JP2006268797A - Output data generation device, output data generation method and output data generation program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an output data generation device, an output data generation method and an output data generation program for shortening time for generating output data to be output to an image forming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: When print data are interpreted which include shared data shared among two or more page data and two or more page data including reference information showing that the shared data are referred to, and the shared data included in the print data are interpreted, output data are generated based on the interpretation result and the generated output data are stored. When the reference information on the page data is interpreted, the stored output data is read and transferred to the image forming apparatus, thus preventing repeated execution of interpretation of the shared data and generation of the output data concerning the same shared data many times every time the reference information is interpreted and shortening time for generating the output data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an output data generation device that generates output data to be transferred to an image forming apparatus, an output data generation method, and an output data generation program.

Conventionally, when printing is performed by an image forming apparatus such as a printer, PDL that can be interpreted from the print data by the image forming apparatus that executes printing on the personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC) side connected to the image forming apparatus. Output data described in a (Page Description Language) language or the like is generated and output to the image forming apparatus (for example, see Patent Document 1). The print data is generally in a data format suitable for sequential interpretation such as XML, and the print data is sequentially interpreted and converted into output data.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-031735

  However, in the above prior art, the print data is sequentially interpreted and converted into output data. Therefore, the shared data shared among a plurality of page data and the shared data are referred to in the print data. When multiple pieces of reference information are included, every time the reference information is interpreted, the same shared data is repeatedly interpreted and converted to output data, and it takes time to generate output data. There was a problem.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides an output data generation device, an output data generation method, and an output data generation program capable of shortening the generation time of output data to be output to an image forming apparatus. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, an output data generation apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes shared data shared among a plurality of page data and a plurality of page data including reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to. Print data conversion means for generating print data, interpretation means for interpreting the print data, conversion means for converting the shared data interpreted by the interpretation means into output data described in a specific language, and the conversion Storage means for storing the output data converted by the means, and when the reference information included in the page data is interpreted by the interpretation means, the output data is read from the storage means and the read output Transfer means for transferring data.

  The interpretation means of the output data generation apparatus of the present invention interprets print data including a plurality of page data including shared data shared among a plurality of page data and reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to. The conversion unit converts the shared data included in the print data into output data described in a specific language, and the converted output data is stored in the storage unit. When the interpreter interprets the reference information included in the page data, the transfer unit reads out the output data stored in the storage unit and transfers it to the image forming apparatus.

  In this way, output data when interpreting shared data shared between a plurality of page data and print data including a plurality of page data including reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to, and when the shared data is interpreted When the reference information is interpreted, the output data read from the storage means is transferred, so each time the reference information is interpreted, the same shared data is Interpretation and conversion to output data can be prevented from being repeatedly executed, and output data generation time can be shortened.

  The print data conversion unit generates print data including page data further including image output information related to image output, and the conversion unit describes the image output information interpreted by the interpretation unit in a specific language. The transfer means can transfer the non-shared output data converted by the conversion means.

  As described above, when the reference information included in the print data is interpreted by the interpretation unit, the output data read from the storage unit is transferred to the image forming apparatus, and when the image output information included in the print data is interpreted, the interpretation result Therefore, the image output information is converted into non-shared output data described in a specific language and transferred to the image forming apparatus, so that the generation time of output data can be shortened.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print data generation apparatus including: print data including shared data shared among a plurality of page data; acquisition means for acquiring reference number information indicating the number of times of reference to the shared data; Storing the position of the shared data and storing the position information indicating the position of the shared data in the print data based on the search result, the interpreting means for interpreting the print data, and the interpreting means Conversion means for converting the shared data interpreted by the data into output data described in a specific language, and when the interpretation means interprets the shared data, based on the position information stored in the storage means Control means for controlling the interpreting means so as to interpret the shared data a number of times according to the reference count information with reference to the shared data.

  The acquisition means of the print data generation apparatus of the second invention acquires print data including shared data shared among a plurality of page data and reference number information indicating the number of times the shared data is referred to. The storage means searches for the position of the shared data included in the print data, and stores position information indicating the position of the shared data in the print data based on the search result. When the print data is interpreted by the interpretation unit, the conversion unit converts the shared data included in the interpreted print data into output data described in a specific language. When the interpretation means interprets the shared data, the control means refers to the shared data based on the position information stored in the storage means, and interprets the shared data a number of times according to the reference number information acquired by the acquisition means. To control the interpretation means.

