JP5899713B2 - Printing apparatus and printing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus and a printing method for executing printing in response to a print request acquired from a user via a server in a cloud computing system.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a cloud computing system that provides a service that allows a specific printer to execute printing by sending an e-mail is known (for example, Patent Document 1). This cloud computing system (hereinafter simply referred to as a printing system) includes a server that generates print data corresponding to a specific printer based on an e-mail when a specific e-mail is received, and is registered in the server The printer obtains print data from the server and executes printing. Therefore, the user of the printing system can use the printer registered in the printing system even when the printer driver is not installed in a communication terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a smartphone.

JP 2008-71257 A

  In such a printing system, the server generates print data based on the email sent by the user, notifies the printer of the existence of the print job, and the printer that received the notification sends the print data to the server. Printing is performed while acquiring print data by making a transmission request. Since the memory size installed in the printer is limited from the viewpoint of cost, the print data of the part that has been printed is discarded from the memory and a memory area is secured for the part of the print data to be processed next. . Since the printer performs printing while acquiring print data in this way, if an error occurs in the printer during print data acquisition, printing cannot be continued and printing data cannot be discarded from memory. Eventually, the print data transmitted subsequently cannot be received.

In such a case, conventionally, since an error has occurred, the operation is to end printing, and the operation after returning from the error is not particularly considered. Since the printer cannot receive any more print data, the session between the printer and the server is eventually disconnected. Once the error has been resolved, it is better to be able to resume printing from the continuation of the interruption due to the error, if possible, rather than restarting the print from the beginning. However, there is no guarantee that the error will be resolved immediately after an error occurs in the printer, and it may be left in a state where printing is interrupted due to an error for a long time. It is difficult to continue to maintain the session since it takes a load on the server to continue the session until the error is resolved and printing is possible. As described above, conventionally, the operation after error recovery is not taken into consideration. Therefore, when printing is performed again after the error is resolved, printing is executed again from the beginning of the print job. In that case, consumables such as ink and print media, and time required for printing are consumed unnecessarily.
An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can efficiently resume printing when a session is disconnected between a printing apparatus and a server in the middle of acquiring print data and then reconnected.

  A printing apparatus for achieving the above object includes a request unit, a receiving unit, a print processing unit, and a measuring unit. The request unit makes a transmission request for print data to the server. The receiving unit receives the print data transmitted from the server in response to the transmission request. The print processing unit sequentially processes the print data received by the reception unit, and performs printing based on the print data set as the processing target. A measurement part measures the data amount of the print data used as the process target by the print processing part among the received print data. That is, each time print data that has been requested to be transmitted and is received in order of a predetermined size is sequentially processed by the print processing unit, the accumulated data amount (size) is measured.

  In the printing apparatus of the present invention, when the session with the server is disconnected before all the print data requested of the server is processed by the print processing unit and then reconnected, the request unit reissues the print data transmission request. From the print data received by the receiving unit according to what has been done, the print processing unit extracts a portion of the print data that has not yet been processed by the print processing unit based on the amount of data measured by the measurement unit To be processed. That is, the print processing unit extracts and processes a portion that has not yet been processed from the received print data without re-processing the portion that has already been processed by the print processing unit. Target. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the printing from being performed again on the print data of the part that has already been printed or the part of the print data that is undergoing pre-printing processing that converts the print data into a format suitable for the printing apparatus in order to execute printing. In other words, since the printing can be resumed from the continuation of the printing interruption even after the session is disconnected or reconnected, it is possible to prevent unnecessary consumption such as ink and printing media from being consumed. In addition, since printing is resumed from the continuation, the time required to complete printing can be shortened as compared with the case of printing again from the beginning.

  Further, in the printing apparatus for achieving the above object, the request unit makes a transmission request for a portion of the print data that has not yet been processed based on the amount of data measured by the measurement unit after reconnection of the session. May be. In that case, if the print data received after reconnection of the session is a part that has not yet been processed, the print processing unit sets the print data to be processed, and print data received after reconnection of the session When including the part that has already been processed and the part that has not yet been processed, extract the part that has not yet been processed from the received print data based on the amount of data measured by the measurement unit It may be a processing target.

