JP2001243028A - Medium recording print control program, print control device, and print control method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] Even when printing is performed based on large-capacity data, the spooler spools all data on the hard disk. If the hard disk does not have sufficient free space, an error occurs and the print job is executed. I can't do it. SOLUTION: Data concerning a print job is divided and spooled, and a print processor outputs print data of the divided spool file to a printer. Further, the divided spool files related to the printed data are sequentially deleted. Therefore, it is possible to reduce resources required for executing a print job based on large-capacity data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a medium storing a print control program, a print control device, and a print control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a print control program for printing a predetermined document or drawing on a printer, functions realized by various programs such as a printer driver, a spooler, and a print processor usually execute a print job in cooperation with each other. I do. That is, the printer driver receives data from an application that executes printing of a predetermined document or the like, converts the data into data for printing by a printer, generates a command for controlling the printer, and outputs the command to the spooler. The spooler spools print data output by the printer driver to a hard disk drive or the like, and sends the spool data to a printer via a print processor.

[0003]

The above-described conventional print control program has the following problems. In other words, with the recent diversification of printers, higher resolution of print images and the like, diversification of printing modes, etc., the amount of data received from the applications has increased. However, even when printing is performed based on such a large amount of data, the spooler spools all data on the hard disk. Therefore, if there is not enough free space on the hard disk to spool all data, an error occurs and the print job cannot be executed. SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a medium, a print control device, and a print control method that record a print control program capable of reducing resources required for executing a print job based on large-capacity data. For the purpose of providing.

[0004]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medium for recording a print control program for executing a predetermined print job and outputting print data to a printing apparatus. A divided output function for acquiring and dividing print data of an input print job and adding control data to output the divided data, and a spool for storing the divided data output by the divided output function in a predetermined spool area A print data output function of acquiring the divided data spooled by the spool function based on the control data and outputting print data in the divided data to the printing apparatus; and a print data output function of the print data output function. And a split data deletion function for deleting a spool file related to the print data from the spool area. That it is constituted.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a predetermined print job is executed, the print control program recorded on the medium executes a predetermined process and sends the print control program to the printing apparatus. Output print data. For this reason, the division output function acquires the print data of the input print job, divides the print data, adds control data, and outputs the data. The spool function stores the divided data output by the divided output function in a predetermined spool area. As a result, the data for one print job is divided and spooled, and the print data output function obtains the divided data spooled by the spool function, and print data in the divided data based on the control data. Is output to the printing device.

Accordingly, it is possible to start processing for each divided data, and to start printing before spooling all data relating to a print job. The split data deletion function deletes a spool file related to the print data output by the print data output function from the spool area. Therefore, it is not necessary to spool all the data relating to the print job to the spool area, and there is no need for a large free space in the area. Here, the print data is data for realizing predetermined printing in the printing apparatus, and is a command of a start job, a start page, and the like, CMYK gradation data, and the like. Further, the control data can be added to the divided print data itself, or the control data can be output in addition to the divided print data.

As described above, the division of print data can be executed from various viewpoints. As a preferable example, the invention according to claim 2 is a print control program according to claim 1. In the medium on which the print data is recorded, the divided output function is capable of dividing the print data into a capacity for optimizing the throughput in the print data output function.

[0008] In the invention according to claim 2 configured as described above, the divided output function divides the print data into a capacity that optimizes the throughput in the print data output function. Accordingly, the print data output function outputs the divided data having such a capacity, so that printing in the printing apparatus is started at a very early stage even if the data concerning the print job is large. Also, the processing speed of the computer is faster than the printing speed of the normal printing device, and it is conceivable that an overhead in the file I / O may occur if a file having a small divided capacity is accessed many times. After the printing is started, it is preferable to divide the capacity into a capacity larger than the optimum throughput capacity.

In the above-described print data output function, it is sufficient that the divided data can be obtained based on the control data and the print data can be output, and various forms of control data can be considered. As an example of the configuration, claim 3
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the medium storing the print control program according to any one of the first and second aspects, the control data includes data for properly reading the divided data and an output destination of the print data. And data indicating the print mode.

[0010] In the invention according to claim 3 configured as described above, data to be output to a printing apparatus is appropriately accessed by using data for properly reading the divided data, and only necessary print data is output. be able to. For example, the storage location of the spooled divided data may be designated by a path or the like, the type and capacity of the divided data may be indicated, or the end of the print page or the end of the divided data may be indicated. Further, according to the data indicating the output destination of the print data, the print data can be output to an appropriate printing device intended by the user. Of course, the printing apparatus may be either a local connection or a network connection, and even when a plurality of printing apparatuses are connected, printing can be performed at an appropriate output destination by using such output destination data.

In order to execute a print job for a printing apparatus connected via a network, the print data output function obtains divided data via the network, and transmits the print data via the network. What is necessary is just to comprise so that output is possible. In this case, for example, a client computer in which various functions such as the above-described divided output function and a print data output function capable of network output are realized, and a server computer in which a print data output function capable of acquiring data via the network are realized The present invention can be embodied as a system comprising:

Further, according to the data indicating the printing mode, it is possible to cope with various printing modes desired by the user. For example, it is possible to execute copy printing, book printing, and printing having a plurality of discharge trays. It is possible to discharge paper to a desired discharge tray in the apparatus. The print data output function may be configured to output the same divided data a plurality of times in order to realize the number of copies printed by the printing apparatus. What is necessary is just to comprise the divided data in a predetermined order by the function. As a result, it is not necessary to spool the same print data redundantly, and the necessary spool area can be reduced.

The divided data can be appropriately read by such control data. As a preferable example of the divided data in this case, the invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3 In the medium on which the print control program is recorded, the divided output function has a configuration in which the output data has a data structure of a predetermined format. That is, since the divided data is data of a predetermined format, the data can always be read by a uniform method regardless of the content of the divided data.

In the print data output function, it is necessary to access an appropriate one of the spooled divided data in order to execute proper printing in the printing apparatus. Therefore, the invention according to claim 5 is based on claim 1
5. A medium in which the print control program according to claim 4 is recorded, wherein the divided output function outputs information for reading each divided data stored in the spool area to the print data output function. There is a configuration to do.

