JP2001125763A - Printer and print system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer capable of exactly grasping the progress condition of a print job, with which a network interface device completes transfer to a printer controller. SOLUTION: Concerning a network printer 300, a printer controller 302 manages a first job information table containing a first job ID for identifying the print job and the progress information of the print job showing whether an output to a final page is completed or not for each of print jobs. A network interface device 301 manages a second job information table, which contains a second job ID for identifying the print job and host information or transfer information of the print job to the printer controller 302 for each of print jobs, corresponding to the first job ID in the first job information table, and the device 301 acquires the job information in the first job information table concerning the print job completely transferred to the printer controller 302.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a printer and a printing system, and more particularly, to a printer connected to a host computer via a network and a printing system therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a network printer connected to a host computer via a network, print data is received from a host computer on the network by a network interface device such as a built-in network interface board or an external print server box. It is common practice to transfer print data to a printer control device for printing. Such a network interface device normally receives print jobs from a plurality of host computers and sequentially transfers the print jobs to a printer control device to execute printing.

The information of a job received by a network interface device is generally managed as queue information, and a host computer can refer to the queue information according to a predetermined procedure. The referenced queue information is used not only by the user of the host computer to check the job status, but also by the program running on the host computer to determine the processing status of the job. Further, the host computer can perform an operation such as deleting a job in the queue according to a predetermined procedure.

However, in a conventional network printer, printing of a job is considered to be completed when data transfer from the network interface device to the printer control device is completed. As a result, when print data takes a long time from the completion of data transfer to the printer control device to the ejection of the last page, or when an error occurs in the printer after the completion of data transfer, the host computer determines the status of the job. There was a problem that you could not do that. In particular, in a business system that handles business-critical data such as accounting data, it is necessary to detect whether a job has been printed reliably. However,
As described above, it is not possible to determine whether or not the printing of the last page has been completed based on the queue information alone.

Therefore, techniques for solving the above-mentioned problems have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-2001
According to the document processing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 94-94, a plurality of key input means, a printer driver that converts output information held in a data source into a data format suitable for a printer to generate print data, A plurality of flag setting means for setting a print flag based on a print instruction from an input means; and a print manager for controlling transfer of print data generated by each printer driver after the print flag is set by each flag setting means. And a print state determining means for determining the setting state of each print flag based on the key input state from the key input means after the transfer of the print data generated by the print driver permitted by the print manager is completed. A command to inquire the printer driver of the printer status based on the determination result of the determination unit And a notifying means for notifying a response result corresponding to the command, whereby the printer is appropriately monitored, and the processing status of the print job is determined based on the basic operation information of the printer such as whether or not the printer is idling. A technique for estimating is disclosed.

[0006]

However, in the "document processing apparatus" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 7-200194, there is a problem that it is not possible to estimate the processing status of each of a plurality of continuous jobs. is there.

Further, in the prior art, after the data transfer from the network interface device to the printer control device is completed, there is a problem that operations such as deleting or suspending a job from the network interface device cannot be performed. For example, when an error occurs during the output of a print job of 100 pages and the job is printed by a substitute printer, the job in error cannot be deleted from the host computer.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and manages information on a print job that has been transferred to a printer control device by the network interface device, so that the network interface device transfers the information to the printer control device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device and a printing system capable of accurately grasping the progress of a print job for which printing has been completed.

Another object of the present invention is to manage information on a print job that has been transferred to a printer control device in a network interface device,
The network interface device accurately grasps the progress of the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device, and obtains, deletes, suspends, etc. the progress of the print job that has been transferred from the host computer to the printer control device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer device and a printing system capable of performing restart and the like.

