JP5528611B2 - Structured document conversion apparatus, structured document conversion method of apparatus, and computer program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a structured document conversion apparatus, a structured document conversion method for the apparatus , and a computer program, and is particularly suitable for use in converting a structured document.

  There is Microsoft Windows (registered trademark) Vista as an operating system (OS) of Microsoft Corporation. Windows (registered trademark) Vista supports XPS (XML Paper Specification), which is a new XML document format (see Non-Patent Document 1). An XPS document is composed of a document format having three layers of Fixed Document Sequence, Fixed Document, and Fixed Page. A print ticket, which is an XML document for holding print attributes, can be associated with each hierarchical node (see Non-Patent Document 2). The fixed document sequence is associated with a job level print ticket. Fixed Document is associated with a document level print ticket. A fixed page is associated with a page-level print ticket. In this way, in the XPS document, a print ticket can be designated for each node in each hierarchy. Therefore, it is possible to change the output paper size for each Fixed Page of the XPS document, or change the stapling specification for each Fixed Document.

As described in Non-Patent Document 1, an XPS document has a spool format at the time of printing, a printing control language such as PDL (Page Description Language), and a normal document document.
Specifically, paying attention to the aspect as a document document, like an Adobe PDF file, an XPS document is also used as a document document format for storage, reuse / publication, and distribution of various documents. As described above, in the XPS document, a print ticket can be held for each node in each layer. Therefore, it is possible to perform operations such as creating an XPS document associated with print settings and distributing the XPS document together with print settings (print attributes).

In addition, since the release of Windows (registered trademark) Vista, printing apparatuses capable of directly printing XPS documents as PDL have appeared. As a form in which such a printing apparatus prints an XPS document, a printing form using a printer driver that generates an XPS document can be considered. Furthermore, a printing form in which the XPS document created, released, and distributed is directly input to the printing apparatus is also conceivable.
As described above, the XPS document includes print setting data and drawing data, and is used in each of the application and the printing apparatus. However, the handling of the print settings (print attributes) indicated by the print ticket depends on the side that processes the XPS document. For example, in a printing apparatus, a print ticket that cannot be processed by the printing apparatus is ignored.

In addition, there is a method in which a printer driver or a print utility generates new print data by combining a print ticket that cannot be processed with drawing data so that the printing apparatus can process it (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In addition, when copying or editing a part of a document document in an application, priority is set to the print attributes held for each node, and the print attributes held in the nodes are set according to the nodes of the hierarchy. There is a method of replacement (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2007-164444 A JP 2003-162519 A

XML Paper Specification: Overview, [online], Microsoft, [March 14, 2008 search], Internet <URL: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/xps/default.mspx> PrintTicket and PrintCapabilities Support in Windows Print Drivers, [online], February 6, 2006, Microsoft, [Search March 14, 2008], Internet <http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/ print / XPSDrv_PrintTicket.mspx> (XPSDrv_PrintTicket.doc)

However, in the method disclosed in the above-mentioned patent document, even if a new document is generated by processing the print attributes, the document does not become a document independent of the document processing side.
In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the document document is changed so that the printing attribute added to the document document can be processed by the printing apparatus. In this way, when the document document is printed as it is by the printing apparatus, an intended output can be obtained. However, when a document document is printed by a printing apparatus having a different function or the contents of the document document are confirmed by a completely different application as a general-purpose document, the appearance of the document document may be different.

  In the method disclosed in Patent Document 2, a specific application interprets that a print attribute is added to a node, assigns a priority order according to processing, and performs print attribute replacement for each layer. However, the generated document document cannot maintain the same appearance even in a general application. In particular, a structured document to which printing attributes are added for each hierarchy cannot be processed properly unless the entire hierarchical structure of the document document is grasped.

For example, on the print setting screen of a general printer driver, only the job level print ticket added to the above-mentioned Fixed Document Sequence can be edited and processed. Therefore, when setting color / monochrome printing or printing paper size, a job-level print ticket is acquired and processed. Even if a print attribute of monochrome printing is embedded in a page-level print ticket added to a specific Fixed Page, it is not guaranteed whether the page is processed in monochrome by the printing apparatus.
Also, many general applications determine only the job-level print ticket that can be acquired without understanding the structure of the document document, and specify the paper size to be displayed.

  When an XPS document is used as a printing document, a printing attribute is created so that the function of a specific printing apparatus can be utilized. However, when it is used as a document document or as a printing document for a different printing apparatus, the appearance of printing may be different. This may cause confusion for users who utilize XPS documents in various applications and various printing apparatuses.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide structured document data that is easier for a user to use than before.

The structured document conversion apparatus according to the present invention includes at least two lower layers, ie, a first lower layer node associated with the first print setting and a second lower layer node associated with the second print setting. Obtaining means for obtaining a higher layer node having
The upper layer node acquired by the acquisition unit is the first upper layer node having the first lower layer node and associated with the third print setting based on the first print setting. a node and a dividing means for dividing the node of the second upper layer in which the fourth print settings based on the second and has a node of the lower layer of the second print setting is associated, the It is characterized by that.

The structured document conversion method of the apparatus of the present invention includes at least two of a first lower layer node associated with a first print setting and a second lower layer node associated with a second print setting. An acquisition step of acquiring an upper layer node having a lower layer node, and the upper layer node acquired by the acquisition step include the first lower layer node and the first print setting A first upper layer node associated with the third print setting based on the second lower layer node and a fourth print setting based on the second print setting associated with the second lower layer node. And a dividing step of dividing into nodes of the second upper layer.

The computer program according to the present invention includes at least two lower layer nodes, ie, a first lower layer node associated with the first print setting and a second lower layer node associated with the second print setting. An acquisition step for acquiring an upper layer node, and a third layer based on the first print setting, wherein the upper layer node acquired by the acquisition step includes the first lower layer node. and a node of the first upper layer print setting associated, the second second-level fourth print settings based on it has and the second print setting has a node of the lower layer is associated And a dividing step of dividing the nodes into layers to be executed by a computer.

  According to the present invention, structured document data that can be easily used by a user can be provided.

