server, and a plurality of MFPs (Multifunction Peripheral) and other printing apparatuses Distribute to high speed printing and bookbinding. Distribute the bound book to the distribution destination specified in the job ticket.
[0031]
FIG. 1 shows a basic system configuration example of the printing system of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration example thereof.
[0032]
The printing system according to the present embodiment basically includes a print server 2 and n printing apparatuses indicated by # 1, # 2,..., #N on a network 1 such as a LAN. An MFP 3 having a finisher function such as FAX and bookbinding is arranged, and further includes a reception client 4, a management client 5, a WWW server 6, and a document management server 7 as clients installed on the network 1. . In addition, a user client 9 as a client installed in a remote place can be connected to the network 1 via the Internet / intranet 8 or the like. The print server 2, the reception client 4, the management client 5, the WWW server 6, the document management server 7, and the user client 9 are basically configured as a PC (personal computer).
[0033]
Here, the user client 9 is a PC used by the user himself / herself to directly request a printing job from a printing company or the like equipped with the printing system from outside the printing system. The user can transmit a job ticket and a document to be printed from the Internet / intranet 8 by accessing the print request home page of the WWW server 6. In addition, by accessing the home page for the document management server of the WWW server 6, it is possible to search for documents and job tickets that have been requested for printing in the past.
[0034]
The reception client 4 is a PC that is used on the side of the printing company in order to receive a printing job requested by the user by telephone or the like. The only difference is whether the operator is the user himself / herself or the person in charge of reception on the trader side, and is functionally the same as the user client 9. In other words, the person in charge of the reception can transmit the job ticket and the document to be printed by accessing the print request home page of the WWW server 6.
[0035]
The management client 5 is a PC for managing a printing job requested by a user. The reception staff accesses the print management home page of the WWW server through the reception client 4 to register / search / delete / manage the job ticket and register / search / register the document to be printed in the document management server 7. Deletion / management is possible.
[0036]
The WWW server 6 is a PC for providing a print request, print management, and document management home page and Web application to the user and the person in charge of reception through the clients 9 and 4.
[0037]
The print server 2 is a server PC that forms the core of the printing system, and performs job ticket management, print job scheduling, charging processing, and print control (parallel printing, alternative printing, etc.) as will be described later. The print server 2 includes a database 10 including an estimate DB, a print job DB, an apparatus DB, a master DB, and a user DB.
[0038]
The document management server 7 is a server PC used for managing documents to be printed. As a specific example, an integrated document management system LIFISA manufactured by Ricoh Co., Ltd. is used. By using the document management server 7, the electronic document transmitted from the user is registered and stored, and the document is searched during repeat printing. The document management server 7 includes a document database 11.
[0039]
In this general basic configuration, the present embodiment requires user registration in order to use the printing system. For example, user registration using the user client 9 will be described. When the user client 9 accesses the print request home page of the WWW server 6, a main menu screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the screen 9 a of the user client 9. In this main menu screen, user registration is possible by selecting and operating corporate management or corporate management of user management, user (corporate) registration, or user (individual) registration. For example, when the corporate registration is selected, the screen 9a is switched to the “corporate registration” screen as shown in FIG. 4, and the password is entered as user identification information together with the company name, address, telephone number, etc., and the OK button is operated. By doing so, the user identification information of the corporate user is registered in the user DB on the database 10 which is a memory. In the case of a user belonging to a corporation, registration as a user (corporation) belonging to the corporate user is possible on condition that the corporation is already registered. In this case, when user (corporation) registration is selected, the screen 9a is switched to the “user (corporation) registration” screen as shown in FIG. 5, and the password is assigned to the user identification information together with the affiliation, name, address, telephone number, and the like. And the user identification information of the user (corporation) is registered in the user DB on the database 10 which is a memory. Further, in the case of a user (individual) who does not belong to a corporation, when user (individual) registration is selected, the screen 9a is switched to a “user (individual) registration” screen as shown in FIG. By entering a password as user identification information together with a telephone number and operating the OK button, the user identification information of the user (individual) is registered in the user DB on the database 10 which is a memory. This registration is the same when the person in charge of reception performs the reception client 4 through a request from the user by telephone or the like, regardless of the user client 9.
