PRINTER, PRINTING SYSTEM, PRINT CONTROL METHOD, STORAGE MEDIUM USED TO STORE PRINT CONTROL PROGRAM FOR CONTROLLING A PRINTER, AND TRANSMISSION DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING PRINT CONTROL PROGRAM FOR CONTROLLING A PRINTER

• US 6,633,395 B1
• Filed: 12/09/1998
• Issued: 10/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Mori, Junichi, Tuchitoi, Naoki
• Primary Examiner(s): Grant, II, Jerome
• Application Number:
  US09/207,999
• Time in Patent Office: 1,770 Days
• Field of Search: 358/1.14, 358/1.15, 358/401, 358/501
• US Class Current: 358/1.14
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1212 achieving reduced delay between job submission and print start
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1259 Print job monitoring, e.g. job status
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1274 Deleting of print job
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1284 Local printer device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1285 Remote printer device, e.g. being remote from client or server
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/00 Arrangements for producing a permanent visual presentation of the output data , e.g. computer output printersprinting or plotting combined with another operation, e.g. with conveying, G06K17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1803 Receiving particular commands
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 15/1817 Buffers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A print job can be identified without the print data of the print job being analyzed, and print data for a print job that is selected, e.g., print data stored in an input buffer, can be invalidated. In addition, the cancellation of a print job can be designated in real time. To achieve the above object, a host computer and a printer are interconnected via a communication medium. The host computer comprises job packet generation means for adding a header to print data to form a packet for each print job that is generated. The printer comprises job detection and registration means for detecting the start and end of a print job in accordance with the contents of the header of a packet received from the host computer, and for registering the print job in a database.

Claims

1. A print control apparatus comprising:

an input unit arranged for inputting, as a print job, print data to which header information on the print data is added;

a preprocessor unit arranged for storing the print data of the print job input by said input unit in a print data storage area in accordance with the header information;

a manager unit arranged for managing print job identification information that identifies the print job, in correspondence to the print data stored in the print data storage area;

an interpreter unit arranged for interpreting the print data stored in the print data storage area; and

a print data invalidation unit arranged for, in response to an instruction to cancel a designated print job, invalidating the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information managed by said manager unit for the designated print job among print data stored in the print data storage area.

2. A print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the print data storage area comprises an input buffer constituted by buffer blocks for the storage of the print job identification information and the print data.

3. A print control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said input buffer is constituted by a used buffer block queue of buffer blocks in which the print job identification information and the print data are stored, and an unused buffer block queue of unused buffer blocks, and

wherein said print data invalidation unit extracts, from the used buffer block queue, a buffer block in which is stored print job identification information that matches the print job identification information of the designated print job, and links the buffer block that is extracted to the unused buffer block queue.

4. A print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when said interpreter unit interprets the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job, said print data invalidation unit halts the interpretation by said interpreter unit.

5. A print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a print job detection unit arranged for, without interpreting the print data of the print job, assigning the print job identification information to the print job.

6. A print control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said input unit inputs data indicating a start of the print job and attribute data to which header information on an attribute set is added, and said print job detection unit detects the data indicating the start of the print job and assigns the print job identification information to the print job.

7. A print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a print job control unit arranged for, upon receiving a print control request, controlling in accordance with a print control command the print job that is specified by the print job identification information that is designated by the print control request.

8. A print control apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a job channel for the input/output of the print job; and

a control channel for the input/output of the print control request.

9. A print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cancellation instruction detection unit arranged for detecting an externally received instruction for cancellation of the print job.

10. A print control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a print job display unit arranged for displaying all the print jobs held by said print control apparatus; and

a print job selection unit arranged for selecting a print job to be canceled from among the print jobs displayed by said print job display unit.

11. A print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said interpreter unit translates the print data stored in the print data storage area and converts the print data into drawing object data adequate for drawing.

12. A print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, in response to the instruction to cancel the print job, said preprocessor unit abandons the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job.

13. A printing system in which an upper apparatus and a print control apparatus are connected via a communication medium,

wherein said print control apparatus comprises:

an input unit arranged for inputting, as a print job, print data received from said upper apparatus to which header information on the print data is added;

a preprocessor unit arranged for storing the print data of the print job input by said input unit in a print data storage area in accordance with the header information;

a manager unit arranged for managing print job identification information that identifies the print job, in correspondence to the print data stored in the print data storage area;

an interpreter unit arranged for interpreting the print data stored in the print data storage area; and

a print data invalidation unit arranged for, in response to an instruction to cancel a designated print job, invalidating the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information managed by said manager unit for the designated print job among print data stored in the print data storage area.

14. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein the print data storage area comprises an input buffer constituted by buffer blocks for the storage of the print job identification information and the print data.

15. A printing system according to claim 14, wherein said input buffer is constituted by a used buffer block queue of buffer blocks in which the print job identification information and the print data are stored, and an unused buffer block queue of unused buffer blocks, and

wherein said print data invalidation unit extracts, from the used buffer block queue, a buffer block in which is stored print job identification information that matches the print job identification information of the designated print job, and links the buffer block that is extracted to the unused buffer block queue.

16. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein when said interpreter unit interprets the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job, said print data invalidation unit halts the interpretation by said interpreter unit.

17. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein said print control apparatus further comprises a print job detection unit arranged for, without interpreting the print data of the print job, assigning the print job identification information to the print job received from upper apparatus.

18. A printing system according to claim 17, wherein said input unit inputs data indicating a start of the print job and attribute data to which header information on an attribute set is added, and said print job detection unit detects the data indicating the start of the print job and assigns the print job identification information to the print job.

19. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein said upper apparatus comprises utility means for issuing a print control request to manage the print job in said print control apparatus;

and

wherein said print control apparatus further comprises a print job control unit for, upon receiving the print control request, controlling in accordance with a print control command the print job that is specified by the print job identification information that is designated by the print control request.

20. A printing system according to claim 19, wherein said communication medium comprises:

a job channel for the input/output of the print job; and

a control channel for the input/output of the print control request.

21. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein said print control apparatus further comprises a cancellation instruction detection unit arranged for detecting an externally received instruction for cancellation of the print job.

22. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein said print control apparatus further comprises:

a print job display unit arranged for displaying all the print jobs held by said print control apparatus; and

a print job selection unit arranged for selecting a print job to be canceled from among the print jobs displayed by said print job display unit.

23. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein said interpreter unit translates the print data stored in the print data storage area and converts the print data into drawing object data adequate for drawing.

24. A printing system according to claim 13, wherein, in response to the instruction to cancel the print job, said preprocessor unit abandons the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job.

25. A print control method for a print control apparatus, comprising:

an input step of inputting, as a print job, print data to which header information on the print data is added;

a preprocessing step of storing the print data of the print job input in said input step in a print data storage area in accordance with the header information;

a management step of managing print job identification information that identifies the print job, in correspondence to the print data stored in the print data storage area;

an interpreting step of interpreting the print data stored in the print storage area; and

a print data invalidation step of invalidating the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information managed in said management step for a designated print job among print data stored in the print data storage area in response to an instruction to cancel the designated print job.

26. A print control method according to claim 25, wherein the print data storage area comprises an input buffer constituted by buffer blocks for the storage of the print job identification information and the print data.

27. A print control method according to claim 26, wherein the input buffer is constituted by a used buffer block queue of buffer blocks in which the print job identification information and the print data are stored, and an unused buffer block queue of unused buffer blocks, and

wherein, in said print data invalidation step, a buffer block, in which is stored print job identification information that matches the print job identification information of the designated print job, is extracted from the used buffer block queue, and the buffer block that is extracted is linked to the unused buffer block queue.

28. A print control method according to claim 25, wherein, when the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job are being interpreted in said interpreting step, the interpretation is halted in said print data invalidation step.

29. A print control method according to claim 25, further comprising a print job detection step of, without analyzing the print data for the print job, assigning the print job identification information to the print job.

30. A print control method according to claim 29, wherein data indicating a start of the print job and attribute data to which header information on an attribute set is added is input in said input step, and the data indicating the start of the print job is detected and the print job identification information is assigned to the print job in said print job detection step.

31. A print control method according to claim 25, further comprising a print job control step of, upon receiving a print control request, controlling in accordance with a print control command the print job that is specified by the print job identification information that is designated by the print control request.

32. A print control method according to claim 31, wherein the print control apparatus further comprises:

a job channel for the input/output of the print job; and

a control channel for the input/output of the print control request.

33. A print control method according to claim 25, further comprising a cancellation instruction detection step of detecting that an externally received instruction for cancellation of the print job is entered at an operation unit provided for the print control apparatus.

34. A print control method according to claim 25, further comprising:

a print job display step of displaying all the print jobs held by the print control apparatus; and

a print job selection step of selecting a print job to be canceled from among the print jobs displayed in said print job display step.