It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of a structure of information processing apparatus. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of a printing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the concept of an XPS document. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen that is displayed when setting the print attributes of the entire job according to the embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen displayed when a “special setting” tab is selected according to the embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows the flow of a process at the time of a general application software processing the XPS document to which the printing attribute was added. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of a function structure of the software 113 for structured document conversion. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the structure of an XPS document. It is a block diagram which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of a detailed structure of a lower layer printing attribute exclusion process part. It is a figure which shows an embodiment of the present invention and shows an example of a configuration of a print ticket describing print attributes. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the classification method of each Feature which exists in a several lower layer printing attribute. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the Feature which can be reflected in drawing data, and the feature which cannot. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the Feature made into upper layer reflection Feature. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the exclusion method with respect to each classified Feature. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the outline | summary of a drawing reflection method. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the detail of a structure of the lower layer Feature drawing reflection part. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the outline | summary of the upper layer division | segmentation method. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the detail of a structure of a high-order layer division | segmentation process part. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the XPS document obtained by repeating the input XPS document and the upper layer division | segmentation method to the highest hierarchy of the said XPS document. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of print attribute conversion processing according to the embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the exclusion method edit approval screen displayed when confirming and correcting the exclusion method with respect to each Feature.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the information processing apparatus.
The CPU 101 controls the information processing apparatus 100 as a whole according to a program stored in the ROM 102, the RAM 103, or the storage device 105. The RAM 103 is also used as a work area when the CPU 101 performs various processes. The storage device 105 records an operating system (OS) 115, application software 112, and the like. Further, structured document conversion software 113 and printer driver 114 for performing print attribute conversion processing, which is one of the features of the present embodiment, are also stored in the storage device 105. Input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse are devices for the user to give various instructions to the information processing apparatus 100 through the input I / F 104. The output I / F 106 is an interface for outputting data to the outside. For example, the output I / F 106 outputs data to the monitor 110 and the printing apparatus 111. The printing apparatus 111 may be connected to the information processing apparatus 100 through a network as well as the local I / O. Each unit in the information processing apparatus 100 is connected to a system bus 107 which is a common data bus, and exchanges data through the system bus 107.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the printing system. 2, client apparatuses 100 a and 100 b having a function corresponding to the information processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, a print server 202, and printing apparatuses 111 a and 111 b are connected via a network 200 so that they can communicate with each other. ing.
Structured documents such as XPS documents are mainly generated by the client device 100. The generated structured document is utilized by the client device 100 or sent to another device through the network 200. When an XPS document is used as a print document, for example, an XPS document with a print attribute (print setting) according to the function of the printing apparatus 111b is generated. This XPS document is generated by, for example, a “printer driver, print data generation application, etc.” installed in the client apparatus 100a. Then, the printing apparatus 111b prints the XPS document on paper by performing print processing on the generated XPS document using the function of the printing apparatus 111b.

  Further, the XPS document to which the printing attribute according to the function of the printing apparatus 111b is added is sent to the printing apparatus 111a having a lower function than the printing apparatus 111b, and the printing apparatus 111a performs the printing process on the XPS document. it can. In such a case, the printing apparatus 111a normally performs a printing process on the XPS document while ignoring the functions that the printing apparatus 111a does not have among the printing attributes added to the XPS document. This means that when the same XPS document is printed by different printing apparatuses, the output format may be different.

  On the other hand, when using an XPS document as a document document, for example, the XPS document is created by the application software 112 installed in the client device 100 a and stored in the ROM 102 or the storage device 105. Then, the client device 100a transfers, distributes, and discloses the created XPS document to the client device 100b, for example. The client apparatus 100b can display and edit the XPS document transferred, distributed, and published by the client apparatus 100a using the application software 112. At this time, how the application software 112 uses the print attribute depends on the function of the application software 112. Therefore, even if the XPS document is the same, the application software 112 that handles the XPS document may be displayed with a different appearance or the added print attribute may be deleted.

An XPS document may be used as both a print document and a document document. For example, when storing “an XPS document with a printing attribute for the printing apparatus 111b” generated by the client apparatus 100a in the print server 202, the XPS document may be used as both a printing document and a document document. .
The client devices 100 a and 100 b access the XPS document stored in the print server 202 using the application software 112. Further, the printing apparatuses 111a and 111b access an XPS document stored in the print server 202, and a process called pull printing for printing the XPS document by the printing apparatuses 111a and 111b is also performed.

Even in the above case, the same XPS document may be displayed with different appearances depending on the application software 112, or the output results may differ depending on the printing apparatuses 111a and 111b.
The print attribute conversion process according to the present embodiment prevents these differences in appearance. For example, the client apparatus 100a performs the print attribute conversion process according to the present embodiment on the “XPS document including the print attribute of the printing apparatus 111b” created by the client apparatus 100a. Then, the XPS document subjected to the print attribute conversion process is printed by the printing apparatus 111a, distributed / published to the client apparatus 100b, or stored in the print server 202. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the appearance of the output XPS document from being different depending on the application software 112 and the printing apparatuses 111a and 111b.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a concept of an XPS document that is an example of a structured document.
In FIG. 3, the Fixed Document Sequence 301 may be understood as a job, the Fixed Document 302 as a document, and the Fixed Page 303 as a page. Thus, the XPS document has a tree structure, and a Fixed Document Sequence 301, a Fixed Document 302, and a Fixed Page 303 are given to each node of the tree.
As shown in Non-patent Document 1, there is always only one Fixed Document Sequence 301 in the XPS document. The Fixed Document Sequence 301 holds a plurality of Fixed Documents 302a and 302b. Further, each of the Fixed Documents 302a and 302b holds a plurality of Fixed Pages 303a to 303b and 303c to 303d. In addition, print attributes (print settings) can be associated with these arbitrary Fixed Document Sequence 301, Fixed Document 302, and Fixed Page 303, respectively. This print attribute is called a print ticket.

  Here, data including print attributes associated with the Fixed Document Sequence 301 is referred to as a job level print ticket 304. Data including the print attribute associated with the Fixed Document 302 is referred to as a document level print ticket 305. Data including a print attribute associated with the Fixed Page 303 is called a page level print ticket 306. The job level print ticket 304 sets print attributes related to the entire job. The document level print ticket 305 sets print attributes related to each document. The page level print ticket 306 sets print attributes related to each page.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating an example of a print setting screen displayed when the print attributes described in the job level print ticket 304, the document level print ticket 305, and the page level print ticket 306 are associated with the XPS document. is there. The print setting screens shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are displayed on the monitor 110 of the client devices 100a and 100b, for example.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen displayed when setting the print attributes of the entire job.
The print setting screen 400 shown in FIG. 4 is called and used by an application, a printer driver, and a print utility mainly when processing the job level print ticket 304. More specifically, the print setting screen 400 is called and used when adding a print attribute to an XPS document to which a print attribute is not added or editing a print attribute.