  As described above, the position information indicating the position of the shared data in the print data is stored, the shared data is interpreted from the position based on the position information by the number of times corresponding to the reference count, and is described in a specific language. Since it can be converted into output data, the shared data can be interpreted without having to be interpreted after searching for the shared data from the beginning of the print data as many times as the number of references, thus reducing the search time for shared data Therefore, the output data generation time can be shortened.

  The output data processing apparatus may be a controller connected to a network. In this case, the PC outputs data in the PC language, and language conversion is performed by the controller on the network. In this case, the language conversion by the output data processing device may be converted into a plurality of languages. Languages that can be interpreted by other devices connected on the network may be transferred after conversion of multiple languages, or the converted language may be sent to other means in the output data processing device, stored, and stored as appropriate May be used.

  Further, the other means to be transferred by the output data processing apparatus may be in the output data processing apparatus. In other words, the output data processing apparatus may be a part of a certain apparatus. For example, when an output data processing unit is provided in the image forming apparatus, even if the PC language is received as it is, it can be quickly converted into a language that can be processed by the image forming apparatus.

  The output data generation device may further include data acquisition means for acquiring data, and the data acquired by the data acquisition means may be converted by the print data conversion means.

Further, it further comprises language storage means for storing in advance a language that can be interpreted by devices other than the output data generation device main body connected to the output data generation device main body,
The conversion unit may convert the shared data into one or both of output data described in a language stored in the language storage unit and non-shared output data.

  The transfer means can use the output data outside the output data generation device main body by transferring either one or both of the output data and the non-output data to the outside of the output data generation device main body. Can be provided.

  Further, the specific language is a language that can be interpreted by an image forming apparatus connected to an output data generation apparatus main body, and the transfer unit converts one or both of the output data and the non-output data to the image. It may be transferred to the forming apparatus.

  The transfer means may transfer either one or both of the output data and the non-output data to a specific part in the output data generating apparatus main body.

  Note that the output data generation time can be reduced by the following output data generation method. Specifically, an output data generation method of an output data generation device having a function of generating output data, the shared data shared among a plurality of page data, and reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to Generating print data including a plurality of page data, interpreting the print data, converting the interpreted shared data into output data described in a specific language, and converting the converted output data When the reference information included in the page data is interpreted, the stored output data is read, and the read output data is transferred.

  Further, the output data generation program described below is executed on the computer, so that the output data generation time can be shortened. Specifically, the computer generates print data including a plurality of page data including shared data shared among a plurality of page data and reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to, and the print data is generated. When the interpreted shared data is converted into output data described in a specific language, the converted output data is stored, and the reference information included in the page data is interpreted Then, the stored output data is read, and the read output data is transferred.

  As described above, according to the output data generation apparatus of the present invention, printing including a plurality of page data including shared data shared among a plurality of page data and reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to. When the data is interpreted and shared data is interpreted, it is converted into output data and stored in the storage means. When the reference information is interpreted, the output data read from the storage means is transferred. The same shared data can be prevented from being repeatedly interpreted and converted to output data, and the output data generation time can be shortened. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing system 10 including a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) to which the output data generation apparatus of the present invention is applied.

  The printing system 10 includes a PC 12 and a printer 14 as an image forming apparatus. The PC 12 and the printer 14 are connected via a network 27 so that data and commands can be exchanged.

  The PC 12 mainly includes a storage unit 22 having a ROM and a spool area mainly storing various processing routines (see FIG. 5) to be described later and a printer driver to be described later, an operation unit 16 for a user to input various instructions, The display unit 18 for displaying various information, the printer 14 and the communication unit 20 for performing transmission / reception of various data such as output data, which will be described later, via the network 27 and the operation of each unit constituting the PC 12 including the CPU are controlled. The control part 24 for this is comprised. The communication unit 20, the display unit 18, the operation unit 16, the storage unit 22, and the control unit 24 are connected to each other via a bus 26 such as a data bus or an address bus so that data and commands can be exchanged.

  The printer 14 includes a communication unit 28 for exchanging data with the PC 12 via the network 27, a control unit 32 for controlling the operation of each unit constituting the printer 14, and an output transmitted from the PC 12 under the control of the control unit 32. An image forming unit 30 that interprets data and outputs an image based on the output data is provided. The communication unit 28, the image forming unit 30, and the control unit 32 are connected to each other via a bus 34 so as to be able to exchange data and commands.

