JP2005295514A - Image forming apparatus and job management method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a job management method suitable for image forming processing and an image forming apparatus for executing the method.
In an image forming apparatus that has hardware resources used in image forming processing and executes a job related to image formation, job related information indicating the relationship between one job and another job is displayed for each job. A job-related information generating unit that generates job structure information for searching for a job related to an arbitrary job based on the job-related information.
[Selection] FIG.

Description

  The present invention relates to a job management method for managing a job related to image forming processing, and an image forming apparatus for executing the method.

  In recent years, there has been known an image forming apparatus in which functions of each apparatus such as a facsimile, a printer, a copy, and a scanner are housed in one casing. In this image forming apparatus, a display unit, a printing unit, an imaging unit, and the like are provided in one casing, and four types of applications corresponding to a facsimile, a printer, a copy, and a scanner are provided. , Operate as a printer, copy and scanner.

  Processing related to image formation, such as outputting, changing, and moving images, is executed in units of processing called jobs. For example, when copying, since the image forming apparatus performs a process of reading a document and a process of printing the read document, a document reading job and a printing job are generated. As an example in which this job does not occur, there is a case where an operation for changing the setting of the image forming apparatus is performed. In this case, no processing is performed on the image, and therefore no job is generated.

  This job may become a finer job in the course of processing. This will be described with reference to FIG. For example, when copying, a “copy job” is first generated in the image forming apparatus. Then, two jobs of “read job” and “print job” are derived from this copy job. When a new job is derived from one job in this way, the former is called “parent job” and the latter is called “child job”.

  When expressed as a parent job and a child job, the image is such that both exist at the same time, but conventionally, when a child job is derived, the parent job disappears. In the above example, when the “read job” and the “print job” are derived, the “copy job” disappears. Therefore, the conventional derivation is an image in which the parent job is divided into child jobs.

  In the copy job described above, derivation is performed once. However, depending on the process, the derivation of the job may be performed a plurality of times. For example, when printing a document in which color pages and black and white pages are mixed as shown in FIG. 2, a case where color pages and black and white pages are printed by different processes is considered.

  First, a “print job” is generated in response to a request received from the user by the image forming apparatus. Then, “color print job” and “monochrome print job” are derived from the print job. Furthermore, a “plotter job” is derived in units of the number of pages to be printed.

  When the state of the derivation is illustrated, the job structure as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained. The most fundamental job in this job structure is “root job”, and the end job is “end job”. Call it. In FIG. 2, the basic job is a print job, and the end job is a plotter job. Conventionally, this basic job disappears when it is processed by a spool.

  In the job management in the prior art, each application (hereinafter, the application may be referred to as an application) has a queue for a basic job, and manages the order of job processing. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a printer application that is an application for a printer is a printer application basic job queue, and manages the order as the basic jobs A, B, and C loaded in the queue. .

  In addition, a terminal job for hardware such as a plotter also has a dedicated queue, which manages the processing order. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the service layer module that manages each application and the end job is a plotter job queue, and manages the order like the end jobs A, B, and C loaded in the queue. To do.

  A module that manages jobs acquires job information by accessing these queues, and passes the information to an application on a personal computer, so that the application can display a user interface as shown in FIG. By this display, the user who manages the job can see the status of each job.

  As described above, conventionally, since a basic job disappears when it is processed by spool, it cannot be determined from which parent job a certain child job is derived. Therefore, for example, an error has occurred in a certain end job, but it has not been possible to determine which request caused the error. In addition, there is a problem in that even if an attempt is made to cancel a basic job that has occurred in response to a request, the derived child job cannot be canceled, and the process cannot be canceled.

  Thus, conventionally, since job management is insufficient, it has been impossible to sufficiently acquire information about jobs and perform operations on jobs.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a job management method suitable for image forming processing and an image forming apparatus that executes the method.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to a relationship between the one job and another job in an image forming apparatus that has hardware resources used in image forming processing and executes a job related to image forming. Job-related information generation means for generating job-related information for each job, and job structure information creation for creating job structure information for searching for a job related to an arbitrary job based on the job-related information Means.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job-related information includes identification information of all jobs that are ancestors of the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job related information includes identification information of a parent job of the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job-related information includes identification information of all jobs that are descendants of the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job related information includes identification information of a child job of the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized by having job information including the identification information and information related to the job.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job information includes job operation permission information indicating whether or not an operation for the job is permitted.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job information includes job operation condition information indicating a condition under which the job can be operated.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for canceling the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for re-executing the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for interrupting the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for editing the job information.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for changing a device that executes the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job information is created for each job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized by further comprising storage management means for storing the job information and providing job information corresponding to the identification information.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job structure information creating means creates the job structure information by acquiring job information from the storage management means.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a job management method for managing a job in an image forming apparatus that has a hardware resource used in image forming processing and executes a job related to image formation. A job related information generation step for generating job related information for generating job structure information for the job, and a job structure information generation step for generating job structure information based on the job related information. And

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job-related information includes identification information of all jobs that are ancestors of the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job related information includes identification information of a parent job of the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job-related information includes identification information of all jobs that are descendants of the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job related information includes identification information of a child job of the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized by having job information including the identification information and information related to the job.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job information includes job operation permission information indicating whether or not an operation for the job is permitted.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job information includes job operation condition information indicating a condition under which the job can be operated.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for canceling the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for re-executing the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for interrupting the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for editing the job information.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the operation for the job is an operation for changing a device for executing the job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that the job information is created for each job.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized by further comprising a storage management stage for storing the job information and providing job information corresponding to the identification information.

  In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is characterized in that, in the job structure information creation stage, the job structure information is created by acquiring the job information stored in the storage management stage. .

  As described above, the present invention can provide a job management method suitable for image forming processing and an image forming apparatus that executes the method.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an outline of processing will be described first, and then detailed description will be given. The image forming apparatus is referred to as MFP (Multi Function Printer).

  First, an outline of the process will be described. In the present embodiment, since the contents related to the job occupy a lot, the operation on the job and the state of the job will be described first. The operations for a job include “job cancellation”, “job suspension”, “job re-execution”, “job information editing”, and “change of device that executes a job”.

  “Cancel job” is an operation to cancel execution of a job. This “cancel job” can be performed for a job whose job status is “executing”, “error is occurring”, “waiting”, or “suspending”. The canceled job is not executed after that.

  “Job interruption” is an operation for temporarily stopping execution of a job. This “job interruption” can be performed on a job whose job status is “executing” or “standby”.

  “Re-execution of job” is an operation for re-executing a job in the state of “error occurrence” or “suspended”. If another job is being executed at the time of re-execution and the re-executed job cannot be executed immediately, the status of the job becomes “waiting”.

  “Editing job information” is an operation for changing a condition for executing a job. For example, an operation for changing a FAX transmission destination to another destination corresponds to editing of job information. The job information can be edited for a job whose job status is “Error occurrence”, “Waiting”, or “Suspended”.

  “Changing a device that executes a job” is an operation of changing a device that executes a job. For example, there are two MFPs, and instead of the MFP that is currently printing, an operation that executes printing with another MFP corresponds to a change of a device that executes a job.

  Next, the job status will be described. The job status includes “executing”, “waiting”, “error is occurring”, “suspending”, “completed”, and “cancelled”.

