JP2008009889A - Shared document printing apparatus and shared document printing control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notify all users who have printed a shared document before the version change when the version of the shared document is changed, to notify the user that the version of the shared document has been changed, and to generate unnecessary print processing from the user. Can be prevented.
[Solution]
The version information comparison unit 104 compares the extracted version information with the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit 103. When the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the extracted version information is newer than the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit 103, the transmission unit 105 determines that the version data Version information indicating that the shared document requested for printing has been revised is transmitted to the user indicated by the user information described in.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a shared document printing apparatus and a shared document printing control method for printing a shared document requested to be printed from a user terminal.

  Conventionally, a shared document printing apparatus that prints a shared document by an image forming apparatus such as a printer has a problem that when the shared document is revised after being printed, an old version of the shared document is printed without being noticed. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the version of the shared document to be printed is managed, and when the document to be printed is an old version, a warning table indicating the fact is displayed on the display unit provided in the apparatus, In addition, there is a printing apparatus that prints this warning and notifies the user (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-10-21416

  However, in the printing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, since only the user who requested the printing of the document is informed that the shared document requested to be printed is an old version, a large number of document sharing users who do not know this report that it is old. There is a problem in that a version of the document is printed and many unnecessary printing processes occur.

  Accordingly, in view of the above-described problems, the present invention notifies all users who have printed a shared document before the version change to all users who have printed the shared document before the version change. An object of the present invention is to provide a shared document printing apparatus and a shared document printing control method capable of preventing the occurrence of unnecessary printing processing from the user.

  In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 is a shared document printing apparatus that prints a shared document requested to be printed from a user terminal. Version information indicating a version assigned to the shared document requested to be printed; Version data storage unit that stores version data in which user information for identifying the user terminal that has requested printing for the shared document so far is stored; version information and user information described in the shared document requested to be printed An information extraction unit for extracting the version information, a version information comparison unit for comparing the version information extracted by the information extraction unit, and the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit, The version extracted by the information extraction unit by the version information comparison unit. When it is determined that the version indicated by the information is newer than the version indicated in the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit, the user information described in the version data A configuration is provided that includes a notification unit that notifies document revision information indicating that the shared document has been revised to all the user terminals shown.

  According to this configuration, when the notification unit determines that the extracted version information is newer than the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit, by the version information comparison unit. Since the shared document revision information is notified to all the user terminals indicated by the user information described in the version data, it is possible to prevent an unnecessary print process from being generated from the user terminal.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a shared document printing control method for controlling printing of a shared document requested to be printed from a user terminal, version information indicating a version assigned to the shared document requested to be printed, A version data storage unit that stores version data describing user information for identifying a user terminal that has requested printing for a shared document, and version information and user information described in the shared document requested to be printed are extracted. The extracted version information, the version information indicating the version assigned to the shared document requested to be printed, and the user information for identifying the user terminal that has requested printing for the shared document so far are described. Compared with the version information described in the version data When it is determined that the version indicated by the version information is newer than the version indicated in the version information described in the version data stored in advance, all the versions indicated by the user information described in the version data are displayed. It has a configuration in which document revision information indicating that the shared document has been revised is notified to the user terminal.

  According to this configuration, when it is determined that the extracted version information is newer than the version information described in the version data stored in advance, all the information indicated by the user information described in the version data Since the shared document revision information is notified to the user terminal, unnecessary print processing from the user terminal can be prevented.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the version of the shared document is changed, the user of the shared document is notified that the version of the shared document has been changed, thereby preventing the occurrence of unnecessary printing processing from the user. Can do.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a shared document printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a shared document printing system in which the shared document printing apparatus according to the first embodiment is used. As shown in FIG. 1, the shared document printing apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D of this embodiment are printing apparatuses such as an electrophotographic printer and an inkjet printer, for example, and include a receiving unit 101, a version information extracting unit 102, A version data storage unit 103, a version information comparison unit 104, a transmission unit 105, and an image forming unit 106 are provided. The shared document printing apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D are connected to the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H via a communication line 30 such as Ethernet as shown in FIG. ing. Here, in the version information extraction unit 102 and the version information comparison unit 104, a CPU (not shown) executes a print control program stored in a storage device (not shown) such as a hard disk or ROM. Generated.