  In other words, if the server supports the function for requesting partial transmission of print data from the printing device, the print data for the portion not yet processed is sent from the server as requested by the printing device. Process print data. On the other hand, if the server does not support the partial transmission request function, the entire print data included in one print job is sent from the server, including the parts that have already been processed and the parts that have not yet been processed. Will be. Even in such a case, according to the printing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to extract print data of a portion that has not yet been processed and set it as a processing target of the print processing unit. Therefore, regardless of whether or not the server supports partial transmission requests, the printing device can resume printing from the continuation of printing interruption, so there is no need for consumables such as ink and printing media. Can be prevented from being consumed. In addition, since printing is resumed from the continuation, the time required for printing can be shortened as compared with the case of printing again from the beginning.

Further, in the printing apparatus for achieving the above object, the request unit performs a transmission request for a portion of the print data not yet processed by the print processing unit by specifying a range using the HTTP range header. May be.
By using an HTTP range header, a partial transmission request for print data can be realized.

Furthermore, in the printing apparatus for achieving the above object, the receiving unit may store the received print data in the first storage unit. In this case, the print processing unit may perform pre-printing processing on the print data stored in the second storage unit and perform printing based on the data after the pre-printing processing. In this case, the measurement unit may measure the data amount of the print data transferred from the first storage unit to the second storage unit.
When the printing apparatus is configured to include a first storage unit that temporarily stores print data received from the server and a second storage unit that is a storage area for print data for pre-print processing, the pre-print processing is performed. In order to do this, it is necessary to move the print data from the first storage unit to the second storage unit. By measuring the amount of print data transferred from the first storage unit to the second storage unit in synchronization with the processing, measurement of the “data amount of print data processed by the print processing unit” is realized. can do.

  Note that the function of each means described in the claims is realized by hardware resources whose function is specified by the configuration itself, hardware resources whose function is specified by a program, or a combination thereof. The functions of these means are not limited to those realized by hardware resources that are physically independent of each other. Furthermore, the present invention can be realized as a method, a computer program, and a recording medium for the program. Of course, the recording medium for the computer program may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium developed in the future.

1 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows the structural example of the buffer concerning 1st embodiment. The sequence chart of the printing sequence concerning a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the state of each part of print data according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the state of each part of print data according to another embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the corresponding component in each figure, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.
1. 1. First embodiment 1-1. Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a printing system including a printer (printing apparatus) 3 according to the present invention. In the printing system illustrated in FIG. 1, when an e-mail addressed to an e-mail address associated with the printer 3 registered in the server 2 is transmitted from any communication terminal 1, the e-mail address is associated with the e-mail address of the destination. The printer 3 realizes a function of printing an e-mail attachment file or body text. The server 2 is composed of one or more computers. The server 2, printer 3, and communication terminal 1 are connected to the Internet 4.

  When the printer 3 is notified of the presence of a print job from the server 2 through a constant connection using XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) with the server 2, the printer 3 sends print data to the server 2 using HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). And having a function of executing printing. Accordingly, the printer 3 includes a communication unit 34 for transmitting and receiving various data via the Internet 4 in addition to the components of a normal printer such as a controller 31 having a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and a printing unit 35. ing. The communication unit 34 converts the signal received from the Internet 4 via the LAN according to the protocol and sends it to the internal bus, and converts the signal received from the internal bus according to the protocol and sends it to the Internet via the LAN. The ROM of the controller 31 stores various computer programs such as a communication program and a printing program that are read into the RAM and executed by the CPU. Various functions of the printer 3 are realized by the CPU executing these computer programs.

  The communication program is a program for performing communication with the server 2 according to a communication protocol such as TCP / IP, HTTP, XMPP or the like. Note that the controller 31 has acquired in advance information necessary for connecting to the server 2 using HTTP or XMPP. The reception buffer 32 (corresponding to the first storage unit) is a memory that stores data received from the outside by the controller 31 that executes the communication program via the communication unit 34, and temporarily stores various data such as print data. It is memory. The controller 31 and the communication unit 34 that execute the communication program correspond to a “request unit” that makes a print data transmission request to the server 2. The controller 31, the communication unit 34, and the reception buffer 32 that execute the communication program correspond to a “reception unit” that receives print data transmitted from the server 2.