  “In execution” means that the job is being executed. “Waiting” is a state of waiting for a job to be executed. In this state, when the execution order comes around, the job state becomes “in execution”. “Error is occurring” means a state in which an error has occurred during job execution and the job cannot be executed. In this state, when the error is removed, the job is resumed, and the state of the job becomes “running”.

  “Suspended” is a state in which execution of a job is temporarily stopped by a user operation. “Completed” is a state where the job has been completed normally. “Cancel” is a state in which execution of a job is canceled by a user operation.

  Next, job state transition will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows a state and an event, and this figure shows a state transition by the event. There are six events: job execution, job completion, re-execution, interruption, error occurrence, and cancellation. Of these, job execution, job completion, and error occurrence are internal events.

  Basically, if the event is cancelled, the job state transitions to cancel 605 regardless of the job state, and the job is simply terminated. If the event is re-execution, the job state transitions to “waiting” 601 regardless of the job state.

  Normally, the job status changes from waiting 601 to executing 602 and then to completion 603. When the status is “waiting” 601, the status changes to “executed” 602 by executing the job. When the event is interrupted, the state transitions to suspending 604.

  When the state is 602 being executed, the state is changed by any event of interruption, error occurrence, or cancellation. First, when the event is interrupted, the state transitions to suspending 604. When the event has an error, the state transitions to 606 during error occurrence.

  When the status is suspending 604, the status is changed by a re-execution or cancellation event. When the error is occurring, the status is changed by re-execution or cancellation event.

  The job state transition is as described above. Next, job derivation will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a child job derived from the basic job. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the relationship between jobs is shown as a job structure, and information indicating the job structure is called job structure information. This job structure information is expressed as a job structure table in the present embodiment, and the job structure table will be described in detail later.

  In the prior art, since the basic job disappears when it is processed by spool, the parent-child relationship with the child job derived from the basic job has not been maintained. Therefore, in this embodiment, any job is held so as not to disappear until the processing of all child jobs derived from itself is completed.

  For example, in FIG. 7, in the prior art, job A 400 disappears when job A-A 401 and job A-B 402 are derived. Therefore, the job structure as shown in FIG. 7 is not understood in the MFP. However, in this embodiment, job A400 is held until job A-A401 and job A-B402, which are child jobs, are processed. The job A-A 401 is held until the job A-A-A 403 and the job A-A-B 404 as child jobs are processed. Further, job A-B 402 is held until job A-B-A 405 is processed. In this way, the job structure shown in FIG. 7 can be constructed in the MFP.

  Next, a job derivation pattern will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a pattern in which one job is derived from one job. FIG. 8 shows that one print job 411 is derived from one print job 410 and one plotter job 412 is derived from the print job 411.

  Next, a pattern in which a plurality of jobs are derived from one job will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9, one print job 416 is derived from one print job 415, and two jobs, a monochrome print job 417 and a color print job 418, are derived from the print job 416. Further, two plotter jobs 419 and 420 are derived from the monochrome print job 417. A plotter job 421 is derived from the color print job 418.

  Next, a job structure when a plurality of MFPs are linked will be described. FIG. 10 shows a job structure when two MFPs cooperate. FIG. 10 shows a job structure 271 of a job executed by MFPA and a job structure 272 of a job executed by MFPB.

  The job structure 271 includes a print job 259 that is a basic job, a black and white print job 254, and plotter jobs 255 and 256. The job structure 272 includes a color print job 257 and a plotter job 258.

  In this manner, the monochrome print job 254 derived from the print job 259 can be assigned to MFPA, and the similarly derived color print job 257 can be assigned to MFPB, thereby enabling job sharing.

  FIG. 10 shows a job ID for specifying a job. The job IDs of jobs belonging to the job structures 271 and 272 are unique throughout the job ID.

  This job ID is 6 bits, with the upper 3 bits being the MFP identification code and the lower 3 bits being a unique value among the jobs in the MFP. In fact, in FIG. 10, the identification code of MFPA 251 is “001”, and the identification code of MFPB is “002”. The lower 3 bits of the job ID belonging to each job structure are unique among jobs in each MFP.

  As described above, there are two patterns of job derivation: a pattern in which one job is derived from one job and a pattern in which a plurality of jobs are derived from one job.

  Next, a condition for deriving a job will be described. Conditions for deriving another job from a job include deriving another job by delegating the process, and deriving another job to manage the process in a divided manner.

  First, a case where another job is derived by delegating processing will be described with reference to FIG. Delegating a process means delegating a part of the process to other software in order for a certain software to execute its own job. The job is derived by this delegation.

  FIG. 11 shows an example in which the read job 431 is derived by delegating a part of the processing of the copy job 430 to the read control module, and the print job 432 is derived by delegating to the print control module.

  Next, a case where another job is derived in order to divide and manage the process will be described with reference to FIG. Dividing and managing the process means managing a part of a job separately from the job in one software. A job is derived by this division. In FIG. 12, since an error has occurred in a part of the processed print job 432, the part is divided as a job 434 that is different from the normal jobs 433 and 435, and the state (in progress / error etc.) is individually divided. An example in the case of performing management and operation (re-execution / cancellation, etc.) is shown.

  Another example of job derivation by dividing processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 shows an example in which, when the same document is fax-transmitted to a plurality of destinations, the fax transmission job 441 is managed as a FAX transmission job 442, 443, 444 for each destination and the operation is performed.

  This completes the explanation of job derivation. As described above, the job in the present embodiment is a printing process, a plotter process, a monochrome printing process, a color printing process, a reading process, a printing process for each page, and a FAX transmission process for each destination. . However, these jobs are exemplary listings, and many other jobs exist. By managing these jobs as shown in this embodiment, there is a merit that charging can be performed for each job in addition to operations for the job such as canceling the job.

  Next, how the software processes the job differs depending on the mounting method, and the mounting method will be described.

  Here, four examples of mounting methods are shown: single-process / single-thread implementation, single-process / multi-thread implementation, multi-process / single-thread implementation, and multi-process / multi-thread implementation.

  It also shows how to implement operations such as re-execution and cancellation on the user's job. Single process / multi-thread means that there is one process, but there are a plurality of threads. Multi-process / single thread means that there are a plurality of processes, but each process has only one thread.

  FIG. 14 shows the job structure of the job used in these examples. FIG. 14 shows that job B451 and job C452 are derived from job A450 and job D453 is derived from job C452 in the course of processing.

  First, an example of job processing in the case of single process / single thread will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 15 shows a process A 500 and a thread A 501. The number of processes of this software is one (process A500), and the number of threads is only the main thread (thread A501) of the process A500. In this case, job A is executed in step S1601. In step S1602, job B is executed. In step S1603, job C is executed. In step S1601, job D is executed.

  As described above, in the case of a single process / single thread as shown in FIG. 15, all of the jobs A to D are processed by the thread A501.

  Next, an example of job processing in the case of single process / multithread will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 shows a process A 500, a thread A 501, a thread B 502, and a thread C 503.

  In this case, the thread A501, which is the main thread of the process A500, executes the job A in step S1701. In step S1702, the thread A requests the job B, which is a sub thread derived from the job A, in step S1702.

  In step S1703, the thread B502 executes job B, and in step S1704, a response is returned to the thread A501. Furthermore, the thread A 501 requests the thread C 503, which is a sub thread, to perform processing in step S1705. The thread C503 executes job C in step S1706, and executes job D in step S1707. The thread C503 returns a response to the thread A in step S1708.