[0010]

According to one aspect of the present invention, a printer connected to a host computer via a network receives a print job sent from the host computer. A network interface device for transferring the print data of the print job transferred from the network interface device and transferring the developed print data to a printer engine for printing. The printer control device includes first management means for managing first job information including print job progress information indicating whether output up to the last page has been completed for each print job, and the network interface device. Is sent to the host information and the printer controller for each print job. A second management unit that manages second job information including transfer information of the print job in association with the first job information; Job information acquiring means for acquiring the first job information managed by the managing means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer device connected to a host computer via a network, the network interface device receiving a print job transmitted from the host computer and transferring the print job to a printer control device. A printer controller for expanding print data of a print job transferred from the network interface device and transferring the expanded print data to a printer engine for printing. The printer controller identifies the print job. A first job ID for managing the first job ID, and first job information including print job progress information indicating whether output to the last page has been completed for each print job. The interface device is a second job for identifying the print job. D; second management means for managing, in association with the first job ID, second job information including host information and transfer information of the print job to the printer control device for each print job; A job information acquisition unit that acquires the first job information managed by the first management unit for the print job that has been transferred to the control device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the network interface device includes the second job information and the first job information acquired by the job information acquisition means. The image processing apparatus further includes a combined job information transmitting unit that creates combined job information by combining the job information with the job information and transmits the combined job information to the host computer.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the combined job information includes a page number of the print job in which an error occurred during printing. did.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the network interface device responds to a print job deletion request from the host computer. When the transfer to the printer control device is completed, the printer control device is provided with a deletion requesting unit for requesting the printer control device to delete the print job.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the network interface device responds to a print job suspension request from the host computer. When the transfer of the job to the printer control device has been completed, the printer control device is provided with a pause requesting unit for requesting the printer control device to temporarily stop the print job.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the network interface device responds to a print job restart request from the host computer. When the transfer to the printer control device is completed, the printer control device is provided with a restart requesting unit for requesting the printer control device to restart the print job.

The invention according to claim 8 is constructed by a host computer that sends a print job, and a printer device that is connected to the host computer via a network and executes the print job sent from the host computer. In the printing system, the host computer includes an inquiry means for inquiring the printer device about progress information of the print job, and the printer device receives the print job sent from the host computer and transfers the print job to a printer control device. And a printer controller for expanding print data of a print job transferred from the network interface device and transferring the expanded print data to a printer engine for printing. The network interface device includes first management means for managing first job information including progress information of a print job as to whether or not output to the last page is completed for each job. And second management means for managing the second job information including the transfer information of the print job to the printer control device in association with the first job information, and printing completed after the transfer to the printer control device. A job information acquisition unit that acquires the first job information managed by the first management unit for a job, and combines the second job information and the first job information acquired by the job information acquisition unit. And means for transmitting combined job information to the host computer.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the eighth aspect, the combined job information includes a page number of the print job in which the error occurred during printing. did.

The invention according to claim 10 is the invention according to claim 8.
In the invention described in (1), the host computer further includes a deletion request unit that requests the printer device to delete the print job, and the network interface device is further requested to delete the print job by the deletion request unit. If the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer control device has been completed, a deletion request means for requesting the printer control device to delete the print job is provided.

The invention according to claim 11 is based on claim 8.
In the invention described in (1), the host computer further includes a deletion request unit for requesting the printer device to temporarily suspend the print job, and the network interface device further suspends the print job from the deletion request unit. If the request has been made, and if the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer control device has been completed, the print control device is provided with a pause request means for requesting the printer control device to temporarily stop the print job. is there.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an eighth aspect of the present invention.
In the invention described in (1), the host computer further includes restart request means for requesting the printer device to restart the print job, and the network interface device is further requested to restart the print job by the restart request means. In this case, when the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer control device has been completed, the printer control device is provided with restart request means for requesting the printer control device to restart the print job.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a printer and a printing system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a printing system according to the present invention. In this printing system, a plurality of host computers 100...
00 is connected via the network 200. The network 200 may be a wired or wireless system.

The host computer 100 generates print data including various control commands for printing, and transmits the print data to the network printer 300 as a print job according to a predetermined procedure for network communication. As the predetermined procedure, the network interface device 301
There are several known procedures depending on the network communication protocol implemented by
(Line Printer Daemon Prot
ocol).

