JP2010194778A - Printer, program, and data processing method for printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an overhead from being generated by evacuation processing and by rewriting processing of an evacuated data into a memory, and the overhead from increasing in proportion to the number of acquired link files, and to efficiently carry out processing about printing, using features that an input data includes a hyper text and that other data is a file designated by a hyperlink. <P>SOLUTION: A data processor 40 includes a CPU 41 for conducting processing for analyzing the presence of the hyperlink in an XHTML document data, processing for registering an entry into a link file request management table 131, when the hyperlink is included, to be managed by a list form, processing for acquiring the link file, based on link file acquisition request information 212, and processing for generating an intermediate language data based on the XHTML document data, until completing the acquisition of the link file, based on the XHTML document data and the link file, and for generating an intermediate language data, based on the link file after finishing the acquisition of the link file. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus, a program, and a data processing method for the printing apparatus.

  In recent years, as a function of a printing apparatus (for example, a printer or an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral)), a function of printing data in a hypertext format is required. This is because such a function is required when directly printing XHTML (Extensible HyperText Markup Language) document data viewed on a display screen of a form terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA. Hereinafter, as an example of hypertext format data, description will be given regarding printing of XHTML document data.

  The printing apparatus performs a process of generating intermediate language data based on the input XHTML document data (hereinafter, this process is referred to as “analysis”). Then, the printing apparatus generates a bitmap pattern that becomes a print image from the intermediate language data, and outputs the bitmap pattern to an image forming unit (engine) that develops an image corresponding to the bitmap pattern on a print medium (such as paper).

  XHTML document data has a function of referring to and displaying a link file (for example, an image file) using a hyperlink. When XHTML document data including a hyperlink that refers to a link file is printed, the printing apparatus also prints the display contents by the link file. At this time, the printing apparatus performs processing for obtaining a link file designated by a hyperlink. When the printing apparatus obtains the link file, it generates intermediate language data from the link file, and generates a bitmap pattern together with the intermediate language data in the text portion of the XHTML document data.

  By the way, the intermediate language data is generated in units of objects. That is, the intermediate language data corresponding to the text portion of the XHTML document data and the intermediate language data corresponding to the link file are generated separately. On the other hand, the bitmap pattern is generated in units of pages on the print medium. That is, in order to generate a bitmap pattern, the printing apparatus needs to perform processing for generating intermediate language data for one page. For this reason, when acquisition of the link file is not completed and intermediate language data for one page is not prepared, processing after generation of the bitmap pattern cannot be performed, and other processing relating to printing is delayed.

FIG. 10 is a time chart showing an example of processing of the conventional image forming apparatus.
When a plurality of hyperlinks are included in the XHTML document, as shown in FIG. 10, the printing apparatus performs processing (for example, download) in accordance with the description order to obtain a link file. At this time, the conventional printing apparatus waits for another process until acquisition of one link file is completed. For this reason, for example, if it takes a long time to complete the acquisition of the link file included in the first page, analysis of XHTML document data after the hyperlink that specifies the link file until the completion of acquisition of the link file, and other printing No other processing was done and was inefficient.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, there is an image forming apparatus in which a separate process is provided for each link file and a link file acquisition process and an analysis of the acquired link file are performed for each process (for example, Patent Document 1). FIG. 11 is a time chart of the image forming apparatus in which a separate process is provided for each external file and external file acquisition processing and analysis of the acquired external file are performed for each process.

JP 2004-127132 A

  However, the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 may not be able to efficiently perform processing related to printing.

First, the storage area of the memory of the printing device may be occupied by a plurality of processes provided for each link file acquisition process, and the memory capacity for performing other processes related to printing cannot be secured and printing may be delayed. is there. In addition, depending on the number of link file acquisition processes, all processes may not fit in the memory storage area.
Even in the case of a printing apparatus having an auxiliary storage device (for example, a hard disk or a flash memory) for saving the storage contents of the memory, it takes a long time to save the storage contents of the memory to the auxiliary storage device. In addition, overhead is caused by the saving process and the process of writing the saved data back to the memory, which is inefficient.

  Furthermore, multi-thread control for processing a plurality of processes in parallel causes an overhead when switching processes. That is, the overhead increases in proportion to the number of link files to be acquired. The overhead is a wasteful process that does not contribute to the printing process, and an increase in overhead causes a reduction in the efficiency of the process related to printing.