[0015] In the invention according to claim 5, the information for reading out the divided data stored in the spool area is output by the divided output function,
The print data output function accesses the divided data using the information. For example, a configuration may be considered in which the file name of the divided data is output by the divided output function, and the divided data file is accessed using the file name by the print data output function.

As described above, the processing in the divided output function and the processing in the print data output function are closely related, and it is convenient if both functions can grasp each other's state. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a medium in which the print control program according to any one of the first to fifth aspects is recorded, wherein the divided output function and the print data output function are provided in a predetermined manner. An external file stored in the area can be accessed and cooperated with each other based on the content of the external file.

In the invention according to claim 6 configured as described above, the divided output function and the print data output function can access an external file stored in a predetermined area. Therefore, they can cooperate with each other based on the contents of the external file. Specifically, writing predetermined information in an external file, reading the information content by both functions and performing a corresponding process, or monitoring the size of the external file and performing a process according to a change in the size. Is possible. Various types of processing are supposed. For example, processing when a print job is canceled can be performed.

Of course, the recording medium described above may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium to be developed in the future. Also, the duplication stages of the primary duplicated product, the secondary duplicated product, and the like are equivalent without any question. Although different from the above-described medium, if the supply method is performed using a communication line, the communication line is used as a transmission medium and the present invention is used. Further, even when a part is implemented by software and a part is implemented by hardware, the concept of the present invention is not completely different, and a part is stored on a recording medium and appropriately It may be in a form that can be read.

As described above, the method of dividing print data relating to a print job, performing processing on each of the divided data, and deleting processed data is realized by a substantial computer. It can be easily understood that the present invention is also applicable as an apparatus including such a computer. For this reason, the invention according to claims 10 to 18 basically has the same operation. Of course, such devices may be implemented alone,
The idea of the invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be implemented together with another method in a state of being incorporated in a certain device, and includes various aspects, and can be appropriately changed.

Further, when such a print control program proceeds with the processing according to such control, it is natural that the invention exists in the procedure at the root, and it is possible to apply the method as a method. Easy to understand. Therefore, the invention according to the nineteenth to twenty-seventh aspects has basically the same operation. In other words, there is no difference that the method is not necessarily limited to a tangible medium or the like and is effective as a method.

[0021]

As described above, claim 1 and claim 1 have been described.
According to the present invention, there is no need for a free spool area in which all print data relating to a print job can be spooled, and printing can be started at an early stage. According to the second, eleventh and twentieth aspects of the present invention, printing can be started very early after a print job is input. Furthermore, claim 3,
According to the twelfth and twenty-first aspects of the present invention, it is possible to easily execute the printing intended by the user based on the once divided data. Further, according to the inventions according to the fourth, thirteenth, and twenty-second aspects, the divided data can be easily read.

Furthermore, claim 5, claim 14, claim 2
According to the third aspect, the target divided data can be easily accessed. Further, according to the inventions according to claims 6, 15, and 24, cooperation between a plurality of functions can be achieved by a simple method. Furthermore, according to the inventions according to claims 7, 16, and 25, a print job can be executed by a printing apparatus connected via a network, and versatility is improved. Further, according to the inventions according to claims 8, 17, and 26, a variety of printing modes is widened, and it is possible to meet the needs of many users. Further, according to the ninth, eighteenth, and twenty-seventh aspects of the present invention, a variety of printing modes is widened, and it is possible to meet the needs of many users.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic hardware configuration in a state where a printer is locally and network-connected to a computer, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram when the present invention is realized as a plurality of modules on an OS of the computer. Is shown. First, FIG.
The hardware configuration shown in FIG. The computer 10 includes a CPU 11 which is a center of the arithmetic processing.
The ROM 13 and the RAM 14 in which an OS and the like are described can be accessed.

A hard disk drive 15, a floppy disk drive 16, and a CD-ROM drive 17 as external storage devices are connected to the system bus 12, and the OS 20 and application programs (APL) stored in the hard disk drive 15 are connected. 25
Are transferred to the RAM 14, and the CPU 11 appropriately accesses the ROM 13 and the RAM 14 to execute software. That is, various programs are executed using the RAM 14 as a temporary work area.

Operation input devices such as a keyboard 31 and a mouse 32 are connected to the serial communication I / O 19a, and a display 1 for display is provided via a video board (not shown).
8 is also connected. Further, a local connection with the printer 40a is possible via a parallel communication I / O 19b, and a network connection with another computer 50 is possible via a 10BASE-T I / O 19c.
The computer 50 can be connected to a printer 40b via a parallel communication I / O as in the case of the computer 10, and the computer 50 controls the printer 40b based on data transmitted from the computer 10 and functions as a printer server. It is supposed to.

Although the configurations of the computers 10 and 50 have been described in a simplified manner, a personal computer having a general configuration can be employed.
Of course, the computer to which the present invention is applied is not limited to a personal computer. This embodiment is a so-called desktop computer, but may be a notebook computer or a mobile computer. Also, the connection interface between the computer 10 and the printer 40a and the computer 50 need not be limited to those described above, and various connection modes such as a serial interface, SCSI, and USB connection can be adopted. It is the same as above.

In this example, the programs are stored in the hard disk drive 15, but the recording medium is not limited to this. For example, it may be a floppy disk 16a or a CD-ROM 17a. The programs recorded on these recording media are stored in a floppy disk drive 16 or a CD-ROM drive 17.
Are read by the computers 10 and 50 via the hard disk drive 15. Then, the data is read into the RAM 14 via the hard disk drive 15 to control the computer. The recording medium is not limited to this, and may be a magneto-optical disk or the like.

