JP2007072674A - Software application and printing system - Google Patents

Abstract

Since the rendering process is declared as Reusable for an extremely light object, the process increases, and the process sometimes becomes slow.
In a system in which the trial printing mode and the main printing mode are separated, the cost of the object drawing process is measured in the trial printing process of the input PPML document, and the cost is compared with a certain threshold value. For example, a PPML source in which the object is made Reusable, and if it is low, Variable is newly generated, and the generated one is used in the production mode. Alternatively, a PPML normalizer is configured that receives a PPML document as an input and prepares an application that performs the above optimization as an output.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention includes a page having at least an arrangement designating unit for designating arrangement of a drawing result image on a page and a holding designation unit for instructing to hold the arranged drawing result, such as PPML. The present invention relates to a software application and a printing system for efficiently printing using a description means.

  With the advancement of electrophotographic technology, it is possible to print with image quality approaching that of conventional printing without the plate making required by conventional printing technologies such as offset printing. At the same time, applications and ideas that could not have been considered under conventional printing technology are born. A typical example is a personalized direct mail (PDM) tailored to each individual, with detailed content controlled according to customer preference information and personal information such as customer names printed on printed matter. It is. FIG. 1 shows an example of a PDM.

  FIG. 1 is a PDM of a travel agency consisting of five parts. CUSTOMER is the customer name, COMPANY is the name of the travel agency, TITLE is the title of DM, and TOUR1 and TOUR2 are the advertising parts of the tour.

  The travel agency determines a tour that suits each customer's preference, that is, a combination of tour advertisements that are more likely to be applied, using a customer database, etc., and prints a PDM that optimizes the tour combination for each customer I can do it.

  However, considering the process of printing the PDM as shown in FIG. 1 using electrophotographic technology, it is not necessary to prepare a plate for each customer, but it is necessary to prepare a print document adjusted for each customer for all customers. Yes, the cost of creating a document using a word processor or the like was still high.

  In other words, if there is an expression method that can easily express these combinations, the product information to be reused is shared, and from the printed document, it is described so that it can be placed on the paper by referring to it. Document creation work can be performed efficiently.

  Further, in the case of PDM, a printed document is often expressed by a combination of an object that can be reused such as product information and an object that changes each time such as a customer name. There is no designation method for storing and reusing information, and after all, the rendering engine repeatedly rendered the same product information for each PDM of each customer.

  Here, if it can be specified to reuse the drawing result of an object such as product information that is used many times, when printing a PDM of a certain customer, the drawing engine draws only customer-specific information for each customer. Other product information, etc. can be combined with already-drawn product information that has already been stored to construct a PDM page, thereby reducing the processing required for the rendering engine.

  That is, in the PDM printing process of FIG. 1, COMPANY, TITLE, TOUR1, and TOUR2 are drawn in advance and stored, and the PDM paper surface is configured by combining the CUSTOMER portions drawn for each customer. Processing time can be reduced.

  One technique that satisfies the above requirements is PPML (Personalized Print Markup Language).

  PPML is a kind of XML (extensible Markup Language), and is an open standard whose specifications are determined and published by an organization called PODi.

  PPML defines an area for placing an object on a page, draws an object given in Postscript (hereinafter referred to as PS), Portable Document Format (hereinafter referred to as PDF), JPEG, etc., on the page, It is possible to describe an instruction such as placing it at a predetermined position in a very simple manner.

  That is, PS, PDF, and JPEG draw an object placed on the paper surface, but PPML controls the placement of the object to finish it into a PDM or the like. That is, the drawing engine draws objects such as PS, PDF, JPEG, etc., and PPML controls the arrangement engine that arranges them on the paper surface.

  Among them, in PPML, a name is defined for an object to be reused, and for an object for which a name is defined, a specification (Reusable Object, reusable object) for referring to the object by the name is provided. This specification is introduced in order to prevent the drawing engine from redrawing the same object over and over again by drawing the object to be used in advance.

  Furthermore, PPML also has a specification (Global Reusable Object) that defines an object defined and named in a certain print job so that it can be referenced from another print job.

  FIG. 2 shows a PPML source for generating the PDM shown in FIG. Here, since this source code is for helping understanding of the explanation, an essential attribute is intentionally omitted. That is, it should be noted that the PPML specification is not completely satisfied.

  The PPML source code in FIG. 2 describes a PDM for three customers.

  (1) in FIG. 2 defines an image arranged in the TITLE part in FIG. The reusable object described by Postscript named ps is named TITLE.