  The subject of this invention is performing the process regarding printing efficiently.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a printing apparatus having a data processing device that generates and outputs print data of the input data based on input data input from an external device, and the data processing device includes the input data Processing for analyzing whether data includes an instruction for referring to other data, or processing for extracting information for acquiring other data when the result of the analysis includes an instruction for referring to other data , A process for collectively managing information for acquiring the extracted other data in a list format, a process for acquiring each of the other data based on the collectively managed information, and the other data as the input data If one or more instructions to be referred to are included, the print data is generated based on a portion of the input data that does not refer to other data until acquisition of the other data is completed, Processing said generating print data based on the other data after acquisition completion of the other data, characterized in that it comprises control unit which performs the.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the printing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein after the acquisition of the other data is completed, the generation of the print data based on the other data is not referred to the other data. This is performed in preference to the generation of the print data based on the input data.

  The invention described in claim 3 is the printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein information for acquiring other extracted data is registered in a management table in units of files to be acquired. To do.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the input data includes hypertext, and the other data is designated by a hyperlink. It is a file.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for a computer of a data processing apparatus that generates and outputs print data of input data based on input data input from an external device, and issues an instruction for the input data to refer to other data. Means for analyzing whether to include, means for extracting information for acquiring other data when an instruction referring to other data is included as a result of the analysis, and acquiring the extracted other data Means for collectively managing information in a list format, means for obtaining each of the other data based on the collectively managed information, and one or more instructions referring to the other data included in the input data The print data is generated based on a portion of the input data that does not refer to other data until acquisition of the other data is completed, and after the acquisition of the other data is completed Characterized in that to function as a unit, for generating the print data based on the other data.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the program according to claim 5, wherein after the acquisition of the other data is completed, the generation of the print data based on the other data is not referred to the other data. The print data is generated with priority over the generation of the print data based on the input data.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the program according to claim 5 or 6, wherein information for acquiring other extracted data is registered in a management table in units of files to be acquired. .

  The invention according to claim 8 is the program according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the input data includes hypertext, and the other data is a file designated by a hyperlink. It is characterized by being.

  The invention according to claim 9 is a data processing method for a printing apparatus having a data processing apparatus for generating and outputting print data of the input data based on input data input from an external device, wherein the input data is A step of analyzing whether or not an instruction referring to other data is included; and a step of extracting information for acquiring the other data when an instruction referring to other data is included as a result of the analysis A step of collectively managing the information for acquiring the other data in a list format, a step of acquiring each of the other data based on the information managed in a batch, and referring to the other data for the input data If one or more instructions are included, the print data is determined based on a portion of the input data that does not refer to other data until acquisition of the other data is completed. Form, characterized in that it comprises the step of generating the print data based on the other data after the acquisition completion of the other data.

  A tenth aspect of the present invention is the data processing method of the printing apparatus according to the ninth aspect, wherein after the acquisition of the other data is completed, the generation of the print data based on the other data is performed. This is performed in preference to the generation of the print data based on the input data of the part that does not refer to.

  The invention described in claim 11 is the data processing method of the printing apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein information for acquiring the extracted other data is registered in the management table in units of files to be acquired. It is characterized by that.

  A twelfth aspect of the present invention is the data processing apparatus of the printing apparatus according to any one of the ninth to eleventh aspects, wherein the input data includes hypertext, and the other data includes a hyperlink. It is a file specified by.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently perform processing related to printing.

It is a block diagram which shows the main structures of the printing apparatus provided with the data processor by this invention. It is a figure which shows the main structures of an engine. It is a figure which shows the function of a data processor. It is a figure which shows an example of XHTML document data. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of XHTML document data. It is a figure which shows an example of a link file request management table. It is a time chart which shows the relationship between the analysis of XHTML document data by a data analysis part, and the acquisition state of an external file. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the analysis of XHTML document data by a data analysis part. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the acquisition process of the external file by a link file acquisition part. It is a time chart which shows an example of the process of the conventional image forming apparatus. 5 is a time chart of an image forming apparatus in which a separate process is provided for each external file and external file acquisition processing and analysis of the acquired external file are performed for each process.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a printing apparatus 1 having a data processing apparatus according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the printing apparatus 1 includes an engine 10 and a data processing device 40.