  The print program reads the print data stored in the reception buffer 32, transfers it to the processing buffer 33 (corresponding to the second storage unit), performs pre-printing processing, and prints the data in a format suitable for printing in the printer 3. The program has a function of converting data and controlling the printing unit 35 based on the converted data to perform printing. The controller 31 that executes the printing program, the printing unit 35, and the processing buffer 33 correspond to a “printing processing unit”. In the present embodiment, the print data generated by the server 2 and transmitted to the printer 3 is data in which pixel values are expressed in RGB format. In this case, the pre-printing process is a resolution conversion process, a color conversion process (a process for converting the gradation value for each ink installed in the printer 3), halftone, and the like for print data in such a format. Refers to processing, rearrangement processing, and the like. The processing buffer 33 stores pre-processing, processing steps, and post-processing data when the above-described pre-print processing is performed on the print data extracted and read out from various data stored in the reception buffer 32. It is a memory to do. The buffer memories respectively provided for data transfer of the above-described processes included in the pre-printing process are collectively referred to as a processing buffer 33.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining each buffer. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, in this embodiment, the processing buffer 33 includes a first processing buffer 331 that stores print data read from the reception buffer 32 before resolution conversion processing, and data after resolution conversion that is color conversion processing. The second processing buffer 332 that stores the previous data, the third processing buffer 333 that stores the data after the color conversion processing and before the halftone processing, and the data after the halftone processing are arranged. A fourth processing buffer 334 that stores data before the rearrangement process and a fifth processing buffer 335 that stores data after the rearrangement process are included. The data stored in the fifth processing buffer 335 is used for printing by the printing unit 35. The controller 31 that executes the print processing program reads the print data stored in the reception buffer 32 from the reception buffer 32 and transfers it to the processing buffer 33 (first processing buffer 331). “Processing target”. The print data read from the reception buffer 32 and transferred to the processing buffer 33 (first processing buffer 331) is discarded from the reception buffer 32 and applied to a storage location for new data to be received. Each time print data is transferred from the reception buffer 32 to the processing buffer 33, the print program has a measurement function that measures the accumulated data amount of the transferred print data as a size n. Therefore, the controller 31 that executes the printing program corresponds to a “measurement unit”.

  When the resolution conversion processing for the print data stored in the first processing buffer 331 is completed, the controller 31 writes the processed data to the second processing buffer 332 and discards the print data from the first processing buffer 331. To do. The subsequent print data is read from the reception buffer 32 and transferred to the first processing buffer 331. Similarly, for the second processing buffer 332 to the fifth processing buffer 335, the controller 31 reads and processes data from the preceding buffer, and when writing to the succeeding buffer ends, discards the data from the preceding buffer and continues to the subsequent buffer. The data can be transferred to the previous buffer. The printing unit 35 includes an actuator, a sensor, a driving circuit, and a mechanical part for executing printing on a printing medium such as a photographic paper, plain paper, or an OHP sheet by a known printing method such as an inkjet method or a laser method. The print data corresponding to the portion that has been printed by the printing unit 35 is discarded from the processing buffer 33 (fifth processing buffer 335).

1-2. Printing Sequence In the printing system shown in FIG. 1, when an e-mail addressed to an e-mail address associated with the printer 3 is transmitted from the communication terminal 1 together with the attached file, the attached file is immediately printed in the printer 3. It is hoped that In addition, it is not desirable from the viewpoint of the load on the server 2 and the network traffic that the printer 3 polls the server 2 using a message based on HTTP in order to immediately obtain a print request. Therefore, the printer 3 receives from the server 2 a print job presence notification based on XMPP. XMPP is a so-called push-type protocol that can send a message in both directions, so that polling of the server 2 by the printer 3 is not necessary. If no communication error or other error has occurred when the printer 3 is turned on, the server 2 and the printer 3 are in a state where the XMPP connection is always established.

  FIG. 3 is a sequence chart of the print sequence in the present embodiment. More specifically, the print data included in one print job is acquired by the printer 3 and transferred to the processing buffer 33 before being transferred to the processing buffer 33. It is a sequence chart when an error occurs. In the sequence chart of FIG. 3, in order to clarify the main part of the invention, the details of the session establishment and disconnection sequence, the description of the ACK packet and FIN packet responding to each communication, etc. are related to the invention. It is omitted except.