[0040]
An example of processing control in the print server 2 relating to such user registration will be briefly described with reference to a schematic flowchart shown in FIG. First, the print request home page of the WWW server 6 is accessed through the user client 9 (or the reception client 4), the main menu is displayed on the corresponding client screen, and corporate registration, user (corporation) registration, or user (corporation) If any one of the registrations is selected, the registration mode is set (Y in step S1). In this registration mode, when corporate registration is selected (Y in S2), if the OK button is operated after inputting predetermined items (Y in S3), user identification information such as a password of the corporate user is displayed. It registers in the user DB, issues a corporate ID as one of user identification information to the corporate user (S4), and ends the registration process. In the registration mode, when user (corporate) registration is selected (Y in S5), if an OK button is operated after inputting predetermined items (Y in S6), the password of the user (corporate), etc. The user identification information is registered in the user DB in association with the corporate ID to which the user belongs, a user ID that is one of the user identification information is issued to the user (corporation) (S7), and the registration process is terminated. . In the registration mode, when user (individual) registration is selected (N in S5), if an OK button is operated after inputting predetermined items (Y in S8), the password of the user (individual), etc. The user identification information is registered in the user DB, a user ID that is one of the user identification information is issued to the user (individual) (S9), and the registration process is terminated. A series of processes in steps S1 to S9 shown in FIG. 7 is executed by the print server 2 as a function of the registration means.
[0041]
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the result of corporate / user registration by such a registration process. That is, as shown in the figure, corporations and users (individuals) are grouped as equivalent units (corporation 1, corporation 2,..., User (individual) 1, user (individual) 2,..., User (individual) n). In the case of a user belonging to a corporation, the user (corporation) is managed in a hierarchical structure under the corresponding corporation (for example, user (corporation) 1 for corporation 1, user (corporation) 2,..., Like user (corporate) n). That is, among the processing examples shown in FIG. 7, in particular, the processing of steps S4, S7, and S9 is executed as a function of the registration management means.
[0042]
The password and user ID registered and issued in this way are used as the user identification information of the user, as well as the original print request, as well as the user required when using the main functions of the printing system such as estimation and job registration. Used when logging in. That is, the user logs in to use the main function of the printing system. When performing this user login, the user must input the user ID issued at the time of registration and the password specified at the time of registration. For example, when the user client 9 accesses the print request home page of the WWW server 6, a main menu screen as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the screen 9 a of the user client 9. If the user ID and password are correctly input on this main menu screen and the OK button is operated, the registered user can be logged in and the printing system can be used. Conversely, in this main menu screen, if the user ID or password is not input, or if the user ID or password is not issued, or if the corresponding password is not specified, Login is not successful and use of the printing system is not permitted.
[0043]
An example of processing control in the print server 2 relating to such user login will be briefly described with reference to a schematic flowchart shown in FIG. First, the print request home page of the WWW server 6 is accessed through the user client 9 (or the reception client 4), the main menu is displayed on the corresponding client screen, the user ID and password are input, and the OK button is displayed. When operated, the login mode is set (Y in step S11). In this login mode, it is searched whether the input user ID exists in the user DB (S12), and if the corresponding user ID exists as a result of the search (Y in S13), the input password is further entered. Similarly, the password is checked against the password specified for the user ID (S14), and if it matches (Y in S15), the login is completed (S16), and the use is permitted and specified for the printing system. Processing becomes possible. On the other hand, if there is no ID corresponding to the input user ID (N in S13), or if the input password does not match the specified password (N in S15), login is disabled (S17). ), The use of the printing system is not permitted. A series of processes in steps S11 to S17 shown in FIG. 9 is executed by the print server 2 as a function of the system use restriction unit. As a result, even if the printing system itself is constructed to cover a wide range of operations, the printing system cannot be used for a user who is not registered as a user. User security can be ensured.
[0044]
Functions such as registration means, registration management means, or system use restriction means store programs corresponding to information storage media such as a CD-ROM and FD that can be read by the print server 2, and the print server It can also be executed by having 2 read.
[0045]
Next, FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 show an outline of the business flow of the printing system provided to the user who can register and log in as described above. In these FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the range enclosed by the broken line is the applicable range of the printing system.