  As described above, in the case of single process multithread, the thread A 501 causes the thread B 502 as a sub thread to execute the job B, and causes the thread C 503 as a sub thread to execute the job C. Further, the job C derived from the job C is also executed by the thread C503.

  Next, an example in the case of multi-process / single thread will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 illustrates a process A 500, a process B 505, a process C 506, a thread A 501, a thread B 502, and a thread C 503.

  In step S1801, the thread A501 executes job A. In step S1802, the thread A501 requests the thread B502 of the process B505 to perform processing. In step S1803, the thread B502 executes job B, and returns a response to the thread A501 in step S1804.

  In step S1805, the thread A501 requests the thread C503 of the process C506 to perform processing. The thread C503 executes job C in step S1806, further executes job D in step S1807, and returns a response to the thread A in step S1808.

  Thus, in the case of multi-process / single thread, the job A is executed by the thread A 501 which is the main thread of the process A 500. The thread A 501 causes the job B derived from the job A to be executed by the thread B 502 that is the main thread of the process B 505, and the job C is executed by the thread C 503 that is the main thread of the process C 506. Furthermore, the thread A501 causes the thread C503 to execute the job D derived from the job C.

  Next, an example of multi-process / multi-thread will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 illustrates a process A 500, a process B 505, a thread A 501, a thread B 502, a thread C 503, and a thread D 507.

  In step S1901, the thread A501 of the process A500 executes the job A. In step S1902, the thread A501 requests the thread B502 in the same process A500 to perform processing. In step S1903, the thread B502 executes job B, and returns a response to the thread A501 in step S1904.

  In step S1905, the thread A501 requests the thread C503 of the process B505 to perform processing. In step S1906, the thread C503 executes job C. In step S1907, the thread C503 requests the thread D507 in the same process B505 to perform processing. The thread D507 executes the job D in step S1908, and returns a response to the thread C503 in step S1909. In step S1910, the thread C503 returns a response to the thread A501.

  As described above, in the case of multi-process / multi-thread, the job A is processed by the thread A 501 which is the main thread of the process A 500. The thread A 501 causes the thread B 502 that is a sub thread of the process A 500 to execute the job B derived from the job A. The thread A 501 causes the job C derived from the job A to be executed by the thread C 503 that is the main thread of the process B 505, and the job D derived from the job C is executed by the thread D 507 that is a sub thread of the process B 505.

  The above is the four example mounting methods. In addition to these mounting methods, an example of operating a job process according to a request from a user in a mounting method called multi-process / multi-thread will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 shows a process A 500, a process B 505, a process C 506, a thread A 501, a thread B 502, a thread C 503, and a thread E 508.

  Among these, the process C is a process in which a request from the user is performed. In step S2001, the thread A501 of the process A500 executes the job A. In step S2002, the thread A501 requests the thread B502 in the same process A500 to perform processing. The thread B502 executes the job B in step S2003, and returns a response to the thread A501 in step S2004.

  In step S2005, the thread A501 requests the thread C503 of the process B505 to perform processing. In step S2006, the thread C503 executes job C.

  At this time, in step S2007, the thread E508 of the process C506 requests the thread C503 to cancel the process. In step S2008, the thread C503 executes job C cancellation processing, and in step S2009, a response is returned to the thread A501.

  As described above, in the case of an operation from the user, there is a process for accepting the operation (process C506), and a cancel request from the user is received and a cancel request is issued to the corresponding job.

  Next, job information that is information relating to each job will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 20, the job information includes a job ID corresponding to the identification information, a document name, a job type, a state, an owner name, a creation date, and job related information.

  Of these, the job related information makes it possible to build the job structure of the job in the MFP, and this job related information will be described in detail later. If the job structure can be constructed, the parent-child relationship of the job can be understood.

  In the job information, the job ID identifies each job such as “1” or “2”, and is uniquely assigned to each job. In the following description, a job having a job ID n may be simply expressed as job n.

  The document name indicates the name of the document to be printed, and is represented by a character string, for example. The job type indicates what kind of processing the job is, such as “print” or “FAX transmission”. The “status” indicates the status of the job such as “running” or “error”. “Owner name” indicates the name of the user who requested execution of the job, such as “Suzuki” or “Sato”. “Created date” indicates the date and time when the job was created, such as “2004.02.17.12:15”.

  Another example of job information will be described with reference to FIG. The major difference between the job information shown in FIG. 21 and the job information shown in FIG. 20 is two items, “job operation permission information” and “job operation condition”.

  These items are items for enabling job operation and job status browsing. Each job has a status such as executing or error occurrence, and the user can perform operations such as re-execution and cancellation for the job.

  However, some jobs may not be operated by the user, or may be permitted only when certain conditions are met. When a job is mounted in such a form, it is necessary to add attributes such as “job operation permission information” and “job operation condition” as shown in FIG.

  Of these, “job operation permission information” will be described. Possible values of the “job operation permission information” include “permitted”, “not permitted”, and “permitted only when a condition occurs”.

  “Allowed” indicates that in any case, an operation (re-execution / cancellation / interruption, etc.) corresponding to the job status can be performed. “Non-permitted” indicates that an operation cannot be performed on the job in any case. “Allow only when condition occurs” indicates that when the “condition for operating a job” shown in FIG. 21 is fulfilled, an operation corresponding to the condition can be performed. Specifically, the operation includes re-execution or cancellation when an error occurs.

  Among these values, job information shown in FIG. 22 indicates job information in the case of “not permitted”. The “job operation permission information” of the job information is “not permitted”. In addition, job information shown in FIG. 23 indicates job information in the case of “permit only when a condition occurs”. In this job information, “job operation permission information” is “permitted only when a condition occurs”, and “condition that the job can be operated” is “execution & error is occurring”.

  Note that the “condition for operating the job” can also take the values “error is occurring”, “running or error is occurring”, “waiting or error is occurring”, “running or waiting & error is occurring” . “Error is occurring” is a condition that the job is in error. “During execution or error occurrence” is a condition that the job is being executed or the job is in error. “Waiting or generating an error” is a condition that the job is waiting or the job is generating an error. “Executing or waiting or error is occurring” is one of the following conditions: the job is being executed, the job is waiting, or the job is in error.

  Next, a job structure table created based on job related information will be described with reference to FIG. The job structure table 100 includes parent job and child job IDs. “Child Job” indicates the job ID, and “Parent Job” indicates the job ID of the parent job of the job having the job ID indicated by the child job. Therefore, a job in which no parent job is entered is a basic job because there is no parent job.

  Job structures 101 and 102 represent the job structure table 100 as a job structure.

  In the case of FIG. 24, it can be seen that job 1 and job 8 are basic jobs. Further, since the job structure table 100 indicates that the ID of the parent job of the jobs 2 and 3 is 1, it can be seen that the jobs 2 and 3 are jobs derived from the job 1. Similarly, for other jobs, the job structure shown in FIG. 24 can be generated by each job ID shown in the job structure table 100.

  As described above, the job structure table can be created by storing the job ID of the parent job of each job for each job. Further, the job structure table can display the job structure on the screen of the personal computer or the operation panel provided in the MFP.

  The job structure table can also be expressed in XML as shown in FIG. The XML statement shown in FIG. 25 is for generating the job structure 102 of the job derived from the job 8 in the basic job shown in FIG.

