JP2003131835A - Spool file processing device, program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] In a printing system including a spool file processing device, an object is to surely delete a processed spool file after printing is completed. SOLUTION: An intermediate file for each page generated by an intermediate file generating unit 11 is temporarily stored in a spool area 28 as a spool file by a spooler system 26. In the OS of the personal computer 1, by default, the spool file in the spool area 28 is set to be deleted after printing is completed. In this state, the spool file in the spool area 28 cannot be read. Therefore, when the OS is started, the save mode setting unit 17 changes the setting to the save mode in which the spool file is retained without being deleted. As a result, the spool file in the spool area 28 can be taken out and processed by the spool file processing unit 14. Then, the spool file for which the printing operation has been completed is deleted by the spool file deletion unit 19.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spool file processing device for processing a spool file for each print job to generate a new spool file.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a computer system such as a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as "personal computer"), a spool file is generated for each print job based on a print instruction from application software and is temporarily stored in a storage device such as a hard disk. A printing system is known that stores the spool file and outputs the stored spool file to the printer according to the operating status of the printer. In this type of printing system, a computer such as a personal computer operates as an OS.
It is generally realized as one function of the OS by executing (Operating System).

FIG. 4 shows an example of the flow of print data in a conventional printing system. Figure 4 shows an OS such as a personal computer
Of the print data when the application software is executed on Windows NT, which is one of the Windows (registered trademark) known as, and the user instructs to print the print data (for example, document data) created by the application software. It shows the flow.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a printing instruction is given by a user operation from an application 41 running on a personal computer, the content of the instruction is a GDI (program module provided by Windows NT via a Windows NT printer driver). Graphics Device In
terface) 42. The GDI 42 creates a device context (hereinafter abbreviated as “DC”) which is a virtualized display area and supplies it to application software. As a result, the drawing process on the DC by the application software is performed, and as a result, E
An intermediate file called MF (Enhanced Meta File) that does not depend on the printer type is generated for each page.

The intermediate file of each page is temporarily stored (spooled) in the storage device by the spooler system 43 as one spool file for each print job. Then, the print processor 44 passes the spool file stored in the storage device to the GDI (printer driver) 45, so that the spool file is
The DI 45 converts the printer control code into a printer control code corresponding to the output destination printer, and outputs the printer control code to the printer.

On the other hand, in addition to the above-described normal printing, for example, multi-page printing called Nin1 such as so-called 4in1, 2in1 which prints a plurality of page-divided pages in the same page, and another printing for a certain image There is also a need to perform various special prints, such as overlay prints that print images in an overlapping manner, or page replacement prints that change the page order of multiple pages that have been divided into pages. Controlling from the personal computer side is also considered. Therefore, the applicant of the present application has filed Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-219265 has proposed a technique for realizing special printing by processing a spool file.

Specifically, the spool file spooled by the spooler system 43 is taken out via the print processor 44, and the spool file is divided into intermediate files for each page. Then, the intermediate file divided into pages is processed to generate a new spool file, which is returned to the spooler system 43 again.
As a result, the above-described various special prints are realized while enabling the normal processing such as the GDI 45 generating a printer control code according to the printer of the output destination based on the newly generated spool file.

By the way, in the above-described conventional printing system, the spool file that has been printed is basically unnecessary, so that the spool file is usually deleted when printing is completed. Specifically, for example, Windows has a “keep document setting” that allows the user to arbitrarily set whether to delete the spooled file after printing or keep it as is. Since the keep document setting is off (that is, the spool file is not left), the spool file is normally deleted after printing as described above. vice versa,
If the keep document setting is turned on, the spool file will not be deleted and will be retained even after printing is completed.

Therefore, in the technology disclosed in the above publication (hereinafter also referred to as "spool file processing technology"), a spool file once stored in the storage device is taken out and processed, and a new spool file after processing is created. Although it is returned to the storage device again, the new spool file will be deleted when printing is completed.

However, in the recent diversification of OSs, if the keep document setting remains the default (off), the spool file once stored in the storage device is taken out (read from the outside). However, there is a problem that the spool file processing technique cannot be directly applied to a printing system realized by such an OS.

[0011] As an example thereof, Windows XP, which is one of Windows, is mentioned.
In the printing system realized by sXP, the spool file cannot be read from the outside if the keep document setting is turned off. Therefore, the spool file processing technology is applied to process the spool file (therefore performing special printing). )Can not do it.