The network printer 300 includes a network interface device 301 and a printer control device 30.
2 and a printer engine 303. The network interface device 301 receives a print job from the host computer 100 according to a predetermined procedure, and transfers the print job to the printer control device 302.
The printer control device 302 develops a print image into a bit map according to the data content of the received print job, and sends out the developed bit image image data to the printer engine 3034 in synchronization with the operation timing of the optical writing system of the printer engine 303. Printer engine 30
The printer 3 performs printing in accordance with the video data from the printer control device 302 and outputs paper to a paper output tray.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a first job information table managed by the printer control device 302 of the network printer 300. In the first job information table, the total number of pages, the number of printed pages,
And the status of the job. Here, "Job I
D (first job ID) ”is the printer control device 302
This is the number used to identify the job within. “Number of pages” indicates the number of pages of the job. “Number of printed pages” indicates the number of printed pages. The “status” is the processing status (progress information) of the job, and indicates, for example, a status such as printed, printing, receiving, an error, and a print wait. When the output of the last page of each job is completed, the printer control device 302 changes the status of the job to “printed”.

FIG. 3 is an example of a second job information table managed by the network interface device 301. The second job information table stores a host address, a user name, a job name, a status, and a corresponding job ID for each job ID. Here, "Job I
“D (second job ID)” is a number used to identify a job in the network interface device 302. “Host address” is address information for identifying the host computer 100. In this example,
The P address is stored. “User name” is information of a user who has instructed printing on the host computer 100. The “job name” is a job name on the host computer 100, for example, a file name of print data. The “user name” and “job name” correspond to the host computer 100 and the network interface device 301.
Is obtained when data is transferred according to a predetermined procedure such as RFC1179. “Status” is the processing status (transfer information) of the print job, and includes a status such as “transferred”, “transferring”, “waiting for transfer”, and “deleting”.

Job ID in first job information table
The (first job ID) and the job ID (second job ID) in the second job information table are not always synchronized. When transferring the print job to the printer control device 302, the network interface device 301 associates the second job ID with the first job ID, and
The first job ID corresponding to the second job ID is managed as “corresponding job ID”.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining processing when the network interface device 301 of the network printer 300 transfers a print job received from the host computer 100 to the printer control device 302. Referring to FIG.
The process performed when the network interface device 301 of No. 0 transfers a print job received from the host computer 100 to the printer control device 302 will be described.

In FIG. 4, first, the network interface device 301 requests the printer control device 302 to start data transfer. At this timing, the printer control device 302 creates a new entry in the first job information table and determines a job ID (step S10).
1). Subsequently, the network interface device 301
Acquires the job ID of the printer control device 302 determined in step S101 (step S102).

Then, the network interface device 301 stores the acquired job ID as a corresponding job ID in the second job information table (step S10).
3) The print job is transferred to the printer control device 302 (step S104). When the data transfer is completed, the network interface device 301 transmits a data transfer end command to the printer control device 302, and ends the data transfer process (step S105).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining processing when the network interface device 301 of the network printer 300 receives a job information transmission request from the host computer 100. With reference to FIG. 5, a process when the network interface device 301 of the network printer 300 receives a job information transmission request from the host computer 100 will be described.

Referring to FIG. 5, first, the network interface device 301 receives a job information transmission request from the host computer 100 (step S20).
1) Initialize variables (S, i, N) (step S2)
02). Here, the variable S is the host computer 100
This is a character string buffer for storing the job information character string to be sent to, and an empty character string is substituted as an initial value. The contents of the variable S are referred to as combined job information. The variable i is a counter, and 1 is substituted as an initial value. The variable N is a variable that holds the number of jobs, and is substituted with the total number of jobs stored in the second job information table.

Subsequently, the network interface device 301 determines whether or not the counter i is smaller than the variable N (step S203). If the counter i is smaller than the variable N, the process proceeds to step S204, while the counter i is determined to be smaller. If not smaller than the variable N, step S209
Move to

In step S204, the network interface device 301 determines whether or not the i-th job has been transferred, and if the i-th job has been transferred,
If the process proceeds to step S205, but the i-th job has not been transferred, the process proceeds to step 207.