  From FIG. 25, it can be seen that the job 8 has the jobs 9, 10, and 11 as child jobs or grandchild jobs. Similarly, it can be seen that job 9 has job 8 as a parent job and jobs 10 and 11 as child jobs. Further, it can be seen that jobs 10 and 11 both have job 9 as a parent job.

  As described above, the job structure table can be expressed by an XML sentence in which job IDs are nested.

  The above is the outline of the processing. Next, each process will be described in detail. First, a job generated in the MFP will be described with reference to FIG. 26 shows a copy accumulation job 110, a reading job 111, a print job 112, an accumulation job 113, and plotter jobs 114 and 115. The basic job in this job structure is a copy accumulation job 110.

  In response to a copy accumulation request, a copy accumulation job 110 is generated, and a read job 111, a print job 112, and an accumulation job 113 are derived in order to realize this. Plotter jobs 114 and 115 are further derived from the print job 112.

  Next, a software block of the MFP will be described with reference to FIG. The “application”, “module”, and “handler” described in FIG. 27 are collectively referred to as a program.

  The software block shown in FIG. 27 is divided into three layers: an application layer 5, a service layer 7, and a handler layer 9. The application layer 5 includes programs such as a copy application 21, a printer application 20, and a FAX application 22. The service layer 7 includes programs of a print control module 23, a FAX control module 24, a reading control module 25, and a job management module 26. The handler layer 9 includes programs for a plotter handler 27, a FAX unit handler 28, a scanner handler 29, and a memory management module 30.

  The copy application 21, the printer application 20, and the FAX application 22 in the application layer 5 are applications for copying, printer, and FAX, respectively.

  Next, the module of the service layer 7 will be described. The print control module 23 is a module that controls print processing. The FAX control module 24 is a module that controls FAX processing. The reading control module 25 is a module that controls reading processing. The job management module 26 corresponding to the job structure information creating means is a module that creates a job structure table (job structure information) upon request and passes it to the request source.

  Next, the program of the handler layer 9 will be described. The program of the handler layer 9 is a hardware handler such as a plotter or a scanner.

  The plotter handler 27 is a handler for the plotter. The FAX unit handler 28 is a FAX unit handler. The scanner handler 29 is a scanner handler. The memory management module 30 corresponding to the storage management means is a handler that manages memory and hard disks. In each program described above, a program that generates a job by itself corresponds to a job related information generation unit.

  Next, a hardware configuration diagram of the MFP will be described with reference to FIG. The MFP includes a controller board 60, an operation panel 53, an FCU 68, an engine 71, a scanner 51, and a plotter 52. The FCU 68 includes a G3 standard compatible unit 69 and a G4 standard compatible unit 70.

  The controller board 60 includes a CPU 61, an ASIC 66, an HDD 65, a local memory (MEM-C) 64, a system memory (MEM-P) 63, a north bridge (hereinafter referred to as NB) 62, and a south bridge. (Hereinafter referred to as SB) 73, NIC 74 (Network Interface Card), USB device 75, IEEE 1394 device 76, and Centronics device 77.

  The operation panel 53 is connected to the ASIC 66 of the controller board 60. In addition, the SB 73, the NIC 74, the USB device 75, the IEEE 1394 device 76, the Centronics device 77, and the NB 62 are connected by a PCI bus.

  The FCU 68, the engine 71, the scanner 51, and the plotter 52 are connected to the ASIC 66 of the controller board 60 via a PCI bus.

  In the controller board 60, the local memory 64, the HDD 65, and the like are connected to the ASIC 66, and the CPU 61 and the ASIC 66 are connected via the NB 62 of the CPU chip set. In this way, if the CPU 61 and the ASIC 66 are connected via the NB 62, it is possible to cope with a case where the interface of the CPU 61 is not disclosed.

  The ASIC 66 and the NB 62 are not connected via a PCI bus, but are connected via an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) 67. In this way, in order to control execution of one or more processes forming the application layer 5 and the like of FIG. 27, the ASIC 66 and the NB 62 are connected via the AGP 67 instead of the low-speed PCI bus to prevent performance degradation. .

  The CPU 61 performs overall control of the MFP. The CPU 61 starts and executes programs included in the application layer 5, the service layer 7, and the handler layer 9 as processes on the OS.

  The NB 62 is a bridge for connecting the CPU 61, the system memory 63, the SB 73, and the ASIC 66. The system memory 63 is a memory used as a drawing memory of the MFP. The SB 73 is a bridge for connecting the NB 62 to the PCI bus and peripheral devices. The local memory 64 is a memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer.

  The ASIC 66 is an IC for use in image processing having hardware elements for image processing. The HDD 65 is a storage for storing image data, document data, programs, font data, forms, and the like. The operation panel 53 is an operation unit that accepts an input operation from the user and performs display for the user.

  Next, the relationship between the above-described software and information exchanged between the software will be described with reference to FIGS. 29 and 30. FIG. FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a case where job information is stored in the HDD 65, and FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating a case where job information is stored in a memory.

  First, FIG. 29 will be described. FIG. 29 shows each program 130, memory management module 30, HDD 65, job information 132, job management module 26, display application 32, and dedicated queue 131.

  Each program 130 is a program of an application layer, a service layer, and a handler layer. Specifically, it is a program other than the job management module and the memory management module, and is a program that generates and processes jobs. The display application 32 is a PC application displayed on a personal computer or an operation panel application described above. The job information 132 is the job information described with reference to FIG. 20 and is stored in the HDD 65 in the case of FIG. The dedicated queue 131 is a dedicated queue in which each program stored in the memory space for each program manages jobs.

  Note that the memory space of each program refers to a memory area allocated to the program. Each module has a dedicated queue and manages the order of jobs to be processed.

  Job information is provided from each program 130 to the memory management module 30. The memory management module 30 stores job information in the HDD 65. The memory management module 30 provides job information to the job management module 26. The job management module 26 provides the display application 32 with a job structure table and job information. Each program 130 provides queue information to the job management module 26. Each program 130 stores a job ID in the dedicated queue 131.

  Next, FIG. 30 will be described. Note that the description of the same reference numerals as those described in FIG. 29 is omitted. The difference between FIG. 30 and FIG. 29 is the queue 133 and job information 132. As shown in FIG. 30, the queue 133 and job information 132 are stored in a memory space for each program. Therefore, the queue 133 and the job information 132 are dedicated to each program.

  Each program 130 stores a job ID and job information in the queue 133 and job information 132, respectively. Each program 130 provides queue information and job information to the job management module 26. The job management module 26 provides the display application 32 with a job structure table and job information.

  In the case of FIG. 30, job information is stored not in the HDD but in a memory space managed by each program. Therefore, the job management module 62 acquires job information from each program having a job and creates a job structure table.

  Next, job related information will be described. As described above, this job related information is necessary for creating the job structure table. There are several types of job related information as long as a job structure table can be created. Hereinafter, an example of seven types of job related information and a sequence diagram showing processing at that time will be described. The processes described in the sequence diagram are a job registration process when a print request is made and a process when a job is referred to.