Therefore, in order to process the spool file on Windows XP, it is necessary to turn on the keep document setting (that is, the setting for leaving the spool file). Then, as in the conventional case, the special printing is performed by the spool file processing technique. Can be executed.

[0013]

However, when the keep document setting is turned on in order to apply the spool file processing technique, the spool file after printing is of course left undeleted. Therefore, each time a print job is executed, the number of spool files that have been printed increases and the new spool files cannot be stored, and it may affect other processes other than printing performed by the computer. is there.

In order to solve this, for example, a method in which the user himself / herself periodically deletes the spool file cannot be taken, but the user himself / herself always grasps the storage status of the spool file, etc., and performs an appropriate deletion operation. This is very complicated for the user because it needs to be performed. In addition, since the spool file is generated in the printing system as one function of the OS, not all users can delete the spool file freely, and general users with limited file access cannot usually delete the spool file.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a printing system including a spool file processing device that takes out a spooled spool file and processes it into a new spool file, prints the processed spool file. The purpose is to ensure deletion after the end.

[0016]

A spool file processing apparatus according to claim 1, which has been made to solve the above problems, stores a spool file for each print job in a storage means, and stores the spool file. A spool file for each print job is output to the print device, and it is possible to optionally set whether to delete the spool file of the print job output to the print device. In a printing system capable of reading the spool file stored in the storage means from the outside when the mode is set, the spool file stored in the storage means when the printing system is set to the save mode Is processed to generate a new spool file.

Further, according to the present invention, when the spool file retrieved from the storage means by the spool file acquisition means includes processing information, the processing means processes the spool file based on the processing information to process the spool file. The subsequent spool file is returned to the storage means again as a new spool file replacing the spool file before processing. Then, the monitoring unit monitors whether or not the print operation of the print job corresponding to the new spool file after processing is completed, and when it is determined that the print operation is completed, the spool file deleting unit causes the print operation to be completed. The spool file (stored in the storage unit) corresponding to the print job determined to be completed is deleted.

In other words, if the printing system is set to the save mode in order to extract the spool file from the storage means and process it, a new spool file after processing can be left as it is after the printing operation is completed, although the processing can be performed. However, the problem equivalent to the above-mentioned conventional technique occurs. Therefore, the print operation for the processed spool file is monitored, and the spool file is deleted when the print operation is completed.

Therefore, according to the spool file processing apparatus of the present invention, the spool file after processing can be surely deleted after the printing operation is completed, even when the save mode is set. The spool file deleting means may delete the spool file directly by the spool file deleting means, but the spool file deleting means deletes the spool file to the printing system. The actual deletion is a predetermined function in the printing system (for example, equivalent to the spooler system 43 in FIG. 4).
May be configured to run as.

Here, since it is possible to arbitrarily change whether or not the printing system is set to the save mode, for example, a user cancels the save mode setting (that is, changes to the delete mode in which the spool file is deleted without remaining). ), If another user instructs the execution of special printing as illustrated in the related art with the same setting, the special printing is not performed (that is, the spool file is not processed) and is printed out. There is a risk of causing such a situation. In addition, as in the case where the keep document setting is turned off by default in Windows as described above, if the printing system is set to the deletion mode at startup by default, it is possible to execute In order to process the spool file with the spool file processing device, the user needs to change the setting to the save mode in advance, which is very troublesome.

Therefore, for example, as described in claim 3,
A saving mode setting unit that determines whether or not the printing system is set to the saving mode and sets the printing system to the saving mode when the saving system is not set may be provided. In this way, the printing system can be kept in the constant save mode, and the spool file can be constantly processed during that time. Therefore, the user can execute special printing without worrying about the current settings.

Here, the spool file processing device of the present invention (claim 1 or 3) can be realized by various methods, for example, it can be realized by separate hardware. ) Can be implemented by executing That is, a program for causing a computer to function as each unit in the spool file processing apparatus is provided, and the computer functioning as the printing system executes the program by executing the basic software, whereby the spool file processing of the present invention is performed. The device is realized.