It is also possible to use a non-volatile memory such as a flash card as a semiconductor device, and to transmit and download an external file server via a modem or a communication line, the communication line is used. The present invention is used as a medium. Printer 40
Reference numerals a and 40b each include a CPU, firmware and the like (not shown), and CMY transmitted from the computer 10 according to a program described in the firmware.
Print data including K data and printer commands such as a page description language is received via the parallel communication I / O. Then, the printers 40a and 40b execute printing based on the data while driving a head and a printing paper transport mechanism by a predetermined motor.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, in the computer 10 according to the present embodiment, a printer driver (PRTD)
The RV 21, the spooler 22, and the print processor 23 are incorporated in the OS 20. In the APL 25, a user can create a document, a drawing, and the like via the keyboard 31 and the mouse 32 and issue an instruction to execute printing by the printer 40a. PRTDRV 21 converts the data relating to the print job from APL 25 into CMYK
Normal PRTDRV, such as processing to convert to print data
Performs the processing executed by the CMYK data, and generates a packet in which control information is added to the CMYK data or a packet including predetermined control information. Further, this packet is output to the spooler 22, and the spooler 22 spools a plurality of files composed of the plurality of packets to the hard disk drive 15.

That is, the data relating to the print job from the APL 25 is spooled in a state of being divided into a plurality of files, and these spool files are constituted by the plurality of packets. The control information added to this packet is information used by a print processor 23, which will be described later, to execute printing as intended by the APL 25 based on the divided packet. Data structure. FIG. 3A shows the packet structure. In FIG. 3A, the packet is a structure including five areas of a packet size, a packet code, a packet ID, a job ID, and packet data.

In the present embodiment, the four areas other than the packet data are all 4-byte fixed-length data, and only the packet data is variable-length data. That is, data for executing printing includes image data such as the CMYK described above, a printer command indicating page start / end, and the like, and the command data length and the image data length to be divided are various. Therefore, these data shall be stored in the packet data area with a variable length, and by describing the data length in the packet size area, it is possible to refer to the appropriate length data in all packets. ing.

As described above, there are various types of packet data as well as image data, and the type of the packet data is distinguished by the packet code.
The packet ID is the processing ID of the packet, and the job ID
Is an ID assigned to each job. Specifically, the packet data includes data constituting print data and control data constituting an escape sequence. The print data is CMYK data output from the PRTDRV 21, data input to the printer 40a such as a start job, an end job, a start page, and an end page.

The control data is data added to the printer 40a to execute the same printing as the state before the division based on the data divided by the PRTDRV 21. The data includes data for executing the copy printing and the book printing stored in the area. That is, in the packet data area, various control data other than those transmitted to the printer 40a are also stored, and the packet in which the control data is stored constitutes an escape sequence for causing the print processor 23 to execute processing described later. are doing.

On the other hand, when printing is performed by a printer locally connected to the computer 10, such as the printer 40a, the file spooled on the hard disk drive 15 is a local spool file 15b shown in FIG. Split spool file 15
c1 and 15c2. FIG. 3B shows a packet constituting the local spool file 15b. In FIG. 3B, the local spool file 15b includes a header and a footer packet and a plurality of escape packets.

The escape packet includes a despooling method,
In addition to specifying the number of print processing methods, a command file 15a described later and the split spool file 15c
1, 15c2 are designated by the full path to the storage location, and there is a packet indicating the end of the file. In the despooling method, when executing output based on a spool file, it is specified which of a local connection and a network connection printer is to be output. In the copy print processing method, when printing a document or the like of a plurality of pages by the APL 25, it is further specified whether to print a plurality of copies of these pages or a set print.

Further, since the command file 15a and the divided spool files 15c1 and 15c2 are specified in the escape packet with the full path, the print processor 23 described later can access the files. Split spool file 15c1,
15c2 has a structure as shown in FIG. 4A, and includes a header, a footer packet, an end-of-file packet,
Print data exists between packets indicating the end of a page. That is, print data usually starts with a start job command, ends with an end job command, and is configured such that each piece of print Raw data is sandwiched between a start page command and an end page command.

Therefore, the split spool file 15c1,
Also in 15c2, the entire print data is sandwiched between the start job command and the end job command, and the R
The aw data is sandwiched between a start page command and an end page command. In FIG. 4A, one split spool file contains all the data of one print job. However, in the present invention, the data of one print job is divided into a plurality of divided jobs as shown in FIG. It can be divided into spool files 15c1 and 15c2. Here, for the first part of the print data, the print data to be output to the printer 40a is 4 KB.
And then the print data is 40K
B is divided.

This corresponds to a print processor 23 described later.
This is because print data is output in units of 4 KB having the best throughput, and the first print data is output in 4 KB, so that printing in the printer 40a is started quickly. Also, the split spool files 15c1, 15c
If 2 is continuously divided in units of 4 KB, overhead occurs between the PRTDRV 21 and the file I / O, and the throughput with the print processor 23 decreases. Further, once printing is started by the printer 40a, the printing speed is usually slower than various processes in the computer 10. Therefore, only the first print data is 4K as described above.
The print processor 23 can execute processing at high speed while executing printing at an early stage by dividing the data at B and then dividing the data into 40 KB.

The command file 15a is a PRTD
The RV 21 is a file for notifying the print processor 23 of a control command.
3 accesses the command file 15a as needed to grasp various situations in the PRTDRV 21.
The command file 15a has a structure shown in FIG. 4B, and has an area for storing a control command packet between a header packet and a footer packet. In the present embodiment, the command file 15a usually includes only a header packet and a footer packet. However, when a print job is canceled in the PRTDRV 21, the command file 15a includes a header packet and a footer packet as shown in FIG. During this time, a control command packet is added.

The print processor 23 monitors the file size of the command file 15a, and when the file size is changed, the print processor 23 recognizes that the cancel has been executed. In the present embodiment, the command file 15
Although the presence / absence of cancellation is ascertained via a, it goes without saying that the PRTDRV 21 and the print processor 23 may write other information in order to ascertain the status of each other. In this case, instead of monitoring the size of the command file 15a, predetermined information is written in the packet data area of the control command packet, and various processes are performed according to the information in the packet data area. It is also possible to

As described above, when the PRTDRV 21 divides the print data and outputs it as a predetermined packet, the spooler 22 spools various files on the hard disk drive 15, and the print processor 23 accesses these files as appropriate and prints the data. Is output to the printer 40a via the parallel communication I / O 19b. Here, the print processor 23 has the PRT
The file names of the spooled files can be given from the DRV 21. Appropriate files are accessed using these file names, and processing corresponding to the control data in each packet is executed. .