In step S205, the network interface device 301 retrieves the printer control device 302 from the first job information table using the corresponding job ID as a key.
Job information managed by the client (step S20)
5). Then, the network interface device 301
Determines from the job information acquired in step S205 whether or not the i-th job has been printed (step S20).
6) If the i-th job has not been printed, the process proceeds to step S207, whereas if the i-th job has been printed, the process proceeds to step S208.

In step S207, the network interface device 301 adds the i-th job information from the second job information table to the variable S according to a predetermined format. At this time, if the job has been transferred, the job information acquired in step 205 is used as the job status. That is, for a job that has been transferred to the printer control device 302, information obtained from the first job information table is used.

In step S208, after adding 1 to the variable i, the network interface device 301 returns to step 203, and repeats the same processing until the counter i becomes equal to the variable N (steps S203 to S203).
208).

Network interface device 301
When it is determined in step S203 that the counter i is equal to the variable N, the contents of the variable S (combined job information) are transmitted to the host computer 100 in step S209, and the process is terminated.

FIG. 6 shows an example of combined job information (contents of the variable S) transmitted from the network interface device 301 to the host computer 100. 6 is obtained by combining the job information of the second job information table shown in FIG. 3 and the job information of the first job information table shown in FIG.
For a print job (# 2 or # 3) that has been transferred to 02, the job information in the first job information table is used. The combined job information shown in FIG.
ner (user name), Files (job name), Sta
tus (state). For a print job in which an error has occurred, Status (state)
Sends the page number where the error occurred. In the example shown in the figure, the status of the job Sato indicates “Erro
“rat 2nd Page” indicates that an error has occurred on the second page. Accordingly, the print job (# 2 or # 3) that has been transferred to the printer control device 302 has also been completed. Host computer 10
It is possible to refer to the processing status of the print job from the 0 side.

As described above, in the network printer 300, the printer control device 302 determines the first job ID for identifying the print job and whether or not the output up to the last page has been completed for each print job. The network interface device 301 manages the first job information table including the progress information of the print job, the second job ID for identifying the print job, and the host information and the printer control device 302 for each print job. Of the first job information table including the transfer information of the first print job.
In addition to managing the second job information table associated with the job ID of the first job information table, the job information of the first job information table is acquired for the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device 302. In the interface device 301, the printer control device 30
2 can manage information about the print job that has been transferred to the network interface device 301.
Accordingly, it is possible to accurately grasp the progress of the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device 302.

The network printer 30 described above
0, the network interface device 301 responds to a request from the host computer 100 by using the job information in the second job information table and the job information in the first job information table relating to the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device 302. Are combined to create combined job information and transfer the combined job information to the host computer 100, so that the host computer 100 can refer to the progress status of the transferred print job to the printer control device 302. Become.

The network printer 30 described above
0, the network interface device 301 transmits the page number where the error occurred to the host computer 100 for the print job in which the error occurred during printing.
For a print job in which an error has occurred during printing, the page number in which the error has occurred can be accurately known.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the network interface device 301 when the network printer 300 receives a job deletion request from the host computer 100. Referring to FIG. 7, network printer 300 is connected to host computer 100.
The process of the network interface device 301 when a job deletion request is received from will be described.

In FIG. 7, when the network interface device 301 receives a job deletion request from the host computer 100 (step S301),
Referring to the second job information table, it is determined whether the print job requested to be deleted has been transferred to the printer control device 302 (step S302). If the result of this determination is that the print job has not been transferred to the printer control device 302, the network interface device 3
In step S01, the process proceeds to step S303, in which the designated print job is deleted, and the process proceeds to step S306.

On the other hand, if the print job has been transferred to the printer control device 302 in step S302, the network interface device 301 proceeds to step S3.
In step 04, a job deletion request is transmitted to the printer control device 302 using the corresponding job ID as a key. In response, the printer control device 302 deletes the print job requested to be deleted. Then, the network interface device 301 receives the deletion result from the printer control device 302 (step S305). After that, the network interface device 301 transmits the deletion result to the host computer 100 (step S306), and ends the processing.

