JP2000187563A - State access device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a state access device which reduces the network load while providing information necessary to a user by changing intervals of state acquisition so as to frequency acquire a state in a printing mode in which the user needs state information. SOLUTION: This state access device contains a job state acquiring means 202 that acquires state information about whether a job exists in a printer, an acquisition interval setting means 203 which selects the interval of printer state acquisition from two kinds of intervals, namely one for the case when a job exists in the printer and the other for the case when no job exists and a printer state acquiring means 205 which acquires a printer state in every set acquisition interval.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a status access device for acquiring the status of a network printer and the status of a job at regular intervals via a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of the prior art of a state access device, a "remote printing system" is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-242901. In this prior art, a computer that requests a printer connected to a network to perform printing recognizes an execution state of a printing office and a state of the printer.

As described above, in the method of acquiring the status of a network printer (during printing, paper jam, running out of paper, etc.) via a network, the status of a printer having a status information providing service is set at regular intervals. The acquisition was done.

[0004] However, in the above-mentioned method, since the interval at which status acquisition is performed is constant irrespective of whether or not the user needs the status information, there is a high possibility that an unnecessary load is generated on the network. There was a problem.

[0005] Further, since the interval at which the status is acquired is fixed regardless of the time, there is a problem that an unnecessary load on the network is likely to occur, for example, the acquisition interval is the same as during the daytime even at night when printing is small. was there.

Furthermore, since the interval for acquiring the state is fixed before and after the change, there is a problem that the value is not always appropriate for the user's environment.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has been made by changing an interval so that a user frequently obtains status when printing which requires status information. It is a first object to reduce the network load while providing necessary information to a user.

It is a second object of the present invention to reduce the network load by changing an appropriate acquisition interval depending on the time, for example, during the night when print processing is small or during the day when print processing is large.

Further, the present invention provides a mechanism for allowing a user to input an interval for acquiring a state, and acquires a state at an interval appropriate for a user's environment, thereby reducing network load while ensuring user convenience. It is a third object to reduce it.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a status access apparatus for acquiring a status of a network printer and a status of a job at regular intervals via a network. A job status acquisition unit that acquires status information as to whether a job exists in the printer, and a printer status acquisition interval, which is selected from two types, that is, when the printer has a job and when there is no job,
It is characterized by having an acquisition interval setting means for setting and a printer status acquisition means for acquiring a printer status at each of the set acquisition intervals.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an acquisition interval selecting means for selecting a set of status acquisition intervals when there is a job and when there is no job corresponding to the current time. And

The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
In the invention described above, an acquisition interval input unit for inputting an acquisition interval of the printer status is provided.

[0013]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a status access apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a printer status monitoring utility (redoc manager for client) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The printer status monitoring utility periodically acquires the status of the monitored printer and the number of jobs.

FIG. 2 shows the first access state of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printer status monitoring utility according to the embodiment.

The communication section 201 is a section for communicating with a printer through a network interface. The job status acquisition unit 202 acquires information on the presence or absence of a job of the printer from the communication unit 201, and notifies the acquisition interval setting unit 203 when the status has changed. The acquisition interval setting unit 203 selects an acquisition interval of information on the presence or absence of a job of the corresponding printer according to the notification from the job status acquisition unit 202 and transmits the information to the acquisition interval storage unit 204. The acquisition interval storage unit 204 stores the acquisition interval received from the acquisition interval setting unit 203. Printer status acquisition unit 205
Refers to the acquisition interval stored in the acquisition interval storage unit 204 and acquires information about the status of the printer from the communication unit 201 at the interval.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the acquisition interval setting unit 203 in the state access device of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows an operation example according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It will be described based on.