35. A print control method according to claim 25, wherein the print data stored in the print data storage area is translated and converted into drawing object data adequate for drawing in said interpreting step.

36. A print control method according to claim 25, wherein, in response to the instruction to cancel the print job, the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job is abandoned in said preprocessing step.

37. A storage medium on which is stored a print control program for controlling a print control apparatus, said print control program comprising code for:

an input step of inputting, as a print job, print data to which header information on the print data is added;

a preprocessing step of storing the print data of the print job input in said input step in a print data storage area in accordance with the header information;

a management step of managing print job identification information that identifies the print job, in correspondence with the print data stored in the print data storage area;

an interpreting step of interpreting the print data stored in the print storage area; and

a print data invalidation step of invalidating the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information managed in said management step for a designated print job among print data stored in the print data storage area in response to an instruction to cancel the designated print job.

38. A storage medium according to claim 37, wherein the print data storage area comprises an input buffer constituted by buffer blocks for the storage of the print job identification information and the print data.

39. A storage medium according to claim 38, wherein the input buffer is constituted by a used buffer block queue of buffer blocks in which the print job identification information and the print data are stored, and an unused buffer block queue of unused buffer blocks, and

wherein, in said print data invalidation step, a buffer block, in which is stored print job identification information that matches the print job identification information of the designated print job, is extracted from the used buffer block queue, and the buffer block that is extracted is linked to the unused buffer block queue.

40. A storage medium according to claim 37, wherein, when the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job are being interpreted in said interpreting step, the interpretation is halted in said print data invalidation step.

41. A storage medium according to claim 37, wherein said print control program further comprises code for a print job detection step of, without analyzing the print data for the print job, assigning the print job identification information to the print job.

42. A storage medium according to claim 37, wherein said print control program further comprises code for a print job control step of, upon receiving a print control request, controlling in accordance with a print control command the print job that is specified by the print job identification information that is designated by the print control request.

43. A storage medium according to claim 42, wherein the print control apparatus further comprises:

a job channel for the input/output of the print job; and

a control channel for the input/output of the print control request.

44. A storage medium according to claim 37, wherein said print control program further comprises code for a cancellation instruction detection step of detecting that an externally received instruction for cancellation of the print job is entered at an operation unit provided for the print control apparatus.

45. A storage medium according to claim 37, wherein said print control program further comprises code for:

a print job display step of displaying all the print jobs held by the print control apparatus; and

a print job selection step of selecting a print job to be canceled from among the print jobs displayed in said print job display step.

46. A print control apparatus comprising:

an input unit arranged for inputting, as a print job, data indicating a start of the print job and print data to which header information on the print data is added;

an assignor unit arranged for assigning print job identification information that identifies the print job, in response to the data indicating the start of the print job;

a preprocessor unit arranged for storing the print data of the print job in a print data storage area in accordance with the header information; and

an interpreter unit arranged for interpreting the print data stored in the print data storage area,

wherein, in response to an instruction to cancel a print job, said preprocessor unit abandons the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of a designated print job.

47. A print control apparatus according to claim 46, further comprising a print data invalidation unit arranged for, in response to the instruction to cancel a print job, invalidating the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job among print data stored in the print data storage area.

48. A print control apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said interpreter unit translates the print data stored in the print data storage area and converts the print data to a drawing object adequate for drawing.

49. A print control apparatus according to claim 46, wherein said input unit inputs the data indicating the start of the print job, attribute data to which header information on an attribute set is added, and the print data.

50. A print control method for a print control apparatus comprising:

an input step of inputting, as a print job, data indicating a start of the print job and print data to which header information on the print data is added;

an assignment step of assigning print job identification information that identifies the print job, in response to the data indicating the start of the print job;

a preprocessing step of storing the print data of the print job in a print data storage area in accordance with the header information; and

an interpreting step of interpreting the print data stored in the print data storage area,

wherein, in response to an instruction to cancel a print job, the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of a designated print job is abandoned in said preprocessing step.

51. A print control method according to claim 50, further comprising a print data invalidation step of, in response to the instruction to cancel a print job, invalidating the print data that corresponds to the print job identification information of the designated print job among print data stored in the print data storage area.

52. A print control method according to claim 50, wherein the print data stored in the print data storage area is translated and converted to a drawing object adequate for drawing in said interpreting step.

53. A print control method according to claim 50, wherein the data indicating the start of the print job, attribute data to which header information on an attribute set is added, and the print data are input in said input step.