  Note that the job information shown in each example has the structure described in FIG. 20 or 21 as an example. Further, the job structure used in the following description is the job structure shown in FIG. The job structure shown in FIG. 31 is a job structure of a job composed of jobs derived from job A. In each sequence diagram, there is a description of “job generation”, but the stage of generating this job corresponds to the stage of generating job related information. Furthermore, the stage of “creating a job list” corresponds to the stage of creating job structure information. The stage of “saving job information” corresponds to the storage management stage.

  A first job related information example will be described with reference to FIG. The job-related information shown in FIG. 32 is that the child job has the job IDs of all ancestor jobs, such as from the job ID of the parent job of the child job to the job ID of the basic job.

  This will be specifically described using the job information shown in FIG. The job information shown in FIG. 33 is the job information of job 7 in FIG.

  FIG. 33 shows job information 150 and job related information 151. The job information 150 has been described with reference to FIG. The job-related information 151 includes “job ID of basic job”, “job ID of second generation”, and “job ID of parent job” as items, and values “1”, “2”, and “4”, respectively. It has become.

  Actually, the parent job of job 7 is job 4, the second generation job is job 2, and the basic job is job 1.

  In this way, when the child job has the job IDs of all ancestor jobs and the job management module identifies a terminal job, the job management module simply acquires the information of the terminal job. A job structure table can be created. The application layer, service layer, and handler layer programs can create job-related information simply by adding the parent job ID to the job structure table of the parent job at the time of job generation. As a mechanism for identifying the end job by the job management module, there is a mechanism such as providing a flag for determining whether the job is the end job in the job information.

  Processing in the case of the first job related information example described above will be described with reference to a sequence diagram. FIG. 34 shows an operation sequence at the time of job registration, and shows processing performed among the user 160, the printer application 20, the print control module 23, the plotter handler 27, and the memory management module 30. . This is almost the same in subsequent operation sequence diagrams for job registration.

  In step S <b> 101, the printer application 20 is notified of a print request from the user 160. The printer application 20 generates a job in step S102, and adds a job ID to the queue in step S103. In step S104, the printer application 20 stores the job information by notifying the memory management module of the job information.

  In step S105, the printer application 20 acquires a job ID from the queue. In step S107, the memory management module 30 notifies the printer application 20 of job information. Step S <b> 108 is execution of processing of the printer application 20.

  In step S <b> 109, the printer application 20 notifies the print control module 23 of a print processing request. At this time, the job related information of the parent job and the job ID of the parent job are also notified. The print module 23 generates a job in step S110, and adds a job ID to the queue in step S111. In step S112, the print control module 23 stores job information. In the next step S113, the print control module 23 acquires the job ID from the queue.

  In step S114, the print control module 23 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S115, the memory management module 30 notifies the print control module 23 of job information.

  Step S <b> 116 is execution of processing of the print control module 23. In step S117, the print control module 23 notifies the plotter handler 27 of a plot request. At this time, the job related information of the parent job and the parent job ID are also notified.

  In step S118, the plotter handler 27 generates a job. In step S119, the plotter handler 27 adds the job ID to the queue, and in step S120, saves the job information. In step S121, the plotter handler 27 acquires the job ID from the queue. In step S122, the plotter handler 27 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S123, the memory management module 30 notifies the plotter handler 27 of the job information.

  The plotter handler 27 executes plotting in step S124. The plotter handler 27 notifies the print control module 23 of the end of plotting in step S125. In step S126, the print control module 23 notifies the printer application 20 of the end of printing. In step S127, the printer application 20 notifies (displays) the print end to the user 160.

  Next, an operation sequence at the time of job reference will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 35 shows processing performed among the user 160, the operation panel application 161, the job management module 26, the memory management module 30, and the printer application 20. This is almost the same in the following operation sequence diagrams when referring to a job.

  In step S <b> 201, the operation panel application 161 is notified of a job reference request from the user 160. In step S202, the operation panel application 161 notifies the job management module 26 of a job list request. In step S203, the job management module 26 notifies the memory management module 30 of the end job search. In step S204, the memory management module 30 notifies the job management module 26 of the end job search result. In step S <b> 205, the job management module 26 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S206, the memory management module 30 notifies the job management module 26 of job information. In step S207, the job management module 26 creates a job list.

  In step S208, the job management module 26 notifies the operation panel application 161 of a job list. In step S209, the operation panel application 161 notifies (displays) the job list to the user 160. In step S <b> 210, the operation panel application 161 is requested by the user 160 for job information. In step S211, the operation panel application 161 requests the job management module 26 to acquire job information. In step S212, the job management module 26 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S213, the memory management module 30 notifies the job management module 26 of job information.

  In step S214, the job management module 26 requests the printer application 20 to acquire the queue order. In step S215, the printer application 20 notifies the job management module 26 of the queue order. The job management module 26 notifies the job information to the operation panel application 161 in step S216. In step S217, the operation panel application 161 notifies (displays) the job information to the user 160.

  Next, a second job related information example will be described with reference to FIG. In the second job related information example, as shown in FIG. 36, the job related information in the job information has only the job ID of the parent job.

  Specifically, description will be made using the job information shown in FIG. The job information shown in FIG. 37 is the job information of job 7 in FIG. In the job related information, only “Parent job ID” is included in the item, and the value is “4”.

  Thus, if the job related information is only the job ID of the parent job, the amount of job information can be suppressed. In this case, a mechanism is required for the job management module to access all jobs.

  The operation at the time of job registration in the case of the second job related information example described above will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. Note that this sequence diagram is the same as the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 34 except for two steps, and therefore the description other than the different steps will be omitted.

  The different steps are step S109 and step S117 in FIG. 34, and correspond to step S309 and step S317 in FIG. 38, respectively.

  In step S109, the job related information of the parent job is notified, but in step S309, only the job ID of the parent job is notified. Similarly, in step S117, the job related information of the parent job and the job ID of the parent job are notified, but only the job ID of the parent job is notified in step S317.

  The processing in any step is due to the fact that the job related information becomes the job ID of the parent job.

  Next, an operation sequence at the time of job reference will be described with reference to FIG. In this sequence diagram, steps S201 and 202 in the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 35 correspond to steps S401 and 402, and steps S205 to S217 correspond to steps S404 to S415.

  Therefore, the processing shown in FIG. 39 is obtained by removing the processing of steps S203 and S204, which is the end job search processing, from the processing of FIG. This is because there is no need to search for a specific job because the job management module accesses all jobs.

  Next, a third job related information example will be described with reference to FIG. The job related information shown in FIG. 40 indicates that the job has the job IDs of all the descendant jobs.

  Specifically, description will be made using the job information shown in FIG. FIG. 41 shows job information 167 and job related information 168. As shown in the job information 167, this job information is the job information of the job 7 shown in FIG.

  The job related information 168 includes “child job” and “parent job” as values. The job ID of the parent job of the job ID indicated by the child job is described in the parent job column.

  Actually, the parent job of jobs 2 and 3 is job 1, the parent job of jobs 4 and 5 is job 2, the parent job of job 6 is job 3, and the parent job of job 7 is job 4. is there.

  As described above, if the job-related information is the job ID of the descendant job, the job management module can create the job structure table only by acquiring the job information of the basic job. In this case, a mechanism is required in which the module that generated the job notifies the job ID to all modules that generated the ancestor job. Furthermore, a mechanism for searching for a basic job from jobs stored in the job management module is required.

  The operation at the time of job registration in the case of the third job related information example described above will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. In this sequence diagram, the processing from step S101 to step S108 and the processing from step S501 to step S508 in the sequence diagram shown in FIG.