In the print setting screen 400 shown in FIG. 4, “setting of finishing processing” is performed based on the operation of the keyboard 108 and the pointing device 109 by the user. According to this setting, a job level print ticket 304 is generated and associated with the Fixed Document Sequence 301. For example, finishing processing includes single-sided / double-sided processing, stapling processing, sorting processing, punching processing, punching processing, and bookbinding processing.
Similarly, when the “page setting” tab, the “paper feed” tab, and the “print quality” tab are selected on the print setting screen 400, a print setting screen corresponding to the selected tab is displayed. The contents set on the print setting screen are reflected in the job level print ticket 304.

  Next, when a setting different from the setting for the entire job (a setting different from the basic setting) is set only for a part of pages or a part of a page range including a document in one job, A method will be described. Setting only a part of a page or a part of a page range including a document to be different from that of the entire job is also referred to as “performing page exception setting”. Here, the page exception setting is set on the print setting screen displayed when the “special setting” tab is selected on the print setting screen 400 shown in FIG. 4. The set contents are reflected in the document level print ticket 305 and the page level print ticket 306.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a print setting screen displayed when the “special setting” tab is selected.
A print setting screen 500 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the entire job by using a print setting screen displayed by selecting a “page setting” tab, a “finishing” tab, a “paper feeding” tab, and a “print quality” tab. This is for setting a print attribute different from the print attribute set for the print attribute. Specifically, the print setting screen 500 shown in FIG. 5 is a sheet for setting print attributes different from the settings of the entire job for a specific page or a specific page range. In this sheet, a button 501 is a button for setting a cover and a back cover separately from the text data. A button 502 is a button for setting a sheet to be inserted separately from the body data. A button 503 is a button for performing a setting different from the setting of the entire job for a specific page or a specific page range. A list 504 is used to display a list of “items different from the settings for the entire job” set by pressing these buttons 501 to 503. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the list 504 displays, from the left column, a column indicating a setting target page or page range, a setting item column, and a setting setting column. Yes. This display is merely an example, and other formats and items may be displayed in the list 504.

  In addition, for the special setting group listed in the list 504 by the user's operation, when adjacent pages or page ranges have the same setting, a list combining button 505 is prepared to combine them. The user selects a setting that is adjacent to a page or a page range from the list 504 in which special settings are displayed and wants to be combined, and then presses a combining button 505 in this list. The selected settings are then combined.

In addition, a delete button 506 is provided to delete a setting for a special setting group listed in the list 504 by a user operation. The user presses the delete button 506 after selecting the setting to be deleted from the list 504 displaying the special settings. Then, the selected setting is deleted.
A setting button 507 is prepared for changing the setting contents of the special setting group listed in the list 504 by the user's operation. The user presses the setting button 507 after selecting the setting to be changed from the list 504 displaying the special setting. Then, the selected setting can be changed.

The document level print ticket 305 or the page level print ticket 306 is generated according to the setting performed as described above, and is associated with the Fixed Document 302 or the Fixed Page 303.
In this way, a print ticket is associated with each level of the XPS document shown in FIG. 3, and a print attribute is added.

FIG. 6 is a diagram conceptually showing a processing flow when general application software processes an XPS document to which a print attribute is added.
Here, the general application software refers to the print attributes associated with each layer by analyzing the internal structure of the XPS document, such as the application or printer driver that displays the print setting screen shown in FIGS. It is not like grasping and processing.
That is, the application software referred to here is for handling an XPS document as a document document. For example, the content of the XPS document may be displayed, or the XPS document may be once converted into the internal document format of the application. In addition, it can be said that the printing process by the printing apparatus that cannot switch the printing attribute in units of pages or can switch the printing attribute only to a specific printing attribute is the same as the general application software.

In such general application software, when the XPS document 601 for each layer is processed, the XPS document 601 is acquired (step S602). Next, the document structure of the acquired XPS document 601 is analyzed (step S603). At that time, it is possible to easily analyze the Fixed Document Sequence 301 that has only one. As a result of this analysis, the job level print ticket 304 associated with the Fixed Document Sequence 301 is extracted (step S604).
Next, the XPS document 601 such as the display of the XPS document 601 is used by using the print attributes set in the extracted job level print ticket 304 (step S605a). Alternatively, the job level print ticket 304 is processed using the user interface 606 for processing the print attribute (step S605b).
Thereafter, the processed XPS document 609 is stored (step S606). At this time, the document level print ticket 305 and the page level print ticket 306 are often deleted or remain the same as those added to the XPS document 601. In this way, the XPS document has a format that depends on the application software that uses it. This can happen in the printing apparatus as well. For example, the output result format differs between a printing apparatus that interprets print tickets other than the job level print ticket 304 and a printing apparatus that interprets only the job level print ticket 304.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the structured document conversion software 113. The structured document conversion software 113 implements a printing attribute conversion method using the blocks shown in FIG.
The structured document conversion software 113 according to the present embodiment analyzes an XPS document and converts an XPS document in which a print attribute is associated with each layer into an XPS document in which a print attribute is associated with only the highest layer. And save it. However, the application software 112 shown in FIG. 1 may perform the same processing as the processing performed by the structured document conversion software 113 before or after the XPS document is read and used. The printer driver 114 may perform the same processing as the processing performed by the structured document conversion software 113 before generating print data. Further, the print server 202 and the printing apparatus 111 may perform the same processing as the processing performed by the structured document conversion software 113.

