JP5244770B2 - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  When printing is performed by an image forming apparatus such as a printer, print data is transmitted from a host device such as a personal computer to the image forming apparatus, and printing is executed by the image forming apparatus.

  The host device once spools the print data and sequentially transmits it to the printer. In the first technique, the host device divides print data having a large data size, and sequentially deletes the divided data that has been printed (for example, see Patent Document 1). Thereby, resources (memory, etc.) in the host device are effectively used.

  In the second technique, the host device stores print data to be used for print processing, and when reprinting is performed later, the print data is reconfigured according to a reprint request, and reconfigured printing is performed. Data is transmitted to a printer (see, for example, Patent Document 2). This shortens the processing time in the host device during reprinting.

JP 2001-243028 A JP 2005-346357 A

  In the first and second technologies described above, print data is divided or reconfigured by the host device. For this reason, since the image forming apparatus receives print data as usual and processes the print data to perform printing, it does not contribute much to shortening the processing time in the image forming apparatus and saving resources.

  Also, if the first technique described above is applied to print data received in the image forming apparatus, the print data is processed in order from the beginning to the end in the image forming apparatus. Although the resources used are saved, if the print data is structured as a directory structure and the data arrangement order in the print data does not match the processing order, the timing at which the divided data can be deleted is delayed. Therefore, the resource saving effect is reduced, and the management (generation and deletion) of the divided data becomes complicated. As a result, the processing time in the image forming apparatus may be increased.

  Also, if the second technique described above is applied to print data received in the image forming apparatus, the first print is performed using the received print data as it is in the first print. With respect to the above, effects such as reduction in processing speed and resource saving cannot be obtained.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an image forming apparatus capable of saving resources such as a memory and increasing the processing speed of print data.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

An image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a data receiving unit that receives print data, and blocks that are not used for printing based on the print data based on the data structure information included in the print data after analyzing the print data for each block. A data analysis unit that deletes and rearranges blocks in the print data in the order of pages to be printed based on the print data, and a print image generation that generates print image data based on the print data processed by the data analysis unit A part. The data receiving unit stores the received block of print data in the memory, and the data analyzing unit (a) determines whether or not the received block is a block of data structure information, and (b) received If the block is a data structure information block, it is determined whether or not all the data structure information blocks of the print data have been received, and (c) all the data structure information included in the print data When a block is received, a block that is not used for printing is identified based on the data structure information, a block that is not used for printing is deleted from the memory, and (d) all data structure information included in the print data is stored. For blocks received after being received, whether or not to use for printing is specified based on the data structure information, and blocks not used for printing are stored in memory To remove without storing.

  This eliminates data blocks that are not required for printing in the preprocessing and rearranges the data blocks in an order suitable for subsequent data processing, thus saving resources such as memory and increasing the processing speed of print data. Can do.

  In addition to the image forming apparatus described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention may be configured as follows. In this case, the data structure information is information indicating a document included in the print data and a page included in each document.

  In addition to the image forming apparatus described above, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention may be configured as follows. In this case, the print data is XPS data, and the above-described block is a file in the XPS data.

  According to the present invention, resources such as memory can be saved and the processing speed of print data can be increased.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a processing unit realized by the image processing program in the apparatus of FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the data analysis unit in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of print data received by the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of print data after the print data illustrated in FIG. 4 is reconfigured. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of XPS print data received by the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of XPS print data after the print data illustrated in FIG. 6 is reconstructed.

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

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, an arithmetic processing unit 1 is a computer that executes processing according to a program. The data storage device 2 is a device having a recording medium on which programs, data, and the like are recorded. The data storage device 2 stores an image processing program 21. As such an apparatus, a portable recording medium such as a flash memory, a hard disk drive, a compact disk, and its drive are used. The communication interface 3 is a device that performs data communication with other devices. As the communication interface 3, a peripheral device interface, a network interface, or the like is used. The output device 4 is a device that outputs an image, such as a printer or a display.

  The arithmetic processing unit 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a VRAM (Video RAM) 14, and a data communication with each other via a bus or a controller. Interfaces 15 to 17 are provided.

  The CPU 11 is an arithmetic processing unit that loads a program stored in the data storage device 2 or the ROM 12 to the RAM 13 and executes the program, and executes processing described in the program. The ROM 12 is a nonvolatile memory that stores programs and data in advance. The RAM 13 is a memory that temporarily stores the program and data when the program is executed.

  The VRAM 14 is a memory that stores the color value of each pixel in the drawing area corresponding to the output device 4.