  In step S509, the printer application 20 notifies the print control module 23 of a print processing request. At this time, the job-related information of the parent job and the job ID of the parent job are not notified. The print module 23 generates a job in step S510, and notifies the printer application 20 of child job generation in step S511. In the next step S512, the printer application 20 adds the job ID to the queue. In step S513, the print control module 23 stores job information. In the next step S514, the print control module 23 acquires the job ID from the queue.

  In step S515, the print control module 23 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S516, the memory management module 30 notifies the print control module 23 of job information.

  Step S517 is execution of processing of the print control module 23. In step S518, the print control module 23 notifies the plotter handler 27 of a plot request. In step S519, the plotter handler 27 generates a job.

  In step S520, the plotter handler 27 notifies the print control module 23 of the generation of the child job together with the job ID. In step S521, the print control module 23 notifies the printer application 20 of generation of a child job. At this time, the parent job ID and child job ID are also notified.

  In step S522, the plotter handler 27 adds the job ID to the queue, and in step S523, saves the job information. In step S524, the plotter handler 27 acquires the job ID from the queue. In step S525, the plotter handler 27 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S526, the memory management module 30 notifies the plotter handler 27 of the job information.

  The plotter handler 27 executes plotting in step S527. The plotter handler 27 notifies the print control module 23 of the end of plotting in step S528. In step S529, the print control module 23 notifies the printer application 20 of the end of printing. In step S530, the printer application 20 notifies (displays) the print end to the user 160.

  Next, an operation sequence at the time of job reference will be described with reference to FIG. Note that this sequence diagram is the same as the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 35 except for two steps, and thus the description other than the different steps will be omitted.

  The different steps are step S203 and step S204 in FIG. 35, and correspond to step S603 and step S604 in FIG. 43, respectively. In FIG. 35, the search target is the end job, but in FIG. 43, the search target is the basic job.

  Next, a fourth job related information example will be described with reference to FIG. The job-related information shown in FIG. 44 is that the job has job IDs of all child jobs.

  Specifically, description will be made using the job information shown in FIG. FIG. 45 shows job information 163 and job related information 164. As shown in the job information 163, this job information is the job information of the job 1 shown in FIG.

  In the job related information 164, there are two “job IDs of child jobs” in the items, and the values are “2” and “3”, respectively. Actually, the child jobs of job 1 are job 2 and job 3.

  Thus, if the job related information is only the job ID of the child job, the information amount of the job information can be suppressed. In this case, a mechanism is required for the job management module to access all jobs.

  The processing in the case of the fourth job related information example described above will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. This sequence diagram is the same as the sequence diagram except that step S521 in the sequence diagram shown in FIG. This is because the fourth job-related information does not require a child job, and therefore the process of step S521 in FIG. 42 for notifying generation of a child job is not necessary.

  The operation sequence at the time of referring to the job is the same as that in FIG.

  Next, a fifth job-related information example in which the first and fourth job-related information are combined will be described with reference to FIG. The job related information shown in FIG. 47 includes job IDs of all ancestors of jobs and job IDs of all child jobs.

  Specifically, description will be made using the job information shown in FIG. FIG. 48 shows job information 166 and job related information 169. As shown in the job information 166, this job information is the job information of the job 4 shown in FIG.

  In the job-related information 169, items include “job ID of basic job”, “job ID of parent job”, and “job ID of child job”, and the values are “1”, “2”, “7”, respectively. " Actually, the basic job of job 4 is job 1, the parent job is job 2, and the child job is job 7.

  With such job-related information, the job management module can create a job structure table simply by acquiring end job information. In addition, since each program of the application layer, service layer, and handler layer only adds the parent job ID to the parent job related information, it is easy to create job related information when generating a job. Further, if there is no value in the job ID item of the child job, it is a terminal job, and therefore, it becomes possible to search for the terminal job by checking whether or not a value is entered in the job ID item of the child job. It should be noted that the absence of a value means that a substantial value is not contained, and may include a value often used in design, such as NULL or 0xffff. Note that the module that generates the job needs to notify the job ID of the child job to the module that generated the parent job.

  The operation at the time of job registration in the case of the fifth job related information example described above will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. Since this sequence diagram is partially different from the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 34, the different parts will be described.

  Step S809 corresponds to step SS109, but only the job related information for the parent job is notified. In addition, after the job is generated in step S810, processing for notifying the printer application 20 of generation of the child job is added in step S811.

  In the plot request in step S818, only the job related information of the parent job is notified. Further, after the job is generated in step S819, the plotter handler 27 notifies the print control module 23 of the generation of the child job.

  The operation sequence when referring to the job is the same as that shown in FIG.

  Next, a sixth job related information example in which the second and third job related information are combined will be described with reference to FIG. The job related information shown in FIG. 50 includes the job ID of the parent job and the job IDs of all descendant jobs.

  Specifically, description will be made using the job information shown in FIG. FIG. 51 shows job information 170 and job related information 171. As shown in job information 170, this job information is the job information of job 1 shown in FIG.

  The job related information 171 includes “child job” and “parent job” as items. The job ID of the parent job of the job ID indicated by the child job is described in the parent job column.

  Actually, since job 1 is a basic job, there is no parent job, the parent jobs of jobs 2 and 3 are job 1, the parent jobs of jobs 4 and 5 are job 2, and the parent job of job 6 is Job 3 and the parent job of job 7 are job 4.

  With this sixth job-related information, a job structure table can be created simply by acquiring information on the basic job. Since the job-related information of the basic job does not include a value in the job ID item of the parent job, the basic job can be determined.

  The operation at the time of job registration in the case of the sixth job related information example described above will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. Since this sequence diagram is partially different from the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 34, the different parts will be described.

  Step S909 corresponds to step S109, but only the job ID of the parent job is notified. Further, after the job is generated in step S910, a process for notifying the printer application 20 of generation of the child job is added in step S911. Step S918 corresponds to step S117, but only the job ID of the parent job is notified. Further, after the generation notification of the child job in step S920, processing for notifying generation of the child job from the print control module 23 to the printer application 20 is added in step S921.

  The operation sequence at the time of referring to the job is the same as that in FIG.

  Next, a seventh job related information example collectively managed by the job management module 26 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The seventh example of job-related information is generated by notifying the correspondence between the job ID of the derived child job and the parent job ID to the job management module when a child job is derived in the processing of each module. Is done. The job management module 26 holds the correspondence relationship of all jobs, and notifies the display application of the information when displaying the job structure on the display application.

  FIG. 53 shows job relationship diagrams 172, 173, and 174, the printer application 20, the print control module 23, and the job management module 26.

  A relationship diagram 172 is a relationship diagram of jobs generated by the printer application 20. The relationship diagram 173 is a relationship diagram of jobs generated by the print control module 23. The relationship diagram 174 is a relationship diagram generated by the job management module 26 based on the relationship diagrams 172 and 173.

  It can be seen that the job relationship shown in the relationship diagram 172 and the job relationship shown in the relationship diagram 173 are reflected in the relationship diagram 174. In this case, the job information may not have job related information.

  The operation at the time of job registration in the case of the seventh job related information example described above will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. Since this sequence diagram is partially different from the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 34, the different parts will be described.