First, the job status acquisition unit 202 acquires information on the presence or absence of a job of a printer from the communication unit 201, and when there is a change in the status, an acquisition interval setting unit 203.
Notify to. The acquisition interval setting unit 203 waits for a notification from the job status acquisition unit 202 (step S30).
1) It is determined whether a job is being processed in the printer (step S302). In this determination, when it is determined that the job is being processed (step S302)
/ YES), a short acquisition interval when there is a job is transmitted to the acquisition interval storage unit 204 (step S303). When it is determined in step S302 that the job is not being processed (step S302 / NO), the long acquisition interval when there is no job is stored in the acquisition interval storage unit 204.
(Step S304).

FIG. 4 shows a second example of the state access device according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printer status monitoring utility according to the embodiment.

In FIG. 4, the acquisition interval setting unit 203 is replaced by an acquisition interval setting unit 403 as a configuration.
An acquisition interval selection unit 406 is added to the acquisition interval setting unit 403, and is the same as the configuration example in FIG. 2 except that the acquisition interval setting unit 403 uses a set of acquisition intervals selected by the acquisition interval selection unit 406. It is.

The acquisition interval setting unit 403 selects a corresponding acquisition interval from the acquisition intervals received from the acquisition interval selection unit 406 according to the notification from the job status acquisition unit 202, and transmits the selected acquisition interval to the acquisition interval storage unit 204. . The acquisition interval selection unit 406 transmits a set of acquisition intervals corresponding to the current time to the acquisition interval setting unit 203.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the acquisition interval setting unit 403 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. An operation example according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the acquisition interval setting unit 403 receives the set of acquisition intervals (short / long) from the acquisition interval selection unit 406 (step S505). The process waits for a notification from the status acquisition unit 202 (step S501), and determines whether a job is being processed in the printer (step S502). In this determination, when it is determined that the job is being processed (step S502 / YES), a short acquisition interval when there is a job is transmitted to the acquisition interval storage unit 204 (step S503). When it is determined in step S502 that the job is not being processed (step S502).
502 / NO), the long acquisition interval when there is no job is transmitted to the acquisition interval storage unit 204 (step S504).

FIG. 6 shows an example of the acquisition interval data of the acquisition interval selection unit 406.

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the state access device according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a printer status monitoring utility according to the embodiment.

In FIG. 7, an acquisition interval input unit 607 is added to the acquisition interval selection unit 406 as a configuration, and a set of acquisition intervals input by the acquisition interval input unit 607 is used by the acquisition interval selection unit 406. Except for this, the configuration is the same as that of FIG. The acquisition interval input unit 607 allows the user to input a set of acquisition intervals, and transmits the input result to the acquisition interval selection unit 406.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an input screen as an example of the acquisition interval input section 607 according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[0028]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the interval is changed so that the user frequently obtains the status information during printing when the status information is required. While reducing the network load.

Further, since the acquisition interval can be changed to an appropriate acquisition interval depending on the time, the network load can be reduced.

Furthermore, since a state appropriate for the user's environment is acquired, the convenience of the user is ensured and the network load can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a printer status monitoring utility (a dock manager for client) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a state access device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the state access device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an operation example of the state access device according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the state access device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of acquisition interval data of an acquisition interval selection unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an operation example of the state access device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an input screen as an example of an acquisition interval input unit in a third embodiment of the state access device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 201 communication unit 202 job status acquisition unit 203 acquisition interval setting unit 204 acquisition interval storage unit 205 printer status acquisition unit 406 acquisition interval selection unit 607 acquisition interval input unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A status access device that obtains a status of a network printer and a status of a job at predetermined time intervals via a network, wherein: a job status obtaining unit that obtains status information as to whether or not a job exists in the printer; An acquisition interval setting unit for selecting and setting a state acquisition interval from two types, that is, when there is a job in the printer and when there is no job, and a printer status acquisition unit for acquiring a printer status at each set acquisition interval. A state access device, comprising: 2. The state access device according to claim 1, further comprising an acquisition interval selection unit for selecting a set of status acquisition intervals when a job is present and when there is no job in accordance with the current time. 3. The status access device according to claim 1, further comprising an acquisition interval input unit for inputting an acquisition interval of the printer status.