[0046]
In this embodiment, the user can request an estimate of a print job through the user client 9 (or the reception client 4) when requesting a printing job from the printing system. After the login as described above is completed in the user client 9, when a print menu is designated as the work menu, a print menu screen 9a as shown in FIG. 12 appears. Therefore, when “estimate request” is designated, the printing system automatically issues an estimate number and the “estimate request” screen 9a as shown in FIG. 13 is displayed. On this screen, distribution destination information, output information, document storage information, and the like are displayed as items to be estimated, and input can be made where necessary. As for the distribution destination information, by clicking this distribution destination information input part, as shown in FIG. 14, personal information (name, telephone number, etc.), company information (company name, address, telephone number, etc.), delivery information Conditions relating to the billing object such as (delivery means, priority, number of copies) can be appropriately input and set. By operating the OK button on this screen 9a, the input of distribution destination information is confirmed. As for output information, as shown in FIG. 13, the number of copies, double-sided, number of pages as job information, size as paper information, paper quality, cover color, paper color, special paper, finisher processing information as staple, bundling position, bundling method The conditions related to the billing object such as normal, urgent, date designation, etc. can be appropriately input and set as drilling and scheduling information. With respect to the document storage information, conditions relating to the billing target such as the presence / absence of storage and the storage time limit can be appropriately input and set. By operating the OK button on the screen 9a shown in FIG. 13, the estimation condition is confirmed and the estimation process is performed.
[0047]
In order to cause the print server 2 to perform estimation processing in the printing system, the estimate DB in the database 10 includes a delivery fee table 10a as shown in FIG. 15, a paper fee table 10b as shown in FIG. Such a document storage fee table 10c is stored. That is, in the delivery fee table 10a, a fee is set for each combination of the delivery destination and the delivery means, and is used for estimating and calculating the cost related to printing. In the paper fee table 10b, a fee is set for each combination of paper size and paper type, and is used for estimation and calculation of costs related to printing. In the document storage fee table 10c, a fee corresponding to the number of years of document storage is set and used for estimating and calculating the storage cost.
[0048]
Further, by accessing the print management home page of the WWW server 6, the requested document is input as indicated by the arrow to the print schedule for each MFP 3 managed by the management client 5, and the printing is completed. It has a function to calculate the scheduled date and time (schedule).
[0049]
  An example of processing control in the print server 2 relating to such an estimate is shown in FIG.9This will be briefly described with reference to a schematic flowchart shown in FIG. This is a process in the case where an estimate request is issued from the user through the user client 9 (or the reception client 4). After inputting the delivery destination information shown in FIG. 14, the OK button is pressed (S21) and shown in FIG. When the OK button is pressed on the estimate request screen (S22), the set estimate condition is fetched (S23), and is input into the print schedule in the management client 5 to calculate the print completion scheduled date and time (S24). Subsequently, the estimate DB in the database 10 is collated (S25), and first the printing cost is estimated (S26). That is, the printing cost is estimated by accounting for factors related to printing paper such as paper quality, paper size, number of printed sheets, etc., factors related to finisher processing in printing devices such as stapling and punching, and factors related to schedules such as urgent printing and date-specified printing. Perform the calculation. For example, it is simply calculated by arithmetic processing such as (unit price per page × number of pages × number of copies) + (finisher processing unit price × number of copies). The process of step S26 is executed by the print server 2 as a function of the main calculation means. Subsequently, an estimate calculation is performed using the storage cost of the electronic document as a chargeable object (S27). The process of step S27 is executed by the print server 2 as a function of the sub-calculation means. After these calculation processes, an estimate is prepared (S28), and this estimate is sent to the user client 9 (or the reception client 4) (S29). A series of processing of these steps S21 to S28 is executed by the print server 2 as a function of the estimation means, and processing of step S29 is executed by the print server 2 as a function of the feedback means. As a result, the user can confirm the contents of the estimate sheet, and based on the examination, the user can determine whether or not to actually place an order for printing. That is, a print request can be officially ordered by ordering print job registration on the screen 9a shown in FIG. 12 through the user client 9 (or the reception client 4) (order determination means).