  In this embodiment, in order to simplify the description, a case will be described in which one printer 14 is connected to the network 27 so as to be able to exchange data with the PC 12, but two or more printers are connected to the network 27. It is also possible to connect to the PC 12 so that various data can be exchanged.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram related to the output data generation processing of the PC 12 according to the present invention.

  The PC 12 includes a print data generation unit 40, a printer driver 42, and a storage unit 22 for generating print data (details will be described later). The print data generated by the print data generation unit 40 is stored in the spool area of the storage unit 22 in a spool format such as EMF format or RAW format.

  The printer driver 42 receives the print data on the printer 14 side based on the interpretation result of the print data interpretation unit 44 and the print data interpretation unit 44 for interpreting the print data generated by the print data generation unit 40 and stored in the spool area. An output data generation unit 48 for converting into output data described in a PDL (Page Description Language) language and the like, and for transferring the output data generated by the output data generation unit 48 An output data transfer unit 52 is included. The output data transferred by the output data transfer unit 52 is output to the printer 14 via the communication unit 20.

  The storage unit 22 includes an interpretation result storage unit 46 for storing the interpretation result of the print data interpretation unit 44, and an output data storage unit 50 for storing output data generated by conversion by the output data generation unit 48. It consists of Note that a language such as a PDL language that can be interpreted on the printer 14 side is stored in the storage unit 22 in advance, and print data may be converted into output data by the output data generation unit 48 based on the stored language.

The print data includes image data generated by an application such as document creation software or spreadsheet software installed in the PC 12 in advance and a print instruction content of the image data, and a predetermined language (for example, interpretable by the printer 14) , XML: Extensible Markup Language). As shown in FIG. 3, the print data according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of page data 62 _{1 to} 62 _n and shared data 62 in which a shared resource definition shared between the plurality of page data 62 _{1 to} 62 _n is defined. And.

  For example, when multiple pages of image data having the same background image are created by the application, the print data includes a delimiter <1 indicating the shared resource definition start and shared resource definition number “1” as shown in FIG. Between the resource kind = “background” id = “1”> and the delimiter </ resource> indicating the end of the shared resource definition, a “background drawing command” indicating background drawing information is described as shared data, and Between the delimiter <Page no = “1”> indicating the first delimiter of page data of the first page and the delimiter </ Page> indicating the end of the page, reference information indicating that reference is made to the shared data Delimiter <ref kind = "background" id = "1"> and "Page1 drawing command" are described The Similarly, between the delimiter <Page no = “2”> indicating the first delimiter of the page data of the second page and the delimiter </ Page> indicating the end of the page, reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to Delimiter <ref kind = “background” id = “1”> and “Page2 drawing command” are described.

  In the example of FIGS. 3 and 4A, the case has been described in which the print data includes page data for two pages and a shared resource definition. However, the print data may further include page data for a plurality of pages. Good. In the example of FIG. 4A, each page data includes only reference information, but information other than reference information, for example, image data other than shared data or print as image output information Instruction data or the like (hereinafter referred to as non-shared data) may be included. Similar to the reference information, for example, the image output information may be described between the delimiter indicating the start of the image output information and the delimiter indicating the end.

  Next, processing executed by the control unit 24 of the PC 12 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  When power is supplied to the PC 12 by a power switch (not shown), the CPU of the control unit 24 executes the processing routine shown in FIG. As a result, one of the plurality of applications installed in the PC 12 is activated, and image data created via this application and print instruction information indicating the print instruction content of the image data are input. Then, the process proceeds to step 102.

In step 102, based on the image data and print instruction information input in step 100, a plurality of page data 62 _{1 to} 62 _n and a plurality of page data 62 ₁ as shown in FIGS. Print data including shared data 62 in which a shared resource definition shared between .about.62 _n is defined.

  In the next step 104, interpretation instruction information indicating an instruction to execute interpretation of the print data generated in step 102 is output to the printer driver 42, and then this routine is terminated.

  In the printer driver 42, when interpretation instruction information is input from the CPU of the control unit 24, the processing routine shown in FIG.

  In step 200, the print data generated in step 102 is interpreted. For example, the delimiters described in the print data shown in FIG. 4A are sequentially interpreted from the top.