A specific example of the above processing will be described with reference to FIGS. Network interface device 301
Is, for example, a host computer 111.55.11.
If the user Sato's job deletion request is received from the user 22 (step S301), it can be seen from the second job information table (see FIG. 2) that the job has been transferred to the printer control device 302 (see above). Step S302). Then, the network interface device 301 requests the printer control device 302 to delete the corresponding job ID # 16 (step S304). The printer control device 302 executes job # 16
(See FIG. 3), and transmits the deletion result to the network interface device 301. Then, the network interface device 301 receives the deletion result from the printer control device 302 (Step S305), and transmits the deletion result to the host computer 100 (Step S306).

As described above, according to the above processing,
When the network interface device 301 receives a deletion request from the host computer 100 for a print job that has been transferred to the printer control device 302, it requests the printer control device 302 to delete the print job. A print job that has been transferred to the printer control device 302 can also be deleted from the host computer 100 side.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the network interface device 301 when the network printer 300 receives a job suspension request from the host computer 100. With reference to FIG. 8, the processing of the network interface device 301 when the network printer 300 receives a print job suspension request from the host computer 100 will be described.

In FIG. 8, first, the network interface device 301 receives a print job suspension request from the host computer 100 (step S).
401), it is determined with reference to the second job information table whether the job requested to be temporarily stopped has been transferred to the printer control device 302 (step S402). If the result of this determination is that the job has not been transferred to the printer control device 302, the network interface device 301 proceeds to step S403, suspends the designated print job, and proceeds to step S406.

On the other hand, if the print job has been transferred to the printer control device 302 at step S402, the network interface device 301 proceeds to step S4.
In step 04, a job suspension request is transmitted to the printer control device 302 using the corresponding job ID as a key. In response, the printer control device 302 suspends execution of the job requested to be suspended. The network interface device 301 is connected to the printer control device 3.
02, the result of the suspension is received (step S40).
5). Then, the network interface device 301
Transmits the result of the suspension to the host computer 100 (step S406), and ends the process.

According to the above-described processing, the network interface device 301 sends a print job to the host computer 1 to the printer control device 302 for a completed print job.
When the suspension request is received from 00, the request to suspend the job is requested to the printer control device 302. Therefore, the job that has been transferred to the printer control device 302 is temporarily suspended from the host computer 100 side. It is possible to do.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the processing of the network interface device 301 when the network printer 300 receives a job restart request from the host computer 100. Referring to FIG.
The network printer 300 is the host computer 10
The processing of the network interface device 301 when a job restart request is received from 0 will be described.

In FIG. 9, first, the network interface device 301 receives a print job restart request from the host computer 100 (step S50).
1), it is determined whether or not the job requested to be resumed has been transferred to the printer control device 302 with reference to the second job information table (step S502). If the result of this determination is that the job has not been transferred to the printer control device 302, the network interface device 301
Shifts to step S503, restarts the designated print job, and shifts to step S506.

On the other hand, if the print job has been transferred to the printer control device 302 in step S502, the network interface device 301 proceeds to step S5.
In step 04, a job restart request is transmitted to the printer control device 302 using the corresponding job ID as a key. In response, the printer control device 302 restarts the print job requested to be restarted. Then, the network interface device 301 receives the restart result from the printer control device 302 (step S505). Thereafter, the network interface device 301 transmits the result of the restart to the host computer 100 (step S506), and ends the processing.

According to the above processing, the network interface device 301 sends the print job, which has been transferred to the printer control device 302, to the host computer 1.
When a restart request is received from 00, a request to restart the job is made to the printer control device 302. Therefore, for the print job transferred to the printer control device 302, the print job is sent from the host computer 100 side. It is possible to restart.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be carried out with appropriate modifications without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0058]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the printer control device includes, for each print job, the print job progress information including whether or not the output up to the last page is completed. The network interface device manages the second job information including the host information and the transfer information of the print job to the printer control device for each print job in association with the first job information. Since the first job information is obtained for the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device,
The network interface device can manage information about print jobs that have been transferred to the printer control device, and the network interface device can accurately grasp the progress of print jobs that have been transferred to the printer control device. Becomes