[0050]
However, as a method of feeding back the estimation result to the user side, for example, the estimation result may be output as the external file 12 of the printing system in a format such as CSV shown in FIG. According to this, it is possible to easily correct and process the estimated data. That is, in the printing system, as shown in FIG. 15 to FIG. 17, it is possible to hold the charge tables 10a, 10b, and 10c for each item in the system and calculate the estimated amount by referring to them. However, for example, a case where a discount unique to each corporation or user is assumed, and in such a case where a different discount is given for each corporation, each user, and each estimation request, It is very difficult to keep such a table inside the printing system. Accordingly, by outputting the estimation result created by the printing system as an external file 12 in the CSV format or the like outside the system, it is possible to easily add information such as a discount according to the occasion.
[0051]
Next, storage of an electronic document for which printing has been instructed using the printing system, browsing of the electronic document after storage, and the like will be described. In the user client 9 (or the reception client 4), on the print menu screen 9a shown in FIG. 12, for example, when print job registration is ordered after the request for quotation is completed, the print job storage process is selected and specified. it can. When this print job registration is designated, a print job registration screen 9a as shown in FIG. 21 is displayed, and items necessary for registration are displayed. This item is basically the same as when estimating, and as one of the items, there is document storage information input, and it is possible to save an electronic document by selecting whether or not to save it. You can also choose not to save. Accordingly, the screen 9a shown in FIG. 21 functions as a designation unit. The user who has instructed printing can arbitrarily select and specify whether or not to save the electronic document for which printing is instructed in the printing system. Therefore, when it is necessary to print again for the same document, it is possible to print using the stored document without transmitting the printed document again, and efficient and quick printing processing is possible. . In particular, when the storage is not required, the storage fee is not paid by not specifying the storage.
[0052]
When saving is specified when registering a print job for an electronic document for which printing has been instructed, the print server 2 outputs the electronic document to the document management server 7 by using a document management Web application of the WWW server 6. As a result, the document database 11 is stored and registered. Thus, the electronic document stored in the document database 11 can be browsed / acquired by searching at an arbitrary point in time / time, but in this embodiment, only the user who made the print request is stored. The user's access right can be set for an electronic document stored at the time of print job registration (that is, at the time of a print request) so that the corresponding electronic document can be searched and browsed. Thereby, security for the stored document is ensured. FIG. 22 schematically shows a state in which user ID information corresponding to security information is added to a stored document (for example, documents A, B,..., N). Particularly, in the case of a user (corporate) belonging to a corporate user, as shown in the illustrated example, for a user who requested printing (for example, user ID: U00010001) and a corporate to which the user belongs (for example, corporate ID: C0001). By adding the access right to view the stored electronic document A, only the user who has instructed printing and the users in the group to which the user belongs (for example, user (corporation) 2,..., User (corporation) n) only. The electronic document can be searched, viewed and acquired.
[0053]
However, depending on the contents of the document that is instructed to be stored and stored, there is no confidentiality at all, and there are cases where it is not limited to the use only by the user but widely intended to be opened to the printing system user registrant. Such a case can be dealt with by not specifying an access right when saving. That is, if no access right is specified for a document stored in the document database 11, all users who have logged in to the printing system are permitted to search, view, and acquire the document.
[0054]
An example of processing control in the print server 2 relating to such document storage will be briefly described with reference to a schematic flowchart shown in FIG. This is processing when print job registration is designated by the user through the user client 9 (or the reception client 4). When document storage is designated at the time of registration of the print job (S31), an access right is further given. Is set (S32). If the access right is set (Y in S32), the access right is added as security information, and the electronic document instructed to be printed is sent to the document management server 7 and stored in the document database 11 (S33). On the other hand, if the access right is not set (N in S32), the electronic document instructed to be printed is sent to the document management server 7 and stored in the document database 11 without adding the access right (S34). The function as storage means is executed by the document management server 7.