  First, when the server 2 receives an e-mail transmitted from the communication terminal 1 to an e-mail address associated with the printer 3 (S100), a print target such as an attached file is rendered and printed based on the e-mail. Data is generated, and the server 2 transmits a print job notification to the printer 3 using XMPP (S105). Upon receiving the print job presence notification transmitted from the server 2 by XMPP, the communication unit 34 establishes an HTTP session with the server 2 (S110), and transmits a content information transmission request to the server 2 with an HTTP get request (S115). ). Upon receiving the content information transmission request transmitted from the printer 3, the server 2 transmits the content information of the print job to the printer 3 (S120). Here, the content information includes information relating to print data included in the print job, such as a print data download destination URI and a print data document format. The content information is stored in the reception buffer 32 via the communication unit 34. The controller 31 analyzes the data stored in the reception buffer 32 and acquires content information. After acquiring the content information, the controller 31 discards the content information from the reception buffer 32.

  Subsequently, the controller 31 transmits a print data transmission request to the server 2 using an HTTP get request (S125). The print data download destination URI is included in the content information acquired by the printer 3 in S120. In S125, a transmission request is made for the entire print data included in the print job notified in S105. The server 2 receives the print data transmission request from the printer 3, and transmits the print data to the printer 3 by a predetermined size from the top using HTTP (S130). The print data transmitted in S130 is transmitted to the printer 3 in a form included in the response message corresponding to the get request in S125. The HTTP header included in the response message includes information indicating the size (size M) of the entire print data transmitted to the printer 3 (Content-Length header).

  The print data transmitted from the server 2 is stored in the reception buffer 32 by the communication unit 34 and the controller 31 that executes the communication program. The size M of the entire print data is also stored in the reception buffer 32. The controller 31 analyzes the data in the reception buffer 32, acquires the size M, and stores it. The storage of the size M is erased by the controller 31 when the print data is printed. Subsequently, the controller 31 transfers the print data stored in the reception buffer 32 to the processing buffer 33 (first processing buffer 331) if there is a vacancy in the processing buffer 33 (first processing buffer 331). The amount of accumulated print data (size n) is measured. The print data that has been transferred to the processing buffer 33 is discarded from the reception buffer 32. The data amount (size n) is measured for each print job (the value of size n is reset when printing of one print job is completed). The controller 31 performs pre-printing processing on the print data transferred to the processing buffer 33. Then, the controller 31 controls the printing unit 35 based on the data subjected to the pre-printing process to execute printing. Data in the processing buffer 33 corresponding to the portion where printing has been completed is discarded.

  While the controller 31 is receiving print data, transferring print data from the reception buffer 32 to the processing buffer 33, measuring the amount of transferred data, pre-printing processing, and printing execution, an error occurs in the printer 3. The sequence in the case of occurrence of this will be described below. The error in this case is, for example, an error of a type that does not cause a problem even if printing is resumed after the user has solved the error at a relatively long longitude, such as out of printing paper or ink. When an error occurs in the printer 3, the controller 3 interrupts the printing operation because the printer 3 cannot continue printing. Further, the controller 31 leaves the data in the processing buffer 33 without discarding it in preparation for resuming printing. Since no space is generated in the processing buffer 33, the controller 31 does not transfer the print data in the reception buffer 32 to the processing buffer 33. Therefore, the reception buffer 32 is filled with data including print data that has been received one after another from the server 2 and that has not yet been subjected to pre-print processing, and the subsequent print data cannot be received.

  In order to notify the server 2 of this state, the controller 31 sets the window size to “0” in the ACK packet corresponding to the transmission of the print data from the server 2 in S130 and transmits it to the server 2 (S135). This state is called a zero window state. When the server 2 determines that the zero window state continues for a predetermined period (for example, 5 minutes), the server 2 transmits data for disconnecting the HTTP session (S140). Specifically, for example, the server 2 transmits an RST (Reset) packet to the printer 3. As a result, the session between the printer 3 and the server 2 is disconnected. When the session is disconnected, the controller 31 discards the print data stored in the reception buffer 32.

  The time when the error is resolved and the printing can be resumed is undecided, and maintaining the HTTP session until this time places a load on the server 2. Specifically, the memory area reserved for each session cannot be released for a long time, and as a result, the time from receipt of an e-mail sent from another communication terminal to execution of printing is delayed. . In order to prevent this delay, the session between the server 2 and the printer 3 is once disconnected.

