JP2002259084A - Printing data processor, data processing method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display that the data processing system of a decided printer driver is not suitable to a user, prior to the analysis processing of printing information from an application. SOLUTION: The processing performance of printing information by a CPU 1 or the like performing the application is investigated, appropriateness of the data processing system of the printer driver decided as a candidate which is to process printing information is determined, and the determined result is displayed on a CRT 10 for a user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a print data processing apparatus, a data processing method, and a storage medium for performing print processing in response to a drawing command from an application.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in print processing (specifically, processing of a printer driver installed in a host computer) in a print data processing system capable of two-way communication between a host computer and a printing apparatus, a printer includes a plurality of printers. When an operation mode, for example, a PDL mode and an image mode are provided, a print mode used for printing has been proposed which has an automatic selection function.

[0003] The user has to explicitly indicate whether to use the automatic selection function or to use one of the operation modes. Or it was fixed to use the automatic selection function.

[0004]

In an information processing apparatus such as a host computer in which a printer driver having a print mode automatic selection function is installed, in order for the automatic selection function to determine the print mode, the information processing apparatus must be configured as follows.
It is necessary to analyze the print contents and analyze what kind of document the information to be printed is, and the print mode is automatically set from the analysis result.

[0005] For this reason, time is required for analyzing the print contents, and a longer print time may be required than when the user explicitly specifies the print mode.
That is, the difference between the printing time that is reduced by changing the printing mode to the optimum printing mode and the time required for analyzing the print contents is the reduced printing time.

For this reason, depending on the performance of the host computer to be used, the time required for analyzing the print contents is longer than the print time reduced by changing the print mode to the optimum one. There were times when it took a while.

In addition, since the time required for analyzing the print contents cannot be determined exactly at first glance, there is a problem that the user cannot clearly understand whether it is better to use the print mode automatic selection function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to investigate the processing capability of print information by data processing means for executing an application and to determine which print processing means. It is determined whether it is optimal to automatically determine the print information, and the result of the determination is clearly indicated to the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a print data processing apparatus, a data processing method, and a storage medium that can freely construct a print processing environment that can efficiently process print information requested to be printed in a short time.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a print data processing apparatus capable of transferring print information generated in accordance with a print request from an application via a predetermined communication medium to a printing apparatus. A plurality of print processing units (corresponding to the printer driver 203 shown in FIG. 3) that analyze the print request and generate print information having different data formats, and any one of the plurality of print processing units receives an instruction from the application. Deciding means for deciding whether to process the print request (corresponding to a configuration in which the despooler 305 decides according to the analysis result included in the spool file 303 shown in FIG. 3), data processing means for executing the application, and data processing means Investigate the processing capability of the print information according to the above and determine which print processing means to determine by the determination means. The determining whether the first judgment means (dispatcher 301 environmental sensor 3 shown in FIG. 3
07 in accordance with the detection information).

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the first determining means checks the data processing capability of the data processing means in accordance with a predetermined determining item (corresponding to the determining item shown in FIG. 8), and The determination means determines which print processing means is optimal to determine.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a determination result by the first determination means is displayed on a display unit (CRT 10 shown in FIG. 1).
Notification notification means (equivalent to U) shown in FIG.
I205).

[0012] In a fourth aspect of the present invention, the first notification control means sets the automatic determination item by the determination means in a non-display state when the result of the determination by the first determination means is negative. It is assumed that.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a second notification control means (corresponding to the UI 205 shown in FIG. 3) for notifying the display unit of an item for allowing the determination means to select automatic determination, A second determination unit (the dispatcher 301 shown in FIG. 3 is configured to determine whether or not the automatic determination possibility selection state displayed on the display unit is appropriate).
7), and the second
And a third notification control means (corresponding to the UI 205 shown in FIG. 3) for displaying the incompatibility of the user selection on the display unit when the determination means determines that the user is incompatible.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing means analyzes the print request and generates print information in an image data format.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing means analyzes the print request and generates print information in a PDL data format according to a predetermined page description language.

In an eighth aspect according to the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and generates print information in a data format in an intermediate state independent of a predetermined page description language. Is what you do.

In a ninth aspect according to the present invention, the first determination means compares a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing means, and determines whether or not the print information has been printed by the determination means. This is to judge the suitability of the decision made by the processing means.

[0018] In a tenth aspect according to the present invention, the second determination means compares a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing means, and the automatic determination selected by the user. This is to determine the suitability of the selected state of the item.

An eleventh invention according to the present invention relates to a data processing means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 1) for executing an application.
And a plurality of print processing units (corresponding to the printer driver 203 shown in FIG. 3) for analyzing print requests from the application and generating print information having different data formats. Is a data processing method in a print data processing apparatus capable of performing transfer processing to a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium, and determining which of the plurality of print processing units is to process a print request from the application. A step (step (5) shown in FIG. 7) and a step of examining the processing capability of the print information by the data processing unit to determine whether the print processing unit is optimal to be determined by the determination step. 1 determination step (step (1) shown in FIG. 7)
(4)).