  (2) in FIG. 2 defines an image arranged in the COMPANY portion in FIG. The reusable object described by Postscript named ps is given the name COMPANY. In addition to the attributes similar to those in FIG. 2 (1), the reuse object COMPANY is made a global reuse object by using attributes of Scope and Environment, which will be described later.

  (3) in FIG. 2 defines reusable objects arranged in TOUR1 and TUR2 in FIG. 1, and names SOCCOR, BASEBALL, and RUGBY for soccer, baseball, and rugby, respectively.

  In FIG. 2, (4) actually constitutes a Suzuki-like PDM.

  First, the page size is defined by the dimension of the PAGE element. In the case of this example, the paper size is 792 points wide and 612 points long. The coordinates on the page are the reference point at the lower left, the unit is point, the horizontal direction is positive to the right, and the vertical direction is positive to the top.

  Next, the customer name CUSTOMER is arranged on the page.

  Specifically, an object representing a customer name is specified using a MARK element so that the lower left is (50,500).

  An object is specified by an OBJECT element. The object to be actually drawn is specified by the SOURCE element.

  The SOURCE element specifies the format of data describing the object. In this example, it can be seen that the object is described in Postscript. The data itself described by Postscript is specified by an EXTERNAL_DATA element described later.

  In the SRC of the EXTERNAL_DATA element, Suzuki. A file called ps is specified.

  Due to the element structure of PPML as described above, Suzuki. The ps is processed by the Postscript Interpreter called from the PPML Interpreter, expanded into pixel information, and arranged so that the position (50, 500) designated by the MARK element is located at the lower left.

  It should be noted that suzuki. The rendering result corresponding to ps cannot be reused. Such an object may be referred to as a variable object in association with a reuse object.

  In the next MARK element, the company name COMPANY defined as the global reuse object is arranged on the page. Specifically, the lower left part of the COMPANY part is arranged on the page (300, 500).

  Similarly, a DM title TITLE defined as a reusable object is arranged so that the lower left part is located on the page (50, 50), and two tours (SOCCOR and BASEBALL in this case) (300, 275) (300, 50).

  In the PPML source code of FIG. 2, a PDM related to Yamada-like and Tanaka-like is configured by a procedure very similar to that of Suzuki-like PDM.

  Here, it should be noted that the objects other than the customer name CUSTOMER use COMPANY, TITLE, SOCCOR, BASEBALL, and RUGBY defined in FIGS. 2 (1) to (3).

  In FIG. 2, PPML data for generating PDMs for three customers, such as Suzuki, Yamada, and Tanaka, is described. However, in actual PDMs, hundreds of thousands of PDMs for customers are printed. Is normal.

  Therefore, for objects that are used by multiple customers, such as COMPANY, TITLE, SOCCOR, BASEBALL, and RUGBY, the rendered results are saved once and stored without being redrawn when used again. It is desirable to have a so-called cache function, such as using the drawn result, and to hold the drawn result in a storage area for reuse.

  That is, the description method of the global reusable object and the reusable object as shown in FIGS. 2 (1) to (3) in the PPML source code also keeps in mind that the rendering result of the object is cached so that it can be reused later. It is a set specification.

  Further, the company logo COMPANY is defined as a global reuse object because it may be used in another print job. In the case of PPML, by defining Scope as Global and giving Environment separately, it is possible to make a global reusable object so that the company logo can be used in another print job designating the Environment. In FIG. 2, the character string “A” is designated as the value of Environment.

  On the other hand, in the cache system in the conventional printing system, the font drawing that determines whether or not the drawn (bit-mapped) face data is temporarily saved according to the number of strokes constituting the character. There is an apparatus (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

The patent requires a number of strokes, such as drawing a font, creating a contour composed of strokes, and then painting a region surrounded by the contour with a pattern, and drawing the font. This is an effective technique when it is easy to predict various resources and costs.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 02-064599 (page 4, FIG. 2)

  However, since the rendering process is declared as Reusable for an extremely light object, the process increases, which may be slower.

  As described above, the technique according to Patent Document 1 is effective when it is easy to predict resources and costs necessary for rendering. However, in the Postscript interpreter that generally includes a font rendering function, The resources consumed by the processing system become very large, and a relatively simple estimate calculation based on the number of strokes cannot always provide a sufficiently correct estimate of actual resource consumption.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to measure the cost of drawing processing of an object included in an input PPML document at the time of printing, and to compare the cost with a certain threshold value. A new PPML source is generated as a variable object, and a printing system that can use the optimized one for reprinting or main printing, or a PPML document is received as input, and the above optimization is performed. To realize the application.