[0055]
An example of processing control in the document management server 7 when there is a search / browsing / acquisition request for a registered document will be briefly described with reference to a schematic flowchart shown in FIG. When there is a search / browsing / acquisition request from a user who can log in to the printing system through the user client 9 (or the reception client 4), first, the search condition is fetched (S41), and the search condition is followed. The document database 11 is searched (S42). If there is no corresponding document as a result of the search (N in S43), the user client 9 (or the receiving client 4) is notified of this and the process is terminated. If there is a corresponding document (Y in S43), it is checked whether or not an access right is set for the document (S44). If the access right is set (Y in S44), it is checked whether or not the user ID input for logging in to the printing system corresponds to the security information set as the access right. (S45). In the case of a user (corporate), not only the user who instructed the document printing but a user who matches the corporate user is determined to correspond. If the security information is supported (Y in S45), the user is permitted to view the search result or provide the document information (S46). If the user does not support security information, browsing of the search result or provision of the document information is not permitted, and the user is notified through the user client 9 (or the reception client 4) (S47). ). When the access right is not set (N in S44), the user is permitted to view the search result or provide the document information (S46). Here, N in step S44, Y in S45, and S46 are executed by the document management server 7 as functions of the registered document search providing means, and N and S47 in steps S45 are document management as functions of the access restriction means. It is executed by the server 7.
[0056]
  In this embodiment, when registering a print job, it is possible to select whether or not to perform test printing before actually starting the printing process. That is, the print job shown in FIG.RegistrationIn the screen 9a, one of output information input items includes an input display as a designation means for freely selecting whether or not to perform test printing. When the trial printing is designated, the user can confirm and check the result of the trial printing prior to the original printing, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a plurality of misprints. This is particularly effective when the number of printed sheets is large.
[0057]
However, in this embodiment, the description has been made on the assumption that trial printing is performed on printing paper. However, the printing is not necessarily limited to a hardware output form that is printed on printing paper and is output. For example, it may be a software output form in which a display is output on the screen 9a of the display device of the user client 9 (or the reception client 4). For this purpose, although not shown in particular, a hardware trial output means for actually printing the print image on the printing paper by the printing apparatus 3 and a software trial for displaying the print image on the screen of the display device such as the client 9 The output means may be freely selected, and a configuration may be provided that includes designation means for selecting and designating which output form is adopted. In the case of software trial output means, for example, the print image may be held in a file format such as TIFF.
[0058]
It should be noted that the configuration example of the printing system shown in FIG. 1 and the like is a schematic diagram showing a basic form, and of course, various modifications can be taken in practice.
[0059]
【The invention's effect】
  According to the first aspect of the present invention, even when the system configuration is wide and open to an unspecified number of users, the user identification information is registered in advance in the printing system using the registration unit through the client. If it is a registered user, it is permitted to use the printing system by specifying the corresponding user identification information and logging in. However, in the case of an unregistered user, the user does not have the corresponding user identification information and passes through the client. Since it is not possible to log in properly, it is not permitted to use the printing system, and thus security related to the user can be ensured, and as a result, a system construction in which the operation scale is not particularly limited is possible.
  In addition, since the electronic document instructed to be printed through the client by the registered user of the printing system has a function of saving by the saving means, when the same document needs to be printed again, it can be printed without sending the printed document again. This makes it possible to perform an efficient and quick printing process.
  Further, before a user who can use the printing system determines an order to actually perform printing through the client, the chargeable item related to the printing is estimated by the estimating means, and the estimated result corresponds to the user corresponding to the printing instruction. Since it is fed back to the client, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not to place an order, as in the case of requesting printing from a normal printer.
[0060]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, for example, in the case of an individual user belonging to a corporate user, the personal user is managed in a hierarchical structure in which the corporate user is hierarchized under the corporate user, and the users are grouped by corporate unit. By doing so, the management can be easily performed.
[0061]
  According to the invention of claim 3If youFor an existing document, an access right is set by the access right setting means in correspondence with the user identification information of the user, and the user identification information for which the access right is set or the user identification information in the group to which the user belongs is stored. By permitting search of the document or browsing / acquiring of the document by the access restriction means only when it is input, it is possible to secure the security regarding the document.
[0062]
According to the invention described in claim 4, since the user who has instructed printing can arbitrarily select and specify whether or not to save the electronic document instructed to be printed in the printing system, it is highly likely that the same document will be printed again. In this case, if you specify the save and save it, if you need to print again for the same document, you can print using the saved document without sending the printed document again. And quick printing processing becomes possible. In particular, when the storage is not required, the storage fee is not paid by not specifying the storage.