  When the controller 31 detects that the error in the printer 3 has been eliminated, the controller 31 resumes pre-printing processing and printing using the print data stored in the processing buffer 33. Further, the controller 31 establishes an HTTP session with the server 2 again in response to the detection of error cancellation (S145), and transmits a transmission request for the entire print data included in the print job to the server 2 as in S125 ( S150). In response to the print data transmission request from the printer 3, the server 2 again transmits the print data to the printer 3 in order from the top (S155). The controller 31 of the printer 3 stores the print data transmitted from the server 2 in the reception buffer 32 as in S130.

  Since the data stored in the reception buffer 32 is from the beginning of the print data indicated by the print job notified in S105, the controller 31 prints the print data in the reception buffer 32 and is indicated by the print job. The print data corresponding to the measured data amount (size n) from the beginning of the data, that is, the print data already transferred to the processing buffer 33 is discarded without being transferred to the processing buffer 33. When the controller 31 receives a portion of the print data that has not yet been transferred to the processing buffer 33 as a processing target for pre-printing processing, the controller 31 does not discard it from the reception buffer 32, but after the processing buffer 33 is empty, the processing buffer 33. To be subject to pre-printing processing.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating print data included in one print job, and is a schematic diagram for explaining an example of a state of print data when an error occurs in the printer 3. In this example, the print data is divided into four parts from the head, and are called d1, d2, d3, and d4 in order from the head. The print data is transmitted from the server 2 in order from the top, stored in the reception buffer 32 in order, transferred to the processing buffer 33, subjected to pre-printing processing, printed, and discarded. When an error occurs, the print data d1 of a predetermined size from the top of the print data is already printed and discarded from the processing buffer 33, and the print data d2 subsequent to the print data d1 is stored in the processing buffer 33. Data that has been transferred and is undergoing pre-printing processing and data that is being printed. The print data d3 subsequent to the print data d2 is stored in the reception buffer 32 but not yet transferred to the processing buffer 33. Suppose there is. It is assumed that the print data d4 subsequent to the print data d3 is data that has not been received by the printer 3 yet.

When the print data is transmitted from the head from the server 2 in S155, the controller 31 discards the print data of size n from the head from the reception buffer 32 and does not transfer it to the processing buffer 33. After receiving the print data after the print data d3 to the reception buffer 32, the print data from the print data d3 to the end of the print data is sequentially transferred to the processing buffer 33. The controller 31 performs pre-printing processing on the print data transferred to the processing buffer 33 in the same manner as described above, and executes printing. That is, after the error is resolved, the print data d2 is directly resumed in the pre-printing process or printing, and is discarded from the processing buffer 33 after the printing is completed. Further, the print data d3 and the print data d4 are transmitted from the server 2 to the printer 3, and pre-printing processing and printing are performed.
When printing corresponding to one print job is completed, the server 2 is notified of the end of printing as a print job status (S160). If there is no other print job for the printer 3, the server 2 disconnects the session with the printer 3. (S165). If an error occurs again after resuming printing, the window size is set to “0” in the ACK packet corresponding to the transmission of print data from the server 2 and transmitted to the server 2 as in S135. The operations after S140 are repeated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the session with the server 2 is disconnected in a state where the transfer of the print data to the processing buffer 33 has not been completed, The print data of the part that has already been transferred to the processing buffer 33 and has become the processing target of the pre-printing process (or the part that has already been printed and discarded) is still transferred to the processing buffer 33 without being transferred to the processing buffer 33 again. The print data that has not been processed yet and is not yet processed is extracted and transferred to the processing buffer 33 to be processed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent printing from being executed again by performing pre-print processing on the print data of the already printed portion or the portion of the print pre-processing portion. That is, since printing can be resumed from the continuation when printing is interrupted, consumables such as ink and printing media can be prevented from being consumed unnecessarily. In addition, since printing is resumed from the continuation, the time required to complete printing can be shortened as compared with the case of printing again from the beginning.