To achieve the above objective,
In a page description means comprising at least an arrangement designating means for designating an arrangement of the drawing result image on the page, and a holding designating means for instructing to hold the arranged drawing results.
Image description means for describing the drawing result image; first storage means for holding the page description means;
Image description acquisition means for extracting the image description means from the page description means;
A resource amount calculating means for estimating a resource amount necessary for the drawing process by the image description means or performing an actual measurement by performing the drawing process;
For the image description means whose result of the resource amount calculation means is a predetermined value or more, the page description means is updated so as to hold the drawing result in advance using the holding designation means. Is to provide.
To achieve the above objective,
A page description unit having at least an arrangement designating unit that designates an arrangement of the drawing result image on the page, and a holding designation unit that instructs to hold the arranged drawing result;
Image description means for describing the drawing result image; first storage means for holding the page description means;
Image description acquisition means for extracting the image description means from the page description means;
Image drawing means for interpreting and drawing the image description means;
A resource amount measuring means for actually measuring a resource amount necessary for the image drawing means;
In a printing system comprising a printing device with a storage device capable of holding image data drawn by the image drawing means,
For the image description means whose result of the resource amount measurement means is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the page description means is updated so as to hold the drawing result in advance using the holding designation means, and the image drawing means draws the image. Of the image data that has been stored, the image data that has been stored by the storage designating means is registered in advance in the printing apparatus with a storage device. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to optimize drawing of an object referred to in a PPML document included in a print document, and efficient printing can be performed even when reprinting is performed by using the optimized PPML document. Can be executed.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 3 shows a system configuration used in the description of this embodiment.

  The PC is a host machine that issues a print job described in PPML, which is the first description means in this embodiment, to a printer PRN described later, such as a so-called PC compatible machine or Macintosh, and at least the PPML to be printed. A storage area PCST for holding a plurality of drawing object sources SOBJ referenced by PPMLJ and PPMLJ as source codes is connected.

  In the case of the PPML source code shown in FIG. 2, PPMLJ is the source code itself of FIG. ps, title. ps, soccor. ps, baseball. ps, rugby. ps corresponds.

  PRN is a printing apparatus, which receives PPMLJ and SOBJ from the PC and performs actual printing. The receiving procedure and network protocol are not described in detail in this embodiment.

  Note that the PRN itself may be a combination of a server PC that performs a printing service and a printing apparatus, but in this embodiment, the PRN is described as a single casing.

  At least a storage area PRNST, which will be described later, and a clock CLOCK that can be read by the PRN are connected to or built in the PRN.

  The PRNST is a storage area for storing various information necessary for printing the print job PPMLJ sent from the PC. At least the INST that stores the interpretation result of the PPMLJ sent from the PC and the management of reusable objects. Database DB to be executed, SOBJ and image object ROBJ on which SOBJ has been drawn, global reuse object storage area GSPACE for managing reuse objects to be described later, reuse object storage area LSPACE, limit values GLIM and LLIM to be described later, and printed When defining the page area PAGE that holds the pixel data of the page to be read, the buffer area WORK for expanding the parts constituting the PAGE, the area START for storing the time read from the CLOCK, and the global reuse object It contains ENV that contains the character string specified in main of Environment. INST and DB will be described later.

  FIG. 4 is a configuration example of INST existing on the above-described PRNST, and at least four attribute values of OP, NAME, FILE, and TYPE can be managed.

  OP indicates the content of the process. In this embodiment, at least “DEF” indicating the definition of the reuse object and “REF” indicating the reference of the reuse object can be stored as OP.

  NAME is the name of the reuse object specified by the Label attribute of the OCCURRENCE element when defining a reuse object that is an object that can be reused many times in PPML.

  FILE stores the file name of the original data of the reuse object specified by NAME only when OP is DEF.

  TYPE classifies whether the reuse object specified by NAME is a global reuse object, a simple reuse object, or an object that does not necessarily have to be treated as a reuse object, only when OP is DEF. Specifically, “G” is stored for a global reuse object, “R” is stored for a simple reuse object, and “V” is stored for an object that does not need to be a reuse object.

  LLIM is information indicating a condition when SOBJ or ROBJ is registered in the reusable object storage area LSPACE. In this embodiment, the LLIM is compared with the number of clocks consumed for drawing ROBJ and generating ROBJ. A value to store is stored.

  GLIM is information indicating a condition when SOBJ or ROBJ is registered in the global reuse object storage area GSPACE. In this embodiment, the number of clocks consumed for drawing ROBJ and generating ROBJ A value for comparison is stored.

  FIG. 5 is a configuration example of the database DB existing on the PRNST.

  In this embodiment, the DB is a database that can manage a reuse object by combining at least four pieces of information of NAME, SRC, PROCESSED, and FLAG.

  NAME is the name of the reuse object, and stores the value of NAME described in INST.