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the first determining step, the data processing capability of the data processing means is investigated in accordance with a predetermined determination item, and the print processing means is determined by the determining step. It is to judge whether or not it is optimal to make it.

A thirteenth invention according to the present invention has a first notification control step (step (3) shown in FIG. 9) for notifying a display unit of a result of the determination in the first determination step.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the first notification control step (step (4) shown in FIG. 9), when the determination result in the first determination step is negative, The automatic determination item in the determination step is set to a non-display state.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a second notification control step (step (2) shown in FIG. 10) for notifying the display unit of an item for selecting automatic determination in the determination step. A second determination step (step (5) shown in FIG. 10) for determining whether or not the selection state of the automatic determination displayed on the display unit is suitable;
(9)) and a third notification control step (step (7) shown in FIG. 10) for displaying, on the display unit, the incompatibility of the user selection when the second determination step determines that the user is incompatible. It has.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing means analyzes the print request and generates print information in an image data format.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing means analyzes the print request and generates print information in a PDL data format according to a predetermined page description language.

According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing means analyzes the print request and generates print information in a data format in an intermediate state independent of a predetermined page description language. Is what you do.

In a nineteenth aspect according to the present invention, in the first determining step, the printing is performed by the determining step by comparing a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing means. This is to judge the suitability of the decision made by the processing means.

In a twentieth aspect according to the present invention, in the second determining step, an automatic determination selected by a user is performed by comparing a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing means. This is to determine the suitability of the selected state of the item.

A twenty-first invention according to the present invention relates to a data processing means (CPU 1 shown in FIG. 1) for executing an application.
And a plurality of print processing means for analyzing print requests from the application to generate print information having different data formats, and transferring the generated print information to a printing apparatus via a predetermined communication medium. A determining step (step (5) shown in FIG. 7) of determining which of the plurality of print processing units should process the print request from the application by the print data processing apparatus capable of processing; Investigate the processing capability of the print information,
A program for executing a first determination step (steps (1) to (4) shown in FIG. 7) for determining which print processing means is optimal in the determination step is stored in a recording medium. It is recorded so that it can be read by a computer.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the first determining step, the data processing capability of the data processing means is investigated in accordance with a predetermined determination item, and the print processing means is determined by the determining step. It is to judge whether or not it is optimal to make it.

A twenty-third invention according to the present invention has a first notification control step (step (3) shown in FIG. 9) for notifying the display unit of the result of the determination in the first determination step.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first notification control step (step (4) shown in FIG. 9), when the result of the first determination step is negative, The automatic determination item in the determination step is set to a non-display state.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a second notification control step (step (2) shown in FIG. 10) for notifying the display unit of an item for selecting automatic determination in the determination step. A second determination step (step (5) shown in FIG. 10) for determining whether or not the selection state of the automatic determination displayed on the display unit is suitable;
(9)) and a third notification control step (step (7) shown in FIG. 10) for displaying, on the display unit, the incompatibility of the user selection when the second determination step determines that the user is incompatible. It has.

According to a twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing means analyzes the print request and generates print information in an image data format.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing means analyzes the print request and generates print information in a PDL data format according to a predetermined page description language.

[0036] In a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention, one of the plurality of print processing means analyzes the print request and generates print information in a data format in an intermediate state independent of a predetermined page description language. Is what you do.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the first determining step, the printing is performed in the determining step by comparing a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing means. This is to judge the suitability of the decision made by the processing means.

In a thirtieth invention according to the present invention, in the second determination step, the user-selected automatic determination is performed by comparing a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing means. This is to determine the suitability of the selected state of the item.

[0039]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of an information processing apparatus to which a print data processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention can be applied. Corresponding to the configuration.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU, in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed based on a program processing ROM stored in the ROM 3 or a document processing program stored in the external memory 11. Perform document processing. Further, the CPU 1 controls each device connected to the system bus 4 as a whole.

The ROM 3 or the external memory 1
1 stores an operating system (hereinafter referred to as OS), which is a control program of the CPU 1, font data used in the above-described document processing, various other data, and the like.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a RAM, which functions as a main memory, a work memory, and the like of the CPU 1. A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls input from a keyboard (KB) 9 and a pointing device such as a mouse (not shown).
Reference numeral 6 denotes a CRT controller (CRTC) which controls display on a CRT display (CRT) 10.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a disk controller (DKC).
Hard disk (HD) storing a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, print data generation processing program (hereinafter, printer driver), floppy (registered trademark)
The access to the external memory 11 such as a disk (FD) is controlled. A printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 100 via a predetermined bidirectional interface (interface) 21 and executes a communication control process.

The CPU 1 executes, for example, a process of rasterizing an outline font in the display information RAM set on the RAM 2, and outputs the W on the CRT 10.
YSIWYG is possible.