That is, the path of the divided spool files 15c1 and 15c2 indicated by the packet in the local spool file 15b is appropriately accessed for the given file name, and the print data in the divided spool files is transferred to the parallel communication I / O. Output to O19b. Here, the print processor 23 can delete the divided spool file relating to the print data already output from the hard disk drive 15.

Therefore, even when very large print data is printed by the APL 25, printing can be performed without requiring the hard disk drive 15 to have the same free space as the print data. In the present embodiment, as described above, it is possible to execute printing on both the locally connected printer 40a and the network connected printer 40b.
And the print processor 23 are programs that can be used for both purposes. In the following, processing for the locally connected printer 40a as shown in FIG. 2 will be described first.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are flow charts of the processing according to the present invention performed by the PRTDRV 21 when executing a print job. When a predetermined print job is submitted by the user operating the APL 25, the PR shown in FIG.
The TDRV 21 accesses the print processor 23 in step S100, and determines whether the print processor 23 supports the method according to the present invention.
If it is not determined in step S100 that this method is supported, the print job is executed without dividing the print data as in the related art. If it is determined in step S100 that the print processor 23 is compatible with the present method, it is notified to the print processor 23 in step S110 that processing by the present method is started.

In step S120, the name of the command file 15a is notified to the print processor 23, and the page-by-page processing routine of steps S130 to S250 is executed. In step S140, print condition data such as CMYK data for one page of a print image or the number of copies is acquired from another module that executes a normal function of the PRTDRV 21. Step S
In 150, the various escape packets are created based on the print condition data, and a predetermined print data packet is created, and the print data such as the CMYK data is buffered in a predetermined buffering area.

In step S160, it is determined whether or not the print data overflows from the buffering area, and the process from step S140 is repeated until the print data overflows the buffering area. Then, in step S170, a file name for storing the buffered print data is determined. In step S180, control data is added to the buffered data and output to the file as a print data packet. The spooler 22 generates a spool file by storing the packet in the file according to the output.

It should be noted that steps S170 and S1 are also performed on the escape packet generated in step S150.
The same processing as 80 is executed, and the spooler 22 spools the local spool file 15b. The file name in step S180 is output to the print processor 23 in step S190, and the print processor 23 accesses the file using the same file name.

In step S200, it is determined whether or not the print job has been canceled, that is, whether or not a predetermined cancel flag in PRTDRV 21 has been turned on. If it is determined in step S200 that the print job has been canceled, a cancel process is executed in step S210. FIG. 7 shows the flow of the cancellation process. In step S212, PRTDR is executed.
V21 outputs a control command packet to the command file 15a.
The cancel flag of the RV 21 is turned on. Therefore, thereafter, when the print processor 23 refers to the size of the command file 15a, it is determined that the command file 15a is larger than the normal size, and the cancel processing can be executed.

If it is not determined in step S200 that the print job has been canceled, it is determined in step S220 whether all the CMYK data for one page output by another module of the PRTDRV 21 has been processed. If step S140 is repeated until it is determined in step S220 that all the CMYK data for one page has been processed, the page processing routine ends in step S230. Then, step S2
The process from step S130 is repeated until it is determined at 40 that the process for the previous page of the print data relating to the print job submitted by the APL 25 has been completed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, PRTDRV21
The processes in steps S130 to S240 constitute the divided output function, and the spooler 22 constitutes the spool function.

As described above, the PRTDRV 21 has the local spool file 15b and the split spool file 15c.
After spooling 1, 15c2, the print processor 23 outputs print data to the parallel communication I / O 19b. FIG. 8 shows a main flow of a process executed by the print processor 23. In the figure, in step S300, the PRTDRV 21 performs step S300.
At 110, it is determined whether or not the processing of the print job corresponding to this method has been started. If it is determined in step S300 that the process does not correspond to this method, the print job is executed without dividing the print data as in the related art.

When it is determined in step S300 that the processing of the print job corresponding to this method has been started, an output buffer for accessing the file stored in the hard disk drive 15 is secured in step S310. In step S320, it is determined whether the print job is for the locally-connected printer 40a or the network-connected printer 40b. If it is not determined that the print job is for the local printer 40a, the process proceeds to step S320. Execute output processing.

In steps S330 to S380, the local spool file 15b is read and the execution for each escape packet type is repeated. In step S330, it is determined whether or not a packet indicating the end of the file, which is the last packet, is read by determining whether or not a predetermined flag is set. If it is determined in step S330 that the last packet has been read, the output buffer secured in step S310 is discarded in step S390, and a series of processing ends. If it is not determined in step S330 that the packet indicating the end of the file has been read, the packets stored in the local spool file 15b are sequentially read from step S340.

In step S340, the header of each packet is read, and in step S350, a later-described step S4
It is determined at 55 whether or not the print job has been canceled by determining whether or not the size of the command file 15a acquired has changed. Step S350
If it is determined in step S360 that the spool file has been canceled, unnecessary spool files such as the local spool file 15b and the split spool files 15c1 and 15c2 stored in the hard disk drive 15 are deleted in step S360. If it is not determined in step S350 that the print job has been canceled, the process proceeds to step S350.
At step 370, the size of the packet data recorded in the packet header read at step S340 is acquired, and at step S380, processing for each packet type is executed. Thereafter, the flow returns to step S330, and the same processing is continued until a predetermined file end packet is processed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the processing for each packet type in step S380.
First, the packet code of the above packet is obtained. In steps S400 and S410, it is determined whether the packet being processed is a header packet or a footer packet. If the packet is a header packet or a footer packet, the flow in FIG. Return to. In step S420, it is determined whether or not the packet being processed is an escape packet. If it is not determined that the packet is an escape packet, the process in FIG. 8 returns similarly.

If it is determined in step S420 that the packet being processed is an escape packet, the packet type is determined in steps S430 to S470, and the corresponding processing is performed. In step S430, it is determined whether or not the packet code is a packet indicating an escape method. If it is determined in step S430 that the packet code indicates the escape method, the despool information stored in the packet data area is saved in the output buffer in step S435, and is shown in FIG. Return to processing.