In this case, of the programs for causing the computer to function as the spool file processing device of the present invention, at least the storage mode setting program for causing the computer to function as the storage mode setting means is executed when the computer is started. Good. That is,
When the computer starts to function as the printing system by starting the computer and executing the basic software, the storage mode setting program is also started at the same time.

As a result, since the save mode is set without fail when the computer is started, the situation in which special printing or the like is executed in a state where the save mode is not set does not occur, and the spool file of the present invention is eliminated. The spool file can be reliably taken out and processed by the processing device.

The storage mode setting program may be configured as a system process executed in a privileged mode for the basic software executed by the computer. A system process (for example, a service in Windows corresponds to this) is executed in a privilege mode for basic software, and handling at the time of computer startup (whether or not to execute at the time of startup) can be set. Therefore, if the save mode setting program is configured as a system process executed when the computer is started, the spool file processing device of the present invention can more reliably take out and process the spool file.

Further, among the programs for causing the computer to function as the spool file processing apparatus of the present invention, at least the spool file deleting program for causing the spool file deleting means to operate in the privilege mode for the basic software executed by the computer. It is preferably configured to be implemented.

That is, the spool file deletion program is for deleting the spool file for which the printing operation has ended. However, depending on the authority setting for the basic software of this spool file deletion program, the spool file may not be deleted. Conceivable. Therefore, if the spool file deletion program is executed in the privileged mode for the basic software, the spool file can be surely deleted without being restricted by file access or the like.

Of the programs for causing the computer to function as the spool file processing device of the present invention, the spool file deleting program and the print job monitoring program for causing the print job monitoring means to execute are executed when the computer is started. It may be configured as a system process that is executed by the computer, and is executed only when the computer functions as a printing system by executing the basic software.

With this configuration, since the spool file deletion program and the print job monitoring program are executed when the computer is started and in the privileged mode, the spool file after the printing operation can be surely deleted. Moreover, since these two programs are executed only when the computer is functioning as the printing system, it is possible to eliminate the waste of program execution such that only the two programs are executed when the printing system is not functioning. Means for executing (eg CPU
Etc.) processing load can be reduced.

The program for causing the computer to function as the spool file processing apparatus of the present invention is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a hard disk. If necessary, it can be used by loading it on a computer and starting it. In addition, the program may be recorded using a ROM or a backup RAM as a computer-readable recording medium, and the ROM or the backup RAM may be incorporated into a computer for use.

[0031]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the software module configuration of the printing system of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the OS (basic software) of the personal computer 1
Shows the case where is Windows XP,
The intermediate file for printing generated by the intermediate file generation unit 11 is temporarily stored as a spool file in the spool area 28 by the print spooler 12, and when the stored spool file includes processing information, the spool file The processing processing unit 14 processes the spool file and returns the spool file to the spool area 28 again.
It is converted into a printer control code at 15 and output to the printer 2. Further, in the present embodiment, a spool setting unit 16 for deleting the spool file stored in the spool area 28 is further provided.

In general, the personal computer 1 has a CPU, RO
An OS takes charge of these controls under hardware such as M, RAM, and I / O, and application software such as application software and device driver operates under the OS. Then, in the present embodiment, the printer driver 22 and the GDI 23 in the intermediate file generator 11,
The print spooler 12 is a program module as one function of the OS, and includes a spool file processing unit 14, a GDI 15, and a spool file setting unit 16.
In order to operate the printer 2, the personal computer 1
A device driver incorporated in the printer 2 controls the operation of the printer 2 in cooperation with the OS.

The print processor 27 has an OS
In addition to a print processor (not shown) originally provided in (Windows XP), it is a program module that is incorporated into the OS and operates by being added (installed) to the personal computer 1 corresponding to the printer 2, and spool. The spool file processing device of the present invention is configured with the setting unit 16 and the spool file processing unit 14. In this embodiment, various programs for realizing the printing system in the personal computer 1 are all stored in the hard disk (HDD) 13. Hereinafter, the operation of the printing system of this embodiment will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the print data created by the application 21 on the personal computer 1 by the user is sent to the GDI 23, which is a program module provided by Windows XP, via the Windows XP printer driver 22, and is virtualized by the GDI 23. A DC (device context), which is a display area that has been turned into a display, is created. Then, print data for each print job that does not depend on the type of device (printer, display, etc.) is stored at the coordinates designated by the DC, and drawing is performed on the virtualized device. The application 21 represents application software that runs on the OS, such as word processing software or spreadsheet software.