The CPU 1 opens various registered windows based on commands specified by a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) on the CRT 10 and executes various data processing. When performing printing, the user opens a window (user interface (UI)) related to print settings provided by the printer driver, and performs printer settings and print processing method settings for the printer driver including selection of a print mode.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams for explaining the flow of print data in the configuration of the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. A printing apparatus such as a printer is directly connected to the apparatus or via a network. 1 shows a configuration of a general print data generation process in a connected host computer or a dedicated print server.

In FIG. 2, an application 201,
Graphic engine 202, printer driver 20
3 and a system spooler 204, which exists as a file stored in the external memory 11 such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk, and when executed, is loaded into the RAM 2 by the OS or a module using the module and executed by the program module It is.

The application 201 and the printer driver 203 can be added to an external memory 11 such as a hard disk via an FD, a CD-ROM, or a network (not shown).

The application 201 stored in the external memory 11 is loaded into the RAM 2 shown in FIG. 1 and executed. When printing from the application 201 to the printer 100, the application 201 is similarly loaded into the RAM 2. The output (drawing) is performed using the graphic engine 202 which has been executed.

The graphic engine 202 similarly loads the printer driver 203 prepared for each printing apparatus from the external memory to the RAM 2 and
Is converted into a printer control command using the printer driver 203. Then, the converted printer control command is output to the printer 100 via the interface 21 via the system spooler 204 loaded into the RAM 2 by the OS.

The print data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is an extension of the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2. When a print command is sent from the graphic engine 202 to the printer driver 203, a spool file 303 consisting of intermediate codes is temporarily used. Is generated.

That is, in the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the application 201 is released from the printing process only when the printer driver 203 has converted all print commands from the graphic engine 202 into printer control commands. On the other hand, in the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3, the spooler 302 converts all print commands into intermediate code data,
3 is output.

Normally, application release (RTA:
The latter is faster in terms of Return To Application. However, when viewed from the time until the output of the print result from the printing apparatus is completed, the latter tends to be slower by the time for generating the spool file. FIG. 4 illustrates these relationships.

FIG. 4 is a chart for comparing the operation of the driver of the print data processing apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 with the processing time of the print data processing apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 5 is a chart for schematically comparing the movement of a driver in a time series.

In the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3, in the process of generating the spool file 303,
It is possible to analyze drawing information in a page and to process data with respect to the contents of the generated spool file 303.
User interface 20 for print data from
5. Additional print functions that are not provided by general applications such as automatic selection of an optimal operation mode, enlargement / reduction, and so-called N-up printing for reducing a plurality of pages to one page according to the setting of 5. Can be realized.

For these purposes, the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 has been extended so as to spool the intermediate code data as in the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG.

In order to automatically select an optimum operation mode and to process print data, a setting is made from a window of a user interface 205 provided by a normal printer driver 203, and the printer driver 203 stores the set contents in the RAM 2. The data is stored on the external memory 11 or the external memory 11, and the value is referred to by the spool file manager 304 or the despooler 305 to realize the processing.

However, in the configuration in which spooling is performed using intermediate code data, spooling and despooling operations occur, so that it takes more time than simply performing print processing. Therefore, in the configuration of the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG.
It is determined whether or not the operation mode should be automatically selected in the configuration of the host computer 200 and the printer 100 performing the printing process. If the operation does not work as a result of the determination, the printing is directly performed by the printer driver 203 without starting the spooler 302. The processing is performed, and the system spooler 204
Transfer print data to

Hereinafter, the configuration of FIG. 3 will be described in more detail.

In the print data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3, the dispatcher 301 receives a print command from the graphic engine 202.

The dispatcher 301 includes the environment sensor 30
According to the print mode automatic setting use determination determined in step 7, if the print mode automatic setting cannot be used, the process described below is not performed, and the printer driver 203 performs the process without starting the spooler from the beginning.

At this time, the judgment by the environment sensor 307 is as follows.
The determination can also be explicitly performed in advance by the UI 205. In this case, the determination by the environment sensor 307 can be omitted.

When the print command received by the dispatcher 301 from the graphic engine 202 is a print command issued from the application 201 to the graphic engine 202, the dispatcher 301 loads the spooler 302 stored in the external memory 11 into the RAM. The print command is sent to the spooler 302 instead of the printer driver 203.

Then, the spooler 302 converts the received print command into an intermediate code and outputs it to the spool file 303. The spool file 303 is not a single file but a generic term for several files. When converting to an intermediate code in the spooler 302, information such as what print command and what load the print command causes on the printer side is analyzed in detail.

This analysis processing is performed for automatic selection of an optimum operation mode. Then, the result of the analysis processing is stored in the spool file 303 as another spool file.

The spooler 302 acquires processing setting information on print data set for the printer driver 203 from the printer driver 203 and stores it in a spool file 303.

Although the spool file 303 is generated as a file on the external memory 11, it can be generated on the RAM 2.

Further, the spooler 302 changes the spool file manager 304 stored in the external memory 11 to R
Load to AM2 and spool file manager 304
Is notified of the generation status of the spool file 303.