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the printer control device determines the first job ID for identifying the print job and whether or not the output up to the last page is completed for each print job. The network interface device manages first job information including print job progress information,
A second job ID for identifying a print job and second job information including host information and transfer information of the print job to the printer control device for each print job are stored in a first job ID.
And the first job information is acquired for the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device, so that the network interface device can manage the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device. Information can be managed, and the progress status of the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device by the network interface device can be accurately grasped.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the network interface device combines the second job information with the acquired first job information. Since the combined job information is created and transmitted to the host computer, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the present invention, the progress status of the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device is reported to the host computer. It can be referenced from a computer.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the combined job information includes a page number of the print job in which an error occurred during printing. Therefore, in the host computer 100, for a job in which an error has occurred during printing, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 3, the host computer can accurately know the page number in which the error has occurred. .

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the network interface device responds to the print job deletion request from the host computer. If the transfer to the printer controller has been completed, the printer controller is requested to delete the print job. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, A print job that has been transferred to the printer control device can also be deleted from the host computer.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the network interface device responds to the print job suspension request from the host computer and outputs the corresponding print job. When the transfer to the printer control device has been completed, a request is made to the printer control device to temporarily stop the print job. Therefore, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, A print job that has been transferred to the printer control device can also be temporarily stopped from the host computer.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the network interface device responds to the print job restart request from the host computer. If the transfer to the printer control device has been completed, a request is made to the printer control device to restart the print job. Therefore, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, The print job that has been transferred to the printer control device can be restarted from the host computer.

According to the invention, the host computer inquires of the printer device about the progress information of the print job, and in the printer device, the printer control device completes the output up to the last page for each print job. The network interface device manages the first job information including the progress information of the print job as to whether or not the second job information includes the host information and the transfer information of the print job to the printer control device for each print job. The first job information is managed in association with the first job information, the first job information is acquired for the print job that has been transferred to the printer control device, and the second job information and the acquired first job information are combined. To create the combined job information and send it to the host computer. It is possible to refer the host computer side.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the eighth aspect, the combined job information includes a page number where an error has occurred in a print job in which an error has occurred during printing. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 8, the host computer can accurately know the page number where the error has occurred.

According to the tenth aspect, in the eighth aspect, the host computer comprises:
The printer interface requests the printer device to delete the print job, and the network interface device requests the printer controller to delete the print job, and if the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer controller has been completed, Requesting the user to delete the print job.
In addition to the effects of the invention described in (1), it is also possible to delete a print job that has been transferred to the printer control device from the host computer side.

According to the invention of claim 11, in the invention of claim 8, the host computer comprises:
The printer device requests the printer device to suspend the print job, and the network interface device, when requested to suspend the print job, if the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer control device is completed, Since the print control apparatus requests the printer control apparatus to temporarily stop the print job, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 11, the print job that has been transferred to the printer control apparatus is also
It is possible to temporarily stop from the host computer side.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the eighth aspect, the host computer comprises:
The printer interface requests the printer device to resume the print job, and the network interface device requests the printer controller to resume the print job, and if the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer controller has been completed, Requesting the print job to be restarted.
In addition to the effects of the invention described in (1), a print job that has been transferred to the printer control device can be restarted from the host computer side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a printing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first job information table managed by a printer control device of a network printer.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a second job information table managed by a network interface device of a network printer.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining processing when a network interface device of a network printer transfers a print job received from a host computer to a printer control device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process when a network interface device of a network printer receives a job information transmission request from a host computer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of composite job information transmitted from a network interface device of a network printer to a host computer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process performed by the network interface device when the network printer receives a job deletion request from a host computer.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a process of the network interface device when the network printer receives a job suspension request from the host computer.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a process of the network interface device when the network printer receives a job restart request from the host computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Host computer 200 Network 300 Network printer 301 Network interface device 302 Printer control device 303 Printer engine

Claims (12)