In step S440, it is determined whether or not the packet code is a packet indicating a copy printing processing method. If it is determined in step S440 that the packet code indicates the copy printing method, it is determined in step S445 whether the despool information saved in step S430 is a network. If it is not determined in step S445 that the despool information is a network, the flow returns to the flow shown in FIG. 8. If it is determined in step S445 that the despool information is a network, the despool information and the number of copies are determined in step S446. The print processing information is transmitted to the computer 50.

In step S450, it is determined whether or not the packet code is for a packet indicating the path of the command file. If it is determined in step 450 that the packet code indicates the path of the command file, the command file 15a is opened in step S455 to acquire the file size. Thereafter, the flow returns to the flow shown in FIG.
The size of the command file 15a acquired in Step 5 is used for the cancellation determination in Step S350.

In step S460, it is determined whether or not the packet code is for a packet indicating the path of the divided spool file. If it is determined in step S460 that the packet code indicates the path of the divided spool file, a printing process described later is executed in step S465. In step S470, it is determined whether the packet code indicates the end of the file. If it is determined in step S470 that the packet code indicates the end of the file, the final packet read flag used for determination in step S330 is set in step S475, and the flow returns to the flow shown in FIG. .

As described above, in the processing for each packet type, the processing for the network-connected printer 40b described later is executed in steps S430 to S446, and the PRTDRV2 is executed in steps S450 and S455.
In step S460, steps S460 and S465 are performed to print the print data of the split spool file. FIG.
0 indicates the flow of the printing process in the step S465, and in FIG.
The RTDRV 21 acquires the split spool file name output in step S190.

In step S510, the above-described step S46 is performed.
Referring to the packet data of the packet determined at 0, the split spool file stored in the path is opened. Further, in step S520, the size of the divided spool file is acquired and a memory is secured.
The divided spool file is read into the memory secured at 30. Here, in step S540, it is determined whether or not the despool information is a network.
0, if the despool information is determined to be a network, the print data packet of the read divided spool file is sent to the computer 5 in step S600.
0, and the split spool file is deleted in step S610 to discard the secured memory data.
That is, in the present embodiment, it is possible to transmit the print data packet to the computer 50 at the stage of the printing process.

If it is not determined in step S540 that the despool information is a network, the process proceeds to step S540.
In 550 and S560, it is determined whether or not the packet is a header packet and a footer packet among various packets shown in FIG. If it is determined in steps S550 and S560 that the packet is a header packet and a footer packet, the process from step S590 is performed. If it is not determined in steps S550 and S560 that the packet is a header packet or a footer packet, in step S570, it is determined whether or not the packet is a print data packet by referring to the packet code of the packet being processed.

If it is determined in step S570 that the packet being processed is a print data packet, the command file 15a is referenced in step S572 in the same manner as in step S350 to determine whether the print job has been canceled. Determine. If it is not determined in step S572 that the print job has been cancelled,
In step S574, the packet data in the print data packet is output via the parallel communication I / O 19b.

Accordingly, only the start job command, Raw data, and the like necessary for printing are output to the printer 40a. In step S580, by referring to the packet code of the packet being processed, it is determined whether or not the packet indicates the end of the file. Step S5
If it is determined in step 80 that the packet being processed is a packet indicating the end of the file, the read divided spool file is deleted from the hard disk drive 15 in step S610, the secured memory is discarded, and FIG. The process returns to the process indicated by.

That is, each split spool file 15c
1, 15c2,... Are deleted for each divided spool file when the print data is output, and even when printing very large print data, the hard disk drive 15 has the same free space as the print data. No need. As described above, in the present embodiment, the processing of the print processor 23 shown in FIGS. 8 to 10 corresponds to the print data output function, and the processing in step S610 corresponds to the divided data deletion function. In addition, the above step S
If it is not determined in 580 that the packet being processed is a packet indicating the end of the file, the size of the command file 15a is monitored again in step S590, as in step S455, and the processing in step S550 and subsequent steps is repeated.

FIG. 11 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of execution of a print job in the above configuration and control flow. Here, it is assumed that predetermined printing is performed on the printer 40a shown in FIG. 2 described above, and a description will be given of a state in which local is specified in the despooling method and no special specification is made in the copy number printing processing method. . It is assumed that the print job is not canceled,
In the drawing, solid-line blocks written as Escape (...) indicate packets, and dotted-line blocks written as Raw data indicate data strings that are not packets.

In the figure, the PRTDRV 21 to which a predetermined job has been input from the APL 25 is determined in step S1.
In step S120, the print processor 23 notifies the print processor 23 of the start of the process according to the present method.
Output to 3. In steps S140 to S160, each packet shown in the drawing is created, and in step S170, the local spool file 15b and the split spool file 15c1, which are stored in the hard disk drive 15, are divided.
The file names 15c2 and 15c3 are determined.

Then, by the processing in step S180, a local spool file 15b composed of a predetermined escape packet, header, and footer packet as shown in FIG. 3B is stored in the hard disk drive 15. FIG. 4 (a) comprising a predetermined escape packet, header, footer packet and print data packet.
A plurality of such divided spool files 15c1 to 15c3 are stored. Here, in the structure shown in FIG. 4A, a packet from the packet indicating the start of the print job to the packet indicating the end of the print job is stored in one file. Does not always have such a structure.

That is, print data usually starts with a start job command and ends with an end job command. Further, page sequence data is inserted between these commands, and Raw data such as image data to be printed exists between the start page command and the end page command. Therefore, when a large amount of print data is divided into three divided spool files as shown in FIG. 11, only the first divided spool file 15c1 has a print data packet including a start job command, The print data packet including the end job command exists only in the divided spool file 15c3. In any case, an escape packet indicating the end of the file is stored at the end of each file.