  Steps S1003 and S1004 are added after the printer application 20 generates a job in step S1002. The processing in step S1003 is a job generation notification from the printer application 20 to the job management module 26. At this time, the parent job ID and child job ID are notified. In step S1004, the job management module 26 updates the job structure table.

  Step S1011 corresponds to step S109, but only the job ID of the parent job is notified.

  Steps S1013 and S1014 are added after the print control module 23 of step S1012 generates a job. The process in step S <b> 1013 is a job generation notification from the print control module 23 to the job management module 26. At this time, the parent job ID and child job ID are notified. In step S1014, the job structure table 26 is updated by the job management module 26.

  Step S1021 corresponds to step S117, but only the job ID of the parent job is notified.

  After the process in which the plotter handler 27 in step S1022 generates a job, the processes in step S1023 and step S1024 are added. The processing in step S1023 is a job generation notification from the plotter handler 27 to the job management module 26. At this time, the parent job ID and child job ID are notified. In step S1024, the job management module 26 updates the job structure table.

  Next, an operation sequence at the time of job reference will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 55 shows processing performed among the user 160, the operation panel application 161, the job management module 26, the printer application 20, and the memory management module 30.

  In step S1101, the operation panel application 161 receives a job reference request from the user 160. In step S1102, the operation panel application 161 notifies the job management module 26 of a job list request. In step S1103, the job management module 26 notifies the operation panel application 161 of a job list. In step S1104, the operation panel application 161 notifies (displays) the job list to the user 160. In step S <b> 1105, the operation panel application 161 is requested by the user 160 for job information. In step S1106, the operation panel application 161 requests the job management module 26 to acquire job information.

  In step S1107, the job management module 26 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S1108, the memory management module 30 notifies the job management module 26 of job information.

  In step S1109, the job management module 26 requests the printer application 20 to acquire the queue order. In step S1110, the printer application 20 notifies the job management module 26 of the queue order. In step S <b> 1111, the job management module 26 notifies the operation panel application 161 of job information. In step S1112, the operation panel application 161 notifies (displays) job information to the user 160.

  Next, processing when the software configuration is the configuration described with reference to FIG. 30 and the job related information is the job related information illustrated in FIG. 32 will be described. The configuration in FIG. 30 is a configuration in which job information is stored in its own memory space by each application layer and service layer module. An operation sequence at the time of job registration in this configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 56 shows processing performed among the user 160, the printer application 20, the print control module 23, and the plotter handler 27.

  In step S <b> 1201, the printer application 20 is notified of a print request from the user 160. The printer application 20 generates a job in step S1202, and adds a job ID to the queue in step S1203. In step S1204, the printer application 20 acquires a job ID from the queue, and executes processing in step S1205.

  In step S1206, the printer application 20 notifies the print control module 23 of a print processing request. At this time, the job related information of the parent job and the job ID of the parent job are also notified. The print module 23 generates a job in step S1207, and adds the job ID to the queue in step S1208. The print control module 23 acquires the job ID from the queue in step S1209, and executes the process in step S1210.

  In step S1211, the print control module 23 notifies the plotter handler 27 of a plot request. At this time, the job related information of the parent job and the parent job ID are also notified.

  In step S1212, the plotter handler 27 generates a job. In step S1213, the plotter handler 27 adds the job ID to the queue, and acquires the job ID from the queue in step S1214.

  In step S1215, the plotter handler 27 executes plotting. The plotter handler 27 notifies the print control module 23 of the end of plotting in step S1216. In step S1217, the print control module 23 notifies the printer application 20 of the end of printing. In step S1218, the printer application 20 notifies (displays) the print end to the user 160.

  Next, an operation sequence at the time of job reference will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 57 shows processing performed among the user 160, the operation panel application 161, the job management module 26, the printer application 20, the print control module 23, and the plotter handler 27.

  In step S1301, the operation panel application 161 receives a job reference request from the user 160. In step S1302, the operation panel application 161 notifies the job management module 26 of a job list request.

  In step S1303, the job management module 26 requests the printer application 20 to acquire job information. In step S1304, the printer application 20 notifies the job management module 26 of job information.

  In step S1305, the job management module 26 requests the print control module 23 to acquire job information. In step S1306, the print control module 23 notifies the job information to the job management module 26.

  In step S1307, the job management module 26 requests the plotter handler 27 to acquire job information. In step S1308, the plotter handler 27 notifies the job management module 26 of job information.

  In step S1309, the job management module 26 creates a job list. In step S1310, the job management module 26 notifies the operation panel application 161 of a job list. In step S1311, the operation panel application 161 notifies (displays) the job list to the user 160.

  In step S1312, the operation panel application 161 is requested by the user 160 for job information. In step S1313, the operation panel application 161 requests the job management module 26 to acquire job information. In step S1314, the job management module 26 requests the printer application 20 to acquire job information. In step S1315, the printer application 20 notifies the job management module 26 of job information.

  In step S1316, the job management module 26 requests the printer application 20 to acquire the queue order. In step S1317, the printer application 20 notifies the job management module 26 of the queue order. In step S1318, the job management module 26 notifies the operation panel application 161 of job information. In step S1319, the operation panel application 161 notifies (displays) the job information to the user 160.

  Next, processing when a job is canceled by the user will be described with reference to FIG. In step S1401, the operation panel application 161 is notified by the user 160 that the job has been canceled. In step S1402, the operation panel application 161 notifies the job management module 26 of job cancellation. In step S1403, the job management module 26 notifies the printer application 20 of cancellation of the print request.

  The printer application 20 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information in step S1404, and performs a cancel process in step S1405. In step S <b> 1406, the printer application 20 notifies the print control module 23 that printing processing is to be stopped.

  In step S1407, the print control module 23 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information, and in step S1408, the print control module 23 performs cancel processing. In step S1409, the print control module 23 notifies the plotter handler 27 of the cancellation of plotting. In step S1410, the plotter handler 27 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information, and in step S1411, the plotter handler 27 performs a cancellation process.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 59, a description will be given of processing in the case where the user requests job re-execution. In step S1501, the operation panel application 161 is notified by the user 160 that the job is to be re-executed. In step S1502, the operation panel application 161 notifies the job management module 26 of the re-execution of the job. In step S1503, the job management module 26 notifies the printer application 20 of a print re-request. In step S1504, the printer application 20 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S1505, the memory management module 30 notifies the printer application 20 of job information.

  The printer application 20 changes the job information in step S1506, and stores the job information by notifying the memory management module 30 of the job information in step S1507. Step S1508 is execution of processing of the printer application 20.

  In step S1509, the printer application 20 notifies the print control module 23 of re-execution of print processing. In step S1510, the print control module 23 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S1511, the memory management module 30 notifies the print control module 23 of job information. The print control module 23 changes the job information in step S1512, and stores the job information by notifying the memory management module 30 of the job information in step S1513. Step S1514 is the execution of the process of the print control module 23.

  In step S1515, the print control module 23 notifies the plotter handler 27 of re-execution of plotting. In step S1516, the plotter handler 27 requests the memory management module 30 to acquire job information. In step S1517, the memory management module 30 notifies the print control module 23 of job information. The print control module 23 changes the job information in step S1518, and stores the job information by notifying the memory management module 30 of the job information in step S1519. Step S1520 is execution of the plotter.