  SRC is a drawing object source corresponding to NAME, and stores information for specifying the SOBJ specified by FILE in INST. Depending on the location of SOBJ on PRNST, file information different from FILE in INST may be stored, but this is not described in detail here.

  PROCESSED is information indicating ROBJ or SOBJ, and information indicating ROBJ or information indicating SOBJ is determined by the value of FLAG.

  FLAG takes one of the values DONE and YET. In the case of DONE, the data indicated by PROCESSED is ROBJ, and in the case of YET, it indicates that it is SOBJ. In other words, a FLAG value of DONE for a reusable object indicates that drawing processing is not necessary for placement in the PAGE, and that the reusable object can be placed directly. This means that drawing processing is performed every time it is placed on a page.

  6 to 10 are process flows for explaining the present embodiment in the system configuration of FIGS.

  S-1 in FIG. 6 is an initialization step of the first description means processing device. In this step, input / output and the like are initialized. Detailed explanation is omitted.

  In S-2, the PRN interprets the PPMLJ sent from the PC, extracts processing classification and information necessary for the processing, and stores them in the INST. At the same time, all SOBJs referenced by PPMLJ are received from the PC.

  In S-3, it is checked whether an unprocessed processing unit remains on INST. If the processing unit remains in INST, the process proceeds to S-4, and if not, the process proceeds to S-14.

  In S-4, the processing units interpreted in S-2 are sequentially extracted, and the process proceeds to S-5.

  In S-5, it is checked whether the OP included in the processing unit extracted in S-4 is DEF. If it is DEF, the process proceeds to S-13, and if it is not DEF, the process proceeds to S-6.

  In S-6, it is checked whether the OP included in the processing unit extracted in S-4 is REF. If REF, go to S-8, otherwise go to S-7.

  In S-7, after performing the “other” process when the processing unit OP fetched in S-4 is neither DEF nor REF, the process returns to S-3.

  The “other than that” processing includes variable data rendering / placement processing that changes every time, such as the second to fourth rows of (4) in FIG. 2, and a page stored in PAGE as a printer. In the present embodiment, it will not be described in detail.

  In S-8 to S-12, a process is performed when the INST OP focused in S-3 is REF.

  First, in S-8, the DB is searched using the NAME of the focused INST.

  Subsequently, in S-9, the FLAG value of the OP as a search result is checked. If FLAG is DONE, the process proceeds to S-10, and if not, the process proceeds to S-11.

In S-10, after the file indicated by PRCESSED in the DB search result is recognized as a drawn object and read into WORK, the process proceeds to S-12.
On the other hand, in S-11, the file indicated by PPROCESSED in the DB search result is recognized as an object source before drawing, and drawing processing is performed. The drawing result is created on WORK, and then the process proceeds to S-12.

  In S-12, after the drawn object stored in the WORK is arranged in the PAGE, the process returns to S3.

  On the other hand, when the OP of INST is DEF in S-5, the reuse object classification process is performed in S-13, and the process returns to S-3. Details of the reuse object classification process will be described later.

  Further, if there is no processing item to be processed on INST in S-3, after the writing process is performed in S-14, the process is terminated. Details of the writing process will be described later.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the reuse object classification process shown at S-13 in FIG.

  In S-15, after reading the value of CLOCK and storing it in START, the process proceeds to S-16.

  In S-16, after drawing SOBJ designated by SRC on WORK, the process proceeds to S-17. Details of the drawing process are omitted here.

  In S-17, the time spent in S-16 is calculated from the value of CLOCK and the time information stored in START. If it is less than the time stored in LLIM, S-23 is set. In this case, the process proceeds to S-18.

  In S-18, if the time spent in S-16 is less than the time stored in GLIM, the process proceeds to S-21, and otherwise, the process proceeds to S-19. In S-18, the clock consumption in S-16 may be calculated again based on the values of CLOCK and START, or the result of the calculation performed in S-17 may be reused here.

  S-19 and S-20 are cases where the time spent in the drawing process in S-16 is equal to or longer than GLIM.

  In S-19, “G” is stored in the INST type of interest, and then the process proceeds to S-20.

  In S-20, the data stored in the WORK is regarded as the drawn object ROBJ, stored in GSPACE, and then the process proceeds to S-25.

  On the other hand, S-21 and S-22 are processes when the time spent in the drawing process in S-21 is not less than LLIM and less than GLIM.

  In this case, in S-21, after storing “R” in the INST type of interest, the process proceeds to S-22.

  In S-22, the data stored in WORK is regarded as a drawn object ROBJ, stored in LSPACE, and then the process proceeds to S-25.