Thereafter, the spool file manager 30
4, when it is determined that printing can be performed again using the graphic engine 202 in accordance with the contents of the processing setting information regarding the print data stored in the spool file 303, the despooler 305 stored in the external memory 11
Is loaded into the RAM 2 and the despooler 305 is instructed to perform the printing process of the intermediate code described in the spool file 303.

The despooler 305 stores the spool file 30
3 is processed in accordance with the information of the analysis result of the optimum operation mode and the contents of the processing setting information included in the spool file 303, and the despooler 30
5 renders the intermediate code into a print image at high speed.

The determination as to whether or not to develop the intermediate code into a print image is made by the optimization determination processing unit in the despooler 305 reading the file resulting from the analysis processing performed by the spooler 302, and setting the processing settings. Judge comprehensively with information such as information.

This determination may be made on a page basis or on a drawing object basis. In any case, the despooler 305 stores the spool file 30
3 reads the intermediate code from the
02 API (Application Programming Interface)
, And output again via the graphic engine 202.

The print command received from the graphic engine 202 by the dispatcher 301 is transmitted to the despooler 305.
In the case of a print command issued to the graphic engine 202 from the printer, the dispatcher 301 switches the process to the printer driver 203 instead of the spooler 302, the printer driver 203 generates a printer control command, and sends the command to the printer 100 via the system spooler 204. Output is made.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a memory map on the RAM 2 of the host computer 200 shown in FIG. 1, and includes a print-related module 504 including a series of print data generation processing programs, an application 501, Related data 503, OS 505, BIOS
A memory map 506 is loaded into the RAM 2 on the host computer 200 and becomes executable. Note that reference numeral 502 denotes a free memory.

Next, a description will be given of an automatic operation mode automatic selection process.

When performing print processing from predetermined application software operating on the host computer 200, print information in an intermediate state that does not depend on a specific PDL is generated and temporarily stored in a storage unit, and the stored print information is printed. Analyzes the data and automatically determines the optimal operation mode.

In the present embodiment, for example, an image driver that performs up to rendering processing of a print image on the host side, and a PDL (Printer Descriptio
n language) and a PDL driver that performs rendering on the printing device side. In such a printer driver, an automatic operation mode automatic selection process is performed, for example, as follows.

A case in which a document with a photo as shown in FIG. 6 is printed by, for example, a color LBP (printer 100) will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a document processed by the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention. The photograph portion shown in FIG. 6 has very high resolution and high gradation image data (specifically, It is 600dpi, 1 ×, and each RGB color is 8bit).

Since it is a document that looks simple at first glance, it is often thought that it is better to process it with a PDL driver. However, if this is converted as a PDL command, redundant image information compared with the image quality that can be printed by the printer is obtained from the printer driver. Since the data is sent, it is actually faster to process it with an image driver.

At first glance, it is difficult to determine which print mode is better to use in advance.
This is a problem that can be prevented if the amount of image data sent to 0 is known. In the printer driver 203 of the format shown in FIG. Is generated. At this time, the image data is converted from the print information in the intermediate state including the image data to the PD.
Two values are predicted, such as the number of bytes when the L command is used and the number of bytes when the print image is developed in advance in accordance with the output resolution and output gradation of the printer in the host renderer.

By comparing the prediction results and drawing the image with the smaller value, the printing process can be performed at high speed. Therefore, when processing the print data as shown in FIG. 6, the printer driver 203 according to the present embodiment automatically selects an operation for performing image expansion processing on the host side as an optimal operation mode.

Next, an example of processing in the environment sensor 307 shown in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a first data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the processing procedure in the environment sensor 307 shown in FIG. Note that (1) to (6) indicate each step.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an item table to be determined by the environment sensor 307 shown in FIG. 3, and includes a CPU processing speed, an HDD processing speed, a print data transfer speed, a memory load, a memory free space, and a process parallelism. Numbers are included.

First, when the judgment is started in step (1), it is checked whether each item has reached the reference value according to each judgment item of the reference table (see FIG. 8) listing the judgment items (2). ). As a result, if at least one item does not reach the standard (the determination item is not satisfied), it is determined that the automatic determination is impossible (3), and the determination process ends (6).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (2) that at least one item has reached the standard, it is determined whether verification of all the determination items has been completed (4), and if NO, step (2) Then, the same determination processing is repeated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (4) that all items satisfy the reference values, it is determined that automatic determination is possible (5), and the process is terminated.

In this example, if even one item does not satisfy the standard, it is determined that automatic determination is impossible. However, it is not possible to perform automatic determination conformity determination processing so as to allow a plurality of items according to the actual printing speed. It is easily possible.

Further, it is also easy to prepare a plurality of judgment reference tables according to the target printing apparatus and to make an appropriate judgment according to the type of the printing apparatus.