[0063]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the user who has instructed printing can arbitrarily select and specify whether or not to set the access right when saving the electronic document instructed to print. Only the user or a user in the group to which the user belongs can access, and security regarding the document can be secured. On the other hand, in the case of a document that does not have security, if the access right setting is not specified, all logged-in users who can use the printing system can access the document. In the end, it is possible to adopt a storage form according to whether the document has security.
[0064]
  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, before a user who can use the printing system determines an order to actually perform printing through a client, the cost, schedule, and the like relating to the printing are estimated by the estimation unit.LeSince the estimation and the estimation result are fed back to the client corresponding to the user who has instructed printing, it is possible to appropriately determine whether or not to place an order, as in the case of requesting printing from a normal printer.
[0065]
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately estimate the chargeable item.
[0066]
According to the invention described in claim 8, by outputting the estimation result as an external file in a format such as CSV (Comma Separated Value), the data can be corrected and processed, and a discount according to the user can be provided. Information can be easily added and estimate correction can be easily performed.
[0067]
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, when a user who can use the printing system gives a print instruction, for example, when the number of prints is large, the print image is output in advance by the trial output unit, It is possible to check whether the print image is as desired, and thus it is possible to prevent a large amount of misprints from occurring.
[0068]
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the output form of the print image can be arbitrarily selected from a form that is actually printed on a print sheet and a form that is displayed on the screen of the display device. You can check in the form.
[0069]
According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, even when the system configuration is wide and open to an unspecified number of users, the user identification information is registered in the printing system in advance using the registration means through the client. If it is a registered user, it is permitted to use the printing system by specifying the corresponding user identification information and logging in. However, in the case of an unregistered user, the user does not have the corresponding user identification information and passes through the client. Since it is not possible to log in properly, it is not permitted to use the printing system, and thus security related to the user can be ensured, and as a result, a system construction in which the operation scale is not particularly limited is possible.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a basic system configuration diagram of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration example thereof.
FIG. 3 is a front view showing a screen example of a main menu.
FIG. 4 is a front view showing an example of a corporate registration screen.
FIG. 5 is a front view showing an example of a user (corporate) registration screen.
FIG. 6 is a front view showing an example of a user (individual) registration screen.
FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart showing a control example of user registration processing.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a user registration result.
FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart illustrating a control example of user login processing.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a business flow of the printing system.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a business flow of the printing system.
FIG. 12 is a front view illustrating an example of a print menu screen.
FIG. 13 is a front view showing an example of an estimate request screen.
FIG. 14 is a front view showing an example of a distribution destination information input screen.
FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a delivery fee table.
FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a paper fee table.
FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a document interpolation fee table.
FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a print schedule.
FIG. 19 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example of processing control for an estimate request.
FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of CSV output.
FIG. 21 is a front view illustrating an example of a print job registration screen.
FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing document security together with a user and a registration example.
FIG. 23 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example of storage processing in print job registration.
FIG. 24 is a schematic flowchart showing an example of document search / browsing process control.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 network
2 Print server
3 Printing device
4,9 clients
7 Registration means
10 memory

Claims (13)

Accordance with the transmission and the print instruction of the document of the electronic document for the installed print server on the client or Raney Ttowaku, in a printing system to be output to at least one or more printing devices installed on the network,
Registration means for registering user identification information for using the printing system through the client in a memory;
System use restriction means for permitting use of the printing system only when user identification information that matches user identification information registered in the memory is input;
Prior to printing of the document instructed to be printed by the printing apparatus, an estimation means for estimating a chargeable item related to the printing;
Feedback means for feeding back the estimation result by the estimation means to the client corresponding to the user who instructed to print;
Order determining means for designating whether or not to actually perform printing according to the estimated result fed back;
Storage means for storing an electronic document transmitted and instructed to be printed by the client;
A registered document search providing means for searching for a desired document from the electronic document stored by the storage means and providing browsing / acquisition of the document;
Equipped with a,
A printing system capable of searching an electronic document stored in the storage unit by the registered document search providing unit based on a print instruction, and repeating the printed electronic document . The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a registration management unit that groups and manages users in a hierarchical structure of at least one layer under a corporation corresponding to registration of user identification information by the registration unit. An access right setting means for access to the electronic document to set corresponding to the user identification information of the user on storage of the electronic document by the previous SL storage means,