  In step S1521, the plotter handler 27 notifies the print control module 23 of the end of plotting. In step S1522, the print control module 23 notifies the printer application 20 of the end of printing. In step S1523, the printer application 20 notifies the operation panel application 161 of the end of printing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating job derivation. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating job derivation when printing a document in which pages are mixed. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating job management in a printer application. It is a figure which shows the job management in the module of a service layer. It is a figure which shows a user interface. It is a job state transition diagram. It is a figure which shows the child job derived | led-out from the basic job. It is a figure which shows the example in case one job derives from one job. It is a figure which shows the example in case a some job derives from one job. 6 is a diagram illustrating a job structure in a plurality of MFPs. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the derivation | leading-out of the job by process delegation. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of job derivation by process division (part 1); FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of job derivation by process division (part 2); FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating job derivation. It is a figure which shows the example of mounting by a single process and a single thread. It is a figure which shows the example of mounting by a single process multithread. It is a figure which shows the example of mounting in a multi process single thread. It is a figure which shows the example of mounting in multi-process multi-thread. It is a figure which shows the implementation example of operation with respect to the job by a user. It is a figure which shows job information (the 1). It is a figure which shows job information (the 2). 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of permission information for job operation. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the conditions which can operate a job. It is a figure which shows a job structure table. It is a figure which shows a job structure table (XML). FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a job that occurs in a copy accumulation process. 2 is a software block diagram of an MFP. FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of an MFP. FIG. It is a figure (the 1) which shows the relationship of software. It is a figure (the 2) which shows the relationship of software. It is a figure which shows a job structure. It is a figure which shows the 1st job related information example. It is a figure which shows the job information in the 1st job related information example. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job registration in the 1st job related information example. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job reference in the 1st example of a job relevant information. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of job related information. It is a figure which shows the job information in the 2nd example of a job relevant information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job registration in the 2nd example of job related information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job reference in the 2nd example of a job relevant information. It is a figure which shows the 3rd example of job related information. It is a figure which shows the job information in the 3rd example of job related information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job registration in the 3rd example of job related information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job reference in the 3rd example of job related information. It is a figure which shows the 4th example of job related information. It is a figure which shows the job information in the 4th example of a job relevant information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job registration in the example of a 4th job related information. It is a figure which shows the example of a 5th job relevant information. It is a figure which shows the job information in the 5th example of a job relevant information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job registration in the 5th example of job related information. It is a figure which shows the 6th example of job related information. It is a figure which shows the job information in the 6th example of a job relevant information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job registration in the 6th example of job related information. It is a figure which shows the example of 7th job related information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job registration in the example of 7th job related information. It is an operation | movement sequence diagram at the time of the job reference in the example of 7th job related information. FIG. 31 is an operation sequence diagram at the time of job registration in the configuration shown in FIG. 30. FIG. 31 is an operation sequence diagram when referring to a job in the configuration shown in FIG. 30. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing for canceling a job. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating processing when a job is re-executed.

Explanation of symbols

5 Application Layer 7 Service Layer 9 Handler Layer 20 Printer Application 21 Copy Application 22 FAX Application 23 Print Control Module 24 FAX Control Module 25 Read Control Module 26 Job Management Module 27 Plotter Handler 28 FAX Unit Handler 29 Scanner Handler 30 Memory Management Module 51 Scanner 52 Plotter 53 Operation Panel 60 Controller Board 61 CPU
62 North Bridge (NB)
63 System memory (MEM-P)
64 Local memory (MEM-C)
65 Hard Disk Drive (HDD)
66 ASIC
67 AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
68 Fax Control Unit (FCU)
69 G3
70 G4
71 Engine 73 South Bridge (SB)
74 NIC
75 USB device 76 IEEE 1394 device 77 Centronics 103 FAX transmission job 104 FAX transmission job for each destination 110 Copy accumulation job 111 Read job 112 Print job 113 Accumulation job 114, 115 Plotter job 130 Each program 131 Dedicated queues 132, 150, 163, 166 , 167, 170 Job information 133 Queue 151, 164, 168, 169, 171 Job related information 172, 173, 174 Relationship diagram 254, 417 Black and white print job 255, 256, 258 Plotter job 257, 418 Color print job 259 Print job 271 272 Job structure 400 Job A
401 Job A-A
402 Job AB
403 Job A-A-A
404 Job A-A-B
405 Job A-B-A
410, 415 Print job 411, 416, 432 Print job 412, 419, 420, 421 Plotter job 430 Copy job 431 Read job 433 Print job for page 1-10 pages 434 Print job for page 11 435 Pages 12-20 Print job 441 FAX transmission job 442, 443, 444 FAX transmission job for each destination 450 Job A
451 Job B
452 Job C
453 Job D
500 Process A
501 Thread A
502 Thread B
503 Thread C
505 Process B
506 Process C
507 Thread D
508 Thread E
601 Waiting 602 Running 603 Completed 604 Suspended 605 Canceled 606 Error occurred

Claims (32)

In an image forming apparatus that has hardware resources used in image forming processing and executes a job related to image formation,
Job-related information generating means for generating job-related information indicating the relationship between the one job and another job for each job;
An image forming apparatus comprising: job structure information creating means for creating job structure information for searching for a job related to an arbitrary job based on the job related information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job related information includes identification information of all jobs that are ancestors of the job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job related information includes identification information of a parent job of the job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job-related information includes identification information of all jobs that are descendants of the job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the job related information includes identification information of a child job of the job. 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising job information including the identification information and information relating to the job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the job information includes job operation permission information indicating whether or not an operation for the job is permitted. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the job information includes job operation condition information indicating a condition under which the job can be operated. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for canceling the job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for re-executing the job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for interrupting the job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for editing the job information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for changing a device that executes the job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the job information is created for each job. The image forming apparatus according to claim 14, further comprising a storage management unit that stores the job information and provides job information corresponding to the identification information. The image forming apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the job structure information creating unit creates the job structure information by acquiring job information from the storage management unit. A job management method for managing a job in an image forming apparatus that has a hardware resource used in image forming processing and executes a job related to image formation,
A job-related information generation stage for generating job-related information for creating job structure information of the job;
And a job structure information creating step of creating job structure information based on the job related information. The job management method according to claim 17, wherein the job related information includes identification information of all jobs that are ancestors of the job. The job management method according to claim 17, wherein the job related information includes identification information of a parent job of the job. The job management method according to claim 17, wherein the job-related information includes identification information of all jobs that are descendants of the job. The job management method according to claim 17, wherein the job related information includes identification information of a child job of the job. The job management method according to any one of claims 17 to 21, further comprising job information including the identification information and information about the job. The job management method according to claim 22, wherein the job information includes job operation permission information indicating whether or not to permit an operation on the job. The job management method according to claim 23, wherein the job information includes job operation condition information indicating a condition that the job can be operated. The job management method according to claim 24, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for canceling the job. The job management method according to claim 24, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for re-executing the job. The job management method according to claim 24, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for interrupting the job. The job management method according to claim 24, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for editing the job information. The job management method according to claim 24, wherein the operation for the job is an operation for changing a device that executes the job. 30. The job management method according to claim 23, wherein the job information is created for each job. The job management method according to claim 30, further comprising a storage management step of storing the job information and providing job information corresponding to the identification information. 32. The job management method according to claim 31, wherein in the job structure information creation stage, the job structure information is created by acquiring the job information saved in the storage management stage.

Images