According to the above processing procedure, the print processing method is determined including whether or not the judgment is made automatically.
In the case of a setting that does not require the automatic selection of the operation mode, the printing time can be reduced.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the case where the automatic determination suitability judgment is performed unconditionally has been described. The user is notified of the suitability judgment by the UI and displayed on the user interface. The content to be changed may be changed according to the determination result so that an appropriate print process can be provided without requiring the user to perform the operation.

The user interface 205 implemented by the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the second data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention. The user interface 205 shown in FIG.
Corresponding to the data processing procedure. In addition, (1)-
(6) shows each step.

When the user interface display processing is started according to a request from a user or an application (1), it is determined whether or not the result of the automatic determination suitability determination is automatically determinable (2). If it is determined that there is, "Automatic determination" is displayed in the print mode setting item.
Is displayed on the CRT 10 shown in FIG. 1 (3) so that the user can select (5).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the automatic determination is not possible as a result of the automatic determination suitability determination, an item indicating “automatic determination” is not displayed in the print mode setting items. (4) The user setting is performed in a state where the print mode cannot be automatically set (5), and the UI display processing ends (6).

By this processing, the user can easily select the print mode without being conscious. In this case, the result of the automatic determination suitability determination can be realized by a configuration in which the automatic determination suitability determination is performed each time. Alternatively, the automatic determination suitability determination may be performed at the time of printing and stored in the storage unit in the computer 200. It is feasible.

[0098] A button for performing the automatic determination suitability determination may be provided in the UI 205, and the user may explicitly perform the automatic determination suitability determination and store it in the storage means in the computer 200.

Further, another UI can be mounted. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a third data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention, and is different from the UI processing shown in FIG.
Corresponds to procedure I. Note that (1) to (10) indicate each step.

When the user interface display processing is started in response to a request from a user or an application (1), an item meaning "automatic determination" is set in C shown in FIG.
Always display in the window on RT10 (2),
After the user's print settings are completed (3), "automatic determination"
It is determined whether or not the user has selected (4), and if it is determined that the user has not selected, in step (9), the determination of the automatic determination suitability is executed to determine whether the automatic determination is possible. It is determined (10), and if it is determined that automatic determination is not possible, the UI display processing is terminated (8).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (10) that the automatic determination is possible, the user is notified that the selection in step (4) is erroneous, that is, the setting incompatibility is notified (7). Then, the process proceeds to step (8), and the UI display process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (4) that "automatic determination" has been selected by the user, the automatic determination suitability is further determined (5) to determine whether the automatic determination is possible. If it is determined (6) that the automatic determination is not possible, the user is notified that the selection in step (4) is erroneous, that is, the setting non-conformity is notified (7), and the process proceeds to step (8). Then, the UI display process ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (6) that automatic determination is possible, the UI display processing is terminated.

As a result, when it is determined whether the set value of the user is an appropriate set value, that is, by executing steps (4), (6), and (10), as a result, In the case where the selection is not made despite the fact that it is better to automatically decide, or when the choice of automatic decision has no effect, step (7)
To notify it.

In the first and second embodiments, the printer driver that operates according to the UI settings when performing printing processing from application software (application) is realized, for example, in the configuration shown in FIG.

A printer driver that generates print information in an intermediate state that does not depend on a specific PDL, temporarily stores the print information in a storage unit, analyzes the stored print data, automatically determines an optimal operation mode, and performs print processing. When the spooler 302 shown in FIG. 3 generates print information of each intermediate state, the spooler 302 also collects discrimination information necessary for determining an optimal operation mode as shown in FIG. Also recorded.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the discrimination information collected by the spooler 302 shown in FIG.

Here, supplementing the discrimination information shown in FIG. 11, the information is roughly classified into general information on the print job and information on the drawing content of each page. The former includes a print date and time, a printer, a file name of a file to be printed, a creation date and an update date of the file, a name and a version number of the application software that has performed printing, and setting of a printer driver UI at the time of printing (driver Operating state), the total number of pages of the print job, and the like.

[0110] Information about the drawing contents of each page is classified into three large drawing objects of text, graphics, and images, and information necessary for discrimination is collected for each of them. For example, for text, the number of characters and the maximum number of points of the character size in the page are collected and recorded.

For graphics, information such as the total number of graphic objects existing in the page and whether or not a logical drawing is specified (ROP) at the time of drawing is collected.

Further, the same is applied to the image, and the resolution and the like of the image to be drawn are also collected.

In the despooler 305 shown in FIG.
Based on these pieces of discrimination information recorded by the spooler 302, the type of document is discriminated for each page, and the print mode is determined.

More specifically, with regard to text information,
The maximum point size is compared with a certain threshold value. If the maximum point size is larger than the threshold value, it is determined that the rendering process on the host side is valid.

For graphics, the number of objects is compared with a certain threshold value. If the number of objects is larger than the threshold value, rendering processing on the host side is performed. If the number is smaller, rendering processing on the printer side is performed. Judge as valid.