The XPS document acquisition / structure analysis unit 702 of the structured document conversion software 113 acquires the XPS document 701 and analyzes the structure thereof. The analysis of the structure of the XPS document 701 is performed according to the method described in Non-Patent Document 1. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of the XPS document 701. As a result, the XPS document acquisition / structure analysis unit 702 interprets the XPS document 701 as having a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG.
Next, based on the analyzed structure, the two-layer grouping processing unit 703 includes two consecutive layers (an upper layer including one node and one or more nodes positioned below the upper layer). Group in combination with (lower layer). In the example illustrated in FIG. 8, a fixed document 802 is included in the upper layer, and a group 1 including N (N is a natural number) Fixed Pages 803 and 804 from Fixed Page1 to Fixed PageN is formed in the lower layer. Further, a fixed document 805 is included in the upper layer, and a group 2 including L fixed pages 806 and 807 (L is a natural number) from Fixed Page1 to Fixed PageL is formed in the lower layer. Further, a fixed document sequence 801 is formed in the upper layer, and a group 3 including M (M is a natural number) Fixed Documents 802 and 805 from Fixed Document 1 to Fixed Document M is formed in the lower layer.

  The print attribute extraction processing unit 704 extracts print attributes (print tickets) for the two hierarchies (upper layer and lower layer) grouped in this way. At most one print ticket is associated with each part such as Fixed Document and Fixed Page. Therefore, for example, one document level print ticket 809 associated with the Fixed Document 802 is extracted as the upper layer print ticket of the group 1 in FIG. On the other hand, since there are N Fixed Pages 803 and 804 from Fixed Page 1 to Fixed Page N, a maximum of N page-level print tickets 810 and 811 are extracted as the lower layer print tickets of Group 1. In the following description, as necessary, a print ticket associated with an upper layer is referred to as an upper layer print attribute, and a print ticket associated with a lower layer is referred to as a lower layer print attribute.

When the printing attribute extraction processing unit 704 extracts the upper layer printing attribute and the lower layer printing attribute, the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing unit 705 excludes the lower layer printing attribute. The specific processing contents of the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing unit 705 will be described later with reference to FIG.
The highest-level printing attribute XPS document conversion processing unit 706 instructs to repeat the two-level grouping processing unit 703, the printing attribute extraction processing unit 704, and the lower-level printing attribute exclusion processing unit 705, and finally only the highest level hierarchy. An XPS document having a print attribute is created. In the group 1 of FIG. 8, when the page level print tickets 810 and 811 that are the lower layer print attributes extracted by the print attribute extraction processing unit 704 are excluded by the lower layer print attribute exclusion processing unit 705, the document level print ticket Only 809 will be present. Similarly, in the group 2, only the document level print ticket 812 exists. Further, when the same processing is performed in the group 3, the document level print tickets 809 and 812 that are lower layer print attributes are excluded, and only the job level print ticket 808 (print attribute of the highest layer) remains. In this way, the highest-level print attribute XPS document conversion processing unit 706 generates and stores an XPS document 707 (structured document) having the print attribute (job level print ticket 808) of only the highest level.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing unit 705.
When one upper layer printing attribute and one or more lower layer printing attributes are extracted by the printing attribute extraction processing unit 704 in FIG. 7, the lower layer printing attribute comparison processing unit 901 has a plurality of lower layer printing attributes. It is determined whether or not. If there are a plurality of lower layer printing attributes, the lower layer printing attribute comparison processing unit 901 compares the contents of the plurality of lower layer printing attributes.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a print ticket describing print attributes.
As shown in FIG. 10, the print ticket 1000 that is the printing attribute of the XPS document exists as an XML file, and a plurality of Feature tags 1002 a to 1002 g indicating functions exist in one PrintTicket tag 1001. Option tags 1003a to 1003g existing in the feature tags 1002a to 1002g are set values of the function indicated by the current feature. The print ticket 1000 shown in FIG. 10 indicates that the print attribute is 600 dpi, the printing method is duplex printing, the page size is A4, the layout is 2in1, and so on.

The lower layer printing attribute comparison processing unit 901 compares Feature and Option of a plurality of lower layer printing attributes. Specifically, the lower layer printing attribute comparison processing unit 901 extracts what features have an Option common to all lower layer printing attributes, and what is a Feature having different options for several lower layer printing attributes.
The lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 determines what type of exclusion processing is performed on the feature extracted by the lower layer printing attribute comparison processing unit 901. In the present embodiment, there are an upper layer reflection method 911, a simple deletion method 912, an upper layer division method 913, and a drawing reflection method 914 as exclusion methods for features.

In the upper layer reflection method 911, first, the lower layer feature upper layer reflection processing unit 906 reflects the lower layer printing attribute Feature tag 1002 (and its option tag 1003) in the upper layer printing attribute. Then, the lower layer feature deleting unit 903 deletes the original feature tag 1002 (and its option tag 1003) before being reflected in the upper layer printing attribute by the lower layer feature upper layer reflection processing unit 906 from the lower layer printing attribute. .
In the simple deletion method 912, the lower layer feature deletion unit 903 simply deletes the lower layer feature tag 1002 (and its option tag 1003) regardless of the processing in the lower layer feature upper layer reflection processing unit 906.

In the upper layer division method 913, first, the upper layer division processing unit 904 divides an originally upper layer node into a plurality of nodes, and adds an upper layer printing attribute to each of the divided plurality of upper layer nodes. . Next, the lower layer feature upper layer reflection processing unit 906 reflects the feature tag 1002 of the lower layer printing attribute (and its option tag 1003) in the plurality of added upper layer printing attributes. Finally, the lower layer feature deletion unit 903 excludes the lower layer feature tag 1002 (and its option tag 1003) reflected by the lower layer feature upper layer reflection processing unit 906 from the lower layer printing attribute. Specific processing of the upper layer division method 913 will be described later.
In the drawing reflection method 914, first, the lower layer Feature drawing reflection unit 905 reflects the function of the Feature tag 1002 in drawing data described in Fixed Page or the like. Next, the lower layer feature deletion unit 903 deletes the lower layer feature tag 1002 (and its option tag 1003) reflected by the lower layer feature drawing reflection unit 905 from the lower layer printing attribute. Specific processing of the drawing reflection method 914 will also be described later.