  The receiving unit 101 is an interface such as a network interface or USB, for example, receives print data of a shared document transmitted from the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,. To the image forming unit 106 and the image forming unit 106.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the print data received by the receiving unit 101 includes PDL (Page Description Language) data (described later) in which version information, user information, and the contents of a page to be printed are described. Is described. The version information is information for managing print data transmitted from the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H, and has a document title name and an update date / time indicating the date / time when the document was updated. ing. The user information is indicated by a host name that identifies the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,.

  In this embodiment, the document title and the update date / time are used as version information, but other than this, as long as the document can be uniquely identified and whether or not the document has been revised can be determined. May be used. For example, the file name when the document is stored on the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H may be used, or the version number input by the user may be used instead of the update date and time. Also good. In this embodiment, the host name is used as the user information. However, other than this, as long as the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,. Information may be used. For example, an IP (Internet Protocol) address and a MAC (Media Access Control) address may be used, or information that can identify the user who requested printing, for example, an account name assigned to the user, an e-mail address, etc. May be.

  The version information extraction unit 102 extracts version information and user information from the print data input from the reception unit 101, and outputs these version information and user information to the version information comparison unit 104.

  The version data storage unit 103 is composed of a storage device such as a hard disk or RAM, and stores version data. As shown in FIG. 4, the version data includes a document title name, an update date and time, and user information indicating a user who has requested printing of the same shared document. In the user information, the number of users indicating the number of users who have requested printing of the same shared document, and host names indicating these users are described.

  When version information and user information are input from the version information extraction unit 102, the version information comparison unit 104 searches the version data stored in the version data storage unit 103, and the document title name in the input version information It is determined whether or not version data describing the same document title name is registered in the version data storage unit 103.

  If the version information comparison unit 104 determines that version data describing the same document title name as the document title name in the input version information is not registered in the version data storage unit 103, the version information comparison unit 104 Version data describing a user consisting of a document title name, an input update date and time, the number of users having a value of “1”, and an input host name is generated and registered in the version data storage unit 103. .

  On the other hand, when the version information comparison unit 104 determines that version data describing the same document title name as the input document title name is registered in the version data storage unit 103, the input update date and time Is determined to be the same as the update date and time described in the version data to be determined.

  When the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the input update date is the same as the update date described in the version data to be determined, the document title name having the input sentence title name, Version data is generated in which the update date and time having the input update date and time, the number of users having a value obtained by adding 1 to the number of users, and user information to which the input computer name is added are described. Then, the version information comparison unit 104 updates the version data in which the same document title name is described as the document title name described in the generated version data to the generated version data.

  When the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the input update date / time is different from the update date / time described in the version data to be determined, the input update date / time is the version data to be determined. It is determined whether it is before the update date and time described in. If the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the input update date / time is earlier than the update date / time described in the version data to be determined, the version information described in the version data to be determined Information is transmitted to the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H that requested printing via the transmission unit 105 and the communication line 30.

  On the other hand, if the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the input update date / time is after the update date / time described in the version data to be determined, the input document title name is input. Version data describing a user including the update date and time, the number of users having a value of “1”, and the input host name is generated. Then, the version information comparison unit 104 deletes the version data having the same document title name in the generated version data from the version data storage unit 103, writes the generated version data in the location of the deleted version data, and Update the data.

The transmission unit 105 is, for example, an interface such as a network interface or USB, and the latest version information assigned to the shared document input from the version information comparison unit 104 is transmitted via the communication line 30 to the host computers 20A, 20B, Sent to 20C, ..., 20H.

  For example, in the case of an electrophotographic printer, the image forming unit 106 forms an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive drum and copies the electrostatic latent image onto a recording sheet with toner to form an image.

  Next, the operation of the shared document printing apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. When the receiving unit 101 of the shared document printing apparatus 10A receives print data from any of the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H (step S11), the print data is extracted from the image forming unit 106 and the version information. Output to the unit 102.