For the image, the amount of data to be sent to the printer as a PDL command is predicted from the information on the resolution, gradation, and drawing area, and the value is used as the image size when rendering is performed on the host and up to halftoning processing. If it is larger, it is determined that rendering processing on the host side is effective, and if smaller, rendering processing on the printer side is effective.

For the ROP, if an ROP number not supported by the printer is specified, it is determined that the rendering process on the host side is valid, otherwise, the rendering process on the printer side is valid. Hereinafter, the processing operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a fourth data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to a print data generation processing procedure. Note that (1) to (4) show each step.

First, when print data generation is started (1), in step (2), the spooler 3 shown in FIG.
The print data generation process (details will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 13) is performed in step S02.

Then, a print result inquiry process by the despooler 305 shown in FIG. 3 is executed (3), and the process is terminated (4).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the fifth data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the print data generation processing by the spooler 302 shown in FIG. (1) to (8) indicate each step.

First, in step (1), when various initializations are performed and the printing process is started, print information is passed from the graphic engine 202. The contents are spooled as an intermediate print information file that does not depend on a specific PDL (2). The collection of the discrimination information shown in FIG. 11 is also performed (3). Then, it is determined whether spooling for one page has been completed (4), and if it is determined that spooling for one page has not been completed, the process returns to step (2) to perform all the data in the page. .

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (4) that spooling for one page has been completed,
When the processing for the page is completed, the discrimination information collected in step (3) is spooled as a file (5).

Since the information for one page spooled by the spooler is completed, the despooler 305 which operates as a separate process at this point starts the despooling process (6). If the despooler has already been activated at this point, nothing is performed in step (6).

Since the despooler 305 operates in another time series as a separate process, the processing of the despooler 305 will be described separately with reference to FIG.

In step (7), it is checked whether or not processing for all pages has been completed. If it is determined that processing has not been completed, step (2) is executed.
Is repeated again.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (7) that processing of all pages has been completed, this processing ends (8).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the sixth data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the processing procedure of the despooler 305 shown in FIG. Note that (1) to (10) indicate each step.

First, at the start of the processing in step (1), when various initializations are performed and the despooling processing is started, it is determined whether the discrimination information for each page is read out and processed by PDL or by image processing. If it is determined (2) that the page is to be processed on the printer side (PDL) based on the determination information, the process proceeds to step (3), and if the page is to be processed on the host side,
The process proceeds to step (6).

Then, in step (3), a file in which the contents of the drawing data and various drawing attributes are spooled is opened, and the contents are read from the beginning.

Then, the print processing in the intermediate state is converted into the API provided by the graphic engine, and the print processing is performed again using the function of the graphic engine (4).

It is checked whether or not one page of print information has been reproduced (5). If it is determined that one page of print information has not been reproduced, the process returns to step (3) to execute The processing of (3) and (4) is repeated according to.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (5) that one page of print information is being reproduced, the process proceeds to step (1).
Go to 0).

On the other hand, in the step (2), for the page for which it is determined that rendering should be performed on the host side in the page-by-page determination, the process proceeds to step (6), where the contents of the drawing data and various drawing attributes are determined. Open the spooled file and read the contents from the beginning. The print processing in the spooled intermediate state is converted into an API provided by the renderer 306, and rendering processing is performed so that each print information becomes a print image (7).

Although the rendering result is an image, this image is converted into an API provided by the graphic engine 202 and the graphic engine 2
The printing process is performed again using the function 02.

Then, it is determined whether the processing for one page of information has been completed (9). If it is determined that the processing for one page of information has not been completed, the process returns to step (6) and returns to step (6). If it is determined that the processing has been completed for the information for the pages, it is checked in step (10) whether or not the processing for all pages has been completed.
If there is unprocessed page data, the processing from step (2) is repeated again, and if it is determined that processing for all pages has been completed, this processing ends (11).

In the flow of this processing, the drawing processing is performed by the API call of the graphic engine 202. This processing is executed as another process.

More specifically, the graphic engine 202
Will dynamically link the printer driver 203 to execute the printing process.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the seventh data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention, and corresponds to the processing procedure of the printer driver 203 shown in FIG. Note that (1) to (7) indicate each step.

First, when the processing is started (1), the printer driver 203 receives a drawing command from the application 201 via the graphic engine 202 (2), and converts the drawing command (for example, line drawing or the like) into each drawing command. The corresponding printer control (drawing) command data is converted and generated (3) and spooled to the RAM 2 or the external memory 11 by the system spooler 204 (4).

Next, it is determined whether or not the drawing process by the application 201 and the graphic engine 202 has been completed (5). If No, the process returns to the step (2) and the same process is repeated.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step (5) that the drawing processing has been completed, the printer control command data spooled by the system spooler 204 is transmitted to the printer 100 (6), and the processing ends. (7).