First, the engine 10 will be described. The engine 10 is a device that performs printing on a print medium such as paper.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a main configuration of the engine 10. The engine 10 in the present embodiment has a configuration (tandem method) in which each of four colors of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) is transferred by an individual electrostatic drum.
As shown in FIG. 2, the engine 10 includes a paper cassette 11, a paper feed roller 12, a transport roller 13, a transport belt 14, electrostatic drums 15, 16, 17, 18, print units 19, 20, 21, 22, and a laser unit. 23, 23, 23, 23, transfer rollers 24, 24, 24, 24, a fixing device 25, a paper discharge roller 26, and a housing 27.

The paper cassette 11 stocks printing media such as paper. Hereinafter, a printing process when paper is stocked in the paper cassette 11 will be described.
The paper feed roller 12 pulls out the paper in the paper cassette 11 one by one. The transport roller 13 transports the paper pulled out by the paper feed roller 12 to the transport belt 14. The paper transported to the transport belt 14 is subjected to a toner image on the paper surface by the electrostatic drums 15, 16, 17 and 18.

The electrostatic drums 15, 16, 17, and 18 transfer the toner image to paper. Hereinafter, the transfer mechanism will be described using the electrostatic drum 15 as an example.
The electrostatic drum 15 is a cylindrical member, and the outer peripheral surface of the cylinder is charged by a charging unit (not shown). The electrostatic drum 15 is exposed by receiving laser irradiation from the laser unit 23 on the charged outer peripheral surface. The laser unit 23 irradiates the electrostatic drum 15 with a laser according to a pattern (printing pattern) corresponding to an image to be printed on paper, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the outer peripheral surface of the electrostatic drum 15. Thereafter, the electrostatic drum 15 is subjected to development by the print unit 19. The print unit 19 includes a toner cartridge that stores yellow (Y) toner and a developing unit that attaches the toner in the toner cartridge to the electrostatic image. The print unit 19 generates an electrostatic image formed on the outer peripheral surface of the electrostatic drum 15. By attaching the toner, a toner image corresponding to the print pattern is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the electrostatic drum 15.
The toner image is transferred to the paper at a timing when the paper is sandwiched between the conveyance belt 14 and the electrostatic drum 15. A transfer roller 24 is provided at a position facing the electrostatic drum 15 with the conveyance belt 14 interposed therebetween, and the toner image is transferred to paper by reverse charging by the transfer roller 24.

  The electrostatic drum 16 transfers the magenta (M) toner image stored in the toner cartridge of the print unit 20 by the same mechanism as the transfer of the toner image by the electrostatic drum 15 described above, and the electrostatic drum 17 transfers the print unit 21. The cyan (C) toner image stored in the toner cartridge is transferred, and the electrostatic drum 18 transfers the black (K) toner image stored in the toner cartridge of the print unit 22. By transferring the four color toner images in a superimposed manner, the toner image is applied to the paper surface.

The paper on which the toner image has been applied is conveyed to the fixing device 25. The fixing device 25 fixes the toner image formed on the paper surface. The paper on which the toner image has been fixed is conveyed by the paper discharge roller 26 and discharged above the housing 27.
Although the printing process for paper has been described above, printing by a similar mechanism is performed on a printing medium other than paper.

The print pattern is based on the video signal 204 output from the data processing device 40. Hereinafter, the data processing device 40 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the data processing device 40 includes a CPU 41, a RAM 42, a ROM 43, a hard disk (described as HDD in the following description and drawings) 44, a communication device 45, and a bus 46.

The CPU 41 reads and executes a program corresponding to the processing content from the ROM 43 based on data (input data 200) input from the host 80 via the communication device 45, and outputs a video signal 204 to the engine 10.
The RAM 42 functions as a storage area for temporarily storing programs and data executed and processed by the CPU 41.
The ROM 43 stores various programs read by the CPU 41 in a non-rewritable state.
The HDD 44 can store data in a rewritable state.

The communication device 45 connects the data processing device 40 and an external device so that they can communicate with each other. Examples of the communication device 45 include various devices that enable connection to an external network using, for example, a wireless local area network (LAN), Bluetooth, Internet connection, and other methods. have. Examples of external devices connected to the communication device 45 so as to be able to communicate with each other include a PC, a mobile phone, a workstation connected via an external network, and the like. It is described as a host 80.
The bus 46 connects each part of the data processing device 40 and the engine 10 to each other.