  The version information extraction unit 102 extracts the version information including the document title name and the update date and the user information including the host name from the print data input from the reception unit 101 (step S12), and these are extracted as the version information comparison unit. To 104.

  For example, the host computer that has requested printing is the host computer 20A, the document title name is “XXX specification”, and the update date is “2006/4/17 11:00:00”. In the case of print data in which the name “HostA” is described, version information including “XXX specification” as the document title name and “2006/4/17 11:00:00” as the update date and time, and the host User information consisting of the name “HostA” is extracted by the version information extraction unit 102.

  When version information and user information are input from the version information extraction unit 102, the version information comparison unit 104 searches the version data stored in the version data storage unit 103, and the document title name in the input version information It is determined whether or not version data describing the same document title name is registered in the version data storage unit 103 (step S13).

  When the version information comparison unit 104 determines that version data describing the same document title name as the document title name in the input version information is not registered in the version data storage unit 103 (step S13; N) Generates version data describing the input document title name, the input update date / time, the number of users having a value of “1”, and the input host name, and this version data is generated. After registering in the storage unit 103, the process proceeds to step S21.

  For example, the host computer that requested printing is the host computer 20A, the document title is “XXX specification”, and the update date is “2006/4/17 11:00:00”. In the case of print data in which the name “HostA” is described, “XXX specification” as the document title name, “2006/4/17 11:00:00” as the update date, “1” as the number of users, and Version data in which “Host A” is described as user information is registered in the version data storage unit 103 (see FIG. 6A).

  In addition, the host computer that has requested printing is the host computer 20A, the document title is “YYY specification”, and the update date is “2006/4/17 12:00: 00”. In the case of print data in which the name “HostA” is described, “YYY specification” as the document title name, “2006/4/17 12:00:00” as the update date, “1” as the number of users, and Version data in which “Host A” is described as user information is registered in the version data storage unit 103 (see FIG. 6C).

  On the other hand, if the version information comparison unit 104 determines that version data describing the same document title name as the input document title “XXX specification” is registered in the version data storage unit 103 (step S13; Y), it is determined whether or not the input update date and time is the same as the update date and time described in the version data to be determined (step S15).

  When the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the input update date / time is the same as the update date / time described in the version data to be determined (step S15; Y), the input sentence title name Version data in which the document title name including the update date and time, the update date and time having the input update date and time, the number of users having a value obtained by adding 1 to the number of users, and the user information including the input computer name is generated. Thereafter, the version information comparison unit 104 updates the version data in which the same document title name is described as the document title name described in the generated version data to the generated version data (step S16), and then Then, the process proceeds to step S21.

  For example, the host computer that requested printing is the host computer 20B, the document title is “XXX specification”, the update date is “2006/4/17 11:00:00”, and the user information is “Host B”. "XXX specification" as the document title name, "2006/4/17 11:00:00" as the update date and time, "2" as the number of users, and as user information Version data in which “Host A” and “Host B” are described is generated. Then, the version data shown in FIG. 6A is updated to the generated version data (see FIG. 6B).

  When the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the input update date / time is different from the update date / time described in the version data to be determined (step S15; N), the input update date / time is determined. It is determined whether or not it is before the update date and time described in the target version data (step S17). When the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the input update date / time is earlier than the update date / time described in the version data to be determined (step S17; Y), the version data to be determined Is transmitted to the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H that have requested printing via the transmission unit 105 and the communication line 30 (step S18), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if the version information comparison unit 104 determines that the input update date / time is later than the update date / time described in the version data to be determined (step S17; N), the version information comparison unit 104 receives the input. Version data describing a user including a document title name, an input update date / time, the number of users having a value of “1”, and an input host name is generated. Thereafter, the version information comparison unit 104 deletes the version data having the same document title name from the generated version data from the version data storage unit 103 (step S19), and the version data generated at the location of the deleted version data Is written to update the version data (step S20).

