System and method for distributing print jobs

• US 6,687,018 B1
• Filed: 11/07/1997
• Issued: 02/03/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Bonham, Larry Dean, Nesbitt, David P., Nesbitt, Leslie B., Leong, Gilbert Kwock Keong
• Primary Examiner(s): GARCIA, GABRIEL I
• Application Number:
  US08/966,404
• Time in Patent Office: 2,279 Days
• Field of Search: 395/114, 395/112, 395/110, 395/101, 395/115, 358/402, 358/403, 358/407, 358/468, 358/1.15, 358/1.13, 358/1.11, 358/1.1, 358/1.14, 358/1.16
• US Class Current: 358/1.15
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1205 resulting in increased flexibility in print job configuration, e.g. job settings, print requirements, job tickets
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/126 Job scheduling, e.g. queuing, determine appropriate device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1288 in client-server-printer device configuration

Abstract

A printing system for distributing print requests submitted by one or more clients includes a server that receives the print requests, generates a print job from one or more print requests, and extracts attributes of the print job. A database contains attributes of the logical printers and physical printers associated with the logical printers, the queues of a network and the attributes of the print job received from the clients. A database query is used to filter the attributes extracted from a print job against the attributes of the physical printers associated with the logical printer to which the print job was sent to determine whether the print job is printable by at least one of the associated physical printers. A queue stores print jobs that are determined to be acceptable. Each printer is capable of notifying the server when it is idle. A second database query, based on the attributes of an available physical printer, is used to filter against the attributes of the available printer against the attributes of the printable jobs in the associated queue, to determine which available jobs are printable on the available printer. One of the determined printable jobs is then output to the available physical printer.

Claims

1. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request from a client;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining, without intervention from the client, whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on a comparison between print attributes of the request and attributes of the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only when the print request is determined to be acceptable, and informing a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

marking the print request as unprintable and not generating or storing the print job, determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job if the print request is not determined to be acceptable; and

printing the acceptable print job on an available printer of the plurality of printers.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the print request defines at least one attribute of:

paper size, joining, speed, simplex and duplex.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one attribute of joining is at least one of stapling and binding.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the available printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining whether the print job is printable comprises:

extracting print attributes from the acceptable print job; and

comparing the acceptable print job attributes against attributes of the printers associated with the queue.

6. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only when the print request is determined to be acceptable, and informing a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

marking the print request as unprintable and not generating or storing the print job, determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job if the print request is not determined to be acceptable; and

printing the acceptable print job on an available printer of the plurality of printers;

wherein;

the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the available printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute; and

determining whether the print request is acceptable comprises;

extracting print attributes from the print request, and

comparing the print attributes against attributes of a logical printer representing one or more of the plurality of the printers of the network.

7. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only when the print request is determined to be acceptable, and informing a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

marking the print request as unprintable and not generating or storing the print job, determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job if the print request is not determined to be acceptable; and

printing the acceptable print job on an available printer of the plurality of printers;

wherein;

the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the available printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute; and

determining whether the stored acceptable print job is printable on the available printer comprises;

formulating a database query based on the attributes of the available printer, and

using the database query to filter the attributes of the available printer against the attributes of the acceptable print job.

8. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only when the print request is determined to be acceptable, and informing a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

marking the print request as unprintable and not generating or storing the print job, determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job if the print request is not determined to be acceptable; and

printing the acceptable print job on an available printer of the plurality of printers;

wherein;

the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the available printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute; and

determining whether the print request is acceptable comprises;

extracting print attributes from the print request,

generating a database query of the print attributes, and

using the database query to filter the print attributes against attributes of the printers associated with the queue.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining whether the stored print job is printable on the available printer comprises:

formulating a second database query based on the attributes of the available printer; and

using the second database query to filter the attributes of the available printer against the attributes of the acceptable print job.

10. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only when the print request is determined to be acceptable, and informing a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

marking the print request as unprintable and not generating or storing the print job, determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job if the print request is not determined to be acceptable; and

printing the acceptable print job on an available printer of the plurality of printers;

wherein;

the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the available printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute; and

determining whether the stored print job is printable on the available printer comprises;

formulating a database query based on the attributes of the available printer and

using the database query to filter the attributes of the available printer against the attributes of the acceptable print job.

11. A printing system that distributes documents among a plurality of printers, comprising:

a server that receives a print request from a client;

a database that contains attributes of the plurality of printers and print job attributes;

a first filter that determines, without intervention from the client and prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, if the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on a comparison between print job attributes corresponding to print attributes of the print request and attributes of the resources provided by the printing system, and generates and stores the print job in a queue only when the print request is determined to be acceptable, and informs a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job,

wherein if the print request is not acceptable, the server marks the print request as unprintable so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined and the parts of the print job are not allocated; and

a supervisor server that prints the acceptable print job on an available printer of the plurality of printers.

12. The printing system of claim 11, further comprising:

a second filter that determines whether the acceptable print job is printable on the available printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute.

13. The printing system of claim 12, wherein the server includes:

a spooler; and

a supervisor.

14. The printing system of claim 12, wherein the first filter comprises a database query based on at least one attribute of the print request.

15. The printing system of claim 14, wherein the second filter comprises a database query based on at least one attribute of the available printer.

16. The printing system of claim 12, wherein the second filter comprises a database query based on at least one attribute of the available printer.