By thus drawing on the DC, that is, the virtualized device, an EMF (intermediate file) that does not depend on the device type is formed for each page. This EM
F is stored as a spool file in the spool area 28, which is a storage unit secured in the HDD 13, so that F is combined by the spooler system 26 into one print job. This spool file also includes processing information for performing special printing such as multi-page printing, overprinting, and page replacement printing.

The spool area 28 does not necessarily have to be secured in the hard disk 13 in the personal computer 1. For example, some storage device is provided outside the personal computer 1 and a part of the storage device is used as the spool area 28. The mode is not particularly limited as long as it can be secured and the computer 1 can be managed.

In addition, what is generally called GDI is D
There are one for managing C and forming an EMF, and one for converting processing to DC into a command depending on a device (for example, printer or display). The former is provided by the OS and is shown in FIG. The GDI 23 corresponds to this, and the latter is provided as a driver by the device maker and corresponds to the GDI 15 in FIG.

Here, the OS (Windows) of this embodiment is
sXP) is provided with a keep document setting that allows the user to arbitrarily set whether the spool file stored in the spool area 28 is continuously stored after printing by the printer 2 or is deleted after printing is completed. This keep document setting is off by default (that is, delete mode that deletes after printing is finished).
Is set to.

In the OS of this embodiment, if the keep document setting is the default (off), the spool file cannot be read from the outside. Therefore, in order to take out the spool file and process it in the spool file processing unit 14 as described later, it is necessary to change the keep document setting to ON (that is, the save mode in which the spool file is left without being deleted). There is. The keep document setting can be set for each printer set (installed) in the personal computer 1.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the save mode setting unit 17 in the spool setting unit 16 forcibly turns on the keep document setting for the printer 2 when the printing system is started (that is, when the OS is started). By doing so, the spool file can be read and processed any time after the system is started. The save mode setting program for realizing the function as the save mode setting unit 17 is configured as a service program in Windows XP, that is, a system process executed in a privileged mode for the OS.

The print job monitoring program for realizing the function as the print job monitoring unit 18 and the spool file deleting program for realizing the function as the spool file deleting unit 19 which will be described later are also written to the OS when the OS is started. It is configured as a system process that runs in privileged mode. That is, the spool setting unit 16
Each of the above programs that realize the above is configured as a system process, and is executed without any restrictions (file access restrictions, etc.) in the system.

However, neither the print job monitoring program nor the spool file deletion program is always executed after the OS is started.
A printing system as one function is realized (that is, a print service program originally included in the OS for processing a print instruction from the application 21 and outputting the print instruction to the GDI 15, such as the printer driver 22, the GDI 23, and the print spooler 12). Is executed) only when it is executed. In other words, the print job monitoring program and the spool file deletion program have a dependency relationship with the print service program included in the OS. Therefore, for example, when the function of the print spooler 12 is stopped, the above two programs are not executed.

When performing special printing such as multi-page printing or overlay printing, the spool file processing unit 14 is activated, and the spool file processing unit 14 is activated.
Thus, the spool file for each print job stored in the spool area 28 is processed for special printing.
Specifically, the print processor 27 takes out the spool file stored in the spool area 28, and determines whether the taken-out spool file includes processing information for instructing what special printing should be performed. View. If the processing information is included, the spool file is passed to the spool file processing unit 14.

Next, the processing in the spool file processing unit 14 will be briefly described. First, the spool file passed from the print processor 27 is divided into EMF (intermediate file) for each page, and the EMF of each page is divided.
Is copied to a temporary file formed in RAM (not shown) or the like. This temporary file is deleted when it is no longer needed. Before page division, processing information is acquired from the spool file to identify in advance what processing should be performed.

Then, each EMF divided into pages is processed based on the processing information to generate a new EMF to which, for example, a watermark character is added. The new EMF after the processing is returned to the spool area 28 again by the spooler system 26 (in the case of page replacement printing, the processing order is changed to process the pages so that the pages are replaced and the new EMF is transferred to the spool area 28. Will be returned). As a result, a spool file of a new print job obtained by processing the original print job (spool file) stored in the spool area 28 is generated.