2. Other Embodiments The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, when a print data transmission request is made again after the error is resolved, the entire print data of the print job is the target of the transmission request, and the entire print job print data is received from the server 2 before being printed. The portion of the print data that has not yet been processed is extracted and transferred to the processing buffer 33 so that it becomes the processing target of the pre-printing process. However, when a print data transmission request is made after the error has been resolved, a transmission request may be made for a portion of print data that has not yet been subjected to pre-print processing. That is, in the print data transmission request in S150 of FIG. 3 (print data transmission request performed after error elimination), the controller 31 has been transferred to the print data download destination URI at the time when the error occurred and the processing buffer 33. Based on the value of the data amount (size n), a transmission request is made by designating a range indicating a portion of the remaining print data excluding print data that has already been subjected to pre-print processing.

  Referring to FIG. 4, the range of the remaining print data portion excluding print data that has already been subjected to pre-print processing is specified based on the value of the data amount (size n) that has been transferred to the processing buffer 33. Make a transmission request. Since the print data d3 received from the server 2 and stored in the reception buffer 32 is discarded when the session is disconnected, the print data d3 stored in the reception buffer 32 is also subject to reacquisition. Specifically, at the time of requesting transmission of print data after the error is resolved, the controller 31 compares the size M and size n of the entire print data, and if size M> size n> 0, the size n from the beginning of the print data. A range of print data for (size M−size n) from the position following the minute data to the end of the print data (size M position) is specified. An HTTP range header is used for range specification.

  By the way, the server 2 may not support range specification by the range header. In this case, in response to a print data transmission request for which the range is specified by the printer 3, the server 2 notifies the printer 3 of information indicating that the range is not supported as an HTTP status code, and then transmits the entire print data. . As the status code, “206” is notified from the server 2 when the print data corresponding to the range designation is transmitted, and “200” is notified when the entire print data is transmitted without corresponding to the range designation. The controller 31 stores the print data transmitted from the server 2 in the reception buffer 32 as described above. When the controller 31 determines the status code notified from the server 2 in response to the transmission request with the range specified, and the status code indicates that the entire print data is transmitted without corresponding to the range specification, that is, the status code is In the case of “200”, since the entire print data included in the print job is transmitted from the server 2, the controller 31 starts the print data stored in the reception buffer 32 as in the first embodiment. Therefore, the print data corresponding to the measured data amount (the amount already transferred to the processing buffer 33) is discarded without being transferred to the processing buffer 33. Then, the controller 31 transfers the print data that has not yet been transferred to the processing buffer 33 as the processing target of the pre-printing process after the processing buffer 33 is empty, and sets it as the processing target of the pre-printing process. On the other hand, if the status code notified from the server 2 in response to the range-specified transmission request indicates that print data in the specified range is to be transmitted, that is, if the status code is “206”, the server 2 Since the print data of the portion specified by the range is transmitted from the controller 31, the controller 31 transfers the print data stored in the reception buffer 32 after the vacant space is created in the processing buffer 33 to be processed in the pre-print processing. And In this way, printing can be resumed from the continuation at the time of error occurrence after error recovery, regardless of whether or not the server 2 supports range specification by the range header.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the accumulated data amount of the transferred print data is counted when the print data is transferred from the reception buffer 32 to the processing buffer 33 has been described (see FIG. 2). Assuming that the print processing unit becomes a processing target when the data is stored, the accumulated data amount of the stored print data may be counted when the print data is stored in the reception buffer 32. In this case, the controller 31 that executes the communication program and the communication unit 34 correspond to the “reception unit”, and the controller 31, the reception buffer 32, and the processing buffer 33 that execute the print program correspond to the “print processing unit”. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the state of the print data in this case. Referring to FIG. 5, in this case, the size n corresponds to the total size of d1, d2, and d3. If an error occurs in the state shown in FIG. 5, the print data d4 portion is designated when print data is requested by specifying a range after reconnection. When the entire print data is transmitted from the server 2, the portions d 1 to d 3 are temporarily stored in the reception buffer 32, then discarded from the reception buffer 32, and the portion d 4 is sequentially stored in the reception buffer 32. In this modification, the controller 31 does not discard the print data d3 in the reception buffer 32 even if the session is disconnected in S140.

  For the data (print data d2 in FIGS. 4 and 5) that existed in the processing buffer 33 when the error occurred, the pre-printing process is completed before the error is resolved, and the fifth processing buffer 33 is the final stage processing buffer 33. It may be stored in the processing buffer 335. In this case, since the printing can be performed without performing the pre-printing process for the print data d2 after the error is eliminated, the printing time can be shortened. Note that pre-print processing and resumption of printing for the data (print data d2 in FIGS. 4 and 5) existing in the processing buffer 33 at the time of the error occurs from the server 2 to the subsequent print data (print in FIGS. 4 and 5). It may be after data d3) has been sent.