  The interface 15 is an interface circuit to which the data storage device 2 can be connected. The interface 16 is an interface circuit to which the communication interface 3 can be connected. The interface 17 is an interface circuit to which the output device 4 can be connected.

  When the image processing program 21 is executed by the arithmetic processing device 1, various processing units are realized. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a processing unit realized by the image processing program 21 in the apparatus of FIG.

  In FIG. 2, a data receiving unit 31 is a processing unit that performs data communication with a device such as a host computer via the communication interface 3.

  The data analysis unit 32 is a processing unit that analyzes received data and extracts drawing commands and the like. In this embodiment, the data analysis unit 32 analyzes the received print data for each block, deletes blocks not used for printing based on the print data, based on the data structure information included in the print data, The blocks in the print data are rearranged in the order of pages to be printed based on the print data. In this embodiment, the data structure information is information indicating a document included in the print data and a page included in each document. When the print data is XPS (XML Paper Specification) data, the data structure information is [Content_Types]. xml and _rels \. rels, and [Content_Types]. xml and _rels \. Other files specified in rels (for example, FixedDocSeq.fdseq) are included.

  The drawing data processing unit 33 is a processing unit that causes the drawing unit 34 to execute a drawing process corresponding to the drawing command extracted by the data analysis unit 32. The drawing unit 34 is a processing unit that writes a bitmap based on the display list generated by the drawing data processing unit 33 to the VRAM 14. The drawing data processing unit 33 and the drawing unit 34 function as a print image generation unit that generates print image data (bitmap data) based on the print data processed by the data analysis unit 32.

  The output unit 35 is a processing unit that supplies the bitmap in the VRAM 14 to the output device 4 and causes the output device 4 to perform image output (printing or the like).

  The memory management unit 36 is a processing unit that manages the memory in the arithmetic processing device 1. The system control unit 37 is a processing unit that controls each unit in the arithmetic processing device 1.

  Next, the operation of the above apparatus (mainly the data analysis unit 32) will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the data analysis unit 32 in the image forming apparatus shown in FIG.

  When the data reception unit 31 receives a data block in the print data through the communication interface 3 (step S1), the data analysis unit 32 determines whether the data block is a block of data structure information (step S2). .

  At this time, when the print data is XPS data, the XPS data is one ZIP archive, and includes a plurality of files as a plurality of data blocks. Among those files, [Content_Types]. xml, FixedDocSeq. fdseq, FixedDoc. fdoc, 1. fpage. It is determined that a predetermined file such as rels is a block of data structure information.

  If the received data block is not a data structure information block, the data analysis unit 32 determines whether or not all data structure information for the print data has been received (step S3).

  If there is data structure information not received for this print data, the data analysis unit 32 spools the received data block in the RAM 13 and adds it to the data block list in the RAM 13 (step S4). In other words, at this point in time, all data structure information is not clear, so it is unknown whether the received data block is necessary for printing and the optimal arrangement position of the data block is unknown. The block is once spooled in the RAM 13.

  On the other hand, when the received data block is a block of data structure information (step S2), the data analysis unit 32 spools the data structure information together with the already received data structure information to the RAM 13 (step S5). Then, the data analysis unit 32 determines whether or not all data structure information about the print data has been received (step S6).

  Then, when all data structure information about the print data is received, the data analysis unit 32 selects the print data out of the data blocks spooled in the RAM 13 at this time based on the data structure information. A data block that is not used for printing based on this is specified and deleted from the RAM 13 (step S7). If there is data structure information that has not been received for the print data, the data analysis unit 32 does not perform the process of step S7. That is, when all the data structure information about the print data is clarified, unnecessary data blocks are deleted.

  In addition, when a block other than the data structure information is received, if the data block of all the data structure information has already been received, the data analysis unit 32 receives the data based on the data structure information. It is determined whether or not the data block is a data block that is not used for printing based on the print data (step S8). If the received data block is a block used for printing based on the print data, the data analysis unit 32 spools the data block to the RAM 13 and adds it to the data block list in the RAM 13 (step S4). On the other hand, when the received data block is a block that is not used for printing based on the print data, the data analysis unit 32 deletes the data block.

  In this way, the processes in steps S1 to S8 are executed for each data block of the print data. Then, the data receiving unit 31 and the data analyzing unit 32 determine whether or not all the data blocks of the print data have been received (step S9), and execute the processes of steps S1 to S8 for the next data block.

  When all the data blocks of the print data are received, the data analysis unit 32 determines that the data block arrangement order is optimal for subsequent processing based on the received data structure information. The contents of the structure information are updated (step S10), and the data blocks are rearranged (step S11).