[Claims] A printer connected to a host computer via a network receives a print job sent from the host computer and transfers the print job to a printer control device, and a printer transferred from the network interface. And a printer controller for expanding the print data of the print job to be transferred and transferring the expanded print data to a printer engine for printing. The printer controller checks whether the output up to the last page is completed for each print job. The network interface device includes first management means for managing first job information including progress information of a print job, the host information and print job transfer information to the printer control device for each print job. The second job information including the first job information. And a job information acquisition unit for acquiring the first job information managed by the first management unit for a print job that has been transferred to the printer control device. And a printer device. 2. A printer device connected to a host computer via a network, a network interface device for receiving a print job sent from the host computer and transferring the print job to a printer control device, and a printer device for receiving a print job transmitted from the network interface device. And a printer controller for expanding the print data of the print job to be transferred and transferring the expanded print data to a printer engine for printing. The printer controller includes a first job ID for identifying the print job and a first job ID for identifying the print job. And a first management unit for managing first job information including print job progress information indicating whether or not output to the last page is completed for each print job, wherein the network interface device identifies the print job. A second job ID for
Second management means for managing second job information including host information and transfer information of the print job to the printer control device for each print job in association with the first job ID; And a job information acquisition unit for acquiring the first job information managed by the first management unit with respect to the print job for which the transfer has been completed. 3. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the network interface device combines the second job information with the first job information acquired by the job information acquisition unit. A printer device comprising a composite job information transmitting unit that generates composite job information and transmits the composite job information to the host computer. 4. The printer according to claim 3, wherein
The printer device, wherein the combined job information includes a page number of the print job in which an error occurred during printing, in which the error occurred. 5. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the network interface device transmits a corresponding print job to the printer control device in response to a print job deletion request from the host computer. A printer device comprising: a deletion request unit that requests the printer control device to delete the print job when the transfer is completed. 6. The printer device according to claim 1, wherein the network interface device sends a corresponding print job to the printer control device in response to a print job suspension request from the host computer. A transfer request unit for requesting the printer control device to temporarily stop the print job when the transfer of the print job is completed. 7. The printer according to claim 1, wherein
When the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer control device is completed in response to the print job restart request from the host computer, the network interface device transmits the print job to the printer control device. A printer device comprising a restart requesting means for requesting restart. 8. A printing system, comprising: a host computer for sending a print job; and a printer connected to the host computer via a network and executing a print job sent from the host computer. A computer for inquiring the printer device for progress information of the print job, wherein the printer device receives a print job sent from the host computer and transfers the print job to a printer control device;
And a printer controller for expanding print data of the print job transferred from the network interface device and transferring the expanded print data to a printer engine for printing. The network interface device includes first management means for managing first job information including progress information of a print job as to whether or not output of the print job has been completed. Second management means for managing the second job information including the transfer information of the print job in association with the first job information, and the first management means for the print job which has been transferred to the printer control device. A job information acquisition unit for acquiring the first job information managed by the management unit;
Job information and the first information obtained by the job information obtaining means.
A composite job information transmitting unit that generates composite job information by combining the job information with the job information and transmits the composite job information to the host computer. 9. The printing system according to claim 8, wherein the combined job information includes a page number of the print job in which an error occurred during printing, in which the error occurred. 10. The printing system according to claim 8, wherein said host computer further comprises a deletion requesting unit for requesting said printer device to delete a print job, and said network interface device further comprises:
When a deletion of a print job is requested by the deletion request unit, and when the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer control device has been completed, a request is made to the printer control device to delete the print job. A printing system comprising a deletion request unit. 11. The printing system according to claim 8, wherein said host computer further comprises a deletion request unit for requesting said printer device to temporarily stop a print job, and said network interface device further comprises said deletion device. When the request unit requests the suspension of the print job, and when the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer control device has been completed, a request is made to the printer control device to suspend the print job. A printing system comprising a temporary stop request unit. 12. The printing system according to claim 8, wherein the host computer further includes restart requesting means for requesting the printer device to restart a print job, and the network interface device further comprises:
When a request for restarting a print job is issued from the restart requesting means, and when the transfer of the corresponding print job to the printer control device has been completed, a request is made to the printer control device to restart the print job. A printing system comprising a restart request unit.