Then, the EMF of the new print job processed by the spool file processing unit 14 and returned to the spool area 28 in this way is the print processor 2
The EMF of the new print job is converted into a printer control code corresponding to the printer 2 by the GDI 15 and is sent to the printer 2.

The specifications of the printer control commands differ depending on the manufacturer. Typical examples are PCL of Hewlett-Packard of the United States and US A.
Various page description languages (PDL; Page-Description Languag) such as PostScript (PS: registered trademark) of dobe
There is a command set by e). Therefore, in order to support the PDL adopted in the printer 2, the GD
By I15, the spool file composed of EMF for each page is converted into the printer control code by the PDL.

On the other hand, as described above, in this embodiment, the OS
Since the keep document setting is set to ON by the save mode setting unit 17 at the start of
The spool file stored in will remain as it is without being deleted. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the spool setting unit 16 deletes the spool file after printing from the spool area 28.

Specifically, first, the print job monitoring unit 18 monitors whether or not the print job corresponding to the spool file stored in the spool area 28 is actually executed by the printer 2. When the print job monitoring unit 18 determines that the printing operation by the printer 2 is completed, the spool file deletion unit 19 deletes the spool file of the print job for which printing is completed from the spool area 28. The spooler system 26 is instructed (deleted). The spooler system 26 that has received this deletion instruction actually deletes the spool file in the spool area 28.

The print job monitoring unit 18 uses the spool area 2
Printer 2 for spool files stored in
The printer file is monitored by the printer control code output to the printer 2 (the print operation is executed by the printer 2), and the spool file deletion unit 19 deletes the spool file stored in the spool area 28 when the print operation ends. I am trying to do it. Therefore, the spool file temporarily stored in the spool area 28 for printing by the printer 2 is always deleted when the printing operation by the printer 2 is completed, and the spool file after the printing remains in the spool area 28. There is no such thing.

In the printing system of this embodiment described in detail above, when the user wants to execute special printing on the print data created by the application 21, the print data is processed as shown in FIG. That is, when a print instruction is issued from the application 21 by a user operation, the content of the instruction is sent to the GDI 23, and the GDI 23 creates a DC and supplies it to the application 21.
As a result, the drawing process on the DC by the application 21 is performed, and as a result, the EMF (intermediate file) is generated for each page and is stored in the spool area 28 as a spool file by the spooler system 26.

Then, the print processor 27 takes out the stored spool file and determines whether or not the processing information is included, and when it is included, sends the spool file to the spool file processing unit 14. . The spool file processing unit 14 processes the sent spool file according to the processing information, and again processes a new spool file after processing to the spooler system 26.
To the spool area 28 via. Then, the spool file stored in the spool area 28 is passed to the GDI (printer driver) 15 by the print processor 27, converted into a printer control code corresponding to the output destination printer 2 by the GDI 15, and output to the printer 2. It

At this time, the spool setting unit 16 monitors the spool file for each print job as to whether or not the print operation of the print job corresponding to each spool file is completed, and the print operation by the printer 2 is completed. In this case, the spool file of the completed print job is deleted from the spool area 28 (specifically, a command to delete is output to the spooler system 26).

Hereinafter, the spool setting section 16 of the personal computer 1
The processing executed to realize the function of, that is, the spool file deletion control processing executed according to the save mode setting program, the print job monitoring program, and the spool file deletion program will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the spool file deletion control processing of this embodiment. As described above, this processing is performed when the personal computer 1 is started (when the printing system is started).
It is executed as a service (system process) in Windows XP.

When this process is started, first, in step (abbreviated as "S" below) 110, the entire process is initialized (variable initialization, etc.), and subsequently in S120, it is registered (installed) in the system. ) Listed printers are listed, and the process proceeds to S130. In S130, it is determined whether or not there is a printer newly enumerated by the process of S120 (in other words, S140 for all enumerated printers).
It is determined whether or not the following processing is completed. At this time, if no printers are listed, that is,
If no printer is installed, or if the processing of S140 and the following steps for all printers has been completed, a negative determination is made in S130 and the process proceeds to S210.
After a pause for a predetermined time (5 seconds in this embodiment), the process returns to S110 again.

When the printers are listed, the processing of S140 and the following steps is performed for each of the listed printers. First, in S140, it is determined whether or not the print processor used when performing print processing by the listed printer is compatible with processing, in other words, whether or not the printer is capable of special printing. . If the printer is not compatible with processing, the process returns to step S120 to enumerate the printers again. Execute the process.