  For example, the host computer that requested printing is the host computer 20C, the document title is “XXX specification”, the update date is “2006/4/17 13:00:00”, and the user information is “HostC”. "Is described in FIG. 6C, the document title name is" XXX specification ", the update date is" 2006/4/17 11:00:00 ", and the number of users The version data to be judged in which “2” is the user information and “Host A” and “Host B” are the document title name “XXX specification” shown in FIG. The update date / time is “2006/4/17 13:00:00”, the number of users is “1”, and the user information is updated to version data in which “HostC” is described.

  Thereafter, the version information comparison unit 104 outputs a print request to the image forming unit 106. Then, the image forming unit 106 extracts PDL data from the previously input print data, prints this data (step S21), and ends the printing process.

  The host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H that have transmitted the print request for the shared document receive the version information via the communication line 30, and then display the warning display shown in FIG.

  According to this embodiment, the version information comparing unit 104 determines that the version information extracted by the version information extracting unit 102 is newer than the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit 103. In this case, since the latest version information is notified to all users indicated by the user information described in the version data, it is possible to prevent unnecessary print processing from being generated by the user. .

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the shared document printing apparatus according to the present invention. Shared document printing apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D of this embodiment shown in FIG. 8 are printing apparatuses such as an electrophotographic printer and an ink jet printer, and include a receiving unit 101, a version information extracting unit 102, and version data storage. A configuration unit 103 includes a version information comparison unit 104, a transmission unit 105, an image forming unit 106, a cancel information extraction unit 107, and a transmission standby unit 108. Although not shown, the shared document printing apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D of the third embodiment are connected to the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H via communication lines.

  Here, the version information extraction unit 102, the version information comparison unit 104, the cancellation information extraction unit 107, and the transmission standby unit 108 execute a print control program stored in a storage device (not shown) such as a hard disk or a ROM. It is generated by execution by a CPU (not shown).

  Note that the version information extraction unit 102, the version data storage unit 103, the version information comparison unit 104, the transmission unit 105, and the image forming unit 106 have the same configurations as the respective components constituting the shared document printing apparatus according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the same reference numerals are assigned and description of these components is omitted.

  When receiving the cancel data for canceling the print request for the shared document from the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H, the receiving unit 101 receives the cancel data from the version information extracting unit 102, the image forming unit. 106 and the cancellation information extraction unit 107.

  When the cancel information flag is described in the cancel data input from the receiving unit 101, the cancel information extracting unit 107 reads the cancel information including the cell document title name, the update date and time, and the host name from the cancel data. Data is output to the transmission standby unit 108.

  Here, in the cancel data, as shown in FIG. 9, a cancel information flag, a document title name, an update date and time, and a host name are described. The cancel information flag is information for allowing the cancel information extraction unit to identify that this data is cancel data, and whether the document title name and the update date / time are the same as the version information waiting in the transmission standby unit 108. This is version information for determining whether or not. The host name is a host name assigned to the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H that transmits the version information that is waiting in the transmission standby unit 108. The cancel data does not have PDL data because it does not print the PDL data.

  The transmission standby unit 108 temporarily waits for the version information output from the version information comparison unit 104, and outputs the standby version information to the transmission unit 105 after a predetermined time has elapsed. In addition, when the cancellation information is input from the cancellation information extraction unit 107 within a predetermined time, the transmission standby unit 108 stops outputting the version information input from the version information comparison unit 104 to the transmission unit 105.

  Next, the operation of the shared document according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The operation when the shared document print data is received from the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H is the same as the operation executed by the shared document printing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. Description of the operation is omitted.

  10 and 11 are flowcharts illustrating the operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the second embodiment. When receiving the print data from the host computer 20C (step S31), the receiving unit 101 of the shared document printing apparatus 10A outputs the print data to the version information extracting unit 102, the image forming unit 106, and the cancel information extracting unit 107.

  The cancel information extraction unit 107 determines whether or not a cancel information flag is described in the print data input from the reception unit 101 (step S32). If it is determined that the cancel information flag is described in the input print data (step S32; Y), the cancel information extraction unit 107 outputs the cancel information to the transmission standby unit 108 (step S33).