  The lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 determines which of the four methods 911 to 914 is used to exclude the lower layer printing attribute, the classification of each feature, the contents (list) set in advance, the user Judgment is made based on designation from the user using the interface.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a classification method of each feature existing in a plurality of lower layer print attributes 1101.
The lower layer print attribute comparison processing unit 901 classifies the features extracted from the XPS document having the common Option as “all lower layer print attributes 1101a to 1101d” as the common feature 1102. On the other hand, for features that do not have a common option, the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 classifies whether the feature is a drawing-reflectable Feature 1103 or another Feature 1104. A specific example of the drawing reflecting feature 1103 will be described later with reference to FIG.
The lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 further classifies the features classified into other features 1104 as either the upper layer reflecting feature 1105 or the deletion feature 1106. This classification is performed based on, for example, preset contents (list), designation from the user using the user interface, or the like.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of features that can and cannot be reflected in drawing data. The function list 1200 shown in FIG. 12 is held by the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902, and when a feature that does not have a common option is classified into one of the feature 1103 that can be rendered and the other feature 1104. Referenced.
The features shown in FIG. 12 are those defined by Microsoft as public features, and the respective features and options are described in Non-Patent Document 2. Further, a feature that is uniquely defined by a vendor of the printing apparatus as a private feature may be included in the function list 1200.
An example of what can be reflected in the drawing data is one that changes the coordinates of each drawing object, such as a poster print feature. In addition, there are those that change the color of a drawing object such as a color setting feature and an input color profile feature, and those that add a drawing object such as a stamp (watermark) feature. On the other hand, examples that cannot be reflected in the drawing data include those depending on the printing device such as designation of the paper feed position of the printing device and output quality.
The lower layer print attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 classifies the features registered in the function list 1200 shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a feature to be used as the upper layer reflecting feature 1105. The function list 1300 shown in FIG. 13 is held by the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902, and is referred to when classifying the features classified into other features 1104 as either the upper layer reflecting feature 1105 or the deleted feature 1106. The
In the present embodiment, features such as a binding setting feature and a collate setting feature that have different print formats when deleted are mainly listed in the function list 1300. Among the features classified as other features 1104, the features listed in the function list 1300 are classified as higher layer reflecting features 1105, and the features not listed are classified as deleted features 1106. It should be noted that before classifying the features classified into other feature 1104 according to the classification based on the function list 1300 as the deletion feature 1106, it is preferable to let the user confirm the classified result by the user interface and correct it as necessary.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of an exclusion method for each classified feature. This exclusion method is determined by the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902.
In FIG. 14, the upper layer reflection method 911 for reflecting the feature tag 1002 as it is to the printing attribute of the upper layer is applied to the features classified as the common feature 1102. In this case, since the appearance of the XPS document is not destroyed at all, it can be carried out unconditionally.
A simple deletion method 912 that simply deletes the feature tag 1002 corresponding to the printing attribute of the lower layer is applied to the feature classified as the deletion feature 1106.
The upper layer division method 913 is applied to the features classified as the upper layer reflection feature 1105, and the drawing reflection method 914 is applied to the feature classified as the drawing reflection feasible feature 1103. It should be noted that the upper layer division method 913 and the simple deletion method 912 can be adopted for the features to which the drawing reflection method 914 can be applied. For features to which the upper layer division method 913 can be applied, the simple deletion method 912 can also be adopted.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of an outline of the drawing reflection method 914.
The feature corresponding to the drawing reflection possible feature 1103 in the lower layer print ticket is reflected in the drawing data by the drawing reflection method 914. Then, the lower layer Feature drawing reflection unit 905 deletes the Feature from the lower layer print ticket.
For example, a Fixed Page 1701 before print attribute conversion is a Fixed Page with no drawing. On the other hand, “PrintTicket 1702 before print attribute conversion” associated with Fixed Page 1701 has a feature called Stamp, and has a print attribute that gives the name “confidential”.

When this Fixed Page 1701 and PrintTicket 1702 are displayed by application software that considers printing attributes or printed by a printing device that considers printing attributes, a display / printing result 1705 written only as confidential is obtained. Here, when the feature “Stamp” is assigned to the feature 1103 capable of reflecting the drawing, a fixed page 1703 after the printing attribute conversion is obtained by the drawing reflecting method 914. That is, a drawing tag such as <Glyphs> or </ Glyphs> is added, and a Fixed Page 1703 in which “confidential” is described as the drawing content is obtained. At the same time, the feature “Stamp” is deleted from the PrintTicket 1702 before the print attribute conversion, and the PrintTicket 1704 after the print attribute conversion is obtained. The display / output result 1706 by the Fixed Page 1703 and the PrintTicket 1704 coincides with the display / print result 1705 and is described only as confidential.
In this way, it is possible to eliminate the lower layer printing attributes without changing the upper layer printing attributes. However, the features that can reflect the print attribute in the drawing data are limited, and are, for example, those shown in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of the detailed configuration of the lower layer Feature drawing reflection unit 905.
In FIG. 16, the drawing reflection feature acquisition unit 1801 receives a drawing reflection-capable feature 1103. Then, the corresponding FixedPage acquisition unit 1802 acquires a Fixed Page that is associated with a lower layer print attribute in which the drawable feature 1103 is stored and in which a drawing object is stored. In addition, the drawing reflection content determination unit 1803 identifies a drawing processing method using the drawing reflection-capable Feature 1103 and the function list 1200 illustrated in FIG. The corresponding FixedPage update unit 1804 changes the drawing data (drawing object) of the Fixed Page according to this drawing processing method. As the drawing processing method, for example, the color of each drawing object is processed according to the printing attribute, the coordinates of each drawing object are processed according to the printing attribute, or the drawing object is added or changed. And so on. The drawing processing method differs depending on each printing attribute. For example, in the case of reflecting a drawing reflection-capable Feature 1103 called magnification setting on a drawing object, the corresponding FixedPage update unit 1804 performs the following processing. First, the FixedPage update unit 1804 surrounds drawing objects stored in the Fixed Page with tags such as <Canvas> and </ Canvas>. Next, the corresponding FixedPage updating unit 1804 designates the magnification for the drawing object using tags such as <Transform> and </ Transform>. In addition, when reflecting the drawing reflecting feature 1103 called the input color profile to the drawing object, the corresponding FixedPage updating unit 1804 performs the following processing. That is, the corresponding FixedPage update unit 1804 reflects the ICC profile specified by the drawing reflection-capable Feature 1103 on all drawing objects. The contents of the printing attribute drawing reflection method are not limited to the above.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of an outline of the upper layer division method 913.
Features corresponding to the upper layer reflection Feature 1105 in the lower layer print ticket are excluded by the upper layer division method 913.
The group 1 shown in FIG. 17 shows the two layers of the group 1 shown in FIG. In FIG. 17, there are features in the page level print ticket 810 associated with the Fixed Page 803 and the page level print ticket 811 associated with the Fixed Page 804. Of these features, it is assumed that there is a feature that cannot be excluded because it is not the common feature 1102, the deleted feature 1106, or the drawable feature 1103. In this case, of the upper layer nodes and lower layer nodes of group 1, the originally upper layer node is divided.