On the other hand, if the print processors of the listed printers are compatible with processing (YES in S140).
In step S150, the process proceeds to step S150, and it is determined whether the keep document setting for the printer is turned on. Here, in Windows, it is normally set to off by default, so a negative determination is made and S1
Proceed to 60 to change the keep document setting to ON.

Then, in S170, the print jobs in the printer are enumerated, and in the subsequent S180, whether or not there is a print job newly enumerated by the processing of S170 (in other words, S19 for all enumerated print jobs).
It is determined whether or not the processing of 0 or less has been completed. At this time, if no print jobs are listed, S18
A negative determination is made at 0, and the process returns to S120 again.
When the print jobs are listed, the processing from S190 onward is performed for each of the listed print jobs.

First, in S190, it is determined whether or not the printing of the listed print jobs (printing operation by the printer 2) has been completed. If not completed, the process returns to S170, but if completed, The process shifts to S200, the spool file of the print job is deleted from the spool area 28, and the process returns to S170. In other words, in this spool file deletion control processing, the processing of S140 and below is executed for each of the listed printers, and in the case of a print processor compatible with processing, the print jobs for that printer are listed. The processing from S190 onward is executed for each of the listed print jobs.

Therefore, like the printing system shown in FIG. 1, when the printer 2 capable of performing special printing is installed in the personal computer 1, at least this printer 2 is enumerated by the printer enumeration processing of S120. become. In that case, of course, the print processor of the printer 2 (the print processor 27 in FIG. 1) is compatible with processing, that is, if the spool file includes processing information, the spool file is passed to the spool file processing unit 14. Therefore, an affirmative determination is made in S140, and the process proceeds to S150 and subsequent steps.

As a result, the keep document setting is turned on for the printer 2, the spool file can be read and processed, and all spool files of the print job for which printing by the printer 2 has finished are It is surely deleted by the process of S200.

Therefore, according to the printing system of the present embodiment, even if the keep document setting of the OS is turned off by default, the save mode setting unit 17 changes the keep document setting to on when the OS is started. The spool file stored in the spool area 28 can be taken out, and the spool file processing unit 14
It is possible to reliably execute spool file processing in.

Further, by turning on the keep document setting in this way, the spool file is normally left in the spool area 28 without being deleted. However, in the present embodiment, the print job monitoring unit 18 transfers the print job to the printer 2. It is monitored whether or not the print output has been completed, and when it is completed, the spool file deletion unit 19 deletes the spool file of the print job for which printing has been completed from the spool area 28.
Therefore, even if Keep Document Setting is on,
The spool file after printing can be surely deleted.

In addition, each part 17 of the spool setting part 16
Since all programs for causing the PC 1 to function as 19 are configured as Windows XP services (system processes executed in privileged mode for the OS), it is possible to change settings of keep documents and access spool files. These functions can be reliably realized without any restrictions.

Further, among the above-mentioned programs, the print job monitoring program and the spool file deletion program have a dependency relationship with the print service program provided in the OS, and therefore, when the print service program is not executed (that is, the OS). It is possible to eliminate waste of program execution such that only the print job monitoring program and the spool file deletion program are executed when the printing system is not functioning as one function of C.
It is possible to reduce the processing load of the PU (not shown).

Here, the correspondence between the components of this embodiment and the components of the present invention will be clarified. In the present embodiment, the print processor 27 corresponds to the spool file acquisition means of the present invention, and the spool file processing unit 14
Corresponds to the processing unit of the present invention, the print job monitoring unit 18 corresponds to the print job monitoring unit of the present invention, and the save mode setting unit 17 corresponds to the save mode setting unit of the present invention. Further, in the present embodiment, the spool file deletion unit 19
Only the spool file deletion command is issued to the spooler system 26, and the spooler system 26 performs the actual deletion operation. Therefore, the spooler system 26 and the spool file deleting unit 19 constitute the spool file deleting means of the present invention.

However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and the spool file deleting unit 19 independently functions as the spool file deleting unit of the present invention (that is, the spool file deleting unit 19 does not directly involve the spooler system 26 but directly operates the spool area 28).
It may be configured to delete the spool file inside).