  Then, the transmission waiting unit 108 starts measuring time at the same time as the cancellation information is input (step 34). Thereafter, the transmission standby unit 108 determines whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed (step S35). If the transmission standby unit 108 determines that the predetermined time has not elapsed (step S35; N), the transmission standby unit 108 continues the same determination until the predetermined time has elapsed. On the other hand, if the transmission standby unit 108 determines that the predetermined time has elapsed (step S35; Y), it determines whether the version information output from the version information comparison unit 104 is on standby (step S36). ).

  If the transmission standby unit 108 determines that the version information is on standby (step S36; Y), whether the version information on standby and the version information input from the cancel information extraction unit 107 are the same or not. Is determined (step S37).

  If the transmission standby unit 108 determines that the version information in standby and the version information input from the cancellation information extraction unit 107 are the same (step S37; Y), the transmission standby unit 108 indicates the host name in the cancellation information. The version information for the host computer 20C is deleted, and this version information is not output to the transmission unit 105 (step S38). That is, the transmission standby unit 108 stops transmitting the version information to the host computer 20C via the transmission unit 105. Thereafter, the transmission standby unit 108 ends the process.

  On the other hand, when the transmission standby unit 108 determines that the version information in standby and the version information input from the cancellation information extraction unit 107 are not the same (step S37; N), this version information is output to the transmission unit 105. To do.

  The transmission unit 105 transmits the input version information to the host computer 20C having the host name described in the cancellation information via the communication line 30 (step S39), and ends the process.

  In step S36, when the transmission standby unit 108 determines that the version information is not standby (step S36; N), the process ends.

  In step 32, when the cancel information extraction unit 107 determines that the cancel information flag is not described in the input data (step S32; N), the cancel information flag is described in the input data. To the version information extraction unit 102.

  After that, the version information extraction unit 102, the version information comparison unit 104, and the transmission unit 105 execute the same operation as that of the shared document printing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, and finish the printing process (steps S40 to S49). . In this embodiment, in step S46, the version information is not transmitted to the host computer 20C that requested the printing, but is made to wait in the transmission standby unit 108.

  According to this embodiment, when cancel data for canceling erroneous printing processing is input from the host computer 20C, the transmission standby unit 108 stores version information until a predetermined time has elapsed, so it is necessary to notify the user. The transmission of version information with no information to the host computer 20C can be stopped.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the third embodiment of the shared document printing apparatus according to the present invention. The shared document printing apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D of this embodiment shown in FIG. 12 are printing apparatuses such as an electrophotographic printer and an inkjet printer, and include a receiving unit 101, a version information extracting unit 102, and version data storage. A configuration unit 103, a version information comparison unit 104, a transmission unit 105, an image forming unit 106, and a synchronization information extraction unit 109 are configured. Although not shown, the shared document printing apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D of the third embodiment are connected to the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H via communication lines.

  Here, the version information extraction unit 102, the version information comparison unit 104, and the synchronization information extraction unit 109 have a CPU (not shown) that is stored in a storage device (not shown) including a hard disk, a ROM, and the like. Generated by executing a program.

  Note that each of the version information extraction unit 102, the version data storage unit 103, the version information comparison unit 104, the transmission unit 105, and the image forming unit 106 has the same configuration as that of the shared document printing apparatus according to the first embodiment. Are given the same reference numerals. Further, description of these components will be omitted.

  When receiving the synchronization data from another shared document printing apparatus, the reception unit 101 outputs this data to the version information extraction unit 102, the image forming unit 106, and the synchronization information extraction unit 109.

  Here, the synchronization data is data broadcasted from another shared document printing apparatus 10 whose contents of the version data storage unit 103 have been changed, and as shown in FIG. A synchronization information flag, version information, and user information indicating simultaneous broadcast from the device 10 are described. The version information and user information are version information and user information described in version data in which the version data stored in the version data storage unit 103 included in the other shared document printing apparatus 10 is updated. Note that the synchronization data does not have PDL data because it does not print PDL data.