When the divided spool file is stored in the hard disk drive 15, the print processor 23 first reads the local spool file 15b. In steps S340 and S370, the packet data size is obtained based on the packet header, and in step S4
Referring to the packet code in 00 to S470, processing corresponding to each escape packet of the local spool file 15b is performed. Here, since it is assumed that local printing is performed and cancellation is not performed as described above, an escape packet indicating the path of the split spool file of the local spool file 15b is determined in step S460, and the process proceeds to step S465. First, processing is performed on the divided spool file 15c1.

In this printing process, the print processor 23 determines in steps S500 to S530 that the RAM 1
4, a predetermined storage area is secured, and the divided spool file 15c1 is stored. Then, after step S550, the processing of each packet of the same split spool file 15c1 is started, and after the determination of steps S550, S590 and S570, the processing of the packet of the start job command in which the first print data is stored is performed. I do. In this example, since the print job is not canceled, only the start job command stored in the packet data area of the start job command packet in step S574 is stored in the parallel communication I / O.
19b.

After that, the print processor 23 repeats the processing from step S550, so that the same processing is performed in steps S570 and S572 on the start page command packet stored next to the start job command packet in the divided spool file 15c1. Execute, and the start page command is
/ O19b. Further, the following Raw data is similarly output to the parallel communication I / O 19b. In this way, as shown in FIG. 11, only the print data such as the start job command and the RAW data in the divided spool file 15c1 is output to the parallel communication I / O 19b. When processing the escape packet indicating the end of the file, which is the last packet of the divided spool file 15c1, the divided spool file 15c1 is stored in the above-mentioned R in step S610 after the determination in step S580.
AM 14 and hard disk drive 15 are deleted.

As a result, it is possible to delete from the hard disk drive 15 the file relating to the print data already printed before all the print jobs are completed.
Therefore, when a print job involving large print data is executed, printing can be executed without spooling all the print data, so that printing can be started quickly and the free space of the hard disk drive required for spooling can be obtained. Is reduced. Further, the required storage capacity of the RAM 14 for temporarily storing a file when transmitting print data is also reduced.

The operation described above is for the case where printing is performed on the locally connected printer 40a. However, it is needless to say that the printing destination can be the printer 40b connected via a network. . FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram when the computer 50 shown in FIG. 1 functions as a printer server of the printer 40b. In the figure, the computer 50 is usually realized by the same configuration as the computer 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, but the processing flow of the print processor already described corresponds to a network, and the present invention is implemented. For this purpose, the print processor may be incorporated in the OS of the computer 50.

As shown in FIG. 12, in the computer 10 according to the present embodiment, a printer driver (PRTDRV) 21, a spooler 22, and a print processor 23 are incorporated in the OS 20 in the same manner as in the above-described configuration. Also in this case, the PRTDRV 21 executes a process executed by the normal PRTDRV on the data relating to the print job from the APL 25, and generates a packet in which control information is added to CMYK data or a packet including predetermined control information. The spooler 22 spools a plurality of files composed of the plurality of packets to the hard disk drive 15. That is, the above-described local spool file 15b and split spool file 15c
1,, are spooled.

In the computer 50, the OS 20
0 has a spooler 220 and a print processor 230 similar to those of the computer 10. The spooler 220 acquires a packet output from the print processor 23 of the computer 10 via the 10BASE-T I / O 190c, and spools the network spool file 150d and the network page spool file 150e on the hard disk drive 150.
The print processor 230 extracts print data from packets in these spool files and outputs the print data via the parallel communication I / O 190b.
Therefore, the print data is output to the printer 40b and a predetermined print job is executed.

In this example, of the packets of the local spool file 15b of the computer 10 described above, the network is designated by the despooling method, and the necessity of the copy printing and the book printing is designated by the copy printing method. According to these designations, the print processor 23 outputs a predetermined packet from the 10BASE-T I / O 19c, and outputs the
50d is spooled, or a network page spool file 150e for printing copies is spooled.
The print processor 230 uses the escape packets of these files to output print data in accordance with the book print or the number of copies.

FIG. 13 shows a packet constituting the network spool file 150d. The network spool file 150d is spooled by the spooler 220 of the computer 50 when the print processor 23 outputs a predetermined packet based on both the local spool file 15b and the divided spool files 15c1,. You.
The network spool file 150d is composed of an escape packet, a print data packet, and the like indicating the number of copies print processing method. Even if there are a plurality of pages, print data for one print job is stored in one spool file. .

The print processor 230 transmits the print data by the same number of times as the number of print copies indicated by the above-mentioned print processing method by the processing described later.
b. Therefore, in the printer 40b, a series of documents and the like are printed once from the beginning of the document to the end of the document, and this process is repeated several times. In other words, by using the data for one print job a plurality of times, it is possible to execute book printing without spooling the data of the total number of pages × the number of copies in the computer 50.

FIG. 14 shows a packet constituting the network page spool file 150e. The network processor spool file 150e is sent to the print processor 23 by the split spool file 15c.
The spooler 220 of the computer 50 spools by outputting a predetermined packet based on 1,,, and consists of a print data packet and an escape packet indicating the end of the file. When there are a plurality of pages, the network page spool file 150e is stored in one spool file for each page.

Then, the print processor 230 outputs the print data of each page to the parallel communication I / O 19b as many times as the number of print copies indicated by the above-described copy print processing method, so that the number of copies is printed. In other words, by using the data for one print page a plurality of times, the computer 50 can execute the print copy without spooling the data of the page by the number of copies. Further, since the network page spool file 150e of the print page can be sequentially deleted when the printing of the print page is completed, it is not necessary to spool all the data relating to one print job to the computer 50. The hard disk drive 150 does not require a large free space.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show a flow when the print processor 23 of the computer 10 outputs print data to execute a predetermined print job on the printer 40b connected to the computer 50 via the network. In the present embodiment, the processing of the print processor 23 and the print processor 230 is substantially common to the processing flow of the print processor in the first embodiment. Here, a description will be given of a network-related process not described in the first embodiment.

When a print job is input from the APL 25 in this embodiment, the command file 15 a and the local spool file 1 are stored in the hard disk drive 15 of the computer 10 by the processing of the PRTDRV 21.
5b, the split spool files 15c1,... Are spooled. At this time, the print processor 23 also starts processing, but shifts to the network output processing shown in FIG. 15 without determining that the print job is for the local printer in step S320. In step S700, the packet data size is ascertained based on the packet header of each packet in the local spool file 15b in the same manner as in the processing in steps S340 and S370. Then, the process for each packet type is executed by referring to the packet code in step S710 and thereafter.