17. A printing system that distributes documents among a plurality of output devices, comprising:

means for receiving print requests from clients;

first storing means for storing attributes of the plurality of output devices;

first determining means for determining, for a given print request, without client intervention and prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to that print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, whether that print request is acceptable and can be completed based on a comparison between print attributes of that print request and attributes of the resources provided by the printing system, for generating and storing the print job in second storing means only if the print request is determined to be acceptable, and for informing a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job, wherein

if the print request is not acceptable, the first determining means marks the print request as unprintable so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined and parts of the print job are not allocated; and

means for outputting the acceptable print job from the second storing means to an output device.

18. The printing system of claim 17, further comprising:

second determining means for determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the output device based on at least one document and at least one attribute.

19. The printing system of claim 18, wherein the plurality of output devices includes at least one printer.

20. The printing system of claim 18, wherein the receiving and generating means includes:

a spooler; and

a supervisor.

21. The printing system of claim 18, wherein the first determining means comprises querying means for querying the first storing means based on at least one attribute of the print job.

22. The printing system of claim 18, wherein the second storing means comprises a queue.

23. A printing system that distributes documents among a plurality of output devices, comprising:

means for receiving print requests;

first storing means for storing attributes of the plurality of output devices;

first determining means for determining, for a given print request, prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to that print request and allocating parts of that print job to resources for completion of the print job, whether that print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the printing system, for generating and storing the print job in second storing means only if the print request is determined to be acceptable, and for informing a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job,

wherein, if the print request is not acceptable, the first determining means marks the print request as unprintable so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined, and parts of the print job are not allocated;

means for outputting the acceptable print job from the second storing means to an output device; and

a second determining means for determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the output device based on at least one document and at least one attribute;

wherein the first determining means comprises querying means for querying the first storing means based on at least one attribute of the print job, and the second determining means comprises second querying means for querying the second storing means based on at least one attribute of the output device.

24. A printing system that distributes documents among a plurality of output devices, comprising:

means for receiving print requests;

first storing means for storing attributes of the plurality of output devices;

first determining means for determining, for a given print request, prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to that print request and allocating parts of that print job to resources for completion of the print job, whether that print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the printing system, for generating and storing the print job in second storing means only if the print request is determined to be acceptable, and for informing a client that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job,

wherein, if the print request is not acceptable, the first determining means marks the print request as unprintable so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined and parts of the print job are not allocated;

means for outputting the acceptable print job from the second storing means to an output device; and

second determining means for determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the output device based on at least one document and at least one attribute;

wherein the second determining means comprises querying means for querying the second storing means based on at least one attribute of the output device.

25. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a request from a client;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining, without intervention from the client, whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on a comparison between print attributes of the print request and attributes of the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only if the print request is determined to be acceptable, wherein a client is informed that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

marking the print request as unprintable if the print request is not acceptable, so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined and the parts of the print job are not allocated; and

submitting the acceptable print job to a printer.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein determining whether the print request is acceptable comprises:

extracting print request attributes from the print request; and

comparing the print request attributes against attributes of the printers.

28. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only if the print request is determined to be acceptable, wherein a client is informed that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

marking the print request as unprintable if the print request is not acceptable, so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined and the parts of the print job are not allocated; and

submitting the acceptable print job to a printer;

wherein;

the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute; and

determining whether the print request is acceptable comprises;

extracting print request attributes from the print request, and

comparing the print request attributes against attributes of a logical printer representing one or more of the plurality of printers of the network.

29. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only if the print request is determined to be acceptable, wherein a client is informed that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

if the print request is not acceptable, marking the print request as unprintable so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined and parts of the print job are not allocated; and

submitting the acceptable print job to a printer;

wherein;

the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute;

determining whether the print job is acceptable comprises;

extracting print job attributes from the print job, and comparing the print job attributes against attributes of the printers; and

determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the printer comprises;

formulating a database query based on the attributes of the printer, and

using the database query to filter the attributes of the printer against the attributes of the acceptable print job in the queue.

30. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only if the print request is determined to be acceptable, wherein a client is informed that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

if the print request is not acceptable, marking the print request as unprintable so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined and parts of the print job are not allocated; and

submitting the acceptable print job to a printer;

wherein;

the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute; and

determining whether the print request is acceptable comprises;

extracting print request attributes from the print request, generating a database query of the print request attributes, and using the database query to filter the print request attributes against the attributes of the printers associated with the queue.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein determining whether the acceptable print job is printable comprises:

formulating a second database query based on the attributes of the printer; and

using the second database query to filter the attributes of the printer against the attributes of the acceptable print job in the queue.

32. A method for distributing document printing among a plurality of printers in a network printing system, comprising:

receiving a print request;

prior to determining a schedule for a print job corresponding to the print request and allocating parts of the print job to resources for completion of the print job, determining whether the print request is acceptable and can be completed based on the resources provided by the network printing system;

generating and storing the print job in a queue only if the print request is determined to be acceptable, wherein a client is informed that the print request is acceptable prior to determining the schedule and allocating parts of the print job;

if the print request is not acceptable, marking the print request as unprintable so that the print job is not generated or stored, the schedule is not determined and parts of the print job are not allocated; and

submitting the acceptable print job to a printer;

wherein;

the method further comprises, after storing the acceptable print job in the queue, determining whether the acceptable print job is printable on the printer based on at least one document and at least one attribute; and

determining whether the acceptable print job is printable comprises;

formulating a database query based on the attributes of the printer, and using the database query to filter the attributes of the printer against the attributes of the acceptable print job in the queue.