  When synchronization data is input from the receiving unit 101, the synchronization information extraction unit 109 determines whether or not a synchronization information flag is described in the data, and determines that the synchronization information flag is described in the synchronization data. In this case, the corresponding version data is updated based on the version information and user information described in the synchronization data.

  Next, the operation of the shared document according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the operation when the synchronization information flag is not described in the received input data is the same as the operation executed by the shared document printing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, the description of the operation in this case is omitted.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention. When the receiving unit 101 of the shared document printing apparatus 10A connected to the communication line receives print data from the shared document printing apparatus 10D (step S51), the received data is used as a synchronization information extraction unit 109, a version information extraction unit 102, and The image is output to the image forming unit 106.

  The synchronization information extraction unit 109 determines whether or not a synchronization information flag is described in the print data input from the reception unit 101 (step S52). When it is determined that the synchronization information flag is described in the input data that has been input (step S52; Y), the synchronization information extraction unit 109 identifies the print data as synchronization data. Next, the synchronization information extraction unit 109 generates version data having version information and user information described in the input synchronization data, and describes the generated version data stored in the version data storage unit 103. The version data having the document title name being updated is updated to the generated version data (step S53), and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the synchronization information extraction unit 109 determines that the synchronization information flag is not described in the input data that has been input (step S52; N), the input print data is printed for printing the shared document. The data is specified, and the fact is output to the version information extraction unit 102.

  Thereafter, the same operations as those performed by the version information extraction unit 102, the version information comparison unit 104, and the transmission unit 105 are executed, and the printing process is terminated (steps S54 to S64). However, after the version data update process is performed in step S58 and step S62, and after the version data is registered in step S56, the transmission unit 105 transmits the updated or registered version data to the shared document. Broadcast simultaneously to the printing apparatuses 10B, 10C, and 10D (step S63), and then the image forming unit 106 prints the PDL data included in the input print image data (step S64).

  According to this embodiment, the transmission unit 105 of the shared document printing apparatus 10A broadcasts the version data updated by the version information comparison unit 104 to the shared document printing apparatuses 10B, 10C, and 10D. The updated version data can be shared for the devices 10B, 10C, and 10D. That is, it is possible to notify the user terminal that has requested printing to the shared document printing apparatuses 10B, 10C, and 10D that the version of the shared document has been changed.

  According to this embodiment, when the receiving unit 101 of the shared document printing apparatus 10A receives synchronous data indicating that the contents of the version data storage unit have been changed from the shared document printing apparatus 10D, the version described in the synchronous data is displayed. Since version data having information and user information is registered in the version data storage unit 103, it is possible to accurately grasp the user who has requested printing of the shared document. For this reason, generation | occurrence | production of the unnecessary printing process from a user terminal can be prevented further.

  FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the shared document printing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The shared document printing apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D of this embodiment shown in FIG. 15 are printing apparatuses such as an electrophotographic printer and an inkjet printer, and include a receiving unit 101, a version information extracting unit 102, and version data storage. A section 103, a version information comparing section 104, a transmitting section 105, an image forming section 106, a reprint information extracting section 110, and an image data storage section 111 are configured. Although not shown, the shared document printing apparatuses 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D of the third embodiment are connected to the host computers 20A, 20B, 20C,..., 20H via communication lines.

  Here, the version information extraction unit 102, the version information comparison unit 104, and the reprint information extraction unit 110 are printed by a CPU (not shown) stored in a storage device (not shown) such as a hard disk or ROM. It is generated by executing a control program.

  Note that each of the version information extraction unit 102, the version data storage unit 103, the version information comparison unit 104, and the transmission unit 105 has the same configuration as the components that constitute the shared document printing apparatus according to the first embodiment. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given. Further, description of these components will be omitted.

  For example, when receiving data from the host computer 20B, the receiving unit 101 outputs this data to the version information extracting unit 102, the image forming unit 106, and the reprint information extracting unit 110.