Next, functions of the data processing device 40 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating functions of the data processing device 40.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the data processing device 40 functions as a data analysis unit 61, a data drawing unit 62, a print control unit 63, a printing unit 64, a link file management unit 65, and a link file acquisition unit 66.

  Each function of the data processing device 40 is obtained by the CPU 41 reading a program corresponding to each function from the ROM 43 and executing and processing the program. The ROM 43 stores a data analysis program 51, a data drawing program 52, a print control program 53, a print program 54, a link file management program 55, and a link file acquisition program 56. The CPU 41 functions as the data analysis unit 61 by reading and executing the data analysis program 51. Similarly, the CPU 41 uses the data drawing program 52 as the data drawing unit 62, the print control program 53 as the print control unit 63, the print program 54 as the printing unit 64, and the link file management program 55 as the link file management unit 65. The link file acquisition program 56 functions as a link file acquisition unit 66. The CPU 41 processes each function in parallel. Each function will be described below.

First, the function for generating the video signal 204 to be output to the engine 10 will be described.
The data analysis unit 61 generates intermediate language data 201 (for example, data by Display List, PostScript, etc.) for printing the data based on the input data 200 input from the host 80, and outputs it to the data drawing unit 62. . When the intermediate language data 201 is generated, the data analysis unit 61 reads and interprets the data.

The data drawing unit 62 generates a bitmap pattern 202 from the intermediate language data 201 input from the data analysis unit 61 and outputs it to the print control unit 63.
The print control unit 63 performs various processes relating to the layout and the like when the bitmap pattern 202 input from the data drawing unit 62 is printed on a print medium, and outputs the processed data 203 to the printing unit 64. Examples of processing performed by the print control unit 63 include control according to selection of single-sided / double-sided printing, and control of printing with page allocation.
The printing unit 64 generates a video signal 204 based on the processed data 203 input from the printing control unit 63 and outputs the video signal 204 to the engine 10. The engine 10 performs printing based on the video signal 204 input from the printing unit 64.

  Next, a function for acquiring other data when the input data 200 includes a command for referring to the other data will be described. Hereinafter, XHTML document data will be used as an example of input data including an instruction for referring to other data.

First, XHTML document data will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of XHTML document data.
The XHTML document data includes a document type declaration unit 121, an XML namespace declaration unit 122, a head element 123, and a body element 124. Hereinafter, each of these components included in the XHTML document data is collectively referred to as “XHTML command”.

  The document type declaration unit 121 is text indicating the type of the document data, and the document type declaration unit 121 shown in FIG. 4 indicates that the document data is XHTML document data. The XML namespace declaration unit 122 is a text indicating a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating information (namespace) that uniquely associates the name and meaning of a tag used in the markup language. The XML namespace shown in FIG. The declaration unit 122 indicates that each tag described in the html element belongs to the name space specified by the URL. The head element 123 is text describing various information related to the document font type, color, size, layout of each tag element, style sheet for designating margins, the document title, and other documents. The body element 124 is the body of the data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of XHTML document data. The display example shown in FIG. 5 is a display example of the XHTML document data shown in FIG.
The display content of the XHTML document data can include a text document such as the texts 91 and 92 and other data (for example, the images 101 and 102 in FIG. 5) different from the XHTML document data. The display content of the XHTML document data corresponds to the text in the body element 124 of the XHTML document data. For example, the images 101 and 102 shown in FIG. 5 are other data designated by the hyperlinks 111 and 112 shown in FIG. 4, respectively. Hereinafter, other data designated by the hyperlink is referred to as a link file.

  In the analysis, the data analysis unit 61 determines whether or not the XHTML document data includes a command for referring to other data, that is, a hyperlink. If the data analysis unit 61 determines that the XHTML document data includes a hyperlink, the data analysis unit 61 registers a link file. Specifically, the data analysis unit 61 outputs information 211 related to the link file designated by the hyperlink to the link file management unit 65.

The link file management unit 65 extracts information for acquiring a link file based on the information 211 related to the link file input from the data analysis unit, registers it in the link file request management table 131, and stores the link file. Manage acquisition status.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the link file request management table 131.
The link file request management table 131 is data generated and updated by the link file management unit 65 and is stored in the storage area of the RAM 42. As shown in FIG. 6, the link file request management table 131 is data in a list format having each record of a link file name, a link file insertion position, a URL, an acquisition completion flag, and a link file data storage directory.