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of print data received by the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of print data after the print data illustrated in FIG. 4 is reconfigured.

  In the print data shown in FIG. 4, the data block is not arranged for each page and includes data unnecessary for printing. In this form of print data, the data structure information specifies the data blocks included in the print data, and therefore the arrangement order of the data blocks is arbitrary. In the print data shown in FIG. 4, the data structure information has a hierarchical structure including data structure information about the entire print data and data structure information of each page. By performing the above-described processing on the print data shown in FIG. 4, unnecessary data blocks are deleted and data blocks are rearranged so as to be continuous for each page as shown in FIG. .

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of XPS print data received by the image forming apparatus illustrated in FIG. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data configuration of XPS print data after the print data illustrated in FIG. 6 is reconstructed.

  In the XPS print data shown in FIG. 6, [Content_Types] .xml, FixedDocSeq.fdseq, FixedDoc.fdoc, and i.fpage.rels (i is a page number, i = 1,...) Of each page are data structure information. It becomes. [Content_Types] .xml is a file containing definitions of file extensions of data blocks. FixedDocSeq.fdseq is a file that includes a list of one or more documents included in the print data (here, FixedDoc.fdoc is included as a document). FixedDoc.fdoc is a file containing a list of pages contained in this document. i.fpage.rels is a file that specifies fonts, image files, and the like used in page i. Further, as data blocks other than the data structure information, the XPS print data shown in FIG. 6 has the following. i.fpage is a file in which the contents of page i are described in XML (Extensible Markup Language). 1.jpeg is an image data file used on the first page. Font.odttf is a file that specifies a font to be used on the first page. Thumbnail.jpg is a thumbnail file of the first page and is not used for printing. The paths in the XPS print data (ZIP file) for each of the above files are \ [Content_Types] .xml, \ FixedDocSeq.fdseq, \ Documents \ j \ FixedDoc.fdoc (jth document), \ Documents \ j \ Pages \ _rels \ i.fpage.rels (i-th page of j-th document), \ Documents \ j \ Pages \ i.fpage (i-th page of j-th document), \ Resources \ font. odttf and \ docProps \ thumbnail.jpg. By executing the above-described processing on the print data shown in FIG. 6, unnecessary data blocks of thumbnail images are deleted and the data blocks are repeated so as to be continuous for each page as shown in FIG. Arranged.

  Then, print image data is generated by the drawing data processing unit 33 and the drawing unit 34 from the print data rearranged in this way, and the output unit 35 controls the output device 4 based on the print image data to generate an image. Perform output (printing, etc.).

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the data analysis unit 32 analyzes the print data for each block, and based on the data structure information included in the print data, blocks that are not used for printing based on the print data. The blocks in the print data are rearranged in the order of pages to be printed based on the print data.

  As a result, data blocks that are not required for printing are deleted during spooling during spooling, and the data blocks are rearranged in a sequential order suitable for subsequent data processing, saving resources such as memory and the subsequent data processing speed. Can be high.

  The above-described embodiments are preferred examples of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. is there.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the print data may be in a format other than XPS data.

  The present invention is applicable to an image forming apparatus such as a printer.

13 RAM (an example of memory)
31 Data Receiving Unit 32 Data Analysis Unit 33 Drawing Data Processing Unit (Example of Print Image Generation Unit)
34 Drawing unit (an example of a print image generation unit)

Claims (3)

A data receiver for receiving print data;
The print data is analyzed for each block, and blocks not used for printing based on the print data are deleted based on the data structure information included in the print data, and the order of pages printed based on the print data is A data analysis unit for rearranging the blocks in the print data;
A print image generation unit that generates print image data based on the print data processed by the data analysis unit;
Equipped with a,
The data receiving unit stores the received block of print data in a memory;
The data analysis unit
Determining whether the received block is a block of data structure information;
If the received block is a data structure information block, determine whether all the data structure information blocks of the print data have been received;
When all the blocks of the data structure information included in the print data are received, the blocks that are not used for the printing are specified based on the data structure information, and the blocks that are not used for the printing are deleted from the memory. And
A block received after all the data structure information included in the print data is received is specified based on the data structure information whether to use for the printing, and a block not used for the printing is specified. Deleting without storing in the memory;
An image forming apparatus. Wherein the data structure information, the document included in the print data, and an image forming apparatus according to claim 1 Symbol placement be information indicating the pages contained in each document. The print data is XPS data, the block, the image forming apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the said is a file in the XPS data.

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