  When the input data is input from the receiving unit 101, the reprint information extraction unit 110 determines whether or not a reprint information flag is described in this data, and the reprint information flag is described in the input data. If it is determined that the input data is reprint data, the reprint information including the reprint information flag and the document title name described in the reprint data is extracted. Further, the reprint information extraction unit 110 outputs the reprint information to the image forming unit 207.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the reprint data describes a reprint information flag indicating that reprinting is performed and a document title name assigned to the shared document to be reprinted. Note that the synchronization data does not have PDL data because it does not print PDL data.

  The image forming unit 106 generates the image data (hereinafter referred to as related image data) shown in FIG. 17 in which the input document title name is associated with the image data of the previously formed shared document, and the related image data is converted into an image. The data is stored in the data storage unit 111.

  Here, the related image data is data in which the contents of a page are described, and is data that can be printed again. The related image data may be received PDL data, may be bitmap data that can be generated from the PDL data, and is further in the process of generating bitmap data from the PDL data. It may be intermediate data generated at the stage.

  The image data storage unit 111 stores related image data with a document title name.

  Next, the operation of the shared document according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the operation when the reprint information flag is not described in the received print data is the same as the operation executed by the shared document printing apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, the description of the operation in this case is omitted. .

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. For example, when the receiving unit 101 of the shared document printing apparatus 10A receives print data from the host computer 20B (step S71), the data is output to the reprint information extracting unit 110, the version information extracting unit 102, and the image forming unit 106. To do.

  The reprint information extraction unit 110 determines whether a reprint information flag is described in the print data input from the reception unit 101 (step S72). When the reprint information extraction unit 110 determines that the reprint information flag is described in the input print data (step S72; Y), the reprint information extraction unit 110 identifies the print data as reprint data, The document title name is read from the reprint data, and the title name is output to the image forming unit 106 (step S73).

  The image forming unit 106 reads the related image data to which the document title name input from the image data storage unit 111 is assigned, extracts the image data included in the related image data (step S74), and shifts the processing to step S84. Let

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the reprint information flag is not described in the input print data (step S72; N), the synchronization information extraction unit 109 specifies that the input data is print data, The fact is output to the version information extraction unit 102.

Thereafter, the same operations as those performed by the version information extraction unit 102, the version information comparison unit 104, and the transmission unit 105 in the shared document printing apparatus according to the first embodiment are performed, and the printing process ends (steps S74 to S84). ).

  After receiving the version information via the communication line 30, the host computer 20 that has transmitted the shared document reprint request displays the warning display shown in FIG. 19 on the display screen.

  According to this embodiment, when the shared document printing apparatus 10A receives a shared document reprint request from the host computer 20B in which the document title name of the shared document is described, the document title name described in the reprint request is received. The image data stored therein is read from the image data storage unit 111, and the shared document requested to be reprinted from the image data is generated in the image forming unit 106. Therefore, it is convenient to reprint the revised shared document. Can be increased.

  The shared document printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described using a printer, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be applied to a FAX, a multifunction machine, or a combination thereof. In the embodiment, when the shared document is corrected, all shared users are recognized. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that only some shared users may be notified.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a shared document printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a shared document printing system in which a shared document printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention is used. It is explanatory drawing explaining the content of print data. It is a figure explaining the content of version data. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining progress of version information and user information. It is a figure which shows the example of a display displayed on a host computer. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of Example 2 of the shared document printing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the content of cancellation data. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the second exemplary embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the second exemplary embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of Example 3 of the shared document printing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the content of synchronous data. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the third exemplary embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of Example 4 of the shared document printing apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing explaining the content of reprint data. It is explanatory drawing explaining the content of the image data reprinted. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the shared document printing apparatus according to the fourth exemplary embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display displayed on a host computer.