  The link file name is the file name of the link file. The link file insertion position is a marker indicating the position where the link file is inserted in the intermediate language data 201 output from the data analysis unit 61. URL is the URL of the link file. The acquisition completion flag indicates whether or not the acquisition of the link file has been completed, and is “YES” if completed, or “NO” if not completed. The link file data storage directory indicates the storage location of the acquired link file.

  The link file request management table 131 manages a combination of data each having one record as an entry. Each row shown in FIG. 6 is one entry. Each entry corresponds to one file specified by one URL. In other words, the entry in the link file request management table is in units of files. The link file management unit 65 extracts and registers information corresponding to each record of the entry from the information 211 related to the link file.

  Among the records included in the entry, the link file name, the link file insertion position, and the URL content are based on information related to the link file input from the data analysis unit 61. When the link file management unit 65 receives registration of the link file from the data analysis unit 61, the link file management unit 65 generates a new entry in the link file request management table 131, and sets the link file name, the link file insertion position, and the URL in the entry. Then, the link file management unit 65 sets the acquisition completion flag of the entry as “NO”.

  After setting a new entry, the link file management unit 65 makes a link file acquisition request based on the new entry to the link file acquisition unit 66. Specifically, the link file management unit 65 outputs the link file acquisition request information 212 including the URL of the new entry to the link file acquisition unit 66.

  When the link file acquisition request information 212 is input from the link file management unit 65, the link file acquisition unit 66 acquires a link file based on the URL included in the link file acquisition request information 212. Specifically, the link file acquisition unit 66 establishes a connection with the host 80 via the communication device 45 and transmits a link file download request 215 indicated by the URL to the host 80. Then, the link file acquisition unit 66 downloads the link file and stores it in a predetermined directory (reference numeral 216 in FIG. 3). The host 80 from which the link file acquisition unit 66 requests the link file is the host indicated by the URL, and is not necessarily the same as the host 80 that has input the input data 200 to the data processing device 40.

When the link file acquisition unit 66 completes the download of the link file, the link file acquisition unit 66 outputs a download completion notification 213 indicating that the download of the link file is completed to the link file management unit 65. When the download completion notification 213 is input, the link file management unit 65 sets the acquisition completion flag of the entry corresponding to the link file in the link file request management table 131 to “ON” and stores the acquisition completion flag in the link file data storage directory. An update process for setting the path where the link file is stored is performed (reference numeral 218 in FIG. 3). Then, a link file acquisition completion notification 214 corresponding to the entry for which update processing has been performed is output to the link file analysis unit 61.
When the acquisition completion notification 214 is input, the link file analysis unit 61 analyzes the link file corresponding to the acquisition completion notification 214 and generates intermediate language data.

FIG. 7 is a time chart showing the relationship between the analysis of XHTML document data by the data analysis unit 61 and the link file acquisition state.
The data analysis unit 61 proceeds with the analysis of the XHTML document data until the link file acquisition is completed to generate intermediate language data, and after the link file acquisition is completed, analyzes the link file to generate intermediate language data of the link file. To do. At this time, when the acquisition of the link file is completed, the data analysis unit 61 prioritizes the analysis of the link file over the analysis of the XHTML document data after the link file, and analyzes the XHTML document data after completing the analysis of the link file. To resume. In other words, in the present embodiment, link file acquisition management by the link file management unit 65 is performed as an independent process for mediating between one analysis process by the data analysis unit 61 and the link file acquisition process by the link file acquisition unit 66. Have a process.

  The link file acquisition unit 66 can acquire a plurality of link files in parallel, but may acquire one link file sequentially. At this time, the link file acquisition unit 66 preferentially acquires the link file corresponding to the hyperlink described earlier in the link file to be printed first, that is, the XHTML document data.

  Analysis of XHTML document data is performed in units of pages at the time of printing. Each time the analysis including all the printing contents for one page is completed, the data drawing unit 62 generates the bitmap pattern 202 for one page. Therefore, the data analyzing unit 61 performs the printing for one page to be printed earlier. The analysis of the XHTML document data of the corresponding part is performed with priority. If the page layout cannot be determined because the size of the link file at the time of printing is unknown and the page break position at the time of printing is unknown, the data analysis unit 61 has completed the analysis of XTHML document data other than hyperlinks. The link file that has been downloaded sequentially is analyzed later.

  When XHTML document data that does not include a hyperlink is input, the data analysis unit only analyzes the XHTML document data and generates intermediate language data.