In step S710, it is determined whether or not the packet code is for a packet indicating a copy printing method. If it is determined in step S710 that the packet code indicates the copy printing method, it is further determined in step S712 whether or not the packet data instructs printing of a plurality of copies. If it is not determined in step S712 that printing of a plurality of copies has been instructed, the file output flag indicating the output of a plurality of copies is reset in step S716. If it is determined in step S712 that printing of a plurality of copies has been instructed, the file output flag is set and a temporary file name for storing print data is determined. here,
The temporary file is the network spool file 15
0d or network page spool file 15
0e.

After the processing of these file output flags,
The processing after step S700 is repeated, and step S7
At 20, it is determined whether or not the packet code is a print packet indicating a start page command. If it is determined in step S720 that the packet code indicates the start page command, the process proceeds to step S720.
At 722, it is determined whether or not the file output flag has been set. If it is not determined in step S722 that the file output flag has been set, the printing is not performed for a plurality of copies.
The print data is output via the BASE-T I / O 19c. At this time, the print processor 230 of the computer 50 outputs a start page command as print data to the parallel communication I / O 190b without creating a spool file in the hard disk drive 150.

If it is not determined in step S722 that the file output flag has been set, the temporary file is opened in step S724, and the process proceeds to step S7.
28, the print data packet is sent to the 10BASE-T I /
Output via O19c. At this time, the computer 5
In the case of 0, the packet is transferred to the 10BASE-T I / O 190.
c, and is stored in the network spool file 150d or the network page spool file 150e by the spooler 220.

In step S730, it is determined whether or not the packet code indicates anything other than the start page command. If it is determined in step S730 that the packet code is other than the start page command, it is determined in step S732 whether the file output flag has been set. Step S732
If it is not determined in step S736 that the file output flag has been set, the process proceeds to step S736.
26, print data is output via the 10BASE-T I / O 19c.

If it is determined in step S732 that the file output flag has been set, the process proceeds to step S732.
At 734, the print data packet being processed is
Output through the I / O 19c for SE-T. In the computer 50, the packet is transmitted as 10BASE-
It is received via the T I / O 190c and stored by the spooler 220 in the network spool file 150d or the network page spool file 150e.

In step S740, it is determined whether the packet code indicates an end page. If it is determined in step S740 that the packet code indicates the end page, the process proceeds to step S74.
At 2, it is determined whether or not the file output flag has been set. If it is determined in step S742 that the file output flag has been set, the process proceeds to step S742.
In 744, the escape packet indicating the end of the file is set to 10
Output via the BASE-T I / O 19c. In the computer 50, the packet is sent to the
Received via the I / O 190c for ET,
0 is stored in the network spool file 150d or the network page spool file 150e.

Further, in step S746, it is determined whether or not book printing is specified in the escape packet copy processing method determined in step S710, and book printing is specified in step S746. If not determined, the print processor 230 of the computer 50 is caused to execute a printing process in step S748. That is, one page of print data is stored in one temporary file by the processing up to step S744, and printing of a plurality of copies of the page is executed by starting printing at this stage. Therefore, the temporary file in this case is the network page spool file 150e.

At the time of book printing, the above step S746 is performed.
After the determination in step S700, the processing after step S700 is executed again, so that the print data of the next page is further added to the temporary file by a series of processing. That is, the temporary file in this case is the network spool file 150d. The above processing is performed in step S75.
This process is repeated until it is determined at 0 that the packet code indicates the end of the file. Step S75
When it is determined at 0 that the packet code indicates the end of the file, at step S760, it is determined whether or not set printing is designated in the escape packet copy processing method determined at step S710. If it is determined in step S760 that the book printing is designated, the print processor 230 of the computer 50 causes the print processor 230 of the computer 50 to execute the printing process in step S762.

FIG. 17 shows that the print processor 230 of the computer 50
50d or network page spool file 1
It is a flow when a predetermined print is executed by the printer 40b using the printer 50e. In the figure, step S80
If the print processing is a copy print by the determination of 0,
That is, if the processing has been performed after the determination in step S746, the processing after step S830 is performed. In step S830, output starts from the first page based on the network page spool file 150e.

The output here is almost the same as the processing shown in FIG. 10, and a network page spool file 150e is used instead of the split spool file. Further, the deletion processing in step S610 is not executed. When printing for one page is performed in step S830, it is determined in step S840 whether or not the number of copies specified by the above-described number print processing method has been printed, and the same page is output until the number of copies is printed. In step S850, the network page spool file 150e of the printed page is deleted, the memory is discarded, and the process returns to the processing in FIGS. 15 and 16 to execute the spooling and printing of the next print page data.

If the printing process is the book printing, that is, if the printing process has been performed after the determination in step S760, the processes in and after step S810 are performed. In step S810, output of all pages starts from the first page based on the network spool file 150d. The output here is almost the same as the processing shown in FIG. 10, and the network spool file 150d is used instead of the split spool file. Further, the deletion processing in step S610 is not executed.

When printing of the network spool file 150d is executed in step S810, print data relating to the print job is output once from the beginning of the document to the end of the document. Then, in step S820, it is determined whether or not the number of copies specified by the above-described number print processing method has been printed, and the same output is executed until the number of copies is printed. Then, in step S850, the network spool file 150d of the printed page is deleted, the memory is discarded, and the process returns to the processes of FIGS. 15 and 16 to complete the entire printing process. As described above, the present invention can also be used to reduce the number of files spooled in the computer 50 when the printer 40b of the computer 50 connected to the network outputs print data relating to a predetermined print job.

As described above, in the present invention, the data concerning the print job is divided and spooled, and the print processor outputs the print data of the divided spool file to the printer. Further, the divided spool files related to the printed data are sequentially deleted. Therefore, it is possible to reduce resources required for executing a print job based on large-capacity data.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a hardware configuration of a computer.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a module on an OS of a computer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of a packet and a packet structure of a local spool file.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a packet structure of a split spool file and a command file.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a printer driver.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a printer driver.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a cancel process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a print processor.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a print processor.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a print processor.