In the spool file deletion control processing of FIG. 3, the processing of S190 corresponds to the processing executed by the print job monitoring means of the present invention, and the processing of S200 corresponds to the processing executed by the spool file deletion means of the present invention. Is equivalent to
The processing of S150 to S160 corresponds to the processing executed by the storage mode setting means of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, various programs for causing the spool file processing device of the present invention to function (specifically, functions as the spool setting unit 16, the spool file processing unit 14, the print processor 27, etc. The program for realizing the above) and the program for realizing the function as the GDI 15 are both H
Although described as being stored in the DD 13, these various programs may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a hard disk.

In this case, the spool file processing apparatus of the present invention can be realized in the computer system by loading the program recorded in the recording medium into the computer system and activating the program as necessary. The above programs may be recorded in advance by using a ROM or backup RAM as a computer-readable recording medium, and the ROM or backup RAM may be incorporated into a computer system for use.

Further, it is needless to say that the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various forms can be adopted as long as they are within the technical scope of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a software module configuration of a printing system according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a flow of print data in the printing system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a spool file deletion control process executed by the personal computer of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a flow of print data in a conventional printing system.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Personal computer, 2 ... Printer, 11 ... Intermediate file generation part, 12 ... Print spooler, 13 ... Hard disk (HDD), 14 ... Spool file processing part, 1
5, 23, 42, 45 ... GDI, 16 ... Spool setting unit, 17 ... Save mode setting unit, 18 ... Print job monitoring unit, 19 ... Spool file deleting unit, 21, 41 ... Application, 22 ... Printer driver, 26, 43 ...
Spooler system, 27, 44 ... Print processor,
28 ... spool area

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A spool file for each print job is stored in a storage unit, the stored spool file for each print job is output to a print device, and the spool file for the print job output to the print device is deleted. Whether or not it is possible to arbitrarily set, and the spool file stored in the storage means can be read from the outside when the save mode that indicates that the spool file is left as it is without being deleted is set In the system, there is provided a spool file processing device for processing the spool file stored in the storage means to generate a new spool file when the printing system is set to the storage mode, Spool file acquisition means for extracting the stored spool file, and the spool file acquisition means. When the spool file taken out by the file file acquisition means includes processing information for processing the spool file, the spool file is processed based on the processing information and the processed spool file is Processing means for returning to the storage means again as a new spool file replacing the spool file before processing, and monitoring whether or not the printing operation of the print job corresponding to the new spool file after processing by the processing means is completed A print job monitoring unit and, when the print job monitoring unit determines that the printing operation has ended, a spool file that is stored in the storage unit and that deletes the spool file corresponding to the print job determined to have completed the printing operation. A spool file processing device, comprising: a file deleting unit. 2. The printing system is realized by causing a computer to execute basic software, and the respective means in the spool file processing device are:
The spool file processing device according to claim 1, wherein the spool file processing device is realized by application software executed by the computer when the computer functions as the printing system by executing the basic software. 3. A storage mode setting unit that determines whether or not the printing system is set to the storage mode, and sets the printing system to the storage mode when the storage system is not set to the storage mode. The spool file processing device according to claim 1, wherein 4. The printing system is realized by causing a computer to execute basic software, and each of the means in the spool file processing device includes:
4. The spool file processing device according to claim 3, which is realized by application software executed by the computer when the computer functions as the printing system by executing the basic software. 5. A program for realizing the spool file processing device according to claim 2 on a computer. 6. A program for realizing the spool file processing device according to claim 4 on a computer. 7. The program according to claim 6, wherein, of the programs, at least a storage mode setting program for functioning as the storage mode setting means is executed when the computer is started. program. 8. The program according to claim 7, wherein the save mode setting program is configured as a system process executed in a privileged mode for basic software executed by the computer. 9. The program according to claim 5, wherein at least the spool file deleting program for causing the spool file deleting means to function as basic software executed by the computer. A program characterized by being run in privileged mode. 10. The program according to claim 5, wherein among the programs, the spool file deletion program and the print job monitoring program for functioning as the print job monitoring unit are: A program that is configured as a system process that is executed when a computer is started, and that is executed only when the computer functions as the printing system by executing the basic software. 11. A computer-readable recording medium in which the program according to claim 5 is recorded.