Next, the flow of processing performed by the data processing device 40 will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS. In the following description, the process of reading various programs from the ROM 43 by the CPU 41 is omitted.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of analysis of XHTML document data by the data analysis unit 61.
When the XHTML document data is received from the host 80 (step S1), the CPU 41 determines whether or not there is an unanalyzed XHTML command in the received XHTML document data (step S2). If there is an XHTML command whose XTHML document data is not analyzed (step S2: YES), the CPU 41 reads the topmost XHTML command among the unanalyzed XHTML commands (step S3), and whether the read XHTML command includes a hyperlink. It is determined whether or not (step S4). When the XHTML command includes a hyperlink (step S4: YES), the CPU 41 registers the link file designated by the hyperlink (step S5). If the XHTML command does not include a hyperlink in step S4 (step S4: NO), the CPU 41 analyzes the XHTML command (step S6). After step S5 or step S6, the process returns to step S2.

  If there is no XHTML command whose XHTML document data has not been analyzed in step S2 (step S2: NO), the CPU 41 reads the link file request management table 131 (step S7), and the link file request management table 131 has an unanalyzed link file. It is determined whether there is an entry corresponding to (step S8). When there is an entry corresponding to the unanalyzed link file in the link file request management table 131 (step S8: YES), the CPU 41 indicates that the acquisition completion flag of the top entry among the entries corresponding to the unanalyzed link file is ON. It is determined whether or not there is (step S9). If the acquisition completion flag is ON in step S9 (step S9: YES), the CPU 41 analyzes the link file corresponding to the entry read in step S7 (step S10). If the acquisition completion flag is OFF in step S9 (step S9: NO), the process waits until the acquisition completion flag is turned ON.

  After step S10, the process returns to step S8. In step S8, when there is no entry corresponding to the unanalyzed link file in the link file request management table 131 (step S8: NO), the CPU 41 ends the process.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of link file acquisition processing.
The CPU 41 establishes a connection with the host 80 via the communication device 45, notifies the link file download request to the host 80, and starts downloading the link file (step S21). Then, it waits until the download of the link file is completed (step S22: NO). When the download is completed (step S22: YES), the CPU 41 sets the acquisition completion flag of the link file request management table 131 of the link file to “ON”. (Step S23).

According to the present embodiment, since the link file management unit 65 sets an entry in the link file request management table 131 and causes the link file acquisition unit 66 to acquire the link file, an individual file acquisition process and analysis process for each link file There is no need to provide. Therefore, the amount of memory used in the analysis of XHTML document data that refers to a link file can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional case in which a link file acquisition process and an analysis process are provided for each link file.
Further, the XHTML document data is analyzed by the data analysis unit 61 by one process, and the link file management unit 65 manages the acquisition of the link file by the link file acquisition unit 66 by one process independent of the other processes. A link file acquisition process and an analysis process are provided for each link file, that is, the number of processes can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional case in which processes increased in proportion to the number of link files operate in parallel. As a result, overhead caused by process switching can be greatly reduced, and efficient analysis of XHTML document data can be performed.

Further, if the data analysis unit 61 determines that there is an XHTML command including a hyperlink, the data analysis unit 61 passes the acquisition process of the link file specified by the hyperlink to the link file management unit 65 while analyzing the XHTML command after the hyperlink. Proceed. Since the data analysis unit 61, the link file management unit 65, and the link file acquisition unit 66 perform processing in parallel, in the analysis of XHTML document data accompanied by acquisition of the link file, the analysis of XHTML commands after the hyperlink is performed. There is no delay. For this reason, it is possible to proceed with the analysis of XHTML document data other than the link file using the time until the link file acquisition is completed, and it is possible to efficiently analyze the XHTML document data.
Further, when the acquisition of the link file is completed, the data analysis unit 61 performs the analysis of the link file with priority over the analysis of the XHTML document data. That is, the analysis of the link file included in the contents printed before the XHTML document data that has been advanced until the completion of acquisition of the link file is performed with priority. As a result, intermediate language data of a page that can be printed after completion of acquisition of the link file can be quickly generated, and the speed of the printing process can be improved.

  Further, the link file management unit 65 includes one entry and one entry in the list-type link file request management table 131 having records of link file name, link file insertion position, URL, acquisition completion flag, and link file data storage directory. The acquisition completion status of each link file is indicated by an acquisition completion flag in association with the link file acquisition request. For this reason, the process regarding acquisition of a plurality of link files can be managed individually.