  More specifically, for example, the upper layer division processing unit 904 generates a Fixed Document 1901 and a Fixed Document 1905 from the Fixed Document 802. Then, the upper layer division processing unit 904 divides the lower layer associated with the upper layer by structuring. That is, the upper layer division processing unit 904 sets Fixed Page 803 as a lower layer of Fixed Document 1901 and sets Fixed Page 804 as a lower layer of Fixed Document 1905.

  Also, the lower layer feature upper layer reflection processing unit 906 copies the document level print ticket 809 associated with the fixed document 802 before the division by the number of divisions of the fixed document 802. The lower layer feature upper layer reflection processing unit 906 associates the duplicate document print tickets 1904 and 1908 with the fixed documents 1901 and 1905 individually. Here, the page level print tickets 810 and 811 and the Fixed Pages 803 and 804 which are lower layer printing attributes are not changed.

In such a structure, a group composed of two layers, one upper layer and one or a plurality of lower layers, is generated again, and the printing attributes of the lower layers are deleted in each of the groups. In this case, the method for deleting the printing attribute of the lower layer is, for example, one of the upper layer reflection method 911 and the upper layer division method 913 (repeated) by the common feature 1102.
By repeating the division and regrouping of the upper layer as described above, the print attribute of the lower layer can be deleted.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of details of the configuration of the upper layer division processing unit 904.
The upper layer reflection feature acquisition unit 2001 acquires the upper layer reflection feature 1105. Then, as shown in the example of FIG. 17, the upper layer adding unit 2002 divides the upper layer node that was one in the group. At this time, the upper layer adding unit 2002 duplicates the printing attributes of the upper layer before division by the number of divisions, and associates the duplicated printing attributes with the divided upper layer nodes. Also, the upper layer adding unit 2002 changes the relationship between the lower layer node having the print attribute in which the upper layer reflection Feature 1105 exists and the divided upper layer node.

  Furthermore, the upper layer association changing unit 2003 associates “nodes outside the group” associated with the upper layer nodes in the group with all of the divided upper layer nodes. In the example shown in FIG. 17, the Fixed Document Sequence 801 and the Fixed Document 802 are associated before division (see also FIG. 8). On the other hand, after the division, both the Fixed Document 1901 and the Fixed Document 1905 are associated with the Fixed Document Sequence 801. After that, since the upper layer for the number of divisions has been created in the group, the regroup processing unit 2004 generates a plurality of groups having one upper layer and one or more lower layers. Then, the printing attribute of the lower layer of each group is repeated to eliminate the printing attribute of the lower layer.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of an XPS document obtained by repeating the upper layer division method 913 up to the input XPS document and the highest layer of the XPS document.
In the example shown in FIG. 19, the input XPS document 2100 has one Fixed Document Sequence. Thereafter, the Fixed Document Sequence is divided by the upper layer division method 913, and a plurality of XPS documents 2120a and 2120b corresponding to the number of divisions are created. In this way, for example, XPS documents 2120a and 2120b can be sequentially printed on a low-function printing apparatus. Even general application software that can only process a job level print ticket can obtain an appropriate appearance when displaying a document.

  Furthermore, by making the job level print tickets associated with the plurality of generated XPS documents 2120a and 2120b all the same, the plurality of XPS documents 2120a and 2120b can be easily converted (integrated) into one XPS document. When the job level print tickets 2104 and 2111 are the same in the example shown in FIG. 19, for example, the following can be performed. First, the Fixed Document 2106 and the Fixed Document 2108 associated with the Fixed Document Sequence 2105 are associated with the Fixed Document Sequence 2101. Then, the Fixed document Sequence 2105 and the job level print ticket 2111 are deleted. As described above, editing of the job level print ticket 2104 is easy to set, the behavior is easy to understand, and can be edited with general application software.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the print attribute conversion process executed by the structured document conversion software 113.
The XPS document acquisition / structure analysis unit 702 analyzes a structured document when a “structured document to which printing attributes can be added for each layer” such as an XPS document is input. Then, the XPS document acquisition / structure analysis unit 702 forms a tree structure as shown in FIG. 8 (step S1601).
Next, the two-layer grouping processing unit 703 sequentially starts from the lowest layer in the tree structure created in step S1601, and includes two layers of an upper layer including one node and a lower layer including one or more nodes. Is formed (step S1602).
Next, the print attribute extraction processing unit 704 determines whether there is a print ticket (hierarchical print attribute) associated with the lower layer of the group formed in step S1602 (step S1603). If the result of this determination is that there is no print ticket, steps S1604 to S1612 are omitted, and processing proceeds to step S1613, which will be described later.
On the other hand, if there is a print ticket, the lower layer print attribute comparison processing unit 901 analyzes all the print tickets in the lower layer and determines whether or not the same Feature and Option exist in all (step S1604). As a result of this determination, if the same Feature and Option are present in all, the lower layer print attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 reflects the common Feature (and Option) in the upper layer print ticket (upper layer print attribute). The lower layer feature deletion unit 903 deletes the feature (and option) from the lower layer print ticket (step S1605). Then, the process proceeds to step S1606.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1604 that the same Feature and Option do not exist in all, step S1605 is omitted and the process proceeds to step S1606.

  Here, the feature remaining in the lower layer print ticket means that the feature is not included in all the lower layer print tickets. Therefore, in order to classify the Feature according to the characteristic of the Feature, the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 acquires the function lists 1200 and 1300 as illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13 (Step S1606). . The contents of the function lists 1200 and 1300 may be determined in advance according to the characteristics of the feature, or may be rewritten by the user.