Explanation of symbols

10A 10B 10C 10D Shared document printing apparatus 101 Reception unit 102 Version information extraction unit 103 Version data storage unit 104 Version information comparison unit 105 Transmission unit 106 Image formation unit 107 Cancel information extraction unit 108 Transmission standby unit 109 Synchronization information extraction unit 110 Reprinting Information extraction unit 111 Image data storage unit 20A 20B 20C 20H Host computer 30 Communication line

Claims (10)

In a shared document printing apparatus that prints a shared document requested to be printed from a user terminal,
A version data storage unit that stores version data describing version information indicating a version assigned to a shared document requested to be printed and user information identifying a user terminal that has requested printing for the shared document so far; ,
An information extraction unit for extracting version information and user information described in the shared document requested to be printed;
A version information comparison unit that compares the version information extracted by the information extraction unit with the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit;
The version information comparing unit determines that the version indicated by the version information extracted by the information extracting unit is newer than the version indicated in the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit. If so, for all user terminals indicated by the user information described in the version data, a notification unit for notifying the document revision information indicating that the shared document has been revised,
A shared document printing apparatus comprising: When stop data in which stop information for stopping notification of the document revision information to the user terminal is received is received from the user terminal, a time measuring unit that measures a predetermined time,
The document revision information is stored until the time measured by the timing unit passes the certain time, and the document revision information storage unit outputs to the notification unit when the certain time has elapsed,
Further comprising
The notification unit
2. The shared document printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document revision information input from the shared document revision information storage unit is notified to a user terminal that has transmitted stop data. The version indicated by the version information extracted by the information extraction unit by the version information comparison unit is the same as the version information described in the version data stored in the version data storage unit, and the version data If it is determined that the user information extracted by the information extraction unit is not described in the user information described in the above, the version information that is the determination target is replaced with the user information extracted by the information extraction unit. A version data update unit for updating to the added version data;
An updated version data broadcast unit that broadcasts the version data updated by the version data update unit to other shared document printing devices;
The shared document printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: When synchronization data indicating that the contents of the version data stored in the version data storage unit has been changed is received from another shared document printing apparatus, the version data having version information and user information described in the synchronization data A synchronous version data generator for generating
A synchronous version data registration unit for registering the version data generated by the synchronous version data generation unit in the version data storage unit;
The shared document printing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: The shared document has a document title name,
An image data forming unit that forms a shared document requested to be printed as image data;
An image data storage unit for storing image data formed by the image data forming unit, to which a document title name of the shared document is attached;
When a reprint request for the shared document in which the document title name of the shared text is described is received from the user terminal, image data having the document title name described in the reprint request is read from the image data storage unit. A shared document generation unit that generates a shared document requested to be reprinted from the image data;
The shared document printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: In a shared document printing control method for controlling printing of a shared document requested to be printed from a user terminal,
Extract version information and user information described in the shared document requested for printing,
The extracted version information, the version information indicating the version assigned to the shared document requested to be printed, and the user information for identifying the user terminal that has requested printing for the shared document so far are described. Compare with the version information described in the version data,
When it is determined that the version indicated by the extracted version information is newer than the version indicated in the version information described in the version data stored in advance, the version information indicated by the user information described in the version data A shared document printing control method, comprising: notifying a user terminal of document revision information indicating that the shared document has been revised. When the stop data describing the stop information for canceling the notification of the document revision information to the user terminal is received from the user terminal, the preset time is counted,
The document revision information is stored until the measured time passes the fixed time, and when the fixed time passes, the document revision information is output to the notification unit,
7. The shared document printing control method according to claim 6, wherein the outputted document revision information is notified to the user terminal that has transmitted the cancellation data. The version indicated by the extracted version information is the same as the version information described in the version data stored in advance, and the user extracted by the information extraction unit in the user information described in the version data When it is determined that the information is not described, update the version information to which the user information obtained by extracting the version data as the determination target is added,
7. The shared document printing control method according to claim 6, wherein the updated version data is broadcast simultaneously to other shared document printing apparatuses. When receiving synchronous data indicating that the content of the version data stored in advance has been changed from another shared document printing apparatus, version data having version information and user information described in the synchronous data is generated,
Register the generated version data in the storage unit,
9. The shared document printing control method according to claim 8, wherein: The shared document has a document title name,
Form the shared document requested for printing as image data,
When the reprint request for the shared document in which the document title name of the shared text is described is received from the user terminal, image data having the document title name described in the reprint request is stored in advance. Read the previously formed image data with the document title name of the document, and generate a shared document requested to be reprinted from the image data,
The shared document printing control method according to claim 6.

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