The feature of the present printer control command generation method (hereinafter referred to as vector graphics print mode) executed by the printer driver 203 is that the printer control command for generating a geometrical expression corresponding to vector graphics such as a line. Since the (drawing) command is transmitted to the printer 100, the printing image is generated (rasterized) by the drawing processing system and the program in the printer 100. In this case, the printer 1
The time required for the printing process at 00 is determined by the type of object and its quantity.

By configuring the printer driver 203 as described above, it is possible to provide a printing apparatus that can easily and automatically set a print mode and printing conditions.

In another embodiment, a plurality of image drivers, a plurality of different types of PDL drivers, or a plurality of image drivers and a PDL are used.
A plurality of drivers may be mixed.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs that can be read by a printing system to which the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.

Although not shown, information for managing a group of programs stored in the storage medium, for example, version information, a creator, etc. is also stored, and information dependent on the OS or the like on the program reading side, for example, a program is stored in the storage medium. An icon or the like for identification display may also be stored.

Further, data subordinate to various programs is also managed in the directory. Also, a program for installing various programs on a computer, and a program for decompressing a program to be installed when the program to be installed is compressed, may be stored in some cases.

In this embodiment, FIGS.
The processing shown in FIGS. 12 to 15 may be performed by a host computer by a program installed from the outside. In this case, the present invention is applied even when a group of information including a program is supplied to the output device from a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flash memory, or an FD, or from an external storage medium via a network. Things. As described above, the storage medium storing the program code of the software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or an apparatus.
Computer (or CP) of the system or device
It is needless to say that the object of the present invention can be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium by the U or MPU.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the novel function of the present invention, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, D
VD, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, non-volatile memory card, ROM, EEPROM and the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) And the like perform part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments. Furthermore, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. It goes without saying that a CPU or the like provided in the board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

According to the above embodiment, the automatic decision suitability judging means is prepared to analyze the print contents and to analyze the performance of the host computer used before analyzing the document to be printed as a whole. It is possible to omit unnecessary analysis when the printing time is long by analyzing the printer driver that can be automatically set by judging whether or not it can be automatically set from the printer driver. Can be.

By providing a user interface for the user to start the judgment by the automatic decision suitability judging means, a warning is displayed when it is better not to perform the automatic setting based on the performance of the host computer to be used, or The user interface can be changed to a user interface in which automatic setting cannot be selected, and a print processing environment for easily selecting a print mode can be provided to the user.

As a result of the determination by the automatic determination suitability determination, if it is better to perform the automatic selection, a message to that effect is displayed to the user to prompt the user to make a change or the user interface to perform the automatic selection. Is changed, it is possible to provide the user with a print processing environment in which the print mode can be easily selected.

[0155]

As described above, the first embodiment according to the present invention is described.
According to the thirtieth aspect, in a print data processing apparatus capable of transferring print information generated in accordance with a print request from an application via a predetermined communication medium to a printing apparatus, printing by data processing means executing the application By investigating the information processing capability, it is determined whether it is optimal to automatically determine which print processing means, and the result of the determination is clearly indicated to the user. A print process that can efficiently process print information requested to be printed in a short time by clearly indicating to the user that the determined data processing format of the printer driver or the data processing format of the printer driver selected by the user is incompatible. This has the effect that the environment can be freely constructed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing apparatus to which a print data processing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a flow of print data in the configuration of the print data processing apparatus illustrated in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a flow of print data in the configuration of the print data processing apparatus illustrated in FIG.

4 is a chart for comparing the operation of the driver of the print data processing apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 2 with the processing time of the print data processing apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a memory map on a RAM of the host computer shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a document processed by the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a first example of the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a data processing procedure.

8 is a diagram showing an item table to be determined by the environment sensor shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 shows a second example of the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a data processing procedure.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a third data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.

11 is a diagram showing an example of discrimination information collected by the spooler shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a fourth data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a fifth data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a sixth data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a seventh data processing procedure in the print data processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a memory map of a storage medium that stores various data processing programs that can be read by a printing system to which the print data processing device according to the present invention can be applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 100 printing device 200 host computer 201 application 202 graphic engine 203 printer driver 204 system spooler 205 user interface 301 dispatcher 302 spooler 303 spool file 304 spool file manager 305 despooler 306 renderer 307 environmental sensor

Claims (30)