Next, the lower-layer print attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 compares the features remaining in the lower-layer print ticket with the acquired function list 1200 to determine whether or not the rendering-applicable Feature 1103 exists. (Step S1607). As a result of the determination, if there is a drawing-reflectable Feature 1103, the lower-layer Feature drawing reflection unit 905 reflects the Feature (and Option) that is the drawing reflection-capable Feature 1103 in the drawing data. Then, the lower layer Feature drawing reflection unit 905 deletes the Feature (and Option) from the lower layer print ticket (step S1608). Then, the process proceeds to step S1609.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1607 that there is no drawing-reflectable Feature 1103, step S1608 is omitted and the process proceeds to step S1609.

Next, the lower layer print attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 compares the feature remaining in the lower layer print ticket with the acquired function list 1200 to determine whether or not the deleted feature 1106 exists (step S102). S1609). If there is a deleted Feature 1106 as a result of this determination, the lower layer feature deleting unit 903 deletes the Feature (and Option) that is the deleted Feature 1106 from the lower layer print ticket (step S1610). Then, the process proceeds to step S1611.
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1609 that the deleted feature 1106 does not exist, step S1610 is omitted and the process proceeds to step S1611.

Next, the lower layer print attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902 compares the feature remaining in the lower layer print ticket with the acquired function list 1300 to determine whether the upper layer reflection feature 1105 exists. (Step S1611). As a result of this determination, when the upper layer reflection Feature 1105 exists, the upper layer division processing unit 904 performs the upper layer division processing. Then, the lower layer feature upper layer reflection processing unit 906 reflects the Feature (and Option), which is the upper layer reflection feature 1105, in the divided upper layer print ticket. Then, the lower layer feature deletion unit 903 deletes the feature (and option), which is the upper layer reflection feature 1105, from the lower layer print ticket (step S1612).
Up to this point, there is no Feature in the lower-layer print ticket, and the processing by the two-layer grouping ends.

Next, the highest-level printing attribute XPS document conversion processing unit 706 determines whether or not the two-level grouping in the XPS document acquired in step S1601 has been performed up to the highest level of the XPS document (step S1613). ). That is, it is determined whether or not Feature (and Option) no longer exist in all print tickets from the lowest hierarchy to the next highest hierarchy (second highest hierarchy). As a result of the determination, if the two-level grouping is not performed up to the highest level of the XPS document, the process returns to step S1602. Then, a group is formed from the lower part of the hierarchy in the Tree structure created in step S1601, and the processes in steps S1603 to S1613 are performed on the group.
If it is determined in step S1613 that the two-layer grouping has been performed up to the highest hierarchy of the XPS document, only one print attribute associated with the highest hierarchy remains. Therefore, the highest-level printing attribute XPS document conversion processing unit 706 updates the XPS document 701 to the XPS document 707 having the printing attribute of only the highest level (step S1614), and ends the processing according to the flowchart of FIG.

  As described above, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 20, for example, an example of the grouping unit is realized by executing the process of step S1602, and an example of the reflecting unit is realized by executing the processes of steps S1605, S1608, and S1612. Realized. In addition, for example, an example of a deletion unit is realized by executing the processing of steps S1605, S1608, S1610, and S1612. Further, for example, an example of a dividing unit, an association unit, a setting unit, and an integrating unit is realized by executing the process of step S1612.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of an exclusion method edit approval screen displayed when the exclusion method for each feature is confirmed and corrected. The exclusion method editing approval screen 1500 shown in FIG. 15 is displayed on the monitor 110 of the client devices 100a and 100b, for example, by the function of the lower layer printing attribute exclusion processing determination unit 902. Based on the user's operation using the user interface for the exclusion method editing approval screen 1500, the exclusion method is corrected and approved for each feature.
In the example illustrated in FIG. 21, all the features excluding the features that can be subjected to the upper layer reflection method 911 unconditionally from the features excluded from the lower layer printing attributes are displayed. In addition, the drawing reflection method 914 is expressed as “reflecting in drawing”, the upper layer division method 913 is expressed as “structure change”, and the simple deletion method 912 is expressed as “simple deletion”.

  As shown in FIG. 21, the feature name 1501 and the exclusion method 1502 corresponding to each other are displayed side by side, whereby the exclusion method can be changed for each feature. The reason why the name 1501 of the feature is grayed out in the change dialog 1503 for “hole punch” and “reflect on drawing” is as follows. That is, as described above, a feature to which the upper layer division method 913 can be applied can also apply the simple deletion method 912, but cannot apply the drawing reflection method 914.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, for example, an example of the contents of the print attribute to be deleted is realized by the feature name 1501 illustrated in FIG. 15, and an example of a processing method for the print attribute to be deleted by the exclusion method 1502. Is realized. Further, for example, an example of processing change content for a print attribute to be deleted is realized by the deletion method selected in the change dialog 1503 shown in FIG. By using the exclusion method editing approval screen 1500, an example of a notification unit and a reception unit is realized.

  In addition, in the flowchart of FIG. 20, after confirmation by the user, it is possible to reflect and delete the feature. In this case, for example, instead of steps S1605, S1608, S1610, and S1612, an upper layer reflection method 911, a simple deletion method 912, an upper layer division method 913, and a drawing reflection method are used according to the determination result of the previous step. Which of 914 to perform is selected. Then, between step S1613 and step S1614, the exclusion method editing approval screen 1500 shown in FIG. 21 is displayed, and a change in the exclusion method 1502 is accepted by the user. Then, in step S1614, the feature is reflected and deleted by the selected method, and the structured document is updated. At this time, when a change of the exclusion method 1502 is received by the user, the reflection and deletion of the feature are performed by the received method instead of the selected method.

  As described above, in this embodiment, document data is given to a plurality of nodes in a tree structure, and a structured document structured so that a print attribute can be associated with each of the plurality of nodes has a relative relationship. Therefore, the printing attribute of the lower layer is reflected in the other parts. Specifically, the printing attribute of the lower layer is reflected in the printing attribute of the node of the upper layer connected with the node of the lower layer by a branch. Further, the printing attribute of the lower layer is reflected in the document data of the node associated with the printing attribute. When reflecting such print attributes, the following processing is performed as necessary. First, the upper layer node is divided into, for example, the number of lower layer nodes connected by branches to the upper layer node. Each of the plurality of divided nodes is associated with the printing attribute associated with the original node, and any of the plurality of nodes obtained by dividing the lower layer node connected to the original node by a branch. Connect to the branch. In addition, the plurality of divided nodes are connected to the higher layer nodes and branches connected to the original node and branches.