  In the next step 202, it is determined whether or not the delimiter indicating the start of the shared resource definition has been interpreted by the print data interpretation process in step 200. If the delimiter is affirmed, the process proceeds to step 204, and the sharing determined in step 202 is determined. One line of shared data described after the delimiter indicating the start of resource definition is interpreted. In the present embodiment, the case where interpretation is performed line by line is described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a form. Interpretation is performed for each piece of shared data indicated between a delimiter indicating start and a delimiter indicating end. You may make it do.

  In the next step 206, based on the interpretation result of the shared data for one line interpreted in the above step 204, the interpreted one line of shared data is converted into shared output data described in the PDL language that can be interpreted by the printer 14. The shared output data is generated by the conversion.

  In the next step 208, the shared output data generated in step 206 is stored in the output data storage unit 50 in the shared resource definition number described in the delimiter indicating the start of the shared resource definition interpreted in step 202 (present book). In the embodiment, it is stored in association with “1”).

  In the next step 210, it is interpreted whether or not the next subsequent stage delimiter is a delimiter indicating the end of the definition of the shared resource. If NO, the process returns to step 204. If YES, the process proceeds to step 212.

  In step 212, it is determined whether or not the interpretation of all delimiters included in the print data has been completed. If the determination is affirmative, the routine ends. If the determination is negative, the routine returns to step 200.

  On the other hand, if the result in Step 202 is negative, the process proceeds to Step 214, where it is determined whether or not the delimiter as reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to has been interpreted by the print data interpretation process in Step 200. Then, the process proceeds to step 216, and after reading the shared output data corresponding to the shared resource definition number indicated in the delimiter indicating the reference information from the storage unit 22, the process proceeds to step 218.

  A delimiter other than the delimiter as reference information indicating that the delimiter denied in step 214 and interpreted in step 200 refers to a delimiter indicating the start of shared resource definition and shared data, for example, image output information If it is a delimiter indicating the start, the process proceeds to step 220, and unshared data such as image output information shown in the subsequent stage of this delimiter is interpreted.

  In the next step 222, non-shared output data that can be interpreted by the printer 14 is generated from the non-shared data based on the interpretation result in step 220, and then the process proceeds to step 218.

  In step 218, the shared output data generated in step 216 and the non-shared output data generated in step 220 are transferred by the output data transfer unit 52, and then the process returns to step 212. The output data transferred by the output data transfer unit 52 is transmitted to the printer 14 via the communication unit 20.

  By executing the processing from step 200 to step 222, the output data shown in FIG. 4B is generated from the print data shown in FIG. 4 and transferred from the output data transfer unit 52, via the communication unit 20. It is output to the printer 14.

  As described above, according to the PC 12 of this embodiment, shared data shared between a plurality of page data and print data including a plurality of page data including reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to are interpreted. When the shared data included in this print data is interpreted, it is converted into output data based on the interpretation result, and the converted output data is stored. When the page data reference information is interpreted, the stored output is stored. Since the data is read and output to the printer 14 via the output data transfer unit 52 and the communication unit 20, each time the reference information is interpreted, the interpretation of the shared data and the output data The generation can be prevented from being repeatedly executed, and the generation time of the output data can be shortened.

[Second Embodiment]
In the above embodiment, shared data shared between a plurality of page data and print data including a plurality of page data including reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to are interpreted, and the shared data included in the print data Is interpreted, the output data is generated based on the interpretation result, and the generated output data is stored. When the page data reference information is interpreted, the stored output data is read and transferred to the image forming apparatus. In this embodiment, the printer 14 and the PC 12 are provided with an enlarged continuous shooting function, and output using the enlarged continuous shooting function is performed by the user's operation. A method for shortening the output data generation time when instructed by the operation instruction of the unit 16 will be described.

  Note that the enlargement continuous shooting function enlarges an image of image data created as one page in the application, divides it into a plurality of sheets when output by the printer 14, and outputs it on the printer 14. This is a function for obtaining an output result having a size larger than the paper size set on the printer 14 side by arranging a plurality of paper sheets.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the enlarged continuous shooting function is not used, in order to output the output size of the image 70 printed on one A4 sheet as an A2 size image 72 that is doubled, The printer driver 42 of the PC 13 of the present embodiment is configured to output the images 72A, 72B, 72C, and 72D, which are two times larger than the image 70 and divided into four A4 sizes, onto A4 size paper, respectively. This function creates output data on the side.

  In this enlargement continuous shooting function, the output data of the same page is generally transmitted to the printer 14 a plurality of times while changing the enlargement command and the drawing position setting command in the virtual paper. In the example of FIG. 7, the output data of each page having the same content is generally transmitted four times.