Permitted retrieval or retrieval of a desired document by the registered document retrieval / providing means is allowed only when user identification information set with the access right or user identification information in a group to which the user belongs is input. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising an access restriction unit configured to perform the access restriction.   The printing system according to claim 3, further comprising a designation unit that designates whether or not the electronic document transmitted by the client and instructed to be printed is stored by the storage unit.   5. The printing system according to claim 3, further comprising a designation unit that designates whether or not the access right setting unit sets an access right for the electronic document stored by the storage unit. The printing system according to claim 1 , wherein the chargeable item is a cost and a schedule related to the printing. The estimation unit is charged for elements relating to printing paper such as paper quality, paper size, number of printed sheets, etc., elements relating to finisher processing in the printing apparatus such as stapling and punching, and elements relating to schedules such as urgent printing and date designation printing. 3. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising: a main calculation unit that performs an estimation calculation; and a sub calculation unit that performs an estimation calculation using a storage cost of the electronic document stored by the storage unit as an accounting target. The printing system according to claim 7 , wherein the feedback unit outputs the estimation result to an external file.   9. The printing system according to claim 1, further comprising a trial output unit that trial-outputs a print image of the document prior to printing a set number of sheets of the document instructed to be printed by the printing apparatus.   The trial output means is freely selectable between a hard trial output means for actually printing a print image on a printing paper by the printing apparatus and a soft trial output means for displaying the print image on the screen of the display device. 10. The printing system according to claim 9, further comprising designation means for selecting and designating which output form is used. According to the received and print instruction of the document of the electronic document from the client, the print server to execute to output at least one or more printing devices installed on the network in the installed print server on the network An information storage medium storing a program readable by
A registration function for registering user identification information for using the printing system through the client in a memory;
A system use restriction function that permits use of the printing system only when user identification information that matches user identification information registered in the memory is input;
An estimate function for estimating a chargeable item related to the printing prior to printing of the document instructed by the printing apparatus;
A feedback function that feeds back the estimated result obtained by the estimation function to the client corresponding to the user who instructed to print;
A storage function for storing an electronic document transmitted and instructed to be printed by the client in a storage unit;
A registered document search providing function for searching for a desired document through the client from the electronic document stored by the storage unit and providing browsing / acquiring of the document; and
A program for searching the electronic document stored in the storage unit by the registered document search providing function based on a print instruction and causing the print server to execute a function of repeatedly printing the searched electronic document is stored. An information storage medium. In accordance with transmission of an electronic document from a client to a print server installed on the network and a print instruction for the document, the printing method outputs to at least one printing apparatus installed on the network,
A registration step of registering in the memory user identification information for using the printing system through the client, and use of the printing system only when user identification information that matches the user identification information registered in the memory is input. A system usage restriction process that permits printing, an estimation process for estimating a chargeable item related to the printing prior to printing by the printing apparatus, and a user response that instructs to print the estimation result obtained in this estimation process A feedback step for feeding back to the client, an order determination step for designating whether or not to actually perform printing according to the estimated result fed back, and an electronic document transmitted and instructed to be printed by the client to the storage means Storage process to store and the electronic stored in this storage process A registered document search providing step for retrieving a desired document from the document through the client and providing browsing / acquisition of the document, and stored in the storage unit by the registered document search providing step based on a print instruction. A printing method characterized in that a searched electronic document can be searched and the searched electronic document can be repeatedly printed. According to the transmission of the electronic document from the client to the print server installed on the network and the print instruction of the document, at least one device installed on the network The print server for outputting to the above printing device,
Registration means for registering user identification information for using the printing system in the memory through the client and use of the printing system only when user identification information that matches the user identification information registered in the memory is input. Before using the printing apparatus to print a document for which printing has been instructed, estimating means for estimating a chargeable item related to the printing, and the client for the user who has instructed to print the estimation result by the estimating means Feedback means for feeding back, storage means for saving an electronic document transmitted and instructed to be printed by the client, and searching for a desired document through the client from the electronic documents saved by the saving means and browsing the corresponding document・ Registered document search provider providing acquisition An electronic document stored in the storage unit by the registered document search providing unit based on a print instruction, and enabling the repeated printing of the searched electronic document. Print server.

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