  As described above, after the printing attribute of the relatively lower layer is reflected in other parts, the printing attribute of the lower layer is deleted. In addition, it is possible to simply delete the printing attribute of the lower layer. Such a process is performed until the print attribute is associated with only the highest layer. As a result, a structured document in which print attributes are associated with only the top layer is obtained.

  Therefore, it becomes a general-purpose document document, and the appearance at the time of printing and display can be made as independent as possible from the user environment (application software or printing apparatus). In addition, when changing the printing attribute for another printing apparatus, the printing attribute added to the structured document can be easily grasped by the printer driver for the other printing apparatus. The print attribute can be easily and reliably changed to a print attribute suitable for the printing apparatus. Furthermore, even when it is desired to add an electronic signature to a structured document except for print attributes that change due to a change in print settings, it is possible to easily find a print attribute that changes due to a change in print settings. Therefore, structured document data that can be easily used by the user can be provided.

(Other embodiments of the present invention)
Each unit constituting the structured document conversion apparatus and each step of the structured document conversion method in the embodiment of the present invention described above can be realized by operating a program stored in a RAM or a ROM of a computer. This program and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program are included in the present invention.

  In addition, the present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, storage medium, or the like. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  The present invention includes a software program (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG. 20) that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments, directly or remotely supplied to a system or apparatus. The present invention also includes a case where the system or apparatus computer achieves this by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, and the like.

  Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW. There are also magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R) and the like.

  As another program supply method, a browser on a client computer is used to connect to an Internet home page. The computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk.

  It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  In addition, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and key information for decryption is downloaded from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Let It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the downloaded key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. In addition, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can also be realized by the processing.

  Further, the program read from the recording medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instructions of the program, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  It should be noted that each of the above-described embodiments is merely a specific example for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner. . That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or the main features thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Client apparatus 111 Printing apparatus 112 Application software 113 Structured document conversion software 114 Printer driver 115 OS
200 Network 202 Print Server

Claims (13)

Obtain an upper layer node having at least two lower layer nodes, a first lower layer node associated with the first print setting and a second lower layer node associated with the second print setting. Acquisition means to
The upper layer node acquired by the acquisition unit is the first upper layer node having the first lower layer node and associated with the third print setting based on the first print setting. a node and a dividing means for dividing the node of the second upper layer in which the fourth print settings based on the second and has a node of the lower layer of the second print setting is associated, the A structured document conversion apparatus characterized by that.   2. The structured document conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lower layer node is a page element, and the upper layer node is a document element. A lower layer node is a document element, an upper layer node is a job element,
The acquisition means acquires the job element having a first document element and the second document element,
The dividing unit generates two structured documents by dividing the job element into a first job element having the first document element and a second job element having the second document element. The structured document conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: First determination means for determining whether an item common to all print settings associated with a lower layer node and a setting value exist;
If the first determination means determines that the common item and setting value exist in all the print settings associated with the lower layer node, all the prints associated with the lower layer node 4. The structured document conversion apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a first reflecting unit configured to reflect the common item and the setting value in an upper layer node for setting. 5. A second determination unit that determines whether there is an item that can be reflected in drawing in a print setting associated with a lower layer node;
When the second determination unit determines that there is an item that can be reflected in the drawing in the print setting associated with the lower layer node, a second item that reflects the item that can be reflected in the drawing in the drawing data. 5. The structured document conversion apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a reflection unit. A fourth determination unit configured to determine whether an item to be reflected in the print setting associated with the upper layer node exists in the print setting associated with the lower layer node;
When the fourth determination unit determines that there is an item to be reflected in the print setting associated with the higher layer node in the print setting associated with the lower layer node, structured document conversion device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that splitting the nodes of the upper level layer to nodes of node and the second upper layer of the first upper layer. Obtain an upper layer node having at least two lower layer nodes, a first lower layer node associated with the first print setting and a second lower layer node associated with the second print setting. An acquisition process to
The upper layer node obtained by the obtaining step is the first upper layer node having the first lower layer node and associated with the third print setting based on the first print setting. a node and, a, a dividing step of dividing the node of the second upper layer in which the fourth print settings based on the second and has a node of the lower layer of the second print setting is associated A structured document conversion method for an apparatus . Obtain an upper layer node having at least two lower layer nodes, a first lower layer node associated with the first print setting and a second lower layer node associated with the second print setting. An acquisition process to
The upper layer node obtained by the obtaining step is the first upper layer node having the first lower layer node and associated with the third print setting based on the first print setting. computer and the node, a dividing step of dividing the node of the second upper layer in which the fourth print settings based on the second and has a node of the lower layer of the second print setting is associated, the A computer program that is executed by a computer.   9. The computer program according to claim 8, wherein the lower layer node is a page element, and the upper layer node is a document element. A lower layer node is a document element, an upper layer node is a job element,
The acquisition step acquires the job element having a first document element and the second document element,
In the dividing step, two structured documents are created by dividing the job element into a first job element having the first document element and a second job element having the second document element. The computer program according to claim 8. A first determination step of determining whether an item and a setting value common to all print settings associated with a lower layer node exist;
If the first determination step determines that the common item and setting value exist in all the print settings associated with the lower layer node, all the prints associated with the lower layer node 11. The computer program according to claim 8, further causing the computer to execute a first reflection step of reflecting the common item and the setting value in an upper layer node for setting. 11. . A second determination step of determining whether there is an item that can be reflected in the drawing in the print setting associated with the lower layer node;
When the second determination step determines that there is an item that can be reflected in the drawing in the print settings associated with the lower layer node, the second item that reflects the drawing in the drawing data The computer program according to claim 8, further causing the computer to execute the reflection step. Causing the computer to further execute a fourth determination step of determining whether there is an item to be reflected in the print setting associated with the upper layer node in the print setting associated with the lower layer node;
The dividing step is performed when the fourth determining step determines that the print setting associated with the lower layer node includes an item to be reflected in the print setting associated with the upper layer node. computer program according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein splitting the nodes of the upper level layer to a node of the second upper layer and a node of the first upper layer.

Images