  Finally, S-23 and S-24 are processes when the time spent in the drawing process in S-21 is less than LLIM.

  In this case, in S-23, “V” is stored in the TYPE of the focused INST, and then the process proceeds to S-24.

  In S-24, the drawing result stored in WORK is ignored, and the source SOBJ is stored in LSPACE, and the process proceeds to S-25.

  In S-25, an entry related to the SOBJ is created in the DB. Specifically, the INST NAME value is stored in the DB NAME, the INST TYPE is stored in the DB TYPE, the data path stored in the GSPACE or LSPACE is stored in the PROCESSED of the DB, and the object drawn in the GSPACE or LSPACE is stored. If the source is stored, DONE is stored. If the source is stored, YET is stored in the FLAG of the DB, and then the reuse object classification process is terminated.

  FIG. 8 shows the details of the writing process shown at S-14 in FIG.

  In this process, first, in S-26, a file to be written is opened, a process such as writing a standard source code is performed, and then the process proceeds to S-27.

  In S-27, it is checked whether or not all the processing items in INST have been written. If there is a remaining item, the process proceeds to S-28, and if not, the process proceeds to S-34.

  In S-28, one processing item to be written out is selected from INST, and the process proceeds to S-29.

  In S-29, it is checked whether or not the OP of the selected INST is DEF. If it is DEF, the process proceeds to S-30, and if not, the process proceeds to S-31.

  In S-30, after the object definition writing process is performed when the focused INST OP is DEF, the process returns to S-27. Details of the object definition writing process will be described later.

  In S-31, it is checked whether or not the INST OP of interest is REF. If it is REF, the process proceeds to S-32, and otherwise, the process proceeds to S-33.

  In S-32, after the object reference writing process is performed when the focused INST OP is REF, the process returns to S-27. Details of the object reference writing will be described later.

  In S-33, after performing processing when the focused INST OP is neither DEF nor REF, the process returns to S-27. Detailed description regarding this processing is omitted.

  Finally, in S-27, if there are no processing items to be processed in INST, the writing process is terminated after performing cleanup such as closing the writing destination file in S-34.

  FIG. 9 shows details of the object definition writing process shown in S-30 of FIG.

  In this process, first in S-35, it is checked whether or not the TYPE of the focused INST is G. If it is G, the process proceeds to S-38, and if it is not G, the process proceeds to S-36.

  If it is not G, in S-36, it is checked whether or not the TYPE of INST is R. If it is R, S-37, and if it is not R, this processing ends.

  If the INST TYPE is R, in S-37, a source for defining the reuse object data is generated and written, and then this process ends.

  On the other hand, if TYPE is G, in S-38, a source defining the global reuse object data is generated and written, and then this process is terminated.

  FIG. 10 shows the details of the object reference writing process shown in S-32 of FIG.

  In this process, first, in S-39, the DB is searched using the NAME of the focused INST, and then the process proceeds to S-40.

  In S-40, it is checked whether or not the INST type focused on is G. If it is G, the process proceeds to S-44, and if it is not G, the process proceeds to S-41.

  In S-41, it is checked whether or not the TYPE of INST is R. If it is R, the process proceeds to S-43, and if it is not R, the process proceeds to S-42.

  If the INST TYPE is neither R nor G, a source for referring to variable data is generated and written in S-42, and the object reference writing process is terminated.

  If the INST TYPE is R, a source that references the reuse data is generated and written in S-43, and then the object reference writing process is terminated.

  If the INST TYPE is G, a source that refers to the global reuse data is generated and written in S-44, and then the object reference writing process is terminated.

  Hereinafter, it demonstrates in detail using FIGS. 11-42.

  FIG. 11 is a PPMLJ used to describe this embodiment in detail. In this PPMLJ, an image by three Postscript files is defined as a reuse object and then placed on a page. Here, it should be noted that PPMLJ in FIG. 11 does not strictly conform to the PPML specification as in FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a configuration example of PRNST and CLOCK for explaining the present embodiment in detail.

  INST and DB show only attributes necessary for the description of the present embodiment. LSPACE, GSPACE, WORK, PAGE, GLIM, LLIM, ENV, and START correspond to the same names in FIG. Note that CLOCK represents the time elapsed since the PRN activation.

  OBJs is an area in which SOBJ referred to by PPMLJ and PPML source files generated in the present embodiment are stored.

  The PRNST may be a semiconductor memory such as a RAM or an external storage device such as an HDD. Further, for example, a hybrid configuration in which only OBJs are HDD and others are RAM may be employed.

  When the initialization of S-1 is completed to process the PPMLJ shown in FIG. 11, the state shown in FIG. 13 is obtained.