  Furthermore, since the data input to the data analysis unit 61 is XHTML document data, and the link file acquired by the link file acquisition unit 66 is a link file specified by a hyperlink, the data processing device 40 is a PC or a portable terminal. The image processing according to the print request of the XHTML document data displayed by the above can be performed.

  The embodiment of the present invention should be considered that the embodiment disclosed this time is illustrative and not restrictive in all respects. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  For example, the engine is not limited to the tandem method, but may be another method. Examples of other methods include a method using one electrostatic drum (one drum method) and the like.

  Each unit of the data processing device may have another configuration having an equivalent function. For example, another storage device (such as a flash memory) may be used for the ROM, the hard disk, and the like.

  The data to be analyzed is not limited to XHTML document data, but may be data in another markup language including hyperlinks, data in a unique format that refers to external data, or the like.

  In the above description, the example in which the ROM is used as the computer-readable medium of the program according to the present invention has been disclosed, but the present invention is not limited to this example. As other computer-readable media, a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory and a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM can be applied. Further, a carrier wave (carrier wave) is also applied to the present invention as a medium for providing program data according to the present invention via a communication line.

10 engine 41 CPU
42 RAM
43 ROM
45 Communication device 80 Host

Claims (12)

A printing apparatus having a data processing apparatus that generates and outputs print data of the input data based on input data input from an external device, wherein the data processing apparatus includes:
Processing for analyzing whether or not the input data includes an instruction for referring to other data;
As a result of the analysis, when an instruction that refers to other data is included, a process of extracting information for acquiring the other data;
A process that collectively manages the information to acquire other extracted data in a list format,
A process of acquiring each of the other data based on the collectively managed information;
When the input data includes one or more instructions for referring to the other data, the print data is generated based on a portion of the input data that does not refer to the other data until acquisition of the other data is completed. And processing for generating the print data based on the other data after completion of acquisition of the other data,
A printing apparatus comprising a control unit for performing the above.   After the acquisition of the other data is completed, the generation of the print data based on the other data is performed in preference to the generation of the print data based on the input data in a portion that does not refer to the other data. The printing apparatus according to claim 1.   3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein information for acquiring the extracted other data is registered in the management table in units of files to be acquired. The input data includes hypertext,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the other data is a file designated by a hyperlink. A computer of a data processing device that generates and outputs print data of the input data based on input data input from an external device,
Means for analyzing whether the input data includes an instruction for referring to other data;
Means for extracting information for acquiring the other data when an instruction referring to the other data is included as a result of the analysis;
A means to collectively manage information for acquiring other extracted data in a list format,
Means for acquiring each of the other data based on the collectively managed information;
When the input data includes one or more instructions for referring to the other data, the print data is generated based on a portion of the input data that does not refer to the other data until acquisition of the other data is completed. And means for generating the print data based on the other data after completion of acquisition of the other data,
A program characterized by functioning as   After the acquisition of the other data is completed, the generation of the print data based on the other data is performed in preference to the generation of the print data based on the input data in a portion that does not refer to the other data. The program according to claim 5.   The program according to claim 5 or 6, wherein information for acquiring other extracted data is registered in a management table in units of files to be acquired. The input data includes hypertext,
The program according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the other data is a file designated by a hyperlink. A data processing method for a printing apparatus having a data processing apparatus for generating and outputting print data of the input data based on input data input from an external device,
Analyzing whether the input data includes an instruction to refer to other data;
As a result of the analysis, a step of extracting information for acquiring other data when an instruction referring to the other data is included;
Steps to collectively manage information for obtaining other extracted data in a list format,
Obtaining each of the other data based on the collectively managed information;
When the input data includes one or more instructions for referring to the other data, the print data is generated based on a portion of the input data that does not refer to the other data until acquisition of the other data is completed. And generating the print data based on the other data after completing the acquisition of the other data,
A data processing method for a printing apparatus, comprising:   After the acquisition of the other data is completed, the generation of the print data based on the other data is performed in preference to the generation of the print data based on the input data in a portion that does not refer to the other data. A data processing method for a printing apparatus according to claim 9.   The data processing method for a printing apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein information for acquiring other extracted data is registered in the management table in units of files to be acquired. The input data includes hypertext,
12. The data processing method for a printing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the other data is a file designated by a hyperlink.

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