  Note that the PC 13 in this embodiment has the same configuration as the PC 12 described in the first embodiment, and therefore, the same number is assigned to the same configuration, and detailed description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 8, the storage unit 22 of the PC 13 according to the present embodiment further includes a driver setting storage unit 47 for storing the setting information of the enlarged continuous shooting in the storage unit 22 of the first embodiment. It has been. Specifically, the setting information of the enlarged continuous shooting includes information indicating an enlarged continuous shooting size such as “2 × 2” or “3 × 3”. For example, when information indicating “2 × 2” is set as the enlarged continuous shooting size, this indicates that the image is enlarged twice and output.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the CPU of the control unit 24 of the PC 13 of the present invention executes the processing routine shown in FIG. 5 every predetermined time, and prints based on the input image data and print instruction information. Data is generated and interpretation instruction information indicating an instruction to execute interpretation of the generated print data is output to the printer driver 42.

  Note that the difference from the first embodiment is that in this embodiment, the input print instruction information includes setting information for enlarged continuous shooting such as an enlarged continuous shooting size, and information indicating an enlarged continuous shooting instruction. In addition, as shown in FIG. 9A, the print data created based on the image data and the print instruction information includes only page data for each page. The enlarged continuous shooting setting information included in the print instruction information is input by an operation instruction of the user operation unit 16 and stored in the driver setting storage unit 47. The print data includes, for example, a “Page1 drawing command” between a delimiter <Page no = “1”> indicating the first delimiter of page data of the first page and a delimiter </ Page> indicating the end of the page. Is described. Similarly, a “Page1 drawing command” is described between a delimiter <Page no = “2”> indicating the first delimiter of page data of the second page and a delimiter </ Page> indicating the end of the page. Yes.

  In the printer driver 42, when the interpretation instruction information is input from the CPU of the control unit 24, the processing routine shown in FIG.

  In step 300, based on the enlargement setting information stored in the driver setting storage unit 47, output data for adjusting the enlargement ratio and the position within the sheet is generated.

  Specifically, when information indicating “2 × 2” is set as the enlarged continuous shooting size, this indicates that the image is enlarged twice and output, and each page created by the following processing Output data including information indicating where the output data image is to be arranged on the enlarged virtual paper is created.

  Through the processing in step 300, output data of a portion indicated by an area 80 in FIG. 9B, which shows an example of output data generated based on the print data in FIG. 4A, is generated.

  In the next step 302, the print data is interpreted from the upper stage, and in the next step 303, the process returns to step 302 until the delimiter is interpreted, and if affirmative, the process proceeds to step 304, where the delimiter indicating the start is located. The result is stored in the interpretation result storage unit 46. Specifically, information indicating the relative position in the print data of the delimiter <Page no = “1”> indicating the page start delimiter illustrated in FIG. 9A is stored in the interpretation result storage unit 46. .

  In the next step 306, the description content for one line following the delimiter is interpreted, and based on the interpretation result, the output content described in the PDL language that can be interpreted by the printer 14 based on the interpreted description content for one line. Generate data.

  In the next step 308, the output data generated in step 306 is transferred by the output data transfer unit 52. The output data transferred by the output data transfer unit 52 in the process of step 308 is transmitted to the printer 14 via the communication unit 20.

  In the next step 310, it is interpreted whether or not the next subsequent stage separator is a separator </ Page> indicating a page end separator. If the result is negative, the process returns to step 302. Proceed to

  In the next step 312, it is determined whether the number of times affirmed in step 310 is equal to the number of transfers calculated based on the continuous shooting size stored in the driver setting storage unit 47. The process proceeds to step 314. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 316. For example, when information indicating “2 × 2” is stored as the enlarged continuous shooting size, the number of transfers is calculated as four times as the number of transfers, and information indicating “3 × 3” is stored. If it is, 9 times is calculated as the number of transfers.

  In step 314, based on the information indicating the location of the delimiter indicating the start stored in the interpretation result storage unit 46 in step 304, this location is set as the next interpretation start position, and then the process returns to step 300.

  On the other hand, if the determination in step 312 is affirmative, it is determined whether or not all delimiters included in the print data have been interpreted. If the determination is negative, the process returns to step 300. If the determination is affirmative, the routine ends. .