FIG. 11 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an example of execution of a print job.

FIG. 12 is a schematic configuration diagram of a module on an OS when a network connection is supported.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a packet structure of a network spool file.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a packet structure of a network page spool file.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of a print job print processor when a network connection is supported.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of a print job-side print processor when a network connection is supported.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a server-side print processor when a network connection is supported.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 50 ... Computer 11 ... CPU 12 ... System bus 13 ... ROM 14 ... RAM 15 ... Hard disk drive 15a ... Command file 15b ... Local spool file 15c1-15c3 ... Split spool file 150d ... Network spool file 150e ... Network page spool file 16 Floppy disk drive 16a Floppy disk 17 CD-ROM drive 17a CD-ROM 18 Display 19a Serial communication I / O 19b, 190b Parallel communication I / O 19c, 190c 10BASE-T I / O O 20 OS 31 Keyboard 32 Mouse 40a, 40b Printer

Claims (27)

[Claims] 1. A medium on which a print control program for executing a predetermined print job and outputting print data to a printing apparatus is recorded, wherein the print data relating to the input print job is obtained and divided, A split output function for adding and outputting control data; a spool function for storing the split data output by the split output function in a predetermined spool area; and a split data spooled by the spool function based on the control data. A print data output function of acquiring and outputting print data in the divided data to the printing apparatus; a divided data deleting function of deleting a spool file related to the print data output by the print data output function from the spool area; Recording a print control program that causes a computer to realize the above. 2. The medium on which the print control program according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein the divided output function is capable of dividing the print data into a capacity for optimizing the throughput in the print data output function. A medium on which a print control program according to claim 1 is recorded. 3. A medium in which a print control program according to claim 1 or 2 is recorded, wherein the control data includes data for properly reading the divided data and an output destination of the print data. Characterized by comprising one or a combination of data indicating a print mode and data indicating a print mode. 4. A medium in which a print control program according to claim 3 is recorded, wherein said output data has a data structure of a predetermined format in said divided output function. . 5. A medium on which a print control program according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein said divided output function includes information for reading each divided data stored in said spool area. A medium in which a print control program is output for the print data output function. 6. A medium in which a print control program according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is recorded, wherein the divided output function and the print data output function are stored in an external file stored in a predetermined area. Accessible and
A medium in which a print control program recorded in cooperation with each other based on the contents of the external file is recorded. 7. A medium in which a print control program according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is recorded, wherein the print data output function is capable of acquiring divided data via a network, and A print control program capable of outputting print data by printing. 8. A medium in which the print control program according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein the print data output function can output the same divided data a plurality of times. A medium on which a print control program is recorded. 9. A medium in which the print control program according to claim 1 is recorded, wherein the print data output function can output the divided data in a predetermined order. A medium on which a print control program to be described is recorded. 10. A print control apparatus for executing a predetermined print job and outputting print data to a printing apparatus, wherein the print data relating to an input print job is acquired, divided, and control data is added. Divided output means for outputting the divided data output by the divided output means in a predetermined spool area; and obtaining the divided data spooled by the spool means based on the control data. Print data output means for outputting print data in the divided data to the printing apparatus; and divided data deleting means for deleting a spool file related to the print data output by the print data output means from the spool area. A print control device characterized by the above-mentioned. 11. The print control device according to claim 10, wherein said divided output means is capable of dividing said print data into a capacity for optimizing a throughput of said print data output means. Printing control device. 12. The print control device according to claim 10, wherein the control data includes data for properly reading the divided data and data indicating an output destination of the print data. A print control device comprising any one or a combination with data indicating a print mode. 13. The print control apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said divided output means converts said output data into a data structure of a predetermined format. 14. The print control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the divided output means outputs information for reading each divided data stored in the spool area to the print data. A print control device for outputting to the means. 15. The print control device according to claim 10, wherein said divided output means and said print data output means are capable of accessing an external file stored in a predetermined area. ,
A print control apparatus that cooperates with each other based on the contents of the external file. 16. The print control device according to claim 10, wherein the print data output means is capable of acquiring the divided data via a network, and transmitting the divided data via the network. A print control device capable of outputting. 17. The print control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said print data output means is capable of outputting the same divided data a plurality of times. 18. A print control apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said print data output means is capable of outputting said divided data in a predetermined order. apparatus. 19. A print control method for executing a predetermined print job and outputting print data to a printing apparatus, wherein the print data relating to an input print job is acquired, divided, and control data is added. A divided output step of storing the divided data output by the divided output step in a predetermined spool area; and obtaining the divided data spooled by the spool step based on the control data. A print data output step of outputting print data in the divided data to the printing apparatus; and a divided data deleting step of deleting a spool file related to the print data output in the print data output step from the spool area. A printing control method characterized by the following. 20. The print control method according to claim 19, wherein said division output step is capable of dividing said print data into a capacity for optimizing a throughput in said print data output step. Printing control method. 21. The print control method according to claim 19, wherein the control data includes data for properly reading the divided data and data indicating an output destination of the print data. A print control method comprising any one or a combination with data indicating a print mode. 22. The print control method according to claim 21, wherein in the division output step, the output data has a data structure of a predetermined format. 23. The print control method according to claim 19, wherein the divided output step includes outputting information for reading each divided data stored in the spool area to the print data. A print control method characterized by outputting for a process. 24. The print control method according to claim 19, wherein the division output step and the print data output step are capable of accessing an external file stored in a predetermined area. ,
A print control method, wherein the print control method cooperates with each other based on the contents of the external file. 25. The print control method according to claim 19, wherein in the print data output step, the divided data can be acquired via a network, and the print data is transmitted via the network. A print control method characterized in that output is possible. 26. The print control method according to claim 19, wherein in the print data output step, the same divided data can be output a plurality of times. 27. The print control method according to claim 19, wherein said print data output step is capable of outputting said divided data in a predetermined order. Method.