[Claims] 1. A print data processing device capable of transferring print information generated in accordance with a print request from an application via a predetermined communication medium to a printing device, wherein the print data is analyzed and the data format is different. A plurality of print processing units that generate print information; a determination unit that determines which of the plurality of print processing units should process a print request from the application; a data processing unit that executes the application; and the data. Print data processing capability of the print information by a processing unit, and a first determination unit that determines whether the print processing unit is optimal to be determined by the determination unit. Processing equipment. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first determining unit investigates a data processing capability of the data processing unit in accordance with a predetermined determination item, and determines whether the print processing unit is optimal to be determined by the determining unit. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a first notification control unit that notifies a display unit of a result of the determination by the first determination unit. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first notification control unit sets the automatic determination item by the determination unit to a non-display state when the determination result by the first determination unit is negative. Item 3. The print data processing device according to Item 3. 5. A second notification control means for notifying an item for selecting an automatic determination by the determination means on a display unit, and whether a selection state of whether or not automatic determination is displayed on the display unit is suitable. A second determining unit for determining whether or not the second determining unit determines that there is an incompatibility;
3. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: third notification control means for displaying the incompatibility of the user selection on a display unit. 6. The print data according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and generates print information in an image data format. Processing equipment. 7. One of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and performs PDL according to a predetermined page description language.
6. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein print information in a data format is generated. 8. A printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and generates print information in a data format in an intermediate state independent of a predetermined page description language. A print data processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 9. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first determination unit compares a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing unit to determine whether the determination unit determines the suitability of the print processing unit. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination is performed. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second determining unit compares a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing unit to determine whether or not the selection state of the automatic selection item selected by the user is appropriate. The print data processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the determination is performed. 11. A printing apparatus comprising: a data processing unit for executing an application; and a plurality of print processing units for analyzing a print request from the application to generate print information having different data formats. A data processing method in a print data processing apparatus capable of performing transfer processing via a predetermined communication medium, wherein a determination step of determining which of the plurality of print processing units is to process a print request from the application, A first judging step of examining the processing capability of the print information by the data processing means, and judging whether or not the print processing means is optimally determined by the determining step. Data processing method. 12. The first judging step examines the data processing capability of the data processing means in accordance with a predetermined judgment item, and judges whether the print processing means should be optimally determined in the determining step. The data processing method according to claim 11, wherein the data processing is performed. 13. The data processing apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a first notification control step of notifying a result of the determination in the first determination step to a display unit. 14. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the first notification control step, when the determination result in the first determination step is negative, the automatic determination item in the determination step is set to a non-display state. Item 14. The data processing method according to Item 13. 15. A second notification control step of notifying an item for causing the display unit to select an automatic determination in the determination step, and whether a selection state of whether or not the automatic determination is displayed on the display unit is suitable. And a third notification control step of displaying, on the display unit, the incompatibility of the user selection when it is determined that the user is incompatible with the second determination step. Claim 1.
2. The data processing method according to 1. 16. The data processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein one of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and generates print information in an image data format. Method. 17. One of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and outputs a PD according to a predetermined page description language.
16. The data processing method according to claim 11, wherein print information in an L data format is generated. 18. A printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and generates print information in a data format in an intermediate state independent of a predetermined page description language. A data processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 15. 19. The first determining step includes comparing a predetermined determination item with the processing capability of the print information by the data processing unit to determine whether the print processing unit determines the suitability of the print processing unit in the determining step. The data processing method according to claim 11, wherein the determination is performed. 20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the second determining step compares a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing unit to determine whether the automatic selection item selected by the user is in a selected state. The data processing method according to claim 15, wherein the determination is performed. 21. A printing apparatus, comprising: a data processing unit for executing an application; and a plurality of print processing units for analyzing a print request from the application to generate print information having different data formats. A print data processing apparatus capable of performing transfer processing via a predetermined communication medium, determining which of the plurality of print processing means is to process a print request from the application; and A computer which records a program for executing a first determination step of examining the processing capability of the print information and determining which print processing means is optimal in the determination step to determine whether or not it is optimal; Storage medium. 22. The first judging step examines the data processing capability of the data processing means in accordance with a predetermined judgment item, and judges whether the print processing means is optimal to be determined by the determining step. 22. The storage medium according to claim 21, wherein: 23. The storage medium according to claim 21, further comprising: a first notification control step of notifying a display unit of a result of the determination in the first determination step. 24. The method according to claim 24, wherein in the first notification control step, when the determination result in the first determination step is negative, the automatic determination item in the determination step is set to a non-display state. Item 24. The storage medium according to Item 23. 25. A second notification control step of notifying an item for causing the display unit to select an automatic determination in the determination step, and whether a selection state of whether or not the automatic determination is displayed on the display unit is suitable. And a third notification control step of displaying, on the display unit, the incompatibility of the user selection when it is determined that the user is incompatible with the second determination step. Claim 2
The storage medium according to claim 1. 26. The storage medium according to claim 21, wherein one of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and generates print information in an image data format. . 27. One of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and outputs a PD according to a predetermined page description language.
26. The storage medium according to claim 21, wherein print information in an L data format is generated. 28. The method according to claim 28, wherein one of the plurality of print processing units analyzes the print request and generates print information in a data format in an intermediate state independent of a predetermined page description language. 26. The storage medium according to any one of 21 to 25. 29. The first judging step compares a judgment item set in advance with the processing capability of the print information by the data processing means to determine whether the print processing means has determined suitability in the determining step. The storage medium according to claim 21, wherein the determination is performed. 30. The second determining step compares a predetermined determination item with a processing capability of the print information by the data processing unit to determine whether or not the selection state of the automatic selection item selected by the user is appropriate. The storage medium according to claim 24, wherein the determination is made.