  As described above, according to the PC 13 having the enlarged continuous shooting function of the present embodiment, when the enlarged continuous shooting is instructed by the user, the division position of the enlarged continuous shooting is stored when interpreting the print data, Next, when interpreting the same location of the print data, instead of searching for the delimiter position of this enlarged continuous shooting from the beginning of the print data, return to the location of the delimiter indicating the start of the stored enlarged continuous shooting, and from this location The print data can be interpreted again.

  Therefore, unlike the conventional technique, the number of times corresponding to the set number of times of enlargement continuous shooting is used, and the start position of the page to be enlarged continuously shot from the print data is not repeatedly searched from the top of the print data, and the stored enlargement continuous shooting is repeated. Interpretation of the print data can be easily repeated from the place where the copy delimiter position is indicated, so that the search time for the start position of the page to be enlarged continuously shot can be shortened, and the output data generation time can be shortened. .

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of PC concerning the 1st form of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows print data in the 1st form of this invention. In the first embodiment of the present invention, (A) is a schematic diagram showing print data described in XML, and (B) is a schematic diagram showing output data described in PDL language. It is a flowchart which shows the process performed with CPU of a control part in the 1st form of this invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by the printer driver according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows an expansion continuous shooting function in the 2nd form of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of PC concerning the 2nd form of this invention. In the second embodiment of the present invention, (A) is a schematic diagram showing print data described in XML, and (B) is a schematic diagram showing output data described in PDL language. 6 is a flowchart illustrating processing executed by a printer driver according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

40 Print Data Generation Unit 42 Printer Driver 44 Print Data Interpretation Unit 46 Interpretation Result Storage Unit 47 Driver Setting Storage Unit 48 Output Data Generation Unit 50 Output Data Storage Unit 52 Output Data Transfer Unit

Claims (10)

Print data conversion means for generating print data including a plurality of page data including shared data shared among a plurality of page data and reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to;
Interpretation means for interpreting the print data;
Conversion means for converting the shared data interpreted by the interpretation means into output data described in a specific language;
Storage means for storing the output data converted by the conversion means;
Transfer means for reading the output data from the storage means and transferring the read output data when the reference information included in the page data is interpreted by the interpretation means;
An output data generation device. The print data conversion means generates print data including page data further including image output information related to image output,
The converting means converts the image output information interpreted by the interpreting means into non-shared output data described in a specific language,
The output data generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer unit transfers unshared output data converted by the conversion unit. Acquisition means for acquiring print data including shared data shared among a plurality of page data, and reference number information indicating the number of times of reference to the shared data;
A storage unit for searching for a position of the shared data in the print data and storing position information indicating a position of the shared data in the print data based on a search result;
Interpretation means for interpreting the print data;
Conversion means for converting the shared data interpreted by the interpretation means into output data described in a specific language;
When interpreting the shared data, the interpreting means refers to the shared data based on the location information stored in the storage means, and interprets the shared data a number of times according to the reference count information. Control means for controlling the interpretation means;
An output data generation device. The output data generation device further includes data acquisition means for acquiring data,
The output data generation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data acquired by the data acquisition unit is converted by the print data conversion unit. Language storage means for storing in advance a language that can be interpreted by another device other than the output data generating device connected to the output data generating device;
5. The conversion device according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit converts the shared data into one or both of output data and non-shared output data described in a language stored in the language storage unit. The output data generation device described in 1.   The output data generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the transfer unit transfers one or both of the output data and the non-output data to the outside of the output data generation device main body.   The specific language is a language that can be interpreted by an image forming apparatus connected to an output data generating apparatus main body, and the transfer unit transmits one or both of the output data and the non-output data to the image forming apparatus. The output data generation device according to claim 6, wherein the output data generation device is transferred to the output.   The output data according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the transfer unit transfers one or both of the output data and the non-output data to a specific part in an output data generation device main body. Generator. An output data generation method of an output data generation device having a function of generating output data,
Generating print data including a plurality of page data including shared data shared between a plurality of page data and reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to;
Interpreting the print data;
Converting the interpreted shared data into output data described in a specific language;
Storing the converted output data;
An output data generation method for reading the stored output data and transferring the read output data when the reference information included in the page data is interpreted. On the computer,
Generating print data including a plurality of page data including shared data shared among a plurality of page data and reference information indicating that the shared data is referred to;
Interpreting the print data;
The interpreted shared data is converted into output data described in a specific language,
Storing the converted output data;
When the reference information included in the page data is interpreted, the stored output data is read, and the read output data is transferred.
Output data generation program.

Images