  INST, DB, START, WORK, PAGE, GSPACE, LSPACE, and OBJs are all initialized as empty. ENV is initialized with the character string “A”.

  LLIM is initialized to 20000 hours and GLIM is initialized to 50000 hours. In this embodiment, how to determine the values of GLIM and LLIM is not particularly specified.

  In S-2 after S-1, PPMLJ shown in FIG. 11 is interpreted, and the interpretation result is stored in INST. At the same time, the three PS files referred to by the PPML source code are read into OBJs, resulting in the state shown in FIG. The triangle placed on the right side of INST indicates the processing unit to be extracted next in S-4.

  From the state shown in FIG. 14, since the triangle points to INST in S-3, the processing unit pointed to by the triangle is determined in S-4, OP is checked in S-5, and it is “DEF”. FIG. 15 shows the state transitioned to S-13 for this reason.

  From the state shown in FIG. 15, the state shown in FIG. 16 is obtained through S-15 shown in FIG. The value of CLOCK is stored in START.

  From the state shown in FIG. 16, the object is drawn in S-16, the result is stored in WORK, and the state shown in FIG. 17 is obtained.

  From the state of FIG. 17, since CLOCK-START = 60000-3000 = 57000 is larger than both LLIM and GLIM, the process proceeds to S-19 and INST. TYPE becomes “G”, and high_difficcult_to_rip. Stored in WORK. After copying ROBJ, which is the result of drawing ps, to GSPACE, the DB is updated in S-25, resulting in the state shown in FIG.

  From the state of FIG. 18, S-13 in FIG. 6 is terminated, and the process returns to S-3 to check whether there is a processing unit to be processed in INST. is there.

  From the state of FIG. 19, the OP is checked in S-5, and since it is “DEF”, the process proceeds to S-13. START is updated in S-15 in FIG. 7, drawing is performed in S-16, the drawing result is stored in WORK, and the state shown in FIG. 20 is obtained.

  From the state of FIG. 20, since CLOCK-START = 100000-70000 = 30000 is larger than LLIM and smaller than GLIM, the process proceeds to S-21 and INST. TYPE becomes “R”, and the difference_to_rip. After copying ROBJ, which is the result of drawing ps, to LSPACE, update the DB in S-25, end S-13 in FIG. 6 and return to S-3. FIG. 21 shows a state in which the process proceeds to S-4 because the check exists.

  From the state of FIG. 21, the OP is checked in S-5, and since it is “DEF”, the process proceeds to S-13. START is updated in S-15 of FIG. 7, drawing is performed in S-16, the drawing result is stored in WORK, and the state shown in FIG. 22 is obtained.

  From the state of FIG. 22, since CLOCK-START = 120,000-110000 = 10000 is smaller than both LLIM and GLIM, the process proceeds to S-23 and INST. TYPE becomes “V”, and easy_to_rip. Stored in WORK. The result of drawing ps is ignored, and easy_to_rip. ps itself is copied to LSPACE. After that, the DB is updated in S-25, S-13 in FIG. 6 is terminated and the process returns to S-3, and it is checked whether or not the processing result to be processed remains in INST. The state is shown in FIG.

  From the state of FIG. 23, since the OP is checked in S-5 and it is neither “DEF” nor “REF”, the process proceeds to S-7. The process in S-7 includes a function such as designating the start of a page, but is omitted here.

  After the other processes in S-7 are completed, the process returns to S-3, where it is checked whether the process result to be processed remains in INST.

  From the state of FIG. 24, the OP is checked in S-5, and since it is “REF”, the process proceeds to S-8. In S-8, the INST. FIG. 25 shows a state in which the database is searched using “DIFFICULT_TO_RIP” that is the value of NAME, and then transitioned to S-9. A triangle placed on the right side of DB indicates a matched line as a result of searching in S-8.

  From the state of FIG. Since FLAG is checked and is “DONE”, the process proceeds to S-10. In S-10, DB. TYPE value “L” and DB. From the value of “PROCESS_ED_diff_to_rip.bmp” of PROCESSEDED, the value of the difference_to_rip. bmp is read to WORK, and the process proceeds to S-12. In S-12, the WORK is arranged in the PAGE to be in the state shown in FIG.

  From the state of FIG. 26, the process transits to S-3, and since there is a rest on INST, the process transits to S-4. Since OP is “REF”, the process proceeds to S-8 and INST. FIG. 27 shows a result of searching the DB with the NAME value “HIGHLY_DIFFICULT_TO_RIP”.