  Further, the configuration of the buffer described in the above embodiment (FIG. 2) is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to this. Further, the server 2 may perform part or all of the pre-printing process shown in the above embodiment. Alternatively, the server 2 may notify the printer 3 of an unrendered print target, the printer 3 may render the print target to generate print data, and perform pre-printing processing on the print data. Therefore, the format of the print data transmitted from the server 2 is not limited to the example shown in the above embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the content information transmission request to reception and the print data transmission request to reception are performed in a series of HTTP sessions. However, the content information transmission request to reception (FIG. 3). (S115 to S120), the HTTP session may be disconnected, and the print data transmission request to reception may be performed so that the HTTP session is newly established before the print data transmission request (S125). In the first embodiment, after the error is resolved, the HTTP session is re-established (S145) and then the transmission request for the entire print data (S150) is made. However, after the HTTP session is re-established, the entire print data is Before making the transmission request, the content information transmission request to reception may be performed again in the same manner as S115 to S120.

  1: Communication terminal 2: Server 3: Printer 4: Internet 31: Controller 32: Reception buffer 33: Processing buffer 34: Communication unit 35: Printing unit

Claims (5)

A request unit for requesting transmission of print data to the server;
A receiving unit that receives the print data transmitted from the server in response to the transmission request;
A print processing unit that sequentially processes the received print data, and performs printing based on the print data that is the processing target;
A measurement unit that measures a data amount of the print data that is the processing target by the print processing unit among the received print data;
With
The receiving unit stores the received print data in a first storage unit,
The print processing unit performs pre-print processing on the print data transferred from the first storage unit to the second storage unit as a processing target, stores the post-print processing data in a third storage unit, and Perform printing based on the data after the pre-printing process stored in the third storage unit,
When a session with the server is disconnected before all of the print data becomes the processing target, the print processing unit performs pre-printing processing on the print data stored in the second storage unit as a processing target. When the connection is reconnected after disconnecting the session, the print processing unit receives the print data received by the reception unit in response to the request unit sending the print data transmission request again. Based on the data amount measured by the measurement unit, extract a portion that is not yet the print target, and set the print target.
Printing device. The request unit, after reconnection of the session, performs a transmission request for a portion of the print data that has not yet been processed based on the data amount measured by the measurement unit,
When the print data received after reconnection of the session is a part that has not yet been processed, the print processing unit sets the print data as the processing target and received after reconnection of the session When the print data includes a part that has already been processed and a part that has not yet been processed, the process is still performed based on the amount of data measured by the measurement unit from the received print data. Extract the part that is not the target to be the processing target,
The printing apparatus according to claim 1. The request unit performs a transmission request of a part not yet processed by specifying a range using an HTTP range header.
The printing apparatus according to claim 2. The receiving unit stores the received print data in a first storage unit,
The print processing unit performs pre-printing processing on the print data stored in the second storage unit as the processing target, performs printing based on the data after the pre-printing processing,
The measurement unit measures the data amount of the print data transferred from the first storage unit to the second storage unit;
The printing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3. A request process for requesting the server to send print data;
A reception step of receiving the print data transmitted from the server in response to the transmission request;
A print processing step for sequentially processing the received print data, and performing printing based on the print data that is the processing target;
A measuring step of measuring a data amount of the print data to be processed among the received print data;
Including
In the receiving step, the received print data is stored in a first storage unit,
In the print processing step, the print data transferred from the first storage unit to the second storage unit is subjected to pre-print processing, and the pre-print processing data is stored in a third storage unit, Perform printing based on the data after the pre-printing process stored in the third storage unit,
In a case where a session with the server is disconnected before all of the print data becomes the processing target, in the print processing step, pre-printing processing is performed on the print data stored in the second storage unit. When the connection is re-established after the session is disconnected, the print data received in the reception step in response to the request for transmission of the print data again in the request step. Is based on the data amount measured in the measurement step and extracts a portion that is not yet the print target, and is used as the print target.
Printing method.

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