  From the state of FIG. Since FLAG is “DONE”, the process proceeds to S-10. TYPE value “G” and DB. From the value “highly_difficcult_to_rip.bmp” of PROCESSEDED, high_difficult_to_rip.bmp stored in GSPACE. bmp is read to WORK, and the process proceeds to S-12. In S-12, the WORK is arranged in the PAGE to be in the state shown in FIG.

  From the state of FIG. 28, the process transits to S-3, and since there is a rest on INST, the process transits to S-4. Since OP is “REF”, the process proceeds to S-8 and INST. FIG. 29 shows the result of searching the DB with the NAME value “EASY_TO_RIP”.

  From the state of FIG. Since FLAG is “YET”, the process proceeds to S-11. TYPE value “L” and DB. From the EASEDED value “easy_to_rip.ps”, easy_to_rip.stored in LSPACE. ps is redrawn and read into WORK, and the process proceeds to S-12. In S-12, the WORK is arranged in the PAGE to be in the state shown in FIG.

  Transition is made from the state of FIG. 30 to S-3, and since there is no processing unit to be processed on INST, the process proceeds to S-14 writing processing. Since the details of the writing process are shown in the flow of FIG. 8, the process proceeds to S-26 to prepare for writing, and the state shown in FIG. In FIG. 31, Globals. ppml and Source. Two files named ppml have appeared.

  FIG. 32 omits unnecessary parts for the following explanation in FIG. 31 and shows Globals. ppml and Source. It is the figure which displayed the content of ppml. In S-26, a part of the PPML source has already been inserted into the file. The pointer for scanning INST is also reset.

  From the state of FIG. 32, there is a processing unit that has not been written on INST in S-27, so the process proceeds to S-28. In S-28, one processing unit on INST is selected, and the process transits to S-29 to enter the state shown in FIG.

  From the state of FIG. 32, in INST. Since OP is “DEF”, the object definition writing process of S-30 is performed.

  In S-35 of FIG. It is checked whether TYPE is “G”. Since it is “G”, the process proceeds to S-38. In S-38, the global reuse data definition is Globals. It is added to ppml and it will be in the state of FIG. Among the character strings added here, the Name attribute is INST. From NAME, the ENV attribute uses the value of ENV as it is.

  From the state of FIG. 34, the object definition writing process is terminated, and the process returns to S-27 of FIG. In S-27, whether or not there is any remaining writing is checked. INST. Taken out in S-28. Since OP is “DEF”, the object definition writing process is performed.

  In S-35, INST. The value of TYPE is checked, and since it is not “G”, the process proceeds to S-36. In S-36, INST. The value of TYPE is checked, and since it is “R”, the process proceeds to S-37. In S-37, the reuse data definition is Source. It is added to ppml and it will be in the state of FIG. Of the character strings used here, the Name attribute is INST. The value of NAME is used as it is.

  From the state of FIG. 35, the object definition writing process is terminated, and the process returns to S-27 of FIG. In S-27, whether or not there is any remaining writing is checked. INST. Taken out in S-28. Since OP is “DEF”, the object definition writing process is performed.

  In S-35, INST. The value of TYPE is checked, and since it is not “G”, the process proceeds to S-36. In S-36, INST. The value of TYPE is checked, and since it is not “R” this time, the object definition writing is ended as it is, and the process returns to S-27 to be in the state of FIG.

  From the state of FIG. 36, since there is a processing unit that has not been written on INST in S-27, the process proceeds to S-28. In S-28, one processing unit on INST is selected, and the process proceeds to S-29. INST. Taken out in S-28. Since OP is neither DEF nor REF, the process transits to S-33 and performs processing in the case where OP is in other cases.

  The process in other cases includes, for example, generating a tag indicating the start of a page. There may be a plurality of processing units on the INST for such processing, but in this embodiment it is omitted as a single line and will not be described in detail. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that after S-33, the state shown in FIG.

  It returns to S-27 from the state of FIG. In S-27, whether or not there is any remaining writing is checked. INST. Taken out in S-28. Since OP is “REF”, the process proceeds to S-39 in FIG. 10 to perform the object reference writing process.

  In S-39, the DB is set to INST. A search is performed using the value of NAME, and the state shown in FIG. 38 is obtained. Since the NAME of the focused INST is “DIFFICULT_TO_RIP”, the record in the second line on the DB is searched.

  From the state of FIG. Since TYPE is not “G”, the process proceeds to S-41. In S-41, DB. Since TYPE is “R”, the process proceeds to S-43. In S-43, a reuse data reference is generated, and in this embodiment, Source. It is written in the ppml file and the state shown in FIG. 39 is obtained.

  Among the character strings used here, the Name attribute is DB. The value of NAME is used as it is. In this embodiment, the MARK tag is output in the reuse data reference process, but of course, there may be another processing unit in the INST for the MARK tag output. In the present embodiment, it should be understood that the MARK tag is generated in the reuse data reference process in order to simplify the description.

  From the state of FIG. 39, the object reference writing process is terminated, and the process returns to S-27. In S-27, whether or not there is a remaining writing is checked. Since there is a remaining, the process proceeds to S-28. INST. Taken out in S-28. Since OP is “REF”, the flow makes a transition to S-39 again.

  In S-39, the DB is set to INST. Search by NAME value, then at S-40 DB. Since TYPE is “G”, the process proceeds to S-44. In S-44, a global reuse data reference is generated and Source. It is written in ppml, and the state shown in FIG. 40 is obtained.

  Among the character strings used here, the Name attribute is DB. The NAME value is the ENV value, and the ENV value is used as it is.

  From the state of FIG. 40, the object reference writing process is terminated, and the process returns to S-27. In S-27, whether or not there is a remaining writing is checked. INST. Taken out in S-28. Since OP is REF, the process transits to S-39 again.

  In S-39, the DB is set to INST. Search by NAME value, then at S-40 DB. Since TYPE is not “G”, the process proceeds to S-41. Since TYPE is not “R”, the process proceeds to S-42.

  In S-42, a variable data reference is generated and Source. The result is written in ppml, and the state shown in FIG. 41 is obtained. The value of the Src attribute of the EXTERNAL_DATA tag is DB. PROCESSEDED is used as it is.

  From the state of FIG. 41, the object reference writing is ended, and the process returns to S-27. In S-27, whether there is any remaining writing is checked. Since there is no remaining, the process proceeds to S-34. In S-34, for example, Source. ppml and Globals. The information that needs to be written in ppml, such as writing </ PAGE> to close the PAGE tag, closing the file, releasing the memory, etc. is performed, resulting in the state of FIG.

  From the state of FIG. 42, the writing process of FIG. 8 is finished, S-14 of FIG. 6 is finished, and the whole process is finished.

Figure showing an example of direct mail for individuals The figure which shows the example of the simplified PPML source code for comprising the direct mail shown in FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the detail of the table INST which comprises a part of printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the detail of table DB which comprises a part of printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a flowchart describing details of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a flowchart describing details of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a flowchart describing details of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a flowchart describing details of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a flowchart describing details of a printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the simplified PPML source code used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the internal structure of a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the condition inside a printing system used for description of the printing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

PRN printing apparatus SOBJ drawing object source PCST storage area PPMLJ print job GSPACE global reuse object storage area LSPACE reuse object storage area GLIM, LLIM limit value PAGE, PAGE page area WORK buffer area

Claims (8)

In a page description means comprising at least an arrangement designating means for designating an arrangement of the drawing result image on the page, and a holding designating means for instructing to hold the arranged drawing results.
Image description means for describing the drawing result image; first storage means for holding the page description means;
Image description acquisition means for extracting the image description means from the page description means;
A resource amount calculating means for estimating a resource amount necessary for the drawing process by the image description means or performing an actual measurement by performing the drawing process;
For the image description means whose result of the resource amount calculation means is a predetermined value or more, the page description means is updated so as to hold the drawing result in advance using the holding designation means. . A software application according to claim 1,
A software application, wherein a part or all of the drawing result images designated to be retained using the retention designation unit are registered in advance in a printing apparatus. A software application according to claim 2, comprising:
A software application characterized in that, when the page storage means is updated, a drawing result image recorded in advance in the printing apparatus is separated into another page description means. A software application according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A software application, wherein the page description means is PPML. A page description unit having at least an arrangement designating unit that designates an arrangement of the drawing result image on the page, and a holding designation unit that instructs to hold the arranged drawing result;
Image description means for describing the drawing result image; first storage means for holding the page description means;
Image description acquisition means for extracting the image description means from the page description means;
Image drawing means for interpreting and drawing the image description means;
A resource amount measuring means for actually measuring a resource amount necessary for the image drawing means;
In a printing system comprising a printing device with a storage device capable of holding a drawing result image drawn by the image drawing means,
For the image description means whose result of the resource amount measurement means is a predetermined value or more, the page description means is updated so as to hold the drawing result image in advance using the holding designation means. . The printing system according to claim 5, wherein
A printing system, wherein a part or all of the drawing result images designated to be held using the holding designation unit are registered in advance in the printing apparatus with a storage device. The printing system according to claim 6, wherein
A printing system characterized in that when the page storage means is updated, the storage device with storage device previously stored is separated into another page description means. The printing system according to any one of claims 5 to 7,
The printing system, wherein the page already described means is PPML.

Images